#[I wish the games would give him consistent characterization]

[cxldtyrant]

@long-haired-hottie asked: What are Cooler's thoughts on Saiyans? Are they just barbarians his father lifted from the stones to do his dirty work? Does he agree with Frieza's attempts to completely eradicate them? Does he hope to see a resurgence so he can make use of them in a less overt way?

Initially, when I first started with Cooler, I kind of made him an amalgamation of characteristics from not only the movies, but other forms of media such as the videogames, which did end up exaggerating his hatred for Saiyans to be on par with Freeza. Much as I disliked the exaggeration because it felt too closely aligned with Freeza's personality, I attempted to spin it in a different way: that if Cold had given the Saiyans to Cooler, he would have killed them instantly rather than let them linger for a few years of servitude due to seeing them as a threat to his family's empire. That he recalled the words of warning from his ancestor Chilled, and that rather than risk their threat, he would have eliminated them right away despite their potential. And to him, they do have plenty of potential to be sufficient soldiers and generals for the Cold Empire due to their combat experience. But Cooler, in my mind, is pragmatic. He does not toy with his enemies and will kill anyone he deems a threat. If his ancestor, who was killed by a Saiyan, deemed them dangerous, then he was going to treat them as such and eliminate them.

But then the Dragon Ball Heroes anime and manga came out and showed that Cooler could have a decent enough partnership with Saiyans if he saw the benefit in it. And then XenoVerse 2 came out and if a Saiyan sides with him in the power struggle against Freeza, Cooler tells them they can go ahead and repopulate their race and will leave their planet alone. And then Dragon Ball FighterZ came out and in a team quote with Bardock he states that he was more than willing to let Bardock get his revenge against Freeza (despite the fact that Freeza losing at all is the reason he goes after Goku!).

Let me tell you, my brain broke because it was getting a bit more troublesome to find a middle-ground with all forms of characterization for Cooler given all the inconsistencies. Which is mainly my fault for even trying, but considering how little content we have of him, I was trying to work with what I had. I was tempted not to tweak anything further out of spite.

However, I did end up tweaking some things with Cooler's feelings in regards to the Saiyans. Not just because of the aforementioned examples above, but also because of @risingsouls since Cooler and Turles ended up developing a partnership in universal conquest as a means of overthrowing Freeza, and I really enjoy their dynamic. I think Cooler still deems the Saiyans as a threat overall and loses no sleep in their eradication, but he can be made to see reason if there is an advantage in keeping certain survivors around. He's ruthlessly pragmatic, but that doesn't always mean violence as he can see sparing others as potentially beneficial for himself and his empire. But if he can't, he'll simply exterminate them.

[violetlunette]

Twst spoilers for Book 7 and playful land

Just a heads up I’m going to be discussing the only actual "villain" in TWST and why his characterization bothers me. Also, keep in mind this is for the games only.

Okay, I’m slowly putting together why Henrique’s design and characterization bothers me story-wise and I think I figured it out.

It’s because his portrayal goes against things TWST set up: that no one is a “villain” and their crimes can be overlooked, no matter what.

The Overblots boys are a prime example of this, namely Azul and the Tweels who tricked their entire dorm and several other students into dodgy, immoral contracts that essentially turned them into slaves (and, I believe, gave the trio the “right” to literally beat them, but don’t quote me on that last part). However, after his contracts are burned and he recovers from over blotting, everything seems forgotten with no consequences.

And it’s not just the main cast either, it’s the side foes as well.

Eliza kidnapped Idia and was going to give him the literal kiss of death to fuel her delusions and wish for a “happy marriage.” Yet she is portrayed comically and a minor inconvenience even though, again, she was going to murder Idia.

Rollo used an ancient flower to steal magic from mages causing havoc for the city and endangering everyone, but gets no official punishment. In fact, no one other than the main cast knows he was behind it.

Even Fellow and Gidel, who were fucking human traffickers and who submitted people to fates worse than death, weren’t portrayed as villains. They were antagonists and a threat, but not "villains." And in the end they dance off into the sunset to start a school without even a call out for their sins.

While I personally hated this theme—as I just hate the easily forgiven trope in general--I can’t deny that the writers were consistent in how they handled all the antagonists in the game.

As terrible as their actions were, they were given humanizing traits and had their acts hand waved at the end. (Mostly, anyway. Jamil’s rep apparently took a blow but nothing major.) The writers had a theme and they stuck to it. Then Henrique appears.

Henrique is the only actual villain in TWST without any sympathetic traits or attractive features. He is just presented as a fat, stupid, irredeemable bastard. And while it’s a change of pace, it’s also an inconsistency within TWST.

With every other for they are presented as hot, or at least cute. I mean, look at them;

Even the side villains are cute in a way;

And look at Henrique;

See how the pattern has been thrown? The only other ones that might be deemed “uncute” are Gantu, the Trick or Treaters, and the ghosts. (YMMV)

And then, these guys aren’t seen as villains, just obstacles. Henrique, on the other hand is presented as being the old stereotypical villain twst has always steered clear from.

Appearance aside, his personality is shown to be prideful, gluttonous, greedy, and manipulative who plays on people’s emotions to get what he wants. And there are no sympathetic traits shown to balance those out which, again, goes against everything that had been presented before.

For example; even though Eliza wants to MURDER Idia, we see that she is beloved by her people and we are told that the reason she’s the way she is is because she never got to fulfill her dream of a perfect wedding due to being invaded and murdered that day.

Another one is Rollo. Although, he causes a lot of harm, the audience sees that this is a trauma response due to losing his younger brother who misused magic.

Now, the reason for this MIGHT be because when we see Henrique it’s in Lilia’s dream.

Yes, it's all Lilia’s memories but they’re being brought to the surface by Malleus’ spell which, as we saw in other dreams such as Epel’s, has interesting effects. Therefore it’s possible that Henrique wasn’t completely one dimensional or the only ugly person in the story. After all, Lilia would have bias pov against the man who lead the Silver Owls to invade his homeland. In reality, Henrique could have been handsome, just a bit beefy and he could had “sympathetic” reasons that Lilia wasn’t aware of. But alas, that’s theory.

As of now, we have to take it at face value that Henrique was a pathetic, nonredeemable man whose hideousness is reflected inside and out. And whose characterization conflicts with TWST’s theme.

Another reason is that it could be because Henrique wasn’t the main antagonist; The Knight of the Dawn was.

After all, he slayed Malleus’ parents and led the Silver Owls to invade. Therefore, the Knight was the main villain of Lilia’s and Henrique was just the villainous force pushing him, like Riddle’s mom in book 1 and the owners of the carnival in the Playful Land event. But in that case the writers should have kept Henrique faceless and off screen just like the other two examples. However, I acknowledge that would be harder as Henrique plays a more hands on role than the other two. In which case, he probably should of had a helmet on. That way it keeps up the theme of actual “villains” being faceless.

Don’t misunderstand, I’m NOT saying justice for the bastard.

As stated, he was a prideful, greedy bastard that manipulated others emotionally to get wanted. He single-handedly started a war using the fear people had for the fae and manipulated the Knight of the Dawn through his devotion to Leah and the king, all to get Malenore’s amber. He had no empathy for those around him and cared not for the people who were hurt because of him. He even bragged about wanting to use Malleus as a stead after they killed his mother. Oh, and there’s the whole stealing resources and invading a foreign land thing.

Henrique was a bastard and a villain through and through. And because of that, he out of place here.

He doesn’t fit the story or pattern of villains shown before. He doesn’t fit TWST’s theme. His character doesn’t belong.

Am I over thinking it? Obviously. But like I said, it just bothers me from a story perspective. Sure I’m misunderstanding something and I’m sure others will point it out. This post is just to sort my thoughts as I’m trying to figure out what bugs me about Henrique’s portrayal. If anyone has similar thoughts, pleas share.

[lemonhemlock]

Adding to your nuanced discussion regarding Sara Hess. Although I have no personal vendetta against her orientation like some of these unhinged freaks, and can fully acknowledge her merit as a screenwriter when working within her area of expertise, I must admit that on the other hand, her bias against certain characters is sort of off-putting. The interviews that she did explaining her thoughts and feelings about Daemon (a character I personally dislike) as well as the decision (whether it was hers or not) to make Aegon the Elder a rapist, did have an effect on how I view her relationship to ASOIAF. The "civilians don't count" comment reeked of such flippancy that it only furthered my skepticism. I don't know that I would call it "unprofessional" but it does make me annoyed in the same manner I would be whenever engaging with a work of fiction wherein the author clearly hates a character and goes out of their way to paint them in a negative light. It's even worse when you remember that these are GRRM's characters and however limited their descriptions may be in Fire & Blood, it still requires a level of maturity to put aside one's own biases in favor of keeping their characterization consistent. Am I being too harsh? Does this even make any sense? Feel free to critique.

It is genuinely so annoying when you can sense authorial bias emanating through the text, whether positive or negative, and it betrays an immaturity of craft. I have to take my hat off to GRRM here, because, as annoying as his boner for Daemon is, he does give Daemon plenty of unsavory traits and does narratively punish him. Not once in Fire & Blood is the reader invited to consider how poor Daemon was just a misunderstood scapegoat and never deserved the things that happened to him.

Considering Daemon as a whole, I think it's fair to say he is the type of character that GRRM wrote out of self-indulgence and just because he thought him >cool<. Which is honestly fair game - he is a secondary character in a background story and has no true bearing on the main series. I think he is allowed a little fanboyish service to his own preferences in a whole saga that spans thousands of pages.

However, when you make it the main story, you have to take a little care so that your biases don't make the end product look like wish fulfillment fanfiction. And, for all their posturing that Daemon is not a good person and how shocked they are he has so many fans, both Sara Hess and Ryan Condal have never given Daemon the same treatment they've reserved for the greens. Daemon is whitewashed in the show compared to his book!counterpart and, even when he pulls his fair share of shit, he never gets punished in the same way Alicent, Aemond or Aegon do (and for far less grievous crimes, too).

What consequences does Daemon face exactly at the end of Season 2? He's spent the entire season trying to mount an alternative claim to the throne to Rhaenyra, yet she immediately takes him back when they reunite. They made Blood & Cheese a misunderstanding to make him less culpable, even had Helaena guide him in a vision. Even Alys Rivers is just trying to help him get on the right path. They nerfed Nettles, so, unless they'll turn Rhaena into his mistress in Season 3 (which they don't have the balls for), they've pretty much removed any source of conflict between him and Rhaenyra. He'll go to his death secure in his marriage and fighting for >the greater good<, whereas the greens have had their family unit completely disintegrated with nonsensical narrative choices.

I just fail to see how that is balanced. How that is a "both sides = bad" narrative. The favouritism is so blatant; they're not even trying. If this were a Disney spin-off, no one would care to criticise such blatant bias, but Ryan and Sara are out there pretending they're making prestige television.

[fillingthescrapbook]

Let's Talk About: A Meeting of Misfits

It's the season premiere of Misfits and Magic Season 2--and I'm recapping and reacting and being petty against those people who are hating on the show because of the franchise that must not be named!

Yeah, I'm not above being petty. Especially in service of something that's made to bring joy. So let's crack in!

Right off the bat, the new mechanics is throwing me for a loop. I think it's something we need to see in action to understand better. Which is pretty par for course in terms of tabletop role-playing games in general. I trust Aabria completely though because A Court of Fey and Flowers remains one of my favorite Dimension 20 seasons. And it's pretty unconventional when it comes to mechanics.

Starting with Lou/Whitney Jammer and having him roll consistent 1s… is making me miss the Intrepid Heroes who would've definitely grabbed his dice to throw them away. That said, I do love the Magical Misfits even though the original season didn't grab me as much as other seasons of Dimension 20. Probably because I watched it when I was already disillusioned with "the franchise."

But having said that--this episode was amazing at getting us up to speed with what's happened with the cast of characters we got to know…and, unsurprisingly, it's done a better job at establishing a sequel that fits the mythology (and characterization) of the original. Which I add because I read the accursed sequel of "the franchise" and wish I could turn time back for that to stop myself. Because it truly lived up to its title being cursed.

Moving on though, to something that's actually good:

Aabria sets up the stakes beautifully in this episode. Although some bits do go one a little longer than I would have liked, I do feel like the players were allowed to play more since there's only four of them. I get the feeling, based on Aabria's other work, that she's more cognizant of giving everyone time opportunities when the player group's bigger. Like in her other D20 episodes, or non-D20 projects.

I'm very curious as to where Erika plans to take K's storyline with, what I assume, is a devolution for her character? There's complexities in the beginning of her journey that I fully don't grasp yet…but I am excited to see where it goes.

Lou and Danielle choosing to keep their characters very familiar--while also having subtle hints at things having changed--is easier to digest for me. It may have been three years for the players, but it's only been a few months for me. (I watched the original season after Junior Year and before Never Stop Blowing Up.) And Lou and Danielle's decision to make their characters seem static is playing better with my brain. (This could also be the lack of sleep and headache talking.)

As for Brennan and Evan Kelmp… What do I say about his character choices that won't rile up the group of people who think Brennan is hogging the spotlight?

Now, I wasn't a fan of Evan Kelmp in the original season. But it wasn't so much because of Brennan's portrayal or the focus that was unavoidably given to him. Brennan made a big swing when he created a character that would help move the series along. But Misfits and Magic, the original season, only had four episodes. Of course it would feel like Evan got too much of the spotlight. There wasn't a lot to go around with. That being the case, his character was important then…

And it's important now.

Brennan's choices that made Evan who he is allows the other players to play the characters they want to explore without having to think of the plot. They can focus on the character growth they wish to get into. And… Honestly? Without the Evan-K romance? I think I'm coming around to Evan.

So overall? I think the season premiere of Misfits and Magic 2 is pretty solid. The episode had everything: we had catch ups, we had an after-school program, we didn't wave away any problems that arose from the original season…and are actually tackling them head on now, we have Britain's Got Magic while magic is actively becoming chaotic, we had Tony Danza, and we have a talking rock. With eyes and a mouth.

Because of course Aabria is going to bring in a new kind of magic to the dome. It's tradition.

So to the people who are writing the show off because they think it is celebrating "the franchise?" Joke's on you because you're the one missing out on a show that has a better plot and a better grasp on its world. And it's being improv'd on the fly.

And just to make it clear--I no longer support "the franchise" too. Because FUCK TERFS.

[getvalentined]

What’s your opinions of the various ffvii compilation games?

Oh I am a huge proponent of the Compilation as a whole; I know that opinion is rare for someone who's been in the fandom from the beginning, but I'm an insufferable lore gremlin and I just eat up everything the series has to offer. I have three different copies of Advent Children (the original on DVD, ACC on DVD, and ACC on blu-ray) and even still watch Last Order on occasion.

The series itself is really fascinating and staggeringly consistent (I've talked about how the implied timeline of the Jenova Project as presented in-game is so consistent that it matches up with real-world human gestational science), with the exception of the FF7Re series—which I can deal with, since it's canonically on a different timeline and therefore any retcons there are literal in-universe retcons, which is pretty brilliant.

That said, I'mma put ratings for the pieces of the Compilation individually under a cut!

OG FF7: 9/10. would be 10/10 if the English localization were better. Where it all started, still one of my favorite games of all time.

