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olivyh · 2 years

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TWST CHARACTER HC PT 2: Octavinelle and Scarabia

TW: Eating disorders, assassination attempts, absent parents, general twst boy trauma

Octavinelle:

Azul:

-Mommas boy 100%

-Cannot take good pictures to save his life. Whenever he sends a picture of a new dish to Jade and Floyd its so blurry neither of them can tell what it is

-Also is the kind of guy to ask “has anyone seen my glasses?” when they’re on top of his head

-Same thing with his pen, which is almost always still in his hand

-Has a hard time getting out of his businessman persona, and often just gives up completely and carries it on through every aspect of his life

-He has a hard time showing affection due to this

-Gets nightmares from when he was a kid, and they lead to him making an even stricter diet and studying despite his brain and body literally shutting down. The tweels have to step in before it gets too bad

-Before the bullying started, he genuinely loved his merform because he grew up watching his mother be able to do multiple things at once with her tentacles

-He doesn’t talk to his biological father anymore, and often times talks himself out of contacting him

-He didn’t discover his UM, he developed it after his parents marriage! He looks up to his stepfather a lot, which led to him trying to mimic his own lawyer contracts (is that a thing? it sounds like a thing. lawyers pls confirm)

-Is a huge blanket hog, can and will steal every blanket in the vicinity

-Cant watch horror movies at all, he gets too freaked out

-Will nonstop talk when hes scared

-Has the hardest time walking out of the Octatrio, and often relies on his cane or broom to help him get around

-Also doesnt know how to dress himself, he has to look it up online and match models in the magazines he keeps in his office

-Idk if this is canon or not, i think it was just mentioned, but he doesnt actually need his glasses because his vision is bad. (Just looked it up, it is cannon!) They do, however, protect his eyes from the light hes not used to at the bottom of the ocean

-He has stretch marks, even in his human form. In his merform theyre a lighter purple than his torso!

-Sings when he cooks

-Has more moles all over his body! Theyre like the one on his face, but all over!

-Despite his efforts, he still has somewhat of a baby face (only somewhat!!), he cant figure out how to change it

Jade:

-Gets very upset and sulks when people don’t indulge in his interests

-He also tends to be pushed to the back behind Floyd most of the time, seeing as he’s the introverted twin. He never thought it bothered him until people would recognize his brother before him. They used to be called “Floyd and Jade”, and Floyd was the one who told them to switch the names around to make his brother feel better

-He gets very panicky when he’s on hikes by himself, especially when he goes into the mountains and he looks down. When this happens, he either calls someone or brings them with him

-He chokes a lot. Just, a silly little thought, since drinking underwater is nonexistent, he doesn’t quite understand how to, so it goes down the wrong pipe almost all the time

-Whenhe genuinely laughs, he snorts. His brother makes fun of him for it all the time

-Also the kind to chew on things absentmindedly, which isn’t something anyone would imagine THIS Leech doing, but he does

-He was the one who pierced their ears, and he has a bite on his arm still from when Floyd chomped him the second the needle pierced his ear fin

-He has a lot of scars from Floyd biting him, actually

-Where Floyd bites during fights, Jade kicks (or uses his tail as leverage to throw his twin)

-Always got the smaller half of the room

-Loves clean things, always argues with Floyd when he leaves his stuff all over their room

-No matter how much he threatens though, he will not move into one of the spare rooms of their mermansion

-He has to share with Floyd

-For logistical reasons, yknow?

-Sleeps like a rock, nobody can move or wake him. Sometimes Floyd thinks hes dead with how still he gets

-As much as he enjoys hiking, he finds the hygiene part of it unpleasant. Being from the ocean, hes unused to having sweat, dust, and dirt coat his skin which happens a lot during hikes! He often takes a swim in a nearby lake before going to bed during these trips

-Couldnt figure out how to set up a tent the first time. He decided to leave the tent unopened and sleep on the ground

-Gets the worst back pain out of the three. Azul tries to correct his posture, Floyd is active, but Jade gets too involved in his terrariums and drawing that he doesnt realize how hunched he gets

-He is also, despite trying his best with botanical sketches, is not the best artist. He tries! He puts in a lot of effort to draw his brother and Azul, but he can only seem to draw one species of mushroom, and thats just barely

-Dont let him see that Floyd keeps all of the drawings that he either gives him or just leaves around their room

Floyd:

-He gets genuinely upset when people think of him as being less than Jade and it always caused a little bit of insecurity on his part

-He squeezes people because he read that humans use it as a greeting, and he wanted to try it out. He didnt understand why people get so scared of him over it. He eventually gave up and realized his wrongdoings, but said fuck it and carried on anyways

-He sleeps naked. I will not elaborate.

-He also accidentally flashes people, all the time

-Well, sometimes accidentally

-He will turn into his eel form and swim around any body of water nearby, be it the nearby pond on school grounds, Mostro’s aquarium, or, much to Jamil’s dismay, Scarabia’s fountain

-Gets hurt a lot, is the kind to fight off any kind of healing and complain when everything hurts (ex: the knight/guardian of the woods scene from monty python)

-He finds affection weird when returned, he’s so used to people trying to get out of his grip or panicking when he hugs them that when it get returned he just,,, shuts down

-He has a hard time communicating how he feels, which ends up in him throwing fits so often. Only a handful of people can help him say what he wants to say

-He also cries a lot, which not a lot of people see

-Hes frustrated all the time, about school, work, his brother, Azul, those dumb guppies who call him weird, it all builds up

-Afraid of needles

-I also will not elaborate

-He falls off his bed all. the damn. time. Its all calm and peaceful until one night Jade awakes to a THUNK followed by a loud, pained, lightly muffled, “FUCK”

-Which also happened underwater, except he’s just kinda… floats out of bed (er… shell?)

-Like Azul, he sings AND dances when he cooks! Hes flinging food everywhere and making a mess but hey! Hes having fun!

-Hands down the best cook out of the trio, and the best barista too!

-Enjoys hiking with Jade, even though he ends up annoyed with Jade due to being more athletic than his brother, and therefore faster (he also doesnt like being stopped every five seconds to look at a new plant)

-He grinds his teeth a lot as a nervous habit. Chewing on candy stops it

-Misses the ocean the worst out out of the three, and gets miserable when he thinks about it too much

Tweels:

-As much as they joke, they genuinely think of Azul like their younger brother and are nearly if not as protective of him as they are each other

-Have a hard time sleeping in separate rooms, as they’ve always slept in the same room since before they were hatched

-They were very small eel babies! They shared the same egg, so a lot of their nutrients were split between the two of them. (itty bitty iddle dudes <3)

-They also have a hard time seeing out of their grey eye, which leads to them being somewhat on guard whenever they’re around anyone else besides themselves and Azul

-I feel like they’ve also been almost assassinated before, considering that their parent’s “business” seems very dangerous and, considering they’re the only children, they’re the heirs to said business. This could also be why they try to appear and act as intimidating as possible

-Their stripes in their eel forms glow in the dark. They’re bioluminescent!!!!

-They used to switch around their names so often as children (“Hey Jade come here” “I’m not Jade” ((he most certainly was Jade pretending to be Floyd))) that they forgot which one was which during a certain point of time in their childhood. Their parents were the ones who told them to put their black strands of hair on opposite sides of their faces

-Also given the whole fish mafia thingy, I think they grew up seeing a lot of terrible things, making them desensitized to violence. They get upset when they see how happy and innocent other children seem to be

-They talk with a slight lisp due to their teeth getting in the way. Jade hides it better than Floyd

-They do the thing where they speak at the same time all the time, also a cause of their many fights

-They’re not immune to dumb sibling bets

-They both sleepwalk, which is terrifying to anyone who may come across their path

-When one is sick, the other isnt. Theyre never sick at the same time

-Have many, many secrets that they will take to their grave with them- most of them being dumb things they broke as kids and vowed to never let their parents find out

-Their parents did find out of course, but theyd never rat the other out

Scarabia:

Jamil:

-He definitely has the best sense of humor out of all the cast, zero hesitation will say what’s on his mind or whatever one liner he can think of (Hes also shows some traits of the genie, like in the freedom and wanting to travel so ofc he gets the humor)

-His hair is his pride and joy, and always has been. It’s been the one thing he’s had control of in his life (also prob a canon thing that im too lazy to google)

-Najma cut it once when they were kids, they still argue about it (Even though sometimes, he cuts a small piece of his hair shorter as a weird way to honor her when he gets homesick)

-Even though he doesnt have the best relationship with his parents, his little sister is his pride and joy, even if he’d never tell her. Insanely protective of Najma, and always wants to do little things to make her happy or her life easier

-Just wants to be a good big brother (and parental figure, since his parents were more focused on the Al-Asims than the two of them)

-A Caffeine Fiend, dude lives off iced coffee and energy drinks, it’s a borderline addiction at this point

-He makes good coffee though, which is a plus

-Makes the funniest facial expressions when he thinks nobodys looking like over exaggerated, dramatic, rolling-eyes expressions (again, influence from the genie being himself)

-He shit talks bugs when he finds them, trying to intimidate them (“You gonna hide on the ceiling where I can’t reach? Fuckin’ coward. You’re scared of me and you know it. I’m a powerful magician, you hear me?” *bug drops from ceiling* “*inhuman screech followed by heavy footsteps* NAJMA BUG NOW”)(hes very loud)

-The only bugs he can tolerate are butterflies, and that’s just barely

-He’s mischievous, and will often do little childish things when he thinks nobodys looking (like hiding snacks he wants to eat later, flipping little things upside down to see how long itd take someone to notice, etc etc)

-He cannot live without his hoodie. It’s his safe space. If anyone touches, breathes on, or even LOOKS at it for too long, he will glare at you until you feel your soul being judged

-Still has some of his old hoodies like that, being worn until they were literal threads

-Really into any kind of sports, not just basketball. Volleyball? Hell yeah. Baseball? Sign him up. Tennis? Sure. Shuffleboarding? Odd, but he’s not against it

-Except ice skating. Do not take this man ice skating. For a dancer, his balance on skates is next to none

-Also sneezes like a grown man. Like, scream sneezes

-He takes melatonin to sleep, he gets so worked up from making lists of what he needs to complete that he finds it hard to stay still for long

-talks in his sleep, like, full convos with himself.

-Discovered his UM one day when Najma was making fun of him and wouldn’t stop, so he forced her to shut up. She doesn’t remember, but he still feels guilty about it sometimes

-Aside from hiding in a pot, he would also store things that he wanted in there as a child!

-As we know, he was a troublemaker as a child, which sometimes reflects in the way he plays basketball

Kalim:

-Is actually a lot smarter than he looks. After being trained to run a company his whole life, he knows a few tricks to keep things running smoothly.

-Has to have music playing from his phone at night and some lights on because he has a hard time sleeping, he is very afraid of someone trying to hurt him in his sleep

-Has terrible anxiety, though nobody would ever guess it. After having lived through who knows how many assassination attempts, it starts to take a toll on you.

-At some point, he took to sleeping in his closet as a child because he felt it would be safer

-Doesn’t understand why people get upset when he spends a lot, has a hard time understanding the class differences

-Just starts singing and dancing when he does little tasks. Whether he’s doing his homework, doing his dorm duties, or even in the middle of a conversation

-Cuts his own hair, much to Jamil’s chagrin. He’s not too terrible at it (similar to Jamil, its a way for him to control something for once in his life)

-Feels the stress of having to take over his family’s business every waking moment, and it makes him sick to his stomach

-His hands shake a lot, which not a lot of people see bc of how much he moves and bounces around

-Plans to free Jamil the second he turns 18

-Blames himself for Jamil’s overblot, and beats himself up over the fact that he never noticed anything was wrong

-I feel like, given that the Al-Asim family has a lot of heirs as back-ups (which is pretty fucked if you think abt it too much, esp considering other royals in NRC don’t have the same issue), I think Kalim feels resigned to his fate of being replaced if anything were to happen to him, and he resented his younger siblings for it when he was a child

-Runs into things constantly. He just doesn’t look where he’s going, ever

-Good at playing a lot of different instruments! He also writes some of his own songs in his free time. I feel like he would want to be a musician, seeing as he has the sociable, welcoming personality, but he has to take over the business so that would get in the way

-Treats the magic carpet like it’s his brother. It would also follow him around when he was a baby, pushing servants out of the way and taking over the guardian role instead

-Poor carpet has seen many, many things

-He’s a hopeless romantic, having grown up with the story of Aladdin (I forget what they call it in TWST). He was in a similar position as Jasmine growing up, so he was hoping someone could give him some freedom to do what he wanted

-Kalim and Ruggie are fairly close in the manga, so I like to think that he tries to help out the poor in his home country more often after meeting and getting to know the hyena

-Gets very emotional at movies, no matter the genre

-Also talks during movies, and yells at the screen

-Stress eats like it’s nobody’s business, like, shoveling handfuls of food down his throat while trying to power through some hw

-OKAY SO NOBODY IVE TALKED TO AGREES W ME ON THIS BUT UHH

-I think he’d be a little pudgy. I know hes vv active with dance but most likely if you live that lavish of a lifestyle, you’re gonna be eating a lot of good food. Not good for you necessarily, but good tasting! Also the sultan in Aladdin was chubby, so it would also just be in his genetics! (even if theyre not related… hes based off him!)

-I also enjoy the concept quite a bit

-Methinks its cute (but I do switch between him being lanky and pudgy quite a bit when I draw him)

-He loves tattoos, and would get more once hes older!

-Also loves piercings, and has had to been talked out of getting more on his face many times before (He got a nose ring and eyebrow piercing in secret- the eyebrow one closed up a long time ago, but he sneaks piercings in the nose ring so it doesnt close up when everyone goes to sleep)

-He gets giggly sleepy, like laughing over anything and everything

-He cries when he laughs too, its on instinct

-Discovered his UM when he was stressed and locked himself away for a moment to cry, and then flooded his room on accident

I wish i did more for the Scarabia boys </33 their story and lore was my favorite out of all of it (the other being heartslabyuls!) I ALSO ADORED THE SCALDING SANDS EVENT AND WANT A RERUN SO I CAN GET THE JAMIL CARD I DIDNT GET LAST TIME <<//3333

#twisted wonderland #twst #twisted wonderland headcannons #jade leech #floyd leech #azul ashengrotto fanart #jamil viper #kalim al asim #octavinelle #scarabia

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adamwatchesmovies · 5 months

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Barbie (2023)

2023’s Barbie turned out to be a pretty big deal. Not only is it Warner Bros. Studios’ highest-grossing film ever, it also received rave reviews and was directed by Greta Gerwig, who co-wrote it with Noah Baumbach. Some say it proves that art is dead, that the bad guys have won, that even the artists with the most pristine integrity can be bought and sold like plastic dolls by soulless corporations. I say it proves there are no bad premises, only bad executions. When someone talented really cares about a project, they can turn even what some might call a commercial into a great, memorable, stylish and surprisingly thoughtful piece of art.

In Barbieland, all of the Barbies, Kens, and other Mattel dolls live in harmony - playing at the beach, working at their prestigious jobs and doing everything the children in the real world have them do. When Stereotypical Barbie (Margot Robbie as “Barbie”) suddenly develops bad breath, and flat feet, then begins thinking about death, she travels to the real world to confront the child who’s been playing with her. Along for the ride is Beach Ken (Ryan Gosling as “Ken”). While Barbie is horrified to discover that the real world is not the ideal matriarchy she imagined, Ken is fascinated.

