#but the ending is great and I honestly think that the 2nd season could fix things and become better

[eshtaresht]

GUYS GUYS I CAN'T KSODKLSOSL!!!1!!1LKDKJ;;S !!!l1JK!::kKD;P SOSKSLSPSODS A;SDOKDLAD I CAN'T EVEN FORM WORDS

spoilers for ep 12 (and a bit for trigun in general) and my overexited ramblings under the cut

you know an episode will be good when where's no opening

so, the twins are meant to be characterized straightforward in every anime adaptation, ig. it's not bad, but the manga twists their personalities 180° and it adds SO MUCH nuance (I'll talk about this at length some day)

tbh I had to pause for laughter when knives was YEETED outta the gate (I have sense of humor of a five year old)

everybody already said everything, but still. OG HAIR COMEBACK OMG AHRAHAAKFJDlahjddjha!!!!!!!! ;!!! ;! and not only hair, but the whole characterization this episode was much closer to trimax vash, and not just sadboy depressive bbg

MERYL/REM PARALLELS LETS GOOOO!!! like, I guessed this would happen, but the visuals, the tension and pure GRATITUDE in vash's voice when he was able to break free from his mental prison... we're eating good

speaking of eating, I CAN'T get over that moment when vash deadass BIT KNIVES. that's peak sibling behavior, he's literally fighting tooth and nail over there

also mashwood is so real tonight!! love love love meryl&nico interactions in stampede, they barely spoke to each other in other versions! and the look of relief on vash's face when he sees nico skedaddling away with meryl!!! he's so glad that they're gonna be okay and that nico made the right choice and came back to help, if briefly. interstingly, he was able to remember everyone, but after the explosion at the end he still lost his memory.

and THE WINGS, DUDE!!!! it gives the finale of trimax, when they both had only one wing left..... still missing feathers, but I love the diversity with knives's, eh... knives, and vash's energy/void or whatever that is, I support it

he's so pathetic even when he looks cool, homeboy had NO control when he used his wing for the first time... cudos for learning new powers on the spot tho

ow ow ow that scene with the military hurt... and he couldn't even save them!

"why are you like that, vash?" "I'm vash the stampede" "IT'S BEEN OVER A CENTURY AND THIS IS THE BEST YOU COULD CAME UP WITH" same here, knives, he's hopeless. I anticipated that moment, but it probably hits even hard for stampede onlys

angel arm!!! tho it's not that angelic now... how are we gonna call it? I take suggestions. rip arm and coat, I feel like we'll actually get a more trimax leaning design next season!

to all the ppl (myself included) who wanted to see vash cry properly... are you happy? ARE YOU FUCKING HAPPY??? after the last episode, after all the mental torture knives put him through, vash still doesn't want to hurt him and, just like knives, can't handle the distance between them.......... I am inconsolable. and as much as knives wanted to break vash, it hurts him so much to see those tears irl....... but he just can't stop, because they're both SO FUCKING STUBBORN and it already took to much to get there and he just can't. stop. now.

"nai is dead, you killed him" first of all, *sounds of screaming crying throwing up*. second of all, his name is million knives, vash, stop deadnaming your brother/j

the death scene itself.... oh it's soo good and yummy. I know this mf isn't fully dead and conrad will fix him, but still. he can have a second death of self as a treat

btw, gotta adress my earlier theory about "happy birthday" being metaphorical. no, it is in fact July 21st, and tristamp lasted about two months in universe. still pretty hard for me to believe, it felt five times shorter due to the pacing. but it is what it is: I'm esht and I was wrong, I'm singing the esht wrong song

and just as I thought this would be the end of it, WE GOT A FLASH FORWARD THAT HAD BASICALLY EVERYTHING WE WERE HOPING FOR AND MORE

RAISED BOUNTY! MERYL GIRLBOSSIFICATION!! a hint at insurance society (tho that was more of a threat and she's still a journalist). MILLY CONFIRMATION!!! ERIKS' LACK OF ARM AND AMNESIA!!!! EARTH FLEET AND CHRONICA!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!

IT'S GONNA BE GOOD SEASON 2 IS GONNA BE EVEN BETTER I CAN FEEL IT IN MY BONE MARROW

#this episode destroyed me #but when it also gave me life and hope in the future of stampede #cause it's not great. it's definitely good but has problems. I'll wait for the entire dub to come out so I can binge it and analyse properl #but the ending is great and I honestly think that the 2nd season could fix things and become better #let 'em cook is what I'm saying #I need to process all of this. might draw something #trigun stampede #trigun #vash the stampede #vash #nicholas d. wolfwood #trigun stampede spoilers #millions knives #trigun spoilers #wolfwood #meryl stryfe #milly thompson

[ghoooooooooooooooost]

i had to reread n edit this before posting like i was going over an essay jesus christ ((tristamp spoilers))

tldr; i was honestly disappointed but i still don't think it was completely awful + i hope if they do a 2nd season it's better *wants to see milly*.... fuck the director though

EDIT!!! 2nd season was confirmed so you can ignore the points where i question if it will happen lol

EDIT 2 actually idt i'll watch the 2nd season... for reasons that just hit me so.... + fuck night*w as well

most of this was written before the finale eek

the major problems were that the pacing was soooooo weird n some of the changes (both story wise and design wise) they made were questionable esp towards the latter half

my positive points:

i do still think individual eps at the first half were really good

i loved the animation + how they used colors

the backgrounds are cool

the artstyle shift in wolfwood's flashback was cool

i've always been "ok" abt vashwood honestly (sorry) but i will acknowledge they were very yaoiful here. i saw a person who didn't ship vashwood say the ep in tristamp where they literally just met made them ship it which was really funny bc how did that change your mind so fast

i'm ngl the milly + eriks name drops made me *JAWDROP* but that's something that only matters to ppl who watched/read the ogs first

my negative points (uh oh):

white washed wolfwood (+ his skintone is soo inconsistent in merch)

they gave vash no room to breathe n he doesn't get big sillay moments after ep 3

^ this is true for every character except i guess roberto? more on roberto later

^^^ goes with the previous too points but it felt like they were way too focused on the drama n sadness without enough (long lasting) happy or hopeful moments to contrast or balance it out overall - to the point were the characterization of our main cast suffered for it bc there wasn't enough there with them to make that properly work. and THEN the silly moments ended up suffering too bc they start feeling out of place. the drama beats kept happening one after the other at breakneck speed without breaks, messing up the pacing as well (i can kinda blame this at least partially on the fact they only had 12 eps when the og was 26 eps but i've watched plenty of 12 ep series with great pacing so i don't really know what happened here?)

i disagreed with this at first, but the lore with vash being front-loaded really did hurt the story a bit in the long run. obviously they did still spread the full details out over the course of the show but it was :\

specific to "the running man"- it's my fav ep tbh but it was strange how all the townsfolk were partying w the nebraskas with no indication they'd arrest them after they did so much damage n vash didn't even get to fix the damaged plant?? so why were they so joyous when the initial problem wasn't solved?

roberto.... was such a weird character... he managed to be both a dick n a guy w no personality, he was there to give exposition + attempt to be funny? n then die. also the marketing staff fucking hates him he's never in any merch wtf ((edited after the finale: well now we know he wasn't meant to replace milly (i had a whole paragraph complaining abt that lol) + now i feel like they added him just to kill someone other than wolfwood off))

i can't speak much on elendria bc i had so much trouble reading trimax forever ago that i never retained anything abt her other than she's trans, but everything involving her in tristamp felt strange/ like it didn't work. i have essentially same feeling about livio here. they threw legato to the side??

what the fuck was the thing with the plants towards the end. it just hit me what the hell

minor nitpicks:

i miss the old anime's ost :( tristamp's ost isn't bad by any means n there are tracks that i really like it's just idk man. especially with the the op song, i couldn't get myself to not skip the op SORRY. could you imagine how hype it would've been if a new rendition of H.T. or NO-BEAT started playing

i'm fine with stamp vash's design (blasphemous i know) but man would'n've one of his og coat designs worked well in 3d? i feel like it would've ((added after the finale: the new coat did look nice in black + they brought back his old hair in the last ep tho so. MAYBE... IN SEASON 2.... CLASSIC COAT....? *delusional*))

NO LOVE & PEACE?!?!?!?!

one of my nitpick points was that they technically didn't give vash the black hair bc i really wanna see it animated one day but assuming they are teasing a season 2 maybe they will eventually. but then how...?

#maybe my standards are too low after getting burnt by higurashi gou/sotsu idk #this post is long as hell also watch out #new vash thoughts #- da last one(?)

[luescris]

Just wanted to say some things!:

First of all; I wanted to ask, if you have seen/seen anything about the new Season 4 Special that just came out! I think it came out the same day as the new TMNT MM trailer too. Man, what a day. I slept most of that day, and woke up to the LMK and TMNT fandoms freaking out (and me freaking out w/ them too!) What a thing to wake up to. If you have seen and/or seen anything about the new LMK S4 special, then what did you think about it?

I loved what I have seen of it so far, and what I have seen being posted about it; so far! There has been a couple more mixed posts I have come across, but most people seem to be having loving it (and breaking apart over it; due to what happened in it), so that is cool!

I remember seeing a LMK poll about what Season, plus their Special was their favorite, and while I love all the seasons and Specials, I ended up going w/ S3 and it's Special (just that whole season, man. That, and LBD and Not-Mayor were such good build-up villains/villains man. And so many other reasons too), but Season 4 was a close 2nd for me (S3 and S4 were the closest in that poll), now that the S4 Special is out now, man, I don't know anymore. I think S3 and it's Special is still my top favorite, but idk, S4 and it's Special could top it for me, or being tying with it. It is either one of those two things, or a close 2nd for me.

What about you ? What is your LMK favorite season and special; if you have any? I know it can be hard to pick, because all the seasons and specials are good imo.

Also, ty for being a SWK apologist. He has defin. made his mistakes, but he is trying to make up for them; he does so much to make up for them and to protect the people he cares about. Can he be too secretive (and him being secretive is some part in due to more deeper parts of his past being hard to talk about and because he took a lot of responsbilty on himself. Thinking it is his responsibility to fix things and protect everyone imo), and has he made mistakes both in the past and present (though everyone has made mistakes)? Sure. But like I said, he tries to make up for them, and he really does try to more permantently deal with problems (which, people can debate if that is too final/much or not if they want), but he either gets stopped from doing so, or they somehow sometimes come back.

He and Mac and some of his friends have had mistakes with each other. But honestly; they all have. And SWK is making amends/starting to make amends for his own. And now; S4 Spoilers:

It looks like him and Mac are going to start to heal and make amends w/ each other, so that is very nice/cool! ^^

End of Spoilers. (I don't want to get too much more into S4 Special Spoilers, in case you haven't seen it/seen much about it yet).

Anyways, thanks for being a SWK apologist. I love him and his character too! He is one of my favs. in LMK. MK is another one of my favs., such a great and interesting character and mc/protagonist. I have more, but I don't want to ramble all day about LMK here, so I will just stop with these two.

I love ur Pfp and Tumblr Banner picture.

I got more to say, but I will save that for another Ask, since this getting long, and this is a more LMK-focused Ask, and the next one(s) will probably be more TMNT-based.

Ask 1/?.

Alright, here we go. *Rubs hands together*/lh

Firstly, I just wanted to say that I am so sorry this response is so late, but now that I've seen both LMK and the Spiderverse movie (I think that's mentioned BSBSBS), I think now would be an appropriate time to respond to your ask! :D I'm gonna put a read more thing after this paragraph just in case people don't wanna read all that I gotta say lmao 😂

Next I want to say thank you for sending me an ask!! :D I don't know if you have seen what I posted, but I am unfortunately not as into LMK as much as I once was, and the turtles are to blame for that 😔😅 Though I will still watch it!! How could I not, it's still the best thing I've ever seen in my life!! This season's special was. Whoo boy. I don't even know where to begin

Azure really did just want to help people. He really did want to make the world a better place, and the way he sacrificed himself while having tears in his eyes I just-- 😭😭😭😭

I don't know if I have any favorite seasons or episodes in particular, honestly! :0 Like I said it's all so good, though before I think I would've said any and all episodes that have Wukong angst in them LMAO 😂

Speaking of him though, I agree with you!!! I think he's got a long way to go with learning how to do. Well, a lot, but it certainly doesn't make him bad, nor did it ever

Do you think he was so against Azure because he knew what it was like to try to search for power, and already knew the concequences?? O: Or something like that I don't know if I'm explaining my thoughts right right now haha 😅

And YESSSSS I'm so excited to see how they're relationship grows in the future!! :D I myself think that they consider themselves brothers instead of lovers, so I'm really looking forward to what happens with them! ^3^

Please ask all the questions you'd like!! I can't promise you I'll get to them quick, but I will get to them eventually, lmao 😂😅

Thanks, see you again!!! :D

#lmk #lego monkie kid #lego #lego lmk #monkie kid #asked and answered

[nostalgiaruinedme]

Honestly, I blame the executives at Nick more than I can ever really blame the Rise crew (apparently, the crew had a TON of arguments with them over getting ANY original Rise characters in and were only successful in at least getting Hypno and Warren significant roles an brief little cameos for those like Todd and Cassandra). Given TMNT is a generations-old franchise, it would make sense that Nick executives would be so iron-fisted about what they want publicly shown in the movie in contrast to Disney's executives being lax with the newer and more original TOH series, their mindset likely being "Meh, do whatever you want. It's still gonna get canceled anyway."

Granted, I also personally don't have any problem with the character of Casey Jones Jr. (Haley did a great job performing as him). If anything, it reminds me of that IDW comic arc in which Casey has a daughter in an apocalyptic future named Cassandra. While I do wish characters and story elements were better utilized in the movie (though with the characters, the movie apparently takes place two years from season 2's finale), I do think the executives had a much stronger hand in how the movie was portrayed than in the show itself (honestly, the same could be said for story elements of the live action films minus the explosions and violence [the Nick executives clearly let Micheal Bay go buck wild with at least those aspects as long as the quota of central TMNT characters and references was met]), especially since movies (particularly animated ones) are treated much differently and are portrayed as a bigger cash grab than their TV shows.

Regardless of how the movie was done, my hope is that it leads to Season 3 being made as it would give the Rise crew a greater chance to fix and utilize things from the movie to better fit the series and add further lore for us fans.

