#it's nice to see villains reform in shadow stories

[nanjokei]

no but it honestly really is tragic how joker basically has no real identity. i think the content added in royal is really good (should have been in base game but lol)

like, there is at least a clear thesis statement for minato and souji ("being indifferent to death until its time to go and realizing you actually do love the world and your friends that inhabit it" and "whether its the city or the boonies what matters is your connections with others for better or for worse".. ofc this is my own interpretation.) and they are a little similar but they are stories written by the same guy and he's known for recycling elements though i DO NOT consider having similarities in this case to be recycling.

wtf is up with joker? society is bad? i want to reform it? but the cops are ok. and actually idgaf. also (specifically in vanilla) akechi who is a direct result of Society Bad is actually a terrible person who should die.

i have always maintained that p5 is hashino at his most self indulgent... and his most spiteful. everyone knows about the artbook exerpts where he talks about the female social link characters in weirdly disparaging ways. i think ikutsuki and adachi are also reflections of his spite, but they are also a bit "relatable" to him. despite this the thoroughline for all three of his twist villains are his hateboner for anyone who seems nice on the surface (all three) and are perfect/good at a first glance (ikutsuki and akechi). akechi he wrote fully to be some kind of hatesink, it is honestly seriously meanspirited how far it goes, if you look at it from that angle it immediately becomes clear. this is not a post about akechi but i think it is important to talk about because of how critical it is to understanding hashino. with akechi it was so... yeah no you wrote this character to assauge some kind of deep rooted insecurity.

it's the same with ikutsuki, but at least for him, he was an adult. with akechi hashino was lording over a 16 year old in an abusive situation. after a while of thinking i could not really seperate that, knowing how spiteful his writing is. even with the p4 gang! look at everyone's shadow selves. and then compare to the p2 shadow selves. it is so spiteful and it is super clear to me that it is at least somewhat influenced by how he sees other people which makes me very sad to think about. i think he needs to clean his brain for real.

because p5 is the most indulgent in hashino's spite it really falls apart... and that influences joker immensely. we can sit here and talk about how p4 can get really unpleasant but at least at its core even if its weirdly executed the message of p4 is there even if the commitment to it is incredibly questionable. the reason why royal is so good is because the addition of maruki (and kasumi) injects a much needed angle of empathy into p5. needless to say the humanization of akechi in royal whos hatesink status in vanilla was so excessive it made little to no sense also helps.

i can't even talk about joker even though this post is about him. because he is so nothing in his own story. there's nothing to talk about. his existence or lack thereof outside of royal exclusive content makes no difference. you could make mishima the protagonist or any rando really and not much would change. joker's existence might as well just be to be an actual self insert, which is insane to me, i never consider most protagonists in ANYTHING self insert unless i am explicitly told "this is You, form You however you want" (like for example harvest moon).

#rambles

[naughtygirl286]

So yes this past Tuesday we finally went to see Thor: Love and Thunder.

and yes There was some in Theater Merch for it which I was disappointed about but you can read about that here.

Anyway as for Thor: Love and Thunder personally I did enjoy it. it was a cool, fun and at times a bit of a silly movie. Now I know alot of ppl didn't like the silliness but I was think about it and I think the reason for that is Korg is telling this story

There is even parts where he is Narrating and you can see a scene in both the trailer and the movie where Korg is telling the story about "The Space Viking" and we all know that character is prone to exaggeration and wildness in his story telling So I think that is where the majority of the silliness comes form

I thought the production Design was amazing on this the whole sequence on Omnipotence City I thought was amazing! and probably would have liked to seen more of that being I am interested in the whole design of it and the battle as great. there was a shocking moment there and I don't mean Chris Hemsworth's butt (although that was pretty nice)

I continue to enjoy Chris Hemsworth as Thor and him Korg and Tessa Thompson's Valkyrie do make a great team.

I would have to say I was pretty pleased with how they adapted elements of the Mighty Thor comic run where Jane Foster becomes Thor while she is battling Cancer. I thought they did a really good job of bring that to live-Action in the MCU on the big screen. I loved that Natalie Portman returned as Jane Foster and I think she did an excellent job as the Mighty Thor

I also loved how they filled in some of the backstory of her and Thor's relationship thought flashbacks and why it ended with in the confines of the movie universe. I also liked the thing they did with Mjölnir where she could throw the shattered pieces separately and have them all come back and reform the head of the hammer I thought that was a cool thing and made it something different from what Thor himself could do.

As for Christian Bale and his appearance as Gorr. I thought he did an excellent job I would agree with what they said about him looking different then his comic book appearance you don't want him to resemble another character but I did think the MCU version of Gorr was quite visually interesting and I also feel he was a somewhat terrifying villain in alot of way thanks to Christian Bale who I think can be a bit scary all on his own in general lol

I did think Gorr's Shadow monsters where cool although you didn't get to see alot of detail in them being they were well shadow monsters after all.

I would also have to say that the introduction of the goats Toothgnasher and Toothgrinder in the movie has to be one of the weirdest yet funnest things. One of the things that I was excited about while watching this is I wanted to see the MCU debut of Eternity and they look just like in the comics which was awesome.

but that is pretty much it I thought the story was alright and the music was great and so was the action.

Now I didn't have any big huge issues with the movie I enjoyed it. Some of the ppl I went with were more 50-50 they liked parts of it but not others. so I don't know what to say other then I personally enjoyed it.

Also don't forget like all Marvel stuff there are 2 credit scenes one mid and one end.

#Thor:Love and Thunder #Thor Love and Thunder #Thor4 #Thor 4 #Love and Thunder #disney #marvel #marvel studios #mcu #phase four #mcu movies #thor #mighty thor #the mighty thor #NaughtyGirl286 #ShannonJ286

[theshadowsanctum]

Shadow Comics #43

#the shadow #shadow comics #solarus #wacky bullshit #it's nice to see villains reform in shadow stories #even as non-shadow as this one #it's cute

[edenmemes]

uncharted sentence starters

❝ if you’re done lying to me, then you should stop lying to yourself. ❞ ❝ it’s not going to be easy, you know. ❞ ❝ well, it sounds like you’re working for a nutcase. ❞ ❝ make sure that you’re safe. ❞ ❝ look, i wanted to tell you! i wanted to! but how could i? ❞ ❝ see? i’m not just a pretty face. ❞ ❝ i’m sorry for what happened to you. ❞ ❝ i think i have a bit more experience with this thing than you do. ❞ ❝ wait, wait, wait. something about this feels kinda hinky. ❞ ❝ what a warm and homey place, huh? ❞ ❝ i’m willing to forgive and forget. for old time’s sake. ❞ ❝ looks like he was killed. ripped to shreds actually. ❞ ❝ these guys have been tailing me for weeks. thought i lost them. ❞ ❝ should i be flattered, or worried? ❞ ❝ so with our luck, what’s the odds this volcano is going to erupt on us? ❞ ❝ i hope i don’t go to hell for this. ❞ ❝ i can handle this. i’m tough. i grew up with nuns. ❞ ❝ fair warning, last person who betrayed me wound up dead. ❞ ❝ you told me you’d say out of trouble. ❞ ❝ how do i know you’re real? ❞ ❝ don’t ever point a gun at me again. ❞ ❝ make sure that you’re safe. ❞ ❝ i have made a lot of mistakes. a lot. i’m not a perfect man. ❞ ❝ i had a lousy father. lousy childhood. ❞ ❝ sounds terrible. check his wallet. ❞ ❝ let's not forget who walked out on whom. you don't get to be jealous.  ❞ ❝ progress demands sacrafice. ❞ ❝ shut up. i really thought you were gone this time. ❞ ❝ i can’t leave you alone for one minute, can i? ❞ ❝ on a scale of 1-10, how scared were you that i was gonna die? ❞ ❝ i can’t walk away. i’m tired of walking away. ❞ ❝ even an enemy must be fed and sheltered. are you my enemy? ❞ ❝ we can still stop him. i can help you. ❞ ❝ gotta say, you have a real knack for breaking things. ❞ ❝ do as i say not as i do. ❞ ❝ looks like hell spit you back out. ❞ ❝ what’s your story, anyway? ❞ ❝ i don’t take big risks without a good payday. ❞ ❝ i guess it runs in the family, huh? ❞ ❝ you can’t reform the villain and save the day. it’s just not done like that. ❞ ❝ sorry, i just need to get my head back in the game. ❞ ❝ this isn’t our fight. it’s my fight. ❞ ❝ i won’t let them hurt you. ❞ ❝ skip the mind games. you don’t know me. ❞ ❝ no offense, but your ancestor was a right asshole. ❞ ❝ you’re unusually quiet. what’s up your bum? ❞ ❝ that was my last cigarette. ❞ ❝ okay, well, why don’t you just walk away? ❞ ❝ why this obsession? i’m just worried. ❞ ❝ i can’t...i can’t breathe...i just...can’t breathe... ❞ ❝ don’t touch me. get away from me. ❞ ❝ if you let these bastards win - after this - i will never forgive you. ❞ ❝ you’ve got your pride all tangled up in this thing. it’s making you reckless. ❞ ❝ any trouble you shoot first and ask questions later. ❞ ❝ dangerous to be out so late.  ❞ ❝ easy now. look at me. ❞ ❝ my leg! don’t touch it! i know it’s broken! ❞ ❝ are you going to join me, darling? ❞ ❝ this is my gig. you want your share, you play by my rules. ❞ ❝ we don’t get to choose how we start in life. real greatness? it’s what you do with the hand you’re dealt. ❞ ❝ i always felt that we were destined for something great. ❞ ❝ you should relax. you’ll live longer. ❞ ❝ i taught you better than that. ❞ ❝ so that’s a no? felt like a no. ❞ ❝ quit acting like you’re gonna lie down and die, all right? ❞ ❝ i have a spare bed.  ❞ ❝ is there no bottom for your ignorance? ❞ ❝ even cornered dogs bite back.  ❞ ❝ that one is my favourite. it makes your eyes twinkle.  ❞ ❝ admit it. you’re gonna miss this ass.  ❞ ❝ you think i’m a monster, but you’re no different from me.  ❞ ❝ how many people have you killed? how many?  ❞ ❝ you will not stand in the way of destiny.  ❞ ❝ you stick with me, i’ll teach you a few things. ❞ ❝ well, if you’d like, i can tell you where to stick it. ❞ ❝ face it, genius, you’ve been played. ❞ ❝ yeah, keep smiling, asshole. ❞ ❝ i got nothing to prove. ❞ ❝ don’t hand it to me. i’ve had everything handed to me ❞ ❝ you don’t know when to give up, do you? ❞ ❝ you stick your neck out, you’re asking to lose your head. ❞ ❝ oh, and now you’re blushing. ❞ ❝ just so you know, it’s not my first lost city. ❞ ❝ are you always this clever? ❞ ❝ i was trying to rescue you, as a matter of fact. ❞ ❝ you know, at this point, i’ve run out of words. ❞ ❝ what do you say we really ruin this guy’s day? ❞ ❝ whether you die or not, i don’t really care. ❞ ❝ i thought you...i saw you get shot. ❞ ❝ it’s like a camera. you just...point and shoot, right? ❞ ❝ god, who’s being unprofessional now? ❞ ❝ i always knew you were gonna make something of yourself one day. ❞ ❝ let’s just pretend i skipped all of sunday school. ❞ ❝ oh no you didn’t do that. that’s not funny! ❞ ❝ save the world, triumph over evil. ❞ ❝ are you trying to kill me? ❞ ❝ know what i love about partying with a bunch of crooks? nobody cares that you smoke indoors. ❞ ❝ you gave me a goddamn heartattack. ❞ ❝ i’ll die a thousand deaths before i let you win.  ❞ ❝ i didn’t tell you because i was afraid...of losing you. ❞ ❝ what ever happened to just living a normal life? ❞ ❝ even if you think you’re protecting me, you don’t have a right to shut me out like that. ❞ ❝ i mean... thanks for saving me. ❞ ❝ en garde, dickhead. ❞ ❝ i love you. ❞ ❝ come on! we can get out of here together. ❞ ❝ everything i touch turns to shit. ❞ ❝ how did you find me anyway? ❞ ❝ i’ve got my eye on you. ❞ ❝ you were going to sell me out, weren’t you? ❞ ❝ love to know what you’re thinking. ❞ ❝ well, well, well. get it? ‘cause you know, it’s a well. ❞ ❝ it’s a shame we’re leaving empty handed though. ❞ ❝ okay...yeah...how do i look? ❞ ❝ thank me after we get out of this alive. ❞ ❝ you’re lucky that i found you when i did. ❞ ❝ they’re just saying that because it gets to you. ❞ ❝ look, if you’re into shady stuff it’s totally cool. ❞ ❝ ha. that’s my girl. ❞ ❝ i made a promise that i was done with this life. ❞ ❝ listen, sunshine, the world doesn’t care. ❞ ❝ well, that’s it. now you know everything. ❞ ❝ don’t even think about not coming back. ❞ ❝ you know, i shot the man who told me that. ❞ ❝ i thought that i’d be satisfied. instead, i’m left with this strange feeling of emptiness.  ❞  ❝ as thrilling as the next adventure may be, in the end, you’re always left with that same feeling. ❞ ❝ you know, i didn’t think i could trust you either. ❞ ❝ i almost lost you once before. i just can’t do that again. ❞ ❝ don’t even think about not coming back. ❞ ❝ that’s it! no compassion! no mercy! ❞ ❝ sentimentality in this line of work will get you killed. ❞ ❝ i need your help...and you need mine. ❞ ❝ i kept your tears in a jar. ❞ ❝ i expected you to have my back.  ❞ ❝ tell you what. when i get back, pizza’s on me. ❞ ❝ death. it smelled like death. ❞ ❝ so they have beaten you, eh? your quest’s over?  ❞ ❝ you listen to your mum, okay?  ❞ ❝ trust me - your ego will mend.  ❞ ❝ i hope i live to regret this.  ❞ ❝ these men were all shot.  ❞ ❝ be a lot easier just to let go.  ❞ ❝ what? no witty remark? nothing clever to say?  ❞ ❝ seems like i am always saving your ass. ❞ ❝ i never asked for any of your bloody heroics. ❞ ❝ the guys in prison used to say, ‘you can steal to eat or you can steal to get rich.’ i say, why not both?  ❞ ❝ you were never a chocolate and flower kinda girl.  ❞ ❝ i don’t have your luck. people like me know when to walk away from the table.  ❞ ❝ appreciate the update, captain obvious.  ❞ ❝ you made your choice.  ❞ ❝ don’t tell me you’re buying all into that supernatural nonsense.  ❞ ❝ i couldn’t sleep last time i saw that.  ❞ ❝ it’s actually nice working with a woman for a change. ❞ ❝ i’m lucky you’re on my side. ❞ ❝ do you really think all this really could be true?  ❞ ❝ you know, it’s kind of romantic down here.  ❞ ❝ just wish i’d brought something to read.  ❞ ❝ you can relax. we’re safe here. ❞ ❝ i am surrounded by traitors and fools.  ❞ ❝ just don’t get us killed. ❞ ❝ what are you shaking for? ❞ ❝ parents must be worried about you. ❞ ❝ i wonder what you’re really scared of...not bullets, or blood, or broken bones... ❞ ❝ i don’t need your bullet-ridden-corpse on my conscience. let’s go. ❞ ❝ yeah, i’m fine. oh, but - you’re bleeding. ❞ ❝ i do seem to attract the scum of the earth. ah - no offense. ❞ ❝ all this grandeur, hidden away from the world.  ❞ ❝ if we don’t make it out here, i just want you to know - i hate your guts. ❞ ❝ i’ve got a bad feeling about this place. ❞ ❝ that’s my blood. that’s my blood. that’s a lot of my blood. ❞ ❝ you should play the hero more often. it suits you. ❞ ❝ eyes ahead, don’t look down. ❞ ❝ here - grab my hand. ❞ ❝ no matter what it is, you’re supposed to come to me so we can work it out together… as a team.  ❞  ❝ you know nothing is ever truly destroyed. just purified and reborn.  ❞ ❝ you just - totally crushed that moment. you know that, right?  ❞ ❝ you’re a selfish dickhead.  ❞ ❝ i do speak a little bit of ____, you know. wait, what did you say? ❞ ❝ i know you. you’re no hero.  ❞ ❝ i wish you could’ve been there. ❞ ❝ hey, are you happy? ❞ ❝ you’re not gonna pass out on me or nothing, are you? ❞ ❝ look, i...um....i’m not good with the whole people thing.  ❞ ❝ i’ve had worse nights, believe me.  ❞ ❝ let’s find somewhere a little more private. ❞ ❝ hey, take it easy. you’ve been out for almost half an hour.  ❞ ❝ to rule people, you first must sow chaos.  ❞ ❝ it’s not stealing if it was mine to begin with. ❞ ❝ take me with you. ❞ ❝ i’m left with this strange feeling of emptiness.  ❞  ❝ anyone ever tell you, you have a funny idea of romantic?  ❞  ❝ it’s nothing that years of therapy won’t fix.  ❞ ❝ no. it’s my turn to walk away.  ❞  ❝ nothing about our lives have been fair, but we’ve made it work. ❞ ❝ your people will beg me to save them.  ❞ ❝ we’re not on a first-name basis.  ❞ ❝ you know nothing about me.  ❞ ❝ do tell. maybe over some drinks?  ❞ ❝ we must keep to the shadows.  ❞ ❝ hey, you cool? ‘cause i need you to be cool.  ❞ ❝ you must be tired of these lectures. i know i’m tired of giving them. ❞ ❝ here, take this. you’ll catch a cold. ❞ ❝ is that a sin? i think that’s a sin. ❞