The movie Barbie most resembles is 2014’s The Lego Movie. Like it, Barbie is a frequently goofy and surreal comedy featuring a beloved children’s brand. It is also colorful, with many stylish visual flares that prove the people in charge have a deep and loving appreciation for the property. When Barbie leaves her bedroom to eat breakfast, she doesn’t take the stairs; she floats down to the ground floor. It’s because that's the way the dolls move when little girls play with them. If you look at the movie, you’ll see many of the various Barbies Mattel has sold over the years appear in cameo roles or roles you think are cameos (but turn out to be much more). Some of the Kens and Barbies we see aren’t even official Barbies but are part of the doll’s history, such as Kate McKinnon's “Weird Barbie” - the Barbie whose hair got cut up, has broken hips and weird “makeup” applied all over her face. Like The Lego Movie, Barbie has the occasional musical number and eventually leaves the made-up play world to visit the real world - a way for it to become more than just an ultra-colorful, super stylish adventure with costumes that are sure to win it awards.

There’s a lot to unpack in this film. Some of it you might anticipate from Barbie's trip to our world. Every 10 years or so, a mob with torches and pitchforks rises up to condemn Barbie for projecting unrealistic beauty standards upon little girls but never before has the character of Barbie actually been confronted with those criticisms; it’s always been the people at Mattel who’ve been on the receiving end. Obviously, in reality, it’s because Barbie isn’t real, but this movie asks “What if she WAS real? How would she take these criticisms? What would she say about them?” I don’t know how Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach did it but they convinced Mattel to all sorts of things I would’ve never expected. The movie also makes some strong points - all while being funny and going in unexpected directions.

Barbie is one of the most memorable movies in recent years. Even if you don’t remember the exact song that played during the Beach Battle, you’ll remember what the choreography was like while it played. You’ll remember Margot Robbie’s outfits, the visuals showing how her and Ryan Gosling’s characters travel from Barbieworld to our world, what the offices at Mattel look like, the wonderfully bizarre interpretation of its board of directors, the sets, Barbie's interactions with Gloria (America Ferrera) & her daughter Sasha (Ariana Greenblatt) and the way it made you laugh. It’s got so much going on you could rewatch it several times and find something new in the visuals or the dialogue. There’s a point made about what role the Kens have in society, particularly at the end regarding how much Mattel/the rest of the world cares about them that still has me smiling long after the movie is over.

My only criticisms towards Barbie are that a) it probably could’ve been slimmed by about 10 minutes and b) it’s so successful that we’re all but guaranteed to have a sequel and I can’t imagine a follow-up being as fresh and satisfying as this original. I know there are people who will not be interested despite all the positive word of mouth. To them, I say you’re missing out. This is a great film that just happens to be about a plastic doll made by a giant corporation. It does so much with its premise, that I'm still in shock. (Theatrical version on the big screen, August 11, 2023)

#Barbie #movies #films #movie reviews #film reviews #Greta Gerwig #Noah Baumbach #Margot Robbie #Ryan Gosling #America Ferrera #Kate McKinnon #Issa Rae #Rhea Perlman #Will Ferrell #2023 movies #2023 films

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bisexual-queenie · 1 year

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I have come back from writers block with another fun MHA AU (its not really too serious, this is all just for fun :) )

What if MHA characters were Strawberry Shortcake Characters (I would add pics, but Tumblr is being quite stupid so… feel free to google them, but I mostly got their personalities from the 2003 series, and I imagine that thats what their clothes would look like if they were in Strawberry Shortcake)

Deku: Strawberry Shortcake (Pretty Self Explanatory. Main character, One of the sweetest people you will ever meet).

Eri: Apple Dumpling (The little sister and liitle kid of the group. Also kinda self explanatory!)

Sero: Orange Blossom (I love Sero, I love Orange Blossom, perfect fit. Also its cannon that Sero likes Oranges!)

Momo: Peach Blush (“Momo” is the Japanese word for “peach”. In addition, her wiki says that “Peach is a delicate, generally nice and always polite southern bell. She can be a drama-queen sometimes and worries over the really simple things from time to time, even if nobody else has just yet.” Sounds like Momo!)

Bakugou: Pepermint Fizz (Peppermint and Bakugou are literally the same person lmfao. No but seriously, they share so many similarities, like their jealous and aggressive attitudes (especially to the main character), thats why I put them together)

Mic: Cherry Jam (Cherry Jam is the musician of the group, which to me fits Mic’s whole schtick)

Jirou: Ginger Snap (I could have made Jirou Cherry Jam, but she just fits Ginger Snap so much more, since they are the tomboys of their respective groups)

Shirakumo: Blueberry Muffin (Blueberry Muffin’s wiki says “Blueberry always tries to keep her friends in line and is almost always the first to admit her mistakes. Blueberry brings her sense and level-headedness to the group and really cares for her friends. That love for her friends helps her to be humble and modest and tells her that her friends mean more than anything to her.” That reminds me of Shirakumo very much)

Mount Lady: Lime Light (They act the same, and even had the same character development in their respective arcs. They also just look the same lmao).

Kamui Woods: Lime Chiffon (The wiki says she was the bubbly and kinda ditzy one, which kinda fits I think, but I just chose this for Kamui because he and Mount Lady could share the lime motif lmao)

Jeanist: Raspberry Torte (The wiki says Raspberry is “sarcastic and easily annoyed” in the 2003 version, and the 2009 version makes her a fashionista, so it kinda fits!)

Edgeshot: Lemon Meringue (Lemon’s wiki says “She is kind and caring to her friends and she always tries to work as hard as she can to make others happy”. She likes to chat and knows a bit of gossip, but she does never usually trifle with in anything that could hurt the feelings of someone else” which I think fits Edgeshot really well!)

Nighteye: Plum Puddin’ (Wiki says Plum Puddin’ is a prankster and loves to laugh. Need I say more :) )

Some extra notes:

- i couldn’t fit Aizawa, Midnight, All Might anywhere and Im so sad 😭

- Ok I have A LOT of notes about Best Jeanist and Edgeshot as per usual (im sorry i love these two so much) @wanderingchocolateeclair @quill-n come and get some Edgejeanist juice lmao

Raspberry Torte and Lemon Meringue are usually paired together in the series. They debuted together, and in the show they are best friends.

I wanted to share this quote from the wiki: “They used to live somewhere else until they moved to Strawberryland [Referring to Raspberry and Lemon]. They are often seen sitting together, or walking together and holding hands.” If this fact doesn’t fulfill my love for Egdejeanist I dont know what does.

Alright thats it for now! Thanks for reading! :)

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crystalelemental · 11 months

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Alright, this is overdue. I need to finally talk like...actual Utena thoughts. We finished the show like two weeks ago and I just never followed up, first because thinking about it, then because Distracted. This last post I made talking about it was after episode 23, so there’s...a lot. This is my first run through, and I'm not super confident in interpretation of stuff here, but no way to get better at it than to try. I'll try to keep it organized, but no promises.

Okay, so Nanami's Egg is about getting her first period, right? That feels like...really obvious. Like the way it's framed as both fear of this being abnormal, and then everyone laughing at her for developing this late? That seems obvious. Also, unrelated, but I love how Touga's going on about preferences involves trying to tell Nanami a man and a woman is the proper way, and using the phrase "No matter how good it feels" when talking about same-sex preferences. Like, buddy. My guy.

Anyway, the major line from that episode is that whole "We're only able to live comfortably this way because you're not the type of woman who lays eggs." Which, in that context of laying eggs as now having your period, is pretty fucked, Touga! But also, I think I kinda get what it's going for?

They talk about siblings as people who are always there, and in the case of the prince and his sister, that the sister was the only person to truly love him. There's a big emphasis placed on that aspect of love. But also a lot of the sibling pairs seem to have some weird interest in each other. I think the idea is supposed to be more about how your first encounter with love is through the family, and that your conceptualization of love is formed through those early experiences. Not necessarily in sexual ways, but just in how you provide and seek out affection. And in some cases that is then sexual, given how Anthy and Akio’s relationship goes.

Sex is a big thing in the last season. I honestly joked at first about the car being a metaphor for sex, but like...man, is it? Akio goes on a lot about loving the vibration of the engine, and being in the car does result in shirts opening and discussions of those relationships, with Ruka and Shiori apparently just fucking right in the back seat. But I think that's only a part of it; the engine that drives it, in a sense. The car itself is, I think, more the relationship in totality. I say this mostly because, at the climax (hee hee) of each duel in that season, the cars headlights turn on and fixate on the castle with the prince. When Utena deals the finishing blow, the car crashes, and that illusion dispelled. It feels to me like the vibe is that all eyes are on their prince, the ideal they imagine, rather than the person in front of them, and that leads to the breakdown of that relationship.

Slightly related, but there are only two instance I recall where a character sits on the front of the hood. One is Akio in like every episode jumping onto it after revving the engine as hard as it'll go. The other is Nanami, who arrives to the dueling arena on the hood, but while the car is off. This is also right after she's like absolutely not with Touga, so it makes sense the engine is off if its purpose is representative of sex.

Another interesting change: Nanami only has one sword in that fight. Previously, both in her initial duel and when Tsuwabuki uses her swords, she has two: a full blade, and a dagger. That change is interesting. I talked in the last one about not quite knowing the deal with the swords, but I think I've got something.

It seems their trauma. Like, in Miki's case, his seems to be around the guilt of his sister not playing anymore. Juri's is around her own bitterness with Shiori. In the case of Nanami, there's two, and I think it's interesting that one disappears after she's decided she doesn't want that kind of dynamic with Touga. One of them seems to be her hangups around him. The other seems to be her need to stand out; to be someone important. In a way, that's still tied to Touga. He's her super popular big brother that she gains a lot of clout from; even her three flunkies only follow her because they're into Touga and hoping to use her to get close. When she loses, her primary concern is about being just another face in the crowd, and that's the worst outcome she can think of. Her primary baggage is around being liked, and being someone important to others. Which was the whole thing with Wakaba, and a pretty significant part of the show.

I'm jumping ahead a long ways, but the ending of the show has Utena transferring out, and everyone forgets about her pretty quickly, even Wakaba. There's a big emphasis on being special in the Wakaba duel, and Akio asserts that some people are just naturally special while most aren't, and lays it on pretty thick that Utena is one of the special ones. But that's not true. The ultimate outcome is that no one is Special in the grand, cosmic sense. But the Wakaba duel is significant in that it's the most distinct in the black rose arc, because Wakaba is important to Utena. Everyone is special to someone, but no one is Special. Nanami is a character who seems to seek being Special, even as she ruins the dynamics that could result in her being important to someone. Her closest friends will turn on her in an instant for their own ends, and she doesn't exactly treat people well; she just wants to be noticed and important to others.

But, swords. I think another interesting angle is that, for the most part, people have their own blades. There are unique swords pulled from each person. The only exception is Anthy, whose sword is the Sword of Dios. Akio's. The swords as trauma then translates to Anthy carrying his trauma. She doesn't seem to have her own sword, it's just his. Given that the major focus is on Akio's abuse toward Anthy, this makes sense. Perhaps moreso given the ending’s whole “Swords don’t fit princesses.” That idea that you can’t weaponize or take control of your own trauma. That sense of just needing to be passively protected, let someone else handle it for you. The princess lives in the castle and the prince protects them. Their only role is to be protected; to have someone else make the decision of what's best for you. And that's a position ripe for abuse.

In the early duels, this was a big thing with Utena’s approach to Anthy. Sure, she’s trying to help, but Utena’s approach is “This must be what’s best for Anthy,” and takes it upon herself to see it done, even if it’s not strictly what Anthy would want. The ultimate stabbing at the end there kinda indicates that Utena hasn’t had the right of exactly what it is Anthy’s wanted, or gone about things the right way. Trying to be that prince wasn’t the best course. And ultimately, she doesn’t save Anthy. Because you can’t just save them by jumping in and making decisions for them. It’s just another form of control, in a way.

Opening the rose gate, that big goal of Akio’s, is something that only works when Utena cries. It’s that empathetic response that gets things to start opening up. Just hitting at the wall, trying to break things down, isn’t working. If anything, the swords as trauma means Akio attacking the gate is a solid metaphor for that re-traumatization. You don’t help someone past what hurt them by trying to help in the same way. That idea of taking control for them is just hurting them again.

The coffins themselves are interesting too. I think it's an extension of the egg metaphor from the early season; that idea of the chick that couldn't break free and died. Season 2 also had the reversion of the butterfly back to the egg, retreating into the shell of what's familiar and feels safe. The coffin seems to be the next step of that. It's the refusal to progress, and I assume to stay with what is harmful, because it feels safe.

That leads to the whole “End of the World” thing. Which I think is a pun? Like, there’s end of the world in the apocalypse sense, which is definitely the more intended interpretation given the songs. But also there’s end as in like...the edge, the boundary of the world. When Utena transfers, Anthy tells Akio she’s not gone, she’s just “no longer in your world.” That sense of the end of the world is, I assume, like the edge of Akio’s reach. He talks about it in Season 2 with Souji, how you can’t really grow or move on so long as you’re at this school. That’s the boundary of his control. The apocalypse would be escaping it, abandoning that world for something else. Changing from something familiar can feel like the end of your world, and like some great calamity, before it settles into something more liberating. I think maybe that’s the intent behind it, that this apocalypse is what’s needed. The talk about bringing revolution...may not even be the right approach? Like, revolution would imply fixing what’s within, rather than just getting the hell out. “Bringing revolution” might not be what’s best. Sometimes you just gotta leave.

I'm running out of a direct stream of connected thoughts, so miscellaneous section time, I think:

Stars as girls. That one seems obvious. Anthy talks about not wanting to look at real stars in the episode Utena and Akio fuck, and Akio talks about having discovered a new comet no one knows about and keeping it to himself around the same time everyone starts commenting on Utena seeming more like a girl. Akio's confession about never really liking the stars is interesting. Dude's not even that into girls. Sure, he'll fuck them, but you gotta have that preference no matter how good it feels, right?

They showcase really plainly how the stringent rules of the uniform allow Akio an easy in with Utena. That insistence on traditional gender presentation results in Akio being able to go "Hey other staff, let our students express their individuality" and suddenly he seems like such a cool guy. What's interesting is that he's the acting chairman right now. He can just...make the rules not stringent. But that would loosen his grip. Strict enforcement of these kinds of gender roles and expectations is something those seeking to abuse will exploit, by seeming like they're oh so cool for being more laid back about the things they help enforce. It's a clever demonstration in a pretty short scene.

This isn't metaphor, but I fucking love that Nanami's "friends" turn on her, set up this whole thing of like oh no, is Nanami about to experience a consequence for her actions, only for her to show up, completely unharmed and put together, with all three of her funkies bandaged and beat to shit. Like that was supposed to be the "See what happens when you make bad friends?" scene and Nanami decided no, I will never learn a lesson, and just brute forced all of them back in line. I love her so much.

In the last scene as Anthy' leaving, there's Chu Chu and the frog on him, with Chu Chu squirming loose and running off. This is just a dumb little factoid, but frog mating involves amplexus, which is basically just grab on and hold tight until it's done. It's a neat little visual representation of what's going on for Anthy too.

I...think that’s all I got? There’s probably a ton of stuff I missed, this show feels really dense. It’s a lot. But it was really, really good. I’ll definitely rewatch it at some point, but...later. This feels like the kind of thing you need a palette cleanser for after before going back in.

#revolutionary girl utena

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dark-night-star-light · 11 months

Text

Spirit Animals: The Evertree (Reread pt. 7)

DISCLAIMER: WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS FOR BOOKS ONE THROUGH SEVEN AND BOOKS ONE THROUGH FOUR IN SECOND SERIES, AS WELL AS FOR TALES OF THE GREAT BEASTS AND THE BOOK OF SHANE.

Masterpost

Chapter 1

“Conor jerked his head to the side at the familiar scream. As his eyes adjusted to the light, he realized that he was lying near the edge of a cliff - and not far from him stood Meilin, weighed down with chains. She threw herself at an oncoming Greencloak and knocked him into the dirt. Jhi looked helplessly on. Rollan was locked in a tight battle with an enormous snake. The snake wrapped its coils around both of his arms, lifting him high in the air. A short distance away, Abeke and Uraza fought what seemed like hundreds of Conquerors” (2). Is Kovo trying to dash their hopes by sending this dream on purpose?

