#but quite frankly he was gonna die from the moment they created his character and they did not intentionally hint at him being gay so like

[sapphicmayfields]

i’m sorry but the duffers killing eddie was not them going for the “kill your gays” trope some of y’all need to seriously touch some grass

#every day i log on to tumblr dot com and see yet another reach #like i get being upset and feeling emotionally attached to a character #you can call it bad writing if that’s what you feel like it was #but quite frankly he was gonna die from the moment they created his character and they did not intentionally hint at him being gay so like #be serious

[hamliet]

The Todorokis: Lost in Darkness and Distance

“Accursed creator! Why did you form a monster so hideous that even you turned from me in disgust?”  

-Frankenstein, Mary Shelley 

I’m by no means the first person to point out Frankenstein references in Dabi’s character (see @linkspooky​ and @findingoutwhodabireallyis​ for more), but I am gonna talk a l’il more about it.

Dabi, just like the creature in the novel, is not just a monster: he is a lost child, a portrayal of the lost innocence of all of mankind.

Dabi paints himself as a monster of Endeavor’s creation, and the tragic irony of this is that by seeking revenge, Dabi is thereby perpetuating his own abuse and becoming more like Endeavor. Dabi is a mirror, a reflection of Endeavor, who is a reflection of society. To redeem himself, Endeavor has to first save Dabi; to save their family, the Todorokis have to save Dabi; to save hero society (which basically just went up in a pile of blue flames), the kids are gonna have to save Dabi, Shigaraki, and Himiko.

The Todorokis, for all their genuine mourning for Touya, do not recognize him when he literally appears in front of them. That’s pretty hurtful, and explains more about why Touya assumes Shouto is Endeavor 2.0 (since Endeavor and Shouto are the two who have seen him in person). Touya’s wrong--he and Shouto are/have been a lot more alike than he would guess (both wanting to prove their worth through becoming strong but without their father’s training)--but he doesn’t know that, which is tragically ironic.

In order to actually heal and move forward as a family, the Todorokis are all going to all have to be able to see clearly, to see and acknowledge their flaws and what’s been swept under the rug (Link talked more about this in her excellent meta here). 

Touya starts off the chapter mentioning that he’s been watching Rei from afar and presumably sent her something personal (referencing the room number). He doesn’t seem like he hates her, and that’s good. However, also remember that as much as Rei is a victim (she is), her situation is complex. Abused mothers who are afraid to stop their husbands from abusing their kids is a painful subject best dealt with without moral declarations, but suffice to say that it is valid and reasonable for many children to hold resentment at these mothers, who chose their own fear and self-preservation over their children’s safety. Not all kids feel this way and that is very valid too! But many do. It doesn’t appear, assuming that translation is accurate, that Dabi harbors resentment against her. However, Rei quite possibly still blames herself for projecting Endeavor into Shouto in a moment of insanity, a moment that has left him forever scarred. Now she has another son, a son she thought she lost forever, who is terribly burned by Endeavor’s and/or his own doing, committing atrocities and threatening others. What will she want to do? To redeem herself in her own eyes, my guess is she will want to save Touya.

Fuyumi, the peacemaker, is going to have to face the fact that two of her family members want to literally kill each other, which offers her some potential complexity. So much for Natsuo not forgiving Endeavor as the main conflict source. Will she want Touya redeemed? If she forgave Endeavor, you’d think so, but he would likely want her to choose between Endeavor and himself.

However, Touya doesn’t mention Fuyumi this chapter. He does mention Natsuo as his confidant, and based on past chapters, we can assume Natsuo and Touya were quite close. It’s to Natsuo that Touya asked the question of his arc: why do I exist? However, by sending Ending after them, we the audience realize Touya actually risked Natsuo’s life--which quite possibly wasn’t his intention. Narrative consequences don’t only exist for Endeavor, Touya.

The thing is, Dabi is still the child kneeling on the floor emotionally (yes he’s an adult, I’m not arguing he can’t be held responsible, please don’t come for me). He’s still asking the same question he claims to have asked Natsuo: “Why do I exist?”

Touya still doesn’t know what the purpose of him existing is. Right now all he has is assuming it’s just to destroy Endeavor, a destruction that will destroy himself with his tormentor, because he’s unable to think about his existence without torment and abuse and pain. He defines himself by his firepower just as Endeavor defined him.

Compounding this, Dabi has some seriously self-harm issues. I mean, we already knew that because of his quirk harming him, but it extends beyond the physical (though we’ll return to the physical in a moment). Dabi is fully aware that what he's doing is wrong. Unlike Endeavor, he doesn't even try to justify himself. Essentially, this is emotional self-harm. He thinks bringing down Endeavor and the society that created his pain is worth harming every part of himself for.

Back to the physical. "Dance with me in hell" kinda implies Dabi doesn't intend to survive his revenge (I’m not particularly concerned about him though; he frankly should survive). Again, we should have already been clued into this, because back in chapter 191, Dabi was ready to fight and die just to destroy Endeavor.

The Todoroki family’s healing entirely depends on saving Touya from “Dabi.” But he has little reason to trust most of them right now. However, there is another family around him now who can help him learn to trust: the League. I know Dabi says he doesn’t care about them, but his rage when Twice died kinda suggests otherwise. Not only that, but Himiko asked him how his hand was, expressing concern for him. They genuinely care about him, and not just for his quirk and certainly not for his name.

The League itself is, obviously, made up of lost children. We have Himiko, whose parents ditched her instead of getting her help and who was villainized for her quirk; we have Shigaraki, who stumbled through the streets after accidentally hurting his family, begging for help, and only a villain came. Sweeping them underground, killing them and/or ultimately defeating them in a grand final showdown, won’t fix anything. Touya has been defeated his whole life.

What Touya’s never gotten is love and safety just for existing, is acceptance that he’s enough just as he is. What Shigaraki’s never gotten is someone believing in him. What Himiko’s never gotten is acceptance and understanding. Which they can and will likely all find somewhat in the League, but also should find through their heroic counterparts (Deku and All Might for Shigaraki; Ochaco for Himiko, Shouto and the other Todorokis for Touya).

#bnha 290 #bnha meta #dabi #todoroki touya #todoroki shouto #todoroki enji #todoroki fuyumi #todoroki natsuo #todoroki rei #todoroki family #mha meta #bnha theory #league of villains #toga himiko #shigaraki tomura #shimura tenko #endeavor

[unabashedrebel]

Top 10 Characters

In no particular order

1) Lara Croft (Tomb Raider) Can I just say that I love how the reboots, both the movie and the new trilogy of games were phenomenal as a long time fan of this character? They did her right. They focused on her origins, how she came to be this mythic Tomb Raider who delves into the greatest mysteries of the world while fighting against an evil Illuminati type organization.

But she always has tenacity. She always has grit. She’s not always sure of herself, or her abilities, but still continues to do it anyways because it’s the right thing to do. Not to mention I love the whole cultured rich girl who gets her hands dirty literally all the time. I’ve loved everything about her characterization in the last few years.

2) Really the entire FF7 cast but; Tifa Lockhart (FF7) Is anyone actually surprised by this one? Look at my blog. It’s pretty Tifa-rific lately. Honestly I have no good excuse for this, I can’t actually trace back what the reason was that started me on really liking her character. Basically because she’s been my video game wife since I was about 10 years old.

I guess, if I really thought about it, I enjoy her realness. She’s an optimist but not fully in your face about it, she promotes kindness, she’s the mom friend. Always looking out for everyone else at the expense of herself. They’re traits that I really admire in people, and you know what? It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that maybe those feelings were in part brought on by a video game character from my childhood. Not only that but I’ve always loved the story thread with her about the conflict she faces in doing what she believes is the right thing, and the fallout that ensues.

Not only that but she’s a fucking badass.

3) Spider-Man (Peter Parker, Marvel) Shout to to the most relatable super-hero ever created. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that Spider-man is a staple of New York, even if he’s fictional. He’s just... boiled down to that essence of a Queens kid. It’s amazing as someone from around this area.

But seriously, I think I like Peter the most because he really is relatable. He really does worry about the same things I find myself worrying about. He really does shoot out quips like that’s his super power. He really does try and do whats right regardless of what others think. He’s conflicted, he’s unsure of himself, he’s been granted this great power and feels the need to go out and help people with it, and again at great personal expense. He’s, to me? What a hero should be.

I guess I like him so much because I see a lot of myself in him. I can relate and put myself in those shoes. I can relate my experiences to his, and i’m not talking about getting bit by a radioactive spider. I’m talking about the human side to Peter Parker. His stresses when he’s out of the tights.

4) Geralt of Rivia (The Witcher, and again I love all the characters Geralts just tops. Ciri was a close second.) Yeah, yeah call me out and say ‘someone just binged’. YOU KNOW WHAT MAYBE I DID FOR THE SECOND TIME YOU CANT STOP ME.

Seriously though. For a character who does not like being social? Geralt is so beautifully written for. Fun fact, I haven’t actually played the games save for the half way through 2 and the intro to 3. But I read the first novel and I’m working my way through the second, and Geralt? He’s a man of few words. But when he does speak? Everybody fucking listens.

5) Kassandra (AC: Odyssey) Uhhhh, first women to win the wrestling Olympics? How could I not.

As a long time fan of Assassins Creed and the wonderfully written characters that I have been lucky enough to get to know as protagonists? Kassandra takes the cake. She was blunt, sassy, smart, and took nobodies shit. Forever has she branded the word Misthios in my head with that Greek twang. To the point where I get excited when I hear it.

Maybe it was a mix of being in the Ancient Greek world with her, another one of my favorites. But there was just something about her character that stuck out to me. Something I haven’t seen in their writing since Ezio.

6) Joel (The Last of Us) How the fuck could I not love the gruff and sad dad?

Dude the characters in this game were so insanely well done. Like you could literally tell that, besides the fact that it was an amazingly fun game? The dev team TRULY cared about the story, the reception, and the buildup.

Lets be real. That first scene with him when everything starts is about as heartbreaking as it comes. It sets you up to really accept that this man has lost everything, that he no longer cares about anything but survival, because he’s already learned that when you care? Those things can be easily taken away.

He’s cold. He’s quick. He’s capable. He’s ignorant to everyone else. Right up until he meets Ellie and that little girl begins to peel back the layers and show that Joel, under it all, is actually a pretty good guy who has been dealing with his trauma by building up walls.

All and all? I would recommend anyone playing this game just to see the transition of Joel. Ellie, as well, by no small measure. But Joel’s growth was one of my favorite things to ever watch unfold in a game.

7) Revan (Star Wars) Okay so I know this ones a bit obscure. He was actually featured as a protagonist of one of Star War, in my opinion, best roleplaying games. 

Basically I love this character because I think he actually GETS the whole thing. The cults. He doesn’t really subscribe to either of them, rather he’s used them to further his own goals. Which you know, as an RPG you get to chose, usually I like to chose he did what he did for the right reasons. Because the Jedi were failing the people they had to protect. Because he couldn’t stand by and watch a war be fought while they deliberated what to do. He never fully reasoned with the Sith, and as far as I knew didn’t quite care to share their extremist values. Frankly, he’s by far been the best representation to what I feel is a very opinionated debate in Star Wars: Why chose either side? They both suck in their own ways.

He saw passed all that, started a movement, started a war of ideologies when the universe was still young enough to hear those kinds of debates play out.

His story will forever be one of my absolute favorites in Star Wars.

8) Ahsoka Tano (Star Wars) If you haven’t watched the Clone Wars animated series and you’re a fan of Star Wars? What the fuck are you doing. This character alone is enough to justify the 7 season watch.

The Padawan of Anakin Skywalker. How can that go wrong, right? Actually, Ahsoka is one of the reasons I began to like Anakin in the first place. The whole series shows a different side to characters we love, honestly, you got to see Anakin be the best Jedi general anyone had ever seen. You got to see him train this young woman into an incredible Jedi, and honestly? The younger sister relationship that Ahsoka has with Anakin is just so well done.

But beyond that there’s so much to love about Ahsoka. If you haven’t caught the theme, I really do love strong characters who still have flaws. Who still have a lot to learn. Who make mistakes. But even after she had, never once did Ahsoka give up on what she believed in. Her values, in the end, proving to be stronger to her then the values instilled by the Jedi, even if they aligned.

My favorite thing is that you got to see her journey, literally from a learning padawan to a fully fledged Jedi badass. 

If we don’t get an Ahsoka series on Disney+ I’m gonna be pissed.

9) Nathan Drake (Uncharted) Cheeky rogue with a heart of gold that often gets by on sheer luck alone.

Need I say more?

10) Tanjiro Kamado (Demon Slayer) Okay, so don’t really expect many people to know this one.This character is the main protagonist in an anime that has literally taken all my attention. From the animation, to the story, to the undeniable ways in inspires me to write Sori.

Tanjiro, perhaps, is the driving force behind this. I just love this kid okay? He started out as NOTHING. Literally, nothing. He fought against overwhelming odds, knowing full well he would die, to save his sister. And in that moment? The person he was fighting let him go. He then sent him down the path of becoming a demon slayer.

This kid, who as far as I know was part of a large family of commoners gave everything he had to training his body to fight demons. Every time he stumbled, he found the strength to continue. He never gives up. He learns, he thinks, he’s a smart kid with this absolute bottomless well of determination.

I don’t want to ruin the plot of the anime too much because honestly this has been my favorite thing since Dragonball Super. You should go watch it. I promise you will understand right off the bat why I love this character so much.

I was tagged by: @serelia-evensong​ @safrona-shadowsun

Gonna tag: @draenei-tales​ @wildname​ @zeehva​ @ravensteel​ @fair-fae​ @monster-of-master​ @palaceofthedeadmemes​ @zariasilverleaf​ @starforger​ @asharinhun​ 

I’m also not sorry this is a long post. How dare you ask me to talk about shit I love.

[roadtohell]

ok here are my final bbc les mis thoughts... i know i’m v late to the party but if anyone also has thoughts i’d like to hear them!

it’s probably not gonna sound like it, but i DID actually quite enjoy it as general entertainment. most of my complaints come from my interpretation of the source material as well as the 2012 film (which is impossible not to compare to)- if it was an original story i wouldn’t have nearly as many reservations.

things i really liked include:

absurdly cute baby marius, who i would die for

happy fantine :) for a bit

the handling of gillenormand and his relationship with marius, which i felt was v book-accurately sad and screwed up but also sweet when the time came

the thenardiers- the fact that they still retain a bit of the comedic edge only adds to the repulsiveness of their deeds imo.

things i really disliked include:

most of valjean’s character- he was generally angry and unlikeable. i think davies intended to highlight his struggle to do good, which isn’t an inherently bad goal, as book valjean totally has questionable moments followed by rackings of guilt (see: his attitude towards marius). the problem with the series portrayal is that what should be mostly internal conflict instead manifests itself in actively poor treatment of others throughout the whole story. sure, bbc valjean gives out money like it grows on trees. he also angrily fires fantine for lying while he himself lives a lie, stiffs gavroche on delivery money and tells him to buzz off, and makes cosette watch a chain gang to prove a point. it’s... an interesting angle, no doubt, but it misses the whole point of valjean’s story- the transformative power of kindness- by a mile.

a lot of adult cosette’s portrayal and especially her relationship with valjean. i get it, people often consider her tricky to write, boring, more of a symbol etc. etc. and feel the need to jazz her appearances up a bit. davies does not do a good job of this. her curiosity and idealism is framed as being frustratingly naive, as if to justify valjean’s overt possessiveness and control over her. he ends up physically restraining her over their “i want to see the world-” “well, the world sucks and i’m just protecting you” fight they spend most of their time having, which isn’t even resolved one way or another. the last episode does treat her better, thank god, but the cosette=love thing is less impactful when she’s literally pulled out the “i hate you” line. 😬

javert’s absurd level of valjean obsession- he honestly becomes a bit of a joke, eventually assuming valjean is the leader of the rebellion for no reason other than it involves crime. besides diminishing his competency, it’s actually easy to forget that he’s guided by his rigid sense of justice, not just his VPS (valjean positioning system). one day an adaptation will really take the time to explore how javert’s worldview applies beyond valjean, including to himself (i’ve always loved the brick scene where he asks mr madeleine to fire him), but it’s definitely not this one.

the sexualisation, jfc. frankly i think davies should be guillotined just for his interview statements on this topic. of all people, he decided to sexualise eponine and cosette. no i will not elaborate. there are also countless unnecessary implications, including between valjean and fantine, valjean and MARIUS, and a random convent girl onscreen for 0.2 seconds just to say she was looking forward to sex. but at least there was no santa sex scene, i guess?

thenardier straight up says he’s going into the slave trade and marius still gives him money... tf

the two boys gavroche looked after, starving in the street, is the final shot. because we all needed another dose of misery.

while i adore the musical, i can imagine why davies doesn’t enjoy it- it has no subtlety whatsoever with its messages about god, love, the LAW, revolution, death and everything else. add that to tom hooper’s dutch angles and extreme closeups and you have something that could easily be considered way over the top. davies presumably wanted to create a story that, as well as containing more plot than the musical, felt less preachy~ and more grounded in reality. in this, i think he succeeds- events are fairly book accurate, and a lot of the changes he does make, regardless of whether i like them, would certainly check out in the real world.

but hugo was one opinionated writer, and so treating les mis like a historical event comes at a cost. davies might despise the musical’s “doggerel lyrics”, but they are true to the novel’s message of compassion and love. in this series, the hope that shines through now and again is always quashed with little reflection; discussion on social justice, so clearly outlined in hugo’s introduction as the book’s purpose, is kept at arm’s length. therefore davies’ more cynical storytelling and characterisation, which also minimises hugo’s religious and political ideas, ultimately loses touch with the heart of les mis.

nobody who benefits this much from the musical’s success has the right to be such a dick about it, especially when the end product isn’t even better. to be clear, i think it’s a good series, and as an adaptation it could be a lot worse. but it’s hard to ignore questionable characterisation, sexualisation, and general steering away from the central ideas of its source material. i’d prefer to sit through russell crowe’s stars any day.

