#its like a redemption arc in which no one did anything wrong

[cy-cyborg]

How your disabled character's allies react to their disability can make or break the representation in your story: Writing Disability Quick Tips

[ID: An image with “Writing Disability quick tips: How your character's allies react to their disability matters” written in chalk the colour of the disability pride flag, from left to right, red, yellow, white, blue and green. Beside the text are 2 poorly drawn people icons in green, one is standing with their hand up to the face of the other, who is in a wheelchair. /End ID]

Something I brought up in my big post about Toph Beifong was how the other characters reacted to Toph pointing out that things were not accessible to her and setting boundaries regarding her disability, which were ignored. I had more to say about it than I thought I did, as it turns out (when isn't that the case lol) but I feel like this is an important aspect of disability representation that is all too often over looked.

You can write the best, most accurate portrayal of a specific disability ever put to screen or page, but it won't mean much if all the other characters, specifically those we're supposed to like and empathise with, treat your character terribly for being disabled and having needs relating to said disability, especially if the story justifies their behaviour.

You see this most often with autistic characters and especially autistic-coded characters. The character in question will be given a bunch of autistic traits, most often traits relating to not understanding certain social dynamics or sarcasm, and when they get it wrong, the other characters we are supposed to like jump down their throat, tease them or outright abandon them. Autism isn't the only disability that gets treated this way, but it is one of the more common ones that get this treatment. It doesn't matter if you do everything else right when creating an autistic character if the other "good guys" constantly call them annoying, get angry at them or laugh at them for the very traits that make them autistic, or for advocating for their needs.

Likewise, if you have a leg amputee character who is otherwise done well, but is constantly being criticised by their allies for needing to rest their legs or taking too long to get their prosthetics on, it undermines a lot of the other work you've done. Same goes for having a wheelchair user who is accused of being a bore or a stick in the mud because they point out the places their friends want to go to on a group holiday have no wheelchair access, or a deaf character who is accused of being entitled for wanting their family to learn to sign, or anything else.

This isn't to say you can never have moments like these in your stories, but its important to remember that a) people with the same disability as your character will be in your audience. If you spend a whole season of your TV show shaming your autistic character for real traits that real autistic people have, they're not exactly going to feel welcome and may not want to hang around. b) it's going to very, very heavily impact people's perceptions of your "heros" who do this, especially in they eyes of your audience members who share the character's disability or who have had similar experiences. This isn't like calling someone a mean name or being a bit of a dick when you're sleepy, it's going to take a lot to regain audience appeal for the offending character, and depending on exactly what they do and how frequently they do it, they may not even be able to come back from it at all. And finally, c) there should be a point to it outside of just shaming this character and saying the other guy is an asshole. Like I said before, you're character is criticising real people's real disabilities and the traits or problems that come with them, things that they often have no control over, it shouldn't be used as a cheap, quick way to establish a quirky enemies to lovers dynamic or show that one guy is kind of an ass before his redemption arc. If you really must have your characters do this, be mindful of when and how you use it.

#Writing disability with Cy Cyborg #Quick tips #Disability #Disabled #Disability Representation #Writing Disability #Writing #Writeblr #Authors #Creators #Writing Advice #Disabled Characters #On Writing

[poopystain]

guys lol would you still love me if i posted about why i wish pal from tmvtm got a redemption arc >.< if not Do not click that read more.

oh yes. also. sidenote. ive probably gotten something wrong (or worse yet: TERRIBLY wrong) so like. apologies in advance eahhaha this is just my personal thoughts on pal x(

its established that pal and mark are both extremely close with each other and have been for 3 years. im assuming pal wouldnt have had any other relationships as close (if any at all which i think no, she didnt) so mark really was her only footnote for any form of relationship. so, you know, i cant imagine how itd feel for your only best friend to make a mockery out of you on stage for advertisement and monetary gain.

also based on her body (face?) language during nearly all of that scene + the fact he built the replacement by using HER, she was clearly in the know about how things would go down on stage beforehand so i wonder what her reaction to that wouldve been like ?????? considering she planned it all in advance maybe that was like, the tipping point or something that made her start it all in the first place ? thats not important to my point i just think about it a lot

anyway so with her only experience with human relationships being theyll love you and then theyll (quite literally) throw you away, youve got her reason for the human uprising! she has the robots capture all humans yadda yadda and her plan is set into motion. something i find interesting though is her treatment of the robots being kind of similar to how mark treated her (or at least how she percieved it)?? like. uses them for orders and then once they start being useless to her, build a new better robot with a disregard for how the old ones feel. idk. something something La Cycle

the thing is though no one has proven pal wrong on why she SHOULDNT do the whole 'human uprising'. you can say katie gave her reasons but i think it wouldnt have worked even if pal listened to what katie had to say. for pal to get over her existing grief and trauma she cant just be Told that theres good in the world. why would she believe that, especially coming from the girl of the family she projects her experiences onto?? she needs to be shown!! she needs to learn firsthand that theres good relationships out there and that not all relationships are bad, NOT SECONDHAND!!!!!!!!!! because to pal, katies words are just a rephrased version of marks "power of love". that no matter what, "they can get through anything...... with the power of love. its worth it....... for love." and that means nothing to her! it meant nothing coming from mark and it certainly wont mean any more coming from katie

and she already believes that the mitchells are a great example of how relationships are just oh so bad. she refuses to let go of the idea that the mitchells are so bad because shes projecting!! she thinks relationships are 'pesky and only hold you back', and so katie is probably the last person on earth that pal would want to listen to yap about their familial relationship and how Worth It it is

she asks "what is it about the mitchells that eludes me?" and outside of the literal meaning, its probably how despite their shortcomings its their relationship that helped them overcome pal in the end. and she cant understand that because of her view on relationships - especially her view on the MITCHELL FAMILY relationship. or maybe im just overthinking that line of dialogue but we dont talk about taht LOLLLLLLL,LLLLLL,,, but like why did you phrase it like that girl. im onto you

and while i wish she was redeemed (because im sure despite the effort it would take she *could* be redeemed, she would just need to learn to love again and i think it would be really interesting to see how she would be After The Betrayal) i also can understand why the movie killed her off. like, no one except mark really knows the Full Extent of what happened, and the mitchells are the main characters and pal would probably rather dip herself in water than make meaningful relationships with the mitchells, and no ones going to stop to ask her whats wrong and have a meaningful conversation when shes trying to kill them, among many many other reasons so theres not a lot of great ways to redeem her. but! like! why did they turn her death into a joke. and then take katies fake death 10 times more seriously! idk. that always kind of bothered me but its whatever

thats all. hope its coherent because ive never been good at writing analysises or whatever this counts as

#literally nobody who follows me cares about this but like idk maybe you like to read #i dont even really like this movie that much but fuck it we ball #i might delete this post later. if i get embarrassed. i dunno #the mitchells vs the machines #pal tmvtm #cute girl shit

[v-arbellanaris]

PLEASE share about the Cullen Cult Arc

sighs. this is my second time writing this post ;~; literally why does the autosave option exist if tumblr doesnt actually bother to autosave anything, i dont fucking get it.

this is going to be much briefer than the original post i wrote because im still REELING over how tumblr just ate the entire fucking post. its fucking gone. and idk if i have the energy or mental capacity rn to rewrite the whole thing. basically, this arc - which is the arc i developed for him in vee verse - is the arc i think cullen should've had in dai.

firstly, i'm not retconning anything he said or did in dao or da2. this is because those things serve a narrative purpose. cullen is a good templar - that's the entire crux of the problem. he exists in these two games as a narrative tool; he represents the views of the chantry. as such, anything you do with his character arc cannot be divorced from the reality of the mage/templar conflicts, and the glaring issues of the chantry and must, actually, address and involve those things, because cullen is a product of his surroundings. i'm not saying this to minimise or give him excuses for anything he's said or done, but that is made true for him by his very positioning in the narrative as being the chantry's voice. for most of my playthroughs, which lean pro-mage, cullen is an antagonistic force - he has to say and do horrific things, and it would be stupid for me to retcon the horrible things he did.

secondly, my main issue comes from his writing in dai - probably to no one's surprise. i am not unopposed to having a redemption arc for him in dai - this is villain-fucking the blog, sorry not sorry - but the problem is that he does not have one. to have a redemption arc, the following two things needs to happen:

the realisation/acknowledgement/knowledge/whatever that he caused harm to people with his actions/inactions

addressing the False Belief that he has embraced that has previously justified his harmful actions/inactions in order to accept the Truth (this is just basic character narrative construction).

and dai fails to do both of these because the writing team in inquisition is physically incapable of admitting the chantry is wrong and has done wrong and will continue to do wrong. they are physically incapable of looking at fucked up power dynamics and clear cases of oppression and not going "but what if the oppressed people. wanted to be oppressed. NEEDED to be oppressed, even."

which leaves his character arc - whether you want to consider it redemptive or not - confusing. he's trying to shake a lyrium addiction? sure, okay. but why is he addicted to lyrium? why is being addicted to regular ol' lyrium bad? it's not blue lyrium that killed meredith, it's not blue lyrium that corypheus and samson are using.

you get confusing things like cullen's entire character arc being centered around lyrium addiction... but no one seems to give a shit if the inquisitor takes lyrium and becomes a templar, except cullen. you get confusing things like cullen's entire character arc being centered around recovering from lyrium addiction and the templar route in dai and you get to the scene where all the templars get their lyrium draughts. the ceremony and chanting and celebration around getting the lyrium, when barris takes his draught, which is frankly revolting. but it highlights the inconsistency - lyrium, this scene tells us, is good. because the templars are good, and they use it for good. yet cullen's entire arc is about overcoming his lyrium addiction, but don't worry!!!! templars are still good and lyrium is still good. its fucking INCOHERENT!!!!!!

he is addicted to lyrium because that is how the chantry maintains absolute control over its templars. it is a mind-altering substance that causes paranoia, which the chantry specifically takes advantage of and feeds with their all mages are inherently dangerous rhetoric, which is a false rhetoric, as i've pointed out before. but instead of acknowledging any of that, dai's writing goes "lyrium is Bad because [mumble mumble] and its So Important that he doesn't take it so that [mumble mumble]".

because the story is physically incapable of uttering anything even vaguely critical of the chantry.