The description of the dream is done so well.

“Except it wasn’t Tarik. The face transformed. The kind, knowing eyes were replaced with ones cold and cunning. Conor found himself staring up into the face of Shane instead. The boy smiled at him in a way that showed all his teeth at once” (3). Is this symbolism for Shane’s betrayal and how Tarik died?

Chapter 2

“Rescuing her felt impossible. Sometimes, when he chatted with the others, he found himself looking for Meilin so that he could tell her the newest joke in his head. He would yearn to make her laugh, only to realize that she wasn’t there. She was far away” (5). This sounds a lot like grief, actually.

“Abeke had sent several doves to Nilo, to deliver the news to her father and sister . . . As far as Rollan knew, Abeke’s father hadn’t responded” (7). Is Abeke still hoping for her abusive family to magically become un-abusive? She’s regressed and lost all the progress she made in the last book!

“The pain of losing Meilin irritated him for an instant. He’d done so well, for so long, on his own. But now there were people at stake, whose absences hurt him, and he didn’t like it one bit” (7). Character development. Also, Rollan getting annoyed at himself for caring is lowkey hilarious?

“‘It looks good on you,’ she said, offering him a weak smile. Tarik’s cloak” (8). Is Rollan officially a Greencloak? Is there no ceremony or anything???

“Ice. In Nilo? Rollan tried to imagine the oasis where they’d found Cabaro, encased in a thick layer of ice. ‘Well. That sounds like a nice, normal summer.’ Abeke couldn’t help smiling a little at his sarcasm. ‘I can’t remember seeing that - or even hearing about it - when I lived in Nilo. The tribes must be in chaos.’ ‘Or skating around and playing games. I mean, I would.’ That coaxed a genuine laugh out of her. ‘I can see it. Planks of wood and antelope bone strapped to our feet.’ Rollan leaned in with a conspiratorial grin. ‘I bet Uraza would love that. Wouldn’t you?’ He nodded at Uraza, who regarded him with a rather withering look” (8). Rollan and Abeke's relationship has honestly reached its peak. There’s only one moment in the second series that I think tops this. (If you know, you know.)

“‘It’s not your fault,’ he finally said. ‘Shane’s betrayal … He’s the one who should feel guilty, not you. You couldn’t have known. You love and you trust. And I just wanted to say … well, that I’m sorry people keep taking advantage of that trust.’ Abeke studied him for a long moment. She still looked sad, but Rollan thought he could see some of the guilt lift from her eyes. After a while, she nodded. ‘Thank you,’ she murmured. ‘I’m sorry that you’ve had to wait so long to trust others,’ she replied” (9). Perfect summary of Rollan-Abeke foil relationship.

Is Conor sleep-walking because of the dreams?

Seriously can’t remember . . .

Chapter 3

“Olvan turned his piercing eyes to Conor. ‘You were climbing the battlement, boy?’ Conor didn’t say a word” (14). Doesn’t Olvan know Conor’s name? Also, why exactly is he so mad?

“She sipped her breakfast gratefully, thinking that if only the porridge had a touch of Niloan spice in it, it could be the best thing she’d ever eaten in her life” (15). I always thought this was strange, because porridge isn’t Niloan, is it? Unless it’s Niloan porridge. Anyway, combining that with Niloan flavors might be a bit clashy, right? I put way too much thought into this.

“The words echoed, familiar and cruel, in her ears. How stupid” (17). Oh no, the pity party’s back. Look, I’m not saying Abeke’s feelings are invalid, but I do wish that they’d just said that defeating Shane was her main motive for the coming quest and have her focus on that instead.

“‘The heart of the lands,’ Lenori murmured in wonder, and everyone turned to her. ‘There is an ancient myth among the Amayan tribes of a place in Erdas that is the origin of all life - humans, animals, even the Great Beasts . . . ’” (18). The heart of the lands as in the Heart of the Land bond token? This was foreshadowed all the way back in The Evertree? I seriously don’t remember this at all.

“‘Our friends Finn, Kalani, and Maya will arrive in Greenhaven tomorrow’” (19). Not Lishay? Or Monte?

Chapter 4

“It was always unlocked. Gerathon saw to it, because she knew it made no difference for Meilin” (22). Couldn’t Meilin go somewhere warmer then, at least?

“‘Do you think . . . do you think the universe made a mistake, pairing the two of us together? Do you think it knew how I would treat you?’” (24). This is so sad. But, also, I don’t really feel that much sympathy for Meilin, not as much as I would have. They made her so toxic all throughout book five, it was borderline abuse.

“Even the sound of his voice seemed different - colder, somehow, a far cry from what she remembered” (26). Shane’s a good actor, honestly.

“‘Yes. I’m the Reptile King.’ . . . ‘Are you really so surprised?’” (26). So the do Conquerors all know that Shane is the true Devourer? Or just some?

“Then, abruptly, the coiled monster in the shadows of her mind reared its ugly head” (28). This is a well written line-

“Shane brushed hair out of his eyes and sighed. ‘Call your panda into its dormant state,’ he said. ‘Now’” (28). The way he refers to Jhi shows that he doesn’t really see her as equal to humans. He just sees her as a thing. Also, he seems so bored, lol.

“The light pushed the fog back. Only for an instant” (29). What is this light??? Does it ever say?

“Meilin managed to strike a glancing blow against his cheek . . . ” (29). She actually punched Shane in the face. Slay.

“‘Chain both of them to the wall’” (30). Can’t Meilin just summon Jhi into passive, then summon her out again, not in chains?

Also, I’ve been meaning to say this but: how does Shane know Common? He grew up on Stetriol, isolated from the world, so he should only know Stetriol’s native language. Did he learn it?

“Shane hesitated with one foot still inside her cell. He didn’t turn around. Instead, his jaw tightened, and a strange emotion flickered across his face, something Meilin almost wanted to interpret as . . . regret” (31). Shane redemption arc seeds being planted already?

Chapter 5

“Somehow, the older image of Lord MacDonnell in complete control of his domain was comforting” (33). I still think it’s annoying that we never get an end to the harpist plotline. We never figure out what happens to her. Never.

“They’d only just learned that Zhong had fallen. Nilo had still been free” (33). Which makes no sense when you look at the map. Nilo is closer to Stetriol than Zhong is.

“ . . . Conor noticed that Abeke hovered constantly at the windows facing the harbors” (34). Didn’t Abeke literally conclude that her family was abusive at the end of the last book? What happened?

Maya’s relationship with Tini is almost as good as Tangaroa and Ngaio’s.

“‘Do we even know how to get to Kovo’s prison, or the heart of Erdas?’” (35). Why do they need the heart of Erdas, anyway? That’s where the Evertree is, right? Don’t they just need to get to Kovo’s prison right now?

Chapter 6

“He galloped ahead now, as if he had always been their leader, as if Tarik had never existed” (40). Honestly, he is a bit of a jerk, and at least this time Rollan has an actually good reason to be mean to him.

You know how spirit animals only go into passive form if they trust their partners? Did Kalani just leave Katoa in a large body of water until he trusted her?

“‘She’s very sensitive . . . ’” (42). Isn’t Katoa male? Katoa has been gender-swapped. Small plot hole.

Chapter 7

Rollan is so mean to Dorian, but this time he has an actual reason, unlike with Mikak.

Why aren’t they just sailing around the tip of Nilo? Why are they going between Nilo and Zhong instead???

“‘Tarik would have been proud of us, if he was here! But he’s not. We just have you, trying to fill his shoes’” (53). Rollan lowkey is kind of right though?

“Perhaps it was a coincidence” (54). If there’s one thing I learned from this book series, it’s that seagulls are never a coincidence. Also, I don’t remember the seagull plot line at all???

Chapter 8

Rollan-Kalani bonding!

“He could feel something poisonous here, in the very air of the place” (59). How??? Stetriol’s just . . . a continent.

*narrator voice* The seagull was, in fact, a Conqueror seagull.

Meilin-Kalani parallels! Also, I forgot that Kalani goes a step farther and literally cuts the whales free.

“Rollan had the sudden notion that this was how he would die. What would happen to Essix if he did?” (66). Aww, he thought of Essix first.

Dorian’s death: unpopular opinion(?) but I kind of didn’t care? Talked about this but: when a character is introduced for the sole purpose of dying, it’s hard to care about them. Dorian’s death is clearly only there to further Rollan’s arc.

Chapter 9

“‘Tarik once told us never to take our cloaks off to win favor’” (73). Ladies and gentlemen, he comes full circle.

“In the morning, the bodies of red-crested birds littered the streets” (77). What?

Kalani faints??? I don’t remember this?

Chapter 10

“She rolled into a quiet crouch, listening intently” (82). This is the second time in the series Abeke has done one of these late night endeavors. First was in Fire and Ice when Meilin didn’t trust her. Parallels?

“‘We should let it go’” (84). What if it’s a Conqueror’s spirit animal???

“If they ever made it out of this desert, she would drink an entire keg of water. The fifth day” (85). Going straight from thirst to water poisoning, eh? Also, shouldn’t they have died from thirst by now? It’s been five days?

“They rode in silence for a long time after that. Abeke couldn’t stop playing the horse’s death over and over in her head” (86). They’re short a horse then, right? Who’s walking?

Abeke literally just saved them all with her plant knowledge. Wow.

Chapter 11

“‘If Kovo hasn’t been freed yet, it won’t be long before he is’” (91). How many talismans exactly does Kovo need to be freed? It can’t be that many-

“The fire of rage lit her eyes, a rare sight” (92). Abeke’s character development might actually be the best of the four. It’s so great when she’s allowed to get angry. Wish she would be more angry at her family, though . . .

Devin is spelled “Devon” here . . . hm.

The wave-cave paths are a cool concept. It would be cool if they were combined with the underground tunnel system from Against the Tide to create some kind of cool maze.

“‘Found you,’ [Meilin] said” (97). Uh oh.

Chapter 12

I think this chapter should’ve been from Meilin’s perspective instead of Rollan’s. There’s already been so few Meilin chapters between this book and the last, and in my opinion, it would’ve been more emotional to see it from Meilin’s perspective.

“Rollan noticed that Shane stood at the very back of the patrol, a dark smile on his face” (99). Aim for him! Aim for him! AIM FOR HIM!

“And there - Rollan thought he saw Lishay . . . ” (102). Oh, okay, Lishay is here.

“He wondered if Abeke’s father was among them” (102). Probably not-

“ . . . stallions that looked much stronger than the mounts they’d been traveling with . . . ” (103). How? Did they bring horses aboard the ship to Stetriol?

“ . . . the Greencloak was Monte . . . ” (103). Slay, Monte’s here, too!

“Shane stared at Abeke for a moment, his brows furrowed, as if he wanted to say something. Then he seemed to change his mind” (104). No! What was he going to say??????? My sanity needs this-

“It was Abeke’s bow against Shane’s blade” (107). Okay, you know what, I would’ve settled for having this be from Abeke’s perspective, as well. What’s going on in that fight???

“‘Keep me shackled,’ she said. ‘Don’t let me go’” (109). They should’ve just done this from the beginning, though?

“‘If the Great Serpent is too weak to control a girl!’ . . . ‘I’ll be ordered around by no human’” (109). Gerathon controlling Shane is honestly such a strange concept. I don’t even know why, it just feels so wrong?

“Zerif waited several dozen yards away” (110). Zerif is actually such a boring character, though? What are his motives? Power. Just power, nothing else? He’s a stereotypical power-hungry villain. What’s his backstory? We don't know. Where’d he come from? We don’t know. How’d he meet Kovo? We don’t know. Why was he willing to drink the Bile when he likely knew it’d make him Gerathon’s puppet? We don’t know. What was his childhood like? We don’t kn-

Chapter 13

“‘Are you sure about this? Gerathon could turn her against us at any moment’” (113). Yeah, that was kind of an emotional move on Rollan’s part. His justification: “‘I trust you’” (113). Okay, yeah, but no amount of trust will hold back Gerathon forever. In fact, shouldn’t they be wondering why Gerathon isn’t controlling Meilin right now?

“Exhausted, he pulled himself up” (116). Isn’t Muttering Rock’s top hot enough to scorch any boot, foot, or paw that landed up on it? Isn’t it? Plot hole?

Maybe the changing weather also shifted the temperature of Muttering Rock to a more bearable temperature?

“‘I am glad you’ve returned, my brethren. I did not wish us to part on such bad terms’” (118). First Wyrm arc hint?

“Their glow grew brighter and brighter, wider and wider, until the colors all fused into one” (119). I think the Coral Octopus and the Granite Ram should’ve also fused at this point, from a narrative perspective. They were close enough to be melded during the initial creation of the Staff of Cycles, right?

Chapter 14

I think Kovo should’ve turned down Shane’s request for the Staff after all of the talismans had been melded together, at least. That would have certainly been better, in my humble opinion.

“‘You killed Drina for nothing!’” (123). Not really. It was to give Abeke the illusion that Shane was on her side, yes?

“Zerif called his jackal - and for the first time, they saw the tawny animal emerge” (125). Why is Zerif called “the Jackal” if people barely see his jackal?

“Then she hit Meilin in the jaw, right where she knew she would knock the girl unconscious” (126). She’s definitely learning.

Chapter 15

“But Zerif was already gone” (130). Well. Yeah. That’ll definitely come back to bite them.

“‘Was that . . . bonding sickness?’” (130). I think it would’ve been cool if the bonding sickness was from the tree getting sick. Certain splotchy patches on the tree could correlate to certain bonds that had bonding sickness. The staff controls the tree, right? So the staff would then be able to control how the sickness was used.

“Only when Jhi uttered a low, mournful growl and nudged Meilin with her nose did she finally turn her eyes up” (130). Awwwwwww.

“But when she reached him, Abeke kicked him hard with her boot instead” (131). Here comes my favorite chapter in the entire first series. Slay.

Chapter 16

“Shane had deceived her into caring for him, sympathizing with him, pitying him” (132). He did, indeed.

“‘I’m sorry. You don’t understand how hard it’s been for me-’” (133). Bruh. He’s apologizing? Now?

“How ironic, she thought, that their first session was a harbinger of the betrayals to come” (133). I mean, I guess the first session could be considered a “betrayal”, but I still think it was a good practice technique. It is nice symbolism, though. So for the sake of the story, I get it.

“‘You didn’t choose for your spirit animal to be one of the Four Fallen - you were handed a hero’s choice . . . ’” (134). Right, but she didn’t want it. Nobody really wanted it. This is honestly such a shit defense.

“‘Did they abandon you?’” (134). Honestly, part of why I love this scene is this speech by Shane. His best lines are in this chapter. The other part, is of course, someone finally kicking Shane while he’s down.

“‘You were chosen for greatness . . . I only wanted the same’” (135). Didn’t he want the cure to the bonding sickness, not greatness? Going down the path of the first Devourer, I see . . .

“‘You meant so much to me - you were my only true friend. I remember everything about you ever since we first met . . . ’ . . . ‘But I had no choice. I’m bound to the Bile . . . ’” (135). Which he chose. Also, even without the Bile, he made some interesting decisions that even Gerathon can’t take credit for.

“‘Well, I’m sorry too, because you mean nothing to me’” (136). The grammar. But, besides that, the intensity behind the words is so, so just- so good.

Chapter 17

“Rollan fell to his knees before the mighty elk . . . ” (138). I still think it’s quite stupid that the Great Beasts have a leader. That . . . was a decision, for sure.

“Meilin and Shane let out a simultaneous gasp” (138). This chapter should’ve been from Meilin’s perspective propaganda. I rest my case.