Advent Children (+Complete): 8/10. Not a game, but part of the Compilation! Anyone who says the plot makes no sense doesn't realize that they're watching a sequel that relies very heavily on people understanding the history and characterization of every single character shown.

Last Order: 6.5/10. Also not a game, also part of the Compilation. Love that this is implied to literally be Tseng's coverup of what happened with Zack, presented in anime form. Makes no sense in multiple places as a result, but if you know that's what it is then you can 100% see why it's portrayed that way! Honestly I really enjoyed it and wish more people would appreciate it for what it is.

Dirge of Cerberus: 7/10. The gameplay kinda sucks but honestly the storyline is super good—or it would be, if the entire fucking prologue hadn't been cut from any release outside Japan, thereby leaving the entire issue with DeepGround completely unexplained to all other audiences. Once you know what is going on, the storyline here is fantastic, and I've never really forgiven SE for not releasing the rest of it. I love that Dirge fills in the lore for Vincent that was cut when he was relegated to "optional" in the OG, and that it also helps to clarify why Midgar could have 9 functional mako reactors while every other reactor in the world is either sputtering to nothing or exploding. (It's Omega. Midgar is built over Omega. It's the place where all lines of the Lifestream converge so that Omega can draw it all in and carry it away at the end of the world, and Shinra never discovered that's why the mako well there is so expansive. I love good worldbuilding, and Dirge is a beautiful example of that.)

Before Crisis: N/A. I want this game so bad man where is it give it to meeeee. Honestly tho I've watched playthroughs and read scripts where available, and while I don't think it looks like much fun from a modern gameplay perspective, I have huge respect for it as far as development goes. This is one of the first really mainstream mobile games ever made, it was made for flip phones, and it's super extensive! Also it gave me Veld, who is one half of my favorite ship ever, which means it automatically gets a 7/10 even if I've never played it.

Crisis Core (+Reunion): 9/10. As fun to play as the OG. When I first played this on PSP over a decade ago, it hit me with such an intense feeling of nostalgia that it almost took me off my feet. In spite of the dramatic difference between game mechanics in CC versus the OG, it felt exactly like playing the OG again, and that feeling never really left. Humanized Sephiroth in a beautiful way that pissed off a bunch of fanboys and made me fall in love with him all over again. Also introduced my second favorite FF7 character ever, Genesis, who is one half of one of my core FF7 ships, so A+ on that too!

FF7 Remake (+InterMISSION): 8/10. Had a lot of fun with this one, and it's beautiful, but it doesn't have a lot of replayability in my experience, which is a shame. Would have been 6 or 7/10 if not for InterMISSION, which was a fucking delight.

FF7 First SOLDIER: 6/10. This applies to both the Battle Royale and the title in Ever Crisis. I am not a fan of Glenn & Co. but I love 14 year old Sephiroth and really appreciate that extension of lore and worldbuilding, so it's a decent balance. I love that the opening cutscene for the battle royale literally filled a 20+ year old plot hole in under two minutes.

FF7 Rebirth: 9.5/10. The only things that could make me like this game more would be if Vincent were playable (although I understand why he's not and, in spite of him being my favorite fictional character ever, I agree with this decision), and fewer required minigames. Just cut like one or two. Or fix the controls, maybe. Glide de Chocobo is even more broken now that it's been patched.

[lurkingshan]

omggg can u break down taichi sagawa from i hear the sunspot!! 👀 i love that guy

Taichi... this is a bit of a sensitive spot for me because I feel like his show lost sight of who he was and failed him in the end. But I am going to focus on the Taichi of the first half of the series, because he was one of my favorite characters of the year.

How I feel about this character

I loved him instantly. His loud exuberance and open temperament were instantly appealing, and I loved that he always let his emotions come rushing out of his body, whether they were positive or negative. And that edge of melancholy that was always lurking underneath the surface made him feel grounded and not like a manic pixie.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

Only Kohei.

I liked how comfortable they were with each other and how happy they were just to sit and spend time together.

My non-romantic OTP for this character

I didn't feel like he had a platonic soulmate in the show, but I did appreciate Yasu and Yoko for always noticing when he was in a funk, catching on to how important Kohei was to him, and pushing him to stay in communication with Kohei even when things were awkward.

My unpopular opinion about this character

I feel like most people loved him. The only tension in the discourse was about the show's drop in quality, not really him as a character.

One thing I wish would happen/had happened with this character in canon

Oh lord, I could write a whole novel here. I wish his characterization had stayed consistent throughout, and he didn't suddenly lose the ability to communicate when that was always his strength. I wish we had gotten more insight into what his blockage was in recognizing his feelings for Kohei, and why he was so unable to cope. I wish instead of 6 weeks of floundering, we had gotten to see him be with Kohei and figure out how to make a relationship work as they figured out their futures. I wish I could rewrite the entire second half of his story, basically.

Give me a character ask game

[vanhelsingapologist]

//scuttles in

Hey you should totally talk about Kasimir

Kasimir And The Terrible Horrible No-Good Very Bad 400 Years

CW: Sororicide, Child Death, discussion of mental health, discussion on the nature of shame.

This is going to be so, so long. Disclaimer that this is our table's interpretation of Kasimir Velikov. Spoilers for Curse of Strahd and the Dusk Elves abound.

Guilty, Not Remorseful

Kasimir is one of those characters who seems to be very consistent in characterization across tables. I do believe that if you asked DMs to list their Kasimir’s traits, a majority would hit the Trifecta of Misery:

Guilty

Sad

Desperate.

A massive part of our Kasimir’s characterization is how my DM draws the line between regret, guilt, and remorse.

He feels fathomless guilt surrounding killing Patrina, but he never describes himself as feeling remorse. To explain, I’ll divide it like this:

He feels guilty because he knew it would have a repercussion. He did it anyway. Patrina was engaged to Strahd.

He did not expect the repercussions to be all that they were. This was a mistake, but I don’t entirely know whether he sees his decision surrounding killing Patrina as one or not.

He does not feel remorse, because that would require him to regret what he did (killing his sister). Our Kasimir does not feel remorse for killing her, and it makes him guiltier because of everything her death set off, not to mention the love he held for his sister.

He tells himself that he did what he had to do (he did not), and wishes there were another way (there undoubtedly was), which gives way to shame. 

"I had to do it, but I wish I didn't." "... Did I have to? Surely, yes?"

So, he has these interplaying themes connected to the overarching theme of guilt, all of which drive his every action in our campaign. 

He is okay with this.

He is okay with the idea that every day is a punishment. He did what he had to do, he says, and he believes he should pay that price forever. 

The Whole Patrina Thing

In our game, Patrina didn’t seem to be so much in love with Strahd as she was in love with power. My running theory is that she was intending to dethrone Strahd or overpower him once she’d been turned. 

Because (I believe) in our game, he was one of the first vampires, if not The First Vampire, she didn’t quite realize how spawn mechanics worked— and to that end, neither did the dusk elves.

The Story

Kasimir holds to the story he told us. He discovered his sister half-turned, having received two of the three bites required to undergo the bride ceremony. 

I believe he discovered her in the process of trying to feed (a la Lucy Westenra) and came to the conclusion that she had been irrevocably turned into this horrifying, unknowable dead thing. So he gathered the dusk elves and killed her, setting off the chain of events. 

In the years since he’s been confronted with new information regarding vampirization and the process of turning, but he’s also said that if Patrina hadn’t died, she likely would’ve gone through with it anyway. Is this to avoid heaping more guilt onto his shoulders? Maybe. I don't know. Despite his guilt, he still, interestingly, provides a justification.

We have nothing to contradict his word with.

However, he also told us that he’s been experiencing dreams where she tells him how sorry she is, how much she hates him, how much she loves him, and how much she would have changed if he'd let her live.

His foundational beliefs get preyed upon, because what if he was wrong? What if he doomed everyone because he couldn’t compromise his morality for a moment?

Kasimir’s Backstory Is Misery In Case You Were Wondering

In our campaign, Kasimir and Patrina were raised to be the leaders of their communities and witnessed Rahadin’s exile and subsequent alliance with King Barov.

When the Dusk Elves regrouped after a crushing defeat, Kasimir, who is a Druid in our campaign, was voted in to be the head of the remaining families, and Patrina, an Archmage, left for Ravenloft intermittently. 

I think there was an effort for peace being made with a marriage between Strahd and herself, but obviously, the Tatyana Conundrum came in (Kasimir Win!), and then a couple years down the line, the Patrina Conundrum happened (Kasimir Fail!).

By the time he made his big bad decision, he was not only the head of his community but was also the father to a small child and the husband to a man who would die defending their family.

So, as far as he’s concerned, Kasimir is almost directly responsible for the deaths of his entire family.

He’s in a constant internal battle between blaming Ravenloft— perhaps predominantly, Rahadin— for enacting disproportionate revenge and blaming himself for pulling the trigger. Two things can be true. And still, to this day, his remaining people trust him. He still leads them and protects them. Yowch.

Kasimir As The Moral Compass

While traveling with our party, Kasimir was militant about doing what he believed was right. It could’ve been because he might’ve literally snapped in half if he took on any more shame, but probably had more to do with the fact that he was likely projecting heavily onto our party. 

He held his hand on the metaphorical stove for so long that he has nothing but bone left, so when he sees the party tentatively edging towards the fire, he takes action. 

Because he lives in a cesspool of anguish, I think an argument can be made that he wants to ensure his actions aren’t repeated by someone else. That is for HIM.

How It Affects Dynamic

This makes him fun to have in the party, because not only is Sororicide “Hypocrite” Velikov telling us not to do things, but it also provides a good bit of levity to what is otherwise one of the emotionally heaviest characters in our campaign.

Having this ancient elven druid sternly ask if kicking the corpse of enemy #6 made you feel good and having to shamefully tell him ’no’ creates a bond like no other.

It’s also an interesting way to have him trying to semi-atone without explicitly expressing remorse. Because he judges himself so harshly, he judges the party by the same standards.

Kasimir Will Make The Same Mistake Over And Over

The problem is that shame is poison to recovery.

Kasimir does not believe he has a place in a world in which he is not suffering, so whenever he is confronted with redemption, he’ll do what keeps him rotting.

I don’t know how my other players feel about this, but I’m convinced that it’s not that he can’t break the cycle, it’s that he won’t.

In trying to do the right thing, I think he will choose the wrong thing. He will stone her to death again and again and not know why.

There He Goes Again!

It’s why I think these dreams are such a big problem. I think they’re goading him. Whatever’s causing it (the Dark Powers, Strahd, or Patrina herself) knows him well enough that he will make a horrible, horrible decision. As far as theory goes, I think it may really be Patrina, because who would know him better than his sister?

In our campaign, Kasimir is currently acting as a mentor to a half dusk-elven wizard/druid who habitually toes the line between good and evil. He waffles between wanting to save her and wanting to nip the problem in the bud, propelled by his profound shame for wanting to do it.

He knows he shouldn’t have anything to do with it, but whereas Van Richten isolates himself out of necessity, Kasimir creates this wall between them because he sees the cycle starting again and feels helpless to stop it. It’s like he doesn’t realize he’s actively recreating the cycle.

Sound familiar, Strahd?

He and Van Richten are two characters who might have the biggest questions of the nature of redeemability hanging over their head, and both grapple with themes of guilt.

I think they differ because, in our campaign, Van Richten is actively seeking redemption. Kasimir is not.

He can’t imagine atonement even exists.

[astraldrake]

tfs thoughts beneath the readmore note: contains spoilers for the entire campaign

the opening vision we get when we enter the traveler... i ended up watching it multiple times (computer issues ;-;) but MAN was it cool the inside of the traveler in general looks super funky, im going to have to do a no hud run at some point just for screenshots. shoutout to bungie for giving us a sparkly pink rainbow subclass, just in time for pride month lol weapon unsunsetting means i get to pull all sorts of old friends out of the vault. (python, the vow, steelfeather repeater, perfect paradox, etc...) i'm pretty ambivalent abt cayde generally but they did a good job w/ his characterization. i was worried he'd end up being kind of grating but so far he's been okay i was (initially) delighted to see targe. i was not anticipating that they were introducing him just so they could kill him off 5 minutes later. i have mixed feelings on zavala's characterization but it's been a minute since i buried my face into the ishtar collective lore vault so maybe it's just my memory being unreliable. for him to just lose it and start acting irrationally like that felt odd. maybe it's bcs we havent seen him in a while? idk it just felt off. (tbf you could point out that it's probably a byproduct of being forced to relive one of the most unpleasant moments of his entire life so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ fear and desperation can make people do strange things) ikora was cool, idk she didn't read as ooc or anything to me, her reunion with cayde was very sweet, though in hindsight i wish they'd given her a little more to do. seasonal stuff has struggled to give consistency to crow but i appreciate this expansion's efforts to tie up some of those threads more neatly. (i lost it when he pulled out an iron battleaxe, i did not expect that plot point to get touched on!! also it was cool!) i am still irritated that they fridged amanda ( i ignored that part of canon so hard it kinda smacked me in the face when they mentioned her.) i love luzaku, and i would kill for luzaku. ( finally! friendly hive!) i did like the emphasis on ghost and guardian relationships throughout the expansion's story. (also ghost as the location vendor!!!! having regular chats with him while we go through the story!!! the fact he becomes increasingly damaged and wounded throughout the campaign giving me the distinct dread that he might die!!!)

the fact the traveler is letting out intermittent shrieks of pain... MAN... the return of the glowing bird as our guide! (also the fact that the grenade projectile for song of flame looks like a bird... i dont think they're actually connected but it is giving me Ideas.) speaking of song of flame, i kind of expected it to be more underwhelming than it is?? it's actually pretty fun! prismatic is a lot of fun to mess around with! nothing like throwing a storm grenade at an enemy to simultaneously proc devour and amplify. the speaker mask exotic is also giving me Ideas >:) i lost my shit when they mentioned Micah-10. she's one of the last lore characters i expected them to pull out of the hat but i am delighted to see her in game, and seemingly as more than just a cameo too, as far as i can tell. pretty ambivalent abt the whole "player character is the most powertful being in the universe and the chosen one" thing. it's kinda where i figured they'd take it and i dont hate the trope so eh whatever. im glad they actually gave me cover for some of these story missions. i did not super enjoy lightfall's strategy of throwing me in a room with one million guys and a few tiny scraps of cover. ( the radial mast double tank fight... *shudders* ) difficulty wise legendary wasn't all that painful, there were a few fights i struggled with, but a change of loadout, or a little trial and error was pretty much all i needed. i def understand why they've saved the witness fight for the raid, but if my raiding history is anything to got by im certainly not doing day one, but that doesn't mean ill never touch it. (ive missed most of the newer raids, im just not that much of a people person.) ill try and take some day 1 screenshots of the opening area at least. also wrt post campaign!! i loved playing projectile tennis with savathun. all the two queens stuff was great tbh sav is such a fun villian. like yes!! you do owe us nothing and are only going to swoop in to help us bcs we have a bigger threat to deal with!! we can go back to trying to outscheme eachother once this is over!! ( also hey, they brought back adventures! i thought they'd never do that!) also what ive played of the crode camping trip (i forgot the mission name) has been fun. just me and the bois, out exploding screebs. ( then the game crashed so i guess i gotta go play that again lmao) overall i think this expansion is pretty good! i havent even gotten to the seasonal stuff yet, much less some of the regular patrol stuff for the pale heart.

