The Twits: Kindle Edition

The Steve Milkos Show: He Made You A Prisoner

The Steve Wilkos Show
He Made You A Prisoner
Woman marries a man whom, after only a short time after the marriage, begins to accuse his wife of cheating... all over a stain in the bed.  Since then, he's set up small traps over the house, doing anything that might prove she's cheating.  For the sake of "clearing the air", they go to The Steve Wilkos Show for the truth.

Chapter 10: this bee's loving face...

This is a post from someone else I wanted to share...

One of the reasons I've slightly put off this chapter is it's a difficult chapter for me to watch or think about, since it's so loving offensive on so many levels.

Patrick comes home to see Vanessa totally having an affair with this loving bee. Now I know that different people have different standards for "cheating". I mean, her lips aren't around his penis, but this is about 92% of the way there. They're sharing dinner alone together at Vanessa/Patrick's place without Patrick, and without even letting Patrick know, while they make the creepiest loving goo-goo eyes at one another (while Blue is sitting in Barbie furniture that Vanessa has for some reason). There are red roses on the table, naturally. Vanessa, of course, made dinner for Blue and they're celebrating and by the way, that's why I thought the case was over last time, when it actually wasn't. The resolution is dumber than Ray Liotta hating Jews. But I digress! [Read More]

A Monster Mom!?

As I was looking around at some clips across the vast universe that is YouTube, my stomach turns as I type all of this, because the horrors of all of this do more than just break my heart, and I can't even begin to explain how I feel about all of this.

For now, monster, as the title of the episode suggests, would have to suffice.  If you've watched the clip all the way, then I'm sure you understand?

Anyway, for any of you who have come to this post through the link I sent from the comment pages, I'm sure you're as curious as I was about the follow up on this woman, specifically Neka Gordon.  I have reason to suspect that I may have found her Facebook, but the best lead I've got on that is how both women are wearing the same exact glasses, so a thousand pardons if I'm wrong.

Thankfully, I was not the only one wondering what happened after the show, as someone on Yahoo asked about the same thing.  According to a post on BabyGaga, the baby from the show is still living under the same conditions.  To make matters worse, some of these so called professional websites really don't help things: White Pages didn't offer much, and neither did a thread I found on BabyCenter.

I can say this much though with more confidence than I've said about anything else of this whole affair - she had another kid, she still has custody of them (because where she lives, they can't afford to take them from her), and one of her kids died despite being an infant.  You can find the obituary here.

"LANCASTER: Nevaeh Marie Shafer 5 month old infant of Lancaster, Ohio died Saturday, January 12, 2013 at her residence. She was born on July 20, 2012 in Lancaster, Ohio to Michael E. Shaffer, Sr. and Neka R. Gordon." - Nevaeh Marie Shaffer Obituary

"She had another baby that died under mysterious conditions in 2013. You can Google her name and see the babies obituary. Neka Gordon. The babies name was Neaveh Shaffer . According to her it was sleeping on the couch cushions and just died."

Now that I've gotten this off my chest... I need to go lay down...

A Messed Up Theory For A Messed Up Movie

via GIPHY

Yeah, remember that movie?
The movie that sucks but yet ironically catchy to enough to talk about
because it can literally bother you that much?

I think some of this has to do with me being sick of talking about Digimon Tri, but some of it also has to do with plot holes that weren't really answered.  To be honest, I don't think it really matters... except in the department of messing up for me an already messed up movie.

If you happen to be reading this and have experienced occasions where you'll come up with disturbing questions by paying too close attention to useless details, then you'll understand how this theory came to be.  For those who don't, I blame this on myself for allowing the Bee Movie to be my movie of choice as background noise as I was cleaning up my room.

So what minor details was I was looking a little too deep into that lead to this mess?  Vanessa and Ken's relationship.  I suppose for the sake of Barry's crush on Vanessa, their relationship was pretty rocky from the beginning, as Vanessa and Ken seemed to have been dating but Vanessa seemed to not be able to stand Ken's presence from time to time.  For a while, I didn't give much thought as into how serious the relationship got... at least until now, when I saw the following scene.

So what does Barry have anything to do with this aside from being the last choice of argument before Vanessa breaks up with Ken, inevitably meaning that Vanessa cut ties with her boyfriend over a bee?  It really wasn't so much Barry himself that caught my attention here, but rather what he was sitting on.

By normal logic, one would think that Vanessa just got the pieces from Amazon or some thrift shop for this scene and that would be no problem.  However, there is one other way that Vanessa could have had these things in her house... and it would have to be from her just having these things around long before she met Barry.

I mean, freaking heck, later on when Ken slips into the bathtub, you see a freaking duck.

Now, universe-speaking, it could have just been Ken's duck to further emphasize just how much of a "baby" he is and how much Vanessa really doesn't need Ken in her life.  However, that little table set and the duck lead me to a messed up question...

Were Vanessa and Ken expecting?

