#i know making him a monster defeats the entire point of his character but snakes men are hot so sue me

[redstrewn]

Fuck touchstarved bro i cant be satisfied by doing normal ass fanart anymore i gotta do shit like push my boundaries and develop areas im weak in to create things on levels ive never created before /lh /pos

#no fr me who has no experience with animal anatomy now wanting to draw leander unhinging his jaw like a snake when yawning #i know making him a monster defeats the entire point of his character but snakes men are hot so sue me #redstrewn talks

[mortallyclearwonderland]

Kung Fu Panda Legends of Awesomeness - "Serpent's Tooth"

Episode 60 overall

Synopsis:

A once hero renegade cobra with the powers of the Dragon gods: (Super Strength, Super Speed, Super Intelligence, Stamina, Durability, and a poison that brings out the greatest fears in the minds of its victims) named Fu-Xi loose in the valley causes the villagers to display a negative attitude towards snakes, causing Viper to consider joining him, although she later tricks him into revealing where his fear toxin is kept and almost defeats him. Viper and Po must stop Fu-Xi from transferring his toxic fear venom into the Valley of Peace's new water dam.

Characters:

Over two seasons but we finally have a Viper episode. It's nice to see some more about the snakes. What about other animals that do bad things? We've seen far more terrible behavior from water buffaloes, crocodiles, wolves, and snow leopards in the show and movies. Why is no one hostile against them?

So apparently Po was scared of Viper before he met her. What !?! He admired her just as much as every other master! He was her fan and spontaneously scared of her at the same time?

Did we really need that? Couldn't the whole village being afraid just be enough of a reason?

What about every other species which are designated villains like wolves, water buffaloes, crocodiles, and snow leopards?

In the original movie, Po points out how he doesn't have venom like Viper. But in ''Secrets of the Furious Five'' Po tells a story of how she was born without fangs and venom. However, later in the episode, he talks about how she has fangs, we can see them in animation and she bites Po and her venom works!!! Sike, she didn't actually bite him! It was only a paralyzing blow. But does that mean that Viper was just a late bloomer, her fangs grow out eventually and she just chooses not to bite?

Viper and Fu-Xi's relationship makes this episode. Even when she lies, Viper still sees old Lord Fu-Xi as a hero and wants him to be good. Fu-Xi sees Viper as a little sister, maybe more going by some of their interactions. Also, when he teaches her how to be scary, it was so cute. What I would give to see more of them!

One of the best episodes in the series! A must watch, especially if you’re a fun of Viper.

Villain: Fu-Xi is a great villain! My favorite from the entire show so far. He's got Lord Shen vibes. A sympathetic backstory doesn't take away from how evil he is and doesn't excuse his actions. But you can see where he's coming from. Everybody was treating him like a scary monster, so he decided to embrace this and use it against his enemies. When he finds out that Viper tricked him he sounds and looks genuinely hurt.

Maybe it's because of the translation, the voice actor, or both but Fu-Xi sounds like a jealous boyfriend.

‘’How could you choose two-legged and abandon me? And what do you see in the Panda?’’

Throughout the episode, he keeps calling Viper, a sister. When he thinks she bit Po he has a little slip of the tongue and calls her, a girl. Forgetting for a bit about proper manners and seeing Viper in a new light. It might be just my shipper goggles but for me, it looked like Fu-Xi started developing feelings for Viper.

He's one of the very few villains so far that didn't get put away in jail. I wonder what happened to him next. Viper hopes he can become good again.

But unfortunately it's his first and last appearance.

Fanfic writers, you know what to do. If you want to. I have no control over anybody. When I finish episode reviews, I might write one myself.

#Kung Fu Panda Legends of Awesomeness #Kung Fu Panda #kfp #Po #Fu-Xi #Master Shifu #Shifu #Master Tigress #Tigress #Master Viper #Viper #Master Crane #Crane #Master Monkey #Monkey #Master Mantis #Mantis #Serpent's Tooth #Kung Fu Panda Legends of Awesomeness - Serpent's Tooth

[lenmatcha]

Why Ultimate Note worked while Reboot did not

(In terms of directing)

When it comes to filmmaking, the director is responsible for instructing the actors on their roles.

Reboot version of Zhang Qiling had a lot of problems in terms of characterization and acting, so I did some research on finding out the reasons instead of entirely blaming the actor. After all, there are so many factors that could influence an actor’s performance when it comes to filmmaking. 

While I was watching the behind the scenes for both dramas, I noticed one bts of Reboot where the director was telling Huang Junjie (ZQL’s actor) what he's going to do. ⬇️

Directly translating his words, he basically told him to “pretend you’re a buddha statue (the word 尊 is usually used to describe statues)”, and I suppose the actor took it as that he will show little to no reaction in the scene.  

Which resulted in scenes like this:

I’m not sure if this is how the actor usually stands but, 

He’s just so... awkward? Almost like when sims are not given an instruction.

Same problem with the part where ZQL is catching WX as he fell unconscious in the rain. The scene didn’t make a lot of sense. Everyone else in the scene are standing closer to WX than ZQL is. But somehow, ZQL is the one who sprinted 20 yards and caught WX in his arms. Nobody else is doing anything in that scene because apparently “they are not the center of attention”.

From an interview, I also found out that

the director did not read the novel

like, at all

His reasons being him wanting to create something unique without being influenced by the book. 

This is pretty questionable especially considering that, you know, this is a novel-adapted drama? 

I won’t be surprised if the director had no deeper understanding of Zhang Qiling’s character other than “the cold and emotionless one that can defeat all monsters”.

And now let’s take a look at Ultimate Note

This scene caught my attention, because it surprisingly, just makes sense.

This took place after ZQL finished rummaging through the corpse of the giant snake. Remember, in the previous scene, he cut open his palm to let out some blood so WX won’t get bit by the bugs again. 

And here we see him taking out a med kit:

Like yeah, he has an injury, therefore he’s gonna treat it, right?

But these kinds of details seem to be forgotten a lot of times, and particularly for characters like ZQL.

Even the author seems to forget that, although ZQL is all-powerful and has special blood, his injuries heal slower than regular people.

ZQL is not invincible, he has weaknesses too.

As for directors, I know there’s three directors in Ultimate Note. I’m gonna give my overall impression because sometimes I can’t tell who’s who. 

My impression was that they are very detail-oriented, which resulted in the actors also being detail-oriented: Pangzi’s actor remembers how a chair is placed in the room, and even corrects ZQL’s actor’s pose. Xiaohua asks if they are gonna leave the bags in the desert because they are in a situation of survival. Hei Xiazi remembers which scenes he’s supposed to wear gloves. 

Before filming, the cast and crew met together to discuss the script in detail, organizing the timeline, discussing character motivations, etc.⬇

With that many people paying attention to the details, of course they’re able to include that into the final product. 

Now comparing that to Reboot’s director, who just feeds simple directions to the actors and when it comes to things he doesn’t know, he just lets the actors do whatever they want. (This led to the scene where Pangzi joked that Xiaoge is getting free food from dating aunties, they said the scene was completely improvised by the two actors...)

Their process was: “we got this plot point, let’s create this scene as it is written on the script. What’s not on the script gets ignored”

While Ultimate Note not only plays out the scene, but also considers what happened before the scene, what each characters are thinking, what their motivations are, and what led them there.

Each character is treated as an individual and thinks as an individual

As opposed to Main Characters vs. Side Characters. 

#dmbj #ultimate note #终极笔记 #the lost tomb #chinese drama #cdrama #tlt #zhang qiling #盗墓笔记 #张起灵 #chinese actors

[baoshan-sanren]

The YinYang Master (2021) liveblog

okay so the city is where the people live and outside of the city is where the monsters live, got it

the yinyang bureau are the dudes who fight the monsters? sure

off the bat, chen kun (qingming) is accused of like killing a bunch of people in the bureau, no clue if he actually did it, but the person i assume to be the female interest does not believe a word of it (or does she)

anyway, he gets the fuck out of there, good for him

seven years later?

are these?

three raccoons in a trench coat? 

there are. there are three raccoons in a trench coat, each wielding a sharp and deadly weapon

it’s been ten minutes and this movie has got my attention

OH WE’RE GETTING CHEN KUN WHO FIGHTS WITH A FAN

AND DRINKS LIKE A FISH

AND HOPS AROUND WITH HIS HAIR LOOSE GOOD LORD

hello flying demon things I like your wings

here’s the female love interest again and uh

she’s

a bit terrifying now

whoever is dubbing her must’ve smoked two packs a day for ten years because holy hell that is some gravel

the flying demon thing stole some red gem that I assume is very important

SHE TOOK HIS ASS DOWN WITH ONE ARROW 

NOT TO BE A LESBIAN BUT OH MY GOD

okay these things aren’t raccoons, what the hell are they? are the weasels? I’m gonna call them weasels 

anyway I’ve had these weasels for 15 minutes but if anything happens to them

THEY ARE FERRETS 

A FERRET SWALLOWED THE RED GEM THING 

this is quickly getting out of hand you feel me?

OH MY GOOOOOD WHO IS THIS LADY VILLAIN NOW

can you imagine having to report to your boss like, I stole the thingy but then I was defeated by three ferrets 

I would die on the spot, like rip to this dude but I’m different

she has some kind of freezing ice power and I like it

now where are we

THERE ARE BADASS LADIES EVERYWHERE IN THIS GUYS

GUYS

I HAVE BEEN MISLED ABOUT THIS MOVIE

AND WHAT IS THIS LOOK? GOOD GOD

anyway, I’m not feeling too hot about this poor ferret’s prospects bc that red gem thing TALKS TO YOU and it sound pretty evil

ah shit, so the yinyang bureau is all like “those ferrets belong to qingming so he’s the one who did it, which means we were right to accuse him of trying to steal the red gem seven years ago”

no wonder this dude drinks, everyone’s out to get him

so the red gem is actually the snake? or like it was the snake? or is the soul of the snake?

this official-looking dude is just talking shit in front of this gravelly female chief of the bureau like he’s got a death wish

good, tell him to zip it

oh shit now we’re getting some past events and they are.... eventful

hm this cimu guy is getting a lot of screen time for a dead dude, perhaps he is not dead?

just now realizing the yinyang bureau boss lady is zhou xun I feel stupid

BOYA 

he’s in some deep shit for losing the tribute to a drunk dude and a bunch of ferrets in a trench coat 

and I have to say that’s a pretty valid thing to be in trouble for

"I fought with Qingming and he fled in defeat” *SNORT*

did this girl just

hit him with a really long cucumber?

w h a t  i s  h a p p e n i n g

her name is Shenle and I am now signing the adoption papers 

her and boya are going into the monster realm to find qingming and I can just sense a bunch of oncoming shenanigans 

I was right

i’m just now realizing that qingming intentionally left boya this spell so he can summon the bridge and come find him

what are you up to mister?

GUYS THIS MONSTER REALM 

THIS IS EXACTLY HOW I PICTURED GHOST CITY IN TGCF AND I LOVE IT SO MUCH

qingming just made boya his familiar and let me tell you

not nearly as romantic as it was in the dream of eternity

BUT FUNNY THO

qingming is kind of a dick too and I think I like him more

jghgjfkdghdks what is this little red monster thingy what is happening

idk what makes costume designers stuff chen kun in these high collar robes but I am here for this look

ACTION ACTION ACTION FIGHT

this is a lot of romance for me personally right now but

i’m fucking really digging the fact that both chen kun and zhou xun are like 

grown-ass adults and experienced actors

she’s even older than him by a couple of years I think so like

for a hetero romance this is basically the only kind I care to see

I KNEW CIMU WAS UP TO NO GOOD

oh maybe he’s dead actually? what is his DEAL

okay this lady isn’t listening to anything you’re saying like why even bother

this poor fucking ferret

OH NO 

NOT THE FERRET

okay this bitch can eat my entire asshole, fuck her and her righteous bullshit 

aaaand now we’re all getting drunk

chen kun shouldn’t be allowed to do anything ever seriously he’s too hot to exist I feel attacked 

hey asshole lady, do you think maybe now you can admit you were wrong and qingming was right?

now we’re all “I should’ve trusted you”

she’s literally going “when this is over, this bracelet will be yours again” I know there’s some magic thing happening w the bracelet but that’s an euphemism if I’ve ever heard one 

you just called him a monster to his face like 10 minutes ago

this lady’s got some balls

qingming you’re too nice, I would’ve made her work for it

OH WE GET TO MEET THE BAD GUY BOSS

hnggg this fight scene is just

I am watching this film for the plot

oh crap the asshole lady is dead already?

that was a short redemption arc

and the snow lady is dead too hmpf I actually liked her unhinged little laugh

I KNEW IT I KNEW IT I KNEW WHO THE BAD GUYS IS

i feel like the entire monster-fucking dark side of tumblr needs to get a load of this dude

where you going spider dude?

oh this is

not a good development 

okay I am definitely not vibing with boya being depicted as an absolute dumbass for 90% of this film like

you could take him out of the movie completely and not lose any of the plot which is... not good

STOP STOP I’M ALREADY DEAD

I have to say these special effects are a bit over the top but so visually satisfying omg

also like

making me actually invested in every single small character within a space of 2.5 hours is pretty impressive 

hngggg

i’m starting to think that the whole point of this movie is to showcase how hot chen kun is in any clothing with any hair under any circumstances 

oh so now that the bad guy is dead the asshole lady is alive again

which is kind of a cop-out but whatever 

“you promised to live and die by my side and never betray me” BIG WORDS FROM SOMEONE WHO BETRAYED HIM FIRST

ahh I get what he did now

that’s pretty cool

and kind of sad

I’m not crying kind of sad but that shit hurted

still, I do like this ending

although this whole thing would’ve been much better as a drama at least 30 episodes long I don’t feel like I wasted 2.5 hours

so yeah, I def rec this if you have time to kill

#侍神令 #shi shen ling #the yinyang master #basically me thirsting over chen kun for 2.5 hours #nothing to see here #long post

[randomly-talented]

Okay, okay, I'm not really good at making sentences work the way I want them but I'll try to convey my thoughts and emotions over the characters from Bug Fables after completing the game last night at 2:00 ish in the morning (I was weak and there no way I was gonna stop with all the stuff that was going on at the end. I'm the type of player that plays till a good stopping point) that being said there will be spoilers from here on down so you've been warned!