Sorry about the long response. 😅 Just wanted to give my share on the matter. Hope you have a lovely day!

While I understand your position, I gotta disagree (but I do appreciate your ask being so nice <3 respectful debates are great).

Whether it was the executives or the crew, the end result stays the same that the movie just… really abandoned everything that made Rise great. Future Casey wasn’t portrayed as a lineage of the actual Casey, but as a replacement- literally no one batted an eye at them having the same names and no one even brought up Casey until the very end. It’s just not the same as bringing in a character’s child, because he really was a replacement.

And I have my issues with both Bayverse movies, but they both still felt like they were a part of the same universe. The 2nd one still felt like the characters were the same people, and not replaced with new ones who had their minds wiped of what happened in the previous years. And I don’t think it’s fair to just say this was an issue because Rise was an animated movie - the Batman vs the TMNT movie respected its characters WAAAYYYY better than the Rise movie. It’s not just an animation

I still don’t think Season 3 would be good for the series. I think it will further ruin the show, maybe completing abandoning Casey and Yokai and Draxum… I’d rather it end on the high note that was Season 2. I don’t wanna see it stray even worse.

But yea, that’s just my view. Ofc you’re welcome to have your own, and I hope you have a good day too!

#tmnt #rottmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #asks

[dwtsfun]

Dancing with the Stars Season 3 Rewatch: Week 10

It's the finals. And I just wanted to get this over with with so we can start with season 31 tomorrow. So, let's just do it.

Same Style, Same Song Round

Emmitt and Cheryl- Samba (Judges' Score=30, My Score=10)- Emmitt is honestly completely in his wheelhouse when he does the Latin styles. He's just so good and has such a great time dancing. He has so much charisma and he's just a natural performer. I also don't think people talk enough about his transformation throughout the season. He was always good, though a little sloppy. And then sometime around week 7, the sloppiness got cleaned up and he truly blossomed.

Mario and Karina- Samba (Judges' Score=29, My Score=10)- Where Emmitt has been the showman of the season, Mario has been the technician. But, I have to say that he performed really really well. He let loose in a way that is rare. And even when he does let loose, this was the first time I think I saw him really just completely enjoy everything and be comfortable about everything. I did see the mistake Len was talking about, but I also saw a mistake in Emmitt's and decided to overlook both. They were both tiny and really didn't harm the dances in my opinion.

Dance Redo Round (Or Whatever)

Emmitt and Cheryl- Mambo (Judges' Score=30, My Score=10)- The last time they did this dance, my issue was that Emmitt was a little too stompy. He definitely fixed that this time around. But beyond that, the performance was way more explosive this time. This was a great dance for them to redo.

Mario and Karina- Paso Doble (Judges' Score=30, My Score=10)- Last time I felt Mario was pretty wild and his posture was not great. This time around, neither one of those was an issue. I was shocked at how different this dance looked from week 4 to now. Mario's confidence improved so much over the season and this dance really proved that.

Freestyle Round

Emmitt and Cheryl (Judges' Score=29, My Score=9)- This was a really good dance too. Emmitt really turned the burners on in the last three weeks of the competition. Again, he was charismatic and put on a SHOW! Unfortunately I think he got a little lost for a few counts right in the middle. He covered it up really well, but I saw it. So that's where my 9 comes from.

Mario and Karina (Judges' Score=30, My Score=9)- Meh. This was cool. I've never really cared for it when the DWTS pros do hip-hop type numbers (outside of a select few). Besides that, Mario also messed up right in the middle. During their side by side, he wasn't exactly matched with her for a few moments. So yeah, I'd give these freestyles the same scores. But I think I liked Emmitt's better.

My Rankings and Scores out of 90:

1 Emmitt and Cheryl- 89 (30 for samba and mambo, 29 for freestyle) = Mario and Karina- 89 (30 for samba and paso, 29 for freestyle)

It was honestly a dead heat and came down to the fan vote. So as we all know, Emmitt and Cheryl won and it was honestly well deserved. Either couple could have won and it would've been a great outcome though. But after rewatching this season, I still don't understand why Mario still seems to be salty about not winning. He got 2nd to a worthy competitor. It's not like he lost to someone like Skeleton. Emmitt was a top 5 dancer this season. So was Mario. He's lucky the judges were very hard on Monique, because I feel like she could've snatched second from him had she been scored more fairly during the season. But that's all I have. Emmitt was a much better dancer than I remembered. Mario was too. Both of them really got it together at the end. Monique, Vivica and Willa were all treats to watch. Joey was decent but a real nice person that was charming. And Jerry was honestly the heart of the season. This was a really good season. I miss when the seasons used to be like this. I dread the day I watch the season where the downward trend starts (Season 9).

#dancing with the stars #dwts #emmitt smith #mario lopez #cheryl burke #karina smirnoff #samba #mambo #paso doble #freestyle #season 3 #dwts rewatch

[sunandmoongobrrr]

Korra and her Brutalization: A Legend of Korra Meta

In honor of International Womens’ Day, I want to talk a little bit about Legend of Korra and the treatment of Korra (and to a small extent other women) throughout the show. Content warning: there's some disturbing scenes that I show here, but if you've watched all of LoK, you should be fine.

Korra starts off confident; she is a young avatar who is eager to learn and feels suffocated from the isolation she is kept in from a very young age. But that doesn’t stop her, and like the headstrong girl she is, she moves to Republic City to make a difference and step into her role as the avatar.

Korra immediately starts to doubt herself; she becomes unsure of her abilities and frustrated with herself, and through that she learns to become emotionally vulnerable with Tenzin. To me, this was really great. It showed that you can be confident and vulnerable, and that the two aren’t necessarily independent of each other.

(I’m going to be honest, the 2nd season I didn’t really remember much of, so I’m just going to skip over that. Because what I really want to talk about is season 3.)

In season three, Korra faces the Red Lotus, an “anarchist” group that essentially wants to kill her. And they get pretty close. First, I want to talk about how Tenzin is beaten by the Red Lotus. This has been brought up in Lily Orchard’s (in?)famous LOK video, and while I disagree with her on many many topics of the show, I really think she has a point here. When Tenzin is being brutalized by the Red Lotus, the camera pans away. It is SO painful to see him like this, and the directors know it. It’s TOO painful to see it, so they don’t show you it, and the episode ends before we can see him be defeated.

Contrast that with Korra. They show you every detail of this. And I mean every detail.

It’s disgusting, and they refuse to treat her with any sort of decency or respect like they do Tenzin. It’s almost like they want us to enjoy her torturing. It’s genuinely gross.

People will often refute this by saying “LoK is just a darker show! Look at what they did to the Earth Queen!” And while yes, it is marketed towards an older audience, there’s still no point in brutalizing Korra this way. The main difference between Korra and the Earth Queen is that… well, Korra’s the protagonist. We’re supposed to be rooting for her, and while the Earth Queen being suffocated was definitely dark, it wasn’t unprecedented. The audience was never supposed to like the Earth Queen—she exploited and kidnapped her own people, so of course we wouldn’t care THAT much if she died. But we’ve been with Korra since the beginning. We’re supposed to want her to be happy, and why on earth would we want her to be tortured brutally in such a disgusting way that gives her absolutely no dignity? If we want her to succeed?

(here Zaheer uses the same technique used on the Earth Queen to suffocate here on Korra. for some reason)

In Season 4, the main focus is on Korra and her healing from the brutal things the Red Lotus did to her. She is clearly still struggling, and it could have been another great way to show how being physically strong and confident doesn’t mean you can’t be vulnerable. But they make a lot of bad choices in this season.

One of my main gripes is that in order to heal, she has to return to her abuser, Zaheer, and HE has to teach her how to feel better.

I don’t want to compare LoK to ATLA, although it’s very important to mention that a show that’s a direct sequel, uses its old characters, and banks off of references, should be able to be compared to its predecessor. But I think it’s important to compare Korra’s arc here to Zuko. This doesn’t come out of nowhere; Korra has a lot of similarities to Zuko. The chopping of her hair is a significant turning point in her arc, and there’s an episode called “Korra Alone” (which is clearly a direct callback; shown below).

The difference between Zuko and Katara is that, a. Zuko never had to accept his abuser, and b. Zuko started off as a villain.

One of Zuko’s major points is when he confronts his father—his abuser. He does not bow to him and give in, saying that maybe he had a few good points or his heart was in the right place, but he directly says that Ozai was wrong for what he did. This isn’t the case with Korra. For some reason, Korra has to learn to trust her abuser. The person who did this to her:

And she has to hear him out.

This leads me to my second point, and what’s basically the complaint I have; despite being a protagonist, the show treats Korra like a villain. It frames her torture scenes as if we’re supposed to be excited that she’s being brutalized, as if we’re supposed to think she deserves it. And it’s not even handled properly as one of the villains we know so well—Zuko, who was able to overcome his abuse and become a protagonist who we root for. Again, Zuko and Korra aren’t directly the same characters, but there are parallels between the two and the show encourages their comparison. When it comes to Korra, however, we’re supposed to believe that she deserves everything that comes to her; the brutal scenes and the lack of dignity, even if she is a protagonist.

And in the end, that’s what we’re meant to believe; that Korra deserved what happened to her. In the finale, Korra says, “I finally understand why I had to go through all that. I needed to understand what true suffering was, so I could become more compassionate to others.”

This is, to put it short, ridiculous. I hate this so much I can’t even begin to say how much I hate it. No, Korra did not have to go through the torture she went through. She did not have to go through the mercury poisoning. She did not have to go through every hardship she did. This “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” is so harmful because Korra’s healing revolved around accepting her abuser and thanking him for the awful things he did to her. Korra wasn’t even that cocky by the end of the first season, so what it’s essentially indirectly teaching girls is that if you’re confident, you’ll pay. It’s disgusting.

Zuko got a banishment to the Earth Kingdom, got to have his ideas and practices challenged, but he never got physically tortured. I truly, truly believe that one of the main reasons why Korra is quite literally villainized by the show is because she was a confident, brown teenage girl. None of the male characters are treated with such disrespect and we never get told that they need to be “humbled” by abuse.

This is not completely resolved to LoK; there are some aspects in ATLA that I think could’ve been fixed had there been more women in the room. I tag her a lot (bc her metas are awesome), but I really recommend you read @araeph 's Katara: Consumed by Destiny series. I also have a meta here about how Katara is treated in ATLA, specifically in “The Fortuneteller.” (I want to emphasize that while I am anti-Kataang, I don’t believe that Katara’s treatment had to do with the ship itself or that kataang is inherently anti-Katara. It’s just a note about how her character is treated in this episode and beyond.)

I’ve heard a lot of people say that they’re ‘glad’ that LoK didn’t feature Suki or Mai or Ty Lee, because they can’t imagine how poorly they’d be represented. And honestly, I can’t blame them.

This isn’t to say that we need to stop watching LOK or even ATLA. I think the internet has this weird problem where we’ve been told that the way to get rid of problematic media is to just stop consuming anything even remotely problematic altogether. But certain aspects of media will always be relatively problematic, since as content creators we sometimes input our biases into the things we create. The solution, then, is not to banish anyone who puts any harmful stereotypes into their content from society, but to actively and healthily criticize it. Bryke are not God, but they’re also not demons put on the earth to suppress woc. They’re white guys that have implicit biases that have worked their way into the content they produce. I think the lesson learned here, is to have women, especially BIWOC, in writing rooms, to prevent atrocious acts from happening to future Korra's.

Happy International Women’s Day, y’all.

#anti lok #lok critical #lok crit #lok criticsm #anti legend of korra #legend of korra critical #legend of korra crit #legend of korra criticism #anti bryke #bryke crit #bryke critical #atla salt #atla crit #atla critical #avatar salt #avatar crit #avatar critical #pro korra #pro katara #korra #katara #zutara #anti kataang #pro zutara #just for reach lmfao #international women's day #woot woot #atla meta #lok meta #legend of korra meta

[writersblocktango]

I just finished Titans season 2 and I need to talk…

Long post full of SPOILERS following. Sorry, I’ve got a lot on my mind.

1st off: The undisputed KING of this series is Jason Todd. Now, I am already a fan of Jason in the comics, but that’s a double edged sword. He could have been really great or really terrible, but luckily for us he is freaking phenomenal! Curran is so good. I had my doubts at first, but I think he is the only person to play Jay (short of us being allowed a time machine and a shot at young Jenson Ackles playing him). Truly, Curran gets it so right, and Jay is the only one who seems to get consistent writing on this show.

2nd: Dick Grayson has the worst friends ever. They act like somehow Dick is responsible for every bad thing that has ever happened in the entirety of the world. Some psycho goes after Hank and Dawn because they were Titans and he kills a kid. Let’s blame Dick! Aqualad gets shot protecting someone. Let’s blame Dick! Dr. Light and Deathstroke team up. Let’s blame Dick! Jericho’s dad is a psychopath who stabbed him through the chest. Let’s blame Dick! Why isn’t Dick omniscient? Why can’t Dick stop villains before they ever do anything bad? Why can’t Dick “fix” Jason? Why couldn’t Dick intuit that a dead boy that he saw die right in front of him wasn’t actually dead but is instead hiding trapped in his murderous father’s head? Why did Dick have to go and try to stop Deathstroke after he killed Garth, tried to kill Donna, and then swore to kill all of them?!?!

Now, I know Dick made a bad choice about showing up at Jericho’s meeting with Slade, but, my word, the boy just nearly lost his oldest and dearest friend to the same heartless assassin who’d callously murdered another of his friends maybe a month ago! Can we really blame Dick for not being the most level-headed in that moment, and can his friends, his family, not summon up a little grace for the person who has been shouldering this by himself all along and trying to do everything in his power to fix it? I cannot fathom how they honestly blame him for Jericho’s death. Then when he comes clean, trying to make things right, they as good as call him a murderer and storm out. They only ever call him or show up when they need their problems fixed! They could care less about Dick’s problems or feelings. The only person who stood by Dick through any of this was Gar, and thank goodness for him.

3rd: Ian Glen has to be the worst cast Batman of all time. To me, it’s just cringe inducing. He doesn’t look like Bruce, he doesn’t sound like Bruce, and his accent is dodgey AF. Also, Dick’s Alt-Bruce hallucinations were a little too trippy for me. I don’t think I’ll ever get the image of Bruce Wayne dancing between strippers out of my mind. *shivers* I will however allow that he had one of the funniest and most underrated lines in the season, when Alt-B was talking to Dick about Jason and said, “Everyone should throw their problem child off a fifteen story building. It clears the mind.” The situation was not funny at all, but the way he said it; my word, I had to pause it and play it back it was so funny.

