#yo they were the original clip poster
Note
could u please do like a harry x youtuber/influencer!reader and like lots of fluff🥺
Hi bubbie! Here you go :)))
Word Count: 4k
Warnings: Language
Harry was panicking. His mum and sister were going to be here in less than two hours and he’s burnt the eggplant parmigiana he had worked tediously on.
He grabbed what he had left in his fridge - ground beef, shredded cheddar cheese, and a little bit of bacon.
It was the type of foods he usually strayed away from so sometimes when his shopper would bring this stuff home - he’d avoid it and admittedly sometimes it would go bad sitting in the fridge.
The singer pulls up YouTube onto his phone - hoping something would come up when he typed in the ingredients on the search bar.
He clicks on the first video by cookingwithnofucks. A chuckle at the name as an advertisement plays.
A cute, bubbly girl appears on screen in a beautiful modern kitchen. She has a shirt on that says ‘fuck the patriarchy and eat pizza’. A high ponytail and minimal makeup.
“Okay - today we’re making a cheeseburger casserole,” the girl chirps, “It’s a heart attack in a dish but it’s so fucking good.”
Harry finds himself smiling as he crinkles his nose - it sounds absolutely disgusting but he’s intrigued more by the girl on the screen.
“Shit, I forgot to introduce myself. Hiii, if you’re new - I’m Y/N and I do cooking shit. Subscribe to my channel and all that jazz,” she titters while cutting open her beef package.
Harry follows along step-by-step, shaking his head as she doesn’t describe the instructions nearly well enough and is generally all over the place.
It’s a fucking cooking channel and at one point the meat starts burning. She just laughs and says, “s’just a little crispy!”
The casserole turns out looking even better than Y/N’s to be honest. It’s done in just the right amount of time for him to shower before his family arrives.
He makes sure to subscribe to her channel - eyebrows raising when he sees that she has 16 million subscribers.
Harry wanted to spend longer, looking at her social media but there was a fixed time so he locked his phone and went to get ready.
**
Anne - always the sweetheart just tells Harry that the casserole is delicious even as a bit of grease runs down her fork from the fatty meats.
Gemma wasn’t as kind, grimacing at the casserole and remarking, “You truly are turning into an American, huh?”
**
Laying in bed that night, Harry swipes back onto YouTube. Going back to the page he just subscribed to - under a pseudonym. He clicks on another video.
“Uh, okay. So I’m cooking...fuck, it’s called unicorn bark. It looks like a magical animal puke but it looks delicious so we’re going to try it.”
Harry realizes he’s been watching this girl cook for nearly an hour. Different videos from desserts to dinners.
She curses like a sailor, fucks up almost every recipe, and makes a mess everywhere. But she’s smiling and talkative which makes him quite memorized by her.
**
“I hate editing,” Y/N groans, letting her head fall dramatically against the desktop. Her best friend and dog looked at her oddly.
“I keep saying you need to hire someone, you stubborn bitch,” Laney retorts, clicking through her Instagram feed.
“Fuck off,” she tells her friend with no real heat. The video was almost fully edited - how to make spicy as fuck jalapeño poppers.
There is a calm silence for a while until Laney gasps, “Holy shit.”
“What is it?” Y/N asks, not really caring as she clicks her mouse to trim a segment.
“Harry fucking Styles just followed you on Instagram and Twitter!” Laney shouts, her dog - Rufus popping his head up in confusion.
Y/N looks at her friend to see if she’s really serious and sees no signs of deception. “Oh my god,” Y/N replies. She loved Harry Styles in One Direction and as a solo artist - a fangirl if you will.
Y/N was a well-known influencer and has run in the circles of many celebrities. She’s even met Liam Payne but she’s never been able to bump into Harry.
Her alerts tell her it to be true, she swallows as she looks back up at Laney, “He dm’ed me.”
“Open it! What did he say?” She squeals, squeezing herself on the chair next to her, peering over her shoulder at the phone.
Y/N is a bit nervous, trying not to have a mini aneurysm as she opens the message thread.
HarryStyles: Hello. Just wanted to let you know that your cheeseburger casserole recipe saved my ass last night. Cheers x
“He’s totally coming onto you,” Her friend states instantly, bouncing excitedly - she also had a bit of a crush on the singer.
It takes the two of them a minute to cool their shit before Y/N manages a reply.
Y/N/LN: Well I guess it’s only fair. Your songs have made a few of my nights much better. I’m a bit of a slut for Fine Line.
Harry laughs behind his screen at the cheeky reply he gets back. He’s usually never this forward - especially on social media where he likes to fly under the radar.
HarryStyles: Well if you fancy my music that much, I totally love for you to come to a show. I’m performing in New York City in two weeks.
“This has to be a joke, right?” Y/N sputters to her friend, eyes wide at the invite to a concert she already had tickets to.
Y/N/LN: I’m not going to lie, I already have tickets to the show. However, I don’t have any backstage passes to meet the man of the hour. Do you know someone who can hook me up?
It does wonders for Harry’s narcissism to know that she already had tickets for his concert. Was he really going to do this? He hasn’t met up with some like this since his One Direction days.
He had to remind himself - she may just be friendly and take this as a totally casual interaction. Which would be normal, Harry really shouldn’t be so infatuated with someone he’s watched cook on social media.
HarryStyles: I think I can arrange that. Shoot me your number? I’ll have them sent digitally to you with instructions on how to get backstage.
Y/N is a bit dumbfounded at how fast they agreed to meet up. A harmless backstage tour - he could just be a fan of hers and totally not interested, right?
**
Over the next few weeks, they never really stop texting. Harry sends her pictures of the recipes he copies off her channel - that usually always look better than the original. He sends her clips of him goofing around during tour rehearsal. FaceTimes her when he’s finally home for the night.
She sends him videos of her watching Harry Styles Best Moment Part Five. A few photos she snaps throughout the city of him on billboards and buildings, in Times Square. YN facetimes him when she’s frustrated with filming or watched a sad movie.
It didn’t make sense to either of them how seamlessly they’d clicked - especially without meeting. They were a perfect balance for each other. Harry - laidback, organized, level-headed. Y/N - eccentric, all over the place, adventurous.
Jeff had told him that he’s been gaining media attention from his social media interactions with Y/N. They like each other’s photos, begin following each other’s friends, and comment goofy things on their posts.
“Listen, I have a great idea,” Y/N begins - which Harry learned is never good. “You should film a video with me sometime.”
Y/N knew she was going out on a limb and instantly regretted the questions she’d been building the courage to ask for days when it’s quiet on his end. There’s static for a moment and Y/N needs to fill the silence.
“It was - I was just, uh, I know you’re probably too busy. I was -“ She stutters, embarrassment flooding her.
Harry cuts her off, “I’d love to.”
“Yo-you would?” She asks timidly. Was she really going to have Harry Styles in her apartment? If so, should she take down her poster?
He laughs sweetly, “Why do you sound so surprised? I can’t wait to come to New York, love.”
Y/N giggles, “Not the fact that you’re performing in front of a sold out crowd at MSG? I don’t think seeing me will top that.”
“I’ve been looking forward to meetin’ you in person since I came across your channel. You so lovely,” Harry replies, his voice a little softer but more serious.
“I’m nervous,” Y/N admits, picking at a thread in her jeans.
“Me too,” Harry murmurs, despite not wanting to admit it - he wanted her to know this was new territory for both of them. He didn’t want her to think that this was something that he did often. But a little too prideful to admit it’s the first time he’s ever done something quite like this.
“What if you don’t like me?” Y/N whispers, she...well she didn’t compare to the models he’s been seen with before. She’s regretfully fell into the rabbit hole of looking up his past flings and relationships.
Harry barks out a disbelieving laugh, “You can’t be serious, darling. I’ve been gone for you since I saw you burn that ground beef.”
**
Harry was having a bad day - scratch that. An awful one. He tried to go get coffee at eight in the morning and got bombarded by fans, he left the shop without even ordering. They followed him back to his car and it took him fifteen minutes to pull out.
His favorite Mickey Mouse Gucci suitcase he was bringing along on tour had busted. The zipper unraveling and the trim falling off as a result. It was a one-of-a-kind.
