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alwaysupatnight · 2 years

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Fanfiction would you rather?

I was tagged by @astarkey and @lilmissuncreative! 🥰

Friends to lovers or enemies to lovers? Friends to lovers for me!

Be forced to watch a terrible movie adaptation of your favorite fic or an amazing adaptation of your least favorite fic? I guess the amazing adaptation of least favorite fic. I wouldn’t want to see my fave get ruined.

Read fanfic chapters backwards, last to first, or read them as parsed from google translate? Parsed I guess?

Consume every fanfic as an audiobook read by a monotone narrator, or have to read every fanfic on a tiny printed piece of paper written in yellow highlighter? I would just give up reading altogether at this point if these were my only options. My vision isn’t what it used to be, and I get so little out of audiobooks. I have to listen to them at 2x the normal speed and it’s still impossible for me to pay attention for very long.

Get a tattoo on your body of every fanfic title you read, or never read fanfic again? I hate this. Probably the tattoo

Vampire Au or Werewolf Au? Think I will always prefer vampire over werewolves ngl

Get sold to a boy band, or be stuck in a time loop with your love interest? time loop has me sold!

Kill your favorite character, or marry your least favorite character? ehhh... well maybe if i marry my least favorite character i could still have a happily ever after? THIS MENTIONS NOTHING ABOUT THE MARRIAGE LASTING LOL

Meet your love interest in a coffee shop AU or a college AU? Definitely prefer coffee shop aus to college aus

Have your fic history leaked, or never read another fanfic again? Leaked where? It probably wouldn’t bother me to have my history leaked. I regularly delete stuff I don’t want to see on there that I’ve opened out of curiosity or by mistake lol

Be able to read amazing fanfiction but it always has an mpreg plot twist, or only read bad fanfiction for the rest of your life? If the fic was truly amazing I could overlook just about anything and just skip over the stuff I don’t like

Gay ships or straight ships? I don’t have any lgbtq+ ships at the moment so straight.

Ship a rarepair with almost no content, or a pair with lots of content but almost all of it is cracky nightmare smut? yikes. rarepair I guess. I’ve been there before.

See your OTP shatter years after their happily ever after, or never have the happily ever after happen in the first place? wtf. the second option. at least that’s familiar lmfao I would hate that other option

Read a poorly written but complete fanfic, or a literary masterpiece last updated June 2013? as much as it would break my heart, I would pick the masterpiece. And cause like sometimes it’s better when things don’t ever end? There’s so many fics I never finished reading even though they’ve been completed for years lol If I never finish them it’s never over 🤣

Read SSSS++++ tier smut with almost 11k words, or 70k words worth of fluff? I’ll take the fluff. I get desensitized to the smut after so long

Read only alternate universe fanfics, or only canon fanfics? GIVE ME ALL THE AUs

Introduce fanfics to your normie friend with an ongoing smut fic with great writing, or a complete fluff fic with terrible writing? I would need to have normie friends first

Read your NOTP with all your favorite tropes and perfect characterization, or your OTP with tropes you despise and inconsistent characterization? Well the 2nd one isn’t anything I’m not already used to. :/ I will never touch any of my NOTPs for any reason kthxbye

Read a fic with an interesting concept but very poor writing, or read a fic with an uninteresting concept with really good writing? I can’t handle poor writing. It’ll have to be the boring concept then

Have a major character death, or have a bed sharing scene but it's a ship you hate? If it’s fanfic, I’ll take the major character death. I can just open up another fic afterwards where they’re still alive lmfao YOU CAN’T MAKE ME READ MY NOTPS WE HAVE ALREADY BEEN THROUGH THIS

Read a fanfic that has consistent grammar and spelling mistakes, or one that the characters are wildly different than canon? I guess the 2nd because like we all give a little bit of ourselves when writing the characters anyway so they’re bound to be different. and like I’ve found that I can learn from bad fanfic and at least I can figure out how NOT to write them in my own fics. I’m okay with it if it’s clear the author at least made an attempt to keep them in character and like I can forgive that. But spelling and grammar mistakes I CANNOT. THERE IS LITERALLY SOFTWARE THAT WILL FIX THE MISTAKES FOR YOU OR HELP YOU FIGURE OUT WHAT NEEDS FIXING. THERE IS NO EXCUSE. I WILL DIE ON THIS HILL.

Every fanfic includes Jackson Wang, or every fanfic includes at least one NSFW moment? who tf is jackson wang. I will take all the NSFW moments thanks. I’M NOT A CHILD.

Read the most absolutely messed up dead dove with your most wholesome otp, or subject yourself to 100,000 words of your NOTP all written in a solid block with no punctuation and horrible grammar? GIVE ME THE DEAD DOVE. THIS IS THRICE NOW WITH THE NOTPS.

Have the power to read every fanfic in existence, or have the power to make any ship canon? sometimes when you get what you want in canon... it’s worse. I’ll take the first option.

Have your OTP get together in canon but one of them dies in a tragic way, or all members of your OTP survive but get together with other people? I mean I’ve basically experienced both of these. It’s bad no matter what you choose. At this point I just quit the canon and live in fandom land.

Read a cringy 70 chapter Harry Styles mafia AU, or a highschool Kpop AU y/n fic horrible grammar? I don’t touch harry styles for any reason whatsoever. neither

Accidentally send your boss a super detailed smut fic, or read a super detailed smut fic about your boss? Well my dad is technically my boss so NEITHER.

Read smut fanfic aloud to your parents, or submit fanfic to the employer of your dream job? I don’t want my parents ever seeing the crap I’ve written. It’ll have to be the 2nd. My dream job is to work for myself so it works out. lmfao

Pine after an oblivious love interest, or be the oblivious love interest being pined after? I haven’t crushed on anyone irl in over a decade. But I spent my whole childhood and teen years pining after someone. Maybe it’d be nice to be the one pined after for a change.

Hanahaki disease, or your soulmates first words to you tattooed on your body (and they're really stupid)? lmfao the tattoo I guess

Be an Alpha, Beta, or Omega in omegaverse? I personally would not want to be involved in any of this lol

Read a fanfic where the characters turn into furries, or a fanfic where the characters all get pregnant? LMFAO I’ll take the furries I guess? as long as there’s no daddy kink

Be able to resurrect dead fics, or have the power to create of plethora of new fics effortlessly? I’m still bitter about the fics that got deleted before I could save a copy for my personal library. But I think I’d rather have option 2. I already have so many fics to write, and IT HAS NEVER BEEN EFFORTLESS.

Tagging: @yossariandawn, @imaginedfables, @tiesthatbind1899, @emilykinncy, @worthallyourgalleons, @sandalaris, @thespianreveur, and anyone else who wants to do it!

#tagged #tag games

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butterfly--empress · 3 years

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So…About BnHA 320…

I am laughing and crying and crying and laughing…like a part of me wanted this and another part of me didn’t…Like I was sort of hoping they would try to talk to him first before trying to restrain him. And while I am glad they weren’t trying to outright attack him and they were trying to get to him was sweet in a way, it leaves me a bit….ehhh??? (It’s complicated) I feel like their good intentions are making things worse. But that remains to be seen…honestly expecting next chapter to end with Izuku being fully subdued and taken back to UA….making everything from the solo Deku arc to now quite anticlimactic…I want to be wrong but again, don’t hold your breath.

I mean I expected this, so not surprised…I still ride or die with Izuku even tho poor bby is taking some Ls

But is it really too much to ask for the plot to address the giant fucking elephant that is the affect Bakugou’s bullying has done to Midoriya??? Like, I need next chapter to re-open those can of worms and better now than AFO *coughsdaddycoughs* trying to use it to further manipulate Izuku, maybe to his side later??? I just cannot see things being suddenly okay after all that has happened up to this point before eventually going after All For One.

I know Mister Horikoshi is more self aware of his own story and characters than people give him credit for butttt…just because he is doesn’t guarantee he’s going to stay true to writing some characters as they should be. I’m not trying to say Bakugou is a creator’s pet but I am saying, when he’s present in the plot, one has to wait with baited breath in wondering if Bakugou will add to or subtract from the story…and that is not a good place to think about a character that is supposed to be so integral to the plot. It probably isn’t intentional but sometimes characters do feel ooc when it comes to dealing with Bakugou in the plot. (And I guess this is why I’m so…not peeved but just…ehh about certain character’s decision to go along with Bakugou’s idea. Surface level what all of them are doing makes sense but ehh???)

I’m not angry or disappointed and I’m sure a lot of others will do a way better job of going more in depth into this chapter; so I’m just gonna say this:

The next number of chapter(s) that deal with ‘Class 1-A vs Izuku’…better involve some goddamn angst and drama involving Bakugou admitting verbally to Izuku about his role in this boy having no self worth in himself. And possibly something triggering Izuku to unlock the 2nd’s quirk. There’s still Iida and Ochako who have been oddly absent from this chapter. Maybe more of class 1a might give their two cents….

Oh who am I fucking kidding, Horikoshi could still deliver all this and still somehow fuck it up to be so anticlimactic it hurts. (Because I am expecting the plot to do exactly this especially if we wind up getting any damn inkling of Bakugou bringing up the bullying)

Welp, I did say I was not going to hold my breath so I will continue to not expect anything as I have been doing thus far.

Blah, I’ll just like posts that explain this better than me.

I will just be sitting here anticipating canon divergent fix-it fics…because it seems like only Izuku stans have this boy’s back and have better ways to help Izuku with his trauma than canon…no shade to Horikoshi but….

#mha 320 #anti Bakugou #anti bakugo #my two cents #I just want good things for Izuku #apparently that’s too much to ask for #gdi all can the plot prove me wrong?#don’t have have hopes for shit #guess I better get my clown shoes #lord knows I only find satisfying Izuku arcs in goddamn fanfics #still loving BnHA tho

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paleangels13 · 2 years

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2. Favourite character, 3. Favourite AU?, 7. Favourite writing advice?, 22. Favourite part about writing fanfiction?, 34: Favourite comment you ever received?, 40. What do you think your writing speciality is?, 46. Favourite sentence/pragraph you ever wrote?, 50. Is there something you often repeat in your fics (a verb, a trope etc)? yes yes i have many questions because there's many to choose from

Sorry, for answering this so late! 🥺

2. Favorite character?

Is this about favorite character to write or about favorite character I've written or...? 🤔

Favorite character to write: literally no idea. From the amounts of fics I've written including him apparently Aleksi (or Joonas) 😅🤔

Favorite character I've written: I don't have any OCs soo... Yeah. I do weirdly enough like Aleksi in my “toxic” series tho 🙂

Favorite character in general: too many :))

3. Favorite AU?

I like all the supernatural stuff including demons, angels, etc 🧚🏻✨ with bands I do sometimes like the "no band au" but they need to have a good plot (with a nice way of still including the fic-relevant members members 🥰) but guess that applies to every fic :D have been obsessed with all the "sex worker" (stripper/prostitute/exotic dancer/...) in the BC fandom lately tbh 😅👀 (@ everyone please keep them coming 👀)

7. Favorite writing advice?

Uhm... Maybe to just keep trying and continue even if it's just for yourself and even if you think it's terrible that doesn't mean others will think the same. You're your most critical reader most of the time 🤔 but that's not really advice I guess? Or is it? Well either way it's what came to my mind immediately ^^"

22. Favorite part of writing fanfiction?

Putting all the ideas from my brain on paper 😅 making them as smutty and slutty as I please 😌😂 no just letting creativity flow and writing things that obviously aren't canon and make them canon in my universe 🥰

34. Favorite comment you ever received?

Almost all your comments on my original docs :DD

Oh, also this one from you on "nothing but a bad dream 😂😭

I am SCREECHING, I want to STAB HIM and his manipulative ass with my rustiest knife.

"I think I can manage from here" manage to manipulate and traumatise him further?? I hope someone finds out and runs him over with the tour bus.

Y'all have my permission to run him over with the tour bus in the most painful way possible 😭

In general I love all the comments I receive! They make me super happy 🥰 there were some really amazing ones on my “You're as cold as ice” fic which really made me * 🥺🥺 at phone * (especially because I thought about not uploading it at all since I got super insecure about the whole fic)

40. What do you think your writing speciality is?

Ehhh... I don't know? I don't think I have any tbh 🥺😅 (unless you need a slutty character or a dude in a dress/skirt/heels I'm great at putting anyone (literally ANYONE) in that role/these clothes 😭😂)

46. Favorite sentence/paragraph you ever wrote?

Obviously

“Let me come inside and I might let you come inside.“ ✨

No, I really liked this sentence/most parts of this fic:

Aleksi was staring at nothing, taking sips from his beer and trying to hold back the flood of images wanting to crawl back from where he had buried them in the last corner of his mind.

Favorite paragraph(s) is(/are) unfortunately in German and I'm too lazy to translate them and really like them the way they are soo... (it's about the German punk-rock band "Die Ärzte")

Der junge Mann hatte schon lange aufgegeben seinem besten Freund etwas von seiner momentanen Gefühlswelt vorzuenthalten. Früher oder später bemerkte dieser es sowieso. „Wann? Wann hört das auf?“ Verzweiflung. „Ich weiß es nicht…“ Er konnte nicht mehr. Sein komplettes Leben schien gerade den Bach runterzugehen und er konnte nichts dagegen tun. „Hilf mir… Bitte, tu irgendwas, damit es aufhört.“ Sanft strich der andere über seinen Rücken. Schweigend. „Bitte, ich will das nicht mehr…“ Die Verletztheit in seiner Stimme brach dem anderen das Herz. Also löste er sich ein Stück von ihm und sah ihn lange an. Was sollte er denn schon tun, um ihm zu helfen? Im Nachhinein verstand keiner der beiden mehr, wieso es dann zu einem Kuss gekommen war und auch nicht, zu den hunderten, die in den folgenden Tagen, Wochen und sogar Monaten folgten. Hoffnungslos verfiel der junge Mann seinem Bandkollegen immer mehr. Dieser hatte sein Versprechen gehalten. Der Schmerz hatte tatsächlich aufgehört und war einer tiefen Zuneigung gewichen…

„Ich liebe dich…“ Drei geflüsterte Worte, die eigentlich so viel bedeuten und doch so bedeutungslos wirkten in diesem Moment. Vielleicht weil es offensichtlich schien, vielleicht weil sie, wie immer, unerwidert blieben. Danach herrschte Stille, doch die Umarmung löste dennoch keiner der beiden. Vereinzelte Tränen des Liebenden vermischten sich mit dem warmen Wasser, welches nach wie vor über die Körper der beiden besten Freunde lief. Der andere schien es nicht zu bemerken oder wollte es nicht sehen. Doch dann kam das, was später alles noch viel schlimmer machen sollte. „Ich dich auch.“

Probably my favorite (German) fic I've ever written if I'm honest. I liked this one a lot 🥺 (and did indeed make myself cry while writing it).