#rp meme #roleplay meme #roleplay starters #long post for ts / #this new dashboard is so gross ....................

[maxwell-grant]

The weirdest Shadow villain of all time

From Shadow Comics #40

For the most part, Street & Smith’s 1940s Shadow Comics were forgettable and dull, largely comprising of adaptations of radio episodes but devoid of atmosphere or humor, it’s hard to even believe Gibson wrote them. It’s a 100% sanitized family friendly American Hero Shadow with little bite or personality, really just another mediocre Golden Age superhero comic for the most part. 

But every now and then, those comics would get real, real weird with what they could get away with. They’d just go full-in on fantasy storylines that were unfeasible for the pulps and radio, and pit The Shadow against the weirdest villains he’s ever encountered. The Shadow vs Solaris was a three-issue story arc where The Shadow battles a mad scientist named Solaris who uses a shrink ray to transport convicts under his employ (as well as a captured Margo and Valda Rune) into the planet Venus so he can flee the authorities on Earth.

Solaris is not the abominable clown monster menacingly hovering above The Shadow in that image. No, that’s Suven, a character who only appears for one issue, and never again. Perhaps for the best, as we'll see below:

After Solaris and his crew arrive on Venus, they are approached by transparent bell-like living beings. Some of the convicts attack the bell things, so they capture all of the crew and transport them to a palace surrounded by thunderstorm. There, they meet Suven, the Ruler of Venus

(Who is the "we" Suven is referring to? Why is an alien familiar with Roman terminology? Is the S&S comics Shadow’s Earth called Mars on other planets? Did the rest of the galaxy name Earth “Mars” before we did? Is Suven a bigger authority than the rest of humanity since he rules an entire planet single-handedly and therefore it’s simply us that have been calling the planet wrong the whole time? Does this mean The Shadow technically lives in Mars? One page in and we already got so many questions unrelated to the existence of a THREE-EYED CLOWN KING OF VENUS IN A SHADOW STORY)

Contrary to what the appearence of a gigantic three-eyed monster clown would indicate, Suven is actually incredibly nice, all things considered. He is completely welcoming to these weird, tiny strangers who attacked living beings in his world, whom he knows come from a wartorn world, and eagerly welcomes them as refugees. Suven may very well the most genuinely benevolent ruler of state ever depicted in a Shadow story. 

(Why is his friend/servant/partner’s name just Suven’s own name but scrambled? Is everyone on Venus named after anagrams of the planet’s name? That would actually be the most Shadow-appropriate thing of it all, since Gibson did love anagrams and wordplay).

Problem is, Suven is also an alien king who does not know how to interact with humans. In fact, he thinks all creatures on “Mars” are reptiles. And so, his idea of helping them break up conflict is to lock away those rowdy fighters, and help the peaceful ones shed their skin. 

(The other reptilian specimens? If Suven is referring to the monsters in the bowl, does it mean those monsters come from "Mars"? Has he done this to other humans? Has Suven been to Earth before to determine that all creatures are reptiles? He knows enough about it to determine it as a wartorn world, saying the Mars people "will never learn". What kind of contact did he have with the "Mars people" prior to this, then? Why can't he tell clothes apart from skin?)

As expected, The Shadow manages to break free and rescue them in the nick of time. The story ends with them stealing a rocket and flying away from the planet, the first and only time The Shadow was ever forced to flee from someone who put Margo in danger. No climactic confrontations, no, they just nope the fuck out of Venus before Suven comes back. And the Venusians are happy to see those violent intruders gone. 

The cover for this particular comic depicts a scene of Margo and Valda held in the grip of a giant while The Shadow prepares to shoot a giant gun to rescue them, although it depicts a green ogre-esque giant instead of Suven. Then again, if we know one thing about supernatural monster clowns, is that they rarely stay in one shape for long. Maybe that’s just what Suven looks like sometimes.

Despite not being truly evil, Suven is possibly the only “villain” in the Shadow’s history posing a danger that The Shadow has never defeated, or even tried fighting. Suven and Venus never appeared again, and the next story of the Solaris arc only mentions that the Venusians kicked Solaris and his crooks out of the planet, which even acts as a catalyst for Solaris’s goons to want to reform.

As far as I’m aware, there was only one other story from the S&S Shadow Comics set in outer space, and no other Shadow story since then has ever gone that far outside of Earth. There were aliens in one episode of the radio show who were nothing like those from Venus (and certainly not benevolent), and The Shadow’s had encounters with supernatural beings who live outside of Earth’s bounds, but never in space. Never like this, never again.

For all we know, across all Shadow continuities, Venus is home to a strange ecosystem ruled by a three-eyed clown king (possibly a hivemind of clown kings with anagrams of the same name) who is a really swell, pacifist guy and kind, accepting ruler, with the small caveat that he may try to freeze your skin off thinking he’s doing you a favor. 

#the shadow #the shadow essays #shadow comics #all of the diet Cthulhus of Shadow comics don't have shit on this guy #what can possibly prepare you for a giant alien clown king who wants to shed your skin because he genuinely thinks he's helping you #i wish the rest of those comics were this weird

[quirkwizard]

Stand as One

One of the major themes across manga is the importance of the connections between the protagonist and the people they associate with. They talk about how they can't make it by themselves or how they are doing everything for those they love and cherish. On the other hand is the villains. More often than not, they are the most powerful people possible, either using others for their own gain or just simply being stronger than everyone else, often doing what they do because of some selfish reason. But this is where My Hero Academia seems to differ. Instead of having a collective mindset like most of this manga seem to be leaning towards, the series seems much more oriented to the individual with heroes and much more to the collective with the villains.

Heroes, at their core, are highly individualized. It's all about a hero putting themselves out there as a brand, as a single entity that represents everything that they are about. They have their styles, costumes, and abilities, all of which are supposed to be helping the user stand out. But it goes beyond just that. Each hero is not doing what they do for altruistic reasons. Some do it for altruistic reasons, others do it for money, some do it as an easy way to become famous. As the series continues, we learn about how much a person needs to set themselves apart from other people. While they can be inspired by others to take action, it is ultimately up to themselves to get to where they want to be. The series puts a lot of emphasis is put on one's own hard work to become a hero and how hard it is to become one. It is the acknowledgement that they are weak and they can overcome this through hard work. Even Deku, who gets his power, moves, and his primary goal from All Might can still see the importance of branching and trying to do things his own way. This is reaffirmed further by Izuku learning how to grow his Quirk in news ways such as his Shoot Style.

But regardless of all that, there is a prevalent theme of effort on the side of the heroes. It is shown constantly how hard it is to become a hero, training for years at the chance of getting a license and working to get a public image. And part of that hard work is about someone growing personally, expand beyond their original comfort zones to be the best heroes they can be. Ochako branches out from her mainly supportive role to make herself more rounded, Kirishima learns to be more confident in his seemingly unimpressive ability, Shoto overcomes his personal feelings regarding his father to truly become the be hero he is capable of being. It's all about hard work and how that hard work gets that person to where they want to be. It ties in nicely back into the idea of individuality since all of these people are either made or broken by how much effort they put into their hero work. Yes, people who have strong Quirks certainly get a head start, but what ultimately determines how good of a hero that person is their effort. It's why Mirio was such a legend amount UA in spite of his ability, to the point his considered the person closest to the number one spot.

All this does mean that some people do get left behind. Look at Class 1-A for example. Despite being a group of students that are working together, they are ultimately competing against one another to try and become heroes. And while Aizawa's teaching may be harsh, it goes to show how hard it can be to function as a hero. If someone cannot make it in the hero world, they are left behind because they cannot put in the work to succeed. You either need to be in the work to become a hero or risk falling behind or failing in your work. You quite literally live and die by how good of a hero you are. And once a hero becomes official, most of the work seems to be done on their own, with teams being rarely seen in the story. The most other heroes have been sidekicks, but they are still playing second fiddle to this single entity, cursed to forever live in their boss' shadow until they can strike out on their own. Yes, heroes do work together at times, such as the join operations we see throughout the series, but most of the time they seem to work on their own.

