#this makes the characters more badass in Hindsight

[funnefox]

#puss in boots #big bad wolf #puss in boots the last wish #death puss in boots #shrek #three little pigs #this makes the characters more badass in Hindsight #THEY LITERALLY DEFIED DEATH WITH BRICKS #source: twitter

[xjackjackx]

Alan Becker Theory: How Victim Returned

Ok so this is my first real Tumblr post, but basically I want to talk about the Animator vs. Animation series and its first and now most recent villain: Victim. More specifically, how he "returned" after seemingly being killed by the Animator at the end of his first appearance.

When we first saw Victim in AVA 1, he was deleted by the Animator. He closed the program without saving changes, without saving Victim onto anything, thus removing him from existence. Something like that seems pretty hard to come back from...

...but, 17 years later, he has come back without any scratch (besides turning gray).

Now, it's not the first time a character survived being deleted, but none of the previous examples are similar to Victim.

Orange survived being deleted by Task Manager and then stabbed by the Dark Lord's Vira-Blades, but he's clearly special in a way: from knowing a lot since creation to having superpowers that not even he knows of (until he saw a video of him killing a guy with them). He's far from a normal stick figure.

The Chosen One survived being hit by several code-erasing blades, but he's a superpowered being compared to the completely normal Victim.

Herobrine survived being deleted with the rest of Minecraft, somehow resurrecting several years later, but he's not even a stick figure, and another superpowered being that's arguably even weirder then Chosen.

So, how does the completely normal, powerless Victim survive being deleted with no superpowers or anything special about him?

It's simple. He didn't.

I'm not saying that Grey Dude is actually a burnt Dark or something, that was debunked and never made sense anyway. What I'm suggesting is that the AVA 6 Victim is not the Victim. Rather, he's a copy.

... well, a better word to use is recording.

Animation VS YouTube was always a weird entry, in my opinion. It somehow makes every entry in the series an actual video in-universe, it somewhat breaks continuity by having the Minecraft icon on the task bar, and it just gets weirder every time it returns (such as that one scene in Showdown). But, I think AVA 6 made it really important in hindsight.

While fighting YouTube, Green and Orange encounter a recording of the first AVA 1 and witness Victim's birth. In the climax, Green defeats YouTube by putting himself inside a video and destroying it from the inside, thus destroying the website's sentient avatar.

I think Victim came back in a similar way. Thanks to the Animator posting AVA 1 on numerous websites and it being reposted countless times, there are countless videos of Victim: thus, countless opportunities for a Victim recording to escape a similar way Green did. The AVA 6 Victim - let's call him Vic - is one of those: a recording that came to life and broke out. He's not the true Victim, just evidence that he once existed, but he has his memories and will continue his fight with the Animator.

But, there's an issue: Green entered a brand new video, he didn't record himself. A clear difference. Which is why I think Vic didn't escape his video by himself. Someone freed him. But, who?

Well, think about it. Who is Vic close to? Who is special and gets attention from IRL Alan, compared to the others? Who has the most important role in AVA 6, aside from the hollow-heads and RYGB?

Who does Vic trust so much, he puts his own life in their hands when entering the Box?

I think the Glasses Guy - let's call him Agent cause that's the best nickname I've seen - is the one who freed Vic. It would explain why Vic would trust him so much or why he'd get so much attention besides just "the villain's right hand who is badass".

I also think that Vic's trust in Agent is what will fuck him over in the end. That he will not be the final villain of AVA 6.

If you watch The Box closely, you'll see Vic is saved on the Box's files. Nothing special or surprising, right? I mean, he's in the Box, of course he'd be saved as part of it. But... Chosen is not.

In fact, none of the items on the list are inside the Box, aside from Vic. Not the sword, not the chains, not anything. But, they can still be summoned. Which means that the Box doesn't work like "You go inside it, you are part of its files": You need to be saved onto it, and once that happens, you can be summoned whenever one wants, even when you're not inside the Box. What does that mean?

That, at any point in time, Agent can clone Vic hundreds of times, as many as he needs. That Vic is replaceable.

I think that's the big twist of AVA 6: Vic will be killed by Agent sooner than anyone would think, allowing Agent to become the true villain and create a Vic Army. What is Agent's motive? Why did he bring back Vic, only to plan to kill him when he's no longer needed? Frankly, I have no idea. We don't know enough about him to speculate his motives. But, I know one thing:

Vic cannot escape who he is. That, behind the different color and the fancy company and the fact he's but a copy of the real deal, he is still Victim. And who is Victim?

A stick figure who was mistreated, killed and forgotten by a man with animation tools.

#animator vs animation #alan becker #ava victim #ava agent smith #ava theory #ava analysis #theory #no idea how to tie the other mercs into this #they just exist

[jensensitive]

text:

And John had another big secret. There is a place where hunters gather, and it's run by an old friend of his. Kripke reveals how that storyline came about. "Very frankly, we had a note come down from the mysterious and unnamed powers that be, that they wanted the boys to have a way-station. They wanted to develop a place where we could see familiar faces, where they could go and maybe pick up a case, or pick up information, etc. So we took the note and we considered it, as we always do And Bob Singer had this notion that I really liked, which was, 'What if it's like the cantina in Star Wars? What if it's a place where dangerous things happen and dangerous people cross paths? That's a really intriguing idea. And from there came the roadhouse. Then we had to populate it…

"We felt we'd spent so much time with the father son relationship, we wanted to see what a mother-daughter relationship looks like in this world, because we always try to make the story about family. So this idea came about for Ellen and Jo," Kripke continues, explaining the genesis of the Harvelle women. "Everyone would have expected that Ellen had some fling going on with John, so we didn't want to go there We wanted them to have a true and honest platonic friendship, but we also had to explain why John never told the boys about the roadhouse. And hence this terrible backstory of how John got Ellen's husband killed.

"Ellen brought a maternal energy for our world, which the boys have never had before, which I found was really interesting. Like a lioness, which is tough and badass and You touch my children, I will kill you.' Samantha Ferris really brought that character to life. She was everything you wanted the character to be - she was nuanced and complex and tough, yet beautiful and feminine.

"Jo was originally introduced to be a love interest for Dean," says Kripke, confirming fan speculation. "And there was supposed to be this growth of this character who rebelled against her mother and went off to be a hunter, and you could see this person harden and toughen as the season went on, which we actually ended up executing, but not the way we'd expected. I thought Alona Tal did an amazing job. She was likable and charming-everything she was supposed to be and more. I think we did her a disservice by misconceiving the character. We wrote her as an innocent girl who wanted to be a hunter, and that gave her this energy of leaping before she looked and doing all these things that Dean wouldn't necessarily spark to. She was just so enthusiastic and so girl-next-door about her approach to hunting. In hindsight, Dean wouldn't be attracted to that character- he'd be attracted to Jennifer Garner's character from Alias. He'd be attracted to someone who walked in the door, slaughtered everybody and walked out, and then he would say, 'Who's that? Alona played it beautifully, but the character wasn't playing as the love interest, she was playing as the little sister. And because that wasn't what we set out to do, and because we don't necessarily need a little sister character in our cast, unfortunately we phased out the character."

If the show's vocal Internet fans are representative of its general viewership, then it's safe to say the "little sister" character will not be missed. But Jo is not the only roadhouse denizen that didn't work out quite as planned. "Then we had the character [Ash.]"

[spn s2 companion, p. 14, 15]

text:

Jo's level of hunting experience wasn't the only element up in the air for Alona's first few episodes. "Eric Kripke had mentioned in the beginning that there was a possibility of making her a love interest [for Dean]," Alona confirms. "I adore Jensen Ackles. It would have been an honor and a pleasure…" But the direction the characters took produced a different chemistry onscreen. "We felt that there was tension between the characters. They made us very snappy toward each other, and that tends to come off as a brotherly-sisterly kind of relationship."

[spn s2 companion, p. 138]

--

Rob: So, at the end of this episode, we find out that your dad was killed doing battle with Jensen’s dad, right? With Sam and Dean’s dad. You remember that? (Alona: Yeah) Like on a hunting trip. And at first, I felt like we were gonna find out that you were like Sam and Dean’s, like Sam and Dean’s half sister or something. Cause, yknow, she was like– it’s something with John Winchester that I had this history with. So you’re thinking that maybe, yknow, your mom and their father had a relationship. Did you read– did you think that when you first read the script?

Alona: Honestly, I think that– If I remember correctly– again, because it was so long ago, I’m– there were a lot of life changes to this living thing called The Roadhouse crew, right? But when I first talked to Eric– to Kripke about it, he did say that I was… like a little– that that was a potential. That they were my– that I was like a little sister. (Richard: Oh!) Like a half-sister, and that we were gonna find out– that was something that could have happened. But they weren’t sure if it was gonna go there or potential love interest. He wasn’t sure what he wanted to do. I don’t remember if it was the network– somebody wanted it to be a love interest. But then, it would have been– He was amused by the thought of it being really [laughs] creepy– that they were going towards love interest and then finding out [laughs] that she’s a half-sister. I think it was a little too much for the network back then.