#such is life #24601 #bbc les mis #this got long #i was trying to be balanced #and not be too [knife emoji] #pretty much everything i don't mention #i thought was ok #anyway watch les mis 2012

[sorrelstream]

entering “proper grammar” mode because I’m writing this on a google docs first and I don’t want to deal with all those ugly squiggles ahdfsdfds…

But!! Here’s the fully answered Ailuornymy question list, as requested by anon :D! More below the cut!

Favourite canon warrior name?

Hmm… let’s see… Honestly? Probably Silverstream! I don’t think we get many -stream suffixes anymore and there’s something soooo pretty about her name and the way it flows !!

Least favourite canon warrior name?

Snowbush. There’s something so clunky about the way this dude’s name reads in my head and I don’t know why!!! Also Harrybrook >:(

Warrior you’d most like to rename?

Harrybrook. I just!! It doesn’t sound nice at all please give him a better name :( Best name-change name? One-eye! I’m not sure if she asked for her name change or not, but I’ll admit “One-eye” is a pretty baller sounding name and I love that. Also Deadfoot has a cool name too (though I wish he had asked for that name change rather than saddled with it :/)!

Favourite canon character overall?

 Mousewhisker and Hazeltail! They’re two unimportant side characters that don’t really do anything ever but man do I love them with my whole heart <3!

Least favourite canon character overall? 

Thistleclaw and Crowfeather. I’ve talked about why I don’t like either of them a lot before so to keep it short they both make me incredibly uncomfortable nor do I enjoy reading about them at all.

Favourite Warriors book? 

The Darkest Hour! It was my first Warriors book that I read from the main series (Sasha's manga was the first Warriors book in general and how I got into Warriors), and MAN does it still stick with me! So many scenes from that book are just iconic. 

Least favourite Warriors book? 

Anything from Dawn Of The Clans honestly :'). I tried so many times to get into reading that arc and I never could get into it -- it just bored me any time I tried. Same for AVoS, eh.

Favourite canon scene or dialogue of all time? 

Such a random scene but there’s a scene I think about all the time from Power Of Three where Lionpaw has a nightmare about Hollypaw, and she just playfully (? ominously?) says “I’m going to get you” while hidden in the shadows before turning into a fox and attacking him. I think about it SO much…...

Favourite canon leader of all time? 

Crookedstar, followed closely by Tallstar! I love them…. 

Character you think deserved better? 

SO, SO MANY. IT’S UNREAL. Hollyleaf didn’t deserve to get killed off the VERY NEXT BOOK after she came back to ThunderClan, Snowkit didn’t deserve to get killed off just to push Speckletail into the nursery, Nightcloud didn’t deserve… literally anything she got both in canon and how the authors and fandom demonized her, Honeyfern…. Silverstream… the list goes on really :’/

Character you’d like to see “morally” flipped (made “bad” or made “good”)?

Leopardstar, kinda?? But not like. Morally flipped? I guess? I just mean I wish they had gone more into her redemption arc and why she allied herself with Tigerstar besides just “oh she was in love with him”. So it’s not that I wish she was morally flipped, but I wish they went more into her morality because she’s soo vague as it is (and, frankly, maybe I’m biased because I like her but I would’ve loved to see her overcome her initial prejudice or perhaps work for forgiveness for her Clan - perhaps her alliance with Tigerstar was out of worry for the entirety of her Clan since she saw him as the strongest cat and not just… because she “loved” him). Same for Breezepelt, honestly! They kept dancing between “he’s a troubled son of a negligent/abusive father” and “he’s evil :)” and personally? As a child of a negligent father who also abandoned me, it would’ve been way more … I’m not sure WHAT the word I’m looking for is but I think Breezepelt’s story would’ve been better if they focused on making him a troubled teen of a negligent, bad father and actually embraced Crowfeather being an antagonist in PO3 instead of not wanting to make him look bad. It’s just weird the erins flip flop between “this character is evil” and “this character is ok” so much it’s FRUSTRATING :/

Favourite AU (alternate universe) concept? 

Answered here! 

Warrior code rule you think is best?

Always help a kitten in need, no matter their heritage! I know that’s not the exact wording but anyways. Perhaps I’m biased because I, in general, don’t like reading about child death (I know it happens and I can handle it in some plots but sometimes it’s just so excessive), but in general I think it’s one of the best and genuinely helpful code laws, especially because kittens always deserve a chance at life. I think the second best rule would be the one that states a warrior does not need to kill to win a battle, because I think that adds a lot more depth (potentially) to how warriors value the lives of others and creates a bigger scene? scandal? when someone is killed in battle versus dying of wounds later on. It also, again, keeps the youngsters like apprentices safe!

Warrior code rule you think shouldn’t exist/should be changed?

If you know me, you won’t be surprised because it’s the same answer as always: the leader’s word is law. I’ve spoken a lot about that code before and even have a comic about its flaws, so I won’t go into it too much here, but I just think it’s a recipe for disaster.

Describe your ideal vision of Starclan/clan afterlife.

Hmmm let’s see… my ideal vision of StarClan/clan afterlife would be a little bit like what it’s like in canon at the moment but with a few twists. I think the borders would dissolve in StarClan so there’d be less in-fighting (though I imagine, after growing up your whole life hating your neighbors, a lot of cats have a hard time getting used to the no-boundary life-style of StarClan, and a lot of young/new spirits tend to stick within their own Clan cliques before venturing out and meeting former members of other Clans. Older spirits would be the ones most used to interacting with former members of other Clans). I think there’d be sections that mimic the corporeal Clan’s territories in theme, but with different landmarks and such so that new spirits have a new world to explore. I’d also take away the fading aspect because I don’t really think that’s… fair? I guess? It’s weird to me but I’d prefer not to go into it. I’d also make it so that there’s no great wisdom to these cats - or, at least, the wiser StarClan spirits are the ones that have been around for as long as anyone can remember. They wouldn’t be able to interfere with the living as much in canon and can only really visit medicine cats, or possibly leaders, in dreams; anyone else has to go to the sacred area to commune with the dead. Not sure what else though! This is just kind of a general idea.

Traditional or non-traditional naming. Thoughts?

I think both have their merits! While I prefer traditional naming systems because I enjoy seeing the way people develop suffix meanings and assign well-known meanings to them (and even connotations!), plus it helps me personally assign even the smallest trait to a side character so they feel just a little more real, I see why people would enjoy non-traditional naming systems as it does give more breathing room for individual name creation. Also, I’m not gonna lie, there’s some gorgeous lyrical names out there that flow beautifully. My heart will always belong to traditional naming, though, I think. 

If traditional: What non-traditional suffix would you include in your system? If non-traditional: What’s your favourite canon suffix?

Traditional! I actually have included some non-traditional suffixes in my system, just for variety! But those are: -throat, -pool, -belly, -fern, -bee, -berry, -chirp, and -tooth, for example. There’s actually quite a few more but I don’t wanna list every single addition shfbd!

Best thing about the clan system as a concept in your opinion?

Hard to pick, honestly! But I do think the best thing about clans as a system is their unity; they’re a little society that has each other’s backs, and the care for young and elderly a lot is touching!

Favourite Warriors fanfiction (or fanfiction writer)?

HA this might be an obvious answer, but 100% solacefruit on ao3 (also: @/ailuronymy and @/burnt-sycamore on tumblr!). His worldbuilding is to die for and there’s something so charming and attention grabbing about his writing style that always has me waiting for the next update. Seriously, probably one of my biggest writer inspirations. 

Favourite Warriors fanartist (includes animators)?

Answered here!

Most interesting villain?

Mapleshade and Sol, honestly. I’ve rambled about Mapleshade before, I think, but I think her story could have had a lot of potential to call out the misogyny and bias of StarClan and the code, and how mollies are often punished harsher than the toms for their code-breaking. Her story also features how weird the warriors are with the warrior code - it’s like they cherry pick what they want to believe? Oakstar sends three innocent kittens out of the Clan, presumably to die (which they do), despite the code speaking to never endanger a kitten’s life no matter their heritage, and no one ever questions him, or the rest of ThunderClan, for standing by to watch kittens die? Even Frecklewish outright stated she watched the kittens die and did nothing about it. Why? Why was everyone okay with punishing Mapleshade for breaking a rule of the code but no one questioned Oakstar or anyone else in ThunderClan for kicking out the kits alongside Mapleshade, when it was Mapleshade’s crime and not the kits? And why doesn’t Appledusk get punished or ostracized by his clanmates as severely as Mapleshade did? It had a lot of potential but it’s just a mess. Anyways - onto Sol. Another interesting concept kinda messed up by the Erins. In general, I really love villains that are just nuisances at best and no real threat - kind of like Heinz Doofenshmirtz - and with Sol’s backstory being the way it was, he was the perfect opportunity to have him be this little antagonistic shithead who, while annoying and causing problems, wasn’t actually a serious threat, and he of all villains would have had the best shot at redemption I think.

Favourite canon clan?

RiverClan! I love their aesthetic, their territory, and their general vibes. In love with water-based places <3!!

What would you ask Erin Hunter, if you could?

“Would you hand the series off to a new team of writers?” All good series must come to an end, but with Warriors being as broad as it is, I think this is a series where spin offs can be made and still thrive - just not with the current author staff we have at the moment. There’s lots of people with amazing, creative ideas for Warriors, and I know this is just a fantasy at best, but I would love to see a new writing team take over and weave brand new stories and worldbuilding with it in spin-offs. Hell, even I’d love to take a crack at publishing a Warriors spin off, but, again, it’s a fantasy at best.

Top five prefixes (canon or otherwise)?

Sorrel-, Chub-, Mink-, Rose-, and Vervain- (you can tell I like these prefixes considering these are all prefixes of characters featured in my webcomic besides Sorrel-, which is used for my wcsona’s name ha!) Honorable mentions to: Black- (or any color based prefix like Yellow-, Red-, Ginger-, Blue-, Gray-, White-, etc. I don’t know why but I’m fond of them), Beetle-, and Fidget- (which isn’t a traditional prefix, but I think it’s cute hehe.)

Top five suffixes (canon or otherwise)?

Just narrowing down for traditional because I need a smaller pool to pick from habdfsd but! -face, -flower, -stripe, -storm and -nose! 

If you were on Drunk Warriors Rants, what would you talk about?

I have no idea what Drunk Warriors Rants is actually but I’m assuming it’s something where you get drunk and rant about warrior cats so… I would absolutely rant about Hollyleaf and mainly the wild mischaracterization the fandom has made of her break down and the murder of Ashfur. It irks me to no end how so many people have pushed this weird concept that Hollyleaf was aware her parents were Crowfeather and Leafpool when she murdered Ashfur to the point that most people I talk to genuinely don’t realize this, because not only does it just make so sense narratively but I feel like it really does take away from the depth that is her character. I think Hollyleaf is one of the few characters we get, like, an actual depth to, who is developed beyond “typical protagonist with love interest”, and has an interesting arc, downfall, and redemption. When she killed Ashfur, she was totally unaware that Leafpool and Crowfeather were her parents - in fact, the entirety of Sunrise is about Hollyleaf, Jayfeather, and Lionblaze trying to figure out who their parents are, so I honestly don’t know where this whole “Hollyleaf knew about her heritage when she killed Ashfur” thing came from. It really ruins her arc by making her out to be some nonsense cat who killed to keep a secret she spilled anyways, and not a cat who killed to keep a secret she didn’t fully understand yet, who then completely unraveled once she discovered the origins and how her existence completely went against everything she was raised to believe in.

What would your warrior name be?

Pretty obvious answer but my warrior name would be Sorrelstream! Or possibly Sorrelstripe, but I lean towards Sorrelstream. I love to swim a lot actually but I wouldn’t say I’m a particularly strong or skilled swimmer but hey… It’s my warriors sona and I get to give him one (1) skill.

Bonus questions:

Describe your favourite original Warriors characters! 

HONESTLY this question is a little tough because I have such a huuuge cast of original warrior characters it’s hard to narrow down! I’d say if you’re interested in hearing more about my ocs or seeing them in action to check out my @/roseface blog, which is dedicated to my wc comic, or check out my ao3 account (kiittenteeth) because I’ll probably be posting warriors-centric original character stories there soon!

Describe your original Warriors clans! 

Heyyy fun fact! I’m actually working on a small novel fanfic (only about ten chapters long) featuring my fanclans! They’re a group of four Clans set in an abandoned gated neighborhood/area - FernClan (located in the local abandoned mall), PondClan (located in the abandoned golf course), GleamClan (located in the local abandoned restaurant/diner), and FieldClan (located in the abandoned K-12 academy school). I won’t go too much into them here since I want to explore their worldbuilding in my fic, but keep an eye out for them when I drop the first chapter of Ribs! 

Talk about your feelings about the Warriors series! 

Oh man. A lot. The series itself is… disappointing, at best, but I’m awfully attached to it no matter how many times I try to break away from it. It was my biggest media interest growing up (keyword: media), so it’s a pretty big part of me and the way I grew up. Plus I met a good chunk of my friends through warrior cats related areas, so :’)!!! It’s a series that despite all its flaws is incredibly close to me but I’m mainly here to read everyone’s fan content because MAN does the fan content go above and beyond!

(Asked by @/whocares-idont) What’s your opinion on fan made Clan pantheons? 

I LOOVE fan made Clan pantheons actually! Mythology was always something I loved learning about as a kid, and I’m particularly fond of the worldbuilding people make for the Warriors setting. I feel like creating a pantheon and mythos tied to it adds to the depth of the world and makes it all the more interesting and realistic, especially since mythology is such a huge part of so many cultures, both ancient and modern one. I think creating pantheons really adds to the setting people make with warriors, and, honestly, they’re always really fun to read about!!

#yes i did this instead of working on season change pages dshfbsdfds didnt feel like drawing today #nor have i felt like drawing in the past UHHH [checks watch] 3 days. oops! #anyways :)!! anon who requested this i hope u enjoy :D! #long post

[xxsanshinexx]

Insomnia

Character: Song Mingi x Female Reader

Genre: Fluff

Words: 2938

Summary: You hadn’t sleep well in days. You could feel it weighing on your body but you didn’t want to bother anyone with your health. But, like all things eventually, it became too much and you needed some comfort from your best friend, Mingi.

You could feel the bags under your eyes become deeper by the second. The mattress underneath you was as hard as a brick and the blanket on top of you seemed to be one of the most uncomfortable things ever created. The room was as hot as it was cold and everything seemed to make you angrier by the second. It was the fourth day you had gone sleepless. If the world was kind enough, it would let you have three hour of sleep but tonight did not seem to be one of those days. The weight of the past sleepless nights weighed down on your shoulders like a ton of bricks.

“Damn you world,” You grumbled, looking out at the window where the moon glared down mockingly. It got to sleep and fade away in the day, you wished you could too. A huff escaped your lips and you flipped, over in bed, bringing a pillow up to cover your eyes. You just wanted to close your eyes and let your body succumb to subconsciousness; but only a few more minutes and you were already restless.

A scream of frustrations escaped from your lips and you threw your pillow across the room. Hot tears leaked from your eyes and you rubbed at your temples. The thought of going to work tomorrow was already driving you insane. No sleep and a swarm of people was an equation for unhappiness. The world just seemed to be weighing down against your body, the exhaustion laced in between, but yet your mind would not submit.

You swallowed, your throat entirely dry, and climbed out of bed shakily, “I can’t do another night like this.”

You pulled the hood of your sweatshirt over your head and rubbed furiously at your eyes. You just wanted at least an hour of sleep, an hour of pure peace and not this awful restlessness. Rubbing a hand down your face, you reached over and grabbed your phone which had been silent all night. The screen was devoid of notifications and the 12:16 a.m. on the device seemed to mock you. A low groan escaped your lips as you squinted at the harsh light, flicking through your contacts trying to find your favorite loud dumb-ass.

It only took a few minutes for him to answer, “Why are you up?”

“Hello to you too, Mingi.”

“Sorry… Hello y/n,” You could feel his smile through the phone. “But seriously why are you calling me, it’s late.”

“Can you come over?” You leaned your head against your door frame, peering out at your apartment which was clouded by moonlight. The light from the windows was easy on the eyes and much kinder than any artificial light in your home.

Mingi paused for a moment, making you almost think the call had ended, “What’s wrong?”

The worry in his voice made you smile despite how awful you felt. “I feel like shit. I need someone to come check on me to make sure I’m not dying.”

“There’s doctors for that you know,” He chuckled, and you could hear the rustling of keys from the other side. “I’ll be there in ten minutes. Don’t die in that time.”

“No promises.” you dryly laughed, fighting back a groan from the headache forming, “Don’t be too loud when you get here… my head hurts.”

“No promises.” The call ended with another laugh and you closed your eyes, head resting on the door frame. Mingi was certainly the only person you could trust. You two had been through thick and thin together and despite all odds, were close. Even though he was now an idol and you had your regular day job, there was little that could come in between what the two of you had.

Mingi packed up his gear as quick as he could in the studio. You were never one to be sick, or feel bad in the slightest, so the thought startled him. Especially since you called him at midnight. He figured you would have been asleep by now and certainly not calling him at practice.

“Why are you in such a rush to leave?” Yunho asked, tilting his head as he watched Mingi pack up.

“Y/n needs me.” Mingi answered, throwing his practice shoes into his bag and zipping it up.

“Ah the infamous y/n,” Yunho chuckled, catching the attention of the rest of the members in the room. “We’ve yet to meet her.”