But this individuality is in pursuit of a greater goal. While all the heroes are working against each other for money and fame, they are still working for the same objective: they help those who cannot help themselves and try to maintain peace for society. Even if a hero does not have altruistic intentions at heart, they still have to work and strive to help the most people possible, making it more about the group than the individual. But this is no better represented in then the person who stands at the very top of hero kind. The main goal of Number 1 hero is it is they are the person who is standing above everyone else, hence why so much emphasis is put on the person who actually fills that spot. To both inspire those beneath them to do better and provide a sense of comfort to the masses. They must sacrifice both in body and in soul to make sure everyone can hold on to hope. They are one for all.

As for the villains, this is one of the many ways they differentiate from heroes. When it comes to the villains, they are much more oriented to a group. This is done as a basic need to survival, coming together to oppose the much more well organized heroes, but it goes beyond just that. In working together, they are propping each other up, working far better together than they ever would apart. It is the acknowledgement that they are weak and they can overcome this through working together. Overhaul found people that were struggling to find meaning, giving them a second life under the yakuza. Re-Destro united many people under the teachings of his father and wanted the free use of Quirks for all, as misguided as it was. Even Gentle and La Brava, who are basically two ragtag nerdowells, still found and sense of completeness with one another not only in their complementary skills but in their emotional needs. This contrasts with the more solo working heroes.

Of course, this is best shown with the League of Villains. Heck, they were the inspiration for villains teaming up to get strong, both in the USJ attack and the League as a whole. But this is more so about the core League, especially true after the arrest of All For One. They work together, protect their own, seek vengeance when one of them is wronged. They grow and train together, sticking together through highs and lows to achieve what they want. This in of itself is best represented by Double, always surrounded by his allies and inspired to become stronger to protect them, and Spinner, who finds new power under the branding of villainy and the League. It's likely why so many people in the fandom gravitate towards this ragtag group of villains. They are the underdogs in the story, banding together to better fight against those with much greater advantages then they could ever hope to fight alone, whether they be heroes or different sorts of villains.

But how this differs is that this collectivism is that this all seems to be done for the sake of one person. Despite how much emphasis the villains seem to put on working together, it all seems done an individual's goal. Overhaul, for all of his talk about raising people up, still treats his subordinates as inferiors and garbage that he can toss aside. Re-Destro still sacrifices countless of his own people in the hope that he can kill members of the League. Yes, the various villains of the League seem to have their own goals and dreams, but all of that seems to be down in the pursuit of They cannot achieve their dreams on their own with the society they live in, so they must follow Tomura to get what they want. But what they want becomes superseded by what Tomrua wants. The more and more the series goes on, the more and more it seems to be all about Tomura. It stops being about the group, only focusing on Tomrua and getting him where he is now. It is all for one.

Now this isn't a perfect one to one comparison on either side. There are certainly exceptions to this idea on both sides. Hawks is someone who has his individuality striped away in favor of having an agent that will do whatever is necessary to ensure the safety of the public. Stain is a figure who fights alone, trying to reform society in his own way through his actions and effort in a quite twisted manner. However, the comparison is still there for a large portion of the two sides. It's interesting to see this kind of development out of a major manga. While it still has some of the major tropes, it certainly has the roles reversed when it comes to this traditional theme. So why is this comparison here? Well I think it is to make a sort of connection to the nature of heroes. It's like Aizawa said, you can't always rely on other people to help you out a situation. If you want to help someone or help yourself, you need to put in the work and you are the only person who can make it work. It all works back into Horikoshi's inspiration of American comics and more American-style heroes, where people with the will and the way could achieve great things. 

#My Hero Academia #Not Quirks #Midoriya Izuku #Deku #Toshinori Yagi #All Might #Ochako Uraraka #Uraravity #Eijiro Kirishima #Red Riot #Shoto Todoroki #Keigo Takami #Hawks #Tomura Shigaraki #Jin Bubaigawara #Twice #Shuichi Iguchi #Spinner #Chizome Akaguro #Stain #Kai Chisaki #Overhaul #Danjuro Tobita #Gentle #Manami Aiba #La Brava #Rikiya Yotsubashi #Re-Destro #MHA Meta #MHA Theory

[mikasplay-blog]

Meet petunia!

☆.｡.:*☽ .｡. ☾.｡.:*☆

M’yongi is my self insert oc for Tomura Shigaraki!

*Her quirk is the exact opposite as Tomura’s, conveniently so.*

QUIRK: GROWTH

Petunia can create cells from the palm of her hand or by touching any surface. This includes reforming dead skin cells, creating organisms, and small bacteria. Penchi’s quirk allows her to create any living form, but due to her inexperience with her own quirk, she’s very inept when it comes to stitching together a larger life form. With her current knowledge, she can create plant cellular structures easily without tiring herself out or overusing her power. She is good with repairing damaged skin cells, or sealing up wounds.

Although her quirk comes in handy as a healer, M’yongi has the potential to grow with her quirk usage exponentially. She could begin creating smaller life forms, such as mice, rats, and other animals with similar cell composition. If trained well enough, Petunia may even be able to create defensive animals such as wolves/bears. However, she may never get to that strength in her lifetime. Ever.

DOWNSIDE

Since M’yongi’s quirk is primarily used for healing and lacks quirk training, Petunia is often defenseless. There aren’t many ways for her to defend herself if she’s in a fight, even though she can heal any bruises or cuts that may scratch her body. This would be where her quirk comes in handy as a hero. If she chose that path. She can create plant or insect structures easily within 60 seconds. However, healing human cells or animals can drain her energy and make her sluggish due to her lack of stamina and training. If someone is fatally injured, she will be able to restructure their cells, but it will take time and energy from her own body to do so.

BACKSTORY

Penchi grew up in San’ya, Tokyo with only her father. Petunia inherited her Mother’s quirk, with a few altercations. Jinya M’yongi’s quirk could heal damaged cells, instead of create new ones. Her father, Ochanjo M’yongi, possessed a more imposing quirk. His ability allowed him to posses shadows of any living creature and use it against it’s owner. Sort of like a puppet on a string.

Jinya unfortunately died when Penchi was only three years old, leaving her husband to raise their daughter in one of the poorest areas of Tokyo. They didn’t have a lot of money to save Jinya, and without the manifestation of Penchi’s quirk, the three year old couldn’t save her mother either. Her mother’s side of the family was fairly middle class, and her cousin (known as the petal hero, rose bud) went on to pursue hero life in the spotlight. However, with her poor background, Penchi didn’t have the money to attend a hero school or quirk training classes.

While Penchi scraped by in the lower class schools of Japan, her father used his societally-deemed villainous quirk for gang activity. Without a stable job, Ochanjo took it upon himself to care for his only daughter by selling drugs and dealing with small Yakuza groups. Petunia was often exposed to criminal activity at a young age. Always seeing guns or elaborate weapons around the house, or mysterious bags of a liquid or mineral she never dared to touch.

As she grew older, her father’s health worsened, and Petunia could only do so much with her limited quirk abilities. After his unfortunate passing at his daughter’s age of 17, Penchi finished high school alone, and forced herself to grow her quirk. Even with her bitter childhood and loss of family, she forced herself to stay positive.

PRESENT DAY

M’yongi now lives in a small precinct of Tokyo in the cheapest apartment her shitty telemarketing job could afford. When she’s not studying her quirk or college courses, Penchi trains her body for self defense maneuvers. There have been many times where shes walking home from her local grocery run, or on her bike, when she encounters a thug or two.

⛓ TW MENTIONS OF ASSAULT ⛓

Unfortunately, the government isn’t much of her friend. Hero’s aren’t either. With her father being involved in past criminal activity, Penchi has been put on a watchlist. More than once, the 20 year old has been assaulted physically for the small amount of change she carries on her person. The scars on her hips tell the story of multiple sexual assault encounters, leaving her isolating herself in her room for days on end. To both process her trauma and avoid the outside world. Unfortunately, no matter how strong you try to be, there’s always someone to overpower you.

LEAVE OF VILLAINS

Penchi knows she isn’t the most pyscially strong opponent. It’s her mind and her healing quirk that come in handy. She’s smart. Smart enough to talk the best con man out of a scam. It’s also the one reason she was able to get into community college for free.

That’s where she currently finds herself, sneaking through alleyways with her monthly grocery run in her half painting finger nails. She’s heard of the league before, everyone has. Living in such a shitty precinct means you have to be aware of the villains on the rise that the government won’t inform you about. So as she mutters curses about the slop ruining her best pair of sneakers, it takes her a moment to process the group of villains staring straight at her.

She only blinks in reply as they stare her down. She knows them by name. She’s heard the rumors about them, seen what they’ve done on her small apartment television. There’s Dabi leaning against the washed out brick wall of the alleyway, Spinner looking bored out of his mind aside him, and Twice bouncing eagerly on the balls of his feet. In the middle of the little group stands their leader, Tomura Shigaraki. He’s as tall and imposing as he was on the T.V that night when Penchi first saw him. His face, covered, as usual. His arms are blanketed by a long black coat with hands lining scattered parts of his gangly limbs.

M’yongi just stares, too surprised to say anything. And before she can even blink again, Tomura is on her in an instant, his ungloved hands wrapping around her forearm in a light grip. They had been discussing something important, no doubt. Penchi stands there dumbly and looks down to the hand on her arm. She expected a bit more fanfare, not the silent rush of limbs to cower over her in an attempt to dissolve her to dust.

THE LEAGUE’S HEALER

It doesn’t take long after that for Petunia to be ushered to the halfassed LOV hideout. The building is dusty as all get out, and it smells faintly of moss and rainwater. It’s not the best, but it’s what they have for now.

Never in her life did M’yongi think that she’d work with villains. Sure, her dad was a scumbag drug dealer but she was never personally involved in his business. Her dad was a good man, and made sure of that. But here she is, offering to help the league.

Months pass and the more time Penchi spends at the LOV hideout, the more comfortable she is with them. She offers her quirk abilities to the league in exhange for physical protection. It’s a good trade, really. And she gets to practice her quirk while she’s at it. It’s not like the most wanted villains can just rush into the nearest hospital after all.

PETUNIA AND TOGA

She mothers the life out of Toga by offering to feed her, paint her nails, or take her on mini shopping sprees with her crappy paychecks. They have little girls nights with Magne, and sometimes Twice joins in for a romcom or two. Toga accidentally calls her mom ONCE, and the name never leaves after that. Yongi-San, Penchi-San, and Ma’m are three of her favroite nicknames the young girl had given her. She worries about her! She’s always wanted a little sister or brother, and she’s only met her cousin a few times. She offers her blood to Toga as a disguise when the girl has to go to a public place alone. She can’t have her little sister in trouble when she’s not there to protect her.

PETUNIA AND KUROGIRI

Her and Kurogiri INSTANTLY kick it off. No one ever looks out for the quiet bartnender, and Petunia takes it upon herself to do that. They often drink tea together when the rest of the group is out on a mission, or gossip about the latest hero news. Petunia had to grow up cooking most of the family meals herself, so she takes great pride in sharing recipes with Kurogiri or talking about new cuisine to try.

PETUNIA AND TWICE

Like Toga, Twice and Petunia love to spend time goofing off together. They’re both easily outgoing and bubbly (well, half of Twice is at least), and love to gossip. Twice often joins Petunia in watching comedies, or Korean dramas. They just CAN’T get enough of them! Twice had taken it upon himself to get the latest movie copies for the two of them to critique together. And oh boy do they not shut up during the movie. The two of them yell at the screen during the frustratingly obvious scenes on dramas or suspense thrillers.

PETUNIA AND DABI

Petunia doesn’t take Dabi’s shitty attitude. Dabi knows better than to mess with the mom of the LOV, even though she’s just a measly twenty years old standing at 165cm. She often yells at him for smoking around Toga, or leaving his bottles everywhere for Kurogiri to always clean up. Although he won’t admit it, Petunia’s soft side reminds him of his mother, and he would do anything to keep her safe. The two often banter, but Petunia is a stubborn little woman and doesn’t back down to the fire in Dabi’s hands. When he’s being nice to her, she’ll leave little plates of food or lotion outside his door urging that he makes sure to take care of himself. Because boy is he shit at it.