“‘I think the Bile is completely gone . . . ’” (139). Okay: I really didn’t like that Meilin’s bond to Jhi is affected by the Bile for the entire series. I think she should’ve been cured earlier so we could’ve had a good understanding for their Bile-less relationship within the original series. I guess that’s why the authors started a new series for the aftermath of the events.

I will always, always think it’s incredibly cringey that Rollan and Meilin kissed in front of Abeke, Conor, Shane, the Four Fallen, and Tellun. At least the authors included the appropriate amount of embarrassment on both their parts. Maybe that’s just the aromantic in me talking, but it seems, just, so weird? I personally would’ve done it after all the events were concluded, during the resolution.

“‘ . . . there existed only the sky, the water, the air, and the earth . . . ’” (141). Another reference to three of the four traditional elements, with a substitute fourth.

“‘She has never healed. This injury is what gave rise to the bonding sickness . . . ’” (142). Wait, so the tree’s patchiness is what causes bonding sickness . . . which I do not remember at all. Huh.

“Conor reached out in silence and took the talisman from Tellun’s antlers” (142). But what does his talisman do? I think that’s the only one we never learn about (in The Book of Shane, Shane experiments with the stolen talismans and we learn what the Four Fallen’s and Kovo’s talismans do).

Chapter 18

“Her growl sounded suspicious and scathing, the hints of a deep bitterness apparent” (145). I like that Uraza distrusts Tellun. It’s very human-like behavior.

“‘I can help you,’ he said. ‘I know things that you don’t’” (147). Sure, he knows things the four don’t, but he probably doesn’t know anything Tellun doesn’t know.

“‘So,’ she said. ‘You want to be worthy? Well, now’s your chance’” (148). Headcanon: when the Redcloaks were picking out their codenames, Worthy had a hard time with his. Shane told him this story and told him about that quote in particular, which helped Worthy decide that he wanted his codename to be Worthy.

Chapter 19

“‘Nilo is the First Lands, the origin of all life’” (150). So Zhong is the Walled Lands, Amaya is the New Lands, and Nilo is the First Lands. Also, it’s ironic that the Heart of the Land is in Amaya which is the New Lands, about as far away from the First Lands as you can get.

I kind of wish that there was a bit of foreshadowing about the Evertree before this book. The first of the foreshadowing was the beginning of this book, and it seems like there should’ve been something before this?

“But as large as they loomed, the Evertree dwarfed them all” (155). The Evertree would be cool as, like, a meeting of the Great Beasts location.Like a council hall.

“He slammed the staff into the earth” (156). Shouldn’t that have shattered it? Maybe it’s about intention?

“The blemish was twice as big as he was, a region of black, rotting wood that seemed to be slowly eating away at everything surrounding it” (157). I might be remembering wrong, but isn’t that the Wyrm?

Spoiler alert: I was, in fact, remembering wrong.

“They stood frozen, the ominous totems of an endgame” (158). That sounds cool. No idea what it means.

Okay, I guess it means that they are the end. The Great Beasts’ end is the end itself.

Where’s Shane in this fight? He isn’t mentioned even once up to this point, and only Kovo is still alive (out of the unfallen Great Beasts).

Chapter 20

“Another figure had lunged at Kovo, someone riding on the shoulders of an enormous crocodile” (168). Now that the Bile’s gone, why doesn’t Grahv run away? Why is he still obeying Shane? Shane didn’t treat him particularly well and Grahv and Shane’s bond should be completely gone now because Shane’s bond is unnatural, right? Maybe Grahv is confused and doesn’t know exactly what happened? Spirit animals are supposed to be smarter than normal animals, and Grahv isn’t (technically) a spirit animal anymore?

“Jhi had always been the true warrior. The warrior who turned to peace and kindness first, and struck only in love and defense. The wise warrior. What Meilin should have wanted to be all along” (169). Awwwww.

“He lifted the complete Staff of Cycles, took a deep breath, and rammed it into the ground” (170). Didn’t Kovo do the same thing before? How come that didn’t break it? Also, how did Conor know what to do? It’s not like Tellun told him anything-

Chapter 21

“The Evertree fell” (172). That’s so ominous.

“She witnessed the birth of the Great Beasts that emerged from this newfound energy . . . ” (173). The energy is the Wyrm, then, right? Because that’s what created the Great Beasts . . .

Chapter 22

What exactly are these visions? Did the dying tree conjure up its memories of the world, somehow?

“‘The Four Fallen won’t need to sacrifice themselves again.’ Silence. Until Rollan broke it with a huge whoop” (176). LOL.

“ . . . watching Shane’s back as he ran . . . ” (177). He’ll be back.

“A seedling! . . . A new beginning. Anew Evertree” (179). A weak-as-hell Evertree, that’s for sure.

“ . . . someday, when the Evertree became whole again, the other Great Beasts might return once more to Erdas. The cycle would begin anew . . . Someday, Briggan might evolve back into his Great Beast form . . . Everything would begin again” (179). The idea of cycles is repeated over and over, which implies an end and new beginning, which I think is pretty cool. I think the Great Beasts are probably meant to cycle through Great Beast and spirit animal form regularly.

Chapter 23

“Rollan pulled off his boots and let his toes wriggle in the surf” (181). Is this a resolution to when he thought about relaxing on a beach with the other four in book five?

“‘I bet I can beat you back to Greenhaven’” (181). Aren’t they in southern Nilo???

“As they sailed back toward Greenhaven . . . ” (182). So they are sailing. Where did the boat come from???

“Her father and sister waved at her from the side of the street” (185). That’s it??? After all the development Abeke went through realizing she has a shitty family, that same family is going to be her happy ending??? What?

“[Aidana] looked happy now. Free” (186). Awwwwwwww.

“ . . . so that no one could tell where one ended and the others began. They were one” (188). This kind of comes back to a circular motion, the idea of no end and no beginning. In my opinion, that’s why the last line hits so hard.

Final thoughts and rating:

The ending hit so hard. The way the last line was written was just done so well. I also enjoyed the way that Shane’s story is explained so well. My favorite scene in the entire first series happens in this book, and the raw lines and Abeke getting angry together just hit so hard. I feel like the tree’s lore was explained fairly well. The motif of cycles was a good theme to bring into this book. Conor’s and Abeke’s development was generally done very well.

I think Abeke “making up” with her abusive family without so much as an apology was a terrible decision. It just sends the message that family is always good and they’ll always be family no matter what, which is objectively false, and in Abeke’s case, is downright harmful. I thought the fact that we never find out what Tellun’s talisman does was not great, but not bad, necessarily. One thing that really bothered me is that while the Evertree and the motif of cycles are both really good decisions to include, the execution was way off. Both were only foreshadowed in this book, when they should’ve been foreshadowed throughout the series.

Rating: 9/10

#draeyem rereads spirit animals #the evertree #spirit animals series #spirit animals books #sa spoiler #abeke #conor #meilin #rollan #shane #tellun

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bungakusyoujo · 1 year

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Zettai Karen Children final thoughts

I read the entirety of the manga in about three weeks, and enjoyed it very much. It’s been a while since I last read a manga that was so consistently high-quality (for the most part, at least). I have a few minor complaints, but overall, this was unexpectedly a very well-written, captivating story.

The good:

The art. It starts off as simple "retro" style, but considering that the manga ran for over 15 years, it's not surprising that it eventually evolved into something much more polished and impressive. Comparing the first chapters to the later ones, I still think both styles are good-looking and distinctive.

The manga is obviously very long and depicts the main cast in three major stages of their lives, yet there are no actual time skips. You watch the characters grow in real time, which allows for very natural development.

Another thing I liked is the pacing, particularly how the plot is comprised of smaller independent stories which are marked by common titles. While the overarching story arc definitely exists, dividing it in such a manner keeps the story digestible and not overly info heavy per chapter. (This is less prevalent in the final story arc, which I will address later.)

The characters. Almost every single one of them is likeable, believable and interesting; their psychology also feels very convincing, particularly the depictions of trauma. The main cast is charismatic and nicely developed, while side characters stay relevant throughout the story. The author often draws from known tropes and archetypes, but still manages to give his characters distinguishing qualities that make them stand out.

The comedy. It’s not easy to make me giggle, let alone laugh out loud, but this manga did both on frequent occasions.

The fanservice is not too much in your face and doesn't distract from what's happening. Most of it is focused on female characters, but it’s also worth noting that the manga doesn’t shy away from showing shirtless men.

The bad:

Towards the end of the manga I noticed an increasing amount of repeated panels, namely closeup panels being copied from other bigger panels. They appeared up to a few times per chapter, which I don't think should be happening to this extent (or at all, preferably), though I can imagine the reasons why the author resorted to that solution (deadlines, most likely).

Spin-off characters (Andy and Yuugiri) received really weird treatment. Their mother story, "the UNLIMITED", requires no prior knowledge of the ZKC manga, yet if someone was to read the last arc without watching "the UNLIMITED" first, I feel like they'd be very confused with the Blue Star Foundation. It gets even worse that the organisation and its members have very little impact on the manga story, which is SUCH A SHAME. It could have been a great opportunity to expand on these characters after rather poor development they received in the spin-off (yes, they were main characters and I still feel like they got nerfed by a bad script). The Foundation should have their own IMPACTFUL story arc. If you aren't going to do that, why put them in the manga in the first place? They contributed nothing. (Let me guess, Andy was a very popular character as reflected by the popularity polls, so they wanted to spike up the sales?)

Related to what I said earlier about the pacing, the final arc suffers from changing the formula at some point. It drags for too long before we finally get to the bad guy. If the main villain is supposed to feel threatening, we should have more story related to him than just a few glimpses (it was well executed in the second arc where Gilliam had enough screentime to be interesting, but for some reason the final arc neglected him in favour of having him brainwash everyone, so most of the time is spent on fighting the brainwashed allies instead of the actual enemy).

That one time every main character got a nice summary of their role while Aoi got reduced to having small boobs. Yeah, I didn't enjoy that part.

#zettai karen children

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sifeng · 2 years

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Love Between Fairy and Devil (苍兰诀) - Eps 1-8 Review

A very early review because this drama is definitely... something! There is an intense division in the popular opinion of this drama, some absolutely love it, others think it is dumb and childish. Personally, I think that despite its obvious issues, it has a lot of merit and deserves a lot of the hype.

Characterization: considering there has only been eight episodes, and there are 36 total, it makes sense that none of the characters have really had to develop or change dramatically. However, the initial characterizations of our main 3 (Dongfang Qingcang, Xiao Lan Hua and Chang Heng) are very solid, and clearly set their personality, goals and morals. Personally I love the characterization of Xiao Lan Hua. These “cute” type female leads can very easily become annoying and unnecessarily stupid, but Xiao Lan Hua, though innocent, kind and not the most intelligent of celestials, is by no means dumb nor annoying. She has extremely strong morals, generosity and kindness, and has the ability to think for herself - ignoring the celestial propaganda about the demons because she knows Dongfang Qingcang has been kind to her. Dongfang Qingcang’s characterization stability is a little weaker, but this is made up in how he is evidently beginning to feel and understand emotions. As we see him do no evil (except burning 2 people to save Xiao Lan Hua in like episode 2), it’s hard to imagine just how cruel this man is. The lack of information about his reign of terror also makes it difficult for the audience to understand why he is so desperate for Xiao Lan Hua to work her magic on the leaf of Chi Di Nü Zi. But, to an extent, I get the mystery behind his background, it allows us to see him as Xiao Lan Hua sees him, without the prejudice of knowing how evil he was. Chang Heng is also a very solid character. He is someone who is selfless and puts the stability of the universe and the happiness of others ahead of his own well being.

Pacing: This drama is very fast. With so much to go through and only 36 episodes, it makes sense. But, despite the fast pace, it doesn’t feel rushed. This drama hits the sweet spot, where you really want to keep watching and keep watching (I watched all 8 episodes in a row), but don’t feel like too much information is being thrown at you. However, there are certain moments that feel very undeserved, or out of nowhere. For example, when Rong Hao discovers Xiao Lan Hua is Shen Nü. Why did he suspect her anyways? And if he suspected her, why doesn’t any of the other celestials? The ambiguity of Rong Hao and Chi Di Nü Zi’s characters are a plus right now, but I can easily see them being plot holes if the show only ever gives them random shots with no explanation. But I doubt that...

Worldbuilding: Out of the past few xianxias I have seen, this drama does world building best in my opinion. Unlike some shows that throw way too much information at you in the first few moments, this drama gives you very little in the beginning, and only begins to reveal page by page the intricacies of this universe, which leads to the binge-ability of this drama (I really want to figure out who is who what is what!) Plus, this world feels so unique and fresh. Part of this is the costuming and CGI, part of this is its look into the business, bosses, different parts of the heavenly realm. One of my biggest complaints about the heavenly realm in other shows is how empty it seems, this show actually fleshes out the realm, showing the lives of the lowly and the rich.

Acting: now, I have to be honest. I thought this show would be terrible, mostly because I did not trust Wang Heidi’s acting at all. He was terrible in Miss The Dragon, like to the point where you just laughed when he appeared. He’s not really that good in this either BUT at least you can watch without being completely taken out or bursting out in laughter which is huge improvement for him! The scenes where he was pretending to be Xiao Lan Hua were actually okay!! I’ve always maintained the opinion that Yu Shuxin is one of the most underrated actresses in the industry. People think she’s not good because her line delivery is, shall we say, unique, but in believing she’s a poor actress simply because they dislike her voice, they cannot hear how clear her words are, how she can easily control her emotions and how her mood is always clear in her voice. Acting wise she always adds little details that really show off her understanding of both Dongfang Qingcang (when she is in his body) and Xiao Lan Hua. She makes Xiao Lan Hua so adorable, someone you want to cry for when she cries, someone you want to laugh with when she’s happy. There are moments when she does overact a little, making Xiao Lan Hua almost caricature like in moment, but overall, I think she’s doing amazing. Zhang Linghe is pretty okay as Chang Heng. The scene where he crossed Xiao Lan Hua’s name off his list did make me feel sad, but overall, I don’t feel like he’s made this character particularly engaging (not to say the character isn’t engaging, he is, just mostly because the writing is good).

Romance: The main CP is really growing on me. Chemistry wise, they are actually pretty great. I’ve seen videos of them doing interviews and variety shows and clearly they are friends, which really makes these early scenes so enjoyable because Xiao Lan Hua and Dongfang Qingcang are also friends. I really can’t wait to see how this relationship progresses, because it’s already very clear how cute they are. The switching bodies trope is actually sooooo funny because of how Xiao Lan Hua misinterprets his actions, so it doesn’t feel old or boring at all. Xiao Lan Hua and Chang Heng (FL and SML) grouping is also very cute, and so sad. The innate tragedy of their situation makes the relationship so interesting, and I think they have pretty good chemistry too! The second CP between Rong Hao and Chi Di Nü Zi is very exciting to me because they both seem like crazy people!

Costumes: while I am not a huge fan of some of the costuming aesthetically, overall, I really appreciate how the designer managed to make such a new, different style for the celestials, while maintaining a classical style for the humans. I do think the fact that all the young celestial fairies wearing the same thing makes the idea of costume design kind of redundant, but I appreciate the spectacle! Personally I love Dan Yin in the fairy dress, while Xiao Lan Hua looks better in other styles. I totally get why the designer put them all in the same dress (to add a sense of continuity) but personally I wish Xiao Lan Hua’s wardrobe was slightly different to show her different personality and class.

CGI: The CGI is amazing! The CGI for the heaven palace, Si Ming’s house, the place where they went to see the sunrise, the prison are all absolutely gorgeous. But the most impressive scene has to be when Rong Hao and Chang Heng were in the painting together, that was absolutely gorgeous! I used to think Love and Redemption was the best xianxia for CGI but this drama just took the number 1 spot.

