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nat-the-cat-123 · 3 years

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(this will be a VERY long post)

✨Time to criticize Yashahime ✨

First of all:

I will only criticize the writing aspects, so don't expect me to say anything about the animation since I barely know about that stuff

Because of this I also won't address anything of Sessrin or the discontent because of Moroha's and Inukag's separation because that's more of a fandom thing

And this is only the opinion of someone who isn't any kind of expert in writing or something like that

Uff, Yashahime finally ended and it was... Interesting.

So let's criticize it :)

So first of all let's tell the ✨the good things✨ because even if there are more bad things, infact there are very little good things, we have to give credit where credit is due.

Good things :D

The girls' originality

Something that I saw other fandoms have complained in their own "next generation sequel" (like in boruto) is that the kids were just a "copy paste" of their parents, and when Yashahime was just announced I saw the same concerns (specially with Setsuna and Moroha)

But in the end I think any of them ended up being just female Inuyasha/Sesshomaru, and all were able to be their very own character.

Half of their relationship

Ok, I'm specifying that only half because sometimes the twins would be a little unfair with Moroha, but then be her "new family"(?), But then they proceed to leave her behind, and then AGAIN being like bff's so there is no consistency.

But in the first episodes Sunrise got it right and we could see a pretty good and functional dynamic between the 3 that was consistent and made sense.

Each one had a defined role that worked, Towa was the "moral" one, Setsuna the "cold" one who took more drastic decisions, and Moroha intervenes mediating both and brings information that may help please both sides. (At the beginning)

Moroha

I'M SORRY, I'm sorry, I can't help it, it's just that she has so much charm and is so lovely and innocent. And you can totally ignore the fact that she's InuKag's daughter and still love her just because her personality brings so much to the story.

It's such a shame that they didn't really use all her potential but I'll get to that later.

Aaaand that's all ;-;

Now let's go to the interesting part...

The bad things D:<

Towa

This point I actually want to explore it further in another post, because there's a lot I want to talk about her to specify what exactly went wrong and how I would have managed her but here I will leave it simple.

Towa in any way possible wasn't properly used, and even if almost every character suffered of bad writing, she was the most affected one.

She honestly isn't interesting, everything that could have been done with her according to her backstory was completely wasted, because even if she was the one with the least tragic story, there was a lot to work with (I mean, just look at Kagome's case and still most of the fandom loved her)

She kept changing her personality and ideology according to what the story needed, and at some point her only trait was "Setsuna's protective older sister"

And don't even get me started with how overpowered she is without any kind of training (I get she knows how to fight with bullies, but clearly that isn't the same as fighting demons with demonic energy)

Phasing

When people argue if the phasing is too fast or too slow, I think it's both, but in the worst way possible.

They waste so much time in scenes that aren't really that necessary or could be much shorter, and rush at incredible speed things that should actually be worked slowly and carefully.

The fights

I only can remember two or three that I actually liked because most of them were just exchanging hits with the sword, sometimes an special movement and that's all.

Half of the battles didn't affect the story in the least, and the worst of all was how the villains were defeated wether because they were lame as fuck or because Towa's random power up appeared out of nowhere.

Meanwhile in Inuyasha even if we didn't always had the best fights of all anime, we did get some pretty interesting choreographies and some villains really had an impact on the characters in a natural way.

Talking about villains...

Naraku is laughing from his grave

You know? I'm not a Naraku fan, but he was a bastard that you loved to hate, he maybe wasn't the most powerful character when we talk purely about his strength, but he was intelligent as fuck, he was always one step ahead, he had some pretty interesting abilities and plans, with him he brought other AMAZING villains (or anti heroes) like Kagura, Kanna, Hakudoshi, the weird baby, or even Sesshomaru back at the beginning, and the best part was how he was written being a complex character (like when he struggled with his human feelings for Kikyo)

But on the other hand we have Kirinmaru, Zero, the four losers (I mean, perils), probably my boy Riku, and who knows what other random villains.

First of all, ONLY RIKU would be a good villain (maybe I should have put him in the good things ;-;)

But then we have the four perils who, out of them the only one who seemed to know what he was doing was the green guy that did weird witchcraft, but the rest? They are just randomly bothering people because they have nothing else to do and honestly they didn't seem to be that powerful.

I'm not sure about Kirinmaru because I don't see anything clear with him, I mean, I'm not even sure if he's a villain.

And Zero... *Sighs*

I don't get what the hell she's trying to do. Anything that she does makes sense. She's just alive because of Riku, without him she can't do anything.

Like seriously, half of the world was after Naraku's ass, even his allies, and still he could get away with it. Zero can't even get her army in order to take care of 3 fourteen years old girls.

(Sorry for letting myself go with this one ;-;)

Not using half of your characters

I guess the best example is Moroha because even with an interesting backstory, mysterious abilities, and most of the fandom's love, they just used her as comedic relief for most of the series instead of developing her character or explaining better her spiritual abilities or Beniyasha.

And not only her, Hisui and the rest of the demon slayers were more of a background character. For example, in Hisui's episode we should have gotten to meet him, Gyokuto, and Kin'u better, but they preferred to focus in the twins AGAIN and not work the MirSan family. (Guys, first season and I still can't tell Hisui's definitive personality)

Same Takechiyo, Kyubi, Yawaragi, Kohaku, the villains, some past characters, sometimes even Riku. Basically every character who isn't Towa and Setsuna are walking tools for them to use whenever the plot needs it.

And no, I'm not saying "The twins shouldn't be the protagonists", a I'm saying "SIDE CHARACTERS AREN'T JUST PLOT DEVICES, THEY ALSO DESERVE DEFINED PERSONALITIES AND CHARACTER ARCS TO MAKE THE WORLD RICHER, OTHERWISE IT FEELS LIKE THE WORLD REVOLVES AROUND THE PROTAGONISTS"

Inuyasha knew when and how to dedicate an episode to a character, Yashahime doesn't.

Lack of character development

No one, except for Setsuna who is learning to rely and trust more on the girls, has any kind of development (sorry Moroha (･ัω･ั)).

I see Towa exactly the same as in the first episode, and because of how they've barely put attention to Moroha, she has barely shown any growth as well.

And I guess Hisui learnt how to trust his dad, but again, I can barely tell which is his personality, and the rest are background characters.

Powers / Abilities / Weapons

Here they neither explained ANY of the characters abilities properly or made them more powerful making sense.

Towa, just randomly learnt how to concentrate her demon energy in a sword and just keeps getting new abilities without training, and any of them seem to have any effect on Towa like (idk) having the risk of running out of energy. And at the beginning I liked how she struggled with her other demon abilities like smelling things but then they just forgot ;-;.

Setsuna's stick just produces wind and lasers without explanation, and her sealed power doesn't really work naturally.

And Moroha... EXPLAIN BENIYASHA BETTER. SAME FOR THE SPIRITUAL POWERS, that was supposed to be impossible!!! And again they recognized that at the very beginning, why did they forgot about it later???

There barely has been any "world" expansion

Something that Inuyasha never really got into was the "demon society", because with the exception of some tribes they never mentioned anything related to that BUT...

With that thing of Inu no Taisho and Kirinmaru apparently being "royalty" I thought they would talk more about that "Demon hierarchy" or if "Setsuna's courage trial" was something like a demon tradition (damn, that was honestly pretty interesting) but NO.

The topic has been barely mentioned and let's keep saying over and over again what the audience already knows for 24 episodes.

Weird Exposition

The way they threw information at us was pretty weird, like it didn't feel "organic" because instead of the girls getting into whatever situation where "x" character tells them certain things because it is related to what is happening, again, they chose pretty weird ways.

There were like 1,000 different options to tell us what happened to InuKag and Sesshomaru and all of them, like the girls talking with Myoga or Kaede...

BUT THEY CHOSE TO BREAK THE FOURTH WALL.

Comedy

I'm not saying Moroha is a bad comedy relief, she actually came with many good jokes, but you can't leave only ONE character to take care of the comedy. Towa and Setsuna also came with some good funny moments, so why would they only reduce the comedy to Moroha????

(In Inuyasha EVERYONE gave amazing comedy moments, even Sesshomaru)

And the worst part is that they only use the same joke with her most of the time! Losing her bounty and being poor.

"Atmosphere" (?)

I Promise I don't want to sound pretentious with this one ;-;

Those scenes where we were supposed to feel sad because of someone's death, intimidated because Kirinmaru appeared or excited because of a fight didn't work out.

I don't know exactly why but I think that it is because of a combination of lazy animation, bad selection of soundtrack, weird dialogue and the characters' lack of reaction.

So now that I think I've said all the points that they got wrong, let's get to the conclusion.

They stablished side plots or mysteries everywhere and didn't really do anything with them.

The girls never advanced with the story, they just kept running in circles around the same point during 24 episodes. (And no matter how long or short a story is, you can NEVER do that or you'll lose the audience's attention).

And with or without a second season, they made terrible mistakes that won't be able to be fixed. If it is only one season, TERRIBLE, they left way to much things uncovered, and if they plan another season, ALSO TERRIBLE, they rushed essential things and if they work them again they'll repeat one of their biggest mistakes.

And honestly I really tried to love this sequel, almost up to episode 12 I really tried to appreciate the small good things but they just kept slapping me with disappointment every single episode, and if they release a second season, I'll watch it but this time only expecting the worst of it.

In resume, yo can only truly enjoy Yashahime if you completely turn off your critical sense, and expecting nothing from it, otherwise you'll only keep asking yourself "why?"

#inuyasha #hanyou no yashahime #moroha #hanyo no yashahime #setsuna #towa #hanyou no yashahime spoilers #sesshomaru #kagome #kirinmaru #zero #the four perils #this is a mess

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stray-tori · 3 years

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Making peace with TPN S02E04 (anime-only)

Post summary: my problems with the episode, possible explanations for why and how to minimize the problems. also some speculation.

The thoughts are mostly based on the anime in a bubble, aside from the segments where I mention otherwise.

#0 - My mixed feelings about staying anime-only

This is strange, because... I’m not really hype for next week? I want more, but not in the same excited way I did before. Because I simply don’t know what to expect anymore.

I want to stick as an anime-only so I can deliver stand-alone thoughts as this... clunky and stumbling adaptation makes its way towards the finish line (obviously it won’t be done this season but, yeah ---- i mean, hopefully not, who knows what they’ll do at this point).

But another part of me is just... more excited to read the manga to see what it is like and what the differences are, after the anime is done (which was always my plan, but I was never really actively excited about it pff-). And I feel like your anime approach has failed when I’m moreso looking forward to reading the source material eventually. I do hope that with ep5 they’ll get back on track and this feeling will fade. That they have a meaningful plan and reason for why ep4 felt so messy and disjointed - a reason why it had to go this way, because I feel like they just wanted them out of the bunker, but this is not the way imo (more on that in the next segment)

#1 - Leaving the bunker - mix of feeling “rushed” and “waste of time”

I feel like where the anime is going, they kind of wrote themselves into a corner in Episode 4. The story setup was leading them to this place (i.e. the bunker), but they obviously didn’t want them to stay there long.

What is the problem? / The way it was setup, we got about an episode of them being there (too few to have emotional attachment to the place) and then being chased out when things went well. In a way it is both too soon, but since nothing really worth the ~1 episode “fluff” happened there in the end, it feels pointless or as if we just wasted time, just for them to leave in the end.

Imo, the bunker is needed for two things, 1) being the first goal for them to go to, so the story isn’t aimless right away and 2) info dumps. Most of the children’s content can be repurposed during their forest time or doesn’t seem relevant right now.

For the record, I personally think that they got found out makes sense in-universe,

WM said he was found out, it’s not unlikely the farm knows that bunkers exist and might even have a vague idea of where they are

that there are multiple could be assumed by the army guy saying, “That’s how shelters usually are” -- If the world has been like this for 1000 years, what other purpose than human survival in a demon would could shelter even have?

I don’t think the pursuers communicated it back (got lucky, Ray) because if they did, they wouldn’t show up a whole month later.

they could have just observed them, they’ve been on the surface quite a bit.

(though I also agree it should be confirmed how the farm found out)

I’m just questioning the impact it had on me as a viewer (which is little) - the world is rigged against them, they can’t catch a break in a system this powerful chasing them and I think part of the confusion and “wait we’re back at square 1??” (literally) is intentional, to evoke the feeling of something being lost. If possible, I would keep the spirit of this idea (see “it’s a trap” in the next segment)

So what can we do to fix it?

Skipping the bunker / I don’t think we can remove the bunker outright. I suppose they could have had them just go straight for the new location by having the last keyword be another puzzle instead of the phone recording giving it away directly. But that might have too few things happening. That way they also would have gotten more time on their own to be wandering OR Mujika and Sonju might have been with them longer (which would honestly make sense from a meta point, too. I feel like they were a little short-lived.)

Less time in the bunker / if it feels pointless anyway, get it over with quickly

More time in the bunker / stay longer and have them do something else. Maybe they prepped to already go back to GF, time has passed and then they get raided. Problem: why did it take the farm force so long?

To be honest, I’m not sure that would have been much better so I’m personally more inclined to fix it with a very tightly connected problem, which will be the next segment:

#3 - the HELP wall scare was pointless

What’s the problem? / the scare was used in between two segments of “the happy life in the bunker”(TM). The segments are the exact same feeling to me personally, just fluff. The scare changed NOTHING. Nothing that was revealed justifies it existing.

Pre wall scare: WM is an ally, the bunker is for escapees

Post wall scare: WM is an ally, he got discovered, the bunker is for escapees, there were escapees there before (?)

The wall doesn’t even have anything to do with WM. And we didn’t get enough details on the HELP wall, even on its own. Was the book and the “HELP”s from the same person? Why were they going crazy there? What did their siblings die from? It can’t be food, so it must have happened outside. Where they picked up by the Task Force(TM)?

The “don’t give up” is nice, but our crew didn’t need that pep talk I think - i guess with Minerva gone, they lost a hope for allies, but at the same time he gave them coordinates where to get support. If they didn’t get that and now were on their own, I’d get the whole uplifting book more, personally. I guess the tragedy here is that WM is dead? Maybe I’m not emphasizing with the characters enough on this.

. So what can we do to fix it?

Give more details to the wall / i.e. answering the questions posed above. Maybe show more of the diary. Maybe two were left and one killed themselves (they scribbled HELPs and were crazier) and left the other alone, and they decided they’re leaving for the human world. It doesn’t change that the scare doesn’t mean much, but it would at least be a little more personal.

Change the wall / remove the helps, leave the names and the counting. It would be a tragic reveal (instead of a over-dramatic scare) to see that people had died (around) here, making them scared for their own lives (I guess that’s kind of implied to be happening but since it doesn’t linger, I didn’t really notice.)

It’s a trap/they definitely know of the bunker / it’s not “help” but “run” which was a warning someone put there because they figured out the farms knew of the bunker (or they got attacked and one couldn’t leave). It being a trap would make sense because even as it’s now, I’m just assuming they vaguely know of the bunkers’ existence anyway. Then it wouldn’t be “yay bunker life! - scare - yay bunker life! - BOOM” but instead “yay bunker life! - it’s a trap... what do we do?” - you can still have the info dumps & the phone call and then they either realize it’s a trap and just leave (removing the problem of the....... interesting raid scenes), and BOOM (haha) you’re where the anime is now, since the troup got nom’ed anyway and aren’t a threat anymore. The mission would still fail since they’re gone, so Isabella’s plot is in tact too. I think this would also partly solve the bunker problem, because now something actually changed about the setup we know. It’s NOT the safe bunker anymore. It changes a lot about the world too - the farm knows of them so how much more of the WM support net is affected? It makes you think more about the larger scale implications (and ligns up nicely with the “I was discovered” talk from James, therefore making the wall shown at the same time relevant), + the bunker has another reason to be there, to reveal that. Personally, it would change our perception and understanding of the situation, which imo would make up for the lacking investment in the bunker itself. It would also prompt them to leave faster (likely), thus eliminating the “we spent so much time here for nothing” thing. If you really want to you can even have them stay anyway, since it’s the only thing they have and they opt to just leave on the first sign of someone actually being on their back. This requires a better night watch than Don though :D

#4 - The little things

Missed drama - the episode was pretty casual about a lot of things; testing potentially dangerous food (fair because it was a nice segment), their new home being gone (fair because no attachment) and them seeing humans being eaten right in front of them (WHY WASN’T THIS MILKED). It makes it all seem like it’s not a big deal - which I guess in a survival story, it kind of isn’t. But I still feel like there wasn’t really any impactful moment this episode it just kinda went “brrr” and now we’re back to episode 1.

for real, please milk the wild demon eating people / he just kinda goes "nom" and the children are there and run. It feels like the anime itself barely takes it seriously - it's the first time (I think), they see a human get eaten by a demon and I feel like that could have used like a close up shot, and some more disgusted reactions by the children. I get that it's a world where that just happens but I feel like the anime just didn't take or see the change to do something more personal with it. I like it as an element at its core because it makes sense; they shot around, attracting the demon and I also like the irony of being saved by a wild creature. Even if that now chases you.

incompetent soldiers - why do they have guns? they can’t HARM / KILL the quality food, so WHY GUNS? -- People with guns are usually incompetent in anything because they just can’t hit anything, but that at least makes sense here. Still, what was the plan? Sheer intimidation? They’re the farms’ force right? Why don’t they know how to deal with wild demons? Possible answer: to prevent humans with guns knowing how to eliminate their higher ups :D doesn’t change that it makes them look stupid. Bro really got defeated by getting a cup thrown in his face. To be fair this specific one didn’t seem to be the brightest bulb, why the “huh?” when he found Don??? Is this relevant I’M SO CONFUSED.

where’s the character moments? - when they got to the bunker, everyone else kind of got the focus, and the main cast just didn't have any of those character moments anymore that made the previous episodes, especially episode 2, so touching and emotional for me. Don't get me wrong, I love the kind of fluff content with the children a lot but I kind of missed some.... it feels like it's more event driven (#BOOM) than character driven now, and idk how to really attach to that? Especially since with ep4 we didn't even really learn anything new (aside from a name and that he was indeed good and is now dead I guess).

#5 - Why?

Warning: this goes a bit into comparisons (nothing concrete though), and I obviously don’t know more than I picked up from fandom reactions.

My guess is that

“So... I cannot at this point say that we are going to animate the entire story to the very end. We are not at a point where we can say that. Sorry. (Laughs)”

from the MAL interview might be a factor. It seems they wanted to tell their own spin regardless (which I personally respect) but maybe they thought that unless they had a two-cour, it would be hard to keep up the investment the first season set up with what was originally in the manga (I had heard that it would be a weird pacing to do 11 episodes and maybe they wanted to make sure viewer engagement was high).

> “We know that there are viewers who, after they watch the anime, want to continue on and read the manga, and there are viewers who have read the manga first and are now watching the anime.”

(I’m not sure if “after the anime” means after a season or after the the whole adaptation)

Their goal is definitely an “unique” experience. And they seem to at least be aware that some people watch the anime first, so it has to make sense in a bubble.

I can’t say if I would have preferred a slower start into whatever the manga has that caps off at 11 episodes (idk how much rewarding stuff could have fit in there), since they probably fear of not being able to do a complete adaptation too. And I feel like as I’m getting it, they are trying to quickly reintroduce what people cared about in s1 --- in Isabella’s case, maybe a bit too early. there was barely any time to really miss her imo.

But I’m also not sure if whatever they’re aiming for will be rewarding. I hope so, because I don’t want their efforts to go to waste. And I don’t want to come to dislike it.

I can admit faults, ep4 is definitely a lowpoint even without knowing the alternatives. Just that for me, it is annoying little things and not the shocking deviations from the manga.

#6 - Hope

I have hope though because Isabella’s stuff was good, and now that they’re over the no-return divergence point, they might be able to... (meta spoiler) not repurpose manga scenes without any buildup (is what I’m getting) anymore :”D, because they really only set themselves up for disappointed with that. It might seem like a homage but it’s moreso out of place, the people who read it aren’t happy because you didn’t earn it (and of course they’ll compare) and the anime suffers from it because it can create unnecessary confusion forced in just to make a reference.

Ironically I think they’re too stuck in the manga too and could have benefited from a blind perspective.

I don’t really mind anything overall I think (world is against them, that’s fair, being out on the run again is fine, the demon “rescue” is fine), the execution / some details of episode 4 were just... strange. idk where they are going with it and maybe that really was the best way to transition but until I know where it goes, I can’t really judge that. Highly doubt it though.

I really hope they completely just do their own things now with some base elements from the manga.

A lot of what I talked about in this post ended up making me appreciate the crumbs of intention. The realization that previous escapees didn’t make it (not all of them, anyway) and WM being dead, and then having that uplifting message. The message of “you don’t get to rest, you’re on your own again”. The irony of the wild demon being their (temporary) rescue. The past escapees.

Ironically, I wanted to dunk on the anime but really, all I feel is more content now. Would I have preferred some fixes? Yes, but I see some semblance of meaning in it even with the errors.

Thanks for reading this goddamn essay.

#tpn #tpn s2 #tpn anime #tpn s2e04 #the promised neverland season 2 #tori talks #tori has opinions #long post

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rachelbethhines · 4 years

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Tangled Salt Marathon - The Eye of Pincosta

So this is an episode that really didn’t need to exist, and I say that as a Styalan defender. The writers took a perfect opportunity have the characters actually learn and grown and bypass it all for a contrived performative fake out redemption.

