#its less about the stakes of oh death needs to be a real threat and more because of the nature of actual play
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"Ocean's 12"... and a rant about how Clooney and the boys were assholes during press...
Continuing to make my way through Catherine Zeta-Jones' filmography, I decided to watch Ocean's 11 and Ocean's 12 (which I'd never seen before--shocking, I know!). I was mildly entertained by these movies, but that's pretty much the nicest thing I could say.
I enjoyed Catherine Zeta-Jones as Isabel, and I thought her chemistry with Brad Pitt was convincing, but ultimately, most of what we learn about her character's background is outright told to us by Rusty, instead of revealed naturally within the story, which bothered me. I wanted more screen time for CZJ so that the movie felt more balanced in its game of cat and mouse.
Also, I hope I'm not alone in saying that I genuinely did not understand the "plot twist" at the end of Ocean's 12, or rather, I understood it, but didn't understand why the writers chose to end it that way. The "oh, actually, the heist you just spent two hours being invested in? yeah, no, that was all fake. They were just going through the motions. They'd already stolen the real egg before they did the heist shown in the movie, and therefore there were literally no stakes in the heist that you just watched them try (and fail) to do. Surprise!"
I feel like that ending doesn't work for the same reason that no movie since The Wizard of Oz can successfully pull off the "it was all a dream" ending without the audience feeling cheated. And why would anyone want to rewatch the film, then, knowing that a significant portion of the movie is spent planning and performing a heist that's already happened in a different, less interesting way, off screen...?
Also, if the LeMarc reveal was meant to be as poignant as CZJ's acting was trying to convey, I really needed more screen time for her that established the stakes of her relationship to her father, and how Rusty knew things she didn't even know about her parents. Having Rusty tell us that her dad was a thief who died when she was young doesn't convey any of the emotion of that situation, and then when we see her mother's funeral, we again aren't told why that death is significant to the story, until Rusty springs that information on both Isabel and the audience at the same time. Which is why it doesn't work, because the writing keeps the audience so in the dark as to make a sudden random beacon of light seem artificial and contrived.
And don't get me started on Julia Roberts playing Tess playing Julia Roberts... whoever thought that was a "clever" or funny idea should've been fired before it ever made it to the screen.
All in all, I enjoyed seeing CZJ in another big action film after Entrapment, but I can see why she wouldn't want to return for Ocean's 13.
It's also worth noting that according to information shared from the police investigation, Catherine was being stalked and threatened by Dawnette Knight during the filming of Ocean's 12. The Amsterdam hotel where she was staying received several phone calls containing death threats and other disturbing messages that made CZJ fear for her life. She had to increase her security detail from one person to four, and apparently greeted fans from behind a bullet proof shield at one point. Crowds that gathered to watch the filming process had to be pushed back even farther than normal because of fears that someone would make good on the threats to kill her. CZJ even called her husband, Michael Douglas, at one point after finishing her scenes in Rome to say that she was so distressed by the messages she feared she was having a heart attack or a stroke. (x)
The fact that she was able to still do her job through all of that is frankly mind-blowing to me, and that's why I hate that George Clooney and the other boys repeatedly made jokes during press about Catherine having a restraining order against Clooney that made it difficult to film because he had to stay 50 feet away from her. Don Cheadle also joked in this ScreenSlam interview that the restraining order was because Catherine blew a "groping" incident way out of proportion, and Brad Pitt advised them jokingly to stop talking and "let the courts handle it."
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I don't know how all of them saw her in fear for her life every day while filming and decided to joke about it during press...? Like what kind of people do that?!? Maybe I'm jumping to an unfair conclusion here, and the boys genuinely had no idea what was going on with Catherine, or why the crowds had to be pushed back, but assuming they knew at least a little bit, because it did impact filming... if my colleague was receiving death threats and was perilously close to a nervous breakdown, as CZJ later admitted she was, (she also mentioned during an interview with Matt Damon if any of the boys gave her hard time during filming, she immediately would start to cry, so they stopped messing with her right away because her reaction was "just sad"), I don't think I would joke about her filing a restraining order against Clooney for groping her...? Like there's pretty much no scenario where joking about sexual harassment is funny, but it's particularly vile to make those jokes when 1) the tabloids were already speculating about Clooney and CZJ having an affair, which Dawnette Knight used as ammunition in her death threats, so joking that she took legal action because Clooney groped her isn't going to fucking help that situation, and 2) a violent stalker was actively threatening to kill her at the time that these tasteless jokes were made...?
I recognize it was a series of jokes that were meant to be just that--jokes--but when someone is suffering, and you make them the butt of the joke, it's not only unkind, it's downright cruel.
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Howdy!! Could I request Yandere Gojo and Geto from jjk, with a special-grade sorcerer reader? Ty in advance, I really like your writing!✨
an; thank you for the love ˊᗜˋ💕 here are some drabbles for them separately, hope you liked it :3
warnings; yandere, gore, blood, unhealthy relationships, obsessive behaviour. do not condone such actions in real life, and please kindly read at your own discretion.
THE night was quiet, almost serene, totally at odds with the glowering menace in Geto’s eyes. Gone was the subtle gentleness in those inky slits you had grown to adore; in its place, inscrutable darkness bore holes into the back of your skull as you shuddered beneath the curse user’s glare.
It was still Geto in the flesh: the same face, unique hairstyle and robes he’d wear just like any other day. Yet it was no longer the special-grade sorcerer whom you once knew and loved. You never knew what caused such a drastic change in him; all you wished for, was for the old Geto to return, hoping that all of this was none other than another nightmare.
“Suguru? W-What are you doing at my door? It’s already late, you should be taking some rest ...” A hint of dismay — maybe sadness, ghosted his expression when the raven picked up the quivers in your tone. Nonetheless, a gentle smile adorns his face, emerging from the shadows to reveal himself as the raven explained himself.
“Why? Can’t I come and visit you?” He cocked his head, a playful smirk evident. Geto never ceased to make your heart flutter; perhaps it was his flirtatious nature and mellow personality that drew you towards him, but even after being one of his closest friends for a long time, at times you felt like you couldn’t understand him at all, with this being one of the occurrences.
You chortled, about to invite the raven into your apartment when warning bells started to ring incessantly in your head, warning you that there was something awry about him once you caught a glimpse at his clothes imbrued with crimson splatters.
“Sugu ... what is that on your clothes?”
“Oh this? Satoru splashed me with red paint, it’s not much of a big deal.” You knew he was lying, instantly picking up the revolting metallic stench from the stains. Dread filled your mind while you staggered back, keeping a distance from the male who gave you a perplexed look in return.
“You and I know a smell like this isn’t red paint ...” Trying to be as calm as you could, you retracted a step backwards with every stride Geto took. “Be honest with me. What on earth have you done?”
“Sharp as ever, y/n.” A condescending look took over as Geto finally revealed his true colours. “The world needs to change. All these monkeys are the reasons why curses exist. They can’t even control their cursed energy properly, and we sorcerers have to battle with death every time a curse poses as a threat to them. Their ignorance is revolting in its core, and I believe to make the world a better place, it would be better off to remove all of them out of sight. Don’t you agree —“
“What the fuck are you thinking?” Unable to withhold your seething rage, you snapped at the curse user. “This isn’t what sorcerers should do! What you are doing is of no difference from a brutal murderer Geto! I can’t fucking believe you!”
“How can you think of me like they y/n? That hurts my heart you know.”
Before you could even scream, he was already inches away, blood-stained hands caressing your cheeks tenderly as if you were made of fragile glass. “I just want to make life easier, there’s no need for us to put our lives at stake every time we exorcise curses. Right? We could be enjoying peaceful days together, free from the dangers of this world ...”
“Stop! Your delusions are sick, this isn’t you at all Geto! I don’t know what is wrong with your brain, but it’s never too late to turn back —“
Suddenly, your vision darkened — your consciousness sinking into a bottomless void as the raven carried you in a bridal style, the two of you vanishing into the tenebrosity of the night.
“And I thought you were the only one who’d understand me ... love.” He shook his head in disapproval, but the disappointment in his eyes were eventually replaced with glee as Geto stared at your limp figurine in his arms.
“But don’t worry, what needs to be done will be done. For our sake, for our future together.”
EVERYTHING would always be uglier up close.
At first glance, one might find Gojo Satoru a perfect man: with talent, looks and wealth all in one package. Men envy the greatest sorcerer of all time, and women grovel at his feet, desperate for a sprinkle of the man’s attention. Despite living the life everyone dreams to be in, the heir of the Gojo clan couldn’t care less about how the world spins around his axis. For the sorcerer has his eyes set on something much more worthy of his time and effort.
He is a man of determination, willing to achieve his goals with whatever means possible — even resorting to dirtying his own hands. It is such an irony that underneath the charming façade, such a disgusting soul exists.
“For the last time Satoru, I am not interested in dating anybody.” Heaving an exasperated sigh, you politely shoved the lavish presents piling up at your front door back into the man’s arms.
“I feel really flattered that you have feelings for me, I truly do. But I’m sure you know as sorcerers, we fight with death every day. If there is any regret that I’d dread to have ... it would be to leave everything I love behind. And I would rather die alone than leave my partner suffering on their own.”
“That’s what I love about you y/n.”
A loving sigh slipping from his tongue, Gojo took a step forward, cupping your face with utter delicacy. Yet you felt more than revolted by his sudden intimacy, struggling to writhe away from his tightening grip.
“You are always so kind, so considerate ... something I cannot find in anyone else other than you. But think about it sweetheart! You and I are both special-grade sorcerers, but I can protect you from the curses — at the same time giving you the moon and stars. We could move in together, you wouldn’t even need to work anymore. Why make your life harder when I could simply provide for you? Seriously —”
“S-Satoru, I hate to tell you this but you’re pushing the boundaries right now.” Trying to reason with the sorcerer, you spoke with a harsher tone, praying that Gojo would get the hint and respect your choices. “You’re out of your mind! And why would you force
Nonetheless, your words fell on deaf ears.
“Now this is not how you should react when someone offers you their heart and soul.” The light in his cerulean eyes darkened, cyan hues glimmering beneath the penumbra of nightfall. “And I know you are a smart young woman, so you’d come to realise what is in your best interest. I really don’t want to do this to you y/n; but if you are trying to push me away from your life again, I would have to keep you to my side — the hard way.”
With that, he pulled down his blindfold.
You were aware of how dangerous Infinite Void was; still, experiencing it first-hand was one hell of a terrifying experience. Fleeting images flashed across your vision as if all of this was in fastforward motion, depicting your fate in the past along with future. As certain blurred vestiges showed up, your heart sank in indescribable despair; moments of you and none other than Gojo were portrayed — blood splattered across the labyrinth of streets in Tokyo, your trembling hands intertwined with his, platinum bands wrapped around both of your ring fingers, adorable kids that were exact replicas of both of you. At this point, you could feel the will to fight back dwindling to fickle embers.
No matter what you did, Gojo would always find his way back to you.
Even if he had to tear the world apart with his hands.
#🖤 requests#jujutsu kaisen#jjk#yandere jujutsu kaisen#yandere jjk#yandere jujutsu kaisen x reader#yandere jjk x reader#yandere geto#yandere geto x reader#yandere geto suguru#yandere gojo#yandere gojo satoru#yandere gojo x reader#reader insert#x reader#yandere oneshots#yandere drabbles#yandere imagines
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Starkiller Base was unnecessary
Re-watching The Force Awakens, and… It’s occurred to me that, even more than I initially thought, Starkiller Base is a genuinely useless, pointless part of the plot that’s just shoehorned in for the sake of arbitrarily raising the stakes, in a blind attempt to redo the Original Trilogy while one-upping it at the same time; Taking pot shots at the original Death Star’s ‘absurdity’ to try to make Starkiller Base’s destruction feel more ‘involved’ and ‘sensible’ with having an inside job to sabotage and blow up key components, yadda-yadda; Almost feels like the writers are punching down at the Original Trilogy in a vain attempt to look more clever and ‘self-aware’, without considering how reckless power-scaling doesn’t work (Which we see once more and somehow even worse in The Rise of Skywalker).
The thing about why the Death Star works is like… It’s relevant. It has build-up. We’re introduced to it from the start, the entire story revolves around destroying it; R2-D2 is important because he has plans to the Death Star, Vader is seen chasing Leia because she had those plans. It all comes around to and circles back to the Death Star, we have a sense of what it is from the start, there’s build-up. You NEED the planet-killing machine for the climax of A New Hope, because the only reason to go there is because, surprise- The Death Star IS there, it just arrived right besides Yavin IV!
But Starkiller Base… When you watch the movie, it just pops in out of nowhere, amidst the pre-established plot threads. Without any prior context or build-up, we’re just suddenly treated to a shot of this huge, mechanized planet, and then Hux almost casually drops that the ‘superweapon’ is ready, and then suddenly it’s firing and blows up the Hosnian System. The Death Star is justifiable because it’s the first of its kind, Starkiller Base is the third. In canon and Legends, there’s a lot of side-material going into the sheer enormity and horror of the Death Star, the amount of manpower it takes to construct such a thing, its formation is treated with gravitas; And yet something WAY bigger and more advanced comes out of nowhere, from a group even less powerful than the Empire?!
Again, you need the Death Star, it’s why the rebels are being chased, it’s why Leia was captured, it’s why R2-D2 meets Luke and then Obi-Wan, bringing up the Rebel journey; It’s why Luke’s aunt and uncle die, it’s why there’s no Alderaan and instead the Death Star itself to capture the protagonists when they arrive there. But Starkiller Base is pointless- The plot is about BB-8 because he has the map to Luke Skywalker, it’s about finding Luke through BB-8. Starkiller Base is just so casually dropped for something that should be so much bigger than the Death Star in the narrative… And likewise, we don’t need it for anything.
Is it to prove to Finn that the First Order is dangerous, that he can’t just ignore its destruction? The thing is, he already has Rey’s capture to motivate his participation. Starkiller Base could not fire, but Finn would still help the Resistance infiltrate, because Rey would still be captured. It’s not needed for Poe and the Resistance to arrive on Takodana, because they came for BB-8 after getting that message, the Hosnian Cataclysm totally unrelated. You could argue it gives the Resistance an excuse to fight back against the First Order in the film’s climax… But that does not justify creating another superweapon, much less one as implausible and redundant as Starkiller Base.
Like, maybe the writers wanted to REALLY return to the status quo, so having the New Republic be devastated was a requirement… But was it really? Just have the New Republic continue to be ineffectual, it’s even a plot-point in side material that its military is embarrassingly small; So just say the Resistance IS the full extent of that military! You still get an underdog situation. And again, if you really want to forcibly cut off any support for the Resistance… You don’t need a giant superweapon to one-up the Death Star. Just have the First Order demonstrate its traditional military power, by having a fleet invade the New Republic’s capital, unexpected, able to waltz in because everyone is so incompetently lax about these rising fascists; And with recent real-life events, it only makes more disturbing sense.
Instead of getting a pointless superweapon, have a bunch of Star Destroyers attack Hosnian Prime and take it over, show a montage of destruction and civilian death, etc. This still establishes the danger of the First Order and how it’s quickly decapitated the New Republic and left it in shambles, setting the stage for the underdog conflict; But you don’t have to rely on something as absurdly over-the-top as Starkiller Base, which has no build-up to its unprecedented firepower besides “Oh yeah this exists” and then watching it fire and finding out firsthand.
The death of trillions with the Hosnian System is senseless violence both in-universe and from a narrative, writing perspective… And again, this arguably establishes the First Order as a threat better, because they don’t need to rely on a superweapon; And even after The Force Awakens ends, the audience still knows that they have access to an entire fleet… Whereas with Starkiller Base, that threat is lost by the end of the film and thus made redundant. The scene could become even more disturbing if we straight-up see some civilians on Hosnian Prime welcome the First Order, adding additional world building that helps explain why the First Order was able to develop, how it got support- And again, being topical to what happens today. It connects with canon lore about the First Order’s supporters in other worlds (such as Coruscant), and could even be a callback to liberty dying with thunderous applause in Revenge of the Sith! We could still have the people on Takodana react in horror, through the Holonet’s broadcasting of the coup.
Of course, this is Star Wars- And what’s more iconic than thrilling space battles and trench runs? Sometimes you want sci-fi fun and stuff for the sake of it, nothing wrong with that, that’s always important too… But again, you don’t need a giant super-laser to have that. Just make up something else; Like Starkiller Base is the planet that the First Order has taken over. Perhaps they intend to launch a bunch of new Star Destroyers, or are about to finish production of a whole new batch, which would make things even worse. Instead of destroying a superweapon, you could have the Resistance crippling the factories that finish these Star Destroyers- There’s your trench run! Have them blow up a power plant that’s running the factories, instead of a thermal oscillator. There’s still a victory at the end, and while the threat is far from over, time has been bought- And it makes the First Order’s immediate retaliation in the next film more sensible, adds to the idea that every second, every bit of progress helps, you gotta take what you need… Even an extra day to prepare and evacuate is a miracle that furthers the underdog motif.
Plus, with a batch of Star Destroyers that need to be stopped- There’s still the need to rescue Rey. The Resistance still needs to cause damage at the First Order’s base, and Finn is still needed to infiltrate and lower the shields, while taking advantage of this operation for himself and Rey. Most importantly, you don’t get a contrived superweapon that only adds to the bland, carbon-copy standard of the Sequel Trilogy; And perhaps best of all, we don’t have to see Ilum retroactively bastardized and destroyed, with Starkiller Base’s identity revealed AFTER we see it get blown up… The legacy of the Jedi and its history is not further destroyed with the loss of this sacred planet of kyber crystals.
And that’s better, because this trilogy about passing the torch, seems as insistent as Kyle Ron, the villain, on interpreting this theme as utterly wiping out all traces of the past, and leaving nothing for the next generation to work with. Which, I’m not surprised at a corporation thoughtlessly razing and salting the earth in selfish disregard for those who will need and use it afterwards, but still. And while a star that burns brighter than most thanks to its heart of Kyber IS a neat concept that could be worked with, especially with what Chirrut Imwe says, in addition to the motifs of flames of rebirth and the Phoenix… It’s not something that justifies the further eradication of Jedi history and effort on a level that even the Empire didn’t go, just to arbitrarily raise stakes with yet another uninspired superweapon.
Like, the Duel of the Fates script and its concept of a device that blocks off all inter-galactic communication is MUCH more interesting, clever, and innovative than the Death Star Lite, and it hits closer to home in this age of internet and mass communication; In contrast to the Death Star, which fit more in its time as a criticism of the stockpiling and development of nukes, and how that tapped into the public’s fear at the time of nuclear Armageddon. And a device blocking off intergalactic communication provides good reason for why the Resistance doesn’t have the full might of the New Republic behind them, because they can’t even communicate to collaborate, and it adds to that idea of people made to feel ‘alone’ or whatever and thus isolated, so they can’t band together and rise up. That adds to Rey feeling alone, and makes Poe and Zorii’s discussion at the end of the trilogy that much more meaningful… Not that the Sequel Trilogy was planned to consider the latter, of course.
(Actually, I wonder if it’s possible to cut Starkiller Base’s superweapon scenes from the film. Like a cut where any references to its superweapon, and the scene where it fires, is cut out; I think the film might still work that way.)