Look, as much as I wish it wasn't so, the world today has thrown marriage and sometimes commitment (as a whole) out the window when it comes to having babies. I even went to school with a girl who eventually got pregnant before she graduated, so I've seen some of this stuff first hand (please don't ask me if that relationship is still kicking because I didn't get involved, although I hope they are).  There's no doubt that there's lots of drama to go around when it comes to relationships, children, and even stuff as simple as which kids are biologically connected to who, least we wouldn't have dramas like the Maury Show.  As much as the reality of these things make me cringe, I'm not going to delve too deep into this part of my theory because that's not the point of this post - just understand that being born out of wed-lock is a very sad, but common, reality.

Maybe Vanessa hasn't given herself to Ken yet, but what's the likely-hood of that?  I suspect that the more serious Vanessa and Ken got about their relationship, the more down-hill it went.  Vanessa, the only one in the relationship to have a steady job, not only had to worry about Ken, but about the child on the way too.

What about the bump that is on all pregnant women?  In truth, I honestly think that not only is Vanessa at the beginning stages of her pregnancy, but Barry B. Benson will be dead long before she has to deliver - after all, according to Buzz About Bees, male bees, or drones, only live up to about four months if they don't screw their queen first, which by mating with said queen would kill them.

I'm probably thinking too much into this, as I have a horrible habit of doing things like that... but I really really wanted to get that off my chest...

Maury Show: Teen Girls Gone Bad - Is My Daughter Being Paid for Sex?

Maury Show

Teen Girls Gone Bad: Is My Daughter Being Paid for Sex?

Two Dreams!?

Man, last night was odd, but in an interestingly entertaining way.  Basically, I remember dreaming twice, but each part not having much to do with each other.

The first part was being in one of those huge playgrounds that used to be set up in McDonalds.  Ironically, and now that I really think about it, I was reminded more of the play place in a skating I used to go to more than anything else.  I was playing a game with some people I couldn't see because it was so dark, but I felt in my heart that out of all those people, one of them was my sister.  The objective of the game was that I say a work, and people on two separate ends had to think of a synonym.  Once the synonym was said out loud, they had to beat me to the slide that was in between us before I reached the slide, which basically meant they had only a couple of seconds.  I remember playing this game pretty well, but I don't remember sleeping long enough for the outcome.

The second part was something that felt like a game.  Princess Peach I remember seeing a few times, but I distinctly remember Princess Daisy and a few other princess I didn't recognize, although I imagine they were made up because one of them looked like a Piranha plant with hair.  There was some mission that we were supposed to do because we ended up crossing worlds because it got to a point where not only was Jack Frost and Elsa involved, but it was made to be a good idea that they should be together.  During the last fight of the dream, however, Elsa was killed, I think.
Then something else happened that revealed some of the necessary princesses, like Princess Daisy and those others I mentioned earlier, and it ended up being this crazy match in the skies that had nothing else except a really dark gray dragon surrounded by stone that blasted fire everywhere.  It wasn't so easy to kill, but I can't remember if we actually beat the thing.

Anyway, I wanted to be quick about this because as soon as I wake up I end up forgetting even some of the most epic dreams and I just really wanted to talk about this one.

Till next time.

Thoughts on Tri: What This Says About My Fanfiction (Accepting Questions)

At this point, now accepting questions about the Thoughts on Digimon Tri series 
and/or anything concerning Digimon Tri.

 

Now that my personal opinion about Digimon Tri has reached its end, time to talk about what this says about the fanfiction I'm running with RyokosDetermination, KellyK-Chan, & shinu8P.

For pairings, there isn't much to be said.  Fact is that no official pairings are made except what was already established in Digimon Adventure 02 and even then it's only Yamato and Sora.  In this department, there is less that I'm going to have to stress over when that time comes.

And truth is, this series has a lot and I mean a lot of plot holes.  For writing, this might be a good thing since this will give me room to cover up said holes.  However, this also means a lot of uncertainty, but I will worry about those bridges when it comes time to cross them.

So basically, I'm more stressed about plot holes than anything, but until that time comes, I'll be accepting questions and try to respond to them the best way I know now.

Until then, God bless you all.

Craig of the Creek S1E04: The Final Book

Craig of the Creek

S1E04: The Final Book

Thoughts on Tri: Plotholes & Questions

SPOILERS GALORE!

And now, before I get into the fan fiction department of all this, I'm going to close all of this out with a bunch of random questions about Digimon Tri.  Most of the questions either deal with plot holes that were noticed throughout the anime and/or rhetorical questions. Like every other post before it, if there is anything else that I can think of as I go along, I'll update the post.