Summary: The group arrive in the town of Pincosta, but Eugene is immediately thrown in jail for having previously stolen the town's largest diamond, the Eye of Pincosta. The sheriff declares Eugene to work in the deadly copper mines and soon the rest of the group are thrown in jail. Rapunzel negotiates with the sheriff, offering to find and retrieve the Eye of Pincosta in exchange for Eugene and the group's release. The sheriff agrees, but on the condition that Rapunzel returns in two days. Rapunzel confronts Eugene about the theft and reluctantly, Eugene reveals he previously worked together with Stalyan, forcing Rapunzel to seek out Stalyan and persuades her to help.

So Why Didn’t Eugene Just Stay Behind With the Caravan?

Like it doesn’t take all six of you to buy and carry food back to the caravan; which they don’t take into the town anyways. Especially when you have two horses you can use. So why bring Eugene along when you know he could be arrested?

Pointing Out the Flaw In Your Writing Doesn’t Make It Any Less of a Flaw

No seriously, why didn’t he stay with the caravan? You need someone to watch over your stuff anyways if your going to leave it behind and Eugene is the perfect candidate for that. And even if you did need everyone to stick together, which you don’t, then bring the camper with you and let Eugene ride inside of it unseen. It’s not like the towns roads are too small for it or anything and it’ll save you from having to carry your stuff.

If you have to turn your characters into sudden idiots for no discernible reason to make your plot happen then you haven’t a good plot. Start over and come up with something else. Like maybe have Eugene not realize that he is wanted here because it was so long ago or have the guards randomly check their caravan where he’s hiding out because Styalan’s back into town, or something. Anything so long as it doesn’t make the mains stupid.

You’re Literally The Princess of Powerful Kingdom; Use That!

Ok, from what background info we get here, Pincosta isn’t even a fully fledged kingdom. It’s a hamlet, which is smaller than even a village. We get no indication what ‘land’ it belongs to, but it shares a kingdom with the larger town of Zulberg, which is one of the running gags in the first half of the episode.

What all this means is that Rapunzel is still the most powerful person in the room. She’s the heir apparent to the throne of a prosperous kingdom that has ties with a large trading network with bunch of other power kingdoms. Locking up her boyfriend and the future prince consort of said kingdom can be perceived as an act of war.

The series is trying to lead into Rapunzel becoming queen, but that means she needs to take advantage of her position and perform queenly like tasks. Like negotiating international incidents like this one, and simply complying to the city’s laws as if she was some random traveler doesn’t cut it.

Oh, So Now You Care!

Rapunzel, where the fuck do you think that prison barge was heading to just two episodes back? The same prison barge that your friend Attila was being threatened with. The same prison barge that victims of Corona’s corrupt justice system, like say Varian, are threatened with on top of the inhumane conditions of those dungeon cells that you locked your two best friends in back in season one.

Do not tell me Rapunzel is some kind and caring person if she only gives a damn about unjust treatment when it only affects her or someone she already cares about.

This Is Stealing Agency Away From Eugene

Rapunzel is not the one responsible for Eugene’s mistakes. She can help to some degree, like using her political power to pull some strings, but she doesn’t need to be the one to make reparations for his actions; that’s on him.

Or rather it should be on him. This should be his episode. The one where he grows as a person as he makes up for past deeds. Because redemption isn’t just about never doing bad things again, it’s also about making amends for what you did wrong.

That’s where this series fails and why the whole ‘It’s Rapunzel’s Story’ mantra is hollow. For starters it’s not just Rapunzel’s story. The series isn’t structured to be that way because it’s based off of a movie with two protagonists. It’s Eugene’s story as well. It’s also Cassandra’s and Varian’s story because as the main antagonists they further the conflict.

But it also fails because Rapunzel is just thrown into other people’s stories instead of being given her own. Rapunzel never learns anything from this adventure. Stalyan does, and Stalyan is never seen again after this episode. Having Rapunzel teach other random people lessons is counterintuitive to what the series wants to be. If it’s meant to be a coming of age story where Rapunzel learns about the real world, then she can’t be automatically in the right every episode.

Well Ain’t That Convenient

So Stalyan is needed to find this diamond that she and Eugene stole in order to free Eugene. Yet it’s never stated how Rapunzel finds Stalyan, especially so quickly. Last we saw her she had just left Varados and that was months ago. She could have been anywhere by this time.

So why is she near the same town where she’d still be wanted for arrest at? Where’s a her dad, who was dying from poison when we last saw him? What has she been up to? How did Rapunzel even know she was here?

Like you need to establish crap like this, otherwise it’s just a major plot hole.

So Why Stalyan?

This episode could have gone to just about anybody. Eugene, Lance, Lady Caine, fucking Shorty... Like I’d even take Hookfoot over this. He’s at least there for more than two episodes.

So why Stalyan? Why does she get a focus episode when we’ll never see her again? How come she’s ‘redeemed’ but not any of the other criminals on the prison barge? Like the series wants to act as if Rapunzel is this really forgiving person who believes in second chances but only four villains out of twenty get redemptions. 4 out of 20! What makes Stalyan so special that she gets to be one of those few select four and not say Lady Caine, Dwayne, or Andrew and the Saporians?

This Should Have Been a Lance and Rapunzel Team Up Instead

Keep in mind when I say this episode could have focused on anybody, I do mean it. You get creative enough this initial setup could have featured any two characters you wanted interacting. Lance and Eugene, Eugene and Rapunzel, Eugene and Stalyan, Eugene and Cassandra, Lance and Cassandra or maybe even Caine and Rapunzel, and reveal how Eugene knew Caine back in the pilot episode. Like there’s a lot of possibilities here.

For my money though, this should have been a Lance and Rapunzel episode. Because we don’t get any Lance and Rapunzel episodes. We don't even get any Lance episodes after his introduction. All his development, what little there is, is shoved into the b-plot of other characters’ focus episodes. He also barely interacts with the series main character despite being her boyfriend’s BFF and living with her on the road for year. That’s ridiculous.

All you needed to do was make Lance Eugene’s partner and have Lance make up for his past deeds to try and free his friends. Boom!

Why Didn’t You Bring Anything With You Raps?

We see at the end that the caravan was parked outside of town this whole time. She still has the key to get out any money that she needed, the pick of two horses that can’t fit inside of a cell anyways, and oh yeah probably a canteen to use.

Furthermore, she’s a fucking princess!!! She’s has credit and clout and can just get whatever she damn near wants just by asking; because she’s not your average person on the street like us.

I’m not going to feel sorry for the main protagonist when the main protagonist is an idiot who does these things to herself and makes life harder for everyone needlessly.

Rapunzel Has a Stunted Grasp of Ethics

Stalyan’s not wrong here. Unless you have an alternative, like your own horse or money to buy horses, that you decided to leave behind as well for some undefined reason, then yeah, you needed horses. Your friends lives are at stake woman!

I touched on this back in my TAR review, but the show leans heavily into authoritarian beliefs because it provides childish lessons for adult situations.

‘Stealing is always wrong no matter what’ is the thought process of a child. It does not take into account how systems of governments can stack the deck against certain groups of people, nor how sometimes emergencies come up and you got to deal them in the moment and make amends later.

And you know what, I’m not taking ‘it’s a show for kids’ as an excuse here. Children shows very much can introduce comlex themes and grey morals and plenty already have. If you make classism a major theme of your story then you need to actually address it, and that starts by having your main character acknowledge it.

This could have been the perfect opportunity for Rapunzel to grow. Up till now she’s always had her physical needs provided for her. Since her escape from the tower she’s also been thoroughly spoiled. Have her come down off her high horse and see how the other half lives. See first hand what Eugene and the pub thugs had to do to survive before they met her.

Have her things actually be confiscated. Have her princess title mean nothing cause no one knows her or believes her. Have Corona not recognized in this part of the world. You want to be the underdog then make her an actual underdog and have her learn from it.

Because Rapunzel having the moral outlook of child makes sense given her backstory, but she can’t stay that way. We all have to grow up sometime, we all have to learn the harsher truths of this world, and this is suppose to be a coming of age story.

So How Does Stalyan Know Where the Eye Is But Not Eugene?

If Eugene is the one who lost it, then how come he didn’t know where it was at? Why couldn’t he just have told Rapunzel all of this and left Staylan out of the picture? Also how do you know if Goodberry even still has it if it’s been years ago? How do you know where Goodberry is? It’s awfully convenient that he never moved in all that time and that he’s so close to the town of Pincosta.

Once again, plot holes.

Stalyan is a Poor Man’s Sadira

So for those of you who aren’t 90s kids like myself, Sadira is a villian from the Aladdin tv series. She’s basically Stalyan but done better.

Things they have in common

their goals are to marry the main hero, who are ex-thieves

both are jealous of the main heroines who are princesses

both are thieves themselves and have lived their whole lives as such

both believe they belong with the hero because they come from a common background

both resort to dubious means to win the heart of the hero

both try to get rid of the heroines but never resort to killing them out right

both are redeemed and eventually befriends the princesses

You know what the difference between the two of them is?

Sadira is actions are actually worse than Staylan’s but she’s given enough screen time and focus to come across as sympathetic to the audience.

I’m serious. Stalyan is an ex who was left at the altar by her douchey boyfriend, but their relationship was so toxic that she can’t understand that she’s actually better off without him nor accept that he left her for someone else. So she tries manipulating him into coming back to her, while her dad does some messed up blackmail and poisoning that she didn’t agree to but went along with anyways.

Meanwhile Sadria is a straight up stalker. She doesn’t even meet Aladdin until after the events of the first film, and he makes it clear to her from the get go that he’s in a committed relationship with someone else and isn’t interested in her. But Sadria tries episode after episode to ‘win’ him resorting to mindwipes, kidnapping, and even alternating reality.

But we actually see things from Sadria’s perspective. It’s made clear that she has no one and nothing. Aladdin is the first person to show her kindness and so she latches onto him. Sure it’s unhealthy and the series calls it out as such, but by the time she has acknowledged this and befriends Jasmine the audience now understands her and feels sympathy for her.

We get no such focus for Stalyan. Not even in her redemption episode. We still don't know why she wants to be with Eugene after he’s treated her so badly. We still don't have any clue what their relationship was like before the breakup, or even when the breakup happened. (I still think it was during the events of the movie and that he left her for Rapunzel, but it’s left open) It’s hard to relate to or feel sorry for Stakyan when we know nothing about her and haven’t seen this ‘good side’ Rapunzel keeps talking about for ourselves.

Even though theoretically she should be very sympathetic because of the way Eugene treated her, and because her actions thus far are relatively tame compared to most of the villains in the show.

Just Because Other Places in the World Are As Bad as Corona, Doesn’t Mean That Frederic Is Excused For His Behavior

This show thinks it’s a okay to introduce horrible crap so long as it’s done in a comedic way and not focused on, but this isn’t The Office. You can’t use a corrupt legal system and authoritarians abusing their power as the crux of your main conflict in season one and then expect us to just laugh off jokes like this one. Or the one about tailor getting locked up for ripping Frederic’s robe. Or find young Lance trapped in a cell with Shorty being fed gruel as funny.

Like, even if you do laugh at these jokes at first in the moment, once you stop to think about them, it just shows how awful Frederic and Rapunzel are, how awful the system is, and that change needs to happen. But it can’t happen if Rapunzel and the show doesn’t acknowledge that such things are wrong. That they are more than jokes.

The serious story that the writers want to tell is undermined by the comedy, and the comedic moments are undermined by the existence of the more serious drama.

So is this a sitcom or a drama? It can’t be both, not when dealing with such high stakes.

Sitcoms work because they’re low stakes. Few characters are affected and most situations aren’t life and death. Even in dark comedies where death is often the joke, it’s because death is seen as unimportant, something to be casted aside, and it’s funny because it’s disrespectful. But the moment you call to attention just how messed up everything really is, and how awful death can be, then it’s suddenly no longer funny. Especially if it’s innocents who are getting hurt. Dark comedies also work because it’s often computuance for characters who are awful people.

That’s not what TTS is, so it’s attempts at being like It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia or Rick and Morty just doesn’t work and comes across as tone deaf.

Also why are the dang horses in the cell with the humans? They’re horses!

So What Exactly Is Stalyan’s Plan Here?

No seriously, what is her thought processes here? The audience isn’t mind readers. We need know why the characters do the things they do.

Why is Stalyan still hung up on Eugene? Why does Stalyan think he’ll take her back if she shows up to free him without Rapunzel? What is she going to say when he asks about Raps and why would he even believe her to begin with?

What does ‘A thief belongs with a thief’ even mean!!? We have no context for this cause we have no context for their relationship!

This episode could have provided us with some context, some cule of why Stalyan and Eugene were together for so long, why they broke up, why she still wants to be with him, why she thinks he’ll return to her even now, but nope! We gotta have a stupid parody wrestling match.

Oh joy.

This Is a Guilt Trip, Not a Redemption

Rapunzel is full of shit.

If she honestly believed that there was ‘good in everybody’ then why did she send Caine off on the prison barge without even trying to relate to her? Why didn’t she try to befriend Weasel instead of fighting him off? Why is Varian currently sitting in a jail cell right now!!!

Here’s why Stalyan was ‘redeemed’ and not the others.

Rapunzel needed something from her.

Rapunzel guilt trips, manipulates, and coerces Stalyan into helping her. She doesn’t actually give a damn about whether or not Stalyan ‘does the right thing’ so long as she gets what she wants; Eugene’s freedom and his heart.

Sure Stalyan probably should turn away from her life of crime. She should let go of her obsession with Eugene. She should return the eye that she stole and start making up for her past. But you know what?

None of those things have anything to do with Rapunzel!

Stalyan needs to come to those decisions herself in order for this to be a proper redemption. If Rapunzel is involved in any of that then it can’t be with the condition that she’s gaining something from it. It’s not true compassion if you have an ulterior motive for what you do.

This Confession Might Actually Have Meant Something If We Had Any Actual Context!

This doesn’t tell me anything.

Why would Stalyan only see ‘a thief’? She loved him enough to want to marry him and has known him for years. Sure she may have accepted that he was a thief, encouraged it even, but there’s got to be other reasons why she dated him. Other reasons for why she wanted him back.

Also why does this come back to Rapunzel specifically? Is she the reason why he left Staylan at the altar? And even so, why is that a reason to give Eugene a free pass? Is it just because she’s the protag and now they’re friends suddenly?

In fact if you are friends now, then Rapunzel deserves to know the truth of who she plans on marrying and come to the decision if he’s worth it. If he really has changed, not just in terms of being an ex-thief but also in how he handles relationships.

We the audience deserve to know too.

Redemption Shouldn’t be Tied to Friendship With Rapunzel

Eugene becoming inspired to be a better person because he fell in love with someone is one thing. Rapunzel only forgiving people because they’ll befriend her is entirely another. Especially when two of the main villains become villains after they stop being friends with her.

It sends out a really gross message of favoritism and not letting go of toxic relationships, while also placing Rapunzel too high upon a pedestal.

Rapunzel Can’t Forgive Stalyan In Eugene’s Place

I’d be pretty upset if my current spouse just said that my abusive ex ‘was not that bad’.

Like, fuck both of you.

And yes, I did defend Stalyan in Beyond the Corona Walls, and I did say that we didn’t have enough context to claim she was abusive when they were in a relationship. After the breakup tho? Yeah, yeah she was abusive then. You don't have to be in a relationship in order to bully someone; you just have to have power over them.

Stalyan hurt Eugene, not Rapunzel. That’s why any redemption with her needed to be with him. They both needed to make amends, forgive each other, and move on.

This isn’t Rapunzel’s show.

If the creator wanted it to be her show then he shouldn’t have introduced conflicts that don’t actually involve her, nor characters with higher stakes then her.

This Doesn’t Feel Earned, and So the Audience Feels Cheated

And so Stalyan rides off into the sunset rich to live happily ever after presumably as a thief still, and no one gave a shit.

No one was asking for this. No one cared about Stalyan. Worse the writer failed to make us care. Ergo this whole episode feels like a waste and it is.

Conclusion

Much like the rest of season two this is pure filler, and not even good fun filler; like with the mermaid episode or the pirate episode. Worse it’s very existence actually diminishes Rapunzel as a character rather than build her up. So it fails in its sole purpose as a story.

#tangled #anti-tangled #anti-rapunzel #stalyan #tangled the series #rapunzel's tangled adventure

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pi-creates · 3 years

Note

If they had decided to Make Kenny the season 2 villain and make him ‘the carver’ how do you think the season would’ve ended? Do you think they still should have made us choose between Kenny and someone else? Maybe between Kenny and Luke? Or do you think they should’ve gone a whole different direction?

Good point, anon - if Kenny was the “Carver” of season 2 and nothing else in the plot changes, then no I don’t think it really makes sense for the ending to still be part of the “choose your caregiver” ending thing. Because he’d be dead by one of the other characters... not sure who in this case, maybe Alvin.

I suppose they could still go through with that concept but with whichever characters are still around near the end... like a group of Bonnie, Mike, and Arvo(? maybe), or Luke and Jane?? I dunno, it’s hard since a lot of the characters aside from Kenny and Luke didn’t get much development in season 2, and even Luke’s development is a bit of a rollercoaster after Kenny shows up.

It would probably be better to have an entirely new ending scenario set up if Kenny was the antagonist from the start - though I’m not entirely sure what that would be.

But ya know what? I’m going to try to make this work with Kenny still being involved in the ending and keeping as many of the plot beats as possible - bear with me, I might have gotten a bit carried away...

So, Kenny as Carver cannot ever directly harm Clem. He needs to keep that ambiguity that says even if he has lost his way, he really is doing his best for Clem. Otherwise there never will be a realistic choice, you wouldn’t pick an absolute villain at the ending if a friend/ally was the other option.

So like, I dunno, have Troy be more of a threat to Clem while at Howe’s, but keep Kenny as the main threat to the rest of the group. He can still murder Walter/Alvin at the ski lodge, and doesn’t know Clem is there until afterwards when Troy (who also was the one who talked to Clem in the cabin) points her out.

Kenny can have his moment where he sees her, gets this glimmer in his eye, but then he smothers it when Troy/Bonnie notices. Later on Kenny calls Clem to his office at Howe’s and tries to reminisce with her, but leave us little ominous details that remind us how aggressive he has been to the others - cut knuckles or something similar. He tries to steer the conversation to be only pleasant talk about how happy he is that she found her way back to him, and how he’ll make sure she’s safe from now on with him. And at this point Clem can appeal to Kenny or call him out on how she thinks he’s changed, but he still counters with something along the lines of:

“I know it’s harsh, but these people would all die if someone doesn’t stop them from doing something stupid. Sometimes you just have to do that. And if one person fucks things up for everyone else, then we’re better off without them. You understand that, don’t you, Clem? You’re a smart girl, you’d never be like that.”

and if you happen to respond negatively to him, he’ll just say:

“You’re just not old enough to understand yet. It’s ok, I’ll teach you. You’ll get better.”

This also adds more reasoning behind why Clem has to be the one to sneak into the main office - the group can see that if Clem gets caught by Kenny then he’d probably not hurt her. He’s too preoccupied with trying to teach her and keep everyone else in line.

The failed escape attempt can still happen, but the target of Kenny’s aggression can be one of the others - Luke maybe, or Nick if he’s still around. But instead of Clem being there for the build-up - she should hear the argument happening from outside the courtyard. By the time she can see what’s happening Kenny is already hitting them. Clem can attempt to intervene but will get attacked by Troy.

This gets Kenny’s attention and he blows up at Troy and leaves the injured parties in the courtyard without any snide comments. Whoever Kenny was punishing also doesn’t get quite as injured because Clem interrupts before things get that bad.

Kenny leaves with a conflicted look on his face that says he doesn’t necessarily regret hurting the people trying to escape, but he does regret Clem seeing it.

Kenny then also cannot try to cut them off while escaping, show him on the roof doing his whole “no, no, NO” thing when he sees Clem walking through the herd with the others. Maybe even have him be responsible for shooting a walker trying to get to her or one of the others. We need to believe that his main priority the whole time was keeping his people alive.

Now we don’t see Kenny again through all of the next episode. We are left unknowing as to what happened to him. Also, Jane doesn’t leave the group after AJ is born (I know this seems unrelated, but give me a moment). Otherwise, this episode can progress in a similar way, and we’ll either have to assume one of the group knows enough to help Rebecca during the birth. Or we can be very charitable and say that Carlos got through unscathed with the help of Kenny taking a walker or two out of the herd - because if Kenny is “Carver”, then he wants that baby to be born safe.

Rebecca still dies when the Russian group shows up - whether this is from medical complications or the Russians themselves. Just to make things make more sense, maybe Carlos dies here too if he’s still around (to make the group even more desperate for help). At the start of the next episode, instead of Jane returning at the last moment to save the group it’s Kenny. Everyone is on edge but he immediately goes into dad mode and checks in with Clem and the baby. This needs to show some extreme concern and potentially even have him in tears. Anything to really solidify that his want to protect his family is by far his largest priority.

Have the group be scared of him, but then he starts pulling out supplies he managed to scrape together before he escaped Howe’s. He has at least some baby formula and medical supplies. Kenny barely acknowledges that the rest of the group exists or that his compound has fallen. It’s all about the baby and Clem.