Then he’d been stuck on a Skype meeting about tour merchandise with a group of business partners for the last three hours - all he wanted was a fucking nap.
When Y/N’s contact vibrated across his screen, he’s itching to answer but declines as he needs to give these people his attention.
When she calls again, Harry feels a prickle of annoyance. It’s not even at her - to be quite honest. It’s just the shitty day and everything’s piling up.
He always got like this before he kicked off a tour - stress level maxed out and his ability to handle minor incidents nearly shot.
I’m busy
Okay! Sorry, just have a super exciting surprise for you, bub!
I really do not feeling like talking. I’d rather be left alone.
Oh, alright. Hope everything’s okay! Do you still want to facetime later?
Harry leaves her on read because he doesn’t want to slip up and take out his frustration on her. He’d been known to do that and he didn’t want her to think he was anything but besotted with her.
**
Y/N feels a little hesitant as she begins the uploading process to her channel. The red loading bar told her it’d be twenty-minutes before it’s going to be posted to her 16 million subscribers - one of them being Harry himself.
Twenty-minutes for her to back out and cancel the upload. She starts having doubts about it when Harry never replies to her text which is unlike him.
She takes Rufus out to avoid staring at the loading screen with unnecessary anxiety and uneasiness.
**
Harry is just getting home from a business dinner with the touring company’s management team. The tension and anxiety from today piling up on his shoulders and he just wants to call Y/N and crash in bed.
He tosses his keys in the little bowl in the entry and kicks off his dingy white vans to the side. His phone dings with an alert from Gemma.
You two are the literal cutest ever. It’s quite gross.
Harry slides onto a stool in his kitchen, confused by the text message before she’s sending the link to him.
Fine Line Inspired Cupcakes!
Harry isn’t quite sure why his heart starts pounding furiously in his chest. A sinking feeling in his stomach when he realizes that this was probably the surprise she was excited about.
He clicks on the thumbnail.
“Hiiii, it’s Y/N. Okay, well today we are going to bake some Fine Line inspired cupcakes. And if you haven’t listened to the album - get your ass out from rock you’re living under and stream it on Spotify!”
She has her hair down in long, waves and a loose cropped shirt that says TPWK in rainbow embroidery.
Harrys mouth is dry and he can’t take his fucking eyes away from the screen.
“Soo, I was thinking the first batch would be cherry flavored? ‘Cause he has a song titled ‘Cherry’. Let’s start there. First - I need to find my measuring cups.”
In true Y/N fashion, she scours her kitchen - cussing and yanking stuff out of her neatly organized cabinets before huffing and storming off to the side.
She comes back into view, a little frazzled but smiling when she holds up the ring of plastic measuring spoons, visible bite marks notched into the material.
“My asshole of a dog had a little snack,” Y/N shows the camera before shrugging, “Let’s get this shit started. Okay, you’re going to need one cup of sugar - no wait, two? I can’t read my fucking handwriting.”
Harry’s absolutely enamored by this scatter-brained, giggly girl who manages to produce cute blue and pink cupcakes that very vaguely resembled his album cover. His heart felt a million times too big for his chest.
He was enraptured for the entirety of the thirty minute video without taking his eyes away once.
To be honest, he hadn’t felt this way since his last relationship which was over a year ago at this point.
It’s not even a thought as he’s requesting a FaceTime with Y/N.
She answers after a few rings. She has a green face mask painted on her nose, chin, and forehead with gold eye masks under each eye. She is so fucking ridiculous it’s not even funny.
What is even more ridiculous is how gone Harry is realizing he is for her. She was quirky, unfiltered, carefree. If he was honest - he hadn’t met a girl like that in a very long time - especially a well-known influencer.
“Hi! How was your day, grumpy?” Y/N asks brightly, making a goofy face as the mask begins to tighten and crack on her skin. Not holding the earlier conversation against him and deciding to just move forward. She understood how stressful it can be.
“M’sorry. I was a bit grumpy,” He admits, “I loved your new video, darling. Did you make those just f’me?”
He can tell she’d be blushing if her face wasn’t covered, a bit bashful as she mutters, “You already know I did it for you.”
“You’re too sweet to me, only six days until we meet,” Harry replies, voice taking on a slow, lazy drawl.
“Six days,” Y/N repeats, eyes crinkling as she smiles with excitement.
**
“Is this outfit too much?” Y/N panics. Even though there’s literally nothing she can do about it - they’re already walking towards the backstage entrance of the massive arena. It’s still about two hours until the show starts but Harry requested her to come earlier.
Laney sighs, “For the millionth time, you look fucking sexy and Harry’s going to want to rail you right when he sees you.”
Y/N shoves her lightly with a faux annoyance as they meet up with a burly man who’s blocking the entrance to the backstage hallway and rooms.
She gives him their names and pulls up the passes on her phone before he’s nodding with any expression and letting them pass.
They’re not quite sure where to go from here so they begin to wander down the long hallway toward what looks to be the main area that people are milling about.
Y/N is nearly on the ground when someone rounds the corner without looking and walks right into her. Both of them let out huffs of air as they collide and attempt to stabilize themselves.
But there are large hands grasping her arms and holding her steady. In typical Y/N fashion she’s already cursing, “fuckin like a brick wall, look out next time.”
Then she’s looking up to Harry staring back down at her with an amused expression. He doesn’t let go of her and instead tugs her against his bare chest. He’s warm and a bit sweaty - like he’d just worked out. He was only in a pair of thin, running shorts, nike tennis shoes, and a little clip holding his hair off of his face.
Y/N can’t help but wrap her arms around his waist, returning the embrace and amazed by how right it feels to be in his arms. Her face tucks right against his collarbone and it’s like they’d known each other for years.
Pictures and videos don’t do this man justice. He’s gorgeous - sharp edges and dark inked skin. Tall and muscular but dimples that are carved in his cheeks.
“Nice to meet you, m’Harry,” Harry rumbles, removing one hand from Y/N’s shoulder to reach out his hand to her friend.
Laney shakes his hand before asking, “Laney. I’ll leave you two lovebirds be. Where’s the food?”
Harry chuckles against Y/N’s wavy hair, “Down the hall to the left.”
Laney’s trailing off without another glance, she was very food motivated despite her skinny frame. Also not wanting to intrude of the very personal first moments of their meeting.
The popstar pulls back to look down at the girl he’s fallen for in mere weeks. She’s as beautiful as he thought she'd be - if not more. He can’t help himself, “Would it be too forward to kiss you?”
Y/N smiles widely, running a hand along his jawline, “I’ve wanted you to kiss me since you stayed up on FaceTime with me until two in the morning as I cried after watching The Notebook - despite me seeing it a million times.”
Harry ducks forward to press his lips softly to her, large hands come to cup the side of her face as they connect. He’s so gentle as he moves his mouth against hers. In true Y/N fashion, she’s bold and has no hesitation slipping her tongue into his mouth.
He’s so fucking in love with her. It doesn’t make much sense - it’s definitely not logical but he’s realizing that’s okay.
“Oii, get a room!” Someone shouts from down the hallway teasingly.
Harry flips them the middle finger and pulls back, pink lips swollen and puffy, dimples on full display, “Let me take you out to dinner after the show, darling.”
“You going to wine and dine me, Styles?” Y/N giggles, unable to contain the pleasant warmness he’s spreading through her body.
“Mmm, have t’make sure you’ll want to keep me,” Harry murmurs happily against her lips once again, pressing kiss after kiss to her to make sure she’s real, “Definitely want to keep you.”
Y/N bites teasingly at his bottom lip, hand planted on the soft but firm skin of his stomach, “You’re never getting rid of me, hope you know that.”
“Was hoping you’d say that, now let me introduce you to my band.”
-- ---- ---- -- 1 year later - -- --- --- --
“Hi bitches! Today is a super special day. We have the one, the only Harry Styles filming with us. I know that’s not really that special since he’s on here all the time with me. But we’re celebrating our one year anniversary!” Y/N smiles, bumping hips with Harry who stands dutifully next to her.
Anyone viewing can see the absolute heart-eyes and adoration he has for the girl standing next to him. He’s still as lovestruck and gone for her as he was the first time they met. Harry’s fans were thrilled - for the first time in years, he’d opened up again.