50. Is there something you often repeat in you fics (a verb, a trope,...)?

I know that I use certain words extremely often even if I tried reducing it a little and put more variety in it but that doesn't work out all the time 🤔 and not so much in my fics but in other writing I do that is similar to fic I use a lot of "hurt(/comfort)", I think maybe somewhat "found family" and in general (also in my fics) "friends with benefits"/"friends to lovers" and definitely my beloved "idiots in love" 😌🥰

#asks #itsfandomsgalore #partly in German

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blueskyscribe · 3 years

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Can you share some writing tips with us? Especially Knock Out, I want to write him like you do.

Sure, I will do my best! (Although there’s always a blurry line between canon and headcanon.) Anything specific you are wondering about? (World-building, interactions between characters, dialogue, plot, etc?)

So Knock Out is my Absolute Fave, I love him a lot. <3 Conveniently, someone has uploaded most of his dialogue--for all of Transformers Prime--on Youtube! So when I’m thinking, “Am I getting his ‘voice’ right? Would he use that word, does this match his speech pattern?”, I watch those videos for a bit to prime the pump. Knock Out is not one for long speeches, but his speech does have a bit of flourish, a bit of playfulness. “Don’t pat yourself on the back so hard, Starscream, you’ll dislocate your landing gear.” “So go on, Big M, tell me you love me more than Starscream.” etc.

Man, I’m trying to think of some specific writing tips here . . . but there are some aspects where I’m not sure if everyone goes through them or if they’re specific to my style. Hmmm . . .

Dialogue in general:

Writing dialogue is one of my favorite parts of writing. You can get so much characterization out of it. I usually try to establish the setting with a couple paragraphs of description, and then let the characters mess around in it. Like, mostly back-and-forth dialogue, with the occasional tag to help the reader keep track of who is speaking, and once in a while a brief description of a character interacting with the environment. Like:

[a few paragraphs describing that characters are walking through a forest]

“Blah blah,” said Character A, glancing at the path behind them.

“Blah blah,” Character B agreed. “Blah blah.”

“Blah? Blah blah blah?”

“Ehhh . . . blah,” B said, picking up a stick and fiddling with it, only to casually toss it into the underbrush.

“Heh . . . blahdy blah.”

“Blah blah yo mamma,” Character B said slyly.

Character A stopped dead in his tracks, his good humor replaced with annoyance. “Excuse me? Blah blah?”

So, some notes about the exchanged about.

1. You don’t need a dialogue tag (he said, she said) for every line.

You just need one occasionally, to help the reader keep track of who’s talking. (This does get more complicated if you have three or more people in a conversation . . . But even then, you can often indicate who’s talking through ‘voice’ . . . Like if someone is saying, “Whoooa, that’s bonkers!” then it’s more likely to be Smokescreen than Ultra Magnus or Optimus.)

2. Your most frequent dialogue tag should be “said.”

Some schools teach students to vary up the dialogue tag with every line--probably as a way to encourage young kids to learn / use more words. That’s fine as a school exercise, but in an actual story it will look weird if you have dialogue like:

“Want to go to the party?” he asked.

“Maybe,” she mused. “When is it?”

“It’s at five o’ clock,” he informed her.

“In that case, I can’t make it. I don’t get off work until six,” she sighed.

“Well, that’s too bad. But I’ll save you a slice of cake!” he promised.

^ Any ONE of those dialogue tags would have been fine. But altogether, they just come across as jarring. (Also a conversation would not need this many tags, half of them could be cut entirely.)

That’s not to knock tags like “he growled, she spat, he smirked” etc. Just . . . use sparingly. And also, consider if the character actually IS embodying the dialogue tag in question. Just because a character is angry doesn’t mean they are shouting, spitting, etc.

3. Building on that . . . sometimes the appropriate tag is “he said angrily.” Because it’s fine to use adverbs.

There is so much bad advice out there re: adverbs. Yes, they can be overused. But they are also powerful workhorses that convey a lot in just one word.

“Oh,” he said quietly. conveys a lot, AND it conveys more than just writing “Oh,” he said.

4. Dialogue flow

So, dialogue has a certain flow. Some conversations are rapid, constant back-and-forth, back-and-forth. Some are slow and meandering. Some seem calm, but there’s an underlying tension, like calm water over a deep current.

Generally, the slower the conversation, the more exterior description (of the surroundings, of characters’ actions, of the expressions on their faces) you’ll have. Like a scene with two people sitting side by side, chucking rocks into a river, will probably have a lot of descriptive text. Whereas two people having a back-and-forth shouting match will have less.

I hope this was useful in some way! Feel free to ask more questions, I will do my best to answer them!

#writing #Knock Out #I wasn't sure whether to focus more on Knock Out or writing

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tossawary · 3 years

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Some random favorite lines (with commentary) of Chapter 20: “The Other Shoe” of “pride is not the word I’m looking for” because I’m doing a re-read. Not a full list or full commentary.

AN: I actually really like the title of this chapter. It’s a reference to the saying, “Waiting for the other shoe to drop.” Both in regards to the arrival of SVSSS’s other transmigrator and to the sudden, forced System World Update that happens because SQH’s been breaking the world too much.

One of Mu Qingfang’s glowing hands is on the man’s bared stomach, while another rests on his chest, and Shen Qingqiu bares his teeth in agony. Mu Qingfang is speaking very quickly to the people around him - voice sharp with urgency and brow furrowed with intense concentration - giving instructions to his patient, his head disciple at his side, and his sect leader.

Yue Qingyuan is kneeling beside Shen Qingqiu, hunched and desperate and wild-eyed, letting the other man squeeze all life and feeling from his fingers, the both of them holding on for dear life.

AN: My feelings towards YQY, SQQ, and Qijiu have their ups and downs, but I’m always firmly convinced that they care. If they cared less, if they were both more vulnerable people, maybe they could actually talk about it.

The young man has short hair - short hair - short enough that the tips only just cover the top of his ears. That’s one of the many haircuts Shang Qinghua thinks about wistfully every time the weather gets too fucking hot for fancy long hair. The kid turns to look at Shang Qinghua, clearly terrified, wide-eyed behind his glasses. Glasses! Semi-rimless glasses with bright blue frames! And to top it all off, the kid is barefoot and wearing patterned pyjamas, with buttons and a breast pocket, and just the sight of them is nearly enough to knock Airplane Shooting Towards The Sky back on his ass.

Modern hair. Modern glasses. Modern clothing.

AN: Why give SY piercings? Idk, because it’s fun. That’s it. Here’s some young punk with a cool haircut and cool piercings and also glasses and button-down patterned pyjamas, who likes to read shitty stallion novels for the monsters and the emotional arcs and negative development of the sexy protagonist.

Shang Qinghua launches forward and grabs the transmigrator - holy fucking shit, the transmigrator - by the arms. The transmigrator wobbles under Shang Qinghua’s hands, which makes Shang Qinghua’s skin crawl in sympathy and “get me the fuck away from this thing” horror, but there’s something there - something mostly there - to hold. The kid struggles, but he’s not strong and not heavy, and Shang Qinghua is arguably a little bit more than human at this point.

AN: They are both... SO FAR from home.

Flashy and attention-grabbing? Yes. Probably a crime against graphic design? Also yes. Ahhh, Airplane Shooting Towards The Sky probably thought it was cool! But it’s been… ehhh… a few decades in the world itself has given Shang Qinghua some opinions and different tastes. Super nostalgic! But, like, in a very bad, dread-inducing, “a haunting image from another life”, and “someone just walked over my grave” way.

AN: It is immensely funny to me to imagine someone being genuinely (and for good reason) haunted by some shitty web-novel banner. It’s like picturing a “Modern Character in Naruto” Self-Insert knee-deep in some extremely bloody ninja wars and then being confronted by the Naruto title design again.

The dissonance of experiences!

“...You’re… you’re a transmigrator,” the kid says.

Being found out is definitely one of the Top Ten Worst Transmigration Crimes, so far as Shang Qinghua has been able to pierce them together from his System’s disapproval. But, ahhh, it looks like Shang Qinghua’s own System has just done that for him! What the fuck are rules or reality anymore?

“For my sins,” he answers.

AN: Says the Author God of this world, Airplane Shooting Towards The Sky.

"So! You're a reader?" Shang Qinghua asks. "A fan?"

"I wouldn't say 'fan',” the kid grumbles, lifting his chin while still visibly trembling. “What's the other option? Someone who didn't waste hours of their life on a stallion novel written by someone with no taste and the writing skills of a grade-schooler? A ‘non-reader’?" The kid's eyes narrow. "The author?"

Shang Qinghua is both mildly hurt and reluctantly impressed. “Ah, wow, you’re sharp,” he says. “An anti-fan, then? Hey, that’s fine, it was kind of all the same to me, really.”

The kid blinks at him, apparently surprised to be right. “You’re… Airplane?”

AN: SY can be a complacent guy sometimes, but he can also be sharp sometimes too. It’s a fun balance.

He’s been here, alone, for decades. If there are more transmigrators, Shang Qinghua is going to scream. In fact, it’s really unfair that he’s not screaming now! He would really, really, really like to start panicking now! He’s having a day here! Except the kid currently has the “allowed to panic” ball right now. Dying (Shang Qinghua assumes), transmigration, almost becoming Shen Qingqiu, and getting a broken transmigration instead? That’s a lot of bad news in very quick succession! Shang Qinghua doesn’t want to set the kid off or make an even worse first impression by having a much-deserved breakdown.

He’ll have his breakdown later in private, like a responsible adult.

AN: SQH has the “Responsible Adult” Override here.

“The time and place for your appearance wasn’t good,” Shang Qinghua admits. “But I can come up with something for a mysterious backstory. I have some pull here, you know. There are lots of teleportation plot-devices lying around. You’re an escapee from somewhere, fleeing… ah, something. Someone, maybe! Hey, you pretend to have amnesia about the whole thing and we call it a day! If we’re lucky, you get lost in the shuffle!”

“Amnesia,” the kid repeats, unimpressed.

“It’s cliché because it’s a classic, Cucumber-Bro.”

“I’ve always wanted to be a Proud Immortal Demon Way background character with potential for an interesting story, but who gets abandoned in favor of papapa plotlines and fades away into non-existence!”

AN: Cucumberplane banter is just fun.

“Hey, want to learn to cultivate? You can learn to cultivate!”

“With your cultivation system?” the kid says, unimpressed and wary, but he’s totally considering it. Flying swords are pretty tempting!

Kids love the flying swords!

AN: SQH is definitely trying to pull a “hey, shiny thing!” tactic.

“...The System will look after you,” Shang Qinghua says.

The kid squints at him. “What?”

“I was lying before,” Shang Qinghua lies. “I just didn’t want to do the update. Yeah, it’s actually going to be fine. Everything is going to be fine, bro.”

Now the kid called Peerless Cucumber looks like he doesn’t know whether to be relieved or furious; he looks like he’s managing both at once pretty well. “You’re only looking out for yourself here, aren’t you?” he says icily. “It’s like you really are Shang Qinghua.”

“The one and only,” Shang Qinghua agrees.

AN: There’s a lot I like about this moment. Shang Qinghua lying to comfort Shen Yuan in the face of the unknown. Shen Yuan being prickly again and pulling out another insult. Airplane honestly being the only Shang Qinghua there’s ever been in this world. He really is Shang Qinghua now! This is his life!

He needs to think that he has some control over the life he is living right now and has been living for decades now. This is a life that he really doesn’t want to see actually become the shitty story he wrote.

Shang Qinghua grabs the kid by the arm and makes for th

AN: This was mean, but it was also a lot of fun. I’ve had AO3 glitches before. Time to mimic them now in a serial storytelling format for tension!

#tossawary svsss #pride is not the word #tossawary commentary

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shilo-sumac · 2 years

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heyooooo imma Shilooooo!!!!

((This blog is in character in the Pokemon universe. This may trigger unreality in some people. Ask me to tag any extra triggers. Some topics may be emotionally heavy, but not extremely graphic, and will be tagged.

Marsharna mail/malice, pelipper mail, magic anons all open! I'm new so could always use interactions:D

ps: You are absolutely free to go through my blog and spam like and reblog i love that it makes me feel loved (no pressure to ofc just if you wanted to anyways) ))

last change 5/21/24, swapped around a few links in the owned Pokemon list

some plot relevant things: Pokenip Saga [Shilo falls into a hole and finds a weird pokemon cult underground! then she explodes.]

im a pokemon rescuer, shelter, rehabilitator, trainer, uh. other things too! liiiiike ive made it into the Sinnoh Hall of Fame :3c ... uhhhhhh i try not to make too huge a deal about it aha........ me n my Pokémon partners are pretty strong and awesome and cool and adorable babies and neat tho. Born in unova, currently in wonderful Sinnoh.