[sonadowwiki]

This makes me remember when pucca [original in japan] it was clear that garu had a thing for her and they already are dating [like one short when they kissed behind a umbrella or when garu gives puca a ring or flowers] but he is not as clingy as pucca.

But when america put their hands on pucca, they make pucca much more clingy and garu feeling unconfortable and even despise some touch from her when in the original pucca garu was like more shy than unconfortable. Even in the america seried they make garu try to make pucca fall in love with another man so he can finally be in peace, when in the original pucca (japan) is more open about his feelings for her and doesnt deny his love for her, even if she is so clingy.

I am saying this because this is literally what is happening with the sonic franchise. The american company changed many personality trails of many of the characters of sonic and sonic himself that many plot holes are in the stories and games. Is like they dont make research for how the characters and world works and just put their guesses into them, not realizing how many plot problems will lead. (Like in IDW comics in how in the hell blaze can bring her sol esmerals into sonics world when basically the plot of sonics rush is that the chaos esmerals and the son esmerals cant exits in a same universe)

I dont know, but the though of that makes me felt unconfortablr

From some slight research, since I have not seen the show myself, this show is from South Korea, not Japan. Also with brief researching, it seems that even if this character, Garu, kissed Pucca, it was for the purpose of restoring her memory and there was no clear announcement that he likes her back, just speculations people can make from this scene happening or from him trying to be considerate for her feelings sometimes. It seems that there is no clear indication of the two liking each other, especially since Garu tries to escape Pucca's romantic advances when he can. But, I don't know anything of the series, so I can't make a judgement on whether what you're saying is correct or not. Either way, the general concept is the same if it is like you're saying.

It is true that since Western influence become more involved with the series, things have gone more haywire within the series. Many plot holes appear, like the one you brought up. Other plot holes have also happened, like the characterizations of characters or plot points that make no sense. This is happening on both the English and Japanese side of things because the Japanese get influenced by the English's mindset on things. This shouldn't be a problem within the company because they should be going to their executives for direction, but these employees who are just putting in whatever they want without doing the research to things, are not doing that for things to be consistent and made with quality. It is an issue and it's understandable if it makes one feel uncomfortable or weird because of how ridiculous it is. This is not an issue for other game companies who have employees who do what their job entails and listens to their superiors, so this behavior is quite outrageous. They're not supposed to be doing whatever they think they can do or listen to the fans' every whims. That's not how a company works and this company doesn't belong to them to do whatever they wish with it. And when they do whatever they wish, it creates issues like this in the lore and stories that ends up lowering the quality of the games/medias significantly.

These issues aren't due to the company, they're due to specific arrogant employees who think they know better. If they listened to their superiors, then Sonic games would be on the same quality as other SEGA titles, such as Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble, Unicorn Overlord, Persona 3 Reload and now Metaphor: ReFantazio. These are all games from SEGA that have done well in some manner and are across two different branches in SEGA. If these games are doing well and have quality to them after listening to the direction of the company for the product, then what is the issue with the Sonic branch? Why isn't the mascot for the company on the same quality as these games? And the answer to that is as I've said. It's due to these employees who think they know better despite researching nothing and who try to implement things like fan interpretation or personal desires instead of listening to the direction of the company for the series that belongs to the company, not them or the fans. They act as if they own the series and that they or the fans know better, but that is not true. The series doesn't belong to these employees, it belongs to the company and the company should be the ones to decide how things go in the series, not these employees. I'm sure that if the employees listened to the company's direction like the other branches did for their games, the Sonic branch would be in a much better state than it is now with less plot holes or other confusing inconsistencies. It's quite a mess they've created from being like this and doing all of these things with the series. Because of their actions, now there are things that make no sense and have no explanations.

[kristailine]

I'm scared Tekken game devs might make me dislike/hate Jun's character 💔

Hyped with Tekken 8 release and all, but I can't help but be anxious about how the lore is gonna continue. Trailers look promising so far, and I admit it gives me hope that they're gonna try to deliver a better story quality. But it's really hard to ignore the inconsistencies and retcons they have done in previous installments which are gonna need intensive repair in Tekken 8 because of the damage that it has done overall.

I'm most especially anxious about how Tekken is gonna go with Jun's character direction. She's had a huge influence in the lore, but we really barely know anything about Jun. All we know is the same old her as an animal rights officer, with supernatural psychic powers somewhat, had something special with Kazuya and even tried to save him, fought the devil, gave birth to Jin, then disappeared during the ogre fight to protect Jin.

The narratives that we know of her consistently suggests Jun with pure intentions who's greatly in touch with her moral beliefs and wishes to make the people she value realize those moral beliefs as well.

But the question remains why would she send Jin to Heihachi out of all people whom she can entrust her son to? With what we know about her, it's extremely out of character for Jun to do that (unless she didn't know about what Hei had done to Kaz, which is quite impossible since it's been stated that Jun and Kaz became close so it can be implied that they shared a bond and possibly knew about Heihachi's mistreatment of Kazuya). Now I have a theory for this just to justify her acts. But canon Tekken 8 really has to either give a reasonable excuse for that or add another layer of personality to Jun that would make it seem like she's the kind of character to do that (without making it sound like Jun is stupid).

Additionally, if Jun had been alive all those years, it's so out of character for her to not go search for Jin or even reach out to him as soon as possible before all the war crimes he's committed reached to global genocide. I know we all got theories as to why she couldn't have reached out to Jin after the Ogre attack, but then again Tekken 8 better give the most reasonable and logical excuse for it if they want to continue and develop on Jun's character as someone who has a moral high ground. Otherwise, Jun is instantly burdened with so much fault with no possible acceptable redemptions for it, and she's gonna look like a hypocrite just like what the storywriting had done to Jin.

Sadly, namco has a reputation of writing their characters lazily so they end up mediocre and assassinate their own characterization. AND I DID NOT WAIT FOR YEARS FOR JUN TO RETURN JUST FOR HER TO END UP BEING ANOTHER CHARACTER TO BE ASSASSINATED. I'd much rather not see her return at all if that was the case.

Still, I'll hold onto the small hope that Tekken 8 would try to fix all the mess that their storywriting had gone to and restore the lore as much as they can.

[scalproie]

FINAL(?) THOUGHTS ON MK12

the story in general: enjoyable if you take it as face-value and dont dig deeper than the surface level, also if you dont have any passionate attachments to what came before.

the earthrealm champions storyline: genuinely liked it. Kung Lao/Raiden/Johnny/Kenshi's introduction and characterization were strong enough to carry them through the story. It was pretty easy to fill the gaps between timeskips and the dynamics were enjoyable

the outworld storyline: lots of players in this one but having a clear villain (shang) that ties everyone's motivation together makes it easy to follow. Overall I did like it.

the lin kuei storyline: as per usual, its isolated from everything else, but it's given NO screentime to actually develop, and even seem like an afterthought. I'd even dare say that with a little tweaking, you could remove them completely and the story would be no different. The only thing accomplished here is making explaining who the characters are harder than necessary, and I swear if I see one more person with vague knowledge of what theyre talking about trying to explain them to people who know even less and getting it absurdly wrong because of this game, I'm going to lose it. By far my biggest disappointment.

The timelines shenanigans: in a weird limbo where it's simultaneously too much focused on and not touched on enough. It felt like it was here for spectacle rather than smth they genuinely wanted to explore, but then again we have one interactions thats kinda sweet and satisfying. Overall, the entire story revolves around this so its pretty solid? but I also did not quite like it on a fundamental level. So it was... whatever.

INDIVIDUAL CHARACTERS:

Liu Kang: the closest thing we have to a clear protagonist, as he ties everyone together, which is fitting for his role both out and in-universe. I dont mind him even tho he is definitely flawed as its impossible to write a character with that much control as 100% good (we wouldnt have a game otherwise). Think he shouldve kept the white god hair tho.

Raiden: his role being switched with liu kang's was expected and the logical following of their storyline in mk11, I am more than fine with that. Raiden feels like himself in a different circumstance. I sure do wish his electricity was inherent to him and not the product of an amulet tho, I have no idea why this change was made. I did like him overall.

Kung Lao: Kung Lao is consistent in his characterization and this familiarity made me like him even more than usual. He gets really sidelined early on but I know the chapter system is to blame for that. There is a lot of cute moments involving him.

Johnny Cage: god, the writers fucking ADORE him do they? As one of mk's sole comic relief characters, I get he is the only one able to deliver a bit of comedy to the mix but fucking hell they almost abuse him in that regard. BUT they also give him a shocking lot of nuance too? The scene with his future ex-wife and everything involving kenshi? He gets a LOT of screentime and development and he is nothing BUT characterization, hence why, as someone who doesnt care that much about him, at one point it starts to feel really fucking unfair. Johnny is fine but I have to check myself because if I get too much exposure to him (which is inevitable) he genuinely starts to piss me off so fucking bad

Kenshi: he's fine. Kenshi here, like Johnny, is a character that isnt tied to anyone else, so the both of them having a joined development thats resolved in this very game is pretty good. I dont have a lot of things to say about Kenshi, he complete his arc and gets his job done in the narrative.

Geras: Geras has only been in one game prior so he does not have overwhelming expectations weighing him down. I really liked him here, his relationship with Liu Kang really does both of them favor.

Sub Zero: Bi-han fit the antagonistic role he was given well enough. Sadly it comes at the price of his already feeble reputation of an originally neutral character. But even when I lower my expectations, here he is given no nuance and no room for growth, not in a satisfying way anyway, as things are right now. The "depth" (read: one or two lines) he is given feels more like inconsistence on the writers' part than him having complex feelings. As usual, he COULD have been great, but he isnt. I'm really disappointed.

Scorpion: Utterly Unrecognizable. He is not fully Kuai Liang on account of being Scorpion, and he is not fully Scorpion on account of being Kuai Liang. This isnt a character, this is a checklist: 1) get the scar (Kuai Liang part) ✅️ 2) be shirai ryu (Scorpion part) ✅️. He is the only character to be given this treatment, or at the very least, the only one where its THAT noticeable because he is made of arguably the most popular characters of mk. We are missing CRITICAL parts of his and his brother's characters to make us care (his motivation comes from an unknown and unseen dead father that never existed before and such a massive big deal is never given development or focus, despite being all they're talking about), their entire storyline rely on nothing other than the HIGHLY popular rivalry between "Scorpion" and "Sub zero". No love and care was brought to his character, nor his brothers', nor his storyline.

Smoke: Smoke... sure as hell was there. Personal thoughts: but the more time passes the more I Do Not Like his characterization. He is written no longer as an equal to Kuai Liang but as what I can best describe as a sidekick, even moreso than usual thanks to him being written and played as younger than the brothers. Yet another thing I dont like about the Lin Kuei storylike. Literally miss (bi-han) after miss (kuai liang) after miss (smoke) for me. They're out.

Hanzo: genuinely ask yourself. Are you happy that hanzo is here? His presence in mk12 is the same as nrs holding up a cardboard picture of him so people wont be mad that he's absent. Everything that he had has been given to "scorpion" aka kuai. He cannot be important because he is young. And when we get a timeskip of him being finally being older then what? The only thing people want of him is dying and coming back as an angry wraith? That's all he is and will be? I'd rather have no Hanzo at all rather than him being stripped of what made him him and used in an unsatisfying way.

Harumi: Harumi went from being the wife of Hanzo Hasashi that dies to being the prize of Scorpion's character. She is finally given development but said development is so confined to the game she's in that it doesnt even matter to me, adding to the fact that they're going in a direction I find boring (to my tastes) with her.

Kitana: she was also there. Which is surprising because kitana always felt like... the protagonist when outworld was involved? While I understand her role, I personally am not that fond of her being relegated to a supporting character.

Mileena: she is an entirely new character with mileena as a basis. I think her story has holes but on the surface it gets the job done. She is definitely one of the more focused on character all the way til she gets her own chapter to conclude her arc, and she has plenty of relationships to bounce off of, so she's definitely one of the more rounded characters here. I dont mind her, but I cant hide personal pettiness that her popularity mightve been the reason why she's so important.

Sindel: I genuinely DID like sindel but I look at her and in the back of my mind there is always the devs' voices going "sorry sorry sorry". Still, I liked her. I liked her death also! It made sense and, while I think it couldve been done MUCH MORE EMOTIONALLY, Im fairly okay with the way it was done. Idk if her being a flawed leader is completely a feature or a bug but I did like it!

Li Mei: I literally did not care that much about li mei until the revelation that she and sindel used to be friends, and then a lot of things clicked together, so I would say THIS was good. Other than that, li mei is whatever to me.

Reptile: one of my main issue with him just boils down to him being hot. I do not mind him having one big monstery form and one human form, but the two are clearly not treated equally, and yeah yeah I know its easier with a human model or whatever BUT LITERALLY BARAKA EXIST. So him being "good looking" 75% of the time with sad backstory and an IMMEDIATE nice an easy going personality (even tho imo he should maybe be a bit angry and grieving that his fucking family died in the living forest until at least his own chapter) = the writers trying too hard for me to give him my sympathy. And I dont like being forced. Aka reptile lost most of his edge with me, it's like hes trying so hard to be likable he has no flaws and so he annoys me a bit in return. But I still like him. I SHOULD love him, so much even, but when I try there is always smth bugging me. I want him to be more fucked up, and no, eating a bug once (1) doesnt count, its what should be NORMAL for him.

Tanya: she's so weird to me. Tanya is mk12 is like, if she was from a mirror universe where she was the good version of an evil jade, if you get what I mean? She's not tanya in almost every way, yknow? Also, usually if you think the writing staff do anything with shipping in mind, you're reading too much into it, and shipping itself is not smth that's seen with respect... BUT THAT BEING SAID I genuinely wonder: if tanya/mileena had never been a thing, would they still had picked tanya for this role, or would they simply just have picked jade.

Rain: to fully appreciate rain you have to hunt down everything involving him in mk12, cutscenes in storymode, endings, intros... my man literally has SO little. But. What he has is literally so inoffensive to me, I actually quite like this rain a lot. He has his own thing going on and I like the direction it took!

Baraka: his inclusion feels like mileena's story was thought of first, and baraka's was built all around it to support it. No, I still dont like the tarkatans being a leprosy allegory now, and no, the new identity Baraka has doesnt do anything for me even if (or because) it was made completely out of nowhere for the purpose of mk12. People dont want SOME characters to suffer (even tho it makes for an interesting story), but when baraka is reworked into doing nothing but suffering, nobody bat an eye because he is no one's favorite. Also he is severely underused in story mode, where he could give us more insight on tarkat and the flaws of the regime, but doesnt. He also helps the earthrealmers out of the kindness of his heart but it really does feel a bit forced, especially when intros show he is not actually that kind in general. Still, just like reptile, I liked baraka.

Shao: funnily enough shao is given interesting depths in this story, but because shao has been an absolute fucking bastard in his 30 years of existence, nobody seems to notice or care. But I Do, despite myself I notice and care about whatever weird thing shao has got going on this time around. I know he has to be a lil bit problematic in there if I dig a little but nothing BIG on the surface so far??? And its the addition of MISGUIDED BUT NOBLE GOALS in shao that were previously non-existent thats so fucking weird to me. I'm literally looking at him under the microscope.