4th: Does anyone actually like Dawn? I mean super occasionally she does something that’s kinda okay, but overall she is just the most self-righteous preening sanctimonious hussy. Her relationship with Dick is so toxic and then her relationship with Hank somehow manages to be worse! She’s constantly demanding that Dick fix this or solve that or be different or my favorite “Be Batman” and then blames, accuses, and shuns him for it. She acts like she’s so innocent and they’re all so screwed up when she’s just as damaged and addicted as they all are. I just can’t stand her!

5th: How dare they treat Jason like that, and how dare the show go to the end of the season and not even try to fix it! No wonder Jason thinks he’s worthless! Bruce dismisses him. Everyone constantly tells him he’s not good enough and that he’s annoying and an asshole. They accuse him of messing with them after he gets back from being kidnapped and TORTURED, like that would be the first thing on his mind. The kid nearly died, would have died if not for a save from Superboy, and the only person who seemed to care was Dick. Dick was the only one who noticed he was on the roof about to jump off. Dick and Gar are the only ones who ever even treat Jason like a human being. It’s disgusting and he deserves so much better.

6th: I was not prepared for how much I was going to love Conner, but he and Krypto are too precious for this world and must be protected. That is all. I will accept no criticism on this point.

7th: How dare the show runners introduce us to Aqualad only to take him from us! He was too cute in every sense of the word, and he and Donna were too perfect for just one episode. I love Drew Van Acker and I loved Garth. He brought some heart to a season that was trying too hard to be too dark. We need Garth. Please find some way to bring him back!

8th: What the hell was the death of Donna Troy?!?! That was the stupidest, most pointless death of all time. I can’t even wrap my head around it. It was just bad writing, pure and simple.

Which brings us to my 9th and final point: What was the writing this season? It was so SO uneven. The show would go all dark and edgy then it would suddenly try to be funny, but the light and the heart just weren’t there. My favorite part of season 1 was the relationships, but particularly what I refer to as the “Dick Grayson Healing Hug Factor”. Dick sees a person in trouble or a person who is sad or a person who needs a family and he immediately envelopes them in a metaphorical (sometimes literal) healing hug, and I love that most about him.

He is trying to build a family out of the abandoned fringe people who need help and saving. But instead of giving us 13 episodes of that, this season Dick was spread too thin and instead we had to watch him talk to Alt-Bruce in a very disturbing mental breakdown that was never adequately addressed either.

Then we have Kori who has gotten her memories back but somehow manages to have less personality and purpose than before.

Raven is suddenly keeping secrets from everyone including Dick who she usually tells everything to and relies on because of reasons. She brought a murderous gargoyle to life and that was glossed over. She attacked Donna and that was never addressed again. What are her powers? I’m confused and it feels like the writers were too.

Overall this season was uneven and odd, but somehow still good?? The fights were pretty great. I loved that 3-way blindfolded fight with Jay, Gar, and Raven. The costumes were SO much better! Kori no longer looked cheap and her hair this season was 10,000 times better. Joshua Orpin in that black superman t-shirt was like seeing Conner Kent pulled off the page. Deathstroke’s costume was super rad! Oh, and that Nightwing costume, it is so dope! Not gonna lie, I almost cried when I saw it. It was just *chef’s kiss*.

#Titans #dceu #dc comics #dick grayson #robin #nightwing #jason todd #red hood #starfire #raven dc #beast boy #wonder girl #aqualad #hawk and dove #deathstroke #titans season 2

[ichika27]

Mairimashita! Iruma-kun s2 ep8

We’re finally at the end of this arc! Took a long time and many people waited and now it’s here and it’s over. I’m sure you manga readers are waiting for something else after this and I wonder what you guys would be hyping next.

They finally got all the stamps from the other teachers and they’re now here to show Kalego-sensei the results and are waiting for sensei to sign his.

Sadly, sensei is pulling some technicality on them and says it’s not enough. They only had letters from the teaching staff and Babyl’s faculty members include those working on other parts of the school (cleaning, cafeteria, etc.) and the class failed to gather those. He says too bad but he’d at least see if he could have their old classroom fixed.

Honestly, seeing that Iruma is close with the other staff members since he’s been helping them out anyways, I thought that if they could use the rest of the 3rd day to gather those letters, they could turn this around.

But it seems they didn’t have to go anywhere because the other staff members heard about what the Abnormal Class was doing and they all arrived in the Faculty Room to give their letters.

Iruma is surprised and asked why they were here and helping them and each group/person mentioned that Iruma had either helped them or made their jobs more fun. They’re fans of Iruma and they appreciate him. While you could see Iruma helping people throughout this arc alongside gathering the other letters which foreshadows this scene, this had been going on since season 1. Iruma had been shown to volunteer in helping clean ups and such (with Azz and Clara following him and helping out, too) because that’s the kind of person Iruma is.

I’m not gonna lie, I teared up at this scene. Not only cause it was heartwarming to see the others help Iruma but also the fact that Iruma realized he’s appreciated. Iruma had been working his entire life before Grandpa Sullivan adopted him. His parents have abused him and he’s always had to survive. He also would help anyone of they even said the word “Please”. To Iruma, doing work and helping others is a normal part of him and is probably no big deal to him. To see him surprised that he’s being thanked this way for everything and knowing all of what he’s been doing made a big impact on people, things that he never really thought much of cause it’s normal for him to help, is just... it’s nice. It’s great because everyone loves Iruma and now he hears it from them.

(This reminds me of a story I heard but it has nothing to do with Iruma-kun but the comparison made me cry more lol)

Kalego-sensei very, very, reluctantly stamps his own letter lol.

There’s now a celebration for two reasons: one, Royal One is finally going to be opened after who knows how many years. This is a historical moment! Two: everyone wants to see the kids that made this possible. The class is surprised by the 2nd reason cause they’re never been thought of as cool and interesting before.

Royal One is finally open! The inside is super shiny! It doesn’t look like it’s part of a school at all.

I was wondering earlier why the place looks so clean and spotless despite being abandoned for many years. Turns out, they have an explanation for that! Darn, I wish I had that kinda magic to keep our house clean! Would’ve been helpful lol.

Iruma sits in the throne!

Okay... again, I’d like to ask: the Wicked Phase/Evil Cycle for Iruma just lets him do his desire, right? Iruma before this scene purposely walked inside rooms seemingly looking for something and then when he sees the throne, he smiles and walked directly to it and sits on it without a word as if this is what he wanted from this (everyone else is shown to be interested in parts of the school that would benefit them or is their thing).

So... does this mean Iruma low-key wants to be the demon king deep inside his heart?

Anyways, none of the other kids complained at all or criticized him for sitting on the throne.

Azz suddenly had a vision.

This is pretty cool, I admit. I mean, Iruma is the main character and we know he’d be the demon king someday but seeing everyone else start realizing it is awesome.

The next day regular Iruma returns! And he is feeling the cringe! How dare he act like a cool but rude guy at school? It’s totally bad and embarrassing! lol

He apologizes to his grandpa and to Opera about his behavior the past few days and they just tell him it’s okay and that they liked his rebellious phase, too. They’re really happy he’s back to being the sweet kid they know though.

Iruma also apologizes to Ameri about his actions and Ameri tells him it’s fine.

Don’t worry Iruma! Ameri really doesn’t mind the dokidoki scenario from the other day. In fact, I think you awakened something inside of her!

He says sorry to the rest of his class for putting them through something troublesome but they said they aren’t mad and are actually happy about how it all went. And they have a really nice classroom to boot!

They also tease him about the whole “Sitting on the throne” thing, too.

In the end, they all decided to take a picture and dragged sensei for it, too!

The one from the episode itself had subtitles so I took a screenshot of the after credit image so it’s got no subs but it does have the show’s logo on it.

--

That was a fun arc! I can definitely see what you guys liked about it but the hype is still strange to me. Probably because I usually see those hype for fight scenes when it’s on a shounen anime. It was entertaining though! I was gonna point out how weird it is that Royal One is super clean and sparkly after many years of being locked but they surprisingly had an explanation and I was like “Oh...” lol.

It’s definitely a nice ending to this arc. I love how Iruma’s actions from season 1 with being nice and helpful culminated into this. It’s definitely a nice part of his entire story.

Thanks for reading this far! Looking forward to the next episode!

#Mairimashita! Iruma-kun #welcome to demon school iruma-kun #sana_post

[auburnfamilynews]

Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

Down go the champs

SEC football is back in all it’s glory. For some schools, football being back was awesome as they watched their teams start the 2020 campaign with a W. For some, it was fun to see their favorite programs play but disappointing to start the year off with an L. Then there were LSU fans....

The Bayou Bengals became the first defending champs to lose their season opener since 1998 when Notre Dame fell to Michigan. Turns out replacing a Heisman winner, both coordinators, most of the offensive line, top three wide receivers, top running back and the majority of defensive starters is kind of a big deal.

Also, it turns out Mike Leach and his Mississippi State Bulldogs are ready for SEC defenses.

With one data point now available there were some shakeups to this week’s rankings. Let’s take a look. Also a quick note, I decided to drop FEI because it doesn’t appear those rankings are being updated on a weekly basis.

#1.) Alabama 1-0 (—)

SP+: 3 | FPI: 2

Last Game: 38-19 W @ Missouri

I admit that I watched exactly 2 snaps of this game so I don’t have much to offer in the form of analysis. It appears the Crimson Tide took care of business and then cruised to the finish line. Najee Harris scored three touchdowns, Mac Jones was efficient and Jaylen Waddle is still impossible to cover. Not sure there’s a ton to takeaway from this game for either team except that the Tide aren’t going to be surprisingly bad. We will learn more this weekend when the Aggies come to town.

Next Game: vs Texas A&M

#2.) Georgia 1-0 (—)

SP+: 4 | FPI: 6

Last Game: 37-10 W @ Arkansas

Per 247 Composite, there are sixteen former 5-star recruits on Georgia’s 2020 football roster. That’s the most of any program. More than Alabama, Ohio State and Clemson. It’s more than Auburn, Florida, Texas A&M and Tennessee combined. They opened the season with a road trip to Fayetteville to take on a Hog program stuck in the mud. A program with only four more 4-star players than UGA 5-stars.

And yet...

Hilariously, Arkansas took a 7-5 lead into halftime. Redshirt D’Wan Mathis did not look ready for collegiate football and it took the insertion of walk-on Stetson Bennett for the Dawgs to finally take care of business. The offensive line did not look it’s former dominant self either. The biggest question facing UGA heading into 2020 was whether or not this offense could take the next step. So far, it ain’t looking good....

But it might not matter. After allowing a 7 play 91 yard touchdown drive, UGA’s defense allowed only a field goal while picking off Franks three times including taking one back for six points. That’s why I still have them in the #2 spot over the Gators. This offense might not be great again but this defense is good enough to prevent a total meltdown. This weekend will tell us a lot about what this Dawg team is capable of accomplishing this fall.

Next Game: vs Auburn

#3.) Florida 1-0 (—)

SP+: 8 | FPI: 9

Last Game: 51-35 W @ Ole Miss

The University of Florida Fighting Kyles lit up the scoreboard in Oxford over the weekend. Kyle Trask threw for 416 yds and SIX touchdowns Saturday. WR/TE/Freak Kyle Pitts caught 8 of those passes for 170 yards and 4 touchdowns. Needless to say, Ole Miss fans won’t be naming any kids Kyle in the near future.

But while the offense was spectacular, that Gator defense had some serious struggles. I expected Ole Miss to put some points on the board but I didn’t see 600+ yards coming. The main concern I had about this UF team heading into 2020 was whether or not this defense was good enough to slow folks down. As of now, that question remains unanswered. It will be interesting to see how they look against an ok South Carolina team this weekend.

Next Game: vs South Carolina

#4.) Auburn 1-0 (+1)

SP+: 6 | FPI: 7

Last Game 29-13 W vs Kentucky

Auburn had the 2nd best win of the weekend taking down a veteran, physical Kentucky squad. The Wildcats controlled the first half for the most part but the Tigers dominated the 2nd half and were able to come away with a somewhat comfortable win.

Bo Nix looked good in his 2020 debut and Seth Williams is gonna be a problem for a lot of defenses this fall. Defensively, Auburn got knocked around early but settled down in the 2nd half. The big question is still the offensive line which performed admirably in their season debut but must improve if the Tigers are going to end that awful drought in Athens on Saturday.

Next Game: @ Georgia

#5.) Mississippi State 1-0 (+7)

SP+: 38 | FPI: 35

Last Game: 44-34 W @ LSU

Ok so I got a lot of apologizing to do to State fans. I thought this State team would be pretty bad this year. Sure Leach added an outstanding grad transfer at QB in K.J. Costello over the off-season but cmon... This Mississippi State team isn’t exactly overflowing with talent especially at the skill position (sans Kylin Hill). And that defense lost some major contributors and are switching to a brand new scheme. They will be luck to win 3 games I thought...

Welp....

Turns out this team is ready to create mayhem in the SEC. Costello carved up that vaunted DBU secondary and if he hadn’t kept turning the ball over this game might have been a legit blowout. Costello set the single game SEC passing record throwing for 623 yards and 5 touchdowns. Three State players crossed the century mark including star tailback Kylin Hill.

I don’t know how this season goes for Mississippi State but it’s definitely going to go much better than I expected. Gotta give an immense amount of credit to Leach and his coaching staff. They came out ready to go and made a massive statement this past weekend.

Next Game: vs Arkansas

#6.) Tennessee 1-0 (+1)

SP+: 24 | FPI: 30

Last Game: 31-27 W @ South Carolina

I picked Tennessee to lose this game but the Vols were able to make less mistakes than the Cocks and a few more big plays to escape with the W. It wasn’t necessarily an impressive performance but it was effective. The Dawgs look vulnerable and Tennessee has more talent than Kentucky. Can Jeremy Pruitt capitalize and make that final game of the year against UF the de facto SEC East championship?

Next Game: vs Missouri

#7.) Texas A&M 1-0 (-1)

SP+: 19 | FPI: 19

Last Game: 17-12 W vs Vanderbilt

Technically, Texas A&M won Saturday. But if anyone ventured over to the SEC Alternate channel to watch this cluster of a game, you probably didn’t come away super impressed with the supposed top challenger to the Tide in the West.