But really it's such a beautiful experience and i highly recommend going in blind to any new player.

Okay, on to the point. I know many people have decided on their favorite of the team and I'm not here to say "oh they're the best and you're wrong!" NOPE I'm not doing that I am trying to say is "they're all the best and you're so right to care for one but let's love them all". Each character has their own ideals and their own goals when we first meet them.

Vi (Violet) a bee who has essentially runaway from home after burning the bridges between her family and her "mother" the queen to become an explorer. An occupation that (based off context clues) is the last thing a bee does for a living. And this is emphasized with all other bugs that explore being not only bigger than her but NOT bees. And biologically...it makes sense! A bee, is to collect pollen and nectar for the hive and produce honey (which Vi use to do with her job at the factory) and biologically bees do avoid fighting since their only way of attacking is with their stinger. But unlike the other black and yellow bugs, a bee's stinger is a one use thing. After it's used, it remains in the creature the bee attacked and from the bee's body it takes their organs with it. (If I remember that correctly. It's been a while since I looked up why bee's die after stinging someone). But you understand the concern that other bees in Vi's life have for her becoming an explorer. But that isn't the only thing the Vi dealt with before becoming and explorer, she had to deal with many of her friends and family badmouth her dreams and guilt her from trying to accomplish them. As Vi said to her sister when they were trying to resolve their fight, "But if I can say something, you were mean to me too! I had dreams and you stomped over them! I'm doing great! I've gone to many places and beat up huge monsters! If...if you had any faith in me I could've done it sooner!" Even her desire of money is so that she can live how she wants without anyone telling her how to live. And it's a strong desire due to the fact that Vi is always trying to strike a deal or not spend their savings on expensive wants, shown through her reluctance to buy the green ranger toy, or her utter shock to the 400 berries flower toy she forked the money for. (Something that shocked Leif and Kabbu due to the fact that Vi just spent 400 berries on a toy for someone else)

Kabbu a beetle (who specific species I don't know) who is the definition of an honorable bug. Going out of his way to help others and if it weren't for Vi he'd do it for free. Which would essentially leave him homeless once that is said and done. Who through the majority of the game he's the voice of reason, passion, and inspiration. (With a skill "Pep Talk" he's able to revive a fainted teammate). And who wishes to create a team of explorers to call his own. I will say that Kabbu was precious. I loved how the only reason Vi and Leif got anything done or didn't do a crime, the chaotic duo that they are, was because of Kabbu and how his hesitance was enough to keep Vi and Leif from upsetting him further. But I do want to say that I found it odd how willing he was to behave that way. When I was playing through the festival I found it so weird how Kabbu was okay with not participating at all. Until I realized that I personally do that too. Kabbu was happy as long as his teammates were having fun. (Until you learn of his old teammates, who were trying to go to bugaria by going through the swamplands and perished to the Beast by holding it off while Kabbu ran away) Kabbu who after surviving the Beast alone had to make more than half of the journey to the Ant Kingdom alone, through a desert filled with monsters, some which he couldn't attack by himself due to their burrow ability, and bandits, with some bandits flying to high for him to do anything but run from. The entire time being alone to fester in the guilt that he essentially "abandoned" his teammates to die at the hands of the beast and how easy the desert would be if his teammates were there to help him. (Not only that but if I remember correctly Kabbu's old teammates were more experienced than Kabbu himself, which added to the guilt "if I was stronger they would still be around") And now the festival wasn't as happy as it was led to appear. Kabbu is okay with letting his teammates have fun because he doesn't "need" to have fun. Vi and Leif are placeholders for his old teammates during this event. If they can have fun one more time, I can truly be happy. I will keep them safe and happy unlike my old teammates. I will do all within my power to make sure my teammates are happy and safe. Because I didn't the first time and I won't make that same mistake. That is why when we collectively reach the grasslands Kabbu comes to the decision that he's strong enough to avenge his fallen teammates by defeating the Beast. Alone if he must.

Leif a moth (with the ability to control ice that they generate within their body) who is found after Kabbu and Vi stumble into the deeps of Snake mouth cave. And when they're awakened from their "nap" Leif has no idea that time has essentially changed. Now the Ant Kingdom has grown, their queen is no longer in charge but their daughter. And things aren't as peaceful as they use to be, the wasps and termites have cut ties with the ant kingdom, there are bandits left and right, and now there is need for a prison when in the past there was no such need. All of the bugs that Leif once knew are no more except Rebecca who is too aged to fully remember them. (If that's her name, I honestly was never too sure...) And it wasn't till later in the story that Leif is shocked to realize that one of the family's in the residential areas looks just like they're wife Muse. And that is when you realize that Leif was stripped from they're family. And thus leads to Leif working harder in finding out what exactly happened in that cave and when we do it's heartbreaking. Apparently Snake mouth cave was home to a civilization of roach scientists who were trying to recreate an equivalent to the eternal sapling by experimenting with cordyceps and bugs that the roaches lured to the cave with the promise of an artifact that would lead to the everlasting sapling. That is why there was a trap door as you open the door to the "treasure" of Snake mouth cave and further beyond that "treasure" was another door were bugs were inhumanely experimented on in some sick experiment as the roaches looked for purpose. (It's only super concerning that the majority of zombified bugs happen to be small ants, bees of the "smaller" variety, and green beetles of the "larger" variety. (Creepily enough they looked like Vi and Kabbu and I really hope that Leif's old teammates weren't some variety of those bugs cuz that would be super upsetting.) There, Leif learns that they were once dead, and that they're not even them, they were a sentient cordyceps that "failed" the roaches test and possessed a dead bug, Leif, who was most likely ambushed with his team and left behind by said team least they all lose their lives. Only for Leif to be subjected to experiments in order to become the next immortal, a purpose for the roaches to live for. And unluckily (luckily??) survived the experiments once a cordyceps housed itself within them in a symbiotic relationship. And with Kabbu and Vi's help, comes to accept that they have always been the same bug from the beginning till now and onwards. Now that they realize that even though they are part cordyceps part moth it doesn't mean they have really changed from the bug they use to be when it came to they're family. Which gave them the courage to meet the present version of their family and be accepted with open arms (it was touching and I cried).

But that's just it. Vi, Kabbu, and Leif; Team Snakemouth are the best team, because they had each other. And even though they each had their own personalities and their pasts that laid heavy within each of their minds. Team Snakemouth supported itself, and was open to itself (some a bit more than others). They keep their secrets within the team, they backed each other up, they tease each other, they beat anyone fight anyone that insults one of them (How dare you insult us! Insult one you insult all!). Because they aren't just one, they are a team, a family, friends. A success, is all their success. A failure, is all their failure. One's happiness, is all their happiness. And ones sadness, is all their sadness. And it was their team that saved Bugaria from the wasp King. And we loved them all.

#bug fables #kabbu bug fables #vi bug fables #leif bug fables #rant #just word vomit #but its passionate word vomit #i love them all #long post #long rant #rambling to be honest #but i don't care! #important #i cried for all of them #and a lot because they deserve the best #found family

[couldnt-think-of-a-funny-name]

how would you do a percy jackson adaptaion?

okay, so I know this is a controversial opinion right off the bat: I really don’t think it should be an animated series.

A large part of the appeal of the series is that it’s a fantasy series set very very firmly in reality. Literally, apart from the camps, you could go to every location hit in the books. Riordan mentions specific streets, buildings and landmarks, and that was cool when I first read them. I remember being a kid and waiting for him to set a scene in a place near where I lived! I remember trips to New York and being able to envision an epic war happening in the streets. So I think any adaption needs to be live action just to keep that same feeling alive, while I’m not knocking on animation, I just feel like taking the story out of real life would make it loose a little of the charm. Like, the scene where Manhattan is completely frozen in time? It would be haunting to see that in real life, but I feel like it would be less impactful if it didn’t…you know…look real? The series should be done in a way that makes you truly feel like you could just turn a corner and walk straight into a snake woman going about her day. 

Now: another large part of the appeal of the series is how funny it is, but a lot of that…is Percy’s inner monologue. He doesn’t actually voice most of it, there was even a book where Annabeth described him as being quiet. So, I think the best way to work around this: make it Interview With A Demigod. 

Imagine it’s got an interview with a vampire-esque setup- and this even works because within the riordanverse, the books canonically exist because Percy sat down with a ‘camp scribe’ and had his quests recorded. So, like, this isn’t even entirely out of left field. But just imagine, a college-aged, maybe a little older Percy, I can see it so clearly in my head, he’s wearing a sweatshirt that at first glance looks like it says NYU but a trained eye will see it actually says NRU for a camp jupiter easter egg, he’s sitting in some dinky little diner (maybe it can even be a monster donut or something with a clever greek myth related name) with a guy who’s recording the conversation on some old-ass tape recorder that keeps acting up but they can’t record on a phone because of the whole technology thing. Every now and then it’ll cut back to them to get some great Percy thoughts out there. They open with older Percy saying the ‘look, I didn’t wanna be a halfblood’ and then explaining where he was when the whole mess started. Once he get’s to “was I a troubled kid?” the screen fades from older Percy to 12 year old Percy getting in a fight with Nancy and her gang, and the voice over says the ‘Yeah, you could say that’ part as we see him get threatened by the principal to behave on the field trip. Boom, we’ve got an opening. Lowkey….I’m seeing Jordan Fisher as older Percy, but I’m not 100% married to the idea. 

And before anyone tries to argue that showing an older Percy would spoil he’s not gonna die in last olympian- like, reading the books, we all knew he wasn’t going to die. It was a first person narrative and he was consistently speaking in past tense lmao like we Knew he was gonna make it. We still enjoyed the series. It won’t ruin anything.

I want part of the score of the adaptation to be instrumental versions of songs from the musical, I think that could be a sweet nod to that team. 

They really need to nail camp halfblood. I know that goes without saying, but in order to keep the pacing of the story decent we can’t spend as much time falling in love with it like we got to with the book. The book is like, 24 chapters and the quest starts at chapter 12- for a movie or tv show, that’s just gonna feel like it’s dragging. So, the insanity of the camp needs to smack you in the face right away, and then it needs to endear itself to the viewers quickly after that. Don’t try to ease the viewers (or Percy) into the mythology is real thing, rip it off like a bandaid. He’s on his way to meet Chiron and Mr. D for the first time and even if he’s not comprehending what he’s seeing, there’s nature spirits and harpies all around going about their day. Hestia waves at him and then disappears into the flames. Hecate kids can be seen casting a spell on the porch of the Hermes cabin. The Stolls are seen pranking some Aphrodite kids. He sees someone surely die on the climbing wall but then you hear a faint ‘I’m okay!’. The Apollo kids put a rhyming curse on another cabin. Pure chaos all before he gets the ‘so, gods are real’ speech. And then after that…show how warm Luke is to him at the cabin and at dinner. Show the kids all goofing off at the campfire and really make it clear that they’re children. Show the strawberry fields rolling in the wind and Percy sitting on the beach. The whole couple weeks where he’s searching for powers and learning greek and latin with Annabeth can be a montage. Make it clear how hurt and scared he is when he finds out he needs to leave.

It needs to really get you feeling how Percy’s feeling, every laugh, every tear, every moment of fear or confusion needs to shine clear through. Like…think of Spider-Man Homecoming, the Washington monument scene. All things considered, it’s not the most high-stakes scene we’ve ever seen in that franchise, and when it cuts to the kids in the elevator, they’re worried but not quite freaking out, but that scene feels very high stress to watch because the movie is good at getting the viewers to feel what Peter feels. A Percy Jackson adaptation needs a touch like that, because Percy’s a very emotional kid and that’s what a lot of the scenes hinge on.

Lowkey- I’d love it if the casts of both the previous movies and the musical had cameos or bit parts (the movie cast did Nothing Wrong, it was the rest of that team). It’d be hilarious to see, like, Jake Abel as the owner of the poodle, or Logan Lerman as Older Percy and the reporter’s waiter that keeps trying to get in on the conversation, or Brandon T. Jackson as a satyr who’s still stuck grooving out in the Lotus Hotel and Casino. Kristen Stokes as a nature spirit, Chris as one of the ghosts stuck in the waiting room of DOA Records, just like any of those casts having small parts would be fun and sweet. 