She/They, in my mid 20s (i think...)

heres my og team!

due to my passion and job i have a decent amount of 'mons that i can shift around as battlers as well as ones that are just pets. if i had to choose a team of six right now I'd probably go with these, but theyre subject to change, i love swappin around my partners so they all get turns.

im on a pretty huge (but small for an island technically) plot of land with a handful of facilities to help me out. it's on an island off the coast of Sinnoh, and its all dedicated to helping pokemon!!! while theres a good amount of land, i mostly do my work alone, so i have a limited amount i can reasonably care for. ... good thing sleep is for the weak

Rin-Tin-Tin the one eyed Zoroark also has access to the blog, she was the first friend i ever really had and ive known her for a real long time. she likes using human disguises to casually hang out in places that dont allow Pokemon. shes learned a lot of habits from humans, shes not the biggest fan of typing or texting though. she has personally assigned herself as my bodyguard and always is within hearing distance of me. shes the strongest Pokemon ive ever known!!!

now for Alistair... oh Ali, youre such a... guy. lets just say he has the personality of a spoiled rich kid and the knowledge of the world of a quarantined homeschooled agoraphobe. he might talk here sometimes or i might mention him, he owes me one so he helps me out around here. i know hes secretly enjoying it tho. or maybe not. such a sourpuss

[she has a normal amount of fingers I just suck at drawing all five, i also kinda imagine her dress thing looks structurally more like the hex maniac dress but I couldn't get it right]

Random Muse/Her world Info

Ooc stuff here! Hiya! I'm Ri! whenever I talk ooc I'll usually do it ((like this)) or otherwise mark it as ooc!

Shilo is HEAVILY based on my run of Platinum, keep this in mind as her backstory slowly reveals. trying to write fanfic of it rn!

Main blog and follows shall come from Ridragon, you are welcome to follow me there, but it is not strictly a Pokemon blog, it's an all my interests and a diary all squashed together. I "spam" likes and don't mind if someone "spams" mine. I'm touched when people care enough to read and like. :3

All asks and any interactions open, I'm totally new to this so throw them at me. don't be afraid to send stuff! worst i can do is say ehhh not feeling it

For my own reference and anyone else here's a list of her current Pokemon, separated by who she battles with and who are just pets/retired. the list may be subject to change, depending on if she adopts out or loses a Pokemon to circumstance or adopts/befriends another.

eventually i hope to make these links if i get around to profiles... we'll see! all pokemon are going to be tagged as [Their Name] the [Pokemon Species] without the brackets. Tumblrs search system sucks though so, hopefully they'll be somewhat organized.

Battlers:

Rin-Tin-Tin "Rin" - Zoroark ♀️[Best helper and bodyguard] | Gadzooks - Garchomp ♂️ | Bane - Gliscor ♂️ [Likes to help in the greenhouse too! Especially with the edible plants.] | Bianca - Weavile ♀️| Spooky! - Mimikyu ♀️🌟 | Kidnapper - Gengar ♀️| Mym - Dragapult ♀️[Flying mount for off island excursions!] | Vampira - Crobat ♀️[Helps with connection to the Zubat network spanning across some regions]

[anyone without a specific detail likely just acts as island protection, or just chill unless battling, with battling being their main favorite thing]

Non-Battlers:

Urtle - Torterra ♂️ [Retired, battle injury] | Magmadar - ????♀️[Lead egg caretaking and warming Pokemon] | Flower - Quilava ♀️[Apprentice egg-warmer] | Mr. Kabby - Kabutops ♂️ [Semi-Retired but keeps charge of watching to make sure the ocean around the island is safe] | Morgan - Espeon ♀️[Emotional Support] | Simon - Umbreon ♀️[Emotional Support] | Lucky - Rattata ♂️ 🌟 [Likes to help plant in the greenhouse, three legs and stunted tail, runt] | Char - Charizard ♂️ [Semi-retired after Pokenip Saga crystals ate his wing 3:]

Previous Pokemon:

Monarch - Vespiquen ♀️ [Returned to wild amicably] | Bess - Rhyperior ♀️[Lives off-island in wild] | Rattata Babies [raised and adopted out]

#pokemon #pokemon art #Pokemon oc #Pokemon trainer #shilo #world building #in character

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littlefoxwithbighat · 3 years

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Hi! This is talking about the plot of the dream smp in a meta sense and its a bit negative. The person behind this blog wants to remind you that you can skip if it's not for you and they still love the SMP. :)

ALL DISCUSSION IS ABOUT CHARACTERS. DON'T ATTACK CCS OR I WILL STEAL YOUR KNEECAPS.

I can't lie; I'm really annoyed and worried at the way the writers are handling Tommys character at the moment, and am increasingly concerned about it messing up the plot.

I wasn't very happy with the finale. I don't think that means all is lost, I think they can pull it back but it's going to take some work. I was worried about the way that things were handled before but the green festival was actually very well handled, so my worries were mostly assuaged. But yesterday? I don't know.

The fact nobody lost a cannon death is kind of disappointing. The weight of blowing up an entire city/ (country?) brutally is somewhat lost if there is no human loss. Nobody was hurt physically and the only people this had a big mental impact on was Tommy and Tubbo, everyone else wasn't very attached to L'manburg or had gone rogue, or were detatched from the while situation. And maybe it's the fact it's happened to them before or that they still have each other or that it seems odd/ frustrating that they still care so much about this place or that it was always a losing battle and they knew it, but I dont find myself really pitying them like I probably should. And I think that comes down to character growth or lack thereof, which I'll discuss later.

Niki and Fundy have started a villain arc, or at least a violent nihilism arc, and I actually don't mind it, in fact I'm a fan but it wasnt really foreshadowed, or really just showing them cracking as much as it should have been. I would guess this has mostly been started for both of them to tie Niki into the plot and I can't blame her for wanting that. Fundys acting is very good, and I REALLY hope the writers handle this well. For Fundy, regarding the fact that his father is going to be resurrected and that Fundy is following in his footsteps... If the writers don't realise that connection and make this a big step in Fundys narrative I will scream. Also Funboo bros are very interesting character foils and I hope their relationship is maintained so that they can play of off each other and also man I just really want them to keep being friends, it's a generally positive healthy relationship that makes both characters sympathetic and we need that right now. As for Niki, her character motivations seem to be mostly centered around Tommy and on the one hand I'm like ehhhh, because Tommy's character already gets a disproportionate amount of attention in terms of narrative, and I get it, but recently he's been a bit TOO much of the protagonist for a multi-person POV improve server... and I'm apprehensive. However on the other hand this has potential for a nice confrontation between Tommy and Niki. If that happens I want Tommy to be aware that this is going to happen and not talk over Niki, and I don't want it to be brushed over. I think it would be best if it was just the two of them. This also gives a nice chance for Tommy to examine his trauma with Dream and explain his motivations and Niki to get her anger out. I also want it to end positively, because it absolutely can and lack of communication when the viewer knows how to fix it is OK as a plot device sometimes but incredibly frustrating if it keeps happening (cough, Tommy and Techno).

Ranboo is reacting to the plot amazingly and I have as usual only praise for him, go, you funky enderman boy, go.

Wilbur is getting resurrected which is a thousand percent because Will wants the plot back and honestly I don't really mind, I think he'll do a good job. However I really hope he speaks to everybody about their characters, particularly Fundy, Ranboo and Niki because I don't want their characterisation and arcs to be thrown away.

Tubbo is doing very well, and I don't have many complaints to be honest. I hope he continues to get in with the acting with no shame, because he's an amazing VA when he wants to be, but sometimes he undercuts serious moments a little too much by laughing. Same criticism for Phil actually. But both are doing good.

On the theme of that, while I don't mind tension relievers or humour in serious moments there are sometimes too many. It was a lot worse about a month back and it was improving, but it seems to be creeping back in and ehhh. It's kind of Marvel-esque and not in a good way? I think it has a lot to do with bloopers and for some reason there are loads at the moment? Like Wilburs arc had almost none and this arc there's at least 2 every moment. Which isn't always their fault but maybe they need to take more steps to prevent them.

Techno is doing OK, he's quite a meta character so I'm not too mad about him undercutting serious moments but sometimes he does do it too much or in the wrong place. Like making jokes about Connor completely over the top of Tommy and Tubbos reunion, you know an event which has been foreshadowed for yoinks, prevented them from getting a proper flow going and kind of ruined it. And that made the reunion really dissapointing, which is a shame because it could have been so cool. However his characterisation is consistent and dedicated, his goals and relationships are clear and he's getting humanised more which is nice, and his monologues are great. I'm curious to see what he does now NL'M is gone but I have total faith in him.

Now Tommy. Oh Tommy. His character is such a mess at the moment, which is a shame because there were moments I saw people doubting his character choices and I was behind him.

Firstly the relationship with Techno fell apart. That was inevitable. Tommy didn't care about anarchy and Techno didn't care about the discs and both of their goals would impede the others. But the way Tommy talks about Techno is so... No? And now I understand that Tommy is going to have a biased perspective on the whole situation, and that's fine and good, but his character is so wrong about Techno it feels weird and painful? Like even from his perspective it went down differently to how he talks about it. They don't listen to each other and it's like watching two people scream at a wall.

The issue is the relationship was fairly well developed. I struggle to see Tommy saying he saw Techno as a friend but Techno never saw him as a friend because hold on, what? Techno, here's a respiration helmet because of that one of thing you told me about your trauma, a disc because those make you happy, plus top tier armour and weaponry, plus I'm going to spend time with you, calm you down from panic attacks, hide you and protect you from Dream, let you wander around L'manburg and achieve your own goals and help you plan things out Techno and Tommy didn't get ANYTHING from that? Plus after Techno opens up about his goals and his trauma, do the one thing that would hurt him the most, (use and then betray him) and then directly oppose his goals after he helped me? Ugh. It just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I know he would never let Tubbo get hurt and thats fine, but there were ways around that. If you're framing this character as the protagonist, then he needs to be sympathetic or at least grow and Tommy using Techno again without remorse and then refusing to listen to his perspective or show any gratitude for anything makes it difficult for viewers to empathise with him in my opinion. Have him betray Techno and then listen to Techno when he explains why Tommys betrayal hurt him and apologise, fine. Have him listen to Techno and try and find a way to keep Tubbo safe regardless, fine. Have him betray Techno but apologetically and still trying to avoid Techo getting crushed or killed, fine. But THIS? Im sympathetic towards Tommys character but this throws away so much potential character development for Tommy, where at least he saw Techno as a person, and not only that but a nice person who despite everything has set aside everything to help him? And then for him to be exactly where he was at the end of season 1, both literally, and emotionally ? I understand this is a child soldier with trauma but this is supposed to be our protagonist and if he doesn't grow, and isn't sympathetic and destroys someone we care about, how can we root for him?

Now all of this could be forgivable, not great, but forgivable, if Tommy had moved on from the discs. The Goddamn Discs™. And the worse part is all the dominoes were lined up to suggest he had! We had his moment of "he watched me" where he realised Dream was the villain and controlling him, "I've become worse than everyone I hated" good, amazing, I see where this is going, "The discs were worth more than you ever were!" and then he retracts and apologises and you think horray! Tommy has realised the discs were being used to control him and if he doesn't care about them, they hold no value! Now he's going to realise that his friends are more important and he's going to stop going after the discs. His new character motivation can be killing Dream and protecting his friends, especially Tubbo. It's clearly angled this way, and this way the plot progresses and Tommy with it. What marvellous character development. Look at him go.

And THEN, after everything that's happened he says the most important thing is the disc and I want them back!?!? EH !!? Why... Who... Who gave the OK on that writing decision? That's so static and boring and unsympathetic! And then he's back to asking people do fight for L'manburg? What?

I'll be honest I was kind go hoping either Tommy or Tubbo would die with L'manburg. I didn't mind it they didn't, there are a thousand ways to make the plot work without them dying, but this was not a great one.

PLEASE let Tommy have some growth. Yes he's had some from not caring about L'manburg to fighting for it in season one, but that was ages ago and he doesnt seem to have changed since then in any way that really counts. And I know this is harsh and he's traumatised but you have to understand I am talking about this in a sense of characters and narrative and NOT in terms of real life. Tommy needs to be better and dynamic because he is a charcacter and I want him to be a good one.

Having said all that, here are my thoughts on the future of the SMP.

Firstly, I am worried that becuse it is such a good source of content, especially for Tommy that they will never ever kill his character and leave him fighting with Dream for eternity. And I love the Dream SMP but I've seen stories that get dragged out for plot or content, and however much you think you want it to never end, let me tell you, yes you do. It will get stale and repetitive and I want the dream smp, or at least Tommys arc to go out with a beautiful and brilliant and fabulous plot ending instead of being dragged into the dirt. And then maybe new characters take the spotlight. Just please god give it a goode ending.

I also really hope they don't throw other things away to make Tommy the centre of attention, especially if it's destructive to the plot, or kind of weird and obnoxious.

Secondly, I am intrigued about the prison and Schlatts book to Dream and Technos favour and the egg and what that entails and I hope they really think through those plot points carefully and make them work, and don't forget them or throw them away.

Thirdly, I am intrigued for Wilburs return and hope that he manages to fix it cohesively without too crazy a change of pace and style and keeping characters (especially Ranboo and Fundy and Niki) consistent.

I hope they prep for the future and think things thought and communicate with each other.

It might be interesting to see other countries finally discussed but I don't know how much that would intefere with other plot points so we'll see.

That's all! Reminder that this is about characters and plot and this is just a few criticisms. I love the dream smp, but there are somethings I wanted to get of my chest. Please be respectful and feel free to discuss in the notes. Also, again, no hate to any CCs!

#mcyt #mcytumblr #dream smp theories #dream smp analysis #dream smp #dream smp spoilers #dream smp meta #tommy mcyt #negativity #negativity tw #dream smp plot

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popculturebuffet · 3 years

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Amphibia: Ivy on The Run and After the Rain Reviews

Hello all you happy people! We’re into week two and after far too long we finally get some answers.. well okay not the ones we thought we were getting but hey you take what you get sometimes. Point is it’s a big week, with a fun ivycentric episode that fleshes her and Felcia out and a far more serious episode that finally explains a few things, not saying what things because spoilers. So join me under the cut for some smiles, some tears, and a bit of Muay Thai and Myagi-Do as I break things down.