Overall: If you can get through the acting and are a xianxia fan, I would 100% recommend this! A really different drama no matter how you look at it, and I would say you should at least try it even if it sounds unappealing (I thought it would be terrible and look at me now!)

#cdrama #Love Between Fairy and Devil #cang lan jue #苍兰诀 #Esther yu #Dylan wang

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youreyeslookliketheocean · 1 year

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chap 5 review i finally have time lets go i hate school:

tommy learning asl just to fuck with wilbur lmao

also when wilbur stepped up for tommy after he couldnt speak was awesoem i love crimeboys

its so interesting the relarionship between tommy and his old coach bc its such a complicated mess that really fucked tommy up but it hurts more relaizing that the entire public saw it (or parts of it) too and nto saying anything until his mom was lkke hey thats gfucked up loike the public knew that old cheif only cared abt racing while phil cares abt tommmy

crimeboys are becoming friends <3

also damn wilburs accident was pretyy severe.

im kinda excited for when the new team figures out abt tomys trauma and insecurites (if they do lol)

also imagine walking into a pillow fight. phil be like "alright then"

also i like all th e side characters too especaillh purpled and aims

chapter 6 too bc yeah:

beach beach beach

also wtf why is wil tht good. he has no right.

toomy stop hating on urself phil cares abt u

give wil false hope lmao ope theere he is right thwre

stop. tommy stop. stop hating on urself being deaf is fine phil isnt gonna hate u anyway how u constanty compare everything to old cheif is very important bc it shows how its different

hes being kidnapped lets go i love beach scene beach (i actually ahve horrible memories from florida beaches we went at the wrong time of year)

george founder is an absolutely badass name good job on that one

dream isnt the old cheif relally???? im genuienly surprised but thats cool. nice to actually see him in a dsmp fic where hes actually chill. also sapnap i forgot he cuased the accident that must be awkward af (tommy stop blaming urself)

yeah no u show his lack of self confidence/esteem perfectly u take so many W

oh my god 🦀 makes an appearance hes such a celebrity

wait fuck all my brain proccessed was crab legs its a hermitcrab

mother of twitch prime. that is a tommy thing to say

yeah take em aids off that must be annoying as hell

is it just me or do i sense that tommy isnt accepting that hes HOH now hmm :/ | yeah losing smth as important as a sense must be scary if u've had it for so long

istg is wil gonna bully him into- and he did (also was it him 🦀? is he in the full throttle?)

hes learning asl im so happy oh shit not them waves i once got rolled by waves its scary af

oh no old cheif angst again ahh. and wil being concerned ahh this will be character development. this is crucial scene alret. oh they laughing awwwww oh he smile a /gen smile !!!!!!!!!1 crimeboys brainrotting full throttle version commence omg he likes wil now- ope nvm

"theyre different from his old crew. all of them are" YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

hes not that worried in sim. anymore abt being good

oh no his left ear but itll be ok

"hen slips away to his room to ruminate on the fact that never—not in his whole racing career—has he felt so loved by his team as he does now. He’s not worth it. He’s a fuck up, a failure, and he’s going to disappoint them. He doesn’t want it to end." i will live for the moment when he fucks up. its gonna be so great for character development

ok this chap. is very long so im splitting to parts byeeee sorry this took so long school sucks :( but full throttle does not :)

Ahhh thank you!!!!!

Yeah, I don’t think Tommy really realized how much the public knew until that interview with Wilbur, either. The public saw and knew (to a certain extent) that something was wrong or “off” about Tommy and his chief’s partnership for a long time, but no one ever tried to step in and ask about it, or tell him that he should leave him and find a new chief, or say anything at all on Tommy’s behalf… Writing that part hurt.

Idk how far you’ve gotten by the time this response comes (lol sorry it took so long. University stole my soul for a little while), but… the moment he “fucks up” will definitely be coming 👀

Thank you for the message!!! I giggled at the hermit crab😂

#kat speaks #asks #full throttle #dream smp #dsmp #sbi #dsmp fanfic #sbi fanfic #nascar!au

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justsomeoneintoomanyfandoms · 4 months

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Can I have a Ninjago fanfic about Nya and my OC Emily (a citizen of Ninjago High School who is the same age as Nya and works in a bakery) pet-sitting Meowthra, the giant cat from the movie? I imagine Nya being excited to see the big cat again, and wanting to show it to Emily, but Emily is skeptical about meeting it. When they first see Meowthra, the big cat is happy to meet them, and gives both of them a big sloppy lick, which Nya finds adorable but Emily finds disgusting. Over the course of the story, Emily overcomes her skepticism about the "six-toed fluffy demon", and soon develops a bond with her.

Hi Anon! Thank you for your request! Sorry it took so long. Also, I know the Nya pictured is from the original tv series but the Nya in the story is sort of a combination of Nya from both the movie and the series. I hope you like the fanfic!

Fandom: Ninjago

Character: Nya Smith x Emily (OC)

Word Count: 1.0k (1,018 words)

“Hey Emily!”

Emily looked up from where she was restocking the tray of iced cupcakes. Across the bakery, her friends had just walked in. To most, it would look like a group of normal teenages had just walked into the store, visiting a friend at work. And, while part of that was true, Emily knew there was more to it than that.

Her friends were none other than the ninjas that protected Ninjago. And, of course, one of them was more than her friend.

She smiled at everyone, her eyes softening as they shifted across to Nya, her girlfriend. Nya smiled back.

“How’s the shift going today?”

Emily turned her attention back to Kai. Although he was still protective of his sister, he seemed to be less concerned with Nya dating Emily than he would be if she was dating someone he didn’t know.

“Not too bad. It’s been a slow day so far other than the morning rush.” She finished sliding the fresh tray in and stood up, wiping her hands, “What can I get for you today?”

Each of the ninja placed their orders and Emily took each item off its tray and plated it for them. Once they had paid, she took their snacks across to the booth where they alway sat.

“Joining us today Em?” Cole asked, already pulling apart his rock cake.

She looked around the otherwise empty bakery before turning back to the booth. “You know? I think I will.” And she slid in beside Nya.

For a while, they all talked about everything and nothing. Whether it was school work or ninja training, the topic of conversation was always changing but never dull.

“So, I told him, the last thing I wanted to do was spend the weekend fishing with him and his father. Besides, I already have a girlfriend.” Nya finished her story, squeezing Emily’s hand as she laughed, the others joining in.

“Well, even if you wanted to go, you’re already cat-sit-” Jay broke off, slapping a hand across his mouth.

Emily glanced sideways at Nya, who was glaring at Jay.

“Sis, you were going to ask her anyway, may as well do it now.” Kai leaned back in his seat, stretching his arms behind his head.

Nya turned to face Emily. “I’m cat-sitting this weekend and was hoping you would join me. We’d get to spend some time together and I might need help with this one.”

Emily knew Nya sometimes looked after people's pets while they were away. She was good with animals and the people usually gave her some money for her efforts.

“Sure. I’d love to help. Do we know the person you’re helping out or is it a stranger.”

Nya’s face turned sheepish. “Well, the cat doesn’t really have an owner.”

Emily felt a stirring of suspicion. “You’re looking after a stray? What is this cat?”

Nya wasn’t meeting Emily’s eyes.

“Nya. What cat are you looking after?”

“Meowthra.”

The silence in the bakery was deafening. The other ninjas were looking nervously back and forth between the two of them.

“Well, we should leave you two to work out the details. See you sis. Emily.” Kai slipped out from the booth, the other ninjas following close behind.

As the last jingle of the door bell sounded, Emily rounded on Nya.

“Meowthra? As in ‘giant cat who nearly destroyed Ninjago’, Meowthra?”

Nya raised her hands, but Emily was not to be deterred.

“What possessed you to agree to that? How are you even meant to look after a cat that big?”

“That’s why I need your help. And Meowthra isn’t all that bad once you get to know her.” She could see Emily wasn’t convinced, “Look. I’m really looking forward to seeing Meowthra again and I’d love it if you'd come with me.”

Emily was silent for a moment before sighing. “I’ll come with you but only for the first visit. After that, we’ll see if I go with you again or not.”

Nya nodded. “I can agree to that.”

“I can’t believe you talked me into this.”

Emily was staring up into the large blinking eyes of Meowthra. It was staring down at the two girls with a seemingly unreadable expression. Emily glanced across at Nya, wondering if they’d made the right decision in getting so close to the Six-Toed Fluffy Demon. Nya was excitedly jumping up and down, waving at the cat and talking to it in a high pitched voice.

Suddenly, Meowthra began moving, crouching down to bring her face closer to them. Emily shirked but was unable to avoid the slimy, rasping brush of the cat’s tongue as it licked first her, then Nya.

“Ugh, gross!”

“It’s so cute!”

Emily and Nya stared at each other, stunned by their very different reactions.

However, despite the bumpy start, cat-sitting went far smoother than Emily thought it would. Meowthra was very relaxed unless something shiny or reflective caught her eye so for the most part, Emily and Nya were able to just give the giant cat pats and relax while keeping her company.

At the end of the day, Meowthra gave both Nya and Emily another large lick as a farewell. While Emily was still put off by this, she was surprised to find that she wasn’t as disgusted by it as she had been that morning.

“That was so much fun!” Nya exclaimed, a wide smile on her face. She turned to Emily. “So? What do you think? Will you come with me again tomorrow?”

Emily considered for a moment, still wiping the cat drool off her clothes. “I think I will. I’m still not completely sure about Meowthra but things didn’t go horribly today so I wouldn’t mind being able to spend more time with you and the Six-Toed Fluffy Demon again tomorrow.”

Nya’s smile grew wider. She lightly punched Emily’s arm. “You’re coming around. Just you wait. Another few visits and you’ll be as much of a Meowthra fan as I am.”

Emily shook her head, rolling her eyes at her girlfriend’s antics and smiling gently. “We’ll see about that.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hey, did you enjoy this? If you like my writing, please consider donating to my Ko-Fi page! This will allow me to make some money off my writing, something I enjoy doing.

ko-fi.com/justsomeoneintoomanyfandoms

Important Note: Please only donate if you are financially able to. If you are currently in a position where you can't donate, a like, comment or reblog will mean just as much.

#writing #fanfic #fanfic request #request #ninjago #nya smith

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trustprojects · 2 years

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Dofus the movie

Dofus the movie movie#

As fans complained, Ruel doesn't do much anymore but they don't seem to have the heart to oust him or make an effort to write him doing stuff. Yeah, Ankama is really weird with the group. Perhaps that's why Ankama's comics that aren't centered on the BoT are the more interesting ones (IMO) they give us a chance to meet new people, see the WoT from a new perspective, instead of just going through "BoT adventure #65" knowing that ultimately the characters will come out of it unchanged. It put a lot more focus on personal growth and you were always learning a bit more about him and the people who mattered in his life, organically. But most of that happened by the Rubilaxia arc and now things are fairly static other than Adamai turning coats and Amalia growing into her responsibilities.ĭofus, on the other hand, showed us Kerub's evolution throughout several periods of his life, as well as his relationships with a few important side characters (Lou, Indie, Squale, Luis, his old crew.). Ruel learned to value his friends above personal gain. Tristepin got the girl and made peace with Rubilax. I think another important difference between Dofus and Wakfu is that the group dynamics in Wakfu don't evolve nearly as much. Even Wakfu had a pretty good variety of stories in its villain-of-the-week segments, it's just that they overstayed their welcome. Bravo, really congratulations to all.I don't know how many writers they had, but it's true I was surprised how they managed to make about 50 episodes with always different themes and characters (minus a few repetitions like the "aventuriers de chacharme" episodes with Lou). I know nothing about cinema, but I imagine the colossal work to be able to compete without blushing with the largest US productions, even though it is a first try, built with the means and resources of an SME. Congratulations to the Ankama teams which delivered such a great work. Dense, panting, unrestrained, vibrant, and always "in tune", this is what comes to mind. I finally do not remember a film having made me laugh as often while pulling me tears from the eyes.

Dofus the movie movie#

and I still think of the movie smiling 24 hours later. one element popped-up in my dreams at night. After 24 hours, I realized that my wife and I laughed several times in the train back home while remembering the movie. But I still continue, just for the pleasure. Judge also because all that is embodied in a universe, characters and action which follow the codes of Japanese animation, which also built me. Judge by emotional affiliation with Ankama, making that many references, ways of seeing the world, provocations and mockeries of the movie, are familiar to me for having accompanied years of my life - I understand them, I enjoy them, they make me smile, laugh, vibrate or cry. Impartiality is not easy when you are judge and jury. I don't understand french, but I'll never trade it for another language, let the subtitles guide me through your lines, I love your choice of voices and how much effort they put. Voice-acting, needless to say, top-notch. Once again, a villain well-developed with unpredictable plot twists, emotional attachment and quite a perfect ending. You managed to keep it both lighthearted but also deep. As for storytelling, well, congratulations, Ankama, I put you in the same level as Avatar, Dreamworks and Disney. I can't pick my favorite, but they were all amazing. The scenarios were wonderful, and the fights, oh dear me, the fights. From the flash animation they use in Wakfu to what seems to be traditional animation. So when I started this movie, first thing I noticed was the gorgeous animation. And of course, I became immediately hooked. Already acquainted with Ankama's two biggest products, the Wakfu game and cartoon, I was surprised I let this movie pass, or maybe not, it's barely a month since I started the game/anime. Rarely a movie makes me scream "DAMN! WHAT A MOVIE!" And this one, needless to say, made me scream it more than once.

#Dofus the movie

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heartslobbf · 3 years

Text

cant believe im still seeing takes about the characters in ghosts being underdeveloped, as if they all haven’t gone from miserable, repressed and selfish people (with the exception of alison and mike, who just didn’t really want to be involved with the ghosts, and alison specifically who had a complicated relationship with the concept of ‘family’) to a loving found family who respect one another immensely, and are all working together to unlearn the traditional and conservative values that previously stifled them. it’s all about trauma recovery and leaving tradition behind you and that is so fucking apparent in every episode of the show. perfect day does not exist for this slander, and neither does like. the entire fucking show lmao. did you people miss alison learning to accept and adore a found family she never thought she wanted?? pat grappling with the grief of losing his family, carol and her affair, his failings to her, and his confrontation with keith? cap letting his militant persona slide, allowing himself to enjoy things, allowing himself to recognise that he’s gay, very almost coming out and being visibly comfortable and happy with his sexuality?? fanny unlearning her homophobia and internalised misogyny, indulging more and more in the things that truly make her happy? kitty trying to understand her sister’s true cruelty and having to face the reality behind her idealised memories, finding love and acceptance now with a new family who don’t belittle and manipulate her? thomas slowly learning that he has talent as a poet and worth as a person regardless of his relationship status, and that romantic connection isn’t the be all and end all? like, mike also has some really amazing moments of development, building his relationships with the ghosts and alison, as well as his blood relatives (hello his character in perfect day and the christmas ep >>>) !! it’s also the little things like how mary is slowly becoming more and more able to talk about her witch trial, and robin is reaching out for more genuine connection with people like julian, rather than just being nihilistic and not valuing anything other than his own amusement. and, even though i loathe him, julian is developing as a person (not politically) as shown by his remorse about his failed relationship with his daughter, and his acceptance of being a ghost. this show is amazingly well written and the arcs are golden, each character has so much to offer and they are developing as people, in a beautiful and exceptionally well paced way

#imagine thinking this show doesn’t develop its characters i have to laugh it’s like. like oh my god #the idiots and in particular mat ben and jim didn’t write such amazing characters arcs for this slander #ALSO HELLO THE CASTS PORTRAYAL OF THESE CHARACTERS?????? outstanding #the subtle changes . god <3 #like . god god god god god god there is SO much development i actually. like do you need to rewatch series 1 i think you do if you think #that there’s been no change since then. you are very silly if you think that im sorry #ok rant over now #bbc ghosts #shut up daisy #ghosts spoilers

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makeste · 3 years

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BnHA 326: What’s up Kids, It’s Me, Your Old Pal Stain

Previously on BnHA: Ochako shamed the U.A. Clown Mob into letting Deku go back inside his own fucking school by giving them an hour-long speech about how not to be humongous dickheads. Kouta and Gigantic Fox Lady saved the manga by being the only ones brave enough to give Deku a hug. Shouto was all “man, all this togetherness sure does remind me of that promise you made that we would handle Touya together which you immediately bailed on, doesn’t it, Dad.” Aizawa was all, “for the one and a half people out there who thought that my losing an eye and a leg might actually make me less sexy, I’m very happy to prove you wrong.” All Might was all, “[standing outside the U.A. fortress alone in the rain talking to someone or something??].” Like seriously, what was up with that though.