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For the writing prompt, let's go with ruin.
request: alexandria silver-blood + "ruins" (elder scrolls writing prompts — OPEN)
summary: Alexandria's teaching methods may not be conventional nor are they always pleasant, but Lucien can't deny their effectiveness.
tags: fluff, lucien flavius, canon-typical violence, alex and lucien are still pretty new as companions so he's still Baby, lexi is an arguably good teacher, not proofread bc it turned out so long lol
warnings: none
word count: 2.3k
ao3 link: [tough love]
author's notes: for those that don't know, lucien is a modded follower who starts as a wimpy little imperial scholar and you train him to get better at combat. this was SO much fun to write, i feel like it really shows some of my fav things about lexi and her dynamic with lucien! thank u so much for the request dearie <3
The door to the old nordic tomb was jammed after what must have been centuries without being opened, but with a heavy shove, Alexandria was able to force them to give. As soon as they swung open, the smell of decay and rot overwhelmed Lucien's senses, and he found himself struggling to hold down that morning's breakfast.
Alexandria, on the other hand, had no such qualms. Instead, she took a deep breath and smiled at the smell. "Ah, I love these old tombs. You can just feel Lady Namira's influence in the air. Makes the eyes water though, doesn't it? Or maybe that's just the dust." She fanned her face, letting her eyes dry out for a moment before readying her sword in one hand and a simple Firebolt spell in the other. "You ready?"
"Uhh," Lucien hesitated. "Do I have a choice?"
"Nope!" With that, she pushed him through the doors, and he nearly toppled over. "You'll be taking the lead this time, alright?"
"What?! Me?!" He sputtered. "Are you sure that's a good idea? No, don't answer that. It isn't a good idea whatsoever."
Alexandria didn't seem to share a single one of his concerns as she placed a hand on his back and pushed him deeper into the old ruins. "It's a chance to practice sneaking and to test out that Turn Undead spell. Two birds with one stone, as they say."
"I only learned that spell last night. Who's to say it'll even work? Don't you think the stakes are a little too high?"
"Of course they are," she said in her usual, all too cheery tone of voice. "You're not going to learn anything by staying firmly in your comfort zone. Besides, don't you trust me to keep you safe?"
It was certainly a good question. In spite of how she presented herself, Alexandria was a difficult person to read. While he often did appreciate her optimistic attitude (it was certainly an improvement over the glum nature of most of Skyrim's citizens), there were more than a few moments where it almost felt like she enjoyed tormenting him. This wouldn't be the first time she pushed him beyond his limits; ever since she started training him, she seemed to make a game of torturing him and justifying it with reasons such as, "You need to learn to take a hit," or "You've got to get out of your own head." And, well... he wanted to trust her methods, but she make it quite difficult.
"If you take any longer to answer, it's going to hurt my feelings, you know."
"N-no, I don't mean to imply anything bad!" Lucien sputtered. "I'm just nervous, is all. You've been a wonderful guard and I don't mean to offend you in any—"
His ramblings were interrupted by her bursting into laughter, and the sound echoed throughout the chamber. He felt a brief panic, but it seems the sound didn't reverberate far enough into the ruins to alarm any draugr. Alexi, it seems, didn't share his worries at all.
"Calm down, will you? I was joking!" She chuckled. "Believe me, no one understands anxiety better than I do. But that doesn't mean I'll allow you to let it control your life."
Lucien had a hard time believing she of all people, in all her confidence and self-assuredness, could relate, but her words were a comfort nonetheless. "Right," he replied, letting her words sink in. He took a deep breath to calm himself, then firmly regretted it as the stench of death filled his lungs.
Alexi chuckled again at him and patted his arm. "You'll get used to it."
"I really don't want to," he said, but readied his spells nonetheless.
*
The pair made their way through the old ruin, crouched low and sticking to the shadows, just as Alexandria taught him. The muffle spell she cast helped them stay quiet and made it easy to make out the sound of draugr footsteps farther into the depths of the tomb.
Lucien stopped in the middle of the hallway they were crouched in and leaned his head around the bend, leading into a larger chasm. Two draugr patrolled the area, moving in circles around the perimeter.
Alexi leaned back on her haunches and whispered, "So, what's the plan, boss?"
It was strange, the way their roles were swapped. "Uhm," Lucien thought back to what Alexandria did the last time they were in this kind of situation. "Wait until they wander to opposite sides of the room, out of each other's sight, and shoot them down one at a time."
"Okay," Alexandria said simply, but the minimal response was enough to send Lucien doubting himself.
"Is that not a good plan?" He asked, unsure.
"Huh? I never said that. I told you, you're the boss here! I'm just following your lead."
"Right," Lucien muttered. "Right. Uh, I just... need to be more sure of myself."
Alexi didn't respond beyond glancing around the corner, watching the draugr.
"Right?" Lucien asked.
This time, she simply chuckled. "Dearie, how are you not realizing the irony? You're still asking for my approval. It's a good plan. Now go ahead before you start getting in your head again."
Unfortunately, his doubts already took root and refused to budge. Even as he drew his bow and had it aimed at the target, he found himself frozen in place.
After the second opening he missed due to his own hesitation, Alexandria leaned over his shoulder and whispered, "Can I give you some advice?"
"Please do."
"Great!"
She grabbed him by the neck not unlike one would grab a housecat, dragged him up from where he was crouched, and tossed him into the open chamber with the two draugr. As he yelped in surprise, the two draugr turned at the sound and drew their weapons.
The rational response was for Lucien to be angry at her for being so cruel, but in the moment, it was all he could do to bash his bow against the draugr that rushed at him with a greatsword. The attack staggered the enemy and interrupted her mid-swing, giving Lucien enough time to switch out his longbow for a sword and spell.
Just as the zombie had regained balance, Lucien took a swing, putting all his might behind it. It wasn't enough to bring her down, but as the sword connected with her shoulder, the two-handed sword she carried fell from her grasp. He used the chance to shoot a Firebolt spell at her, which sent her flying backwards, unmoving.
Before he could celebrate his victory, an arrow whooshed past his face, just barely grazing his skin and taking a few of his hairs with it. It would've sent his heart racing if the poor muscle wasn't already working at full capacity.
He turned his head to the archer, who already had nocked another arrow and shot it in his direction. He just barely managed to dodge by side stepping behind a column. There was no way he could rush at the archer with his sword, and he was clearly outmatched with a bow. Should he just try to pelt it with Firebolts, or—
Suddenly, he remembered the new spell he'd just learned the night before. It was a risk trying it now of all times, but the adrenaline rushing in his veins made it difficult to rationalize it too much. He charged the spell, then ducked out from behind the other side of the column and cast it before the draugr could even release the arrow it had readied.
The second the spell hit, the draugr immediately pulled its arrow back and turned it's back, running in the opposite direction in the signature awkward steps that all draugr take. Now that the threat of being pelted with arrows was gone, Lucien rushed at the creature and grabbed it by the back of its thin, wiry hair. He stabbed his sword through its back with enough force that it jutted out of its chest. When the creature stopped moving, he released his grip on it and let its limp body fall to the ground.
It took him several seconds to catch his breath. When his heart rate finally returned to normal, a high-pitched squeal broke through the calmness and spiked it once again. Thankfully, he realized quickly enough, it was only Alexandria excitedly cheering for him.
"Good job, Lucien!" She applauded, rushing towards him from where she watched. "Oh, I knew you could handle it!"
"I... I did! Didn't I?" It was still hard to believe he could manage in a battle with her support, so to win two-against-one was inconceivable to him.
"Obviously," she laughed, giving him a playful shove. "See what you can do when you stop freaking out? When you don't have time to doubt yourself, your real skill shows."
He couldn't help but join her in the laughter as the reality of his accomplishment dawned on him. "Does this mean I'm now a proper adventurer? I never thought I had it in me!" He puffed out his chest proudly, beaming at his companion.
"I'm well aware of that. That's always been your biggest problem," she said. "Lucien, you've gotten so used to thinking of yourself as some weak little milk-drinker that no matter how much I trained you, you refused to recognize your own progress. I needed to do something to get it through your head."
"Not to imply that I'm not grateful, because I truly am," he replied, "but was throwing me to the draugr really the only thing you could think of?"
She gave a shrug. "It's how I was taught. Well, for me it was sabre cats. And fire. Oh, and also flowers, but that one's less exciting. And plenty of harsh lessons, really. How do you think I got these scars?" To prove her point, she lifted up both arms, showcasing a large array of scars, burns, and calluses that she'd acquired over the years. They moved down throughout her body, displayed for all to see under her Forsworn armor. The injuries had accumulated so much that it was hard to tell one from the other, let alone deduce what had caused them.
Lucien was curious about it since the day they'd met, but it felt rude to ask. But seeing as she brought up the matter herself, and she didn't seem to have any discomfort talking about it, he found himself asking, "What actually happened?"
"Oh, what didn't happen?" She chuckled. Pointing at the rough shape of a bite mark on her right arm, she explained, "I got this one when Auntie Ursula wanted me to get sabre cat teeth because I'd used up her entire supply when making potions. She wanted to teach me a lesson about recognizing alchemy as more than just mixing things together. Respecting the ingredients the land blesses us with, and honoring the Hunt as a crucial part of the life of an alchemist."
She then pointed to the burn marks along her palms and fingers. "I got these when Mother Helle was training me in Destruction magic. A lot of mages hesitate to progress their knowledge of the arcane arts, so she often pushed us to lean into the pain rather than fear it. Learning advanced fire-based spells results in plenty of injuries, but I couldn't have learned them if I didn't stop being scared of getting burned. After getting lit on fire a few times, it stops being so scary. And, more importantly, you learn to control it better."
"What about the flowers?" he asked.
She held up her fingers and wiggled them a bit. They were rough and calloused, and the state of them made him wonder how she could even comfortably hold a weapon. "These were the first scars I ever got. When I first started working as Auntie Bothela's assistant—I think it was shortly after my tenth winter, she made me dethorn every single flower that was in stock at the store until my hands bled. Then she made me use those same flowers to make a health potion to cure the cuts, and then I'd start over. I wasn't so good at it in the beginning, so my skin didn't end up healing very well. But once most of the skin was scarred, it stops hurting, and it helps when working with more advanced recipes."
"That sounds... quite harsh," Lucien observed. It was odd how she described such unpleasant experiences with a bright smile, as though they were treasured memories.
"All my teachers were Reachfolk, and usually followers of Lord Hircine," she explained. "It's part of his teachings—to suffer is to learn and all that. It's not exactly the nicest way to teach, but I always found it... kind, in its own way. They were with me through every step of the way. There was never a moment of my training that I felt alone or lost."
Then, her voice grew softer, a kind of uncertainty he hadn't seen in her before. "I hope I've been that kind of teacher to you. It may not always be easy, but I wouldn't put you in any situation that I don't trust you to handle, even if you may not always trust yourself as much. And, well... I know you're still making up your mind, but I do consider you a friend. I want the best for you."
The confession made Lucien's heart swell, and he wondered how on Nirn he ever doubted her intentions. And, after today, he couldn't doubt her results. "You have been," he said. "I'm glad to have you by my side, friend."
Her eyes lit up at his words, and the sight was reminiscent of that of an excited puppy. "Me too!" she said, her voice back to its cheery tone.
With that, Lucien drew his sword again and gestured to the path leading deeper into the ruins. "So, are you ready to press on?"
She gave a salute and followed his lead, drawing her own sword. "Sure thing, boss!"
#lucien flavius#tes#tesblr#skyrim#skyrim oc#elder scrolls#cozy writes#oc: alexandria silver blood#alexi is a daedra worshipper and it Shows lol#cozy answers#moots#thanks again for the request!! it was so much fun to write#this is 100% meant to be platonic but lexi would absolutely have a puppy crush on lucien and i wonder if u can tell lmao#she has crushes on everyone tho so this is her default slkjflksj#ship: alexandria x lucien
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Frostbite Ch. 1
Read it on AO3 here
Chapter Word Count: 1.5k
Important Tags: Vigilante Fuyumi, Fuyumi Todoroki centric, References to past child abuse, Enji is not trying to be better in this fic, Endeavor’s terrible parenting, LOV plays a prominent role, Timeline Transcendent but mostly during the Paranormal Liberation War Arc, Hawks plays a prominent role, Natsuo plays a prominent role
Summary: Fuyumi wants nothing more than her family's safety. Its all she's ever wanted since she was a child, for her mom and brothers to be able to live freely and happily.
There was a time, when she was very young, about 12 or 13 where she thought that somehow the whole family could find a way to live in peace. That they could all be a normal, happy family again, but after Touya's death she realized the truth. That could never happen. And she knew who was to blame.
Ever since then she's been working and scheming to right the wrongs that have been done to her loved ones, and even helping others along the way. However, when walking the fine line of what is and isn't legal lands her in deep trouble she is faced with painful reminders of the past and must challenge her own morality.
Chapter 1: Capture
“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” a raspy voice taunted as a man with long, unkempt, pale blue hair and the driest skin Fuyumi had ever seen on a living person walked into the room.
“You must be Shigaraki,” she greeted in reply, a mockery of her usual polite tone painting her voice as she sneered at the notorious villain.
The man just humphed before looking down at the captive woman, “And what’s your name?”
Fuyumi leveled a cool, steady gaze at her captor, “I go by Frostbite,” her tone was level and calm, but left no room for debate, a tone very similar to the one she often used on her students.
“I don’t care about code names, I want to know your real name,” Shigiraki pouted. If the man didn’t have the ability to disintegrate her with a single touch it would have been amusing how much like her students he was.
So instead of laughing she instead raised an eyebrow and shot him an unimpressed glare, “Too bad, I’ll tell you my real name if and when it becomes relevant,” she knew it was risky taunting him while in arms reach, but she knew showing weakness was worse. Power-hungry maniacs tended to have more respect for those who refused to back down in her experience.
“I think it is relevant, I need to know who was trying to overthrow a faction of my army!” Shigaraki persisted, beginning to anxiously claw at his neck.
Fuyumi frowned, “Well, you’ve got the wrong person, anyhow, if that’s what you want,” she protested, “I wasn’t trying to overthrow anything. At least not anything to do with you or those Liberation nuts. I was just looking for something,” she explained calmly, if a little indignantly. Honestly, if they seriously grabbed her for a fucking misunderstanding she was going to scream.
“Really? Then why come so far out of your usual territory? Why go blatantly rampaging around asking about us and the drugs Overhaul developed? You weren’t really subtle, girl,” he hissed, shoving his prematurely wrinkled face in hers.
She resisted the urge to freeze him where he stood in frustration before responding in a calm, placating tone, “I am looking for the quirk-erasure drugs that Overhaul supposedly developed but that has nothing to do with you other than you being a lead to getting them. This is something I’ve been working on for years, long before the League of Villains was formed,” she explained.
“Oh? But those drugs are pretty new. The permanent version has only been around for a matter of months,” he grabbed her throat keeping one finger raised, threat clear even as his voice tapered off.
“I know, those are a new addition to my plan, but it doesn’t change that my target has nothing to do with you. I’m not even after a villain at all, I’m after a pro hero. So there’s no reason to get upset, right now we’re on the same side,” she clarified quickly, anxiety spiking from the rough, clammy hand wrapped around her throat.
Shigaraki paused, lifting his hand from her throat before smirking at her, “We’re on the same side? The Queen of Vigilantes is going villain? Now that’s interesting,” he chuckled and Fuyumi could feel her stomach churn violently, “You aren’t just saying that to save your head, are you?” His taunting tone only caused her stomach to sour further, but she resisted the urge to flinch. Any sign of fear would only be used against her and make her response seem less genuine.
“I never said I was going villain, but I’m also not just saying that to keep my head. I’m really after a pro-hero and right now we are on the same side. We have similar goals. You want to destroy hero society, right? Well, I don’t entirely disagree with that. It at least needs massive reform,” she took a deep breath, trying to calm her emotions before explaining, “Heroes are untouchable. Get a high enough ranking and you can get away with unspeakable cruelty no matter how well known that cruelty is… other heroes, the police, and the public will all rally behind the hero while his victims are silenced into submission… I just want to hold them responsible for their actions, starting with the biggest bastard of them all,” her voice trembled slightly in her anger so she took a steadying breath before continuing, “I guess you could say I align with Stain, even if I don’t agree with all of his judgment calls. Most of your members are followers of Stain, right?” She asked, meeting his crimson eyes.
He smirked, “I still don’t understand why Stain was such a big deal, but yes, most of my more trusted members at least were Stain fanboys… Are you looking to join us or something?” He asked, sizing her up.
“I’m looking for my freedom,” she shot back, struggling in the heavy chains strapping her down to the chair she was sat in for emphasis, before swallowing her pride and hesitantly adding, “and possibly some assistance. I really need those drugs, and judging by how defensive over them you are and the fact you guys attacked Overhaul immediately after his arrest, my lead on you was right. I just need one dose, you can keep the rest,” she tried to read the crimson glare giving her a calculating look but couldn’t decipher his thought process.
After a few moments that felt like hours, he finally spoke, “I’ll think about it. I’ll be back to talk it out further…” started to walk towards the door, before turning back to the captured vigilante, “I’ll make sure none of the Liberation freaks bother you so try to spend this alone time thinking about how you’d be willing to pay for that bullet,” his tone was taunting and menacing but he was honestly the least of Fuyumi’s worries.
She had no qualms spending her father’s vast fortune on his own downfall, she planned on destroying him anyway so money wasn’t really an issue. No, she was much more concerned with being stuck here for who knows how long. Not only was it going to be problematic if she didn’t show up at home before morning or, god-forbid, miss work, her costume included contacts to make her grey eyes appear blue (a pale, frosty shade much lighter than her family’s usual turquoise) and make her usual glasses unnecessary, so if she fell asleep or if it took to long for her to get out of here she was risking permanent injury without them laying another hand on her. She’d just have to try and stay awake, she supposed not much she could do about it with her hands encased in a metal cage. Still, being left alone in a dark room for an undisclosed amount of time was something that made her skin crawl, too many unpleasant childhood memories reflected this scenario just a little too closely. At least it didn’t automatically set off panic attacks anymore. Clearly therapy had been doing something. If only she could get Natsu and Shoto to go too.
Speaking of Natsuo, she was now very glad she had denied his request to tag along on her hunt for the quirk erasure drug. Ever since he’d found out about her life as a vigilante last year he had been trying to get more and more involved. She tried to keep him away from it, but now he’s known amongst the underground as Blizzard, her impulsive, short tempered sidekick. Not that she lets him join her on her patrols or missions often. His impulsive, hot-headed nature paired with his stubbornness made her extremely nervous for his well being. He had a tendency to run into unnecessary fights and where she was careful to disguise herself with a wig, contacts, and contour, Natsuo only opted for a ski mask, despite Fuyumi repeatedly explaining why that was a bad idea. She doubted he understood how high the stakes were, that they weren’t just risking death, but if their real identities were to be discovered or if they were to be arrested that they could lose their jobs, Natsuo could be kicked out of school and they’d both be thrown in jail, leaving Shoto to deal with their father alone again. They weren’t like most other vigilantes. They both had a lot to lose. She wouldn’t be able to live with herself if he got himself hurt or destroyed his life due to something she let him do. Something she introduced him to. She just prayed that she got out before he realized she was missing. She knew he’d probably try to look for her, he may even try to drag Shoto into it if he was worried enough, and that was the last thing that needed to happen.
Hopefully, though, she’d be able to put all of this behind her. Hopefully, once she was done with Endeavor their family could settle back down, no longer having to live in constant tension and fear. Hopefully, she’d soon be able to retire from being a vigilante and just enjoy being a teacher and spend time with her loved ones. She just had to get those drugs and get back home. That’s all. She could do that.