Reiko: Jobber Supreme. Reiko was funny. He is carried by his relationship to shao but it could legit be interesting so yknow what Im gonna let this silly fucking guy entertain me. What can I say, I like when villains have positive interactions and relationships.

Shang Tsung: Shang Tsung (both of them) was funny af. 10/10 no notes. Extremely entertaining. No fucking redeeming qualities. Critical amount of Kunt being served here. Evil and having fun about it. Caught being stupid in 4k by his own self. His plan(s) was pretty straightforward and I can appreciate that. I have nothing bad to say about Shang.

Quan chi: Quan chi was there to make funny faces and be mean gays with Shang Tsung. I dont mind him. Him being an outworlder and "turning white" is not smth I enjoy much tho, whats wrong with him being tied completely to the netherrealm?

Ermac: his design is something you eventually get used to. But as soon as you do he fucking get That Face. I swear I almost end up hating Jerrod in spite because of how they used Ermac. I cant deny it technically makes sense why they wouldve used him like that but I cant help it, I Did Not Like It. didnt liked it in mk9, dont like it now. I think I wouldve liked more the idea of Ermac being influenced by Jerrod rather than him being downright possessed by him. My opinion was much more scathing before the leaks but I have since calmed down a bit. But Ermac gets treated so badly in this game, he actually gets all my sympathy and more, compared to other characters.

Ashrah: Ashrah is okay. I like what she adds to the earthrealm team (and god know they needed her bc damn this was the no girls allowed club before she showed up) but I'm not sure I would enjoy her on her own without someone to bounce off of. Because she also was a character whole neutrality got removed to make her a fully good-aligned character. One thing that really endeared me to her tho was her "I've never had a home before!" line and the genuine happiness she showed there, I wish this part of her had been more explored. And she is also one of the characters that gets a lot more fleshed out in the intros to me. But still, like I said, Ashrah was okay.

Nitara: yeah the megan fox voice acting is objectively bad but it could also be way worse. I know its different bc this one is just an optional skin and not the character's actual voice but fucking listen to JCVD's voice acting. As for nitara, Im really sorry but it feels like she is just here to fill a niche, and said niche being "fanservice". So i'm really sorry for people who like her but yeah she is outshined by her VA and the "well she is a 3d era character that hasnt been shown for awhile so lets bring her back for the people" sentiment. As for her role in the story, I know we need jobbers but she is so isolated from everything they could remove her and it wouldnt change anything. Her personal motivation is not even given the time of day even tho it's the ONLY thing she has, so yeah Im having a hard time to care. Which is sad.

Havik: as soon as I saw his bio I knew he was going to be done dirty, the trailer he showed up in implied it but him having such a sympathetic backstory all but confirmed they were gonna go the "guy with good reasons to change the system fucking take it too far so you cant endorse him" trope with him. Everything with him seems a bit random (which is ironic considering he is mr. chaos) like, why is scorpion the one to give him his iconic open jaw look? (It also cements scorpion as the checklist character ngl). Anyway I do understand the reason for his inclusion as well as the story needing jobbers, doesnt change that I still think he's whatever tho.

[dirtyoldmanhole]

so i've been low key pondering over what is it about gunter that twigged my 'dude, you are a freak nasty kinky fuck (solidarity 🤝)' radar from day one.

ergo, have an old school ~*krad does a character analysis essay*~

under the cut for kink talk and also sheer length !

introduction

why would I want to lead into this reading?

gunter is honestly, to me, an extremely cool subversion of his own FE archetypes on top of (imo) what types of characters are "allowed" to be kinky. a good chunk of FE characters, particularly jeigan archetypes tend to be one note about their devotion to their lords and/or country, and a little stuffy/uptight. when they do have a personality, they still tend to be pretty "safe" nurturing caretaker type of archetypes (eg, titania, and i say that loving her as a character).

of course, nothing wrong with liking said archetype; my tastes just happen to run differently.

gunter is explicitly both those things (could be read as uptight and a caretaker) and still, fascinatingly -- has his darker sides. you don't have a whole-ass ingame cgi and arc of going ham as the possessed yandere villain with a pretty consistent sexual undertone and still keep a ~purely wholesome~ reputation.

so what's the in-game canonical nods that started pinging the radar?

point one: i'm still not over the whip reference in his corrin supports

the tl;dr of his fcorrin C-A support is they pick up an old game of theirs since her northern fortress years -- playing catch with an old leather ball. it isn't until the A support that you hear gunter made the ball from a whip that garon handed to him to whip corrin as discipline.

this assumes several things: (1) gunter knows his way around whips (2) to the point of most likely whipping somebody in discipline before, otherwise why would garon be so convinced he'd follow through? and then

(3) nintendo why the fuck would you add something like this if you didn't intend on us reading some kind of vibe here LMAO. the fact that treehouse kept this line while "sanitizing" most other deeply horny fates scripts makes me inclined to think they knew they'd be breaking gunter's entire characterization if they'd tried to bowderize it, or they just didn't give a shit, thinking that they could probably get away with it since he's not niles-popular. (both can be true).

while it doesn't mean everyone with a passing interests in leather and whips is automatically some flavor of kinkster. just. speaking from IRL experience, the crossover between the groups is also a wee bit higher than the background population. either they tend to be a younger man looking to be "badass" like indiana jones, or their job involves some flavor of implement or ... yeah.

point two: mcorrin/fcorrin script differences & gunter harboring feelings for fcorrin (always has been.jpg)

additional script differences cost money. companies like nintendo hate spending money especially when there's a finite budget, and doubly so for non-popular characters.

so ime, when there's a clear difference between scripts in a non-obvious spot, and it's there in both the JP/EN versions like gunter's final revelation talk with mcorrin and fcorrin, i pay attention. that's nintendo more often than not underlining something and saying "hey, this matters to characterization".

cue this bit after you bring gunter back from the brink of being possessed and talking some sense into him:

Corrin: Whatever your motivations, you stayed by my side and helped me. Your intentions may have been dark, but you were still good to me. (If Corrin is male) Corrin: And that's what you'll always be—my friend. (If Corrin is female) Corrin: You'll always be important to me. Gunter: But, I... I killed Scarlet... Corrin: I know, but you were under the control of Anankos. You weren't you. If you truly wish to atone for what you've done, you must live. Live for Scarlet's sake. Live for the family that was taken from you. I need you to help me fight Anankos. To protect all the people he could still hurt. (If Corrin is male) Corrin: Let's go. Our final battle awaits. (If Corrin is female) Gunter: ... Corrin: Let's go. Our final battle awaits.

now obviously, with a literal "dot dot dot" line, you by definition have to read into the sentiment. one could just as easily argue that here....

.....

nope, i got nothing, lol. m!corrin gets a very pointed "you're my friend" line, and if nintendo wanted to dissuade from the romantic/sexual subtext, they could have awkwardly tried to stick to their more neutral "you're my mentor/father figure/etc" guns which read way more platonic, especially if you kept it the same for both.

that script change is only for f!corrin, and gunter has a few other script mentions where f!corrin gets something extra from him. this combined with f!corrin's particularly sexual-subtext-ladened support chain with the whip-ball (versus m!corrin's pretty platonic "feed the poor kid") vibe hints that he's always held a flame for f!corrin, which leads into asking some pretty interesting questions about his tastes.

it's some kinda vibes all right!

imma also be honest: (possessed!)gunter gets a little sexually subtextual in general. there's other revelation quotes like this during the confrontation --

Gunter: I would tear every last bit of innocence away from you.

(dude) (wow)

-- and the gothic horror camera angle/framing of certian scenes with him alone with corrin, most pointedly when corrin's alone with him, anankaos channels himself through gunter, the screen goes white, and corrin wakes up with him leaning right over her, practically on top of her. all of these add up to one hell of a sexual subtext in the last three chapters.

i could break this down further into shot by shot visual analysis since that's my field as a design manager, but this essay's long as is (and I'll cover this in the current revelation liveblog anyway).

point three: there's a suspicious amount of nohrian characters that have explicit kinks

there's xander with his JP crossdressing supports. niles with his ... nearly everything in his quotes, bless him. and camilia too on the ladies side what with her sadisim and S/M behavior, more blatant in the JP script side which is (ime) the more faithful one.

I'm probably missing an example here (garon also felt weirdly sexual for a FE dad/final boss, somewhat usually lampshaded in the comments of the 'azura dances for him' cgi movie), and that's not even mentioning the faceless which -- i don't know about you, but i've seen actual folsom BDSM gear less kinky than that enemy design.

clearly: nintendo's not exactly afraid to lay some sexual subtext with nohrian characters. hoshidos generally don't get this treatment, this often.

is it likely part and parcel of how they intended to "villain code" nohrian characters, since adding kinks to an antagonistic faction has a long history in media to make them feel more "othered" and dangerous? most likely!

regardless, i absolutely get why they'd layer in that vibe with gunter especially in revelation's route when he's one of the final bosses. adding an edge of sexual menace is an easy if cheap way to butter on that foreshadowing, and it separates him from the "nice(r) guy gunter" in the conquest married route.

sort of.

to which ...

point four: there is no polite way to get around the incesty caretaker daddy vibe in their married route so imma just say it lmao

[ just gestures wildly at his A-S support chain with fcorrin ]

somebody who is completely vanilla is not uhhh, going to have that love conversation/confession right after a literal 'father figure' mention :'D

people are entitled to their own tastes, and while i'm the type to bounce in when people bounce out "because it got too creepy", i do think it's pretty telling that there's a hell of a lot of people that got twigged out of their support and don't generally pursue it unless if they're completion fanatics. even if I'm reading way the hell into this -- they're responding to something, that's for darn sure.

one more thing to point out with the supports --

Gunter: And since you missed, you must answer a question I have for you. Corrin: All right, ask away. Gunter: Is there anyone in camp that you have particularly strong feelings for? Corrin: Wh-what? Why would you ask that? Gunter: Ah, I'm the one who is asking questions.

by itself, that last line could read fairly platonically. but with everything else.... whew. this is a man who's very aware of power dynamics. speaking of --

point five: just trust me bro

call it uhhhh prurient interest, but there has been quite a few times when i've nailed a (IRL) person's interest in kink by that version of a gaydar :P just a little too many times for it to be coincidence.

if you're asking me, the tell-tale hints are usually :

(a) a hyper-awareness of power dynamics compared to normies,

and

(b) hints of adjacent interest/sub-cultural aesthetics. (eg, goth and alt-fashion, common kink implements that can be hidden in plain sight like handcuffs, whips, boots, leather as a fashion).

and obviously we're talking about a fictional character which changes the conversation (characters being built from the ground up to serve a plot. rather than a fleshed out autonomous human being with their own set of preferences that can change over time), but listen, mate -- if my kink radar was a geiger counter, gunter here lit up like fucking chernobyl. :P

all I have to do is point at the whip bit to (5b), and regarding point (5a) ... well. you know the interesting thing about kinksters is that in addition to power dynamics, some of them have a particular thing about titles?

you know who else has a whole very specific thing about titles?

in conclusion

now, all that said, could it be wish fulfillment? absolutely. and it does need to be said -- i dig the character a lot for many other reasons! but i'm focusing on this kink angle in this essay as frankly, it's not a popular topic to talk about in fandom, and it's a fascinating itch to scratch at.

there's the sense in wider media these days that anyone over the age of 40-50 isn't allowed to have a sex life much less something as edgy as kinks unless if they're a complete monster, which is both as untrue as it is unfair. shame never helped anyone -- and i've always been partial to my messy favorite characters who never apologized for what they were. once a villainfucker, always a villainfucker.

either way, there are distinctly too many coincidences for me to write him as anything but, and I'm having fun in this sandbox ~

thanks for reading!

[peanut-tyrug]

Superstar Saga AU: Long Live the Wicked

Chapter 3: Her Little Dolls

Cackletta faces her first face to face fight. But regardless of how much anyone steps before her in attempt to bring her down, she will always be one step ahead of them.

—

Most characters/ideas featured in this story belong to Nintendo and AlphaDream. I don’t take credit for Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, or the aforementioned characters/ideas within it.

I would like to thank my co-writer, Luigiman64, for assisting me with character writing/characterization, keeping things consistent and accurate to the game , and coming up with ideas for this project.

— Beanbean Castle —

Cackletta sits within the desolate and quiet throne room hall, hearing the clacking footsteps approaching her throne. She sits there, a smug and cocky smile on her face.

From the shadows of the hall appears the sudden intruder… the Prince of the Beanbean Kingdom, and Queen Bean’s only child, Prince Peasley.

Cackletta doesn’t say a thing… she only waits for the Prince to speak.

“Foul witch!�� Prince Peasley announces, his sword unsheathed and pointing to Cackletta. “I have come to take back my Kingdom!”

Cackletta chuckles. “Oh really?” She asks. “How bold of you to appear right before my throne. Do you have a death wish? Eeyah ha ha ha!!”

“Quit your taunting! You know that throne was never yours!” Says Prince Peasley. “I will return it to my family, if it’s the last thing I do! I swear that I will defeat you!”

Cackletta chuckles again… her voice descending into a sickening, conniving sound. “Hm… that reminds of someone.” She says. “You really are just like him! Eeyah ha ha ha!!!”

Prince Peasley scowls at the foul woman… how dare she say such a thing? Spouting such a wicked taunt from her tainted tongue… no matter, he couldn’t let it hold him back.

“Hold your tongue!” Prince Peasley shouts. “If you wish to fight, then take your fighting stance!”

“With pleasure. Eeyah ha ha ha!!” Says Cackletta.

Cackletta then shuts her eyes and slowly hovers into the air. Prince Peasley steps back, awaiting any possible attack, now taking a firm fighting stance.

The violet gemstone that sat on her forehead glows an ominous magenta as purple smoke comes out of it and hovers to her arms. The smoke then forms into a pair of arms, the left arm red and the other blue.

Both above and below her eyes, two new sets of eyes appear. Her eyes then shoot open, revealing them to have become a bright yellow hue. Cackletta cackles into the air, her bellow bouncing against the walls.

“Let’s see you face this, little man! Eeyah ha ha ha!!!” Says Cackletta.

From the shadows at the back of the room, the Prince’s small hovering platform appears. Prince Peasley jumps onto it, and soars through the air as Cackletta attacks first.

She brings the left hand up, prompting a hoard of fireballs to pop in. Prince Peasley races around the throne room, barely avoiding the fireballs. As he passes over Cackletta’s face, some of the fireballs hit her back.

Cackletta shrieks from the sudden burning on her face as Prince Peasley retreats.

“Aha heh heh heh!” Prince Peasley laughs. “Improve your aim!”

“Agh! You pest!” Says Cackletta.

“What?” Prince Peasley asks. “When I taunt it’s a problem, apparently?”

Cackletta scowls. She then lifts up her blue hand, prompting thunder to suddenly smack against the floor. Prince Peasley is almost hit, but barely dodges once again.

Once Cackletta has attacked, Prince Peasley closes in on her face, and swipes his rapier with pristine precision. Time almost slows as he swipes at Cackletta’s face. After a couple hits, Prince Peasley retreats again.

“EEYARGHH!!” Cackletta shrieks. “You are a bug! An insect!”

“And you are as foul as one!” Says Prince Peasley. “Surrender, and give up the throne!”