1. What does Alphamon have anything to do with this?  According to Wikimon, it says that Alphamon worked for Yggrasil, but that makes no sense - he attacked Meicoomon early in the series that forced the first appearance of Omnimon.  So what if he was in battle with Jesmon after the reset?  It doesn't add up, and proves that Digimon Tri cared more about drama than it did plot.
2. What happened to Himekawa Maki?  I can see you guys trying to tell me at this point that she's dead because of the Dark Ocean or something, but it still doesn't add up.  Yagami Hikari went to the Dark Ocean too and she's still kicking.  I'm assuming this has to do with her connections to Homeostasis, but really?
3. What did Yggrasil get out of the reset?  I know Himekawa was counting on it for the sake of her long lost partner, but was this just one of those things that we were supposed to assume?  Plus, if there was anything to get out of it for Yggrasil, why did Himekawa let them go?  She didn't target Meiko after that, so that's another set of questions.
4. How does Taprimon's sacrifice equal the loss of the bond he had with Himekawa Maki? In Digimon Adventure 02, Wormmon clearly dies in sacrifice (almost the same way Taprimon does) to give Daisuke's partner a much needed boost to defeat the enemy at that time.  However, not only does Wormmon come back, but he's able to evolve and remember.  If this is how Digimon Adventure 02 treated the relationship between partners, then how is Maki any different?  Is it because that Taprimon couldn't regenerate? They never explain how a reset could have solved this, much less how that voids the bonds of partners.
5. Just how far does the reset go?  I could be wrong on this, but even if it was four years ago, what does that say about the Digimon of the 02 kids?  Was the reset all the way to the beginning, at least to the time Maki was a Chosen Child?  If that's the case, then what does that say about Yukio Oikawa's sacrifice and his partner, Datirimon? Canon confirms that by Oikawa's death meant the death of Datirimon, so are they nothing but data now?  What about the Four Holy Beasts that were even made possible by Taprimon's sacrifice?
6. Why didn't the 02 kids get affected by the reset if they were in the Digital World?  Taichi freaking found them in the Digital World with Daigo!  Why didn't their life support get screwed over by the reset?
7. Where are the Digimon of the 02 kids?  I know you don't give a crap about them, but they are still canon.
8. Why didn't Yggrasil (aside from confirmed future canon) didn't just kill off the 02 kids instead of just confining them to unconscious life support?  Universe-speaking, Yggrasil doesn't give a crap about humans, so why even keep them alive, if you weren't going to turn them on the 01 team?  Was the whole life support thing Maki's idea because she didn't really want to cause bloodshed to get to her goal, or was this just a poorly thought out idea?
9. How long ago was the disappearance of the 02 kids, and why didn't any of the 01 kids give a crap about they were gone until the appearance of the Digimon Kaiser?  Hikari and Takeru are in the same grade as Daisuke, at least, so don't give me that crap.
10. Why was Digimon Tri so focused on the drama instead of the plot?
11. Why was Digimon Tri inconsistent about minor details, such as potential ships and moving with the fanbase like the wind? 
12. Will Digimon Tri get any sequals? PLEASE DON'T! JUST, DON'T, OKAY?!

I probably have more as I think of them, but this is all I have for now...
Finally, like the series, it's all over...

Thoughts on Tri: Himekawa, the Organization, and Yggrasil

SPOILERS

 

For those who haven't bothered to see Digimon Tri yet, the organization in question that helps the Chosen Children is the same place Himekawa Maki works for... or she has them under her thumb because she decided to work with Yggrasil?  I suppose we're supposed to assume the later, in a way, but point is that it's not really clear.

So the reason why the Organization has anything to do with the Chosen Children, aside from their mission (again, never really explained) is that Meiko's father works for them - yay! More Mary-Sue points!  The only things that they do definite is join Yggrasil through Maki on the account of a lost friendship and deliberately withhold information from anyone that might be wondering where the 02 children were.

Here is where I'll give points to all of this: Himekawa Maki and Nishijima Daigo being two of the Original Chosen Children before the appearance of who we know to the Chosen Children was a good touch.  It gave Maki a personal motive to push the reset and Daigo a reason to hesitate, because he always seemed to have the best interest of the Chosen Children in mind despite his orders.

In mention of what I said before, of course Yggrasil would abuse Maki's desires in order to get his end game: that's typical bad-guy behavior.  However, out of everything else that isn't made clear, why would Yggrasil want the reset, or at least allow it to happen?  Did he just want to dwindle the power of the Chosen Children, but to no avail?  Was he counting on the reset giving all the memories to Meicoomon so she'll become too strong even for the Megas?

To put it plainly, this is just another pool of plot holes... but at least they tried to make it interesting...

The Secret of Nimh

The Secret of NIMH

The Secret of NIMH II: Timmy to the Rescue

Strange Dream

The dream was basically about me being able to know the future and being ignored by the people involved in said future... all the Disney princess and their princes (although I oddly remember only Cinderella).  Because they ignored me, they think it's my fault, so they tried to kill me.  At the end of it all, I remember being in a white building (also capable of turning people into portraits, I think) going on this spew about because they didn't listen to me, I was going to allow the ill-fate to happen to them.

Thoughts on Tri: 02 Children

SPOILERS

Can I be the first to say that I think Toe Animation, or at least the people who were on the board for making Digimon Tri, had some kind of consuming hatred for the second team?

If you want to see any and all appearances of the 02 kids, prepare to be amazed!

I KID YOU NOT! THIS IS REALLY ANY AND ALL SCENES THAT THE 02 KIDS HAVE!

Toe Animation has proven that they've been able to animate a lot better than what they did in the past, so why wouldn't they possibly animate these kids beyond mere shadows?  My best guess is that they were either too lazy or simply didn't want want to.