#Insomniac's Frostbite Fic#fuyumi todoroki#fuyumi todoroki centric#fuyumi centric#vigilante fuyumi#fuyumi x tensei#fuyumi is a good big sister#badass fuyumi#Dabi is a (sorta) good older brother#fuyumi fic#bnha fanfiction#bnha au#mha fanfiction#mha au#chapter 1#Insomniac's Frostbite Fic ch. 1
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Dobson’s favorite cartoon reviewed: The adventures of spandex girl in New York aka the Miraculous Ladybug movie
So THIS is not going to be about a Dobson comic, but rather with the lack of Dobson posting shit out here, I thought I give my opinion about something Dobson would have likely sperged out within the last few months. What could it be I want to talk about? The riots? The death of RBG? Cuties?
Are you insane? My brain may function better than Dobson’s, but even so I am not touching those subjects with a tong, seeing how I myself am lacking detailed knowledge on such subjects. No. I am talking about the cartoon that makes Dobson’s little brain (and dick) all tingly: Miraculous Ladybug.
For starters, let me just say that despite being an animation fan myself, I am not really into this show at all. For a magical girl show that goes on for over three seasons at this point, I just feel like nothing happens in it. Sure, A LOT of tokusatsu and magical girl shows run on repetitive monster of the week formulas, but overall they will still have some progression to themselves. Growing up with Sailor Moon, I always loved the first season and how it actually made me feel like things are increasingly at stake as the story progressed. Especially in the final episodes when the Senshis actually died protecting Sailor Moon and it was only thanks to a Deus ex machina everyone was reincarnated again. As melodramatic as Sailor Moon could be, at least each story arc had a beginning and ending that did not overstay its welcome. Ladybug meanwhile can be summed up as followed:
Teenage girl is thirsty for obvious blond boy whose dad wants to get magic jewelry to necromance his comatose wife. Teenage girl gets magic jewelry and turns into heroine in ladybug mustered spandex suit that makes rule34 artists all tingly. Same goes for boy she has the hots for, only he becomes gimp catsuit shota bait. Bad guy transforms random citizens who feel down for some reason (often times connected to a blond whose family name Dobson can’t write) into action figure like super villains. Ladybug and Cat Noir defeat them, the damage is reseted, Ladybug and Cat Noir never figure out who the other one is despite things being so obvious Ray Charles could have seen that shit coming. Repeat not just for one, but ALL seasons so far and add as little as possible storywise to increase the roaster of characters, but not progress the plot.
All that said, I can say that there are worse shows out there and for a show meant to sell toys to girls and be about a female hero, it is not THAT bad. But a) the creator is an asshole (think of functional Dobson) and b) there are still better shows to watch, even within the preteen magical girl genre, than this. Not to forget that this thing may be the indirect successor of Totally Spies and give certain people internet related fetishes within the next few years.
So, why am I believing Dobson would talk about the show at least for today more than he already tends to do on average? Because Ladybug actually got now a movie.
Well, it is called a movie, but in reality it is more of a 3 parter to start the fourth season if you really look into it. The thing is called Miraculous World: New York – United HeroeZ. It clocks in around 65 minutes and focuses on Marinette and Adrien in New York, teaming up with new heroes that are so unsubtlety promoted in this movie, I expect them to get their own spin off series by the end of next year so the showmakers can milk the cow even drier.
Let me try to elaborate in what is going to be a less than just a bit snarky summary with a few critical points and jokes at Dobson’s expense thrown in here. In other words, the typical biased youtube reaction channel/movie review. Spoiler warnings are obvious and I promise than unlike certain pedos on youtube I am not going to focus on the assets of underaged French girls. I do warn however for increased levels of making a fool of myself by writing a multi page “mock summary” of this thing.
So because the movie is based on a children show, it has a very basic set up; Adrien and Marinette’s class is invited to spend one week in New York, because of a pointless international collaboration thing referred to as French-American Friendship week. The sheer existence of this showing that a) we needed any reason to get them there and b) this special was worked on LONG before COVID19 hit us all. And yes, I know animation takes its time to be done, I just think it is funny how in today’s international political climate and health situation this thing has become outdated already, when it is hitting the tv just now.
At the same time, Adrien’s dad suspects that an artifact currently shown at a museum in New York may be a missing Miraculous that was owned by the Marquis de La Fayette and gifted to George Washington during the American Revolution. And yes, we are going there and you can guess what Hawkmoth’s goal this time is, while at the same time history gets fucked up the butt.
But before we can get to any action in New York, we have to deal with the one thing Ladybug is known for best: Cringy shipping bait.
Look, I know that shipping is a part of magical girl shows in general, but the shit going on in this cartoon is not only drawn out tediously even for children tv standards, I find it makes some characters outright dumb and unlikable. We get it Marinette, Adrien makes you tingle. But can you stop cringing your way through life around him in a manner that would make Tomoko Kuroki say that you are freaking pathetic?
I don’t want anybody else. when I think about Adrien I...
Just three minutes into this movie she essentially melts away at a poster of Adrien and throughout the first 15 minutes she just simps away in the big blue yonder. For example by asking Adrien’s dad to allow his son to travel with the others to New York, obviously stumbling upon her words when she needs to remind herself that she can only see Adrien now as a friend and not love interest (because this is supposedly set after season 3, when she decided to go for the second price in form of the guy who plays guitar), insisting that she is only “friends” to the point even her best friend Alya gets fed up. Or when Marinette gets more than just “a bit” nervous at the chance of sitting on her flight to New York next to Adrien, resulting in her fucking that chance up so badly, I felt an headache approaching.
Not gonna lie, I had to pause a few times because it got so cringy for me, I wondered why Dobson makes primarily jokes on Adrien’s expense when Marinette herself is female thirst personified. Even the movie seems to point out how the two are so obvious to each other, when Alya has the following to say about them:
I can’t decide if they are the most cutest people I know, or the most embarrassing.
Thankfully it is at 18 minutes into it, we FINALLY get something of a conflict. While still on the plane (And Adrien and Marinette watching a sunset through a window) a villain shows up, trying to steal the jet engine midflight.
Just roll with it
Thankfully, before the plane can go down thanks to a Gremlin on the wing- I mean TECHNO PIRATE, the real stars of the movie show up.
Wait, you thought this thing was going to be about Ladybug and Cat Noir being the primary heroes? WRONG!
Okay, to put the summary on hold and explain what I mean: This “movie” introduces us to “United HeroeZ”, a group of American superheroes. Yeah, turns out Miraculous is essentially set in your average “Superheroes are everywhere, but primarily US dominated territory” world and this story is meant to introduce us to them and have Ladybug and Cat Noir team up in order to save the day. And while I don’t necessarily HATE the characters, I have to admit that I can’t help myself but snark quite a bit about them. Not only are they for the most part just expies of well known superheroes, the way how prominent two of them in particular are featured in this movie makes it very, VERY obvious that (As I stated earlier) this thing aims just to create a tie-in show for the creators to make more money of the property. Not just that, but their presence in a way reduces Adrien and Marinette’s importance as characters, even though the new ones at best would count as supportive characters overall. Which again makes me wonder, what does it say about Ladybug and Cat Noir’s “impact” in their own franchise when I actually find myself more interested in the side characters made to promote new toys, than the actual leads?
Anyway, United HeroeZ defeats Techno Pirate and in doing so we are introduced to the main members of the group which are relevant for this movie:
So please, give an applause for….
MAJESTIA (aka actually decent Powergirl redesign/Non Superman)
SPARROW (Aka yet another Robin that may get hit by a crowbar)
UNCANNEY VALLEY (aka The Shipper on Deck/Cleopatra in Tin Foil/Vision as your Waifu/the dumbest name you could have chosen for a character!)
NIGHT OWL (aka Alan Moore is going to be pissed!/Oh look, it’s Batman!)
You get where I am coming from when I call them expies, right?
Anyway, with the plane safe the class finally gets to New York. Both Sparrow and Uncanney Valley get tasked to go undercover with the students and assure they are save during the trip, because plot reasons and New York is supposedly enough of a safe place that their services aren’t needed to fight bigger threats currently. Which confirms at the very least that a) this is not the Marvel Universe cause at this point the town may be ground zero yet again and b) a way more enjoyable version of the Big Apple than the real deal.
By the way, these are Uncanney (left) and Sparrow’s (right) civilian identities :
I can now imagine Dobson wanting to proclaim how problematic the character is for being a native American who looks the way she does. But believe me. It gets kinda worse in all the right ways.
Also, we are 28 minutes into the movie and we are introduced to the dumbest thing in the movie yet. The arch enemy of the Condiment King; Hot Dog Dan.
A superhero hot dog vendor seller with a flying hot dog truck, whose hot dogs give you temporarily some random superpowers when you eat them. And it seems he uses hot dog tongs as weapons.
I don’t know what the people making this show take, but I am torn between wanting some of that myself and putting them into rehab.
I really bring the character just up because he is as a concept in itself so ridiculous that part of me thinks he is a fever dream of Dobson. Otherwise he has no real bearing on what is going to happen on the rest of the movie. He is just relevant for a three minute long scene of a house roof party during which Adrien and Marinette dance for a bit.
Speaking of relevance, the next day the class finally gets to do something on the trip that leads into conflict for our heroes to face. During a visit of the museum where the La Fayette related Miraculous is hold, Uncanny and Sparrow decide to play shipper on deck by forcing Marinette and Adrien in a room and attempting to set a really stupid plot into motion (and no, I don’t mean they enforce a reenactment of Steven Universe or something). At the same time the villains finally do something, when Hawkmoth (now in New York) turns Techno Pirate into his latest minion and have him attack the museum to steal a saber by La Fayette as distraction, while he takes the charm he is out for. Long story short: Our heroes FINALLY transform and have to fight with Uncanney and Sparrow against Techno Pirate on the roofs of Manhattan.
And while I don’t think it is all that great of a fight, it still means something aside of Marinette cringing her way through the plot is happening and the heroes are actually in decent peril. Plus during the fight the movie gives me one of the funniest moments possible. You want to know what it is?
Well, while fighting the bad guy, Cat Noir and Ladybug obviously trigger their miraculouses. And what does Ladybugs miraculous turn into this time, to help her develop a strategy to defeat the villain and save the day?
A bikepump.
... yeah, I am going to give all of you now 5 minutes to laugh it off. Believe me, I needed them too.
Sure, it is a cartoon and I doubt anyone working on the show is even aware of our favorite uncare bear, but come on. At this point the universe itself is either mocking Dobson or tries to set up the perfect opportunity for an obvious joke from my side.
Not helped by the fact that once the bike pump shows up, the dialogue between characters that follows is, and I quote:
Cat: A bicycle pump? What are you going to do with that?
Ladybug: I may have an idea, but you wouldn’t like it
Anyway, believe it or not, the fight actually ends with a surprising shock moment. Cat Noir, while having his cataclysm powers active (you know, the powers that make him decompose anything he touches), being thrown by Techno Pirate at Ladybug, resulting in Uncanney protecting her and being turned into scrap metal. Which in turn causes Techno Pirate to make the acquaintance with Majestia’s fist, as Uncanney is more or less her adopted daughter and I guess she has seen what was going on (but did not interfere because the plot says so) until now, pummeling him so hard he flies through a few buildings and causes at least three 9/11 to happen on this day in New York.
So, yeah. Uncanney is dead. The heroes experiencing their darkest hour in the movie.
… welp, can’t have that for long, so less than 2 minutes later Ladybug uses the Magical bikepump…
5 minutes of laughter later
Got it out of the system? Good. As I was saying; She uses the fetish toy to reset all the damage done by the akumatized villain and in doing so fixes Uncanney too.
Welp, that was a waste of tension. Guess someone watched the entire Lars dying thing from Steven Universe.
So, damage undone, but Majestia and Night Owl pretty pissed at what happened, want Ladybug and Cat Noir to give up their miraculouses (I assume that is the correct plural) until they leave New York. You would expect this to result in some dramatic chase scene or confrontation with the older heroes, but because this movie has just like 22 minutes left and we need to close act two now, our heroes instead flee and end up in the sewers of New York.
There they do NOT team up with a group of mutated reptiles, but have a heart to heart talk (I never thought I would agree with Dobson on something, but I have to agree on this: The show is kinda fixated on having important stuff happening in sewer channels) that is sort of an argument Cat Noir and Ladybug also had during the fight. You see, because those two idiots haven’t figured out their respective civilian identities yet (something even Sailor Moon would have figured out AFTER THREE SEASONS!) Marinette assumed that Cat Noir would be in Paris while she is in New York to keep the city save. And Adrien/Noir was okay with making the promise of keeping the city initially save, because his dad only allowed him on the trip the day after he made the promise. So when the two transform out of sight of the other in New York and meet, instead of asking some logical questions (like “where is Marinette/Adrien and why is Cat/Ladybug here?”) they kinda argue wtf Cat is doing here while Paris may be in danger.
Long story short, she is angry at him, he feels guilty for having disappointed her and the thing with turning Uncanney into scrap, Paris was attacked by Hawkmoth’s secretary unleashing temporarily some monster clone because Hawkmoth thought that distracts the heroes in Paris (and really just results in damage that makes a city that experienced the destruction of Notre Dame the year prior just feel numb) and because this is the turning point in the plot, our hero needs to do something just a bit too melodramatic. Which is that Adrien gives up his powers and runs away.
… so, up to the final part in which things to care about start to happen.
Hawkmoth now has the Miraculous and unleashes its Kwami who is this eagle themed little thing referring to itself as the “Kwami of Freedom”.
… Yeah, this thing was NOT around for the last 200 years, wasn’t it?
Anyway, it states that its powers are based on “freeing” people of limitations to achieve their full potential. What does that mean practically? It means that when Techno Pirate holds its powers on top of his regular powers increased by being akumatized, he can unleash some energy attack that removes moral inhibitions when getting hit by it.
… So it basically unleashes the Purge.
Which is exactly what happens to Majestia and Night Owl, turning one into Man of Steel Superman causing nine additional 9/11s on top of the three prior (how the fuck did this movie manage to turn an American tragedy in a measuring unit?) and the other into All Star Batman.
Oh and it turns the President of the USA into a worse war monger than people accuse Trump of being.
Oh, this is NOT going to sit well with anyone...
… Yeah, sidenote: The president of the USA in this movie is essentially Michelle Obama who ALSO is a superhero with an American flag theme and besties with Majestica and Night Owl, trying to protect the exchange students. Because supposedly NOTHING better needs to be done. Once she gets hit by the “Freedom Feathers” or whatever you want to call the Kwami power, she pulls out the Football and activates turrets all over the USA, ready to blow up anything that moves into smithereens. Including at least 10.000 such turrets on the roofs of New York and a nuclear missile in the bay near the Statue of Liberty.
I’ll take it to the people with the eagle not the dove. If there is one thing that obedience is symptomatic of, it’s W-E-A-P-O-N-R-Y... WEAPONRY, from above!
(BTW, the rocket is animated like shit!)
I get the feeling someone on the production team is not the biggest fan of America.
Anyway, with the heroes being useless and Marinette and Adrien mopping around for what happened during the battle (and Adrien being tricked by his dad to leave New York and get back on a plane cause this town is not save and Adrien can’t fucking stand up to his emotionally abusive father), Uncanney and Sparrow have to get the ball rolling so the day can be saved. Which means that Sparrow and Ladybug try to fight and distract people for time (off screen mostly), while Uncanney hijacks Adrien’s plane and brings him back to take up the gimp suit of Cat Noir again. Oh yeah, almost forgot, Uncanney, cause she is a robot, has figured out easily who Ladybug and Adrien really are cause scanning. Making our heroes literally dumber than a walking toaster.
So the four finally together, fight Techno Pirate on the Statue of Liberty a second time (after some hijinx with another corrupted hero whose power is literally to create portals through doors, but he is irrelevant for anything so I skipped him up until now) and defeat him. He loses the Miraculous, Sparrow takes it on and becomes its next official owner, resulting in her costume turning into THIS
So now we have the native American girl turn into an eagle based superhero with a costume that looks like out of a western based Lego set.
Real talk here: Unlike Dobson I do not believe that everything is political or offensive or some other shit. In fact I hate his comic where he talks about “skin color changes” of the black characters in Ladybug, because he essentially tries to create a race issue and tension where there is none, just because he is a social justice moron. Which gets especially funny when his ideas for a progressive female results in characters like the black rat pirat who kicks you in the face for being hetero or infantilizing the characters of Patty to make them visually more appealing to Max Karson.
That said, in this day and age, doing a character like that… kinda yaiks.
Like, on one hand I think the girl has an enjoyable personality and the design of her hero outfit is okay for a kids cartoon. It’s not like she also talks in some cartoonishly native way or has suddenly a tomahawk as a weapon.
On the other hand, it is kinda stereotypical from multiple ankles and unfortunately there is nothing to the character past this point. Oh sure, Sparrow has now Miraculous powers, but really, all she does now is just use her powers to nullify Techno Pirates influence on the adult heroes before Majestia manages to reenact the bad ending for Majora’s mask and that is it.
Granted, there is Hawkmoth also almost starting World War 3, but that is really just happening at the site and dealt with almost instantly. To be more specific, because Ladybug and Cat Noir did not hand over their Miraculous, he lets Techno Pirate launch one of the missiles near the Statue of Liberty (worse president than Trump, honestly) but before the thing can hit anything, Majestia sweeps it away and throws it into the sun.
You know, if the show writers want to make Adrien’s dad even remotely “sympathetic” or interesting/intelligent, they increasingly fail. Cause I don’t know about you, but causing World War 3 does not really feel like it will benefit in bringing your comatose wife back.
Bottom line: Nuke has been burned, Techno Pirate gets defeated, all the damage reseted, Sparrow is now the official owner of the latest Miraculous and renames herself Eagle, everyone is happy, there is a big celebration for the class and Hawkmoth is convinced there might be other missing Miraculous all over the globe he wants to get his hands on, meaning season 4 may have more globe trotting Miraculous “action” once it starts.
And also the last scene of the movie shows Eagle and Uncanney meeting some other guardian of the Miraculous box who wants the Eagle charm, but she seemingly convinces him to team up, solidifying that this one hour “movie” was really just a backdoor pilot for a tie in series about an American centered heroine that is so big, a freaking monster truck could pass through this backdoor.
Yeah, if you can’t tell, I am not a big fan of what I saw.
Look, I will openly admit that my opinion on this is in large parts already tainted by me not being part of the demographic which enjoys the show. So this was never going to be considered “good” in my opinion. That said, I tried to be neutral to it for the sake of fairness. And I kinda failed.
Sorry, but I genuinely do not think this is a good “movie”. First, with barely 65 minutes I don’t really consider it a movie and more of a tv special meant to lead into the next season of the show. Second, I expect of a movie based on a tv show to have slightly higher stakes and presentation value to it than what you would expect from any average episode it has to offer. Which this thing doesn’t. Oh sure, the animation is slightly improved in some scenes, but overall just the same. And frankly, the writing is just still as “bad” as in the original show, if in parts not even worse. Aside of the typical stables, such as the cringy romance that does not move forward but is kinda on the forefront, the main heroes stumbling more or less into the situations instead of being more active in their duties, Hawkmoth not even in a movie having a genuine plan aside of “get this, see how it will help me defeat two kids and fail”, the movie also just never manages to induce a proper escalation of conflict to make it feel like something “special”. For example, we have a shitton of temporarily corrupted heroes. Do Ladybug and Cat Noir ever properly face them off at one point or have meaningful/fun interactions with Sparrow and Uncanney or each other outside of the first three minutes of the movie? Nope! I can name a few movies based on animated shows that gave me enjoyment, even those following basic shonen anime rules. But this one isn’t really among them. And taking into account that I consider at least the Steven Universe movie enjoyable in a dumb way, that says something.