Turns out Kellen Mond is still Kellen Mond. That offensive line is still pretty bad and losing all that WR production is not easily replaced. I don’t think things are going to go well in Tuscaloosa this weekend....

Next Game: @ Alabama

#8.) Kentucky 0-1 (—)

SP+: 43 | FPI: 27

Last Game: 13-29 L @ Auburn

For one half of football, it looked like the Wildcats had a shot at living up to the preseason hype. Maybe this is the year they could go on the road into an SEC West venue against a ranked opponent and get the W. Then the 2nd half kicked off...

A disastrous 4th quarter resulted in a frustrating L for Big Blue Nation and they don’t get to lick their wounds. An explosive Rebel attack is set to visit Lexington and if Terry Wilson doesn’t get those turnovers cleaned up they could very well be 0-2 this time next week. I still think though this is top 3 team in the SEC East. We will see if they can get right against the Lane Train.

Next Game: vs Ole Miss

#9.) LSU 0-1 (-5)

SP+: 25 | FPI: 13

Last Game: 34-44 L vs Mississippi State

Turns out you can’t just easily replace literally your whole organization following a national championship. Weird huh?

It didn’t take long for LSU fans to learn that the Myles Brennan and Bo Pelini hype ain’t for real. The Tigers new QB struggled much of the day and wasn’t helped by drops and a porous offensive line. Pelini refused to switch out of his man defense and allowed Mike Leach to put on a clinic on how to beat it over and over again. There are some serious problems on this LSU team and I don’t know if they can all get fixed in the coming weeks.

Fortunately, a trip to play a not very good Vanderbilt team should get Ed O back to .500. However, if LSU wants any shot at a repeat they gotta find a way to adjust to this new world.

Next Game: @ Vanderbilt

#10.) Ole Miss 0-1 (-1)

SP+: 44 | FPI: 37

Last Game: 35-51 L vs Florida

I honestly didn’t wanna move Ole Miss down a spot it just kinda happened. The Rebels showed they are exactly who I thought they were over the weekend. An explosive but inconsistent offense paired with a very bad defense. The Rebels are going to give DCs around the SEC headaches but they are going to need some stops on the other side of the ball if they wanna string together any Ws. Big opportunity to make a statement this weekend against a frustrated Kentucky team.

Next Game: @ Kentucky

#11.) South Carolina 0-1 (—)

SP+: 34 | FPI: 40

Last Game: 27-31 L vs Tennessee

South Carolina has mastered losing to Tennessee in frustrating fashion. They fought to the bitter end but a punt off the backside of a blocker ended any opportunity of a dramatic finish. Offensively, South Carolina looked ok. It’s clear outside of Shi Smith this team is lacking in terms of play makers. This Saturday is a must win for Coach Boom.

Next Game: @ Missouri

#12.) Missouri 0-1 (-2)

SP+: 48 | FPI: 42

Last Game: 19-38 L vs Alabama

As I said above, I didn’t really watch this game so I got nothing really to say about this Mizzou squad other than they covered and that’s all that really mattered.

Next Game: @ Tennessee

#13.) Vanderbilt 0-1 (+1)

SP+: 110 | FPI: 68

Last Game: 12-17 L @ Texas A&M

They did their darndest to pull the stunner but then they are also Vanderbilt so of course it didn’t happen. I was impressed overall with the Dores performance though and rewarded them with what will likely be their highest ranking of the season. No way LSU loses this game too right?

Next Game: vs LSU

#14.) Arkansas 0-1 (-1)

SP+: 75 | FPI: 59

Last Game: 10-37 L vs Georgia

For one half of football, Arkansas stood toe to toe with one of the giants of the SEC. Hog fans rejoiced that maybe just maybe Sam Pittman was going to do the impossible. Then reality hit like a train in the 2nd half...

Outside of a few skill players on offense and the best named linebacker in the country in Bumper Pool, this program is devoid of SEC caliber talent. Feleipe Franks is still not a great quarterback. With Mississippi State not being the dumpser fire as hoped, I am not sure there’s a W on this schedule for the Hogs....

Next Game: @ Mississippi State

War Eagle!

from College and Magnolia - All Posts https://www.collegeandmagnolia.com/2020/9/28/21458459/sec-power-rankings-week-2

#IFTTT #Blogger #auburn #auburn fast #wareagle #AuburnFamilyNews #war eagle #sec #football news #aubu

[haich-slash-cee]

Being Human (UK)

This is a show that I recommend to people... but I add a lot of caveats.

The recommendation: A werewolf, vampire and ghost are flatmates. This show is hilarious! So much macabre and slice of life humor! And horror and whump!? Also, the show was run by a side-channel of BBC (BBC3) and I guess they had no production money, so the actors mostly look human and they just refer to each other as being a 500-year old vampire or ghost or whatever. Which makes it even better. The werewolf is Jewish, recites a Jewish prayer at least once, and hangs out watching “The Real Hustle” with the vampire. They work in a hospital as janitors. The ghost has a habit of making everyone tea to soothe herself and the flat is cluttered with tea mugs everywhere all the time. Also, people do get fang-y or wolf-y or do weird poltergeist stuff. And gore happens.

Longish post, more below the cut.

PS, this is the 2008-2013 UK version of Being Human, which I hear had a cult following. There’s certainly stuff on Tumblr. I found the BBC version through the US remake of Being Human, but I’m much more charmed by the BBC version. (The US version has the vampire and werewolf as hospital doctors? Why?) Also I watched the show maybe 4, 5 years ago, so impressions are from that.

And the caveats: There’s a lot of sexism which was hard to watch. It’s engrained in the premise and plot and occasional gross sexist jokes. And there’s other problematic stuff in the writing. It’s like having glass shards show up the meal you are enjoying, and it’s why I’m not sure I’ll rewatch the series (or not in it’s entirety, anyway). There’s also a limited spinoff web series called Becoming Human which also had some problems for me, including some gross sexism and fatphobia. (John Boyega from Star Wars does show up as a character in that series, for anyone interested.)

Back to Being Human and overall series recommendations. So the 1st season was good. I kind of forgot what happened in the 2nd and 3rd season (I think they got depressing and slow?). The 4th season picked up again, much to my surprise, and I remember liking the 4th and 5th season a lot. Even though [spoilers] there was a complete cast change by this time. But it worked, somehow. The show did go from at least having one woman of color to having an all-white cast at the end, which was not great. And there’s other racism too.

For people who like their happily-ever-after: uhhh so I vaguely recall that a lot of characters don’t really get a happy ending. Granted, half of them are walking around dead already, so...? Overall, the ending of the 5th season is... Is that a happy ever after? Happy for now? The Bonus on the DVD kind of makes it a happy-for-now with a continued possibility? It’s an acceptable HFN?

.....And now, the notes for all the hurt/comfort people and whumpers:

Holy crap people, there is SO much h/c and whump!?

OK first -- George the werewolf. George’s transformation sequence, SUPER whumpy.

Also, George ends up naked often, come to think. And he screams a lot during the show, for various reasons. The actor himself, in the bonus DVD interviews I think, cheerfully says something like, “People really like the way George screams, I do too.” (This is like when David Tennant cheerfully talked about how he enjoys playing a character who is unconscious and sick and gets fussed over by people.) And George is a very sympathetic, nerdy character who is easy to feel for. Who occasionally turns into a SNARLY SCARY WEREWOLF AGAINST HIS WILL. As mentioned, I think I liked season 1 George more than seasons 2 or 3.

Emotional hurt/comfort -- so Annie the Ghost provides a lot of the emotional centering, as I recall. Throughout all 5 seasons, all the characters lean on each other for support and there’s a lot of lovely warm fuzzies from that. Also, one of the later werewolf characters, Tom, is generally a sweet kid. I’m glad they didn’t do too much of the transformation horror with him, honestly. George/Russel Tovey could carry that, but I thought Tom’s strong point was looking puppy-eyed and folorn-eyebrow’d and trying to navigate the world with a mix of naivety and half-feral-ness.

Above: exhausted naps on the couch.

Below: Classic Being Human humor. A review of house rules and vampire stabbing etiquette, between Annie and Tom --

[Spoilers from here on] Okay, so as mentioned, the cast changed over between season 4-5. And to my surprise, I think I loved the new trio as much as, or more than, the original trio. I liked how loud Alex the ghost was. And I liked both Annie and Alex.

Also, I did not expect this either, but I got so interested in Hal! Yo! First of all, Hal is a centuries-old Vampire and speaks/looks like, idk, a Regency Character. And then 19-yr old Tom puts Hal to work at a fast food shop and bosses him around, and Hal’s indignation is hilarious. So already, this is excellent.

And somehow, Hal is very, very whumpy? So: the character of a “vampire who is trying to be good and suffers” is not new, and I’ve encountered versions where I haven’t been interested. (I was lukewarm about Mitchell, the original vampire in the show.) But for whatever reason, I really dug Hal. Maybe, for me, Hal was just the right mix of very serious and earnest but also ridiculous and tragic all at once. (I read some interviews with the actor Damien Molony, who mentioned how he’d done a lot of history and addiction research in to prep for the role. The new trio actors also had a lot of chemistry and fun on sets, it sounds like. So I might be picking up all that.)

Also, Hal is actually two characters -- the ridiculous indignant serious Good Hal who is desperately trying to keep the horrible, rude, murderous, Bad Hal from taking over. But, as one of the show producers, a woman, cheerfully commented in the DVD extras: “And then Bad Hal shows up, which is great, everyone likes a bit of Bad Hal”. 

Honestly, why do we even pretend to hide our fascination with the macabre and the whump, when showrunners and actors are cheerfully not hiding it all.

Here’s clips of Good Hal in Season 4:

Oh, I forgot about this part until I rewatched the last clip -- but at the end of season 4, Hal asks his flatmates to forcibly bind him to a chair, because he’s trying to fight off Bad Hal. Based on my perusing of the whump community, pretty sure that scenario is of interest to someone.

Also notable is the episode “No Care, All Responsibility” (Series 5 ep 3). In one scene in particular, where Natasha has offered Hal a way to control his bloodlust and there’s this mix of vulnerability and power with Hal asking Natasha to put a stake against his heart, I remember thinking -- “I bet a woman wrote this ep and I bet she knew exactly what she wanted”. And I was right, that woman is Sarah Dollard, a queer woman who has also written a lot of other things (including Doctor Who). She also wrote Being Human goofy web extra eps with Alex, Hal and Tom called “Alex’s Unfinished Business” and they are so good ! (Interview). 

Also... the opening 3-minute backstory in “No Care...” made me cry. You get a glimpse of the show’s baddie showing real care and emotion in rescuing this little kid (an important character). When this kind of scene is done well, it just gets me. every. time.

Anyway here’s an appearance of Bad Hal (much later), being completely awful, murdering people and turning them into vampires and singing Broadway tunes during this.

Side note on Vampire narratives. Although Hal’s narrative arc of season 5 was interesting, and I’m aware this is show is urban fantasy, I still have qualms of the show enforcing IRL stigmas/ideas that addition is incurable and addicts are doomed. They’re not. (General overview on NIH page.) Addiction research is a growing field. From listening to NPR and reading articles, my impression is that addiction treatment will change quickly in the next few years. Related to the vampire blood addiction trope, Terry Pratchett covers vampires finding ways to be “dry” (one vampire, Maladict, swaps out blood addiction for coffee addiction) and you can find fanfics about the topic as well. (General link to Being Human Ao3 fanfics, why not.)

Side note on Hal’s dual characters -- recently, I did consider, “Is there overlap with Hal and portrayals of Dissociative Identity Disorder (MPD) folks?” IRL DID people have complained about movies with gross portrayals of people with DID. To me, Being Human’s Hal feels removed from that and closer to a fantasy.... but, I’m also not multi, so.

* Update: after having learned more about plural history, I’m even less sure now. (Note: my opinions are of someone who isn’t plural, as far as I know, so note that.) There’s a number of early problematic movies and books that hugely affected the popular narratives of plural people in the west, and still affect how therapists and non-plural people treat plural people even today. These include the movie “The Three Faces of Eve”, which has the narrative of “Good Eve, Bad Even, and later smushed together become ‘Fixed Eve’ or whatever”. There’s practically a whole lecture series on how the books/movies were made with sensationalism and formulas in mind and pretty gross things. Chris Costner Sizemore, the IRL Eve, had to fight the movie studios in court because the studios claimed they owned her life story. (There’s practically a whole lecture series on early plural history in the west, I might link more information later). Like, even today, multi people feel pressured to hide their plurality because they are afraid singlets or other people are gonna say “oh so which one of you is the ax murderer”, or that they are going to be fired from work. So.  

This post turned into a “Being Human seasons 4 + 5 Appreciation Post”. I guess Season 1 and 4, 5 were my favorite. I watched the show through library DVDs, but I think there’s eps of the show on YouTube. The DVD extras are probably on this YouTube playlist?

(Also, there is a pilot episode, with different actors except George/Russel Tovey. I don’t think one needs to watch the pilot to watch the main series; I kind of recall that the main series recycled some of the pilot. There is a funny scene in the pilot where George and Mitchell meet Annie.)

Being Human: a macabre, hilarious, horror-filled, flawed, sometimes dragging, emotional, whumpy, oddball show that I still think about sometimes.