They weren’t very public on social media beside’s tagging each other in memes and posting the occasional picture. Y/N was constantly uploading cooking videos from wherever in the world she was with Harry on his tour, she’d also begin making vlogs about different foods she’s been experiencing.
---
“Okay, so here in Peru - they’re known to have this really fucking spicy beef with noddles. So obviously, I’m going to make Harry try it first,” Y/N laughs as she props the camera up on the side of the table on a napkin holder.
Harry - who has a concert in a few hours - frowns at the steaming dish in front of him, “Darling, I don’t want to try it first. It’s going to burn my mouth. Not gonna be able to sing.”
“You’re sucha baby sometimes,” Y/N rolls her eyes, slurping up the noodles with her fork while making a silly face at her boyfriend. She pulls back, straight-faced, “It’s not hot at all. Tastes amazing, though.”
Harry takes that as an initiative to shovel a spoonful into his mouth. It only takes half a moment until his taste buds erupt in fiery flames from the spices, “You bloody little brat, y’tricked me! It’s so fuckin’ hot!”
Y/N smiles widely, laughing much too loudly in the restaurant when Harry chugs the glass of water next to the plate while glaring at his love. “I’m sorry, s’just to easy with you, lovie,” She replies, leaning over the table to press a kiss to his lips.
He’s a sucker for her and kisses her right back despite his mouth being an inferno. His heart was on fire for her and that burned much more intensely.
---
“No, love. The instructions say baking soda, not baking powder. They’re not the same thing,” Harry sighs, attempting to read her scribbled, sloppy handwriting. She’d already spilled milk on half of the paper.
“S’interchangeable, right?” Y/N hums, cracking an egg into the bowl and Harry automatically knows to look to fish out the eggshells that’d she’d let slip in because she sucks at cracking eggs but always wants to do it.
Harry reaches over her, grabbing the vanilla extract and a teaspoon, “It’s not, baby. Lemme do this real quick.”
“Will you make me a grilled cheese after this?” She asks, nuzzling into his side and wrapping her arms around his waist as he finishes adding the wet ingredients to their bowl. Harry stopped questioning her thought process a long time ago.
Harry swipes his finger into the mixture of icing off to the side and rubs it right onto her nose, cackling at her pout and squeaking when she pinches at the fleshy skin of his hips. She in turn dips her finger into the sugary cream and pops it right into her mouth.
Harry eyes darken, watching her lips purse as she sucks off the icing. It was a dirty move on Y/N’s part and she knows it. It has her boyfriend dragging an icing-covered thumb along her collarbone before leaning down to slowly lick up the sugary trail with his tongue.
When Y/N slides her fingers into his hair and lets out a pretty moan, Harry’s standing back up, trailing over to the tripod and saying into the camera, “We’ll be back after a little commercial break,” and is then turning off the record button.
It takes little to no time for Harry to have Y/N’s bum on the countertop, mouth on her neck, and hand in-between her thighs.
And when they finally posted a very edited final cut of the video - well there may be a couple of fans who notice the how flushed Y/N is halfway through and a lovely purple mark on Harry’s neck that wasn’t there in the beginning of the video.
#harry styles#harry styles writing#harry styles fanfic#harry styles writing request#harry styles fluff#harry styles x reader#harry styles x you#harry styles x y/n#harry styles fic rec#harry styles prompt#harry styles x influencer y/n#harry styles smut#harry styles drabble
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The Story of Dinah: A TLOUP2 Theory
Hey guys! So during this quarantine I’ve been looking for stuff to do to keep myself busy, and among playing The Last of Us for the billionth time I also decided to continue analyzing the content we’ve gotten so far. Tbh I gave up a while ago trying to find out what’s gonna happen in TLOU2, but after one google search, though, I actually think I’ve found a pretty solid theory that explains a lot of what we saw in the trailers/screenshots/etc.
!!! Note that this does include content from the leaked gameplay videos and from the leaked screenshot that surfaced a while ago. only read on if you’re okay with knowing spoilers !!!
**Note: I was not raised around a specific religion and my only knowledge of the subject has come from what I’ve read on the internet and the information I’ve gained from different Jewish and Christian interpretations of the passages talked about in this theory. None of these are my personal opinions and please correct me if anything is misinformed. Thank you.
So the majority of us know that something is going to happen to Dina and/or Ellie, and the first question is, what?
Well, obviously what’s different from the original game and p2 is that p2 is going to have to do a lot more with religion, as Dina is confirmed to be Jewish and we also have the Christian group, the Seraphites. The theme of religion is pretty much the basis of this theory, and it all starts with the origin of Dina’s name.
Now when you probably saw the title of this post you were like “yo that’s not how you spell her name”, and that, my friend, is where you’re wrong. After digging a little bit into the origination of Dina’s name, I found that it stemmed from the Hebrew name, Dinah. The first famous holder of this name was a woman who had a small, yet significant role in one of the books of the Jewish bible (or the Torah, please correct me if I’m wrong). Now, I would’ve written this off as a coincidence, but after looking into the story of Dinah I noticed some similarities between her story and bb Dina.
The passage basically tells the story of Dinah, who ventures out to meet the people of the world, and while doing so is sexually assaulted by the prince of Shechem. When her two brothers hear about this, they’re enraged, and slaughter all of the men in the city and rescue her.
The reason this caught my eye is because Dina and/or Ellie being sexually assaulted is a pretty common theory among the fandom right now, and after applying this to the trailers, screenshots, leaked footage, and the leaked screenshot, it makes a lot of sense, especially with Dina being Jewish. So without further ado, let’s look at what this means for the story.
I. What Happened
So if we’re following the original story of Dinah, the first thing that would happen is that Ellie and Dina head out on patrol the night after their kiss. Obviously this would mostly serve as a tutorial-like introduction, but it would also serve as the setup for the rest of the game. This is where the basement scene comes in, in which both of them are attacked and/or assaulted, and for whatever reason, they take Dina and Ellie escapes.
A lot of people have been speculating that the game revolves around the sole idea of revenge, and while Ellie’s clearly pretty jazzed off about whatever happened in the gameplay and release date trailers, it’s likely more of a “side quest” aside from her actual goal: to get Dina back. Naughty Dog games in the past, including The Last of Us, have always had a certain goal in mind that you’re working towards throughout the game. This also aligns with the story of Dinah, as she isn’t killed, but taken.
In addition to the supporting story, much of the leaked footage aligns with this, as well. For example, in the leaked gameplay in which Ellie wakes up bruised and beaten in a theater and calls out for Dina and Jesse, but why would Dina be there? If Ellie’s main goal is to get revenge on the group who wronged them, then neither Dina nor Jesse being there would make a whole lot of sense unless they all just want to have one big traumatic experience together; however, if Dina was taken, it would make sense as to why Ellie and Jesse would go after her, because they both have strong feelings for her, want to get her back, and want to seek vengeance. At the same time, by the cuts and bruises littering Ellie’s back, we can see that something clearly went down very recently, which was likely the rescue of Dina. We can also confirm that this wasn’t a dream or some wacky acid trip, too, because in the leaked screenshot we can see Ellie and Dina exploring Capitol Hill in Seattle together.
Now of course we all want to know that Ellie and Dina live happily ever-after, and this might (?) be true according to the story of Dinah, in which both of the brothers (represented here by Ellie and Jesse) return safely home with Dinah. Since this is where the story ends, is this where the game takes a twist? Possibly, but we’ll never know for sure until we play it.
II. Whodunnit?
Alright, so I’m gonna break this down into the two groups that are confirmed to be in The Last of Us 2: the Seraphites and the WLF. Though none of this is stemmed from the story of Dinah, the biblical meanings behind their names matched up pretty darn well with what we know about them already.
Now, the thing is, after trying to look up the Hebrew origination of the word “seraphite”, I found that it wasn’t actually a word at all. What I did find, however, was the definition of the word “seraph” which is “of the highest order of the nine-fold celestial hierarchy, associated with light, ardor, and purity”, with another description being a “six-winged angel”. The Latin suffix, “-ite”, means to be a follower. In other words, the Seraphites see themselves as either messengers or followers of god. This description makes a lot of sense, as in the trailer with the mystery-woman, the Seraphites say to “clip her wings” in reference to Yara.