The group reluctantly allows him to carry the baby in exchange for all of his weapons. Jane strongly disagrees with keeping him around, and lets say Bonnie says that if they want that baby to survive they need to cooperate and use his supplies. Clem can decide who she agrees with more, but regardless it is decided that Kenny can stay with Luke and Mike keeping him on constant watch.

Kenny cannot raise his voice or do anything even mildly aggressive from here on. He behaves like the perfect parent, every word he says is in relation to AJ or Clem and their survival. He asks Clem what she think Rebecca would want to name the baby - he needs to show compassion to whatever she says before they settle for Alvin Junior. This is important as it would tell us that he doesn’t really care if he’s not the child’s father, he just wants someone to care for. Whether this is a genuine action or a calculated one is left up to the player.

Still, he has to be viewed as the absolute best caregiver to AJ, everyone else is useless with the baby. They can’t hold him right, he cries, and Kenny just knows how to calm him down when there’s walkers around. He’s experienced a baby before and had been preparing for the baby’s arrival for a while now.

Instead of Kenny getting aggro at Arvo, Mike is the one trying to talk to him. The betrayal later on comes from Mike and Bonnie putting trust in Arvo and turning tail when it seems they made the wrong choice.

Kenny is allowed to be angry again with whoever is left in the party - so at minimum Jane, but if we feel like making the decision more complicated we can include Luke here too. Kenny is pissed, he wants to hop in that truck and go with Clem and AJ - he couldn’t care less about Jane (and Luke) who refuses to split off alone at this point.

Kenny drives recklessly in pursuit of the people who hurt Clem, maybe has a spinout and keeps going or barrels through obstacles he shouldn’t. When asked to calm down he blows up at everyone else in the car. Seeing how aggressively Kenny is making his decisions triggers Jane (and Luke) in to thinking that Kenny is about to repeat his cycle of behaviour if he sticks around. Before this point they tolerated him being around because it looked like he had calmed down and was trying his best to be good for the children - now they view it as obsession driving his actions. They worry what will happen if his obsession changes, or if Clem/AJ get between him and whatever obsession he is currently focussing on.

The same or similar drama can happen with the rest stop where we decide whether we can forgive Kenny’s behaviour towards others since he has never directed anything specifically at us, or if we think it is better to go with Jane - someone who isn’t as great with kids and is more inclined to be distrustful of others.

I’m hesitant to say the same drama would happen if Luke was there, unless you now want to add the element of Luke also being in the dark of Jane’s plan. Like, maybe depending on your relationship with Luke he can decide whether to talk him in to staying with you (+ Jane or Kenny) in an ending, having a Luke ending where you stay with neither Jane or Kenny... or if you have a poor relationship with Luke he buggers off and you get the alone ending. But all of that might be getting a little too complicated and I’m not sure how in character it would be in this scenario for Luke to just leave Clem and AJ.

In any case, I think maybe all the changes might just make the ending choice somewhat logical even with Kenny being the “Carver” of the season. Like, he needs to still be an antagonist, but we have to question his conviction and intentions. I would still say going with Kenny isn’t really what I would consider a “good” choice here, but it would sow seeds of doubt as to whether Kenny could change for the better with Clem’s presence calming him down. Like, we have to feel like he’s already started to turn that corner after Howe’s fell - then it’s up to us whether or not we think he’ll continue that trend or not.

#twdg talk #twdg s2 #twdg kenny #i really put way too much thought in to this

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alpha-centari27 · 4 years

Text

“Robotnik Hates Christmas”

Title: “Robotnik Hates Christmas“ -- I know not very creative, but I can change it later. The important part is just to write.

Characters: Stone & Robotnik and some other filler characters.

Warnings: Mentions of self-harm behaviors and mental breakdowns so be advised.

Plot Summary: It’s almost Christmas and Robotnik’s work has come to a grinding halt because of the miserable and detestable holiday. Stone learns more about Robotnik’s past and Robotnik as a person. Hopefully, they can both survive the holiday.

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It was a chilly and overcast day at the research facility and military base Agent Stone called home for the time being--or at least that is what his phone said a few minutes ago. He wouldn’t know what the atmosphere outside looked like being cooped up in the air hanger like structure that housed Robotnik’s mobile lab, prototypes and other assorted works in progress, spare parts, tools and testing equipment.

Agent Stone mentally went through his to do list. He had already stocked up on food for Robotnik’s fridge, freezer and pantry. He would need to consider making a grocery run to pick up some fresh produce in the near future, but otherwise they were in good shape. The drones were fully charged and had earlier been inspected for any wear and tear that required maintenance and repair. The mobile lab itself was in tip top condition. Tool boxes and spare parts bins had been inventoried and he had already given his list to the Dr. for his approval and given permission to make the necessary orders. Everything seemed to be running smoothly. The trash, recycle and hazardous materials bins had been emptied. After disposing of the waste and recycle there was cleaning and tidying up to do, which was also complete.

“Huh...“ Agent Stone hummed to himself as he patrolled the aisles and open spaces for anything out of place, anything he might have missed that required a little tender loving care.

“I think I really have done everything that I can do for the time being. Better check in with Robotnik to see if he needs anything.“ He whispered, setting his course for the mobile lab where he was sure he would find the man at his work station.

Agent Stone climbed the stairs of the mobile lab, being careful to tread lightly on the steps. Stone couldn’t help but smile seeing Robotnik at his computer, flicking and thumbing through the visual displays. It still amazed him that he got to be a part of this. It was like he was the sorcerer’s apprentice--watching the raw act of creation from nothing but an abstract, intangible thought that was turned into an idea, translated into a testable hypothesis or experiment and then given physical form.

“Good afternoon Dr.“ Stone announced as he made his approach. Lazily Robotnik paused and turned over his wrist.

“So, it is afternoon already.“ Robotnik said with an edge to his voice. Stone guessed that the Dr. was not in the mood for chit chat and instead focused his eyes on what Robotnik was reading. It seemed like the Dr. was refreshing his pages and menus just waiting for something to happen or a new message to pop into his inbox. Sure enough, Robotnik refreshed one of the pages again and a new unread message appeared. Robotnik opened it immediately. Stone could make out Robotnik’s expression reflected off the screen, he was not pleased at all.

“I hate Christmas! I hate the whole holiday season!“ The Dr. decried. “Why?” From what Stone could make out the message was an automatic reply message stating they were out of town for the holiday and would return a week after the New Year’s. He knew all too well Robotnik could be moody, but did this really warrant such a dramatic reaction?

“Christmas isn’t so bad Dr. the lights and presents and food. It’s a chance to take a break from work to be with family.“ Stone immediately regretted saying that. This was the worse possible thing he could have said.

“Not so bad... Agent Stone.” Robotnik said rising to his feet in a way that was slow and menacing. “I cannot progress my work because everyone is on vacation and unavailable! Don’t even get me started on the forced sentimentality of being nice to the people you can’t stand all year. Santa isn’t real and the story of Jesus is an exaggeration at best. Good will to all men for this holiday season, but every other time of the year--who cares?” Robotnik said flippantly, baring his teeth. “The expectation of always being happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy--joy, joy, joy, joy.” The Dr. said clapping and speaking in a parody of an upbeat cartoon character. “It all makes me sick.“ Stone just stood as stiff as a board and took it. He should have known better.

“Is there anything I can do for you Robotnik?” He asked trying to steer the conversation in a more constructive direction. “By my assessment everything is in good repair, we have adequate supplies of spare parts and what we are running low on has been put on order.“

“No.” Robotnik said while shaking his head. “If everything has been tended to and cleaned up then, no.“ Robotnik faced his screen again and shut it down. For a while he just stood in place without saying a word. “Why don’t you take some time off Stone?“

“Time off?“ Stone repeated. He never expected to hear those words pass through Robotnik’s tight lips. This coming from the man who was the definition of a workaholic.

“I insist you take some time off. If I have nothing to do than you have even less to do.“ Stone was lost for words and didn’t know what to say. He wouldn’t mind having a break for a few days, but he wasn’t sure if that would be allowed.

“I think I need to check with my contacts first.“ Robotnik frowned, but said nothing at first.

“Of course.“ He muttered.

Stone excused himself to step outside and find a place to make a phone call out of earshot of Robotnik or anyone else who could over hear.

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A segway was useful for getting from one end of the base to the other, but it still took a while. It took a ridiculous amount of time to find a private spot for a phone call, but there was little sense in whining now that he found what he was looking for. He had seen it numerous times by now, but never ventured outside the base to look at it more closely.

Not far from the installation there was an old phone booth. The phone had been removed, but for some reason the glass and metal case remained standing. Maybe it was left in tact for this exact purpose.

Agent Stone thumbed through his list of important contacts and stopped on Lance Bringum. He tapped the name and gave a second tap for the call icon before raising the cell phone to his ear. Hopefully, his contact had not skipped town for the holidays too.

“Hello?“ A voice answered on the first ring.

“Ugh, hi. Mr. Bringum, it’s agent Stone calling.“ A deep sigh was Mr. Bringum’s immediate reply to Stone’s greeting.

“What can I help you with today Mr. Stone?“

“The reason I am calling is to find out if I can get some time off--that’s all.” He said with a shrug, not that Bringum could see that he was shrugging nonchalantly. “Christmas is almost right around the corner and it seems as though Robotnik’s work has ground to a halt. He even suggested that I take some time away from him.“ There was a prolonged pause that dragged on for more than a minute. Stone began to wonder if maybe he hung up or they got disconnected. “Sir, are you still there?“

“Agent Stone, the answer is no! As I have said before this is a 24/7 assignment and your assignment is Robotnik. We considered you for this post in part because you have said you have no close family to visit around the holidays. If he has no work for you to assist him with than kick your feet up, read a magazine, watch some TV, while still keeping an eye on him and tending to his needs as he sees fit. The only way you are cashing out your PTO is if you quit. At this point I am amazed you have stuck this out for so long. Are you sure you don’t want to quit right now?“

“I am not quitting Sir.“ Stone answered firmly and politely.

“Good, good because I wouldn’t let you quit your assignment at this time of the year anyway. You would have to wait till the beginning of January at the earliest.“

“Why is that Sir?“ Stone asked out of curiosity.

“I have said too much... But maybe you should know so you can be prepared. You have never been around Robotnik at this time of the year.” Now Stone was even more curious. What did Mr. Bringum know that he did not? He had been told repeatedly not to ask questions to leave well enough alone and not to trouble Robotnik’s mind with personal questions. This was also a lesson he had quickly learned the hard way early on when he first started working alongside Robotnik. Stone steadied himself before speaking again.

“Prepared for what Mr. Bringum?“ Silence, then a deep sigh.

“You didn’t hear this from me, understand?”

“Yes, I understand.”

“This is just what I have heard. I cannot verify this for myself because it’s--“

“Classified.“ Stone said finished the sentence for him.

“Right. A number of years ago Robotnik had some sort of breakdown around Christmas. He locked himself inside some sort of solitary confinement cell or high security storage area. It’s believed that he did this intentionally and there was no foul play involved. Why he would do this to himself is beyond me.” Stones eyes widened in shock and he had to brace himself to maintain his balance. “Anyway...” Mr. Bringhum drawled. “When they found him he was almost dead. He was unconscious, badly dehydrated and malnourished, some bottles of liquor were found close to him. He had probably been in there for at least two days before he was found. From what I heard he made a quick enough recovery physically... Mentally, I suspect he always has and always will have a few loose screws. I think they tried to evaluate him psychologically, but he refused to cooperate. You know what they say about leading a horse to water.“ Stone nodded. His mind was racing. This changed everything, this one sliver of information into Robotnik’s past was re-writing everything he thought he knew about him, which admittedly was not much.

“You’re not pulling my leg are you?”

“No, Agent Stone--I’m not. But like I said I cannot view the files myself. Something happened and it was serious enough to make us re-think how we handle him.“ Stone paused again. He didn’t like the phrase ‘handle him’ as if Robotnik was some kind of animal snatched from the wild and coerced and conditioned to perform. Stone always wanted to know more about the Dr. and now was his chance to get some answers. May as well make the most of it and push for as much as Bringum is willing to share.

“Ok, so he refused a psych evaluation. What happened next?“

“Well, despite his insubordination--it’s not like we could let someone with his talents and expertise slip through our fingers. If he wouldn’t submit to a psych evaluation and a treatment plan then we had to think of something else that would at least be tolerable for him.“

“Wait, this is why the Dr. has an assistant assigned to him isn’t it?“

“You’re right on the money Stone. They made some adjustment to his workload, made it more manageable for him, or so I heard. Although he was never evaluated by a psychologist after that incident they suggested that he might benefit from having an assistant. Someone to talk to, someone to help him relax and curb any self-destructive tendencies just by having another person constantly around him.”

“It sounds like what you are describing is a friend.”

“I suppose in a way, yes. At first we gave him a small group of assistants to help him out. Turns out that didn’t work. I think it’s just too challenging for him to handle a small group of people. All he needs is one person he can trust and rely on to be a buffer between him and everyone else. That and he found it a source of amusement to pit the assistants against each other.“ A smile came to Stone’s face. He would need to keep this in mind when he was on missions with the Dr. and they were assigned a team of government agents to make the job easier and more efficient. Though from what he could remember the Dr. seemed content to let Stone boss them around. His smile faded when he returned to what Bringum had confided in him.

“Hmmmm.... What do you propose I do with Robotnik?“

“Huh...find a way to keep his mind occupied that doesn’t lead to trouble. I wish I could tell ya something more than that. You should get back to your post and I should shut up now. Good day and good luck Stone.“

“Thank you, Mr. Bringum. I won’t let you down.“ Stone heard the sound of a click. The call was over and he had so many unanswered questions.

The government wrote his paycheck, but Robotnik was the boss calling the shots and telling him what to do. If he made a suggestion would Robotnik actually listen to him?

“Well, I guess there is only one way to find out.“

Stone hopped on his segway and passed through the entry gate after showing his government ID and hauled ass back to the hanger where he assumed Robotnik would be.

Stone wondered and worried if Robotnik asking him to take time off was intended to be a diversion or distraction for the Dr. to do something stupid.

He parked and dismounted the segway outside the mobile laboratory. Tracing his earlier steps up the stairs. The Dr. was no where in sight.

Stone was stricken with a sense of panic. Where could he be? Standing in the middle of the lab, Stone’s phone began to vibrate. Robotnik was calling him.

“Hello.“ Stone said, trying to sound natural.

“Where the hell have you been? I got tired of waiting so I tossed together some lunch.“

“Oh... Sorry, about that.“

“Did you go all the way to the moon to make your call?“

“No. Ugh, where are you right now? I’m by the mobile lab.”

“My personal quarters.“

“Ok, that’s not too far. Just give me a few minutes. Oh, and one more thing. I’m staying with you whether you have work or not. I’m not going on vacation.“ Stone ended the call and put his phone away.

The Dr. had what amounted to his own house on the premises that was in close proximity to the hanger. “I wonder what he made for lunch.“

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Author notes:

Yay, it’s done for now!

I want to continue this, but I am not entirely sure how. I got some ideas, but I need to think about how this fanfic is going to progress and how it’s going to end. If I know how this ends then I can work my way backwards to build up to the ending I have outlined.

If this does get a few more chapters I probably will change up the POV and have some stuff from Robonik’s POV.

I don’t imagine this turning into sexy times or Stone trying to be anything more than a friend and someone Robotnik can confide in.

This happens before the events of the movie.

#agent stone #robotnik #dr robotnik #jimbotnik #sonic hedgehog fanfic #sonic hedgehog 2020 #sonic movie

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faejilly · 4 years

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tag game

Fic Writer Edition (tagged by @silver-latin-and-salt, tagging, idk, whoever is writing atm? @twistedsinews @leahazel @junemermaid, anyone who’d like, no one who doesn’t, etc.)

Fandoms: atm, primarily Shadowhunters. But also BioWare: Dragon Age and Mass Effect and maybe someday I’ll post some Jade Empire.

Also the occasional other game or TV show or Yuletide inspired one-shot. It’s a wide and ridiculous range of things, from a Georgette Heyer regency epilogue to Code: Realize and #7kpp to Firefly & even some Sleepy Hollow ficlets from back in s1 before we realized how terrible TPTB were going to be.

Number of fics: I have 158 works published on AO3.

This includes a couple of fanmixes that are linked on there to companion fics/series, two collaborative fics which are not just mine, even less so than most writing that is, and four WIPs: two of which I am still working on, one of which will absolutely 100% NEVER ever get more, and then that last one will probably not get more but who knows, maybe in ten years we’ll do a reunion and try again (it’s one of the collabs).

AS WELL AS: forty-seven different ficlet collections, sorted by fandom and pairing(s), because otherwise I would honestly have almost 1000 things and never be able to find a single damn one of them when I wanted to (and neither would anyone else). Like, ten of them are just for Shadowhunters because I split up the coda-fic by season and then also I put the porn in its own thing and Clizzy is kind of a post-canon AU so they’re on their own too and spin-offs of a particular fic setting get their own collection so they’re all together and etc. etc. etc.

Fic I spent a lot of time on: Do we count time actually writing? Or just the amount of time it hung out in my head before I finished it? Because I probably spent the most actual physical writing time on Lost For Words, which is a frothy cotton-candy experiment in long-fic for Mass Effect that I posted chapter by chapter as I wrote it and actually finished. (I have never successfully repeated the experience, tho I suppose a couple of my Shadowhunters fics will sort-of qualify in terms of length when they’re done, but they didn’t get posted semi-regularly and in progressive chapters in at all the same way.)

In terms of time between debut and completion, that would probably have to go to Cruel Intentions, which took over five years between initially going up on the Dragon Age Kink Meme and actually getting a conclusion.

i am for you and if broken hearts were whole have both been lingering WIPs for over two years at this point now, though, and a couple other DA2 fics were pretty close to that five year mark as well. 😅

Fic I didn’t spend a lot of time on: ashes of angels because I was coming up on my bingo deadline so I just pounded it out in a day. (It’s actually quite good tho! I think so, anyway! I am very proud of it! Read part one first, if you haven’t yet!)

also Impossible, (DA2, Bethany/Sebastian, confessional!porn) which mostly wrote itself in pretty short order, which was delightful. (Tho I also had a very astute beta for that one; don’t think he’s on tumblr anymore tho, or I’d yell at him in thanks again.) I told y’all I had a priest!kink problem. Not that you hadn’t all noticed on your own, anyways...

Longest fic: Finished? The aforementioned Lost for Words at just over 62k.

In limbo? Persephone Rising is literally three times longer than my next longest fic (and still not done!) but it is also a collab fic with three authors, so I suppose that sort of evens out?

Active WIP? i am for you at 59k. I’m not sure how much more is left of that one, tbqh... it will probably end up a bit longer than LfW, tho maybe not by much.

Shortest fic: I have no fucking clue, 47 ficlet collections, remember? In terms of a thing that I forgot to collect, apparently it is Consequences, which is my Brosca after the Landsmeet in DA:O.

Most hits/Most kudos/Most bookmarks: ALL THREE FOR i am for you! (Wonder how it’ll do when it’s no longer marked as a WIP?)

Total word count: On AO3: 1,137,609 !!!

(Sorry, you can see why I had to make that big tho, right?)

Fic I want to rewrite/expand: Except for the revisions to what is now Maleficar, I much prefer to leave fic as is, once it’s up there, so nothing on the re-write front. It was what it was when I did it, and it’s important to remember that, even when you move on to new stuff, imo.

But! I have potential/hopeful sequels in the WIP folder for and breathing is wishing, out of some dreaming tree, with an if in its soul, and several assorted ficlet collections & prompts I’ve sort of teased over the years.

Favourite fic of mine: At the moment, they have hung the sky with arrows because it’s a thing I’m not sure I ever really thought I was going to write, and then I did and I surprised myself a little, but it was fun and it ties together a lot of my thoughts on the Shadowhunters finale in a way I really enjoyed. (Also it has an actual plot! I don’t do that terribly often, I’m usually very introspective in my fic.)

Sneak peek of a WIP/Share an idea? I started a Shadowhunter!Magnus fic for a bingo square, but then scope creep! so I made a moodboard, but there is maybe a fic on the way... eventually. After my Bangs. 🤞🏻

The first time Magnus Bane met the High Warlock of Manhattan it was during his "travels", the two years after graduating from the Academy when most Nephilim wandered from Institute to Institute, seeing how things were done differently around the world, how they were still so often the same, learning about all the things you couldn't see in a classroom.

He wasn't actually in New York City in order to meet the High Warlock, of course, not as a 17-year-old foot soldier, that was well above his pay grade, as the mundanes put it. But when all the full-fledged Shadowhunters had work to do, he was assigned escort duty when the High Warlock showed up to do his yearly wards inspection.

Magnus met High Warlock Lightwood at the main entrance, and almost swallowed his own tongue at the sight of him, a broad shouldered, long-legged white man dressed in a conservative but very well-tailored suit, with heavy eyebrows, even heavier eyelashes, and a complete and utter lack of anything resembling an expression on his face.

A shiver went down Magnus' spine as he met the High Warlock's gaze, and he refused to think too much about why.

Magnus managed to introduce himself reasonably coherently, he thought, offering a hand to shake, but the High Warlock just raised an eyebrow at him. "I thought I'd talked them out of this nonsense last year."

"Uh." Magnus swallowed. The man was both terrifying and ludicrously attractive, and Magnus resigned himself to being a slightly stuttering idiot for the next four-to-six hours. "Not my call, I'm sorry to say. Sir."