There is also just the fact that it takes away from Ladybug and Cat Noir too much. Sure, I don’t like the romance stuff with them because I think it plays out in some of the cringiest way possible. But I would have been okay with them or other already established sidecharacters doing other stuff and having to face some conflict that is centered more around them.
Instead the movie finds this bizarre disbalance where it focuses too much and yet too little on completely new characters, that feel shoehorned in to create a starting point for a spin off, making Cat Noir and Ladybug secondary characters in their own movie.
I mean sure, I have seen many shonen anime based movies where there is a set of “movie only” characters interacting with our heroes, but they don’t take too much away from the heroes being heroes. Say what you want about the 13th movie of any long running shonen anime, at least Luffy, Naruto, Son Goku etc. are still the central characters of their respective franchise affiliated flic. Here however we take too much away from Ladybug and Cat, while at the same time focusing also too much on their “struggle” as Marinette and Adrien (or rather just Marinette making a fool out of herself while Adrien is utterly obvious to her behavior) while the major heroics are reserved for the movie characters only, that this entire thing should just be renamed “The Adventures of Mummy Robot and Not Robin, also starring two underaged kids that Dobson is obsessed about!”
All that said, I will give it a few things.
1) Uncanney and Sparrow/Eagle, despite my jabs, are kinda enjoyable in terms of personality. So are their partners/parents (Majestica and Night Owl are actually the (adoptive?) mothers of their sidekicks and also a couple openly caling themselves love, so yay, L(GBT) representation) and if the show would ever decide to focus also a few episodes on other characters aside of Ladybug and Cat Noir, I wouldn’t mind to see them. I just don’t think they are the most original characters out there and I think I may speak for some fans of the show when I say it sucks, that when it comes to the “action” within this “action adventure show”, they take up the spotlight from the actual main characters.
2) The fight scenes against Techno Pirate were okay overall. Nothing mind blowing animation wise but okay for the standards of this franchise.
3) Eagle’s costume design is not the worst despite my jabs at it being “stereotypical”, at least under consideration of cartoon designs (again, I can think of more offensive shit from the 90s or the Dobbear himself)
4) Well, it wasn’t for me, but I can say it was at least still on the same level of quality as the show. Make out of that comment however whatever you want.
My verdict: Three out of five Dobson’s would approve this movie. The other two would rant about stereotypes and be too busy incest shipping Majestia with Uncanney based on one shot of the movie. And none of them would acknowledge the flaws that make the “movie” a badly disguised jumping point for a spin off that makes the Equestria Girls look subtle.
Hope you got some enjoyment out of this rant that ironically may have been overall more retarted and detailed than anything Dobson may ever say in regard of this movie.
#miraculous ladybug#movie#marinette dupen chang#andrew dobson#so you are a cartoonist#syac#movie sperging#animated movie#sucks#mock#review#adrien x marinette
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Sentimonster Theory
My own thoughts on this theory brought up by the episode Ladybug. Spoilers ahead.
1. Validity Of The Idea.
First off, Ladybug introduces this idea of a sentient Sentimonster. Not something brought up before, albeit we’ve only seen a few Sentimonsters so far. We know very little about the Peacock Miraculous ourselves, but just what we’ve been shown and told. Such as we know it’s broken, though not necessarily how.
But Ladybug said her Sentimonster was her own being. Since the series is from her perspective and the Sentimonster agreed to act with her, we can take this as a truth to a certain extent. Which is honestly all sorts of messed up. In particular because we are introduced to this concept only a minute or two before this sentient girl is then erased from existence.
If this was a generally dark show with dark concepts in the vein of Rick and Morty, then maybe this could be a one off. But it’s NOT. This is a generally light hearted show that glossed over a girl just got grant freedom and then died and barely played with that idea. Really Ladybug should have been a two parter and that Amok should have been a hot potato so we could explore Sentibug’s mental state and ability to choose.
But wasted potential aside, a light hearted show does NOT bring up something that grim dark and NOT have a payoff. Which means one of two things.
There will be a sentient Amok arriving and they will be a thing for a while, possibly Felix, possibly someone else, and there will be some kind of witch hunt or stab in the heart.
Or there is already a Sentimonster present within the show and the pay off will be finding that out. No one makes a Chekov’s gun like that and not use it.
2. The Candidates.
Who could be a Sentimonster? Obviously only those close to the Agrestes. The Agrestes themselves, Nathalie, Gorilla being the obvious ones.
I’m disinclined to believe it’s Emilie because they say she disappeared. Not ‘gone’ which is what’s usually said when shows don’t want to say ‘dead,’ but disappear. Gone implies they know what happened. Disappear means they don’t. So I really think it’s her body in the basement. And the reason she’s in a coma is because she’s the one who made the Sentimonster.
Gorilla is the next one I find hard to believe if only because the Agreste’s are rich enough to just buy a man like that. He’s dedicated to his job, he’s a beast of a man, but he hasn’t done anything to warrant his worth in being put into a magic coma when money would do. And while a likeable guy on his own, we haven’t had enough focus on him to warrant the emotional payoff a sentient Sentimonster warrants. And personally, it puts a bad taste in my mouth making the mute person the secret inhuman being.
Gabriel certainly has the crazed focus that would be assumed of a Sentimonster. They are made with a purpose in mind, and if something unfortunate happened to the real Gabriel, then it makes sense Emilie would make him even at the cost of herself. But Gabriel would also be made by Emilie, and if she’s even half the saint Adrien paints her as, then it seems far more likely Emilie would be focused on him being back for her AND Adrien. Even if he struggled with the emotional, I doubt something like Riposte or Gorizilla would have happened with a Sentimonster Gabriel. Plus that would just be needlessly painful for Adrien because not only does he learn the man he thought was his father was the villain he’s been fighting for months, his dad is also probably dead. It’s like kicking a dog when he’s down.
Nathalie seems pretty likely if Emilie knew something was going to happen to her. Her job is to take care of Gabriel and Adrien and Nathalie does genuinely show care for both. She’s helped Adrien get what he wants, she will do anything Gabriel asks of her. For someone who seems to a not particularly passionate person, she loves two extremely socially inept people fiercely. If there was a guardian to be left behind by Emilie, Nathalie fits that criteria. The biggest question for this idea is the idea of an Amok being able to use the Peacock Miraculous itself. That seems like it shouldn’t work, but there’s nothing that says it can’t either. But even the Butterfly Miraculous has to be removed before it’s user can be Akumatized.
Then there’s Adrien. And oh boy, does a lot of things start lining up when looked at it like this.
3. The Narrative.
The thing about stories is things don’t have to be strictly in universe to reveal a truth of the story. That’s the fun of being an audience. We know Gabriel is Papillon because we’re the audience, so we see things the people in the story can’t. And the thing about Miraculous Ladybug as a narrative is there’s supposed to be a happy ending.
This is a show meant for kids. And while kids can handle dark things, Miraculous Ladybug is again, not that kind of show. The longer things go on, the less chance it seems like Adrien can have a happy ending, especially with the way they handle things between him and his father.
Adrien is getting closer to his father, but Gabriel is just diving further and further into his villainy. He keeps hurting people, he’s caused Adrien in particular some horrifying things from the times he’s died, to his three months as Aspik, to having him attack the love of his life. That sort of thing wears on a person and from Adrien actions in Gamer 2.0 and Partycrasher, both of which are after Viperion, Chat is certainly suffering from those three months. Finding out Gabriel did that to him is going to hit and it’s going to hit hard.
In particular for a point everyone has been talking about since we figured out it was Gabriel: he’s terrorized Paris to save his wife, while he treated his son like dirt. Gabriel is a man who seems intent to do anything and everything he can for love, much like Adrien does, but he also treats Adrien terribly. Their home situation is toxic at best, and abusive at worst.
Finding out the truth is going to break Adrien. More than that, with all Gabriel has done, and has treated his son, its hard to see how any end of this could allow enough room for Adrien to forgive Gabriel enough to be happy himself.
Unless, of course, the circumstances aren’t what they seem.
4. The Evidence.
Most evidence comes from what we, the audience, see, as well as some presumed things of Sentimonsters.
A. Cataclysm.
In Miraculer, Adrien gets hit with Cataclysm. Much to everyone’s surprised, he doesn’t turn to dust from something that’s turned harder things then flesh and blood to dust. We’ve seen it destroy indestructible items like the Bee Miraculous. We know Plagg killed the dinosaurs.
The first assumption is Adrien survived because he’s the Black Cat User, so he’s got some resistance to his own attack, or perhaps it’s because Miraculer was using the ability and thus it was a weaker version of it.
But here’s the thing. There’s that narrative thing again. Adrien got hurt. He got hurt real bad. We rarely see these kids hurt thanks to their supersuits, and here Adrien is, getting hit with his own death touch. This is something that, one it’s own, should have been an episode. This could have been great character development, they could have talked about the dangers of their job, or show a lot of Ladynoir, or how stubbornly stupid Chat is to fight like that.
But this wasn’t an episode about it. This was an episode about Chloe being Queen Bee, and meeting Mayura, and a five superhero team up, and a power stealer. All those things are episode worthy, so having Chat injured is odd. Especially since it wasn’t necessary where it was.
Miraculer had already established her threat levels, Ladybug had left to give the other Miraculous. She only finds out Chat is hurt when she’s handing off the Bee to him. If it was a matter of getting Chat to disengage, there’s many ways where Miraculer could have tossed him away as many Akuma have done. There is no reason to go that extreme. He certainly doesn’t need to be hurt for Mayura to have still grabbed the Bee like that, and struggling against two opponents is reasonable. There is no real narrative reason for him to be that hurt. The only point it MIGHT make sense is it meant Chloe really did have to go after Mayura herself.
But then it’d have made more sense to have him hurt on the rooftop. It would make the fight seem more high stakes because we don’t know how long it’d take, it makes everyone afraid, it’s dramatic! So why have him suffer half an episode like that?
Because the episode was overly full. It was to distract from what happened. There would be questions of why Chat is lasting this long, is this how it always is with people, or just him? Instead there’s the distraction of the new villainess, Ladybug needs to get the MIraculous, she needs to tell Chloe she can’t be Queen Bee. She has no time to wonder about Catacalysm, and Adrien doesn’t like dwelling on the unpleasant.
But we the audience see it. Adrien can take a Catacalysm and he can last a long time under the effects. And only one other thing has.
Reflekdoll, the Sentimonster Lady Noire used the power on. A thing made of pure magic. It was messed up, but it still functioned. It freaked out because it had no controller, but what if it could control itself? It may have done better, instead been dealing with it’s slowly breaking down body instead of wildly attacking everything.
Much like Adrien.
B. Adrien And Taking Charge.
Here’s the thing about Adrien taking charge: He’s terrible at it. We see it in Mister Bug, we see it in Viperion, we it in in Evillustrator. Adrien does not do well in that position. He gets too easily flustered and gets stuck in a tunnel vision or too emotional.
He’s great at second in charge! When he knows generally what he’s supposed to be doing, he’s great. He knows to protect, to teach, to comfort. He’s shown to be clever, a point actually made in Reflekta when he helps despite not having powers. Which makes it stand out even more when he struggles to do so in Reflekdoll. The difference being he’s no longer support, he’s the one whose supposed to be ‘in charge.’
He struggles as Mister Bug.
He uses Second Chance for Three Months because he can’t calm down, step back, and calmly watch things go down so he can gather information.
And all the way back in Season One, he has Marinette take away the stylus because he can focus on protecting her, but he couldn’t think of a good way to get the pen away, and he misses an obvious way out of the box.
We know Adrien is smart. We know he’s clever enough to keep up with Ladybug’s plans when she needs him to do something. But the moment he’s in charge, it’s like something in his brain just shorts out.
C. Adrien And Memories.
So something that has bugged me for ages is the fact he was not allowed out of the house until he got to go to school. He’s been locked up his whole life. Which made sense when I thought his mother disappeared years ago and his father became overprotective as a result. Then we learn his mother hasn’t even been gone a year by the time Christmas rolls around.
That changed a lot in regards to Emilie.
In Jackady, Chat’s outburst reminded Gabriel of Emilie. Which implies she was a woman who was at least somewhat of a spitfire. Someone Adrien saw as kind and who wanted him to be good. The person Adrien thinks about right before he almost destroyed the Christmas Tree and he stopped. Kind and willing to fight.
And still agreed to isolate Adrien.
And before she disappeared, Gabriel was supposedly less severe as he is now. Now this could be evidence that Gabriel is the Sentimonster, but with both Gabriel being at least a little more caring and a woman Adrien sees so highly, it’s weird they both agreed to raise him in basic isolation.
Not that I’m saying Emilie is anywhere near Gabriel’s level in canon, but Adrien is definitely looking at things with rose colored glasses. It’s not okay to raise a kid isolated from their peers like that. Especially a ray of sunshine like Adrien whose desperate for friends.
But at the Agreste parents very best, they were overprotective as hell.
We know Adrien is starting to realize his father is being unfair and overly harsh, we’ve seen him run away because of it, and he’s terrified of being locked up. He still sees Emilie as this saintly way though.
It may be because she made him. Of course he’d see her this way because she wouldn’t think there was anything wrong in wanting to protect him or she wouldn’t have gone to that extreme.
D. Adrien’s Demeanor.
Adrien is obedient. He’s a good boy who listens, and does as he’s told. Again, Adrien does not like to take charge. He rarely starts confrontation for his own sake, but he’s willing to step in for others. More so as Chat than Adrien, and Adrien is certainly more sneaky and subdue about it.
A Sentimonster is a being made to obey someone else. It’s not a giant leap to assume a sentient would still be highly inclined to obey, and more likely to stand up for others than themselves.
Then there’s Adrien’s more obsessive nature. Because let’s be fair. He’s obsessed with Ladybug. Most of the time it’s charming flirts of the safe nature, but he’s had times he’s let it distract him from the job, or made him sulk and pout. He can usually snap out of it to focus on the job, but it’s weird how he can go from one day handling his rejection with grace to the next handling it absolutely terribly. Like maybe he wants to accept it, but it’s hard to do so for a being whose usually focused on one person.
After all, Sentimonsters are protectors. Getting a little obsessed with who they’re made for makes sense.
E. Adrien’s rebellion.
It’s an interesting to note how Adrien rebels. He does things his father wouldn’t approve of, but usually goes the route of ‘what he doesn’t know won’t hurt me.’ If Adrien is told he can’t, he’ll go ‘but Chat wasn’t told he can’t.’ It’s rare we see Adrien disobey an actual direct order from Gabriel.
The only time that comes to mind as direct disobedience instead of just never asked or a technical loop hole was when he ran to school. You know. Right after he got Plagg and experienced chaos energy for the first time.
And yet, for the things Adrien deems truly important, he does try to bargain with his father. Like seeing his mother’s movie, or going to Marinette’s party, because these are important things to Adrien, and he wants his father to approve.
Oddly, when Adrien actually pleads and breaks the rules and shows how important a thing is to him, his father seems inclined to give it to him. Which I’ll get more into later.
F. Plagg, The Peacock Miraculous Was Right There, How Did You Miss It????
Listen, Plagg is a little gremlin who cares a lot more for people than he likes to show and it still seems weird he wouldn’t recognize a piece of jewelry he’s been in contact with for centuries when he could recognize the BOOK.
But that’s the thing, Plagg is a little gremlin who cares a lot. Who cares a lot about Adrien. Who, you know, he regularly fuses with and gives superpowers. There’s a good chance if Adrien is a Sentimonster, Plagg knows, and now he’s like ‘SHIT’ about the whole thing.
It’s likely Fu getting the Peacock Miraculous would spell the end of Adrien, so Plagg is hoping for an Alternate Solution to come up before he outs where the Peacock Miraculous is. He’s like millions of years old, he can be patient for a few years until he sees something, and the humans can take a little chaos in their life. Adrien’s HIS.
G. SYMBOLIC FORESHADOWING.
Gosh, copycat sure was a sculptor ‘in love’ with someone he couldn’t reach.
There sure is a lot of False Adriens and False Chats in the season where Mayura is a player between the wax statue of Adrien, Chat, and Adrien playing Chat’s Voice in the Ladybug Movie, and Lila pretended to be Chat and Adrien for a while in Chameleon.
Chat keeps being turned into a meat puppet by Gabriel an awful lot.
Reflekdoll got Catacalsymed by another Chat.
Miraculer sure was about Chloe’s friend trying to become another person for her love, while her other friend was living through something we never thought should be livable by a human.
Chat did think the Sentibug was a real person and choose her first.
Ladybug said Sentibug was too perfect to be human. While Gabriel and Marinette both call Adrien perfect. And Lila, and I think Chloe. Basically a lot of people call the boy perfect.
Thomas has a tendency to make tweets about ‘in universe’ views on the characters, thus when he said Chloe was a terrible person who would never have a MIraculous. And he sure calls Adrien perfect a lot himself.
H. Allergies.
Allergies are the immune system’s hypersensitive reaction to something. Worried about something being a threat even if it isn’t. And Adrien is allergic to feathers. A thing he may be made out of.
Maybe Sentimonsters don’t play well with feathers, maybe another feather can mess with theirs, I don’t know, but I find it very interesting one of his parents had a feather based superpower and he’s allergic to them and it feels like that should mean SOMETHING.
I. The Promise.
Gabriel talks to Emilie about a promise. A wish. A way to reverse a mistake. He never says he’ll bring her back or fix her, which is the obvious thing. He’s cryptic which means whatever he WANTS, it’s not as simple as saving her. He says it the way he does because we the audience aren’t meant to know yet.
5. The Wild Mass Guessing.
Because the rest was super coherent.
Two other points: A pure theory on Party Crashers. Gabriel is shocked at joy in his house, which could just be him realizing how many people were there, or an even more disturbing thought that he never expects joy from Adrien. OR it could be Gabriel can’t sense Adrien at all because he’s a Sentimonster, and neither Nathalie nor the Gorila are big on the joy spectrum;.
As for Chat Blanc, it could be Chat Blanc will be a seperate Sentimonster (and MORE foreshadowing????), or it’s because Plagg is also involved. Plagg is definitely a full entity, after all, and that may be enough to allow for an Akumatization.
BUT here is how I see things going down.
Adrien Agreste died, somehow or someway, probably preventable, and it was with his parents so it didn’t become news.
Emilie, unwilling to lose her son, decides to use the peacock. She may have sculpted something like Mayura did Ladybug and he’s got an Amok hidden around somewhere. Maybe Emilie used his body which is grim and also necromancy. It could be a lot of things.
But the Peacock is NOT the Miraculous of Creation. A Sentimonster is a temporary creation, a guardian, it’s not meant to be a longterm sentient being. Having a Sentimonster capable of some intelligent thought is understandable, because better guardian then, but it’s NOT meant to be a person.
Emilie pushes and this is what breaks the Peacock Miraculous. And this puts her into a coma because now she has to support Adrien’s existence with her own emotions and it’s too much of a burden for her to bear and remain conscious.
And Adrien the Sentimonster is born.
At first, he doesn’t have a lot in the way of emotions. This works out because now he’s supposed to be mourning his now disappeared mother and being blank is pretty understandable. He has the memories from his mother, maybe his father, he knows generally how he’s supposed to be, but he’s still figuring it out. Meanwhile he thinks it’s the depression because he doesn’t know he’s not real.
And Gabriel?
Gabriel lost his son, then his wife, and now he has This Thing in his home. Who thinks he’s his son and his wife almost lost her life for it and he has to. Deal with that. So he goes complete hardass because if he has to deal with it, then it would represent the Gabriel brand well. He models, he learns, he becomes the poster boy of a perfect son.