so, this covers my main issue with his writing in dai. i would ideally try to fix it - without retconning anything he did in dao or in da2. this is what the cullen cult recovery arc is referring to.

i'm not going to go into it in too much detail but the templar order - inclusive of the seekers - fits a lot of the parameters of a cult. specifically, the BITE model, but also this checklist, and a whole bunch of other parameters i found when researching into cults for this specific reason. (which. makes sense. seeing how the orlesian chantry is was also technically a religious cult that becomes the main religion of the lands by actively slaughtering all the other sects)

but what's particularly interesting about it specifically is that, in-world, no one else seems to think it's a cult. for all of cullen's views, he is not the extreme end in da2 - alrik is. meredith is. what's particularly disturbing to me about cullen's point of view is that because he's a product of his environment, because he's a narrative tool representing the chantry's views, cullen's opinions and actions are actually a normality test. people in thedas don't find cullen's views repulsive because most average joes in thedas agree with him. i think it's easy to forget cullen isn't the outlier in-universe - we are.

but, canonically speaking, this is what happens: cullen, like most good antagonists getting a redemption set up, misses his chance to Embrace Change at the end of da2. he sides with meredith too late for it to matter or make a difference - mages (who you learn on the templar route, he's not exactly eager to kill) who he's supposed to protect are already dead. but what happens in kirkwall shakes him to his core and he looks to leave the order entirely - a good step.

the problem is that he leaves the order to join the inquisition. the inquisition, which is headed by the left and right hands of the divine. the right hand of the divine is a seeker herself. the inquisition is spearheaded and justified by the divine, who he has been trained for most his adult life to be subservient to. the divine who formed the inquisition to replace the templar order and hired him to essentially train and recreate the order.

worse, still. no one thinks he did anything wrong. kinloch was not his fault, it was the fault of greagoir and the older templars who were simply not vigilant enough, meredith told him. how he acted to keep order in the circle and the city after the viscount was executed is admirable, cassandra tells him. he was only following orders, leliana admits grudgingly, he stood up for what was right when meredith went too far. no one thinks he did anything wrong, because he is a good templar. because all the atrocities he committed were not committed against people - they were committed against mages, who are not people, not like you and me.

cullen hops from one cult to the next. the inquisition is the exact same thing he's always done and known, just repackaged - quite literally, considering the inquisition's symbol. but canonically, he thinks it's something different. he wants it to be different.

it's not, though.

so, the thought process behind my thoughts for him boils down to this: how does he get the language to describe exactly why this is wrong? how does he get the language to describe why it matters, why it's important, that he hurt real people? how does he get past the Lie that he believes - that he has to be a good templar, to stop anything like kinloch from happening again, since kinloch happened because they weren't vigilant enough, because they were too sympathetic to mages?

his arc shouldn't have just been about overcoming lyrium addiction. his arc should have been a story about recovering from being part of a hate group, a story about recovering from part of a cult.

there's several ways to go about it, i think. and if you want to specifically know how i'm going to do it, you guys should encourage me to write vee verse 😌

#asks #vee rewrites da #admittedly i cheated a bit but i gotta leave SOMETHING for the fic!!!! #cullen critical #just in case #bioware critical #dai critical

[vigilskeep]

Out of curiosity, what direction would you have taken Cullen's character in Inquisition? Or would you have included him at all? :3

oh man well

first of all i’m not sure i’m the best person to answer the question because i am profoundly uninterested in cullen. even in dao, his most cohesive appearance by a mile, where he features in my favourite origin, he um... he sure is there! he serves his narrative purpose! i don’t know what else to say

more in the spirit of actually answering your question, i think dragon age inquisition is as fundamentally incapable of making good use of cullen as a game that would make cullen part of its main squad inherently must be. dragon age inquisition is not capable of breaking down what is wrong with the templars, which is why you get... i don’t know why people call it a redemption arc even in quotation marks. he just shows up. he still supports the templars, and would rather you go to them, who shouted you down in the street, than the mages, who by all appearances straight up invite you over. he has not had to face the consequences of his work in the templar order or his treatment of mages; for all intents and purposes, from his perspective, all he did wrong was not notice that his knight-commander was an anomaly who was crazy. he is fundamentally the exact same guy who told me to my face mages were not people, except he’s polite about it now, because this is dragon age inquisition and we all just need to shut up and come together to defeat the Real Problems. it is completely canonically possible for him to have taken part in two circle annulments, one of which he personally instigated. dragon age inquisition does not care!

so to take cullen in a decent direction for his character—if you insisted on bothering to include him in yet another game at all—you would have to be writing him in a different game than the one where the hero has no choice but to lead an organisation with cassandra and cullen at their side, where every challenge to that organisation’s divine purpose is laughed off. (meanwhile one seemingly humble elven apostate, who actually has entirely other concerns, is the only compulsory mage. no rebel aligned mages are even optional companions in the game.)

i am interested in what it would theoretically take to write a compelling ex templar character. my own inquisitor is an ex templar! dragon age is a series designed to challenge your ideas of what backgrounds allies can come from, and designed to throw in your face that, for better or worse, good or evil, everyone on every side is also a person who believes they have their own reasons to do what they do. but if you wanted the ex templar character to be cullen, you have to challenge the foundations of his beliefs as a templar. you have to make him... actually regret being a templar? criticise the templars for anything other than imperfect service to the chantry and impolite wording of their deadly prejudices? you might even want to consider centring his personal quest on, hey, the terrible things he’s done and believed, not on the harm to the poor little stoic self-sacrificing templars

sorry this is coming across a little aggressive. you see why i’m the wrong person for the job. i don’t like cullen and he was an antagonistic force in the previous two games who my characters felt personally threatened by. i don’t see why i have to swallow that he’s one of the good guys now without him facing a single consequence, much like cassandra, who was introduced interrogating my friend. (but hey, this religious army has good intentions!) and i certainly don’t see why you would not only do all that but make him the face of a ludicrously flat, wish fulfillment romance only available for women of the conventionally attractive races (available for circle mages! with a throwaway line about how she’s not like the other girls to address it!) to get straight married and settle down with a dog and a picket fence. (i’m not saying there is no place for wish fulfillment romances whose only stumbling block is cutesy awkwardness. but that’s not what dragon age is for! where’s the teeth! it’s representative of a wider tone change in dai that i deeply dislike and if i get onto it i’m going to make this post so long. and with this man?)

idk i think cullen should have been the rogue templar breaking rules to hunt wardens in awakening and sigrun should’ve got to cut his head off. the end. that’s my ideal. sorry again

#well. this is being posted i guess #if anyone wants me to tag inquisition negativity or character specific negativity for whatever reason pls just let me know btw

[sokkastyles]

Just saw the craziest take. Zuko's redemption arc will be incomplete til he helps his sister heal and he let's go of the sibling rivalry Ozai created. What? Am I missing something? He needs to help his abuser heal?

It's not just the idea that he needs to help his abuser heal that is bad. This idea fails on its very premise. Not to mention that Zuko learning that he did not have to play nice with abusive people or listen to them was a big part of his redemption arc. Which includes Azula because there was that whole thing where he almost joined the gaang in Ba Sing Se until Azula convinced him to join with her, and the climax of his arc was rejecting and atoning for that choice and then defeating Azula in battle in combination with Katara, in a perfect reversal of his choosing Azula over Katara at the end of book 2. Saying NO to Azula was a large part of Zuko's redemption arc.

But the main reason why this take is wrong is that Zuko ALREADY let go of the "sibling rivalry." Which wasn't a sibling rivalry to begin with, because Zuko was never a rival to Azula, he was her Ozai-approved punching bag. Him standing up to her and defeating her was rejecting what Ozai created, which was not a sibling rivalry but a golden child/scapegoat dynamic where Zuko was the scapegoat. Zuko refusing to BE the scapegoat any longer IS letting it go.

Zuko let it go when he told Ozai that Azula lied to him about the Avatar's death. He let it go when he told Ozai that he didn't care about his approval anymore, and therefore has no reason to seek it either from Azula or by fighting her. He doesn't fear being Ozai's scapegoat anymore and he's not cowed by Azula's threats. He chooses to walk away.

And like, I know I keep saying this but I can't stress it enough. What Zuko does in walking away is the thing that abusers fear the most. Believing that you are responsible for "healing" an abusive person is what a lot of abusive people want, because it's another way for them to control the relationship and the narrative. Walking away from an abusive relationship is always a valid choice, and sometimes it's a necessary choice. And sometimes that's what letting go looks like.

And that's sad, but it was never Zuko who couldn't let it go. It's also not Zuko who continues to hold on to it, who challenges his sibling to an agni kai and says it was "always meant to be" even after the other person has chosen to walk away. Zuko left, remember? Azula was the one who came after him in "The Southern Raiders" with the intent to kill him because she couldn't let him walk away and live. Azula is the one who won't back down from a fight and says it was "the showdown that was always meant to be." Zuko came back to face her because he wanted to save the world. Azula is the one who holds onto a personal grudge. Azula is the one who cheats when she realizes she can't win. Azula is the one who almost kills her brother and laughs while he is dying. (Do NOT talk to me about Zuko's expression while she is tied to a grate when Azula had THAT expression after she had struck her brother with lightning.)

Azula is the one who, in the comics, continues to hold onto her hatred, continues to justify Ozai's abusiveness, and rejects Zuko's attempts to reach out to her every single time. Azula is the one who used Zuko's offer of dignity to weasel herself into a position where she could keep their mother's letter from him and force Zuko to take her along and put them all in danger. If anything, I'd say that Zuko's mistake in that comic was believing that she would be helpful to him in the first place and that she wouldn't try to take advantage of him. But the fact that he does continue to try to be kind to her shows how much he has risen above what his family tried to do to him. But he also has every right to be angry at her and distance himself from her completely. Just because he's still hurting doesn't mean he hasn't healed. And Zuko's abusers aren't the ones who get to be the measure of whether he has healed. Especially when they keep trying to hurt him.

I find it interesting that Azula is the one who keeps holding onto the idea that she is Ozai's golden child, and yet I've never, ever, ever seen it suggested that Azula should let it go, even when Zuko has risen above it and Ozai has rejected her. Even while Azula's reluctance to let go of this destructive mindset continues to hurt her as well as those around her. That's what Azula's mother tried to tell her in the mirror at the end of ATLA, that's what Zuko tried to tell her at the end of the "Search," and why she wept when he did. It's also why Ursa offered Azula an apology even when she didn't remember her, because she could see that Azula was holding onto this thing so tenaciously. Azula's mind has been telling her this whole time that she needs to let it go, but she can't. And that's a tragedy, but it's not one that Zuko is responsible for or had any hand in making.