The High Warlock rolled his eyes, and stepped forward. Magnus barely managed to dodge out of his way, and followed along behind him as he stalked towards the Angelic Core, where all the Institute Wards were anchored.

He never once acknowledged Magnus' presence as he worked, never asked for directions, or needed any sort of assistance. Magnus followed him anyway, and couldn't even bring himself to be upset about the waste of his time because damn, that view. He could see the shift of Lightwood's shoulders beneath the line of his coat, the tension in the muscles in his arms as each tiny motion correlated to whatever he was doing with his magic. There was so much power there, constrained and under his complete control.

The High Warlock never took so much as a wasted step in his clearly perfectly planned spiral of a route through the Institute's halls, circling out from the Core, stopping at each node, hitting all four corners of the building, before reaching the main doors again several hours later.

Once there he finally turned and looked at Magnus directly. He dipped his head in some slight acknowledgement, straightened his cuffs, and his face shifted into something that was merely neutral and professional rather than granite. "There were no concerns to note, Mr. Bane. The wards have been refreshed, and the contract terms have been met."

"Thank you," Magnus managed, though he had to cough to get his voice to cooperate.

The High Warlock's face softened, a hint of something that wasn't quite surprise in his eyes, but Magnus wasn't sure what to call it instead. "You're very welcome."

He nodded again, slightly more sincerely, perhaps, though there still wasn't enough of an expression on his face to properly qualify, in Magnus' opinion, and then he turned and left.

Magnus blinked at the doors as they shut behind him, and let out one long slow exhale. His shoulders relaxed, and it was only now that his posture sagged that he realized he'd been extra tense the entire time, as if waiting for an attack that had never come.

#on writing #fic memery #silver-latin-and-salt

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nobodyfamousposts · 5 years

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The Case of a Guardian

Oh, Fu. What can I say about Fu?

I got in late on the Miraculous parade so when someone finally introduced mw to the series, I was started off with the Origins two-parter where I got to see Master Fu first thing rather than going a good 2/3rds of the first season just seeing him randomly hiding in the background before it’s shown that he’s actually relevant. So I can only imagine how the slow build up to his reveal must have been like for fans of the series who were watching from the very beginning. For most of you, it was probably more of a surprise that there actually WAS a Guardian at all than that it was HIM specifically.

Fu’s official appearance into the conflict should have by all counts been something major. This was hampered somewhat by Princess Fragrance where he tried to appear like an ordinary healer who had no other significance. Depending on your perspective, he was either acting like a fool who didn’t know what he was really healing or he was being obviously oblivious to the fact that this “cat” was clearly abnormal and could FLY for the sake of plausible deniability in true “wink wink, nudge nudge” fashion. Either way, the potential “big reveal” set to take place later on isn’t quite as big since it’s immediately obvious that he is no normal healer and it should have been cause for Marinette to question it more. At least in her defense, she had more pressing issues at the time, but it was really not a surprise after this point that if there WAS a Guardian, it was clearly bound to be the old Chinese guy Tikki specifically told Marinette to take her to who was able to heal Tikki by ringing a gong.

It’s possible that it was intentional foreshadowing, but this is missing the whole “shadow” part of the term in that it’s obvious.

That seemed to set the stage for Fu’s introduction and then future relevance to the overall plot. And unfortunately, it wasn’t quite a good stage and as the play continued, it becomes ever more clear that the director needed more lessons.

When Fu was finally revealed to be the Guardian, they seemed to try to play him up to be a mentor figure and potential source of answers we’d all been waiting for. He was in a perfect position to not only give answers, but DIRECTION for where the story would go from here. Because now that we have the Guardian involved, surely he could at the very least give more insight—whether on finding Hawk Moth, weaknesses of the Miraculous, their history and effect on the world, or ways to boost their strength and abilities.

What we ended up with was something of the bare bones as far as ANY of that goes. He manages to make the transformation potions, so there’s that. His explanation of the history of the Miraculous is more of a brief overview of his own backstory. He DOESN’T explain anything about the Miraculous having weaknesses or really the powers of any of the other Miraculous that they could use—or that they could use TWO at the same time in a sort of mix-and-match fashion, which would have been VERY useful to know. He holds off on explaining WHY anyone would want the Black Cat and Ladybug Miraculous specifically and the issues with the BIG WISH that could warp reality until Robustus comes along and specifically mentions it when he should have already KNOWN what Hawk Moth was really after by this point.

The worst of this, however, is the lack of direction when it comes to the overall goal of the heroes to FIND Hawk Moth—which should by all counts be their central goal. While he does give some hintings as to who Hawk Moth could be, it’s more of a vague pointing in a general direction which doesn’t seem to be taken seriously or followed up on. While part of that is on Marinette for not being upfront with Fu about her suspicions initially, Fu himself knows by the end that Gabriel Agreste is suspicious and that his sudden and convenient akumatization at the time of his being a potential suspect doesn’t mean he’s NOT Hawk Moth. But rather than follow up on this potential lead, he does absolutely NOTHING with this knowledge—even going so far as to go into the lion’s den on his own and put himself at risk of being discovered by his enemy just to reveal himself to the man’s son in the man’s OWN HOME. This…seems like a major disaster waiting to happen. What if there had been cameras? What if Nathalie or the Gorilla had been listening in? While he did choose Adrien as Chat Noir, he KNOWS Gabriel is suspicious as hell and rather than approach Adrien in a more neutral place, he waltzes in to the kid’s own home where his biggest suspect happens to live, lets them see his face, and assumes nothing will come of it.

Remember the whole Hawk Moth issue that I mentioned before? Where he’s hiding in a secret place and the heroes are stuck and can’t make progress on their goal because they can’t reasonably try to search for him and he can’t be found? THAT IS WHAT FU SHOULD BE DOING! This is especially important given what we know of who Fu is and what he has been noted to have experienced.

The guy is almost 200 years old. The only survivor of his Order. Guardian of the Miraculous. The one defense protecting magical items that can SERIOUSLY FUCK SHIT UP if they fall into the wrong hands—which is all the more important because it’s clear that two at least already have.

So what exactly is his logic for any of the decisions he’s made so far?

Think back to Origins when Hawk Moth first transformed with evil intent. As soon as Nooroo was activated in this way and well before the first akuma appeared, Wayzz alerted Fu immediately. So Fu KNOWS that the Butterfly Miraculous has been found, that it has been found by someone who is specifically evil, and that something bad is bound to happen.

So what does he do?

Does this man—who was previously shown to have escaped Paris when the Nazis invaded to avoid a similar problem—escape Paris immediately before this new villain can figure out he was ever there and try to hunt him down, thus making Hawk Moth’s tantrum and attacking Paris to draw out the Miraculous completely pointless? No.

Does he track down his old ally he KNOWS is in Paris, KNOWS is aware of him and the Miraculous, and KNOWS would be fully willing and able to work with him to take this new villain down and retrieve the stolen Miraculous? No.

Does he look through all the people he’s no doubt met and gotten to know over his time in Paris to find a suitable user who is capable of fighting and who he would have some background with to have reason to trust with an item of such great power? …Wait, does he even know people?

Does he use the Miraculous he has—if not to fight himself, then to at least try to track down WHERE the akumas are coming from so he can confront Hawk Moth directly or otherwise sneak into his lair and make off with the stolen Miraculous and Book? Oh my, no!

Does he at least send out two different Miraculous that aren’t BOTH the most powerful ones that when combined can alter reality and possibly be what the villain is after? No.

So…what does this GUARDIAN of the Miraculous—ancient and all powerful artifacts that he is supposed to GUARD decide to do?

He gives both of the most powerful Miraculous at his disposal to two teenagers he’s only just met after they pass his “secret test of courtesy”.

Now reasonably, Fu could not have known at the time he sent them out that Hawk Moth’s goal WAS the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous in order to make the wish. But if they are the strongest Miraculous he has and when together can be used to make a wish that can really upset that all so important balance of the universe, WHY is he sending them out TOGETHER?

Even assuming that they WEREN’T what the Big Bad was after, it was still practically begging for them to be targets of the bad guys and get stolen. Even if Hawk Moth didn’t know they could be used together to make a wish, he would have known enough to know they were Miraculous and that taking them out would at least get the heroes out of his hair—then if he did eventually get both, he’d find out about that wish soon enough ANYWAY.

In addition—and I think I hate this part in particular because I adore Plagg and I love Adrien as Chat Noir but—WHY was the Black Cat in particular sent out? Ladybug, at least, had just cause. Fu knew from the start that it was the Butterfly Miraculous being misused and the Ladybug Miraculous is currently noted as being the only one that could purify the akuma and restore the damage done by the battle. So if one of the two MOST IMPORTANT Miraculous HAD to be sent out, it makes sense it would be the Ladybug.

But…why the Black Cat? Sure, it can destroy anything it touches in whatever way the wielder wishes, but wouldn’t a Miraculous that can shield people or paralyze the main akuma be much more useful? Several times, the Cataclysm has been used to destroy the akuma’s object, but the objects in question are those that could reasonably be destroyed in other ways. We’ve SEEN Ladybug snap roller skates in half without effort—most of the items aren’t that much more difficult to break. The Black Cat could have been held in reserve in case of an emergency. And yes, sure, we could argue about that ever important “balance” and how Ladybug/Black Cat are yin and yang, but if it means lessening the chance of them both being taken and used for evil, why not go for something else?

There is another point of concern—and this is the BIG one. WHY TEENAGERS? Meta-wise, we know it’s because they want the show to appeal to younger audiences and that’s generally done with younger main characters. I get that, really. But in the canon that they created, they need to justify that and they just…don’t. If anything, they make all the argument for why Fu should have given the Miraculous to adults. Teenage drama and hormones and issues aside, it has been a clear point made in canon that the Miraculous just work better for adults. It’s not a matter of experience, it’s a matter of AGE. Ladybug and Chat Noir aren’t trapped by a time limit because they’re still starting out, it’s because they’re both still 14. Hawk Moth isn’t avoiding those very pitfalls because he’s had his Miraculous for a good year with plenty of time to test it and know how it properly works, it’s because he’s old enough for his stint in villainy to count as his mid-life crisis.

Fu is the GUARDIAN. He has had these items for several decades and is clearly a user himself. HE SHOULD KNOW THIS! So why did he think it would be a good idea to pit teenagers under a severe handicap against a grown man with power, position, and apparently all the free time he could need to create monsters on a daily basis without it ruining his regular routine?

The problem is that Fu could have done many things here. He had OPTIONS! There are many things that he as the Guardian should have known he could do. And things that given his character as a person who has an extensive history and a lot of unresolved guilt for the past, he should have chosen to do.

We all know that Fu is capable of mistakes. There is nothing wrong with that. But given that he is directly responsible for the fall of his Order and loss of everyone he’d known, one would think these mistakes would instill a bit more healthy paranoia in the man.

Like not giving out two of the most powerful Miraculous in his care at the same time and risk losing both.

Or realizing the inherent issue of giving the Miraculous to children when he knows they can’t utilize its full power based solely on their age when they are going are up against an adult who CAN.

Or the potential problems of just leaving those children to their own devices for the better part of a year during which they can’t make progress in finding the villain they’re supposed to defeat because they don’t know what to look for.

And especially why he should NOT go and outright show his his face to the person he has every reason to suspect IS the villain just to reveal secrets to the man’s son in his home, especially when said son could very well be put into a bad position and end up rather conflicted about the whole thing because of it.

Fu is a complicated character. One I truly like and furthermore WANT to like. The problem is that the series doesn’t seem to be sure just what it’s trying to set Fu up to be.

On the one hand, they seemed to be going for the basic “wise mentor” trope and have him be a potential source of answers and lore that we’d all be waiting for. Marinette certainly has been shown to go to him for advice on occasion. But the answers have been lackluster for the most part and only given out when it’s convenient for the plot of the day instead of immediately—like waiting until Robustus to tell Marinette the reason why someone would want both Miraculous, which is something she and Chat probably should have been told sooner so they could understand the seriousness of the situation. Or maybe just telling the kids anything from the start so they could plan accordingly. You know, things a wise mentor type would do.

While trying for the wise mentor achetype, at the same time they seem to be setting him up as a character who is in a role he isn’t fit for and honestly doesn’t know what he’s doing with. Part of this seems intentional. When Marinette finally approaches him in a legitimate “Karate Kid meeting Mr. Miyagi” fashion, Fu comes right out and tells her his backstory and that he ISN’T quite the perfect mentor or source of answers she’s seeking. He explains pretty quickly that he was just a young initiate in the Order and from the sounds of it, had not completed his training before he made the “mistake” that caused the loss of the Order and two of the Miraculous. There is kind of a sense of him knowing little more than anyone else and trying to make do the best he can even as he’s teaching the next generation.

This makes for an intriguing character concept and interesting take on the normal mentor/student dynamics in that they both seem to be learning from each other. This isn’t bad. It’s actually pretty engaging.

But the problem is that Fu clearly knows more than Marinette does and for some strange reason isn’t applying the knowledge he has to the overall situation at hand. He isn’t picking people who can make the most use of the Miraculous he is handing out. He isn’t actually training the two kids he chose to pull into this life. For pretty much the entirety of Season 1, he left Ladybug and Chat Noir to try and get by on their own with no guidance and no real direction or plan in dealing with the madman terrorizing their city.

Normally in these sorts of situations where you have the Wise Mentor VS the Big Bad in an overarching storyline like this, they should be playing a sort of game of Battleship—I know Chess tends to be the go-to motif, but in this case it’s not about pawns and pieces but instead is about finding where the other person is hiding and taking them down. They each should be looking into each other, trying to find the other in order to be the one to get the advantage. What we see here is that whatever bits of advantage either of these two get, it’s completely a matter of convenience rather than what either of them actually DO.

Fu finds out Gabriel might be a suspect because Tikki discovered the book and had Marinette bring it to his attention.

Gabriel doesn’t “find” so much as assumes there’s a Guardian in Paris because Ladybug and Chat Noir suddenly get the “power” to breath and fight underwater. He also discovers there are more Miraculous available thanks to Chloe’s very public transformation into Queen Bee, and that there are more kwamis as well as a hint of their possible general location because of their unfortunately timed attempt to reach out to Nooroo (ignoring that the kwamis should very well have known it was a pretty big risk in the first place and had every chance of happening).

For both of them, any gains they make are precisely because of what others do or inadvertently hand them rather than what either of them actually do or try to find for themselves.

Of the two, Gabriel is acting based on assumptions that only happen to turn out to be right. Assuming the Miraculous would just show up in Paris if he started to terrorize the city and assuming the ones to show up would be the specific ones he wanted. The fact that Fu ended up playing right into those assumptions while putting his own side at a greater risk in the process says less about Gabriel’s planning and more about Fu’s lack of it.

What it boils down to is that Fu is an interesting character. But as a Guardian, he’s doing a poor job. As it stands, I’m hard pressed to believe his claim to Wayzz that he’s only made one mistake.

#ml analysis #ml salt #gabriel agreste #master fu #hawk moth #hawk moth is an idiot #gabriel is an idiot #fu is not a good guardian

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vegetacide · 5 years

Text

Whump prompt#4 - part III

Veg-notables - I noticed in some of my older stuff that I tend to write a lot of internal dialogue and thoughts so I decided to push myself to write more about the surroundings and such..for this part I actually looked up the picture of an old, wood mill and I attempted to draw a picture of it with words.. Not sure if I was successful but I think it was good practice.. Let me know what you think.

Thank you to @gumnut-logic for hashing out plot points with me.

Proofed by me..mistakes.. Blah blah blah .. be nice.

Likes, shares and comments are my motivational fuel and all that jazz

Rating: M for suggestions of torture.

Characters: Kayo, Scott and John is floating about

Prompt snippet - no title yet ‘cause I am still lazy and haven’t thought of one

Part I can be found HERE and Part II HERE

Enjoy….

oOo

Part III

Kayo approached the ramshackled grouping of buildings on silent feet. The red rust of the corrugated siding staining its rocky footing as if the dilapidated structure had met its end by exsanguination. Chunks of decaying metal sat like the curled husk of a dreadful creature across the marred vacant yard that was nestled between the forsaken mill and her bricked siblings. The bracket space between, a parody of some sick graveyard that lay ragged and open to the sky littered with the fossils of rotten wooden pallets and tipped over oil drums.

Pressing her back to an ash coloured brickwork of the stubbier of the two outbuildings, Kayo held her breath and listened. Her eyes ever moving over the landscape of disuse before her, scanning the skeletal remains for any sign of life. The gaping holes in the main structure absorbing the dying light of the summer sun and obscuring her gaze from seeing anything more than pitted cross beams and the ragged teeth the massive head rig.

Hearing nothing but the sound of wind through the four and a half story mill and the distant sound of the GDF patrol flyers that had been called in, Kayo allowed her lungs to once again expand. Alighting along the building’s perimeter she kept the scarred brickwork close to her back, her fingers dragging along its craggy surface as she continued her reconnaissance of the abandoned facility.

Coming to a wide opening, she halted her forward motion. Shuffling along to the very edge of it, she carefully peered around the broken framework of what was once a large, framed window. The mullions broken or missing in the absence of what would have been a rather hefty sheet of glass, the remains of which crunched under foot and glinted dully in the tapering light of day.

The dimly lit mottled interior was in utter ruin, particles of dust dancing about in the shafts of sunlight that filtered in from the ceiling, parts of which had caved in decades ago. Bits of old roofing tiles lay scattered across the moss covered floor along with support beams and metal fittings.

Across the large space of what she could only perceive was the main room, hung two heavy insulated doors. The once pristine polish of their surface now scuffed and tarnished. One sat open, its maw revealing nothing by darkness beyond. If she could guess this was a kiln house. A building that housed the large industrial ovens used to dry out and season newly milled wood.

Stepping out from behind the safety of her cover, Kayo gripped the edge of the decaying sill and made quick work hoisting herself in. The fact that the large machinery that made up the kiln hadn’t yet fallen through the floor, telling her that the structural integrity was most likely sound enough to support her weight.

Once within the confines of what was surprising a very large space, she tapped her comms twice, signalling to John that she was on site and triggered her camera. Recording everything she saw in case reference was needed later to correctly recall a poignant detail.

Stepping gingerly around the detritus of wood shavings, mouse escarpment and bird dropping Kayo began her search. The tracks she found at the further part of the mining camp some five clicks away had pointed her in this direction. They’d been hastily and haphazardly concealed and she’d picked up the trail easily after going another 30 feet or so into the underbrush. The snapped saplings and disturbed soil standing out is stark contrast to her well practiced eye.

After a quick call up to 5, John had provided her with an overview scan of the surrounding area and it hadn’t taken her long to stumble upon the old mill even though the likelihood of this actually leading anywhere was slim but she had to check. Only an idiot would use something so obvious as a…

A glint of something out of place brought Kayo up short and she stilled, eyes tracking back and forth along the floor boards. Something had caught the light as she’d been panning her vision around the space in her inspection.Tilting her head, she crouched as the change in angle caused something to catch the light again and her slender browns dipped downwards in concentration.

Four inches from the floor a fine, silver filament stretched across the expanse of a large archway at the head of a back hallway that appeared to run the length of the building. A tripwire. It was old tech but given the environment very practical and very skillfully applied.

Stretching her body out carefully alongside it, her eyes traced it length to it terminus, looking for any sort of trigger or devise hidden under the stacks of broken factory paraphernalia pushed off with little care at the base of the archways wooden support pillars.

Hidden just out of sight and strapped to what appeared to be a heavy old canister of some sort was a small, blinking red light. Definitely a trigger, though whether it was for a security system or an explosive she couldn’t tell and she couldn’t risk disturbing it to figure it out. Someone was definitely here if the trip was live..

Tapping her insignia, Kay opened an audio only channel to 5. As per protocol for Kayo, John would only be able to communicate with her verbally over the line, no visual holo-cast. He kept it short and professional, falling back on old CB radio codes on the small chance someone was piggy backing their secure line and eavesdropping. “10-2,” a short pause followed by “10-18?”

It was old school but it worked and kept chatter on the line to a minimal. With two short transmissions, John had verified that her channel was securely receiving her communication and had asked if she had anything to report. That last part she knew John would usually leave out as she wouldn’t have made contact otherwise so that meant that Scott was on the line too and chomping at the bit for anything he could get on his missing brother.

“Possible contact, have the GDF stand by”

“Message received. Alerting GDF to hold at perimeter.”

“10-4” Kayo heard a click over the comms as John change over to the GDF frequency but the quiet was short lived as he once again patched back over to her. Shaking her head as she lightly got back up to her feet and stepped over the tripwire, she should have known with the Defense Force so close they couldn’t sit still.

She had enough experience with Rigby to know there was good reason for the Colonel to call on her expertise for the more delicate operations. The man was good at his job in the guns blazing, hit them first sort of way that marked his and a lot of the other GDF personnel main character traits.

“GDF strongly advising use of backup before proceeding.”

“Negative.” Came her blunt, clipped reply. The GDF were not known for the ability to be stealthy and in this situation that was exactly what was needed. There was no telling what else she was going to find around here and the last thing she needed was their big boots stomping about the place tripping god knows what. Virgil’s life could very well be in the balance and that was a risk she just would not take.

The line went silent again after that and Kayo let out a breath. John would pass the information on and he wouldn’t bug her about it again. The GDF would be either mollified by that or not, she didn’t really care at the moment.