PETUNIA AND SHIGARAKI

Penchi had taken a liking to Shigaraki immediately. After learning more in depth about his quirk, Petunia makes it her job to take care of him. That isn’t because she has feelings for him, she just likes to make sure all of the LOV members are cared for. Yeah....That’s it. She offers to make him food, or play Minecraft with him. She even introduces him to animal crossing or her favorite handheld console games like Pokémon or Breath of the Wild. Once Shigaraki is more comfortable around her, he lets her play his favorite RPGs or MMO’s with him, and Penchi is instantly hooked. She LOVES playing CSGO or World of Warcraft with him, and she forces him to play Overwatch with her. He doesn’t admit that it’s one of his new favorite games now. Petunia loves to tease him, all in good fun of course. She loves to cling to him because he outwardly acts annoyed with the display of affection. But he never snaps at her or tells her to back off, he loves the attention from his Petunia too much.

*PETUNIA AND SHIGGY SKETCHES*

☆.｡.:*☽ .｡. ☾.｡.:*☆

I’ll be writing with Petunia more! She’s a character I’ve thought about quite a lot. And although her quirk is sorta basic, I have a lot of ideas for her. Left pose referenced from DoRuby (it’s a foreign website so I can’t read it). However this IS my art! You can find more of my art on Instagram

@Boondicoon and @Onishmeat

#shigaraki tomura #my hero academy fanfiction #my hero acadamy #boku no hero fanfic #boku no academia #tenko shimura #shigaraki x oc #oc x canon #ocs #original character #tomura x you #tomura shigaraki x reader #shigaraki x reader #my artwork #bnha #mha

[stillness-in-green]

If it's any consolation, I'm sure that the Advisors and the rest of the MLA (Re-Destro, Trumpet, Geten) will show back up sooner than the final arc, just because we're going into Year 2 and the students would find great 1 on 1 or team opponents with the Advisors. Re-Destro and Geten are heavy hitters (and Geten could be tied to Dabi, Shoto and all that somehow) and they were locked up with Mr. Compress and Machia, but who do you want to see first from the Advisors?

Thanks, anon; I certainly do hope we'll get to see more of them.  Admittedly, my main concern is that I so liked what was going on with the Paranormal Liberation Front that even if we do see all of the MLA types again, if it's only in the context of speedbump battles for the students, that's still going to be a letdown.  Better than nothing, to be sure, but I really do want them to join back up with the League, even a League that's confused and out of sorts under All For One's hand.  I love RD's big spiritual-awakening-flavored crush on Shigaraki, the cross-organization tensions and relationships, just as much as I love the depth the MLA brings to the world outside of just what's going on with the heroes.

I'm fairly frustrated with how the MLA fared during and after the raid, largely because it's awfully hard not to conclude that, if what we have right now is all the erstwhile-MLA are ever going to come to, Shigaraki would have been significantly better off if he'd just killed them all and shacked up with Ujiko for four months.  And that would be such a waste!  The end of My Villain Academia was such an enormous triumph for Shigaraki! I want his victory to amount to something more than what we've seen, something that shows that both his strength and his mercy will pay off for him in the long-term, will be a concrete benefit to him rather than, with the benefit of hindsight, the reason everything went so wrong.

Particularly with Re-Destro, since Horikoshi saw fit to have Dark Shadow all but one-shot the man, and Edgeshot defeat him off-panel, it's really not going to mean much to me for him to have a big fight with students unconnected to anything else.  The drama's rather gone out of it at this point.  That's particularly the case since, if he's no longer connected to Shigaraki's plot, it's that much easier for him to just be off-paneled and forgotten about.  But, if Rikiya gets looped back in with the League, if his gratitude and admiration of Shigaraki mean he still has a role to play in Shigaraki's arc, that makes it much easier to get invested in any fights that role will lead him to. Ditto the MLA more broadly; it's categorically ridiculous to present that organization with the kinds of numbers, breadth of influence and legitimate grievances they have, only to try to sweep them back under the rug exactly like Shigaraki accuses heroes of doing with everyone they can't save. 

To say the least, I'm pretty invested.  But I appreciate your consolations and am trying to hold out hope that we'll get some good stuff with them yet!

My anxieties aside, and to hit the other portion of your ask--who would I like to see first among the Advisors?--hit the jump:

(All nicknames and shorthand are taken from this post.) 

Well, it'd be nice if they could all get at least as much to do as the Eight Bullets back during the Hassaikai arc, seeing as they got a similar splash page spread introducing all their faces.  There are considerably more than eight of them, of course, but even if they never get more attention than e.g. Galvanize or the hose-faced guy who iced Midnight did, at least then we'd have some idea of their power sets and at least one angle on their personality.

Assuming we aren’t going to get full breakdowns on every single one of them, there are still four things I'd really like to see happen with the MLA/the Advisors: the student fights we're expecting, the jailbreaks we're being told about, the reunion with the League I'm praying for, and for literally anyone in the in-world media to try and get their side of the story.

Student Fights: Seeing the guy who killed Midnight again is as sure a bet as any of these get.  Momo is an important enough character, with enough sustained arc, that she will have to get something else to do before the series is over.  Taking command of a group battle against real opponents--ones with more responsiveness and agency than Gigantomachia--would be in-line with what she's been moving towards so far.  I would, however, love it if that fight would be more challenging than a straightforward battle of tactics.

I headcanon Hose Face and Scarecrow as, respectively, an ex-con and a dude with physical disabilities--both people who have ample reason to want to change the series' status quo irt human rights abuses in prison and overly restrictive quirk use laws.  I'm not expecting the canon to validate me on what amount to wild guesses, of course, but I want those Advisors in particular to have motivations more nuanced than, "They're quirk supremacists; who cares why they're willing to put their lives on the line over this?"

A feel-good revenge match in which a bunch of teenagers lay the smack down on characters whose humanity the audience is asked neither to know nor care about would be lazy, and counterproductive to the series' current thematic concerns. Give Momo her victory, by all means, but don't give it to her easy.  A confrontation like this would be a good way for the less central Class A students to begin wrestling with the question of who, exactly, heroes "save" and what it is that people need to be saved from, exactly the way Deku and Uraraka and Shouto are now wrestling with these questions.

As far as other fights go, I'd also love to see Brand and The Question pop up again. They're probably the two I'm most curious about purely in terms of what their quirks are.  Why does The Question wear a mask, and what's he like that he wound up in Mr. Compress's chain of command?  And with Brand, what kind of quirk does he have that's powerful enough to land him a ranked position in the Guerilla Warfare Regiment but indirect enough that he fights with a sword?

Prison Breaks: I wouldn't expect this to be particularly involved, probably more of an aside than anything, but I want the Bindi Ladies to spring Hole Punch Face, thus getting us an angle on what's going on with that particular trio.  Aviator Teeth can come too because I want at least some hints about what his deal is.

I'd also love to watch Horikoshi even attempt to retroactively justify some of the logistics of the single-day capture and subsequent detention of 17,000 super-powered, combat-trained people.*  I mean, I don't think there are any feasible explanations for that, but I'd be curious to see what he'd come up with, especially if every possible answer just makes Hero Society look worse! We have only ever seen Tartarus as an example of the prison conditions in this country; I'd love to hear more, and an MLA-focused jailbreak would be a great way to show it.

PLF Reunion: Of course, my number one thing to see with a reunion is Re-Destro being just as dismayed as Spinner is over Tomura's possession.  I crave more serious attention being paid to Rikiya's profound awe over Shigaraki's freedom, and would love to see his reaction to Shigaraki apparently losing that freedom.

Aside from the obvious, though, if the PLF does start piecing itself back together, I expect to see Sanctum again, given the attention he's gotten so far, and the fact that he's now the highest-ranked member of the Tactics Regiment.  It'd be great to get some explanation for how he can possibly be "the longest-serving member of the Liberation Army," given that the Army was generations old already when Re-Destro was just a child.  (If we do get that information, I imagine my own explanation will be jossed hugely, so I would also be happy to take time with Sanctum that doesn't explain the discrepancy but also doesn't invalidate my headcanon.)  

In the context of the regiments reforming, I'd also like to see Nimble and Aster, both because this manga needs more women, and because I'd like to see more of how Spinner and Toga interact with the people they were nominally commanding.

Media Attention: Trumpet's my number one hope here--the lack of any look into the state of the government in HeroAca Japan has been a total let-down since his introduction**, but I was particularly annoyed that the last time we saw him he was smiling (albeit in a fairly haggard way), giving me hope that we might next see him doing his part to portray all of this in a light that would sway public opinion.  And then literally one chapter later, we get prison guards talking about how the Hearts & Minds Party, a perfectly legitimized political party with representation on the national level, has been perfunctorily dissolved less than twelve hours from when the raid started.  How is there even an argument that the system heroes were upholding desperately needs to change?

I'm very tired of the media in BNHA only ever showing up to beg for/demand that heroes tell them what’s going on, particularly those damn press conferences. Journalists do investigative work! Newspapers employ reporters to actively seek out news!  Reporters in free countries don't just sit around waiting for the government or heads of major industries to graciously hand them press releases!  For heaven's sake, Trumpet was the head of a major political party.  People should be foaming at the mouth trying to get a statement from him!  

Especially with public trust in heroes breaking down, there should absolutely be intrepid reporters out there looking to get to the bottom of any of the layered conspiracies the public's just been hit with and told to just write-off as a bump in the road on the return to normalcy.

Anyway, Trumpet's the obvious choice, but if I could be sure the manga would validate my headcanons about Nimble and Scarecrow's disabilities, I'd be happy to put them in this position, too.  Trucker Toad would be another good candidate, if there's any basis to my idea that he is or used to be a transport driver who's seen a lot of the country outside the areas e.g. the Top Ten Heroes are patrolling.  He's obviously a good candidate for getting back to that idea of anti-heteromorph bias, too.  But really, I'd take anyone who can give a cogent explanation of the MLA's position on self-determination and the various ways Hero Society has exacerbated quirk-based discrimination.

Anyway, that's about where my thoughts are on where I hope the MLA people are and what we might see of them.  Thanks for the ask!

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

*Or as many as 100,000 more than that, depending on how through the statement, "Their bases around the country were also attacked, and their supporters rounded up," was meant to be.  An influx of 116K people, incidentally, would triple Japan's current carceral population.

**Why! Why would you introduce a politician and then never even glance at your setting's political situation??

#boku no hero academia #my hero academia #bnha spoilers #meta liberation army #paranormal liberation front #stillness-answers

[autumn-foxfire]

To that anon that was trying to come up with a future where Hawks lives and gets his wings back: I wanted to share a future happy ending scenario I made cause I was also getting pretty depressed (especially bc everyone believes he’s a tragic character destined to die in the story - give he bird a break and stop with the Icarus parallels!), Basically, I can see him becoming the President of a reformed HPSC by the end of the story. (1/8)

We know from Horikoshi that Hawks was made to “fulfill a certain role”, and he’s been interestingly placed in a position where he gets a perspective all sides - the heroes, the villains, the civilians (to an extent), and the government. He’s taken notice of dissatisfaction from members of the PLF and has shown to be empathetic towards their cause as well as Twice (to a logic extent). Despite what some fans may claim, Hawks actually has pretty good judgement. (2/8)

And that’s important going forward. A large part of MHA is the idea of the new generation stepping up and surpassing the old - however, Hawks isn’t that old himself. He still has plenty of room to narratively grow, and eventually taking a leadership position (that none of the 1A kids could take on yet) could help resolve the disconnect he feels between what he is and what he wanted to be. Hawks originally wanted to be a hero that was a “shining light” for others. (3/8)

We know, of course, that didn’t really happen. While Hawks wouldn’t be a hero anymore (I predict he’ll denounce himself as a true hero after this arc, even if others insist that he is), he can still be that shining light - all while working towards his current dream of “making a world where heroes have more free time” in a more grounded and realistic way. And then there are his parallels with Shigaraki - their pasts, desires (freedom), and disillusionment with hero society. (4/8)

It’s possible Hawks is being set up to counter Shigs and Dabi with the narrative idea that it’s possible to change the world for the better despite your terrible past (as opposed to lashing out and destroying everything). As far as how this ending could happen - it’s a slowburn. From Twice’s last words “Die, Hawks”, Hawks the hero persona is most likely going to be crushed, leaving Takami Keigo in a pretty dark place. However, I think Tokoyami, who’s used to darkness, (5/8)

will be the one to get him out of it (surpassing him, in that sense). I can also see some sort of speech scene down the line paralleling his introduction at the Billboard charts. Which - could you imagine him getting into a debate? He would verbally massacre anyone standing against him. Also, the big undisclosed but very apparent “F you” to the current HPSC when he takes over and helps pass quirk tolerance laws, establishing reform programs… (6/8)

Also, Commission President Takami just sounds so nice and fits the whole enlightenment/truth teller kanji thing he has going on. If he doesn’t take that leadership position, I could see it being fulfilled by Aizawa or Endeavor (though considering Hawks is implied to know the ins and outs of the HPSC already, I think he makes the most sense). Lastly, because I love bird bros so much, can you imagine their relationship in the future? (7/8)

I could see Tokoyami taking on Hawks’ old job of working in the shadows to do what’s necessary - only to a less extreme extent and with more consideration for his safety. They could even have a Commissioner Gordon & Batman thing going on in the background, to emphasize those hero parallels. Anyways sorry this got so long! Anyways... thoughts? (8/8)

I’m sorry I’ve been sitting on this gem in my ask box for so long. I’m almost disappointed that you sent it to me instead of making your own post about it (almost because I got a first preview of your idea and how could I be disappointed about that XD)

I can’t stress how much I love this idea. It’s such an interesting direction for him to go and one that hasn’t really been explored by the fandom yet (which I hope will change now that the idea is out there) and I love how it gives a different perspective on Hawks that also suits his goals and ambitions.