When it comes to the WLF, the meaning behind their name is much more simple. As we can recall from the gameplay trailer, we hear the Seraphites shout out “WOLF!”. In addition to this, poster released shortly after the mystery-woman trailer portrays a wolf shaped by flames. Thus, I decided to look up the biblical meaning of a wolf, as the two groups are likely at odds. Unsurprisingly, the term “wolf” is generally used to describe those who pray on the weak.
After looking at these two groups, I concluded that the culprit is ultimately the WLF for a few reasons:
1. The meaning of the wolf in a biblical context (which was first mentioned to describe one of Dinah’s other brothers, by the way)
2. In the release date trailer, we can definitely see the attire of those who attacked the two. They’re wearing jackets; the man who initially attacked Ellie is wearing a cap. If we look at the gameplay trailer, the Seraphites distinctly wear robes, and so they are likely out of the question.
3. In the release date trailer, Tommy says “you don’t know how large that group is; how armed” all the while displaying a group of men with guns, and one verrrryyy important dude that I haven’t really seen a lot of people talking about. And that is this guy:
OK, I know, it doesn’t seem like that big of a revelation but take a look at this guy’s face, and then scroll back up to the beginning of this section. Look similar? They’ve got the same hair, skin tone, attire, etc. In addition, the people with guns in the photo also have similar attire and weaponry to those in the release date trailer. At the same time, in the basement scene, we can also see a man in similar attire and a similar skin tone holding Ellie down (though to be fair, we can’t see his face, and so this may not be the same guy, but the attire definitely separates them from the Seraphites).
Did maybe the Seraphites get a lil’ chilly and decide to wear jackets if the attacked Ellie and Dina? Maybe, but my bet’s on the WLF.
III. Patching Up the Plotholes
Alright, so this theory definitely leaves a couple of plotholes that I wanna possibly cover (though it should be noted that these are speculation):
1. As we see multiple times in both the screenshots and gameplay, Ellie entered Seattle alone. Where did Jesse come in?
2. Joel is in multiple screenshots, and also talks to Ellie in the release date trailer. What does he got to do with this?
So first of all, answering the question of where Jesse came in is fairly easy to answer, and it’s that he followed Ellie. As seen in the release date trailer, about a handful of people in Jackson left to go out on patrol other than Ellie and Dina, one of them being Jesse. Given the incident that happened in the basement, I’m guessing Ellie didn’t decide to keep scavenging for supplies and returned to Jackson early in order to recover and spread the news, which means Jesse likely wouldn’t have been back yet, and didn’t hear the news and go after Dina until he returned to Jackson. Then the question of the change in seasons comes into play. If this theory is true, I’m guessing that the basement scene took place near the end of winter, while Ellie/Jesse going to Seattle took place in early Spring, or that Ellie/Jesse left as soon as possible and the journey took longer than expected due to multiple obstacles like what happened in the first game.
Now, when it comes to Joel, I returned specifically to the story of Dinah. A while after the incident, when Jacob (the father of both Dinah and the brothers) is blessing his children, he expresses his disappointment in the two brothers as “in their anger they slew men” and “cursed be their anger, for it was fierce, and their wrath, for it was cruel”. Based on this, I believe that the multiple screenshots from the game are in the context of Joel expressing his disappointment in Ellie, as she likely went out of her way to kill more people than she had to in order to get to Dina. This also correlates to the reveal trailer in which Joel says “you really gonna go through with this?” and Ellie replies, “I’m gonna find, and I’m gonna kill, every last one of them”.
~Conclusion~
Alrighty, so that’s pretty much it. Again, I don’t know if a lot of the biblical stuff is accurate since I wasn’t raised in a strictly Jewish nor Christian household, but I was intrigued by some interpretations and frankly I really wanted to get this out and see what everyone else thought about it. Please, if you have any additional thoughts about this, correct something I said, or point out any other plotholes, leave a comment! I’m in desperate need for some TLOU2 action.
#the last of us#the last of us part 2#the last of us part two#the last of us ii#tlou#tlou2#tlou ii#tlou ellie#tlou dina#tlou joel#tloup2#ellie x dina#ellie and dina#ellie williams#Ellie Miller#gaming#game theory#theories#video games#i'm so bored someone save me#my head is going to explode#dina is a top#ellie is a bottom#monty don't @ me
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So I keep telling myself I’m not gonna talk about this anymore but it’s late and I’m salty and I figure this would be a good learning opportunity for everyone anyway so whatever.
I keep seeing people commenting on how the Delpad Week prompt list getting stolen and vandalized doesn’t count as art theft because I guess technically I didn’t “draw” anything while making it. And I feel like this is coming down to people just not understanding the work that goes into graphic design? (I mean I assume some of it is just people wanting to make excuses for doing something horrible but w/e I had my panic attacks I’m over it.) So since we do live in an age where people still devalue graphic design and other computer-based art forms I thought would break down all of the steps that I took when designing the prompt list, as well as the icons and banners for Delpad Week.
(And as a quick disclaimer there were probably easier ways to do some of the things I’m gonna list but I am still learning and I had never really used Clip Studio Paint before. I am an amateur, be patient with me.)
Step One - Picking Fonts!
Now this one might have come down to me just being picky, but I had a pretty clear idea in my head of what I wanted the “logo” to look like so after opening Clip and determining that NONE of the default fonts came anywhere close to what I was looking for I went to dafont.com and spent like...god I want to say close to an hour browsing the free fonts until I found a 5-10 options I liked.
I then had to extract and install all of the files onto my pc and make sure they worked, which is easy, but still took time.
Then I typed out what I wanted the logo to say using all of the different fonts to see what they looked like and what they looked like next to each other. See it’s a good idea to compliment fancy serif fonts with simple sans serif ones so I needed to pick a fancy one for the “Delpad Week” text and then a simple one for the prompts and dates and such.
Step Two - COLORS!
After I picked the two fonts I wanted to use I had to pick out the colors for the poster and the text. I took the colors for the “Delpad Week” logo itself from a pic of the Sun Chaser/Cloud Slayer I found, both the usual red and then the darker shadow. Which, once again, there HAS to be an easier way to do this but I typed the words out twice in both colors and painstakingly layered them over each other in just the right way to get the “drop shadow” effect I wanted.
Then I picked a nice light black for the rest of the text that I think I took from the line art on a screen cap I found? Either way it looked better than true black. And took time to find.
And of course I needed to find a good blue for the background which took a bit cuz it needed to match everything else.
Step Three - Sizing!
I had to look up all of the different recommended photo dimensions for tumblr and twitter icons, headers, posts, ect to make sure the damn things wouldn’t look wonky once I uploaded them.
Oh and since Clip is weird I did actually have to do that typing/layering thing on EACH NEW PICTURE I made. Which making sure they all looked the same sure was FUCKING HARD and took hours!
And my friend took the time to make the transparent Della and LP for the banners and I had to resize and center them on each pic. And I had to find and size/position the clouds and transparent Sun Chaser/Cloud Slayer too.
Step 4 - Putting It All Together!
Imo this one is the hardest since Clip doesn’t have alignment tools and even if it did sometimes due to fonts and art and such being the way they are true center doesn’t actually LOOK centered to the human eye so there’s a lot of fiddling around with the text and pics to make it look as close as possible to center which starts to kinda numb your mind after a while. Lots of taking breaks and coming back to it to make sure it looked okay.
And of course typing all of the prompts out and making sure the fonts actually do look okay and everything is spelled right and spaced correctly. I have dyslexia, I double check spelling, sue me.
So once you finally think that everything looks okay you get to go upload it to different sites to make sure the icons and such don’t look blurry or get cropped weird and then inevitably go back and move everything around again or in some cases remake them entirely(the deviantART icon took like two re-makes to get right) when they do. Shit takes time, yo.
That might not seem like a lot but let me stress that I made the prompt list poster, the tumblr icon and banner, the twitter icon and banner, the deviantART club icon, and the other banners for things like updates and such. Which all and all took the better part of TWO FUCKING DAYS.
And that’s not even mentioning the time it took to find a good tumblr theme and set it up and put together the DA club and the twitter account, as well as documenting all of the prompt suggestions and making sure I picked ones that were vague enough to allow for creativity as well as represented what everyone wanted, plus deciding on/writing out all of the rules including the ones for different sites. All of which, aside from some help here and there from friends, I did by myself. For free.