Mingi gave a sheepish grin as he slung his bag over his shoulder, “Maybe one day?”

“That sounds like a fat lie,” Yeosang huffed with a smile, “Are you embarrassed of us or something?”

“Yeah I want to meet your pretty girlfriend.” Wooyoung frowned and Mingi was almost tempted to bring all of them over to help take care of her.

“She’s not my girlfriend,” Mingi muttered, pulling his hood up over his hat, “You’ll meet her soon but she’s sick right now. I don’t think she’d be happy if i brought over seven hyperactive dudes.”

“You’ve got a point there,” Jongho laughed, laying down against the floor, “Have fun with the girl you never shut up about.”

“Yeah, yeah, see you later guys,” Mingi brushed them off as a blush began to spread across his covered face. He stalked off towards the door, before he turned around when his hand touched the doorknob, “Don’t worry if I don’t come back to the dorm tonight. I’m probably gonna crash on y/n’s couch.”

“Are you sure it’s gonna be her cou-”

“Goodnight!”

You continued to moan and groan in the isolation of your apartment. Every little thing seemed to hurt your head, your eyes, or you in general. It was still a mystery to you if you were actually sick or sleep deprived, or with your luck it was most likely both. Still, in the fifteen minutes it was taking Mingi to get to your apartment, you mind had never stopped racing or allowing for sleep to take over. Your body and brain were certainly not on the same page this fateful night.

Loud knocking on your door forced you to cover your ears in annoyance. You knew Mingi wouldn’t have abided by that one rule but you were still hopeful. You made your way to the door as soon as the noise subsided and opened it, greeted by a tall worried looking boy.

“I said to be quiet.”

“And you look awful.” Mingi retorted, stepping through the threshold and shutting the door softly behind him.

“Do I really look that bad?” You said, the exhaustion and weakness you felt evident in your voice.

Mingi frowned and stepped forward, his hands reaching up to brush under your eye. “You’ve got tear stains, and makeup stains, and quite frankly some of the biggest dark circles I’ve ever seen before.”

You pouted and brushed his hands away from your face, “You sure know how to make a girl feel better.”

Mingi gave you a sad smile before pulling you into his arms. You wrapped yourself up nicely against him, arms snaking around his waist as he held you around the shoulders. Despite not enjoying affection, Mingi’s hugs always seemed to calm you down and make you feel better. You closed your eyes against him, finally feeling something like relaxation after the past couple of days.

“What happened?” His deep voice was merely a whisper against the quiet.

“I haven’t slept for days. I just… I feel really awful.” You mumbled against the fabric of his sweatshirt.

“When’s the last time you ate?”

“This morning maybe. I don’t know it’s been hard to do basic things like that.”

He pulled away from you, but still kept you safe in his arms, “You should go lay down while I make you some food. You can’t get better without it.”

“You’re just saying that because you’re hungry.”

“Maybe,” He gave a cheeky grin and fully let you go, leaving you colder than a few moments before. The kitchen was raided within seconds. There were pots and pans littered across the counter, eggs and toast and meat strung about haphazardly, and then there was Mingi in the center of it. You knew he wasn’t the greatest in the kitchen, and while he did make your house a mess in less than a minute, you were flattered by the attempt.

“So..” He started, putting the pan on the stove and looking over towards you, “I think it’s wise to mention I don’t really know how to cook.”

“Just make something simple.”

“I messed up making cereal one time.”

“How do you-”

“Too much milk, and an angry Jongho.” He sheepishly smiled and turned on the stove. You brought over the disregarded eggs and toast and began to get out a few ingredients, handing them to him in silence. Eggs and toast were quite hard to mess up, even more so with someone watching your every move.

“Just make scrambled eggs. It’s not to hard,” You said, hopping onto your counter top to sit.

A small laugh came from his lips as he began to cook your meals, “You’d be surprised.”

“Who cooks in the dorm than?” You rose an eyebrow, a hint of a grin on your face, “Surely it can’t all be Seonghwa.”

“It’s just not me,” He began to swirl the pan of uncooked eggs, “I don’t know why I just never really learned how to cook. I’m sure mom’s not proud of that.”

“You had other priorities besides basic living knowledge.”

“Shut up,” He laughed, flicking a bit of egg at you landing on your cheek. You gave a little squeal in protest and rubbed your face clean.

“That’s cheap Mingi,” He grinned in response, setting your cooked food onto two separate plates.

“I know,” He handed you a plate with eat utensils stacked on top, “But you love me.”

You rolled your eyes, ignoring the fond look he gave you to save your own heart. You were hesitant to seeing Mingi as anything more than your best friend. He was an idol, he was always traveling and gone; and despite it all, you were more than scared. Most relationships had ended roughly in the past for you and even if Mingi was your best friend, you didn’t know if you wanted to risk the chance. The chance for a fallout or a potential barrier of awkwardness between the two of you.

“Thanks for not poisoning my food,” You mumbled through a mouthful of egg and toast. Despite how awful you felt, you still muscled down the food. It didn’t seem to hurt your throat or stomach as bad as other things had initially. Before this, you had been living off of soup and rice.  

“I still could of, i don’t really know what I’m doing to be honest.” You laughed at his remark and continued to eat your food in a peaceful silence.  Upon finishing, you both cleaned your plates in the sink; you drying and Mingi washing without a word. It was oddly domestic.

Mingi had finished the last plate and handed it to you, “You really need to sleep Y/n.”

A gentle sigh escaped your lips and your hands rhythmically dried the porcelain plate, “I can’t. I promise i’m trying… my brain just doesn’t seem to want to turn off.”

He took the plate from your frantic hands, placing it up on the high shelf he had got it from, and glanced back down at you. “Have you took anything?”

“Every medicine that I could. Nothing seemed to calm me down enough to sleep.” You rubbed your burning eyes with the palms of your hands.

“Come on,” Mingi pulled your hands away from your eyes gentle, saddened by how red and exhausted they were, “Go lay down for a little.”

You gave a pathetic nod in response and he pulled you in the direction of your bedroom. You just closed your eyes, trying to focus on easing the pounding headache you had all night, and let him drag you along. Eventually he stopped and you opened your eyes slightly to reveal your room, the bed seeming to mock you in the moonlight. Mingi pulled you to sit down on your bed and you could do nothing but comply.

“Alright,” He kneeled down so he was eye level with you, “You lay down and get some sleep. Or at least just try to.”

“I know… try to sleep. It just doesn’t happen.” You frowned, turning and laying down atop your tousled blankets, putting your hands over your eyes to somehow stop them from hurting. “I don’t know how to fall asleep.”

“Just think of something relaxing,” he shrugged, and you could feel how uncomfortable he was. You were lucky enough he had came to check in on your and know you were just using his kindness to vent a little.

“I tried,” You gave a dry laugh, bring your hands down so you could look at his upset expression. His lips were turning into a frown and his eyes were so fixated on your frail self that you had to look away. “Ocean sounds, Bob Ross, relaxation playlists on YouTube, hell I even tried Mozart! Nothing seems to calm me down, or get me to fall asleep.” You flipped onto your back, staring straight up at the ceiling that seemed to taunt you as well. “I just can’t seem to sleep.”

“I get it,” He frowned, moving so he could sit on the edge of your bed, “Stuff like this happened a lot when I was a trainee. You get so worked up and it seems like sleep is never going to happen. You just have to find a way to calm down. I always called my mom, or texted you or just talked to my group members.”

“Why do you think I called you?” You mumbled and thought you saw a faint blush spread across his skin.

“Am I that calming?” He asked, a hint of his regular playfulness back on his face.

You rolled your eyes and adverted your gaze, a newfound nervousness overcoming you, “You’re obnoxious…but-but you’re like home to me.”

You could tell you made him flustered, just by the lack of words now exchanged. A glance over to him and you could see how surprised he was, even his mouth had dropped open slightly. You guessed you weren’t much better than him and were thankful the dark lighting. It wasn’t the first time the two of you had been sentimental towards one another; however, you supposed it was because of the setting that made it all the more effective.

Mingi swallowed once, looking away from your eyes, and towards the door. “I.. I’ll just um.. I’ll go sleep on the couch-”

“No-” The statement seemed to make his eyes widened even more, and you looked away in a slight embarrassment. “Just… just stay here.”

He sat there unmoving and you sighed, scooting over in your bed to give him more room. You flipped over, so you didn’t have to look at him, and slid yourself under the covers. You licked your lips in what could have been regret and let out another soft sigh, the words coming out in nothing more than a whisper, “Please.”

For a few seconds there was no movement, just you laying there under the covers and him sitting with a surprised expression. But soon, you could feel the rustling of the bed and the cold air that came from someone lifting up the covers. Behind you, Mingi nestled into the mattress, his long form fitting nicely, and he could only stare at the back of your head. He knew when you were upset, when you were happy, and when you were desperate. Now, he could feel how melancholy you felt. The bed sheets were cold, the room was a bit stifling and all the days of sleeplessness he could feel. It made him reach out, after several minutes of suffocating silence, and place his hand on your waist.

There were no words between the two of you as you felt his hand slide around your torso. You had to stifle a gasp of surprise, especially as he brought his other arm to wrap underneath you. Mingi and you were rather touchy when it came to your friendship but nothing like this; though, his warm hands felt nice against the vituperative cold you had felt the past couple of days. It brought a small smile to your face despite all the warnings going off in your head.

His arms curled around you tightly, encasing you in a profound warmth that made you feel safe. You finally felt content and could feel your body giving in to the relaxation now washing over you. Your face curled into the pillows and your allowed for your fingers to hover over Mingi’s where they lounged around your waist. They were larger than your own, and not as calloused as you would have thought, given how awful they were as a boy.

You didn’t think you could stop it anymore. He made you feel safe, happy even, and after an exhausting week like this; he had been able to make you feel at ease despite it all. Without another thought, you reached and encased his hand with your own, lacing your fingers and holding onto it tightly. You could have swore you felt Mingi smile against your shoulder, as he curled up closer to you and you both began to doze off into a restful sleep.

He didn’t cure whatever you had, but God did he make you feel better.

#mingi #ateez #song mingi #fanfiction #atiny #hongjong #seonghwa #yunho #yeosang #san #wooyoung #jungho #fluff #insomnia #xxsanshinexx #song minig #ateez fanfiction #ateez fluff #ateez angst #ateez headcannon #ateez oneshot #ateez imagine #mingi fanfiction #mingi fluff #mingi angst #mingi headcannon #mingi oneshot #mingi imagine

[collapsingintojupiter]

Hey wonderful human being! How are ya? If ya want a writing ask, I have a challenge for you: Ok so - what if there was a child side called Love who was created when Thomas entered a relationship? How would the others react? Does she have powers like the rest of them? What happens when Thomas is single again and they poof? Just a fun idea for you. Bye, friend!

You're so sweet fam

Also a quick note: I'm writing this as an aro-ace that's literally never had a s/o or been on a date and frankly never wants to be. So...yeah. This should be interesting lol.

***

Characters: Thomas, Patton, Logan, Roman, Virgil, Deceit, and of course Love.

Relationships: Just the good ol platonic LAMP

Warnings: Major character death.

***

He came after the third date. 

Thomas was talking with the other Sides in his living room about it, nervous but excited. Jeremy seemed like an awesome guy; handsome, funny, kind, and a huge Disney fan to boot (the most important characteristic, as Roman often proclaimed). Just thinking about him made Thomas' heart flutter. And even better than that, Jeremy seemed to like Thomas too. Their most recent date had gone quite well, but as always there were things to discuss.

The living room conversation quickly became another bickering match.

Virgil was nervous, as always. He's gonna leave us eventually, something's gonna come up. He'll hate us. He'll leave us. So much could go wrong.

Roman was excited, proposing dozens of grand gestures to Thomas--everything from a candle-lit dinner to tickets to Disney Land. Logan was irritated because he was also trying to plan Thomas and Jeremy's wedding--they've only just met, it's far too early to think about this, he grumbled.

Patton was acting like a five-year old on Redbull. He was talking so fast that nobody could understand him at all, and the others wondered if what he was saying would make sense even if they could hear him.

"GUYS, HE'S THE ONE! HE'S THE ONE!" A sudden shriek ripped through the apartment, and everyone jumped as another Side suddenly appeared on the couch. It was a new one, one that Thomas had never seen before. This one was wearing a pink flowery shirt with a collar, and somehow looked even more excited about what was happening than Patton.

Perhaps that was the most surprising thing about him--the new Side didn't seem to be evil or bad at all, no malicious intent lurking behind scales or chaos wrapped in green. If anything, this Side looked like he was nothing but a ball of pure energy.

"Who…?" Thomas' jaw dropped. "Who?" He looked around at the others.

Logan looked even more irritated.

Roman looked delighted.

Patton was grinning from ear to ear.

Virgil had a look on his face that was something between "not again" and "why me?"

"You don't know me?" The new Side looked hurt. "Has it really been so long?"

"GUYS!" Thomas shouted, desperate for an answer. "Can somebody tell me who he is!?"

Logan was the first to snap out of it, gesturing to the pink-clad Side with one hand and a sigh.

"Thomas... I'd like to introduce you to Love."

---

Love was confusing. That was normal though, Patton explained, once Virgil and Logan had calmed him down enough to where the moral side could speak coherently. Logan told Thomas that he'd get used to the pink one in time.

Thomas sure hoped that he was right.

Days and dates passed. Every moment with Jeremy felt like a new adventure, full of incredible moments and smiles and joking laughter. Love drank it all in, and if anything being around Jeremy seemed to add to his already-inexhaustible energy. 

Thomas did get used to him in time, just as Logan had promised. He was loud and demanding, yet gentle and kind. He was crazy, but loyal; impulsive and yet patient. So many things at once. So many confusing things at once. 

Neither Virgil nor Logan liked Love much. That wasn't terribly surprising though; Love was too illogical and nonsensical and emotional for Logan, too impulsive and reckless and wild for Virgil. Everything he did he did insanely, all the way, over the top. Not to mention that every time he got excited, it was pretty much a guarantee that Virgil and Logan would both be shut down. There wasn't room for fear in love; no room for reason. No wonder he and Roman got along so well--they practically fed off each other, throwing ideas back and forth until Thomas' head spun.

And through all of it Patton was just...confused. More than on average, you might say. 

Love makes you do crazy things, makes you feel strange things for people. Patton didn't understand it at all.

And it was great, for a while. Exhilaratinlg, even. Thomas didn't remember a time when he was so excited about life, so ready for it. With the energy of this new Side he felt like he could conquer the world.

Logan tried to warn Thomas.

So did Virgil.

Nothing prepared Thomas for the day Jeremy came to him with tears in his eyes; the day his heart broke when the man he loved more than anything told him that he was leaving. Leaving and, more importantly...never coming back.

There was crying in the mindpalace that night. Thomas' apartment was filled with quiet sobs, sobs that shook his body and made him feel like he couldn't breathe. 

Go back! Love was screaming. You can't let him go! You have to go back! 

Roman was crushed, and understandably so. Patton was speechless; after the swamp of emotions that had nearly drowned him he was suddenly numb, and that made Thomas numb too. Virgil had nothing to say; Logan had nothing to say. They'd already tried.

Love cried for days. But, as those days became weeks and months, the others noticed his demands, his pleas, his begging become weaker. 

And weaker. 

And weaker.

And when the realization of what was happening hit Thomas, it was somehow both horrifying and more comforting than he would've liked it to be.

Love was fading. Dying, he said. Logan explained to Thomas that the Sides didn't actually die, such wasn't possible at least in the way humans think of it, but that wasn't as comforting at it should have been. Thomas didn't want Love to be there anymore after what had happened and yet...part of him begged for it to stay.

Roman was devastated to see it all happen, and he acted like it. He knew what was happening and he knew he couldn't stop it but...God he wished there was something he could do. Anything. He'd do anything. Deceit promised that Love wouldn't go and what was another broken promise, on top of all the others he'd made to Thomas; to Roman; to himself. 

None of that mattered, of course. Eventually Love stopped appearing in the mindpalace altogether, and even though he didn't want to Thomas missed the pink flower-shirted Side; even Virgil eventually admitted to missing hearing his voice. All they could remember of it now was how strangled it had sounded the last time Love was there.

Don't worry though, Patton promised Thomas.

That's the thing about Love. It's fickle; always changing. 

But it always comes back.

___

There you go, hope you enjoyed. ^^

If you’d like to be added to my taglist, please message me or shoot me an ask! Make sure to specify if you want it for all of my writing or just the Sunshine and Storm Clouds story; if you don’t specify you’ll automatically be put down for both.

If you’d like to see more of my writing, feel free to send me a prompt! I don’t just do Sanders Sides, so go ahead and ask away! I’ll see what I can do with it lol, I really love writing and sharing my work with you guys.

Taglist.

@antisocialsilvermermaid @just-perhaps @ghostintimelostintime

#ask #amintyworld #fanfiction #long post #patton sanders #logan sanders #virgil sanders #deceit sanders #roman sanders #thomas sanders #sanders sides

[spectral-musette]

So, the Avengers: Endgame spoiler ban is lifted, and I’ve had a chance to mull over my responses, so I’m finally going to try to write up some thoughts. I was hoping to have seen it again in the interim, but that didn’t work out, so I’m relying on memory from one viewing – it’s possible I’ve missed or misinterpreted things.

Spoilers to follow, so scroll carefully, Ye on Mobile! Also, sorry about the Long Post (TM), I apparently I had a lot to say.

 Time-wise, for its 3 hour length, the film didn’t feel long to me. It maintained its momentum and nothing felt laggy or tedious, even the big battles.