Rob: Yeah [laughs]

Richard: Shame on them.

Alona: Although, I thought it was a really– I mean, playing with a potential love interest, but never fully going there, and then finding out she was a half sister would have been a lot, would have been fun. Cause it would have led to this like “eughh” moment between them.

Rob: [laughs] It woulda been funny. Yeah, it woulda been funny

Alona: It would have been– it would have been really funny. (Rob: Yeah) A little ahead of it’s time perhaps, but um, but that never ended up happening, and neither did the love interest thing, so, yknow there’s that.

Richard: I kinda thought– I took the bait as a viewer, I thought you were gonna come out as a half sister. And I mean I know I probably would have known that, going to so many conventions, I would have heard that already, but nonetheless, watching the episode, I’m like, “Ohhh, they did– they did it, and they had a daughter, oh man.” [Rob laughs]

Alona: Yeah! Yeah! (Richard: So, fooled me) And it would have– that would have made perfect sense.

Richard: Yeah, yknow, Rob and I kind of bemuse– yknow, we think out loud a lot about what drives the decision making of writers, and lord knows we don’t know. But your character is one of the prime examples of “they could have gone so many different directions.” I mean like, and, and they could have been– there’s a parallel universe where you ended up being a regular on that show for fifteen seasons. Yknow what I mean? Like, your character, really is, uh, attached– and [the] Roadhouse could have become more of a home base set. Like, yknow, when you watch this season up now– yknow, later on they had [the] Men of Letters [bunker]– [the] Roadhouse, it definitely seemed like the one standing set the show had for a while.

Alona: It– I think that’s what it was supposed to be. I remember Eric mentioning that– I mean that, the character was supposed to go one for much longer– Jo and Ellen. It was– it was  supposed to be that. And back then in what now it seems like the stone ages, there were the fan forums. [...] They had the cw forums, and fans would go on and they– I mean let’s not sugarcoat it– they hated my character.

[...]

Richard: And you were an obvious partner for Dean. Yknow what I mean– that rapport?

Alona: Yeah, especially like season two, that was– that was where it was going. And that– that was– she was brought in there, and I remember Eric telling me like, “You are the female version of him. So act, yknow, how cocky he walks around, and he has all this like, the bravado of the Dean character.” I tried to have a little bit of that in Jo without making it too obnoxious, and it just was– it backfired. [...] The response of the viewers was not what was intended, right? It wasn’t what was expected. It wasn’t what the writers, and the brilliant creator of the show were wanting, so they had to pivot. And that’s only me assuming. I wasn’t in the rooms, right, but the way it pivoted was so parallel to what they were writing that I can only assume that it was influenced by-- a show that really does listen to its fanbase– which is a good thing! For the show and for the fans. Not so much for me.

[spn then and now, 2x06, 16:30 - 24:00]

#long post #s2 companion #jo harvelle #the roadhouse #ellen harvelle #eric kripke #alona tal #spn then and now #this doesn't all necessarily gel together perfectly so i wanted it all in one post

[dapper-lil-arts]

That twiluna steampunk fic I mentioned comes to the rescue with yet another characterization I really like, but this time for Rainbow Dash

She has aspirations of being an explorer---despite being stuck in her dead-end job---but tries too hard to fit into the Gentlemare Adventurer archetype, so she puts on a fake British accent all of the time, and it's honestly a fun motivation for her. She's also quick-witted, as in a standoff, she gave an out to the other characters that not even Twilight thought of. Finally, she straight up punches an evil university professor that had been mistreating Pinkie Pie for pretty much her entire life.

Unrelated, but some other fun things that I like about this fic:

Rarity literally starts drooling when she first sees Applejack---who is described to be very muscular---and this leads to some very funny moments between the two

Rarity having some badass moments like using her cigarette to light the throne room on fire, or intentionally giving uncorrected math equations to cover up plans

characters having knowledge that makes the setting more believable, like Twilight and Pinkie being inventors, Applejack being a handymare, and Rainbow being able to charge really powerful lightning

no spoilers, but I REALLY like the directions this story takes, and it's not just a steampunk retelling of the first two episodes of the show

Alright, I think that's enough gushing about this fic, but it proves as a great example as to why I often like fan content more than canon content for anything, not just MLP

I heard rarity starts drooling over applejack and passed out. what did i miss Srsly tho ya should link the fic; i agree completely that fanon content is often better, because we get the benefit of hindsight and unlimited restrctions! Both of my long-form fics have been AUs, one which i reased the equestria girls world from canon, and another where i literaly made the shrek story into rarijack. fantasy world mlp ahoy

#HOORAY FOR STEAMPUNK HORSE YURI

[duhragonball]

Neon Genesis Evangelion 04

"We have to use fourteen-year-olds to pilot the Evas. And we have to make rainbow scans of their skinny little butts! The future of mankind depends on it!"

This episode, Shinji runs away from home. Or maybe he's going back to wherever he lived before he came to Tokyo-3, so he's running away to home? He's running away is the point here.

Misato isn't very surprised to discover this, but she's still frustrated. Then Shinji's classmates, Suzuhara and the other guy... I was gonna look him up but I looked up Suzuhara and just got spoiled so fuck that. We're calling him Big Rigg Mahoney now. Yeah, Suzuhara's taller, but I don't care. We're going with it.

Anyway, Suzuhara and Big Rigg Mahoney show up at Misato's apartment because they haven't seen Shinji at school for days. Suzuhara wants to apologize for punching Shinji in Episode 3. He only did it because he blamed Shinji for fighting the Angel so close to the city, which got his sister hospitalized, but his sister chewed him out for this, and he and Big Rigg Mahoney got a first-hand look at what it's like for Shinji when he's piloting that Eva. That's his motivation, Big Rigg Mahoney's mostly involved because he likes war movies and likes playing soldier, and he's fascinated by the Evas, NERV Agency, etc.

They did not expect a grown woman to be living in Shinji's apartment, so they hand her his assignments from school and leave, but now they think Shinji is even cooler, because he's a badass pilot and he's living with a hot babe.

Let me get this out of the way: I did find this episode much more enjoyable than the last one. I had a good feeling about it, since the next-episode preview promised that Shinji would run away, which was encouraging because at least Shinji would have to make a conscious decision and act upon it, like some sort of fictional character might do. But then it occurred to me that maybe Suzuhara and Big Rigg Mahoney might have kidnapped Shinji and told him to run away, in a misguided attempt to help him. And Shinji would be like "hai!" and go AWOL simply because someone told him to. That would suck, so when these two show up early in the episode and they have no idea where he went either, it was very reassuring.

Not that it's too much of a change for Shinji. He's off on his own, but he's still mopey and dead inside. He rides the subway all the way to the end of the line, listening to his playlist of "Track 25" and "Track 26" over and over again the whole way. Then he realizes he has to "go back". I'm not sure what that means, but I assume he's talking about going back to Tokyo-3, since he doesn't seem to have a destination in mind. And yet, he's in no hurry, stopping off at a movie theater that's running some sort of film festival of Second Impact documentaries.

He watches a couple making out in the theater. I don't know if he's envious or fascinated or disgusted, or he just doesn't know what else to do.

Meanwhile, Misato discusses Shinji's disappearance with Ritsuko. We flash back to the aftermath of the battle in Episode 3. Misato had ordered Shinji to retreat before his Eva ran out of power, but Shinji went gonzo and killed the Angel instead. She scolded him for ignoring her orders, but he acted cavalier about it, reminding her that they won, so it doesn't really matter. She warned him that his attitude will only get him killed, and he replied that his attitude doesn't matter, because he's the only one who can pilot the Eva. It's either Shinji or Rei (who's still injured), or nobody, so they might as well let Shinji fuck around and find out. If he gets himself killed they're no worse off than if he doesn't pilot the Eva at all.

In hindsight, Misato is kind of relieved he's gone, because at least this way he won't bring this fatalistic mentality onto the battlefield. The disconnect here is that she's some sort of career soldier, with loyalties and duties and causes to respect. Shinji got drafted last month, and he doesn't want to do this and he's only participating because he's the indispensible man. But Shinji hates himself, so if he gets killed through incompetence, it's no better or worse than winning every battle, or abandoning his post. It's all the same to him, he's got nothing to gain or lose here.

Meanwhile, Shinji happens upon Big Rigg Mahoney, who's playing soldier out in the middle of nowhere. He's got a uniform and a tent and everything. When he spots Shinji he invites him over for whatever he's cooking, and they hang out. See, this is nice. Shinji took matters into his own hands, and now he's hanging out with his friend, Big Rigg Mahoney.

Finally, a bunch of goons from NERV show up and take Shinji into custody. The next day, Suzuhara is upset to hear the Big Rigg Mahoney let them take Shinji without a fight, but come on, man. Big Rigg Mahoney didn't get this far in life without learning to know when to fight and when to take it easy.