I’m not complaining. I am having a blast running Delpad Week, and making all of this was frustrating but fun. I love graphic design, I wanted to do my best, hell I even got input from my godfather who is a graphic designer on some of the banners just to make sure everything was as high a quality as it could be. And you know what? I was really, really proud of that prompt list. I have been stuck at home disabled for about a year now in awful pain most of the time and only just getting back into drawing and graphic design and I was super happy with how everything came out. I wanted people to see it, I wanted to give Delpad fans a beautiful blog and prompt list to look at after everything we have been through. And not to toot my own horn but I think I delivered.
So considering all of that you can see why having someone steal the banner, deface it with horrible and triggering content was so horribly upsetting to me. Aside from how defacing something a queer woman worked hard on with words like “burning a pride flag” is abhorrent and drove me to tears and panic attacks, how would you guys feel if someone took something you worked on for two days and shat all over it for a cheap joke? Especially when the only thing you did wrong was want to give a good, cute ship some attention.
Graphic Design is an art. Taking someone’s unique design, vandalizing it, and then reposting it IS ART THEFT. Just because it took you 10 minutes to open the pic up, color over the original text and use a crappy font to add in your own prompts doesn’t mean making the thing in the first place was that easy. (And again, I’m not complaining about the time and the work. I’m having fun. I love graphic design. If I didn’t want to do this I wouldn’t have.)
But anyway, like I said, I’m trying to not let it bother me anymore. People have apologized and that’s good. But hopefully this breakdown can help you guys appreciate the work that goes into graphic design and be a bit more courteous to the people who do that work, especially for free.
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Goodbye, GT
This is a very personal post written mostly for the sake of posterity and closure. You're free to read it if you really want, but I'd rather nobody comment or make a big deal out of anything I say here, I just needed to get my thoughts written out for the sake of moving on. So I'd rather people just scroll past.
Well, I finally finished watching Dragon Ball GT subbed. Thank goodness.
I have a lot of complex thoughts on GT, many of them very negative. I've made it no secret that I hate this series, and I have a lot of reasons why I hate it. The complete refusal to do anything meaningful with the vast majority of the supporting cast (With the things they actually do end up being very minor stuff, or downright insulting), especially the complete mishandling of Pan and Uub's characters. The boring stories, the bad designs and the general aesthetic of the show. The unengaging fights, and that utterly STUPID ending!
There were a few things I liked here and there, but in general I have a lot to complain about. And maybe if people ask me I will talk more about the show, but since this will likely be the last time I ever watch it, I felt now was a good time to really wax poetic about why I really feel so negatively about it.
Because after really thinking everything over and my experiences with GT and the franchise in general, I think I've found a more deep-seated reason besides it's own admittedly poor quality as a show. And I just wanted to get it all out for posterity's sake and so I can really move on.
I watched GT as it was airing on Welsh television as a kid, the Blue Water Dub specifically. It aired right after Dragon Ball Z finished, and the original Dragon Ball started airing after GT wrapped up. Like with DBZ, I watched every episode as it aired, and in general my childhood self enjoyed it. I was too young and stupid to really think critically about most of the media I consumed, so I never tended to notice any flaws in the shows I watched.
And Dragon Ball Z was my favourite growing up, alongside Spider-man The Animated series, so naturally I was inclined to think of everything GT did as being amazing and cool. And to be fair, yeah there is some cool stuff here, I can see why I enjoyed it. Even though now that I look back, a lot of it didn't stick with me the same way the stories, action and characters of DBZ and later Dragon Ball did.
I was confused and uncertain about the ending, but given that the original Dragon Ball started airing soon after I was never much concerned with it. Dragon Ball couldn't really be over, here was more of it showing me all that backstory and stuff that was always hinted at or flashbacked to in Z but I never saw for some reason. I quickly fell in love with OG Dragon Ball the same way i did with it's sequel series.
It was soon after that series finished airing, however, and I came to accept that Dragon Ball was over... that a powerful, uneasy feeling started to set in. While I know I hadn't actually been watching it for ALL of my life, it really did feel like Dragon Ball had always been there. A constant, welcoming, wonderful presence in my life that made everything feel so much cooler and life in general so much more fulfilling. Something to always look forward to...
I didn't dwell on it too hard at the time, but as time passed, and life generally got harder and more miserable as time went on (I'm pretty sure I was in secondary school when Dragon Ball finished, and that was one of the worst parts of my life, let me tell you!), I started to feel very alone and wistful.
To give an idea of what I was going through without giving too much away, I was losing friends, with my longest friendship ending in a great personal betrayal, my home life was an utter mess right up to and through my parents divorcing.
And between school work, undiagnosed aspergers that my teachers refused to acknowledge might be a possibility, and just realising how harsh, cruel and kind of miserable the world really was... let's just say that I became a pretty closed off, miserable person for a while.
I got better when I started going to college and life in general became more stable, but through all of that, and for the next several years after it even... the thing that made it especially unbearable, was that through it all, I felt like something was missing.
Something important, something grounding. Something that had helped carry me through life prior to all that, and give me something to always look forward to and find comfort in whenever things seemed rough.
It felt like a part of my soul had been missing for a long time, and I never understood why.
I think it was during my later years in secondary school that my family got a computer for the first time. I can clearly remember spending so many hours of my life browsing through wiki's of all sorts of shows, games and movies I liked.
One day, I inevitably started looking up Dragon Ball stuff.
I went all in trying to find as much information as possible about this series. I read all up about the behind the scenes information and Akira Toriyama's writing process. I read up on all the characters, the manga prototypes of Dragon Ball, and the reasons for why Toriyama wrote a lot of things the way he did.
I learned about all of the dub changes, and the various dubs that were out there for that matter. I used to have a laugh about some of them. Learned about a lot of the movies, games, Specials and other stuff I hadn't been aware of because I'd never seen them before.
While I didn't have any DVD's for the series available for a while and felt uncomfortable pirating the show (Didn't stop me from looking at some other things on YouTube, I notice though... I'm a weirdo :p), but I did frequently refamiliarize myself with stuff that had happened.
And when Dragon Ball Z Kai became a thing, I watched that, and I kept up with animated specials like the Yo! Son Goku and his friends return! special or Episode of Bardock (Which I actually watched before I even watched Bardock: Father of Goku, despite knowing about that special and everything that happened in it for a while, for some reason...).
I remember hearing about Dragon Ball Online and all the stuff about it's lore, and being utterly fascinated by the prospect, since I had never imagined another take on the series post-EoZ other than GT actually being presented, even though I REALLY did wish we had more.
Over time as I was doing this, the feeling of wonder and fun that I had always felt watching Dragon Ball as a kid started to come back, and I remembered why I loved this series so much. How much it meant to me... and how sad it made me that it seemed the series would never come back.
Oh, don't get me wrong, I appreciated that we had stuff like the video games, or the occasional specials, and even the SD manga when that became a thing was something I frequently read synopsis for since I didn't know where to actually read the manga for a while. I was glad there was content being made... but it was never nearly the same thing as having a proper continuation, you know.
And a lot of the stuff we got, like the YO! special, was pretty mediocre fluff in the long run. It was fun, but it didn't fill the void. And I thought nothing ever would.
I had begun to realize what that missing part of my soul had been.
I was excited when I heard about Battle of Gods being released, but I also assumed it would just be a one-off thing, something that would be great to pass the time and give me another chance to see all those characters I loved again, but it wouldn't lead to anything bigger. And despite stuff like the hints of there being multiple different universes, I was still certain by the time Resurrection F was announced that an occasional mostly self-contained movie would be the best we could ask for in terms of new Dragon Ball content.
I can't even begin to tell you how shocked... and how darn HAPPY I was when Super was announced. I never expected it to happen... I couldn't believe it was. For the first time in years... a new Dragon Ball series. One that ignored GT's continuity, and thus it's definitive ending, and opened up the possibility of more new Dragon Ball stories for many years to come.
I wanted to cry.