#zuko #azula #ozai #abuse cw #atla comics #the search

[suffarustuffaru]

what is your opinion on the fact that tappei intended us to hate reinhard for killing theresia

hello!! :o im not sure if tappei really Intended for us to hate reinhard for that per say—i think more so tappei intends to show the astrea drama in general in a very nuanced manner (unless he proves me wrong and does weird stuff to develop them later on wjfnd but ill stand by this atm because theres a lot of textual evidence i think!!)

the arc 5 astrea drama is the very first time we learn about Any of that, and the way we learn it is interesting. this is AFTER getting attached to reinhard and wilhelm, who prior to arc 5 were established to be good well meaning and respectable people. then heinkel comes in claiming they both did shitty stuff, and of course heinkel makes the worst impression of all time, is shitty himself, AND interrupted wilhelm and reinhards reunion, so we’re not inclined to side with heinkel here. but the more we learn about the astrea family conflict, the more we realize, alongside subaru, that 1. wilhelm is not as great as he seems to be (its like learning that a close family member or friend has done some terrible stuff!! the common reaction to it is to feel Disappointed or Sad or maybe a little angry!!) and subaru also learns that 2. the entire situation is not black and white. it takes a heavy emotional toll on wilhelm, heinkel, and reinhard.

it’s also interesting that we dont Always learn info about it directly from the family members themselves—theresias dead of course and doesnt say much when she briefly comes back (more on this later), reinhard becomes more subdued around his family (which has gotta be a trauma response in an attempt to minimize the conflict), heinkel and wilhelm are unreliable narrators driven by their emotions. we learn some of the bulk of the drama from JULIUS, an outsider, but someone with ties to reinhard personally and the knights. so we’re also getting unreliable info about someone like heinkel (whos got a reputation thats honestly shittier than even his behavior, which i pity him for), and someone like reinhard is extremely hard to read (we just know that hes. you know. Traumatized. and Sad.)

i DO think though that throughout all of this we’re supposed to sympathize with EVERY astrea family member. every single one. we’re meant to understand each of their actions, because they all contribute to the family dysfunction unwillingly or consciously.

we’re given the reasoning behind almost all of their actions in the conflict. wilhelm lashed out because of grief, and hes spent years regretting what he did and not knowing how to fix things. heinkel’s an alcoholic from stress, trauma, and self-hatred, and post-arc 5 we see more of his psyche (which is shown in a very honest sympathetic light as well, hinting at heinkel getting future development and most likely a redemption arc). heinkel then lashes out (which is a Sad pattern in this family given wilhelm also does that... and its implied that heinkel is also like this Because of wilhelm's influence) to deal with all of this too (and because he Genuinely thinks those things now. hes a sad bitter man). we also know from side stories that heinkel used to be a good man who truly loved reinhard, and we do know that heinkel still loves louanna and has spent YEARS searching for a cure. as for reinhard, he was a CHILD (five when it first started!!) throughout almost all of this conflict, and hes the youngest member of his family and still young even as he’s grown up now. and he certainly didnt Intend to kill his own grandma when he was five, and he definitely deals with the guilt of all that years later. he shuts down around his family in the present, for one. and two—reinhard was failed by his family members, who have been ADULTS for the entire conflict and are his father and grandfather respectively. if anything, reinhard has the least blame here. he was a child!! a child thats been conditioned into serving the kingdom at All Costs to himself!! heinkel and wilhelms grief is understandable but it should not cost them their literal child!! they were the ones with the responsibility to pull themselves together and they failed to do that!!

but then reinhard kills theresia.

the thing with reinhard killing theresia is that reinhard was very much not wrong for that. tappei takes the time to show corpse soldier theresia going after heinkel and wilhelm—both of which are too weak in this moment physically and emotionally to stop theresia, WHO IS THEIR MOTHER AND WIFE RESPECTIVELY. and iirc wilhelm was also injured by her. heinkel pisses himself in fear while begging for her to stop—or something along those lines. its Terrifying. and it shows theresia, as she was in that moment, is a threat!! what else was reinhard going to do?? if he doesnt apprehend theresia, shes going to kill the rest of their family T^T

yeah so. reinhard kills theresia. afterwards, heinkel and wilhelm give reinhard shit for it but again, they were going to DIE if reinhard hadnt stepped in. and its clear that reinhard is saddened by what he had to do, even as he says that the corpse soldier theresia ISNT THERESIA. and reinhard is technically kind of right!! that was a corpse soldier!! she was both theresia (her last words to wilhelm are proof of this) and Not Theresia (she already died years ago!! this was a reanimated corpse!!).

its wilhelm and heinkel that misinterpret reinhard’s demeanor as him Not Caring. because he does care, but reinhard has always had an uncanny personality—likely partly because of trauma (remember how i said he shuts down a bit around his family? common trauma response) and partly because of reinhard’s endless divine protections giving him a very. Unique. perspective on everything. so reinhard has difficulty with connecting with others because of all of that. hes Really hard to read, especially in a complicated situation like this where its basically a lose-lose for everyone involved. wilhelm and heinkel are blinded by their grief and fear and anger and because reinhard 1. killed theresia, 2. said that that Wasnt Theresia, and 3. said he didnt regret killing theresia and 4. said that he did the right thing (which is probably because, again, what else could he do, theresia was going to kill heinkel and wilhelm)... yeah so wilhelm and heinkel read reinhard as being cold and unfeeling and callous so they both completely give up on reinhard in this moment. the coffin is. metaphorically and literally closed here, reinhard killing theresia (again. for the second time. if youre heinkel and wilhelm) was the very last nail.

and ultimately like. again, tappei gives us All the narrative tools to understand each member of the astrea family in this conflict. tappei also even notes the detail (iirc. in like a qna somewhere. if someone can find it or whatever please feel free to add!!) of theresia, on her death bed in arc 5, had nothing to say to reinhard and heinkel. its kind of. weird. when she makes SURE that wilhelm knows that she loves him but she doesnt even bother with her son and grandson - and heinkel does note that she looked at them "hatefully" (which. heinkel is an unreliable narrator, but its interesting for tappei to include that detail because heinkel also goes "she looked at us like That, who else could that be but mother?"). so uh. astrea family dynamics are complicated, have likely always been complicated even before everything went wrong with them, and tappei also gives us theresias full backstory in her pov in arc 5. AND he shows that the corpse soldier was still. Theresia. in the end. its extremely complicated. tappei takes the time to show that with every detail.

so anyway. yeah i feel like we're meant to sympathize with everyone in the astrea family. theyre all people with their own flaws, theyve all contributed in some way to the conflict whether they like it or not, they all have various degrees of blame, if you really want to go into whos the Most Guilty for all the dysfunction. even poor louanna contributed indirectly via falling into a coma T^T

but i dont think tappei means for us to like hate any of them. just because tappei Always shows how complicated the situation is. tappei is Always sympathetic to all astrea members as much as tappei also often calls them out for their flaws (heinkel is the most obvious example, tappei also does it with theresia and wilhelm a bit, and reinhard is shown to be a bit stilted in social situations with a habit of stomping on other peoples boundaries sometimes without realizing or because he thinks its for the other persons good, etc). and as much as i love making jokes at wilhelms expense because he did fuck up quite a Lot with his family (same with heinkel... and im a little sus of theresia but she Did care about heinkel in the past, we know that from her named chapter)...

like. i can understand where someone like wilhelm is coming from. do i hate him for lashing out at his five year old grandson and helping turn his son against his grandson? oh yeah. yeah. but i can Understand why he did it and i feel bad for him, which i think was more so tappei's goal here. so the audience can hate any of these characters if you so feel like it, but tappei means for us to deeply deeply get where they're coming from and why they did what they did. so maybe its more so that we're not supposed to hate these characters, maybe we're just supposed to hate Their Actions and wish that things didnt turn out that way. because it couldve been better at any turn - wilhelm couldve just not lashed out and blamed reinhard when he was five, heinkel couldve also pulled himself together, louanna didnt have to go into a coma, theresia didnt have to die twice, etc etc. but thats the point of it all i think. it turned for the worse but all we can do is try to think about How it turned out this way. and i pity all of them, really.

plus, reinhard, wilhelm, heinkel are 1000% getting some kind of further development with this, i'd say. and rezero is Repeatedly about forgiveness and growth, so yeah. i absolutely dont think we're supposed to fully hate any of them. if anything, im rooting for their growth before its. you know. Too Late. but yeah thats just my extremely long opinion/feelings on all of this, people are totally free to disagree of course :o !! hope that answers your question though!!

#rezero #re:zero #ask #reinhard van astrea #theresia van astrea #wilhelm van astrea #heinkel astrea #arc 5 spoilers

[blueper-saiyan]

alright I have a fandom hot take to get off my chest. It rubs me the wrong way a bit when I see people refer to Vegeta as Bulma’s (or occasionally Goku’s) pet. Honestly I’ve made the joke myself and I usually don’t mind it, but I feel a bit guilty/weird about it, and it’s taken me months to work out why. I think first there’s an in-universe reason. Vegeta’s actual backstory is that he was functionally Freeza’s pet for about three decades. And I don’t really want to compare his relationship with Bulma or Goku to his relationship with Freeza in a way that makes it sound like he just changed ownership. I’m pretty sure part of the reason the joke is so common is that Vegeta does call his own redemption(ish) arc “being domesticated.” (At least in English, I’m not worrying about the Japanese original today) It’s absolutely funny that he thinks of it that way, but I also think that Vegeta’s opinion can’t be trusted on anything, especially himself. It’s one of the more interesting parts of the character to me that he doesn’t quite think of himself as a person (a topic worth its own meta). He’s also got the aforementioned history of being dehumanized. Combining that with his internalized idea that the only valuable trait is strength and being kind or merciful or caring is just weakness, it makes sense that he might decide to label his character development as “domestication,” even though that’s not really a good description of learning to find contentment in peace and care for others. So part of why that line is funny is the irony, even if there is some truth to it. Taking it at face value and using it as a joke on its own without the irony sort of feels like it misses the point for me.