Back at the base, Shinji expects Misato to scold him, but she doesn't. She just asks him if he enjoyed his time away, and he says he doesn't know. Classic Shinji. They continue their argument from before. He doesn't want to pilot the Eva because he sucks at it and it's scary and painful, but he doesn't think it's right to leave it all up to Rei and the others. Misato tells him that has nothing to do with it. If he's only forcing himself to go along with this, then he'll never be in the right mindset to do any good as an Eva pilot. Better if he just calls it quits now and forgets he ever got involved.

Meanwhile, Shinji's dad could not give a shit less whether Shinji leaves or not. He's already figuring out what to do when he's gone. If Shinji won't pilot Eva Unit 01, then they'll just reconfigure it for Rei. Apparently that's a thing they can do now. I thought each pilot had their own specific Eva Unit they were bonded to, but I guess not. According to this conversation, Rei was injured while piloting Unit 00, but it wasn't in combat. They were just running experiments on Unit 00 to get it working, and there must have been an accident.

So some of this is becoming clearer. We still don't know why only certain teenagers can pilot the Evas, but we do know that there are others besides Rei and Shinji. They just haven't located very many candidates, so it's not like Shinji is completely irreplaceable. And Rei is recovering, so there's that. And Shinji can resign whenever he wants. He only got arrested last night because he left without resigning. Today, he's decided to go through with it, and NERV doesn't seem sorry to see him go. Shinji asks if he can say farewell to Misato, but they're like "You quit, so you're not authorized to see her." At this point all NERV cares about is escorting him off their base.

Suzuhara and Big Rigg Mahoney do show up to see him off, though. Suzuhara finally apologizes to Shinji for punching him, and insists that Shinji punch him back to restore his honor. Shinji reluctantly agrees, and at first he kind of holds back, but then Suzuhara tells him to hit like he means it, and he does. See, this is nice.

Shinji apologizes for leaving Tokyo-3 in a lurch, but the boys are used to classmates moving out, and they know how hard it is for Shinji to pilot the Eva, so they don't blame him for quitting. Suzuhara promises to beat up anyone who doesn't respect Shinji's decision to leave.

Finally the NERV goons decide it's time for him to go to the train station, but he pulls away just long enough to tell Suzuhara and Big Rigg Mahoney that he has been cowardly and weak after all. It's like he's having second thoughts about the whole thing.

Back at the base, Misato mulls the whole thing over, and it finally hits her that this is how Shinji expresses his feelings. He runs away and waits for someone to care that he's gone. Realizing this, she rushes to the train station to see him, but she sees the train pull out just as she arrives. For a second she thinks she was too late, but then when the train is gone...

They see each other on either side of the tracks. Shinji couldn't go through with leaving, I suppose because Suzuhara and Big Rigg Mahoney were enough to make him question his decision. But now he looks up and sees Misato cared about him too, and that puts him over the hump.

Then Shinji declares that he's home, and Misato replies "Welcome home." And that's a beautiful moment. Everything kind of came together. Now I'm starting to see what the fuss is about here.

I stand by my criticism of Episode 3, though. I don't think they needed four episodes of this show to get to this moment. Two episodes, maybe. They could have ditched all those scenes of Shinji staring at Misato's beer cans in Episode 2, and trimmed a lot of fat from Episode 3. Suzuhara could have found out about Shinji being an Eva pilot some other way before the episode started, instead of that long scene in the classroom.

Still, we're here. Shinji has decided that he actually cares about Tokyo-3 and its people, and he wants to pilot the Eva to protect his home, not just because someone else told him to do it. We'll see how well that goes, but it's a big step forward.

Also, the next episode preview shows Rei looking healthy and doing things, so that seems like a big improvement too. Everything's coming up Milhouse!

#neon genesis evangelion #shinji ikara #toji suzuhara #misato katsuragi #gendo ikara #ritsuko akagi #rei ayanami #big rigg mahoney #don't tell me what his real name is it's too late for that #his name's big rigg mahoney now and forever

[adamshallperish]

my rating of supernatural season 2

1 - in my time of dying

literally they were insane for starting a season off like this. it had everything. i appreciate in hindsight how well it set up the themes for the entire rest of the season, as well as genuinely threw me off and astonished me. i have such complicated feelings on john winchester, but jeffrey dean morgan infuses him with such sympathy that i couldn't help but feel for him. fredric lehene as azazel is also a highlight, i genuinely think he gave us one of the best performances of the season, and i wonder if we'll be seeing him back. emotionally i think this was my most evocative post of the liveblog. 10/10

2 - everybody loves a clown

while the monster in this didn't hit as hard for me, i think it did a great job of setting up the roadhouse as a central location for the show, as well as introducing us to ellen, jo, and ash (my beloved, may his memory be a fucking blessing). it was also really impactful to see sam and dean's separate ways of grieving john, as well as giving us a really interesting role reversal. showing dean as the one disillusioned with their father while sam is eager to carry on his work is very compelling, especially because it's evident (at least to me) that sam is far more like his father than dean is. i'm glad they resolved my stress about the impala because jesus christ. 8/10

3 - bloodlust

MAN this episode fucks. it has a lot of supernatural all time hits, like dean's coping mechanisms (bad), classic winchester codependency, wondering about the morality of judging all supernatural creatures as "monsters" to be exterminated, and starts setting up the tension of dean potentially having to kill his brother. unfortunately, it also introduces another kind of supernatural standard, which is its constant crimes against black people. gordon is an interesting and compelling character, but you can really tell he was the product of white writers and casting directors, because his complexities are not treated well. it's also worth noting that in this season, the majority of the recurring antagonists are black men, and the implications of that just. doesn't really sit well with me. beyond that though, the premise of the episode is really interesting. 7/10

4 - children shouldn't play with dead things

we have another like. weirdly sexually charged episode. which is par for the course in this show but it's always funny to witness wincest in its natural tongue-in-cheek habitat. i thought the monster in this was fun, and it sets up the revelation dean has about john dying for him very very well. the one sin is that y'all did not have an episode set in lawrence kansas without having the boys go visit missouri mosely? really? the disrespect. 8/10

5 - simon said

this episode did NOT have to go as hard as it did. this is like. peak supernatural. i really enjoyed andy as a character, and the further setup of the chosen children and their abilities is sick as hell. the parallels between sam & dean and andy & his brother were... appropriately bonkers. this is supernatural. we can't have a normal brotherly relationship. we got fell on black days. 10/10

6 - no exit

i have to admit that i really love jo and was glad to see her centered more in an episode, though i am begging her and dean just to get it over with and make out already. i also thought that making h. h. holmes the ghost was pretty badass. this season does a lot more with actual american folklore and history instead of just having generic monster of the week episodes, and as a huge nerd i thought that was great. the ellen and john backstory reveal was also particularly tragic. i had fun here. 7/10

7 - the usual suspects

okay this one was so much fun. this was one of the first episodes where they really shook up the formula and turned our expectations of it on its head. i also thought highlighting how in sync sam and dean are with each other through a prisoner's dilemma scenario was really clever. this show never really commits to an acab stance in a way i would have preferred, but this was the early aughts so like. it's whatever. they get close enough to it. 8/10

8 - crossroad blues

this episode excels in that it takes one of the most classic american folktales (selling your soul to the devil at the crossroads) and uses it as a fun monster premise as well as setting up the denouement. it also has a fun tribute to robert johnson, which i found pretty cool. demons seal deals with a kiss so i demand to know why the hell azazel and john didn't kiss. you know. for scientific purposes. 8/10

9 - croatoan

insane that this show managed to make a zombie apocalypse style episode without zombies or the apocalypse. it was pretty inventive, especially because i'm kind of tired of the white western idea of zombies. the conspiracies around the word croatoan are kind of funny to me because like. overwhelmingly the evidence points to the lost roanoke colony assimilating with the local american indian nations, but i'm here for a fun time not a technical time. this episode also sets up some insane lore for the end of the season with sam, as well as some classic winchester agonizing. 9/10

10 - hunted

gonna put a quick trigger warning for discussion of racism here.

this episode could have been perfect and then they dropped the ball so hard at the end that it was physically painful. it had two incredible soundtrack choices (white rabbit and supermassive black hole), what was maybe a twin peaks reference???, it girl katherine isabelle, and some really well done suspense where dean is essentially a trap baited for sam. however, the righteous justice for gordon being sam calling the cops on him so a bunch of cops roll up on a black man wildly shooting a gun into the night made me feel sick to my stomach. there's no real way to look at that as anything but racist and tone deaf. they could have handled gordon's character far better. at the time, i said that i was glad that the show didn't show its white protagonists shooting a black man in cold blood, but the last episode really negated that. ugh. i don't know if i feel good about rating this episode quite honestly, because it was really the best and worst of supernatural.