Time travel-wise… Okay, positive stuff first. I thought that revisiting the settings of earlier films was absolutely delightful and nostalgic. It felt very satisfying to have those call backs to earlier adventures and cameos of old enemies (Crossbones, Pierce, Zola, and, surprise, even Sitwell). The Cap vs. Cap fight was hilarious, and I loved seeing Steve so utterly exasperated with himself (“I can do this all d-“, “YEAH, I know.”). The scene in the 70’s was good, though some of the Tony and Howard stuff rang a little hollow to me. I think that’s mostly because I’ve always had trouble reconciling Dominic Cooper’s Young Howard Stark (who I’m very fond of, especially after Agent Carter) to the older version of Howard we see in various flashbacks. They look, sound, and act nothing alike; my friends and I always joke that Hydra replaced Howard sometime in the 60’s. So while an aged up Dominic Cooper Howard probably would’ve made me emotional, as it was, I was more moved to see 20 seconds of Jarvis than for all the stuff with Tony talking to his dad about fatherhood.

Using the “Quantum Realm” for time travel was… okay…. Insofar as the “science” of the Ant-Man films has absolutely never made any damn sense (and that’s …. fine. They’re funny and joyful, and I enjoy them a lot anyway. I don’t go to Marvel movies for “realistic” science fiction), throwing time travel into the mix felt like it just might as well happen. I guess I understand why they chose to go with the “nothing we do in the past can affect our own timelines” approach, but frankly it’s still giving me a headache. I also understand not over-explaining, but there’s a middle ground there that wasn’t quite achieved for me. I guess, based on the scene with Tilda Swinton (sorry, haven’t seen Dr. Strange and don’t know her character’s name) and Bruce, we’re supposed to assume that every journey to the past (cue Anastasia music) creates or perhaps just shifts the time traveler into an alternate reality that branches from their original reality at that point? And then when they travel back to the time they started from via the quantum realm, they return to their original version of reality. So the actions that they take in the past affect that alternate reality, but not the reality that they came from and return to. That’s the only thing I can figure out that makes sense to me at all, but unfortunately the film didn’t make that especially clear. Maybe seeing it again would clarify? So this is gonna be a big factor in how I feel about Steve’s ending, but I’ll get to that in a moment.

Also, a tangent re: time travel… While Tony (an engineer) and Bruce (a biologist) are both brilliant, this seems a little outside their areas of expertise! You know, wouldn’t it be great if we had a character who was an astrophysicist who could really tackle this type of thing - OH HEY, we do! I realize that there were probably issues with getting Natalie Portman back in a substantial role, but I love Jane Foster a lot and I would’ve loved seeing her work with Tony and Bruce to save the universe with a handful of Pym Particles.

OKAY, there’s an awful lot to cover, so I’m going to break down some of my feelings by character just to try to stay organized.

(First, a disclaimer that I haven’t seen Captain Marvel yet, so while Carol seemed like a great character, I don’t have a lot to say since I don’t really know her yet. That said, this seemed like an adequate introduction to the character and I am interested to know more. We have the problem of “if Fury could’ve called her anytime why didn’t he call her during the Chitauri attack/to fight Ultron/etc.” But all the individual titles that come after the team-ups have that problem a little bit… Where were the Other Avengers in Thor 2 or Iron-Man 3, etc.? Sometimes you just have to accept and move on.)

Briefly:

Nebula and Gamora, Tony, Bruce, Scott, with a quick note about Wanda and a very conspicuous absence

And the heavier stuff regarding:

Thor, Natasha, and Steve (and Sam and Bucky).

Nebula and Gamora:

While the Guardians aren’t really my thing, I did vaguely know that in the original Infinity Gauntlet comic storyline, Nebula takes the gauntlet from Thanos and fixes reality. I understand not following the comics exactly for the sake of surprise and to fit with the changed version of the universe, but it still felt wrong to totally take that away from her. Especially given what Thanos has done to her, personally, it seemed fitting that she was going to be the one defeat him. I’m glad she was still pivotal to the story, but it felt like an extra kick in the teeth that past!Nebula was the catalyst for Thanos catching up with our heroes rather than getting to be the one who saves the universe. And forcing her to kill her past self felt like it should’ve been treated with much more gravity than it finally was.

I’m really glad we “saved” Gamora by bringing the version of her from the past into the current timeline (however that works), but I feel so bad for anyone who’s really invested in Gamora/Peter Quill. It’s so heartbreaking that their entire history never happened as far as she’s concerned, that we’ve not only removed that very key relationship, but her character growth over the past how many years. It is at least hopeful; Peter remembers, and has the chance to woo her again, but that’s still got to sting.

Tony:

So Tony Stark sure did die.

I’m not sure… he really needed to? I mean I don’t think I get the rationale of the Infinity Gauntlet killing/maiming the user. I recall the handwavey line about gamma radiation, but if you don’t immediately die after using it, couldn’t you juuuust, say, use the Reality Stone to be like, “hey what if I wasn’t mortally injured”? Couldn’t somebody ELSE do that? I’m not sure I get that.

So that said, I’m not sure if RDJ was really pushing for “you gotta kill me off” for dramatic effect or just to step out of the franchise? It would’ve been kinda cool to see retired Tony working as Avenger-support, working on suits for Rhodey and future Iron-heroes (Iron Patriot? Iron Heart?), mentoring Peter and other youths, and living his nice life with Pepper and their munchkin.

But what a way to go, huh? Dramatic self-sacrifice saving the the planet(/universe?), and a funeral that almost everybody who’s anybody shows up for.

Bruce:

I’m with Valkyrie that I preferred EITHER version to PermaHulk Bruce. Honestly, the Hulk himself had sort of become an independent character, especially after Ragnarok (my issues with Ragnarok aside). So by Bruce settling into this “I look like the Hulk but I act like Bruce” limbo, are we … essentially killing the Other Guy? I don’t like that. I mean I prefer Bruce obviously, but I’m really uncomfortable with that solution.

Scott:

I really love Scott and he was delightful as always in this film. I’m heartbroken for him that he missed (another) 5 years of Cassie’s life, though. I’m also pretty sad we won’t get to see the little girl who has played Cassie so far in any future films since we’ve aged the character up to a teenager. Also, I would’ve liked to see more of Hope! I loved Scott and Hope’s little moment when Hope calls Steve “Cap” and they trade expressions between Scott going “SEE, HE IS REALLY COOL, RIGHT?” and Hope being like “Yeah, okay”.

Overall I guess the Ant-Fam is sorta tangential to the main MCU Avengers cast, so while it was nice to have everybody play together, briefly, I’m pretty content that we’ll see more of Hope (and Janet!) in future Ant-Man/Wasp titles.

 - Similarly, while T’Challa and the Wakanda fam were definitely underused in Endgame (especially the entirely absent Nakia), Black Panther 2 is happening. It’s disappointing to not get a substantial amount of characters that you like in the big team-up films, but it’s good to know they’ll be returning later.

Wanda:

We are really leaving Wanda in a rough place of having lost her twin brother and her android boyfriend within a pretty short amount of time (that’s rough, buddy). Plus, one of the characters that we’ve seen her have a pretty strong bond with is Steve, and he’s out of the picture too. I’m not sure where we’re going with this character, honestly. Hopefully it’s not continuing to hurt her.

It really seemed conspicuous that nobody so much as mentioned Vision by name in this film. Wanda referred to him indirectly, but that was it. I get that Vision isn’t immediately able to be saved since he didn’t vanish in the Gauntlet event, but, yikes, can anybody besides Wanda please attempt to give a damn about him?

I know sometimes we like to pretend that Age of Ultron didn’t happen to us, but Vision was still an interesting character, and some major plot points of Infinity War focused on the value of Vision as a person. I feel pretty bereft that he’s (apparently) gone beyond recall with so little mourning.

Thor:

*heavy sigh*

Thor’s characterization was….???

Unpopular Opinion: despite its good points, I overall didn’t really like Ragnarok, and Thor already sort of felt out of character to me at that point.

Another Unpopular Opinion: I actually really love The Dark World. Thor’s relationship with Jane, and his characterization of gentleness and humility in that era really were important to me.

And I get that Hemsworth is genuinely good at comedy and probably likes doing it. But Thor has always been a funny character. We just used to be laughing with him instead of at him.

I was so uncomfortable with the way the film framed Thor’s brush with depression and alcoholism. Because Thor has lost so much at this point, he has every reason to struggle. I want to say that Thor wouldn’t have given up, but the same time I can believe that this almost unimaginable weight of loss (Frigga, Odin, Loki, Heimdall, The Warriors Three, Asgard itself) would take some toll. And yet the framing of his scenes treats his grief and despair as cause for humor. We’re expected to laugh about an unkempt beard and a big belly instead of being concerned about the fact that a character that we loved considers himself a failure. And there’s nothing funny about this situation to me. It just made me uncomfortable and sad. Revisiting Thor 2 and having him talk to Frigga was on the better side, but I’m disappointed that we couldn’t save her.

Natasha:

*heavier sigh*

Okay, I think a lot of the problem here is that it’s just really difficult to kill a main character any time other than in the last act (we also saw this problem in Star Wars Rebels, but that’s another can of worms). So because Natasha died at such a midway point in the movie, I still can’t shake the feeling that she’s not really dead. Nothing about it felt final to me. Clint trying to emphasize that, because Red Skull said so, it was impossible to bring her back (it’s freaking RED SKULL, why would we trust him???) just made me think even more that she was definitely coming back. Everything seemed to point to her dramatic reappearance and then it just … didn’t happen. That’s not to say it won’t happen in a future film, though, but it still feels deeply unsatisfying and unceremonious now, and that feeling really was a blow to my overall enjoyment of the film.

It also sat really badly with me that Natasha made this choice not just to save Clint (which I would believe; their friendship is really great and I love seeing Natasha’s extremely profound but non-romantic bonds with Clint and with Steve (though I would’ve preferred Natasha/Clint to Natasha/Bruce)), but because she fundamentally felt less worthy than Clint. I don’t like the idea that Natasha went to her death still feeling such guilt, still feeling like a monster (according to that awful scene in AoU), for the things she did as a very young person under the influence of brainwashing. I don’t like that at all.

I’m also really disappointed that we didn’t pursue Natasha and Bucky’s relationship from the comics in the MCU. Because the idea of two people with very similar emotional wounds coming together to support each other as they heal is just really appealing (#looking for baggage that goes with mine). That throwaway line in Civil War (“at least you could recognize me”) really had me convinced that we were going there. I guess we still could, but there are a lot of “ifs” standing in the way now.

Steve:

Another disclaimer: Steve is absolutely my favorite Avenger, and I ship Steve/Peggy really hard.

Aaand I still felt uncomfortable with the resolution.

Maybe it’s just the difficulty I’ve been having getting my head around the time travel shenanigans.

So a lot of the criticisms I’ve heard/read about Steve going back to the 1940’s to Peggy seems to be functioning under the assumption that Steve is living within the timeline as we know it in MCU canon, staying completely hidden, and just not changing any of the bad things that canonically happen: Bucky becoming the Winter Soldier, Hydra infiltrating SHIELD, etc.

But we’ve been told that time travel doesn’t work that way – that Back To The Future, Doctor Who way – in this universe, right? This brings me back to my Alternate Reality take. So my understanding is that after Steve returns the infinity stones to the points in time that the Avengers yoinked them from, he basically occupies an Alternate Reality for a lifetime (Tilda Swinton’s thing about the branched off timelines being consumed by the ~forces of darkness~ only applies IF the infinity stones aren’t returned, and he took care of that). And he could’ve done anything in that Alternate Reality – married Peggy, saved Bucky from Hydra, prevented any wars and disasters he could. Basically it was Steve’s own personal Happiness AU. And then, (presumably after Peggy’s death), he uses the Pym particles and the Quantum Realm to return to his original reality.

Except, in that case, shouldn’t he have returned on the platform instead of dramatically showing up on that park bench?

So…I’m confused and I don’t like it.

Even from the Alternate Reality take, the situation of that choice is complicated. In choosing to be with Peggy, he’s tearing himself out of the lives of all of his loved ones in his Original Reality – Bucky, Sam, Wanda, (whatever the situation was with Sharon Carter that we absolutely never resolved?), etc.

And we’re not completely sure it was a choice, exactly. It’s possible that in the ongoing work to return the infinity stones, Steve somehow got trapped in the past (don’t know why he would’ve had to go to the 40’s, but I guess he could’ve run out of Pym particles there and had to wait for Hank to invent them to even be able to make the trip back).

Also, narratively speaking, it feels a little like we’re invalidating Peggy’s grief, and her character growth that went on in Agent Carter (even if her happy ending with Steve is going on in an Alternate Reality). I wasn’t totally sold on Peggy and Daniel Sousa yet (though I do like Daniel as a character a lot), but Peggy had a whole lifetime that didn’t involve Steve except as a beloved memory. Where is she in that arc when Time Traveler Steve comes back into her life?

Also, even if it IS an Alternate Reality, there would STILL be a version of Steve frozen in the ice in the 1940’s in that reality. How do we deal with that?

And how do we deal with the fact that Steve isn’t the man that Peggy lost anymore. He still loves her, but he’s changed, he’s lived almost a decade since then. How do they find their footing with each other? I’m sure it isn’t impossible, but it’s interesting, and it’s not addressed at all.

I think that’s what bothers me the most – that this is a whole huge adventure – Steve’s entire LIFE – that we’re shoehorning in at the very end of the movie without showing any of the really interesting bits or answering any of our questions about it. I guess that leaves the situation as a fertile ground for the imagination, and maybe that’s a space that the MCU intends to explore someday? I would absolutely watch the hell out of Steve’s Time Travel Romance with Peggy, somebody take my goddamn money.

Anyway, I’m happy about Sam taking up the Shield as Captain America. Bucky-Cap also could’ve been great, but I feel like, with the place we left Bucky in his recovery, he doesn’t need that responsibility yet. Let him rest. Wherever we’re going with the series featuring Sam and Bucky is going to be really interesting, and maybe we’ll get to the point where Bucky really wants to work towards atonement and is ready to share the burden of the Shield with Sam? I’m looking forward to finding out.

Overall, most of my feelings about the movie were pretty positive. It was a complicated story to tell with a lot of characters, and mostly it was handled pretty well. Some of those threads did fall flat for me, but they didn’t totally invalidate the parts of the movie that worked.

#spoilers #Avengers Endgame spoilers #Endgame spoilers #long post #I had in my outline that I was going to talk about Clint #but I accidentally skipped that #it's briefly in Natasha's section #I could go into it more but this is already too long

[evilfairytales]

Star vs. The Forces of Evil Cleaved my Heart (not in the good way)

Okay, so massive spoilers are up ahead, needless to say. And frankly, if you enjoyed the finale, or really Season 4 in general, you’re better off moving along. More power to you, but there’s not much for you here, I’m afraid.

Okay, so I dusted off my old tumblr page here because I just HAVE to get this off my chest. Star vs. The Forces of Evil has been one of my favorite shows of the last five years or so. I like having it on in the background while I write or do other stuff. And I’m still going to do that, up to Season 3. Because I refuse to let Season 4 take my love of the first three seasons away from me. That would be letting it win.

The only other thing I can think of offhand that makes me want to rant like this are the Star Wars prequels. That’s because I don’t like to hate things. If I’m going to spend my time watching or reading or listening to something, I’d like to enjoy it. So even if I don’t think something is great, or even really that good, I’d far and away prefer to focus on what I actually did like about it and try to gloss over the bad things. 

So I tried to like season 4, I really, really did. And you know what? For most of it, I was doing a pretty good job of liking it! There were some very funny bits in there, and some very sweet ones. ‘Curse of the Blood Moon’ in particular was a great episode. I liked Kelly & Marco being break-up buddies, that was adorable, even if we all knew it wasn’t gonna last. I think Pony Head can be hilarious under the right circumstances, and she was in fine form in both ‘The Pony Head Show’ and ‘Queen-Napped.’ 

Right from the beginning, I thought that Moon just being on Pie Island and wrapping that up so nice and neat seemed kind of anticlimactic, but I could deal. As time went on and it became clear Eclipsa really wasn’t planning anything more sinister than getting Globgor uncrystallized, I started thinking that maybe this last season was going to call back to earlier days. Not so much an intricate plot, but just fun adventures with the characters we love. The fact that they seemed to be setting up Mina as the big last antagonist seemed to support that. Ludo, too was one of those cases where I thought they could have done more with it, but he ended up happy, so that’s okay. Maybe he’d help out a little in the end! 

In light of all that, when Star went back to Echo Creek, I was 100% into it. I was feeling it. Again, Beach Day ended up feeling rather anticlimactic, but it was sweet, and I saw what they were going for. We have some fun back on Earth, Mina causes trouble, they go back to fix it...maybe Mina ends up on Earth somehow and we gotta beat her there, whatever. Star probably decides she wants to stay on Earth with Marco, at least for now, the end. I might end up feeling like I wanted more, but I would have been quite pleased with that. 

Then they just decided to set fire to the whole fucking thing in the last four episodes. Let’s start with Mina working for Moon. That was a legitimately shocking twist when it was revealed. And if they had done something GOOD with it, it could have been a great plot point. But seriously, Moon’s ENTIRE plan was to turn Mina and the Solarians loose and force Eclipsa & Globgor to abdicate & exile themselves. And her only contingency plan was a spell to turn the Solarian’s power off that she obviously hadn’t tested. That is a STUPID and DESPERATE plan that puts so very, very many innocents, both Mewmans and Monsters, in lethal danger. It is unlike Moon on just about every conceivable level. 

But you know what? The fact that they just threw Moon’s character into the woodchipper DOESN’T EVEN MATTER, because the situation is just ripped out of her hands almost instantly. Seriously. Imagine if Mina had gathered her army by herself and was acting alone, and Moon really was just there to help. What would be different about the way the plot unfolded? I guess Star wouldn’t be angry at Moon, but she never really DID anything about that anger, so...yeah. You just made Moon a villain for no reason whatsoever. Nice. 