Scott on was another matter altogether though, she would prefer to handle this on her own but she knew that despite her hard no on the GDF joining that it wouldn’t forestall the commander of iR from racing over from where he was reconning. She just hoped she could clear the scene before he got there.

Pausing a moment to mark the hazard on the digital layout her wrist comm was compiling so Scott wouldn’t trip the thing when he inevitable got there, Kayo pulled a small pen light from her pocket and flashed it up the dark hallway. Light back here was poor with only a small 12 by 8 window every 10 feet or so making the long length a veritable minefield of hazards. A sprained ankle was the last thing she needed or worse if she happened to come across another surprise like the one she’d just found.

Picking her way cautiously down the hall, eyes alert and ears straining for any sound out of the ordinary she continued on.

Coming to a blind corner, Kayo glanced back up the hallway and assessed what she’d already seen and heard. With the skill needed to trick John with a false call, getting the upper hand on Virgil, left barely a trace and the set up with the trip wire, she knew that whoever was responsible was skilled, very skilled. She suspicions made her think that whoever it behind it was a pro

Hearing the tell tale sound of a jet pack, Kayo did her best to keep her internal mental tirade of courses just where they were and double tapped her comm.

“Sorry Kayo, Scott is en route.”

No shit, she thought to herself. “Be advised, area is not secure. Hold position until further notice.” If she could have, she would have added I will beat Scott’s ass if he doesn’t listen but she left it unvoiced. She hoped that her tone would be sufficient enough to pass that little ditty along.

“Understood, message has been relayed.” Guess it had.

Grumbling at the delay, she carried on until she came to a section of wall that looked like it had been removed with a sledge hammer, the jagged edges of which appeared fairly new and revealed a wooden stairway that descended into the earth.

Hugging the wall, Kayo took them with care, mindful to place her foot as close to the stringer as possible. Settling her feet on the first tread she gave a sigh of relief when the stairs didn’t just outright collapse under her weight. They looked study enough but looks could be deceiving.

Shifting back and forth she tested the next one down and so on and so forth until she reached the landing and the stairs made a 90 degree turn. Taking it as a sign when there was no creaking of loose boards or anything else that might result in her broken bones she alighted down the final flight with a bit more haste.

The tunnel that she found at the bottom was not what she expected. It was roughly constructed and lined with concrete, the ceiling being held in place by rough cut wood beams intersected by a newer spattering of electrical cords that ran off and disappeared behind a sealed door at the far end Pocked marked between the beams was an errant placement of naked light fixtures, the bulbs of which flickered and swayed.

It was damp and water had accumulated in several spots along the uneven rocky flooring. The dampness not only felt with a chill up her spine but smelt. It was earthy and metallic and clung to the inside of her sinuses.

Listening, she could hear the muted pitch of a motor. The faint scent of fuel and exhaust carried along with the wet soil that permeated the air had her picturing a generator, something easy to procure and set up. Her suspicions peaked again that this was anything but a random attack on her family. They were too well prepared for this to have been a spur of the moment, which meant organized and more proof that the perpetrator was not just some run of the mill kidnapper.

The click of her comm activating, had her cursing under her breath. Now was not the time. She quickly shut it off again. Scott could damn well stay upstairs and wait where she knew he would be safe. She couldn’t worry about him on top of all this.

Ducking into a shadowed alcove, Kayo parked behind a large crate, ears keenly tuned to pick up on any sounds that indicated her infiltration was a bust Back pressed to the tunnel wall she could just make out the first door. It was unlatched and moving slightly, caught up in a mild breeze that seemed to originate further down the tunnel.

The gap was just wide enough that Kayo could catch a glimpse of what lay beyond. There was a flickering light but by its random movements she guess a gas lamp of some sort was burning. Crates seemed to line a wall.. They appeared new and from the markings on the side possibly army surplus supplies. So who ever this one, they had been here a while.

Holding her breath as she waited a beat for some sort of reaction from the other side. A voice, a shifting of shoes, anything to forewarn her that she had been discovered. The small hairs on the back of her neck prickling with sensation as her adrenaline spiked a notch.

When nothing changed or came charging out, she plucked a small device from her the pouch at her waist and dropped it. Automatically a duel set of miniature rotors unfolded from it and it began to hover in the air. A little something that Brains had supplied her for just this situation.

The small device carried a micro camera and was easily controlled from her wrist comm. The magnetic rotors were virtually silent and their independent movement allowed the tiny bot the agility to move about basically anywhere that Kayo required.

There were some downsides to the tech, like heat sensitive and its range capabilities and battery life were limited due to its size but overall it was perfect for Kayo’s uses. It had a few other handy add-ons though that more than made of its for what it was lacking.

With a flick of her daft fingers, her wrist unit sparked to life and an image of herself from the little flyer sprang up on the screen. With easy, she maneuvered the craft out and around her hiding place. It hugged the ceiling, its onboard sensory preventing it from crashing into any obstructions and zipped easily over to the open door way. With a quick title on its axis, it breached the gap and entered the room beyond.

Automatically, data and floor blueprints popped up on Kayo’s display. Geological information followed, GPS locations and the general makeup of the room, ambient temperature. Everything that one could possibly need to know about a 10 x 12 space. It was as she had guessed, a storage room of some sort and from the tiny screen, she could make out an empty rustic seating area, remnants of food containers and even a small cooker. No bio reading or heat signatures indicative of a person though and a quick glance at the composition of the wall told her she would have to go room by room.

The little flyer made quick work of the tunnel and in a matter of minutes Kay had a good read of the layout of the place. Four rooms total, and no trace of any occupants. The place had been deserted and deserted in a rush by the looks of things.

Leaving the alcove, Kay stepped out into the middle of the tunnel and hit her comms. “Scott, you can stop your pacing. John, let the GDF know the place is a ghost town and that they can send in their team now.. Give em a heads up about the trip on the first floor and they should watch out for more.”

“Roger that”

Within seconds, the tall brunette leader of iR was striding down the stairs towards her. The scowl in place not impressed at being caged upstairs while she did her initial scans.

“Report?” His voice was blunt with barely contained anger.

“Nothing so far, but the place has been cleared out. No trace of any electronic signatures that could signal additional defenses but watch your step and stay behind me. If I had a choice you would be back at the island..”

“Tough shit.”

The made their way through each room. The storage room was first and proved Kayo’s theory that the facility had been set up for the long run. The next room was a bunkie with a couple of pallets for sleeping and little else. There was a generator room, that had makeshift ventilation system that vented exhausted into the mill above, it was heavily padded to reduce noise and the door was actually steel reinforced.

That left door number four. Pausing outside it, Kayo looked to Scott and laid a reassuring hand on his shoulder. The little flyer hadn’t picked up on anything living down here but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t find something else.

When his blue gaze met hers, he gave a single nod and Kayo put her shoulder into the door.

The room was dark and barren. The only light source the signal bar bulb at her back which swayed lightly, illuminating briefly first one side of the room and then the other as its light cast about in the breeze.

Like the rest of the tunnel system the flooring was dirt covered but the walls appeared damp with water run off from some unknown source. It was colder in this room compared to the others as well and the creepy feeling she’d experienced out in the alcove returned, sending shuddered up Kayo’s spine.

Pulling her penlight out once more she flashed it around the room. There was a metal chair to one side of the room and discarded lashings strewn about the floor at its base. Walking over to it, Kayo did a cursory scan of the floor and didn't like what she found.

“The chair is fastened to the ground.” She pointed out, crouching to examine the bolts holding it down. Picking up one of the lengths of rope she tried her best to push down the fear at the sight of blood that darkened the strong twine, her light once more sweeping over the room.

She could trust Scott to stay out of the way, he knew how she worked and he kept himself over by the door so she could do her job. “What’s that over there?” He nodded, squinting his eyes as he tried to make out what it was from across the room.

Glancing back over her shoulder, she pushed up to her feet aiming her light at what Scott had indicated. “Not sure..” Walking over to it, she bent down to take a look and stilled.

“Kayo?”

Proof. “They had him here.” Turning back to Scott as he finally stepped further into the room she held the torn remains of a soft, grey shirt, one she knew that Virgil had put on some sixteen hours earlier.

In the early hours of the morning she’d been lazing in a tangled mess of bed sheets, languid and completely sated. Happy for the first time in ...she had no idea how long and oh so relaxed. She’d raked her gaze over his fine physique and with a smile watched him pull the soft cotton down over his finger tousled hair before he’d turned and cupped her cheek for a good morning kiss that had once again led to other things..

Clenching her eyes shut she pushed the image from her mind. The shirt in her hand that smelt of his aftershave (the one she’d bought him last Christmas), the irony tang of blood and fear sweat, held tight as she tried to make sense of all of this and couldn’t.

Drawing in her breath, she gathered her bearing and returned to the task at hand. Peridot eyes swept around the earthen room that for lack of a better word it was what amounted to a cell. Archaic as it was, the place looked like something out of one of the many old war movies she had seen and it was hard to believe that in this day in age people still resorted to them.

Eyes narrowing as something caught her attention across the room behind Scott, she canted her head slightly trying to make out what it was. “Scott, behind you on the table.” She directed with a head nod towards the far corner.

Sitting on a small utility table amidst various discoloured rags and a roll of duct tape rested a folded note address to Scott and a holo-recorder. “What is it?”

“I’m not sure.” Picking up the note, Scott examined both sides of it. His name graced one side of it with thick block letters but other than that it was blank. Furrowing his brows he turned his attention to the recorder and powered it up, the small piece of tech casting odd shadows about the cell walls as it started to play some pre-recorded video.

Within seconds Scott’s face went from confusion to a look of abject terror that found Kayo instantly at his side having no idea she’d even made a conscious decision to move. The look in his eyes had her heart stuttering and relocating somewhere North of her chest.

“Scott…?”

Instantly everything else in the room suddenly dissolved, like someone had hit the dimmer switch on the rest of the world. Sound took on a tinny quality and faded into nothingness. Her panic breath and what she was looking at now the only things that seemed to registered in the vacuum.

There on the screen was an image of Virgil, bound to a chair and bereft of his uniform. He was blindfolded, the dark material obscuring part of his face but she knew it was him. She knew intimately that slumped form and the filthy cloth did little to mask the angry bruises and sluggishly oozing blood.

Off screen a modulated voice spoke and Kayo heard it as if it was distorted by some great distance. Movement in the back of the recording drew her eyes as a darkly dressed form came into frame behind the battered pilot. The camera at such an angle that the body of the person was cut off above the shoulders masking their identity.

Virgil’s limp head was yanked painfully back by his matted hair, putting his face in the camera lens as a glint of finely honed steel pressed into the soft skin at his throat. A small nick with the blade let forth a small trickle of blood but by the lack of response and the lax, bloody mouth it was obvious he was unconscious.

Biting back a growl at the mistreatment Kayo didn’t dare blink or look away as she prayed for Virgil to show some sign of life. Anything to set the world in motion again. The poor quality of the holo hampering the search but than the faintest of movements caught her eye and made her breath hitch and her heart gave a mighty kick in her chest.

There, under the ruddy skin along his stubbled jaw, straining awkwardly due to the thrust of his head was a laggy pulse of life at his jugular

“He’s alive.” She thought she heard herself say, not realizing as she began to shiver just how worried she’d been that she would have found something else down here.

The brother beside her cursed and sagged back against her. “Oh god…”

And just like that everything came into sharp focus again and sound returned. Along with it like the rush of a burst dam a surge of anger coursed through her and immediately she registered what the digitally obscured voice was saying.

The robotic cadence crackled through the little speaker of the recorder. “Tracy, meet my demands and your Brother will live. No security, no GDF..if not...” The voice trailed off as another unidentifiable figure came into frame and with a rough hand bared down on Virgil’s shoulder. The scream that the action ripped from Virgil’s split, bloody lips and his body’s shuttered contortion of pain had Kayo nails biting into her palm in anger.

The warped laugh that followed the torturous sound was sinister and laced with an edge of madness, “We’ll be in contact.” A chuckle and the screen went dark.

TBC

#thunderbirds fanfiction #thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds 2015 #thunderbird two #Virgil Tracy #kayo kyrano #scott tracy #john tracy #virgil/kayo #gdf

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spaceorphan18 · 5 years

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SO Watches Friends 1x01-1x03

Apparently, it’s been 25 years since Friends aired - and I’m seeing all these articles on it, how it was the greatest ever, how it sucked, how apparently the youngins are discovering it on Netflix.

So - I felt like, what they hey, I haven’t seen it in years, and I need to watch something while I have meals, so let’s see how well this show holds up.

Pilot - The One Where Monica Gets a Roommate (because how else is she going to pay for that apartment.)

It’s funny to me that this was the hot new show of the time. Because these people are... incredibly boring. The beginning montage is them sitting in a cafe talking about random boring things for what appears to be hours, then they go home and watch TV. This seems to be what they do on the weekend. I mean, I realize in the early 90s there wasn’t /that/ much to do - but still, they live in NYC, and most of the stuff they do on this show will be sitting around doing nothing.

So, let’s break down these characters, shall we?

Rachel - It’s her wedding day, but she skips out on her wedding because she didn’t love her fiance. I think this is supposed to be funny? While I do think, in general, all of the characters are more relatable (and nicer) than in later in the series, she’s such a weird amalgamation of what the writers (or network?) thought would be relatable? I mean - she’s kind of dumb, and rich enough that money isn’t a problem, and her family values are set back in the 50s - hence her getting married so her husband can support her instead of her father.

I get where the character is coming from - but while it might have been more of a progressive stance at the time -- it seems like a relic now.

Monica - Who is the most together one of them at the moment. I like early Monica, tbh, who appears intelligent (for the most part). They’ll later take her quirks and make her a neurotic nutjob - but I can appreciate her mature nature right now.

She goes on a date with Paul the Wine Guy - and again, it shows just how boring these guys’ lives are that they’re standing around her apartment with nothing better to do than to cheer her on about her date. Is this what people in ther 20s did in the early 90s? I was much too young to know. Anyway - Paul the Wine Guy is an asshate who uses lines to get Monica into bed. The network thought this would make Monica sleezy. I’m so glad times have changed enough that we can look back and be glad we can see that it’s really Paul the Wine Guy who’s sleezy, and that there are faster ways to figure out if a guy is a creep or not.

Phoebe - Phoebe has absolutely nothing to do in the pilot other than be there and be weird. I much appreciate it - because this show would be utterly boring and devoid of any quirky elements if she wasn’t there. Also - Lisa Kudrow sells the comedy while most of the rest of them (minus Matthew Perry) seem to be just reading the script.

Joey - I have no idea what Matt LeBlanc is trying to do here. Is he doing a NYC Italian accent? Is he trying out for a part? He’s kind of the most cringy during the Pilot but at least that’ll go away quickly.

I don’t have a whole lot to say about Joey, he and Chandler are like two halves of the same character at the beginning, both with little development. But - funny enough, maybe it’s age, I found myself agreeing with Joey during the whole dishing out life advice thing to Ross -- there’s no such thing as soul mates or destiny, get out there and live life :P

Chandler - Like Phoebe he doesn’t have much to do other than make quips. Granted - he did have some of the best, genuinely funny lines of the episode. Matthew Perry’s comedic chops as well - and it’s a shame there is much Phoebe and Chandler stuff on the show.

Anyway, the writers originally toyed with making Chandler gay, which I find a shame, I think that would have worked so well. And added some diversity to this really, really non-diverse cast. I completely understand why this makes lists of ‘Things Straight, White, and Loosely Christian People Like’. 25 years later, it’s incredibly glaring. Even Saved by the Bell, which was ending its run at the time, managed to be more diverse.

Ross - I’m curious as to when Ross becomes that one Friend whom everyone hates. He’s recently divorced (from a woman who figured out she was a lesbian) and being really mopey about it (which, you know, is understandable). I don’t particularly like or dislike Ross at the moment.

I will say the whole Ross and Rachel thing is telegraphed from a mile here, and it’s weird that they’re going to drag this romance out for an entire season and a half when he literally asks her out at the end of the episode, and she says yes. Why, why, why is this going to be dragged out so much. (I know the reason - sweeps week - but still.)

Is the episode entertaining? Eh. It still has a lot of the trappings of an 80s sitcom - the annoying laugh track, the forced jokes, the surface level stories - only it’s new and hip because 20-somethings had never had a show to themselves without an older mentor around. At the same time, there isn’t anything that remarkable about any of these 20-somethings, which may or may not have been the point. I suppose we’ll see.

The One With the Sonogram (of Ross’s baby that he’s having with this lesbian ex-wife) at the End

This episode is merely a continuation of all the threads set up in the pilot. You can tell Chandler, Joey, and Phoebe aren’t developed yet, as they really don’t do anything other than crack one-liners at opportune times. I shouldn’t complain that these characters just don’t feel like they’re getting enough time together as a group (because obviously, there are a ton more episodes to go where they are) but I feel like they’re spending too much time in individual plot lines that aren’t that interesting.

Plot A) Ross finds out that his ex-wife (who’s a lesbian) is having his baby (because apparently they did it one more time after she left him? Idk), and he’s not doing so well with that. Idk - I don’t hate this plot line. For being the early 90s, the show is treating being gay with much more respect than pretty much everything before that (even if the idea of lesbians is treated as a joke rather than a serious thing people are). At least the gay stuff isn’t villainized.

Plot B) Rachel gives back the ring to her ex-fiance, whom she finds out was fooling around with her maid of honor. This is the first time we meet Barry, and everything about him screams douchebag. There’s nothing remotely interesting here, and it almost feels obligatory for Rachel’s story. Also - I find it ridiculous that he and Rachel would be having private conversations with a (child) patient there.

Plot C) We meet Monica and Ross’s controlling and judgmental parents who prefer Ross to Monica. While Elliot Gould and Christina Pickles are both fantastic actors - I cannot with the amount of judgy-ness that spews forth, and really can’t wait for them to be the quirkier people they eventually become.

Oh- and I forgot, this show decided for the beginning of season 1 to have these philosophical discussions about the differences between men and women, and I feel like this episode is supposed to loosely tie into that and I kind of roll my eyes and am like -- just be the situational comedy that you’re meant to be.

Is this episode any good? Eh, not really. There are some funnier moments in an otherwise bland and obligatory story.

The One With the Thumb (in a can that Phoebe almost drinks)

This episode is so boring that it’s almost tedious to get through all 22 minutes of it. Here we go!

Plot A) Monica dates a guy named Alan that everyone likes but she doesn’t and she finds it hard to break up with him.

I get what the writers were going with here - that she’d have to tell her friends that they need to ‘break up’ with Alan, despite them all really liking him. Idk - I don’t think the whole schtick is that funny, and feels pointless when we barely get to meet Alan himself.

I do have to note that Monica talks with one of her coworkers - who is the first PoC on the show, a black woman. But we’re never going to see her again, so...?

Plot B) Chandler starts smoking again - and we get a PSA plot line about the dangers of smoking. Friends is rarely going to be a preachy show, and it’s super weird when it is. It’s especially weird that it’s centered around smoking because -- who cares?

Plot C) Phoebe accidentally has good things happen to her. It’s almost like a running joke more than a plot line that ends with her ending up with a thumb in a can that nets her $7000. It’s... just a really dumb sitcom plot line. But, hey, we learn that Phoebe hangs out with homeless people. And, the episode gets a point for tying all three plot lines together at the end.

So... I’ll probably do these three or four at a time. And the first three? Eh, not great. It’s fascinating that this show became such a hit right off the bat - because there’s not anything uniquely interesting about any of these characters yet. And the plot lines are all so generic and/or dumb that there’s little to latch on to.

We’ll see how this goes.

#friends #so watches friends

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msbeccieboo · 5 years

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Arrow 7x20 Brain Dump

I liked this week’s offering!! We got our little ninja Roy back!! Like last week, however, it felt out of place in the season, where was this goodness when we were still mucking about with the Dragon nonsense mid-season?? For me it was lacking in Oliver, and sorely missing Olicity scenes, given our finite time 😭, but was still a good episode overall! I liked how the team transpired to be working as a true unit, for once (only after some persuading from Oliver)! In fact, it was so hard to break up the episode this week, as it was such a team-focused story.

Episode Summary

We had some serious Agatha Christie vibes going on, the story told in a classic whodunnit style. The bulk of the plot was told through flashback *cue sepia* and was interspersed with Dinah interrogating the team one by one in real time. The fact that the officer was killed using lead piping also tickled me a lot 😂.

The show opens with Dinah and Sergeant Bingsley arriving at a crime scene with the bodies of 2 subway guards. It then cuts to them questioning the first of ‘the suspects’, who turns out to be none other than…Oliver Queen! Dun dun duuuuunn!!! Oliver denies killing the officers, saying that Team Arrow actually stopped a terrorist attack by Emiko and the Ninth Circle. After questioning Oliver, we realise that besides Team Arrow, there was also someone else there at the scene…ROY HARPER!!!

By flashback, we realise that the team discovered that the Ninth Circle intended on using the bioweapon we saw last week to ‘destroy the city’ or something like that (I can’t say I was 100% on the ball with the backstory this week guys 😂😂). In order to deal with this threat, they call in our favourite parkouring ninja street fighter ROY!!!!!

Source: arsenalroy

Continued below the cut

Dinah and Bingsley (ugh, I hate him) interview all of the team, including Roy, during the course of the episode as we see the story unfold. It appears as if Dinah had no involvement in the operation and is looking to put one of the team away for the murders, but in a somewhat predictable ‘twist’, it is revealed that she was there as the Black Canary for the whole thing, and so is still a suspect herself!