#being human #being human bbc #annie #mitchell #george #alex #tom #Hal #vampire #werewolf #ghost #bbc #bbc3 #being human 2008 #whump #hurt/comfort #gore #good hal #bad hal #macabre humor #russell tovey #i see russell tovey in other roles and each time I'm like 'GEORGE!?' #lenora crichlow #Aidan Turner #Sinead Keenan #Michael Socha #Damien Molony #kate bracken #vulnerable men #being human uk

[kettlewrites]

cardiac surgeon!minho (lee know)

[ 3K / not proof-read but what’s new, sort of a weird ending but overall soft ]

for a guy who uses febreeze as cologne and is a little ditzy,, lee minho was one of the top students in med school

no one really knew how,, honestly no one questioned it because everyone was more focused on 1. getting out of here and 2. why such a handsome person decided to become a surgeon instead of a model or idol

and honestly at this point, minho was tired of hearing these questions or comments

which is why when he hears his classmates or even other residents talking about his features, minho pushes himself harder so that instead of his looks his hard work and talent could be noticed

you had known minho for a while now,, as you two had become friends during your first year of uni when you both were made partners in that cursed eight a.m biology class

at first you were just like the others,, you made slight jokes about how minho could probably cause a heart attack from his strikingly good looks before you put a stop to them when you found out how much he hated them

*cough cough* it wasn’t hard to notice after seeing it written all over his journal

plus it worked out for the better when you acknowledged his hard work,, you also were able to realize how great of a friend and lab partner he was

almost nine years down the line,, you and minho were still the best of friends

you couldn’t have ever imagined being able to graduate alongside your best friend but also get into medical school and graduate med school with him too? you were just ecstatic minho was still by your side

along the way, you had met jisung and woojin during your journey

jisung was the very clumsy and almost ditzier med student who bumped into you your 2nd year of med school,, spilling coffee on your notes and causing a whole scene to try to apologize

whereas woojin was your senior and three years ahead of both you and minho but he still was a great friend who provided advice and even stopping by to give his three favorite juniors chicken during exam season

and you held these three boys close to your side and your heart as well,, as you never believed you could have found a family in the most competitive environment ever

now here you were,, running rounds with minho years after all the painful nights of studying for exams and the little to no hours of sleep you got (but let’s be honest you don’t even get that much now during your shifts)

but you couldn’t change it for the world

you could remember it like it was yesterday,, having the conversation with minho one day during your undergrad years

it was probably around three or four a.m as you both sat working on the bio final probably pumping energy drinks into your veins

“what’s your dream?” you asked out of the blue

your eyes were met with minho’s tired ones,, his gorgeous brown eyes droopy opposite of the corners of his mouth that turned into a smile

you’d never tell him how pretty his eyes were though

“to become head of cardiac surgery.” his eyes had brightened opposed from his previous droopy look, the smile on his face could brighten the entire room

you felt your heart race as you just watched minho’s entire face brighten when he said his dream but still you’d never tell him that

instead you gulped down to try to slow your heartbeat down and smiled with him

“out of all the specialties why cardiac?” 

“because i grew up breaking so many hearts, might as well fix them too.” he laughs

and you couldn’t ever say how much you loved his laugh but you did and it was a secret you would always keep to yourself

you laughed with him before sealing this moment in a special place in your heart and moving back to work

it had been years since you two had that conversation,, years and minho’s eyes still brightened whenever you or jisung brought up his love for cardiovascular surgery

even the mention of a heart would bring the boy to a bright smile and would cause him to jump up to say a fact or something quirky about the heart

then at a certain point, you start thinking that jisung (who was although dense but somehow very observant) was starting to just say them to watch you squirm as minho’s smile and upbeat voice while spouting out another fact about the heart brings your own heart beat to a very unhealthy speed

but that was very besides the point

jisung does however still bump into the two of you to crack a joke and even takes time out his day to go different routes to run into you to joke about your very obvious  crush on lee minho

minho was loved by all of his patients,, and even all of the attending

the head of cardiovascular surgery had taken a giant liking towards minho and you couldn’t be happier for him

you had always been ecstatic to see when minho would come out of his hours long surgeries with a giant smile on his face because he was able to fix another broken heart and hear about how amazing the surgeries went

although,, just because you were happy for him (as he was getting closer to his dreams) doesn’t mean everyone else was

there had been several occasions where you had gotten into arguments with the other residents over this so called favoritism 

you had always defended minho until woojin (remember him? he’s one of the attending now) had to pull you out of the arguments even then you would still voice your point as woojin would sometimes have to literally hurl you over his shoulder and carry you across the hospital to look at newborn babies until you weren’t bright red with steam rushing out of your ears

minho never knew about these arguments, jisung made sure of it always

however there was one day where minho was scheduled to scrub in on a valve replacement surgery

as you had finished up with the rest of your patients for the day which had went by fairly quickly since you didn’t have anything serious to go over you noticed a few nurses snickering under their breathes as you walked by

“did you hear that y/n is doctor lee’s little love sick puppy?”

“all they ever do is defend him even when he’s in the wrong.”

“i hear they even finish his paperwork because they’re in love with him.”

at first you were phased by these comments because you’ve hear it all the time

you heard the comments during your undergrad, during med school and you didn’t expect anything different since your entire first year of residency you were thrown around and treated like his puppy by the other residents

the first year of residency, a then-senior resident woojin had to tell all of the other first year interns to back off of you for minho’s number or even just trying to switch teams so they could be on the same one with minho

you had gotten used to it and it stopped bothering you even if it was annoying

but there was one comment that stood out to you

“i heard the only reason he got the job was because of his looks.”

and with that last comment you snapped your neck and stopped in your tracks, looking at the snooty blonde nurses at their station

“did you need something?” the tallest one asks

you nodded, a pretty blank look on your face as you felt that forced smile you gave patients creeping onto your lips

“first, it costs you nothing to give me the respect i deserve and call me doctor. second, it literally costs you nothing to give doctor lee the respect he deserves as well.” your tone was blank, as you didn’t have the energy to get heated into an argument

“or what you’ll go running to your little boyfriend to tell on us? not like he’s a true doctor if he got in for his looks.” the one sitting smirks

“looks can always get you so far,” you start to feel your blood boil, “doctor lee was top in our class because of people like you. people like you who only acknowledge his looks instead of the blood, sweat and tears he pours into his craft and his work.”

“you’re just mad because we’re insulting your little crush.” she says again, gaining laughs from her fellow nurse friends

“i am mad because no one acknowledges the hard work he and i have poured into this program! like i said it literally costs you nothing to give us the respect we deserve which is a lot less than patients here spend!” you raised your voice slightly, but not enough to cause a scene like you had done before

you both had continued to go back and forth, unknowing that minho was right behind you

his eyes wide and mind running as he’s never seen you act like this before

“doctor y/l/n.” he says, taking the bickering to an end abruptly

you turned to see a very confused minho and instantly felt the world coming straight down onto you

“could i have a word with you?”

you let out a groan before at first hesitantly going with him as he dragged you to a supply closet

“you finished early.” you sulk in guilt, it wasn’t a good thought knowing minho had caught you fighting with the staff

“it was messy,” he sighed, “but we finished early because it was simple to clean.”

you begin to pace around due to your rising anxiety of what minho wanted to say to you, you couldn’t read his face and you couldn’t read minds and at that moment you wished to every god in the universe that you had one of those abilities because right now minho was completely blank

“you still argue?” he laughs at first before getting more upset, “why do you stlll argue y/n?”

“they weren’t calling me doctor.” you were still afraid of saying the other reason, so you tried pushing the smallest issue first

“for a petty reason?”

“minho.”

“you’re lying. i heard my name getting thrown in it.” his eyebrows furrow in annoyance, he was already aching from standing for hours and his head was throbbing in other words, minho needed a deep slumber after his shift was over 

you let out a sigh before breaking down your wall, “they said you got into the program because of your looks and they called me a lovesick puppy for always defending you.”

“always defending me? so this isn’t the first time you’ve been fighting?”

“it’s happened all throughout med school and now.” you had given up on hiding everything from him, what was the point he was bound to find out sooner or later

somehow you just wished it was jisung instead of you who had to tell him

“just. forget it y/n.”

“forget it?”

“forget it! stop defending me when i can defend myself!”

you had never experienced minho raising his voice. never at anyone, especially you. you were flabbergasted at what to do or even say

“minho i-”

“forget it y/n.” and with that minho angrily walked out of the closet and left you baffled

you had walked out several minutes later, unluckily running straight into jisung who was doe-eyed and looking genuinely confused, before turning his confusion into a suggestive smile

“did you and minho? in the supply closet?” his smirk grew under your skin before you shoved him away

“i take that as a no. damnit i’m never getting that ten dollars from woojin hyung.” he mumbles as he watched you walk away from him

it had been days now since you and minho last spoken. you both didn’t make any type of eye contact during rounds, you both didn’t even speak to each other if you were stuck in the same elevator

it was silent and you hated it.

“talk to him.” woojin suggested as he took a bite into his sandwich, “not like you both can go forever without speaking.”

“maybe we can!” you didn’t expect your voice to be so loud, but you could tell it had surprised jisung when he choked on his smoothie

“y/n, you and i both know that isn’t true. just talk to him, he probably will explain why he got so upset.”

you kept the conversation in your head as you walked down the hospital halls mindlessly as you waited for a page or even the sight of minho

you stopped at the surgery board, seeing that you were booked to scrub in within a few hours and no sight of minho on the board whatsoever which was odd to you

“were you looking for me?” the familiar voice had sent chills down your spine

you turned to be instantly met with those gorgeous brown eyes you had fallen for years before

“n-no! i- i was just checking the time i was,, uh scrubbing in!”

“like you would forget.” he chuckled, and you felted your heart begin to speed hearing his laughter in your ears again, “we should talk.”

and that’s how you found yourself in a supply closet with minho again

“what did you want to talk about?”

“i’m sorry for blowing up on you the other day. it’s just i’ve always known that you were fighting with the other med students back then and even residents now because jisung can’t keep secrets to save his life. i just didn’t want you to continue burdening yourself by trying to defend or even protect me.”

“burden myself?” you were still confused as to where he was heading with this

“yeah, you know i just don’t want you risking your job or even place in the program plus i know how hot tempered you can get. i just don’t want you to be burdened cause i’ll feel worse.”

“minho i do it because i like-” you stopped in the middle of your sentence, “i like you as a friend and i’m always here to protect my friends. especially you, since you’ve been by my side the longest and i know how hard it gets for you when people don’t acknowledge your hard work.”

“only as a friend?” minho’s lips curl into a sly smirk, “kind of hurts y/n when i’m over here fixing hearts and you’re breaking mine.”

you tilt your head in confusion, at a loss of words because you had no idea what he was implying

“maybe you’re just as dense as jisung is,” he laughs with his eyes upturning into soft moons, “i’m saying that i like you and i have ever since you asked me about my dreams. i am also saying, please don’t go turning your residency into a fight club.”

you were definitely now at a loss for words

the guy who had made your heart race a mile a second for years now was now confessing that he liked you

“you don’t have to say anything i know i.. said a lot.”

and you didn’t know what to say but you did know that your hands went to grab his lab coat and did what you had been dreaming of doing since you first laid eyes on him well,, after you were fully awake and coherent during your eight a.m bio class

which was kiss him, kiss the boy who made your heart race (the boy who was a heart fixer but continuously made yours suffer)

“hey woojin hyung was asking for you and- OH! I’M GETTING THOSE TEN DOLLARS FINALLY!”

you both pulled apart instantly at the sound of jisung screaming at the top of his lungs, laughing as you watched the boy bounce up and down at the sight of you both kissing

“finally?” minho questions

“i placed a bet with woojin hyung last year that you both would hit it off in a supply closet.”

“that’s so specific....” you mumble

“that’s jisung for you.” minho chuckled before placing a kiss on your forehead before following a giddy jisung who was excited for his ten dollars

years down the line,, after you both had finished your residency and even after jisung finished his own residency

you had greeted your now boyfriend of several years with a smile and a kiss on the cheek before rushing to the O.R to get your booked surgeries completed

even with your busy schedules,, and even more hectic lives as the years pass with your jobs you both made time for each other and even celebrating your promotions

minho had become the head of cardiacs like he had always dreamt of while you had become to head of neurosurgery

everyone had always praised how the both of you had become a complete power couple that ran the hospital,, to which the two of you laughed because it wasn’t even true

even as much as jisung wanted you both to believe whenever he got completely plastered at your hangouts with woojin and him

but you wouldn’t change it for the world because hey, you were dating your best friend

you still had that hot temper which you now did not put towards fighting anymore

“good luck on your surgery later.” you say with a smile before waving your boyfriend off

“as to you.” he smiles

and you really don’t regret asking minho what his dreams were all those years ago, especially one days like this where you did the thing you love with the person you love

#minho #stray kids #lee know #minho scenarios #stray kids scenarios #sk writersnet #staydata #thekpopnetwork #lee know scenarios #minho imagines #stray kids imagines #skz imagines #skz scenarios #lee know imagines #lee minho #stray kids lee know #stray kids minho #han jisung #kim woojin

[ranier-layarte]

LONG Character Survey: Ranier Leveilleur

BASICS.

FULL NAME: Ranier Kyran Layarte Leveilleur

NICKNAME: Ran, Raven

AGE: 21-25 (depending on expac)

BIRTHDAY: 1st Sun of the 2nd astral moon

ETHNIC GROUP: Au ra (Xaela)

NATIONALITY: Eorzean – From Ul'dah

LANGUAGE(S): Eorzean,

SEXUAL ORIENTATION: No

ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: Isn't this the same as the above?

RELATIONSHIP STATUS: Married

CLASS: Weapon Master

• Proficient in almost all martial weapons.

• Tends to carry multiple weapons at all times.

• Prefers Axes out of all the bladed weaponry

HOMETOWN / AREA: Ul'dah

CURRENT HOMETOWN/ AREA: Shirogane Mansion

PROFESSION(S): WoL, Scion, Machinist, Businessman, Crafter

PHYSICAL: Extremely fit, exercises daily. Muscular build

HAIR: Black/Dark Blue

EYES: Crimson

NOSE: Average, straight, roman-esque

FACE: Straight essentially a greek nose. (At least if I had to try and describe it)

LIPS: A bit on the thinner side, very lightly pink.

COMPLEXION: A mix of Fair and Medium?

BLEMISHES: None

SCARS: Scar on left thigh from stab wound, Scar on left midsection, and upper right thigh.

TATTOOS: WoL tattoo on the palm of his right hand. (Working on giving him another)

HEIGHT: 7'4

WEIGHT: 330 LBS/ 150kg

BUILD: Tall, Muscular, Fit,

FEATURES: None

ALLERGIES: None, at least not yet.

USUAL HAIRSTYLE: Long hair parted in the middle framing the face. Pulled into a ponytail and held with a silver bead big enough for the tail.

USUAL FACE LOOK: Around 40% expressionless, 30% Scowling, 20% Reflective, 10% happy.

USUAL CLOTHING: Higher end clothing generally a mix of casual with formal preferring long pants and a short sleeved shirt. Boots of some kind and armor of some kind at all times. Either under or over the clothes having a preference for the bulkier armors.

PSYCHOLOGY.