Cackletta snarls. “I don’t why you think words will work on me!” She says.

“Considering that you are offended by my remark, I think they work quite well! Aha heh heh heh!” Prince Peasley quips.

Cackletta scowls again, and proceeds to attack. She summons a hoard of bats, and directs them to the Prince. Prince Peasley gasps, before turning the other way, and slicing them up as they turn.

Cackletta grows increasingly more agitated the more she misses. Despite how cocky the Prince was, he never seemed to lose focus.

He had to knock him off balance, throw him off somehow…

“…You are oddly persistent.” Says Cackletta, as she summons some more fireballs.

“I was raised as such!” Says Prince Peasley as he dodges.

“I honestly should’ve anticipated as much.” Says Cackletta as the fireballs fizzle away. “You are the King’s son after all.”

…Prince Peasley seems to falter a little as he approaches Cackletta’s face again… his movements suddenly felt slower, more sluggish. Despite that, Cackletta still scowls at the pain her face was in.

As Prince Peasley retreats again, awaiting another attack from Cackletta, the foul witch opens her mouth again…

“Too bad your father never got the finishing blow.” Says Cackletta, her voice sickeningly conniving.

Prince Peasley gasps, and he begins to slip off his platform, just before Cackletta’s form. With him distracted, Cackletta summons more lightning, which immediately strikes Prince Peasley.

The Prince is completely stunned, even after the electricity fades. His foot slips from the platform, and he plummets to the ground with a loud and hard thud.

The platform stays in the air a bit longer, before being hit by lightning. The platform catches ablaze and turns to ash.

Prince Peasley is immediately winded, and struggles to get back up. Just as he rises, he is immediately pushed back down by Cackletta’s left hand. The hand presses against the Prince’s chest, making it almost impossible to breathe.

“…H-how dare you!” Prince Peasley stammers. “How dare you sully his name!?”

“And you aren’t sullying him right now?” Cackletta questions. “Look at how pathetic you are! Just a moment ago, you were on top of the world!”

“Quiet!” Prince Peasley demands. “I do not care what you say or do, I will protect my family and Kingdom for as long as I live!”

“You really do have a death wish!” Says Cackletta. “…It’s very intriguing to me, dear Peasley. Just how similar you both are.”

With a flick of Cackletta’s right wrist, a small energy ball shoots for Prince Peasley, and hits him directly on the head. He shrieks… and a vision appears before his eyes.

The Beanbean Kingdom’s King and Cackletta stood alone. The King’s sword pointed toward Cackletta, while the witch only coldly stared back at him.

“Cease your taunting, witch!” Says the King. “For my sword shall welcome your end!”

Just as the King finishes his sentence, large dark spikes penetrate the King’s back, and exit right through his chest, piercing his heart.

Prince Peasley only stared… he couldn’t stand it. He knew of this tale all too well… and hated it. Loathed it. Only thinking about what she did to his father…

It made his very core boil. He’d be here if it wasn’t for her. His family wouldn’t be in constant mourning if it wasn’t for her.

The vision then fizzles away, revealing Cackletta’s foul figure again. She hovered before the Prince, that same smug look on her face.

“Foul witch!” Prince Peasley scowls. “You are sick! Twisted! An incarnation of darkness and malice itself!”

“How unoriginal of you!” Says Cackletta. “I’ve been called all of those at least once.”

Prince Peasley then appears red in the face. Unbridled rage at the woman filled him to the brim. His body shook from head to toe with burning hot fury.

“CEASE! CEASE!” Exclaims Prince Peasley. “I will send you back to the very pit of the Dark Lands you came from!”

“Good luck trying!” Says Cackletta. “…Since I’m giving you a choice.”

With a snap of her free hands fingers, Queen Bean and Lady Lima appear within her hands palm. Both of them are tied up. As they struggle to escape their bindings, they notice Prince Peasley down on the ground.

“Oh!” Queen Bean exclaims. “My dear son! Peasley!”

“Mother! Lady Lima!” Exclaims Prince Peasley.

“If you want them back, surrender!” Says Cackletta. “Surrender yourselves to me!”

“Or what, witch?” Prince Peasley questions.

“…Or all your dear family is slaughtered.” Says Cackletta. “And you, fair Prince, get to watch! Eeyah ha ha ha!!!”

“Peasley, no!” Says Queen Bean. “We can find another way!”

“But I don’t want to lose you!” Says Prince Peasley. “You are all that I have!”

“She is right, Peasley!” Says Lady Lima.

“But what of you!?” Prince Peasley asks. “What if it’s a trick?”

“Would you really say no?” Cackletta asks. “…I’d be your only family left if you did. Eeyah ha ha ha!!”

Prince Peasley gasps at the remark. Cackletta then presses harder against his chest, furthering restricting his breathing.

“Time’s ticking, Peasley!” Says Cackletta. “Make your choice! Or they get it!”

“Let him go! Leave him be!” Queen Bean desperately demands. “We’ll give ourselves to you! Just let him go!”

“Oh, but Queen Bean,” Says Cackletta. “aren’t three servants better than two? Eeyah ha ha ha!!!”

As Cackletta stares down at the struggling Prince in her grasp, she spots his rapier sitting in his left hand…

“I’m surprised you haven’t used your sword yet.” Says Cackletta, as the gemstone on her head glows again.

Prince Peasley barely hears the remark as the rapier magically hovers away from his hand. He tries his hardest to hold onto it, but his grip slacks. The sword hovers before Cackletta’s face, and begins to shake… before suddenly breaking apart and vaporizing away.

The Prince only gasps… he was left without a weapon. Whether it be words or a sword… he had nothing.

“Look at you, completely helpless.” Says Cackletta. “You wanted to avenge your father, correct? Looks like you’re all out of luck! …Don’t worry, you’ll meet him soon! Eeyah ha ha ha!!!”

Cackletta presses down on the Prince’s chest further. He begins to lose consciousness as his vision becomes increasingly blurry and hearing becomes more fuzzy…

Just as he begins to succumb… a large ball of lightning hits the left hand.

Cackletta shrieks, and raises the hand in pain. Prince Peasley then immediately rises to his bottom, gasping for air. As his vision and hearing slowly return, he turns back… and gasps.

The Mario Bros. have suddenly found their way into the throne room. Mario held a fireball, while Luigi held a ball of lightning.

“Gah!” Cackletta shrieks. “You foolish, persistent pair! If that’s how it’s going to be, then so be it!”

Cackletta attacks again, this time testing something new. The stone upon her forehead glows, and a large laser shoots from it. The Bros. dodge it as it circles them around the room.

As the Prince watches, he flees off to the side. He stands against a wall and looks up to Queen Bean and Lady Lima, still tied up in Cackletta’s hand… if only he could just fly up there and untie them…

Once the laser fizzles away, Mario turns to right hand, spotting Queen Bean and Lady Lima. He prepares a fireball and throws it upward. The fireball hits the hand, making Cackletta recoil.

The Queen and her advisor fall from the hand, quickly plummeting to the floor. Prince Peasley and the Bros. rush to the tied up pair, only for them suddenly disappear in a puff of smoke before they reach the floor.

“Eeyah ha ha ha!! Fools!” Cackletta cackles. “It’s going to have to take more than that to get them back!”

Before anyone can move away, the left hand smacks the three back against the wall. The Bros. are only weakened, but Prince Peasley seems to have taken the worst of the hit.

While the Bros. rise to their knees, Prince Peasley lays on his side, grasping his rib. He tries to get back up on his feet, but slips and falls back down, gasping and wheezing.

Just as Cackletta attacks again, this time sending fire their way, Luigi picks Prince Peasley up and carries him over his shoulders. He is careful not to hurt him.

As the fire ceases, Luigi separates from Mario for a moment. He sits the winded Prince Peasley away to the back of the room near the entrance and gently pats the Prince’s head as he leaves back to his brother.

The Brothers stand before Cackletta while Prince Peasley watches from afar. Cackletta looks on with a menacing glare.

“You think you can take me down? Just look at the Prince!” Says Cackletta. “What’s a little pair like you going to do? Whack me with a wrench? Eeyah ha ha ha!!”

The Bros. glare to one another, giving each other a stern and confident look… they needed something stronger. And they already knew what.

The Bros. line up and Luigi brings out his hammer. He smacks Mario down, making him tiny. Luigi reels his hammer back, and propels Mario forward like a baseball. Never do either of the Bros. miss their shot, hitting Cackletta until Mario returns to his normal height.

With Cackletta still recovering, the Bros. attack again. The Bros. line up, and Mario smacks Luigi down with his hammer. Mario bounces atop of Luigi’s head, and as he descends, smacks Cackletta across the face with his hammer. Once Mario lands, Cackletta is still left winded… giving them another opportunity.

Luigi moves back behind Mario and calls to him. Luigi jumps up, and Mario catches his feet with his hands. The pair immediately leap into the air, and land back down. Luigi pushes against the floor, propelling the Bros. upward.

The pair rise way up above Cackletta’s head, practically reaching the Castles roof. Mario lands directly onto Cackletta’s forehead, and Luigi follows, slamming against Mario’s head. The force of the hit immediately hits Cackletta, disorienting her.

The Bros. leap back down to the floor, and watch as Cackletta’s recovers… before her arms begin to fizzle away.

“NOOOO!! How could I lose!?” Cackletta shrieks.

Her large arms dissipate and her extra sets of eyes close and disappear. She plummets to the floor, landing on her chest. She lays on the floor, barely conscious, before slowly lifting her head up to the Bros.

“Pests! Loathsome pests!” Says Cackletta. “I am all powerful! I should’ve been able to take you out! End your games even!!”

The Bros. look on at the struggling witch, not saying a word… before Prince Peasley suddenly walks up to the pair and stands by their sides.

“…Give up the throne, Cackletta. It is not yours to keep.” Says Prince Peasley. “P-pay for the horrible acts you have committed!”

“…What makes think I will?” Cackletta asks. “Your family is under my watchful eyes! So is the Kingdom! There is no point in trying to fight!”

“And yet the Mario Bros. took you out?” Prince Peasley asks. “I feel you have a lot on your platter.”

“No! I am unstoppable, and I know it!” Says Cackletta. “…How about I head to another place I can’t be stopped? The Mushroom Kingdom! Eeyah ha ha ha!!”

…The trio then appears confused… Princess Peach still lacked her voice, didn’t she? What would Cackletta need her for?

…Unless the Princess had gotten her voice back… somehow…

“I see you don’t understand.” Says Cackletta. “No matter! It won’t matter once I have the Princess in my clutches and her Kingdom is mine to rule! Eeyah ha ha ha!! Farewell, troublesome meddlers!”

Cackletta then sends an energy ball the groups way. The three have no time to react before it reaches them. The ball envelops them in a puff of smoke as they are transported to another place within the Beanbean Kingdom’s jurisdiction.

~~~

— Northeast Beanbean: Joke’s End —

The trio, still engulfed in smoke, suddenly appear within a new area… the smoke eventually fizzles away, and the group is immediately met with cold air.

The three look around, dazed. The trio stood before a long icy hallway. Small pillars of ice and snow covered the area.

The Bros. appear confused, especially Luigi, who seemed to panicking a bit. Prince Peasley looks around, stepping forward… he seemed to recognize the place.

“…J-Joke’s End.” Says Prince Peasley. “The cold and dead crypt of bad jokes… I wonder if any of Bubbles’ jokes are in here.”

The Prince then shudders as the cold wind passes. He grips his side, and his shuddering worsens. Luigi immediately steps by Prince Peasley’s side and gives him Mushroom, which he takes. The Prince nibbles at it, and turns to Luigi.

“…T-thank you.” Says Prince Peasley.

Luigi gently nods, still standing at the Prince’s side. Prince Peasley turns to the Bros. as he continues to eat the Mushroom and Mario steps by his brother.

“…You both deserve my thanks.” Says Prince Peasley. “I appreciate both of your efforts… I likely would have perished if you hadn’t arrived.”

The Bros. nod, and Prince Peasley looks to them both, a genuine smile on his face.

“I can’t fight her alone… I realize that now. Whether my fault or not, I should have taken your offer.” Says Prince Peasley. “…I know my father would have fought alongside those he trusted to take down a foe, for to take down someone that powerful, you need an army... I’m very glad you didn’t heed my word and go back to the Mushroom Kingdom honestly.” He says with a chuckle.

The Bros. continue to genuinely look on at the Prince… before a thought crosses their minds.

…Prince Peasley mentioned a father… what happened to him?

“But, enough of that.” Says Prince Peasley. “…The Mushroom Kingdom is in danger… but why would Cackletta want Princess Peach?”

…He seems so quick to change the subject… but the Bros. set it aside for now. They also ponder the question… before Prince Peasley gets an idea.

“…Back at Woohoo Hooniversity, I spotted these Peach-Bots Cackletta and Fawful built. They must’ve had the Princess’ voice in them if they were able to awaken the Beanstar.” Says Prince Peasley. “…What if they somehow broke, and the voice was returned?”

The Bros. seem to agree after pondering on it further, nodding to the Prince.

“…We can’t fly there, for I do not have my platform.” Says Prince Peasley. “What can we do?”

No one really has an answer… despite the fact that Luigi could be used as a surfboard to get there, it wouldn’t be effective. Not only wasn’t there a surfboard spot around, Luigi could get hurt after all that time, and so could the others.

They could walk, but Peach’s castle was in the middle of the Mushroom Kingdom. A far distance from Stardust Fields…

No matter how much they could deny it… they can’t get to the Kingdom.

“Hm… I suppose we can only free her when she gets here. We can’t do anything else.” Says Prince Peasley, defeated. “No matter. Cackletta can be taken out again, correct?”

The Bros. take on a triumphant pose. They were confident in taking down Cackletta, especially with Prince Peasley now on their side.

“Fantastic!” Says Prince Peasley. “We already know getting into the Castle won’t be an easy feat… we will take refuge here for the time being, and devise a plan to storm the Castle.”

The Bros. nod, confirming their understanding.

“…I wonder if we can get into the crypt.” Says Prince Peasley. He moves up a few inches… and gasps.

Someone from within the area was quickly approaching the group… the Prince couldn’t immediately recognize who, until the figure was close enough.

“Move back! Back!” Says Prince Peasley. He moves backward, and the Bros. follow suit.

Out from the entrance of the crypt came a familiar figure… Cackletta’s little lackey, Fawful, had suddenly returned and was dormant within Joke’s End.

“Eeyah ha ha ha!!” Fawful chortles. “My entrance with drama is here, little bean man!”

“You! You’re Cackletta’s lackey!” Says Prince Peasley. “What business do you have here? To cause trouble, I presume?”

“Fink-rat! Never speak of that hag of old filth havings again! She is wrinkly like old cheese that is covered in stink that has been outside since summer’s middle!” Says Fawful. “She brings me fury! I have fury! SO MUCH FURY!!!”

Prince Peasley and the Bros. pause… he suddenly hated Cackletta now?

“Enough of the drag talk that gets nowhere!” Fawful suddenly announces. “Scheme havings are of the importance that is important!”

Fawful then turns back to the entrance of Joke’s End, and begins to call out for someone…

“Minions! Come here for the fight with Fawful!” Fawful calls. He then turns back to the trio before him. “You are like nasty bugs that I will squash under my foot! You will soon taste the sandwich that is of your doom!”

From the entrance of Joke’s End, three familiar foes appear… but they’re more recognizable to the Bros., really.

Three of the Koopalings suddenly stood beside Fawful; Ludwig, Roy, and Lemmy all there… why weren’t they with Bowser? Better yet, where were the other Koopalings?

“Hey, fink-whatevers!!” Roy calls out. “You ready for a beating?”

“Get off Lord Fawful’s turf!” Lemmy demands.

“You have made a fool of Lord Fawful once,” Ludwig declares. “And you will not do it again!”

The Bros. and Prince Peasley immediately take a fighting stance before Fawful and his troupe, all prepare to dash to the four of them.

“Let’s-a go!” Mario announces.

“Okie dokie!” Luigi calls out.

“I do not intend to lose!” Prince Peasley declares.

—

— Meanwhile, back at the Mushroom Kingdom… —

A good chunk of the Mushroom Kingdom had been laid to waist. Not because of any threat however… but because of the Princess.

Not long after the Mario Bros. and Bowser set off for the Beanbean Kingdom, Princess Peach had about lost her mind.

She wasn’t able to speak. All she did was scream and shriek what her guard called 'Explosive Vocabulary'. It was so bad, that homes miles away from the castle would shake and tremble… it was as if an earthquake had struck.

Everyone was dismayed by the sudden attack… especially Toadsworth. He hated that such a thing had happened to the Princess. The person who was practically his daughter.

He tried to console her as best as he could… before a miracle had suddenly come upon the Kingdom.