Source: lucyyh 💗

Back in the sepia times, we see the team, including Felicity and now also Dinah, move in to stop the threat, eventually all separating off, as we hear the guards’ defensive shots, and see all of them reacting in turn (I really liked this part…so dramatic!). We then see my sweet baby Roy, battering the guards with the lead piping in a violent rage. Oliver manages to drag him away, horrified and covered in blood, but it is too late, the guards are dead, and everyone looks to Oliver to decide what to do next.

Back at the lair, Oliver realises that Roy has pit-rage, asking him “how did you die” (that murdered me😭). Nyssa had administered the lotus elixir to cure him, but they think his previous exposure to Mirakuru somehow stopped the rage from killing him, but let the rage remain to an extent. This somewhat explained why he doesn’t go into a coma whilst marooned on Lian Yu for 20 years, with noone to kill. Oliver tells Roy, and the others, that Roy is part of the Team and they will cover for him, and thus all the interrogations etc. are explained.

At the end of the Episode, Oliver finally confronts Emiko at the Ninth Circle’s base. Emiko drops the figurative and literal bombshell on Oliver that she knowingly sent Robert off to his death, then proceeds to blow up the building they are in, leaving Oliver trapped under cement blocks and rebar ALL THE REBAR!! THE TOMMY FEELS GUYS I CAN’T EVEN 😭😭😭

Source: olicitygifs

To be continued 😱😱😱….

Olicity

What even is an Olicity? We got next to nothing this week, no glorious episode 20 sexy times, no conversation, no Olicity-only scenes, no kiss, no hug😡. We got a couple of cute touchy moments but that was it. Bitter, you ask? Fuck yes, I am! Hopefully we can make up for this with some hurt/comfort next week, but anyway, let’s look at some pretty!

Source: lucyyh 💗

Source: feilcityqueen

Felicity

Felicity Megan Smoak was a dream in this episode. Start to finish. Fabulous! Would I have liked to have seen more of her? Hell to the yes, she was for sure underused in this episode, but what we did get was perfection!!! Her adorable reunion with Roy, barging past Oliver to attack hug him 😂😂

Source: feilcityqueen

Her whole babble about her emotions was hilarious; “Nerves of Steel. You know me. I’m cool.” How no one else guessed she’s pregnant I will never know, but Roy did kinda raise his eyebrows, so my head canon says he guessed, until they tell me otherwise!

Source: felicitysmoakgifs

Felicity dragging Dinah during her own interrogation was beautiful! From her pointed nonchalance at the entire situation, all whilst eating a sandwich and asking for cake (god I love her so much), to her constant corrections, to “Oh, you mean when Diaz kidnapped Roy to try to turn him against Oliver? You might have forgotten about that since you weren’t exactly on speaking terms with Oliver and I at the time” YAAAASSSS burn herrrrr!!!!!

Source: seeing-red-arrow

I loved that we saw her in the field again, side-by-side with her original and new team mates. I’m so pleased that even though we didn’t get a heap of Felicity, they really used her as much as the style of the episode permitted.

Bonus one-liners:

“That’s a no on the evil sister redeeming herself then”

“Roy is incredible at parkour”

😂😂😂

Oliver

We really needed more Oliver in this episode. The storyline should be ramping up and focusing in on Oliver (and the core characters) at this point in the season, and Oliver was in the episode for no more than anyone else, really.

Source: olicitygifs

His highlights for me, beyond a doubt, were his interactions with Roy. I missed this relationship so much!! In many ways, Roy was Oliver (and Felicity’s) first child. He brought Roy into this life, he helped to guide him, to nurture his existing abilities and passed on skills that he had learned. He saved Roy from himself and The Glades, and in return Roy saved Oliver right back, giving him back a part of his humanity that Oliver had long thought lost back in the dark days of seasons 1 and 2, and literally saving him from a life sentence in S3. These men became family not through Thea, but through their bond within Team Arrow.

Oliver didn’t hesitate for a second to declare “we have to protect him”, when they found Roy killing the guards. He knew right away about the pit, defending him against Rene and Dinah when they didn’t want to cover for him at first (shocker), telling them they didn’t understand what he’d been through, that “Roy is and always will be as much a part of this team as the rest of us” and reiterating that “if someone on this team goes down, this entire team goes down.” When he speaks to Roy about what happened, Roy doesn’t initially want to ask for Oliver’s help, but Oliver simply tells him “you never have to ask me, ever”. Ugh I LOVE THEM SO MUCH!!!!

Source: smoakmonster

Something also finally seemed to click for Oliver this week, that he could not help Emiko, that she needs taking into custody. I loved his words to Rene “at a certain point, people need to take responsibility for their actions”, YES MY LOVE!!! I can’t wait to see how he reacts to Emiko next week and in the finale, now that he realises how far gone she is, and that she effectively set him on this path 12 years ago, killing their father, and sentencing Oliver to his time on the island etc.

Source: olivergifs

Dig

Dig was criminally underused in this episode. He had barely any interactions with Roy, despite their history, his interrogation was super brief, and we barely saw him in the field. DO BETTER WRITERS! We’re running out of OTA time!!

Source: feilcityqueen

Roy

ARSENAL IS BACK BITCHES!!! I love Roy Harper. Always have, always will. Sooo glad to see him in the current timeline! He looked so happy to be back with his family too! I’m glad that they explained Thea’s absence (they called for Roy specifically) and talked about how she was doing. Oliver was honest with Roy straight-up about Emiko, and explained how he didn’t want to tell Thea about her until she was caught, as he didn’t want to hurt her by Robert’s actions again, especially now she’s free of her life in Star City.

I love, and actually screamed when Felicity acknowledged Roy’s parkour! They specifically used his bouncy-bouncy ninja skills to break into the vault. However, I will still never get enough of Roy’s unnecessary parkour haha, and we got to see a little of that during his fights, and it still made me smile!!

Roy’s reaction to his pit-rage was heart-breaking. This was worse than when he found out about killing the police officer on Mirakuru. I can see these killings (and I’m hoping maybe even Emiko, also) being what sends him to self-exile on Lian Yu, where we found him 20 years later in the flash forwards.

Dinah/Rene/Emiko (a.k.a. the annoyances)

Dinah remains fucking annoying! Even turning out to be in on the act in the end, it was so easy to buy into her trying to send down anyone and everyone on the team for this crime because she is just generally a shitty disloyal person!

Likewise with Rene. It was easy as the viewer to believe that he had ratted out Oliver again, because he’s done it before, and I have no doubt he would do it again. Neither he nor Dinah wanted to help Roy at first. That they needed reminding by Oliver about how protecting one of the team protects all of them, just reiterates how they are not true team players and why most of the fandom still doesn’t class them as real members of Team Arrow.

Regarding Emiko and Rene…Rene basically just stalked Emiko for half the season, they are not ‘close’, ugh, stop! Emiko gets bonus points for shooting Rene when he confronts her! I actually didn’t mind how they used Emiko this week, she appeared only when necessary, and moved the story on. I still can’t take her seriously as the big bad of the season, but it is what it is. Emiko will stop at nothing to take down the Queens (which at this point is quite frankly just stupid), and her latest dastardly deed is to bury Oliver under a building (from behind a protective wall, because she knows that’s the only way she would escape Oliver) to ‘kill him’ and then to destroy his reputation on the outside by outing the video footage of him covering up for Roy.

With no flash forwards this week, I just can’t help think of all the extra time we had, and that extra time was spent on Dinah and Rene *violently rolls eyes*, when we could have had more OTA & Roy (my favourite combination)! Anyway, next week looks awesome!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you to the gif-makers! I love you more than Roy loves excessive back flips 😉

💗💗💗

#Arrow #Arrow 7x20 #arrow season 7 #Olicity #Roy Harper #beccie's brain

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thepunktheory · 5 years

Text

Why GoT Season 8 sucked - Welcome to my TED Talk

I hadn't been a GoT fan from the first minute. However, once I had watched my first episode, I was all in. I binged all season, devoured the books. Needless to say, I was both excited and anxious about the final season. We could clearly see a decline in quality once the show had left the charted territory marked by George R. R. Martin's books. So, I had dialed down my expectation for the final season. Nevertheless, Benioff and Weiss managed to fuck it up beyond my wildest imaginations. About three episodes in, all I wanted was for the show to be over. It was almost painful to watch! So, what did Benioff and Weiss do to ruin it all?

What has Game of Thrones always been known for? Unforeseen plot twists, cleverly crafted stories, impressive characters along with intense character development, epic battles and (very important) strong female characters who seriously kick ass. Let me tell you in detail how all of that went down the drain with season 8.

I'll begin with the amazing female characters as that is what pissed me off the most. I have thoughts on Dany, Arya, Brienne, Sansa, Yara, and Cersei so prepare for a longer rant.

Brienne had always been one of my favorites in the show. She was strong, smart, stood up for herself and others. I was cheering for her when she finally got to be a knight in this season. Well, my joy was short-lived. After the big battle, Jamie, Brienne, Tyrion, and Podrick play a drinking game and Tyrion assumes that Brienne is a virgin. She stalks off into the night only to be followed by Jamie who ends up sleeping with her. The next he leaves a weeping Brienne behind as he heads for King's Landing (and Cersei). Let dissect everything that is wrong here. First of all, the fact that Brienne is a virgin is presented as something that appears to be a problem. Problems need fixing. So, of course, good guy Jamie is there to help her out. Seeing her cry because of some dude is jab the character that was built over 7 seasons. Don't try to tell me it was to make her human. We already know that. Brienne isn't perfect, she's also had her share of heartbreak. This scene only served one purpose: to remind us that in the end Brienne is a woman, weak and governed by emotions. No matter how amazing she is on the battlefield, she's still just a weeping girl. The scenes I mentioned have absolutely no relevance to the bigger story, don't do anything in terms of character development and were altogether simply unnecessary. Also, I was rooting for Tormund and was really sad to see him cast aside.

Next, some quick thoughts on Yara. Well, where was she this season? We get to see her for half a heartbeat before she's shipped off to the Iron Islands, never to be seen again. The fact that she was there in the final episodes, to say just about one sentence, felt more like a concession to fans than anything else. Her story arc doesn't really get any form of closure. It's like Benioff and Weiss had completely forgotten about her this season.

Just like Brienne, Arya had also been one of my favorites. I cheered when she killed the Night King (more on that later) but was somewhat flabbergasted during the penultimate episode. For the last 7 seasons, she trained to become this badass assassin and now she was headed to King's Landing. Killing Cersei had been one of the main driving forces that have kept her going and in the penultimate episode of season 8, she was closer to her goal than ever. Anyhow, once she and Sandor get to the capital he basically tells her to skedaddle as there's only death to be found here. Arya is like "K, bye." Her whole story was building up to this and now she just turns to leave. One could argue that she finally overcame the hate inside her, her thirst for revenge or whatever. But this is not the way it's presented here. A man tells her it's too dangerous for her and ever the good and obedient little girl, Arya decides to leave. Something sound off here?

With Sansa, I think I get what Benioff and Weiss wanted to say but their writing is just terrible, so it comes across the wrong way. I love that she ended up as Queen in the North but before that, we have one scene that really irked me. She’s talking with Sandor and kinds of says "well, it's really good that all this shit has happened to me. Otherwise, I'd still be a little bird." So, I guess, what writers were going for was for her to come to terms with her past and embrace who she is now. How it came across: being a little bird is a terrible thing, (There's nothing wrong with living a sheltered life, are you arguing that the only good way to live is to be mistreated?) ultimately all the shit that happened to her was okay anyways (it was not okay).

Now what you all have been waiting for: Dany. Benioff and Weiss really murdered her for good. She's always been an intricate and complex character, not without flaws but with a desire to become a better person. Writers decided to take all that, wrap it up real nice with a bow and throw it out the window. What we get in season 8 is a mad Queen with no feelings and no remorse. I was so angry when Benioff and Weiss claimed it was foreshadowed that she'd go mad. Why? Just because the Gods toss a coin when a Targaryen child is born? It wasn't foreshadowed that she'd go batshit crazy within the blink of an eye. We knew she struggled with her heritage, but in the past seasons, Dany always made a point to distance herself from her father's actions, made a point to not be like him. Remember when she was heartbroken because her dragons had grilled an innocent child? Over my dead body is that the same character who burns down an entire city without thinking twice or without the slightest hint of internal conflict.

When it comes to Cersei Lannister, I was equally disappointed. We barely get to see her this season, she has just about 6 sentences and isn't quite herself. I was already pissed during the first episode. Euron Greyjoy (don't even get me started on that twat) wants to bed her. And Cersei holds a more or less elaborate speech, basically telling him to go fuck himself. However, he cocks his head to the side and claims that he'd rather have a go with her. So, of course, Cersei gives in without further discussion and sleeps with him. That is not the Cersei we know. I talked with some people about it and they argued that she had to in order to convince him that the child in her belly was his. Well, I beg to differ. It's just written terrible and out of character. Cersei has always been a strong character, she doesn't bow to no-one. In this season she's but a shadow of herself. Especially the penultimate episode was a letdown. Her life ends with Jamie holding her and Cersei keeps muttering that she doesn't want to die and she doesn't want her baby to die. Well, Cersei had faced death before and we know this is not the way she deals with it. She's always held her head high, unwilling to give, strong to the very end. The Cersei Martin created never would have cowered like that.

As we were talking about foreshadowing with Dany. Does anybody remember the prophecy Cersei got back in the day before she was married? It stated that she'd have three children with golden crowns (Joeffrey, Tommen, and Myrcella) but Cersei would have to watch them all die. Thus I am convinced that however much she wanted the baby in her belly to live, Cersei knew that it wouldn't happen. That's another reason I am convinced her final scene is absolutely out of character. I won't even talk about the rest of the prophecy as Benioff and Weiss really fucked up that front. This leads me to one thought that was also expressed by Martin himself.

Writers nowadays try so damn hard to surprise the audience, they don't even care that the stories often don't make sense anymore. The fact that somebody might have guessed the correct ending isn't a bad thing. It means that what you wrote/produced so far paints a picture of the characters it's coherent. You can't build a story, fill it with clues and then just take another route because you feel like. What you get from that is endings like GoT Season 8 (or Captain Rogers in Avengers: Endgame).

So, what else did I hate in season 8? The battle of Winterfell. Sure, the battle scenes were rather epic but there were just so many things wrong in that episode. The first 20 minutes were almost black, meaning most viewers weren't able to see a thing. I heard the explanation that you simply need a super expensive TV, then the episode looks fine, that's what the colors were calibrated for. If that's not a big fuck you to all the fans than I don't know what is. Next, there were so many strategic mistakes in there. We don't have time to unpack all of that, but who had the brilliant idea to put all the women and children in the crypts? With the dead people. When the Night King is coming, whose best trick is to resurrect the dead. Also, killing the Night King didn't seem that big of a deal. After 7 seasons build-up for that battle, I expected him to be a bigger problem. I mean, I love that Arya was the one to take him down. But one dagger was really all that was needed? Somebody could have sent a sharpshooter in season 1 and the problem would have been dealt with

Finally, let me give you some examples for the lazy ass writing done by Benioff and Weiss. Do you remember that in the past seasons it was actually hard to kill a dragon? Well, in season 8 Euron Greyjoy kills a dragon with a single freaking bolt. Why does that happen? Because Danaerys forgot about his fleet (According to Benioff and Weis). Are those guys seriously trying to convince me that nobody in Dany's council remembered that Greyjoy is still alive and kicking? What the fuck?! Another example is the scene were Missandei gets executed. Had it been written by Martin, Tyrion would have held a smart speech and pleaded with his sister (nope). More importantly, Missandei would have had some inspiring last words for Dany. All she says is Dracarys. You know how that felt to me? I bet this was Benioff's and Weiss' thought process: "Well, we could let her do a speech. But then we have to come up with a speech. Let's just make her say Dracary and the audience can come up with the rest."

I’m sorry to say that it's obvious how overwhelmed Benioff and Weiss were with writing season 8. They clearly lacked the skills to bring the show to a worthy end and I'm sad to see so much money being wasted on that. Honestly, it felt like they didn't even care anymore and just wanted it all to be over. HBO should have just hired some fanfiction authors to do the job. They would have done infinitely better. I don't even think that all the decisions made in this season were bad. They were just terribly executed. You know, I can imagine Dany going nuts even in Martin's version, just not the way Benioff and Weiss portrayed it. It's the kind of story arc you can only pull off if you are an excellent writer, otherwise, you just slaughter your characters. You need internal conflict, development - more than CGI effect and dragons. As we are speaking of dragons: I had hoped the dragon would turn Jon into a piece of steak and grill him instead of the Iron Throne. But of course, the golden boy had to survive...

Season 8 is a really unworthy end to a show that had once been great. My only hope is that now George R. R. Martin has some motivation to finish his books. Hopefully, he'll show us soon how it was meant to be and how you get the job done properly.

Thank you for listening to my TED Talk.

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cryoflyte · 6 years

Text

WE WERE WARNED

I was going to tweet this but it turns out Twitter only lets you thread up to 25 tweets in a draft. That’s insufficient. So fuck it, I’ll do it here. I’ve been ranting about this since season 1 (back when it looked like just a tiny blip on an otherwise great show, rather than our first warning sign that these people might have no fucking clue what they’re doing), it’s actually managed to get worse since then, I’m not over it, I’m not getting over it.

Gather round, dear Voltron Twitterati (or tumblrati or whatever y’all are called around here). Let Cryo the Salt Phoenix regale you with ALL the reasons why Pidge's gender flip being a plot twist was, and remains, completely fucking stupid.

First, a couple of external biases to acknowledge:

1) I feel Pidge was the worst possible character to gender flip, precisely because it was so obvious. He's spent 30+ years getting "lol DotU Pidge wore a headband and had a squeaky voice, maybe he was a girl!" jokes. Buying into them is a disservice to both the character, and the stated idea that VLD Pidge is supposed to represent people who don't fit a norm. Okay sure, you took the character who got mocked for not sufficiently conforming to his gender, flipped him, then went "look how our Pidge represents not fitting in with the norms!" Nah, guys. Not how it works.

2) ...of course that's if you believe them suddenly saying Pidge is supposed to represent people who don't conform to begin with. All we heard in the beginning was "We wanted to make him a girl! Look, he's a girl! Girl, girl, girl! No, not trans, not nonbinary, GIRL! Look how smart we are for making him a girl!" That and how Lauren didn't like DotU Pidge, so she decided she needed to make him more appealing. To her. Which...

3) Pidge has, in all prior canons (possibly excluding DDP? Was it ever fully explained there?), been an alien. In VF (which supposedly Lauren did watch but didn't like him any better in) he was explicitly an alien ninja. So, you know, forgive me for being a little bitter that we got "the only way to make Pidge appealing is make him a girl. Now here, have five seasons of Keith the alien ninja!"

4) My complaint is not really against the concept of gender flipping Pidge. Had they done it upfront as they did the changes to Sven and Allura, I'd have been somewhat irked for the aforementioned reasons, but hey, new reboot, new rules. My complaint is about them lying to our faces for three months (up to and including Bex bluntly saying "Pidge is a boy" in an interview) in service of perhaps the most pointless plot twist in franchise history.

And that brings me to our feature presentation. Get the popcorn, y'all, I've got the salt.

Someone name for me a single solitary moment, watching the first three episodes, where there was even a hint that Pidge was wrestling with his (gonna use male pronouns until the reveal) identity. No, not "oh hey if you go back with knowledge of the twist this was foreshadowing it!" A point where prior to knowing about the twist you went "huh, what is Pidge not telling the rest of the team?" and it was NOT answered by him revealing that Commander Holt was his father. Seriously—please point one out to me. Pidge's premise is very consistent in the first three (and a bit beyond, but I'll get to that) episodes: he has his own reasons and priorities for being there, he'll do the bare minimum of teamwork necessary to achieve his own mission, and he's not there to make friends. Everything he does is consistent with this read. Nothing is pointing to further complexity, him hiding something totally unrelated. There's the picture, but it's at best confusing: I just figured it was his brother with HIS girlfriend, to be honest. Were we really intended to interpret a sad look at an ambiguous photograph as "Pidge is hiding another completely different big secret related to that picture!" rather than "Pidge is sad about his family, like he keeps saying"?

It would have been simplicity itself to add actual hints. Instead of Hunk just presenting "look, it's his girlfriend!" as fact when he finds the picture, "who's the girl? She's cute!" and have Pidge get defensive over that. When they're putting on their armor, maybe skip Hunk making the first of 500 throwaway fat jokes in favor of Pidge looking uncomfortable at the thought of, you know... changing in front of the others? Have him duck behind the armor case? Do something. Do ANYTHING.

Even after the internal reveal in episode 3, we get nothing. Allura specifically drills her about "hey, do you have a big personal secret?" and she doesn't look the slightest bit worried or defensive, she just looks confused. Pidge is not that good an actress, we know that from Lance having to save her butt back at the Garrison. Also from seven seasons of watching her complete inability to keep her emotions in check, ever.

Pidge's internal struggle is never once presented as being about her gender, or about how the team thinks of her. It's about whether she's going to put aside her own personal priorities for the sake of the team. This is the struggle that's been built up. This is the struggle that she's invoked and settled in the climactic moment with Haxus: "I'm not a child. I'm a paladin of Voltron!" Haxus could just as easily have called her a "little girl" if we were supposed to be reading any sort of gender conflict into this.