There should be a lot of easter eggs for the bigger riordanverse. Promotions in the background for the new Tristan McLean movie. Gabe’s got a true crime documentary about the missing Grace children playing during his poker game. Mr. D is reading a paper about Rachel Dare’s father’s newest project. At some point while they’re still in New York they pass the Kane family’s mansion or whatever it was called. Annabeth keeps a picture of little her and Magnus on her nightstand. The barest of hints about the Triumvirate. Seeing kids in camp jupiter gear in some background shots, just out of notice of our main characters but implying the camps are going through similar problems (BITCH….if we got a titan’s curse adaptation…and we had a shot of Thalia in the foreground….but in the background we saw a blond boy in purple with a golden sword….well I would simply loose my Goddamn mind).

And show us how easily the mist lets things blend in, too- like, everyone thinks ‘Monster Donuts’ is just a normal chain, it’s just on an average street block, but if Percy looks through the window he can see who’s behind the counter. Show someone swindling some guys in a park and you have to look twice to realize he’s a gegeines. Like…how people are still trying to find all the background ghosts in haunting of hill house. I would LOVE to see a bunch of background monsters and mythical beings just going about their day as much as the mortals are while the gang’s questing. 

The effects need to be fun. The whole story needs to be fun, but one weird thing about the past movies are that like…in their attempt to make it gritty, none of the fantastical things happening on screen actually felt that exciting. We need bright colors and interesting choices, consistently cool action shots, a liveliness that makes you feel like you’re in the center of the action. I have absolutely no doubt Disney easily has enough funds to pull off great effects.

The characters need to be….in character lmao. Annabeth needs to be cocky and bratty with the skill set to justify it. Percy needs to be a sweetheart who pretends to be hardened because that’s what people assume he’s like. Grover needs to have dry humor and a Too Old For This Shit attitude whenever percabeth start bickering. Luke needs to be nice and friendly but in a specific way that you can look back after the betrayal and see he was trying to groom everyone. Sally needs to be loving, protective and strong. Chiron needs to feel defeated and determined at the same time. Mr. D needs to….be Stanley Tucci lmao

Also, I’d love if the adaptation could expand more on things that got brushed along in the books- Percy and Beckendorf’s friendship, Silena and Clarisse’s dynamic, make Nico’s crush on Percy a little more obvious, give Rachel some more development. One thing that haunts me about the books is Sally never found out that Gabe hit Percy. Absolutely they don’t need to make the abuse explicit, but I also personally feel like a lot of Percy’s mindsets throughout the series are somewhat a result of Gabe, and I’d like if that got, you know, acknowledged. Maybe in the scene where he figures out Gabe abuses Sally he could say ‘does he hit you too?’ or something to that effect. They could also go more into detail about Annabeth’s family, give Zoe some more depth….like the possibilities I’m screaming.

Okay this is already long and I’m getting tired but I can so clearly see a great adaptation in my mind….Disney please come through….It’s what we deserve…. 

#percy jackson #disney #rick riordan #pjo #hoo #toa #asks #molly mumbles

[squidproquoclarice]

I think the entire reason Micah exists as a character is to make Dutch seem more sympathetic by comparison and act as an convenient excuse for Dutch's more questionable behavior. It wouldn't actually be that hard to write Micah completely out of the story and have Dutch act exactly the same. You wouldn't even have to change Arthur's death scene that much. It would also explain why Arthur didn't put a bullet through Micah's skull the instant he showed his true colors.

So my knee jerk impulse is to agree.  Micah is just so shitty and out there that it’s hard to see what purpose he serves.  But on closer thought, I do think Micah has a few purposes.   First, he acted as a catalyst for Dutch in some ways.  We see how obsessively enamored Dutch is of Micah, insisting how wonderful and genuine he is, and we see Micah at work shamelessly flattering Dutch, pandering to his ego, and pretending he’s all heart.  Player got played. But thing is, I see Micah as a catalyst in the original sense--chemically, a catalyst only speeds up a reaction.  It doesn’t cause it.  Dutch is a narcissistic sociopath leading a cult, and even before Micah joined, he was on a down slope, being as Hosea, Arthur, and John all note that things have already greatly changed from years past.  Dutch wouldn’t have needed help to eventually come to the place he does, and cause the harm he does.  Micah just speeds that up by encouraging and validating Dutch’s worst and most violent impulses. Micah plays a role in ensuring the Van Der Lindes’ downfall happens as it does (and the fact that he’s very likely been a mole since the beginning certainly locks that down).  Would Dutch have gone for the disastrous ferry robbery without him, with Hosea and others urging more cautious jobs and nobody advocating for that?  Maybe not.  Would Dutch have gotten them all killed eventually in some other stupid schemes as his increasingly grandiose god complex thinking takes over?  Probably. Second, I do think Micah acts as a foil to Dutch, like you say.  He makes Dutch seem more “reasonable” and his evil more palatable.  It’s not hard to look good and charismatic and tragic when you’re up against a monster who openly slaughters for fun, is creepy and rapey towards women, makes racist remarks regularly, treats everyone around him like shit, and is just all around awful.  It says something about Dutch’s power over all of them that they all hate Micah and protest, but Dutch saying “Micah’s great and he stays” overrides all of it.  Could they have written Dutch as further along in that downward spiral to make it happen?  Sure, although making Dutch more obviously awful stretches credulity in everyone staying past a certain point. Third, in a narrative sense, he becomes Arthur’s nemesis.  This is an action game and they tend to like having a clearly marked enemy for the hero.  Like how it’s clearly Edgar Ross, not Dutch, who’s John’s chief nemesis in RDR1, Arthur did kind of need someone to become his antagonist.  Micah serves that role, and gives Arthur someone to actively strive against.  And like Ross, Micah is also a snake in the grass.  It also means that the chief action based conflict becomes Arthur v. Micah, not Arthur v. Dutch, which would have to happen if Micah wasn’t there.  And as we know, RDR1 means Dutch has plot armor until 1911 (which blatantly comes to play on both Roanoke Ridge and Mount Hagen), so it would be harder to write an endgame confrontation between Dutch and Arthur.  I personally think Arthur walking away from Dutch and rejecting him would has more than enough emotional and narrative heft, but that’s not playing to action game tropes that virtually demand you get the “reward” of killing your enemy in the final big battle as some kind of narrative catharsis.  Now, Red Dead doesn’t quite do that.  There is no victorious boss battle for our protagonists.  John can’t kill Ross and he can’t fight his way out of Beecher’s Hope.  Arthur fights Micah to a standstill while on death’s door himself, but can’t defeat him.  But as a franchise, it’s not willing to throw it out entirely.  It presents it with the “honor my memory and kill the bastard” trope variation.  If you can’t do it, others will go triumphantly murder said evil bastard in your name.  So being able to destroy Micah kind of smoke screens that inability to decisively deal with Dutch thanks to prequelitis.   I agree the game could have happened without Micah, but I don’t think it could have run precisely as it did.  Micah’s absence would definitely have changed some things, and changed the story and tone somewhat.

#micah bell #rdr2 #arthur morgan #dutch van der linde #thank you for coming to my red talk #deathtalksaboutlife

[chiscribbs]

PLUS EST EN VOUS Review

(Over a week later, and I’m finally posting this. At least I don’t have to worry about another episode coming out before it’s posted.)

Okay - there’s a lot to cover, so without further ado...  Let’s get right into it, shall we?

Things I liked about the finale:

All of the beautiful Cass / Rapunzel scenes! 

They were so emotional and beautifully done, it felt like everything that needed to be said was said, and seeing them act like friends again was very cathartic for me. In a lot of ways, Cass & Raps’ relationship reminds me of some of my own (old ones that didn’t end so smoothly, and then newer ones that I can already tell will leave a lasting impression on my life) and seeing them reconcile and talk about how much they meant to each other really warmed my heart. A best friend is an irreplaceable thing, and I love that their interactions showed that. I also really appreciated the “I love you”s, because the world needs more of those between friends. And it also reminded me of Eugene saying the same thing to Lance, in Beyond the Corona Walls.

The awesome Team Awesome content!  There was an abundance of it in this episode, and I loved every second of it! Truth be told, I was never a big “Team Awesome” fan until S3 came around. The relationship always felt a tad too one-sided to me, and I just couldn’t see them being particularly close, at least not as close as Varian and Rapunzel. The fandom helped me warm up to the idea a little bit, but this past season definitely sold it for me. Eugene has really matured and become a lot less self-involved since the first time they met. I absolutely love that he’s turned into sort of a cool older brother figure to Varian (in fact, many of their interactions are reminiscent of moments I’ve shared with my own brother) and Var now looks up to him rather than just the “Flynn Rider” persona. The fact that Eugene could tease him about his past mistakes and Varian just turned around and casually joked right back? That made my heart happy.

Speaking of maturing & happy hearts -

 I’M SO PROUD OF THIS BOY!!! 

I know I say that a lot, but He’s just come so far since S1, or even the beginning of S3! There were a ton of little moments showcasing his growth in this episode. Such as:  - Jumping onto the piano to help Raps rally the troops (did anybody think we were going to get pianist Varian? I sure didn’t, but I’m not complaining.) - Stating with certainty that he can rebuild Demanitus’ portal, before even seeing the schematics, and just overall showing more confidence in his abilities. (Quirin looked so proud when he was building the portal...you know, before going  all mind-slave and trying to pull the lever.) - Being the first - the FIRST - of the gang to walk into Demanitus’ tomb. This may seem small, but it was such a 180 from Be Very Afraid, where he was nervous and trailing behind Raps the entire time. Now he’s not only joining in on the adventure, he’s taking the lead on occasion! - Rigging Quirin’s helmet with a temporary stun mechanism as a fail-safe for the mind-trap. He seemed hurt and offended when Eugene initially brought up the possibility of his dad being a double-agent, but even so, he listened. He put common sense and the safety of others before his own feelings, and that’s not an easy thing to do.  - Firing an explosive concoction straight into the face of an enormous demon monster??? I mean,...heck yeah, boy!! Also - using his past mistakes (i.e. the amber and monster!Ruddiger) and repurposing them towards something good. I could go on, but you get the idea. he’s just come so far and I could not be more proud of his development. And the fact that he went on to become Corona’s Royal Alchemist Engineer was just the cherry on top! YOU DESERVE IT, BOY!!! 👏👏👏

You know who else I’m proud of? Rapunzel. She was never my favorite character in the series (despite being the protagonist,) but this story - and this past season in particular - has really endeared me to her. She’s grown so much, she’s become a strong and wise leader, and I’m proud of her for it. Honestly, I’ve related to her far more this past season than any other. And I don’t know if that’s because she’s older and more mature now, or because her naivete and eager-to-please attitude is all but gone, or because she just felt a lot more real and vulnerable in recent episodes - but I really, truly love her. And I’m happy to see her story reach its completion. (Also - long-haired brunette Raps is my new favorite thing, tbh.)

THIS:

���Nough said, I think.

The epic new powers and abilities (and return of some old ones)!!! There were so many moments while watching the finale where I was literally just yelling at my sister like “wHOA, DID YOU SEE THAT?! THAT WAS AWESOME!!!” I had no idea that Cass could make ANIMATED WOLF HEADS of the black rocks, that completely blew me away! And then there were those golden rocks that Zhan Tiri manifested, that was so cool! I wonder if the sundrop alone could make those appear, or if you had to have both of the elements to make it work. Also - the Healing Incantation was finally brought back! I knew it would be, eventually, but I’d almost completely forgotten that was a plot point by the time the finale came around. It was good to hear Mandy’s voice saying those familiar, nostalgic words again. And she put so much emotion into it!

Now, onto the less fun stuff...

Things I disliked about the finale:

(Feel free to skip over this section if you’d rather just focus on the positives, I fully understand. I’ll do my best to be fair and only address the things that really stood out to me.)

This subplot went on for far too long:

It was pretty funny for the first few minutes (and I’m sure the animators loved getting to go crazy with the characters’ designs like this,) but after awhile, I was like “is this really what we want over half of our cast to be doing during the BIG FINALE?” I mean, we already had the monkey gag, which I actually thought was a riot. And this one came right in the middle of a pretty climactic moment, so it just seemed kind of out of place.  I’ll admit, the snake-hair joke and Lance’s multiple eyes had me rolling, but ultimately, I just felt like this whole bit only served to waste limited time that definitely could have been better utilized.

The portal was too quickly demolished.  They could have at least come close to a success with it before it was destroyed, so that it didn’t feel completely useless! I get that they wanted ZT to be defeated by her own power, and I’m down for that, but if the portal’s sole purpose within the story was just to temporarily remove all the secondary characters in limbo so that the mains could do their thing, I can’t really get behind it.  Especially seeing as their only Plan B was “throw things at the giant all-powerful octopus monster,” come on, guys. I would have preferred that be a last-resort after several failed attempts at other pre-orchestrated plans. They could have had Varian and Quirin working on repairing the portal while the others distract/attack Zhan Tiri and THEN have her destroy it (purposefully, rather than by some random falling rock.) Or, maybe everyone could have been in on the plan to get the sundrop and moonstone to meet, and then have Raps and Cass are the ones who finally succeed in doing it. I don’t know, I just feel like there was a lot of wasted potential there.