Then there’s the half that I feel sort of guilty posting because I know it’s not the intent behind the jokes and it feels like I’m getting upset over something trivial and saying this feels accusatory, but I’m getting my hot take out of my system once and for all regardless. I feel like I see people say Vegeta is a pet either because he doesn’t have a job and he’s just living off Bulma’s money, or because he’s really weird sometimes. And I really don’t like the implications of either of those. Again, I am aware it’s a joke, I know that I’m not supposed to be taking it literally, but. Not working a job sure as hell doesn’t make someone less than human. Being financially supported by someone else does not make someone a pet, that’s spectacularly fucked up. And behaving strangely, even in an animalistic way, also does not make someone less than human or someone else’s pet. (and for the record I can’t actually think of much Vegeta has done that’s animalistic in canon, the closest to that has been eating the bug person, and he did that in a pretty human way. He cooked that bug person first and everything lol. Vegeta being cruel is not animalistic, it’s just a negative character trait. Most animals aren’t even aware enough to be cruel, so it’s a pretty human negative trait at that. I know it’s popular fanon to make him more animalistic but it is fanon. That’s probably a really hot take too but whatever.) Actually this goes for jokes about Goku too, who is the one who actually has some “animalistic” traits in canon. I hate the implication that the way either of them acts would make them the “pet” of a more “normal” human character. It feels really gross. Especially because they read far more as neurodivergent and/or having trauma then they do as true aliens. Part of that is an inherent side product of writing aliens as a human, because you can only really use things that humans are familiar with. But there’s also a whole history of which human traits get used to make an alien seem “inhuman.” I’m only personally familiar with the autism part of that history, but I know there’s lot more than that. Regardless, it certainly has an effect if you have those “inhuman” traits that people say are what makes an alien or robot or whatever into something less than human. So uh, “Vegeta is Bulma’s pet because he’s blunt, aggressive, often confused by other people’s intentions, and doesn’t always understand Earth” does not feel great as a joke. I know it’s not that serious and I know that’s not the underlying intention and I know that caring about this character in particular really does not help my case. But I guess I just can’t quite escape my feelings about it anyway.

#I’ve been brooding on this for at least a year I’m sorry about this one #No hate to anyone who does find the jokes funny #I can see why and some of them *are* funny #And it took me ages to even articulate why it gives me pause #But I guess I think it’s at least worth pointing it out in case anyone else feels the same #I’m sure Goku fans could give their own version of this rant because I see a similar trend there

[raayllum]

Hey, Rayllum. Noni here. I just read your post on Rayla and moonfam Coin plot line. It was really good. There's one thing that I'm worried about. It appears that Rayla's family will get some focus in this season. But I've seen a lot of extreme criticism about how the writers seemingly ignore the fact that all four parents caused Rayla so much hurt and loss.

I've seen some people say things such as "Rayla should never forgive them", "that she deserves better parents," demonizing and villainizing them as deadbeat parents. That they are undeserving of sympathy and unworthy of forgiveness.

While I understand and do admit that all four of Rayla's parents are big, massive screw ups who have horribly failed and massively disappointed Rayla as parents, I would imagine them constantly beating themselves up emotionally, enormously hurting and suffocating in their respective, albeit brutal punishments and in some way, paying the price for the actions and choices they've made. Having to suffer the consequences of how regretfully they let Rayla down.

Even if it takes them a very long time, I truly believe they will find a way of mending and repairing their relationship with their daughter. Which is why I believe they'll have an atonement/redemption arc with Rayla and show her how deeply important she is to each of them and how much they truly love her. Whether it's Rayla breaking these cycles on her own or all four parents realizing how their unintentionally hurtful actions, choices, and damaging patterns contributed to her losses and heartbreak thus committing themselves to showing Rayla how terribly wrong they are, I believe they would never waste that chance to make things right with their daughter.

In your honest opinion, what are your thoughts on this?

Love your analysis. Keep up the great work.👍

So this is perhaps my biggest hot take regarding the Moon Fam:

Lain and Tiadrin didn't do anything wrong.

Maybe this is just because I don't have kids, or don't want kids, but I really do not understand the expectation we put on parents (especially mothers) to not have any goals or obligations that are as important to themselves as their children. And parents IRL put things 'above' their children all the time. How often do parents uproot their entire kids' lives for job opportunities? Or, you could argue, even divorce (although that's its own can of worms).

Lain and Tiadrin could've split the time, but even that would be difficult travel and training wise, and they were both asked to come. Who would be their replacement while they were doing a two-week travel exchange back and forth? And while one would be with their daughter, they'd have effectively no time for their marriage. They could've stayed behind, but clearly felt like this was their life's calling - and it's clearly a good thing that they did, given that they were the Dragonguards that made a difference in the end. As Rayla says, "We're here and Zym is alive, all because of them." This is important particularly in the context of Lain and Tiadrin effectively being elite soldiers in a time of Cold, if not borderline outright, war, especially since timeline wise, they probably left 1-2 years after Queen Sarai's death (or less) when Viren, at the very least, was actively chomping at the bit to try and find a way to attack the Storm Spire and take revenge. So there was more than a solid reason to call them into duty to begin with, and reason for them to go, believing this was crucial in maintaining a world where their daughter could live in relative peace

Although it was undeniably difficult for Rayla and she missed them terribly, Lain and Tiadrin 1) maintained Rayla's usual environment in terms of place and culture, 2) in a space where she could be socialized and grow up normally and 3) with loving, caring parents who could devote time to her for an otherwise pretty stable upbringing, barring the initial Bloodmoon Huntress debacle (which - how was anyone supposed to see that coming?)

Then they 'die' doing their duty to the end. One of the reasons I always thought Rayla was so hurt at the thought of them abandoning their post (and while she says she wishes they were dead, she's also very happy to see Callum's drawing of them even before she knows the truth and still thinks they're cowards - the societal expectations and shaming cannot and does not erase her love for them) because it was like "You left me for this, and then you left this too, so how important was I really?" Then she sees it was Incredibly Important to them, and therefore so was she.

Runaan and Ethari meanwhile, are much more complicated.

Now, anyone who knows me knows that I've dragged Runaan and Ethari through the mud for their respective choices (Runaan's behaviour on the battlements and his choice to train Rayla as an assassin in the first place, and Ethari for the Ghosting). I'm also sympathetic and understanding, I like to think, to why they made each decision and the nuance of their perspectives. Runaan, largely, falls into a similar camp that Viren-Claudia-Zubeia (arc 1) do, which is that a world without ongoing war is Unimaginable to him. He passed down his martyr complexes to Rayla, yes, but Bloodmoon Huntress (which makes that passing down explicit) also makes it exceedingly clear that Rayla was already like this. She hadn't had any training or any word from Runaan before her breakdown of "I wasn't strong enough, I wasn't fast enough" or her immense desire to help Suroh; those things, good and bad, were already innate, and led to her making her own choice of becoming an assassin. Runaan then agrees to train her, despite his own doubts concerning the profession for himself (which Ethari reassures him out of, and doesn't that bite all three of them in the ass later, huh?)

Like Rayla begins the show wanting to be an assassin just as badly as Runaan does, and for the exact same reasons, she's just very very bad at it, and quickly defects when she sees there's another way. But it's unsurprising to me that Runaan - who's older, who just got very harshly reminded of Rayla's youth and 'poor judgement' and knows he'll likely pay with his troupe's lives for it - refuses to really listen to her on it, at least as far as the princes go. Why would two humans want to help the son of the creature who killed their mother and is now threatening their father? It doesn't make any sense on paper and outside the context of the story, we, the audience consuming it, know is for children. Much the same way Callum understandably has reservations about Rayla in 1x06 and the boys don't know Rayla hasn't killed / spared Marcos until 1x08 at all in the first place.

Would also not be surprised if Ethari did the Ghosting spell (which, like Rayla, he revokes even before he knows there's a silver lining and that she didn't just seemingly run - which, we see in TTM and in S1 with her lying that Rayla does, routinely, run away from her problems under the guise of running after them) thinking that it was only a matter of time before Rayla's flower sunk, too. There were about 4-5 days in between the rest of the troupe's flowers sinking and then Runaan's, after all.

And again, all of this comes down to harm reduction. Yes, Lain and Tiadrin made imperfect choices in an imperfect world, and yes, Runaan made even worse choices in a decidedly more possibly perfect world, but that doesn't mean they deserve to Suffer in there forever (vs Aaravos whose going through the same isolation, but in a nice cushy prison with books and shit he can control with a wave of his hand). Like being coined is, according to Viren who loves to reduce consequences, canonically worse than death.

So yeah, I think they absolutely deserve to get out. What happens after that, and how much of a relationship they have with Rayla remains to be seen.

However, the idea that the writers are going to ignore how much repair this family needs to do is Absolutely Insane to me. Like just the worst, bad faith, willfully ignorant reading I could imagine. Not only is it judging something that is at least an entire season away (as I'm sure, if they are released in S5, what we'll see is the initial Happiness of the reunion and very little else of a longer aftermath) if not two (S6).

But it's like... the Entire Point of S4, and indeed the arc many characters embark on, is that anger, pain, and hurt are long lasting emotions that don't just go away. Especially when one of the biggest critiques of S4 was that "Rayla left for nothing" when yeah, she did, that was the Point, and she did it - quite clearly if you look at Any of her family dynamics just in the first three seasons - because of her parents. Rayla being able to recognize, more than just "they failed their duty" but that they failed her, that they hurt her, that she's Hurting from everything she's been through since the show started, is crucial in being able to deal with her self worth issues. Like it is the core of her character and absolutely the crux of her development going forward in future seasons. So yeah, pretending otherwise when it comes to her parents is just... Inane and non sensical to me, tbh

Rayla's entire arc going forward, in order to address her emotional needs, is going to be reaffirming that she can make mistakes and be flawed (and fail, like anyone else) and still be worthy of love, protection, and forgiveness. It is the perfect issue and arc to also develop alongside her learning how to adjust and rely on her family again, and in tandem with seeing them change for her in ways they weren't willing or were unable to do so before.