(Of course as it is Haxus didn't know she was a girl—more on that later—but that's purely arbitrary. A show that wanted to sell Pidge having a gender conflict would have made Haxus realize she was a girl, especially given Coran's "we were supposed to think you were a boy?" in the next episode. You can’t just pretend it’s so obvious then have nobody else notice it ever.)

Now, I of course acknowledge not every worthy plot twist has to be able to be guessed by the audience prior to the reveal. But it doesn't work here. Because here's the reveal: Pidge is all "I was afraid you'd think differently of me" and the whole team is all "of course not!" and that's that.

Wait, she was WHAT now?

We have not seen Pidge struggling with this. At ALL. There is zero emotional weight to this scene because there were absolutely no stakes shown. You cannot have her say "I've been worried you'd think of me differently" when you haven't fucking shown her worrying that they'd think of her differently. This is writing 101, guys. And then Shiro is all "owning who you are is going to make you a better Paladin"—WHEN HASN'T SHE? Literally the thing she's been shown struggling to accept is THAT SHE'S A PALADIN! Not that she's a girl!

This reveal is bad. It's so, so bad. The only way I could make sense of it after first watching it was assuming they'd wanted to make her trans and chickened out at the last second. Nothing said in this scene seems to be part of the same show we've been watching for the past five episodes. It's not clever or interesting, it's just bizarre.

But now let's take a step back. Because in order to set up this terrible, pointless, non-event of a plot twist, we have also done great violence to certain characters. We have turned Pidge and basically all of Galaxy Garrison into morons.

Is Pidge not supposed to be a genius? What exactly was her thought process here? The whole wide world of possible disguises was open to her, and she went "I know! I'll pretend to be a boy, and I'll make myself look identical to my brother, the famously MIA space explorer. Nobody will catch on." Really, Katie? You couldn't buy some hair dye, maybe a spray tan?

And then nobody fucking does catch on. The Kerberos mission is so well-known it's being used as an object lesson for cadets, Pidge flips out every time the mission is brought up, and not one person thinks "hey, this kid who looks exactly like Matt Holt totally freaks out whenever the mission Matt Holt disappeared on is mentioned." This does not hold up if you think about it for more than two seconds.

Why does she even need to look like Matt for meta purposes? Oh right, because of the picture that was attempting to carry the entire load of this twist. Great. That's totally worth the blatant insult to everyone’s intelligence, not to mention the affront to common sense.

On that note, one specific point of the disguise: why does Pidge wear glasses? We know she doesn't need them. She takes them off to wear her helmet, Katie never wore them. And sure, they make her look less like Katie Holt... but they make her look more like Matt Holt. This was fairly weird even in season 1. It only gets weirder when we finally meet up with Matt.

Oh hey, guys. She's not just wearing a pair of fake glasses that make her look more like her famously MIA brother. She's wearing his literal glasses. Which, incidentally, we know are functional prescription glasses because he says he doesn't need them anymore because the Garrison fixed his eyes.

How many people did this go through without anyone pointing out that wearing glasses you don't need actively fucks with your vision?

Yes, I know this is a show about alien space cats that I'm holding to standards of opthalmological realism. But most television manages to understand how glasses work. And again, it's just pointless. Why not just have Katie wear glasses to begin with? Oh right, because we need the guy in the picture to wear glasses and the girl not to because SMART PEOPLE DOING A PLOT TWIST, DERP!

It didn't work, guys. It didn't work at all. You know how people figured it out early? Because you gave her a female VA and we've had thirty years of "lol Pidge looks like a girl" so hey look, the picture confirms the meta theory that people were pitching even before we saw the character designs. Doesn't add even a shred of impact to the reveal. The only way to add impact to the reveal was if she’d actually been worrying that the others wouldn’t accept her being a girl. But no.

And after all this dumb, what exactly is there to show for it? Well... nothing. Nobody else in the show knows she's a girl. Aliens consistently refer to her as male. The team has used female pronouns for her what, once in seven seasons? Miss the right four episodes and even a viewer wouldn't have a clue.

Don't get me wrong, I respect the stated rationale that gender shouldn't matter. Know how else they could've shown that? JUST MAKING HER A GIRL IN THE FIRST PLACE. I mean, if they're going to crow about how brilliant they are for "plot twist, she's a girl!" maybe people should at least be able to tell she's a girl after said twist. Or hey, even better, they could make her trans, or genderfluid, or non-binary, put in some rep that would actually be brave and interesting. But no, instead we get "she's totally a cis girl, but it doesn't matter and nobody can tell because she's there to represent people who don't fit neatly into a box!" That's pretty much the worst of all options, guys. Good job.

And then everyone went “OMG yes! You made Pidge a girl! Yay rep, you’re so smart!” without the slightest shred of critical thought on how it was handled, while a tiny handful of us hoped it was just a fluke, the product of a showrunner pet project that didn’t signify anything for the rest of the series.

Then we got Keith’s Galra reveal, which somehow managed to be even worse.

Then we got season 4 making the bulk of season 3 immediately irrelevant.

Then we got two years on a space whale.

Then we got season 7, where everything is garbage.

Every season has just been more and more ridiculous plot twists in place of character or consistency. It turns out nope, if we wanted to see where this show was going, the horrible Pidge twist was the ONLY part of season 1 we should’ve looked at. Let the salt flow freely.

Okay, I think that's it. Thank you for coming to my TED talk?

#voltron salt #voltron legendary defender #voltronlegendarydefender #voltron #vld pidge #we were warned #pidge was a way better alien ninja #hey lauren your plot twists suck #this would've been the best tweetstorm

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runicmagitek · 6 years

Note

Hello there! Thank you for taking the time to read this. I've long been an admirer of your work. I was wondering if you had any advice on writing? Especially for someone just new to writing? Or, like, in regards to outlining stories?

Why can’t I give hugs through the internet why. Thank you so much for such sweet words and I apologize for the wait. I spent the past couple of days concocting some writing advice for you and it turned into a thing. Hope it’s worth the wait!

I want to preface this: below is my writing process. It works for me. It may not work for all writers and I highly encourage others to figure out what does work for them. It took me several years to come to this conclusion, so don’t be discouraged if everything doesn’t click for you. Writing takes time to develop and we all learn and create differently. Try things out and see if it’s beneficial.

Also, while I know you asked specifically for writing and outlining tips for beginners, I am including editing tips. A lot of people might view writing and editing in a different light, but I believe that they go hand-in-hand; getting used to editing will help you become a better writer and vice versa. I know countless people who bang out stories and then let the drafts collect dust, because editing is daunting.

Lastly, a massive shout-out to my partner-in-crime, beta reader, and braintwin—Amie @wingsyouburn . She helped contribute to and refine this and is also a brilliant writer and has helped me become the writer I am today. Endless thanks to you, bb!

On that note, let’s jump right into this.

OUTLINING

I can’t write without some vague idea of where I’m going. It’s like having a map with you on a road trip; you might deviate from your route along the way due to pit stops or traffic or simply wanting to go the scenic route, but you at least know where your end goal is. And it can vary depending on what you’re writing. If I have a oneshot idea, maybe I jot down a sentence or two about the plot, usually with a “problem” and then a “conclusion”. For example: Character A is doubting herself and decides to vent to Character B, who offers comfort and kisses. Sometimes I jot these down if I have an idea hits me at work or in line at a café. You can always refer back to it later on. Filling in the blanks of said outline is where the fun of writing comes in!

Even for my drabbles, I will write very brief sentences of what I imagine would happen. It helps me stay concise and stick to that main point instead of meandering.

For longer pieces, I try to write out each scene I want to include. Some people I know do this by writing on notecards. I used to make a bullet list, but now I use Scrivener to map outlines. With a bullet list, you can do it like this:

Scene 1

Scene 2

Scene 3

Scene 4

It doesn’t need to be extremely thorough. Just get those ideas out of your head and onto paper. You can always go back and switch up the order later and if you don’t entirely know what would happen in a scene, but for example, you know the end result? You can easily write something like, “a bunch of shit hits the fan and then the gang run off into the sunset.” Maybe when you start writing, you’ll have a better idea of what shit hitting the fan includes. And when you do figure it out, go back to your outline and make a bullet under that particular scene with the details. I’ve done this plenty of times. Hell, I have an outline for a 200k story I did where the last 1/3 of the outline just never happened in my draft. A better idea came along and I went with that. And that’s ok!

Your outline is there to help you and not hurt you. It’s flexible and bare minimum, when you’re done with a story, you can look back on it and see how much you’ve evolved since your initial idea.

WRITING

Consume art. Read. Read some more. Keep reading. Watch a movie. Go to a museum. Take a walk at the park. Listen to music. So many things inspire people and the tiniest instances can spark an idea for a story. Always be open to them. Figure out what you love and what you don’t. Consume both of those. Inspiration can come even from genres we don’t particularly like. Don’t be afraid of something new. When I was in art school, we were required to take non-major studio classes. I ended up in a weaving class, filled with other textile students when all I ever knew was graphic design. I learned a tremendous amount in that semester to carry over into my graphic design work and I’m sure my peers learned a lot from me, too. That concept carries over into so many creative fields. Embrace that.

Also, if you’re the type that benefits from reading books about writing, here are some A+ resources:

On Writing by Stephen King

Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott

Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg

No Plot? No Problem! by Chris Baty

The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron

Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury

Take care of yourself first. This tip simultaneously has nothing and everything to do with writing. For me, I have a handful of health issues. I work a full-time job. I have a ton of other hobbies that eat up my time. Before I write, I need to make sure I’m doing well before I even bother to sit in front of my laptop. I can’t be overly stressed out or in pain or distracted. Sometimes you need to calm down and relax and not write. I can’t focus otherwise and the few times I did write when I clearly shouldn’t have? It was evident in my writing and thus triple the amount of editing work. I know it’s stressful not being able to write. Trust me… I’ve been there numerous times. But I believe that in the long run, you’ll be happier with yourself and your writing if you learn to treat yourself with respect and not beat yourself up when you’re unable to write every waking minute.

Set times to write and then do it. Some people might have inspiration strike them and that’s the only time they write. Yes, that can be helpful, but there’s also something to be said about developing a schedule and sticking to it, even if you’re not motivated. So you’ve done everything mentioned above: your tummy’s full, no one is around to bother you, you got a delicious cup of something beside you, it’s your favorite weather outside, and you’re in your favorite chair. But you’re staring at your monitor and just… uuuuuugh you don’t feel motivated. You know what? Fuck it. Just write. Write something. Anything. 75% of my writing was done out of the sheer willpower. Write! Even if it’s a page, so what?! That’s a page more than what you initially started out with! Squeezing in some scribbles on your lunch break every day can add up by the end of the week. Those 30 minute sessions are suddenly 2 ½ hours!

Again during my art school days, I would be up until 4am trying to do 40 posters in time for the morning’s critique and I’d be on those last 3 poster designs and I was tired with no inspiration and ran out of fucks at 11pm, but I pushed through. You know what? My teachers and peers alike loved those 3 designs I did at fuck-this-shit o’clock. I’m serious. Every single time.

Start writing and never look back. This is your time to write. Not to edit, not to try and craft the perfect sentence Of All Time. You’re writing. You are word vomiting whatever nonsense is in your head. It’s a first draft. It’s going to be messy. It’s probably going to be shit. Who the hell cares? That doesn’t mean you or your writing is shit. Everybody, even the most seasoned writer, doesn’t write a perfect first draft and you can’t fix what isn’t written. So write, write, write! Smack your inner editor each time it tells you to go back and edit a paragraph. Disable your wifi if you think you’ll get distracted. For me, I put on some quiet, ambient music to drown out the world and go into Scrivener’s full-screen mode. I highly recommend checking libraries in your area if you want some quiet time. The librarians are also way more than happy to show you where designated quiet/study areas are if you’re not sure.

Write what YOU want to write about. Don’t write something just because it’s popular and that’s what everyone else is doing. Do it for yourself first and foremost. It doesn’t need to be for everyone, but let it be for you. It will show tremendously in your writing if you’re excited about a thing. Likewise, it’s beyond evident if you’re bored with a scene in your story. Write about what excites you and I promise your writing will display that excitement. On the same note, if you’re stuck on a scene and just don’t know what to do with it, move along. Maybe that scene isn’t needed. Skip to the next, more interesting thing. Write the story you want to read.

Incorporate your experiences. The expression “write what you know” gets tossed around with the assumption that people will go, “Ooooooh, yeah that makes sense.” Think on all your life experiences and draw upon them. You may not be the commanding officer of a prestigious military, but maybe you’ve been in a group project in school where someone needed to step up as leader in order to get shit done in time for the oral presentation. Remember your emotions during times of struggle, elation, anger, and sadness. Channel it into your writing.

Write in chronological order. Some people have mastered the art of writing that one middle scene they’re super stoked about or writing random scenes out of time and then stitching it together later. I am not one of those people. For a beginner, it might be less daunting to write everything in chronological order. That way you can build up things like character development/growth and tension and so forth in a natural way via passing time. If you start writing a scene where the main pairing finally kiss, but don’t write the ten chapters leading up to that, it’s a lot more difficult to flesh out all that tension in one scene when you hadn’t written it yet. I’m also of the opinion that it’s better to write all the things before that One Scene you’re giddy about; it can speed up the writing process because you want to arrive at that One Scene, so hey, anything to motivate you, ya know?

EDITING

After I wrote my first novel draft after years of not writing, I had this massive feeling of, “…shit, now what?” For every single guide to editing, there’s a hundred more for writing. Editing is an extremely personal process. It took me over two years before I became comfortable with editing my own work. Let’s be honest – it’s terrifying. And I wish there was a more concise guide about it when I first started, so hopefully this helps.

I edit in rounds. My first round involves just reading, no editing. I keep a journal to take notes, mostly plot, characterization, redundancies, and cuts/additions I’d want to make. My second round combs through it to fix those bigger problems along with any glaring grammar/spelling errors and mild line edits. I will send it to a beta to read after that for additional commentary/suggestions. My third round addresses all of that on top of hardcore line edits—I want every damn sentence to be the best version of that sentence ever. One more time it goes back to the beta to nitpick the hell out of it. And my last round is spent reading what I wrote out loud. If my tongue trips over anything, I change it. Apply some spit and polish, give it some lunch and a backpack, and then off to AO3 it goes to make some new friends.

Maybe you edit in less or more rounds. Maybe you have more rounds of sending content to beta readers. Maybe you need to rewrite the whole thing three times before it ever sees a beta reader. Do what feels good to you. Only you will be able to figure it out and you won’t know until you try. I promise once you get your feet wet and test it out, you’ll feel more confident about your writing over time.

Here are some more specific tips that no one ever bothered to tell me until after the fact. These might be overwhelming for a beginner, so don’t feel the need to master these immediately. Take it one step at a time and try them when you are comfortable doing so.

Walk away from it. After finishing a first draft, let it sit. Go do something else and forget about your draft. For oneshots, I’ll go back to it after a week. For longer pieces, anywhere between 2-4 weeks. Returning to a draft with rested eyes and a fresh mind will only benefit you in the editing process. You’re still two inches away from your work when you finish the first draft. Walk away from it, come back, and then you can see more, whether it be the strong points or the holes.

Describe what is happening, not how something looks/sounds/feels. I’m sure you’ve heard of “show, don’t tell.” First off, fuck that noise when writing the first draft. Tell to your heart’s content if it means getting it on the damn page. Second off, sometimes telling can be helpful. That’s up to you to decide if it’s beneficial or harmful to your story. I typically go about “show, don’t tell” in the editing phase. Now most people will give this advice and not further explain. So here’s an example:

She was mad at him for once again not doing the dishes.

That’s not a terrible sentence. Though it to make it pack more oomph, take a step back and think. When you’re mad, what do you do? Are you clenching your jaw? Are you grumbling to yourself? Is a headache forming? And when you imagine dishes not done, what does that look like to you? Is it flies swarming around a sink? Is it overflowing from the sink? Is the sponge sitting in five day old water and reeking of mold? Is there a broken dish on the floor because a cat decided to knock it off from the stack of twenty uncleaned dishes? With that in mind, the sentence can possibly be rewritten like this:

Countless plates and silverware wobbled on one another, each encrusted with a previous night’s dinner. She drew a breath, balled up her fists, and glared at him. “Really? I gave you one job.”

Find your descriptions that are comprised of the character feeling or seeing or hearing something and reword them. Breathe life into your words. Make them paintings. I know, it’s not easy. It might even break your brain a little (mine did when I first gave this a serious go), but it will make you think differently and your writing can only grow from that.

Rephrase weaker words. I once had this assignment back in high school where we were given a hundred sentences, each one with “get” in the mix, and we had to rewrite all of them with a unique word replacing “get”. Find words like “get” and forms of “to be” and replace them with stronger words. Something like he got out of bed can turn into he rose out of bed or he jumped out of bed or he slumped out of bed. It rids the sentence of something weak and is more descriptive of what’s going on.

Another thing to look out for are verbs ending in “-ing”. She started walking over or she was walking on over aren’t as direct as she walked over. Trimming out instances like this help make the action more immediate instead of feeling like it’s going or starting or beginning to happen. Just let it happen!

Adverbs are another instance that people will suggest to cut out. They’re at least easy to find (most end in –ly) and when you do spot them, ask yourself this: is there a better word to sum up what I’m trying to express? Something like she said quietly can be she whispered or she murmured or she mumbled. Or something like they ran quickly can be they rushed or they sprinted or they booked it. These all can help get a better idea of what is going on. Plus it can help strengthen your vocabulary by searching for more ideal words!

If your vocab is shaky or you just can’t pinpoint something better, here’s a resource I use all the time. Just remember: always double check the definition of the word to make sure it fits instead of spinning the thesaurus wheel and picking at random.

Lastly, don’t feel the need to go on a witch hunt to purge your story of all of these things. Sometimes it’s best to keep that use of “to be” or that adverb, because there isn’t something better to convey what you’re describing or it distorts the flow of the narrative. And that’s completely okay. It takes time to figure this out.

Cut out redundancies. I tend to overwrite in my first drafts. Editing is where I bust out my figurative chainsaw and kill the extra nonsense. Is there a phrase you keep using over and over? Kill it. Is there a section you read that just bores you to tears? Kill it. Is there a sentence that is proceeded by a paragraph that rephrases that exact sentiment four times? Kill it. Is the process of something we as human beings understand, like opening a door, a three-sentence-long affair? Kill it.

I love poetics in stories and sometimes it can get out of hand. The more concise you are in your delivery, the clearer of a picture you will paint for the readers and the smoother the overall pacing will be.

Never delete. So with all of that in mind, please, for the love of tea and chocolate, never ever delete your work. Doesn’t matter if it’s a conversion from a first to second draft or if you end up hating it, don’t delete it. You never know if you’ll return to it five years down the road or you need to refer back to something from your initial draft when you’re on your third wave of revisions. I keep a folder dedicated to all of my writing on my laptop, which is also backed up to Dropbox. In Scrivener, you can take snapshots of your work for each new draft you start and can always revert back to older snapshots. There’s also an actual editing mode in it, but I believe it’s exclusive to Mac OS. Or if you’re using something simple like Word or Google Docs, make new documents and title them based off of your drafts. Another thing to consider is making a document strictly for lines you love but weren’t able to include in the final version. Don’t get rid of them – keep them. Maybe you revisit it and find a new story for it to fit in or perhaps that lovely line of yours sparks a new story to write. You won’t know if you delete your work.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

Make writer friends. Writing is a solitary activity (well, not unless a pet decides to keep you company, but anyways). Having friends who are also writers or even enthusiastic about writing are a blessing. Bounce ideas off of them or vent to them when you hit a brick wall. Maybe said friends will turn into beta readers when you wish to cross that road. My recent writer friends are people I chatted with on comments with fics, either my own works or their stories. You don’t need to be friends with an entire fandom; find those you resonate with. I’m sure they’ll love gushing about things as much as you do.

And if you ever converse with someone who acts above you and everyone else in regards to writing? Fuck ‘em. They are not and never will be worth your time or anyone else’s.

Keep writing. Like any form of art, writing’s a craft and it will only improve the more you devote time to it. There’s always room for growth. Be humble. Accept change. Allow yourself to learn. I guarantee you that your writing will change for the better in the span of a year if you keep at it. Don’t worry about it being perfect or if it’s telling the “same story” someone else has written—you haven’t written your version of it. You haven’t added your personal touches and experiences and insights to it. Think of how many times Romeo and Juliet has been done in storytelling. People eat it up. To use the cake analogy, you might feel like you’re bringing another cake to the party when there’s already one, but others look at it and go, “FUCK YEAH TWO CAKES!” Lastly, I’ll leave you with a quote from the eternally badass Carrie Fisher, “Stay afraid, but do it anyway. What’s important is the action. You don’t have to wait to be confident. Just do it and eventually the confidence will follow.”

You got this, anon. I believe in you.

#writing tips #writing advice #writing resources #writing help #writers on tumblr #YOU CAN DO IT ANON #I BELIEVE IN YOU #*FOREVER FLAILING POMPOMS*#long post #Anonymous #my writing

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monkey-network · 6 years

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Good Stuff: THE TROOF ABOUT STARLIGHT GLIMMER

WARNING: Make sure to put a titch of salt in your hot cocoa. Boosts the flavor a bit. All original imagery belong to their respective owners and I swear to not claim them as my own with this post, which was all made by happenstance and fun. Thank you, take care out there, and enjoy.