Ivy on the Run:

I was pleased as punch to find out Ivy was getting an episode. While I couldn’t say she was a faviorite of mine, I always found Katie Crowns performance exceptional, and her a delight to watch. The character wasn’t bad.. but EVERY episode up to this one involving her was about her and Sprig’s relationship which while really fucking precious left little room to flesh her out beyond a love of ambushes and being into the same kid stuff Sprig was into.

This episode not only corrects that but also takes another suprising leap for the series in having Ivy clearly be the main character of the episode. While this isn’t the first episode to spotlight a citzen of wartwood.. it’s the first where the Plantars are side characters in the plot instead of just as important as whoever got focus or usually more important. Here Ivy is the lead of the episode: We open on her waking up for the day (Or rather having been awake for hours to trick her alarm clock), get a sense of her personality.. and of the episodes conflict: Ivy’s desire to be free and explore versus her mothe’rs constnat anal renttientve insistence she do tea related stuff like fold swans properly. IT’s a decent enough conflict that gets elevated by hte twist at the end.

So she runs out after that to meet up with Sprig, and ambush him because that’s how thier relationship works. And what I really like here is while their relationships still present in the episode it’s thankfully not the focus or even realy lreated. Their clearly together, it’s just not the focus of the episode> Just some nice ranch dressing atop this salad. While they go to hunt for glitter beetles, Anne is teaching Polly, Muay Thai. The martial art of champions.. specifically one eyed ones who like to put tiger in front of their moves. As for why she took it up her mom wanted somewhere to put her energy, as seen in a flashback with a young Anne adorably banging on pans while singing her own version of Wannabe by the Spice Girls. It’s fucking precious.

So the couple happily go beetle hunting i’ts precious.. but Ivy’s patience with her mother starts to run out as her mother loudly interupts her hunt to return her for tea practice: stirring it, setting tables, folding swans that sorta thing. All things she clearly dosen’t WANT to do or like and gives the impression Felcia is trying to force her daughter to become more like her and less like herself which... no. Just no.

Ivy eventually hits her limit with this bullshit, tells her mother off and then stomps off to her room whiel her Mom fails ot understand that MAYBE being hypercirtical of your daughter, even if it turns out you have a good reason, might backfire. Ivy is encouraged by her posters, great scene by the way, to run away and leave town, and take Sprig with her.. whose relcutant as he talked himself up as being really well liked and savy out there but was just okay in practice.

Meanwhile Polly and Anne continue training but Polly can’t get it as she just can’t calm down and focus, and Anne easily blocks her. In constrast Wally shows up, having apparently been watching them.

And picks it up instantly. I can see why; Wally seems a bit scatterbrained due to his weird and wonderful nature.. but we’ve seen him be entirely capable when the chips are down, and to be a talented musician. So while he’d SEEM like he’d lack focus, it’s probably way easier to him than the impatient tadpole who just wants to kick ass without getting it takes a few steps.

Meanwhile Sprig tries to talk his girlfriend out of running away together at 10 only for Sylvia to tail them with those bee phone things she used earlier.. and also be there, as once they clear those out she’s waiting and both end up at the Muay Thai class. Things finally hit their breaking point and Ivy wishes she never had family... and I think this is what finally gets it in Felicia’s head she messed up. She meant well.. but sh’es clearly been so hard on her child that, even if she instnatnly regrets it, she’s willing to disown her own mother if it means getting away from her.

So Felica gives her a way out: Martial Arts Match. Because nothing says parental love like fighting your daughter for her freedom. Though in her defense things are pretty fair: three matches, and Ivy just needs to win ONE by getting a point on her, like in a martial arts competition. I only know that’s what they were going for because I binged Cobra Kai last month along with the first two Karate Kids.

And that refrence isn’t for nothing as Felcia easily dominates the first two matches using Miyagi-Do esque moves i.e. pure defense, and with a Miyagi style lesson inside as for the final one.. she has Ivy repeat the various tea things she’d had her do, and just like that amazing fucking scene from Karate Kid, Ivy can now fight and realizes her mother was training her the whole time, as her mom simply wanted her to be readly and as for why Felcia herself is a karate master, she picked it up while gathering tea as naturally it’s incredibly dangerous in amphibia.

So Felcia let’s her daughte win and expalins she just wanted her to be safe.. which is nice but while her devistaiton earlier clearly shows it, it still dosen’t QUITE justify how hard she was or not telling her why when her daughter is a clear tomboy. I do get the Miyagi-Do training style: it builds muscle memory and means you can defend without thinking, fight without having to plan every punch and kick. It’s brilliant.. but you have to match the training to the student. Daniel hated his traning too.. but Miyagi clearly KNEW he would, knew he’d give out and set it all up that way. Felcia.. nearly pushed her daughter into running away and never apologized. It’s not all terrible as there is the implciation this whole match was Felcia realizing she had to make it clera what she was doing, but it’s still fairly torubling the episode never adresses her behavior outright., even if they make up and Felciia plans to take her along next time. Also Polly punches wally in the face... eh he’l lbe fine.

Final Thoughts on Ivy on the Run: This one was decent. As said the final part feels a bit... ehhh..as it feels they don’t adress Felicia’s controlling attitude enough.. but it dosen’t detract from a pretty fun episode, especially the Muay Thai stuff. That was an unexpected treat. And let’s face it after recently getting in deep with the franchise thanks to cobra kai, I can’t hate anything that reminds me of the Karate Kid. In a good way at least.

After The Rain:

Well this was both a long time coming and as painful as I expected. And after over a year and a half, we FINALLY get some answers.. not ALL the answers but some. Look you know what this episode is about, I know what this episode is about, let’s get cracking in round 2.

So Anne’s got a letter, anne’s got a letter I wonder who it’s from. Marcy.. it’s from Marcy. Turns out she’s ready to go to the first temple, and even sent them a check list: weapons, food (check and check) and armor. Hop Pop already thought of that.. but instead of badass and practical armor.. it’s padded sumo suits that they can’t move in because “less mobility means less trouble”. Or you’ll get eaten by a hawk.. which given this show is probably also on fire and can shoot acid out of its’ eyes. Or lasers. Or acid lasers. The point is their gonna die. THey also naturally need the music box... which Hop Pop about craps himself hearing. Gee it’s almost like not getting the box sooner when you knew damn well abotu the temple thing and that they’d need it kinda bit you on the froggy bottom Hopidiah.

It gets worse for him as while he mentions his ‘contacts” again.. that night he goes to dig it up. Problem is, Anne follows him when she hears footsteps, and while she initially assumes i’ts just him being a weirdo and plans to suprise him... we instead get the gut punch we’ve been anticpating for the last year and a half. Hop Pop shouts about the box being gone, clearly panicked... and Anne hears him, utterly devistated and rightfully FURIOUS. He confesses the truth, clearly feeling guilty for what he’s done and lying all this time but Anne dosen’t want to hear it and storms off.

Yeah as you can tell this is a rough one. So next morning Hop Pop, who clearly hasn’t slept and given his surrogate grandaughter just rightfully walked out on him why would he, confesses to the kids what he did. And while neither like what he did .. they prioritize getting Anne back, sending him to go fix his mess while they find the box.

The box turns out to not be the only thing missing: various other things around town have been stolen, including a talisman that if Maddie dosen’t get it back will have horrifying consequences. Classic Maddie. As for why Swampy Joe has the answer: the magpie beetle, a beetle that emerges once every 20 years to steal stuff to use as a shell to impress mates. They find the box.. but it’s in a seatle of beatles and soon get swamped. Meanwhile Anne’s returned to the cave and... okay i’m just going to have to power through or this episodes going to kill me with sadness. After some bits about her and her rock rocky, Hop Pop finds her and she still has nothing to say to him, again for good reaosn, but before he can get to telling her WHY he did it, they hear the others crying for help and Anne tries to rescue them herself, only helping hop pop do so when he points out they NEED to and even if she rightfully dosen’t trust him she needs to for now. THey save the kids.. and Anne STILL wants to leave.

We then get an even bigger gut punch. It turns out Hop Pop didn’t hide the box for some big reveal.. regarding the box. Turns out it’s not the box itself, his book just says it’s dangerous and w’ell likely find out any specifics it had next week. It’s Hop Pop’s lingering trauma. While we don’t find out why the Box is dangerous.. we do find out what hapepned to their parents. And I just want to say before we get into that Bill Farmer’s acting this WHOLE episode is some of hte finest, if not THE finest in his career. HIs guilt, his pain.. it’s all so raw and palpable. Brenda Song’s no slouch either, Anne’s pain and anger is likewise very well done, but Bill is far and away the mvp of the episode.. and this scene is why.

He reveals he’s been so cautious, so scared for the kids and so overly protective in general.. because of how the kids parents died, something they don’t blame him for but he does: He was out of town on buisness.. when a pair of herons attacked. Sprig and Polly got to the family bunker in time.. their parents... weren’t so lucky. It’s not the big bombastic arc related death we all thought was coming.. but I like it for it’s brutal nightmarish simplicity. They didn’t die some heroic death, they aren’t still here.. they just died like SO MANY background frogs have. Two wild giant animals they coudln’t possibly defend against got em. Nothing could’ve been done no matter what Hop Pop thinks, theirs no way they coudl’ve been saved, and i’ts LUCKY their children didn’t share the same fate. But their gone and it gives a new, awful meaning to Hop Pop’s overproectivness. Before it was mildly justified if a bit strict.. now.. i’ts him trying not to loose what he has left. Trying to hold on tight to his grandkids so he dosen’t loose anyone else.

He hid the box because his trauma and guilt were so severe he did something very stupid, and regretted it ever since and begs anne to forgive him in THE best line read of Bill Farmer’s long and storied career. And she does, hugging her Hop Pop gently, realizing that while he fucked up.. she gets WHY he did.. and that he’s sorry for it. He wasn’t tyring to keep her from going home or any messed up shit.. he just was trying to keep her and his other kids alive. And as Sprig and Polly say it’s not his fault, it never could’ve been.. he can’t help but feel that way. You just feel.. powerless when you loose someone, like you could’ve done something even though 9/10 you couldn’t have and it leaves a hole you never quite fill. So this hit like a truck. But our family is reconclied and the kids get a look at the entry in Hop Pop’s ancestral book. What does it say besides it bad? what does this mean? We’ll find out next week. For now it’s just good to have them all together again.

Final Thoughts on After the Rain: This episode is a masterpiece. It’s exepertly crafted, sticks in a few gags for flavor and only has the sprig and polly plot to help keep the main meat of the plot as light as it needs to be.. and it works. The few scenes we get with Anne and Hop Pop are just plain brutal and exactly what’s needed. It’s one of the series best, painful, raw and with a twist I dind’t see coming. I expected, again like most of us for the kdis parents deaths to be tied into it.. but instead.. it’s just trauma. But it’s satisfying enough that it feels like a great payoff, that it wasn’t some big dark secret like misdirected... it was just an old man who didn’t want to loose what family he had left. And that’s fucking brilliant.

Next Week: THE FIRST TEMPLE BABY! The Plantars and Marcie head into the woods to fight moblins and ggghosts! I mean.. that is what the forest temple is right?

Until then follow me for more reviews, follow me on my patreon your support would be appricated and see you at the next rainbow.

#amphibia #after the rain #ivy on the run #anne boonchuy #hopidiah plantar #sprig plantar #ivy sundew #polly plantar #felcia sundew #one eyed wally #maddie flour #amphibia spoilers

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thesorrowoflizards · 4 years

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yall we deserve more fairy tale aus. more maiaphael and/or magnus fairy tale aus

the beautiful princess maia, strong in her own right but so soft and kind and she just wants to help even though she’s not in a great position to do so

brave young hero raphael questing not for the princess’s hand but to help his community, his family, his sister (but he falls in love with her anyway)

“fairy godfather” magnus, a kind wizard who helps them out and indeed helps anyone he can… and perhaps dragon alec

but like the point is—oh my god

oh no

oh no mid post

mid post the idea it hit me

literally while i was in the middle of typing trying to figure out where i was going with this

ive been, metaphorically speaking, shot blank

with the idea

maiaphael

shrek au

oh I hate this

does this make maia fiona, raphael shrek, and magnus—DONKEY?! AND ALEC THE DRAGO—ok ok so this is happening now. amazing. i just wanted a soft fairy tale au with princess maia and hero raphael and kindly wizard magnus but now here we are. shrek au. fine. if this is how it’s gonna be, fine

i guess rather than ogre he’s a vampire which is a little more subtle—perhaps instead of becoming a vampire at night she’s a werewolf? so downworlders in general rather than specifically a vampire? not quite loyal to the original story (as she became an ogre rather than just “a fairy tale creature” for a reason) but not bad—although the implication she’d like become a wolf forever isn’t great. I mean I’m sure you can play with that so it’s more like at night she becomes a werewolf—ability to transform into a wolf, eyes flash green sometimes, can do feats of supernatural strength and so on, but like. still. hm

but like ok look the point is maia is in this tower and it’s not that she’s weak, but she can’t fight a dragon on her own and she’s been taught her whole life she was supposed to be saved, get a prince charming, etc. she’s quite well read and also very isolated and probably claustrophobic as fuck now. i’m not sure how to combine her characterization with fiona’s in a way that stays loyal to her character but still makes sense in the au tbh.... [thinking emoji im too lazy to google and paste here]

and like raphael, rather than wanting everyone out of his home, perhaps is specifically trying to help his community and get more structure? obviously magnus wants to help—still can’t believe I’m making him donkey but the dragon thing is too good to pass up, although I’m basically going to completely change his role as donkey because I physically can’t handle making him the comic relief literal ass, but like, he’s had his own issues and also wants to help get the land to set up a home for everyone and help people, so he’s travelling with raphael and is like “smol angery vampire who is willing to slap a dragon to death to save his community and specifically take care of his sister? im adopting him immediately”