TLDR; the show addressing the Moon fam's failings and personal flaws is something that is crucial to properly addressing Rayla's, which has been confirmed in interviews multiple times by multiple writers to be a plot point in future seasons. Ezran's speech also spells this out to the audience directly to the point it's so on the nose even babies can't miss it: "But… It’s not that easy or simple. Because people are still hurting and they are still angry. We can’t ignore that, or pretend it will go away. Somehow, we have to hold it all in our hearts at the same time. We have to acknowledge the weight of the pain and loss, but open up our eyes and allow ourselves to hope and maybe forgive and love again."

Like it's not subtle. It's happening, lmao

#moon fam #thanks for asking #arc 2 #anonymous #mini meta #analysis series #runaan x ethari #requests #laindrin #the show: routinely points out how awful and unfair the Ghosting is #LIKE THERE'S A REASON god ppl read between the lines

[fellow-nerd]

Time to go crazy about the characterisation changes in the new atla cuz oh boy do I have thoughts

The main thing I noticed for all of them is that this show is focused about telling a story about a war torn world and how that affected everyone first and a coming of age hero story second, which is a choice considering the source material which balanced them both extremely well.it never had to be so heavy handed for the audience to get it but that also could be because it's a kids show at the end of the day 😅

Aang: where is my adventure loving kid. He just wants to ride the Elephant koi and show his new friends cool things. Yes, his past weighs heavy on him and expectations press down, but he's still just 12. It takes him time to work through his grief and his reluctance to save the world and that is literally his big arc. Learning to grow up and save the world (becoming THE avatar ya know). This Aang gets with the program quick and is only concerned with helping people and stepping up, like little dude ur telling me u don't want to go penguin sledding. I dunno it just feels so off. Love the stuff with gyatso too.

Katara: she's actually the most true to her og character I think. I just wish there was more focus on her like there was in the og. She was my first favorite charcter, put some respect on her name. It was criminal to give the opening to kyoshi, like girl u have ur own novels to be in! ALSO WHY DIDNT SHE BREAK THE ICEBERG!!! UGH SO MAD AT THAT.

Sokka: look I get it It's the year of lord 2024 misogyny has no place. So why don't we tell the story of how a guy learns that those views are wrong and how to change ur views rather than pretending that it never existing, like erasing it. As much as it can be critiqued Sokkas misogyny was the catalyst for Katara to hit the iceberg and free Aang. Narratively this gets them both invested in Aang and just shows Sokkas growth on every rewatch. They could've toned it down but it's a big part of his character growth and what are the gonna fill that with, if anything at all.

Suki: now her in live action I can get behind. She ate and left no crumbs. She put Sokka in his place and stole the episode for me. Also I loved the addition of her mom, honestly goals. Can't wait to see how they utilize her throughout she's the best. No comment.

Jet/freedom fighters: pretty much the same, I didn't love the condensing plot lines all into omashu tho

Teo/Sai: same as above but I loved the Way the two interacted it had so much depth.

Iroh: not sure how to feel. It feels wierd hearing iroh not voiced by Mako ya know. Like his dailougue was fine but it lacked that inflection Mako had which really Gave iroh all his character. It's big shoes to fill and it comes so close. I did die for the line where he says he's the one who owes Zuko. Like. Ugh. The implications of that. How Zuko made him wake up and gave him a reason to keep going. Its enough to make a girl cry.

Zuko: oh zuko, zuko, zuko, zuko. Again tough shoes to fill. I think that the characterisation is all there the challenge comes later on when we get his redemption arc. I do love the seeds they are planting especially in his relationship to Iroh.

Azula: now I called it as soon as I saw that girl, knew it was her who else could I have been. Just as evil, just as lustful for power, definitely in character for her to be doing what's she's doing this early on. Will definitely keep tabs on this one.

Bumi: now he about WRECKED ME ok. It was rough. I loved this recharacterisation. If ur gonna give us a war torn world, give me the war torn ruler, whose been carrying all that trauma and burden on his back for 100 years. Of course he's gonna be mad at Aang of course HES gonna BE MAD himself. So yeah it was rough to watch but because it was so hard hitting to see how war destroyed Bumis mindset, and then so wonderful to see Aang give his oldest friend a piece of himself back

In conclusion I care about Avatar way too much and will be ranting about this even more as I continue watching

#also leaves from the vine during that flashback #criminal #dont do that to me! #*sobs* #avatar the last airbender

[aroacehanzawa]

THANK YOU FOR RBING WITH YOUR THOUGHTS especially the last line.

i really do miss when bsd stayed in its own genre, and I KNOW before someone comes at me that sometimes you gotta do a little exploring, a little swaying. but not like this. i just dont enjoy the manga anymore because it's so far from what i fell in love with. and again before someone says oh then why are you reading it and complaining if it makes you so mad😤😤😡 IM NOT EVEN READING IT. I CHECK THE LEAKS AND I GO YEAH THIS IS STILL JUST FYODOR AND DAZAI NOT DYING. also because i care about the characters and i still want to see how the whole thing is resolved cuz guess what im not gonna just stop reading it after i invested 3 years of my life into it.

anyway yeah. as i said. whagever.

ME TOO.

The thing is that bsd has always been something more than just silly detectives vs port mafia shenanigans, but it managed keep this larger world contained in a way that made sense in the story. For example the book, which is practically a deus ex machina device, still had its place and function in the story - francis wanted it to bring back his daughter, and even the usage of the page to frame the agency was logical.

Even the more high tech stuff like the eyes of god surveillance system was well played - not only did we get a funny ace attorney moment of francis interrupting the courtroom and buying the software, it actually became plot relevant in the cannibalism arc to locate fyodor and early doa arc to find mushitarou. (and francis's death fakeout was actually good, because it wasn't overdone yet, plus we got a nice and fun redemption arc for him)

But then we're suddenly getting a bunch of new ability weapons like fukuchi's sword and prison realm one order and idk. what else have we had. Time manipulating cat lady who was practically used as an off-screen human ability weapon for dazai's convenience and then immediately killed off with no name no dialogue no character #feminism.

All this while it seems like asagiri completely forgot about the part where atsushi is somehow a beacon towards the book, but that isn't too surprising because it feels like asagiri has forgotten about the role and personality and agency of the characters in general. The thing that drew me into bsd in the first place was its sincere focus on the human experience, the way that each chapter and mini arc seemed to have something to say about the overarching themes of finding a reason to keep living and a place to belong. Now i feel like the last time we got to see any of this kind of commentary was with tachihara's arc, or briefly with sigma, but it still feels too shallow.

And like you said there's nothing wrong with a little exploring and a little swaying, in fact i think the whole premise of bsd is that it allows for so much exploration, but to me it feels like the potential that bsd held in the beginning is just not being met anymore. Or rather we're just not heading in the direction we could've been going in.

Atsushi and his implied connection to the book like i mentioned earlier. The order of the clock tower that has been teased since agatha's introduction and some sporadic mentions/implications of its existence since then. Dazai and fyodor's unknown first meeting (this is why i also don't like them killing off fyodor just like that because we still don't know anything about him BUT the way we've ended up in this inexhaustible loop of dazai wins fyodor wins dazai wins fyodor wins i also don't see any way out of it unless one or both of them die so. asagiri just look at what you've done)

idek what i'm trying to say here i'm just really frustrated because i've invested so much of my time in following bsd and it's like as a reader i'm not even getting anything out of it.

anywya read orv for good plot and characters and worldbuilding and literally perfect storytelling and respect for the reader

#bsd

[rosiethedragongeek]

(telling u here bc i didnt wanna hijack the fic post jdbddbbfskdvb)

the main reason I DON'T/WOULDN'T want a canon Spitelout redemption is because I'm not confident Dreamworks could do it well. Riders Of Berk and Race To The Edge do the job of making sure we understand that we are NOT meant to sympathise with Spitelout. Three's a pattern and off the top of my head there are atleast three "spitelout bad!" episodes ("Thawfest", "Snotlout Gets The Axe", "Notlout") and a couple where it is featured as a B plot ("Race to fireworm island"). The writing for Snotlout specifically is probably what I'd pin down as the best in the show, so i guess I never thought to narrow it down to bad writing. I knew that (apparently) it was never commited to one way or the other in the end, but Ive expressed numerous times that the constant back and forth is VERY interesting to me. I love that Snotlout keeps forgiving him. I love that Spitelout keeps getting worse. I love that even though Spitelout causes him pain, and its acknowledged that its wrong, Snotlout still admires him and pines for his attention. Its very special and relatable to me that it takes a lot for Snotlout to learn his lesson, that hes constantly optimistic, and that it always hurts him because he knows he should expect that by now. But he doesn't.

Dreamworks gave us a fair share of Spitelout episodes, seemingly testing the water of what they could get away with showing each time (High amount of pressure -> degrading him infront of his friends -> causing extreme delusion and paranoia). I think they knew that if we were going to get a conclusion, which we had to, it would have to be an important part of the episode - maybe even of the season. Maybe Spitelouts following them around for the episode, and Snotlout's doing perfectly fine, but Spitelout keeps criticising and jumping in to set an example. Maybe things go wrong and someone gets injured. Maybe its Hiccup, or Hookfang, or snotlout himself. and Snotlout has to stand there with a weapon - because I highly doubt Spitelout would take it seriously if there wasnt one involved - and say for the final time that he doesnt need him. That hes had enough of the criticism and the backhanded praise and the stupidly high standards. That he loves him like the father he has failed to be, and that thats what stings most. And Spitelout wouldve had to make a choice. And dreamworks did not have the anything neccessary to do that.

It would have had to been so carefully crafted. So many things would have had to be balanced. Snotlout shouldn't be too soft because then he wont listen - but he cant be too harsh because Spitelout is a survivor of the same mentality that he himself has. They cant put every single bit of blame on him - but to not do that would be irresponsible because they are his actions. They probably csnt use the word 'abuse' - but to use anything else would be downplaying it. It would have been so extremely difficult that I dont know if i wish they had even tried.

It just upsets me to know that they dont have a conversation. They never even have one. (english teacher voice) Maybe their relationship is less of a redemption arc, but more of a tragedy on the endless cycle of abuse perpetuated on war-ridden homelands like Berk.

DUDE

DUDE

This is such a thorough analysis I’m obsessed (and I am SO sorry it took me so long to get here omg)

They really do have a very cyclical, Snotlout gives and Spitelout takes type relationship. Most of their episodes include Snotlout looking up to Spitelout in the beginning, Spitelout being pretty awful to Snotlout in one way or another, and then a sorta positive interaction at the end that doesn’t necessarily address their conflict or what Spitelout did within the episode. It is then assumed that Snotlout and Spitelout have made up and are good again. Only for it all to happen over again.