I didn't start watching the show until it was part-way through the Champa saga... mostly because there weren't legal ways to view it until part-way through the Future Trunks saga, and I thought I'd wait for the dub at first. but keeping up with news and spoilers about what was happening, and browsing the tv tropes pages for Super every day and watching clips on YouTube, I just couldn't control myself and started looking up episodes of the Champa saga myself.
And oh God... I felt at home. I mean, it wasn't a perfect story, really, but... it was good. And it was new Dragon Ball. Watching things unfold was such a magical experience, and when it got to the Hit fight... HOLY COW, was my mind blown. THAT... that was Dragon Ball, through and through! And then we got the Baby Pan episode, and dear God that was adorably perfect and I love it to bits. And then we found out that Future Trunks was coming back for a saga, and the new villain for it and, OH GOD THE EXCITEMENT!
Having Dragon Ball back in my life again was just... it felt just so... right. The missing part of my soul was restored. I had my childhood... I had my best friend back.
I suppose by now you're wondering about how all of this relates to GT. You're probably thinking "Oh well then, you only hate it because you blame it for ending Dragon Ball for so long!" and... well, okay, that's kind of on point. But I didn't hate it for that until after I actually re-watched the series not too long ago.
Truth is, I've always defended GT. I mean, I knew it had problems just listening to people talk about it, and remembering it for myself. I definitely agreed the ending was wrong. But... I remembered liking it as a kid. Even loving it.
I remembered there were ideas and a few characters I really liked. People complain about a lot of things in DBZ as well, yet whenever I re-watch that and the original Dragon Ball, they both hold up exceptionally well despite some issues. Better than so many things from my childhood.
So, why shouldn't GT hold up the same? I always told people that GT was okay, that a lot of people overreacted and that it wasn't anything offensive. People were just overreacting.
I strongly believed that for years. I was glad it was non-canon, because that meant there was another chance for another, better post-EoZ series that utilized the next gen characters (And the long standing supporting cast, for that matter) better, and I didn't want Dragon Ball to have a definitive ending. But I stubbornly refused to have negative feelings about GT.
I started re-watching GT when Super was about half-way through, out of curiosity and because I wanted to have an actually up to date, informed opinion on it. Especially where comparisons to Super came up.
I didn't go into the series intending to be negative, I went in with the intention of DEFENDING IT. I knew there would be stuff that would annoy me or that would be frustrating, but I wanted to enjoy it like I had as a child. I wanted to be able to say with confidence that despite it's faults, GT was a worthwhile addition to the Dragon Ball franchise and that I liked it.
And for the first two to five episodes, I did kind of enjoy it, despite some things I took issue with...
But the more I watched and was bored of the first saga, and the more I started looking ahead and really dwelling on what went on in the show. How it used the characters, how the stories were written and how it ended... after a while, I started to doubt it. I started to dislike it more and more.
While I had made up my mind about GT not being a good continuation of Dragon Ball Z by the time I finished the Baby saga, I still mostly enjoyed that saga at least, despite some glaring issues that bothered me. I was willing to say that was mostly fine. I hated the Super 17 saga a lot, but even going into the Shadow Dragons saga, I expected to like that. I tried very hard to be positive going into it... and then it kept spitting in my face.
And by the time I got to the penultimate episode, I was sick of the show and glad to stop watching it. I did something I never expected myself to do, and declared it horrible, a blight on the franchise! And I meant it, because after experiencing such a disappointing let down, and especially after that insulting final episode when I did watch it... I felt betrayed.
THIS was the show I had been defending all these years?! It was trash! People were right, GT WAS an insult to the franchise... it was an insult to me as a fan, as someone who loves this series.
And I feel this way because it feels like the series is specifically designed to annoy me. The first saga is a boring slog where it feels like nothing of actual value happens after our heroes leave earth, all for a stupid contrived premise. The only really notable episode is episode 15, and for ALL the wrong reasons!
Goku is turned into a kid for no reason, which just feels wrong at this point in the series, Pan is derailed into an annoying brat for no good reason, and the only other character that comes along for the journey is Trunks. Who is one of the few characters I don't really care that much about, and he's blander here than he was in DBZ.
We get one half-decent story after that, one horrible trainwreck of an arc that did NOTHING right apart from a funny gag with Chichi and Videl, and a saga that sounds on paper like it should be the greatest thing in the world... but everything apart from Nuova and Eis Shenron's episodes was handled in the WORST WAY POSSIBLE.
The fights range from passable, occasionally good, to just BORING. While there were good jokes sometimes, the humour was usually dull. The many characters I loved either barely showed up and then only to get fodderised, have a lot of their personality drained away so they're just kind of dull, or in the cases of Piccolo and Majin Buu, get POINTLESSLY KILLED OFF! And in Piccolo's case he got shoved into freaking Hell for his troubles and never got out! What were you thinking, writers! That is NOT how you treat one of the greatest anime characters ever created!
Everything I felt could have potential to be interesting felt like it was deliberately sabotaged. Uub was shoved aside in the first episode and didn't show up until it was half over, and then despite getting a transformation all he does is have a fight with Baby that's way too short and anti-climactic and then stall the villain later on in the saga, otherwise he's so insignificant to the show he might as well never show up.
I always thought his character was very interesting and I wanted to see him be at least the co-protagonist and actually do stuff... and GT just bent over backwards to make him irrelevent, give him almost no personality or real purpose, and just generally undermine the entire point of the ending of Z...
Pan got off almost worse. She was never allowed to go super saiyan, only useful a few times throughout the show and didn't defeat anyone that mattered on her own. She got no real character development, and was mostly just a damsel in distress... because the writers LITERALLY ADMITTED that they only kept her around so she could get beat up by the villains so Goku could look better by comparison. But oh I've already made some long posts on how badly Pan was used, so I won't go on now.
Bulla and Marron barely existed as far as the show was concerned. Krillin was basically a prop that was there to be a butt monkey who disappoints his family in the Baby saga, and his only notable contribution to the story was to DIE to move the plot along.
Android 17... oh God, the poor guy. He barely had any personality left when he showed up inexplicably under Dr Gero and Myuu's mind control, that whole Super 17 fusion was stupid as all heck, and then they senselessly killed his character off for real without ever doing ANYTHING of interest with him in a really insulting manner.
Despite the brilliant premise of having all the past villains invade from hell, the show did NOTHING with ANY of them, apart from turning Frieza, my favourite villain of all time, and Cell, into a couple of jokes who are defeated in an embarrassing way.
As cool as the Shadow Dragons are in concept, not only does their explanation and build up make no sense, but only Nuova and Eis are worthwhile characters. Haze and Rage Shenron were absolutely pathetic, Oceanus Shenron felt like a monster of the week from an earlier point in the series and not suitable endgame villain material, Naturon Shenron was annoying and lost because he was the BIGGEST IDIOT in the entire franchise, and Omega Shenron was the most disappointing final boss possible with no personality beyond "Evil bad guy" and a dull final fight that just poorly rips off stuff that happened in the Buu Saga, as well as that one episode that was just pointless padding that existed to tease people who liked Nuova Shenron by bringing him back only to have his contribution mean nothing (Kind of like how Vegeta going super saiyan 4 meant nothing thanks to Gogeta being a time wasting idiot and Vegeta not even putting up a half-decent fight against Omega).
And besides that, there were only two new characters in the show besides Nuova (Who was killed off way too soon, IMO) and Eis (The only character used as well as he could have been, probably) that were any good, them being Baby and General Rilldo. And Baby devolves into discount Frieza with none of the charm halfway through his saga, and Rilldo only gets a mediocre at best fight and then gets a bridge unceremoniously dropped on him.
And apart from them? Giru/Gill was an occasional nuisance and as interesting as drying paint. Valese was awkward and pointless, Dolltaki was the WORST character in the franchise, Dr Myuu/Mu was a boring dollar store Dr Gero with a stupider moustache and nothing interesting to him at all, and none of the other few characters were anything worthwhile.
And it's not like the show did a lot of interesting stuff with the characters it already had, half the characters are barely around, with several being only silent cameos, and they don't get any development from when we last saw them. Even 18's highly touted contribution in the Super 17 saga just involved her conveniently showing up to shoot energy blasts at Super 17, allowing Goku to then do all the hard work necessary to defeat him. It was kinda cool, but it was barely anything and it still comes at the expense of wasting 17 completely.