Argh, I feel like I can’t even put into words how much I love it T-T All I can say is that if you ever feel up to writing a fic like this, please don’t be afraid to link me because I would love to read it!!

Edit: Sorry I didn’t really add much to your ask T-T

#bnha #bnha manga spoilers #bnha hawks #hawks #thanks for the ask!! #I'm not even going to cut this #everyone can read it because it deserves to be read XD #robinspea

[shadowcipher17]

MLP FIM Finale Rankings from Best to Worst

Since I did my ranking list for the best to worst MLP premieres I had to do the finales. These are my own opinions from what I watched and how I liked them.

*The Ending of The End and The Last Problem count as one finale since it premiered as a 90 minute finale on Discovery Family as “three parts”*

1. Twilight’s Kingdom- 10/10

Hands down the best season finale of the entire series. The way the episodes were playing out and the visuals and the narrative, I honestly think this was supposed to be the series finale (despite me knowing the Season 3 was initially supposed to be the final season). This finale doesn’t feel rushed and has a good story behind it while concluding the best arc in the series. It felt like the crew went all out on this finale compared to others. We get introduced to Tirek and he posed a legit threat and practically won. Even I have to agree with him that the Mane 6 unlocking the Rainbow Power and Scorpion's Medallion being Twilight’s key was pure luck. I wasn’t disappointed in Discord betraying everyone because he was still on the fence to begin with, he only got “reformed” towards the end of Season 3 and he was only in 1 stand alone episode besides the premiere and the finale both of which were his fault but after Tirek betrayed him he was GENUINELY sorry for his actions and was even remorseful. Overall, I thought the finale was excellent for the good pacing, especially action, and Discord’ redemption.

2. A Canterlot Wedding- 9.5/10

A Canterlot Wedding despite taking notes out of The Little Mermaid was really fun and enjoyable. The songs were great. This Day Aria to this day is still one of my favorite MLP songs (oddly enough the villain songs following are good except one). Cadence, Shining Armor were great characters and I honestly wish that we got more development from both of them. And last but not least Chrysalis. Her best portrayal was in this two parter. She played everyone easily and nearly won. The only thing that did her in was only Twilight. Personality wise she was hammy, evil, fun and her reveal was genuinely terrifying. Overall, A Canterlot Wedding is a two parter that I’d definitely sit through again and enjoy it.

3. Magical Mystery Cure- 9/10

Magical Mystery Cure was a fun one to watch. Even though I felt that a few songs could’ve been cut out (Morning in Ponyville, Behold Princess Twilight) the songs were all good. Celestia’s Ballad made me emotional, but Find a Way is my favorite of all the songs. As for the story itself, it was interesting to see the Mane 5 with each other’s cutie marks and witnessing how they’d each tackle each other’s destinies...even though they’re naturally bad at them. I also liked how Twilight helped the others by fixing their destinies and as a reward she figured out her own destiny. It wasn’t as stakes heavy as future finales but it was a fun watch.

4. The Best Night Ever- 9/10

For the first finale out of nine, The Best Night Ever was FUN! I’d watch this episode again and again and I’d laugh every single time. “At The Gala” was a good song. But the best part was easily how everything went from decent to completely wrong within the span of twenty minutes. I haven’t seen this episode in years but somehow I remember exactly what goes down from start to finish. I liked the moral (at the time) that everything doesn’t have to be perfect or go exactly how you wanted or planned but as long as you’re with your friends you’ll be ok. I liked how the moral was grounded into the episode. But yeah, this episode was loads of fun and it wasn’t stake heavy. No bad guys. No threat to Equestria. No needing the Elements of Harmony. Just seven friends trying to enjoy a nice night at a party but things go 0 to 100 real quick and hjinks ensue. That’s it. And it was perfect!

5. Shadow Play- 6/10

Shadow Play is decent. There were a few things I liked and a few things I didn’t like. 

I liked all of the Pillars. Yes, I even enjoyed Starswirl even though he was a grump the majority of the time. I liked the interactions with the Pillars and each of the Mane 5. I LOVED the design of The Pony of Shadows however I didn’t really care for Stygian...mostly because he didn’t really appear until the second half...of the second half of the two parter. 

Originally I felt sympathy for Stygian but then I watched it a second time and both him and The Pillars were in the wrong: Stygian for stealing the artifacts and the Pillars for outright banishing him without question. This could’ve been avoided with simple communication. 

I cared more for Stygian in the comics since he got more of a fleshed out backstory. I loved the Sirens cameo. As far as characters go, everyone was fine...except for Starlight. She had to constantly remind everyone of how bad and the events of The Cutie Remark which got on my nerves a lot. You were bad, we get it, that was two seasons ago. But my real issue is the Tree of Harmony being created by the Pillars. Yeah, no thanks. In my eyes, the Tree and Elements were a mysterious crystalized tree in the Everfree Forest and nothing more. You can take that part out and everything about the Tree is still the same. Keep it’s sentience, have it be a self defense living being. I didn’t need that. 

I think the overall issue is that the finale and the second half of the season is supposed to be an “arc” like Season 4 but it doesn’t work. It didn’t have a build up like Season 4 did. Sure, they mentioned the other five pillars but they were mainly recollected from the Mane 5 as stories, but that’s it. It tries to be a heavy stakes finale but it doesn’t work.

But once again...Shadow Play was decent.

6. The Ending of The End- 4.5/10

Now I know, this isn’t technically isn’t the series finale because of The Last Problem but it’s the finale of the two parters and compared to others it was very underwhelming. It was nice seeing old time characters come back as refrences but it was underwhelming compared to the finales above...and two of those finales didn’t even have stakes that bad. I didn’t like the Season 9 arc overall and because the twist affected Season 9 in it’s entirety it was bad. I’ll just say that I didn’t like the Grogar twist at all but I got into that in my review. I say that this was underwhelming because the action was bland and didn’t amount to anything and there weren’t really heavy stakes and I didn’t care for the villains and wished that Grogar was the big bad villain.

7. School Raze- 4/10

I’ll give School Raze this...at least it was refreshing to see a non sympathetic villain. But that’s all I’m giving it. The writer’s chose to make a plot twist (that got spoiled by early leaks) by having a child be a villain. And said child actually gets punished...as opposed to two antagonists that nearly did worse things to Equestria but got reformed and friendship.  Now don’t get me wrong she deserved it but it could’ve been less controversy if she was an adult. But at first I thought she was fine but on my second viewing...she didn’t really need to exist. Chrysalis could’ve been Cozy Glow the entire time and could’ve been a real threat and it would’ve made sense. But this finale was also meh.

8. The Cutie Remark- 2/10

I’m making this one quick. The best part of the episodes were the alternate timelines. Nightmare Moon easily has the best timeline in my opnion. It was nice seeing previous villains again and where they’re winning. Spike was a good supporting crutch for Twilight during the stuff that she went through. Everything with Starlight was GARBAGE! No I didn’t like that Starlight got reformed just like that, she damn well deserved a punishment for what she did. Heck, no other villain even came close to what she pulled on Twilight. And her reasoning for doing this and her whole cutie mark society is because her friend saved her from falling books by levitating them and that’s how Starlight turned so bitter to do what she did. That’s it, I’m not talking about this anymore. This WAS going to be my least favorite but the alternate timelines were the saving grace and that the finale in S6 is worse.

2023 Look Back: The Cutie Remark doesn’t really serve as a finale when I looked back on it. I had to ask myself: What is this finale concluding? Starlight? No, was only a premiere antagonist and had basic cameos in the background that people could’ve missed. Not really conclusive. The Cutie Map? No, none of the Mane 6 get called by the map and it even gets broken thanks to Starlight so that can’t be it. Cutie marks in general? Yes, there was an overall theme this season about cutie marks, but the finale didn’t really tie any of that together. The closest I could see of conclusion was...accomplishment.

Slice of Life was the 100th episode of the show by that point and was celebrated by being a background pony episode

Crusaders of the Lost Mark was the accomplishment of the CMC getting their cutie marks

Cadence and Shining Armor decide to have a baby

Luna lets go of Nightmare Moon for good

The Cutie Remark indirectly has the potential failures of the Mane 6 beating all the previous villains and how much they matter to Equestria

  9. To Where And Back Again- 1/10

I did enjoy Trixie, Discord, and Throax. But everything else was a huge mess. The biggest issue is obviously shafting everyone so that Starlight can be the hero. This should’ve been Spike’s finale not Starlight’s. He was the one who befriended Thorax not Starlight. Chrysalis got the Celestia treatment where she just sits on her throne and lets her minions do all the work instead of actively getting out there and posing a threat like she did in S2 and her S5 alternate self. And you have the most powerful ponies in Equestria...and none of them capture her. Yeah, I don’t have the energy for this one. Too many bad memories.

But these are my rankings for the MLP finales.

#mlp rankings

[aion-rsa]

Mortal Kombat Ending Explained

https://ift.tt/3sJUwuD

Simon McQuoid was given an interesting challenge directing the 2021 cinematic reboot of Mortal Kombat. While it does have an R-rating to help prop it up, this is hardly the first adaptation in this universe. The story has been told in movies, comics, novels, TV shows, and even the games, which were rebooted for the sake of retelling the first few chapters in a more detailed fashion. Hell, they just came out with an animated movie a year ago that explained the first game’s plot from Scorpion’s perspective.

The new movie certainly finds its own route into the mythos, and barring some bad luck, we’re probably going to get a sequel out of this. After all, it is coming out during a nice, sweet spot where people are getting vaccinated and are equally parts confident and desperate to see a movie in theaters. When they’re bored with Godzilla and Kong’s brawling, I imagine this is the shiniest prize.

The Big Prelude

One of the surprising developments of the movie is that, while it’s called Mortal Kombat, it isn’t Mortal Kombat. It’s ABOUT Mortal Kombat. All that talk about the tournament and protecting Earth from Outworld and last chances, it’s really all setup for the next installment. It’s not so much a remake of the 1995 movie as a full-length remake of that scene on the boat where Raiden gets mad at Shang Tsung for sending Sub-Zero and Scorpion after his champions.

It’s probably more comparable to Mortal Kombat: The Journey Begins, the laughable animated movie that came out as a tie-in to the first movie. That one also showed off Sub-Zero killing Scorpion and ended with Raiden yelling at Shang Tsung for trying to screw over the heroes pre-tournament.

It also lines up a little with the Mortal Kombat novel by Jeff Rovin. The obscure 1995 release had various characters from the first game meet up in what ended up being a prequel to the story. Not only was it noticeably missing a certain movie star (more on him in a moment), but in this telling of the story, Scorpion was the ghost of Sub-Zero’s slain victim merged with the body of his son. Not quite the same as Hanzo and his descendant fighting alongside each other, but similar enough for someone like me to connect the dots.

The Return of Scorpion

Hanzo Hasashi is killed in the opening scene but his baby daughter survives under Raiden’s watch. We learn that a prophecy claims that his bloodline will one day unite a new group of heroes to prevent Outworld from winning their tenth Mortal Kombat in a row. Eventually, this is revealed to be our protagonist Cole Young, Hanzo’s descendant. This prophecy ends up being more literal than expected in the final battle against Sub-Zero as Cole is stabbed with Hanzo’s iconic kunai and it magically allows Hanzo to return from the Netherrealm (Hell) to exact his revenge on Sub-Zero.

After succeeding in getting his vengeance, Scorpion shows respect to Cole and vanishes. Presumably, he’s returned to the Netherrealm to he can rest as well as anyone can in a world of pain and fire.

We obviously haven’t seen the last of him. In the games, Scorpion returned once again due to what appeared to be the resurrection of Sub-Zero. It ended up being Bi-Han’s younger brother, Kuai Liang, who was actually a good person and ended up reforming the Lin Kuei clan for the better. Scorpion became rivals with this Sub-Zero but later made peace with him, their clans fighting alongside each other against evil threats.