Adrien doesn’t understand why he’s being treated so coldly and he chalks it up to his father also being in pain at losing his mother. It makes sense.
Then Chloe demands to see Adrien and, well, telling Chloe no doesn’t work for long. And when Gabriel is ignoring Adrien, and Nathalie knows and is just being a professional, and the Gorilla is going about business as normal, Chloe just sees her depressed friend, and at some point there’s discussion of his wanting to go to school, to make friends, because Adrien is REAL. He’s a Sentimonster, but he’s REAL because that’s what Emilie wanted.
And real people crave love and affection eventually.
So Chloe gets him into school. And Adrien goes and passes his test with Fu. Because Adrien was always a kind and caring boy and a Sentimonster helps.
He’d forbidden.
And he meets Plagg and he’s magic and that feels right in the world.
And suddenly he’s not just Adrien. He’s Chat Noir. He has a purpose. He has people he can PROTECT and he is so eager to do so. He has powers he expects no hard limit to. He has a partner he has to work with.
He comes alive. There’s just been a pit of loss and need and yearning and suddenly he has that and more and moreover, he has a little bit of chaos on his side. Chaos that takes this order he’s been given.
And says no.
And Nathalie knows she has to tell Gabriel.
And he’s so, so very surprised. Because Adrien should not have been able to say no. And he thinks maybe, just maybe, Emilie did leave him a son after all.
So Gabriel let’s Adrien go to school.
Adrien’s birthday comes. Gabriel would always buy his son a gift. He can’t bear the thought of getting him a new fountain pen, a useful tool, a professional tool, because he’s still not sure he’s invested, so he puts the responsibility on Nathalie for the first time.
Jackady happens, Gabriel almost died, and all he could think about as he stepped away from the ledge was he almost left Adrien alone. And for the first time he hugs this boy who might be his son.
He destroys his office because it’s easy to pretend to be mad about this boy he might love and he hates he may make him lose his wife and perhaps his firstreal son. And yet the concern once he’s purified isn’t near the act he wishes it was.
Riposte becomes a test. Could he put the boy in danger. And he finds he hates himself more by the end of it then any other time.
Christmas, he decides to show a little care, maybe embrace this, and he’s terrified when he’s gone. Not enough to forget his wife and other child when an opportunity arises, but he finds himself wanting to make him happy when his friends show up.
Adrien starts asking for things. He pleads to hang out with his friends. He make arguments. He WANTS. He wants because he wants to be there for his friends, he makes a hand made gift because someone is important to him. These are not the actions of an obedient beast. Because that’s the thing, when Adrien begs, Gabriel gives in. And when Adrien wants to know more about Emilie, see her in other things, it shows someone whose view of her isn’t only her own self view.
He’s terrified when he thinks he might be Chat Noir. He has to be sure, he has to know NOW because he seems so very real and whether or not he is, he finds himself loving this Adrien and he doesn’t want him to be Chat Noir, and yet he does when he fall because the thought of him dying-
He even ponders giving up his wife for this boy. After he put him in danger. After he almost fell apart into glitter. He can’t bear to lose him too, he’s sure of it.
Adrien is growing. He’s learning to love others. He’s learning friendships. As Chat Noir, with chaos and purpose in his hands, he acts with abandon. He has love, he can protect, everything is clear.
But when Ladybug suffers and he’s unable to help, he just because more desperate and determined to save her next time. Even if it takes well over twenty thousand times and three months because that is his PURPOSE, so next time, he throws himself off the stage, and he won’t listen to Fu.
As Adrien, things are still confusing. Adrien wants to defend, but he also wants to be good for Gabriel, and making a scene is bad. Still, he sees Lila hurt people he loves, he cares about, so he decides to that being underhanded. If sincere earnestness doesn’t work like it does with Chloe, then he’ll make sure Lila knows if she won’t be his friend, then he’ll find a way to make her regret being his enemy. It’s not as direct as he likes, but he must be good for Gabriel to.
Gabriel is becoming more desperate by the day. He must save Emilie. He must save their son. And maybe this boy is their son? Maybe Adrien’s soul was there because they were so similar. He doesn’t know, all he knows is he needs the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous and once he has though, he can make everything RIGHT.
And there is the thing about happy endings.
As canon stands, Adrien is unlikely to get a happy ending. Because as the series progresses, he BONDS with his father. They seem to be getting closer, healing this rift that had been between them. If Adrien is to get out of this, he should be recognizing his unfair treatment, pulling away, getting farther to see how bad the situation is. Not getting closer. The closer he gets to Gabriel, the more it’ll hurt because how does he make peace with that? This man terrorized the city of Paris for his wife, while he barely gave his son the time of day.
And that’s if Gabriel doesn’t die using the Miraculous to save Emilie. Then Adrien will lose his father to get back his mother after his father didn’t even give him good memories to leave off of.
But the story changes if Adrien is a Sentimonster.
Because Adrien’s existence is draining Emilie. She can’t wake up while he exists. And Gabriel is a man who loves so fiercely and doesn’t want to love this boy, but DOES because how can he not? So like his son, so like his mother. So it becomes even more important to win, so Adrien will never know what his existence has cost Emilie, to make sure Adrien’s existence is never threatened by the loss of the Peacock.
Everything will hurt, but it’s not a man who choose a nearly lost wife while completely forsaking his son.
It’s a man whose nearly lost both and trying to save both.
And maybe, just maybe, the cost of stabilizing Adrien’s existence will be a cost he can bear instead of asking someone else to die.
#ml spoilers#sentimonster theory#adrien agreste#gabriel agreste#nathalie sancoeur#the gorilla#emilie agreste#miraculous ladybug
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Final Fantasy VII Remake (PS4)
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We all have a precious work of art in our lives that made a profound impact on who we eventually grew up to be, whether it be an album, a painting, a movie, or especially nowadays, a video game. Final Fantasy VII was that for me, and when it came out in 1997, it would go on to define my high school years.
Which would go a long way towards explaining why I never got laid during those said years. Le sigh....
All kidding aside, I never got laid in high school mostly because I was a mess when it came to the social scene. I had trouble connecting with others and taking what I perceived to be “big risks” like going to parties, joining after school clubs, or -GULP- asking out a girl I liked! I was very withdrawn socially, but I did have friends, and one of them, whom I’d consider my best friend, managed to get his hands on the original Final Fantasy VII before I even owned a PlayStation (I had foolishly bought a Nintendo 64, believing the next Final Fantasy was going to be released on that).
My friend and I were already very close, but we bonded even more as we experienced this new adventure together. He had his own save file that he was pecking away at, but he created a new one for us both to play whenever I’d spend the night or vice versa. The both of us were completely immersed in this world and these characters. It was one of a few positive experiences I can remember from my high school years.
The reason for this preamble is to make you understand how much this game means to me on an emotional level. So when the remake was announced years ago, I was extremely apprehensive. First of all, Square Enix is a pale shadow of its former glory as Squaresoft. Final Fantasy XIII was a goddamn mess and Final Fantasy XV was a step in the right direction, but hardly the stuff of legends like its PSone and SNES predecessors. The Kingdom Hearts games... well, I’ll eventually talk about the rest of those in my blog. Suffice it to say, I had completely lost faith in Square Enix as a company, whereas there was a day I’d play ANYTHING they released because I knew it would be quality.
So lets get to point - did they fuck up Final Fantasy VII Remake as well or is it an absolute masterpiece?
Well... that’s kind of a hard question to answer right now as this is only “Part 1″ of what I assume will be a trilogy of releases that comprise the actual FULL game. However, judging this game alone, I’m going to lean towards masterpiece... with huge “but”. I’ll talk more about that below and warn of spoilers before I get to it.
Make no mistake about it, though, Final Fantasy VII Remake (part 1) is a goddamn masterpiece. The care put into the game by the development team is evident from top-to-bottom, with even the most minute details from the original faithfully adapted. However, this isn’t a strict beat-for-beat retread of FFVII, nor did I expect it to be. While the game follows the basic story almost exactly, some tweaks have been made here or there to better pad out both the gameplay and the story as a whole. I had no issue with any of these changes, until the final chapter revealed the implications of them, which I guess I’ll discuss next to get it off my chest...
SPOILERS
During the last chapter, your party is confronted by Sephiroth outside of Midgar, who then goads you into entering the “Singularity”, where you finally fight the ghostly “Whispers” who have been stalking you throughout the whole game. These Whispers are a significant part of the new story “tweaks” that have been added, which I found annoying at first, but didn’t really mind so much as the story went on until now, because it is revealed that they are “arbiters of destiny”, whose jobs are to ensure fate plays out like its supposed to. During your fight with them at the end of the game, after defeating each Whisper boss, the characters experience “flash forwards” to important story points in the future, such as Aerith’s death and the summoning of meteor, implying that they have more or less nullified these events now as a result of defeating “destiny”... I think. Part of my problem with this portion of the game is Square Enix’s current “naval gazey, head-up-their-asses” story telling style is in full effect here, and I began to get Vietnam flashbacks to the completely incoherent plot of Final Fantasy XIII.
Square Enix, it’s so simple - part of why Final Fantasy VII endures is because it’s a great story ALREADY. By all means, give it a tweak here and there to give the characters more depth or make the story more dramatically impactful, but for the love of Jenova, please don’t tell me it’s going to turn into a philosophical shit show about the nature of destiny and fighting fate. More importantly, Square Enix, please don’t tell me you are going to change CRITICAL plot points for shits n’ giggles or to “swerve” the audience.
For one, Aerith has to die. I love Aerith, especially his incarnation of Aerith in the Remake. She’s so sweet and yet has a delightfully mischievous personality. She’s absolutely perfect. But the reason why her death still haunts fans of the game to this day is because THAT was the point in the story when shit got REAL. The stakes were raised and Sephiroth cements himself as an evil son-of-a-bitch that must be stopped. He doesn’t kill her just to be evil either - he kills her because she’s actively trying to foil his plans by using her white materia. However, unbeknownst to Sephiroth, her death is what ultimately triggers the white materia to work when it needs to most. It’s kind of like how Obi-Wan Kenobit warns Darth Vader “If you strike me down, I’ll become more powerful than you an imagine”, but in this instance it actually makes sense.
So that has to happen. It can’t be Tifa, or Yuffie, or Cid, or Marlene, or some other swervy “gotcha” bullshit - it has to be Aerith.
Secondly, Sephiroth must successfully summon the meteor - it’s in the fucking logo for crying out loud! I can’t imagine what “imminent threat” for the whole world they could do instead. Fat Chocobo gains a massive amount of weight and jumps on Midgar? It’s baffling to imagine the developers would even *flirt* with the idea of changing these important story elements of the game, so hopefully we’ve all just hysterically misinterpreted the meaning of the last chapter.
Oh, one more thing - the final boss fight with Sephiroth was dumb too, if only because it cheapens the eventual actual final boss fight with him at the end of the game. I liked how in the original he was basically a phantom that kept evading your party, leaving behind Jenova pieces for you to fight instead. It’s like how in wrestling, a heel character talks tough, but then runs away when the “baby face” comes out to confront him. Fighting Sephiroth now, not to mention beating him, kind of makes him look weak sauce. Ohh legendary SOLDIER, my ass - I beat him at the beginning of the whole story. To borrow from Star Wars again, it would be like Luke fighting Darth Vader in A New Hope and kicking his ass immediately. Vader sure wouldn’t seem like much of a threat after that.
Anyway..
SPOILERS OVER
God, sorry, this review is out of control and much too long, but I have a lot to say!
Okay, so my worries above aside, the game itself is very well done. The graphics are beautiful, despite the environment being a constant barrage of grey, industrial imagery (hey, that’s Midgar for ya). They find ways to change things up visually, depending on what part of Midgar you’re in, such as Sector 5 having more greenery than usual (cause, you know, it’s Aerith’s home, so that makes sense!). Wall Market, the “red light district” of Midgar, is a treat for the senses, especially at night, what with all the lights and the music playing everywhere. It really feels like a lively, party town.
One major change that had me, and probably a lot of FFVII purists, concerned is the combat system. Gone is the turn based combat of old, replaced now with a more fast paced hack-n-slash style reminiscent of a From Software game than Final Fantasy (though not even as remotely as sophisticated). However, I enjoyed the change, as this makes the battles much more engaging and fun, as opposed to the tedium that can come with turn-based combat, not to mention random encounters. You can still use magic, items, and Limit Breaks like in the old days, so it still feels like the original, but with tweaks that make it better.
And you know, that pretty much sums up my super long review nicely - the game feels like the original but with tweaks that make it better. Even the soundtrack is improved, which is a feat I didn’t think possible considering the original FFVII’s soundtrack is some of the best video game movie ever composed. The Remake does a superb job of weaving in certain themes and remixing themes at appropriate points in the story. “Aerith’s Theme” is more tear jerking than ever, while “One Chosen by the Planet” (otherwise known as Sephiroth’s theme) is even more chilling and fearsome than ever before.
So overall, I fucking loved this game. I rarely get emotional while playing video games, unless you consider cursing and screaming “emotional”, but damned if this one didn’t constantly give me warm and fuzzy feelings (especially whenever Tifa was onscreen - *growl*). I’m eager to play the next part and explore more of this “new” world, despite my concern it might be “too new” in the worst ways.
#final fantasy vii#final fantasy 7#final fantasy vii remake#square enix#ps4#playstation 4#sony#rpg#action#cloud strife#Sephiroth#aerith#ffvii
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Vampire Perspective (6/17)
By: @arc852 and @hiddendreamer67
Warnings: Just the usual death threats
First Chapter || Previous Chapter || Next Chapter
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Virgil paused. “Wait, seriously? You’re just giving up?”
Logan took a deep breath before opening his eyes back up and looking at Virgil’s upside down face. “What else do you expect me to do? You are in control here. If you want to drop me, you will drop me. If you want to eat me...you will eat me. I die no matter what. I see no point in trying to fight when I know that it is...pointless.”
Virgil blinked. “...oh.” Not for the first time, the borrower surprised him. Virgil cleared his throat, trying to get back into his fear-sona. “Well, that’s just pathetic. Look at you, a borrower who clearly wants to die. Such a little disgrace to your kind.”
“I do not want to die.” Logan said firmly, glaring up at his captor. “Far from it, in fact. But, honestly, what else do you expect me to do? Try and escape? You’ll just catch me.”
“Well, yeah, but I expected you to do it anyway.” Virgil admitted. He dropped to a crouch, still dangling the borrower.
“Because you see me as nothing more than a timid animal? I loathe to break it to you but I am no such creature. I possess far more intellectual intelligence than a creature who acts on pure instinct.” Logan explained. He took a deep breath, starting to feel dizzy from being held upside down for so long. He started massaging his own head.
“Okay, yeah, you’re not a timid rabbit, but you’re basically a tiny human and those are pretty stupid too.” Virgil deadpanned.
“Well…” Logan adjusted his glasses, surprised they hadn’t dropped from his face. “I like to think of myself as even more intelligent than them.” He allowed himself a slight twitch of his lips. “After all, humans are stupid enough to miss things going missing and if they do, they simply chalk it up to something as trivial as a forgotten memory. Or a ghost. Although…” He looked over at Virgil. “I am to assume if vampires are real then…”
“What, are you asking me about ghosts?” Virgil arched an eyebrow, caught somewhere between amused and annoyed as he sat down properly and set Logan on his knee. “As an undead I think that’s racist.”
Logan let out a sigh of relief as he was finally put down. He sat down, seeing no use in trying to escape, especially when he was on Virgil’s person. His eyebrows furrowed. “My apologies...although I am a bit confused on how you found that racist. I was simply asking a question.” He tilted his head. “Also, wouldn’t that be more specist?”
Virgil snorted. “Yeah, sure, whatever. Point is ghosts aren’t in my family tree. Well, they are, but only because my relatives haunt me. Any real ghosts usually keep their distance.”
“Ah, so they are real.” Logan noticed, humming in thought. “Fascinating.” He never would have guessed these supernatural creatures actually existed.
“They’re really not; they’re just humans who are whiners. Oh, and also dead.” Virgil added the second bit as an afterthought.
“Couldn’t that technically be said about you and other vampires? After all, you were all human before too, weren’t you? And now you are technically ‘dead’ though undead is a better description.” Logan asked.
Virgil narrowed his gaze. “Now that is definitely species-ist, and offensive. I advise you to never imply a single drop of me was or ever has been a filthy mortal again.”
Logan blinked. “You...have always been a vampire? I did not even know that was possible.”
“There’s purebreds, like me, and then there’s halfbreeds, like Patton.” Virgil’s eyes widened in slight horror, realizing what he said and stumbling over his words to correct. “I mean, ah, Patton’s not less of a vamp; well he’s weaker, but… no, shut up. Patton’s as vampire as the rest of us and anybody who says otherwise isn’t worth their fangs.”
Logan raised his hands in surrender. “I didn’t say anything. And though I haven’t met this Patton, I believe him to be as much of a vampire as you.” ...Especially if that was the vampire that had eaten Roman.
“...Good.” Virgil sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Sorry, I’m just...defensive, when it comes to Patton.”
Logan hummed. “Is it because you were the one to turn him?” He guessed. He didn’t know what other reason Virgil would care so much.
Virgil tensed, looking down at Logan with confusion and slight suspicion. “How’d you know that?”
“From the way you spoke of him and the fact you live together, it was a logical conclusion to make.” Logan explained, glad to know he was right. “If you don’t mind me asking, why did you turn him in the first place? You do not strike me as the type to enjoy company.”
“What makes you say that?” Virgil looked almost baffled at the insinuation.
“Well...maybe it just feels that way to me, seeing as how I’m meant to be prey at not another being of which you would want to converse with. But you spend a lot of time alone here and I have not heard you speak of anyone else but of Patton. You also give off this...stand-offish aura about yourself.” Logan explained his reasoning, which he took as pretty solid evidence.
“Huh, yeah I guess.” Virgil shrugged. “I just found it weird because I do like company, just… very specifically company. Or exclusively Patton.”
“Is there some sort of bond that happens once a vampire turns a human?” Logan asked, his curiosity getting the best of him.
“Usually, a Turned vampire has a sort of… mentorship with the Vamp that turned them.” Virgil explained in kinder terms than others would. “Sometimes it’s more of an apprenticeship and you leave when you’re trained, sometimes it’s more of an eternal life servant if you can control them, but usually it’s just another way of growing your… family, I guess? I don’t know if that’s the right word. I just know eternity is lonely and I didn’t want to be alone.”
“I...see.” Logan said. He had never thought much of eternity, after all, he was not eternal but he did not like the sound of it. “That makes sense I suppose. Did you choose Patton randomly or was he someone you...for lack of a better term, stalked and chose?”
Virgil tensed, knowing the truth was a bit of both. He had chosen Patton, yes, but only as a quick dinner back in the days when a non-lethal drink was considered poor taste… but then, looking into Patton’s eyes, Virgil felt guilt pool up in him. Not a common occurrence when you’re a horrible monster born to suck the life out of humans and suffer until one plunges a stake through your heart.
“I just knew.” Virgil snipped, not willing to spill his life story.
Logan bit his lip. The tone Virgil used told him to not try and ask any further questions about that. He looked around the room and out the window, noticing the moon still high in the sky. “If...If I am to not die tonight, may I have something to eat or drink?” Logan asked, only slightly hesitant.
“Oh, right.” Virgil inwardly cursed himself. He was exceedingly bad at this… even if it didn’t really matter, Virgil felt like he was failing anyways. Maybe some of Patton’s hosting instincts were rubbing off on him, wanting to make sure his ‘guest’ was taken care of. If that were the case, it was certainly weird that those instincts had decided to kick in now, with what was supposed to be his food.