This scene:

I’m going to be perfectly honest, this scene bothered me. For a multitude of reasons:

Firstly; it was a shot-for-shot copy (not a parallel, a copy) of the iconic New Dream moment from the movie, just replacing Eugene with Cass. That wasn't necessary, Cass and Raps have their own unique relationship and their own moments, they don’t need to steal Raps & Eugene’s. This should have remained a New Dream-only thing, in my opinion. (Especially seeing as her parents already stole their gondola bit...I’m mostly joking about that one.)

Secondly; it didn’t make sense? Rapunzel was standing just as close to the blast as Cassandra, yet she wasn’t harmed at all. In fact, she seemed completely unfazed by it. Why was Cass the only one effected? (And we can’t even make an argument that the moonstone shard protected her, because the powers were lost the moment the two fused.) If they needed a brush-with-death scene, why not have ZT hurt Cass? I feel like that would have been a lot more dramatic, especially after manipulating her for an entire season.

And finally; it made every other character’s “death” seem unimportant in comparison. I get that the writers needed Raps to use the Healing Incantation, but, EVERYBODY ELSE WAS ALREADY HALF-DEAD, AT THIS POINT. I’m sorry, but, why wasn’t that incentive enough to use the healing power? Why did we need to have Cass’s near-death on top of everybody else’s?  I mean, I would’ve been maybe a little bit more okay with it had Rapunzel mourned everybody’s death and not just Cass’s, and then used the power to save ALL of them at once. But instead, she completely forgot about everyone else until the very last second, which was frustrating. I’m not a fan of plot devices that ignore other characters, especially when the protagonist is supposed to care about them but then just doesn’t even seem to remember that they exist for a hot minute. This felt like the ending of Freebird, only worse because you can’t make the excuse that she was unaware. (Just to be clear, I’m not blaming Rapunzel. I know it wasn’t meant to come across that way, I just feel like it was not well executed.) There are a lot of ways that this could have been done differently. Rapunzel and Cass could have BOTH been devastated about their friends/loved ones, I would have loved to see Cass show genuine concern and remorse towards the OTHER people whom her actions hurt, not just Raps. Or, Rapunzel could have at least landed near Cass so it would’ve made sense for her to notice her first, and then looked around and noticed everybody else before using the healing incantation. At least that way, the other characters wouldn’t have felt so much like a second-thought. I don’t know, I just didn’t appreciate the treatment of the supporting cast in this scene at all. It felt like they were forgotten right up until the very last second.

Cass didn’t get to sing in any of the songs.  I was really surprised by this, I figured given how important her role had become, she’d get to sing at least one line (like Lance and Varian did.) But nope. Actually, a good 90% of the music in this episode was sung by Raps, and as much as I love the songs & Mandy’s beautiful voice, I was hoping for the other characters to be a little bit more involved. Especially in the Life After Happily Ever After (Reprise), that would have been a great opportunity to have everybody sing together.

Things I would have liked to see in the finale:

More information about Demanitus and ZT.  We got so little! I was expecting this episode to answer all of our questions about that two, but I still have no idea; what their relationship was, where Zhan Tiri came from, why exactly she wanted the power (besides just to have it for herself, I guess), or how they came across the SD and MS in the first place! Like, just a little bit more information would have been nice, the only thing the flashback really gave us was what ZT looked like before spending a few millenia in limbo. (Also - apparently Corona is several thousand years old??? Which, I didn’t know, I was under the impression that it was a fairly new kingdom.)

Closure for this relationship:

This is probably what I was most disappointed by. Honestly, I’m still kind of surprised that this didn’t happen, even just a little bit. Given that Cass was wearing the Cassandrium at the end, we can safely assume that they at least parted on good terms. But the last few exchanges that they had really gave me the impression that we’d be getting some kind of closure before the credits rolled. We were given two whole episodes focusing on the unique bond that these two share (that’s more than we were given for Cass & Eugene,) they were painted as parallels, so it only makes sense to give them a proper wrap-up. In CR, Cass seemed hurt and devastated after realizing that she’d effectively pushed Varian away, it’s clear his friendship meant a lot to her. Not to mention, Var had the best understanding of Cass’s feelings, he could relate to her - especially about her guilt and fear of not being forgiven. But despite all of the build-up & foreshadowing, they didn’t even get an on-screen goodbye? Not a single “thank you” or “I’m sorry”?  I realize that the main focus was always on Cass & Raps’ friendship, and I’m totally fine with that. I’m just saying that after all the obvious parallels and time invested in this relationship, it would have been nice to get some closure. I just wish they’d included at least one little dialogue exchange to wrap it up in a satisfactory way, like we got with Cass and Eugene.

Actual pay-off for all the Varian - Demanitus parallels.  I think we can all agree that this seemed like it was going somewhere, and then it just...didn’t. He did rebuild the portal, but it turned out to be useless, and outside of that, the similarity was never touched upon. Not by Rapunzel, or Zhan Tiri, not even Xavier made the connection. I mean - this kid is doing at 15/16 what Demanitus did in the latter half of his life. He’s not only following the legendary engineer/inventor’s footsteps, he’s expanding the legacy. If that’s not foreshadowing for something, I don’t know what is! And I do love the fact that he became the Royal Alchemist Engineer, but at the same time, I just feel like there was so much wasted potential in this almost-but-not-quite-subplot.

An actual Brotherhood reunion, without all the mind-trap influence.  It would have been so interesting to see them all interacting! I was surprised that, even though Edmund and Quirin were both in the same place for most of the episode, they never really interacted? Outside of mind-controlled Quirin, Hector, and Adira attacking Eugene &  Edmund, they didn’t exchange so much as a word. And I get that a lot of that was time restraints, and having to focus on more important plot points (as Edmund said “bigger fish”) but honestly, if they had time to thrown in all that netherworld nonsense, a little Brotherhood interaction doesn’t seem like too big of a favor to ask. 

Rapid-fire Opinions: 

Favorite song: Through it All

In my opinion, this song is the best group number in the show (not counting the ones only sung by main 3, such With You By My Side or Next Stop Anywhere) It’s not quite as epic as Ready As I’ll Ever Be, but it has an infectious beat and a triumphant melody that I really enjoy. Also, the scene as a whole was so cheerful and fun, and we got Varian, Lance, Kiera, and Catalina all playing various instruments! (Plus more New Dream dancing! ❤ )

Favorite callback to a previous episode: Easy answer, because it comes from (what is still) one of my favorite episodes in the series - the Cassandrium.

Favorite scene: This one’s a little tough, but I did really enjoy the little moment that Eugene and Varian had after Quirin was incapacitated by the helmet. 

I also loved the final scene where Cass said goodbye to Rapunzel and they gave each other the biggest, warmest hug I’ve ever seen in animation history (and the prior exchange between her and Eugene was really sweet, as well.)

OH! And how could I forget? That beautiful New Dream proposal. 💜 That was absolutely perfect. The animation, the music, Mandy & Zach’s incredibly heartfelt voice work, just...I loved everything about it.

Most underrated moment: Catalina pushing Kiera out of Zhan Tiri’s way and getting grabbed herself. (Show of hands, who else briefly forgot that she was a werewolf and had a small heart-attack in that moment?)

Theories I had that were proven true: 

- Cass leaving Corona to “find her own destiny.”  I’d always felt like Cass never really had a dream of her own; she didn’t know who she was, and she was never going to get the answers by staying by Rapunzel’s side. So I had a strong feeling that she would be leaving, but I’m glad to see that it was on good terms.

- Everyone vs Zhan Tiri.  Granted, like most people, I was under the impression that Xavier’s “magic and alchemy” statement would be more...relevant? Turns out, we read into that way too much. Which, honestly, is a tiny bit disappointing, but it was still cool to finally see Zhan Tiri at her most powerful.

- Varian becoming Corona’s Royal Alchemist Engineer.  This is a theory I’ve had since my early days in the fandom, and I’m glad to see it finally confirmed! My only complaint is that we didn’t get to see Rapunzel bestow the honor upon him, because I would have loved to see that exchange.

Theories that were not proven true, but I still believe:

- Varian (and possibly Quirin) being a descendant of Demanitus.  You can pry this one out of my cold, dead hands, there are way too many clues pointing to it. I’m not even sure if Demanitus has any descendants (again, we have very little information on him still) but if he does, Varian’s a prime candidate. His lineage comes from the Dark Kingdom, he’s a genius alchemist/inventor, has a personal connection to both the Sundrop and the Moonstone; honestly, I’m kind of surprised this possibility was never even considered, at least one, in canon.

- Cass will eventually return to Corona.  I have no idea when, why, or how, but I truly believe she will. Her spirit may be roaming free at the moment, but the heart always returns home. And - as it stands right now, at least - her heart is still waiting in Corona. In the meantime, though, I’m glad she’s living her best life, seeking out adventure wherever destiny leads her! She deserves it <3 

Well, that’s my full Plus Est En Vous/Tangled the Series Finale review! I’d love to hear everybody else’s thoughts on the final episode, as well; how many people were satisfied vs unsatisfied with the ending? What were everyone else’s favorite moments, what else would have been nice to see? Let me know!

Final words: This show and this fandom have meant so much to me, and I’m far from done loving it. I still have many projects in the works to celebrate the show and its completion, but in the meantime - thanks for reading.

And God bless the amazing team that came together to bring us this incredibly beautiful, meaningful, story which will always have a special place in my heart. 

#artistnotes #tts #tangled the series #plus est en vous #character analysis #episode analysis #episode review

[sneky-sneck]

I know you've probably answered this before, but what drew you to Sneck in particular?

Ok. Here is my long answer of what drew me into liking Sneck.

Honestly, the first thing was his appearance...I like suits. He has a snake suit. Already caught my eye. I like his overall appearance anyway. (also, I’ve noticed a particular pattern with some of my favorite characters, suits with weird bangs. If I had a nickel for every time that happened, I would have 25 cents)

Now to the other part.

I had seen opm years ago when it came out on Adult Swim. But at that time, my favs were Genos and Sonic. I rewatched it last year because my sister didn’t remember that much so we decided to rewatch it again. I vaguely remembered some of the characters, but I remembered seeing Sneck because of early fanart and other scenes like the seminar and Saitama walking away from him. 

At this time, everyone would think that he’s an asshole. And I agree. The rookie crushing thing was not cool, but the result was funny.

More episodes later, when the H.A. was looking at the cities. It did surprise me to see Sneck as the protector of City F. Hence, I thought, he wasn’t lying when about the influences in the H.A. It must have been an honor to him to be trusted to supervise an entire city to take care of, even though we don’t see him do anything about Hammerhead in the beginning. Still, then again he could have been busy with other things, or he knew he couldn’t handle it. 

Then my favorite arc, the Deep Sea King. This would be the last time we see him in season 1 and for a while. 

Now, here’s the thing. We do see him try to help other lower rank heroes to fight the DSK and lose. He knows that he’s weak but he does try and that earned my respects. So at that point, I loved him. But please noticed that it was All Back Man who confronted the DSK. Then other heroes started coming out. And then Sneck decided to show up. He was the last person who came out and it’s all because of the lower class who stood up first. Also, the fact that he is stronger than these guys. They must have been on their way to help Stinger but the situation got worse.

That’s all we get for a while. 

But then the Tournament arc happened. 

Now we see an insight into how Sneck really feels. His inner turmoil about heroes. About how he believes that he’s not as strong as everyone thinks. The self-doubt is really there when he starts thinking about bigger threats out there like the DSK, what separates the S class from everyone else, and the fact that there are stronger people out there who are not heroes. It got to the point that he asked: “are heroes are really necessary?” 

The prideful, confident, and cocky hero we saw could be a mask for how he really feels. Yes, he is in charge of City F. Yes,, he goes to the finals in the tournaments. And Yes, he is in Class A….but bottom ranking. That’s all he can ever get. 

When he starts thinking how much impact they actually have...he wanted to make sure that they made a difference.  That he makes a difference. That’s why he asks for respect. To make him feel important and that he matters in some way. Or even doing all of that, it’s not enough for him. 

And then who was he fighting? Suiryu. The worse person to talk to. Another person who is insanely strong and what did Sneck think about him? That Suiryu wouldn’t need to be saved. Then they started talking and that really pissed him off. A guy who has all this strength but slacks off and doesn’t really care about weaker people than him. His thoughts on how only the strong will survive. And that being a hero is a waste of time and boring.

But the tables turned. 

Suiryu is now fighting monsters stronger than him. There is no way of winning. 

But Sneck (and Max) came. They came to save him. The fact that Sneck just said Suiryu didn’t need saving. Well, there he is.

Before in the DSK arc. He was forced to face something stronger than him. And he was surrounded by a lot of people.

But this is different. It’s only Suiryu (including others but they wanted him to escape) and no crowd. They did it because it was right. It’s what a hero does. They know that they are much weaker than Gouketsu. They knew the outcome. It’s basically repeating the match with DSK but they still did it. 

In the end, everyone was defeated. But it really did change Suiryu. He knew what these heroes stand for. Hope. 

Even though Saitama was the one who saved everyone, those two really impacted Suiryu.

Then the hospital scene.

Maybe it was a good thing that some heroes did care about ranks. Almost everyone ran out of the hospital, including Max and Sneck. Then we see Suiryu and talks about leaving the work to them as he watches the pair go.