A friend told me that a lot of the West hate the 02 kids with a passion.  What irritates me is that not only has Toe Animation made a story based upon the most popular fanbase, but did it by throwing characters under the buss and giving them the middle finger, all while doing this by belittling them to nothing more than shadows.

On one hand, I get it, okay?  There's only so many characters that can be on set at a time, least you wouldn't have glorified rehashes like Kung Fu Panda 3.  However, if they had at least animated them, then it would have made their absence borderline bearable, okay?

Toe Animation obviously hates what they did in Digimon Adventure 02, but did you really have to be so obvious about it?

In speaking of being obvious, in ironic/potential hate towards Digimon Adventure 02, am I the only one who thinks that they are guilty of just repeating what they did in the past?  I kid you not, instead of an awesome battle scene with Omnimon Merciful Mode, they just have him slash a the screwed over Meicoomon just like how Imperialdramon Paladin Mode did with Diablomon when he became Armagemon.

If you don't believe me, I'll be more than glad to share both scenes with you: read em' and weep.

Moving on...

Thoughts on Tri: The Chosen Children

SPOILERS

The Chosen Children

Might as well cover them all at once.

八神 太一 Yagami Taichi

And so, our Fearless Leader... or, well... more like Fearful Leader

Apparently everyone has a small problem that they need to deal with throughout Digimon Tri, which I think contributes to their evolution somehow (the never explained "looking into the darkness and going beyond it" prophecy)... and the problem is that while everyone else can get over theirs in a couple of episodes, it takes Taichi the entire series to get over his.

So what's the big issue that requires the entire series for him to get in knots about?

Taichi has issues about being a Chosen Child, or at least the repercussions of being a Chosen Child.  When they were in the Digital World, they didn't really think too much about the destruction of property.  Now that all the battles are in the human world, he's hesitant to continue his role as leader, which is basically what the whole "the more I grow up, the less I understand" stuff is all about.

Now, in a way, I think I get where Toe Animation was going with this.  However, all of this is really out of the blue - there was nothing except the after effects of all this that explains why Taichi is feeling this way.  Maybe if he and the other Chosen Children gave a crap about where the 02 kids were the whole time, then I would get why even the most inkling bit of fear would suddenly arise from the one who bore the Crest of Courage.

To put it plainly, Taichi really strays from what he represents, and just like Meiko, he comes in right at the last minute.

In speaking of Meiko, what the heck is going on with this TaichixMeiko ship?  Why was Toe Animation even pushing for that ship, or any ship at all with either Taichi or Meiko?  Throughout the whole freaking anime, both characters are clearly emotionally unstable.  Sure, they are there for each other, and that's endearing to an extent, but what does that say about their relationship?  Do they constantly have to be in turmoil in order to be okay for each other?  Heck, the Taichi that Meiko met wasn't even really Taichi, but an emo counterpart.  To add insult to injury, I cannot think of anything under any circumstances that Meiko was actually a help to Taichi - it was always the other way around.

So basically Taichi wasn't himself, and that TaichixMeiko ship needs to sink like the Titanic.

  石田 ヤマト Ishida Yamato

I think that out of all the characters in Tri, Yamato was the most susceptible to this hollow plot.

Truth is, out of everyone else, next to a few other characters, he was the one I most agreed with.

My biggest issue is that he was only himself when the plot called for it, such as how he was the only one to confront Himekawa about where the 02 kids were, although even then that didn't lead anywhere.  The only thing that it all seemed to lead to is him eventually becoming leader for a very brief amount of time (I'm glad Taichi doesn't die, alright?).

武之内 空 Takenouchi Sora

As a whole, Sora being a mediator isn't really annoying - I mean, this is her childhood friend and her boyfriend that are usually doing the arguing, so it makes a lot of sense.  However, she seems to be one of the top two people of choice when it comes to rushing to Meiko's aid.  Now, as characters, not doing this would totally be out of character (and it's a breath of fresh air how Sora tries even a little bit to encourage Meiko to be stronger) but I still find it annoying anyway.

The only other thing I can think of that I found really annoying is how Sora's the victim of a love triangle that I thought was settled in Digimon Adventure 02... you know, the Taiora/Sorato triangle... and sure, this part of the plot fades away as if to pretend it didn't exist, but it did, and we're calling out Toe Animation for that.

泉 光子郎, Izumi Kōshirō  

I really didn't have a problem with Izumi in Digimon Tri - in fact, aside from that temporary crush he had on Mimi (that also faded into nothing because, idk, fanbase?), Izumi was super cool.  My only issue regarding Izumi is how little the team thinks of him as a whole.  Sure, he gets briefly mentioned, and I think they take him a little bit more seriously now, but it's still not all that great.  Even when Joe forces him to get some sleep, Sora is the only one to call and Taichi briefly mentions him to Meiko in hopes she'll talk in Confession.  Even after all this, Meiko never apologizes him.

Look, I get it, alright?  Izumi isn't one of the top three Chosen Children and he's too level-headed for drama.  I just think that even from the beginning, he's been underrated, and I'll just leave it at that.