“Alright, come on then.” Virgil set the borrower on the ground, standing up to his full height.
Logan blinked, straining his neck as he looked up at Virgil. “I-I’m sorry?”
Virgil didn’t bother replying, instead disappearing into the familiar black cloud. When his bat form emerged it dove for Logan, sweeping the borrower off his feet by grabbing both arms with its claws.
“Ah!” Logan screamed as he was suddenly lifted into the air. He tried to look up and saw a portion of Virgil’s bat form from his perspective. He forced himself to cease his struggling, knowing it would do him no good to fall from this height.
“Wh-Where are we going?” He asked instead, wondering if Virgil could even talk in this form.
Squeak!
The bat gave a noise about as annoyed as a bat could sound, rolling its eyes as it glided up through the open window and down towards the forest.
Logan was going to take that as a ‘no’ then. He shifted slightly, trying to keep the nails from scratching him. He supposed he would just have to wait and see where they went.
Once out of sight of the house, the bat unceremoniously dropped Logan onto a tree branch, before with a puff the vampire had reappeared, grinning down at the borrower.
Logan yelped, gripping onto the branch below him as he warily looked up at the vampire. “Was it really necessary for me to come with you?” He asked.
“Yeah- if I’m doing your boring food gathering, you have to come too.” Virgil grabbed up the borrower, placing him on his shoulder. “Besides, now I don’t have to guess what you can eat, and the fresh air will do you some good.”
“How will fresh air do anything?” As a borrower who never went outside, he didn’t get it. He gripped the fabric beneath him in order to stay on Virgil’s shoulder.
“I don’t know- you’re the one that needs to breathe.” Virgil reminded him, walking further into the forest. “Patton just uses that expression a lot. I assumed it was a thing.”
“I have heard humans use it as well but it doesn’t imply to me, as the outside is dangerous for borrowers.” Logan explained. He had only been outside a handful of times.
“Okay, well, pretty sure a vampire coven is more dangerous for you.” Virgil argued.
“...That is a fair point.” Logan admitted. It had certainly been for Roman and soon him.
Virgil stopped, squinting down at the first berry bush that he came across. “Can you eat these?”
Logan looked them over. “I am unsure about these, so I would say no.”
“You could just test them.” Virgil suggested, taking one off the bush and holding it out.
Logan sent him a deadpanned look and pushed the berry away. “Again. I do not wish to die.”
“So picky.” Virgil rolled his eyes, even if his tone was mostly teasing as he tossed the berry back into the bush and continued his stroll.
“Why must we go searching for berries anyway? Could you not just go to a store and buy some food?” Logan asked, warily watching the setting around him. After all, he had never been in the forest before.
“Why should I have to deal with mortal currency? They’re just going to change it again in a few centuries. Plus, there’s like a couple hundred kinds now. Nobody just accepts gold, it’s ridiculous.” Virgil was grumbling now, clearly annoyed at the turn of modern civilization. “Not to mention I’m terrible with glamors, so even if I had a strange desire to stroll through down it would certainly be accompanied by screaming. Humans are bad at minding their own business.”
“I...see.” Logan hummed. “So, you just stay away from humans, period, unless you’re feeding from them?” He asked.
“Why else would I interact with them?” Virgil shrugged lightly.
“Fair point. Humans really are worth only what they can provide, aren’t they?” Logan said. He lived off of humans, sure, but he never wanted to interact with them. Even if mostly because it would probably be fatal for him.
“Oh yeah, you leech off them too.” Virgil mused. “I like the way you think, half-pint.”
Logan felt his lips turn up into a smile despite himself. Were they...actually getting along?
No...no Virgil must simply just be playing with his food. The vampire still planned to eat him after all. His smile dropped and he focused more on looking around him. “There are some berries over there that I think are good.” From this distance, they looked like blackberries.
Spotting the bush, Virgil took some extra strides at vampire speed to hasten the process. He gathered up some of the fruit, cupping it so Logan could take from his hand. “Can you eat these or are you going to deny my charity again?”
“No, these are perfect.” Logan said, grabbing one. They were indeed blackberries and he took a large bite from it. “Thank you.”
“I mean, I was the one accidentally starving you, but you’re welcome.” Virgil accepted his thanks.
Logan ate another bit before biting his lip. “May I have some water, as well? If that’s possible?” He was quite thirsty despite the berry’s juice.
“If you’re not picky.” Virgil knew some humans wouldn’t drink anything but that bottled plastic junk. “There should be a stream this way.”
“That should be fine.” After all, he was used to drinking rainwater.
“Good, cause that’s all I got.” Virgil’s adept hearing picked up the babbling brook. He broke through the overgrowth, spotting water source. Virgil crouched down on the mossy shore. The vampire reached up, gathering Logan in his hand and placing him on the stones.
Logan took a moment to catch his balance before kneeling down and sipping the stream water. He took generous sips, sighing in relief as the cool water washed down his throat. He had been thirstier than he had initially thought. He took a few more sips before standing back up. “Thank you, that should hold me over.” Until his death tomorrow, Logan thought sorrowfully.
“Wait, frick, how often are you supposed to drink water?” Virgil asked, realizing he hadn’t given the borrower any before now.
“Well...really, it should be several cups a day. But I can also go three days without water. It isn’t healthy but it’s possible.” Logan explained.
“Well yeah, obviously, because you’re not dead.” Virgil’s face pulled into a concerned grimace. “Ugh, now I wish I’d brought a bottle or something...why didn’t you say anything?”
Logan blinked. “I did...not think it mattered.” And he did not see how it mattered now either. “I will be dead by tomorrow night anyway, right?”
Virgil blinked, slowly remembering who he was talking to. Yeah, this was the borrower he captured as a powerful snack. It didn’t matter if he stayed hydrated because by tomorrow evening Virgil would be starving and willing to eat anything and completely able to get over this stupid hesitation.
“Right.” Virgil muttered, his voice so gravelly it was nearly a growl as he scooped Logan back up into his fist. “But I’m not going to have a little thing like you cheating and trying to kill yourself off early.”
Logan just bit back a yelp as he once again found himself in the vampire’s fist. He didn’t bother to struggle though. “I wasn’t planning on it.”
“Then you’re going to tell me all the things you need so you don’t accidentally die on me either.” Virgil ranted, storming off into the forest. “No more keeping me in the dark.”
“O-Okay?” Logan said, confused by how worried Virgil seemed, despite how he tried to cover it up. “Really though, I should be fine for the rest of my time with you.”
“Don’t make assumptions about how long you’re with me; I’m the one in charge here.” Virgil glared briefly down at the borrower in hand. “If I wanted I could just eat you now. No rules about having to do it in the house.”
Logan felt his heart skip a beat at the glare. “I am...well aware.” He ducked his head. “My apologies.”
“...I’m not going to, though.” Virgil conceded, ducking beneath a branch as he neared the edge of the woods. “Like I said, not tonight.”
Logan nodded and then paused. “...May I ask a question?”
Virgil stopped for a moment, his curiosity piqued. “Uh, sure I guess.”
“Have you...have you ever eaten any other borrowers before?” With how old Virgil was and how he had already known about his kind, it honestly would not surprise him.
Virgil tensed, feeling his mind wander uncomfortably close to the dark days of his past.
“Nope, changed my mind, no questions.” Virgil didn’t even wait for the borrower’s reply, setting Logan roughly on a branch before switching to his bat form.
Logan found that odd, definitely. But the question left his mind once Virgil changed into a bat. Knowing what was to come next, he sighed and lifted his arms up. Might as well make it easier on himself.
The bat swooped in, gathering up Logan and flapping its wings at a much faster pace than before so even by vampiric standards the duo returned to Virgil’s room in a matter of seconds. The bat flew up to the top of the room, dropping the borrower then transforming back and catching Logan before he could hit the ground.
“Ah!” Logan screamed as he was dropped, only to let out an ‘oof’ as he was caught. He panted at the scare, looking over at Virgil. “You don’t want me to die early and yet you pull stunts like that.”
“I just don’t want you to die not by my hands.” Virgil corrected, opening the cage. “Besides, you’re fine. I didn’t drop you.” Virgil considered the stunt to be adequate payback for the borrower’s question.
“You technically did, you just caught me as well.” Logan said but there was no bite to it. He glanced at the cage and sighed. Back in there again.
Virgil gave a chuckle at that, caught off guard by the borrower’s dry wit. “Okay, fine, I didn’t not catch you. You’re fine.”
“Fine is a relative term, but I suppose I am.” Logan agreed, somewhat.
With a satisfied nod at the borrower’s approval, Virgil put Logan back into the cage. He gave a two-fingered salute, heading back to his coffin. “Whelp, see ya tomorrow night.”
Logan sighed, slumping against the cage as he watched the sun start to rise. “Good...morning.” He said, after a second thought. It was strange to think that this would be the last morning he would ever see.
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This is my not spoiler free take on Picard.
This is a mess of a post, but I’m still trying to work through my thoughts. If I was still in college, I would watch the series one more time and write an essay, but we’ll have to settle for this stream of consciousness under the cut. (My apologies to mobile users).
The main theme of Picard is about ‘killing for a cause’. It tries to explore this through several character’s arcs: primarily Soji, Sutra, Agnes Jirati, Seven of Nine, Rizzo, and Oh. (I don’t include Elnor because, though he kills for a cause, there’s no character development for him in this respect.)
There’s loosely a theme of “Should I kill to prevent more death/disaster?” vs “Should I kill so I might not be killed?”.
I’m mostly gonna leave out Seven because her development on this is really non-existent, but the writers use her as a positive example of “killing to prevent more death/disaster” as a foil to Rizzo, Oh, and Agnes. I honestly feel this comparison is falsely equivalent, because Seven wasn’t wiping out an entire race or murdering an innocent man when she killed two very guilty murders. Is it right to kill murderers? Who knows, the show doesn’t REALLY touch on it so neither will we.
Here’s the scene: a faction of organics (Rizzo, Oh, Agnes) believe that synthetic life spells doom for all organic life and are seeking to destroy them. In response to total annihilation, the synthetics (Soji, Sutra) are willing to annihilate all of organic life to permanently remove the threat. Picard insists both are wrong and that there is always a more peaceful solution.
It’s all pretty black and white, with very few grey areas of opinion.
It drives me nuts because there’s so much ROOM in this to open up the conversation about the role of violence in independence and in survival. How far do you pursue peaceful solutions before it gives way to violence? What are the consequences of being peaceful too long? Is it ethical to use excessive force if it’s the only means to survive?
But they break it down into harshly black and white scenarios. “All life must die so that we might survive.” “If we fight back at all, we lose our humanity.” There’s no subtly, no real moral exploration.
There’s room in the show to explore how killing might effect how events unfold. But every time it happens, it’s the dead-end of that storyline. Maddox had already told them all they needed to know, what further damage could he even do when Agnes killed him? Bjayzl was no longer a threat to them. Rizzo was no longer a pusher in the story, they’d both fulfilled her plot-purpose when Seven killed them.
There’s room to explore how similar synthetic life is to organic life, in their humanity and morality, and lack there-of at times, in their will and desperation to survive. But we constantly come back to androids not being “real”. It’s always about their function, never really their humanity. The writing from all angles, throughout the season, is that synthetic life is somehow less real. Nonequivalent. And we never really touch on that either, it’s wildly frustrating.
So we have Sutra, who is willing to destroy all organic life to save her and her family, representing a hard extreme. Oh wants to destroy all synthetic life to protect organic life, representing the other extreme. And Picard is firmly in the middle, saying we can all live in peace and harmony.
And that’s the end of the conversation.
There’s a moment where Soji tells Picard that he can’t be the voice of synthetic life, and that was a great moment. The androids can take up their own cause instead of relying on a third party for protection.
But then the writers turn around and have Picard be that voice anyway, against their will, to prove that the peaceful solution is the better solution. And he has to because there’s no grey area in these moments. It’s “choose to kill literally everyone in the galaxy or choose to kill no one”. Where’s the “choose to fight the people who actively want us dead” part of the conversation?
In response to “how can the marginalized defend and empower themselves”, we’re told “make friends with less marginalized people.” But they aren’t even the operative force in that solution. It’s Picard alone. They don’t get to add their voices to the mix. It was all out of their hands to begin with. Starfleet walks in all deus ex machina because one man asks them to show up.
When Agnes killed Maddox, their point was that she was doing it to save organic life. We never explore why she thinks it was the right thing to do. What was she afraid of him doing? He was already dying, his death was unnecessary, all we’re given is that she was haunted by the vision Oh thrust upon her. And then we spend the rest of the season redeeming her because she “felt bad about killing him” and was “out of her mind” when she did it. SURELY she had a reason for doing it at the time? Even a really bad one? Was she worried he’d created another synthetic lifeform? Was she worried he might be integral to helping the androids fight back? Fuck if I know, we never really touch on it.
The most blow back Agnes gets from literal murder is a slap on the wrist from Picard and Dr. Soong. She was supposed to turn herself in, but that didn’t happen in the end. We pleasantly forget she killed a helpless man because she and the pilot are in love, and “she knows she was wrong”.
As it stands, it was just an excuse to inject needless drama into the show. But there is a real and current need for us to talk about people ‘killing for a cause’.
We see it in our own lives on the news and in our daily lives, and it’s a mind-fuck.
How governments “root out terrorists” and kill innocent civilians in the process. They say “it saved more lives than we took”. Did it? There’s a conversation to be had there, and a necessary one if we want to continue to look ourselves in the eyes.
When a foreign country arranges for another’s leading revolutionary to be assassinated, do they have the right to do that? No, but they seem to think so and encourage their population to believe so. There’s a conversation to be had there.
When the government (Oh) instructs their citizens (Agnes) that this other peoples is dangerous and will be the death of them, and gently encourages their citizens to harass that other party, the citizens will take the law into their own hands. It’s wrong, but many people seem to think it’s appropriate. Whether it’s race, religion, nationality, populations are constantly being guided towards believing other peoples are a threat to themselves. And there’s a conversation to be had there. A dire one.
Instead of developing a commentary about this senseless act of murder, the show focuses on redeeming Agnes’ character. She was “crazy” at the time, her mind filled with “poison” from Oh. Which in a way is true, people become brainwashed by those in authority and act horribly, but she never faces the consequences of her actions. She ultimately suffers no consequences for murdering a man. And she does very little to truly redeem herself. She saves Picard to save the androids. Everyone seems to go, “oh no, she spilled the milk” and gently clean it up for her.
Do I want her burned at the stake? Not really, she did help them in the end, she did seem to have growth, but to get away scot-free is just an insult to the crime she committed. Maddox was denied justice. I think there could have been a real conversation about people coming back from getting “red-pilled”, but it’s hard to walk back on murder.
Overall there was a frustrating lack of real commentary. The deeper conversation here might’ve been “How can we navigate and defend ourselves in a world where others seek to undermine and destroy us?” and “Does the government have the right to dictate who should live or die?”. The first one is the harder question but so necessary, with so much room to empower people. The second is very straight forward, but one that a lot of people are struggling with right now because of a warped perspective promoted by their government (at least in America).
What we got was “total annihilation of any group is bad” and OF COURSE IT IS. I know we’re having an issue with people believing that again, but even so, the show did not really deliver that message super well either. The final note on it was “there’s a ‘peaceful’ solution to total annihilation, but really only if you have a defensive force equal to that trying to destroy you”. The androids didn’t have any real say in their defense other than “we decided not to kill everyone.”
UGH, I could go on, but the message of the series is so muddled. I keep coming back around to how poor the writing is. How punchy and action-packed it wasted its time being, instead of really working through the core problems. Instead of making a strong statement.
Star Trek to me is about challenging how you think/feel. It’s about opening our minds and encouraging us to be better than what we are. It hasn’t always hit the mark, there are dozens and dozens of episodes where they shoot themselves in the foot they were so off the mark, but the spirit of it is to challenge your given perceptions. Especially relevant to the time it’s being made.
Give us more LGBT relationships other than 1 second of on-screen handholding in the final shot, and maybe write something that actually shakes people’s hearts and challenges what the general population takes for granted.
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An Unfortunate Critique of Spiderverse Part 2 (of 3)
Want Part 1? Here you go. Otherwise, enjoy the show.
Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse was a fun award-winning 2018 animated film with a basically unanimously positive fandom, regarded generally as both a masterpiece Spider-Man film and a remarkable animated film overall. And while I do not disagree with that, it definitely earned its spoils, it pains me a bit to bring up the reason(s) why I can’t call it the masterpiece that many claim. I like this film, but I don’t love it as much as others and I wanted to express why. And I will see to be critical, not cynical. Fair enough?
Part 2 ~ The Spiderversal Stakes
To get a little personal real quick, I’ve been at this whole reviewing/analyzing for plenty of years now and I say the hardest part of doing these type of critiques, aside from not coming off as a cynical bitchlet, is conveying yourself properly. You don’t want to give people the wrong idea about what you want to get across.. Which is why this part is hard to express because there’s a lot to mull over and I don’t wanna bore ya. So with that said, I got a problem with the plot, but first lemme talk about my favorite Spidey film, Spider-Man Thre-
Sorry but we gotta talk about this
When you think about how the storyline of 3 plays, you’ll feel exhausted by of how much was thrown in (Venom, Sandman, the New Goblin, Emo Peter, etc.), the movie had to seriously juggle a lot in a little over a couple hours. Then again with all that, it never felt like the movie was inconsistent with the focus. It’s campy as hell but I felt it still had that good modicum of serious that Raimi’s 1 and 2 pulled off just as well, a quality balance. You grasped everything it threw at you by the end. Now Spiderverse, minus the credits, is an hour 45 minutes and it felt like the two points of the story, setting up the multiverse and Miles’ uprising as a heroes, were at rubberbanding odds with each other.
When I see Spiderverse, Miles’ story mostly overshadows the tension that came in the multiverse getting fucked up, and that the final fight of Miles and Kingpin is the only time where I felt shit got serious. Otherwise, the whole aspect of the Spidermun slowly dying because they weren’t in their realities and the multiverse colliding felt much of an afterthought for most of the film. Narratively, it has a good pace of doing what it needs to do, but on the look back the journey didn’t stick with me as well as I thought.
If I can bring in some previous examples, the likes of Kung Fu Panda and The Lego Movie had better stakes because it felt like the two storylines (the protagonist’s upbringing and the villain’s scheme) were prominent throughout the films once they got going. Po wasn’t just training because he wanted to be better and found the ways to do it, he was training hard because the villain was on his way and the defeat of the Furious Five showed he meant business. The Lego Movie takes a step further by having Emmett and the gang be on the run, we see the villain’s increasing impact as we go along, giving us on the fly experiences that provides Emmett’s “leap of faith” type breakthrough while the villain finally goes all out with his scheme. It helps make the stakes and optimistic breakthrough of overcoming them both escalate and converge naturally.
You know, not doing what Kingdom Hearts 3 did
Not saying Spiderverse doesn’t naturally converge its two storylines well, everything about it was clear, but the effects of the Super Collider come off as very infrequent and thus made the escalation disjointed. The whole “cellular decay” bit with the Spidermun could’ve been a great way to add some tension, like “Oh shit, this could be disadvantageous in the fight at Aunt May’s house. Put our heroes on the ropes.” It doesn’t happen, in fact the fight felt like it disappeared the moment Aaron and Miles were on the roof. It felt like a slight inconvenience than a matter of winning or losing everything, even in the climax. Same with the whole “reality warping” idea, it would’ve been very cool to see reality start to deteriorate or change around our characters, make the news media go “Oh shit, what’s happening?” or put the Spidermun on a little edge instead of them just solemnly waiting for a little anime girl to heely her way in with the flash drive to save the world. As great as the scene was, the “leap of faith” felt disconnected where I say a scene of Miles noticing the glitches from the hotel after he was living in the moment for once would’ve been a great transition to the climax. Show that he’s ready and amped to be the new Spider-Man, but knows there’s no time to lose. Have the life-threatening factor be more of a looming presence. If not that, might as well not add it in, especially at the last minute. I mean it’s possible.