The reason why I did that fanfic, I Need A Hero, is because I want to talk about how much monsters affect people and have an insight on Sneck and Max.  

As I said in my fanfic. “You don’t need strength to be a hero. You just need the heart to save people.” 

And that is why I love him.

#one punch man #opm #sneck #snek

[thelifetimechannel]

“So what the fuck was all that” or, I acknowledge that we laid all this plot stuff out like 3 years ago so if you forgot here’s a rundown of what Coda’s Deal was

As some background, when we first started this project, the main idea was to have the versions of the kids we were invested in win the game. But as we kept working, and as the world around us got progressively nastier (and listen, I drafted this explanatory post months ago, so the ride don’t stop on that account), that didn't feel like enough. The game is sick. The game is broken. The game tortures children and builds new worlds off their backs. SBURB is what gave Caliborn the power he used to become the monster he did. How would simply playing by SBURB's rules and giving it a win be a victory? To quote TLC!Roxy,

TG: when the meteors start coming down again do we just watch? TG: when we get 2 the new universe callies gonna b there and we have 2 let her suffer bc the loop says so TG: so if the rules are still gonna force us 2 do shitty stuff do we ever rly get out?? TG: how do u win a game like that?

And so, the game became the last villain. Or what the game represents: an endless cycle of profiting off torment, promoting creation at any cost. I wanted the kids to break the cycle, since so much of the story centered around breaking out of bad patterns (personal, societal, structural). Especially in light of... everything going on in the world, I wanted to tell a story about a bunch of people who had gone through absolute hell and said, No one else should ever have to do this. I wanted to tell a story about survivors saying, Tomorrow is going to be better than today, and we are going to make sure that happens. That's a conclusion several of the characters start to come to in the later parts of the comic, until Rose directly states that her goal is to make a better system (following in her Act 4 footsteps after having learned to balance destruction with creation):

ROSE: There has to be a better way to perpetuate reality. ROSE: We may be trapped in a time loop when it comes to the cherub session, but beyond that... ROSE: I don't know what, or how, but I want to do something for the world we create, if that's where we're spat out. ROSE: If we let it keep selecting a few malleable lost children as the sole survivors to keep this cycle going, we're no better than the puppetmaster we're trying to escape.

How to accomplish that? Well, one of the forces that serves as an antagonist is the Alpha timeline.  Characters who make perfectly good decisions that simply deviate from what the Alpha demands are punished with death and banishment to the furthest ring.

ARADIA: working within the alpha timeline can be frustrating ARADIA: sometimes in my role as the maid of time i had to doom timelines where we succeeded because it would cause a paradox down the line ARADIA: for example you had to create the cancer in the humans genesis frog, otherwise a whole chain of events contributing to our own existence wouldnt be! ARADIA: there were realities where you didnt make the same mistakes ARADIA: there were some where we all did great

*

TG: it sux that it works this way TG: that u need some sort of hacky workaround 2 not die bc someone down the line fucked up or mayb u were just in the wrong place at the wrong time

In canon, it is established that the Alpha timeline is based on Lord English, as Scratch explains by saying,

The path which alone has my absolute mastery is the alpha timeline, a continuum I define as that which boasts exclusive rights both to my birth and to my death, two circumstantially simultaneous events.

Which means, without the Lord of Time forcing all viable timelines to feed into his being, multiple timelines could hypothetically coexist as long as none of them break other pre-existing loops.

ARADIA: english narrowed the options to direct all energy toward his desired outcomes much like a virus repurposing a cells production mechanisms to reproduce itself instead ARADIA: but he is gone now ARADIA: there are plenty of realities my selves left behind that could have survived if not for his loops and his insistence on wiping clean all offshoots that did not contribute to him ARADIA: an insistence that bled into the very laws of the universe ARADIA: but with his defeat the way forward is much broader

The alpha timeline isn't the only oppressive force at play, however. The other is the game and behind that, Skaia itself. Skaia is portrayed as a benevolent force for creation, but it supports a system where killing children isn't a bug. It's a feature. It's very devoted to the bigger picture and the greater good at the expense of the people caught in the system's gears, which sounds... familiar. Sure, Skaia could just exist, but Homestuck is an origin story. Almost everything has a starting point, so why not Skaia and the game too?

DIRK: The point is, this game didn't come out of nowhere. DIRK: Someone had to make it.

It made sense to me to have a benevolent cherub behind that, just as a malevolent cherub is behind the alpha timeline. So, enter alt!Calliope.

CALLIOPE: through the rules of the game that brought you here, i gave you my blessing. CALLIOPE: in doing so i hope i have created a battlefield for soldiers to rise up against him, even as my efforts brought about his own birth. CALLIOPE: both he and i labor bound to our own path from creation to destruction, locked in an ouroboros that will only end when you have passed through the final door.

JADE: just to make sure im understanding you correctly JADE: youre behind the game that ruined our lives?

And if one Muse of Space got us into this mess...

CALLIOPE: if she'd grown Up with friends like i had, she woUldn't have bUilt it that way, i know she woUldn't have. ROSE: Maybe this is your chance to set it right. CALLIOPE: what? ROSE: You're a Muse of Space too. ROSE: If she had the ability to craft the inner workings of an entire multiverse-spanning system and set it in motion, you must have that potential too. ROSE: Maybe you can change the rules.

In the walkarounds, Rose starts making her case to the other characters.

ROSE: Your mistake with the DNA affected our game session, which means the frog's construction influences how SBURB games launched within it are played. ROSE: If you did that accidentally, we might be able to influence future SBURB sessions intentionally.

And in the last update before our two flashes, they make their plan and put it to a vote.

ROXY: we need 2 come up w/ a world we like

That brings us to Coda. The alpha timeline (red snake) winds around the dream bubbles filled with ghosts who were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Skaia's influence (green snake) winds around the events it engineered. We see the characters digging into DNA readouts, temple carvings, etc. to figure out how to reverse engineer the game. Then Calliope makes it happen, banishing the ouroboros of the two cherubs' influence so they won't poison the new universe. But of course, if we are banishing the alpha timeline and saying any number of realities can exist concurrently, we can't see any of them. That would be pinning us down to one. So, as Calliope works her magic, the viewers lose sight of the characters, so they can finally be free. Because if we're rebelling against authority, even we authors have to step aside in the end.

And so, for now, let’s drop the curtains and take our bow. :) As for what’s behind those curtains, who’s to say? Maybe us. Maybe you. Maybe everyone. 

[coinofstone]

Of Snakes and Symbolism

Recently, MadyMischief voiced an observation about the nature of The Great DeanCas Breakup™ that I hadn’t considered before, and it really slotted something into place for me. Not just about the show, the ending overall, but about the DeanCas relationship specifically. I’ve talked about the fight before, because I think about it... a lot... but Mady pointed something out that I need to discuss further: 

“Jack is the first thing that Cas has ever really put above Dean. When Mary died, Cas instead of being supportive of Dean, actively sought to stop him. I think he feels betrayed twice - Cas didn’t tell them about the snake and that Cas didn’t take his side. That on top of all the other emotional trauma just broke Den. I think in hindsight Dean realizes why Cas put Jack first. But at that moment, Dean reverted back to being John’s child, whose main mission from age 4 to age 38 was to kill the thing that killed Mary. It wasn’t until actually faced with killing Jack that Mary’s influence reasserted itself. That’s why I was so stoked when Dean brought her up with Chuck when refusing to kill Jack. John’s hunting came from seeking vengeance; Mary’s hunting was always to save people.”

Thinking again about the snake - which we all kind of understand to be A Big Fuckin Deal in the DeanCas fight, so I won’t rehash that - I think it’s more symbolic than I had originally picked up on.

The obvious symbolism for the snake is the show itself. 'Ouroborus', which was the episode the snake first appeared in, is the symbol of the snake eating its own tail, the unbroken circle. Sam and Dean have been chasing their own tales for nearly fifteen years now, chasing monsters, averting apocalypses, even reliving the most defining trauma of their lives; losing their mom to a yellow eyed supernatural being. Jack killing the snake, as an act of kindness even though it is an act of destruction, can be directly paralleled with TFW finally breaking the cycle (of the show) by killing God (death of the author, literally). I say ‘killing’ but I expect something more akin to God being neutralized or locked out of our universe, but this is irrelevant here. The fact that the snake was killed by Jack himself using his power, is significant, but my own personal spec is that this will be how the series is resolved: Chuck being defeated by TFW using Jack’s powers. Now, after reflecting on Mady’s observation, I think the entire metaphor could be applied to DeanCas too. The romantic subtext that's been slithering through the series for a fuckin decade, but again, just going around in circles, nothing ever changing and now... that changes. I mean the snake’s death was literally the impetus for the change in their relationship, the thing that kicked off their big fight. And this particular fight truly is waaaaay more husband-y (they are literally fighting over their CHILD) than the previous fights they've had. Even though they’ve been at odds, they are still working together, still communicating in an albeit stilted, pseudo professional capacity, as shown in this clip from 15x01, prior to The Rupture:

The fact that Sam is like, nowhere near this one either, is especially telling. While Dean and Cas do share a more profound bond, (heh) usually when there is any kind of conflict it’s Cas vs Winchesters, plural. But this time, it’s entirely just between those two. And at this point (days before 15X09 airs), we kind of know that Dean doesn’t want to fight anymore. He’s expressed this as well as he can given his character, in everyone’s favorite example, the post-Rupture phone call from Golden Time:

Their usual dynamic is reversed here, as well. They are going through the betrayal/forgiveness cycle again here, but this time something is different. Dean is in the wrong, and as apologetic as his emotionally stunted ass is capable of being while he’s still in pain. Cas is keeping his distance, not because he’s working on some other plot line, but because Dean’s hurt him - though he hasn’t exactly fucked off and disappeared for several episodes with a handwave explanation - we are still seeing him and he is, in fact, still a Winchester - saving people, hunting things. He’s still there, he’s just trying to avoid Dean - which is what makes this scene from Last Call so deliciously tense:

Again, Cas is the one walking away from Dean in this scene, just as he walked out on him after Dean said that hurtful thing to him in The Rupture. Dean, not wanting him to go but not willing or able to do anything to stop him. In this was it way sort of vaguely reminiscent of the fight he had with Sam way back in 1x11, Scarecrow. (Thanks to Margaritte for recalling the episode.) Essentially, they argue while in the Impala, Dean yells something hurtful at Sam, Sam decides he’s done taking Dean’s shit, gets out of the car and walks away, leaving Dean - who very clearly doesn’t want him to go but does not, can not tell him that - behind. Sound familiar? There may be more to it that I’m just not teasing out, as Dean and Sam were fighting about whether or not they should do as their father told them, Dean lashing out at Sam about being a ‘good son’ - whereas Dean and Cas where more or less fighting over... well... parenting a nephilim with a soul deficiency. There’s definitely a cyclical element there that fits, the son in S1 becoming the father in S15. The fact that the scene in 1x11 took place at the Impala, which was their ‘home’ at the time, and 15x03 took place in the bunker, which is.... well, you get the idea. I do find it incredibly interesting that many of these key scenes seem to take place with Dean at ‘home’ in the Bunker; the only reason he’s even there to answer the FBI phone in the Golden Time clip above is because he’s sat in the Bunker moping around in his pajamas while Sam and Eileen are out.

In short, if the underlying theme for S15 is ‘break the cycle’, as suggested by the symbolism of Felix the snake’s death, then there’s reason to believe (hope) that before the end of the series, Dean and Cas will progress their relationship beyond what we’ve seen so far.

#SPN #spn spoilers #spn meta #spn speculation #spn spec #spn s15 spec #spn s15 #spn s15 spoilers #s15 meta #Destiel #destiel endgame #destiel positive #Destiel breakup #snek #i taught myself how to make gifs for this #symbolism #Ourobouros #MetaCoin

[yue-muffin]

The muffin watches Love and Redemption (insert preemptive crying here)

Aright, I finally FINALLY finished live blogging this episode. @mejomonster my thoughts are aplenty! I actually wrote way too much! 

Edit: I’m an idiot, I forgot to mention a prediction/observation.

Episode 1:

The CGI is actually very nice in this drama, I’m pleased. I will definitely watch dramas with cringe-worthy CGI, but it’s always nice when they manage to integrate it with the actors and set pieces well, which is even harder to accomplish in Xianxia.

Wait, what did the god of war do to deserve the reincarnation out of the heavenly realm punishment? Didn’t she defeat the Asura/Mosha guy? Was it because she used his weapon or something? And in the first place, why does that half of the Mosha guy’s soul qualify as a celestial that can be reborn? I suppose everyone is subject to reincarnation, but this batch is explicitly for those who have committed crimes in the heavens and wasn’t he on the demon/asura side? Or…maybe he was a celestial who betrayed them? Who knows, I’m just wildly speculating…

The scene definitely suggests there is a lot the narration is not telling us about how these two ended up being reincarnated - yet.

If she lacks the six senses, then why can she see and hear just fine? She apparently can’t feel pain, which would count for the deficiency of touch. Hm.

Xuanji, I relate to just wanting to go back to sleep and not deal with visitors so much lol.

HA, that little look of alarm one of the shixiongs (Liuzi?) has on his face when Linglong tries to convince Xuanji it’ll be fun because they get to check out the handsome guys. So is Linglong supposed to be her twin since they’re both 16 years old?