Read more

Games

Mortal Kombat: 15 Most Powerful Characters

By Gavin Jasper

Games

Mortal Kombat and Bloodsport: The Strange Connection That Changed Gaming

By Matthew Byrd

This is where things get interesting because in the movie’s continuity, Hanzo existed centuries ago instead of in the present. Bi-Han never aged during that time, presumably due to some magical reward of Shang Tsung’s. There would be no reason for him to have a brother taking his spot.

On the other hand, giving Sub-Zero his own Cole Young counterpart would make plenty of sense. Perhaps Kuai Liang will appear in the sequel as Sub-Zero’s conflicted descendant, having to decide between the duties of blood and virtue.

The Rise of Noob Saibot?

During Shang Tsung’s final speech, he mentions how death is itself like a portal. He then teleports the corpses of Sub-Zero and Goro into Outworld. He could have left them to rot, but he appears to have plans for them.

For fans of Mortal Kombat lore, the follow-up for Sub-Zero makes enough sense. In the games, Bi-Han went under his own Scorpion-like transformation after death. He returned as the all-black shadow assassin Noob Saibot, acting as a more warped and sinister version of his human self. Noob was also closely aligned with Quan Chi, Scorpion’s main nemesis and former handler, so we’ll see if that guy pops up down the line.

As for Goro, there’s no real instance in the games of him being resurrected, but it’s not like this movie doesn’t take liberties as is. Goro can have a little necromancy, as a treat.

The Replacements

Barring resurrections, Shang Tsung has lost Reptile, Goro, Sub-Zero, Kabal, Nitara, Reiko, Mileena, and Kano. He notes that these soldiers can be easily replaced. That opens up a lot of possibilities for who could pop up in a sequel. Perhaps Ermac? Skarlet? Erron Black? You could easily put money on Baraka.

Raiden also tasks the surviving heroes with searching for other champions for the tournament. Unlike the villains, there aren’t too many Earthrealm heroes to choose from. The blind swordsman Kenshi is very likely to join the crew. Nightwolf was also briefly referenced on Sonya and Jax’s wall of research, so don’t be surprised if he’s on the team.

Considering Mileena is a grotesque clone of her “sister” Kitana, you should expect Sisi Stringer show up in the sequel in a more heroic role.

Johnny Cage Cliffhanger

The money shot comes in the last scene. Cole quits his low-level MMA lifestyle and announces that he’s going to Hollywood. As he leaves the gym, we see a poster for Citizen Cage with the tagline “Fight For Your Rights.” The movie stars Johnny Cage (complete with large “CAGE” belt buckle), who we only see from the chest down due to the fact that the character hasn’t been cast yet.

Since the movie’s cast was first announced, fans have noted the blatant lack of Johnny Cage. Not only was Linden Ashby’s portrayal one of the most popular parts of the original movie, but Johnny’s the only character from the original game to not appear in this movie. A prominent theory before the movie’s release was that Cole was going to be Johnny all along and change his name at the end of the film.

But no, Johnny Cage is sequel bait and I’m right there chomping on the hook.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

Jonathan Carlton is a talented martial artist who used his skill to become a popular action star under the name Johnny Cage. Due to his outrageous skill and moves, he’s been accused of being a fraud who uses camera tricks and stunt doubles to pull off his fight sequences. He initially entered the Mortal Kombat tournament because he was under the impression it would revitalize his career and prove his legitimacy, not quite understanding the severity or even secrecy of the event.

Mostly portrayed as comic relief and the audience’s POV character, Johnny became a regular in the Mortal Kombat series. When they rebooted the games’ story, it was revealed that in case of Liu Kang’s death, Johnny was a back-up “chosen one.” He’s the descendant of a cult of warriors dedicated to making the most badass offspring possible capable of slaying gods.

Funny enough, when Street Fighter did its cinematic reboot with Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, it also ended with a sequel hook about an upcoming fighting tournament and a quest to look up a series staple (in that case Ryu). I can’t help but feel that Mortal Kombat will be a little more successful in following up on its cliffhanger.

Now let’s see who they can get to fill those sunglasses.

The post Mortal Kombat Ending Explained appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3ew5Bup

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

[secret-engima]

Some Random Reasons I Really Like the Boruto Anime.

(because yes it has it’s problems but honestly I’m tired of trying to enjoy my fandoms with everyone whinging that it’s “not as good as the original”. As if the original two Naruto shows weren’t utter dumpster fires with moments of Pure Awesome to keep it alive and half the fandom isn’t there solely to pick through Kishimoto’s junkyard world building looking for shiny bits to incorporate in their fanfics.  Which is not to say I don’t like the Naruto shows, but seriously ppl you can’t whine about how bad the fillers and slow pacing and weird world-building of Naruto was only to turn around and scream that Boruto is horrible of TRYING TO BE DIFFERENT. Let’s inject some positivity in here. Anyone who has no need for Boruto positivity can kindly move on with their lives and let me have my shiny fandom. Moving on.)

-Reason 1. Mitsuki exists. He is Best Boi™ and I adore him.

-Reason 2. The characters are not carbon copies of their parents, but neither are they polar opposites. They have some of their parent’s traits and some of their own unique traits and honestly it’s so refreshing to have a show that isn’t “Main Character X Take 2: This time with a New Color Scheme”

-Reason 3. Have you SEEN how many girl characters there are in this show? Even if most of them are side characters? Have you SEEN the fact they can actually DO STUFF other than flip their hair and whine about boys? One of them can use seals! And has CAT POWERS!! Another one was the antagonist of the first story arc! And was actually cool! And also got reformed rather than just being yote off the nearest cliff! The main female character is actually useful without being either a whim or a jerk!

Reason 4. The school system has been revamped in ways that make SENSE. The Naruto cast (especially Iruka as the new headmaster) looked back on their early life and went “You know what? It’s REALLY DUMB that we were so unprepared for shinobi life. Let’s change that.” And they did! Students actually learn water and tree walking BEFORE they get thrown into life and death situations! They know jutsu other than the Basic Three! They get to know basic sealing and learn that Summoning jutsu exists! There’s a student who knows medical ninjutsu, so that’s obviously an optional course or something kids can take! They also have an option to NOT BE NINJAS. If they decide partway through they don’t wanna be ninja’s, there’s a civilian middle school program incorporated into the academy! Do you know what that also means? Civilians who get to know BASIC SELF DEFENSE. So even if they aren’t Ninja, they at least know how ninja work and how to not Insta-die the next time someone breaks into their village!

Reason 5. THERE’S AN INTER-SCHOOL TRANSFER PROGRAM. Way to show just how tight the alliances of the different villages are. Even if it’s only mentioned here and there, it’s SUCH a cool thought with so much fanfic potential.

Reason 6. Chocho, flipping, Akimichi exists. Yes, she can be a little annoying with her running gag of “I’m so pretty” but like- SHE IS ACTUALLY PRETTY. And she knows and can use the clan jutsu really well! DO YOU KNOW HOW EASY IT WOULD HAVE BEEN for them to either make her utterly hideous and go “Hur hur look at the fat girl thinks she can actually be pretty lol” OR make her constantly whimpy and shy and lacking any confidence at all because “oh look at the poor girl, she’s FAT so she must feel UGLY all the time, and have no confidence because what FAT PERSON has any confidence unless they’re delusional?” Both of those would be so freaking stupid and defeating. But INSTEAD they make Choho 1. pretty and 2. self-confident. She dresses nice, she looks nice, she’s not stick thin like say, Sarada, but she is actually pretty and she OWNS it. She owns her love of food, and her clan jutsu, and just- herself in general. And yea they use it as a running gag sometimes when she plays it up a little too much, but like- there’s a body positivity character! Right there! Who is also a girl who kicks butt! One of the biggest complaints I’ve seen of the naruto show is that the girl characters are flat and useless and underused save for like- Tsunade. Here you have a useful girl who is also body confident! And that’s not even touching on Sarada “can use both super strength and the sharingan and owns this fact” Uchiha.

Reason 7. Boruto’s issues are not his dad’s issues. There are ... lots of “kid sequels” i’ve seen/read/heard of where all the problems are basically the main character’s problems rehashed. And yeah, the villains so far are that I’ve seen are callbacks to the main show, BUT. EMOTIONALLY. Boruto’s issues aren’t the same. Boruto doesn’t have the “nobody likes me I must earn their respect” issues Naruto did. Or the orphan issues. He has a loving mom, he’s a loving big brother (who makes mistakes and does argue with his sister, which #realistic kthanks), and he is popular. Being alone isn’t his problem. Being unpopular or hated isn’t his problem. His problems are that he doesn’t know how to bond with his always-busy dad (which- of course Naruto is always busy, that’s just the show writers continuing the Overworked Hokage gag from the original show, and yes Naruto uses his Shadow Clones to help with it but come ON he’s running a military force AND a booming village) and that he hasn’t had the same life experiences Naruto had at that age. He’s learning to mature in a different way. If Naruto and Naruto Shippuden were about children who grew up too soon in a brutal ninja world, then Boruto is about kids who grow up in the AFTERMATH of that world. The world where their parents never want their kids to suffer like that and so, just a little, coddle them. It’s kinda like the aftermath of the big wars. The kids who grew up during that war are adults now and their kids have COMPLETELY DIFFERENT life experiences and priorities. It’s just how it works, and I appreciate that.

Reason 8. We have a girl Uchiha who wants to be Hokage. I love the Naruto and Naruto Shippuden shows, but it got ... a LITTLE tiresome that Naruto’s dream was also the dream of both his dad AND his mom and I think also kid Jiraiya at one point? Like- it seemed like at that point the show was going “Of course you want to be hokage! It’s in your blood!”. Boruto couldn’t care less bout being the next Hokage. He’s lived what it’s like to be the Hokage’s kid (something Asuma, if he’s still been alive, could have sympathized with I’m sure) and he doesn’t want to be that person. Sarada on the other hand has lived the live of having no real dad figure until recently, and as such Naruto’s “all the village is my family” motto really rings home with her. She wants to be the next Hokage, not Boruto, and frankly that’s refreshing.

Reason 9. Shino the teacher. I’m pretty sure this is a controversial point but honestly I really liked this. I do have some issues with how the og characters are portrayed (looking at you Kiba and Anko), but Shino I have no issues with. This is an intelligent, helpful boy who grew up struggling to bond with people and who grew up with people constantly interrupting him/not listening. And this gag does make its frequent appearance in Boruto, but that’s not Boruto’s fault that’s actually a case of the show being consistent with its predecessor so, you know, go blame Kishimoto for how his students didn't listen to him in the early episodes. BUT. As the episodes go on, it’s so clear the students do love and respect their teacher. They wouldn’t talk to him if they didn’t. They might not see him as a terrifying warrior, but he’s their TEACHER. Even Mitsuki comes to respect Shino, going out of his way (spoiler) to fight Shino in the graduation exam because Mitsuki saw Shino as someone worth testing himself against. Mitsuki. Orochimaru’s “perfect clone bby”. Thought Shino was badass enough to fight. And also on the student body in general, OBVIOUSLY they listen to him off screen, because if they didn’t then they wouldn’t have learned the things they did and have actually succeeded in the graduation exam, now could they?

Reason 10. Naruto and Sasuke are still utterly epic WITHOUT stealing the spotlight the moment they come on screen. I’m not that far into the show, so maybe that changes, but from the arcs I’ve seen (mostly the Shin arc), Naruto and Sasuke are utter powerhouses, but they don’t ... they don’t just hax the show. In the same way Jiraiya didn’t hax everything and steal the spotlight from Naruto, neither do Naruto and Sasuke, but we still see they’re awesome (after all, they were perfectly capable while fighting all the Shins, and just- the moment one of them got a look at Kuruma it was OVER and it’s SO clear in that moment that Sasuke and Naruto were holding back because they didn’t want to kill a bunch of kids. Naruto or Sasuke on their own could have MASSACRED the Shins, but didn’t, because they’re former protagonists (and reformed antagonist in one case) like that.

So... tl:dr Boruto is not Naruto or Naruto Shippuden but considering all the massive plot holes and world-building errors that happened in those shows, as well as the utter lack of use of its female characters, that’s not a bad thing! Boruto has some stuff wrong with it, and some things that I can see annoying/ticking off fans who had their heart set on another path, but the show has potential, the characters are utilized much better than I expected, and as someone who did not grow up on Naruto and so doesn’t have shiny nostalgia glasses spot welded to my face, I think it’s a really good show.

Honestly if it wasn’t a sequel of such a monolith, childhood-forming show, I think it wouldn’t get NEAR as much hate, and the fact that it gets such flak because it dares have its own unique take on the post-Naruto Shippuden years rather than trying (and inevitably failing) to cater to the whims of every single fan out there makes me sad. If you want to see more of Naruto’s world and see female characters actually get some cool moments to themselves, then give it a try. If you’d rather go with your own Naruto HCs for what happened at the end of the war, then that’s FINE, just don’t get mad at those of us who enjoy Boruto for the glorious animated fanfic AU it is.