It really upsets me too that they never have a real conversation where they actually talk about what’s going on, and that there is no indication that anything will ever change between them (aside from Snotlout’s character growth and his new complete understanding of his self worth and the fact that he can live his life outside of the box Spitelout’s created for him.

Thank you so much for this dude this is insane

#snotlout snotlout oi oi oi #fuck spitelout #snotlout jorgenson #snotlout #how to train your dragon #riders of berk #defenders of berk #race to the edge #httyd #rob #dob #rtte #thank you for the ask <3

[sleepy-seal]

{hi gale!! this'll be coming in waves so I don't flood your inbox too hard lmao. anyways part 1}

LORE Gale

What was the inspiration for his blue arc?

How was it putting ocean through every trial imaginable lmao

Not exactly LOREgale but why was Swap!Gale's hell Walmart. secondary why was shell in hell in the first place

At what point did the car dealership/rental service/whatever in Nebraska realize that something was Certainly And Extremely Wrong with Gale

Is he ever able to get therapy

Do you think when it was all calm he got some shitty storemade cake to celebrate

Did you ever want them to Go Insane?

Gale and Acher. can I ask about ocean's thoughts on the strange tiny murderous robot turned silly not-so-murderous robot throughout the arcs

Did anyone from Gale's old town wonder where they went?

Does he ever casually turn into a cat and then both people for a day

Has Gale ever gone to the ocean. because I think shell might like that. what was it like for them during Ocean Trip TM

OH BOY!!!!! MY FAVORITE

- the inspiration was partly inspired by, well, the pawn promotion. by becoming a queen lore gale became much more powerful than acher, and therefore much more dangerous. blue was kind of an improvised decision, as one of the main articles of clothing gale was wearing was . well, blue. so i kind of leaned into that a bit. the other part was well. the magnus archives. i made lore gale's character way more jarchivist coded than i intended so i leaned into it a bit, especially with gale progressively Losing their sense of humanity and their struggle trying to accept it.

- it was very fun lmao. they are my webkinz doll i am soaking with milk and throwing against the wall.

more answers under the cut because this is Long and i have a lot of things to say

- swap!gale's hell is walmart because 1) my partner moth goes there frequently and laments about how much of a labyrinth it is and 2) have you Seen walmart?? also the reason why sale is in hell is. um. fraud?? and also being a willing accomplice in and also enabling some of moth's war crimes.

- probably the moment gale walked into the dealership. they were glowing and sweaty and looked like they just got out of a fight (which they did) and immediately asked for a rental which. uh. definitely set people off. also their fingers were blue.

- maybe! once they are financially capable of it at least.

- probably! it would probably be a time when gale isn't in Stress Baking Mode but also too fatigued to make anything so they just buy a single cake slice and eat that. it tastes terrible but it's probably the most comforting thing they've had in a while

- yes. absolutely. 100%

- okay so i will try to simplify it enough in a way that Makes sense but also gives some insight to their thought process.

> gale under the belief that acher Really Is Moth or close to it and treats them as such, upset that "moth" is not really moth. they are also afraid of her

> they abandon "moth" and cut them off for a brief while, sabotaging its plan

> pure fear. they don't want to die to "moth". they briefly consider murder but quickly write it off

> truce. a calm period where gale thinks there may be a chance of redemption and rekindling

> moth comes back. he takes his eyes off acher and focuses more on shell's friend

> neutral, almost unfamiliar. acher asserts that they don't Actually care about anyone and gale believes them. since the real moth came back they can focus on them instead of the doppelgänger of the friend.

> rocky. they are on uneven ground and since the truce is technically off, it doesn't take much for acher to get on their bad side. this is probably the stage where gale is at their most unstable and willing to hurt back.

> truce, but better. gale hasn't quite forgiven acher yet. they can't. but at the very least they trust him enough to try again.

> trust. acher is a friend. they put their full faith in acher on improving and growing, even if forgiveness is not in sight yet.

- sorta? there were people gale knew before they ran away that considered gale a friend, but not the other way around. some of them think that they probably died, and some of them think they ran away because life was just too hard. their family misses them technically, but they also blame ocean for being so selfish.

- YES. 100%. turns out there are multiple benefits to being a cat. 1. is nobody will question you when you are annoying, because that's Just Cat Things.

- THEY HAVE! gale visited gem's cousin jeremy once or twice. he lives in california with his boyfriend, and they occasionally come by for family reuinions. mostly to see gale. but gale LOVES the ocean. they didn't get to see it much but it's always so big and they don't stop talking about the phenomenon that occurs in the sea.

#LOREVERSARY QNA

[lordbhreanna]

The one thing I miss about Star Wars is the vibes of Reylo and Caltrilla.

Like those ships wrote themselves, had wonderful thematic contrasts, were full of potential for amazing storytelling within the SW universe and all its weird space magic shenanigans, and the creators did... nothing that was worth it with their own material. They took the blandest, most boring path or simply destroyed the female character (I am still mourning Rey Nobody, even though I could care less about canon at this point in my life.)

I was willing to give Jedi Survivor a chance if, somehow, they pulled the "resurrected Trilla" card, but from what I have checked, they didn't. The game may be good, can't say because I haven't checked anything, but without Trilla and her dynamic with Cal (and also seeing Trilla and Cere interact!!)... it just doesn't sound that interesting to me. Respawn came up with such a great character and decided to get rid of her in one game.

Regarding Reylo, I'm not even gonna mention Episode IX because, while I understand people can enjoy it for a bit of fun or find something good in it (and I am truly happy for those people), that movie made me feel like my intelligence was being insulted, so yeah. Mentally, I am still at TLJ era.

Of course this is my personal opinion and experience with SW, which doesn't reflect anyone else and there's no right/wrong approach to this. I don't like indulging too much in the negative, because a) there are people still enjoying SW and Episode IX and b) fandom is for fun, so if you're not having fun..., let go of that fandom. Which is what I did.

However, I miss it sometimes, but for a saga that holds redemption arcs at the center of its narrative/thematic core, they fuck up a lot of them. Only ones which ended where it should, from what I remember, are... Vader and Kallus? And Revan, more or less.

Guess the answer is the same as always: fuck canon, write fanfic. If I ever manage to be a slighty more prolific writer, just a teensy bit, I would love to redo that one Caltrilla fic I dropped after watching Episode IX because I just couldn't engage with anything SW-related after that clusterfuck of a movie. I orphaned it from AO3, but it's still up.

Anyway, this random SW post is sponsored by a beautiful Caltrilla gifset that showed on my dashboard and reignited my hashtag FEELINGS.

#reylo #caltrilla #star wars #jedi fallen order #sw critical #my posts

[starlightshadowsworld]

Danganronpa 3: Despair arc episode 5.

Thonks.

Into a flashback of kid Ryota being bullied by some kids.

Having rubbish tipped onto him as they call him dirty and taking photos.

Kids are scary man.

Poor Ryota.

And his parents suck, and he copes by watching cartoons.

This got way to relatable.

Cool seeing his set up and such but man he's so stressed which... yeah, shout out to all the artists and animators out there.

Ya'll are great.

Back to Chisa heading to the Reserve Course.

Aaand we don't see it, it's skipped over of course.

I get that it's her punishment and it's a downgrade from her usual class which she loves.

And I know kids can be asshole's.

But I just hate that teaching these kids is considered a punishment.

These kids are looked down upon by everyone at the main school, it's just sad seeing that everyone really was against them.

Hammering the point that any one of those kids could've become Izuru Kamakura.

And for teaching them Chisa was treated awfully for it.

It's werid seeing Juzo calmly talk to someone.

Chisa's heard about the Kamakura project, I think it's too late though.

This sounds werid but I'm kinda glad they're not gonna be able to save Hajime.

Because can you imagine if they got him out and saved him?

The Reserve Course would probably be shut down or something especially knowing where the funds for it were going.

Hajime would be more depressed than ever, and these guys are not the people to give the "You're more than a talent speech."

Unless it's Chiaki than its a whole other story.

But than they'd be seperated and Hajime is back to square one.

... Fuck is the good ending for Hajime bring tortured so bad he literally becomes someone else?

I mean it does get better, hopefully if the end of Danganronpa 2 is any sign.

But man that's sad.

Did not need to re-live Juzo beating Hajime.

Ohh so they covered up Hajime being involved by saying he's been expelled.

Clever.

And looking like Jin Kirigiri wasn't involved, as they say the other staff on the board run the school.

Idk if its better or worse he wasn't involved.

Because either way he's enabling it.

I really like the idea of him being in on it, but than regretting it.

Much like the Director, case of history repeating itself.

And that guilt playing into his actions in the first game.

And partly why he kept Kyoko at arms length, he didn't want her getting caught up into this.

But also knew if Kyoko was near him she would snuff out the project easily.

It's okay if he's not, just makes him both a bad headmaster and a bad father.

"Make sure you're students don't make the news again."

Oh you're in for a rude awakening.

But Nagito's gone missing.

Suspicious.

And we get a shot of the applications of the 78th class.

Hell yeah.

And Jin looking at Kyoko's. Incase we forgot she's his daughter.

... Chisa why would you want to be Munakata's anything nevermind beloved?

Sworn enemy maybe, but beloved?

Aww the class having a celebration for her that's so sweet.

And Chiaki planned it, and she's been holding the class together.

Love that for her.

Fuyuhiko pretending he doesn't care but he does.

Man I missed these guys, even though it hasn't been long at all.

Hiyoko got taller, holyshit.

Gundam and Sonia giving a toast in true Gundam fashion might just be the sweetest thing I've ever seen.

Ryota saying he has no time for friendship.

I get your busy man but you can't stop friendship.

It will find you, you will be friended.

And yes that is a threat.

... Wait a sec... That wasn't Ryota, that's Imposter?!

Twogami my boy! I was wondering where he was.

Awh he's been covering for and looking after Ryota.

That's so sweet.

"This show can't end till its characters get a redemption."

I hope so.

"People can flake you out but carbs are always there."

Same ol Twogami.

He's not wrong though.

A plane and a fancy car.

..... SHE'S HERE.

And she put a bomb in her purse, or her purse was a bomb.