FEAR(S): Dying and thereby becoming unable to prevent future deaths and incidents. A fear of the unknown. (Which is part of why he tries to prepare for so many things)

ASPIRATION(S): Being able to amass enough wealth to live comfortably and to continue making the lives of the less fortunate easier. Helping create a better society for all.

POSITIVE TRAITS: Empathetic, Compassionate, Humanitarian, Perseverance, Fairness, Courageous, Loving, Self discipline, Reliable, Thoughtful, Patient

NEGATIVE TRAITS: Bossy, Jealous, Secretive, Grumpy, Harsh, Aloof, Stubborn, Cruel (Only to enemies but that doesn't really matter to people does it?) Arrogant (In some things though less now)

ZODIAC: Pisces

TEMPERAMENT: Mix of choleric and melancholic.

SOUL TYPE(S):  King, Warrior, Server (In that order)

ANIMALS: Raven, Bear

VICE HABIT(S): Training, Fixing machines, Drinking, Rubbing Chin, 

FAITH: The Twelve (Loosely)

GHOSTS?: I mean if you've seen them you can't deny them.

AFTERLIFE?: With everything we see there has to be right?

REINCARNATION?: Yes, it's clear there is.

ALIENS?: Yes.

POLITICAL ALIGNMENT: Leftist

ECONOMIC PREFERENCE: Prosperous, everyone has what they need. Along with the means to go beyond that if they are willing and able.

SOCIO POLITICAL POSITION: I think there’s enough to go on.

EDUCATION LEVEL: Higher end of the spectrum, attended sharlayan schooling for a few years of his life. (Around three) Was home taught and by other teachers. Extensive knowledge in numerous subjects such as Machinery, Technology, Gunsmithing, Gemology, Business. Holding the equivalent of a mixture of Graduate or Masters in the subjects.

FAMILY.

FATHER: Kyran Layarte

MOTHER: Sahar Layarte

SIBLINGS: Kyari Layarte

EXTENDED FAMILY:

NAME MEANING(S): Ranier (Rainier with out the first I Meaning Wise army apparently)Kyran (Beam of Light) Sahar (Early morning or Dawn) Kyari (???)

HISTORICAL CONNECTION?: My families connection to history? My connection? My father was one of the survivors of the hotgo tribe also. Does fighting in the Calamity among all the other events count?

FAVORITES.

BOOK: Whatever has his current interest, it can very.

MOVIE PLAY: Does this mean Movie or Play?

5 SONGS:

• “Shock me” Baroness

• “Up In The Air” Thirty Seconds To Mars

• “Rise” League of Legends, Glitch Mob, The Word Alive

• “Unbreakable” Of Mice and Men

• “Drown” Bring Me The Horizon

DEITY: Halone

HOLIDAY: Valentione's day

MONTH: March

SEASON: Fall

PLACE: Beside his wife or workshop.

WEATHER: Light rain

SOUND: The turning of pages, the sound of rain, metal moving against each other.

SCENT(S): Smoke, Metal, Old books, and sweat

TASTE(S):  Dulcet, Spicy,

FEEL(S): Rocks, Silk, Smooth metals,

ANIMAL(S): This was listed before.

NUMBER: 1? I don't know.

COLORS: Black, Blue, Red, Gold, Silver

EXTRA.

TALENTS: Metalworking, Singing, Sewing, Gem Cutting, Technology, Smithing, Machinery, Dexterous.

BAD AT: Getting rest even now, Not over exerting himself, Not overthinking potential scenarios that may never happen. Dealing with almost all animals, Even now sometimes talking about what bothers him too well, but he’s gotten much better over the years/expansions.

TURN ONS: Caring, Helpful, Courageous, Educated, Aggressive. Listening, Reliable, 

TURN OFFS: Selfishness, Boastful, Belligerent, Cruelty, Intolerant, Racism, Weak willed, Careless,

HOBBIES: Creating new things be it machines, armor, clothes, weapons, tools, etc. Working on the same as before. Reading, Exercising, Cooking. Shopping.

TROPES: Pragmatic Hero, Bad ass boast, Big Fancy House, Chekhov's Gun, Determinator, Don't You Dare Pity Me, Genius Bruiser, Heroic Build, It's All My Fault, No Challenge Equals No Satisfaction, Super toughness, Friend to All Children, The Chosen One, The Ace, Ain't Too Proud To Beg, Always Save The Girl, Berserk Button, Death glare, Excuse me while I multi task, Game face, Hypocrite, Lady and Knight, Not So Stoic, Not So Invincible After all, Red Eyes, Take Warning, Stern Teacher, Undying Loyalty, The Power of Love

AESTHETIC TAGS: Workshops, Tools, Kitchens, Weaponry, Guns, Armor, Fine Clothes, Rain, Feathers, Azure Skies, Romance.

VOICE CLAIM(S): Keith Silverstein, (Speaking voice) John Rzeznik (Singing) John Baizley (Singing)

FC INFO.

MAIN  FC(S): Free company? Azure Talons.

ALT FC(S): What?

OLDER FC(S): What?

YOUNGER  FC(S): What?

GENDERBENT FC(S): What the fuck?

MUN QUESTIONS.

Q1: IF YOU COULD WRITE YOUR CHARACTER YOUR WAY IN THEIR OWN MOVIE, WHAT WOULD IT BE CALLED, WHAT STYLE WOULD IT BE FILMED IN, AND WHAT WOULD IT BE ABOUT?:

• I genuinely don’t know. Something with the grandeur of lord of the rings maybe? But with the ability to add comedy and romance in the proper way. I'm all for serious movies but I enjoy the ability to add a well executed joke or sweet moment. It also would probably not just be a single film. Taking the general events and using my fics as material would probably be fine.

I’d have to think about it a lot more than I will right now

As for the name, well, I don't really have many options. But, probably something with Final Fantasy XIV as the main title. Give it a JRPG title I suppose as a sub title. Sort of like Warriors Dissonance or Uncovered Stories.

Q2: WHAT WOULD THEIR SOUNDTRACK / SCORE SOUND LIKE?:

• Ambient, switching to full of energy, able to convey emotion. Again mentioning LOTR, the score by Howard shore is really great and able to accompany many scenes in such a fantastic manner. As for the other bits perhaps the addition of artist tracks such as from favorite bands and those songs that have meaning to him. Like the ones listed above. 

Q3: WHY DID YOU START WRITING THIS CHARACTER?:

• As a way to work on and show that, a character doesn't just have to be overly reliant on tropes and cliches. That those are good as part of them but not as defining traits of them. Along with breaking some of those. Like how all protagonists always have dead parents, what's up with that? I enjoy seeing characters that try to break their molds and be more than that.

Q4: WHAT FIRST ATTRACTED YOU TO THIS CHARACTER?:

• My general thing in any game where you can create your own character has always been. To make who you'd want to be in this universe. I did that and then worked on it and reworked things until I got what I have now. So also, yes, he was a self insert.

Q5: DESCRIBE THE BIGGEST THING YOU DISLIKE ABOUT YOUR MUSE:

• Hard one I suppose but. I'd say how he is capable of doing so much. Even though I work with it as it is a key part of him, it's still hard to make him feel right, feel human when he's got these clear incredible strengths. He's very proficient at so many things some would maybe say he's a mary sue type of character. I make an effort to work on how he became that way to offset it. So it's a lot of extra work than if I had him being a more archetypal hero of his type. I may dislike this the most but I also like it. Love hate relationship you know?

Q6: WHAT DO YOU HAVE IN COMMON WITH YOUR MUSE?:

• A good part of our attitudes and personality though on his end they are greater generally. Along with our want to be as best as we can at certain things. 

Q7: HOW DOES YOUR MUSE FEEL ABOUT YOU?:

• Honestly, and in my current state. He would probably be very upset with me and to just know me or the hand I have in his creation and self.

Q8: WHAT CHARACTERS DOES YOUR MUSE HAVE INTERESTING INTERACTIONS WITH?

• Alisaie Leveilleur – She is the main one being his main love interest, girlfriend, and wife later. Though overall he sees her as an equal and a partner, which is part of the reason their relationship grows as much as it does. Along with giving someone who he can trust in and rely on, and vice versa.

• Finn Hogveart - Who harasses Ranier often enough especially with his pet and regarding moogles.

• Alphinaud Leveilleur - and him sometimes get along strangely due to Ranier's relationship with his sister. For a long time he tried to spy on Ranier and make sure he was good for his sister even though he knew he was a good person.

•  Cid Garlond - Ranier sees him as a mentor of sorts, along with someone that he can bounce ideas off of and work with on projects leading to a solid relationship between the two. The two sometimes bicker regarding their work but it's always just them being passionate for the projects.

• Gerolt Blackthorn – Similar to cid in some ways. Ranier looks up to Gerolt and his ability to continue making such amazing creations. Wanting to learn more regarding the processes means Ranier visits him when possible, bringing some drinks for him when he does. Almost having a relationship like bros. Ranier also sometimes has gone to try and sway Rowena on his behalf to lower his debt.

There are more but I don’t want to make this too much longer.

Q9: WHAT GIVES YOU INSPIRATION TO WRITE YOUR MUSE?

• I do not control the write, also Alisaie.

Q10: HOW LONG DID THIS TAKE YOU TO COMPLETE?:

Uhhhh maybe an hour all together. Over the course of three hours.

==========

Tagged by: @amandafullmetal​ @lyllyan-weiss

Tagging: @heyafinney​ @anikisbox​ and anyone who wants to do it that sees this.

#Ranier Leveilleur #Ranier Layarte #I did the best I could with it with the time i put into it. #I'm not the best at these either Hopefully someone finds new things or interesting #things from it

[flickwatches]

OWL Season 2 Preseason Ranking

20. Toronto Defiant

I really wanted to put Washington here because I have no faith in that team.  But the Toronto has a main tank I’m unfamiliar with and Main Tanks were extremely important in OWL way before goats meta.  I see Neko and Envy and it really inspires me.  I see Bishop and I’m like wow.  But Bishop doesn’t really have a history of winning in Overwatch lately.  From London to Cloud9 he really hasn’t been producing W’s.  I like the roster a lot and maybe the meta shifts heavily in there favor but right now I don’t think Neko can fix a frontline issue.

19. Washington Justice

I do not like this roster.  The late addition (they were all late) of Gido and Ado really inspires me but if Ado wasn’t enough to get Shanghai 1 W than he won’t be enough in what mite possibly be a more difficult season. 28 games and more down time in between.  Well rested players, highly practiced, and prepared for there matches.  Janus is really strong in this lineup and so are the coaches.  I guess this roster would do pretty good in NA contenders. 

18. Chengdu Hunters

I don’t trust the roster or the process.  Highest level league play does something to teams with potential.  It chews them up and spits them out.  Maybe this is the good side of the Chinese scene that Shanghai never showed us in season 1.  I probably have them ranked too low but what the Dragons did in season 1 worries me. 

17.  Guangzhou Charge

Either this team will be surprisingly good or really bad.  It really depends on the coaching staff and how well they are supported by the org. A lot of there season depends on Rio and how well he works with the different players on the roster. They mite catch themselves halfway thru the season and start playing well. 

16. Florida Mayhem

I like the roster a lot.  I know BQB was accused of boosting but he’s extremely talented.  xepheR is really good. Solid DPS, decent tanks, good supports (hopefully way better than last year).  Coaching staff and org staff still seems really small.  They could surprise people depending on the meta.

15. Boston Uprising

Huk, Could be worst team in the league.  Three main tanks.  Poorly coached and managed.  Extremely talented players. 

14.Shanghai Dragons

I don’t want to rank them this low but I’m floating 3-4 teams around this spot.  They haven’t won a game in OWL yet.  Hopefully they have a nice schedule of lower level teams and they can produce some quality wins.  Org seems ready to commit this season so I expect huge problems will be scorched away quickly. 

13. Seoul Dynasty

Fissure is cool I guess.  They have a balanced roster, experienced team, and a schedule system that will highly benefit them.  Older players mite not listen to new in game leadership this far into there careers. I’m not very confident in there synergy and I wanted to rank them a few spots back.  They do have piles and piles of talent tho.  

12. San Francisco Shock

If we remove all the DPS players from the roster and look closely will see some problems.  Mid tier off tanks and mid tier main tanks.  New season same problem.  One of there main tanks need to play at a higher level.  Off tank can exist well enough if there main tank plays well enough.  Support trio could be strong depending on the meta. 

11. Houston Outlaws

I have my personal disagreements with how they play.  I’m a fan of them and they upset me from time to time.  In a goats meta having someone like Spree who can slide into that 2nd DPS spot and play Zarya is amazing.  They won’t use Spree like that.  Houston is going to fuddle thru the season and end up worse than 11th.  Could easily reach top 8 if they make good decisions before matches even start. They prepare pretty poorly and depend to heavily on classic 2/2/2 roster lineups to play the game.  Polar opposite of what the Eastern OW scene has been doing lately. 

10. Atlanta Reign

May have similar issues with Houston.  Roster has built in solutions to potential problems but the team mite not use them.  I’m very big on the roster even without Dafran.  Front line has synergy.  Backup Academy front line also has great synergy.  Supports are questionable but Academy support duo is extremely experienced and reliable.  DPS is very solid for a trio.  Has 1 map sub potential which can be very powerful in OWL.  Team is built to work no matter what.  Mite not be lead in right direction to succeed.  

9.  Los Angeles Valiant

There mistakes finally show up in there results.  Remember when “development” was a big part of there OW decision making???  Suddenly you have an APEX coach and his players are at the top of the roster. This team goes as far as Kariv can take them while covering every hole on the roster. Honestly if this team finishes top 4 with Kariv starting at DPS he’ll deserve OWL MVP.  \

8. Dallas Fuel

I’m very high on them and very low on them at the same time.  Added players, added coaching staff, re commitment to the team on a whole. Schedule change will be huge for them.  New season same problem.  What happens when a projectile meta happens???  They’ll be able to play it but main players who aren’t as good as the bench players will have to play or bench players will have to step into major roles.  Could cause problems with how well they’ll play this season.  Dallas and Seoul need to remember how to win to be successful again. 

7. Vancouver Titans

They will have problems.  May it be there org or just how there playing.  They will struggle.  But this team has too much experience and inner support to just fall apart.  Where the org or players fail the fans and team will pick up.   They won’t get this far and go down without a fight. The talent difference will start to show throughout the season but they will overcome it as a team. 