11 - playthings

HOLY FUCK. WHAT CAN I EVEN SAY THAT HASN'T ALREADY BEEN SAID. it's a homage to the shining and also like. thee wincest episode? how am i supposed to be normal about this. 100/10

12 - night shifter

i'm so glad they brought the shapeshifter mechanic back, but i don't think it was done as effectively as in skins 1x06, but maybe i just have a fixation on the erotic. anyway. i kind of struggled with the setup for this, because while it is cool, it doesn't feel as classically supernatural to me. calling sam dean's bonnie to his clyde? insane. 7/10

13 - houses of the holy

i don't really have anything coherent to say here except sam winchester prays every day. amen. 8/10

14 - born under a bad sign

ohhhh the concept of this fucked so hard, but the pacing was just really off. it felt like simultaneously this episode should have had more time with this story, but on the other hand i don't know if it should have lasted two episodes. lost time is one of my favorite tropes, and the tension that comes with demon!sam is fantastic. i just wish that this episode had hit harder for me. 7/10

15 - tall tales

i said in my liveblog that this episode felt like that one episode of merlin where gaius is possessed by a goblin, and i stand by that. honestly i understand the need for there to be lighter episodes with less heavy stakes, and it was fun to see how the brothers saw the same events from different points of view, but this episode was kind of a low point for me. it was fun, but nothing extraordinary. i did really like the detail of the trickster getting away at the end. that was fun. 6/10

16 - roadkill

okay i did not expect this episode to tear my heart out. i really liked this, i thought it was startlingly sweet and sad. mike flanagan wishes he could make ghosts realizing they're dead this good quite honestly. 10/10

17 - heart

what the fuck! 10/10

18 - hollywood babylon

this was a lot of fun! this show likes to play around with meta a lot, and i think this was probably the most well done example of it thus far. it felt like the showrunners were poking fun at themselves more than anything, which i found pretty neat. 7/10

19 - folsom prison blues

first of all. you can't fucking name your episode folsom prison blues and not even play a johnny cash song. that's not how that works. it has some genuinely fun stakes and doesn't handle the prison aspect totally awfully. we also got an alice in chains needle drop! rooster was completely misplaced contextually, but aic's one of my favorite bands and i'm just glad we got it. 7/10

20 - what is and what should never be

what the fuck part two. dean winchester breaks my heart. 8/10

21 - all hell breaks loose (part 1)

HI UH THIS IS PEAK TELEVISION. I FEEL. HUUUUUGH. they really did it! they spent the entire season telling us that sam was going to die and then the crazy sons of bitches did it! i also really genuinely enjoyed the premise, as well as the ava reveal (katherine isabelle carried), and ash and andy made me so sad. fredric lehne is pure ice as azazel. delicious episode. 10/10

22 - all hell breaks loose (part 2)

this episode made me want to commit atrocities and i'm fine. dean winchester's constant willingness to sacrifice for the ones he loves because he's so deeply convinced that he's let them down makes me want to gnaw off all my fingers. sam's maybe come back wrong? incredible. JOHN WINCHESTER WITH A STEEL CHAIR. i'm addicted to this show. 10/10

#spn #spn liveblog #supernatural season review #spn season 2 #mine

[branchofcinnamon]

How would you have felt about REVIII if the roles were reversed. Ethan "dies" and we play as Mia instead?

Honestly think that would be so sick. I love Ethan but I love Mia too!!!! And one of my favorite parts from re7 is the ship portion when we see a glimpse of her as Eveline’s “caretaker” in the tape, being a badass, and playing as her on the ship with a machine gun. In re8 she is a “damsel” (again) locked up in a cell the entire time :/ (and experimented on??? Come on why. That too was probably a throwaway line and won’t lead to anything). 

Also how funny it would have been (in hindsight) to see Ethan’s face for the first time in the Village trailer, then he immediately gets shot by Chris dkfkdsklmfd. BUT it's okay because he wouldn’t really be dead either, either cuz of the mold or it was Miranda pretending to be him instead. Ethan being the one locked up and “experimented on” makes more sense too if the mold reveal is kept. 

AND protag Mia would have been a better parallel imo to MOTHER Miranda & while Mia is going through the story it would have been a chance to expand on why she worked for those people & a chance for her to be forgiven/forgive herself

Mia fucking knew Miranda too from the photo. the missed potential!!!

I have a friend that tells me “Mia is just a plot device/not meant to be a real character” okay well she’s a real character to ME.

#mia winters #re8 spoilers #ignoring capcom and manifesting Mia returning in re9 #i mean i dont need to forgive Mia i think she got caught up in something bad #made mistakes blah blah blah #then tried to make it right with good intentions #but everyone else needs to hear it lol #asks

[missn11]

Stealing this from another fandom, but my talented friend! Let's play Fic authors self rec! Reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to other writers if you like. Let’s spread the self-love ❤

@badass-at-cuddling oh this is fun :D thank you for sending this ask :D

Hmmm... oh this is hard to break down my fics into a top five XD

So in no particular order, here are my top five fave fics I've ever written, I've picked fics that are finished to make it easier for me to choose from, but again I really enjoy most of my fics so its hard for me to choose between all my babies XD

All she'll have is divinity and the void https://archiveofourown.org/works/41238993 This was my first fanfic for Devilman and one I'm still proud of too. The idea just got a hold of me for days before I finally wrote it, I've always feel that both the Devilman series and the fandom really have a bad habit of treating Miki like a holy saint rather than as a flawed human being and not really letting her be angry(honestly Miki being allowed to be angry is a theme in my devilman fics so far XDDD) and also I love exploring the affects of going through time loop after time loop would have on characters like Miki who has to relieve her death over and over again.

2. Better to wither away or be beckoned to war? https://archiveofourown.org/works/34106080/chapters/84849817 This was a emotionally rough fic for me to write but I'm proud of getting it done and I had fun exploring the idea that the beckoning and the withering were one in the same since they both have the same temporary cure, and also love writing LaCroix making even more awful choices out of desperation to keep his life before he realises he is wrong.

3. Hindsight is a Bitch https://archiveofourown.org/works/25990186 I just really got into the idea of Damsel looking back at her relationship with Nines and seeing all the messed up things he had done(in the fic's AU ofc) and again you can see most of my fave fic are fic where I do deep character and relationship studies XD

4. Drawn in by a Kuei-jin and a Prince https://archiveofourown.org/works/23437015 Ahh my first LaCroix/Nines/Ming Xiao fic the one I really wrote for myself XD I do really enjoy writing Nines' POV and his bite backs to LaCroix and Ming Xiao and ofc the femdomness of it all XD

5. Movie Night https://archiveofourown.org/works/22886368 and here's another LaCroix/Nines/Ming Xiao fic I wrote out of pure self-indulgence, sometimes its just nice to write fics where the characters are just having a nice movie night and just being cute together. :3

Phew that was hard to choose from and honestly in the future if I do this again and I write more fics I'm sure this top five will shift around XD

now as for who I'll taggg... @akirenhell, @soggy-devilman, @ryttu3k, @robotslenderman, @iravaid, @lower-east-side and @badass-at-cuddling :D

#asks #badass at cuddling #fanfiction #my writing #devilman #vampire the masquerade #vampire the masquerade bloodlines #vtmb

[roundboard]

Brutal Orchestra Art Hitlist

Just a list talking about each of the characters that I’ll have to go through drawing in Brutal Orchestra. Will detail plans and thoughts on ones I haven’t done, and reflect on the ones I have :)

Nowak/Bosch

I’m coming for you (two)...

Boyle

Done! Clean and simple inclusion of lore elements with a more interesting pose than I normally go for, really happy with how this one came out!

Hans

Done and dusted, I really did try to see if I could include SOME element of her items and such, but no luck... it cluttered the drawing far too much and there were too many conflicting themes. I tried my best to just elevate a lot of the simpler elements of Hans, and used one of her main abilities as a base for the concept.

Also included the fact her arms look kind of like spindly nerves as that’s how they seemed to be imagined by a lot of the community in canon! I think I made her look really nice and I’m still happy with it.

Burnout

Finished :) Probably my rawest piece yet, mega happy with how visceral I depicted him, as he deserves to be!!

Fennec

Fairly happy with how he turned out! I was trying to vary my angles since I have a habit of drawing characters facing right so I wanted to make sure to introduce some variety to the portraits. Plus, it’ll look even nicer by the end when they’re all lined up next to each other. 

He definitely seems a lot more jungle-y than he would let on but... A lot of his abilities seemed that way so I couldn’t help it. Not like it’s a bad thing, green + blue is a pretty good colour combo

Anton

I was definitely happy with him for a first attempt at this project, especially with how I shaded the mask, but I’m almost definitely going to go back to redo him. In hindsight there isn’t enough Anton swagger going on (minus the finger guns) and I think some element of his rude/skittish/gamble-orientated nature has to be shown off somehow.

Splig

Possibly my strongest work concept wise so far, or it’s tied with Kleiver. I’m really proud of myself for composing it in a way that shows off the Tao symbol they have in one of their attacks, and also demonstrate their syringe attack. It all looks pretty fluid as well. 