Like what happened to Liv? We don- we don’t see her after everything is over. Is best villain just gone now forever?!
I talked previously of how Peni, Spider-Noir, and Spider-Ham were wasted in the film, but they were but a fraction to the whole idea of the quantum warping and how it felt like an afterthought until near the end. And as I mention Doc Ock, it mostly felt like the villains just come and go. Prowler is the exception, but I completely forgot Kingpin fucked with reality to get his family back. Shit, I forgot Scorpion and Goblin were in the movie. I’m not saying we needed the know how of everything, but I figure better time to conveying their stance in the film would make them more memorable. Spider-Man has great villains, and most of the films knew how to mix their presence in with our hero’s life fluently. If the major world ending threat wasn’t much, it didn’t help that most of the villains here supporting that threat were flash in the pan at best.
like a majority of blockbuster villains
Now off the bat, as I mentioned before, I am not a fan of movies that notably wink and nudge that a sequel is around the corner. I’m okay with things being open-ended but I draw a line at a film being forced to feel lacking because it’s relying on a sequel to pick up the slack. There are exceptions to this of course, but great films should be able to stand on their own and not be codependent on sequels to make them better. With my talk of the B-team and the whole reality warping aspect of the film, the Spiderverse part of the title feels like setup for the sequel and while there’s nothing inherently wrong with that, it doesn’t help when half the 1st film feels minor and somewhat forgettable in my case. Miles’ story was great but it’s like we had to flip flop between his story and the setting up for more. And it’s that story rubberbanding that leaves a less satisfying note to me compared to not only other films in general, but other Spider-Man films where even when a lot is thrown at me, each of the Raimi trilogy felt conclusively satisfactory as both a whole and individually.
It honestly makes this ending pretty mixed in my eye
But on this note, I don’t wanna end on a sour grape, not when the 3rd part is gonna end this whole critique off more optimistically. So as much as I harped the whole setup Spiderverse aspect, the silver lining is that this felt like the first few hours of Kingdom Hearts 2 with Roxas. This is a weird comparison but it does feel like Miles is at the twilight of his life in this film. We get some great action but his involvement in the film is kept at arms length while the other Spidermun are stepping well. It’s only after Aaron’s death, the dejection, and Jefferson’s uplifting words and this shot in particular where we can finally say...
Spider-Man has Awaken Again
I can step on anything in this movie but it’s where Miles gets his groove and is there for the other spidermun in the climax when I say that it’s a give and take. This movie isn’t perfect, and I can’t say it is my favorite Spider-Man film ever, but it definitely knows what it wanted to do and I can’t give them enough credit. I said before, but this film certainly has its ambitions and while not everything lands well with me, what they get right is what they handle in spades. The best about it all is where part 3 is gonna pick up. Stay tuned...
Otherwise, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy your day.
#spider-man into the spider-verse#into the spider verse#spiderverse#itsv#spider-man#spiderman#marvel#critique#analysis#long post#Good Stuff
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Thoughts on One-Punch Man Season 2: But what about the story?
Second part: So much for the structure, what was the effect?
Just before the second season started, I posted about what I hoped I’d see, assuming it ended where it did. Let’s see how they did.
Yup, I keep cutting the words, but the bastards keep multiplying
The Story Itself
What I’d hoped for:
There’s a lot less of the monster of the week situation, this series. I love the care with which the Monster Association goes about attacking. What looked like random stuff (egregiously stretched out by the tournament), will come together to be a coherent and potent threat that will leave us viewers desperate to find out how the Hero Association replies.
[…]
And at the end of this season, even though we’ve had a very interesting time of it, none of it will be over. The stakes will have been delineated, the battle lines drawn and I really hope that J.C. Staff does enough to make it clear why we should care enough to come back for season 3 whenever it airs.
What we got:
No question about it, there’s a Monster Association and it’s pretty serious. We got their ultimatum to the Hero Association and there’s no question that they’re taking it seriously. The problem comes with the overall lack of energy and urgency in the treatment of the plot. We’re missing bodies, broken buildings, landed punches, follow through, all the things that sell that sense of urgency, of a situation that’s threatening to spin out of all control. Which is a pity, because then we don’t get the sense of relief once the monsters disappear, only to be replaced with foreboding as the Monster Association makes its demands.
They really can’t use time as an excuse for that. It was really bad scripting with a tendency to soft-soap all impacts by panning away at critical moments. It’s a real shame when episode 7 (19) is named ‘Class S Heroes’ – the heavy cavalry whom should turn the tides of battle – and we see very little of how they work. The rare times they have followed through with blows, the entire mood of the episode changes for the better.
It’s interesting that when chapter 84 was released, it felt like an excellent season finale. And it could have been, but for the lack of a build up in tension and urgency that should have been sustained all season long. So many missed opportunities – like little scenes of Atomic Samurai going in person to Bang’s dojo only to find it locked, more scenes of Bang hunting increasingly desperately for Garou, a running tally of heroes struck down by Garou adding pressure to his search… all sorts of things the manga has left wide open to be added to that would have created continuity and tension against the backdrop of a crisis that really, really needs the help of *every* hero.
Special note: Can I just say that Phoenixman is awesome in his garishness? He looks like a children’s show mascot put together by people on the last day of a ten-day bender. Guaranteed to give children nightmares. I love him.
Don’t believe the monster, kids
The Characters
Charanko: I wasn’t expecting anything of him, so honourable mention to him. I absolutely love the small but important addition J.C. Staff made to his story, whereby he came across Garou, heard and saw all the heroes the latter was beating up, and, despite his fear and knowledge of his weakness, went forward anyway. Fantastic!
Death Gatling: I’d been afraid that they’d undersell him. He wasn’t and I was very, very happy to see that. He’s ever inch as serious, tactically astute, and legitimately charismatic as he needs to be. They could have made Flashy Flash slightly more obnoxious to bring across the extent to which he felt slighted but that’s minor.
Looking at how fans took him, I’ve been a bit disappointed in the number of fans who don’t get that he’s far from wrong both in seeking recognition (although he did pick the wrong target to make an example of), and for not believing Garou, but that’s not a critique of the way he’s been presented. The thorny issue of recognition is something I’ve been mooting a meta on, but another day!
Garou: What I’d hoped for
I want to see the story of how Garou grows from a malcontent and apparent crazy to this juggernaut whose appointment with destiny cannot be stopped.
What we got:
I’d say this was fulfilled! His luck and unstoppable destiny come across well. I really like his relationship with Tareo and with Bang being expanded on.
Fans definitely have taken Garou to heart with very few people neutral on him. I appreciate the fans who correctly point out that he’s incoherent and hurting heroes who have done nothing to him on account of the childhood trauma he’s projecting onto them. Like him or not, he’s definitely been given the space he needed and it’s going to be very interesting to see how people change their views of him as the anime continues.
King: What I’d hoped for
I want to see King be exposed as a fraud and a coward who runs from danger and leaves people to die, then redeem himself as a decent human being and become the fraud and coward who stands before danger so people might live. That’s huge – he’s been running like a rabbit for years.
What we got:
Fulfilled. I love how his relationship with Saitama unfolded, pretty much note perfect. The scene of his wiling himself to courage is great; it and the flashback JC Staff added linked back to to where he started out quite nicely.
Who doesn’t love King? I suspect he arm-wrestled Mumen Rider for fan favourite, particularly as he’s so very ordinary a man in a world of demi-gods.
Saitama: What I’d hoped for
We see Saitama finally make a friend, get resolution as to why the world ignores him, and get to celebrate his progress, even as we learn how deep his sense of alienation goes. I love how it’s going to start with Saitama walking away from his disciple and end with Saitama running for his disciple and how nothing else mattered until he saw him safe and well.
What we got:
Mostly fulfilled. His stasis and ongoing dissatisfaction with life come across excellently. His feeling ever more irrelevant and removed from the flow of life is literally and metaphorically on show, even as we get to witness the life-changing impact of his punches on others.
Folk missed Saitama sorely, which is as it should be. JCStaff, bless their lily-livers, really did miss a trick in not having Elder Centipede continue disintegrating for several seconds – after having been parched for Saitama, that ludicrous scene really helped.
Genos (why always you, my friend?): What I’d hoped for
Last series, we saw Genos try and lose, try and lose, try and lose, try and lose yet again. This season, from the very first episode to the very last, we watch that process of change from a failing hero to a truly fearsome one fit to rub shoulders with the best of heroes. I want to see how it thrills us, entertains us, breaks our hearts and maybe we dare to hope for even crazier heights in the future.
What we got:
Hm. Let me paraphrase Dr Bofoi here: ‘It takes a special sort of stupidity to mess up this badly’. This is worth unpacking a bit as when things go wrong, we often get a better opportunity to see what makes them work. And I’m always interested in what makes communicating ideas effective.
For once, let’s start with fan reactions. The actions Genos takes on the screen are pretty much the same as in the manga (a little abridged in places, but more or less the same). After manga chapter 84, you got reactions like this: ‘ Genos from now on to me will no longer be a joke. He’s earned my respect.’ ‘…if he still had a human body, he’d have broken his limiter by now…’, ‘he really stepped up’, etc. After episode 12: it’s ‘oh, everyone can beat Genos’ 'he’s like a princess in distress’ 'he’s lucky that Garou wasn’t at full health’… ‘…that man has felt useless since when he first met Saitama during the mosquito fight…’
Manga readers are less scathing than anime only viewers, but they have the benefit of the manga and aren’t reacting to what’s actually presented on screen. Where the anime has made the case for Genos being awesome, as it did in episode 11 (23), fan reactions followed appropriately.
Interesting. How the hell did JC Staff create the diametric opposite reaction of the one Murata and ONE had elicited? Particularly when they made a decent fist of the other characters?
From the beginning, I’d worried most about Genos – the clumsy, lifeless sequences we saw of him in the PV inspired no confidence. With Genos both opening and closing out the season, they really needed to get him right to set the correct tone and leave the right taste in the audiences’ mouths. JCStaff have struggled most with his portrayal, both in visuals and action, although it came together nicely in episode 11 (23). Mostly, it’s Ishikawa’s sterling voice acting that has carried the character all season.
And then they silenced Ishikawa. A mix of stupid-lazy-desperate-for-time meant that for the last episode, they cut out all of Genos’s POV regarding how uneasy he still felt about the monstrous presence he couldn’t pin down, his shrewdly wondering how to find their headquarters, his initial assessment of the Elder Centipede and even how very carefully he thought before deciding to take action. They thought his amazing actions could speak for themselves. They were wrong.
It’s like having Garou act without benefit of flashbacks and assuming his actions will speak for themselves. They don’t! Without the benefit of our knowledge of his motivations and thoughts, he really is just a thug launching unprovoked attacks on heroes.
Instead of us seeing and understanding that Genos had learned, was thinking carefully on all he’d been told and the drastic action he took was because he’d weighed up the options and realised only someone sacrificing his life would save the others, we got the opposite. So what they created instead was a guy who wouldn’t listen to repeated good advice, took on a too-strong enemy and got his butt kicked. Again. And if there’s anything fans rightly hate, it’s a fool who won’t learn. As I pointed out earlier, Genos opened and closed the season – so the impression that nothing had changed really took a lot of any climactic feel out of the episode.
The title of the final episode didn’t help either. Instead of translating it as ‘taking responsibility for one’s disciple’ which would apply with equal force to both Bang trying to bring Garou to heel and to Saitama, rushing in to deal with a situation Genos couldn’t deal with, Crunchyroll went with the near-literal ‘cleaning up the disciple’s mess’ and Hulu with the literal ‘wiping the disciple’s butt’. Both of which set the viewer to see whatever Genos did as a mistake. Even though, ironically, he didn’t make any this episode. It’s a translation klutz like finding out that someone has translated the English idiom ‘catching Peter’s eye’ as ‘gouging out Peter’s eye’ instead of ‘being noticed by Peter’ (no Peters were harmed in the making of this sentence). That is out of JCStaff’s hands, but I hope that whoever does the DVD/Blu Ray has a better set of translators available.
Ah, it’s not worthwhile grousing. It’s not like they had the time to watch the finished episode back and consider the story they were actually telling. I don’t envy whoever takes up season 3. They have a lot of extra work to do to change viewers’ impression of the character and the source material isn’t going to help them. It's going to br difficult to explain why, when faced with a fool who won't listen to him and appears intent on self-destruction, Dr Kuseno would hand Genos an outfit that needs the most careful judgement to use with any degree of safety. For manga readers, it makes sense. For anime watchers some heavy duty retconning will be necessary.
While ONE cried tears of joy after reading Chapter 84, if he’s crying any tears after this season, they won’t be happy ones.
#opm#anime#season 2#review#characters#story#please DON'T come back JCStaff#they didn't entirely suck#but they sucked too much to be entrusted with more#dodgy visuals can be redrawn#ropey sound can be remastered#but missing the point of major characters argh#that and poor scripting throughout
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Whumptober Day 2
Whumptober Day 2: Alternative Prompt #16 “Bound”
I just could not get the “explosion” prompt to work for me, so I’m using one of the alternate prompts instead because as soon as I saw it I had an idea. Again, this features characters from my original WIP and hasn’t really been edited.
Content Warning: graphic injury, blood, a whole lot of swearing
Characters: Kate, Luke
Consciousness came like a flash of lightning from a clear sky, only the lightning was white-hot pain and the sky was her body. Kate woke suddenly, a switch being flipped from off to on, and managed to bite back a cry of pain only through sheer force of will. She’d had a lot of rude awakenings in her life, but each one sucked in its own uniquely delightful way.
She was bound, wrists manacled together over her head and – another muffled groan as she tilted her head back far enough to look up – chained to the cinder-block wall above her. Under normal circumstances the manacles wouldn’t be an issue, even sturdy-built ones like these: she was probably strong enough to rip them loose even if she couldn’t break the bands themselves, and failing that she could shift into something smaller that could just slip free.
No, the chains didn’t really give her pause. The six-inch-long metal railroad spikes driven through her shoulders, however – yeah, those brought her up short.
The metal looked to be silver-coated, which … did her captors think she was a fucking werewolf? At least, she was pretty sure they were just silver-coated and not actually made of silver, because silver was actually fairly soft and … okay, this maybe wasn’t the time for her to succumb to one of Syd’s science rants. In any event, there were actual bits of metal stuck through her shoulders, and sure, she could theoretically shift her way free of those, too – if she didn’t mind the metal dragging its way through muscle, bone and skin as she changed into something smaller. That was a sure-fire way to guarantee permanent damage, and frankly, Kate kind of liked having both arms.
The spikes were only through her shoulders – and that was a sentence she never thought she’d feel relief about – and not through her hands or legs and feet. Her feet were bare and resting on what felt like cold, packed dirt; between her feet on the ground and her hands bound to the wall, her weight was not being supported by the metal spikes, and that was another positive thing in what was otherwise turning out to be a shit-sandwich kind of day.
Because curiosity had always outweighed self-preservation in Kate’s mind, she gave her bindings a careful tug, testing their strength to see if there was any give. She could feel something grinding in her left shoulder, a sensation that made her stomach give a queasy flip, and suspected the spike was pushing against bone. Otherwise, nothing about her current predicament suggested that there would be an easy way out about this. Shoulders were – despite Hollywood’s tendency to imply otherwise – hardly a safe place for injury; there were a lot of complicated parts and a lot could go wrong with an impalement there. Her captors had clearly missed any of the arteries there, or she would already have bled to death by now, but there were nerves and muscles in there that were pretty obviously damaged, and if she shifted there was no way to be sure she wouldn’t tear the spikes through something vital. It wasn’t the silver that kept her pinned like one of Roxanne’s mounted butterflies, it was the placement of the spikes and the knowledge that she could permanently fuck herself up if she did the wrong thing.
Of course, if it came between permanent injury and a far worse fate, well, Kate knew what her choice would be.
Bizarrely, her first real thought was that someone needed to tell Ardyn and the rest of the Alliance that the hunters she and Luke had been sent out to locate were in fact Hunters. Not dumbass city boys hoping to bag themselves a deer, but (probably actually still dumbass) men and women who knew about the existence of monsters and were out in the woods to bring them down. As her current predicament demonstrated, Hunters didn’t actually need to be well-educated or right to occasionally be effective.
Thinking about the reason she and Luke had been out in the woods in the first place made her think about Luke, and for one frantic moment Kate was terrified that he was staked to the wall with her, or worse, that the Hunters had already killed him and dumped his body somewhere. Before she could get too carried away with those fears, however, she managed to get her head turned enough to see off into the shadows to her right – turning her head hurt, both in the way it pulled at the muscles in her neck and back, and in the way the back of her skull brushed against the cinderblock wall, putting pressure on what was sure to be one hell of a goose-egg – where, to her immense relief, her boyfriend was lying in the corner. Unlike her, Luke wasn’t bound and staked to the wall; instead, he was curled up on the ground, his wrists and ankles securely bound with thick rope.
On the one hand, Kate was glad that Luke was spared the distinctly unpleasant sensation of metal stabbing through his shoulders. On the other hand, what the actual fuck? Chain up the itty-bitty woman, but let’s just use some rope on the guy built like a brick shithouse? She didn’t know whether to be flattered or offended that their captors saw her as the real threat.
Silly Hunters. They were both the real threat.
Of course, Luke presently appeared to be unconscious, which was … rather less threatening than usual. She’d like to think that was why she got the vampire/werewolf double-bill treatment and he got to sleep it off in the dirt, but she’d been out cold, too, up until just a few minutes ago. No, for whatever reason their captors knew that Kate was more than just a tiny, apple-cheeked redhead, but they hadn’t figured out that the giant strongman was – actually, scratch that, their captors were clearly idiots if it hadn’t occurred to them that, supernaturally-enhanced or not, the 6’4” muscle-bound biker-looking dude was probably some kind of dangerous.
That was okay. Kate could work with idiots.
Across the room – which looked like a set piece from The Blair Witch Project – Luke groaned and then immediately went still as he became aware of his surroundings. Kate cleared her throat, hoping to get his attention before he realized he was bound and started freaking out.
“Hey, baby,” she said, pitching her voice low in the hopes that only he would hear her. She’d yet to see any sign of their captors, but it was too much to wish that they were nowhere nearby.
Luke lifted his head and – oh, that was a lot of blood. The entire right side of his face was painted red, and Kate tried not to panic because, let’s face it, Luke’s head bleeds a lot. Yeah, head injuries in general tended to be pretty messy, but it was Kate’s honest opinion that of all the times she’d witnessed them, for whatever reason Luke was the one whose head seemed to bleed the most. Of course, Luke and Charlie were pretty much the only people she gave a shit about and Charlie was smart enough to stay out of the field for the most part, but still. It was like Luke’s skull was a papier-mâché decoration filled with blood.
“Hey, love,” she said again, watching him squint as he tried to focus on her. “Don’t freak out, okay? I’m –”
She wasn’t sure what, exactly, she was going to say – some variation of “I’m fine, don’t worry about it,” probably – but that was when Luke realized that he was tied up – and that she was stuck to the wall like a really morbid art installation. One or the other he could have handled fine, but both combined, plus what was no doubt a vicious headache, made him immediately start hyperventilating.