Or was that anger supposed to be what pushed Star over the edge into deciding magic was bad? This. This development, pulled COMPLETELY out of nowhere, was really what made me hate the whole thing. Frankly, this whole bit makes me so mad I can hardly see straight. Magic is bad, and we need to destroy it? When up to that exact moment we’d been using magic, learning about magic, protecting magic, remaking magic, loving magic. 

Up until that exact moment there had never been a single instant where the characters, or us viewers, were asked to even consider the idea that the world would be better off without magic. And in one little fit of pique, Star just turned one of the show’s central concepts on it’s head. It’s like one of those impulsive bad ideas she has that someone needs to talk her down from...except this time everybody, even people who will cease to exist, just go right along with it! 

To be honest, I actually don’t like the ‘In the End, Magic is BAD’ trope in fiction in general, even if it’s set up well. It’s reminiscent of those stories where someone from our world ends up in some amazing magical realm, saves the day, and decides to return to Earth. It’s like the lesson is that our mundane reality is somehow better than an awesome fantasy world. (For the record, if I was the magical savior of some mystical realm where I’d be a hero forever, unless I’ve got the love of my life and/or non-adult children back here, I’m gone. Sorry, friends and family. I’ll try my best to send word so you know I’m not dead, but...)

This time, however, it was NOT setup well. This was GARBAGE. They just threw it in at the last second, and expected us to go right along with it., despite it being completely against the tone of the show up to that exact moment. This is just BAD WRITING. 

Was it supposed to be some kind of allegory for power in general? Because if so, it’s a REALLY shitty one. The people in charge are always going to have power, magic, military, political, whatever. Whoever’s gonna end up in charge of Mewni Creek is still going to have power, whether they’ve got magic or not. The idea should be to use that power responsibly, for the good of everyone. 

So, magic is gone. The Magic High Commission is dead. I mean, I guess they were fiendish villains, even though we had no time at all to process them in that role. So, I guess they deserved it? Even though Moon was at least as culpable as any of them, and we forgave her instantly. Well, again, that didn’t really matter at all. And Glossaryck’s gone. I mean, he doesn’t necessarily have to make sense, and he really stopped being a character in Season 2, so that’s legitimately okay. I mean, it seems like they might have been going for something with him creating the wand and giving it to the first user in the past...that seemed like a thing worth exploring. But then a lot of other things did, too. Like ‘Eclipsa’s’ most dangerous spell. That REALLY seemed like that was going to be a thing. But it was really just Solaria’s Total Annhiliation Spell, and it didn’t really go anywhere. Eclipsa used it, and it was bad, and she didn’t use it again. Guess we’re done with that!

Poor Doop-Doop though, huh? And Spider With a Top Hat, the Warnicorns, the Narwhals...bummer for all of them. I mean, they REALLY fail to make it clear whether ALL magic is gone, or just the Butterfly magic. Admittedly, killing all the magic in the universe seems like a gigantic decision to make for literally everyone...seems like that would wipe who knows how many sentient beings out of existence. And then Pony Head can still float...honestly, it’s obvious the writers didn’t really care one way or the other, so why should we?

But either way, the spells in the wand are all dead, and so is Doop-Doop. Was Doop-Doop a subtle hint that the show’s creators had stopped giving a shit, and so should we? I mean, being voiced by Justin Roiland, he kind of automatically has that ‘nothing matters’ tone from Rick and Morty. And showing up at the end like that, his only real purpose seems to be to remind us that he’s gonna die along with all the other spells. To say nothing of Hekapoo. It’s ASTONISHING how little we’re supposed to care about the effects of what they did beyond ‘Magic is Bad, Stop Mina.’ Mina got slurped down by a corrupt unicorn that also never really got any kind of satisfactory exploration, by the way. 

This was SO BAD. AWFUL. TERRIBLE. It’s so bad, I honestly can’t believe the creators actually thought it was good. I mean, I can see Nefcy & Company being really upset about not getting more than four seasons...that is justifiable anger, and Disney should DEFINITELY have given them at least a fifth season. Were they so upset that they just kind of wanted to torch the thing on the way out? Or did they just not care and they felt this was just the easiest, laziest way to shut it all down? Because I do NOT believe that they thought this was a good finale. I will NEVER believe that. 

By the time the worlds merged, or Echo Creek was absorbed into Mewni, or whatever the hell that all was, I was pretty much emotionally numb. So, yeah, that part’s fine, whatever it’s supposed to be. 

I’m glad Star and Marco ended up together. But that was only one part of why I liked the show, and they were always going to get together anyway. If Starco was literally the only reason I watched the show, I probably would have been okay with the ending. But it wasn’t, and the finale shredded pretty much everything else. So, to hell with it. 

As far as I’m concerned, Divide & Conquer were the last episodes. 

#star vs the forces of evil #finale #review #i hated it #cleaved

[theonceoverthinker]

OUAT 2X16 - The Miller’s Daughter

I actually don’t have a pun this time, but if you want to read some semi-interesting thoughts on this episode, comedy bits that may or may not be funny, and for me to try to analyze costumes despite having fork all knowledge about them, then come with me and you’ll be in a world of fairytale serialization!

Press Release Cora’s desire to rid herself of Rumplestiltskin in order to take his place as The Dark One takes one step closer to becoming reality as she and Regina try to overpower a dying Mr. Gold, and Mary Margaret is once again tempted by dark magic. Meanwhile, in the fairytale land that was, Rumplestiltskin agrees to offer his services to a younger Cora - for a price - when the king calls her bluff and orders her to actually follow through on her boast of being able to spin straw into gold. General Thoughts - Characters/Stories/Themes and Their Effectiveness Past Cora’s psyche was FABULOUSLY written in this segment. She’s not completely unsympathetic, but seeing the things that tick her off and her suggestion of “bloodlust” as her fuel for her magic show that she’s a psychopath. She wants to torture people for looking down on her and it’s appropriately petty. Her ambitions are so strong and appealing to her that they eclipse even her sense of love. We get such a complex picture of this woman here and it frames her perfectly for the tragic fate that comes upon her in the present.

Cora, you are an evil woman but I’d be lying through my teeth if I said you didn’t rock that dress! Actually, despite knowing fork all about fashion, I want to continue. Let’s talk about the use of color in this scene. Cora’s wearing a red and black dress, though it’s predominantly red. I feel like this can be read (Or rather, RED XD ) as Cora being a person who wants bloodlust and who is finally deciding to let the blackness in her heart take over in order to get what she wants. Also lets not the silver on he dress as well in the form of the jewel or brooch (Note my lack of fashion know how), a small but noticeable reflection of the values Henry Sr. wants in a wife. And speaking of, Henry Sr. is dressed, not only in white, but white and silver. The white, of course, is his sense of goodness which does win out in the end, but the silver to me stands in for the speckle of darkness that his future endeavors with an evil Cora and an eventually evil Regina will be involved in. Finally, let’s look at the king. His clothes are roughly half black and half white. I read that as him ultimately having good intentions for his son and kingdom but being wicked for all that he puts Cora through, knowing her rank, status, and likely abilities.

While I understand that this borders of shipping stuff, and I usually separate that, I like how while Cora and Henry Sr. have a relationship that’s not at all antagonistic at the very start, they don’t spend enough time together to discover whether or not it’s love, making their dysfunction later on make so much sense. Present I have a lot to say about Snow wanting to kill Cora...just not here, if that makes sense. While I remember it going overboard in upcoming episodes (Prepare for the longest eye roll in the world when Snow goes on about how it was easy to kill Cora), it’s really well executed here. Snow riles herself up to kill Cora and when it finally happens, she realizes how she wasn’t ready for the internal consequences in regards to her heart and sense of goodness (Not to mention her safety from Regina!). Snow’s rage from the last episode’s ending is still so present, and it’s appropriately framed as a risky path she might not want to take, but just might have to.

Snow utterly GETS Regina as she’s giving her the heart. It’s horribly twisted just how much she’s able to pick on Regina’s need for a mother’s love and use that to get Regina to kill Cora. That moment really struck as the one where she realized (And me) that for as tactical as the move was, it may have been too cruel. All Encompassing I love seeing Cora as she started out because it says so much about the presentation she’s built around herself over the course of her rise to power. Cora has a fiery and snippy temper that she can just hardly control, even among the royals who she so desperately wants to be one of. The Cora of the present composes herself so well and it’s such an interesting contrast, especially in the moments when that anger does comes out.

It’s such an interesting contrast as the scene where Emma learns how to use magic cuts to the one where Cora learns to use magic. In the Emma scene, Rumple has her conjuring a mental idea of those she loves and wants to protect and why so that she can help others. Meanwhile, in the Cora scene, the ideas Rumple has Cora conjure have to deal with those she wants to harm and kill so that she can better her own status. It’s a great point of contrast not only for the two characters, BUT also for how light magic and dark magic are uniquely created. Also, given how Rumple is a Dark One who was at one point a Savior (Though I acknowledge that that might not have been created at the time), it’s great to see Rumple at the cornerstone of both lessons, showing a sympathy and understanding for both women.

“I realized no matter how good I was or how hard I worked, I was never gonna be more than I am now.” Cora and SNow are conflicting characters in this episode, and it’s so cool to see that at one point (Obviously longer for Snow by a huge margin), both women held the idea that goodness being the cause of good fortune as true. Insights - Stream of Consciousness -I love the design of Cora’s home in the past. With the placement of her father in the wheelbarrow and the dirty colors all around, it really highlights the squalor that Cora’s lived in all her life. Additionally, the castle in the still quite visible distance is the perfect thing to show her ambition to be more than she is and ascend to royalty. The melancholic music in the background just brings it all home. -Going off of my last review, I love how Eva is characterized in her small moment. The trip is pre-mediated (But in a smart way) and the Season 3 episode where they first meet even gives more of a reason as to why she was so horrible here. -Those bunks are actually roomier than I thought they’d be for a pirate ship. -I like Rumple’s subversion of expectations with Emma as he asks if she wants him to die before they return to Storybrooke. He always expects the worst out of people (As semi-justly as that mentality is) and when they show that that’s he’s wrong (whether he understands that or not) is just so nice! -”I-I’m not wicked.” You are about to kill at least four people! Yes, you are wicked! Or evil, since ‘wicked’ is more of Zelena’s schtick. -Also, Cora’s reaction to the phone call is hysterically petty. She’s like a cat. -Yes, Regina! Doubt her! (fork me with a rusty fork, the dialogue is just AMAZING here!) -*wistfully sighs* The stylized design of this ball is so beautiful. The masks, the dancing, the layout! It’s so distinct! -I have to ask: Does Cora know that that’s Henry Sr. when she originally gossips about him right to his face? On one hand, I’m not sure we’re supposed to interpret that that way, but on the other hand, it’s a very Cora thing to do. -It’s really weird to see someone on this show say ‘whore’ (“Whoring” in context, but still!). -”Cora. Sounds like something breaking.” I can’t say that I agree with you, Rumple. Cora’s a lovely name! We just need someone less evil to have it! -”Can ya read”” I think this is the first time Rumple’s actually checked to see if someone could read! He really should do that more! Like, so many of the people he deals with are defenseless peasants! So what the hell?! -Love that pen, Rumple! THAT is a deal-making pen! -”For a rainy day.” You say that a lot, Rumple. What, did a rainy day eat your dog or something? -”And there’s no coming back from death, either.” Give it a season, Rumple. And then another. And Then Another. And. Then. Another. AND THEN ANOTHER! I don’t hate this plot device, but it really happens a lot! XD -”...When he learns that you killed his grandpa.” Rumple, the other solution is her killing his adoptive grandma/great-grandma. This isn’t as much of a point in your favor as you think it is! XD -I love how they showed Emma using magic here. You really feel the step-by-step process in how it’s done. I wish they’d use that filming style more often in the future, but I guess I get that the creators acknowledge that we get the deal in the later seasons. -”I rip out his throat and I crunch his veins with my teeth.” That is amazingly disturbing imagery! Like, the writing of those lines are so impactful and frankly scary! -”To a child.” So, I don’t know if this was the fault of casting, but Eva and Cora are too close in age for the difference to be all that remarkable. -”I want their kneecaps to crack and freeze upon the stones. I want their necks to break from bending.” Another instance of disturbing as all here writing, but done so eloquently that it’s beautiful. -I like how Regina and Cora are able to pretty easily take down Emma’s protection spell together while Cora takes longer to do it on her own, showing that even though Emma’s the Savior and indeed powerful, she still has a lot to learn. -Also, good on you, Emma for giving Regina a last chance! -”WHEN YOU SEE THE FUTURE, THERE’S IRONY EVERYWHERE!” Finally! I not only now know for life where that forking quote comes from, but after referencing it time after time, it’s so good to hear it again! -Another note on the costume colors: The only time Cora rejects her ambitions are when she’s wearing her opposite color: White. The goodness in her is so overpowering! -I love the distorted version of the classic Once tune that plays as Snow is getting Cora’s heart. -”At least this cursed power will pass from this world.” I’m not sure how I feel about this line when it comes to Rumple, given how just two episodes ago, he was so on team magic, but given that the dagger both threatens his family now and caused the initial separation from Bae, I can understand the sentiment. -I’d like to think that when Cora sent Emma and Neal away, she essentially just did it via subconscious randomizer! XD -”Did you ever love me?” Given everything that happened with Milah, it makes sense that Rumple would ask this going forward with his romantic endeavors. -”I did nothing.” Yes, you did! Rumple, who the here told Snow about the freakin’ candle the second time? I love you, man, but don’t weasel completely out of this! -Something I noticed: So, I know that the point of contention with Regina blaming Snow for Daniel’s death is a hot topic (Hell, I even saw a debate about it this morning), and I can’t help but feel like this was written partially so that Regina would have a more...legitimate reason to hate Snow. Arcs - How are These Storylines Progressing? Rumple Finding Baelfire/Neal - I actually discuss there two in just a moment! Regina’s Redemption - This episode definitely shows Regina’s sense of good and evil being pit against each other and Cora is right in the middle of it. In the shop, she’s directly by Regina’s side and there, she won’t even entertain the idea of Emma’s offer to change sides. But when Cora and Regina are separated, and the idea of Cora’s real love is brought up, that’s when we see her goodness win. Cora in Storybrooke - Here concludes this arc, and I honestly loved it. Like all of the best villains and their arcs, Cora leaves so much on the floor (Apart from her corpse, that is) in terms of emotional issues for our main cast, especially Snow and Regina. The arc itself  was also well written and well paced. Not to mention, it mixed very well with Regina’s Redemption by forcing it to be turned back a bit, showing that Regina’s redemption won’t be so easy. Favorite Dynamic Rumple and Neal - These guys have a scene that’s maybe half a forking minute and they steal the god damned episode with it. Rumple finally gets to say what we all know he really wanted to say. And what I especially love here is how Neal hears him out but does not forgive him! Like, Rumple is dying and he doesn’t fully absolve him, and I think that was such a bold and brilliant thing for Espenson to do. It shows that Neal’s pain, even in this moment, still matters, and while there can be softness, that pain hasn’t gone away. It’s such a small, but insightful understanding of their relationship. Writer Jane Espenson hit the writing out of the forking park! At least a few times during the episode had such intricate language. Honestly, it almost freaks me out a bit with the imagery she painted during the ‘bloodlust’ scene with the way she has Rumple and Cora speak about the harm they wish to inflict on those who scorned them! While there are errant lines here and there that I don’t like (I jotted a few down in “Insights”, they’re so few and far between that they hardly matter. The storytelling and character work here is great, too. She took advantage of all of the little nuances from the other episodes and shows just how much attention she was paying here. Rating Golden Apple. This was a great end to Cora’s story. Intersped with two fantastic stories that connect pretty well are great character moments between our main cast. It’s incredibly solid for an episode that serves as such a big moment of culmination, but it is. It’s entertaining, heartwarming, heartbreaking, disturbing at some points, and everything else in between. The feeling of tension as the Mills/Charming-Stiltskin war comes to a head is present through the entire flashback and Cora’s backstory only shows how much of a threat she truly is. Flip My Ship - Home of All Things “Shippy Goodness” Snowing - I like how David knows Snow well enough to know exactly what killing Cora will do to her psychologically. A subtle moment like that really shows how well these two click. Golden Heart (Cora/Rumple) - I’d be lying if I didn’t say there weren’t sparks that could light the Enchanted Forest up like a menorah between Rumple and Cora. I love the way they bond over bloodlust and their kiss in front of the mirror while Cora’s in her wedding dress is a little hot! Look, I LOVE mopey dopey puppy love ships like Snowing, Rumbelle, or Captain Swan, but I LOVE villain ships! I love when a couple loves evil and each other, the exact order notwithstanding and this episode gives me exactly what I want. In another world, I would totally have had Rumple and Cora be together and have episodes and be recurring villains, but that (partially) doesn’t happen. Still, I’m grateful for what we get here. Also, I love when while Cora places her heart on Rumple’s chest, he says “I will show you EVERYTHING,” meaning his heart and love as well. I’ve also got to point out that Rumple and Cora can do that thing that the True Loves do when their kisses can be indicative of when something is wrong. Finally, Cora’s pentultimate dying words are “this would’ve been enough,” and Rumple and Regina are the only two in the scene, meaning that she would’ve wanted to be with them as a family. Rumbelle - I could honestly just put the entire phone call here and it would cover everything I want to say. It’s such a beautiful goodbye. However, I’m going to reference just a single line that comes in early on. “You are a hero.” Rumple knows how much being a hero means to Belle and that’s the first thing he tells her. It’s her ambition for herself and he places that ahead of her ambitions for him. That’s just heartbreaking. And it’s here that Rumple first says a sentiment that carries him to the series finale: “You make me wanna go back to the best version of me.” And that forking almost silent “Thank you, Belle” legitimately choked me up. ()()()()()()()()() Thank you for reading and to the fine folks at @watchingfairytales!