Today on BnHA: All Might is all “here I am in Kamino having a belated mid-life crisis because Deku abandoned me and I’m a terrible mentor and everything sucks and I hate myself.” Stain is all, “don’t make me come over there and give you a ten page speech about why you’re still the goat while menacingly holding you at swordpoint the entire time” because idk if you knew this guys, but Stain is pretty crazy actually. Anyway so he does that, and then All Might gets all emotional, and then the lady from chapter 92 shows up and gives All Might’s statue an encouraging pep talk, and then Horikoshi is all “and it even stopped raining lol can you believe this shit I’m not even a little bit subtle,” and he really isn’t. But I still got emotional anyway, because seeing people reassure All Might that everything he’s struggled for his entire life hasn’t been in vain just got to me okay. Horikoshi knows I am weak to the All Might feels and he just goes for the jugular every time, that bastard.

lmao. “in the neverending downpour, All Might is...” yeah, thank you, glad we’re getting right to that then

“All Might is driving 95 mph in his busted ass car in the pouring rain, is what he’s doing.” huh

so basically a day or two after his adopted child refused to accept the handmade bento that he packed with love, my man is out here acting like he’s got nothing to live for anymore. this sure bodes well for certain prophecies on which the clock is still ominously ticking down

his fucking face though omg. is it weird that I’m kind of hoping more people ambush him just because I think it’d be funny to see them get their asses kicked like the last bunch

(ETA: or maybe he will just stand there openly not giving a fuck and basically daring them to stab him!! get it together please All Might.)

side note, “anti-hero supporters” is such a strange way of saying “people who hate heroes”, which I’m assuming is what they actually wanted to say?? this makes it sound like it’s a group that really loves antiheroes. “these Hannibal stans have been a real menace lately. time to go deal with them”

ha ha ha, fucking ouch

are you really gonna do it Horikoshi you bastard. are you really going to let that be the final encounter between the two characters whose relationship you once described as the vertical axis of the entire fucking story. are you really gonna?? huh??

huh

you’re telling me you were driving 112 mph and you still didn’t get there in time. you’re losing your touch old man. lol Todo’s ice is almost fully melted already, how late were you

(ETA: so apparently this is taking place after the end of chapter 325, meaning he went to U.A., hung out for a bit, saw the kids come back with his bedraggled half-dead protégé in tow, watched as they shamed the civilians into some long-overdue character development, and then was all “welp, time to go argue with the hero-hating faction or something because I’m feeling useless.” and Edge just let him go, just like that. though to be fair I have to imagine it’s pretty hard to say no to All Fucking Might.)

also belated lol at the fact that the kids were all “yeahhhhhhh we are definitely not gonna touch that thing, let’s just leave it here, he doesn’t need it anyway.” probably the right call to make since they couldn’t get a hazmat team on such short notice

fuck. ha ha ha fucking ouch part two

All Might please put that thing down before you get gangrene. also yeah, you dropped the ball, good for you to acknowledge it. nobody’s perfect and you did your best. but yeah you could have handled a lot of things completely differently. but I still love you

is Horikoshi really putting this flashback here. are you serious. what kind of fucking sadist

look, I swear I’m not one of those people that runs up and down the street shouting “DEATH FLAG!!” at every third panel lol. but this shit screamed Death Flag when we originally got it, and it’s screaming DEATH FLAG!!! even more now. like with the capital letters and exclamation marks and all. and that’s just a fact. I don’t like it but that’s how it is

ffkdjslk

“DID YOU READ THE SIGN??!” Horikoshi asks while zooming in maniacally because he thinks we’re blind or something. lol what

-- though actually, it only just occurred to me that this sign is actually written in English. I never really paid attention up until now and had been assuming it was written in Japanese and translated by the scanlators, but the writing here is clearly part of the original image. anyway so maybe that’s why he’s zooming in?? just to make sure everybody pays attention lol

okay fuck this

see, this is the whole problem right here. once again All Might is all on his own. Deku’s self-destructive angst spiral was fortunately brought to a grinding halt because he actually has support from his friends and family and teachers and classmates. but All Might never had that same kind of support, and it’s made all the difference between the two of them, and not in a good way. Katsuki wasn’t wrong when he said All Might and Deku were both cut from the same cloth. but now when it’s All Might’s turn to go all “I WALK A LONELY ROAD~~” once again, there’s nobody in sight

just, after forty plus years of him carrying this torch, I just wish someone would finally come along to let him know he doesn’t have to. all those things that he wanted to say to Deku are also things that he needs and deserves to hear himself. Aizawa was making a little progress there, but now he’s got his sad zombie cloud boyfriend situation to deal with, and we can’t expect him and his perfect hair to solve all our problems. someone else has gotta step up

oh my god

“you rang?” never mind I take it all back sob

omg why am I laughing. shit

this man truly has the best PR game in the series. we were truly convinced he was gonna suddenly become a good guy and defend All Might against the other villains or some nonsense. as if this wasn’t the same man who decided on a whim that Iida Tensei deserved to be paralyzed, and that his fifteen-year-old brother deserved to die for daring to be upset about it

lol even All Might is all “I genuinely never saw this coming” lmao

just want to say, for the record, I have always harbored a very sensible hatred toward Stain. feeling very vindicated right now. good job Past Me

adsfklwkfsdwgkj

ffffwefjslkg. ghsdlkg. dsfkkkslkjldwkjrg

STAIN: heard you talking shit old man

ME: smh that’s what I thought you’d say you dumb fucking Stain

STAIN: how dare you talk about All Might that way

ME: gljfljgk

(ETA: in hindsight I have no idea how I didn’t clue in sooner that he didn’t recognize him -- or, well, ~didn’t recognize~ him, to be more accurate lol. I think it was the whole “is that a slight against the heroes?” thing that threw me. Viz’s translation makes it much clearer that he’s offended on behalf of All Might specifically, not heroes in general. anyways.)

sob. so All Might is all “yeah I don’t blame you for not recognizing me in this sweet leather jacket”

good thing he still knows how to do this party trick

A+ reflexes on Stain’s part presumably pulling the sword back a few inches to keep this dumbass from impaling himself with his whole pufferfish routine. can you imagine if that was the gruesome death Nighteye foresaw. and he was just too embarrassed to say anything

lol anyways guess I was wrong about Stain everyone

way to fucking go, Past Me. you really biffed this one

oh wait

Stain sure is one wacky rollercoaster ride

oh fuck me lol I forgot how much I did not miss this

(ETA: “this here is the sacred ground where All Might gave up the last of his power and turned into a shriveled old man!! please ignore the part where I admit to knowing all about that, and yet pretend not to recognize said man when he’s standing two feet in front of me.”)

Past Me, I know we’ve had our ups and downs these past ninety seconds, but I’m really starting to think you were on to something. this dude has always been kind of insufferable. always acting like his high horse is a fucking giraffe when it’s actually a Shetland pony

dammit now he’s got All Might going off on a depressed monologue

oh my god my heart

shit

why the fuck does that hit so hard. he became a hero because he couldn’t bear to just sit back and let bad things happen to people who didn’t deserve it. I mean that’s basically the same as every hero ever, right? so why does it still hit so fucking hard every single time though. what is it about seeing someone so determined to stand up for other people and fight on their behalf. it just never loses its impact no matter how many times I see that determination mirrored in so many of my favorite characters

“I wanted to make the world a better place.” omg. but you did, though. like seriously, I feel like people are always dogging on him for not being 100% perfect, and fandom really doesn’t give him enough credit for everything he still managed to accomplish. this man came of age at a time when Japan was by all accounts a total shitshow, and singlehandedly managed to bring about an era of peace that lasted for four fucking decades. can you imagine having peace for that long?? that’s longer than I’ve been alive. shit

and he gave people hope. he inspired them and protected them and made them feel safe. and no, he couldn’t save everyone, because he’s only one fucking dude (and also because the whole time AFO was also out there desperately working to undermine him so that he could keep preaching his narrative of “heroes are bad actually”). but you know what he did do, is inspire multiple new generations of heroes who, if they can all manage to work together, will finally be able to accomplish everything he never could

so yeah. forty years of peace, and inspired the “that’s how we all became the greatest heroes” generation -- that’s a fucking win in my book. talk about having a net positive impact on the world. lol anyways now I’m all fired up and ready to fight anyone who tries to talk any shit about you, All Might

“but what if I talk shit about myself” okay listen up All Might I’m gonna need you to try just a little bit harder to work with me here okay. please calm down and stop blaming yourself for every single bad thing that’s ever happened in the world. do you remember that time Bakugou was blaming himself for Kamino, and you gave him a hug and told him it wasn’t his fault, and that he was only a boy, and that even though he was strong, even strong people can struggle with the burdens they place on themselves, and that you were sorry for not seeing that earlier? do you remember all of that? that’s what I want someone to tell you too, dammit. anyway please stop breaking my heart please and thanks

wtf

are you dead All Might

I don’t even have the slightest idea what’s happening lol

oh snap did he grab him so they could hide??

hold the fucking phone. don’t tell me this person in the background with the umbrella is here to actually do something decent??

oh my godddd

and here come the feels. oh boy. okay don’t mind me, I’m just gonna sit here sobbing over this fictional lady and her simple act of kindness in this weekly shounen manga that I care about way too much

FUCKING DAMMIT AND HERE’S A SECOND HELPING

DON’T MIND ME, I’M JUST GETTING DISPROPORTIONATELY EMOTIONAL OVER THIS WOMAN’S DETERMINATION TO HONOR A MAN WHO SACRIFICED EVERYTHING TO SAVE HER AND COUNTLESS OTHERS. I’M JUST HAVING SOME FEELS OVER HERE ABOUT HER HEARTFELT, DOESN’T-EVEN-KNOW-ANYONE-ELSE-IS-WATCHING FEELINGS OF GRATITUDE THAT COMPELLED HER TO COME OUT HERE AND MAKE THIS SMALL BUT POWERFUL GESTURE. I’M JUST OUT HERE GETTING ALL PROFOUNDLY WORKED UP ABOUT STATUE MAINTENANCE AND THE HUMAN RACE. NEVER MIND. JUST IGNORE ME AND CARRY ON

holy shit. I was not even remotely prepared. you can’t just do that to me. you can’t just leave all these death flags on my lawn and then suddenly shift gears to show me the best of humanity in a chapter where I was expecting the worst. that fucks a person up lol

OH ARE WE STILL GOING

my heart. you see that, All Might. your legacy is so much more powerful and meaningful than you think

...has. has Stain actually been giving All Might a pep talk this entire time

I give up lol. this dude is a fucking enigma

YAYYY

it may just be a metaphor panel, but I’ll take it lol. I missed them. nice to see the traffic light trio front and off-center. I know the whole “this is the story of how we all became the greatest heroes” thing had left some questioning whether certain characters would continue to play a central role in the narrative, and hopefully this will help to ease those concerns just a bit

anyway, so idk if it’s getting a bit chilly down there in hell, but damned if Stain didn’t just give an actual decent fucking speech

I have to say, earlier when I was whining about All Might not having a support squad, I really was not expecting Stain to be the one to come over and pat his head and reassure him that he made the world a better place

-- okay LISTEN

YOU CAN’T JUST COME INTO MY HOUSE AND HIT ME WITH THOSE ALL MIGHT TEARS AGAIN GODDAMMIT THIS ISN’T FAIR. my god. first 317 and now this

holy fucking shit

“I’m just gonna pretend like I haven’t been stalking him for two days and didn’t see the entire Deku bentogate thing go down, and then I’ll give him the whole big speech that I rehearsed, and then I’ll turn around and be all ‘BUT IF YOU’RE A TRUE HERO’, and then I’ll toss him the super-secret AFO wifi password that I stole from Tartarus. god I’m such a badass. fucking give myself chills”

so basically what you’re telling me is that this whole time my “what’s up kids” characterization of Stain from this shitpost has actually been 100% accurate. just want to make sure I’m understanding this right. okay then

“and then I’ll dramatically spin around and be all NOW COME KILL ME BITCH”

it must be so much fun to write Stain. drawing this coked-out maniac who talks like a chatbot that was trained to speak by reading Alan Moore monologues. that must be a trip

anyway so All Might is still crying, the awesome lady from chapter 92 is admiring her handiwork totally oblivious to the batshit insanity going on fifty meters to her right, and it’s finally stopped raining lol

“THE RAIN WAS A METAPHOR YOU SEE” yes, yes, we got it lol. thanks for that Horikoshi. don’t think we needed any help putting the pieces together on that one but I appreciate the effort

so that’s the end! and as I mentioned in another post, I had the count off by one chapter, but next week should be cliffhanger week! so break out your U.A. Traitor bingo cards, friends and fiends. either that or something else happens that I’m completely not expecting at all. which, based on my success rate with Stain predictions, I’d say is more than likely lol

mmm but anyway, so now that the Hug Deku 2021 campaign has finally come to an end, what’s it gonna take to get a hug for my struggling bento-preparing jacket-rocking world-weary death-flag-waving husband who is the worthiest man to ever live and deserves the fucking world, goddammit

#bnha 326 #all might #yagi toshinori #stain (bnha)#bnha #boku no hero academia #bnha spoilers #mha spoilers #bnha manga spoilers #makeste reads bnha

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leossmoonn · 3 years

Note

Hiiiii,

Can I request tvd characters reacting to the reader being egirl? Like the reader is their friend and she is and e girl, and i think for the vampires this style is very odd. Also could it be a female reader?

characters - stefan, damon, klaus, elijah, rebekah, kai, and katherine x fem!reader

includes - language, nsfw themes. me really badly describing e girl fashion 😭. some of these i imagined as the readers relationship w them being platonic or romantic, ill let yall know the difference

————

stefan salvatore - platonic

okay i love stefan but tbh i don’t think he’d like your style….