太刀川 ミミ Tachikawa Mimi

城戸 丈 Kido Jō  

Truth is, I don't really have any problems worth mentioning about these two.  Their star scenes were in Determination and they played it really well.  I can go into another spew about how inconsiderate the team has been as whole, but I won't.  The only thing I will say is that for someone who bore the Crest of Sincerity, Mimi really lacks in that department to anyone else except Meiko.

  高石 タケル Takaishi Takeru 

Takeru as a character isn't really bad, but I think he's also a victim of plot, as what happened in Digimon Adventure 01 repeated again on a larger scale... you know... because of the virus.

八神 ヒカリ Yagami Hikari

Hikari seems to be her usual self, but the only thing that confuses me is why she said she couldn't forgive Taichi in the end when he returned to his original self.  It might have been a compassion thing, but still.

I'll save how I feel about the 02 kids for another post

Thoughts on Tri: Meicoomon

WARNING! SPOILERS!

Did you guys honestly think I wouldn't have something to say about this character?

Sorry I do, but let's start with the nice stuff, okay?

Let's not kid ourselves - this little Digimon is cute, and I mean really cute.  I'd cuddle Meicoomon with how adorable she is.  Like her human Mary-Sue counterpart, she's as ignorant as she is sincere.

However, under all of this adorable fluffiness is a dark secret - apparently she has a piece of Apocalymon inside of her, which I'm guessing is why she goes crazy and makes others go crazy.  Truth is, this isn't made clear, as the power to make other Digimon go insane was never done by Apocalymon in Digimon Adventure 01 without the use of some kind of aid, such as the Black Gears.  Maybe the lack of numbers is the reason why it's more concentrated, for a lack of better term? I don't know.

What is made clear is that the reason why she's so overly-powerful is because of all the memories she made with Meiko and eventually becomes the embodiment of the memories the other Digimon had with their respective partners.  This actually raises more questions, such as the fact that the other Chosen Children have had their partners almost as long as Meiko had Meicoomon, if not longer, so why didn't their memories count when it came to strength, and how were they able to evolve before Meicoomon released said memories to the others?  Is it because Meiko and Meicoomon were constantly around each other to make memories, unlike the other Chosen Children who had to be separated from their partners more than once?  Are some memories stronger than others?  Do bad memories make a Digimon stronger or weaker?  The terrible plot that was more concerned about drama is exactly why I've tried very hard not to dive too deep into this thing until now.

Universe-speaking, all of the things wrong with Meicoomon is, in truth, out of her control.  She really couldn't help being born with the data that she was born from, and that almost makes me feel sorry for her.  The problem is that when you throw in Meiko's tropes, it makes the only thing that's genuine about the new characters less endearing.  Honestly, if Meiko had been more attentive about Meicoomon in a less "whoa is me" way, then it would have made getting rid of Meicoomon a lot more believable.

Yeah, I suppose that's the biggest spoiler of all... Meicoomon actually dies...

So I suppose I feel sorry for her more than any dislike I have towards her?  I mean, she's more of a puppet than anything... really... =.=

Moving on...

Thoughts on Tri: Meiko Mochi-SUE-ki

SPOILERS & LEGIT TRIGGER WARNING!

Trigger warning for the fact that I am going to be talking about my life, which will contain potentially sensitive material to those who have experienced similar things, if not the same exact things.

 

I went into a crazy spew on Tumblr some time after the release of Confession, primarily focusing on how inclined I was to be irritated at Meiko's behavior, especially towards Izumi.  Just so you don't have to read the extended version of what I had to say there, I'll only bring up what's important in this.  However, if you insist on reading the whole thing, click right here.

Before I get into why I don't like Mochizuki Meiko, I'll admit that there are a few good traits to this character.  I sincerely doubt that there wouldn't be a whole #MeikoDefenseWeek if there wasn't something that people found appealing about her.

Let's not kid ourselves: Meiko is cute, shy, and nice.  She's also pretty smart too, least she wouldn't have been as helpful to Mimi during the school festival.  Whenever Meicoomon really loses her shit, Meiko comes running, even though she ends up not really being much help and having to get saved by Yamato multiple times and by Taichi once in the last installment.  The point I'm trying to make is that she's also super caring, especially about her partner.  These points about Meiko I suppose is what makes her appealing, and all reasonably so.

Now putting aside the obvious fact that her personality is the average Original Character, I can almost see the appeal of this character.
Truth is, there isn't any girl like her in the Digimon Adventure series, as most of the girls are strong-headed to some degree or another.  In a way, I'm assuming this dramatic change in personality was supposed to be a breath of fresh air.  In fact, I'll even dare say that this constant state of feeling weak only to come out strong in the end is supposed to be this great inspiring thing for people who couldn't relate to Digimon until now, especially people who hide in a bashful shell, although that bashful shell (from my experience) has lead me to believe that (nine times out of ten) it is only a mask to hide something else that is the polar opposite of true bashfulness.
If Meiko is not some representation of some part of the fanbase, then I'm guessing she is the embodiment of some sick fantasy, probably from a typical OC, and everyone said that it was okay.