And then that ending... that above all insulted me, because after the show went out of it's way to wreck up so many of the characters, and treat us to mediocre to horrible stories, destroy any of the potential that Dragon Ball Z left open for future stories... after all that, it had the GALL to offer up what it intended to be the definitive, no going back ending for the ENTIRE series... an ending that was out of nowhere, depressing, and overall just kind of pointless... I was so angry.
THIS SHOW... this show is the reason we went so long without another Dragon Ball series for almost two decades, outside of Kai being just a re-cut of Z. And it went out of it's way to be the worst possible send off for the franchise imaginable, and try to cut off all avenues for future series.
I was so angry over this! All those years wistfully longing to have Dragon Ball come back... all those years that I felt incomplete, like I'd lost my anchor to make life feel more bearable when things got bad... like I didn't have a lot to look forward to... all of that was GT's fault, and it was TERRIBLE to boot!
And I DEFENDED this show all that time, because I was just so clueless... I felt sick.
And yes, I know I can't blame GT for how bad life got for me, that's childish... but I really do feel like having a little hope that Dragon Ball would continue with more series would have helped through it.
Dragon Ball is not just a show or manga to me. It is my favourite media franchise of all time. The series, it's characters and it's world resonate with me like nothing else. Nothing makes me happier than watching Dragon Ball, nothing else gets me more excited. The magic I felt watching the show as a kid is something I have yet to experience from any other work of fiction, despite trying my hardest to find it elsewhere in the time since. Maybe Pokemon comes close, but it's not quite there.
Dragon Ball is an integral part of my life. And GT tried to rip it away from me. To torch the franchise and run, as tv tropes would put it.
That is why I was so happy to have Super come into my life.
Dragon Ball Super is not a perfect series, as I have stated many times before. It has plot holes, inconsistent animation quality, especially earlier on. It occasionally screws up writing certain characters like Vegeta or Goku (Even though I don't think the latter's portrayal overall is anywhere near as bad as people blow it out of proportion to be), and there are plenty of missed opportunities. The Future Trunks Saga's ending was a complete mess, some of the things it introduced didn't really pay off. It has problems...
But at the same time, it's given me more joy than any other series of the past decade. Because when Super is good... oh my God, is it good.
The best fights from Super are honestly some of my favourites in the entire franchise. Goku vs Hit, the big fight with Goku Black and Future Zamasu in episode 57, Gohan vs Lavender, Gokus first fight with Jiren, Android 18 beating Ribrianne... there are SO many good ones, and the best are so much better than any of GT's action scenes. Heck, just watching the clip of the last bout of the fight between Goku, Frieza and Android 17 against Jiren did more for me than the entire final battle against Omega Shenron did.
There are so many good jokes and funny episodes, I think I've laughed more watching Super than any other Dragon Ball series. The slice of life episodes and moments scattered throughout are wonderful, and give me such an unbelievably pleasant feeling. We see so much more of the supporting cast too, and while the show struggles with a lot of characters especially early on, they all ended up getting so much good character moments over the course of the show and especially in the final arc. It was so wonderful just to spend more time with everyone.
There were so many cool new concepts thrown in. The 12 universes, the integration of the Galactic Patrol from the Jaco manga, the super dragon balls.
And there were so many new characters that I'm actually interested in.
Obviously we have Beerus, Whis and Jaco carrying on from the recent movies, and I love them so much. But in Super we got to meet Hit, Champa, Vados, Cabba, Frost, Magetta, Goku Black, Caulifla, Toppo, Ribrianne, and so many awesome and intersting new characters, many of whom I desperately want to see fleshed out and get to do more in future series. I didn't care about anyone from GT NEARLY as much as I care about half of these new characters, except maybe Nuova.
There's just so many amazing things that have happened that I never dreamed I would experience.
I never thought Android 17 would not only come back and be developed more, but that he'd go on to be one of the best characters in the show and one of my new favourites. I never thought Frieza would make a big comeback either, but oh God was he so perfect in the Universe Survival Saga and I think I love him even more now than I already did! I never thought I'd see Master Roshi getting to be cool again and have what felt like an even better send off to his time as a martial artist than the original Dragon ball gave him, but oh lord was episode 105 so good and got me emotional.
I never even knew I wanted Pan the adorable super baby to be a thing, but oh God is she wonderful and perfect in every way and I just love her so much! Ahhh!
Already I have so many fond memories of watching Super. Sure, it's done things to upset me from time to time, but when it's good, and it is most of the time, it does more for me than most other shows I watch. When Super is at it's best, I feel the same magic that Dragon Ball Z made me feel as a child.
A feeling I never once got from watching GT.
And as much as I panicked when I heard the show was ending, we got confirmation soon after that Super would continue through the upcoming movie, and all signs pointed to a new Dragon Ball series being produced in the near future. When the final episode aired, I felt a great sense of satisfaction in how it concluded... and also excitement and hope for the future, because that last episode made it so clear that there was much more to come.
Dragon Ball GT's ending threw me out of the house, slammed the door in my face and flushed the keys down the toilet. But Super left the door open.
It wasn't a goodbye this time. It was a "See you later"
A promise from my oldest, most dear friend that we would meet again.
It was such a beautiful feeling. And I cannot wait to see what the future holds for Dragon Ball. I'm sure there'll be bad stories now and again, every franchise has those from time to time, but Toei seem to be making all the right moves to get things stable to better produce future dragon ball works. The movie seems like it's having a ton of effort put into it, at least. So I have faith. Now my dream where Dragon Ball can go on forever might finally be coming true, and I couldn't be happier.
And after all is said and done, looking back on GT... I can't help but resent it for trying to deny me that.
I can't help but hold GT responsible for all of the years where there were no new Dragon Ball series. All the years it felt like Dragon Ball would never come back for real. And for all the loneliness that caused me deep in my heart.
It had some good points. Bad as it truly was, I can't say it was the worst sequel or show ever produced, there are many works of fiction that are objectively far worse than GT, and stuff that has caused actual harm to the world.
It'll never be One More Day or Holy Terror levels of bad... but on a strictly personal level, GT causes me more anger than any other fictional work I have encountered.
Why did I bother watching it again? That was a question I found myself asking as I was binging the subbed version. Obviously the reason I started doing that was because I have a personal goal of watching each Dragon Ball series both dubbed and subbed, and I thought I might as well get GT out of the way since I'd watched it all dubbed not too long ago... but why did I keep going as quickly as I did, when watching it just caused me so much frustration to the point of feeling actually painful?
I don't fully know, but maybe deep down I just really wanted to convince myself that I was being too harsh. That it wasn't all that bad, that I could go back to liking it somewhat. Because I really didn't want to resent it so much.
Guess that didn't work out, since honestly I think the only thing it accomplished is making me all the more aware of why I dislike it.
But you know what... whatever. I could keep being angry about GT until I'm blue in the face, but it's really not worth it. Because it's not relevant anymore. As much as it still bothers me we don't have another series set post-EoZ yet, GT has officially been replaced regardless by Super. It's clear that the franchise is back, and here to stay. Hopefully for good, this time. So really, what do I have left to be worried about?
I've got what I wanted all this time. GT's attempt to end Dragon Ball failed, the story goes on. And now that I've watched it both ways, I have no reason to ever come back to GT, or worry about it ever again. I have closure.
The show is still there for people who do enjoy it, for whatever reasons I'll never be able to relate to again. But I'm free from having to worry about it getting in the way of more Dragon Ball stories.
Now I have hope again, hope that a new Dragon ball series where Uub and Pan are treated with respect will happen down the line. Hope that I'll get to see more good character development and cool moments from all the characters I love. Hope that Launch might come back, or that underdeveloped characters might get to come back and be made a thousand times better like Android 17 was.
Here's to a bright future for Dragon Ball, the story that never ends.
And so, with all that out of the way... I guess it's time to say goodbye.
GT, you were a frustrating experience. I will admit, a part of me will always cherish those good childhood memories you gave me, even if they've been somewhat tainted. I will always love Super saiyan 4, and Nuova Shenron, and there's probably some good moments I might watch again through clips if I'm bored. I'll certainly listen to that english opening song again.