Wow. After all the pain that Cora caused, Storybrooke’s more or less a new town! I guess we should welcome ourselves there. ;) See you next time. Season 2 Tally (142/220) Writer Tally for Season 2: Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis: (39/60) Jane Espenson (35/50) Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg (24/50) David Goodman (24/30)* Robert Hull (16/30) Christine Boylan (17/30) Kalinda Vazquez (20/30) Daniel Thomsen (18/20)* * Indicates that their work for the season is complete

Operation Rewatch Archives

#ouat #once upon a time #watching fairytales #ouat 2x16 #ouat rewatch #jenna watches ouat

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Michael After Midnight: Avatar

Hyperbole is a real bitch. No matter what direction it goes in, it can seriously hamper a movie’s reputation. It’s the reason why I always just give a broad recommendation at the end of my reviews rather than a score; I find saying “Hey if you like this genre/subject matter/actor/etc, you might like this film” is a lot better than saying “This is a 10/10 five star masterpiece that all humans who ever shall exist need to see.” All too often the latter is what you get from mainstream publications when they praise a film.

Look what happened to Frozen; it was called one of the better Disney movies in recent memories and was praised to the heavens and back, which led to a bunch of people on the internet vocally disagreeing with said opinion, which then led to an entire anti-fandom of obnoxious basement dwellers who felt the need to constantly remind everyone Frozen sucked on any animation post they could find. All of this for a movie that, in hindsight, is just a solid, standard Disney princess flick.

Tonight we’re talking about a similar case, a film that when it came out was hyped up as a groundbreaking masterpiece of visual effects and a box office smash that grossed insane amounts of money… and was then derided as forgettable and a ripoff of Pocahontas or FernGully or what have you in the years to come. Yes, tonight we are talking about James Cameron’s smash hit, Avatar, and honestly? It’s probably the second best thing named Avatar out there, after Nickelodeon’s series about the last Airbender. After spending years being an obnoxious hipster douchebag and not watching it because it was popular followed by several more years of being an obnoxious douchebag who bashed whatever it was that was popular to bash, I finally sat down and watched James Cameron’s silly blue alien environmental movie… and frankly, it’s a pretty damn good movie. And I don’t just mean “oh it’s better than I expected but not great,” I mean “I can genuinely see to an extent where people were coming from when they were praising this.”

The story goes like this: In the far future, Earth is a polluted pile of fuck, so humans have taken to looking for resources elsewhere. One elsewhere? The moon of the planet Polyphemus, known as Pandora, which is home to a rare mineral that humans ironically dubbed “Unobtanium,” as it is rather hard to obtain due to the richest source being located amongst the native population: the ten-foot-tall blue alien beings known as the Na’vi. Jake Sully, a paraplegic former marine, is selected to utilize a remote-controlled artificial Na’vi body called an “avatar” so he can gain the native’s trust and maybe convince them to move, though there are tons of problems he has to overcome, not the least being that he starts crushing hard on Neytiri, the daughter of the chief (and seeing how she’s a hot blue alien played by Zoe Saldana, can you really blame him?). Can Sully help the humans and Na’vi reach a peaceful conclusion, or is the warmongering Colonel Miles Quaritch gonna get his way and start routing the natives out by force?

Interestingly, a lot of the movies that people claims this ripped off came out after this movie had been written; Cameron’s been working on this movie since 1994, when he wrote up an 80-page treatment for the film. He wanted to start working on this after Titanic, but the technology of the time just wasn’t right to fulfill his vision. Frankly, it’s a good thing he waited, because as I’m sure you know from all the praise it got, the visuals in this film are simply stunning. The Na’vi, the creatures of Pandora, the forests, all the glorious details of this alien planet and its inhabitants are just incredibly well done. If this had been done earlier, there is no way the Na’vi would have avoided the uncanny valley as well as they did; as it stands, they’re probably one of my favorite alien races in fiction, just from the visual standpoint alone. How good this movie looks compared to the story - which by comparison to the groundbreaking effects is rather basic - would almost make you think this film is just style over substance…

...But I’d argue that’s not exactly the case. While it’s glaringly obvious that the effects are the biggest draw, the story is still enjoyable and solid. It may seem rather derivative, but that’s mostly because in the span of time the film took to get made everyone and their mother cranked out environmental films or films about aboriginal people being joined by an outsider who learns from them and then fights back against people encroaching on their way of life, especially during the 90s. This movie quite frankly has an edge over all of those films; for one, this film looks way better than any of them, even Pocahontas (which is undeniably a beautiful film to look at). It also helps this film avoids the, uh… unfortunate implications that often come with these kinds of stories. I’m not here to get to into this aspect of those kinds of movies, but in the hands of less talented writers and directors there tends to be really nasty undertones. While Jake Sully does help lead this foreign culture to victory over their technologically advanced foes, it’s more due to him having knowledge of how humans work combined with the skills the Na’vi themselves have. Neither would have won without the other’s help. So yeah, the story is pretty simple, but pretty good. Not truly groundbreaking or original, but it really doesn’t have to be.

While I will say the story is the weak point, it IS carried by some truly great characters… just not Sully. While he’s a decent protagonist and all, he’s quite frankly overshadowed by just about everyone around him, with three enormous shadows being cast by Grace, Neytiri, and Quaritch. Grace is played by Sigourney Weaver. That is literally all you need to know to understand why she utterly steals every single scene she’s in, but for the sake of this review, let me explain in a bit more detail: her establishing character moment has her awakening from her avatar pod asking where her cigarette is, she openly is suspicious of Sully being added to the avatar program, she is the most honestly sympathetic and noble character in the entire movie, and her avatar is a stunning work of CGI. There’s really not a bad thing I can say about her; she’s basically Ellen Ripley with a more positive attitude towards aliens. She takes no shit and she does all she can to keep these people from being exploited by the greasy corporate shitweasels, no matter what she has to do. What a fucking hero. Can you see why Sully just seems kinda weak in comparison?

Then we have Neytiri, played by Zoe Saldana. She’s gorgeous, she’s badass, and she has quite the likable personality. She almost singlehandedly gives Sully a basic rundown on how not to die and spends most of her early screentime saving his ass. This was one of Saldana’s big roles in 2009 alongside playing Uhura in the Star Trek reboot series, and it brought her tons of praise, fame, and helped get her typecast as “Badass space babe with colorful skin.” Without this, Gamora might have gone to a less impressive actor who wouldn’t have been able to showcase the emotional range required, so at the very least I’m thankful to this movie for that.

And now finally, and perhaps most importantly, we come to Colonel Miles Quaritch, played by Stephen “You wished he was Cable until they cast Josh Brolin” Lang. Quaritch is what seems like such a simple villain: a military man with some serious bloodlust, a guy who just seems to be itching to go to war. But really, there’s a lot more to him than that. One really gets the sense Quaritch really does believe what he’s doing is for the betterment of humanity, and he doesn’t go right to gunning down the Na’vi even when he’s given the word to remove them by force. There are a lot of ways to interpret him, but frankly, no matter what way you cut it he’s at the very least genuinely concerned with the safety of his subordinates (outlined in his establishing scene); this leads him to becoming probably one of the single most badass anti-villains ever conceived. The man frequently steps out into the hostile atmosphere of the moon, holding his breath, to take shots at foes before putting on a breathing apparatus. He jumps out of an exploding plane in a mini-mech, which he uses to get into a knife fight with Sully. And every heinous and violent action he takes is one he takes to protect men from dying, something he has seen far too much of. And while this makes him sympathetic to a degree, his utter disdain of the Na’vi and his bloodthirsty attitude also makes sure you want to see him gets what’s coming to him.

There’s some side characters here and there that are good, but it’s mainly these three carrying the story when it starts seeming a bit too basic for this lofty world Cameron has built. And really, this is a fantastic world he’s created. This is truly a stunning film visually, with some flavorful characters to ensure that the vision doesn’t wear on you throughout the running time. For the most part, it really does work; guess that’s just the magic of James Cameron.

This is a very good film. Not the greatest film of all time, but definitely an enjoyable, ambitious, and groundbreaking one. If I ever make a list of the best sci-fi films (and you know I will eventually), this will most certainly be on there… somewhere. It’s at least top 25 material. While Aliens and the first two Terminator films are definitely the best stuff Cameron has done, this is still quite an impressive piece of pop sci-fi he created; if you like environmental movies, science fiction, creative worldbuilding, awesome visuals, or James Cameron movies, this film is worth a watch. Hell, it’s worth a watch if you’re a fan of Weaver, Lang, or Saldana too, because their performances really drive this film. It’s a good movie, plain and simple.

...Though I don’t think it’s good enough to warrant four sequels. Fuck off, Cameron.

#Michael After Midnight #Review #Movie review #Avatar #James Cameron's Avatar #James Cameron #Sci-fi #Na'vi #Pandora #Neytiri #Zoe Saldana #Sigourney Weaver #Stephen Lang

[khicken121]

Downfall of a Dragon (Overwatch Short-Fic)

Author's Note:

We all know that Hanzo and Genji had a very bloody fight and Hanzo nearly left Genji for dead after that, leading him to become a cyborg. Since we don't know a whole lot about what either of these characters were like before their fight, I decided to put my own spin on it. Honestly, not gonna lie, Hanzo is a little psychotic and Genji is kinda arrogant in this fic, I don't like envisioning these characters like this, but I like to think that this fight changed them both in huge ways (mentally), as hinted at via the shorts, comics, and some in-game dialogue.

Also, after watching the "Dragons" short for the 76th time (pun intended), I studied the fighting styles of Hanzo with his bow and Genji with his katana (longer sword) and wakizashi (shorter sword) since this is a pre-Overwatch/cybernetics time for them. I tried to use the 3 seconds we see Hanzo use the bow like a sword and expand on that as best as I could since he doesn't have his bow yet at this time (or maybe he does, I don't know, the canon for this game is all over the place). I don't know how well this will turn out, but I guess we'll see, won't we?

WARNING! The following story contains violence, gore and major bleeding. The rating will remain T, but don't read if you are sensitive to these things!

--------------------

Hanzo had Genji in his sights. He was at too far of a range for his younger brother to sense him, but he had to be stealthy if he was going to fulfil his duty as quickly as possible. He followed Genji into the temple which, quite frankly, was one of the last places he wanted to spill blood on. Perhaps if he was lucky enough, he'd be able to kill him by snapping his neck and finish the task instantly.

He silently climbed up onto the roof of his family temple, waiting for Genji to complete his rituals and offerings to the dragon spirits and then walk out of the door where the grass could absorb blood, should there be any. The wind picked up from a light breeze to a quiet whistling. His hair swayed slightly in front of his face in tune with it. Yet, this wasn't a typical partially windy evening. His stomach tightened with a sickening pain as his dragon stirred restlessly. The same small voice in the depths of his mind was telling him that what he was going to do was just… No.

Hanzo smothered the thought even further back in his brain. He had to do this. For the empire. For the clan.

Genji was no longer one of them. He had disobeyed their father, disrespected the elders, taken advantage of nearly every young woman in the clan. His recklessness would be the downfall of everything their family name stood for. He was given countless chances to redeem himself, and he either didn't see it or outright refused it. That left Hanzo with only one choice.

He had to die.

After patiently waiting on the roof for what seemed to be longer than it actually was, Genji finally exited the temple. He held the offering bowls and incense in his right hand and used his left to release the wakizashi buckled to his lower back from its sheath. He headed for the forest, clearing any and all foliage blocking his path with the two-foot blade.

Hanzo silently made his way down and followed his brother. His footsteps made such little sound that it was silenced by the time it got to Genji's ears. Hanzo stopped in his tracks when Genji did, his right hand gripping the brown and gold hilt of his katana. He didn't want to alert his presence to him just yet. He figured an ambush-style attack would be most efficient to vanquish his disgrace of a little brother from the face of the earth. He was about to find a way to higher ground, but he stopped himself when Genji spoke in an all too calm tone for the given situation.

"I know why you're here," he placed the bowl and tray at the base of a tree he was standing in front of. "I know what the clan thinks of me. I know you feel the same way as they do. Yet..."

Genji purposefully trailed off and turned around to face his enraged brother. Hanzo mentally rolled his eyes. Genji was always one for drama and suspense, and it has been wearing at his nerves for almost twenty years, now.

"I will not lie, I was rather disappointed that you did not defend me," Genji's voice was starting to fill with anger and become amplified in volume. He shifted his hold on the wakizashi into a backhand grip, and his right hand reached for the katana strapped diagonally across his back. He raised it up a few inches, revealing a bright green beam of light emanating from the blade, accompanied by a flowing mist of the same color, showing that Genji was prepared to let his dragon fly and hunt of its own accord at any moment. A flash of the same hue appeared in Genji's deep brown eyes as they seemed filled with determination and fury.

"It will take more than just sneaking to kill me, Hanzo."

The older's patience had finally worn out. He'd put up with Genji's taunting and one-sided teasing for nearly as long as he can remember. He fully drew his own sword and proceeded to lunge towards his brother as he let out a battle cry and swung his katana downwards. Genji deflected the attempted strike with ease and followed it with a swiping motion to Hanzo's neck and a stabbing motion towards his brother's arm. Hanzo dodged both and propelled his blade horizontally through the air in his brother's direction as Genji went for a kick to Hanzo's abdomen.

The sound of metal slicing through flesh echoed in the air for a fraction of a second, only to be followed with a sight and feeling much worse as Genji looked down.

A deep gash had found a home in his lower calf. The fabric of the pant leg around the sliced area was barely hanging on, maybe a few stitches. A thick stream of blood began pouring out of the injury. He had heavily miscalculated the speed of his brother's attack. He glanced at his brother's face, Hanzo's teeth bared in anger and eyes seething with rage. He kept his face from showing any pain or anger, knowing full well it would only make him seem weak.

Thankfully, he had managed to put some distance between himself and his brother as he landed. Genji made a break for the temple, running as fast as he could with his limp.

Hanzo briefly glanced at the dark red liquid trailing down his katana, and a small surge of triumph filled him before following his brother's bloody footprint trail out of the forest.

He ran in pursuit of his brother. Every system in his body was racing with adrenaline. He passed through the courtyard, but his brother was nowhere to be seen. He entered the temple only to find that it was void of any living souls as well.

Hanzo stood in the center of the entrance of the temple. He inhaled deeply, closed his eyes and exhaled slowly. The only sound that filled his ears was the wind which practically roared at this point. The tapestry that stood forty meters from the cherry blossom tree was rippling as the wind manipulated it. Hanzo gripped the bloodied sword tighter in his hand, waiting for his dragon to give him insight on where its brother would be.

His eyes opened as he broke out of his self-transcendence and snapped his head upwards as the distinct sound of fabric being torn apart flew threw the air. Hanzo silently made his way to one of the large paper lanterns framing the entrance, where the source of the sound came from. He brought his katana into the ready position over his shoulder and quickly made his way to the other side of it, ready to confront his brother. Genji was still nowhere to be seen.

Genji had the upper hand now. He was always more swift than his older brother, and while his leg may be slowing him down now, he was still much faster than Hanzo.

Hanzo may have been skilled enough to please the empire and his father with his samurai abilities, but anything that Hanzo could do with a blade, Genji was almost always better at it.

Almost.

Hanzo pivoted sharply on his feet, shifting his body position 180 degrees just as Genji attempted to attack him again. He was deeply annoyed at his little brother, but wasn't surprised at his actions: first critiquing Hanzo on how sneaking wouldn't work on him and then trying the same tactic himself. Genji could be a real pain in the ass sometimes.

Alright, most of the time.

Genji swished his katana upwards to deflect Hanzo's counter-attack. A high-pitched shing rung in the air as the metal of the long, sharp weapons collided. A few sparks were created as a result, only to vanish as soon as they came into existence. Hanzo forced Genji's blade downwards at a nearly idle rate, but it was clear the younger was struggling under his brother's strength combined with his still-open wound, barely allowing him to stand. It was bandaged now. The dark fabric that was dangling off of his pant leg earlier was now wrapped tightly around his injury. Unfortunately for Genji, it didn't do a whole lot to stop the bleeding since the small patch of ripped material was already past its maximum absorption, and more blood trailed down his ankle and into his shoe as well as onto the temple floor.

The edge of Hanzo's blade was a hair's distance away from Genji's nose. Then the skin was broken, and it went deeper until the edge was touching bone. Genji summoned another bout of strength as he tried to put distance between his brother's sword and his face, but Hanzo's arms wouldn't budge.

Hanzo changed the angle of his katana against Genji's. Now Genji had two equally deadly swords growing nearer to his bloody face once again. The edges of both weapons touched and broke the skin for the second time, but now on both his cheeks and near his eyes. Genji managed to slip out of his position with a hard, painful kick to Hanzo's shoulder. Without hesitating, Genji flourished his sword and maneuvered it through the air as he summoned his dragon and commanded it to charge at his brother.

"Ryujin No Ken O Kurae!"

The tip of his green and silver katana was aimed at his brother and the dragon obeyed his master's silent command. It roared furiously and sprinted at Hanzo with the same angry fire in its eyes that Genji possessed. Hanzo narrowed his expression and tightened his grip on the sweaty hilt of his own sword.

Genji had officially gone rogue. Using the power of his dragon against his own kin was the last thing he would have done when the two of them were allies. Hanzo, however, knew exactly how to respond to this.

"Ryu Ga Waga Teki Wo Kurau!"

He held his katana over his head and directed the edge of it to Genji. Two translucent dragons, both as blue as Sea of Japan at sunrise, materialized out of the blade and glowed brightly. They charged at the incoming green dragon that Genji had summoned and directed it away from Hanzo. He commanded his dragons to lead the green one away from him and back to the younger of the two.