Only nitpick I’d have with this one is that it’s much more rough and simple(?) compared to my other works. Though, to be fair, this piece was the shortest to draw out of everything so far (about 2 hours or so)

Pearl

donezo... massive maw angle was definitely a good idea

Thype

My second drawing. Still really happy with the more oil paint-like thing going on for him, but similar to Anton, I feel like I could've shown off more from their lore/attacks. 

I’m less likely to try and to a complete redo like I am for Anton on this one, but I may make some adjustments? We can call it a remaster. Remaster sounds good and professional (which I am)

Griffin

I think I stuffed in as much lore as I could in the drawing (minus the fire, but I feel it would’ve oversaturated it.) My progress on lighting and shadows seems to be improving a good amount!! Excited to translate this skill into future drawings

Arnold

went with a more abstract and rough approach to convey arnold having a bit of a breakdown.. I think it worked really well and definitely a style I’d like to experiment with more in the future

Dmitri

Finally done... mega happy with the fire effects and I’m glad I could up the quality of the background more than just a standard black one or textured one! 

Mung

Mung

LongLiver

Finally managed to unlock him, and despite my initial worry that I wouldn’t be able to do something that creative, I managed it! I’m starting to get more comfortable with simple concepts done with more artistic flair if I can’t figure out a way to include their lore or attacks too much within the drawing itself. I also think this drawing shows off a bit more of my Disco Elysium style roots :) very proud of it!

Clive

Resident badass completed!! There was a point where he looked super bland and his head look way too long (like an egg) so thank god for the glow that was added later on... and the shortening of the skull

Kleiver

Even with the limited colour palette, I’m super super super happy with this one. This piece could’ve been kind of boring with just Kleiver shushing but my inspiration basically screamed out of nowhere that I could have bloodied music trails emanating from the stain on his hammer... Head. It doesn’t really show off his attacks but it shows off his brutality and lore enough that I’m absolutely satisfied with how he turned out. I nailed that hand pretty well too.

Cranes

Incredibly with the more simple and clean approach I took!! my first time trying out rain and such so I was really satisfied with how it turned out

Agon

My spookiest work yet, probably... I still really like this one :) depicted his yelling the best way I knew how! Super abstract but fits him well

Rags

Really really happy with her, I think the shading and colours came out excellent. Managed to fit some good stuff about her concept and item wise as well :) I think my only gripe might be that it’s a little less coherent than it could’ve been, with some of the parts of the drawing being quite dark.

However, I’m still really happy with it!!

SmokeStacks

Did this because some guy on reddit asked for it really nicely, even though SmokeStacks wasn’t even on my radar at the time... But they seemed to like it! I did too. I was initially trying to position SmokeStacks like every other portrait up close, but I realized I really wanted to show off the smoke more than the stacks part so I went ham on making the smoke look spooky and ominous.

He’s meant to be sitting on a pile of trash which is kinda hard to tell but I’m pretty happy with this one too.

Leviat

I like how dynamic and “pop-y” I made this one :) experimented with a style I didn’t do too often and was worried about how I’d handle the mass of flesh/teeth and masks thing but it turned out really nice

Bimini

Put as much for the character as I could into it! I think probably the most “packed” in terms of references so far... I do wish I could’ve done something a bit more with the background though

Gospel

so spacey... so gospel... it’s perfect

Mordrake

Mega happy with this one concept and execution wise :) holds a special place in my heart!

#brutal orchestra #brutalorchestra

[squarebracket-trickster]

Thumbprint Tag

Rules: look back on your work, both past and present, finished and unfinished. What are five to ten narrative elements or tropes that continuously pop up in your work? Give a list of these things!

@on-noon don't mind if I jump on your open tag. I can get soooooo weirdly specific with this...

Oh yes, and I am going to carry on the open tag. Anyone that wants to join may.

Read More because oddly specific requires lots of words--

A female character from a very disadvantaged background (see political prisoner, indentured servant, peasant, enslaved person, poor etc.) who has an unlikely meet cute with someone (male) who turns out to be extremely privileged (see royalty, crazy rich etc.). They become friends. One day she has a really rough day, ends up sick, and he takes care of her (like makes her meals, rubs her shoulders, holds her hair when she throws up etc.). They don't end up dating until a while after this happens. If I had a nickel for every time this shows up in a story I'd have dollars by now.

Two or three female characters that my straight-ass spends years trying to ship with every palatable male character in the story to see if I can make them date. After years without success I finally realize that these characters are lesbians and they were made for each other. When their story arcs get finalized into canon they have an epic friends-to-lovers slow burn romance.

A main female character that, in hindsight, should have been my clue that I had ADHD. Re: talks too fast, says the most random shit, won't shut up, sits weirdly in chairs, really good in a crisis, always waving her hands when she talks, sensory issues galore, no eye contact, last minute queen, always has a song stuck in her head, can list 50 digits of pi but can't remember why the fuck she just walked into that room, and most importantly, me saying about this character, "I feel so relaxed when I write/daydream about her. It's like a release. Like, I can finally be myself and do all the things people think are annoying, but everyone in her life thinks she's funny and likes her energy." Like, you might as well have written MASKING ADHD directly across my forehead.

A monarchy that becomes a republic by the end of the story because I want to write about attractive princes and badass queens/empresses but I am also an anti-monarchist...

A character who was based off an irl friend that lost relevance in the story and got written out, only for me to eventually drift away from that friend or discover that they weren't the friend I thought they were.

Long rants about whatever topic I am learning about in uni at that time (assigned to a particular character for plot reasons). This week's rant was on Populism...

A couple that I decided could never be a couple because the power imbalance and political nonsense was too problematic, who ended up becoming a couple anyways because I have no self-control and them being together was just so *feels*. When all is finalized into canon, these couples get a glorious enemies-to-lovers slow burn that lasts several years and plenty of denial (in homage to my own feelings on the subject).

That moment when a character takes off their disguise and reveals that they are, in fact, a princess, goddess, secret agent etc. in order to save someone's life.

Idk what some of these say about me. idk if I want to know...

#tag game #wipi sort of #wipiii sort of

[faebriel]

pretty new to fandom and never have heard of bluesky, what fandom is it from? or is it just its own thing published to ao3?

ohhhh anon. oh boy anon.

okay so blue sky is a portal fanfic written by wafflestories, originally on livejournal, also on ffnet. here's the ffnet link. no it's not on ao3 yeah wild right. it is set post-portal 2, so if you don't know the story to the game i don't wanna spoil you and am gonna put All That Synopsis under a cut here. no spoilers for the actual fic tho! yayers

Meteors, signals, apologies, and that tricky little thing called humanity - four years after the events of Portal II, Wheatley's been handed a second chance, but it's not going to be plain sailing…

the summary says it all, really - after returning to earth from his spacely rendezvous, wheatley gets another chance at Not being a terrible person and mending his relationship with chell.

yea also it's chelley (chell/wheatley for the unacquainted). i don't actually know what the vibe check is on chelley these days i think chelldos is more common now at least on tumblr. and i am not arguing with that because that big robot is gay and frankly good for her. but i can say when i played the portal games back in like 2014 chelley had a fucking vice grip on the fandom. the soccerball was a tumblr sexyman, for goodness' sake. and of the squillions of chelley fics around at the time (some of them probably quite questionable in hindsight but we don't gotta talk about it right now) blue sky was the crown jewel.

the thing is? blue sky 100% deserves that spot. shit, it's one of my favourite fanworks ever.

arguably because it's not really focusing on being a shipfic. i know half this recommendation is talking about shipping but i'm giving some context here alright to the nouveau portal fans who were Not there in 2014 and i feel the need to justify like No This Fic Is Actually A Really Good Take On It Trust Me. we are not here to kiss the metal ball we are here to grab him by the lapels and watch him struggle to go from an objectively terrible person to a deeply insecure person three steps from relapsing Back into that terrible person to someone who actually has their moral and ethical shit together. i think it does portay glados in a less sympathetic light than some other fics but also bro (gender neutral) i was reading portal fic in 2014 and 2014 alone i saw so much worse than "yeah glados is still on her i'm-in-denial-about-my-humanity-and-taking-it-out-on-everyone-else schtick"

i'm sick of writing paragraphs. reasons why blue sky is really cool, fic spoilers minimal:

a redemption arc where a character's flaws are not skipped over; in fact, they are dragged into the light and shown off at all angles to be appropriately judged by the reader and the characters in story. no woobification here. if anything the opposite - blue sky takes opportunities to remind the reader wheatley is very capable of being a shit person and the fact that he is doing this whole redemption arc thing is important

but still acknowledging the trauma that is apeture science. saying shit's fucked up without excusing everything else that people did because of it

blue sky is definitely a wheatley centric fic (i don't think this is a bad thing because Let's Redeem Wheatley is a concept that requires a lot of narrative attention and heavylifting tbh) but it doesn't overlook chell's feelings about apeture and also about this whole oh wheatley's back situation. she's strong and badass but she's also allowed to have those feelings and be worried and anxious but also angry. and that doesn't make her not a badass. wah i love her

the town of eaden!!! chell has found a home after portal 2 and they are lovely and she loves them and they love her. i was obsessed with some of these characters as a teenager and they are all ocs. but they are so well written and integrated into the story so well that you can't help but love them. it is so easy to see why chell loves them and especially as wheatley gets attached to them too. it just. ough. it all feels so real they're all wonderful

bro (gender neutral) the redemption arc hinges not on romance or whatever but on the love one gives and receives by contributing to their community and finding their place and taking the things they've been told they're shit for their entire existence and spinning it into something that helps others. tell me that is not the best shit ever

i like how it depicts the robotics and technology its fun :]

there are several scenes that are imprinted in my fucking brain. i swear. one the hallway scene. two the tower scene. three the nightlight scene. four the foxglove scene. if you know you know