AT FIRST.

it’s just different, you know?

and like i said, i love stefan but he’s a little bit basic 🌝

it just took some time for him to get used to

he isn’t used to seeing a someone with split-dyed hair, lots of eyeliner, drawn-on hearts with eyeliner, dark and layered clothes

but soon he grows to love your style and you!

you two are literally THE best friends

damon salvatore - romantic

lets be honest here

damon LOVES it

ofc in the beginning he would tease you bc you would always be dyeing your hair, wearing chokers that could puncture somebody if they got close enough to you, and long earrings that reached the floor

lol no but seriously, he always was attracted to you

he adores your style

obviously its a lot different from the other girls (quirky 🤪🤪🤪) but he likes the difference

you also look like someone who could kick ass and who is pessimistic and sarcastic and funny, and honestly, that’s his dream girl

you two definitely wear matching outfits

OMG AHH

i can imagine it now

cute couple fits!!!

he even lets you paint his nails

you find it so hot you two def stayed up all night 😏😏😏

and he loves loves loves showing you off at the mall, knowing that everyone is jealous and wants a piece of both of you

you two ALSO jam out to music in his car

you two def always get matching tattoos

he lets you do his eyeliner too!

damon with eyeliner…..

puts the dam in damon

klaus mikealson - platonic

i think klaus wouldn’t like it much either at first

but he quickly warms up to you

of course, hes just so used to seeing girls in big, period dresses or jeans and a nice blouse

but he quickly falls in love with your style

and honesty, he kinda wants your style too

i imagine him always asking you what to wear when he goes to mystic falls so he can impress caroline

i feel like he would see you as his little sister and so when you wear tight clothing and lots of make up hes like 👹👹👹👹👹

but he of course supports you no matter what

i don’t really have much to say about klaus 😭

elijah mikealson - romantic

elijah on the other hand…

your style and whole personality just intrigues him so much

like with being alive for so long, he’s def like seen literally every single different style

but this… you were new

and he was very very interested

and intimated

like he didnt realise one could be so alluring in dark clothes, chains, and different colored lipstick

he befriended you at first and you also found him very attractive

he was very charming and so different from literally everyone, he also intrigued you

its not really a question as to whether you two were the most hottest, but also surprising couple to step out

when you two walked together, elijah in his suits and combed back hair and you in your different colored hair, tattoos, and fishnet stockings

you both were quite a pair

and elijah really really loves your style and the bold, confident attitude you bring towards the table

youre not afraid to wear what you like, youre not afraid to say what you want to say, and you look fine as hell doin so

elijah even lets you dress him up one day and you had so much fun hehe

he looked like 10 years younger w his hair messy and the necklaces and the painted nails hehe

bottom line is, elijah fully supports and loves your style. its really his favourite part of you :)

rebekah mikaelson - platonic

rebekah looooves your style as well

your style is one of the reasons why she was like "yes. we have to be best friends."

she has a flair for the dramatic and she loves fashion, so of course she would love your style

unlike klaus, she has seen and even dabbled in the e-girl style

i feel like what she wore was more on the goth but like, whatever

you two definitely do your makeup for each other and pick each other's outfits

borrowing clothes does become an every day thing

you two are literally conjoined to the hip

you introduce her to music that she's never heard of (even in her 1,000 years of being alive)

you get her to wear fishnets socking, cool different coloured eyeliner, and cool hairstyles

you two are the baddest bitches in mystic falls and new orleans

kai parker - romantic

kai is all over you from the start

doesn't help the fact that he hasn't had a girlfriend in like, 20 years lolllll

but anyways, you just attract him so much

from your makeup, to your clothes, to your laugh, to your caring and strong persona, you got him wrapped around your finger 😉

he loves going shopping with you and seeing all the cute outfits you make up

he also lets you do his makeup. he is very in with the eyeliner

he likes lookin' like a bad boy, you know him lol

you two definitely fit in with each other so well

like if soulmates were a thing, you two being together would be fate!

katherine pierce - romantic

okay so katherine def saw you as competition first

she was like

“ugh she likes she so better than me? bull 🙄🙄”

but you decide to try and get around her little grudge and force her to hang out with you

she then sees how cool you are and becomes your friend!

after hanging out for a while you two develop feelings for each other, especially katherine

like homegirl has fallen haaarrrdddd

every thing about is just so perfect and not to mention, just your style and your personality tie it all in together

so she asks you out after a lil and ofc you say yes

you two def do each other's makeup

you show katherine new tips that she swore she's always known (no she never has lol)

matching outfits are definitely a thing between you two, too!

katherine just loves you so much and really just supports yo u101% 24/7 :))

————

hope you liked this! :))

#tvd #tvd imagine #stefan salvatore x reader fluff #damon salvatore x reader #damon salvatore #stefan salvatore #kalus mikealson #klaus mikealson x reader #elijah mikealson #elijah mikealson x reader #kai parker #kai parker x reader #rebekah mikealson x reader #katherine pierce x reader

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gimme-mor · 3 years

Text

ACOTAR THINK PIECE: ELAIN ARCHERON, UNTOUCHABLE

*DISCLAIMER*

This will be a long post.

Please take the time to read this post in its entirety and truly reflect on the message I am trying to send before commenting. My goal is to use my background in Gender and Women’s Studies to deconstruct the comments I have seen on Tumblr and Twitter and bring awareness to the ACOTAR fandom.

The reason I am tagging “Elriel” in this post is to call attention to the arguments in the Elriel fandom that: weaponize Elain’s femalehood to shame real life people for their opinions about Elain’s character and her relationship with Lucien; victimize Elain’s character in fandom discussions; and coddle Elain’s character, which limits fandom discussions about her narrative development and prevents the ACOTAR fandom from holding Elain accountable for her actions and inactions in the same way that the fandom holds other characters accountable for their actions and inactions. It is for these reasons that I WILL NOT remove the “Elriel” tag from this post because all of the above points contribute to the toxic discourse surrounding Elain’s character.

I urge those who use these arguments to understand their implications, why they are problematic, regardless of intent, and reexamine their contributions to the ACOTAR fandom. I WILL NOT tolerate anyone who tries to twist my words and say I am attacking people and their personal shipping preferences. In fact, I AM CRITIQUING THE ARGUMENTS THEMSELVES NOT THE PEOPLE USING THE ARGUMENTS.

Also, I highly encourage the Elriel fandom to read this post because it addresses how the concept of choice as an argument enables arguments to exploit social justice and feminist languge in order to vilify Elucien shippers, among other problematic things.

Elain Archeron is one of the most polarizing characters in the ACOTAR fandom. Though opinions about Elain vary, arguments in the Elriel fandom cite society’s perception of traditional female characters in comparison to non-traditional female characters as the reason behind the hate, and this belief is used to provide an explanation as to why other characters in the series are favored over her. In the series, Elain is portrayed in a wholly positive light and this image carries over into the Elriel fandom, painting her character as a good and kind female who has been unfairly wronged and a victim of circumstances that were out of her control. When arguments in the Elriel fandom oppose other viewpoints in the fandom, they fall into one of three categories:

Category 1: Weaponize Elain’s femalehood to shame real life people for their opinions

Maybe people who hate Elain are just jealous of her in a weird way similar to when someone hates the pretty, nice, and charming girl in school just because she is too perfect

Disliking Elain is misogynistic

What happened to feminism? What happened to women supporting women? What happened to she can say no? All of that disappears the second you force Elain to be with Lucien

Elain antis are misogynistic

All Eluciens are Elain antis

Antis claiming they’re feminists when in reality they hate on Elain and Feyre but love Nesta

Elain antis are such sore losers. Y’all were that bunch of people who could not get over being rejected from hanging out with the cool kids so y’all are projecting your hatred towards pretty people now to get validation

I don’t get how Elain’s love for gardening equals boring for some people. I’m sorry your misogyny finds traditionally feminine activities boring

Why are you attacking a female? What did Elain do? Where are your feminist voices?

The fandom is misogynistic towards Elain

If people loved Elain they would ship Elriel

If you hate Elain it says a lot about your feelings toward women

If you hate Elain because she has no “development” then you must hate Azriel because otherwise you’re misogynistic

Eluciens are turned off by the idea of a woman that has the autonomy to reject a man for the simple reason that it is her choice

Eluciens are all about feminism and “it’s HER choice” until it comes down to females not wanting a male

Eluciens don’t respect Elain’s feelings when they ship her with someone that was part of her trauma and makes her feel uncomfortable

The way some Elucien shippers completely disregard how uncomfortable Elain is around Lucien is so hilariously not funny. Prioritizing being mates over Elain’s feelings is just regressive

It’s hard as a fan of Elain to see someone ship her with a person who makes her physically uncomfortable to be around. Wouldn’t you want both characters to be happy to be around each other

Imagine if SJM saw all the awful things her “stans” had to say about Elain

It’s true that we know comparatively little about her, but is she really boring or do you just not value stereotypically feminine traits?

So y’all are just gonna tell me you prefer Elucien over Elriel? Even though Lucien treats Elain as if she’s something that belongs to him? The only reason he wants to be with her is because she’s his mate, he doesn’t respect her, doesn’t treat her as his equal, even though that’s what mates should be? He doesn’t bother to look past what’s on the outside to see her for who she is. And Elain is obviously repulsed by the idea that she should belong to anyone or have no choice in who she can be with. Azriel is her friend and the only person who sees her quiet strength. He has so much faith in her, in her abilities; he’s the one who kept her company when no one else did, he’s the only one who bothered to see her for more than her brokenness. You’re going to tell me you still prefer Elucien over Elriel?

The more I see Gwynriels that ship Elucien out of their hate for Elain, the less I can understand Elain stans that ship Elucien. Pls Elain has made it very clear that she doesn’t want Lucien, why would you ship her with him? Do you hate her too? Smh

The real question would be, if you care and understand Elain why would you ship her with Lucien (where she canonically shrinks when he is near)?

People crying over Helion and Lucien’s mom not getting to be with each other and her being forced into a relationship she didn’t want, but also ship Elucien? Just say you hate Elain

When Elain’s book is out, Gwyn stans will look like clowns and I will laugh because they set her up by shipping her with Azriel just because they hate Elain. Watch them play the victims now because Elriels are clapping back the hate they’ve sent towards Elain

As romantic as wanting girl who is visibly uncomfortable around a guy who caused her trauma to end up with the said guy. Guess their standards for romance are in hell

Category 2: Victimize Elain’s character

Gwynriels only want Gwyn with Azriel because they despise Elain

Gwyn stans and Gwynriels are Elain antis

No one in the books dislike Elain, so why are there so many people who do?

Elain hasn’t done anything wrong or questionable to warrant the hate she gets

Not having Elain’s POV makes it easy for people to be swayed a certain way about her character if you already don’t relate to her in some way

It’s been years since this series came out and we haven’t gotten a lick of an Elain POV, but people still hate her for what? We don’t know her thoughts, dreams, or aspirations

We haven’t even had Elain’s perspective yet and people are passing these judgments off on her

Elain antis who say she’s boring are just cruel when she has obvious symptoms of PTSD like Feyre and Nesta

Gwyn is one of the most overhyped characters and that’s only because most people hate Elain and they couldn’t wait to find a random girl to ship Azriel with

Nesta was abusive to her sisters but Elain (who has only ever been kind) is painted as the villain

From the text we know that Elain is the epitome of feminine stereotypes (gentle, gardening, baking, non confrontational for the most part). Yet people still call her boring or deny that she has any interesting character traits?

You can’t love Nesta and hate Elain

People hate Elain because of internalized misogyny and lack of taste. All the girl does is tend to her garden and mind her business and they treat her worse than Tamlin

Does Gwyn deserve all this support? Of course yes! She is amazing! But where’s that support when Elain was in the same situation as she? Where’s that support for her right now? Why do they idolize Gwyn for her interactions with Azriel and hate Elain for having any interaction with him?

It’s not even a ship war anymore, they just hate Elain

People hate Elain for no reason

Some of y’all don’t like feminine traits and it shows

We know less about Eris and Helion but people don’t call them boring. Why would rejecting femininity make Elain more interesting?

Elain has had a lot forced upon her

The main reason I believe most people love Gwyn so much is to get Azriel away from Elain. It’s not a secret that Elain has been a widely hated character for years so suddenly we get a new female who has a minimal amount of interactions with Azriel and BOOM. New ship that once again doesn’t make sense (just like Azriel x Emerie after ACOFAS)

Elain hasn’t done something so terrible for her to get this hate. At this point some of you are just being misogynistic and you don’t want to accept it. Don’t call yourselves feminists and then say bs like this, it’s embarrassing. She’s pretty and everyone agreed to hate on her

Just a personal feeling, but I feel like a lot of the Elain hate stems from internalized misogyny. That to be a strong female lead, you need to pick up a sword and fight. That to be strong, you need to adapt traditionally masculine traits

Elain is feminine. She is beautiful. She loves to bake and garden. She is docile, quiet, observant, and a people-pleaser. All traditionally feminine traits. Yet for some reason, she’s like the worst in these people’s eyes?

I think also maybe a lot of people can’t relate to her femininity? That her being so beautiful and quiet doesn’t allow for the people who dislike her not to self-insert? Most of the hate stems from people not wanting Elain to be with Azriel. It’s mean, but maybe the people who hate Elain literally just can’t self-insert if they have a story and that’s why they’re vehemently against it?

Poor Elain. The Cauldron dealt her a bad deal. Upon emerging as Fae, she is immediately declared by Lucien as his mate, never mind that she was already engaged to a prick. Her love life is not good

It blows my mind how they really think that they can compare all the shit that Elain gets with some dumb jokes about Gwyn on Twitter (and yes, the “hate” towards her started mostly because Elriels are clapping back, it was bound to happen)

I would think of it as anti-feminist with Elain and Lucien because she has consistently stated that she does not want him so if she was forced to embrace the bond that would be taking away her right to have a choice but with Az she feels comfortable around so if they were mates then Elain would be happy and feel safe which again should be the priority for women to feel safe in their relationships with anything and to not be forced into any type of situation aka the mating bond in this

Category 3: Coddle Elain’s character

Elain has value the way she is, in all her domestic girly glory. Not every character has to be badass

We don’t speak of Elain’s flaws frequently because everyone else already speaks badly of her, mainly in an unfair way

There is definitely something deeper going on with Elain but by no means will she ever be evil or any less feminine. That goes against everything we already know about her

It’s ok to critique Elain because she needs growth but y’all keep forgetting the shit her and her sisters went through

The last “bad” thing Elain did in ACOTAR was not help Feyre when they were impoverished and I’m tired of people acting like she’s a terrible character when it was their father’s responsibility. It happened 4 books ago and Feyre has forgiven both Nesta and Elain

Elain’s character and the evil Elain theory are a great example of the trend where people only consider female characters interesting if they reject femininity

We don’t know enough to hate Elain

Many people want Elain to turn evil (which in my opinion seems to come from a place of internalized misogyny)

However we don’t tend to talk about her faults, at least not publicly, as that has been, and still is, done to death, and I--personally, at least--find it much more fun to theorise about potentially interesting aspects of the overall plot, than dwell on negatives

And ultimately, I would be shocked if Elain has a more karmically-charged story than Nesta, considering that Elain’s “wrongs” are so much less severe and bad than Nesta’s, and Elain has already apologized for them (or paid the price in other ways, like through what Graysen did)

I guess I also think Elain has suffered and been punished enough. I hope her story is about finding hope in terrible situations, and learning to love her new life, and choosing her own path after everything that has been done to her. I don’t think she needs to be punished anymore or face any additional trauma

Also, why is she being judged on her decisions as a human at all? Fae are monsters to humans! They enslaved them for thousands of years, and the Wall was erected to keep them out

Like I’m sorry, but think Elain would want to leave her ONLY FAMILY AND FRIENDS for the Spring Court where she has no one because--oh look, lots of flowers!--is the craziest thing I have ever heard

Her sisters are in the Night Court. Her nephew is in the Night Court. Her closest friends (Nuala and Cerridwen) are in the Night Court. Her love interest is in the Night Court. Her extended family is in the Night Court. Her home is in the Night Court

SJM isn’t going to keep two sisters together and split up the third. Especially not keep Feyre and Nesta together and separate Elain. They were either all going to end up in separate places, or together. Not 2 here and 1 there

Compared to the other female characters in the series, Elain is the only character whose femalehood is at the center of conversations; this is because arguments in the Elriel fandom fixate on it when discussing her character. While Elain, Feyre, Nesta, and Mor are all representations of white womanhood and white beauty, Elain epitomizes the most fragile version of white womanhood. It’s easy to blame society’s perception of traditional female characters in comparison to non-traditional female characters when it comes to the discourse surrounding Elain’s character because it: falls in line with the fixation on Elain’s femalehood to silence opposing viewpoints; is a simplistic explanation that fails to tackle the underlying issues with Elain as a character, the same issues that are downplayed in-universe; absolves Elain of her wrongdoings; prevents the ACOTAR fandom from holding Elain accountable for her actions and inactions within the series; and diminishes the impact Elain’s actions and inactions have on those around her. It’s not that Elain is hated in the fandom because she’s a traditional female character; it’s the fact that arguments in the Elriel fandom deflect a critical analysis of Elain’s character because she’s a traditional female character who embodies the ideal white woman in need of protection. White fans and white-aligned fans of color, especially white women, have a tendency to vehemently defend, gatekeep, and coddle white female characters in fandom; this makes it difficult for other fans to engage in critical discussions about these white female characters because they’re viewed as flawless and all around perfect characters despite evidence to the contrary. Since Elain is viewed positively by the other characters in the series, it has rendered her character untouchable to any perceived slight or criticism in fandom discussions because those negative opinions challenge what has been said about her character thus far. And as a result, her character has been placed on a pedestal and implicitly hailed as the epitome of white womanhood; and when she’s criticized, it’s seen as a direct attack against white womanhood. Arguments in the Elriel fandom: exploit feminist language and perpetuate white feminist tactics under the guise of defending Elain’s character; center Elain in conversations about female oppression in the ACOTAR world and uphold white feminist ideologies in their critique of ACOTAR’s patriarchal society; and use the fragile white woman narrative to victimize Elain in Lucien’s presence, playing into racial biases that are associated with white supremacy’s defense of white womanhood.