#Secret Engima Rambles #SE rants #boruto #i like this show #you can pry it out of my cold dead hands #long post

[ecoamerica]

Watch the 2024 American Climate Leadership Awards for High School Students now: https://youtu.be/5C-bb9PoRLc

The recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by student climate leaders! Join Aishah-Nyeta Brown & Jerome Foster II and be inspired by student climate leaders as we recognize the High School Student finalists. Watch now to find out which student received the $25,000 grand prize and top recognition!

#ACLA24 #ACLA24HighSchoolStudents #youtube #youtube video #climate leaders #climate solutions #climate action #climate and environment #climate #climate change #climate and health #climate blog #climate justice #climate news #weather and climate #environmental news #environment #environmental awareness #environment and health #environmental #environmental issues #environmental education #environmental justice #environmental protection #environmental health #high school students #high school #youth #youth of america #school

[jt2zemax]

***SPOILERS FOR PART 2 OF THE SERIES FINALE!!!***

Featuring cameos by patrons: Talonhero and NightMistEclipse

Eeeeeyup, now Casper exists for real.... sometimes, the universe has too much time on their hands. Also, I wanted to get ALL my close friends in the store... but only so many would fit T3T

Jasper's ACTUAL Thoughts: Gulp! This is it, the second-to-final episode, and the final brawl between the Mane 6/all of Equestria vs. the Mean 3! How does it fare? ....Not too shabby, actually :P. You can really tell the stakes are high this time around - the major protectors of Equestria -aside from our girls and Spike- are out of commission, ponies are so scared they've isolated themselves and are basically plunging Equestria into the Dark Ages with the Wendigo swarm (REALLY nice callback to the Hearth's Warming story), and Twilight's completely lost her confidence again (I should be annoyed because we've seen this happened before, but it kinda makes sense now since Discord's little bombshell last time). I think I only have a FEW little complaints - Winter Lotus' (I think that's her name) attitude in PonyVille bugs the hell out of me (Not just insulting the Pegasi, but passing off the Wendigoes when they're LITERALLY SWARMING RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU... you are the equivalent of that idiot from Power Rangers who said there's "No such thing as monsters"), Tirek's dad from the comics being mentioned instead of Scorpan (Seriously, where even is he right now? Did he just... die off-screen... oh dang, kinda sounds like Tirek got to him first), and the ponies that make it through to the Unicorns and Pegasi... who were they again? I mean with Sandbar I can buy since we already know who he is and I can believe that Apple Bloom wanting to be with her family, but why not Scootaloo or Sweetie Belle -We could CLEARLY SEE THEM WITH THEIR RESPECTIVE PONIES!?!? I dunno, just a personal tick since we've got like an ENDLESS AMOUNT of already established characters! Other than that, though... really loved the rest of it! Literally every creature in the land coming together to aid the Mane 6 (Including the Kirin, Shadow Tempest (She looks good in show-style), the buffaloes, and the Flim Flam Brothers!! ...Glad the show acknowledged that they're not exactly evil) ...guess that School of Friendship wasn't pointless after all ^^;. The Young Six being treated as ambassadors for their respective species, that slick Pinky and the Brain reference (Yeah, don't think I didn't see that!!), and of course... Chaos Pinkie ^^ -I couldn't not love that. As for the villain's punishment? ...to be honest, I can't think of a better one - Tartarus isn't as secure as it used to be, reforming them is clearly out the window since they're too stubborn to embrace friendship... so yeah, I think a stone prison seems about right (And yes, I know, Cozy Glow is a child.... buuut, she kinda nearly destroyed ALL the magic in Equestria and willingly turned her back on her people without a second thought... why give her special treatment? :P). Also, really appreciated the little "Best Night Ever" callback where they meet up for donuts. I can't think of a better way to celebrate... except maybe with pizza :P. But of course, they still have one last problem to deal with before their time is up - the final episode! Stay tuned this weekend for the final chapter of G4... but NOT the final chapter for our Pizza Pone ;). *Also, personal note, I don't know why, but I love that Tirek's the practical one of the Mean 3, it really balances out between the power-hungry Chrysalis and the... annoyingness of Cozy Glow.

If you like what you see here, please consider supporting me on Patreon where donating a certain amount could earn you a cameo or guest role in a comic or video, or even a spot in a monthly Skype Patreon call! 

Screenshot on Jasper's Laptop: https://derpibooru.org/2134486

#Jasper Pie #Casper Cake #Hoofio #Thespio #Dawillstanator #Harmony Dancer #Midnight Sonata #Lightning Bliss #Night Mist #Cerin #Aramau the Fiery Secretary #Aramau #Aramau Fiery Secretary #Mary Sue #Mad Munchkin #Trail Grazer #Sweetie Bloom #Ailduin Magpie #Science Steel-Rail #sapphire heart song #inverted shadow #theinvertedshadow #Shadow Rush #keyframe #Voice of Reason #voiceofreason #Fiaura the Tank Girl #Fiaura #JFox of Chaos #Umbra-Mack

[weaselandfriends]

Have you watched other of Urobuchi works psycho-pass (S1, S2 I think he wasn't involved in it). I mentioned it because of your post about the themes of individual vs society in a magical girl system. And Psycho pass definitely has that, but under the context of a highly advanced technological system dependant society.

I’ve seen Psycho-Pass Season 1, the Fate/Zero anime adaptation (which he didn’t work on, but he wrote the LN and it reeks of his handiwork), and most importantly Phantom: Requiem for the Phantom, the most iconic and beloved of Urobuchi’s oeuvre.

I think Psycho-Pass gets salvaged by a strong finale but it and the other two are not stories that fit Urobuchi’s style particularly well. Urobuchi likes these long, drawn-out moments of philosophical discussion interspersed with brief flashes of startling and horrifying violence, and while that style works well in PMMM, which revolves around a fundamentally existential threat, it can often seem out of place in stories with much more conventional premises. Phantom is a really obvious example; the opening episode bills it as a Hollywood-style secret agent action romp (it’s even set in L.A.), so when it segues into these Pygmalion-esque questions about human identity and how it can be crafted and created it’s completely at odds with the established tone.

As for Psycho-Pass’s individual vs. society theme, I do think Psycho Pass is somewhat unique for a dystopian series in that it presents a dystopia, presents the dystopia as flawed, but doesn’t seek to “fix” that dystopia and in fact places the revolutionary character in the position of villain. In that regard it does dovetail nicely into my essay on magical girls, particularly MGRP, which sets up its society and protagonist/antagonists in a similar vein. Even in classic “literary” dystopias of yore, like Brave New World and 1984, the protagonist is the revolutionary, and even if they ultimately fail, their struggle to “fix” their worlds comprises the core conflict.

Akane, the heroine of Psycho-Pass, is essentially the model citizen of her society, being almost preternaturally incapable of possessing the “criminal” psychological state that Psycho-Pass’ dystopia is structured around. As a protagonist, then, she is essentially a living justification of her society. While 1984 revolves around an unremarkable bureaucrat who gets roped into his revolution for selfish reasons and Brave New World centers on a “noble savage” who originates from outside the society, Akane--and MGRP’s Snow White--are the exact ideal that their respective societies seek to engender. So in Psycho-Pass, we approach the society from the perspective of its pinnacle. (In MGRP, where perspective is a lot more fragmented and Snow White vanishes for long stretches of narrative, I’d be hesitant to make the same claim.) The imperfections of Psycho-Pass’ society are thus presented as just that--imperfections, not fundamental problems rooted in the society’s core beliefs. The first episode of Psycho-Pass presents this perspective pretty well. Akane enters as a perfect “academy cop” archetype present in plenty of crime thrillers. Young, by-the-book, emblematic of all the rules and regulations that society has enforced upon itself. The things she encounters on her first mission are thus portrayed as unexpected surprises, shadows lurking underneath the society’s generally functional veneer. And while this may be somewhat novel to the dystopian genre, it’s well-known to anyone who consumes media involving cops.

Where this whole setup gets interesting is when the first episode reaches its climax and Akane, who has kind of floundered up until this point, is forced to make what is presented as a key character moment. The criminal has been (bloodily) dispatched, and his hostage is now understandably freaking out and has become a psychological risk herself. It’s here where Akane reverses roles with her collection of partners, who want to follow standard procedure and book the psychological risk, and essentially breaks the rules to instead talk down the hostage and return her to a healthy psychological state.

Which, narratively, is not very surprising, because we the viewer see that the hostage isn’t really a psychological risk, that she’s freaked out for a good reason, and that in this instance, the “rules” of the society are inadequate. And since Akane is presented as being the relatable audience stand-in (the first chunk of the episode involves her more experienced partners giving her the exposition dump so the audience can get caught up on the basics), it makes sense that she would take the action that the audience believes is morally right.

Yet that action goes against her society. And Akane herself is the ideal of that society, the kind of model citizen it strives to produce. It’s this core conflict that adds nuance to what could otherwise be a dogmatic “this society is bad” take. The society is flawed, even its ideal citizen has to break the rules to do what’s right, but are these flaws fundamental to its core ideology or just poorly-implemented rules that could be realistically reformed via legal channels?

It’s been a few years since I saw Psycho-Pass, and since I only considered it decent I haven’t thought particularly much about it, so I had to unearth a lot of memories to discuss it even at this surface level. But another anime that might be worthy of discussion vis a vis this theme is Shinsekai Yori, a pretty technically flawed work but one with a spark of ingenuity in how it approaches the idea of the individual’s role in society. I’ll leave it at that for now, though. I hope that answered your question.

[blood-and-cigars]

moar phantom au.

You didn’t ask for more of my literary analysis bullshit, but tough luck that’s what you’re getting. Gotta stay on brand, after all.

Ok so Phantom at its core (for me) is about the transcendence of artistry, of the sublime, into monstrosity. It’s about an unwitting Faustian bargain; the protagonist wishes to dabble in the music of the angels and instead finds herself tangled in the obsessions of a very human madman.

However, Phantom isn’t a traditional “escape the murderer” story, (It isn’t a traditional *anything* the original, serialized novel jumps genres like nobody’s business) it’s equal parts beauty and the beast, or rather its older cousin, death and the maiden. There is no book if after the initial disillusionment there isn’t still a draw.

The protagonist (Christine) expects divinity but instead is faced with this overwhelming tragic monstrosity, and amid the devastation of that realization she discovers… she’s still kind of into it?

You can strip away the dressings of theatre and opera and still keep that main premise.

Frankly I was always disappointed with Phantom’s lack of truly supernatural elements, I think a Hellsing AU would actually fit rather nicely.

However some alterations to Alucard’s character and role in the story would be necessary because the titular character is indeed the villain.

The same can be said for Integra too. While I love Christine as a protagonist, she’s inherently the wilting ingenue archetype (her strength is a quiet sort) and Integra is… not that.

Seras would actually be a more obvious choice for the Christine stand in, however I interpret Alucard as being… more decent?? than to form that kind of selfish obsession on someone without their being underlying baggage to their relationship (as is his history with the Hellsing line).

Ironically enough I think Alucard is too scrupulous to put all his tragedies and emotional burdens at someone else’s feet.

Either way, if not music, I’m not certain what their fixation would be. Most likely some form of occult knowledge? Or perhaps successfully running the organization itself.

I wonder how Alucard could deceive Integra though. Perhaps it’s the fact that upon her ascension she realizes that a vampire has been governing the Hellsing organization from the shadows for all those years since Van Helsing died. (Which if we’re swapping out the Opera House for Hellsing, could be a thing that happened)

I don’t know, there’s a lot of ways to go about mashing Phantom and Hellsing together.

Lovecraft + Phantom of the Opera + House of Leaves+ Hellsing = I have no idea what I’m doing anymore.

Here’s some stuff I’d include in a fic:

Arthur lives until Integra is twenty, all that time he is in charge of the organization. Although he is always withdrawn, a little sickly, and white around the eyes.

The catacombs of the opera house can be the Hellsing manor subbasements. Alucard has been locked away for three long decades. The years are incomprehensible at this point, stretching out into something quite close to an eternity.

No he’s never been released from his cell since then, but the many years of silence and solitude have made him powerful in a different way.

He is part of the basements, the mansion, the organization itself. The walls breathe with him, not a soul passes the threshold without his notice. To some extent, he’s forgotten what it is to be a person, instead of simply an extension of the shadows.

Arthur is very secretive about his duties, even as his health declines and it becomes clear they must begin thinking of succession. He mutters about demons, of monsters, and hellfire.

There is a room, on the ground floor, nestled away to the side, with the best view of the gardens. No one is allowed there. This is our box five.