#anon i am pre emptively really sorry if you are not into portal and this doesnt interest you bc i kind of used it as a platform to go off #asks

[travasourus-rex]

A Prince's Legacy Revisted

Hindsight's funny thing. I wrote the first chapter of A Prince's Legacy 6 years ago simply wanted to tell the story of Hunter Prince, and how Wonder Woman choosing to raise a son with the guidance and love of the Amazons wouldn't make her less of an Amazon herself after the comic book story arc where Hunter's character appears in wasted the potential of the of the idea pissed me off to no end. (It still does.) Honestly, I felt like I could give the idea the justice it deserves when I wrote the first chapter and I never anticipated this story to grow in popularity like it has.

But it's been a few years, and I've written so much fanfiction since, always feeling like I'm improving my writing style with each new chapter I post, so I wanted the story I still care very much about to reflect that. I have spent the last two weeks not rewriting the first 2 chapters of A Prince's Legacy, but revising them to add more dialog, more descriptive actions in scenes to help the story flow better, a greater understanding of what is going on in a character's thoughts in certain moments of the story, changing some aspects entirely that didn't make sense or stick the landing as well as I would've liked first time around,and I plan to continue the revision process with every chapter up to the most current one. The process is slow going through as I got an actual job in the big scary real world during the last two years that takes up most of my free time and energy more days than not, so I ask that fans of the series bear with me.

Some highlights of the first two chapters are:

A deeper conversation between Hippolyta and baby Hunter in the introductory scene of the first chapter.

A different scene between Diana and Hunter after the 15 year time skip.

A more fleshed out motivation for Lorena that dives deeper into her love for Arthur and Mera as well as Atlantis.

A deeper familial bond for Lorena with Arthur and Mera explicitly stating they consider Lorena to be their daughter, and Lorena stating she considers them to be her parents.

Showcasing Lorena's Aqua-Kinetic abilities way earlier in the story.

Longer and more detailed action sequences in chapter 2, and Lorena being more of a badass during those sequences.

Giving Mera more than two lines of dialog and an action sequence during chapter 2 instead of having her constantly worrying the children. (Like that meme from The Simpsons)

Mera challenging Diana directly about what they are willing to give up for the sake of their children.

Hopefully, the beginning of a more well-rounded story.

Link for chapter 1: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12471716/chapters/28385328

Link for chapter 2: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12471716/chapters/30147915

Lastly, I want to thank everyone who has continued to read this story and love the characters as much as I do, and I hope to keep entertaining you all as the story goes on. Thank you.

#wonder woman #diana prince #hunter prince #aquagirl #lorena marquez #hippolyta #steve trevor #wonder woman 2017 #wonder woman 1984 #aquaman #arthur curry #mera #mera of xebel #aquamera #aquaman and mera #arthur x mera #aquaman movie #aquaman and the lost kingdom #orm marius #dc movies #dc cinematic universe #dc comics

[mrmallard]

Man on one hand FF13 really is that bad, as much as I love how it looks the levelling system and gameplay is kind of broken on a foundational level, but on the other hand so much 13 hate was predicated on being as much of a hateful cunt as possible about Lightning and looking back I feel like a lot of it was steeped in bullshit double standards and abject misogyny.

Like I used to post in a Final Fantasy thread and whenever Lightning came up, one specific person would deadass go "Lightning was a horrible person who abused everyone, and the game would be better if she died halfway through and nobody cared". Every time she came up.

I remember people saying they bastardised SOLDIER to make her more reminiscent of Cloud, they bastardised the scorpion fight from FF7 and made the fight borderline unloseable to hype her up because she's a bland Mary Sue who needs character shilling, she's just a retread of Cloud and Squall etc. And while I'm critical of FF13, I've always been bugged by the character hate (including for Hope) and I feel like a lot of it comes from this cultural well of like Nostalgia Critic-esque dickhead internet criticism that people seemingly couldn't communicate at all without dipping into.

Like, Lightning starts the game off being incredibly blunt, punching her sister's fiance and encouraging someone to enact revenge. Not even a quarter of the way through the game, she has a change of heart and she begins to open up more, and she subsequently tries her best to dissuade that character from enacting revenge. So much of the hate stems from the start of her character arc while ignoring how she improves as a person, and that only fuels the whole "shitty Mary Sue Cloud Squall rehash" internet criticism thing where a bunch of dickheads have to try and one-up each other's criticisms by being even more of a fuckface than the last guy.

Now, that's not to say that criticism of Lightning is solely done through that lens, nor is it to say that there's nothing else to criticize about her. What I'm saying is that there's a lot of loud dumbass complaints that defined FF13 for years that stems from a really toxic, shitty place and - in hindsight - it feels like on top of the toxic influence within the online sphere of game criticism of the time, a lot of that shit feels like it's rooted in misogyny.

It's always bothered me, and going back to the game today, it's kind of hard to sit through the opening without remembering the absolute chuddery of FF13 criticism back in the day. The game is very flawed, and I understand that character writing and personal enjoyment is subjective, but there's a difference between articulate and meaningful criticism and getting blindingly mad because they made Lightning do a bunch of badass flips in the opening cutscene and ignoring her entire character arc to call her an entitled bitch, y'know.

#final fantasy 13 #final fantasy #lightning farron #as a postscript - yeah the opening scorpion boss fight was a load of shit. glitz and polish that was all bark no bite #and while some of that can be chalked up to the fight being s tutorial I also think it's mired with a lot of flaws that the later game has #it would have been a cakewalk with any other character. part of that is by design but it's also kind of getting things off on the wrong foot #at least imo #and that's a broader criticism of the game and how streamlined the combat system is #where you're pushing a single button to win. and I fo remember the formations #but then there's another issue where it feels like there's an objectively correct formation to use for bosses #where if you deviate you just lose and if you get the right combination of classes - again you just press a single button to win #or like go through the exact same motions in a rhythm. I don't like that #so like yeah the combat and enemy stuff and all that - I'm critical of that #I don't think calling lightning a mary sue because her and sazh beat it as the tutorial monster is a reasonable criticism #i think it's a broader issue with the game and that reading completely misses what's actually wrong with the game #it's intellectually lazy and a total copout #it's like tlou 2 or the jodie whittaker seasons of doctor who all over again where there's a real conversation to be had #and actual reasonable criticisms to be made #but the criticism of the thing is so toxic and hostile and in such bad faith that having that conversation is next to impossible #because 'this is an aspect of the thing I'm critical of' exists in the same space where some wanker is screaming about lesbians and wokism

[gritsandbrits]

Scoob is a contentious film. Whether you think it's good or bad or simply average is entirely up to you. However this isn't a full review of the movie itself but one of its characters: Brian. Despite his less than stellar performance I believe Brian is not as awful as he's made out to be.

For starters, he isn't a misogynist. We see him treat his pilot Dee Dee quite well. He doesn't make an offhand remark about her gender. He doesn't hit on Daphne or Velma, nor does he insult their intelligence. He trusts Deedee & it's implied the two knew each other before. Normally characters like him would put down the woman to secure his own ego but nothing like that ever happened.

Another thing is while he is conceited he genuinely means well. He accepts Shaggy and Scooby, well more Scooby on the team. There are some moments like when he was hiding in on the ferris wheel instead of facing Dastardly's robots. But in hindsight it just shows how inexperienced He is in the superhero field especially when this version of Dastardly is more threatening. Most of the time his interactions with the duo were friendly.

Also the moment with Captain Caveman was fucking hilarious!!

The only time Brian actually acts like a jerk was when he blamed Shaggy and argued with Fred. But that wasn't because he wanted to be an ass he was just frustrated that the dog he was supposed to be caring for got kidnapped. He felt like a failure so it's understandable he'd lash out. He did apologize in a way by giving them a brand new Mystery Machine showing no hard feelings.

The movie implies Brian has some sort of self worth issues because he's nervous about taking on his father's mantle. He wants to be this brave powerful hero but doesn't know how to get about it. So he uses what he knows like social media and theatrics. In fact I think those are also methods of him hiding his fears. As long as he can appear as confident as possible nobody would take him for a fool or weak. Running with that interpretation his character makes a lot more sense.