The dragon wolf thing moves a little funny, but at least it doesn’t look glaringly out of place and the camera doesn’t focus on it for too long, as is typical of CGI monsters. Kudos to them!

Cheng Yi is low-key really good looking in action scenes, just putting that out there. I didn’t think I would adjust to him in period clothing and long hair so quickly, since it usually takes me a while to make the switch (after seeing him in The Lost Tomb 2), but nope! He looks really good!

Ah, so this is the ruthless sect. I love how their first rule, which is literally more important than anything else they may value or encourage in their members, is to not show their entire face when outside the sect…also, what’s the point in hiding only half your face?? Sifeng’s mask only covers one eye, his forehead, and cheek on one side…at least have it cover the entire upper or lower half like everyone else in the sect (I know it’s so we can actually see the actor’s face and not supposed to make sense in-universe)?? I actually do like how they designed it though, it’s far less clunky than the full-face masks we saw in the opening sequence, probably due to the curves.

Sect leader…Sifeng is 16, he IS little pfft. Even adjusting for the times, he is a BABY haha. As I grow older, I realize more and more how young a lot of protags in fantasy stories really are. Also, sect leader is a drama queen, like he’s just lounging on his chair with this dramatic laid-back pose, takes a deep breath, and turns his chin up. So extra.

Aw, yes, I want to see more of Cheng Yi’s easy smiles. He’s so serious in TLT2, except when the warmth seeps into this expression when he’s smiling fondly at Wu Xie…

These devil/asura people have a weird bowing pose. I can’t help but think their hands make them look like…eagle claws or something lol.

Ah, a classic ‘I forgot my invitation’ situation. Well, Xuanji doesn’t have to feel too bad, apparently none of the other Shaoyang disciples know how to fly on a sword either lol. Her sister was tied down by that spell, but could none of the others have attempted to chase after the jerk who grabbed her? (Side note: I really love the color of his sect’s outfits.)

:3 I like Xuanji’s expressions, they’re just cute? So cute. Like her little huff when she’s defending her big sister from the jerkass. Also, I love characters who are like little kittens who puff up and try to protect their friends/family even though the one they’re trying to protect is probably more capable than them.

Jerkass really does take it too far when he just DROPS HER FROM THE SKY. Like, I can accept if youthful teasing goes a little far in that he snatched her and took her for a joy ride, but when it’s apparently that she really can’t summon a sword, it’s 100% not okay to just drop her and laugh it off. If Sifeng didn’t catch her, she could’ve died, and how exactly do you plan on explaining THAT to her father, huh Mr. Jerkass? He had like a dozen witnesses too.

Well, what can you expect from a guy who forgot to bring his invitation and literally was too arrogant and entitled to wait for his teacher to come out and let them in. :p Not the smartest cookie, is he. Even if you got in trouble for forgetting your invitation, you’d get in x10 more trouble for murdering a girl. Good thing she has plot armor and Sifeng was conveniently in the right spot to catch her lol.

Small note, he left her on his sword and she fell off after a bit - so…how exactly is HE flying? Can people fly without the help of their sword? Is he able to make more than one?

Lol Xuanji tugs at him like she does to her sister, it’s cute. But he’s so PANIC every time she touches him haha poor guy. He’s so awkward…why is it so endearing…

It took me a second to realize that he stutters, also that he has a voice actor this time! Idk why, Cheng Yi has a good voice. It would’ve fit this role just fine, unless there were parts they were concerned he couldn’t do. They did a good job matching the VA to his lip movements though, it’s really hard to tell it’s not his voice. It’s been a while since I heard Cheng Yi on video, but listening and comparing, now I can tell that it’s not his in this drama. Anyways, this might be my only complaint lol. Both he and his VA do a good job conveying the stuttering though!

Cheng Yi, you’re playing another character who’s good at disappearing in the blink of an eye lol…

Aah, so normally her sister’s personality type is the annoying sort, which is why she works well as a supporting character. I love how she turns her brattiness up to eleven in order to help Xuanji get out of a scolding by their father. I just really love how these two are so supportive and defensive of each other.

Edit: Alright, but Xuanji did you really just raise a flag for yourself so early in the show. ‘I think tears are the most precious things’. I WILL EAT MY HAT IF THIS DOES NOT BECOME RELEVANT LATER.

And instead of holding onto Sifeng’s name tag for like 50 episodes, she remembers she has it and goes to give it back + some birthday snacks because it’s his birthday too! GAH Xuanji is too cute.

I love how the guy who answered the door just his back only to turn around and smoothly give an explanation for his friend’s disfluency lol (so it’s a language thing!). AND THEN HE GOES ‘carry on!’ AND TURNS AROUND AGAIN. Idk why I find this funny but.

? Why all that effort for dew from a peach blossom tree. Is this one a special peach blossom tree. Why is he making tea with it. OH OK it’s good for cultivation.

He’s so vicious ha, he’s clearly perplexed by her - I mean, he’s the top disciple in his sect, so likely he doesn’t get how she can live so carefree and not have any desire to cultivate or anything. It’s perplexing and kind of total opposite to his worldview, so he reacts harshly.

Ah, I really like Cheng Yi’s acting! He goes from flat/indifferent face to reacting angrily to her picking the snake up, then a subtle worry as his eyes drop down from her to the snake.

I don’t know why I like this snake scene but I dooo. xD Also, it’s interesting how she doesn’t feel any strong emotions (she’s actually rather intensely curious tho!), while he puts on a mask literally/figuratively to seem like he doesn’t and yet gets worked up quite easily.

I’m glad she stops imitating him when he tells her to and is explicitly angry/upset, I get enough of people being assholes and making fun of others for things they can’t help like their speech impairments or mannerisms, it’s just kind of a personal thing that irks me.

AW HE’S SO PROTECTIVE OF HIS LITTLE SNAKE.

Why is it always the peach tree forests?? They’re always weird places that trap people. I can think of two other dramas where this happens haha. I know peaches do have significant symbolism in Chinese culture, so maybe that explains it.

Lol he still flips out a bit when she gets close. Poor girl, getting dropped from the air AGAIN.

Ah, this is the lake! Where they sealed part of that Mosha guy’s soul! This can’t be good.

Aw, look at his face, he’s genuinely worried for his little snake. CHENG YI YOUR RANGE OF EMOTIONS. GAH. 

I CAN’T OPEN IT. Oh wait.

WHY DID YOU GO IIIIN YOU JUST SAID YOU CAN’T DO ANYTHING AND HE TOLD YOU TO STAY OUT, YOU LITTLE IDIOT. If he’s Little Stutterer, you can be Little Idiot, ok.

Here’s an idea, she finds the snake, you fight the dragon, and then all three of you get out of there.

OH the mask comes off!! Ok, but you have seen like most of his face already…Hahaha the look on his face ‘wait…why do I feel a hand why is she touching me there…OH NO’

Ah, a nice detail I didn’t think they’d think to add in: his stuttering got way worse without the mask on, since he was so upset/shaken.

?? What just happened with her blood lol.

Final Thoughts:

An interesting start, with nice character dynamics revealed and a dangerous situation to move the plot right along. I have been informed the drama really differentiates itself from the typical setup that has been supplied thus far, and I’m excited to see it unfold.

For now, I have a tiiiiny crush on Cheng Yi and I’m interested in where they take Xuanji’s character. Also, what disasters will result from their little excursion into the super lake where a demon lord thing was sort of sealed away a long time ago...

#the muffin's liveblogging adventures #love and redemption

[linkspooky]

Am I allowed to ask you who your top five characters are in Bleach?

Bleach is one of my favorite mangas of all time. If you were to track the evolution of my favorite manga growing up it would go Yu Yu Hakusho -> Bleach. The strength of the manga was always its characters, and while there are a lot of characters from Bleach I’m still fond of there are only two that come to mind as standout faves. 

These are lists of my faves and I only put characters on the list if I can come up with a good enough reason why they’re a fave. For me there’s a difference between “Characterse I like from a Series” and a “Fave”. A fave I would like even outside of that series. I have high standards. I’m a picky bitch that’s impossible to please. But anyway, here are my top two faves from Bleach. 

1. Ulquiorra Cifer  - "If this eye cannot see a thing, then it does not exist. That is the assumption under which I have always fought. What is this "heart?" If I tear open that chest of yours, will I see it there? If I smash open that skull of yours, will I see it there?"

The Lust is my favorite arc in all of Bleach. There are a lot of people that were disatisfied with the way it concluded, but thematically it was perfect to me, especially after the fight with Grimmjow which was a much more straightforward and satisfying way to end a shonen rivalry set up between the main character and the villain on the opposite side. 

The Lust is a meditation of nihilism, Ulquiorra’s entire character revolves around the concept. That’s why by the end of the Lust not a single character has gotten what they wanted. Every single character, Ulquirra, Ichigo, Uryu, and Orihime all fail. Ichigo fails to defeat Ulquiorra with his own strength and instead oges out of control and rampages like a monster. Orihime fails at not being a burden when she breaks down and desperately begs Ichigo for help causing him to awaken. Uryu fails to protect Orirhime when everything starts to go wrong. 

Ulquiorra was a hollow whose mask covered his entire face, and because of that all of his senses were cut off from him except for his sight. He wandered the void of hueco mundo alone unable to feel anything. He’s the exact opposite of Grimmjow someone who managed to make companions even as a heartless hollow. He had no one for company, he felt nothing, he saw nothing. Until Ulquiorra came to believe that nothing was all he would ever feel. He’s a heartless monster, and yet at the same time he’s very tragically driven to suicide by the pure isolation alone.

Ulquiorra’s very nihilistic but you get the sense he’s conflicted with that. There’s a part of him that wants to see value in life, which is why Orihime’s behavior always confuses him so greatly. All of her actions seem pointless, and rather than valuing strength like he and the rest of the arrancar do, she somehow manages to continue on while weak because she has the connections to her companions. 

It’s what Ulquiorra realizes he’s tragically lacking in the end. The invisible heart he wanted to see was just, the connection held in other people’s hands. However the moment he finally accepted it and tried to reach out for it in the one girl who refused to hate him, his hand had already faded away. It begs the question of whether Ulquiorra was capable of love, or if all he felt all along was an empty lust. However given how regretful he was at the very end I want to believe it was the former. 

2. Gin Ichimaru “If tomorrow you became a snake, and began to devour people. Then with that same mouth, you cried out to me that you loved me. Would I still be able to tell you “I Love You” the same way that I can today?” 

Gin is a character who its really impossible to categorize as good or bad even up until the end, he’s elusive like that, slippery like a snake. Usually characters like Gin whose main personality trait is ‘mysterious” turn out to be not that interesting once the truth is revealed, but Gin’s arc turned what was a good character into a great one especially the way it ended. 

There’s a lot of characters willing to burn the world for the sake of the people they loved. I think what makes Gin especially unique is Gin’s level of self awareness. When he went to Aizen’s side to take back what he had been stolen from Rangiku he knew he wasn’t doing a good thing. He knew what he was doing would only hurt Rangiku more in the end. Gin acknowledges that at this point it’s not even about Rangiku anymore, it’s his own feelings that won’t forgive Aizen. 

Gin is aware that he’s a bad person, he even revels in it. He goes out of his way to pick at people’s weaknesses, to be cruel, because the mask of a bad person he’s wearing always has to stay on. By that point Gin’s already stripped himself all the way down to utility. The boy who was friends with Rangiku has been swallowed by a snake. And Gin knows how horrifying it must be for Rangiku, to see a snake killing people in front of her, and then with the same voice claiming he’s doing it for her, that he still loves her. He knows and that’s why he distances himself even further from Rangiku and hurts her more. 

Gin’s love is selfish, but it’s also very real. It’s possible that it’s the only real thing about him that’s even left anymore. The more he tries to deny it, the realer it becomes. I find stories where both characters do genuinely love each other, but they’ll never be able to make that love work because neither of them really know how to love to be compelling in a unique way. Most authors will just make ships work in the end without caring much about whether or not the characters are truly compatible, hence why the endgame ships in shonen are usually lack luster. Gin will really only ever really love Rangiku, and Rangiku only ever opens herself up and acts seriously around Gin and both are irreplacable to one another but they’ll also never truly be together. Because at the core they’re the same, they both are always wearing masks to avoid pain and being so genuine around one another hurts them too much. 

Like with the Lust Arc, my favorite arcs in Bleach are the ones that end with nobody getting what they wanted. Gin wanted to be the one personally to stop Aizen no matter whose throat he had to slit to be near him, Rangiku wanted Gin to come home, in the end no one was happy and all they could do was say goodbye to one another. However, even in empty endings like that I feel like the few moments they were happy shined all the stronger. There was once a time when Gin was just an orphan taking care of his only friend in the world, and even if it all went wrong at the end, he was happy once, and those memories matter. 

#spooky speaks #bleach #uilquorra cifer #ichimaru gin #Anonymous

[alchemist-shizun]

As soon as the curtain is raised

Read on Ao3!

Now available as an audio recording of yours truly!

Wonderful illustrations made by the kind @doodledoobug​ 🧡

Word count: 2,230

Characters: Deceit centric, but all the other sides are here too

Relationship(s): I'm giving you all carte blanche and you can interpret this the way you'd like!