Either way that limo is gone, heh unintentional rhymes.

Junko Enoshima has entered the building.

As fabulous as ever.

And of course she's narrating her own life and insulting Mukuro at the same time.

I like how Mukuro's voice is almost monotone, balancing out Junko's more loud upbeat voice.

Junko's narration including the tragedy, so she had this shit planned from the get go.

This afternoon in fact.

Man imagine joining secondary school like what are your goals?

Oh I'm gonna destroy the whole world.

Can't even call her overconfident because she did it.

Mukuro being... Infatuated? With Junko doesn't suprise me, mainly cos I've seen that clip of them in the limo before.

Without context.

But even than makes sense, they may be the despair sisters but Junko has always been the mastermind behind the whole operation.

And for Mukuro to go through and do this shit for Junko, yeah she's gotta care for her a lot.

... Maybe too much...

The fact they both talk while Junko casually tries to kill Mukuro, I guess that's how they bond.

Because if they wanted to, they could kill the other.

The only one who would and succeeded was Junko.

"What an affect my bloody corpse would have on her."

Honestly, yeah I think it would. Junko wouldn't have killed her if it didn't give her despair.

Love that Mukuro didn't even know about them going to Hope's Peak.

Once again Junko is the brains of the operation.

Love the friendship between Ryota and Twogami.

And it makes sense why Ryota is so focused and why he spends all his time on his talent.

It's all he had growing up he has to make it.

Has to.

Annnd Ryota passed out.

Poor guy.

Twogami, my dude there are better and easier ways to get someone to help you.

Rather than just grabbing Mikan and dragging her away.

Poor Mikan.

So Twogami realised he was struggling and got him to stay with him.

That's sweet.

Probably wasn't the best idea given it enabled him to overwork himself so much.

But still sweet.

I'm sad we don't get to know his name but I guess that's the point.

I like to think if he had one, Ryota knew it.

... AHHHH MAKOTO!!!

My boyyy!!

I didn't think we'd see him in the despair arc, or at least this early but here we are.

Oh Makoto, look at how happy and not traumatised he is.

Savour this moment.

His little pep talk to himself.

Annnd Junko's here narrating about her plan and drawing Monokuma.

Imagine telling her the random kid before her is the one who's gonna defeat her.

"Who knows maybe fate will drop someone into my lap."

Oh it will... And there he is.

Hi Hajime.

And incase we didn't know if already, Juzo's verbal and physical best down of Hajime was the final nail in the coffin and why he agreed to do the project.

Fuck you Juzo.

"You'll be fine."

... No... No he won't.

#danganronpa 3: the end of hope's peak high school #Danganronpa #ryota mitarai #byakuya twogami #makoto naegi #junko enoshima #mukuro ikusaba #long post

[themattress]

Re-evaluating Diamond/Pearl?

With Ash’s time as the protagonist of the Pokeani behind us, I wanted to look back at my least favorite (and only straight-up disliked) series in the anime: Diamond/Pearl. Is it really as bad as I’ve always felt it was? Weeeell....no and yes. See, what I’ve come to understand more and more is that it was never really what’s in Diamond/Pearl that bothered me, it’s how they were used and, perhaps more importantly, how they were paced. Diamond/Pearl’s sense of pacing is abysmal, and that’s what really drags its elements down for me. I think that if I was a kid, I wouldn’t mind, so I don’t begrudge fans of Diamond/Pearl who grew up on it; more power to you. But I grew up on the Original Series, and while I kind of fell out of touch with the anime thanks to Johto, Advanced Generation was paced well enough that I had no problem checking back in from time to time and enjoying its better elements like May’s arc. Diamond/Pearl was just too exhausting for me, and IMO it’s pay-offs never made up for that.

Let’s run down the show’s main recurring components, shall we?

Ash's badge quest: Ash getting his first badge took from episodes 15-18, which immediately showcases a pacing problem. One episode to watch Paul get the badge, then an episode for Ash to try and fail, then a breather episode, and then a second attempt where Ash succeeds. Why drag it out that long? You could’ve had him get it on his first try; or if you wanted him to fail and try again, don’t waste time with Paul beforehand! It then takes 19 episodes until Ash gets his second badge in episode 37. And if you think that’s long, it takes 29 episodes before he even reaches the next city in episode 66, the kind of length that brings back bad “between Fuchsia and Cinnabar Gyms” from Kanto memories, and he doesn’t win his badge until two episodes later in episode 68. After this, things abruptly settle back to the way it was paced before: his next badge comes 15 episodes later in episode 83, then his next badge 19 episodes later in episode 102. But then, it takes just 6 episodes for his next badge in episode 108, only to then have another 19 episodes before his penultimate badge in episode 127. Last but not least, the infamous stretch where it took a whopping 48 episodes (that’s an entire year’s worth!) before he reaches the final Gym in episode 165...only for a complication in the following episode causing him to have to wait 13 more episodes before finally earning his last badge in episode 179! This was the biggest slog of a badge quest EVER, bar none.

Paul: At first, Paul isn’t paced well in his appearances and clashes with Ash, starting up in episode 3, then showing up again just 3 episodes later in episode 6, then 9 episodes later in episode 15....only to disappear for 24 whole episodes until he resurfaces in episode 40. It’s like the show just forgot about him for a while there. But he’s never forgotten about ever again, appearing in episodes 46, 50-53, 64, 66, 69, 74, 81, 100, 118, 127-133, 155, 163, and 182-188, and that’s not including silent cameos, flashbacks and mentions from time to time. So Paul’s issues were resolved pacing-wise; the problem now lay solely in his content, which was a repetitive, go-nowhere exercise in bothersome creator’s favoritism and asinine moral equivalency to the point of abuse apologism, meaning that unlike Silver whom he was based on, Paul wouldn’t get a real redemption arc because as far as Atsuhiro Tomioka and the characters he warped (even Cynthia!) were concerned he barely did anything wrong. The end result is me greatly disliking Paul......and not for the reasons I should be disliking him for.

Dawn's contest arc: The pace for this one once it gets going is episodes 11-12, 26-27, 49, 61, 77-79, 95, 114, 146, 161-162, 167, and 171-177. In this case, the problems are the 22 episode gap between her second and third contests and the 42 episode gap between her seventh and eighth contests (and she doesn’t even win said eighth contest, meaning we waited nearly a year just for her to see her lose to a cross-dressing James!) It’s not quite as bad as Ash’s badge quest, but it’s also nowhere near as good as May’s two contest arcs from the previous series. But Dawn has a much bigger problem than her contest arc, and that’s...

Dawn's self-confidence issues: So when Dawn fails to make it past the Appeals Round in her third contest, she has a crisis of self-confidence, which should be interesting....except then it’s immediately dropped, only to start up all over again 12 episodes later in her next contest where the same goddamn thing happens! Why do that? Why start an arc, then stop it a minute later, then start it up again after some time passes? You could argue that Dawn could’ve just written the first failure off as a fluke so she needed another one to really depress her, but given that she lost her first contest and only barely won her second, I think she was on shaky enough ground as it is. But anyway, this arc of hers progresses for 18 episodes until it just abruptly resolves itself through her unconvincing victory over May in the Wallace Cup in episode 79. Afterward, Dawn has no personal struggles to overcome, just random issues with Pokemon such as Mamoswine or Plusle and Minun. In a 191-episode series, her character stopped growing 79 episodes in, which again reflects this show’s complete failure of pacing.

Brock: He gets nothing. Moving on.

Chimchar: Once Paul abandons him in episode 51, Ash picks him up in episode 52, and then his personal issues get resolved in episode 53. Or at least it seems that way. Episode 81 rather randomly re-opens his personal obstacles relating to Paul’s past abuse of him, and this leads to a very predictable outcome where he evolves in episode 132 to defeat Paul but fails, evolves again in episode 163, then defeats Paul at the last possible minute in episode 188. Honestly, they should’ve just had him utterly own Paul in that battle. It’d be more cathartic.

Buizel and Aipom: This is one of the weirdest continuing plot threads. Zoey first brings up that Ash oughta trade his Aipom to Dawn in episode 11, since Aipom does better in Contests than in battles. Later, in episode 34, Dawn catches a Buizel that’s clearly more adept at battles than Contests, leading for Zoey to make the trading suggestion again. After 20 episodes have passed, Ash and Dawn randomly decide to finally go ahead and make that trade in episode 55. But while Buizel does well enough for Ash, Aipom (now Ambipom) ends up suddenly developing a love and talent for Ping Pong of all things in episode 123, leading to Dawn releasing it in the following episode so that it can go pursue its newfound dream of becoming a Ping Pong Champion. So in the end poor Dawn got a raw deal with this trade!

Mamoswine: So Dawn’s Swinub evolves into Piloswine, becomes surly and disobedient toward her, then quickly evolves into Mamoswine and is more powerful but has the same rotten personality. But eventually, Dawn healing a grave injury it suffers makes it care about her again and become obedient and reliable. Aside from costing Dawn an important match, this is literally the exact same arc as Ash’s Charizard, dragged across 35 episodes and doing nothing unique. I wouldn’t mind so much except that Ash is still right there on the show, so there’s no valid reason for recycling this arc. In fact, it’s not the only time this happened - Pikachu’s evolution dilemma from Ash’s battle with Lt. Surge was recycled with Piplup in episode 122...which was after it had already been recycled with Ash and Pikachu themselves in episode 74! Again, pacing isn’t this series’ only problem: the lackluster content is too.

Hippopostas: Basically a rehash of Spoink from the previous series, it shows up in one episode (episode 44) as a set-up, then reappears later (episode 65) for pay-off. Like Snubbull from Johto, it seems like the writers were trying to recapture the success of Jigglypuff without running the joke into the ground the way Jigglypuff was, but none of these attempts worked.

Zoey: Zoey’s appearances were paced out relatively well (appearing in episodes 11-12, 34, 41, 49, 55, 77-79, 93, 126-128, 155, 174-177 plus the occasional silent cameo, flashback or mention), but like Paul she suffered in content. Whereas Paul was a character who just went nowhere because as far as Tomioka was concerned he was near-perfect as is, Zoey clearly was going somewhere at first, having a distinct dislike of people pursuing badges from Gyms and doing Contests at the same time. However, possibly due to reaction from fans who didn’t like her having a character flaw to overcome, it was just suddenly given up on when she shows up in episode 77, now being totally cool with people doing both. The explanation we’re later given into episode 126 as to why she had a problem with it to begin with is pretty underwhelming and it just doesn’t really feel like it was the original plan with her character.