perhaps for shenanigans and I have. oh my god this is ridiculous but any shrek au is inherently ridiculous so I’m making this twi malec now. consider this: twi magnus on the road literally just getting the hang of his magic after an encounter with a rogue crazy princess who’s stab-happy and needed some magical help, so it’s waking up and he’s just getting in all these crazy hijinks with raphael where hypothetically he’s powerful enough to just zap them there, zoink out the dragon and win, but he can’t fucking control it so sure he can turn all the knights’ armor pink or sneeze and make it start to rain (which is a LITTLE SCARY) but like, other than randomly floating or random bursts of managing to control it in high pressure situations, it’s like. not that useful. again i can’t be clear enough he isn’t really donkey it’s just an excuse to have him travelling with raphael. i guess simon would be donkey if i were going for serious but then they’d both be in love with maia so--

also, twi magnus and raphael? fun interaction time. especially since I’m still basically doing canon maiaphael and not trying to mess with twi, there, so like. he’s kind of trying to get out of his shell more but he cares deeply about raphael (and. well. everyone) already and he juts wants to help

and then he meets the dragon guarding maia’s tower and is immediately like….. damn……… no not getting distracted by this

but the dragon, twi alec, is just like HEY THERE PRETTY BOY ;D and like. they don’t even have to fight the dragon raphael just. walks past while they make heart eyes at each other and when alec realizes they’re walking away with maia he’s just like “ok whatever but magnus you better come back and visit sweetheart I’m gonna make you the prettiest necklace and I can find you some old books on magic, I’m sure I’ve got some in my hoard somewhere—”

meanwhile on the way back magnus is kind of pining after alec but also getting a stronger handle on his magic

and raphael is getting to know the princess

and maia is getting to know raphael (she was NOT expecting a vampire and a warlock, but they’re both incredibly nice and she was REALLY REALLY BORED in that tower) and just like…. you know,,,,,,, romance begins to bloom mayhaps

now I don’t know how to like really get across that one of their main commonalities is community, because in this scenario maia wouldn’t have a pack—unless we change canon even more and I’m just not going to rn, but put a pin in that

so like, maybe she really does care about her people and she super is a people person, but she hasn’t had many chances to show that because she’s been fucking locked up and that’s kind of messed with her you know

god you know I want to include jordan and camille here but I wouldn’t even know how to—I imagine jordan could be prince charming but he doesn’t come in until later and ehhh

so like raphael (and also magnus) are really helping her with that

and she’s also helping him be less closed off and… angry isn’t quite right, but like. she kind of helps both of them open up tbh. not to erase magnus’s friends but also I love a good magnus and maia friendship? but like she’s not afraid to start conversations or ask them questions or listen to their stories (and they listen to hers which is nice because she’s been talking mostly to walls and stuffed animals for a while now and books are great but it’s not the same)

and like she’s free not to have to act like a perfect delicate princess, but she’s also free to be vulnerable and soft too you know

so like okay also lord farquaad or however you spell it I don’t care is jace. I mean obviously annoying lord tiny penis is jace. duh. (oh my god does this mean alec eats jace--?)

and like idk this is a very scattered concept—I’m not sure these communication kings would really do the main plot of shrek where an overheard misunderstood snippet of conversation leads to such a huge conflict but I mean if he was really just beginning to open up to her and then he thought she thought downworlders were disgusting or whatever (wait no that wouldn’t work because she can’t say vampires but she can’t be saying that to magnus, either—fuck I don’t know like I said it needs reworking to fit) he could be devastated enough to just be like well fuck it

AND LIKE AGAIN. DRAGON ALEC. EATS JACE. amazing. everyones like “raphael is your friend... fucking a dragon” and raphael is like “please never say those words to me again” and alec’s like (in human form, they don’t realize he’s the dragon even tho raphael does) “actually a dragon is fucking raphael’s friend” and raphael is like shut the fuck up right now

idk I feel like a lot of details make it not work but the overall concept could be fun as hell, probably mostly as a crack au

god I just wanted a fairy tale au. soft princess maia, young hero raphael, kindly wizard magnus. goin’ on a quest. savin’ people. is that too much to ask for???

my brain says yes.

#maiaphael #maia roberts #raphael santiago #malec #magnus bane #alec lightwood #shadowhunters #im so sorry #i just wanted to do a maiaphael post for ur maiaphael blog but i made this abomination and i would not blame you if you didn't reblog it

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itsclydebitches · 5 years

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RWBY Recaps: “A New Approach”

A friend of mine has a van that she calls the Fun Bus. Oh that’s cute, I thought. I should chuck that into a recap sometime. “All aboard the RWBY Fun Bus!” Except my fun levels are ehhh right now, so how about we just don’t.

In fact, let’s be totally up front about things and get the major positives out of the way:

The animation this volume is absolutely stunning holy shit

I would once again die for James Ironwood. All hail the Hug King

Excellent introduction for Tyrian and Watts. I love feeling like the villains are actually dangerous again

The rest? I’ve got some things to say.

We open on Ruby looking appropriately downtrodden over their circumstances. Getting carted off in an Atlas police craft and all that. We get a pan across each side of the airship with the group looking angry (Yang) or defeated (everyone else)... with the exception of Nora, who is trying to eat through her bonds. I’m well aware that I’m nit-picking at this point, but for once I’d like the serious moments to remain serious in this show. Given her reaction to Salem, Kuroyuri, etc. we’re all well aware by now that Nora is more than just the comic relief. Undermining the others’ reactions with her making dog noises was an early cue that the writers weren’t going to treat the group’s arrest earnestly. To say nothing of the disservice it does to her character.

Actually, there were a lot of coincidental dog references in this scene. Nora’s growling. Referring to the Ace-Ops as Ironwood’s “personal attack dogs.” Deducing that he must have a “bone to pick” with them. Obviously this all means precisely nothing. What I want it to mean is that Zwei will arrive in another package courtesy of Tai, wondering how his kids are doing after one ran off and the other went to find her.

(Seriously though, does everyone remember Volume Five’s ending with Raven? Heaven only knows when that will become relevant again.)

While Nora continues to try and eat metal like a rabid animal, Jaune expresses disbelief that the Ace-Ops “took us out like it was nothing.” Honestly, it never ceases to amaze me how often the group is surprised by other people being stronger than them. Like they’re not the youngest and least trained in a world of professional huntsmen. Rather than acknowledging their need for improvement though---callback to Ruby’s “But we already know how to fight” anyone?---Weiss frames it as an exceptionalism intrinsic to her city. “Welcome to Atlas.” You know, the same city she quickly agreed to steal from and then draw the attention of the guards by giving a racist civilian what-for. The speed with which the show flip-flops between ‘We should fear this city’ and ‘But we shouldn’t take any actual precautions’ is pretty impressive.

All of which is made weirder by Weiss’ next line to the other prisoner locked up with them: “They’re not that big of a deal.” So... which is it, Weiss? Are the Ace-Ops Ironwood’s elites who can obviously take out a group of nine in seconds flat? Or are they worth scoffing and rolling your eyes at? Because you had a rather different opinion literally seconds ago. She does the same thing when the prisoner uses the term “tyranny” to describe the situation in Mantle. She claims now that the label is a “bit much” when before the whole group decided not to approach Ironwood precisely because of how tyrannical he appeared. I swear, good chunks of the dialogue just functions as openings for the plot---let the random prisoner explain all the horrors of this city!---rather than something the character in question would actually say.

But I’m harping. We learn a bit more about Hill and her “Happy Huntresses,” clearly a parallel to Robin Hood and his band of Merry Men. I was actually surprised to learn that she’s a full-on freedom fighter, just based on her posters last episode. The number of them and their professional look felt more like Atlas’ brand of propaganda. Big brother sister is watching you and all that. Then again, we also learn that Hill is gunning for a seat on the council, so it sounds like she’s not an ally of Ironwood’s plotting betrayal, and not a radical entirely removed from him either. We’ll have to wait and see precisely where she falls in this divide between Atlas and Mantle.

That fight is treated rather cheaply by the writing though. In this episode at least. Despite providing numerous looks at how horrible things are for the citizens here, this prisoner, currently representing that fight against the elite, is depicted as an absolute buffoon. He’s not engaging in an important, glorious battle for human rights. He just chucked a brick at an airship. He’s over the top, overly passionate, crazed enough that the group is looking away as he desperately tries to convince the guards up front that these things are important. The thing is? He’s right. But the writing doesn’t encourage us to treat his cause with respect, not when he’s bouncing off the walls and yelling like a conspiracy theorist. Actually, that’s the best comparison I can think of here. It’s like if someone laying out 100% real issues with climate change were written like a crack-pot loner who believes in aliens. That’s this guy.

We’re shown again that literally everyone recognizes Weiss Schnee---does no one else in all of Remnant have white hair?---before Jaune and a few others get distracted by how pretty the view is outside. Qrow commented earlier that they were no doubt going to jail.

Spoiler! It’s not jail.

It’s Atlas Academy, animated in a truly stunning design that reminds me of Weiss’ trip to the CTV tower to contact her dad. Looking back, that skyscraper-esque building probably made her anxious for reasons outside of just the call.

“I guess we will be seeing the General,” Ruby says because yeah, why would we have the group experiencing one iota of punishment before being handed the solution to their current predicament?

Look, anyone who follows these recaps is well aware of my feelings towards the airship debacle. I said last week that I wanted the writing to treat the group’s horrific mistakes and criminal activities seriously, but I wasn’t overly hopeful. I was right not to be. From now until the conversation about Salem, the ‘protagonists can do no wrong’ mindset that drove Volume Six is pulled out again in full force.

First, Winter sees the group in handcuffs and responds with, “You have ten seconds to take those off before I start hurting you.” Which is completely out of character to me. Does Winter adore Weiss? Without a doubt. But Winter is also a stickler for protocol and rules. This is the women who threatened to remove Qrow’s tongue over a few vague, anti-Atlas statements. She is all about devotion to her Kingdom. So how should she react when she sees a group of kids being formally brought in for charges? I don’t know, maybe find out what’s going on before demanding an immediate release? Here, Winter prioritizes the emotional assumption that Weiss and her friends are perfectly innocent as opposed to trusting that they’re in handcuffs for a reason. Which they are. Combine that with the humor of the guards scrambling to obey her with more silly sound effects and it’s once again clear that the group’s arrest was never going to be taken seriously.

Things get so much worse though. Ironwood starts apologizing to them, also working under the assumption that this was all some sort of silly mistake. Of course you shouldn’t be in handcuffs. You’re the good guys! Yang and a few others have the gall to be haughty here (yeah, how dare you arrest us after we committed multiple crimes) and for a moment I think all of this will actually amount to something when Ironwood laughs and says, “We assumed [the ship] was stolen!”

Uh yeah, goes Ruby. It... was?

Which results in a brief moment of shock and about three seconds of anger from Winter... and then that’s it. That’s all we get. Weiss interrupts her with, “I’m sorry I worried you, but we did what we had to do” which, no?? Okay first off, worrying Winter is not the issue here. She’s been worried for literally those three seconds and nothing more. Second, as I’ve established numerous times in the past, they did not “do what they had to do.” Absolutely nothing in Argus forced their hand to the point where stealing military property, fighting Cordovin, drawing that grimm, and then deliberately hiding out from Atlas authorities was justified. Why doesn’t Winter or Ironwood challenge them on this? Why the hell would two military personnel accept at face value that committing all of these crimes was necessary? Imagine your younger sister steals a car (which is in no way comparable to an Atlas airship, but let’s run with it). She and her friends then get caught by the neighbor they stole it from, started a fight instead of giving it back, endangered a bunch of other people on the road, got the police involved, and hid out until they were finally arrested. Then at the police station big sister gets angry at the officers for daring to book you and is pacified with a hug. Don’t worry, dear. I know there’s no possible way you could be in the wrong here. No reason to acknowledge, let alone address, why you thought those were acceptable actions in the first place.

Qrow is briefly called out for letting this happen, but like Maria’s comment last episode about the group being incapable of keeping a low profile, he shrugs it off with a joke. “You try stopping these kids when they have their mind set on something.” You know what these ‘jokes’ remind me of? Privilege. Stuff like “Boys will be boys ¯\_(ツ)_/¯” where people accept that change is impossible, so why would we bother calling anyone out on their mistakes? Boys are just hardwired to hurt girls and call it love. Teens are just hardwired to steal airships and call it necessary. You know what they’re like. Putting your foot down is useless because that’s just how they naturally function... and we’re all going to ignore the fact that no one else could get away with this shit. They’re the special ones exempt from repercussions. There’s a reason why both both Oscar and Ruby smile here. They know they’re not in trouble.

What all of this boils down to is that the group is above both the law and basic decency. That’s what Cordovin, Ironwood, Winter, and the writing all tell us. It doesn’t matter how many people you endanger. What you steal. What you break in order to accomplish that. Or how long you might try to hide what you’ve done. You’re you, a nebulous acceptance that you’re somehow above everyone and everything. These kids are never going to learn anything because each time they make a mistake---even massive mistakes that put a whole city in danger---they’re rewarded with smiles and a blanket acceptance that they did what they had to do. That is beyond frustrating to me. For the love of god, let them face an actual consequence for once.

It’s not going to happen though. Even the Ace-Ops apologize for doing their job (and treat Ruby like some sort of celebrity in the process). RWBYJNRQO is painted as victims for suffering the indignity of arrest... when they did numerous things they should have been arrested for. I particularly love Weiss’, “You could have asked us some questions first.” Yes, because everyone should be in the habit of taking a criminal’s word at face value and then letting them go when they say, “I’m innocent.” Rather than acknowledging any of this, the writing has the Ace-Ops go out of their way to emphasize how special the group is. You’re kids, but only technically. You’re students, but who cares. You’re as good as us, regardless of training or qualifications. That fact remains that the group did in fact do everything they were accused of and more, something that should generate reflection on whether they’re up for being paired with professionals, rather than an insistence that they’re automatically on par with these adults who complete their missions in a legal, safe manner. If that Argus fight gets them hugs and cool new weaponry, I shudder to think what else the group can not only get away with, but be rewarded for.