Warning(s): Negative thinking, suicidal thoughts, cursing, a sort of self harm

Taglist: @shitpost-sides, a fellow angst lover

A/n: I swear it has a happy ending. Thank you to @stop-it-anxiety since they came up with the scales idea! This was written in honor of suicide prevention day and honestly I'm not entirely sure of how this came out but I feel like I tried to convey a message more than focus on a decent storyline. Either way, hope you enjoy the suffering! (I know snake skin is supposed to shed, but let's just pretend this is what actually happens for him)

✾

❝ It's alright, it's okay, it's alright, it's okay. You're not a monster, just a human, and you made a few mistakes. ❞

It's fine. It'll be over soon.

Another sharp pain traveled through the man's body, warm glimmers sparkled from his cheek, hitting his eyes from the inside. His mind was clouded, his common sense long lost in previous silent cries of help.

Just one more. You'll be satisfied.

He had tried to tell them. He had tried so many times, without success, to make them realize what had been circulating in his subconscious.

He had tried, but never actively did tell them.

Deceit was scared and he wasn't able to admit it to anybody; he had shown up more often in hope that the other sides were going to notice his strange demeanor. Instead, they found it annoying at first, as they believed he wanted to go against their points of view on every single dilemma.

Only that everything he did was give trivial suggestions and hardly pay attention to the topic at hand, or talk at all.

Thomas had side glanced him a couple of times, but that was all that it was, since he had been nothing but harmless.

Then came Patton's suspiciousness.

He had stopped him before he could retreat to his room. « I know you won't tell me, but ... » he looked unsure of his own words. « Do you have anything on your mind, or ...? »

Deceit wasn't exactly being hostile to the group. Patton was being wary of him though. That was what he believed, at least.

And it was also what he convinced himself of, the reason why he looked at Patton with a questioning look, narrowing his eyes. He felt the scales on his cheek pressing on one another in his expression.

Patton left, with a defeated "Alright then".

The second time there was a hopeful buzzing fire at the pit of his stomach was when he found the will to seek Virgil out after one of their meetings with Thomas.

But when it was time to let everything out, it was as if that same fire had burned down all of his words.

Deceit's shaky hands were hidden behind his back.

« What is it? »

Virgil ... he had just started to accept him again, didn't he? Maybe that wasn't the best idea. Or, he could always tell him some other time.

« Dee? » his tone was lower, kind of like a whisper. Did he notice he hadn't been responding for quite a bit? Deceit's head snapped up with a "huh?" and was met with Virgil's slightly arched eyebrows.

Why did he call him like back then, when ...

« Are you ... good? »

I'm so sad, I'm so gone, I'm so lost, I'm so sad, I'm so down.

Before he could respond, Virgil's eyes scanned a particular spot at the side of his face. « What's that? »

Deceit's heart dropped in his chest, his hand flew to his cheek and his fingertips brushed the only uneven part among his scales. His skin felt chapped with dried blood from the day before, when he couldn't stop picking at it. Were he to press it, the faint pain would still be there.

« Just Remus and his ... "surprises". » he mused, although he had meant to tell the truth, for once. To scream what the reality was.

He had hoped for him of all people to see him. But Virgil only nodded and headed for his room a moment later, the purpose of their chat was forgotten.

It hurts so much.

After that, it could have only gotten worse.

Deceit started being more subtle, hardly ever leaving the dark sides' part of the mindscape. He thought Remus wouldn't have noticed, or, if he did, he would've brushed it off as some kind of actual activity he'd suggest too.

He was worried they could have grown back.

When he found scars in their place the days after, he could have said he was satisfied.

He could have, really.

But as soon as he did it one time, as soon as he discovered what he was capable of doing, he couldn't stop himself anymore.

He'd think about his scales for more than an instant, and there he was, urging to rip off every single one of them.

There was no reason at all most times, just an impulsive feeling. And he complied to it at any chance.

It wasn't easy to get rid of them completely, he knew he wouldn't have been able to; he had to go through never-ending shots of pain, he had to deal with the crusts of blood on his wounds, peeling them off too, out of frustration.

When he did that enough to leave darker spots on his skin, he knew he was done and could move onto the other scales.

He felt relieved to see he didn't look quite as monstrous as he did before. At long last, he could be happy.

Deceit discovered it was the complete opposite when he rose in the living room, face wiped of his hideous snake traits, and was only met with wide-eyed stares.

I still disgust them?

His face dropped.

« What have you done? » Virgil was the only one to speak, shock in his eyes.

Logan couldn't find any word to assist, Roman's hand flew to his own cheek and Patton was clutching at his shirt, you could read suffering on his teary eyes, as if he were experiencing the same aching all at once. Their reactions were interpreted as disgusted.

« Are you kidding me? » Deceit was in utter disbelief. « Just what the fuck do I have to do- » he caught a sob and suppressed it. When had he started crying? « -to be accepted? » he wiped at his face. Everything hurt in his chest.

He knew where to find physical pain to complement.

Deceit sank down faster than any other day, leaving a dreadful aura behind himself.

Losing balance, he stumbled in the common room to find some useful objects; Remus wasn't around, that was to his avail. No distractions.

He looked up at a small mirror. That's what was still wrong.

That horrendous eye.

His hands trembled and went into his hair. Now, how could he fix that? Lenses? Maybe, but what about the skin around, it seemed too much like he had burnt it. Too gruesome to be acceptable. He just wanted to be normal, why was he the only one that had to look like a beast?

Was he, in fact, one? Was that his punishment for being himself? If only Thomas could have gotten rid of him, he'd have already done that.

Could he ... get rid of himself?

Was it possible? Was it worth something? To hell with it, there was no thinking straight about that, he felt twisted enough to deserve to stop existing.

As his mind got stuffed with cotton and misery, his auditory system seemed to stop working.

Remus was wondering exactly that, he had been calling his name three times and he didn't seem to notice his presence at all. He wasn't stupid, he knew something was up when he saw him shaking.

When Deceit felt his arms being lowered by foreign hands, he was surprised to have the Duke himself presenting in front of his eyes.

His blurred vision didn't let him recognize Remus' concerned expression. nothing that was on his mind helped him calm down at all, he didn't even realize he was surrounded by multiple people. He didn't want to open his eyes.

I'm just revol-

« I love you. » a broken voice made its way through his thoughts, silencing them.

« I'm sorry. I love you. » he felt hands on his shoulders, but his eyes were still squeezed shut.

He couldn't see the sides stepping aside to let Logan help him. He didn't see his soft expression as he whispered things he didn't comprehend.

Yet, it seemed his breathing pace was slowing down, the cotton in his ears fell out and he tentatively craked one eye open, just the right amount not to be blinded by the disappointment of reality.

Was Logan telling him a tale?

Deceit focused, behind him were a deeply emotional Patton, still clutching at his cat hoodie the same way he did before. Virgil could barely bear to look at him without feeling guilty. Roman was keeping his brother still, who wanted to rush to Deceit as soon as he gave signs of regaining his consciousness.

« Okay? »

Deceit nodded before he could register what he had even agreed to. Afterwards, Logan helped him up to his feet and the others decided it was safe to approach.

Falling to the ground was another one of the things he forgot he had done, apparently.

Roman let go of Remus and they both paced towards him. He eyed them, confused as to why they were both raising their right hands to his face.

When they touched his cheek, he had a horrible feeling of anticipation, but he didn't move.

In a matter of seconds, the twins made the scales come back, one after the other, replacing the scars like little blossoming spring flowers. The pain disappeared altogether, though he was going to be still scarred inside.

« Please, keep them. » Roman murmured, he let himself show a genuine smile. « They're pretty, I like them. »

Deceit blinked, stared at him, but remained silent, still incapable to remark anything, while both Creativities stepped to the side as Patton launched himself at him, wrapping his arms around Deceit's chest.

« Don't go. I'm sorry. I should've understood. » his words felt disconnected between the sobs. Patton hugged him tight, Deceit found the will to return it, slowly burying his face in his hair. He closed his eyes yet again and felt like all his negative feelings were being drained out of his body.

He was, bit by bit, restoring his awareness. Which meant he was starting to regret all he'd done.

« You absolute idiot. » he felt another presence at his side, all at once another pair of arms was around his neck. Virgil's voice was muffled as he was speaking with his mouth pressed on the other's shoulder. « If you try any of that again, if you even remotely consider the thought, I will kill you. »

« That's kind of what I was going for. » Deceit whispered low enough so that only Virgil would have heard clearly.

« Please don't. » there was a slight crack in his voice as he hugged him tighter.

Deceit looked up to see Logan smiling at the endearing scene, a few feet away from the group, his chin was resting on his palm while his elbow was on his other hand.

His presence made him smile back and mouth a quick "thank you". What was happening anymore?

« Let's give him some space, guys. » Roman brushed his back for a moment, offering a tender gaze, then he gently pulled Virgil and Patton away.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Remus holding back from basically throwing himself at him.

« Why such kindness, all of a sudden? » something didn't sit right.

That was when the Duke finally spoke. « Well, I don't know. Maybe because you started mumbling about "possibly getting rid of yourself" and freaked me- us out? » 

Deceit did a double take. « I have? » weren't those just his thoughts? He didn't remember talking at all.

« Yes, Dee. You didn't stop for minutes. »

He had to blink several times before he was able to recollect himself. He had been at his limit for so long he had exploded only when he lost control over himself.

Remus paced forward and took his hand, a look that affirmed "If you dare let go I'll glue our arms together."

Then, Logan nodded at Roman.

The latter wore an excited expression and gestured widely, bending his creative powers to shape a form of light in front of him. Deceit peeked from his place.

Roman walked towards him, holding a tiny snake that twirled between his hands; he chuckled, then handed it over.

Deceit was already in love with it, practically beaming with so much joy that the others swore they saw some sparkles coming from him, too.

Remus later added a tiny hat and a cape to the creature to match Deceit, getting a laugh out of everyone as the snake simply slithered around and stuck its tongue out several times. Roman offered he could take the animal around the dreamscape whenever he wanted.

It was when, later that day, they were all hanging around in the kitchen and living room, doing small talk, petting the new family member and just relaxing with some movies on, that Deceit knew he could recover.

It wasn't going to be easy, or immediate at all.

He knew he would fall back into the habit sometimes or find himself scratching his scales without even realizing. He was going to believe he couldn't do it, that he wouldn't be able to make it. He was going to cry when the negative thoughts dived back in his mind.

But he had support, this time.

So, yes. He believed he was going to see a better day, eventually.

#sanders sides #roman sanders #logan sanders #virgil sanders #thomas sanders #fanfiction #angst #deceit angst #sympathetic deceit #sympathetic remus #read the warnings #ts fanfic #purp's writings

[cutegirlmayra]

Lavinya the Red Fox’s part in Soler’s story

This is for @solerwolf21​‘s story, where he was wondering if I’d let Lavinya have a cameo for it!

Here’s the scenario he gave me for my Sonic OC (Who is OP and basically Genie-like from Aladdin. Just a jester, comedy relief character to be honest, but as brilliant as Jack Sparrow’s accidental tomfoolery)

Our chat: 

solerwolf21 : Alright if your down theres two the first is like an intro to the character if you want but basically shes doing some task around the base (leave that up you) and she's about to bite it in doing the task but Soler comes to help her and we learn that they know each other (this definitely isn't the first time he's helped her)

The second is later on Shay escapes and Soler, Shadow and Sally are late to get there but someone is distracting him turns out is its our girly (again you can go nuts with whatever it is shes doing) but before Shay could get in a hit Soler comes in for the save again and though he tries to scold her slightly she feels she's saved the day (which she sorta did lol)

cutegirlmayra : Lol sounds legit how Lavinya behaves lol My first idea is that he's trying to get past her and she slams her hand into the wall to block him and looks up like, "Hey, you're hot." and he's like really confused. "I didn't say that out loud." And he's like, "Are you an idiot?" and she goes, "Wow, but you said that out loud." lolololol

I wrote this immediately after:

First part:

It wasn’t long before the base was trying to recover, and work continued with only a minor set of hiccups…

“HYUK!” A red fox with strange blonde hair suddenly flung her back up from bending over to collect some files out of a cabinet. “Hyuk! Hyuk!” she seemed to have hiccups, and looked around for some water.

Not finding any, her tails suddenly shot her back and made her jolt towards what looked like a corner. “Ow! Hey!” the tail, as though having a mind of its own, felt around a moment before finding a cooler and began to pour a drink.

When it presented the drink to her, she sighed in relief, “HYUK!” she quickly took the cup and drank down the water, holding her breath to try and get rid of the hiccups while the tail seemed to ‘shake it’s head’ at her stupidity to even manage her own life.

“Office work…” she plugged her mouth to not hiccup, when nothing came out, she slowly opened the hand like a barn door… looked down to her mouth to wait… and then continued, “Isn’t really my forte…”

She was startled again when Soler walked by, seeming troubled and maybe focused on staying lost in his thoughts before his foot crinkled a piece of paper in his speedy walk.

“Huh?” He bent down and picked up the paper, amazed by it’s importance before examining the rest of the room. “Why are all these documents scattered everywhere?” He must have thought they were still being ransacked, so the Red fox girl quickly ran over to aid him.