As bad as I make you out to be, in the end you weren't a complete disaster, since Dragon Ball ended up coming back anyway. And while I can never say I enjoyed watching you, part of me is glad there are others who feel differently, because people do deserve to be happy, even if I can't share the experience.
Because I'm not coming back. Because unless some exceptional circumstances happen, like I somehow become a big-name internet critic and I decide to review you for views, I highly doubt our paths will ever cross again. And I think that's for the best. I am sorry we grew apart so much, but I'm much happier where things are now.
Goodbye, GT. May your memory fade with time.
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Ya know what I didn’t want to really get into the shit show that is the discussion on the Sonic movie but here we are
I’m gonna try and make this like an analysis, what it looks like happened in chronological order, and what the hell is going on and maybe a bit on how people are reacting
For a bit more info on me I am currently a studying 3D artist because I will get a bit technical at times
I’ll also put it under a read more because not everyone wants to see it so HERE WE GO starting off with where I think shit went wrong in production (Spoiler: People high up on the food chain probably fucked up big time and interfered too much)
(Note: This will be mainly about the design, not about story)
So obviously as with everything it begins with the original designs made by a character designer. Now from what I have seen the studio actually doing all the CG work for the movie also worked on the cinematics for Sonic Unleashed that released back in 2008. Love or hate the game, you can’t deny that it looked and felt like Sonic. So clearly the studio itself knows what it’s doing.
However, the movie might be made with Sega helping (maybe) on the sideline but the production is controlled by Paramount. That means everything goes through Hollywood Big Wig Executives who probably don’t care about source material and also have no creative abilities and also don’t listen to anyone besides themselves and their investors. SO here is a very short, exaggerated idea of the conversations surrounding the design.
Exec: Hey we’re making a Sonic the Hedgehog movie so make us a Sonic that can fit in a live action movie.
Designer: Okay here you go he looks like regular Sonic but with some texture/material/fur touch ups to look more real
Exec: Too cartoony/Not real enough/Something something make it more like humanoid
Designer: But if we do that it wont look like Sonic, might be too creepy or weird, just looks weird/bad in general
Exec: I can have you fired
Designer: Here it is but people won’t like it
Exec: Yes they will, now get to work and make some posters people will love it (or not, it’s hard to say if they would really care as long as people see the movie and it makes money)
You get the idea. This probably continues all throughout production, maybe eventually they give up trying to change minds or they’re just too tired or it’s too late who knows.
So the posters come out and oh boy they were a thing that exists now
And so people do the thing and dunk on the look of it, get in their criticisms, which I think criticising or not liking something is well within peoples rights ya know?
At this point maybe the conversation comes back something like this
Artists: Yo we told you people wouldn’t like this let’s change it while we’re still relatively early in production (mabey) and can adjust it and not spend months with actual animating/lighting,post production
Execs: No no this is fine who cares it’s not even moving yet it’ll be fine
Artists: No it won’t
Execs: Jobs
Artists: Fuck, alright
So nothing changes, time passes, and here we are and by the way
Trailer editor: Hey for the background music I am thinking something upbeat and fun like the Sonic music from the games
Execs: No no make it edgy and cool like Gangsters Paradise
Editor: .... fucking why
So we got the Sonic trailer drop and guess what everyone dunked on like this isn’t even a shock at this point people analyze and criticise fucking everything (especially 3D) this time it just so happened to be on a massive fucking scale
So from a personal note my reaction was “This looks like shit I ain’t gonna bother with it”. From what I saw the general consensus’ were either basically what I said or “This looks like shit I’m gonna watch it anyway”. Absolutely no one I saw said “This needs to be fixed before the movie comes out” from what I saw people basically were just ready for it to flop and we’ll try again later. Even if some people were calling for a redesign I doubt even they expected what was coming next
So, this seems to be what ended up happening
Execs: -trailer release-
Internet: Yo this looks like shit wtf
Execs: Oh shit we fucked up
Internet: Yeah you did
Execs: Don’t worry we’ll fix this
Internet & Artists: What
Execs: We’ll overhaul and redesign him before the movie releases as scheduled
Everyone else: WHAT
Because here is what that means. The artists and animators will have to redesign (or maybe go back to an old design), adjust the model or maybe worse completely redo it, change textures, possibly adjust or recreate the rig, REANIMATE ALMOST IF NOT EVERYTHING, adjust lighting, re combine the new CG footage with the live action, make sure it all looks good and no clipping
What’s most likely is that this is gonna be hell for the studio leading up to release if they don’t delay the movie, which they have not said anything about yet and that’s not a good sign.
But now here is where the biggest variable comes in: How much will change?
Minor changes that don’t affect overall proportions and placement of details means they could keep the same rig and animations and just check for touch ups. HOWEVER these kind of minor changes probably won’t help much, if at all. Honestly besides textures and small changes to fur the only thing that can really be adjusted without much worry is the teeth because they can be the same size and they don’t have to deform or do a lot of crazy movement.
But in order to fix any of the actual problems with it, besides teeth, will require a crap ton more work. Any changes to the eye shapes, sizes or placement, and any changes to the mouth and surrounding areas will require a new or heavily adjusted face rig, which will completely throw off eye movements and lip syncs and those will need to be redone.
Any changes to proportions of any kind will require an adjustment of the rig, which could throw off the animations already set and need to rework them almost everywhere, and maybe redo them completely in a worst case scenario. If the hands change at all they have to adjust every single shot where he is holding or touching something, same with his feet, and really same with his head, quills, freaking everything.
All this in 6 months? Doable, but not without a fuck ton of unnecessary sacrifice.
But we don’t know what this redesign will look like, so it’s impossible to speculate on how much these artists and workers are going to be fucked over and pushed and destroyed for this.
Basically, odds are the artists are gonna be the ones paying for the mistake of those higher up on the food chain, and if the movie does well then, similar to what recently happened with game studio Bioware, they’re going to think “Oh it’s okay that it’s all shit for so long and then we push and destroy our artists at the last minute because it works” which it fucking doesn’t. If they had listened to their people at the beginning, this could have been avoided. No matter what some people still would have been like “ew 3D sonic live action” but no where near this degree.
So the final thing to touch on is some of the reactions after the announcement of redesign. Because I have seen... a lot. All across the spectrum.
I am going to try and talk about some of the more basic groups that these reactions fall under that I’ve seen.
Before we get into those though I want to say something that kind of applies to all of them: I think criticizing the design and look is okay. Talking about how you don’t like it and why and how it could be better is good, outside of ya know the extreme stuff like death threats or whatever, not that I’ve seen those really around this project but they probably exist.
So the first one is basically where I stand on the issue personally. The design sucked, they should have listened more and let it be more stylized and it still would have fit (because suspension of disbelief is a thing and what they have now certainly doesn’t fit in any more than regular Sonic would). I expected them to release it, it flops, no more Sonic movies for a while. If they were gonna fix it they should have done it a long time ago. I am not happy that they are going to punish their staff and artists for their own mistakes and now they’re trying to cover it up.
Now the next argument is one I have seen around here and there, and I understand it, but don’t completely agree. It’s the argument that we, as a collective group, complained about the design, and now we are at fault that the artists have to redo it. There is some truth that if the internet did not go “This sucks” then it would be over and it would have gone on to release as planned. Personally though, I feel like this takes away 2 things: 1) The right of consumers to dislike a thing and 2) The blame away from the executives who made the decisions not only about the initial design but also to change it so late in production. Should they not be held accountable as well? There is a piece that occasionally goes along with this along the lines of “You’re getting so wrapped in a kids movie” or something like that but like: This might (?) be a kids movie but really the target audience is largely the adults who grew up with Sonic. Also bad is bad and kids movies can be great they don’t have to be trash and also kids movies can be enjoyed by people of all ages.
There are smaller sections of discussion, usually quickly stamped out, about how “They fucked it up this is their fault” placing blame on the artists, but this usually comes from a place of ignorance and not knowing how the process works and who makes all the final decisions. The other side of that is “Whatever it’s gonna be shit no matter what I am/am not gonna watch it regardless” or “Idk looks fun I’ll watch it either way”.
To basically sum it up
The people in charge probably fucked up, people rightly were like “Lol look at this shit” and now those same higher ups are gonna overwork the artists to fix their own mistake
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