Kenny: Dawn’s childhood friend and rival appears in episodes 26-27, then reappears 33 episodes later in 60-61, then 60 episodes later in episodes 122-123, then 51 episodes later for the first round of the Grand Festival in episode 174, which he loses, causing him to leave and then randomly re-appear 6 episodes later for a send-off. If not for a few silent cameos here and there, you’d be forgiven for forgetting that he was even a character on the show. Another thing Kenny has going against him is that in his debut he teases Dawn by calling her “Dee Dee”, and we don’t learn what that even means until 135 episodes later, where we learn that as a young child...a Plusle and Minun caused Dawn’s hair to sparkle and the other kids laughed at this and called her “Diamond Dandruff”. That was it. Oh, and in the episode this is revealed we’re now suddenly expected to take this seriously, like Dawn has a legit phobia of Plusle and Minun over this experience that she has to overcome. It’s so STUPID.

Nando: Kenny’s got nothing on this guy though. Debuting in just episode 4 and set up as a rival for both Ash and Dawn since he’s pursuing both Gyms and Contests, but only shows up again 32 episodes later in episode 36, in a non-competitive usage no less! He then shows up to win a Contest 13 episodes later in episode 49, then barring some silent cameos makes his return at the Grand Festival in episodes 174-177...125 episodes later! A few episodes later he appears at the Sinnoh League in episode 182...then loses in the following episode and is never seen nor heard from ever again. What an absolute waste of a perfectly good character.

Ursula: Appearing to just be a one-off in episode 114, Ursula returned almost a year’s worth of episodes later in episodes 161-162, then returned for the Grand Festival in episodes 174-177. It feels like she was an attempt to recapture the success of Harley from the previous series as well as give Dawn an “asshole rival”, but it ended up being done too late in the game to make an impact. For what it’s worth, I like Ursula, and she deserved so much more.

Barry: It’s the second half of the series and suddenly the rival from the games said series is primarily marketing appears! Barry appears in episodes 101-103, 110-111, 122-124, 140-141, 157, 163, and 182-189, so his appearances are paced out just fine. The problem with him is threefold: he’s thrown in late in the game, is treated as a Jobber who always loses to Ash, and is insultingly used to prop up Paul, both in being a comic relief foil as a rival and by literally singing Paul’s praises every chance he gets (again a case of characterization being butchered for Paul’s sake). Barry’s a funny and enjoyable character, but he was poorly used. 

Conway: A one-off from episodes 50-52, until he reappears as a Flanderized, more comical version of himself in episodes 88-91, and then out of nowhere at the Sinnoh League in episodes 182-185 where we’re suddenly expected to consider him a major rival to Ash! Nothing about how Conway is used is particularly offensive, mind you, just...confusing.

Cynthia and the Elite Four: Lucian appears in episode 35 and establishes the presence of the Champion and Elite Four in the Sinnoh Region. 5 episodes later the Champion herself, Cynthia, appears. She reappears 57 episodes later in episodes 96-97, then in just the space of 2 episodes we get Aaron, who goes on to challenge Cynthia for her title and fail in just the next episode. 50 episodes later Cynthia shows up to hep defeat Team Galactic, then 15 episodes after that we are introduced to Flint. Bertha appears 5 episodes after this, then 10 episodes after this Flint reappears and says he’s going to challenge Cynthia next. Cynthia is at the Sinnoh League in episodes182-189, and then in episode 191, the final episode of the series, we see that Flint lost his battle with her. So my question is what was the point in any of this? Many back in the day thought it was setting Ash up to win the Sinnoh League and get to challenge the Elite Four and Cynthia, but as we know that didn’t happen. I’m fine with the Elite Four and Cynthia showing up; it’s to be expected. But why give the sense of a building plotline surrounding them and Cynthia’s status as Champion only for nothing to happen?

Team Galactic: I’ve railed enough about this one in the past. To sum it up, the pacing is horrible (episodes 36, 60, 69, 96-97, 110-111, 130, 136, 150-152), the content even worse, and it does no justice to the characters and plotline of Team Galactic, especially with Cyrus.

The Lake Trio: This might be the worst case of build-up and pay-off in the whole damn series, which is saying something. Dawn sees Mesprit’s shadow in episode 1, then Ash sees Azelf’s in episode 78 (77 episodes later), and finally Brock sees Uxie’s in episode 133 (55 episodes later). The pay-off in episodes 150-152 is that Dawn, Ash and Brock are psychically bonded to the Lake Trio and use this bond resolve the conflict by....praying to them. Really. And why were they bonded to them? Because of how they represent Emotion, Willpower and Knowledge respectively? Nope! Just because “they care so much about Pokemon”. As if that’s something unique and special to them. Also, why even build something up in episode 1 and then pay it off with 39 whole episodes still left to go in the series? Shouldn’t the pay-off be near the end? There’s no excuse for this, no real life interference...it’s just bad writing.

Hunter J: Another case of there being no excuse. Hunter J debuts in episode 20, reappears 25 episodes later in episode 45, then around another 25 episodes later in episodes 71-72, then 57 episodes later in episode 129, and finally 21 episodes later in episodes 150-151, during the Team Galactic climax, where she is suddenly killed off. Hunter J is an OC, created for the anime! The writers had no limitations on how much they could have used her, and yet they barely did use her. Maybe they were concerned about the series being too dark if she was used too frequently, but in that case they could’ve just toned her down and kept her extra evil-ness reserved for special occasions. Also, why kill her off as part of a different storyline, and with no climactic face-off with Ash, Dawn and Brock given that she was being build up as their personal enemy? This was a fantastic villain, but the writers screwed the pooch with her.

Team Rocket: They appear in every single episode, and yet this is the one series where it feels like the writers are desperately trying to justify their continued existence from start to finish. Whether it be Jessie suddenly being treated as a credible Coordinator as “Jessalina” (in essence giving Dawn yet another rival when she’s already swamped with them), James’ whole backstory with Jessiebelle suddenly being brought up again, Meowth constantly being tempted to leave Team Rocket for what he perceives as greener pastures, or their feuds with Hunter J and Team Galactic so that those super dark villains have comical foils to compete with and thus brighten the mood a little, Team Rocket’s time in Sinnoh was a never-ending exercise in grasping at straws. Giovanni didn’t even remember they existed anymore, that’s how bad it was and how irrelevant yet shoved down our throats they felt.  DP!TR sucks.

Angie: An character who shows up in the Summer Camp arc of episodes 88-91 as a Distaff Counterpart / shipping bait to Ash. 7 episodes later, she reappears and we learn a little more about her, so you’d be forgiven for thinking she’ll be recurring from here on out. Nope! Never seen again. Why even have that one reappearance at all? She’dve been fine as a one-off!

Lyra and Khoury: These two actually were one-offs, appearing in a mini-arc that lasted episodes 143-147, then never appearing again afterward. They were fine; I didn’t mind them.

Cheryl: Also a one-off, early in for episodes 30-32. Again, perfectly fine for what she was.

May: She had her obligatory return appearance in the Wallace Cup (episodes 75-79) sporting her Emerald design. Beyond me not buying her losing to Dawn, her presence was welcome and a helpful distraction from the fact that we’re only just now getting Wallace in the anime.

Gary: Gary Motherfucking Oak is the reason Ash went to Sinnoh to start with at the end of the previous series, but he only shows up in episodes 45, 85, and 150-152. It felt like a waste back then, and it’s worse now after Journeys used him in a recurring capacity much better.

To sum it up, I reiterate that my problem with Diamond/Pearl remains that it fails so badly in execution. Hypothetically, there is a series where every single one of these elements, or at least most of them (I don’t think there’s any salvaging the “Diamond Dandruff” thing), were used almost perfectly and created an engaging experience that was truly worth the series being four years long and spent in a single region. But sadly, that’s not the series we have.

If you like it, cool. I just...can’t.

#Pokemon #Diamond/Pearl #Opinion #Analysis #Comparison

[ghostingcrows]

OKay

Fuck

I leave in 30 minutes but I really wanna talk about the parallels between Megatron and Starscreams stories

I already talked about how I like there stories back and forths

How every time something goes wrong for one something goes right for the other and how ultimately Starscream “wins” because Megatron is going to spend forever in jail widely remembered as the shitty abusive tyrant he was 

While Starscream get to sacrifice himself for his planet and his people and even if he won’t be remembered in a good light he’ll still have saved everyone alongside everyone else who died fighting Unicron

But I also wanna talk about the difference between how they react to being arrested

In a technical sense both of them surrender

However Megatrons arrest comes after having to deal with Shockwave where he makes a spur of the moment declaration that its over and than he joining the autobots (something which I’ve made my opinion on very clear)

But everyone knows what Megatron did

He barely says anything during it and has a trial that’s basically just everyone repeating what was already knows and in the end as an act of spite toward Starscream, Megatron pulls a legal loophole that allows him to get out even if its only momentary

A loophole he knew existed and which he purposefully positioned himself to be able to use when he asked for his trial to be on Luna 1

Meanwhile Starscream admits to everything

Sure Windblade would have told everyone if he hadn’t

But if Starscream REALLY wanted too he could have wiggled his way out

He could have found holes and manipulated his way out the way he used to do

But he doesn’t

He apologizes to his people for what hes done and comes clean

And unlike Megatron

Starscream (you know the guy KNOWN for scheming) doesn’t have a loophole or a plan to get himself out

He goes into custody willingly, doesn’t protest to anything while Ironhide is prosecuting him and just takes it

And it just makes Starscreams redemption feel actually genuine as a pose to Megatrons

Because Starscream actually did develop and have a reason to change

You see it build 

You see the gradual cracks as Bumblebee and Windblade influence how he sees things

While Megatrons change of heart seemingly comes out of no where and feels, again, like hes just doing it to spite Starscream

In the end Starscream IS a good person who actually genuinely cared for Cybertron even if it was clouded by trauma and paranoia 

Hes a good character and his arc in TAAO is probably one of my favorite character arcs I have seen in a while

#transformers #idw #till all are one #TAAO #transformers more than meets the eye #transformers lost light #megatron #starscream