Even though his relationship with Dynomutt was somewhat tense he doesn't spend every moment putting him down. Though I do wish the movie focused on them, it just irks me how Dynomutt was giving 5000% but had to make Blue ineffectual in comparison. But that's the fault of the writing. Blue was more badass in the drafts. But as far as final product goes he isn't awful. The true downside is that he was voiced by Markie Mark (uhh) but even then it wasn't terrible voicework and he did a decent job capturing Brian's personality. Dis wish they hired an actual VA or Brendan Fraser.

At the end of a day he was a victim of shoddy writing and he deserved better than what he was given. He isn't a moron, just a misunderstood man doing his best!

#scoob falcon #f/o #blue falcon #scoob! #scoob movie #scooby doo #scoob 2020 #brian crowne #brian scoob #brian crown #character analysis #meta

[esta-elavaris]

1, 9, 21, and 38!

who is/are your comfort character(s)? James Norrington, Boromir, and Vasya from the Winternight Trilogy.

The first two because? They're just such Good and Honourable Men - I almost said in spite of their flaws, but honestly because of them? Because they face them and regret them and try to fix them as best they can? I don't think I'd ever have looked twice at either beyond "o he's cute" if they were just archetypal perfect warriors who win battles and go home.

And Vasya because I see a lot of myself in certain aspects of her - although she's far more badass. But, y'know, aspirational ig!

which do you prefer, hot coffee or cold coffee? Both but I tend to drink it hot just because it's easier to make a good hot coffee than a good iced one. Like sometimes I'll make a hot coffee, put it in a flask by my bed for morning if I need to be up and ready to go quickly, so I drink it cold then but it's not proper *iced* coffee. Also fuckin love an iced mocha frappucino when I'm able to snag one - but I hate ordering in coffee shops bc it's always so loud and I feel like I never hear what the server is asking me, it's a bad time for all involved.

something you’ve kept since childhood? God slight trauma dump ahead feel free to skip, nothing too sinister, there was this very old book called The Hugs and Kisses Contest that my father used to read to me when I was a kid. My relationship with him completely fell apart over the course of a couple of years, for reasons tied up into the homelessness mess, it's a very long and tedious story that nobody wants to hear or tell but it's difficult to sort of summarise, but the point is amongst all of that when we were sorting through 25 years worth of shit to either bin or keep before we had to be out of there for good, in my very last hour of being in the house I'd lived in since birth, having gone from being very very very close to not speaking at all beyond what was absolutely necessary, and we found the book at the back of a shelf and he asked me whether I wanted to throw it out or keep it and I just said "keep" and left the room. It was A Lot. Not to get all 2deep for that one, but it's the only thing I could think of 🙃 just a thing of "things will never be how they once were, it can't be fixed, but I'm grateful for what good there was while it was there."

Anyway I started CTW when all of that was in the process of going down, and finished it when the dust had finally settled afterwards, and I think it uhhh shows at times. In hindsight it definitely does, but none of it was intentional while writing. Funny how that works!

a soap bar that smells good? God, wouldn't it be funny if I was like "ah, yes, the soap my estranged relative once gave me--" and just killed the vibe even more?

Nah there's this artisanal one my nana gets me every year for as part of my Christmas from this Scottish-based company and it smells gorgeous - very subtle, like not super floral or citrus or anything, but really nice! It's called After the Rain.

Thank you!! 💜 (And sorry for the sudden intense answer!)

#asks #ask game

[popculturebuffet]

Digimon Adventure: V-Tamer 01 Review!: An Pro-Digious Lost Classic

Hello all you happy people and welcome to Pop Culture Buffet, where I review some of the best media around.. and sometimes throw some in the garbage bin.  Today we dive into a classic I just discovered, one tied to a staple franchise of my childhood, and one you fine people voted on. It’s time to give it 100% for Digimon Adventure: V-Tamer 01: A Rope of Sand. 

I first found digimon via the anime, which came over to the states at the exact right time. I was 8, I loved Pokemon, so my atttiude to ANOTHER cool show about raising adorable and badass monsters that had it’s own engaging worldbuilding, loveable characters, and cool as heck monsters was ...

I was hooked and the fact it was on FoxKids, which I watched every saturday, as I eagerly gobbled up both adventures and the first half of tamers, saw the movie and bought tons of toys I wish i’d held onto because shit’s expensive to rebuy.  While I sadly didn’t see much of late stage tamers thanks to poor scheduling and haven’t gotten around to watching the anime after (And in the case of Frontier actively noped out as a teen when I found out the premise and found reruns on jetix), I’ve always loved this franchise ,and only haven’t watched what i’ve missed nor revisited my childhood because my watchpile is a massive nightmare from which few things actually escape. It’s a creative spin on Mons as while it wasn’t the first on the block, it was the first to really codify the monsters being their own individual beings who chooose to work with the humans, instead of being essentially being pets who fancy a scrap. Instead their wild creatures choosing to fancy a scrap to save the world, either by desitny or just liking this human they found and thinking they’ll keep them. This idea has been used since but I feel Digimon’s the one who really codified this version of monster taming.. which is odd given they were originally virtual pets, but still. The franchise also often dosen’t sell short the danger our heroes are in: while it still keeps it within family friendly territory, digimon CAN die, and while they can also reincarnate, it’s not a guarantee you’ll come back.. and if your a leomon pre-2020 ,i’ts a guarnatee you won’t be coming back. When stranded in a digital world our heroes are often in deadly danger and while Surivive seems to be the work emphasising this the most, there hasn’t been a one i’m aware of that wasn’t a gag manga that didn’t make it deadly clear that as peaceful and kind as most digimon were, the digital world and what comes form it is often dangerous. 

So why V-1. Well as I said it won a poll I did last month to see which manga/manhwa i’d cover with my patreons having picked out the applimon manga and the manhwa adaptations of adventure 01 and 02. And to my shock.. this one swept it. Granted in hindsight I can kind of see why as V-01 is both something people who haven’t read it, while adventure, as loved as it is, has at the time of this writing gotten 2 series, 5 movies, and tons of merch and tends to be the most represented in various media. So it’s not a huge suprise people would instead go for something they don’t know as well, and those who do know it clearly love it. As for why I picked it it was for those reasons: It’s unqiue, I hadn’t got around to reading it, most people don’t know it and thus it fascinated me and i’m pleased as punch to say my curoisty paid off though as for why and how.. you’l ljust have to read on, and hopefully for those who haven’t tried it I can convince you too as unsuually for me I won’t be trying to go into heavy spoilers for my review. Normally I like to get deep into the analysis, but here I feel i’d rather more people get to enjoy it and those who do know it can nod their head or shake their fist at me accordingly. There will be a light spoiler here or there, but for the most part you can go directly from this review to the manga and still enjoy it. Let’s begin. 

                                                 What Is V-Tamer 01? For the uninitiated, V-Tamer 01 is a digimon manga. The Digimon Digital Pets were a huge hit in japan which lead to a one shot Manga , Come On Digimon! by Hiroshi Izawa, which debuted in V-Jump, and was such a hit it warranted a full series. Debuting in 1998 This was not only the first bit of major Digimon Media but predates Adventure by a year, though weirdly it’d not only outlast adventure but run through frontier, before being cut short because frontier nearly murdered the franchise.  As a result of pre-dating the anime, it thus dosen’t have some of the logic to the franchise that would later be popularized by the anime: For starters when a digimon evolves, it STAYS evolved. Digivolution isn’t reversible unless it’s done by Jogress aka Fusion. Not only that our heroes partner digimon STARTS the Manga as a champion, having already been raised up to that, so for the first third he has a champion as a partner and for the other two thirds he’s an ultimate, only becoming a mega at the very end. This also applies to any ally digimon as we see both big good magnangemon and his right hand leomon evolve as the manga progresses. As a result the main antagonists for the first third are Ultimates, to be a level above zero, and for the second and third parts we get Megas. 

The other big swing is that the digital pet aspect is used and much like Tamers after it, Digimon is an actual thing in the real world, if just as a v-pet line, with the various tamers being people who raised their mons as digtial pets int he real world first. As a result the digivice can be used much like a pokedex in pokemon special: It can check health, relay commands and check moves, instead of being a mystical super thing. I honestly prefer this as it give sthe digivice more weight as a tool and allows the tamer to be more active in fights. Our main heroes Tai and Zero are as strong as they are because they work as a team with Tai’s strategy and Zero’s raw battle talent meaning they can beat foes outside their weight class, and when they can’t work in concert , such as the enemy preventing commands, is when their at their most threatened. 

And speaking of Tamers, only ONE tamer here is a chosen one: Tai himself, who was brought here. The others are antagonists, all coming here to create a new world for themselves. Even with that a lot of the mainstays of the franchise were there from adaptation one: The hero having goggles (being an alternate version of Tai, which the manga itself later establishes in a crossover), digivolution often being based on emotions and done at a critical and dramatic moment, esclating threats that are usually esclating sets of quirky minibossses, and digimentals, which would be key to adventure 02. It’s still the same digimon I know and love. .just remixed a bit to fit an older verison of the franchise. So what kind of story do they tell with that?