Genji braced himself for the impact of his dragon. He felt his feet scrape against the floor of the temple as he was pushed backwards by the brute force. He grunted as he tried to resist its power, feeling his energy being quickly drained from him. The attack only seeming to grow stronger as it progressed. He dropped to his knees, then collapsed on his side as he huffed in order to regain his breath.

Hanzo marched to his brother's limp body and picked him up by the collar. He drew his arm back, prepared to launch his brother across the room when his brother spoke in a half-taunt.

"You're regretting this, aren't you, brother?"

Hanzo proceeded to throw his brother towards the tapestry which still flailed heavily in the chilling wind. Genji grunted again as his body crashed to the wooden floor a few meters in front of it. He attempted to lift himself up, but was too weak to lift his torso more than five inches. Hanzo swung his weapon down again. Genji was only able to establish a weak block that Hanzo easily broke through, causing him to place another deep cut across Genji's neck and chest. The elder of the two then swished it horizontally, giving Genji a fresh wound spanning down his left arm that would no doubt leave multiple scars, should Hanzo decide to leave him alive. He struck his brother again, this time across his face, starting from his lips and travelling up between his nose and left eye and over his forehead.

Genji dropped to the ground like a ragdoll when Hanzo let him go. He brought a hand to his face to check the amount of blood pouring out of it. Before his fingers even came close to his injuries, he was picked up and thrown across the room. Hanzo picked up his sword and pierced it into Genji's abdomen.

Now it was all too much. Genji screamed at the state pain that consumed him from head to toe. He grabbed hold of the metal sticking out of his body in a fruitless attempt to remove it.

Hanzo took back his sword and practically hissed at his brother as he grabbed him by the neck.

"Get up!"

Genji was thrown against the wall one last time. A small splatter of blood that had soaked through the back of his clothes splattered against the low-hanging tapestry. The air being knocked out of his damaged lungs made him cough furiously and drop to the ground. Small drops of red escaped his mouth and flew to the ground. Hanzo lifted his sword over his head for the final time and brought it down at a speed that nearly rendered his arm a blur. The blade sliced through Genji's entire torso, including his entire right arm. The only thing preventing his body from splitting his body in two was a small patch of flesh on the lower left half of Genji's abdomen.

The horrific action was accompanied with the sickening sound of metal shearing against bone, skin, flesh and blood. Hanzo almost cringed at it. Genji would never know since he had slipped out of consciousness moments before it happened.

Hanzo breathed heavily as he took in what he had just done. He did it. He killed his brother. He had fulfilled his duty.

Only now was he finally realizing how much of a burden this was going to be.

"Guards!" Hanzo called, needing to direct his attention elsewhere for the moment. "Confiscate this man's weapons and take what is left of him and take it far off the premises. He is not worthy of a proper burial."

The three men didn't even question what they were ordered. They probably wouldn't question anything that their leader said for a long while, considering how he was carrying a bloody katana and a mutilated body laid beside him. It took a lot of effort, but the body was off the property in less than a minute. Other workers entered the scene to clean the floor and walls, but left the tapestry alone under Hanzo's command. He stood in the same place the whole time while the temple staff completed their tasks.

Hanzo was still furious at his brother. The whole clan was. Hanzo had obeyed the elders and took care of the liability that had lived among them all. He had done exactly as he was supposed to, for the better of everything that their family name stood for. Still, an unsettling knot brewed in his stomach and grew heavier by the second.

Hanzo briefly scanned the red blotches that stained the corner of the large white tapestry. It had become a new momento from the fight. One that would last for several years to come. He let out another battle cry as he slashed a line in the corner through the red liquid that blended in with the red border of the fabric. Hanzo sheathed his katana for the final time in his life and exited the temple. He didn't know how he would cope with this, but he knew that in time he'd learn how to. He still had much to learn, so what was one more thing?

Nonetheless, he did nothing to stop the small tears from falling.

Author's Note 2:

Thank you for reading my take on the Hanzo vs. Genji fight scene. I tried to stay as close to the canon as possible, so I apologize if anything was off. This will not be a multi-chapter fic. I hope you enjoyed what you read!

*Terrible Tracer impersonation voice* Take care, Loves!

#hanzo shimada #genji shimada #hanzo #genji #shimada brothers #overwatch #shortfic

[merilly-chan]

I really want Isa to be redeemed in KH3. And not die for some wishy-washy reasons. I can already imagine Nomura killing him off just to create a heart-wrenching scene between him and Lea or simply because he would disturb the beloved trio dynamic of fan-favorite characters like Xion and Roxas.

Now, I don’t dislike Xion or Roxas and I know you can’t write Isa so easily into their group because quite frankly, his treatment of them has been abusive, I’m not gonna deny that, but Lea really needs his friend back to have someone he can see eye to eye with. A feeling I could never shake was that the friendship between Lea, Roxas and Xion was not exactly on the same level. Lea always acted like an older brother/mother/father figure toward them, and while he never talked about the important stuff with anyone anyway, it seemed like he wanted to protect those two from the harms of the world even more instead of being honest with them like an actual friend would do. I know people want to protect their friends, but normally, you’d tell your best friends what is going on if it threatens to become more than they can handle. At the very least when things are about to go down the drain completely.

Another thing that doesn’t help is their age difference. I’m fairly aware that people can be friends despite an age difference of around ten+ years, but it’s also true that it’s difficult during certain phases because interests can clash immensely as well as traits like maturity, etc. Namely between adults and adolescents. Which is probably why Lea seems to treat them more like children. And I can’t even blame him for doing so. Both Xion and Roxas were basically newborns with no memories or experiences to make them mature like normal teenagers. Which is probably why they acted like 6 year olds at times because they simply did not know anything of the worlds or even growing up and learning. This is not to be put against them but further makes me feel that rift of Lea not acting like an actual friend but more like a babysitter.

Which is why I really want Isa to return to being his friend. Lea doesn’t have anyone to fully relate to and while Isa will certainly not be taken back into the group without him making up and apologizing for a lot of mistakes, he deserves a chance. And Lea really needs his old friend back. I’m not even asking anyone to choose which friendship they want more than the other. You can be friends with people without them liking each other.

What cannot be forgotten is that Isa has likely been under Xehanort’s influence for quite awhile. We don’t know how many of his actions were actually fueled by his own desire to do so or controlled by the part already infested with Xehanort. It doesn’t justify his behavior, but as we’ve seen with Terra and Sora (and even Riku), becoming a vessel is not always a matter of choice but blunt force. And Terra had absolutely no control over any of the actions following his demise. Personally, I think Isa was the one who wanted his heart back most desperately out of all of them, even if he did not show it. But his actions make it seem like it. He was always very strict with getting everyone to work in order to complete Kingdom Hearts faster. In his final moments, he even asked Kingdom Hearts where his heart was, the only one to actually do so. He was also someone who frequently mentioned that they do not have hearts as if he still had to remind himself that he was lacking something crucial. Which probably made him an ideal candidate for a vessel.

Another thing is that both Lea and Isa aren’t the type of people to talk things through. Lea never told Xion and Roxas what was important and that likely happened to Isa too. The problem I have with this is that, as much as I like Lea, it seemed like Lea was easily ditching him for new friends, which made Isa resent those new friends. Xion in particular because she is just a puppet. Let’s not forget that she was never meant to become more. Isa is still stuck in that belief. And I can’t even blame him for feeling like Lea betrayed him. Which is both their fault because they never talk about what is most important.

Now, we don’t know what happened to Isa and Lea in the past but their wishes probably clashed at one point. The latter was probably a lot less bothered by not having a heart than his friend. Isa had always been rather serious and snarky, but not evil. They struck me as very close friends because usually, friends can make such comments without hurting each other and their interactions in BBS struck me as being friends more than he was with Xion and Roxas…

This is the reason why I think he can be redeemed. I’m just so sick of people worshipping Riku (I still like him, but let’s face it, he was an asshole in KH1 and rather moping in both KH2 and CoM/Days) like a saint for beating his own darkness and redeeming himself but less popular characters like Terra and Isa should just die out of convenience to create heart-wrenching moments which aren’t strictly necessary in a franchise which brings back people once presumed dead. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing most characters get a happy ending, I love it actually, but I don’t understand why that should be exclusive to characters like Xion, Roxas or Naminé just because they’re popular.

I don’t want Isa to die simply for the sake that it will make things less complicated for the reunion of Lea, Xion and Roxas.

#kh #kingdom hearts #kh3 #isa #lea

[fantasyninja26]

2003 VS Brotherhood

A user @theishvalanalchemist has commenced an 2003 VS Brotherhood debate in the style of an Old VS New from Nostalgia Critic. Now I thoroughly enjoy these videos and Nostalgia Critic is one of my favorite Youtubers so I’m pretty excited for this. I have been writing fanfictions for both Fullmetal Alchemist versions for years now, rewatching both versions constantly, looking at multiple arguments on both sides and I’ve been pretty neutral on this seemingly age old argument. So I’ll share my views, I will keep them fairly open as I personally have no stance on which side wins this. Though I have not thought of the two varying versions in these categories, I will actually be looking at this from an analytical stand point and then talk about which series I personally prefer. I will be excluding the movies and focusing solely on the episodic series. I will also ignore the manga as an argument because frankly I think the ‘2003 anime doesn’t follow the manga’ argument doesn’t benefit Brotherhood at all. So without further ado, here is the Old VS New for FMA.

1: Leads (Ed, Al, and Roy). I personally like both of them a lot, but the things I pay attention to the most is the personal struggles which Ed, Al, and Roy face. The reason being is that enjoy seeing how the events and hardships impact the characters in the long run. For Brotherhood’s case my favorite is how Roy handles Hughes’ death and the direction that specific event takes him. This event is such a long and arduous struggle for him and it impacts every single thing he has done from brutally killing Lust to torturing Envy. For Ed and Al they carry the guilt they feel for Nina with them for the whole story and it’s mentioned throughout. Examples being when Ed and Al were fighting Scar to lure out the Homunculi and past the conclusion. Now with 2003, beginning with Roy. 2003 mainly focuses on the Ishavalan (or Ishbalan) War and the long term effects it’s placed on Roy. The struggles he faces are beyond too real for any person who has fought in a war. He constantly shown in a place of guilt from killing Winry’s parents and aiding in a genocide and how it’s changed his life. For a while he became an alcoholic, tried to crack the code of Human Transmutation, and has talked about (and shown) thoughts of suicide. The things Roy is going through seems more natural andreal. For the Elric Brothers I will discuss their mother being the embodiment of Sloth. Ed has a natural big brother instinct to protect Al from being hurt by this and he tries to hide the topic every time Al brings it up. Al on the other hand wants to just talk with his brother about Sloth. The events surrounding Sloth really bring out some sides of Ed and Al that are really quite interesting when they go along with the other major plot points. For a couple of episodes there’s this hostility between Ed and Al which is partially caused by the issue with Sloth. Ed is rational and sees Sloth for what she really is, but Al is emotional and feels like there’s something more to this. The differing emotions are then put aside so that they can correct their mistakes. Both versions are very similar so I really have to pay attention to some details. But in order for Roy to be more believable he has to have that war trauma that just isn’t there in Brotherhood. And for Ed and Al they were more convincing as brothers, they actually argue more in 2003, Ed guilt towards what happened to Al is explored far more, and the conflict between Sloth and the two really proved that despite differences they can still work together like brothers. So my vote goes to 2003.

2: Villains (Dante VS Father). This time I’m gonna start with 2003’s, Dante. It took a while for her to be set at the major villain of the story and she was very interesting to watch in the early stages of her appearance. Her backstory with Hohenheim is actually very fascinating and seems like a very classic villain backstory. The conflicts she faces of going from body to body does make her efforts more crucial considering that her life is on the line. But what I really like is that the more she transfers the faster she rots, which actually parallels with her humanity washing away. So by the end of the series she’s taking form in a human body but she’s lost so much of what makes her human is that she also inhuman as well. It makes the encounter with Ed more creepy especially when Ed tells her that she’s still human but she just responds with ‘Not anymore.’ But now that I mention Ed, I must bring up a flaw that I do see (and this isn’t that Edward Elric fangirl side of me peering its head) which is why does she suddenly want to be loved by Ed? That is something I really don’t understand and it almost shows up out of nowhere. But for now let’s move on to Father. Again has a very nice background with Hohenheim that ties together very well with the story and he’s introduced at the right time and with the right atmosphere. The way he creates the Homunculi as parts of himself is really compelling. As each homunculus represents his sins it really shows how humans are really not born pure, that every living thing is sinned. All the sins are tied together, if you have one you have them all. This also shows that he is just like the thing he despises the most, human. However when you take the backstory and Homunculi you have a generic villain who just hates humans because he’s all powerful and mighty. It’s something that feels new but is somehow the same as every other villain we see now. For these two, they’re both enjoyable villains but the intrigue of Dante when you take away backstory and henchmen is still there. My second vote goes to 2003.

3: Leading Ladies (Winry and Riza). Starting with 2003 we really don’t have too much to work with these two, and that’s where the problem begins. I actually really don’t remember some of the stuff Riza does in 2003, other than take in Black Hayate. Winry on the other hand I really think about how she got Ed’s watch stolen because he cheated during an arm wrestling match. With having a childhood friend in the military, she would probably know that could get Ed into some serious trouble. Overall I feel like Riza and Winry are just there in 2003 and the most feminine power lies in other female characters. In Brotherhood, it’s more shown how they aspired one another early on in the series from the ear rings to the long hair. Also they both have moments where their hardships are shown without making them helpless characters. An example for Riza being when she’s telling Ed about the horrors of Ishval and how they have shaped her into the woman she is. She is shown as woman who wanted to help people but is forced to participate in genocide, but as a sniper she has to look at every life she takes and it’s something she lives with. With Winry the moment that resonates with me would have to be the small events after the first encounter with Scar. After learning the identity to her parents’ killer she gets a phone call from Rush Valley of her customers asking for her to return. As we have seen in both versions of FMA, losing limbs and replacing them with automail is not an easy feat. By helping these people she has become this beacon of hope for them, someone who has returned what they have lost and without her they wouldn’t have that. There is honestly a lot of great moments for these two but these are ones I feel like aren’t talked about enough and it’s gives them a nice look into their impact. This vote goes to Brotherhood.

4: Side Characters. For this I’m going to limit to only the characters who show up in both versions of FMA. These characters include Hughes, Lust, Envy, and Scar. First with Hughes, the lovable dad who is in love with his family. We do get more of Hughes in 2003, for about twenty episodes before he really kicks the bucket. After that he’s only mentioned when Sheska is looking into his murder. The death of Hughes in 2003 is more impactful for the audience than it is to the story. Hughes is around for 10 episodes in Brotherhood before he is killed which really doesn’t give the audience too much time to get attached even when he is put into almost every episode until then. But as I mentioned before, his death is the reason behind every move Roy makes. Also Hughes’ reason to die did end up playing a huge part in the story, showing that his death was more impactful for the story. Its a matter of what your cup of tea is. Moving onto Lust, once more she is around far longer in 2003 than in Brotherhood. In Brotherhood she’s the first homunculus to die by the hands of one of our heroes but that’s really about it. She just does what Father tells her to do and then she dies by Roy’s hands which furthers his goals. She’s a generic baddy in Brotherhood who does everything without question and then dies. But in 2003, Lust experiences and sees things that ends with her greatly questioning her own past and what’s in store for her. She vocalizes her desire to be human only to reveal during her death that she wanted to be human so she could die. Unlike Dante, Lust is inhuman while being human at the same time really. Naturally as humans we question what will happen after we die and we always want to know more, and Lust is a really good example of someone who has these very human thoughts while not being human herself. Now I’m not judging this based on her humanistic qualities but I’m judging this more on how her character is impacted by the story and how her character changes throughout. She remains on one note in Brotherhood but in 2003 she has many highs and lows that are brought into light as the story progresses. Now with Envy in 2003, he’s this ball of rage who constantly wants to make Ed feel horrible and always wants him in a rough spot. The reason being for a while is kinda unknown so the audience assumes that it’s just because he’s just a bad guy. But when it’s revealed he was Hohenheim of Light’s (or HoL for short) son and then was brought back with Human Transmutation when he died only to be abandoned by HoL. He feels this resentment and since he can’t find HoL he takes out on Ed specifically. If he really feels this resentment, why is he only taking it out on Ed? Shouldn’t he be trying to make Al miserable too? Also he keeps saying he doesn’t remember what his real form was until suddenly he just remembers it. How did he remember it? Did he forget where he came from too? And if he did why is that motive there? He keeps saying that he wants Ed to suffer for being Hohenheim’s son but why? These are just the questions that come up when his motive is really revealed along with his true form. Now with Brotherhood he doesn’t have that motive, he just doesn’t like humans. But it’s his last moment that really matters, when Ed exposes what he really feels, jealously and resentment towards humans. It kinda mirrors how Lust functioned in 2003, feeling these human emotions while not being human himself. When people get jealous there’s this natural anger and resentment and he shows this beautifully in Brotherhood while still being completely despicable. Now finally we talk about Scar. Scar is a vengeful character and rightfully so, his homeland was ravaged and destroyed and he did lose his brother in the heat of the war. In 2003 the moments between Al, Ed, and Scar are pretty nice and it helps them progress in the story they’re in. But outside of that I feel like Scar really doesn’t get much of that development by himself. He gets it around other characters but it’s never enough to make him question what he’s doing. I feel as if he’s a character who is just on one note the whole time and he doesn’t really grow from his experiences. Now with Brotherhood we do see his growth and how he sets his revenge aside to stop Father’s plans. But a moment I wanted to talk about in specific which would be when he’s fighting Bradley/Wrath. This moment alone is mirroring Scar’s inner struggles that are present throughout the story. That fight to either take revenge or work to make things right without shedding more blood. That’s what I see when he fight Wrath and that is huge. Unfortunately we don’t see that from Scar in 2003. So with Hughes going either way, Lust on 2003, and Envy and Scar on Brotherhood, I’m giving it to Brotherhood. The vote goes to Brotherhood

5: Action Scenes. Starting with Brotherhood you can feel this tension in some of the fights especially near the end where everything matters and any character can die. For example you feel some fear when Roy is brutally torturing Envy, you feel excitement when everyone is fighting against Father, etc. But this is all in the end of the series, it’s a big conclusion to a big series and you don’t get enough of those fights in the beginning. Also a lot of the fights just happen and they aren’t really brought up again and they leave little to no impact on the characters. Sure there’s some in Brotherhood but it’s not every fight when it’s all over both fighters come out different. A prime example of this is when Ed is fighting Greed in Dublith. In Brotherhood they fight and it’s to save Al but really Ed doesn’t leave as a different person and the only thing that changes with Greed is that he fights Wrath and dies at the end of the day. Meanwhile in 2003 the first part of the fight Greed says that Ed has to violate one of his strict policies in order to win against the Homunculi, which is not to kill; and when Greed dies by Ed’s hands, Ed comes out as a different person. His reaction, how he feels after it is absolutely heartbreaking. But he knows that he has to take that step in order to really put an end to all the chaos and his morals are further challenged. That’s what a fight in this world is all about. It challenges the characters and their morals, makes them sacrifice so much, it helps them grow both as a fighter and a human and it changes them for either the better or for the worst. This point goes to 2003.