~~~

— Princess Peach’s Castle —

“Princess! Calm down!” Says Toadsworth. “It will be fine! Masters Mario and Luigi will get your voice back in no time!”

“…What else am I supposed to do Toadsworth!?” Princess Peach shrieks. “I can’t speak!”

“I know, but— wait a moment…” Says Toadsworth. “What was that, Princess?”

“I can’t—!” Says Princess Peach, before she suddenly stops. “…Wait… I-I can speak again!? I can speak again!”

Toadsworth gasps, and places a hand over his chest. “Hoo! Oh, gracious!” He says. “Master Mario and Master Luigi must’ve done it! For your voice has returned!”

Princess Peach gleefully laughs to herself, clapping her hands. “I can speak again!” She says, laughing. “My voice is back!”

“Oh, we must inform the Kingdom immediately!” Says Toadsworth. “Come, Princess!”

Princess Peach nods as she gets to her feet. “I will assist in rebuilding the Kingdom as well.” She says. “It is my Kingdom, and I’ve brought it to ruin. I must help the Toads rebuild.”

“Yes, yes! Precisely!” Says Toadsworth. “Come with me, now!”

The pair head out of the Castle to share the miracle with the Toads of the Kingdom… they’d be awestruck of the miracle that had befallen them.

~~~

It had been a few hours since the Princess’ announcement… and the Kingdom was ecstatic.

Princess Peach had her voice back, meaning the Kingdom could return to its normal state. No sudden attacks… just bright sunny days.

Despite the Kingdom’s recovery still being a ways away, everyone was excited to just relax… and also for the Mario Bros. to return.

As most were taking a few minute break, Peach and Toadsworth included, an unexpected guest appears…

“Hello? Princess Peach?” An elderly voice asks. “Where are you?”

“…Who is that?” Princess Peach asks aloud.

Princess Peach steps away from the area she rested in, looking around for the voice… for they might have needed assistance.

As the Princess glances over an unfinished Toad House, she spots the sudden guest… Lady Lima, the goodwill ambassador from the Beanbean Kingdom, had seemingly paid a visit.

…It likely wasn’t that witch from before, though. Since she has gotten her voice back, the witch that had intruded was likely vanquished. She need not worry.

“Excuse me?” Princess Peach asks, approaching the ambassador. “Are you Lady Lima?”

Lady Lima turns toward the Princess, a smile on her face. “Oh! Of course I am Princess!” She says. “Why do you ask?”

“The Kingdom was attacked by someone impersonating you. I would imagine she’s been taken care of now.” She says. “But, I must ask, what are you here for?”

“My Queen has a suggestion she wanted to share with you, your highness.” She says. “Why not let the Beanbean Kingdom handle the construction here, while you stay at our Kingdom for awhile?”

“Really?” Princess Peach asks, astonished. “How kind of Queen Bean! Even if we are about done here, it’d be nice to visit the Beanbean Kingdom… I’ve wanted to go, but I never got the chance. I’ve also wanted to strengthen the Mushroom Kingdom’s bond with the Beanbean Kingdom for quite some time.”

“Now you’ll have the chance, Princess!” Says Lady Lima. “Just gather your subjects and belongings and you’ll be on your way there.”

“Wonderful!” Says Princess Peach. “I’ll let Toadsworth know! I appreciate your assistance in our endeavors.”

“I need no thanks, your Majesty.” Says Lady Lima. “I will stay put. Just let me know when you are ready!”

“I will!” Says Princess Peach as she heads off.

…Now all she had to do was wait…

~~~

— Within Peach’s Plane, approaching Beanbean International Airport… —

The Princess, Toadsworth, and all the Toads that could fit in the plane steadily drifted through the sky toward the Beanbean Kingdom.

Everyone was very excited for the visit. Only a few handfuls of Toads lived there, within the small city of Little Fungitown. The simple thought of the sights that could be there astonished them all.

…Princess Peach was also glad to finally have the opportunity to visit. Not only to see the sights and such, but to also speak with Queen Bean in person.

There was much to discuss with her, such as the Beanbean Kingdom’s militia and economy… the exchange rate of Mushroom Coins and Beanbean Coins was getting worse every minute…

As the plane begins to descend to the runway, a dark cloud suddenly passes… but it wasn’t like a storm or rain cloud.

It was like a mist that completely blotted out the sun once you were below it. Hues of black and red coated the cloud, and made the plane’s interior almost pitch black.

Everyone looked around, confused about the sudden darkness and odd mist… the Beanbean Kingdom never had this type of weather…

The Toads ramble amongst each other, while Peach and Toadsworth look outside their seats windows.

“…What in the world?” Toadsworth asks himself.

“What is this?” Princess Peach asks.

As the plane descends further, it suddenly begins to violently rattle around and shake. The passengers cling to their seats, trying not to fall off.

“Attention passengers!” Announces the pilot from the cockpit. “There appears to be a large Piranha Plant on the runway! Please remain calm, as we take care of the threat…”

No Toad seems to listen to the pilot as they all begin to panic. The entire plane becomes a cesspit of Toads yelling and screaming for their lives… an absolute nightmare for your ears.

“Eeyah ha ha ha!!” Announces a familiar cackle. “Fools! You are absolutely gullible! I almost can’t believe you feel for that AGAIN!”

Once the announcement stops, a puff of smoke appears around the Princess and Toadsworth, but no one really seems to notice.

~~~

— Beanbean Castle —

The puff of smoke around the Princess and Toadsworth slowly fizzles away… and reveals where they’ve been transported to.

“Wha- what’s all the hubbub?” Toadsworth questions as the smoke clears.

They were stuck inside a cage. Outside of the prison was a large and dark throne room, adorned not with bright green, but with deep shades of red and purple. The Princess turns to her right… and spots the person who has trapped them.

An old woman dressed in a long gown… she looked nothing like how she did when she first attacked the Princess.

“You!” Says Toadsworth. “You’re that witch!”

“Call me the Great Cackletta, little Toad.” Says Cackletta. “I’ve realized that I never got to introduce myself to you.”

“We will never refer to you as such!” Says Princess Peach. “Where’s your little minion?”

“Oh, he’s not here… not anymore.” Says Cackletta. “But I don’t need him to take over your Kingdom from here! I’m all powerful now! Red and Green were too late, my dear! Eeyah ha ha ha!!!”

“It doesn’t matter!” Princess Peach retorts. “Mario and Luigi WILL take you down, I’m sure of it!”

“Masters Mario and Luigi always triumph! This will be no different!” Says Toadsworth.

“Ohhh, I’ll be the judge of that.” Says Cackletta, connivingly. “We will see… Eeyah ha ha ha!!!”

…All Princess Peach and Toadsworth could do now was hope that the Bros. were still out there, hurrying to save them…

They’d be here, they knew that for certain…

- END OF CHAPTER 3 -

~~~

Next Chapter:

—

Previous Chapter:

—

First Chapter:

[m1ckeyb3rry]

FHE JUSTIN BIEBER GIF CRYINNGGGGGG LAMAOAOAOAOAO im assuming its the sae oaeu cooking rn

LMAOSOA YOUR POST trust I take all of your ramblings as rewards your brain is fr so big all of these fire ideas >>>>> ok but the pokemon au is so good…extraordinary….exquisite….remarkable (if you’ve watched as much pokemon as i have you’ll probably get this but if not just take it at face value) the Barou sibling angst is actually my fav

LMAOO YOUR MOM AND HER BROTHER THATS SO ACCURATE

ISAGIS HAIR I feel bad for his hair and his hair alone they always weirdly slick it back or comb it up and he looks like a middle aged man

IM CRYING “I cry but because I have to deal with his shit” LMFAOOO yuki fr tweaking atp or repeatedly saying his mantra in his head trying to keep his sanity like “god never gives us more than we can handle god never gives up more than we can handle god never-“

LMAAOA NO IT MAKES SENSE my brain just grouped up the letters that way that I had to double take ok so we’ve had kaneshiro possesses Mira moment and we get canon characterization of kiyora it’s time to freaky Friday reverse you should take over kaneshiro and write bllk i fr wish Karasu actually scored more literally my exact thoughts like “ARE YOU A STRIKER???” Channeling my inner ego…..but agreed glad he still at least has SOME presence and is consistently shown active in game

Bro kurona was so random…like with epinagi and s2 you can see them sneakily trying to add him in the bg cameoing to make him feel relevant but he fr was dropped out of nowhere like wdym the one who ranked fourth in second selection who we’ve never even seen a glimpse of and didn’t do anything in u20 is suddenly good friends with Isagi and others and gets field time HUH his first appearance is quite literally in BM when he’s holding the iPad showing Isagi Kunigami new stats (yk it’s bad when I rmr this info off the top of my head) something about the wording “using religion and blindness” has me laughing so hard LMAOOOO it’s giving that one meme “I’ve got the power of god and anime on my side” except it’s god and optic neuropathy UAHSHSHA ok but on a serious note that fr would go so hard like let’s expand on his character please….id honestly love to see more of him as he was shown in the LN because nel yuki is SO diff than what he actually seems to be based off the LN but anyways…

Kunigami being the main rival makes sm sense tbh when I first read I thought he WAS going to be the main rival but no it’s Kaiser ig….wait the morally greyness of wildcard being discussed would fr be so interesting…..guys….also ness is one of my least fav characters tbh so slander him all you want LMAOO gotta agree w some dudebros he’s fr a Kaiser glazer you’re fr cooking though….we gotta get you in touch with kaneshiro asap

LMAO REAL I also (clearly) enjoy bllk quite a bit but yes many things to be improved…sometimes I think to myself if only I was an Isagi Rin or Kaiser stan I’d be having the time of my life but alas we cannot be MEDIOCRE

Wait the terminally ill route fits his character fr….where he’d be unwilling to tell his family about it because he wants to strive to be the best despite it and won’t settle for a comfy life…I can also see him getting murdered though LOL either way I’m sure it’ll be good (even though he’s dying oops)

Yeah I lowk forgot people who have such audacity exist the Tullia hate kinda insane and just generally when people comment “he’s mine [chafacter] better get away from my man” ICK imagine in the tags you just put every reader pairing possible as a jic disclaimer like “reader and Tullia talk to men so beware!”

I always found the rival characters so funny like why are you jumping me when I’m trying to get to the next city no I don’t wanna battle you rn LMAOO it’s funny in how like every version you end up teaming up and double battling the villain team somehow but the way they come and go was always so funny to me

When you first said may I thought you meant May from pokemon but now I realize…anyways love Tullia sooo glad to have her alive!!

LMAOOOO Lowk I had a subconscious thought like galvanthla interesting choice (i personally collected joltiks bc they looked cute LMFAO) Isagi the most basic of basics so an all basic team is perfect for him LOL I mean hey you gotta have an op basic pokemon somewhere right I already consider infernape relatively more niche amongst most popular pokemon too LOL

Otoya using his pokemon as chick magnets is so real LMAOO I wanna analyze the breloom yuki vibe like why does it work so well

Nagi fr got the short end of the stick omg LMAOO ofc it had to be a fire type too for once thank you reo for spoiling him HSHSH

SHSHSBD THATS TOO CUTE I bet chigiri would take sm time grooming and caring for his rapidash too (in line with what we talked about for his hair and skin LOL) sometimes I forget you make money from battling LMAOOO like yeah I just beat your pokemon up now hand me my check

REAL BUT LMAOOO the light blue team never fails for him honestly when in doubt just match the hair color I can definitely see him genuinely having an aurorus and ice types though maybe he’s like (I like them calm and cold unlike my parents) hiori running a fossil pokemon conservation wait id never thought of that that’s also so real….atp this should just be an expanded universe that exists time to world build (on that note imagine Aryu grooms and styles pokemon for coordinators and especially furfrou, I forgot exact which gen you were into pkmn until oops I’ll elaborate if you didn’t get to kalos/xyz)

LMAOOOOO i was already linking up aiku and Brock the moment you brought him in lowk that interaction set up you have is so pkmn verse coded its great

I SECOND THAT if no other inspo comes out lowk pokemon au….guys…..also Noel noa being the actual champion while reos dad just holds the title is actually such an interesting dynamic and would work so well

SHSHS sounds like you’ve got it all down still praying for your safety though all those experiences in one lifetime is crazy

HAHAHA I LOVE THE CHATTER reading the convo responses brings me just as much joy as reading ur actual fics im always down for yap sessions

- Karasu anon

LMAOOO that’s just me irl tbh like i hope that’s what you picture when you think of me 🤩 surprisingly it wasn’t in reference to the oaeu!! someone had just posted that they wished there were more otoya fics because they’ve read all of them already and i was like “just working…working hard to please you” because i am an occasional otoya writer for sure

OMG MR REMARKABLE (i forget if he had an actual name KFNSJSN my brother and i always just called him mr remarkable he’s like that elderly man who has a tv show or smth right??) and HAHA tyyyy 🥹

maybe they do it like that to distinguish him from rin or smth?? idk but it’s specifically only isagi who gets the horrendous hairdos they don’t give ANYONE else that treatment 😭 i fr feel bad for the guy even though idgaf abt him…

bllk karasu’s like “can we switch places” because a universe where otoya’s not as much of a dumbass AND he has the chance to rizz up reader is the universe for him (he def is so pressed that hollyhock karasu never made any moves LMAOOO “wdym you lost her to OTOYA” and hollyhock karasu is like “i never wanted her in the first place 🤔” so bllk karasu is like “WHAT”)

HAHAHA possessed by kaneshiro fr i felt his energy flowing through me in that moment 😭 someone needs to get me on the phone with him like idk much about soccer BUT i can definitely cook in terms of characters and plot!!