                                                       100%  V-Tamer 01 is the story of Tai, a middle school fan of Digimon Digital Pets whose quite good at it but gets rejected from a tournament because his Veedramon, Zero, isn’t recognized by the tournament officals... who you’d THINK would have sympathy to a child who clearly didn’t hack this and it was clearly either a glitch or simply a digimon you guys hadn’t heard of yet but

So as a consolation soon after Tai ends up in the digital world and meets Zero for real. And yes that’s another weird thing here: while most digimon, like the rest of the franchise are referred to by species, Tai’s two companions here have names outside of it. Granted it’s probably less confusing when you have a pack of digimon to not have a three jims type situation and have to call them the agumon when you can just call one Jerry, or Frank, or The Lone Locust of the Apocalypse.

The two get along great and their partnership is one of the things that makes the manga special: The two are truly best friends which isn’t unusual for digimon, usually partners and their tamers are very close and it’s their bonds that allow them to grow and reach their true potetials. But  this may be easily one of the purest and most adorable friendships i’ve seen: The two work hard together, train and trust each other more than anything, and train hard to get stronger. Well at leats in the first third, but in the second and third acts things are esclating so quickly there isn’t really time, so it’s fair. They also have the endearing as hell habit of dork dancing any time they win. 

My friend Masked Maverick helped me with this, as he’s a huge fan of V-Tamer 01 and a digimon expert, and I agree with him this is just so damn charming. 

The two trust each other on a level that only the truest of friends do, in a way that feels real like I do with my best friends.. and it thus becomes their greatest asset in battle. Zero is a great fighter, but really isn’t a tactical genius, while Tai is but obviously is a squishy human. It’s explicit here that the combo of Zero’s raw strength and tai’s intellgent tactics, helpfully transmitted wirelessly after having to shout the mearly on is what MAKES them so effective. Their earliest opponents are ultimates, digimon a level stronger, and thus the two HAVE to rely on smart strategy or die. It’s another of the manga’s strong points: While ther’es plenty of your standard “Heart helping a hero pull through” and hot blooded action like all shonen, the real strength in the fights is tai using everything he can think of to help Zero win. They may have a limited moveset, simply using v-arrow on things and claws and once zero digivolves, flight, but the manga works it hard. Said limited moveset is also because digimon in the v-pet era only had a few attacks, with card and video games helpfully fleshing it out for future media. The tactics make each fight exciting as you figure our heroes will probably win.. but not HOW they will or what their opponents are going to pull. 

Not only that the true partnership and friendship... actually creates problems. Zero is so devoted to tai tha it’s revealed he hasn’t become an ultimate because he’s worried it’ll affect their friendship, and only does when Tai’s life is on the line. (Tai of course dosen’t care what he becomes, but is willing to let Zero digivolve on his own time), while we later find out the boost zero gets from emotions.. has some serious drawbacks. I won’t spoil them for you but not only does it cleverly deconstruct the emotinal boost but Zero KNOWS about it and was damaging his body with them for Tai’s sake. It’s clever to show that while said friendship is healthy our own doubts and nerousis can cause us to take horrible unecessary risks just to hold on to a friendship that isn’t in any danger. 

The two soon meet Gabo, a gabumon who thinks their little sobs but soon comes around and takes them to meet his master, MagnaAngemon, whose the big good here. As it turns out he brought Tai to the digital world as the Evil Daemon, who yes is indeed a digimon, is trying to take over the world. 

And Magna summoned our heroes to gather the 5 tags needed to penetrate his castle and stop him and stuff. So for the first volume and a good chunk of the first third, it’s simple monster of the week stuff: Tai fights one of Daemon’s general, uses clever tactics to get through, maybe meets a friend along the way, and gets a tag. 

What mixes it up and truly pushes V-Tamer 01 into greatness is the introduction of our TRUE antagonist, Neo Saiba. Neo is another tamer.. but Tai’s opposite, seeing digimon as merley means to an end, gladly discarding ones he finds weak and finding out their some form of real dosen’t remotely stop him from thinking this way, his first fight with tai having him curelly sacrifice a metalgreymon who just wanted to be strong for him simply to get scans of Tai’s abliities with his digivice. He is cold, will gladly throw away anything to achive his goal of making a new world, and he is every bit as clever and tactical as Tai. His first tactic is using jogress (Fusion), but having the fusion disolve to dodge attacks, and allowing him to replenish and he still uses jogress as his main tactic going into the second. It’s something you rarely see as the only other evil tamer around the same time , 02′s ken, uses far diffrent tactics and it wouldn’t be till xross wars (which i’m currently reading the manga for and is pretty damn sweet), we got other tamers/generals who could use the same tactics as our heroes, and to this day no one has really used fusion combativley like this that i’m aware of. It’s a completely unique and awesome techinque that requires tactics, the tecs weakness (both digimon split the damage so their still injured), and a digivolution to overcome. It raises the stakes by giving Tai an equal opponent to fight.

Neo is a truly intresting big bad, using strategy to overwhlem his foes and when the second act hits and he needs to grow the ultimate digital monster Daemon has been growing all manga and raise it, he enlists three MORE tamers, as while Tai can now enter the castle he has to get there first. That’s where things hit their peak as Tai must now fight three tamers who not only have stronger mons but each have their own clever tactics to fight  tai with and their own reasons for wanting “to create their own new world”: Sigma , a masked lad who felt ostracized in the real world and who uses his Piedemons ablities to itnercept tai’s commands, Mari, who is creepily selling pictures to older men depsite being in MIDDLE SCHOOL 

Ugh. Just.. no to all of that, and who pretends to be a ditz... onlly to reveal it’s a stalling tactic so Neo’s plans can go off without a hitch and Hideto, who has an utterly heartwrenching backstory that ties into zeros and who has a FUCKING OMNIMON AS HIS PARTNER. No I didn’t mistype that. OMNIMON. Yes Royal Knight, Tai and Matt’s ultimate trump cart, THAT OMNIMON. THAT HAPPENS. 

That.. really was my reactoin. I flipped out. There was also supposed to be a third phase, but it got cut down as Frontier nearly killed the franchise, so the manga had to speed up to the climax after the alias 3. This also leads to why the manga hasn’t been localized. JUST this one, the other ones have no excuse bandai what the shit, but this one.. had some legal issues with the writer. As such daemon and veedramon had to have vastly diffrent designs in other media and many of the manga’s original digis, including the ones that were originally going to be recurring but were reduced to cameos for time, have yet to show up again. The writer/artist of the manga has since reconclied with Bandai and has done some work on ghost game, so there is hope for them but yea, sticky legal issues left this out of print for a while and still out of print here despite digimon’s rising popularity again. It’s why while I won’t link to sites directly, I encourage you to look for a fan translation as I feel no shame in reading something online if it has no offical release or is long out of print. Sometimes it’s the only way to keep a work in circulation like the archie sonic comics. 

And I REALLY do recommend it as I loved this one: it is a quick read, only 9 volumes and the pacing is breakneck. It is fairly monster of the week: first the 5 devas, then the alias 3 and again there was going to be another before the final showdown with the big bad, and we get maybe THREE fights without zero in the whole manga, so it could be repittive.. but the slow escalation and clever tactics , forcing our heroes to constantly evolve their tactics or die, and the engaging characters really keep you hooked. I coudln’t wait to get to the next chapters each time and if you like a good fighting manga, this one is an outstanding one to check out. 

It’s only real weaknesses are the said lack of variety: It’s very much zero saves the day, and Gabo is there mostly to scream from the sidelines. He never evolves, only fights once and while his help as cook is useful and he’s still fairly likeable, it feels disapionting he never gets to digivolve into garurumon and pitch in. It dosen’t help the garuru line is one of my faviortes, and given we see Neo and Hideto both have multiple partners, there’s no reason Tai couldn’t of added Gabo to his digivice. It’s a mild disapointment. I also feel the later tritagonist added, while an intresting character, dosen’t get to do much of her own agency and just mostly wonders around a castle for most of her time in the manga. 

Despite these flaws though.. V-Tamer 01 is fantastic. It’s fun, heartfelt and never lets up till the end, only getting better and better as it goes and while it has a lot of the franchises cliches, it also has a lot of i’ts heart, unique scenarios you won’t see elsewhere and dork dancing. So much dork dancing. So check it out when you can as you prepare to surivive, and maybe if this does well i’ll visit the other digimon manga and the manhawa’s sometime. Until then, consider joining my patreon, and thanks for reading. 

#digimon #digimon v-tamer #digimon v-tamer 01 #zeromaru #tai kamiya #neo saiba #veedramon #aeroveedramon #gabumon #agumon #magnaangemon #alias iii