“N-no-no! It’s just a light hurricane of hiccups.” She wagged her hands out in front of her as though to calm him, but he thought she was speaking metaphorically and sighed.

“Lavinya… why is it there’s always a hurricane of something when it comes to you?” He helped her picked up the papers, “You’re more suited for something where you can move around… maybe not something as delicate as… paperwork organizing.” he looked at the crinkled pieces of important papers and sighed again, ‘Who put her up to this anyway?’

“Hehe… yeah… well,... my portal hopping and poofing doesn’t exactly suit well with the princess…” She gulped, feeling her nicely cooled throat by the cold water as she did so. “They say I’m too dangerously unstable for a mission…. Since I could compromise things, and I’m not too good a messenger since I either forget or lose the message in the process. And last time, my brilliant tape recorder was almost stolen by Eggman’s forces too… soo…. I’m kinda here.” she looked around the office, showing her disdain but also sorrow at being so useless to everyone. “I can’t control my powers… so I can’t really follow directives.” she picked up another paper, and her tail swished to do the same, holding it up to her like a mouth of a creature.

She smiled sweetly and took it, “Anyway, that must be hard to understand, right?”

He looked down, thinking hard about what she said. “Actually? I completely understand.” he flopped the papers down on the desk and walked by her, patting her shoulder. “You’ll master your abilities in time. Keep at it. I know there’s a special word and symbol we can’t say or draw around you, but besides that, you’re kinda impossible to defeat, right?”

“Defeat?” She looked a little offended, “What am I? A monster to you!?”

“Well, you do say your tail is a evil mastermind.” he jokingly pointed to her tail, which at the time, was acting like a normal tail. “Who’s to say you aren’t just covering for your random tendencies to cause trouble?”

“I don’t mean too!” She slammed the papers on the desk and stormed after him. “Hey! Soler! Wait!”

“I’m leaving you in the hurricane.” he waved behind him, smiling slightly at how silly this crazy girl could get, but knew in his heart her circumstances weren’t so far off from his own… except, they were completely different, but the feelings and desires to be enough for others were the same.

----

Situation 2:

Shay flexed through the dust of his latest attack, brushing off the rubble and then cracking his individual fingers, “My poor neck…” He taunted, cracking it before rolling his shoulders as though just coming out of a leisurely spa-day. “Now… where is that charming brother of mine..?” he turned to what looked like an office, room with the wall crumbling away from it. “They don’t just kill themselves, now do they?” he continued to march with a purpose before seeing a blonde but red fox girl stick her head up, trembling, from below a desk.

He smirked, seeing the fear. He gestured for her to slowly withdraw back behind the desk, and her blue eyes just simply blinked at his gesture.

He held a finger up to his mouth as though she should remain silent, and continued towards the door.

However, before he could reach it, she slammed her hand into the wall just before the door, putting her elbow up to loop her hand behind her head, and pretended to seem like she was just chilling there.

She stuck up her lower lip and continued to play it cool… even seeing his eyes… slowly… narrow to a deadly, hostile glare of annoyance.

She thought fast, “You’re hot.” she slipped out, checking him out in a humorous way that was completely faked.

Confused, he just narrowed his eyes and slightly withdrew his neck back at her appalling display. “What did you just say?”

“Nothing out loud, I can assure you.” While her hand was behind her, she silently kept snapping it, waiting for something to randomly happen. A rubber duck poofed in behind her head and landed behind her. As it squeaked about hitting the ground, rolling till it’s head got in the way, he slowly turned to glance down at it, then raise an eyebrow.

“Eh heh, office decor. They say it’s like your home so…” she stopped herself from furthering that awkward sentence…

She kept snapping and many random items fell from behind her. A miniature rowboat, a toy snake, a slinky, a stuffed puppy, before Shay finally had enough of it.

“Are you an idiot?” he grabbed her hand that was--not so secretly--snapping and shoved her back against the door.

“Ow!” she flinched, her eye twitching slightly at the pain. “Well, you said that out loud.”

“I won’t say this again.” He leaned in and softly spoke out such harsh and cruel words, twisting his grip to really tighten and pain her arm further. “Get out of my way, witch.”

Her eyes widened slightly.

She flexed out her hand and fell back through a portal.

Out of surprise, he let her go, amazed as the vortex looked so incredibly pitch-black with other minor colors swirling around that he honestly thought she just did something magical. He felt around the space, unable to see anything, before the red fox girl’s head popped out from the ceiling.

“Yoohoo!” she called and he turned around to blast a Chaos beam at her, but she was already portaling to another spot in the office. She blew a raspberry as he suddenly was playing whack-a-mole with this strange fox girl.

“What kind of power is this!?” he stepped back and slid on the rubber ducky, causing him to fall on the rowboat which blasted a horn. He covered his ear and turned, but that triggered the toy snake which clomped on his nose. “AH!” he jumped up to his knees but the Red Fox girl grabbed the slinky by having her two arms stick out of the portals, making a pretty twisty bow as she locked his legs together.

He tried to get up but stumbled from the horrible knot and fell down again, unable to move much but he did struggle.

As he fell, she removed the soft puppy plushie as his head hit the ground hard, and then proceeded to look at the puppy as though not sure how this would help but started whacking him with it.

The door opened and seeing her friends, she held her hands up and swayed them over her face, “Hurricane~” she teased, knowing only Soler would get the reference.

She had stalled him just long enough, and that was honestly her goal.

“Lavinya…” Sally marveled, seeing him struggling to break the slinky and realizing that her power made it an unordinary slinky. “Did you do this?” she looked at her in awe.

Lavinya flexed like a strong man a few times, her tail joining her, “Well, ah-ha, yeah, I did~” she showed off, “But I was honestly going for a sword…” she deflated herself a bit and let her arms dangle down from her hunched back in front of her. Her head also seemed despondent.

“Hmph, maybe you’re not just a clown after all.” Shadow walked by her, rubbing her head as her entire character changed to sudden glee, and he went to finish the ‘rope-tying’ she had started.

“ENOUGH!” Shay blasted the room with a Chaos Blast that had each of them shoved up against a wall.

“Offph..! He hit the mole…” she joked, even while in pain, and slid to the ground. He was strong enough to finally break the strange alien slinky as the rest of Lavinya’s summoned objects suddenly poofed out of existence once she was hit and fell to the ground.

She gripped her head, and as he grabbed her tail--which mimicked biting him, as though it had regained it’s separate personality from her again--looked as though ready to rip her to shreds.

“I’m not very fond of games…”

“Lavinya!” Soler swung a punch to a--once again--distracted Shay and helped her up. “What did I say about trouble!?”

“Sally… S-Shadow…” Lavinya weakly pointed to them as Shay’s eyes shook.

“Oh no.”

-need more @solerwolf21​? lol it was fun xD- (This is based on my commission I made for him as well.)

I JUST REALIZED THAT THE COOLER WOULD HAVE FLOODED AND THE RUBBER DUCKY SLIP AND FLOATING ALONG THE SLIPPERY FLOOR WOULD HAVE MADE SO MUCH SENSE AND BEEN SO MUCH MORE FUNNY LOLOLOL

Note: My spell check is the WORST on the planet, so if there’s some errors forgive me T-T

#cutegirlmayra #solerwolf21 #lavinya the red fox #sonic oc #cutegirlmayra oc #me ocs #me sonic ocs #me writings #lavinya dabble #me dabbles #me prompts

[caramellody]

As someone who hasn’t watched ninjago since like,, the green ninja was revealed .. what the FUCK is going on in the show? Idk abt spoilers bc I’m so bewildered and can’t piece anything together

Yeah, I think of ninjago kinda like rvb in the sense that the moment you drop off of ONE season, the later seasons are so buckwild and a mess to keep up with. I’ll definitely try and give as best of an explanation but I am also prone to rambling myself (there's like 11 whole seasons since I'm assuming you fell off after late season 1 to go though) so i’ll put this in a read more. I’m also assuming you don’t care about spoilers but just for others who might(?) know i’ll be talking spoilers for almost everything, there may be somethings i don't mention because, there's a lot, but just as a precaution i gues dhfijkhfdsj

EDIT: this actually turns out to be VERY long even when opting certain  things out in order to make it shorter

-Season 1 and season 2 (Rise of the Snakes and Legacy of the Green Ninja) are easily the most straight forward episodes of the series. it’s all about training Lloyd in being the green ninja to defeat his father. Lloyd grows up at one point? it’s so buckwild because its in the episode where the OG 4 turn into kids (and yes theres a reason) and Lloyd has to use this tea to turn them back (as well as make a revived monster go extinct) and as a result he ages up like the rest of them. Aside from that and the inclusion of the overlord (an even worse villain who actually possesses Lloyds dad), season 2 is all about prepping Lloyd up for that final battle

And TECHNICALLY, season 2 was where it was gonna end, the franchise was basically discontinued after season 2, but then was brought back up for a 3rd season, which is where things get more character-focused.

-Season 3 (Rebooted) revolves around technological advances (you might even consider it cyberpunk-ish in concept) and the main villain is the overlord who has basically taken over everything in the city. this season introduces P.I.X.A.L whos clearly set up as Zane’s love interest. There’s also this REALLY stupid love triangle between Nya, Jay and Cole that everyone pretty much unanimously hate because its done so forcefully and is really there just so that jay and any could have romantic drama (which. is dumb even for 2014 standards). it ultimately culminates to Zane fuckin DYING (but its okay he's a robot) in what is still such a banger of a theme. the end of the season teases that he comes back. Also Garmadon isn’t a villain and is easily one of the best characters in that season, he acts like the father Lloyd needed for so long, its not overtly important to the plot but it’s a big dynamic shift compared to S1 and S2.

-Season 4 (Tournament of Elements) takes place months (it's not explicit but it's assumed that its a year) after s3 and the gang have all broken up, but Lloyd tries to bring them back together. they all get invited to a tournament that claims they have Zane (that gives me mortal Kombat vibes) with all the other elemental masters (by this point they are able to use their elements without the need of weapons as a proxy like in seasons 1-2). Zane’s revealed to be back and in a new robot body and the main bad is the guy running the tournament. 

-Season 5 (Possession) is all about ghosts! the gang meets Morro, who was a former student of Wu who was training to be the green ninja but never became it because that was lloyds spot. he then ran off on his own to change fate but died and later comes back as a ghost to take over Lloyd. this season also has Cole turn into a ghost and Nya officially joins the team as the water ninja. 

-Season 6 (Skybound) is all about sky pirates, after being released from his lamp, djin Nadakhan tries to find his old crewmates. he also finds out that his homeland was destroyed as a result of the events of season 5 and goes all out to make the ninja criminals for what they (unknowingly did), this is by all means a Jay and Nya season about their own struggles but its also one of those seasons that never happened because jay literally WISHES to retcon all of season 6, so this season never ‘technically’ happened

-Day of the Departed is a special that mostly focuses on bringing back old villains who were killed, but mostly focuses on cole slowly being forgotten.this special is specifically important because Cole becomes corporeal again (and he gains a new ability)

-Season 7 (Hands of Time) is a time travel season, theres things relating to Kai and Nya’s past and their parent’s connection to the main threat in the present (I'm sorry if i don’t sound as enthusiastic compared to other seasons season 7 is imo my least favorite so there’s not a lot i can say about it) it’s also the last season were the original designs are used!

-Season 8 (Sons of Garmadon) is the first season that came out AFTER the Ninjago movie (which for the record takes place in a separate universe, the characterizations are different despite their appearances being similar.) it revolves around a gang (called the sons of garmadon) trying to collect the three oni masks in order to revive lord garmadon again (and they’re successful too)

-Season 9 (Hunted) takes place RIGHT after S8 (specifically a week after). Lloyd and any are forced into hiding while the original 4 ninja and wu (who is a baby, this is a plot point that begins at the end of season 7. they find a baby in s8 and that baby ended up being their original master) are trying to escape the realm they ended up stranded in after the events of s8

-Season 10 (March of the Oni) another that takes place right after season 9, the oni (who are hellbent on destruction) basically invade all of ninjago and the ninja have to stop them. this is a simple 4 episode season that really acts more like a movie than a season.

After S10, the series sorta gets a soft reboot. the previous seasons are still canon, but there's a clear tone shift (and animation shift) in the show overall)

-Season 11 (Secrets of the Forbidden spinjitzu) is broken up into two parts

(The fire Chapter) revolves around the ninja trying to find something to do and ultimately opening up an ancient tomb where an ancient group of snakes lives 

(the Ice chapter) builds off of the fire chapter, zane was sent to a different realm and the gang goes out to save him, but the realm they end up in is controlled by a powerful Ice emperor who is trying to freeze the entire place.

-And finally, Season 12 (Prime Empire) is a tron-styled season where Jay goes inside a video game, the gang goes out to look for him before finding out that the A.I in that game is trying to get out and forcing people to get trapped in the game in order to leave.

Season 13 (Master of the mountain) is the upcoming season, and it seems to be very DnD aesthetic, and all about cole which is gonna be exciting 

And that's all there is to it dbhubjfdsbhjdsj idk if you expected me to go on a FULL ON ESSAY and for that i apologize in advance, but...there's a lot going on in this series and it's such a wild ride

#val rambles #thanks for asking tho #dsjifhsdujfhs i ended up going a little bit too ham on telling the story #but i hope that answered your question anon :) #Anonymous