Once everyone blindly bypasses one of the biggest conflicts of Volume Six, we hit on the other divisive choice this episode: Ruby lying to Ironwood about Ozpin and the relic.

Okay. I’m going to be as clear as I can here: Ruby is being a massive hypocrite. That’s it. That’s the situation. I shouldn’t have been surprised by the fandom’s reaction, and yet I somehow still was. In just a few hours I’ve seen at least twenty posts detailing how Ruby is not a hypocrite because her situation is totally different from Ozpin’s. HE can’t keep secrets. SHE can. Which is the definition of hypocrisy: the group holding someone to a moral standard that they themselves will not strive for. Are there differences between telling the group about Salem and telling Ironwood about Salem? Yes, but the decision of whether or not to tell them derives from the exact same concerns:

Ozpin: I don’t know if I should tell these kids about Salem. I don’t know if I can fully trust them. I worry that admitting the relic still has questions will result in them using one irresponsibly.

Ruby: I don’t know if I should tell Ironwood about Salem. I don’t know if we can fully trust him. I worry that admitting the relic still has a question left will result in him using it irresponsibly.

And everyone is in on it. During the elevator ride up they all want to know what Ruby will say, meaning that they’re ready and willing to lie the moment she decides that’s best. “We’ll follow your lead,” Blake says. No one pipes up with, “Hey. Why are we considering lying to Ironwood when we decided that there’s no moral justification for keeping secrets like that? Especially from an ally involved in this fight?” Except, the group obviously never decided that. Jaune was happy to keep his secret back at Beacon. Blake too. Yang is still withholding info about the Spring Maiden. They’re all perfectly happy to lie provided they’re the ones doing the lying. Someone else doing that to them though? Omg, how dare you.

That’s hypocrisy.

(As a side note: good lord this group is so astoundingly bad at fighting a strategic war. They announce that they should be careful about what they say to Ironwood while two of Ironwood’s guards are in the elevator with them. This is a needless conversation! No one has to establish that they’ll follow Ruby’s lead! But yes, let’s talk about our plans to withhold information from the General while two of his men are very obviously listening in. We even get a shot of one guard looking over at that little tid-bit. I wouldn’t be surprised if this came back to bite them in the form of:

Guard, who I am naming Brad: “Sir, I thought you should be aware... the prisoners that just left? I overheard them discussing whether or not they would tell you something.”

Ironwood: “What? But I thought we trusted one another... did they say what this something was?”

Brad: “No, sir. They just agreed to be careful about what they said in front of you. They clearly intended to hide something though.”

Ironwood. “Huh. Now that I think about it, Ruby did interrupt Oscar when he was about to say something. And she was awfully nervous about it.”

Brad: “Sounds suspicious, sir. I’d look into it.”

Ironwood: “Right you are, Brad. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I’ll be sure you get a hefty bonus at the holiday party.”

Brad: “Thank you, sir! My husband and I appreciate it.”

Gay guards aside, this is why Ozpin was right to be cautious. This group is too hot-headed, too immature, and often too plain dense to keep world-shattering secrets safe. This moment gets put up alongside Yang’s demand that Ozpin spill all his top-secret info while the random old woman they picked up 30 seconds ago watches. They just don’t think.)

In short, they are in the same exact situation as Ozpin. Weighing truth against potential repercussions. The fact that said repercussions vary in severity---a group of teens betraying him and/or caving under the pressure vs. a potential dictator betraying them and/or caving under pressure---doesn’t matter. They’re both really bad potential outcomes and both parties are right to be cautious. So yes, I agree with Ruby’s hesitance. It’s the smart thing to do. What I don’t agree with is the characters’ and the fandom’s insistence that Ozpin is not likewise smart for doing the exact same thing. Now that Ruby has made this choice she’d better damn well acknowledge her own hypocrisy. If the writing doesn’t give us a serious moment in which the group reconsiders their actions against Ozpin in light of their recent choices, then the ‘protagonists can do no wrong’ mindset has irrevocably damaged this show. Because you can’t have Ruby making the exact same choices her mentor made and not change her perspective now that she’s had the chance to walk in his shoes. “Oh wow. Sometimes you do want to play information close to your chest. Maybe we were wrong to respond so viciously to Ozpin’s secrecy when I literally just did the exact same thing to someone else. I get it now.”

All that being said, I’d actually argue that Ironwood is in a more justified position to have that information. He’s a chosen member of Ozpin’s inner circle. Ozpin never got the chance to vet this group. He’s a fully fledged huntsmen in charge of an entire Kingdom. They’re a bunch of half-trained kids. Checking in on/taking the relic to Atlas does not require knowing about Salem’s immortality. Enacting a plan to tell the whole world about her really, really does.

Because what else is Ironwood’s end game here? The only way this plan makes any sense is if he believes that Salem is mortal. Ozpin may have failed to kill her, but if we get an entire world to attack her at once we’re bound to win! This plan straight up falls apart when you realize that defeating Salem is not a matter of more manpower. Salem’s immortality is the Achilles’ heel of this scheme, whereas fighting the good fight is something the group signed up for right from the start. Not that Ironwood’s plan is a great one, even if it were viable. I’m sorry, but plunging a whole world into despair---something that draws literal monsters out of the woodwork---is a pretty terrible idea. Ironwood’s army can’t be everywhere at once and an announcement of that proportion would cause an untold amount of death and destruction. I can sort of get Ironwood’s sacrificial perspective. Deal with the fallout because the end result (finally defeating Salem) will be worth it. “Trying to hide the truth from the world will eventually kill us all,” he says, except hiding the truth hasn’t limited humanity in the way he assumes it has. It has allowed humanity to live in peace while a select few try to figure out how to kill an immortal woman.

...speaking of, how has Ironwood not realized Salem immortality? This remains a basic if/then construction of the story that blows my mind whenever people fail to pass it. “If Ozpin has fought Salem for over a thousand years, then Salem is either immortal or reincarnating like he does.” Because nothing else is possible! I mean, maybe Ironwood does know about her immortality and he intends his plan to work for reasons I can’t fathom right now, but it’s looking really unlikely after this episode. It just astounds me that we haven’t had a single character go, “Of course she’s immortal. Why is that surprising to everyone?”

Anyway, I’ve gotten horrendously off topic plot-wise. We learn that Penny and Winter now know about the relics and Maidens---something that worries me a bit because, as a piece of technology, Penny is potentially hackable. Especially with Watts on the loose. The Ace-Ops know as well. We also learn that they’ve already found the Winter Maiden who, according to Qrow, is “not exactly a spring chicken.” Huh. Another important piece of information that wasn’t blithely announced because people naturally work on a need-to-know basis... Sorry. Not diving back into the salt. That comment does actually intrigue me though. We know the powers can only pass to young women, so it’s a cool setup to present us with someone who has actually survived with that power for most of her life. I’m also eager to know whether Winter is set up to be the next Maiden. “Young” is a subjective marker and one of the criticisms fans have leveled at Ozpin is the fact that he put that pressure on Pyrrha instead of asking an older, fully trained huntress to be the Fall Maiden. Making Winter the next Maiden will lend support to that criticism. Ozpin could have chosen someone older, an actual adult, and actively chose to give it to a teen. As opposed to the assumption I’ve always worked under: those like Glynda and Winter are now too old. We’ll have to see.

Outside of the Salem part of the plan, I think making Amity Arena into a satellite is an excellent idea. Provided grimm like the Nevermore really can’t reach it. It’s actually cool to see how our real life, kind of boring tech makes its way into a sci-fi/fantasy series.

And while all this stuff is getting revealed we see how utterly thrilled Ironwood is to have them all back. To be blunt: I adore this characterization. I want this to be real. Not only because it’s a breath of fresh air to have someone acting so loving and optimistic towards everyone---He acknowledges Ozpin’s existence! Look at that smile! Kneeling down!---but also because it would be an excellent subversion of the premier’s setup. Dictator-y military figures buckling under paranoia is out. Tired but loving military figures making mistakes they’re willing to fix is in. That hug with Qrow? It added ten years to my life. Tender moments between two stoic guys will carry me through these cold winter months.

But (there’s always a “but”...) I’m not willing to buy into this characterization just yet. Not only because Ruby herself obviously isn’t ready to trust it. Not only because this is a story and we expect conflicts in the form of twists and surprises. Not even because there are moments where our trio feels vaguely threatening, stationed perfectly behind that desk, separated from the rest of the group.

No, I’m hesitating because this whole encounters feels... staged. Let’s review the series of events from Ironwood’s perspective:

You learn that one of your airships has been stolen

Instead of sending some everyday guards like the situation calls for, you send out your most elite group to take care of this issue

They immediately confiscate the relic, demonstrating a) that they know it’s important (they recognize it as a relic) while likewise b) not showing any surprise that one of the four, magical objects in the world just happened to turn up among these random teens

They bring the relic to you

Someone orders the pilots to bring RWBYJNRQO to Atlas Academy, not jail

You then act surprised when the group suddenly arrives

Which, under the circumstances, makes no sense to me. Even if Ironwood had no idea who stole the airship (I’d have expected Cordovin to have contacted him about the distinctive group heading his way...), he would have figured it out the moment the Ace-Ops walked in with a relic in their possession. Someone obviously gave the order for them to bypass jail and come straight to him. Basically, Ironwood is expecting them. Ironwood set up the arrest and everything attached to it. The surprise at their arrival, the fawning over their treatment, really over the top emphasis on trusting each other... This whole thing feels fishy to me considering that he had to have known it was all happening in the first place. It feels like a man crafting a situation where he can look approachable and kindly, arriving like a savior and endearing the group to him. Remember who got you out of those bonds? Huh? Huh? Even the choice to give Ruby the relic back. Do I need to point out how incredibly stupid that is? Ironwood isn’t stupid. He wouldn’t give an invaluable, magical object back to a 17yo unless he had another, good reason for doing so; unless the need to make Ruby and her followers blindly trust him outweighs the risk the relic is in while she carries it.

I mean... seriously. The entire point of coming to Atlas was to put the relic in a safe place. And then Ironwood decides that carrying it around on the streets is somehow better than locking it up in the vault? When Ruby and everyone else just got beat by the Ace-Ops in about five seconds flat? Someone could take the relic off them in a heartbeat! It doesn’t even need to be a main villain. Some stronger-than-average goons could manage it under the right circumstances and a bit of luck. Look at this bright, shiny thing we can sell for quick lien. No, I have to believe Ironwood has an ulterior motive here. As much as I want him to genuinely be what he presents himself as---the embodiment of our opening, “When we trust in love and open up our eyes”---a lot of this just doesn’t fit.

(Then again... it’s RWBY. And the writers are clearly still working with protagonist vision goggles. Maybe Ironwood really does think Ruby keeping the relic is the best option here. In which case he’s just a fool.)

All of which, notably, still keeps our group from tackling the core, ethical issue: why they want to fight Salem when they think it’s impossible. They’re ignoring that question by keeping the truth from Ironwood. The plot avoided them completing their mission by having them get the relic back. We’re just existing in perpetual limbo here.

Which finally brings me to Penny. The end of this episode has her leading the group on an exhausting tour of Atlas Academy, the exact sort of bubbly, silly, casual interaction we got with her in the early volumes. Last week when I pointed out how inappropriate everyone’s reactions were to finding out a friend is back from the dead, a lot of people commented that we’d get to the emotional stuff later. Or going so far as to claim that the group, Ruby in particular, is suffering from a delayed reaction. Except we didn’t see that. There’s a difference between a setup and a non-evidence based assumption that what we want to watch will eventually end up on screen. There was no setup for a delayed reaction. No Ruby holding back tears. Or a closeup on someone grappling with an emotion. Or someone else trying to say something before they were cut off by the sirens. All of those imply that an emotion exists but, since we don’t have the time or the inclination to deal with it now, we’ll come back to it later. That wasn’t the case last week. Every emotion was clear and complete, no variation in regards to the overall chill acceptance of Penny’s resurrection. Now, we’ve seen that trend continue. Ruby doesn’t stop in shock when Penny appears in the Academy hall. We’re given no indication that anyone is distracted by her while discussing business, in the way one might be when a friend and ally is unexpectedly back in your life. When she’s left alone with them, there’s nothing except the montage of exhausted tourism and Ruby’s demands to know where they’re sleeping. Basically, I think this is it. Sure, maybe later down the line---maybe even next week---Ruby will have a heart-to-heart with Penny, but by that point it’ll be too late to feel emotionally fulfilling. We’ve already seen their first meeting, a surprise encounter, doing business, and hanging out together, none of which acknowledges her status as a miracle. Hell, in this episode at least, no one even cares that she knows about relics and Maidens now. Penny has never been closer to the group, but she’s still being treated primarily as the comic relief.

As @valasania-the-pale pointed out to me, we also have the question of when Penny was rebuilt. Doesn’t anyone, at the very least Ruby, care that their friend was brought back and no one thought to tell them about it? Would Ironwood, Pietro, and Penny herself have just let them live with her death indefinitely? It’s a pretty messed up situation when you think about it. A fantastic setup in my opinion, but one that Rooster Teeth isn’t equipped to handle well. Like with so much of RWBY, there’s great potential and very little follow-through.

At least Watts and Tyrian were introduced appropriately. We got confirmation that Watts helped build the Atlas code and now controls it at his whim, causing crashes and powering down security cameras. It’s the perfect threat for a city almost entirely reliant on its technology. Even down to, as said, an ally like Penny who knows all these secrets. Hell, Winter’s comment about the group having access to Atlas’ best weaponry while they’re here is worrisome. What if their upgrades end up hackable as well?

Tyrian, meanwhile, is still Tyrian. That blood pool was a great shot in my opinion. Wonderful creep factor as he sets off into the city. “I suppose we all have our talents” indeed.