Luke did not do well with confinement. Granted, most people weren’t exactly cool with it, but Luke really wasn’t cool.
Telling a panicking person to calm down was probably the least effective way of getting them to calm down, but under the circumstances Kate’s options were somewhat limited, and she didn’t want Luke to hurt himself. She called to him from across the room, trying to get him to breathe normally, to focus on breaking free of the ropes, but Luke’s panic made him flail ineffectually and whatever their captors had done to knock him out had left him uncoordinated and confused. When he finally stopped – lungs heaving with the effort to drag oxygen into his body – he flopped weakly on the ground, face pressed into the dirt.
Normally Kate was willing to accept the Alliance’s general prohibition on murder. The usual protocol when dealing with newfound Hunters was to try to recruit them, because the Alliance had a sort of “the more, the merrier” outlook when it came to membership (which explained Kate’s presence, frankly). These Hunters, though? Kate was going to rip them limb from limb for putting Luke through this. There wasn’t going to be a heart left beating.
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Chapter 7-Gift From the Princess Who Brought Sleep; Scene 1
Gift from the Princess Who Brought Sleep, pages 260-268
“...Such an awful sight.”
Elluka gazed at the now-ghost town of Toragay in stupefaction.
The town was dead silent.
But that wasn’t because it was currently nighttime.
If she were to pick any home and head inside, she would probably find the residents all scattered around in an eternal sleep.
Should she call this a tragedy?
Or should she be grateful that the damage didn’t extend to any other towns?
…No, I can’t be off my guard yet.
The sixth “gift”—it was possible that there were still people infected with it left remaining.
If even one of them had managed to survive, and were able to slip by the police and leave Toragay--
Then the number of victims would spread from that once more.
Until all of humanity was put to sleep.
“-Cough-“
Elluka held her flank, where some pain still lingered.
--“Sixth, Venom”. After she’d been stabbed by him, Elluka had been carried off to a hospital in Aceid by Gumillia. The wound had been so grave that if the coachman hadn’t been pushing the horses as fast as he possibly could, she likely wouldn’t have made it.
Should she be grateful that her life had been saved?
Or despair that they were unable to find a means to save Toragay thanks to all the time it took for her to recover from her injury?
.
“Sorry, to keep you waiting.” Gumillia drew closer to Elluka’s side.
“You’ve done well. So, how was it?”
Gumillia had been investigating in Elluka’s stead, as she still couldn’t move sufficiently yet.
“Well…I searched, Shadow’s mansion again, but it seems the ‘doll’, wasn’t inside, after all. I don’t know, if it’s been taken away, or if it wasn’t there in the first place…”
They still hadn’t found the proof that Margarita had made a contract with a “demon” —the “doll” that was a Vessel of Deadly Sin. She’d assumed it was hidden in Shadow’s mansion, but it seems she’d been off the mark.
“Furthermore—“
Gumillia continued her report.
“Margarita’s corpse, has also vanished.”
“…Maybe ‘Sixth, Venom’ took it away.”
They’d been beaten.
Elluka and her apprentice had lost.
Against Pere Noel.
Against its leader, “First, Santa Claus”—the red cat sorceress.
And against the Sleep Princess.
But she had no intention of letting it end here.
They might have lost all of their leads, but they had to search for their foes, no matter what.
--No, I suppose we haven’t lost all of our leads.
There was Bruno. He was connected to Pere Noel.
But in order to approach him directly they would need to go on the offensive against both the World Police and the Freezis Foundation itself.
We’ve a lot of preparations we’ll have to make--
But they absolutely had to.
They needed to cross this turning point in their lives and start heading towards the end.
Even so—no, because of that even—they couldn’t afford to just stand around.
“Thank you, Gumillia. Well then let’s get—“
“Wait. One more thing.”
“What is it?”
“’Julia Abelard’.”
“…That’s the name Shadow was using. What of it?”
“There is another woman, with the same, name. A noble, in Lucifenia.”
“—What?”
Shadow had said it.
That she wasn’t the “Red Cat Sorceress”, “First, Santa Claus”, or—“Julia Abelard”.
If a real “Julia Abelard” existed, then surely this woman had to be—
“I understand, Gumillia. In either case, we have to investigate more deeply into this…’Pere Noel’. So then our next destination has been decided.”
“…”
“Let’s go, to Lucifenia.”
“Yes, Elluka.”
.
“Hold up!”
There was someone who called out to Elluka and Gumillia, stopping them as they started to leave town.
It was the coachman from before. Though they’d stopped him many times, in the end he had forcefully accompanied the two of him here.
The moment they got inside Toragay he’d headed for his home. And now he had returned to them.
“…What’s wrong?”
She could guess the answer, though. The way things were, then surely his mother was like the others--
“It’s not…It’s not anywhere.”
“—Huh?”
“It wasn’t in the house, and I searched around nearby, but—my ma’s corpse isn’t anywhere. No, not just Mom—other people’s corpses too. Feels like there are a whole lot less of them than I thought there’d be. There are several people I knew that I can’t find…”
…What did this mean?
Could it be that—
“Wait a moment…I hear, something.” Gumillia said, cupping a hand to her ear and listening.
Elluka strained to hear it too.
--There was something alright.
It was very faint, albeit.
But a voice from somewhere.
“That way.”
Gumillia pointed in a certain direction.
The building that stood there--
“Let’s head there…to the Blankenheim manor.”
.
The lock was broken.
When the three of them went inside, they could more clearly hear the voice that had been so quiet before.
“…It’s coming from the basement.”
Elluka, the coachman, and Gumillia quickly headed for the stairs and descended downwards.
The voice gradually grew louder yet. It wasn’t just one person. Many voices were echoing up from below.
And when she got all the way there and opened the door, what Elluka saw was—
“—Hey, someone’s shown up!”
“Huh, what!? Are they infected?”
“I dunno. It’s some woman in a weird robe.”
“Maybe the rescue party’s arrived?”
“I don’t think so. They don’t look like police. Oy, you lot, who the hell—“
From a rough glance, there might have been about fifty people there. These citizens had been living here in this basement, crowded together in such a narrow space.
Obviously, none of them had fallen to sleep.
--They were all alive.
“Hey, make way!”
She could see someone parting the crowd of people towards them.
“Oh, what’s this? It is you after all. Your hair color’s different so I didn’t get it right away, but…That you, Hanne?”
“--! Ms. Brigitt—“
“Maaaaaaaaaaa!”
The coachman was the one that cried out. He hugged Brigitta and then collapsed to his knees, bawling.
“Thank goodness…you’re still alive…I thought you were…gone for sure…”
“Good grief…a grown man crying like a baby. There’s nothing more pathetic,” Brigitta said, her eyes also glistening somewhat.
“Ms. Brigitta…Thank goodness. But how are you safe--?”
As Elluka asked her question, Brigitta’s expression became a little bit darker as she answered, “We’re not safe. Everyone’s been fairly on the verge of death. The survivors who realized it was a plague all fled to the basement of the largest building in town, this mansion.”
That was likely a last ditch struggle to keep the infection from spreading further.
“But even here, several people have died. We had people who had already caught the disease with us. …For a while there, we were all preparing to die here.”
“But everyone here is still alive.”
“That’s thanks to him,” Brigitta said, and gestured farther into the basement.
Standing there was another figure that was familiar to both Elluka and Gumillia.
“Mr. Egmont…”
The owner of the La Bula pharmacy. When Elluka called to him, he seemed to realize who they were and leisurely moved closer.
“Hey hey, what’s with the creepy getup? –Including that officer over there.”
“Well, things happen…Are you the one who saved everyone here?”
“By chance. As a last struggle I started randomly testing all the medicine in my shop. And then—I discovered just one drug that seemed to have an effect.”
“And…what drug is that?”
“This, although there isn’t much left.”
Egmont took out a small bottle filled with a white, clouded liquid.
“…You’re kidding me, this is…”
“Indeed. The drug you bought from me that one time. Who’d have thought a mere energy tonic would have an effect on a pathogen. I was stunned.”
So was she. A medicine that could cure an illness brought about by the calamity of a “demon”—what in the world was in that stuff?
--Puerick Rogzé, who had developed the antidote that cured the Gula disease…he was a normal person too.
Maybe they didn’t need “sorceresses” to vanquish “demons” after all. Human ingenuity itself was what was most important for averting tragedy--
--Maybe it really is time for me to retire.
Bearing all that in mind.
As she felt relief that there were survivors, Elluka found herself growing quickly irate at something else.
What “Toragay in Ruins”!? The World Police and the Newspaper barely investigated…Honestly, I was right to quit after all.
At any rate, finding these people had lit a faint light in Elluka’s once depressed heart.
This white liquid…the drug that cured “gift”--
“Hey, this drug…What exactly is it made of?”
“…Ah, well, that’s a bit tricky.”
Egmont seemed to clam up at Elluka’s question.
“Tell me. The threat that ‘gift’—that the pathogen poses hasn’t completely gone away. We have to prepare for it and establish a manufacturing method—"
“…No, that’s, uh…it’s not really, uh, right to talk about here.”
“—Did you do something shady to get it?”
“N-n-n-no of course no—“
“Tell me! People’s lives are at stake!” Elluka threatened.
Egmont shrunk back from her. “Th-that’s enough! I’ll—I’ll tell you already!”
“Then what is it made of?”
“Hah…This medicine’s primary ingredient…that would be—“
<<prev------directory------next>>
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Welp, im back to tumblr not afraid of avengers spoilers. That was a long week xD.
Anyways, spoilers ahead , Infinity War was way better than End game. It was a super fun movie, but not epic. The best final battle lasted like.. 15 minutes, super quick for such a huge fight. Infinity was shorter but balanced the screentime between so many characters in such a great way. Endgame had way to much time for the same main 6 characters we already seen so much before, plus nebula en rocket for the sake of the plot, and Carol was like not even in the movie.
Many things didnt made sence because it wasnt logical even en de mcu context. I knew it had to be some type of dimension travel and was excited to see how they were gonna use the stones to pull it off. But nope, it was a simple time traveling thanks to science and Tony's brain and for some reason the antman power bottles, because of course we were previously taught that. If they were gonna make so many weird stuff in the past and not care about any paradoxes, why not use magic or something elae that doesn't need explaining? We have sorcerers and infinity stones that dont give a crap about reality! And all the stealing the stones and putting them back together later was nonsence but ok we roll with it because thats the plan. We dont care about Present Nebula killing her past self, or Loki just runing away with the Teseract for the sake of the future series and nobody even worried about that, or how they traveled not only time but space, reapering in any part of the universe??
Also, i think the comic relief in Infinity was well used and balanced, but for me Endgame was a Comedy with action for the most part, so i had some trouble with the tone and pacing. Mostly with Tony's death, i was still so excited about the whole fight and action and happy with everyone back, that when peter and pepper were saying goodbye i did feel sad, but not like in tears. I heard everyone was dying in tears, but i was also satisfied of how tony saved the world, i tought that that was a good end for his character (also expected and not that schocking tbh).
Also a huge downer for me is the lack of actual Thanos. I saw him like a God after Infinity, then boom he nothing and he dead, hella fast and easy. Now other Thanos from the past sees an oportunity and takes it. Sucks for everyone but for him is like "oh cool, convenient mostly because i didnt do crap". For me they didnt battle the real Thanos, but a cheap younger one that hasnt use one stone yet. Also, now that i think about it, nebula just gave him a lil bottle of formula so he could travel (because of course its one per person as used before?) So how the heck did he time traveled all his army out of thin air?
Another thing, i didnt feel like it was that much at stake, if they didnt succed the plans they would keep living like they have been for the past 5 years, no biggie. It was just a way to try to fix it but not the end of the world a second time. They shoulda made more important the returning the stones on time so their reality wouldnt break or something like that. They only knew about the new Thanos threat till the very end.
Also also, how did everybody in the universe came just in time and to the exact place the halp to the war. The entry was super epic but also conveniently well timed vs the Thanos army, how did everyone organized such thing?
Triple lil also, Thor fighting with mjolnier and the storm breaker at the same time was super cool, but he looking like a fat hippie made way less epic im sorry xD.
And dunno if its only me but, how old was supposed to be steve to still be alive in 2024? If he lived with Carter i think thats way to long ago.
But we have Groot back and Rocket tried to body shield him so thats 10/10
#me#movie review#avengers#spoilers#endgame#more like a huge rant of my opinion#sorry but i loved infinity#i couldny say a single thing i didnt like about aht movie#endgame otherwise gave me many buts and wtf moments#and i dondt like muc carol xd#such an unlikeable character#aba review#review
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A Place In Between
“Atali your plan is stupid.”
Nyura interrupted the void-blade as she rambled on about how she was going to keep her now... ‘toy’... from trapping her in the Shadowlands.
“Oh common, it’s smart! You just don’t like it because my plan makes sense compared to yours - which is rather hazardous if you ask me.” Atali laughed as she puffed in and out of shadow-steps around Nyura.
Nyura briefly wondered if she was this annoying.
“Atali.”
...
“Atali.”
Nyura exhaled a long side, unsuppressing her aura to simply knock her half-sister out of her rhythm.
“You’re going to get yourself killed relying on a shade from that realm to transport you back, it could easily throw you into the void and leave you there.”
Atali rolled her eyes, “You’re no fun, Nyura.”
“Not when any sort of life is at stake!”
“Oh common, now if I-”
“Atali we’re going with my plan.” Nyura would interrupt, thrusting the communication crystal into the void-blade’s hands. “When it transports you there, when you inevitably fuck with the artifact, contact me. I’ll retrieve you within twenty-four hours. Don’t die.”
“Aww, is that the sound of you caring about me?”
“No. It’s me giving a shit about the artifacts you’ve already bound to yourself. You were more tolerable before you died.”
Atali rolled her eyes, smirking, “Mkay then ‘wittle sis’.”
“Goodbye, Atali.”
The Shadowlands. It goes by many names between the Azerothian races. The Spirit World. The Astral Realm. The World of Spirits. The Underworld. The Other Side.
It’s where all spirits end up at some point when their mortal body is destroyed, or simply cannot sustain life any longer. Most incarnations of the realm are something of a nightmarish realm, a labyrinth of decay. Though for someone who’s been there a few times, it loses it’s fear factor after the second or third time.
Though within the Shadowlands, within the darkest depths of it, lies what’s known to some as ‘A Dark Place’. A forest standing alone in the dark depths of the realm, where the barrier between life and death is thin...and tends to occasionally spill over into Azeroth.
Within this dark place, however, lies Soul-eaters. Mangled, ravenous amalgamations that chase whatever poor soul finds themselves lost in the dark woods. Unable to be harmed by mortals... it made them more than a threat to any mortal soul who may enter A Dark Place.
Nyura was sitting in stormwind, nursing a cigarette and a cup of tea at one of the quiet tea shops she frequented when she felt the summons of the communication crystal.
She left a handful of coin, a tip, and stepped on her smoke before shadowstepping into Duskwood.
Plane-shifting was second nature for Nyura... although where she felt the summons coming from concerned her.
A Dark Place.
She’d only ever been there once. Just to see if the place was real...and she hadn’t stayed for long. The moment she had caught glance of a Soul Eater she had shifted back into the plane Azeroth was on and promised herself she wouldn’t go back.
Yet, here she was. Because Atali couldn’t keep her hands off of her artifacts.
As Nyura shifted into the Shadowlands, an oddly comforting chill pricked at her skin. Her form fluctuating just briefly before settling.
A shadow-step brought her to the edge of A Dark Place. The screams and howls of the Soul Eaters were heard at her presence... yet not excitable ones of the hunt.
Her form was made of a creature of void. An immortal being’s conscious was wiped away to be replaced with Nyura’s.
It essentially made Nyura killable, but still immortal. She couldn’t permanently die.
It made Nyura a threat to the soul-eaters. Predators were being turned prey with her mere presence in this place.
And without much a though more, Nyura stepped into the dark woods in search of Atali.
Atali hadn’t realized where her newest artifact would’ve taken her. She hadn’t even thought about being trapped here. Not here. Anything but here.
Though the only thing on her mind now was running.
She had to keep running.
She’d tried defending herself against the fiends of this place. The Soul-eaters. It hadn’t gone well.
The large gash in her shoulder made proof of this... however now the creatures had a taste for her blood. Her essence.
“Shit... shit.. Shit..! Why does she always have to be right?!” Atali wheezed as she pinned her back against a tree, panting as she looked about to see if she was about to be ambushed.
A groan in the branches above her caused her to freeze, her gaze snapping upwards as a Soul-Eater readied itself to pounce on her.
“ATALI MOVE!”
Nyura’s words shook Atali to the core as she was ordered to move, the void-blade darting towards Nyura’s presence.
The Shadow-walker grabbed the void-blade, shoving her behind her and firing a ball of void-flame towards the amalgamated beast, causing it’s form to erupt violent into flames.
The beast screeched in an unholy manner, and the woods came to life with the faint silhouettes of fifty or so Soul-Eaters.
“Atali you’re absolutely insane!”
“I’m sorry!”
A barrier of voidic flames circled around the two elves, which allowed Atali to unattach herself from Nyura.
Nyura burned a rune into the ground, a pulse of void expanding outwards which caused all the soul eaters to scream and howl in pain.
“Atali move!-”
Atali looked up to see a soul-eater dropping down onto her, only to be knocked into unconsciousness as it landed on her...its claws digging into her.
Atali came to consciousness slowly, her vision foggy as she focused in and out of a firey hearth.
She slowly looked about, brow furrowing as she realized where she was.
Nyura’s home...?
Atali put a hand to her head, groaning as she sat up and pulled the blanket back. She noticed thick bandages wrapping her torso, briefly grumbling about someone removing her tunic and such to put these bandages gone.
“Oh great. You’re alive.” Nyura’s less-than-interested tone spoke from across the room.
“By the way, you panicked, and almost died.”
“Wh.. wha- How did you?”
“Shut up and drink.” Nyura offered a steaming mug of tea to Atali, who took it less than willingly. And drank it.
“If you stopped sticking your nose where it didn’t belong you wouldn’t be in this position. You would’ve never been transported to the Shadowlands, let ALONE A Dark Place. I would’ve never had to come there and save your life. This could’ve been completely avoided if you’d just-”
“I’m sorry.”
Atali’s apology took Nyura off guard, briefly. The shadow-walker peering at the void-blade for a moment.
“You’re sorry.”
“I am.”
Nyura sighed, nodding. “Fair enough... I’m not saving your ass again, though.”
Atali would chuckle softly, “Okay, DAD. I’ll be more careful next time.”
Nyura rolled her eyes, “You’re a shit.”
“Love you too.”
Nyura shook her head, beginning her way out the door.
“I have important bullshit I have to take care of. My shade is going to watch you so you don’t take anything, kleptomaniac. Stay as long as you need, but I won’t hesitate to kick you out.”
Atali gave a nod, laying back down with a pained chuckle. Now regretting that she moved at all.
“Duly noted. Bye.”
“Goodbye, Atali.”
#Reluctant Sisters#wow rp character blogs#WoW RP#RP Blog#Nyura hates Atali lol#they're related through their mom but Nyura's dad was around more than Atali's#Lots of drama lol#Nyura lowkey hates Atali lol#Atali is like 'lol idiot' *proceeds to almost die*#Nyura has no respec 'round here#lol#I'LL STOP NOW#BEFORE#I#MAKE#THIS#WAY#TO#LONG#ok im done lol
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