So how is it possible for me to admit all of this and still not like her character that much, but still like similar characters of personality like Kuronuma Sawako from Kimi ni Todoke?
Because it's not endearing - in Sawako's case, her shyness didn't really stop her from trying to help the people she was around.  Even though she helped out from time to time trembling, Sawako did it anyway and everything worked out one way or another.  In Meiko's case, she is silent and more overwhelmed by feelings than trying to contribute to the best interests of the team. When things go wrong, she blames herself for it, and the sad truth is that she is to blame to an extent: she refused to take responsibility and open up to the team about the important things they needed to know (in Confession, it was about Meicoomon being the source of the virus) and all of this in the name of... I don't know... drama? 
If Meiko had been more like Sawako, then I would have been more inclined to like her, and might have given into the idea of pairing her with Taichi.  However, the fact is that Meiko's shyness is not only not endearing, but saying that it's annoying is putting it nicely.

Now I know some of you might be trying to argue at this point that you don't need a reason to be friends with someone.  That's true, and the supportive nature of the others (especially Sora and Mimi) really shows how good friends they are, but the silence from Meiko's end tells you things about her character and that she's perfectly fine with the other Chosen Children suffering - just as long as she can beat herself up over it in the end.  Now thankfully, this becomes less and less of an issue, but it's prevalent throughout the entire anime.

I also said in that Tumblr post that I sympathized with Meiko, and I still do.  However, there are just certain behaviors that I am guilty of that not only do I not like about myself, but see very plainly in this character.

Remember when I said there was a trigger warning?  I meant that in the most medical sense I know how, since it is used in the medical field for situations that I'm about to talk about, and not what the internet has made it out to be.  Nonetheless, you have been warned.
 
You see, while on the outside I looked to have a pretty normal childhood, I did not.  The most that I will go into this is that I was emotionally neglected (I'll even dare say emotionally abused, but you get the picture) in which I thought at the time to be completely normal. 
I only bring this up to point out what I had allowed it to become in my life: selfishness.
You see, when you lack something in your life, you try to use your own means to make up for that loss - that's just how the human brain (and even emotion) works.  Perhaps I didn't see it at the time, but now I see that the reason why I was so inclined to make sure I wasn't hurt again (and perhaps to make sure that my own emotional needs were catered to in some fashion or another) was because of this inward fear that if I didn't do it, no on else would do it for me.  Thankfully, I have matured enough past that stage and now walk the road to care more about others than something as petty as my own emotional needs.

Meiko, though hard to see at ground level (and maybe not even intentionally), is constantly selfish throughout Digimon Tri, or at least allows selfishness to manifest throughout the story because, I don't know, she Mrs. Sweet and Gentle and for more drama?  I already pointed out how she sometimes runs into the danger, and I think that was for unnecessary dramatic effect, but there were plenty of other things that displays how selfish Meiko really is, and it was the most obvious to me during Confession.

So how exactly is this possible?  Izumi starts questioning Meiko after Meicoomon kills Leomon and jumps through a distortion.  Mimi criticizes Izumi not for questioning Meiko, but how he was going about it, since he was making her cry, probably because the loss of her partner by that point was so overwhelming and perhaps rightly so because, as the story suggests, this chick never had to engage in any kind of battle with Meicoomon until the events in Digimon Tri.

This was all fine and dandy to me... until Taichi tries to encourage Meiko to tell Izumi anything she might know... only to be shot down by Mimi.

Meiko says later on in that very scene that she needs to apologize to Izumi, but what irritates me is the fact that she never does.  If she had at least done that, it would have made the fact that she never tells him the most critical information in Digimon Tri a little more bearable.  I kid you not, because of Meiko's deliberate choice to refuse taking action and telling Izumi the very detail everyone needs to know, Izumi is forced to take extreme measures by tirelessly going through any and all data he might have to get some lead on something that could have been easily resolved through simple communication, as all teammates should be able to do, especially after knowing each other for six years.  Even though Meiko just started out, I'm surprised Taichi was the only one that encouraged her to say something, and even then in that one scene alone, almost as if Meiko's thoughtlessness rubs off on everyone else.

Now how do I know this could have been easily resolved through verbal communication? Because just before the other children go to the Digital World, Meiko tells Takeru!

And I'm just sitting here wondering, "WHY COULDN'T YOU HAVE DONE THAT BEFORE!?"

Oh, but we wouldn't have had more drama and more filler if Meiko had told Izumi straight out about Meicoomon.  Besides, it's fine because Izumi remembers something that helps with his Mega evolution! 🙃

Yeah right... 😡

After some thought, and a little research, I realized that there was another detail in the midst that I didn't give much thought to until now that has the strongest connection to Meiko's unintentional selfishness: the establishment of guilt.

In bittersweet irony, I can honestly say that I can relate to Meiko here too.  Remember the emotional neglect/abuse I told you about?  Well, common sense and basic psychology points to victims forming a sense of guilt over these things, as if telling themselves not only is it their fault without any real proof, but eventually believe it like second nature if no one picks up on the issue and talk them out of it.