Feminism is a social movement that seeks to promote equality and equity to all genders, and feminists work toward eradicating gender disparities on a macro-level, in addition to challenging gender biases on a micro-level. As feminism became more mainstream, a flat and oversimplified version of feminism emerged: mainstream feminism. The mainstream feminist movement is meant to represent all women, but rarely does it center conversations around issues that concern most women. The problem with mainstream feminism is that it’s just a popularized version of white feminism. White feminism has relied extensively on an individualized understanding of women’s oppression, exclusively from the lens of privileged white women. White feminism only focuses on the oppression experienced by white, able-bodied, affluent, educated, cishet women; and it views gender as the key mode of privileged white women’s oppression, isolated from the privileges granted by their other social identities. White women can be and are oppressed under the patriarchy but only because they are women; their identity as women does not exempt them from the privileges granted by their whiteness. The term white feminist does not mean any feminist who is white, but refers to feminists who prioritize the concerns of privileged white women as though they are representative of all women. However, the term is not exclusive to white people. Because white feminism is so pervasive, people of other racial and ethnic backgrounds often buy into white feminism, believing that if they work hard enough, they may be able to reap its rewards.

Just like white feminism, mainstream feminism only recognizes the identity of being a woman, assumes that all women share common experiences of gender oppression, fails to address other social identities in relation to overlapping systems of oppression, and disregards privilege in relation to various social identities. Just like white feminism, mainstream feminism is palatable because it doesn’t seek to challenge the systems in place, instead its goal is to succeed within them. Essentially, mainstream feminism and white feminism are extensions of performative feminism. Performative feminism is a type of performative activism that’s used to describe feminist views that are surface level and solely for the benefit of one type of person. It’s a pretense which often has nothing to do with genuine activism. Arguments in the Elriel fandom normalize and promote performative feminism because the topic of feminism is only referenced when discussing Elain. This indicates that these arguments are engaging in disingenuous discourse to push a personal agenda within the ACOTAR fandom, and it becomes more apparent when they use white feminist tactics to shut down opposing viewpoints:

White feminists weaponize and exploit feminist language to silence the opinions of other women, especially when they’re called out for their problematic behaviors

White feminists use the phrase “Women supporting women” to defend other white feminists who exhibit problematic behaviors instead of holding them accountable

White feminists weaponize phrases like “Women supporting women” and “You just hate women” to attack other women who disagree with them on any given topic

White feminists use phrases like “All women face challenges” and “Stop pitting women against each other” to sidestep conversations about privilege

White feminists divert conversations away from privilege and towards the Trauma Olympics to equate their struggles to the oppression of marginalized people

White feminists skirt around the realities of other forms of oppression and discrimination, downplaying the experiences of marginalized people

White feminists diminish or ignore the ways in which gender oppression affects other marginalized people

White feminists paint those they harmed as aggressive, mean, or divisive when confronted with the ways they have harmed a marginalized group

White feminists deflect criticism by focusing on the anger or emotions being expressed rather than the issue that is being discussed, invalidating the concerns of marginalized people

White feminists speak over marginalized voices in an attempt to sound “woke”

White feminists get defensive and insist there’s no way they could be a part of the problem because of what they’ve done to help marginalized groups already

White feminists say they don’t see color in an attempt to obscure racial issues that need to be addressed

White feminists center and victimize themselves in conversations about racism, which derails necessary conversations from taking place

White feminists who are white weaponize the intersectionality of their race and gender to avoid accountability

Feminism is not meant to be approached from an individualistic perspective nor is it only about addressing the experiences of privileged white women, it involves addressing the intersections of race, class, gender, sexuality, (dis)ability, and other social identities as well; and it involves addressing how these social identities relate to privilege. Moreover, feminism is not about women upholding complete loyalty to other women because of a shared gender identity, and to claim that it does implies that women should be held to different emotional standards than men. If men are able to dislike and criticize other individual men, real or fictional, without their characters being compromised, why aren’t women granted that same privilege?

It’s clear that SJM set up the ACOTAR world to mirror a patriarchal society, and that the imbalance of power between males and females stems from sexism. Arguments in the Elriel fandom analyze the ACOTAR world through a feminist lens to show how ACOTAR’s patriarchal society, to which the mating bond is innately tied, contributes to female oppression and limits their agency. When choice and free will are emphasized as part of Elain’s arc, they imply that Elain, through the mating bond, experiences female oppression under ACOTAR’s patriarchal society because of her identity as a female with that identity being the focal point of her oppression in the world. Elain is one of the most privileged characters in the ACOTAR world: she’s High Fae; she’s the sister of the High Lord and High Lady of the Night Court, which gives her access to wealth and political influence because of that connection; she’s able-bodied; she was magically blessed by the Cauldron; and she lives in Velaris, a place that grants females autonomy and power because of the beliefs of Rhysand and Feyre. Arguments in the Elriel fandom trivialize female oppression in the ACOTAR world because they disregard the fact that Elain’s privileges prevent her from experiencing female oppression in the same way that other marginalized females in the world do. The mating bond being one such example because those around Elain are not forcing the bond on her, instead they’re allowing Elain to reach a decision about the bond for herself; a privilege that other marginalized females in the world probably wouldn’t have. Just because Elain has endured hardships in her life and is a female in a patriarchal society, they do not erase the privileges she holds within the ACOTAR world. The failure to include Elain’s privileges in discussions about Elain being a female in a patriarchal society feeds into white feminist ideologies because white feminism operates from a very narrow perspective; it doesn’t take other intersecting identities into account when it examines gender oppression, leaving no room for discussions about privilege (or lack thereof) in relation to those intersecting identities. When discussing oppression in hierarchical societies, it’s imperative that privilege is also included in the conversation because privilege and oppression are not mutually exclusive; they equally affect the ways in which people navigate those societies through their social identities.

Rather than attributing Elain’s uncomfortability to her new life as a Fae female or the mating bond itself and her trauma to the Cauldron, the King of Hybern, or Ianthe, they’re placed on Lucien to cast his character in a negative light. Moreover, fandom discussions portray Lucien as a possessive character to further emphasize Elain’s discomfort despite the inaccuracy of this characterization in canon. Arguments in the Elriel fandom play into racial biases when it comes to Lucien (a male character of color) because they mischaracterize his character in order to victimize Elain (a white female character), placing her character in the role of the white damsel in distress. In Western society, the concept of womanhood has been conceptualized from a Eurocentric perspective with femininity and feminine attributes favoring white women. It’s the idea that a certain type of femininity is only inherent to white women as they are seen as the embodiment of an ideal womanhood. White womanhood has been a symbol of innocence and purity, and white women have been viewed as fragile beings in need of protection. The reason white womanhood functions within white supremacy is because it’s the same idea that has motivated white men to kill and beat black and brown men. The so-called protection of white women has been used as a justification for the horrific violence committed by white men because black and brown men were stereotyped as aggressive and seen as a threat to the virtue of white women. The white damsel in distress trope considered white women as worthy of protection because of their perceived innocence and purity; women of color were not granted that same treatment because they did not fit into the ideal image of womanhood. Over the years, this trope became a means for white women to exercise limited power in a patriarchal society with white women weaponizing their status as the damsel much to the detriment of black and brown men. It’s through the white damsel in distress trope that white supremacy sustains its dominance in Western society. The misrepresentation of characters of color in fandom, the dismissal of their importance to the overall story, and using them as tools in arguments centered around white characters are the foundation of fandom racism; they’re examples of how racism moves silently in fandom spaces. Instead of examining their behavior and taking constructive criticism from fans of color, white fans will often double down on their bigotry and center their uncomfortability in the conversation when confronted with their complicity in fandom racism. White fans expect fans of color to swallow fandom racism in its many forms in order to not ruin the experience of fandom, dismissing the fact that racism is prevalent in nearly every aspect of society. This mentality ensures that no one is held accountable for the harm they caused and alienates fans of color in fandom spaces.

To reiterate what I mentioned in my first think piece: terms like “oppression”, “the right to choose”, “feminist”, “feminism”, “anti-feminist”, “anti-feminism”, “internalized misogyny”, “misogyny”, “misogynist”, “sexist”, “sexism”, “racist”, “racism”, “classist”, “classism”, “discrimination”, and “patriarchy” are all used in specific ways to draw attention to the plight of marginalized people and challenge those who deny the existence of systems of oppression. Yet these words and their meanings can be twisted to attack, exclude, and invalidate people with differing opinions on any given topic. When social justice and feminist terms are thrown around antagonistically and carelessly to push a personal agenda, it becomes clear that these terms are being used to engage in disingenuous discourse and pursue personal validation rather than being used out of any deep-seated conviction to dismantle systemic oppression. Being an ally, activist, or feminist is not an identity, it’s a practice. It requires: ongoing self-reflection; holding ourselves accountable; listening to marginalized people; educating ourselves; dismantling implicit biases; challenging those around us who are exhibiting problematic behaviors; and action behind our words.

It’s important to be aware of the language that is used within the fandom when defending or critiquing characters and ships. It’s also important to question how an argument is framed and why it’s framed the way that it is to critically examine the intent behind that argument: is it used as a tool to push a personal agenda that reinforces problematic behaviors, or is it used as an opportunity to share, learn, enlighten, and educate?

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Tagging: @spell-cleavers @bookofmirth @m0bulidae @ilya-boltagon

#elain archeron #elriel #acotar fandom #acotar: fandom critical

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monkey-network · 3 years

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Good Stuff: Pixar’s Soul

SPOILERS AHEAD

Reviewing animation is a passion of mine; you probably know that if you’ve followed me long enough. I enjoy doing it for everything new that comes as much as the good stuff of yore. I can’t tell you why I got into it long as I have or if I should consider a full time gig of it, all I know it’s that it’s as much my passion as many other things in my life. That really is a piece to a personal puzzle I’ve developed as I watched Soul, this film from a studio that I admittedly wasn’t sure if it could get its groove back after it felt like they were stumbling a bit. The SparkShorts are good, but Incredibles 2, Toy Story 4, and Onward especially didn’t resonate with me. Didn’t tell me Pixar stood out as much as they in the “Golden Era”. This one did, and let me say it kinda cut deep.

Off the bat, as I understand that the trailers were quite a turn-off, I came to know before watching this that they weren’t trying to reveal everything. Honestly, the trailers were purposefully misleading as the most of what we got from the “Inside Out Knock-Off Blue Blob” world was a little over the first twenty minutes and the very, very end for the climax, less than you’d believe. It is the point I wasn’t too invested in with how simple it all felt; it’s basically if Microsoft or Google developed your birthright. It luckily doesn’t blow smoke up the ass with the way it runs things, takes more shots at ethical philosophy than any religion I could think of, but there’s good reason why we’re not in this world for very long. The Soul world did it’s purpose, but a little too well because it really wasn’t interesting outside the bond between Joe and 22 and a few laughs. Like I said though, we aren’t in it too long before we jump back to Earth with something I should’ve expected with this film but was still blown aback. I’m talking BODY SWAPPED ADVENTURE, Baby! [[SPOILERS AHEAD]]

Far Enjoyable than Your Name, don’t at me

A good chunk of the film has 22 in Joe’s body, Joe in a therapeutic cat’s body, and I’m surprised at how much engaging it was. It helps that 22 is never by any means a nuisance and they actually pull off the mechanics behind the trope well where it doesn’t feel like 22 in Joe’s body is annoyingly all over the place once she gets used to it. Weird that all of New York didn’t seem to give a shit about a middle-aged man stumbling in nothing but a medic robe, but never crossed that line for me to say, “Okay, this shit is stupid.” But what really makes this, basically the majority of Soul work, is Joe (or 22) interacting with the city.

If there’s one great takaway for this, it’s indeed the musicality for the New York life. The barbershop, the subway, the jazz club, the tailor suite run by Joe’s mother, the living streets really make this city feel like a character in its own right. I say this film makes every person we meet count for something. The devil’s truly in the details; every location has a story to tell as well as remind viewers, myself especially, of people and places so close to life. The story paces along nicely too as we get to the “main event” before getting to the moment that made me cry the second time. I cried a total of four times, mostly in the latter half of the film because that was where things were certainly coming together. That was where, I doubt intentionally, the film hit me in the heart more than I could’ve imagined with the simple thought:

I was Joe and 22, and I still am from time to time

Sappy consideration, I know, but to get a little philosophical & personal for a bit. This film is generally about the direction of your life. Joe had a direction set in stone for himself to play the hottest jazz gig despite professedly doing/trying nothing else big with his life, living actively average you’d say. 22, the number which can mean “coming and going” since it’s a palindrome, has no direction despite being capable of understanding everything. As of now, I may only be in my early twenties, but I’ve felt like I’ve been both these characters at the same time, like a eternally spinning coin. I can feel directionless, having no clue to who I really want to be, but I know there is passion in me somewhere that I myself haven’t figured out yet but push forward with every major choice I make. I have both felt like I’ve done nothing and can’t do anything in life despite making it this far. But if there’s anything this film showed me, it’s that it’s alright.

If there’s anything that I can say describes Pete Doctor’s direction with this and Inside Out, it’s that he makes the most basic and simple human truths feel necessary, welcoming, and especially otherworldly. With Inside Out saying “it’s good to be more emotive”, Soul tells me “it’s good to enjoy the simple things in life.” Not to say you should live average and accept it, nor is every big moment you have will/should impact you the same way or the way you wanted, but appreciate those moments where things just go your way for a change. Where you can just look at the world, take a deep breath, and just feel comfortable with yourself to live another day. This isn’t a particularly surprising message, but it works because it fulfills everything it built up. Who else but Joe on that day, finally getting what he wanted after so long, can feel empty from it as opposed to the moments where he got to enjoy those enjoyably average moments he didn’t think he’d get along the way? And who else but him could show 22 that living doesn’t mean having a purpose or having that purpose in your mind 24/7.

You can just... live as everything does.

This film isn’t as honest as Inside Out, especially with the whole concept of the Great Before, but it still offers that pragmatic advice in a way that definitely sticks. It can feel like this film came out at a bad time with the given circumstances of our reality, but it’s as much a simple pat on the back to tell you it’s okay. I figure the execution won’t be for everyone, the film isn’t perfect plotwise, but to me it’s definitely a golden, just as mature light for modern Pixar. A considerable classic that I hope is given well with time as much as a chance with all audiences.

4 Out of 5. A Soulful Sensation of a Film

#Soul #pixar soul #soul movie #pixar #disney #animation #cartoons #movies #analysis #reviews #long post #Good Stuff

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