I REMEMBER WHEN KURONA FIRST SHOWED UP I HAD TO REREAD THE CHAPTER BECAUSE I THOUGHT I JUST MISSED HIS INTRODUCTION 😭 agreed there’s such a discrepancy between ln/third selection/u20 yukimiya and nel yukimiya!! especially with that rlly cool panel of him in the u20 game where they’re like “his style of soccer is street soccer 😰⁉️” and he looks gorgeous af i was looking forward to more elaboration on that!! like really showing how he plays differently compared to the other players (maybe giving him some special weapon because of that kinda like metavision) it also could’ve been a really cool point of connection between him and kaiser given that both of them kind of learned how to play soccer in unconventional ways…but alas…here we are

NO BECAUSE KUNIGAMI VS ISAGI RIVALRY COULD’VE BEEN SO GOOD it would’ve built up the hype for kuni sm more and him feel much more relevant imo!! honestly along with wanting to know what wc is all about i’ve always wanted to know noel noa’s reaction to it…like his biggest rival from the past has destroyed this child’s body and life and future in order to make a copy of him THAT’S LEGIT INSANE??? kaneshiro could’ve given us such a scrumptious kuni and noa dynamic and then he just didn’t 😭

honestly i think one of the main problems w bllk is that kaneshiro is spreading the cast too thin and making people care about too many characters but it’s impossible to effectively manage such a huge cast given the premise of the story and still have emotional impact when stuff happens to them and that also means that characters aside from the protagonist aren’t given a ton of fleshing out (this is relatively common in shounen sadly…jjk had a similar issue but almost to the next level) where by focusing on lesser characters and just giving them insane depth the story would’ve felt much stronger ☝🏻 like realistically there’s 0 reason for kurona to exist in nel when reo (as per our earlier convos) or yukimiya could’ve easily taken that role and had their characters developed much more!! kiyora could also have been replaced with yukimiya (as much as i love him) and tbh?? get sendou out of ubers and focus more on aryu (how’d he go from number 2 in scoring goals to a defensive player?? flesh him out more instead of sendou literally nobody cares abt him…hot take but only memorable u20 players were aiku sae and shidou the rest did not need to be there), get rid of tokimitsu entirely (show how his nervous personality doesn’t jive with egoism) and give zantetsu + karasu more opportunities to shine in pxg (honestly if they wanted to keep the cutthroat feel of second selection then get rid of nanase too and show how kindness doesn’t cut it in bllk where you need to be insane; that way the cast is still large but these characters aren’t fighting for a main spot they’re more naruhaya-esque) 😰 and another hot take but they should’ve saved all of the other ng11s besides sae until the world cup arc (so no kaiser and lorenzo in nel) to really build the hype and stakes of the wc because rn it’s like…ok the bllkers have already managed to beat lorenzo and the whole kaisagi rivalry is going on so the ng11s don’t feel as threatening?? whereas they could’ve been a really cool obstacle in the wc and would’ve provided a baddie of the week feel and higher stakes without it being boring or random since they’ve been so foreshadowed already with sae

i agree i rlly like the terminally ill aspect it also explains why his pokémon are willing to go along with his possessed body (they’re not able to accept that he’s gone) as well as why isagi knows so much without him being a villain…it’s also just sad to think about like he didn’t want his family to worry about him but he wanted to accomplish his goals so he just pushed forward until he literally couldn’t anymore 😭 also now i’m realizing lowkey kunigami would fit better in barou’s role (given the whole canonical wildcard thing being similar to the possession) however idc because i like barou more

yeahhh unfortunately fandom people can be a little weird to say the least and especially now that i have a decent amt of followers i know there are going to be interesting individuals in my comments so it’s not even worth it to not tag…okay but hear me out i wasn’t even thinking about this when i assigned teams (nagi got his team based on cuddly fluffy vibes and barou got his team as all dark types because of his “villain king” thing and reader was forced to have one of the same pokémon as him for the sibling theme…of barou’s team i liked houndoom the most so that’s what reader got) BUT the parallels between nagi’s starter being arcanine and reader’s being houndoom kinda go crazy?? like they both have huge fiery dogs but as per the pokédex arcanine symbolizes loyalty justice protection etc and houndoom is like death hell horror and whatnot 😭 however as we know nagi’s aura is death and reader’s character’s main theme is love (for barou, for her pokémon, etc) so narratively nagi x reader would be so good…especially if they’re each other’s “rivals” but they’re not really rivals and half of the time are helping each other out…there’s a vision here and it’s cooking imo 🤩 ALSO i’m thinking…hear me out…karasu reminds reader of barou so he becomes like her surrogate older brother while they’re searching for barou and reader is the annoying little sibling karasu never had which makes him respect yayoi more and teaches him responsibility and maturity which in turn makes yayoi finally respect him too 🤔

honestly galvantula is such a random pokémon but realistically in terms of type matchups it’s absolutely CARRYING reader against barou’s team considering dark is weak to bug 😭 honestly it’s such a cool little pokémon i think it’s so fun for her to have it on her team!! and the gyarados plot line is going to be so entertaining (basically she gets scammed into trading a freshly caught pokémon for a magikarp and shenanigans ensue) that i think the basicness is excusable

otoya constantly getting girls via his fairy type pokémon vs reader and tullia being like “ladies STAY AWAY” who wins 😭⁉️ and agreed breloom + yuki goes so hard…tbh i rlly like steelix and yuki too it works surprisingly well

no literally justice for nagi 😭 the way the government did NOT gaf abt him is crazy like they could’ve at least given him a water type (although tbf he’s meant to show how the pokémon training system takes advantage of people so it makes sense) honestly though i love his character in this au he goes through sm development and his slowburn w the reader will be legendary fr

YOU KNOWWWW chigiri’s rapidash is SPARKLING he def takes such meticulous care of all of his pokémon (same w reo) whereas nagi’s just like eh as long as they’re healthy 😄 KFNJSSB so like manshine trio will be chilling and in their downtime reo will be brushing his cinccino and chigiri will be polishing his rapidash’s hooves meanwhile nagi’s arcanine is rolling in a pile of mud somewhere having the time of its life

hiori and ice types just go so well together (even though he only has one on his team I think 😭) and agreed i can see him retiring from battling after his arc w reader and co and following his actual passion of helping endangered pokémon instead of listening to his parents (maybe karasu inspires him because he also stood up to his family [yayoi] and that gives hiori the courage to do the same)

gen six is where i left off!! i played gen seven (namely moon and a bit of ultra moon) but i didn’t like them that much so as far as i and this au are concerned the pokémon verse ended with xy/oras 🤩 omg wait aryu as a pokémon groomer slays…maybe he’s the one yuki takes his pokémon to before contests?? and perhaps the itoshi bros are mentioned in passing as gym leaders in another region…kaiser as noel noa’s apprentice who’s going to be a new e4 member like isagi (but a bitchier one who never knew barou and never directly interacts with reader) and same with bachira + kunigami (kaiser to replace noel noa, bachira to replace lavinho, kunigami to replace chris prince, and isagi to replace snuffy) there’s just so many different roles that characters can play!! the world building would be so fun

LMAOO honestly aiku trying to be the rizzler but getting cock blocked by big bros otoya and karasu is so funny to me 😭 also speaking of brock link ups since we know karasu and reader are like a sibling duo i’m imagining otoya and tullia to have that brock and croagunk dynamic where she just punches him whenever he flirts with girls because he’s so cringe it’s embarrassing 😰 speaking of tullia atm i’m think she’ll likely end up with either chigiri (since he’ll probably pull up quite frequently as a nagi companion so there’s ample time for development), isagi (since he’s a classic tullia pairing and all), or maybe even hiori?? like her and hiori really hit it off and after the main story is over instead of becoming a show/competition breeder like she planned she decides to go back to his nature preserve and help in breeding for species conservation or something 🤔 many many options fr

NO BECAUSE LISTEN THE TIK TOK AUDIOS ARE BURSTING WITH POTENTIAL FOR THE POKÉMON AU i’m getting soooo many ideas for the story now!! like the entire gyarados arc, the aegislash arc (this one goes crazy because it’s basically “reader and nagi somehow end up in a period drama for an entire arc” yet it makes perfect sense given the pokémon verse and the backstory), EVERYTHING with barou especially the final fight between the cousins (i’ve decided they’ll be cousins but as close as siblings!! so y/n’s mother is barou’s father’s sister and her houndoom is barou’s houndoom’s sister so it’s like three generations of brother/sister-esque bonds making up the story), the random evil team encounters…i’m sure you saw but i put requests on hold for a few reasons: so i can finish the ones i have, work on the oaeu, AND also start this story hopefully!! also i want to deny people from requesting for a bit so the hype is built for my 1k event whenever we reach that milestone FJDJSJSJ

LMAOOO the craziest thing is that’s not even scratching the surface unfortunately i have had many insane experiences with men i’m sure you’ll hear about more whenever they’re relevant to the convo 😭 and YESSS i love chatting w you hehe always a little rush of dopamine when i see the little “anonymous asked you a question” notification on my phone (when tumblr isn’t an OPP and actually gives the me the notifs) 🥹

[fullmetal-scar-simping]

! Jumping ahead here, but I hope your stylus gets (or has already been) repaired/replaced. Would love to see more of your art 👀

Oof, Miles and Marigold labouring under the unspoken belief that they don't yet deserve a life of happiness, that it needs to be earned, sums them up well. So Marigold was already on rocky terms with her family prior to meeting and eventually marrying Miles. Her choosing this person she loved was both a profound standing up for herself (and him as well), yet it would lead her to tragedy when Miles gets arrested and her health nosedives. Her family leaving her to die alone, and allowing formely-Petunia to rot in the orphanage system is so cruel.

Very sad for them. I almost wish their fantasy could have succeeded but of course the world isn't a racist and sexist meritocracy, where you beat the system by becoming a model citizen. It's just playing the game set-up by people who hate you, ruining lives in millions of overt and subtle ways.

Haha, I'm glad I could be of some help. 😁 And since you mentioned that Miles may potentially choose Briggs/the military over his daughter and the Ishvalan liberation front, then emphasizing his (perhaps desperate) gratitude towards Olivier and his dreams would slot in well with the fact that she maintains his delusions. Doesn't matter how much of his family is put into the ground (not his Ishvalan side, not his wife, not even his still-living daughter), he's doing 'real good' by working at the Drachman-Amestrian border! Keep the agony at bay by building those deluded walls higher!

Guh, the way you're characterizing and fleshing out McDougal is so good! He absolutely shouldn't be in any position to care for a young person. You're not sanitizing him or making his good intentions wholly translate into consistently kind, calm, and loving actions for The Girl. He's trying to fell a travesty of a regime, having done its bidding and ACTUALLY regretting it, while dodging the bounty on his and his fellow deserters' heads. I fully agree that his PTSD should be more evident than the tidy demeanour of the fan fave military characters. They live such clean lives, they're so blase about serving the institution that they traumatized themselves under (I refuse to give willing conscripts the benefit of the description of victimization). Meanwhile folks like McDougal are out there living underground lives within Amestris or otherwise outside of its borders, and actually attempting to demolish the regime without rewarding themselves for doing what desperately needs to be done.

Super appreciate that The Girl isn't being naive about soldiers and that blue coat, even if it's in part because of her complicated feelings around her father. And ough, the feedback loop between her and McDougal, his guilt and self-disgust, her disdain towards him keeping the damnable military uniform, him being such a wreck that he lashes out at this kid who doesn't deserve it whatsoever, hardening her in ways that don't actually aids or serves her, magnifying their separate pains. “[F]iltering every emotion through anger to hide her vulnerabilities,” goddddddd! Magnificent, it's exactly what would come out of relying on an ex-soldier for your survival amidst these horrendous circumstances.

As for him still holding onto his uniform, besides what you mentioned of the Doylist reasons (which I believe to ultimately be the case as well, given the break-neck pace of that first ep and the one-off nature of McDougal's existence), I often view it as a symbolic gesture on his part, at least when he's attacking Central. Here stands one of your soldiers gone rogue, whose skills that the state used to eliminate Ishvalan lives in service of a grander near-future extermination, now wielded against them. The tattered uniform as a declaration of retaliation and violent rebuke. I could also see it as symbolic of whatever grand idealism that perhaps McDougal once had (similar to idiots like Mustang) having been tarnished by a grim reality, and unlike the aforementioned idiot, instead of being unable to relinquish that idealism McDougal keeps it as a reminder of his hand in Amestris’ atrocities. Of course we could imagine numerous reasons for him wearing the damn thing, but those are the ones that come to my mind.

Omfg, the guilt being a factor in his going off alone...! ;___;

Oooh, Amiran. I rather like the placeholder name. The genderplay could be a fun bonus, but I get wanting to be more certain about which real world cultures you want to take inspo from. Hopefully a name and culture(s) align in time

Naming things can be the worst lol I don't envy being in the position of having to come up with so many too. 😅But I like the loose details of this factions actions and goals. The closer they get to the State itself, even if it’s just keeping their crimes against humanity in circulation, would certainly have them on the government’s radar. But what’s this about a tall butch lady You need to get that stylus up and working again, I’d love to see her made real!

I know that the manga is juggling numerous threads (and a rather bloated cast) but it’s odd that there seems to be nothing there to flesh out the Yao and Chang clans a little tiny bit. I do kind of appreciate that the other clans aren’t mentioned or seen in so far that it would be realistic that not every one of them would just congregate in Amestris, but c’mon now. Not even a flashback sequence or two for the main clans we do get to see?

Describing them as feeling insulated from their clans is spot-on. The narrative doesn’t do enough to underline the urgency Ling and Mei are operating on, in part because their people just feel like concepts. I wouldn’t suggest that Arakawa or Studio Bones should have created an entire side story that might otherwise derail the pacing and story of the main plot, but giving us SOMETHING more would have done a lot to bolster the Xingese characters. With Mei we just get a flashback to how she met Xiao Mei and why the panda is small. Which is. Cute. But like, ok? Where’s her clan tho

(Personally even if I got a smorgasbord of Yao clan backstory and characterization, I would still remain unmoved by the whole “A king is nothing without his yada yada” since, no, monarchies are not based on nor beholden to their vassals and commoners/peasants. So it’s just more nation-leading idealism that I personally don’t stomach. :P Still, more characterization please!)

As good-hearted a lad a Ling is, definitely contrasting the efforts of him and his bodyguards to save his own people against Mei, Daughter, Scar, and the rebels seems like solid narrative mirroring. Placing him as more as an antagonist (not a villain) puts him and his actions under a new light. I know it was delved into a bit with Manfred’s mangahood AU, but perhaps teasing out the more calculating and ruthless aspects of Ling’s personality would facilitate the tension that would feed into his storyline in your own AU. Definitely vibing with Ling’s blindspot towards Mei’s people only having her to rely on for their long term future, therefore allowing Lan Fan and Fu to be cutthroat against Mei.

Daughter learning alkahestry while in Xing with McDougal and tying that into how she meets Mei sounds good as hell imho. The journey to Xing could also be a rich opportunity for Daughter to ruminate on her Ishvalan heritage, perhaps seeing refugees, new settlements, or nomads on the way.

(That couldn’t have possibly been handled well by McDougal in this hypothetical tho. Perhaps any excitement that breaks through the hardened veneer would be awkwardly ignored, mumbled through, or snapped at. Or perhaps he would keep his distance if she got a chance to interact with anyone? Or they didn’t encounter anyone and I’m just rambling.)