Meiko, throughout the entire anime, beats herself up over Meicoomon's outrages like it's her fault.  Yes, she made the memories with Mecioomon, but it was a past enemy of the Chosen Children that was responsible for screwing Meicoomon over in the first place.  To a degree, I understand the guilt, but for someone who's supposed to be smart, she lacks common sense to put these together and be strong for her partner. 
The messed up thing about all of this is that such people do exist, as I too had a point in my life where was was intellectually inclined but lacked common sense.  This is another trait I shared with Meiko I find distasteful now, at least in the department of belittled common sense.
Is she constantly putting herself under this pressure because she doesn't know what to do?  Is she doing this because this is all she can do?  I sometimes can't help but wonder if Meiko is also mentally ill in some degree, and they never address that through the anime because it wouldn't fit the dramatic narrative and their perverted idea of love for Taichi.

The more I keep thinking about all these things concerning Meiko, the more I see a lot of who I used to be back when I had depression that was never diagnosed and just cringe at it.  Meiko's a sweet girl, don't get me wrong, but she's so freaking helpless in this anime, and I suppose that's what I can't stand.  All Meiko does is cry, feel sorry for herself, and do the right thing at the last minute: I feel like I've heard the same thing somewhere with a vampire romance.

I suppose what I'm trying to say about relating to Meiko is that its all the wrong things: cowardice, selfishness, ignorance, and emotionally responding to situations rather than common sense.

Some of you might be asking yourself at this point about why I'm not the least bit inspired by this character, despite sharing so many similarities.  The fact is, all of her character development is put on the back burner until the last minute.  Every time someone told her to cheer up, she didn't seem to be the least bit encouraged, and maybe under reasonable circumstances, but it also proves how Meiko really doesn't trust the team, much less herself.  Given all the details I mentioned before, it makes sense, but what about the common sense of it not really helping the situation?  Was she even meant to help the situation at all and just be the poor sweet little victim?  I don't know... I really don't know.

Above all this, and to put insult to injury, Meiko's emotional "improvement" is not only very late in the anime but it's not that much.

Excuse me if I sound super cold when I say this, but I think her losing her partner in the end was an improvement, as I couldn't bring myself to feel sorry for her because she's been a coward throughout most of the anime.  Don't mistaken this as me not feeling sorry for Meicoomon herself, as Meicoomon was, in fact, the real victim here.
Not even the memories she shared with her partner encouraged her in the slightest to do what she could except run in at the worst of times, and that alone is appalling because it was the memories she made with Meicoomon and the memories of the others that made Meicoomon so insanely powerful in the first place, at least aside from the virus... and the weird power that suddenly flows from Meiko's digivice that is responsible for the inevitable evolution of Omnimon: Merciful Mode.

I'm sorry, but the fact is that Meiko Mochizuki is a huge Mary Sue: she was a Sue at the very beginning with her over the top cute nerdy-ness and has remained a Sue for the rest of Digimon Tri because the best she has ever done is cry and feel sorry either about herself or how she thinks its her fault, but at least she was right about that (again, to an extent).  All of this wrapped up in not taking the opportunities to help when she clearly was the only who could do anything, and you have the new and main star of the show: the drama queen Meiko Mochi-Sue-ki.

In speaking of being a drama queen, am I the only one who thinks it's odd that Meiko's emotions are better animated than anyone else?

The only good thing that I can think of right now is the fact that every other Chosen Child can easily take Mochizuki Meiko if she is approached as a cautionary tale.  You see, she had all the power because of she had all the memories, but she was poorly balanced in experience, and ended up becoming a hindrance (and inevitably evil) because of it.

...Now if you'll excuse me, I better back away from this again before I get another headache.

Thoughts on Tri: The Little Things Wrong

Now it's time to dive back into this glorified rehash.

As usual, be prepared for spoilers:

If you haven't seen Digimon Tri by now, click this link,

otherwise, it's your own fault if you get disappointed that I talk about spoilers.

For the sake of my sanity, and so I don't have to go over this too terribly much, I'm going to dive into the smaller bad things first.  No need to make separate posts about these things if there isn't a lot to say about it, right?

In fact, why don't we just jump right into that - the general lack of plot in this anime.

Seriously! Not only is the plot terribly slow, but it has the audacity to use the first two minutes of episodes by repeating the last two minutes of the episode that came before it! 

Can Toe Animation please explain to me how anyone will be able to binge this crap if the plot is being replayed back again and again?  I'd like to hear what the directors have to say about this, as they didn't think about what people might think if they bother to watch this thing again, or decide to binge one day and think this might be a good watch.

Just for the record, this would not be one of those animes worth binging - in fact, if you want to relieve someone of the addiction of binge watching, I'd recommend you sit them down and make them watch Digimon Tri all the way through without stop - the repetition in this anime should break said addiction.

The only thing time wise that was just as annoying as the pace of this anime was the transformation sequences.  Yes, I did say that the animation was better, but did they have to waste as much as they did on evolution?

Look, I get it if you're introducing the next stage of evolution for the first time, it's for dramatic effect, but must you do this every time they evolve?  I'm not kidding! From what I can remember, and except until some of the sixth installment and that one time in Determination, they make the audience sit down and watch all of the Digimon evolve into each stage of evolution!