6. Los Angeles Gladiators

I got a little down on them but than I remembered how well they play.  The support trio will play well no matter what. Surefour will show up.  Decay and R0ar will show up.  Void should be better this season if they don’t want to play Bischu.  Will win games like they’ve been here before. 

5. Philadelphia Fusion

I got a little down on them.  I love what Elk will bring to the team but he’s just a Lucio.  Poko is the only off tank.  When will Eqo run out of talent?  Will they even play Fragi during goats meta?  But they are a force of nature.  Carpe won’t give up.  Much like the Gladiators they’ve been here before and it will show. 

4. Hangzhou Spark

 I am extremely high on this team.  And also a huge X6 Gaming fan.  Krystal and Godsb (a widow god).  Ria and Nosmite AND Guxue if they want to mix up the main tank role.  I love this roster and its potential.  Mite step into the league like NYXL. 

3. Paris Eternal 

Maybe I forgot to rank them a few spots ago and just put them here (maybe).  I was very high on France in the OWWC and was a little disappointed.  The roster and staff is fucking stacked to the roof.  From Kruise on Support leading the team, Main tanks Benbest and Lhcloudy, and to the stacked DPS lineup of Soon and Shadowburn.  If OWL ever goes into a Dive meta they will near the top. 

2. New York Excelsior 

Hmmm.  

Hmm.

Could be #1.  They have the roster to go 28-0.  But its 28 games will bigger breaks between games this season.  I like to think that benefits the next team the most. 

1. London Spitfire

Back to back champions?  Barely any change to the roster and that’s ok.  The biggest offseason addition was the change to the regular season format.  Strong new teams should challenge London but I knew a few will bow before the world champions.  Look out for a repeat.  

Conclusion

I wrote this far too fast and without enough research (LOL I guess).  I’ve watched a lot of Hangzhou Spark players already on X6 Gaming.  We already know how good some of these teams already are.  This is mostly speculation.  And meta shifts could turn this list upside down at any moment.  

#Flick Watches #OWL #Overwatch League #London Spitfire #New York Excelsior #Paris Eternal #Hangzhou Spark #Philadelphia Fusion #los angeles gladiators #Vancouver Titans #Dallas Fuel #Los Angeles Valiant #Atlanta Reign #Houston Outlaws #San Francisco Shock #Seoul Dynasty #Shanghai Dragons #Florida Mayhem #Boston Uprising #Guangzhou Charge #Chengdu Hunters #Washington Justice #Toronto Defiant #Overwatch #Opinion Article #lol tags

[kikiskeysgame]

A win for the Blackhawks was just what they needed in last night’s game and it was exciting to see it happen in overtime.

Keep in mind that just because the Hawks were able to break their three-game losing streak, it doesn’t mean that their issues are automatically fixed. They still have a lot of work to do to get themselves back on track.

Last night was the NHL debut for goaltender Jeff Glass who played absolutely great. I didn’t see any first game jitters from him and he made it through the game in one piece. Glass has also become the first Blackhawks goaltender to make 40 plus saves (he made 42 saves in the game) in his NHL debut since Ed Belfour back in 1988.

It was good to see the Blackhawks give their goalie support (especially in his first ever NHL game) and they need to continue to do so. I was very impressed with how well Glass played last night and I hope that he can continue to be helpful while Crawford is out.

I thought that Nick Schmaltz had a great game last night too, earning himself three assists in the game. I’m surprised he wasn’t one of the “3 Stars of the Game” because he deserved that. (At least he’s one of my “5 Chosen Blackhawks Stars of the Game”). 

When the Oilers scored the first goal of the game in the first period, honestly, I was nervous because I thought, “Please tie up the game. Don’t let the Oilers take your momentum away because that’s what happened in last night’s game.” But Ryan Hartman was able to tie up the game as he scored his 2nd goal in a row this week and I was relieved. 

The Blackhawks were able to carry the momentum over to the 2nd period as Alex DeBrincat scored on the power play, scoring his 13th goal of the season.  When it got to the 3rd period, I hoped that the Hawks would finish it up in regulation on a good note.

During the 3rd period, Jordan Oesterle not only scored his first goal as a Chicago Blackhawk, but it was his first ever NHL career goal. Congrats to Oesterle for scoring his first goal!

In the final minutes of the period, just when I though the Blackhawks were going to win the game in regulation, the Oilers struck back with two more goals which tied up the game. I was stunned and said out loud, “How could you give up the lead?”

The Hawks need to make sure they maintain the lead goal once they have it because you never know when the other team will try to cut it in half or take the lead away.

When it got to the overtime period, I was thinking, “Please end it in overtime, Blackhawks. Please, please.” Fifty seconds into OT, Patrick Kane finished the game with a fantastic-looking goal and it was nice to hear the words “Hawks win!” again.

Like I said in the beginning, the Blackhawks still have a lot of work to do to get themselves back on track again & I hope that they continue to keep up the good work.

The Blackhawks’ next game will take place on New Year’s Eve against the Calgary Flames at 8:00 p.m.

Until then, go Blackhawks!

#chicago blackhawks #edmonton oilers #post game review #jeff glass #nick schmaltz #ryan hartman #alex debrincat #patrick kane #jordan oesterle

[dlamp-dictator]

Allen’s Rambling: Murder, Death, Kill!

Quick note folks, some mild spoilers to the Dangan Ronpa series, the Magical Girl Raising Project Series, and the Fate series up ahead.

Despite saying I’d stop keeping up with seasonal anime, I have been checking into the latest Death Battle Anime, Juni Taisen: Zodiac Wars for the past few months. This anime follows a type of genre I’d like to call Murder Death Kill, named after a line said by Rin Tosaka in BlazingAzureCrow’s UBW Abridged Series... and as of editing this essay, that series has updated to episode two, and as a sidenote I recommend checking it out because it is hilarious. 

But anyway, the Murder Death Kill genre is basically anything involving a death game, battle royale, or a general premise that is very focused on killing off established characters. Magical Girl Raising Project, Fate/Zero and Fate/Apocrypha, Future Dairy, Dangan Ronpa, the 999 series, and so on are all examples of this. I usually like to watch and play series like this because they help with my action fix or in the case of Dangan Ronpa and 999 I find the deaths and figuring out the end game a good brain scratcher. But... I don’t feel the same about Juni Taisen. I’m a little disappointed in it in fact. 

I think my main issue is the fact that the show is solely a death battle with no real reason for it. Just to catch some of my followers up to speed since I haven’t exactly been making noise about this, Juni Taisen is about a tournament that happens once every 12 years, where twelve factions/families representing each of the Chinese Zodiac send a representative with special abilities to fight to the death in a battle royale where the winner’s wish granted. So basically, it’s Fate/Stay Night: Zodiac Edition. This premise alone leaves me with some questions, but I’ll save that for later. For now, let me just break down a few of my issues with this anime. 

The Premise

Now I’m going to start asking those questions I had with the plot. The main one being if the Juni Taisen organization even can grant wishes in the first place. For all the special powers and abilities I’ve seen in the show, a lot of the rules of reality and laws of physics still apply. These are humans with special powers, but those powers are actually pretty subtle. Okay, maybe not subtle, but they aren’t exactly magical or fantastical in a way that I could believe this is a world where wishes can be granted. For all the wars and conflicts we’ve seen in everyone’s backstory, their powers are more handy abilities for their jobs and not battle-deciding superpowers. Outside of the powers these characters have, they fight normally. Some with guns, some with melee weapons, some with martial arts, with only a few really using their abilities at all. I know that’s for the sake of keeping thing grounded in reality, but when the fights are to the death and the winner gets their wish granted, I’d expect more... flippant use of superpowers for the sake of survival, but I digress. Since this world is grounded in reality and the way backstories are shown  I doubt these characters would honestly believe something as fantastical as a wish could be granted. They’ve seen the horrors of war, most are actually very jaded and probably only in the Juni Taisen out of obligation or payment. I’m fine with that being the premise, but the plot synopsis tells me these guys are in this for their wishes being granted, so I’m going to harp on that point.

My second question is if the Juni Taisen organization can truly grant wishes, why are the representatives able to make a wish for themselves and not for their faction? This is just... something that was nagging in the back of my mind when I read the premise. If wishes can be granted, then why doesn’t each family have a set wish for themselves? Fate/Zero answered this by having the 3 main families of Tosaka, Matou, and Einsbern trying to reach “The Root” through the Holy Grail, as that is the main goal of the Holy Grail War to begin with and anyone else just bought into the idea of granting wishes, as well as the original purpose of the Holy Grail War being lost after a hundred or so years. The Fate series also has a lot of fantastical elements to it that let’s us buy into the fact that fantastical wishes can be granted. they are truly in it for honor and whatnot.

My third and last question about the premise leads me to another issue I have with Juni Taisen and that’s:

The Motivations 

What does everyone want to wish for? After 10 episodes, it really hasn’t brought up of what every character wants to wish for save for Sheep. I don’t know anyone’s wish, and that makes it really hard to care when these people start dying. Why is everyone fight in this war if the show hasn’t told us what they wish for? For giggles? I can buy Boar just wanting to uphold family honor since her family won the last war, but... again, that clashes with the premise of a death battle for a wish to be granted. I can buy Sheep just sacrificing himself so his grandkid didn’t have to join the war, but that also clashes with the premise. If this was more like a Hunger Games scenario where everyone was just forced into the Juni Taisen I might care more, but... I don’t. That’s not to say they don’t have a reason to join, but that reason isn’t for a wish, which bugs me. And again, I don’t know if the Juni Taisen organization can even grant wishes to begin, nothing has assured me they have that power unless the wish is a matter of funding in the right places. Can they bring back the dead so the winner can undo the killings they’ve done? Can they enforce world peace? 

With the Fate series, I can buy that a wish can granted because, again, the world of Fate is very fantastical despite how subtle the characters act about it. If people can come summon a female King Arthur to fight Heracles in a sword fight to the death, then I think a mystical cup can probably grant a wish. I’d go further into that, but the lore and world building of Fate and the Nasuverse in general makes me cry everytime I have to crawl over to the Type-Moon wiki to research something.

Magical Girl Raising Project had given an incentive for the characters to partake in the Murder Death Kill: survival. And trust me, that’s a pretty powerful motivation as the series goes on, and it doesn’t even turn into a Murder Death Kill battle royale until about halfway into the show. My knowledge of Future Diary is a bit hazy since it’s been about 2 years since I watched the show, but God literally told everyone partaking in the Murder Death Kill how things were going down way, so we could believe that a battle royale to decide the new God was going to be a thing. Dangan Ronpa killed off a character in roughly the first 2 hours just to show how serious a pretty they were about the Murder Death Kill, in both 1 and 2, and while I personally don’t count it as a Murder Death Kill scenario, Ultra Despair Girls did I great job showing how possible and real death was in that game by setting a good atmosphere.

The Lack of Main Characters

My other issue with Juni Taisen is that there doesn’t seem to be a focus character. Now I’ve heard that’s part of the appeal since we don’t know who to root for or who will survive, but I’m gonna’ say not having a main character who’s perspective we can look to for at least half the ride and constantly switching the lens makes it hard to care about any of the characters. Again, Magical Girl Raising Project did this well by giving us three to four main characters out of the 16 to look at. Snow White, Ripple, and Swim Swim I would say are the “main” characters. Snow White representing a typical magical girl being appalled by the Murder Death Kill, Ripple representing someone with a realistic mindset about the Death Murder Kill and actively trying to survive it, and Swim Swim representing someone who was broken/transformed by it, causing most of the deaths within the Murder Death Kill. So basically an Idealist we can pray won’t die and find a peaceful solution, a Realist who we can root for to survive and ideally beat the antagonist, and an Antagonist to hate and examine as they do most of the planning and killing... well, I wouldn’t call Swim Swim an antagonist given the context of her murder spree, she is the main killer so...

Anyway, following this line, most Death Murder Kills usually have these 3 types of characters in it. So just using the other shows/games as an example to show this is a thing.

Dangan Ronpa

Idealist:  Makoto

Realist: Kyoko

Antagonist: The Mastermind

Dangan Ronpa 2

Idealist:  Nanami

Realist: Hajime

Antagonist: Nagito

Fate/Zero

Action... Fate/Zero breaks the mold a little since Idealism vs. Realism and Utilitarianism vs. Hedonism are sort of the themes of the show, but if I had to categorize it...

Idealist: Saber

Realist: Kiritsugu

Antagonist: Ryuunosuke (1st half) & Kotomine (2nd half)

I’d give an example with Fate/Apocrypha and Future Diary, but I’m still waiting for Netflix to catch up with F/A, and my memory of Future Diary is hazy at best so I don’t want to mischaracterize anyone, and as far as the 999 series is concerned, I’ve only watched playthrough and I don’t feel comfortable talking about I series I haven’t personally played myself. 

The point is, most Murder Death Kills usually have these three types of mindsets in focus throughout the show. With Juni Taisen... I don’t know who fits where. Well, let me be more accurate, all three of those mindsets are present, but they were either killed off immediately after seeing them (like with Chicken, Monkey, and Boar), or we never got to see their point of view to begin with (Like with Rabbit and Ox). I’d say Monkey was the Idealist, but she died soon after we learned her story. I’d say Rabbit was the Antagonist, but... I have... opinions about Rabbit I’ll keep to myself for now. I’d say Ox is the Realist, but... Ox is a boring character, so I don’t care.

Speaking of the characters... 

Character Deaths

I feel attached to few of them. Like... by the time I saw someone with a decent backstory, personality, and strategy, they were killed off. Chicken had an interesting mindset that landed her into the Realist role with the chance of being an Antagonist, but was killed off once that possibility was there. Monkey was slowly starting to make for a good Idealist with enough grounding in reality to make me root for her, but she died before I could even hear her plan to peacefully end the Juni Taisen. Tiger had an interesting backstory and was in the game long enough for me to care about her, but... I felt her death was pointlessly trying to give Ox character... because he has none.

Now, Magical Girl Raising Project did the same thing. When we saw a character’s backstory, they were probably gonna’ die that episode or the next. The only exceptions to that being La Pucelle and Ripple if memory serves me correctly. But... that works a bit better because, again, we had main characters we knew would survive long enough to root for and grow attached to. Without that, everyone in Juni Taisen just feels... there.