A 3rd rate song in Hasbro’s otherwise swinging OST

To be frank, my thoughts on the character Starlight Glimmer are surely something. On the one hand, I find myself connecting with the tragedy that is essentially her trying to make it through her new life, and the other involves curb stomping her face in. I mean, they are sincerely pushing this character to provide some sort of value to the world, but I can’t really say what yet. Yeah, she’s the kind to make mountains out of molehills, but that’s like 85% of the show in general. Yeah, they forgave her faster than most would, but besides killing two characters the show can be incredibly angelic. All in all, I see where the detesting attitude towards her comes from, but something in me still couldn’t see the clear case behind her poor character. Yet, I think I understand now, and I’m surprised most never really touch this thought. Roll with me here...

She’s the total opposite of Discord. The Nega-Discord, if you will.

I see many compare her to Sunset Shimmer, and I definitely see where they’re coming from, but when you start stacking her to Discord, the troof speaks for itself as Discord has everything Starlight wished she had. As villains, Discord relished in chaos (hence the name) whilst Starlight wanted control. Both were content with the results they wanted and made the most of it until a single moment of convenience brings everybody together to defeat them in spades. Compare this to Sunset Shimmer, whose plans as a villain in the 1st movie were generally aimless and the motive behind it didn’t amount to much beyond an elongated grudge against her former mentor. Her motive were better than Starlight, sure, but besides trying to prove Celestia wrong nothing about her villainous stance really evolved before it was killed off entirely.

Though that grudge has come full circle. Which, splendid.

Even after getting their ass handed to them, with the promise to elicit a semblance of change, Discord and Starlight continue to let their villainous sides seep into how they affect the story in their respective episodes. Their escalating actions, though, is where the distinction starts to show. It’s after “Keep Calm and Flutter On” where Discord’s chaotic nature doesn’t create the problem but centers around it; the use of his powers may complicate the situation for others, Discord included, but it’s never to directly put them in any rut that they haven’t dug themselves. Discord’s essentially the anti-hero of the show, effortlessly willing to be the bad guy compared to everybody else, only for his actions to provide a lesson for those affected. He’s pill nobody wants to swallow, but in doing so helps those see the benefit.

With a platonic ship I find beneficial, mhm

And with Discord being the anti-hero, comes Starlight being the anti-villain, or somebody with well off intentions only to make matters worse in reality. Let it not be said that with the episodes that actually gives her spotlight, not just to be a plot device supporting character, it’s always her building the problem only for others to resolve it and spell out the lesson to her (or us), all for the intent of having some semblance of control like before (or having literal control in one episode). Unlike Discord’s chaos which plays a part in solving the problem, Starlight’s control is the problem. And while her motives can appear as reasonable or relating in its terribleness, you can’t deny that the ends add up from more evil means than Discord and this doesn’t make us root for her.

Now I see i<3kimpossiblealot’s stance on Discord clearly

But one might ask, “Monkey Network, you fool, that’s barely enough to label Starlight as the Nega-discord.” And you’re right, their actions aren’t the only thing that makes them extracted opposites. Their presence is also the key element; can’t have a character with only tell and no show. But, here’s where things get transparent: the sheer duality comes in progression of their appearances. People have said Starlight is typically stapled to the episode to have somebody to consider a main character, and they’re right. Unlike Discord, who not only stands out effortlessly but makes his presence known immediately, Starlight comes in and out like a neighbor next door. Her personality is generally static, so it doesn’t feel hard replacing her with Spike or any average character. It reminds me of this other show, Mob Psycho 100, where the main character’s entire point is to be one within a mob even when he is a psychically powerful person, hence his nickname “Mob”. However, his overall character arc is not trying to stand out among the crowd with said power, but enjoy being around one with his increasing circle of friends with or without. That’s what Discord’s character arc is all about, an all powerful chaotic god having a touch more humanity in him and having a sense of belonging with his former adversaries and the world in general. Starlight wants to be more than a past villain, she wants to learn about friendship, however vague that is, but in return nothing makes her stand out beyond baggage, strong magic, and kites. Yeah, she makes friends with Maud, Thorax(?), Trixie, and NEET boy, but it doesn’t affect her place in the canon in any way. They’re the ones having their character built more, not Starlight’s. She’s the peasant among well tuned kings.

And let us be real, she hasn’t made any sort of mark no matter how hard she’s tried and actually succeeded

And as a final blow, it gets pretty meta when you see that Discord getting less actual screen time in the 4 seasons he was around makes him a better character than the 2 Starlight got. Hell, even if you switch Discord and Starlight’s histories, the former has much more charm and likability that his fuck ups wouldn’t make you hate him as much as you would Glimmer. So with all the effort put into Starlight for two years, she got the worst improvement: the kind begging for your attention. The kind that says that you could change only to be continuously overshadowed by your more precise equal.

Now you can see why Discord was the push behind Celestial Advice’s existing plot

We basically got not only a character that’s string compared to the likes of Sunset Shimmer but the same character twice with Discord’s primary presence. And with all that said, what can we do with her? Well, nothing really. She’s so deep in this rabbit hole that it’s too soon to just write her out and too late to say she’s deserved to die. That’s the sad thing about her. Her development existed outside everyone else’s, so we’re literally seeing a bubbled vision of how this fool of a villain tries to redeem herself, practically by herself, with the only sense of keeping afloat is the fear of failure and utter isolation. The lacking discipline, the uncoordinated freedom of doing what you want however you so please, culminating in a tragic state of stagnancy and unintentional detriment.

No wonder people tend to relate to her

So consider it a slow, deflating tragedy, where her presence ironically gets cast into a boundary of isolation with every passing episode. Watch her slowly fall deeper into the background of your mind, and with every scream for acknowledgement, you slowly grow blissful to the white noise, walking by every excuse for her existence only to then look back in the end and say, “You know, she could’ve been made worse.” That might not seem clear, but it’s certainly happening.

She’s basically the new Star Wars series: a polarizing, ambiguous, yet overall mishandled present on your doorstep that will be shelved and forgotten in favor of the original product not long after

Truth be told, I can’t hate Starlight anymore; I’ve certainly grown tolerant enough for her to be a supportive background character with a nice voice. It’s like stomping a roach, you can feel disgusted, scared, annoyed, angry, but after all that, after a while, the emotions mellow enough and the motivation for continuing the scrutiny burns out. And with this, if you are able to find Starlight to be compelling character, that is okay; make lemonade out of lemons. But like staining cashmere, we mustn’t say propelling judgement on her is wrong when the writers have clearly tried to say otherwise to no real avail. All in all, she’s a dead end and you can either enjoy the end with her or turn back around and move on. Whether she truly develops or falters later, there’s no harm in enveloping her with your time. Or you could just be a villain and fucking kill her off.

And as I will never get tired of this gif, I’m Roy Macintosh, and that’s all I got

#starlight glimmer #mlp discord #sunset shimmer #mlp #my little pony #cartoons #analysis #characters #characterization #villains #long post #Good Stuff #reviews #Roy Macintosh #mp100

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grumpytrashpanda · 6 years

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Sweetest Of Dreams - My Valentine - [Archive Of Our Own]

A Valentine’s Day themed project by Archive Of Our Own.

Original Link - Click Here To Read It @AO3

Chapter 1/3: My Valentine

Author: Go_LuckyFanfics

Word Count: 3149

Rating: General - Will change later in the plot for heavy smut.

Summery: It’s the holiday for endless romance among the stars and our hopeless romantic Peter Quill is looking to indulge his fiancé and favorite trash panda in the foreign traditions known as Valentine’s Day. Perhaps a spicy retreat away from the Guardians while planet-side is in order to help kindle their relationship.

It’s another special time of year, one that our romanced Guardians have of yet to celebrate and the humanly side of the relationship would stop at nothing to make it another occasion for the future. It’s a holiday meant for sharing the closest of moments with our significant other, though it’s not a time to treat them with extra kindness simple because it’s a holiday of love but rather to remember why two souls can still be together despite all the differences between them.

It’s the kindling of romance in the night sky, an unsure ache in someone’s heart of what might await down the road and where to go from here. I’m of course talking about Valentine’s Day.

So let’s begin our story...

The Milano cruised just outside Xandar’s atmosphere in the galaxy with their new designated pilot Kraglin, at the helm. The humbled Xandarian gladly accepted the role bestowed to him allowing everyone else to attend to their own things, the importance of their current activities questioned when comparing it to his current place in the cockpit.

Drax was downstairs in the common room benching with a large white towel draped over the room’s table nearby, the growing band of misfits always making a beeline to avoid eating in the room whenever the muscular brute was working on his abs. At least since they’d gotten some proper exercise equipment, the Destroyer had mostly stopped taking his rage out on the ship’s accommodations and dashboard.

Gamora had mostly been keeping to herself for the past few days in her bedroom away from the others, sometimes talking to her sister who’d long since left after the events on Ego’s Planet. She felt like something really changed in Nebula back there in the caverns, something she’d been hesitant to believe was still a part of their sibling rivalry, a piece inside that wanted to know more and maybe have an actual relationship like they once did. Maybe she was right.

Mantis and Groot had made a surprising connection as of lately, the two of them sparking their own little thing in the background. The empath with using her abilities could connect with the growing teenage tree in the same fashion as his friend Rocket could but it went beyond just communicating. For someone like him that only spoke three simple words there was always such a profound meaning in how they were spoken.

She learned through their time together bonding alone that Groot wasn’t angry at everyone around him, rather more at himself. He might’ve been a teenager and had his typical mood swings like anyone else in his place but there was a place of him that felt left out, like they knew his entire life and he didn’t. it was frustrating for everyone in his family to know his life and yet he didn’t but of course he couldn’t. That was someone else, another soul that gave itself up to ensure his new family could go on without him leaving this small gift for Rocket to care for all those nights like the friendly log did for him al his lowest points in the form of a potted twig not to take his place but to carry his heart and the love hidden inside.

Meanwhile, secluded away in the captain’s bedroom our two space dorks have been attending to important matters of their own, slumbering away in somber from a long in and beyond their shared bedroom under the sheets when Peter blinked his eyes awake.

The half-human turned over and stared at Rocket always seeing a small twinkled shine in the peace during early mornings watching his fiancé sleep under the many blankets on their bed. The ringtail was always a cuddler in his own way even more so during his first rutting season while dating Quill. He’d likely obliterate anyone who accused him of being such a softie in these moments even though it wasn’t really a secret around the Milano, as if the idea of keeping secrets was a fruitful thought when you’ve got this many people living together in one place.

With a very tender touch lie caressing a gentle flower, Peter smoothed a single finger across Rocket’s left brow and watched his mate’s eyes gently awake to face him.

He used to be afraid of sleeping, the thought of being awakened from something or someone would draw the old instinct to fight like it meant thinking otherwise would spell something grave if he didn’t. Since he began sleeping with Quill in his room and their relationship continued to grow, there wasn’t a need to think about it anymore or the fear the threats of the outside world. When he feel asleep every night with his lover beside him there was no dread or despair and the nightmares were shared together when one couldn’t sleep.

These lives, the both of us here, it’s something we’ve learned to share. The pain of what we’ve endured before and those lost along the way. I choose to share it aside the one I trust the most, the only one I wish to spend my life with everytime I stare at our commitment when in doubt.

I share with you my pain, my tears, my past, and above all...my love.

These days Rocket would look forward to what might’ve awaited them when falling asleep for the night, it felt surreal at times.

“Good morning babe.” Peter chirped propped up on an elbow when he booped his mate’s wet nose as part of their morning ritual, gaining a small smile from the mammal.

“Mornin’ boo.” Rocket let out a long yawn while nestled under the covers and not making any attempt to move much aside from stretching his limbs as they popped a few times. “Does the charm ever die with this one? I thought you’d still be out and we could just sleep through the whole day.” His normally deep voice cracked mid-sentence, rubbing one of his eyes.

“Nah.” Peter replied as matter of factly on the subject. He’d always wake up ahead of the raccoon early in the morning, just the Star-Lord and Gammy silently sharing coffee in the common room before chaos would break loose when the rest of the crew would rise from the dead. “Someone on this ship has to cook and it isn’t Drax or you, as much as I love you when I say that.”

Hey for your information I can cook..” Rocket argued, the nude ringtail sitting up in the bed to match Peter’s height. “but why should I have to when I’ve got you to do it for me? I burned that casserole to prove a point to everyone.”

“That you’re an asshole and people don’t like tail-fur in their meals?”

“Yeah and you can’t blame me for that either, I know you of all people like tail-fur in your face.” The raccoon snickered to which Peter playfully shoved him aside, even if it was true to an extent. Truth be told Rocket was perhaps a better cook then any of them though his height made reaching some things difficult the few times he was tasked with making a meal more complicated then a sandwich. It wasn’t much different then advanced chemistry only with cooking you got to eat your creations when finished such as indulging in a decadent lava cake Rocket made once with Vyloo eggs, never minding the destroyed kitchen he left in his path to create the masterpiece.

“You’re something else...” Peter chuckled stepping outside the bed, putting on some jeans and staring at his bare shaved chest as Rocket did the same with a pair of grey boxers just out of sight when his voice perked to the figure collecting himself from the other side of the bedroom.

“Hey Rocket?”

“Yeah?”

He listened to the footsteps form behind when thinking on how to ask the question, the latter searching through varies clothes in their closet when he paused thinking something was wrong. They weren’t facing each other in the moment but Peter could feel Rocket staring over his shoulder while getting dressed so he quickly just spit the thought out to be heard. What’s the worse that could happen?

“What do you think about us and Valentine’s Day?” Quill wasn’t sure why it seemed weird to ask scuffing his foot across the floor, especially to the guy he was planning to her married to within the new few couple months. Maybe it’s because even if they’d been dating for close to a year the two males hadn’t done much in the ways of traditions aside Christmas or other gimmicks with what they had going on.

“Aw here we go again with your dang’ traditions nobody besides you ever celebrated around here.” For a moment Peter thought they were going to have another long discussion about the history of Terra’s holiday rituals when it came into their conversation.

“Well I-”

“I’m just joshing you Pete, I know what yer’ talking about.” Rocket rolled his eyes, showing he did have an interest in Terra’s traditions after the Guardian’s celebrated Christmas last year. “Gotta admit though, should surprise me our hopeless romantic remembers something so mushy like that and forgets to tell about News Years Day which I might add would’ve been my favorite holiday.”

Rocket was quick on those feet when he wanted to be, already fully dressed in casual clothing and a black t-shirt and disappearing into their bathroom before Peter could reply now trotting after the smaller male whom jumped onto a stepstool to reach the counter’s sink running some cold water to wake himself up while reaching for his toothbrush across the sink.

“So what do you think about it?” Peter asked standing aside his partner, the latter only shrugging and mumbling something of uncertainty with an extra amount of mint-flavored toothpaste in his mouth, typical behavior by the overly-hygienic trash panda when it came to his presentation in public. From Rocket’s point it sounded like such a strange idea to make a special day out of something they had no issues embracing. Celebrating Valentine’s Day wouldn’t be anything different in his eyes since they didn’t need a foreign ritual or supposed holiday of love to solidify their romance.

“So....is that shrug agreeing to a special date? You know because we don't have to if you don’t like the idea.” Peter urged with a hint of hesitance in the question. He didn’t want to put pressure on the silly idea, being nothing more then just that but he also believed in trying new things to help the spark in their relationship. Without a doubt, Peter would love to share this special day with the first person he genuinely loved in a very long time. Sure he screwed around most of his life and with his smooth demeanor bedded all kinds of people among the galaxy but it’s not until you truly fall in love for someone that you realize no matter how much tail you chase in the universe and the amount of sex you get from various hookups, it’s meaningless if it doesn’t stand for anything the morning afterwards.

“I da’ know, sounds eh...” Rocket spat into the sink, rinsing his mouth with some more water and messing with the matted fur around his ears In the room’s mirror. “I mean, I’m not like some prancing gal-toy that’s swoon over some sweets and all that d’ast getups.”

“I know that, of course I do.” Peter eased wrapping his arms around his fiancé's waist from behind, it was nice to be able to hug his lover like this thanks to the height advantage of the bathroom’s stool. “I’ve got a few ideas for us if you’re interested.”

Rocket was resting with his paws on the sink and head hanging down staring at his reflection, considering the idea with a sigh as Peter placed his head on Rocket’s briefly and gave a very small kiss to his left ear while continuing to hug onto him. The smaller male wasn’t sure if it was intentional or not when it happened but a hint of him was already turned on when the man’s sheltered member was rubbing in clockwork against his hip from behind, a petite moan escaping Rocket’s muzzle he tried to keep hidden form being heard.

“Ok I give, so what would you have in mind for this dumb thing?” The raccoon straightened his posture putting his palms on Quill’s arms wrapped around him like a snuggled blanket. There was something comforting about being held in this way that always put Rocket at ease, his mind in a place of peace and warmth as the all-so quiet purrs filled the couple’s bedroom.

“Well...” Peter in-wrapped himself from the hug and spun his mate around on his heels so they could look at each other seeing the small twinkle in his white teeth and a hopeless romantic in the heart that’d only be of his Star-Dork. “I was thinking we could take the day and go out to this fancy club I made reservations for us at. Get some good food, actual good food and maybe some exotic drinks too, just the two of us.”

“You always have to use booze to win me over for your plans?” Rocket snorted giving a small grin of his own. The sounds of foreign drinks did sound enticing and he’d try anything at least once, recalling back a few months at a bar when Drax jokingly ordered the tomboyish tyrant something called a Sunset Mimosa while he was in the washroom and upon returning to his barstool Rocket shrugged playing his bluff for ordering what many would call a frilly drink and downed it anyway. Now he’d never admit it to anyone aside Quill but he was head over heels fro any drinks with fruit in them, call him frilly for thinking so because he didn’t know alcohol could ever taste that good.

“Nope. I’ve just learned how to treat my favorite boy well, know all the things he enjoys and little quirks that’ll make him happy.” Peter was always a charmer when being persuasive and speaking in a softened tone he only used with his furred mate. His lowered voice sounded so dorky coming out but who said that wasn’t one of Rocket’s favorite kinks about him when trying to ease him over.

“Ok maybe I’m a tad intrigued, been so long since-” Rocket spoke up, his damp whiskers perked and unable to finish the sentence. The idea of this date didn’t sound too out of the ordinary for their usual outings but if he knew his partner better and the lengths he’d go to make it memorable for him, he was going to be spoiled rotten.

“It’s just been us? Yeah that’s part of living with five other people, ain’t much privacy to be had around here.” It was true with everything going on as of lately, that there wasn’t as much time for themselves as they would've wished but their last job brought in enough units to pay off their upcoming wedding and all the usual expenses for them to live lavishly for a while. “So I went ahead and rented us a room for tonight at one Xandar’s most lavish hotels, get us some private time away from the others and send them on their own adventure while we-”

Peter cooed his head next to Rocket’s and began to whisper with a very seductive breath, his smooth break tickling the hairs around his fiancé’s attentive ears a couple smutty things about he was going to make him feel beautiful tonight and ne nearly choked when his face blushed under all that facial fur, his own member unsheathing itself and aching to break free from the clothes separating them form conjoining in what would’ve been their fourth trip around the clock this week alone.

“Do what do you say, be my Valentine Rocky?” Quill asked with a goofy grin etching for permission on a mischievous retreat but it was given with the same sincere face as Rocket’s marriage proposal. He planned the whole night just for them both and it was the first time in a long time they’d be on a genuine date.

“Aw what the flarkin’ hell,” Rocket gripped Peter’s hands and pulled him closer causing the man to stumble lightly when the raccoon clicked his teeth and caught him, burying his head into his shirtless partner’s chest. “sure I’ll be your sack of hearts to pamper all night.”

“So it’s a date.” Peter exclaimed as they both nodded in agreement, staring into each other’s eyes and watched the unique speckles in each of their faces massaging one of his knuckles on Rocket’s left cheek. “We’ll have fun, I ain’t dressing formal or nothing for it.”

“Oh please. You, acting formal and in a suit? “Rocket laughed, deciding he’s just go with the flow and whatever tonight might bring for them. “Since when was that ever a thing for either of us? You’re just as much of a disaster as I am on that.”

“Well you’ll have to wear one at the wedding.” Peter shook his head turning around to exit the bathroom and leave Rocket alone while he made breakfast for the crew when he was snatched back into a surprise kiss from his mate’s inviting muzzle and many teeth grazing his lips, the strong scent of mint-flavored toothpaste they shared between their mouths when the raccoon gave him a taste of what awaited him later in the night.

“Yeah don’t remind me...” Rocket punched the man in the chest before sending him off to make some food and leaving the door open. “and take a d’ast shower already before we go out later, I’ll be back in my old room if you go another night without one.”

“What about you? You got that weird aroma going on...”

“I was going to when I came in here,” Rocket hollered with a humored snap at the trailing man’s voice leaving the bedroom. “until Hefner interrupted me with his stupid holiday rituals.”

He started undressing from his clothes listening to the door slide shut when he knew the Terran had left him to his thoughts to take a quick shower, the group heading planet-side after everything was discussed.

Huh, so Valentine’s Day...

Oh glorb, what did I get myself into this time...

#roquill #peter quill #rocket raccoon #guardians of the galaxy #valentinesday #request

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