Obviously then, there’s a lot going on. A lot to cover and, on my end, continually dwindling hopes that RWBY will cover it well. I can’t be too excited about the group lying when we 100% bypassed their choices last volume. If the show isn’t willing to call them out on those mistakes, I doubt they’ll be willing to call them out on this one either. I’m preparing myself to watch precisely what we’re getting in the fandom right now: an insistence that Ruby is wonderful for keeping her secrets while further demonizing Ozpin for keeping his. Because that’s where we’ve been for the past fifteen episodes: perpetually insisting that everything the group does is, by default, heroic. Logic and hypocrisy aside.

But we’ll have to see.

Until next week 💜

Minor Things of Note

1. Please pay attention to precisely how many long, wide, and aerial shots we get throughout the episode. This is what happens when your main cast is made up of twelve people all working in the same place. Plus six more including Maria and the Ace-Ops. That’s far, far too many characters.

2. I really love how the Ace-Ops’ tail gives away how excited he is. That was adorable.

3. Despite my enjoyment at Ironwood’s obvious joy over seeing Ozpin... morally this is so fucked up for Oscar. He’s introduced by Qrow as, “the next Ozpin,” essentially undermining his identity as his own person (note how massively uncomfortable his body language is in this moment). Ironwood then immediately starts speaking to him as Ozpin, not at all interested in the kid he’s housed in. If he even understands that Oscar is a separate person. We should all keep in mind that just a few days ago Qrow told Oscar to stop thinking of himself as an individual. Ruby agreed with him via her silence. The whole group was happy-go-lucky when Oscar announced that he’s resigned himself to just disappearing someday. As happy as I am that someone actually acknowledged Ozpin’s existence and (gasp!) was happy to see him, Oscar is still getting the short straw in all this. The group really treats him like he’s some form of transportation and nothing more. Penny, our resident robot, has more agency than he does.

4. Maria is still just hanging out with Pietro, I guess? Does she care that the group got arrested? Is she trying to do anything about it? I’m half expecting a comedic moment where she barges in, prepared to break them out and take on all their captors... only to realize they never needed her help in the first place.

5. I like this shot of the relic, the first thing to be bathed in light when Ironwood’s presentation ends. Not convinced it means anything, but a cool perspective nonetheless.

6. Intrigued by this guy.

7. Love, love, love, love, love Watts’ purple outfit. I mean, I’m just a sucker for purple in general. So... yeah. There’s that.

#rwby #rwby volume 7 #rwby volume 7 spoilers #mymetas #rwby recaps

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percywinchester27 · 5 years

Text

About a boy (Part-4)

Word count: 2.2K

Warning: Suspense, feels, mention of physical abuse and bullying

Characters: Dean, Cas, Gabriel, Benny, Michael, OCs and… Sam?

Summary: Dean Winchester has a secret. A secret that could really land him in trouble. He never expected to connect with anyone when he walked into the ‘Blue Stone Orphanage for Boys,’ but even then, the walls he has put up are slowly coming down. Now, a series of strange events are threatening to expose him. When everything starts falling apart around him, will he still be able to save the one person that matters the most?

A/N: I have to thank each and everyone of you who’ve taken the time out to read this series, and comment. It truly means the world to me :’)

All my love to @thing-you-do-with-that-thing and @deanssweetheart23 for beta reading this story. You are awesome <3

About a boy masterlist

"How many Sams can there be?" Dean complained as they walked back from school. "I mean seriously?"

Cas smiled sympathetically. "It's not about how many. It's about the shuffling crowd. Stynes- the family that owns the place - are apparently very influential. They have all sorts of crazy contacts and kids just get adopted all the time."

"Really?" Dean tried to keep a poker face. It wouldn't bode well to let Cas see through him about what he really thought of the Stynes.

"Yeah." Cas said, blissfully ignorant of Dean's tone which was grudgingly challenging. "I mean, it's not like you and me stand a chance, but the little kids are taken up all the time."

"Sam's not a little kid."

"True, but the kids still get shuffled a lot. Foster homes, other orphanages. You could see one face today, and then never see it again." Cas narrowed his eyes.

"You sound weirded out by that," Dean noted.

Cas looked at him, brow furrowed. "But it is weird, isn't it? My earlier orphanage was so sleepy. Barely anything happened there. Then there's this place which is so secretive, doesn't let the kids interact across all age groups. I've been here for 7 years, Dean, and I just never get to know everyone."

Dean stayed quiet. This conversation was dangerously inching towards the subject of how and why Dean had ended up at the orphanage in the first place. And Cas was smart.

"Shit." Cas stopped, eyes wide and panicked. "What if… what if Sam was here and they moved him away? Damn it, Dean. What the hell will we do?"

Dean pursed his lips, trying not to smile. Cas's worry and fear was heartwarming. It was still a task to be careful about what he says because his friends kindness tempted Dean sorely. "My sources were pretty solid. He's here. He was here when I came in. Besides, he's 12. Kids that old don't just get adopted."

Dean could feel Cas looking at him curiously as they started walking again. He was tempted to tell Cas the truth, all of it, but he held back. For now, it was only his burden to carry. He didn't want to put Cas in trouble, or worse, endanger his life. He had avoided all of Cas's questions about where he had come from so far, but dodging the queries had proven to be harder and harder day after day. Then there was the guilt. Cas was going out of his way to help him, and Dean had been as secretive as possible. At least he could draw solace from the fact that it was for Cas's own good.

"What about you?" Dean asked, changing the topic. "You've been here so long. You didn't get tossed around?"

Again, Cas looked uncomfortable. "All of us, from the old orphanage, we've just stayed together."

He didn't say it, but Dean understood. It was Michael. Cas and everyone from the 'Angel names orphanage' as he called it in his head, was somehow protected. He didn't know what Michael's deal was, but he was up to something… something that, by default, provided a protection to everyone under his umbrella, including Cas.

All those angel named kids were settled now. They had a reassurance that they were sticking around till the end. Which explained the pride, bullying and the strut like they owned the place. But not Cas. The privilege embarrassed him. The idea that he was singled out and treated preferentially was both unpleasant and distressing at some level to him. It made him uneasy.

It made Dean like him more.

They walked in companionable silence for the rest of the way home.

******************************

It had been 3 weeks. Dean was frustrated.

How much more searching could he do? Every minute was spent plotting the next move, trying to squeeze in time to slip into the record room. It took so much of his own patience, that Dean wondered when Cas would snap and cut himself loose from the hunt. After all, Sam meant nothing to him.

Even so, Cas's commitment never faltered. He went about searching the records as dedicatedly as possible. Every day.

They had found six Sams in the records so far. Three of them had already turned 18 and left the boys home. One had been transferred and two more were too young. By nightfall, Dean wanted to fling something at the figurative heaven. He all but yelled at Cas to stop praying in the evening. There was no God up there.

Dean was also tired of counting all the brown haired kids. There were way too many. More than half easily. He soon realised it was about as pointless as finding a needle in a haystack.

After lights out, he slipped out of his room once more. Cas and Gabriel were both out like a light, but Benny, who was reading something in torchlight, gave Dean a look as he passed. Dean had a suspicion that Benny knew where he and Cas sneaked off to in the evenings, but he hadn't said a word about it, neither had he given the impression that it so much as even mattered to him. Dean had learned to ignore Benny. Cas was always absolutely pleasant to him, but Benny never spoke more than a word or two. Even Gabe, who went around chilling with almost everyone, maintained a decent stance with Benny. Not like he was scared, but like he respected him.

Dean just couldn't bring himself to feel anything. And tonight, when he walked out, with Benny's eyes following him, he wondered if one day he was going to land in trouble thanks to Benny's lack of response.

He found himself back at the steps, back to grill, eyes closed in the light breeze flowing through the corridor.

"Back again, I see."

Dean did not jump this time, but his lips pulled up in a half smirk.

"So are you."

There was a soft chuckle from the other side.

"How was the Oly… uh… the thing that you had." Dean scratched his head. "Oh yeah… the Olympiad."

"Okay, I guess," the voice said. The kid sounded pleasant. "I mean, I don't think I'm failing or anything." Then he added in a small voice. "I just don't want to think about the result."

Dean snorted quietly. Normal problems.

Then it hit him.

"You're what? 11? 12? Why're you participating in Olympiads?"

"Seemed like a good exercise for the brain." It was no big deal to him from the way he said it.

Smart and pleasant. That was a rare combination for a kid in an orphanage.

"How long you've been here?" Dean asked.

"About half a year, I guess? Ain't the worst place I've been in."

Dean raised an eyebrow. "Even with all the detention camp treatment? What with the lock-down and no interaction."

The kid laughed, only slightly bitter. "Well, you haven't been in too many orphanages then."

It was true. What did Dean know about that?

"Have you been to too many?"

The boy sighed. "About five, I think. That's not counting the abusive Children's home." He said it as a matter of fact.

"They hurt you?" Dean's heart seemed to be squeezed.

"Ehhh… mostly I ended up hurting myself."

"How?"

A dry scoff. "Can't deal with people who throw weight around like that. If I saw someone getting hit, I'd go stand up to abusive idiots."

"I'm sorry that happened to you," Dean murmured sincerely. It was unfair.

To his surprise, the boy laughed. "Don't be. It's how I learned to fight. I can throw a mean punch."

Dean couldn't help the appreciation he felt.

"What's your name, kid?"

The voice went silent.

Dean waited for a couple of minutes, but no reply came.

"Hey?" He tried again.

"It's against the rules to be out, ya know?"

"You think I'm gonna rat you out?" Dean asked, incredulous. "Look around, kid, I'm breaking the rules, too, here."

At long last the voice sighed. "It's Will. Short for William."

There was some solace in getting to know the kids name after all. At least he had gotten one answer today, as opposed to all the ones he had been searching for.

"I'm Dean. Dean Winchester."

"You have a last name," Will noted.

That clearly meant Will didn't have one. He had been in orphanages since he was too young to have known his real name. Sure he might have a made up last name in the papers, but it was just that, a formality.

Dean couldn't stop himself from asking the question. "Why are you up tonight? Another test?"

Another scoff. "Not really."

"Care to elaborate?"

Another silence.

"Well, aren't you being one secretive bitch today?" Dean grumbled. Will intrigued him, and that annoyed him.

"You're the one to talk, jerk," Will shot back. "Especially after how mysterious you played last time."

It was true. Kid had a point. He had, in fact, disappeared on the boy the last time.

A heavy exhale sounded from the other side. "It's just, I can't stop thinking about what lies beyond these walls. One of the boys I knew was transferred today and I don't know where he's gone. Sometimes I wonder if… if I even have a future."

"What?"

"I know!" Will said, talking fast now. "Most kids just end up on the police roll call, the only place their picture ends up is in mug shots. It's what Andy says."

"Andy's an idiot!" Dean stated.

Will laughed. "Maybe."

More silence - comforting and companionable.

Out of the blue the idea came to Dean. "Hey, there's something you can help me with?"

"Oh-kay?" Will sounded wary.

"How old are you?"

"I don't see how that helps you with anything, but I'm 11," he replied.

"That's fantastic!" How had he not thought of this before? "Do you know anyone by the name Sam on your floor?"

"Sam?" There was the usual curiosity in his voice.

"Yeah!" Dean had to keep his voice from getting the better of him. "Sam or Samuel or anyone like that?"

There was no reply, just a loud thrumming. As if the boy was tapping his fingers against his lap or the other hand. "There's one kid called Sammy, I think."

Dean's throat constricted, his heart doubled its beat. Could he be? Could it really be?

"No wait… his name is Sandy," Will corrected. "Don't think I know a Sam… but I can't say for sure that I know everyone."

Dean seemed to deflate. He wanted to punch something… someone... for both- the hope and hopelessness. One of it was going to kill him, he was sure.

"What do you want with this Sam, anyway?" Will asked and Dean wanted to slap his head.

"Fine, don't tell me! But don't go back to being the mysterious shadow," Will added quickly, making Dean smile.

"Let's just say it's a personal research project for me. It's my way out of this place… to my future," Dean said. He didn’t know what Will made out of it, but the kid remained quiet for a while.

“There’s twenty new kids on the floor. Came in about a month ago,” Will said, slowly. “I’ll ask around and let you know.”

Dean wanted to ask why. Why was this kid helping him? He had expected the question from Will- that ‘what was in it from him?’ But no such conditions came. Will offered his help freely… willingly. Just like Cas had. Maybe Dean needed to trust people more, see the good in them often, because there was all the good there, that which he couldn’t have possibly hoped for.

“Thanks, man,” he said quietly.

“No problem,” Will chimed. “I’ll keep this hushed.”

Perhaps he understood what hope of a future meant.

Dean realised that the more he got to know the people here, the more they surprised him with their kindness. Cas, Will… and unexpectedly even Gabriel and Benny in their zealousness and quiet had all helped him in their own way. Dean was starting to care. He didn't like it.

Will yawned abruptly.

“Get some sleep,” Dean suggested. His was evading him.

There was some scuffling as Will got to his feet. “Night, Dean. I hope you find your Sam.” His voice was soft, both grave and reassuring at the same time. It startled Dean, and he wondered if Will truly understood how much finding Sam meant to Dean.

“Night,” he said.

The feet shuffled away and Dean squinted into the darkness, pointlessly trying to discern the passing shape, trying to get one look at the boy who had selflessly, unconditionally agreed to help him.

That night when he closed his eyes, for a second… or, at least, a fraction of it, Dean felt the strangest urge to send a thought up to heaven, or whatever higher power there was. He finally understood why Cas prayed, understood the urge to want something better for other people. Maybe Cas’s God will listen to Dean.