The drapes are tightly drawn, but from a few cracks Integra’s been able to make out a desk and old, worn journals.

Every two weeks, Walter may go in for twenty minutes exactly, to clean without disturbing anything. Only Walter, no other staff.

When Integra asked, he told her it was once Van Helsing’s study. It is where he kept all his arcane knowledge, where he wrote out his correspondences, where he was found dead one early morning. But that was decades ago.

Arthur himself never sets foot in the place. Integra wonders if it’s out of grief. He talks about his father often, with both disdain and reverence.

During the last year, Richard comes to live with them. To be with his brother, he says. To look after his niece. He’d execute his attempted coup a tad more gracefully; after all why kill your opponent when instead you can discredit her?

When she was younger, Integra caught her reflection grinning back at her. She told her father about it, asked him why the deepest recesses of the mansion drum like a beating heart.

Arthur’s smile froze on his face. After a moment he told her, in the forced cheerful tone one uses with children, that there were spirits watching over the house, watching over them.

“Like angels?” Little Integra had said.

And her father nodded indulgently, even as he called Walter in to have every mirror on the property covered.

She is not so naive, by the time Arthur dies. Even through her grief, she sees how Richard is making himself oh so comfortable at the manor. How his smile is sickly sweet, and the way he’s trying to set himself up as her “protector.”

During the viewing, Integra stares at her father’s cold, still body and it’s like the breath’s been stolen from her lungs. She does not weep, but she is empty.

She’s not sure she cares to challenge Richard’s silly games. Let him have the organization and it’s haunted legacy.

Integra dreams she is walking along a beach. Icy water laps at her ankles with each step. There’s a figure amidst the rocks, playing a violin. And when he looks up, he wears her father’s face but his eyes are unfamiliar.

“What are you doing here, little bird?”

“I’d ask you the same thing,” she said. “Who are you?“

“I’m no one.”

She does not remember the rest of that dream.

Richard laughs when Walter explains about the study to him. First when it’s presented as his dead brother’s wishes, then even more so when Walter claims a supernatural bent to the precaution.

However, Integra is the heir, and it is her house. She will not see her father’s wishes disrespected before he’s even cold in the ground— no matter how eccentric those wishes may be.

She gives the study key to Walter and instructs him to continue as before.

Integra is looking over the old ledgers, the first time she hears the voice. No that’s a lie. She’s heard it before, this is the first time she acknowledges it.

Her father had been rather free with government funding, it seems he didn’t see much of a distinction between business and pleasure. (She shudders at the thought of an audit) At least he had been meticulous about recording his expenses.

She goes through years of accounts, and very suddenly the extravagant spending stops. Somehow Walter’s modest budgeting is so much worse.

She’s brushing away silent tears when she hears it. The voice is muted and distant, hardly discernible. She decides to follow it.

Hellsing manor has always been a strange place, where shadows flicker in the periphery and invisible hands claw at the windows.

Integra knows this. She’s been taught to ignore it.

She isn’t sure what compels her— recklessness or grief or anger but she follows the voice, down two flights of stairs and closed off staff quarters, to the forgotten basement door that leads into an even deeper section of the mansion.

There’s a strange indescribable shift, as she senses a consciousness focus on her. Something old and long slumbering, shaking off layers of dust and disuse.

Her father had told her the basement was walled off, that the door was sealed. Bricked shut, never to be opened again

It stands ajar, inviting her inside.

Any other day, Integra thinks she would have turned back. But this time she trails down into the bowels of her home.

Somehow— she thinks there is a trick involved, a few passages did not lead where they should have— she reaches a room that she just knows is a perfect mirror of Van Helsing’s study, even if she never set foot in the place herself.

On some level she knows it probably isn’t real. But she’s determined to figure out what this thing is that slumbers beneath the manor. She’ll indulge these games to see what’s behind it all.

There is someone waiting for her. Maybe something. It’s just a silhouette, with ever shifting edges. Blurred movements, darkness barely given form.

“What are you?” she asks this time. And she knows somehow, this is the man from the dream. This is the voice she’s heard from the shadows.

He doesn’t respond. Just looks at her. When she nears him he seems to reform. To take shape into something more resembling a person. But she realizes she can’t make out a face. Any face at all.

#lol this is old but I thought Id dust it off and post #hellsing #hellsing ultimate #alucard #integra #arthur hellsing #richard #au corner #phantom of the opera #i ramble sometimes #*writer's cap* #all the bendy punctuations #a mysterious stranger has appeared #(I think I might have posted the lit analysis bit before but it was meant to be part of the scenario listicle #) #long post #headcanons #meta #tbd at some point

[thattennisgirl]

Loki x Fem! Reader - Little Bird

Summary: The reader finds common ground with Loki during a chance meeting in the small library within the Avengers compound. Loki becomes fond of the reader.

Set in an AU where Infinity War/End Game does not occur, but is post Thor Ragnarok where Loki joins the Avengers as part of a contract for the Asgardians to settle in Norway.

Word Count:  1,581

Warnings: None

Soft footsteps echoed quietly through the dark halls of the Avengers compound as you headed towards the one place that was always a constant source of consolation when you couldn’t sleep, the library. Reading always seemed to help take your minds off things, relax your mind, especially when dark nightmares of your past plagued you.

This was how you found yourself slowly making your way towards the library, a large blanket wrapped around your shoulders as you made a right at the end of a hallway. You wore your pajama bottoms and a t-shirt as you were not concerned about running into anyone in the middle of the night, most of the Avengers who stayed at the compound were asleep at this time. Although you knew that some of them had sleep struggles of their own, as you had caught Steve going on midnight jogs before. Not that you ever had the energy to join him, you were much more inclined to be comforted by books and their intriguing stories.

You pulled your blanket tighter around your shoulders as you finally found the entrance to the library, and stepped inside. You paused the moment you set foot in the library however, as you noticed a small light emitting from the furthermost corner in the library. It looked like the lamp was on. 

You furrowed a brow, had you left the lamp on from earlier? You wondered, it had been a rainy day without much natural light, and you had used the lamp earlier in the day while reading on the window bench. You couldn’t quite be certain if you remembered turning off the lamp or not. 

Frowning, you moved towards the corner, but not before grabbing a few of your favorite books. Perhaps you would read near the lamp again tonight rather than go back to your room. However, when you came around the corner of one of the bookshelves you halted in your steps. 

Loki looked bored as he gently flipped a page from where he sat in a leather armchair, his tall and lithe body looking more relaxed than you had ever seen the Asgardian, now Avenger and reformed villain. He was dressed casually compared to his usual standards. Instead of his typical leather outfit, he wore a hunter green long-sleeve shirt that hugged his shoulders nicely and black pants, along with dark boots underneath.

His dark raven shoulder-length hair was slightly mussed, likely from him running his hand through it numerous times. Even though you couldn’t see his eyes well from your position, you were certain those emerald eyes were as sharp as ever. It was a gaze that unnerved even you, made you feel as if he could see through all of your secrets. Perhaps he could, he was a God after all.

However, if your goal was to avoid the Asgardian, you failed miserably. 

Loki could sense someone was staring at him, and he looked up in irritation to see who had disturbed his reading. He paused at the sight of you there in the library standing next to the bookshelf. His green eyes narrowed to examine your appearance, his view of your clothes impaired by the large blanket you draped over your body. Socks with a printed pattern on them peeked out from underneath the blanket. Yes, it was indeed his new and somewhat odd, partner. 

“What do you want?” The words came out with more venom and annoyance than Loki had intended. 

You blinked, surprised that the handsome God had even bothered to acknowledge your presence. And he was still staring at you. You felt a small flush on your face at being caught. “I’m here for the same reasons as you.” You waved one of the books you held in your hand, slightly irritated at his bad mood. 

Loki paused, then noticing the tiredness in your eyes, hair messed up from what he could only assume to be constant tossing and turning. And yet, you were still as beautiful and stunning as the first time he had met you. But this time, you were much less guarded and Loki felt an odd urge to run a hand through your hair. Loki frowned, for a moment he was concerned why you were not sleeping at this ungodly hour. He quickly admonished himself as soon as the thought occurred, who was he to be concerned about a mortal? And yet, he still worried for you.

He watched as you stepped into the room, and eyed the bookshelf before him, searching for something. It wasn’t long before you found it, and grabbed the book a small delighted smile on your lips. 

“I’ll leave you be then.” You stated, turning to leave, deciding that reading in your room was not a bad option either, especially since your favorite area was occupied and you weren’t quite up to being that close to an Asgardian who you were not very familiar with just yet.

"Wait.” Loki’s smooth baritone called out, and you paused and looked at him. Loki quickly schooled his features from interest back to cool and composed. Did he dare to ask a favor of you?

“I’m afraid I am unfamiliar with the texts of Midgard.” Loki paused, hating to admit weakness. But he knew you were familiar with the books probably more than anyone else in the Avengers compound, as he had found you in the library multiple times since he had moved here. Each time he would leave before you could realize he was there. “I am having difficulty finding novels worthy of my interest.”

You felt a small smile appear on your lips as the God requested recommendations for books, from you of all people. Loki’s green eyes watched you warily, as if concerned you might humiliate him for the smallest admittance of weakness.

“It can be a troublesome task at times.” You agreed, watching as slight relief flashed through his eyes before he pretended to act nonchalant.

“Yes, well, Midgardian authors can hardly compare to the works of Asgard,” Loki replied as he examined the text in his hand.

You felt your lips twitch at that, it appeared the God did not like asking for help and was doing his best to mask his interest with boredom and insults. Perhaps the two of you were not so different at all.

“I think I know just the thing.” You grinned at the dark-haired Asgardian whose eyes watched you with barely-concealed interest.

Turning back towards the shelf, you set down the books you had came here for, and grabbed a few classics off of the shelves, a mixture of poetry, novels, and plays. Even going a little further back in the library to grab some of your favorites.

Loki sat up straighter as you returned to him holding a rather large pile of books. The way your eyes sparkled in slight enjoyment should have set him on edge, but instead, he found himself admiring how beautiful you looked when you smiled. You laid the books rather unceremoniously on the table next to him, and Loki couldn’t help but grab the first book off the top of the table and scanned the title as you watched, your heart fluttering slightly in his presence. The last time the two of you had been this close, you had been sparring.

“I think you will quite like Shakespeare, he was by far one of the best playwrights in history.” You paused as the God’s dark green eyes met yours, “Thor tells me that you have quite the flair for dramatics and a preference for plays.”

The corner of Loki’s lips twitched upwards in a smirk at the memory of Thor stumbling upon his well-orchestrated play in Asgard. “I do.”

“Good.” You grinned, “I’ll be leaving then.” You nodded as you went to pick up your books to leave. 

Loki let out a small cough and you looked back at him to see him glance away. “Thank you.”

“My pleasure.” You left before any more awkward words could be exchanged. Your heart suddenly felt much lighter and happier after your interaction with the Asgardian. Loki watched your shapely figure go before turning back to one of the plays in interest. After a while, he paused as he came across an interesting piece of Shakespeare’s play which had a small pink note on it as if to highlight the importance of the words. 

“The eagle suffers little birds to sing,

And is not careful what they mean thereby,  

Knowing that with the shadow of his wings

He can at pleasure stint their melody”

Loki wasn’t entirely familiar with all of the bird species on Earth but he understood the main concept, an eagle will allow birds to sing but with little care of what they say due to an eagle’s ability to scare off or kill any prey weaker than itself. Loki realized that like an eagle, he had little care or interest in the words of mortals due to his ability to easily snuff out their existence as he had done in the past.

“My little bird,” Loki said fondly, his words a mere whisper in the silence of the library. It was a fitting nickname, for your mortality was as fragile as a small bird amidst predators. But a bird is able to sing a song so sweet that it can endear even the coldest of hearts. Perhaps there was still hope for him when it came to you.

----------

The quote is from Shakespeare’s play “Titus Andronicus.” You can find the quote here, on line 90 spoken by Tamora. 

#loki #Loki Laufeyson #loki x reader #loki x you #loki fanfic #loki fanfiction #loki (marvel) #mcu #reader fanfiction

[ecoamerica]

Watch the American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 now: https://youtu.be/bWiW4Rp8vF0?feature=shared

The American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 broadcast recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by active climate leaders. Watch to find out which finalist received the $50,000 grand prize! Hosted by Vanessa Hauc and featuring Bill McKibben and Katharine Hayhoe!

#ACLA24 #ACLA24Leaders #youtube #youtube video #climate leaders #climate solutions #climate action #climate and environment #climate #climate change #climate and health #climate blog #climate justice #climate news #weather and climate #environmental news #environment #environmental awareness #environment and health #environmental #environmental issues #environmental justice #environment protection #environmental health #Youtube