The Lack of a Clear Theme

I think my last issue with this show is the lack of a theme, something tying everything together in terms of a narrative. Dangan Ronpa’s theme is to not lose hope even in the darkest despair, and always face forward. Fate/Zero’s theme is... a little complicated for me to figure out, but I think can be boiled down to Ultilitarianism vs. Hedonism. Magical Girl Raising Project’s theme is, believe it or not, the traditional magical girl themes of believing in friendship, never losing hope, and making a difference in the world anyway you can. I don’t have a solid enough grasp on Fate/Apocrypha to say what it’s theme is yet, and my haziness on Future Diary doesn’t make me want to take a stab in the dark on that, so I’ll leave those two examples alone for now. And... the less I talk about 999′s themes the better.

Now those are just my interpretation’s on the themes, but I think you get the point. Juni Taisen... has no theme, no clear one to me anyway. Now, there’s this nice little piece on Juni Taisen being an exploration of the ugliness of war, and the fact that this Zodiac War having no real point being an extension of that theme. Honestly, if that’s the case then I don’t think it telegraphed that theme clearly enough due to the winner getting a wish. In fact, I thank the writer of this article for giving me a clear theme to look at that might make me relook at this series if I ever come back to it, but I honestly don’t think the show itself went deep enough if that was the goal of this anime.

Overall... I’m disappointed in this series. I’ll be keeping up with it until the end, and even check out some of the dubbed episodes (especially since Colleen Clinkenbeard is apparently voicing Tiger), but... if you guys want that action-y death battle fix, Magical Girl Raising Project is honestly a better series to look at as far as anime is concerned. It’s even got a light novel series that’s recently got its second book localized. Dangan Ronpa has a murder mystery twist to the Murder Death Kill formula, and all of the main games are localized and dubbed if you prefer it that way. Fate/Zero is on Netflix and Crunchyroll, Future Diary is on Funimation and Crunchyroll, and I’m sure there’s probably some other Death Murder Kill fanfics somewhere on the internet, so... yeah.

And since I’ve been using a term from it so much, I again recommend you guys check BlazingAzureCrow’s UBW Abridged Series, especially if you’re a Fate fan, it’s funny and endearing to watch.

Good Points of Juni Taisen

Okay, I’ve been ragging on this anime for awhile now, but I have stuck with it for 10 episodes now for a good reason, there are nice things about this show I like. So allow me to go over some of the points I do like about this show. 

As much of a death flag as it is, I do think all the backstories are done well, every character makes sense in personality and motives, Chicken, Tiger, and Boar’s were the best in my opinion. 

Even though I ragged on it, I do I like the fact that the powers aren’t game-beakers and require characters to be strategic about how they use them, as little as we see of it. 

I love a lot of the character designs. Much like with Magical Girl Raising Project, I feel like these could be fighting game characters, and I would very much buy a Juni Taisen fighting game on the spot, even a 3D brawler of it. I especially like a lot of the girls, with Tiger, Chicken, and Boar being my favorites.

“But Allen, aren’t those just basically animal-themed stripper outfits?”

Yes, but need I remind you that I’m the guy that plays Senran Kagura, Rumble Rose, and School Girl Zombie Hunter? My taste have been trash for awhile now. Anyway, back onto the good points.

The animation is pretty good, even the CG stuff. Actually, it’s very good. I think the CG is done very well to the point where I wouldn’t mind if this whole anime was in CG if it meant a higher focus on action. 

From what little I heard of the English voice acting, it sounds solid. I don’t like watching the dub along with the sub since I get overloaded pretty easily, but the if episode is anything to go by, the dub is solid.

And those are my thoughts on Juni Taisen. For all the issues I have with it, I’m gonna’ stick with it until I see the end, if only to rag on it some more when it does, but... hey, at least the girls in it are cute. I dunno’, what do you guys think of Juni Taisen? I’m up for some differing opinions here, so feel free to reblog this with you’re rebuttals, thoughts, favorite character, and so on.

...

...

Huh, usually, I say who best girl is when I do these rambles about shows and video games, but... I’m having a tough time, I like all the female characters in this series so far.

Chicken is Best Girl, if only because I like her design the most.

With Tiger being a close second since I like her backstory the best.

#juni taisen #Dangan Ronpa #magical girl raising project #fate series #your dictator is speaking

[madrivervalleyicelandics]

Full Kentucky show report!  As promised :)

This year, the Kentucky Icelandic Horse Show (KYIHS) - which is generally the biggest and most competitive show of the year on the Eastern half of the US - was even bigger and more competitive than usual because for the first time in a vey long time, the organizers made it into a World Ranking Triple Header.  Before I get into my report, I would like to explain what that means:

A World Ranking competition in Icelandic sport requires 5 certified judges, and as you can imagine, in the US it is very expensive to fly in 5 judges from abroad to judge such an event so we do not have very many of them.  Additionally, WR shows require a specially certified track and there are only a small handful of those in the US because they are complicated and expensive to build.  We have not had a World Ranking competition in the Eastern half of the United states in quite some time.  The last time we had one, I competed on Thór and became World Ranked with him in V1 and T1, so that was quite some time ago because I haven’t competed on Thór in several years now.  

When a show organizer gets the funding together to have a World Ranking show in the United States, they generally use this special “triple header” format.  A normal sport competition involves one day of preliminaries, in each class, and one day of finals in which the highest-scoring riders are asked to return and ride all together on the track to determine the winner.  There are B finals (the 6-10th best riders), and then the B final winner gets to join the top 5 riders in the A finals.  A World Ranking Triple Header show works differently - it operates like three separate competitions, on three different days, all preliminaries instead of finals.  The reason for this is that in order to become World Ranked, a rider must have three separate sets of scores in a given class from three separate World Ranking shows - and each set of scores must average 5.5 or higher.  Only preliminary scores count towards World Rankings.  In Europe or Iceland, where there are many World Ranking shows in a season, riders can simply compete in several shows and get the scores they need to make the World Ranking list.  But here in the US, where we are lucky to have ONE World Ranking show every few years, it’s impossible to get those three scores - so show organizers here devised this plan for three-day competitions where riders only ride preliminaries and so can amass the scores they need in one go.  This is no easy feat to achieve, however.  A 5.5 is a tough score to get, particularly when riding in front of 5 of the highest certified judges at once.  To get an average of over 5.5, those judges have to agree that you are at a world class level and that’s not easily achieved, and competing three days in a row is demanding on the horses - these WR Triple Header shows are a bit of an endurance test.  This particular show had an extra component - the option to ride finals on the final day instead of riding an extra set of prelims.  So it was a super complicated show format.

This would be my first time riding Vigri and Spönn in front of 5 World Ranking judges, in such a high pressure environment so I was quite nervous and also excited to see how we would do.

On Tuesday October 3, Vigri, Spönn, and I hit the road for Kentucky with our dear friend and brilliant horse-shipper Curt.  We stopped along the way to drop miss Sula off at her home, as well, as she has finished her training here for the time being (I do hope she and Emese will be back again in the future, however!).  The trip to Kentucky can take anywhere from 18-20 hours depending on how many stops we make, and we arrived at 2 AM on Wednesday morning completely exhausted.  This year, I was able to rent a paddock in Kentucky for my horses which made all the difference for them.  Vigri spent his nights in the paddock, and Spönn was out during the day, and I felt that both horses were much looser and more relaxed as a result. Additionally, both horses got to go on a field for a couple of hours each day which they really enjoyed - Kentucky has tasty grass.

On Wednesday afternoon, We were joined by the fabulous Dr. Verrecchio, of Penridge Veterinary Services.  She is a Certified Equine Rehabilitation Practitioner and having her work on my horses after the long trailer ride has been an absolute game changer these past few years at the Kentucky show.  This was her third year working on Vigri and she was extremely pleased with his muscular development.  She said he was the best she has ever seen him, and that she has been able to see very real and positive development in his posture and musculature every year which makes me incredibly happy to hear. He loves his acupuncture and bodywork sessions with Dr. Verrecchio and totally melts for her :)  This was her first time working on Spönn, who also enjoyed her session.  Spönn got K tape in addition to acupuncture.  This was the first year that we didn’t feel like Vigri needed K tape after the trip.

Thursday, I trained Vigri on the track briefly and he felt good, but I felt vey nervous!  However, I was approached by a trainer I respect afterwards who told me that she was impressed with how great he was looking, and that she and a breeder I respect had been watching the training and talking about how good he looked.  So that gave me a big confidence boost and I am very grateful for that conversation because I think it set a positive tone for my weekend.  

My plan at this show was to compete on Spönn in Speedpass and Pace Test.  However, as many of you know, I spent this past year converting my horses over to composite shoes instead of metal shoes, after I and two other women submitted a proposal to FEIF (the international body that governs Icelandic horse sport) that would allow nonmetal shoes and hoof boots in sport competition.  The proposal was accepted on an experimental basis - but only until September.  KYIHS is the first week in October.  So two weeks before the show, I had to switch my horses over to metal shoes.  For a now seasoned competition horse like Vigri, this change was no big deal but for Spönn who has only had 6 months of pace training, the different shoes changed her balance significantly.  She was training very consistently good pace sprints right up until the day we changed her shoes - and then suddenly the pace was just gone.  It was a disaster and I almost decided not to bring her, but I had a series of phone calls with a friend and colleague from taker Icelandics who talked me down.  In the end I decided to treat the week as a learning experience for myself and Spönn.  Several top trainers were at the show, and I knew that I could take lessons with them all week instead of competing, if I couldn’t get the pace back for Spönn.  So on Thursday, we had our first pace lesson.  It started out just as disastrous as it had been at home, but by the end of the lesson we were getting short bursts of clean pace.  I decided to scratch her for the competition on Friday and take another lesson, with the goal of competing on her on Saturday and Sunday.

On Friday, I competed on Vigri and he was quite simply the best he has ever been.  I was over the moon happy with him.  Two of the 5 judges scored him over 5.5 in V1, giving him an overall score of 5.33 - very close to World Ranking!!  We were actually the highest V1 score of the day, which was really exciting.  In T1 there was a bit of a scheduling snafu, and I ended up not getting to warm him up for more than about 5 minutes before we went on.  This is the challenge of traveling alone with two horses and no helpers!  So he was a bit more stiff than usual but the performance was still his best preliminary T1 round yet,  I don’t remember the individual scores but they were he scored over 5 in that as well, a bit lower than his V1 score.  For my lesson with Spönn, I had access to 4 top trainers, all of whom watched me ride her and gave me ideas and encouragement.  I decided to enter her in Speedpass only, on both Saturday and Sunday.  Friday night there were young horse linear description evaluations, so we got to see some cute foals and young horses.  I don’t put a ton of stock in this kind of evaluation, as young horses grow and change so much and often behave differently under the stress of being free-longed and handled for an evaluation like this, but it was still nice to see some well-bred youngsters.

Saturday was quite honestly the best competition experience of my life.  Although I have achieved higher scores on Thór and Glæta in the past, there is nothing that compares to riding Vigri, who I have brought along myself from the day we started him under saddle.  He is my heart horse, and his performances on Saturday were at a level that I had never felt him at in competition before.  Vigri was so fabulous that by the end of the day, three separate judges had approached me of their own accord to tell me how good he is looking and how much improvement they saw in him.  I was practically in tears, I was so proud.  In V1, he scored a 5.47 overall - only .3 away from World Ranking!!   Three judges scored him over 5.5, and one judge gave him a 5.8!!!  T1 was also incredible, in fact it felt even better than the V1 and we scored a 5.33 overall, I believe.  I was completely and totally happy with him <3  Spönn also got to compete in Speedpass and she had one clean but slow sprint, and then one faster sprint where she paced better but had a small break into canter which I was able to quickly fix, so no score for that run but we still tied for 2nd place.  It was a brilliant day and I was and am so proud of my horses.  Because we weren’t getting an average of over 5.5, however, I decided to enter finals on Sunday thinking it would be more fun than riding preliminaries again.

Sunday was a tiny bit anticlimactic, only because of the weather.  The skies opened up and a unbelievably hard, driving rain fell for most of the day, and for the full night before the show (so Vigri and Spönn both stayed in their stalls, because there was also thunder and lightning and I didn’t want to put their safety at risk).  The track was very, very heavy and also very slippery.  I decided not to ask for anything more than Vigri offered me in the finals.  He was very good and raised both his T1 and V1 scores slightly, but he did struggle with the footing somewhat.  I was a bit disappointed because it would have been really fun to go for it with full speed and power and that wasn’t possible given the state of the track.  Still, I was thrilled with Vigri’s performance and felt that he did the best he could.  He finished 3rd in T1 and V1 behind some superb stallions.  Vigri is only 9 years old, so he has a lot of time to improve and he gets better every year.  I hope that we have a long and bright future ahead of us <3

Spönn did not care for the weather or the track on Sunday and although she paced much faster this time, we had one small break into canter in both of our Speedpass sprints and so did not receive a time.  Still, I felt that her pace was faster and more high quality on the final day, so I was very happy with the learning experience and improvement over the course of the week.  Hopefully the composite shoes and hoof boots will be approved permanently by FEIF, and next year we won’t have to make a drastic shoeing change right before the show.

These shows are tough.  The journey is tough on the horses, and they’re in a noisy, unfamiliar, and stressful environment.  Performances always lower slightly at competitions from what they are at home in a relaxed and routine environment, and three days of showing was really a lot to ask.  However, it’s also a great test of the conditioning work we do year round, cross training with distance riding to get great endurance in my horses, and a great test of how solid their training is because, as the saying goes, “you don't rise to the occasion, you fall back on your training.”  My horses showed me that they had a solid foundation of fitness and training to fall back on during this demanding competition, and I could not be happier or more proud of how hard they try for me.

I have heard that the plan is for there to be another WR Triple Header next year, and I cannot wait!  I look forward to another year of practice with my horses, and for another opportunity to get feedback on my training from five tough judges.  Thank you to everyone who makes these shows possible - the team at Léttleiki Icelandics put in so much time, money, and energy to make this happen and it was a very special gift to the community.  Thank you also to the team at Taktur Icelandics for the pace lessons and pep talks - I so rarely get to take lessons, let alone on my own horses as often when I do travel for clinics, I am borrowing a horse.  This was a special opportunity for me and I learned a lot of great tools to use when I train pace at home!  Thank you as well to Dr. Verrecchio, and to my dear friend Curt for getting us to and from the show safe and sound.  

I am looking forward to next year’s KYIHS!!