******************************

A/N 2: I really really hope y’all like this story!! Please let me know what you think… the feedback is what keeps me going :)

If you wanna be tagged, please send me an ask

About a Boy taglist:

@sdavid09 @deanssweetheart23 @blacktithe7 @thing-you-do-with-that-thing @cosicas-cuquis @chalicia @anathewierdo @mrswhozeewhatsis @protectteamfreewill @firefly124-writing @spnbaby-67 @hoboal87 @rizlow1 @donnaintx @starmission @gh0stgurl @tftumblin @emily-a-c11 @ericaprice2008 @jotink78 @charliebradbury1104 @ohgodwhybloggg @i-dont-get-cold @bobbie3939 @samsexualdeancurious @dancing-the-hellfire-rumba

#dean winchester #dean winchester fanfiction #dean fanfiction #spn fanfiction #supernatural fanfiction #about a boy part 4 #aab 4 #anawrites #anawritesspn #Ana writes Dean #ana writes aab #q

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nyrator · 4 years

Text

some random spoiler-y thoughts on Japan Sinks 2020 since I just finished it

still digesting it so opinion will probably change but yeah, overall not Yuasa’s best work but still decent (about Devilman Crybaby levels)

so don’t know anything about the source material but I’ve heard it’s basically original-ish with the book going on in the background or something?

but yeah, first episode was brilliant, I enjoyed it a lot, props to whoever did that episode honestly

second episode, man, I was caught completely off guard by the ending. The fact that the family got together by some miracle, that Go wasn’t blind and no one was seriously hurt, it lured me into a false sense of security- Get to that scene at the end of episode two, see the sign, thinking, “oh man, probably poison ivy or something, an inconven-oh-OHN- . . .”, that scene was disgustingly powerful. I love how visceral yet sudden/brief the deaths are in this show, it’s gruesome, it’s unexpected, but only for a brief moment, and then it’s over.

I’m always a fan of how Yuasa handles the whole appreciation of life theme he has in his works, dude knows how to appreciate life while still depicting deaths

Things started getting a bit strange for me- the convenient store guy made me think, “man, this really is the Walking Dead without the zombies”, the convenience store was the turning point I think- no wait, the youtuber Kite was. Random rapist dude was pushing it but Kite was just, mannnn.

I imagine a lot of people like him, but god, I just couldn’t enjoy Kite’s character for some reason. He definitely gave the Youtuber vibes well (plus a lot of Ryo vibes from Devilman Crybaby), but man, dude just flies in out of nowhere and is able to solve basically any problem to such strange and extreme lengths- he felt too convenient to the story without much build-up at all.

Go’s constant Engrish (though I’ve read in passing that’s a common Filipino thing allegedly?) was also very surreal to listen to honestly, even his design felt out of place for some reason. His “death” cliffhanger had no weight, was amazed he kept his eyesight honestly. The foreign dude was also overly strange, mann.

The cult episodes were like, mannnn. Felt very surreal, wasn’t personally a fan of the direction it took. Lots of weed use though, kind of impressive for an anime. I liked the sumo dude/Go relationship, but that’s about it honestly, but all the new characters at that point- Kite, foreigner, and old man were all pretty ehhh to me- especially a cult like this only a short time after the earthquakes (maybe it started before?), mannn

honestly thought the old man hallucinated that one action scene of his, but nope, sure enough he just killed two guys, man. I did like how the leaders were likable people though, and then that betrayal for gold, told its own story but a little strange all the same.

Onodera was... interesting, at least. A bit too helpful as well, and kind of impressive, though he was a plot element so I can let that slide. Impressive he survived, honestly, like, of all people to survive, a guy who can’t even move or speak.

The boat scenes were a bit odd as well- at least, the whole nationalist ones, felt a bit too on the nose. Ayumu leaving the original boat was also a bit of a weird decision since her mother’s dying anyway, but also understandable in a sense because she’s a teenage girl who wants to be with her family, I’m okay with it, but mannn.

But yeah, boats, it was very sudden and hard to tell what was going on at first- guy pulls out a gun, then three people stranded, then old guy suddenly dies and gets eaten by a shark, man. It was nice seeing the kids interact though, trying to survive, and impressive but not crazy that the mom eventually found them, though her death felt a bit too convenient compared to the previous deaths in the series, it was still alright.

Kite though, man, just left a weird taste in my mouth. The fact that he probably survived too was really... strange, he felt like he had no real stakes, the fact they let him live and do all these crazy things was just... weird, man. Still not entirely sure what Onodera was doing with him at the end on the monitor, but yeah, just too perfect a character, too convenient.

Senpai felt like he had a bit of an odd development- almost offscreen sometimes it felt like, but it was gradual and neat. No real interaction with the main characters though, which I thought was odd, he just seemed like a love interest in a love triangle that quickly died, and then just an interest that was never really explored, but this also isn’t the place to explore it, so hm. Still, more interaction would have been nice.

Now the main character, man, she had a lot of dumb stubborn moments, but they felt real enough to me, especially a girl her age going through this- man, the guilt going through her mind, though. Abandoning her team, seeing the sign and not being able to stop her father dying from it, feeling jealous of that neighbor girl before accidentally leading her to her death (poison gas as a death felt very strange to me, but I’m not knowledgeable enough on how it works so okay), though man, the fact she told no one about her injury, not even Kite who had like a bunch of random supplies that could be useful, or the cult they stayed at, it’s like, girlll come on treat this darn leg already. It was interesting how she had her leg cut off after getting to safety, like if not for this experience, maybe she’d have quit moving forwards, who knows. Overall I was okay with her though.

Go though, man, was not a fan of that kid. The Engrish in general was very liberally used, and probably just bothers me because I’m a natural speaker, ah well.

Also, mannn. Watching that opening, and all I could think of every episode was just, “man, that poor cat...”

Overall, good work, lots of hardhitting moments, but I think I liked the first two episodes more than the rest of the series. Lots of Devilman Crybaby vibes in terms of atmosphere and art direction (and Ryo/Kite), though not a lot of the early Yuasa vibes I love him for, which is sad. He deserves a break though, hopefully the retirement isn’t permanent, but he still has some great works out there that I still love. Kaiba, Tatami Galaxy, Ping Pong, mannn. Honestly just give me another wonderful thing like Kaiba, something unique and visually pleasing and completely its own thing.

maybe one day my dreams of him directing a Yume Nikki anime will come true...

but yeah, good show overall, did enjoy it

#text stuffs

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gromvillage · 4 years

Note

all even numbers. do it coward

oh for fuck’s sake let’s go bois

2. Are you outgoing or shy?

depends on my mood and the situation, i feel like i’ve been a lot quieter lately

4. Are you easy to get along with?

i’d like to think so but i know that’s not completely true, i can be pretty stubborn about ideas i have in a group setting and always kinda take charge in situations

6. What kind of people are you attracted to?

people who care about me and respect me, people who are adventurous, literally anyone that can pick me up/is willing to carry me

8. Who from the opposite gender is on your mind?

this guy i’m into right now but shouldn’t be cause he’ll probably never be into me lmao

10. Who was the last person you had a deep conversation with?

ohhh i don’t remember. i feel like recently i haven’t really had any deep conversations with anyone sadly

12. What are your 5 favorite songs right now?

ohhh really into the kids see ghosts album, a bunch of hobo johnson’s stuff, grrrls by aviva (this isn’t five songs but,,,,suck it)

14. Do you believe in luck and miracles?

not really

16. Would you kiss the last person you kissed again?

prolly not

18. Do you still talk to your first crush?

don’t remember who my first crush was but i know i don’t talk to them anymore thank you, i had horrible taste when i was younger

20. Do you like your neighbors?

yeah!! most of them are pretty cool and i’m fairly close with them! there are a few that i’m not huge on but that’s life

22. Where would you like to travel?

oh all kinds of places. i want to go to antartica and the himalayas and the andes and the atacama desert and colorado and the sierras and all america’s national parks and tons of places in europe and mongolia and so many other places

24. Favorite part of your daily routine?

at the end of the day i like decompressing in my room and i also really love my art classes!

26. What do you do when you wake up?

check my phone (sadly), watch the news for like ten minutes, shower, pack my lunch/make something for breakfast, go to school

28. Who are you most comfortable around?

my close friends, though recently i’ve struggled a lot with my thoughts on my relationships with those around me

30. Do you ever want to get married?

it’s not a top priority but i think if i found the right person maybe

32. Which celebrities would you have a threesome with?

ohhh boi there are many options.....timothee chalamet, bella heathcote, cara delevingne, russel wilson, harry styles, anothony ramos, tons of mountain athletes

34. Do you play sports? What sports?

i don’t play sports per say but i do a lot of stuff outdoors!! hiking, backpacking, wakeboarding, skiing, that kinda stuff

36. Have you ever liked someone and never told them?

oh hell yeah have you even met me i am constantly liking people and not telling them

38. Describe your dream girl/guy?

ummm kind the same answer as 6 but like someone who would be goofy with me and go on adventures and listen to me ramble about random shit and not get mad with me when i struggle with my thoughts

40. What do you want to do after high school?

hopefully go to college out west (fuck the south) and then get a job doing something outdoorsy!!

42. If your being extremely quiet what does it mean?

i’m either tired, pissed, sad, feeling left out, or a mix of all of em

44. Trip to outer space or bottom of the ocean?

ohhh tough but prolly go with space, there’s so much that we don’t know and also i wanna be weightless

46. What are you paranoid about?

oh lots of things, my parents finding out i’m gay, being abandoned by those close to me, ending up with everyone hating me, good stuff like that

48. Have you ever been drunk?

nope, not into that kinda stuff

50. What was the colour of the last hoodie you wore?

maroon! i stay wearing that color

52. One thing you wish you could change about yourself?

i think that i’m insecure about a lot of things and internalize that insecurity and let it stew, which is unhealthy and leaves me constantly questioning the world and people around me

54. Favourite store?

really any outdoor store

56. Favourite colour?

pretty partial to red but i also like kind of a forest green

58. Last thing you ate?

seasoned oyster crackers, those dudes slap

60. Ever won a competition? For what?

i came in third at our friendsgiving cook-off this past weekend?? i made bacon poptarts and it was cool to place cause i was competing against all adults who are pretty good cooks

62. Been arrested? For what?

negative ghostrider

64. Tell us the story of your first kiss?

pretty sure it was this dude in like second grade on the playground, which is hella lame

66. Do you like your tumblr friends more than your real friends?

the only real tumblr friends i have are people i know in real life so,,,,

68. Twitter or Tumblr?

tumblr, though i’ve thought about getting a twitter recently

70. Names of your bestfriends?

wouldn’t you like to know weather boy

72. What colour are your towels?

i have some that are blue and some that are white

72. How many pillows do you sleep with?

one usually, but two if it’s sad boi hour

74. How many stuffed animals do you think you have?

oh i don’t know that i have any?? yeah don’t think i have any

76. What colour is your underwear?

today it’s kinda that boring peach tan color

78. Favourite ice cream flavour?

really love chocolate raspberry but i also love pretty much all tillamook ice cream flavors

80. What colour pants?

today they’re a dark khaki

82. Favourite movie?

maybe bill and ted’s excellent adventure?? they’re just out living life and aren’t super stressed about school (other than the part where it’s the whole plot) and also really dig their clothes

84. Mean Girls or 21 Jump Street?

haven’t seen either

86. Favourite character from Finding Nemo?

crush maybe? he’s just doing his thing and i dig it. also his voice is sick

88. Last person you talked to today?

@perpetualpatchwork!!

90. Name a person you love?

myself, sometimes

92. In a fight with someone?

at the moment no, though my brother and i argued a ton over thanksgiving break

94. How many sweaters/hoodies do you have?

ohhh lots probably close to like 10 or 15

96. Favourite actress?

don’t really have a favorite but saoirse ronan is pretty cool

98. Do you tan a lot?

nah, i stay pretty pale throughout the summer though i do get nice freckles!

100. How are you feeling?

tired and stressed at the moment, but aren’t we all

102. Do you regret anything from your past?

oh yeah there are quite a few things

104. Do you miss anyone from your past?

there were a couple people i was close to in elementary and middle school i would like to reconnect with

106. Ever broken someone’s heart?

only my own

108. What should you be doing?

hella homework and getting ready for my scout meeting

110. Have you ever liked someone so much it hurt?

there have been a couple times,,,,

112. Who was the last person you cried in front of?

my mom a couple weeks ago

114. Have you ever been out of your province/state?

yep!! i have traveled the country quite a bit and was lucky enough to leave the country for the first time this summer!

116. Are you listening to music right now?

yeah, nirvana’s heart shaped box

118. Do you like Chinese food?

not hugely, i’d really like to try the authentic stuff though!

120. Are you afraid of the dark?

in some cases, mostly when i’m camping

122. Is cheating ever okay?

negative ghostrider

124. Do you believe in love at first sight?

how can you love someone you’ve never talked to?

126. Are you currently bored?

somewhat with my life, though there is so much i could do to try and improve it but i just don’t put in the effort and instead just complain

128. Would you change your name?

not really?? i liked to think about other names i wanted as a kid (tori was a particularly embarrassing one) but i’m pretty happy with my name now

130. Do you like subway?

i have to admit yes, it slaps when you’re on a road trip and stop and get a sandwich and then find a park or overlook to eat it at

132. Who’s the last person you had a deep conversation with?

this is the same as number 10???

134. Can you count to one million?

i’m sure i could because i know how numbers work but i don’t think i would ever want to

136. Do you sleep with your doors open or closed?

closed bruh gotta keep the monsters out

138. Curly or Straight hair?

oh it’s so freaking straight it doesn’t hold a curl at all

140. Summer or Winter?

winter, cause i can go skiing and sit by the fire and drink hot chocolate and cuddle up with blankets and wear jackets all the time

142. Favourite month?

big fan of december, though i like most of fall and the beginning of spring

144. Dark, milk or white chocolate?

dark or milk, white chocolate is the work of the devil

146. Was today a good day?

ehhh not great, we been out here struggling with a lot of stuff

148. What’s your favourite quote?

i don’t know that i have a favorite but i like “be excellent to each other” from bill and ted’s excellent adventure, “anyone can cook” from ratatouille, and “the idea of wilderness needs no defense, it only needs defenders” from edward abbey

150. Get the closest book next to you, open it to page 42, what’s the first line on that page?

the book is my bullet journal and the first thing written on the page is monday from one of my weekly spreads, which isn’t a very exciting first line

#grom village replies #you kids really went off on me for these and i love you for it #i stay talking about myself

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