6: Story. This one is really difficult to look at since both stories are mostly similar. Of course these two versions are different and that’s where the backlash comes from, 2003 doesn’t stick with the manga while Brotherhood does. But I want to keep that argument out of this discussion and focus on the story in the episodes alone. Both stories really hold up on their own and they’re nicely crafted. Brotherhood is more story based but it’s not well paced especially in the beginning. They pack in about the twenty episodes of material from 2003 onto 10 episodes because the creators assumed you’ve seen the 2003 first. This results in moments like Nina and Hughes to be less of an impact on the audience even though they both still cause a lot of pain. After that, the story is decently paced and it flows very nicely. It doesn’t focus entirely on the Elrics which gives other characters a moment to shine. Its overall a very coherent and easy to follow. For 2003, I can follow the story nicely and it’s paced beautifully, giving the audience a chance to take every moment in and gives a lot of room for the characters to grow. The events with Nina was two episodes long and you had the chance to know Hughes as being smart, witty, wise, and lovable all at the same time before he died. It gives the characters to grow and develop in the environment they’re placed in while only having ten less episodes than Brotherhood. I don’t think there are many flaws with the 2003 story until the very end which will be discussed in the ending category. The fillers that are given fall into the category of being funny or being helpful towards a character’s development. The filler with Roy’s group is an example of something funny going on in the middle of the story and brings some light after being a witness to some troubling events and it’s enjoyable to watch Roy’s team function and the adventures they endure. An episode with character development would have to be the episode with Lust and Lujion which kicks off some really stellar character development for her. Those qualities of Lust that I praised before begin to appear and they are a huge part of her character from that point on. There’s really nothing wrong with filler episodes as long as they have a purpose and they makes sense and in 2003’s case they do.  These two stories may be very different but the way they function is almost identical giving room for characters to grow, giving other characters the spotlight, all while still being coherent. This point goes to both 2003 and Brotherhood.

7: Ending. As we reach the conclusion of the series that’s when the final problems are resolved and the questions that the audience has is either answered or left for interpretation. As I mentioned before there are some problems within the ending of 2003 which is why I didn’t discuss them in the story section. But the ending though it may be darker really leaves some unanswered questions. Some of the questions related to Ed and Al isn’t answered until CoS and when you take away that movie those unanswered questions are undeniable and they are huge. The ending lacks satisfaction but it nicely leaves An overwhelming sense of hope that Ed and Al reunite in the end. The ending of Brotherhood is dragged out for a long while, it has been prepared for several episodes, and it didn’t disappoint. It gave us a very nice amount of fights, a nice resolve to Ed and Al’s conflict that makes sense during the first viewing, and gave us a satisfactory ending. It really didn't leave too many questions behind and it's a nice resolve to such a grand story. A lot of people feel such great excitement when the fight when Ed begins to beat Father with his bare hands, such happiness when Ed and Al leave the gate together, and feel relief when Ed is shown in one of the happiest moments when he proposes to Winry. It allows for the characters to have such a great ending that doesn't leave any loose ends and it assures that after the hardships the characters face they could still stand and live a fulfilling life. This final vote goes to Brotherhood.

So this Good VS New for me ended with a tie which may sound really lame, but I'm actually satisfied with the end result and I would like for you guys to hear me out. Both of these versions have some highs and some lows, what one show lacks the other makes up for. We shouldn't be arguing over which one is better and putting on a pedestal because one follows the manga. Individually both versions are great on their own, the stories are great, the characters are great, and both of them are classics. There's no need for a competition, these two are awesome by themselves and by avoiding one of these stories you're just missing out on a great adventure with the characters that we all enjoy to watch.

With that this concludes my analysis on the 2003 VS Brotherhood and I'm sorry it was so long but I really worked hard on this and I'm so proud of it even when it ended with a tie. At least I can say that I've written the equivalent of an essay over my favorite show. Thank you for reading this and that is all.

#Fullmetal Alchemist #fullmetal alchemist 2003 #fullmetal alchemist brotherhood #edward elric #alphonse elric #fmab #fma 03 #fma03 #roy mustang #riza hawkeye #winry rockbell #envy #lust #homunculi #homunculus #father #dante #2003 vs Brotherhood #maes hughes #2003 lust #2003 envy #elric brothers #scar #old vs new #anime #greed the avaricious #greed #lust the lascivious #envy the jealous #nostalgia critic

[blackandorange]

Random thoughts on Bungou Stray Dogs

Ok so as some of you have noticed, I’ve just binge watched the two seasons of BSD and I feel the urge to scream a little:

THIS ANIME IS A MASTERPIECE. Like, truly, it’s one of the best anime I’ve ever seen, it went straight into my all time faves anime top 5 for sure

The art style is amazing, completely different from all the other anime I’ve seen. Not to mention the character designs. They are one more stunning than the other.

The soundtrack. Like, wow. The songs of the OP/ED are dope, I can’t stop singing them. Also I loved the use of those specific songs in particular moment of the anime, it added even more epicness to the scenes 

Not to mention the animation of especially the closing titles. They are incredibly suggestive. 

I come from NGE which is quite frankly the most philosophically elaborated anime ever created, but BSD too is filled with cultural reference that are (gladly) easy to grasp. I’m still in awe thinking about how much thought the team has put into assembling all of that. Really. Amazing. It educated me on so many levels.

The plot is incredible, it has lots on unexpected twists. I got nervous, I was shocked, I laughed, I screamed, I was hurt (DAMN IT EPISODE 4), I squealed, I cried (like, A LOT)..it has everything an adult audience is searching for. 

It has the kind of characters that stay with you forever and, Agency or Mafia, you end up loving them all. It’s sort of a Karasuno vs Aoba Johsai dynamic. You…really can’t decide a side to pick. You know it should be the Agency but ???  

Yes, you’ll end up adopting a whole Armed Detective Agency (Kenjiiiiiii!!!!!) and a whole bunch of Mafia Executives, I’m warning you. Make some room for your new sons. 

I’m hopelessly, desperately, in love with Edogawa Ranpo. 

If you are a fan of the Darry dynamic, I’m gonna give just two names: Atsushi and Akutagawa. BYE. 

“Why are you here?” “To kill you” he says 5 minutes before using Rashomon to save his life (all of this while screaming JINKO with a voice almost choked by tears). 

“Die, Jinko!” he says, as he wraps Rashomon around his arms to make Atsushi’s fist deadly enough to win against their strongest enemy.

Ok then. 

And they’re supposed to be enemies. Like Mafia vs Agency and stuff. 

Yes, I’m a huge Shin Soukoko trash. 

CHUUYA. CHUUYA. CHUUYA.

Frigging quote of the year: “I’m familiar with your attacks, your timing, your thrusts”. *softly but with a lot of feeling* …what the fuck

As you can see, the otp game is strong here

If you’re a fan of enemies to lovers dynamic, Chuuya and Dazai are your boys. 

Yes, I ship Soukoko hard like…really hard. They are like an old married couple with their two little sons who are 100 times more mature than the two of them combined. I LIVE. 

Listen I could stay here and list all the reasons why you should watch BSD…but just do like I did, take a leap of faith, you won’t regret it, I promise. 

#b rambles #oh my god this post is so long no one will ever read it #bungou stray dogs

[johnbattlesca]

Enter the Mind of Master Ken, the Martial Artist Behind Enter the Dojo, Part 2

Caution: You’re about to read comments from a real martial artist (Matt Page) interspersed with comments from a fictional character (Master Ken). To make it easier to distinguish the two, we’ve italicized the words of Master Ken.

Go here to read Part 1.

BLACK BELT: WHEN A PERSON TEACHES AN ART AS DEADLY AS AMERI-DO-TE, IS IT ESSENTIAL TO COUNSEL STUDENTS ON HOW NOT TO WIND UP IN JAIL?

Master Ken: Absolutely. Some of the moves I’ve invented simply cannot be taught for liability reasons. For example, recently I created an inescapable hold where you trap your opponent’s arms and legs, then you sit on their head and release a lethal barrage of flatulence to suffocate them. It’s called the “gas chamber.” I can’t send civilians out in public with that kind of knowledge. It’s just too dangerous.

Years ago I took an invaluable class called Introduction to Business Law at the Central New Mexico Community College, and my instructor, a one-legged veteran named Jim Hooker, gave me the most important piece of legal advice I’ve ever heard: “Dead men don’t sue.” And he was right. Because a year later, he died in a freak accident at a meat-processing plant and ended up being served as ground beef at three Albuquerque public schools. Nobody even noticed until some cheerleader bit into a sloppy Joe and broke her tooth on what turned out to be a piece of his catheter. But the point is he never pressed charges because he was deceased at the time of the accidental ingestion.

BLACK BELT: WHERE DID THE CONCEPT FOR MASTER KEN AND ENTER THE DOJO COME FROM?

Matt Page: In creating Master Ken, I was influenced by something I noticed: Some instructors, no matter how skilled or intelligent, tend to bad-mouth other styles. They see a move from some other martial art and say, “That’s not bad, but in our style, it’s better because we do it like this.”

Each time something weird happened in any dojo, I would take a mental note and say, “Someday I’m gonna do something creative with all this.” Eventually, I found my way to New Mexico and went to College of Santa Fe, now Santa Fe University. Once I received my bachelor’s degree in moving-image arts, I saw that everyone was making their own Web series. At the time, I’d become obsessed with Ricky Gervais’ original version of The Office on the BBC, and I decided I wanted to try that but in a world I understood. So I chose martial arts.

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BLACK BELT: WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO ACCOMPLISH WITH ENTER THE DOJO? IS IT PURE ENTERTAINMENT?

Matt Page: The goal now is really the same as when we created the first episode: I want to entertain people while making a commentary on things that are important to me. It’s not just about the jokes; it’s about pointing out the contradictions in various teachings and the commercialization and the issue of theory vs. practice in the martial arts world. But I want to address it all with humor. I’ve gotten emails from soldiers with PTSD, martial artists who struggle with depression and people from all walks of life who thank me for making them laugh and helping them forget their troubles for the moment. That’s the most rewarding thing I’ve ever gotten out of what I do.

BLACK BELT: YOU’VE APPEARED AT THE MARTIAL ARTS SUPERSHOW IN LAS VEGAS TWO YEARS IN A ROW. HOW DID THAT GROUP OF EXPERIENCED, PROFESSIONAL MARTIAL ARTISTS FEEL ABOUT THE MESSAGE YOU PROPAGATE?

Master Ken: The first year, I was like a tsunami of truth that forced many so-called “masters” to re-evaluate their training and, quite frankly, their lives. I think that’s why they wouldn’t allow me to perform at the opening ceremony this year. They lost too much business on people closing their schools so they could take up Ameri-Do-Te. I’ve made a lot of enemies, but then again, so did Napoleon. And he was able to conquer most of South America despite the fact that he was shorter than a Shetland pony.

BLACK BELT: DO YOU HAVE FORMAL TRAINING IN ACTING?

Matt Page: I’ve been taking acting classes and performing in plays since I was a kid. My influences range from old episodes of Saturday Night Live to mockumentaries by Christopher Guest to more serious cinematic works like the films of Robert Zemeckis, David Fincher, etc. But I’ve loved comedic movies and television shows for as long as I can remember.

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BLACK BELT: DO PEOPLE EVER RECOGNIZE YOU ON THE STREET? WOULD YOU LIKE IT IF THEY DID?

Matt Page: I rarely get recognized mainly because Master Ken looks and speaks and moves so differently. I’ve been told I look 10 years older when I get into costume and makeup and put on the voice, and that’s flattering. I have great respect for character actors who can disappear into a role. I’ve had conversations with people as Ken, then gone up to my hotel room and changed out of costume, and 15 minutes later, that same person will have the exact same conversation with me all over again.

As far as anonymity goes, at first I was really concerned, especially since I make a show where I [insult] trained fighters. But most people know I’m kidding, and the recognition I’ve gotten from Enter the Dojo has been wonderful.

BLACK BELT: WHAT’S THE MASTER PLAN FOR YOUR DOJO? EXPANSION ACROSS THE USA? EVENTUAL WORLD CONQUEST?

Master Ken: For starters. But why stop there? My ultimate goal is to be the first person to open a dojo on the moon. Imagine how devastating my techniques would be without the restriction of gravity. You could kick an opponent and send him hurtling through space forever. I’d have to hire someone to clean the bathrooms, though.

BLACK BELT: WHAT’S IN STORE FOR ENTER THE DOJO? ANY TV ASPIRATIONS?

Matt Page: After Season One, I got to pitch the show to a few cable networks, but nothing happened. That was back when we had about 1 million channel views. Now we have 11 million and counting, and I get inquiries at least once a week, but nobody seems to know what to do with us. I’ve gotten several offers to take the show off our hands for free. But if someone is serious and wants to step up and fund the show, I’d be all for it as long as we can keep making it the way we want. Luckily, with the way distribution is now, we can continue to get the show out to the masses through YouTube, through Master Ken Live and through our merchandise, and it’s on our own terms.

BLACK BELT: MASTER KEN, BEFORE WE FINISH THIS INTERVIEW, IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU’D LIKE TO SAY TO OUR READERS?

Master Ken: My message is that martial arts is about staying alive in the street. It’s not a sport, and it’s not a hobby. If that’s what you want, take up pingpong or collect figurines. And when I say “the street,” I don’t mean an actual street. I wish all the rapists and murderers lived on the same street. If they did, I could tell my students, “Hey … don’t go down that street.” But life doesn’t work that way. So whether you’re in bar, in the office of your proctologist or in an actual street, you’re in “the street.”

It has been a pleasure to use this interview to spread the word about the power of Ameri-Do-Te. I look forward to the next issue of White Belt magazine.

For more information about Master Ken, ameri-do-te and Enter the Dojo, visit enterthedojoshow.com.

BONUS TIME! Master Ken on Bullying

“The issue of bullying requires that we teach kids self-defense. Where most programs get it wrong is with ‘anti-bullying.’ There’s a saying in judo: When pushed, pull. You’re supposed to use your opponent’s strengths against him, so why not take the positive aspects of bullying and use them in self-defense?”

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“That’s why I’ve developed a program called Better Bullying. Bullying isn’t inherently bad. It’s just that the wrong kids are getting bullied. So we work on teaching kids how to identify the bad kids and use the three principles of Better Bullying: One, always attack someone smaller than you. Two, outnumber your opponent whenever possible. Three, scatter before authorities arrive.”

Master Ken on Breaking

“I’ve never been attacked by a pile of lumber. Styles that focus on the number of boards broken are an embarrassment to real street fighters. You don’t need to focus on kicking someone’s femur in half. But there is something other than trees that grows out of the ground that we can use for training: fresh fruits and vegetables. It only takes 8 pounds of pressure per square inch to break a collarbone — or a cucumber. If you can use your hand to open a cantaloupe, you can crack a human skull. And if you can squash a grape, you can burst a testicle. The best part about this particular training method is that you end up with the ingredients for a healthy salad.”

Master Ken on Weapons

“I don’t need weapons because my tiger claws are always with me. Even when I’m naked, I’m still fully armed. Learning Ameri-Do-Te is like swallowing weapons-grade plutonium — except in this case, you don’t die from radiation sickness. You become a walking weapon of martial destruction. Especially if you train right after eating some New Mexican food.”

Master Ken on Tournaments

“The few tournaments I’ve attended with my students have been a confirmation that Ameri-Do-Te cannot be contained by regulated competition. There are no rules in a street fight, and that’s the way we train. Which explains why we have been disqualified from every tournament we’ve ever attended for excessive contact or illegal moves. There are more sports-regulation violations in one minute of Ameri-Do-Te training than in an entire pint of Lance Armstrong’s blood.”

Read Part 1 of this interview here.

Photos by Cory Sorensen

from Black Belt» Daily » Black Belt http://www.blackbeltmag.com/daily/martial-arts-entertainment/enter-the-mind-of-master-ken-the-martial-artist-behind-enter-the-dojo-part-2/ Enter the Mind of Master Ken, the Martial Artist Behind Enter the Dojo, Part 2 published first on http://thrandythefabulous.tumblr.com