Imagine having to do this half a million times and a lot of drama and that's Digimon Tri for you.

Thankfully, I can say that they tried to soften the blow by throwing all of the sequences together into one scene.

I'm not sorry to say this, but despite how cool the transformations are, I got annoyed with the fact that it got in the way of the time that could have been spent fighting.

It's time to repeat what I said before in an earlier post I made on Tumblr:

THERE'S THIS THING CALLED WARP EVOLUTION, WHY DIDN'T YOU USE THAT!?!?

I don't care if you had to change the animation, alright?  Heck, you could've thrown all of the evolutions together in a "team evolution" sequence - just quit with putting more time into transformations than you needed to.  It might have been cute in Sailor Moon to do that, but not with Digimon.  Personally, I think the creators finally realized how annoying it was getting in the final installment, stopping midway in transformations and didn't bother to fix what was wrong because of deadlines and stuff.

Then there's the drama - my goodness, the drama!  I kid you not - there was more drama then there was Digimon actually going at each other to fix said problem!  To add insult to injury, it was as if Toe Animation was purely counting on everyone being so excited about Digimon Adventure coming back, that it gave the middle finger to the plot itsef and milked as much drama out of the characters as it could while doing it.

In addition to this, and it's probably my personally my own opinion, but Jesmon and Raguelmon? Really? I've already considered it odd enough to make one Christian reference to Jesus, but two!? Geez...

If there's any other minor things that I can think of beyond this, there might be an update or just a point for something else.

Until the next post.

Thoughts on Tri: The Decent Stuff

Thoughts on Tri

Part 1: The Decent Stuff

WARNING! SPOILERS!

Now that Digimon Tri has finally reached its bitter end, and the fact that I've seen all the episodes, I feel comfortable talking about my true colors about this crap that tries to pass off as a reboot of one of my childhood favorites.

For those who haven't seen this garbage yet, but yet want to without being given any potential spoilers, please reference to the top of either this post and click the link to the episode list and/or proceed to leave this blog immediately, as I will only have a short grace period before I will give spoilers without pity.

At the moment, the only spoilers I will not hesitate to give immediately is what little good that came from this, and that's being nice to what I have in store.  I'm mainly starting out with the decent material for a number of reasons.

1. I'm fully aware that you can't please everyone.  As someone who's worked in customer service for years, I know what it's like to never being able to please everyone because everyone has their own thoughts and opinions.  Everyone is allowed to speak how they feel, and I'm merely exercising my right to do so on a blog that I specifically designed to express my artwork and express how I feel about the artwork of others.
2. To prevent myself from getting too pissed at this anime, I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt where it is due.  As a fan of Digimon Adventure, I was looking forward to Digimon Tri just like anyone else.  However, weither it be my own expectations or just the general result of what I allowed myself to wait for, I was generally disappointed, and I'd rather not shred this thing up too bad like I had hoped CinemaSins would do with the Bee Movie.
3. As I have made too evident, there's a lot wrong with Digimon Tri, and I'd rather start off on the right foot at least and I have plenty of energy running through me thanks to the energy drink I had to keep me through work.

 

📺 Animation 📺

Perhaps it was the first thing I was skeptical about when I first heard that Digimon Tri was coming out, but to be fair, I was only going by the poster when I made that decision.  It wasn't until I saw the first episode in action that I was actually pretty happy with the animation, as it made the poster look terrible in comparison.  Giving it more thought as the episodes went along, I realized it made sense that their eyes looked "weird" - I mean, they were legit teenagers now.  They were more like Chosen Teenagers than Chosen Children, so I grew more and more okay with the animation as a whole.  Perhaps with the actual year gap between Digimon Adventure 02 and Digimon Tri (not universe-wise) then it would make sense for there to be a big improvement.  Thanks for at least doing that right.

🗡️ Battle Sequences 🗡️

My goodness the fighting in this anime is a lot better than their universe predecessors!  Sure, the battle scenes start to suck with each passing episode and do eventually go back to being the same level as said predecessors but at least their noticeably better for a brief time!  Excuse me if I sound mean when I say this, but if they had put as much thought into the battle sequences as they did the drama in this anime, then it would have made Digimon Tri far more bearable to watch.

🎤 Music 🎤

Perhaps this is personal taste speaking, but I think the remake of the original song was a lot better.  Sure, they play the song half a million times (#exaggerating) but it just came off as being catchy, which is a breath of fresh air.  Most of the other songs followed suit in also being catchy but only a couple come back to mind as I write this.  The only one I don't care much for was the ending song for the last couple of episodes.

I'm sorry if you expected more than that but that's really all I can think of right now.  Sure, if Lord permits, I'll add more as I think of them but that's really it.

Now I'm going to go off and dive right back into this mess that's called and anime.

Until you see the link below to navigate to future posts, the grace period has begun. 
However, if you must have more of my tangents, I have a bunch of old thoughts that I wrote along with each release of the episodes, so most of them are out of date in accuracy.