LMAO @ Daughter’s constipated brain trying to help a struggling Mei by offering herself as locomotive punching bag. But Mei would definitely struggle to balance her training and frustrations against her crushing burden, so I really like the idea that this moment of vulnerability could serve as the point that these two meet and connect. All the details around that may need hammering out, but it works well as a central point for them!

Mei’s 12 no? Did I hallucinate that? I swear she (or somebody else?) says something like that in Broho at least. Because for awhile after Mei got introduced I assumed she was, like, 8 years old or something LOL And then at some point in the show somebody said she’s a tween. Anyway, 10-13 thereabouts if I fever-dreamt that detail.

THEIR DYNAMIC! Yes, it makes a lot of sense. Like an unspoken but deeply felt and mutual (and mutually known) support, empathy, and camaraderie built on their similarities. They need someone in their corner, closer to their respective age range, who has struggled and feels they must lift themselves and their people from poverty and suffering. “I’ll support you through anything” *Sobs* 🥺😭

Ah yes, the rebel group, Ishval (if/when liberated), all through Mei and Daughter vowing to help each other is a great way to stress the tensions, negotiations, and rejections between Ling and Mei. Nice teasing of the Greed theme there, with Ling’s diplomatic proposal for the Chang clan’s survival to simply become one of His Vassal (things). Without a philosopher’s stone in his hand however, Mei certainly wouldn’t settle so easily.

It shouldn’t fall on Daughter to have to lay out her lifetime of struggles and the racism/fascism she has been subjected to just to satiate Winry’s curiosity, but I can appreciate that Winry would wonder about such things. With a (mixed) Ishvalan teen around, this would more likely open Winry up to inquiring about the Ishvalan perspective on the war with the refugees (as you yourself said lol).

I’m fairly certain Winry was there after she and Al split from Ed. That’s when they all go back to decipher Scar’s brother’s research. So yeah, that allows the story time for Winry to ask some questions or inadvertently get into a conversation with some folks. Or Marcoh himself. I can also see the Mei route too, though I wonder if Winry would interpret that as Mei simply being overprotective of Daughter and Scar? Though maybe that frustration at what feels like an unfair bias towards her parents’ killer could be further motivation for her to seek answers with the refugees and/or Marcoh? Or Marcoh could chime into the convo as it’s happening? A lotta options here

“A theme of anger as a motivating impetus, a clarity instead of blindness, something that protects and defends you from mistreatment, it's something that stands up and says “no. I don't deserve this.”” Perfect theme, 10/10. Very much agree that Winry’s anger and pain shouldn’t be dismissed or discarded, but unlike the canon that shows her pain having to be kept in check by her kindness as a means of rising above those who don’t deserve it (barf) and breaking that stupid fucking “cycle of violence” crap, I feel like her getting more perspective on the horrific reality of Amestris’ actions and why any of this happened to begin with could steer her character towards a less reductive and more interesting route.

See, it’s funny that you bring up being unsure what to do with Al following the AU’s theme of anger. 03 Al is angry. Very angry. It bubbles under the surface and informs his diverging opinions and actions from Ed’s (unlike mangahood Al, who is mostly just Ed’s double or prim defender). He starts to see the necessity of violence, or at least why someone would take a violent path given the losses some people have suffered in part because of his codependence on Ed and how he would feel if he ever lost him (which tbf may not be effectual in a mangahood AU), as well as more directly interacting with Ishbalans and Scar. And all of that sympathy for those who are not seen as wholly human ties into his existential nightmare and inherently dysmorphic life as a soul tethered to an object. He’s dehumanized physically and in mentally/socially. So! All of that is to say, there’s a depth of anger that Al 100000% should have by the very nature of his constant dehumanization that mangahood neatly sweeps away (because Al could neeeeeeever be truly hurt by Ed, because he knows Ed loves him and love never hurts anyone and he forgives him because feeling even some doubt against Ed hurts ED which is BIGMEAN to Ed, Al needs to apologize- where was I?) Tapping into that, plus weaving in Al’s time in the Ishvalan camp could be useful for your story. I know he starts dipping out of consciousness around this point in the canon due to Ed nearly dying, but I think you can jiggle those details around to suit what you’re doing. His interactions with Daughter and Mei should be fruitful territory to make use of him + anger theme.

(03 Al>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>mangahood Al 4ever)

Scar IS anger as impetus! His actions can’t be divorced from his anger and pain, and unlike Arakawa’s perspective that this is wrathful and thus a sin (snooze), his anger being treated as clarity fits both his overall canon characterization pre-Briggs-induced-bootlicking and the focal points of this AU perfectly. He struggles with himself and what awaits him once his duty of killing his and his people's murderers ends one way or another in canon; but given he hasn't lost his ties to Ishval, in the vein of his involvement in a resistance group as well as guiding this young Ishvalan girl, he may be better able to help piece someone together in the throes of her own heartwrenching revelation. Or rather, show her how to channel that into a solidified way, that doesn't just combust against herself and everyone around her. That she doesn't have to be the bearer of those around her who cannot see or honour her and her pain. That she need not be people-less. Being up against her father and his allegiances, and what that did to her, her mom, and her people, must feel like so much cruelty from someone she already felt complicated about when she thought he was still incarcerated or dead. That feeling of having your world rocked to such a destabilizing magnitude would be all too familiar to him. Ugh, Daughterrrrrrr 😭😭😭

Man, my head is swimming with the possibility of Miles sticking with Amestris here instead of eventually tearing himself away (and parts of himself out) for his child! I want to root for the guy to get a clue and make the right choice, but it would certainly feel in-character for him to bury himself deeper into the fabric of a society he can't seem to stop feeling beholden towards. And how would that then impact her and the resistance if he essentially declares himself their enemy? Does Olivier and the Briggs faction still side with a coup led by Mustang and Grumman? Is the coup still going to happen? Does he report this to Olivier, and if so, what does she do with this info? Will Miles essentially end up at war with Daughter? (I'm sure these things and more are all being percolated and marinated on, I just wanna babble about the possibilities because DUDE!)

I have no doubt in my hater's heart that Olivier would see the Ishvalans, these once adept fighters (as per the manga, apparently), having their country and their people fully ransacked by the state's alchemists as evidence that they were indeed too weak and unworthy of their land and lifeways to continue on.

Ooooh, the rebel leader up against Grumman you say? 👀 Fully rooting for her and the resistance to decimate him and his men. Very curious what plots he (and Mustang?) concoct in regards to the Ishvalan Resistance.

Wish I had a suggestion for Mei's epithet after all this time, but I got nothing. 😶

Fair enough re: myself not being in the fandoms/a fan of the source for which your other fics are based on. But the fact that you've plunked away at such details in previous works is admirable and no doubt needed even in those other fandoms. Fans are not great about expanding the scope of their focus on the things they love, let alone tackling politics with any sort of skill or penache. (Looks at official published works like fma that fail in that way too lol)

I really can't wait to see more from this AU, but even just getting to read the details and some of the workshopping around how things will take shape has been a blast. Daughter seems like she'll be a wonderful character, and I'm a fan already.

Hi hi hi! Tis the OC anon, now off-anon! (That was fast ngl but whatever I'm here to have a good time on a quality blog) and yeah!

If you won't mind, here are some more tidbits about the AU:

Miles got arrested via the manga iirc where Ishvalan soldiers got rounded up and executed for “treason” but Miles got off scot-free supposedly because of his diluted lineage (which I have some doubts about, maybe he chose to swear allegiance to Amestris somehow and that's why he was spared, but I could very well be wrong and it really was just a matter of blood), he was held there for a while, during which time his wife collapsed and passed away while his daughter got shipped off to an orphanage bc Marigold's relatives did not want to raise an Ishvalan child.

By the time Miles gets out he's like “Where's my wife? Where's my daughter?” and while he gets a definitive answer regarding his wife (oof, feels guilty for being unable to be there for her), NOBODY KNOWS WHERE HIS DAUGHTER IS.

Our little daughter (nameless though I did give her a name) faces so much mistreatment in the orphanage that she decides to haul ass and try living on the streets instead and runs into Isaac McDougal.

In this AU, there would be a faction of former Amestrian soldiers who went “no fuck this shit I ain't gonna slaughter civilians what the hell” and defected from the military, which of course the government wasn't happy about so they got bounties on their heads.

Isaac is one of them.

Their cause might or might not expand to ally with other ethnic minority movements that the Amestrian majority has caused problems with.

Anyways, she gets picked up by Isaac (she must be, what, 11?) who is decidedly NOT suited for raising a child, much less a traumatized one. Also he was a bluecoat and she's an Ishvalan kid.

Some foils could be drawn between Miles and Isaac, I realize, both with ties to the army, one choosing to stay despite everything and the other leaving because he couldn't bear the injustice, both “father” to the girl, both probably less-than-stellar parents...

She becomes a brash, harsh, no-shits-taken, borderline reckless type of person.

Anyways he might or might not teach her water alchemy. Also via the anime I've seen some folk headcanon that Isaac can use alkahestry so maybe he went to Xing and took the girl with him too and they both know alkahestry?

They're both part of the coalition that wants to get rid of the current system of government.

Isaac abruptly discovers the whole nationwide alchemical circle thing and leaves on his own to go and put that to a stop, gets killed by Bradley a la canon, our girl who was not told what he discovered was like “????? I'm gonna go find out”

Which kicks off the plot, and... originally I just had it stick to canon for the most part (except the ending) just told from a different perspective but methinks I should really lean into the whole AU thing and go off the rails somehow

Anyways for fear of the ask getting too long here are some rapid-fire bullet points:

Mei becomes the Emperor in the AU. Sorry not sorry, I don't care about Ling all that much.

Miles' daughter offers to be a bodyguard for Mei and help her win the throne in exchange for her helping Ishval later. She agrees, and a badass duo is formed.

Our girl felt shame for being disconnected from her culture, she feels like she's not “Ishvalan enough”, even her name is Amestrian, so she discarded her name, just like Scar.

If she could allow herself to be vulnerable enough to say it aloud she'd tell Scar, “I wish you were my father instead” but homegirl is kinda constipated where her insecurities are concerned.

Complicated dynamic with Winry

Does NOT get along with Ed unless he gets his shit together and grows

Running into Miles in the North would be... a catastrophe

She thought her dad was dead all along but he's alive AND IN THE MILITARY?

I need to map out Miles' development if I'm not gonna stick w canon, he can't be Arakawa's mouthpiece who only appears once in a blue moon he gotta be a presence somehow

Marigold... haunts both Miles and their daughter. Miles' guilt, the daughter's anger and hurt and not understanding why her parents won't say anything beyond “be a model citizen and prove them wrong”— and of course, grief at losing Marigold, losing both her parents, even if they weren't perfect by any means.

I don't know if it's feasible for Miles to recognize his daughter whom he has not seen in years but the girl would absolutely recognize Miles. Yeesh.

Anyways Miles will have much to think about. And will eventually get his shit together but not right away. He's quite shaken after seeing his daughter again for the first time, though. Probably happens when the north crew had Scar trapped and Mei + the girl come to his rescue. To add to the absolute fucking MESS.

Scar and the girl would eventually take on new names as part of their healing or whatever, as their old name selves kinda “died” long ago? [Scar] died when his brother died, [the girl] died when she fell through the cracks of the system and never came back up.

Also Kimblee deserves no dignity he should've been killed by Scar.

Mustang does NOT get to use the fucking Philosopher's Stone to heal his eyes, if he even comes to need it— he might not even get yeeted into the Gate in the AU, someone else might have to take up the burden or things never come to that point, the Ishvalans are given back their dead and Marcoh gives either Scar or the girl or both the way to destroy a Stone. So they do. As part of a funerary rite for those who got turned into a Stone. It doesn't erase what was done to their people, but... it's closure, at least.

On the topic of that, the other day I went to check the Ishval tag after sending my previous ask to you, and. Uh. Uhhhhhhhhhh.

There was a post going “wouldn't it be so cool for Mustang to have red Ishvalan eyes since he used a Stone made of Ishvalans to heal his eyes?” and I had such a visceral reaction to it that I immediately exited the tag.

Yeahhhhhhhhhh

Regret™

Oh and there's also a couple underdeveloped Ishvalan OCs I have one of whom wants to be a doctor and may or may not become the girl's love interest? He's a soft boy.

This AU didn't really get all that much developed compared to my other AUs so I'm still up in the air on how the cast would react to my OC(s)— Olivier could be like “whomst the fuck is this upstart tyke and also that's a threat” and that could potentially drive some conflict between her and Miles, Miles is, understandably, distraught over everything, Ed... probably wouldn't like her tbh, no idea on how the Mustang gang or the homunculi would react to her, it's just a whole bag of ?????

Omg @heartisrote you wanna draw my baby? 🥹

Here are some older drawings I did back before I had the means to do digital art (when the earlier versions of the girl had a younger brother, unfortunately he got scrapped, he may get inserted again in another shape, question mark?) and after that, before my stylus fucking broke 🥲 (that's her potential love interest next to her)

Anyways, apologies for rambling so much in your inbox!

Hey Egg! Hope hopping off anon wasn't too intimidating. Maybe the cool Miles/Scar anon will get in contact with you in the near future.

Also, hell yeah, OC AU breakdown! Loved all the details you provided; I'm really digging the outline of the story so far.

Ah, so Miles' arrest is a manga detail that was eschewed for Brotherhood. Sigh, I really do have to read it don't I? But good to know, since it makes sense given the actions of the Amestrian government. They disbarred Amestrian Ishvalans from the service, so I thought it odd that Miles was spared. Initially I thought perhaps Olivier had thrown her pedigree behind keeping him in her squadron (which could still be true) or that his placement at Briggs provided plus his mixed blood gave him some leeway. But now I wonder if Briggs and Olivier only enter his military career and life post-arrest. 🤔

Excuse my ignorance, but is Miles canonically married? Doesn't matter either way, this is a cool AU, but I realize that my recollection of Brotherhood is perhaps spotty in that regard, or maybe the show also elided that info. Anyway, rip Marigold

So the poor daughter was utterly rejected by the Amestrian side of her family and gets sent to an orphanage. Man. It's realistic tho, since many families under a racial-class system deny, hide, or disown members of the "wrong" racial/ethnic makeup. Miles must have been distraught by both losses.

Good for her for running away from her abusers. Love that McDougall and his merry band of insurrectionists take her in! He may not be parent of the year (especially given the parallels between him and Miles in this AU), but it had to have been better than being at the mercy of a racist, indifferent orphanage. His death must have been like losing yet another parent.

With how much has shifted in the AU's plot, divergences are all the more likely to occur/become necessary. Especially once you get into the nitty-gritty of it all.

Lmao oh shit, Ling doesn't get the thrown. Ripppp, all hail Mei! Daughter becoming allies/friends with Mei on the agreement that, should Mei ascend to emperor, she and Xing aid Ishval is smart political maneuvering on Daughter's part. (If there's some other way I should refer to your oc, lemme know). With the alchemy/alkehestry thag Isaac taught her, Mei can further sharpen Daughter's alchemic skills.

And of course the two of them becoming an inseparable duo puts them in-line with meeting Scar. 🎉 Man's gotta properly father two tween girls while hunting down fascist pigs (thankfully they're both capable and willing to throw down). No surprise she's emotionally constipated, but hey, Scar's just as blocked up. But I gotta say: awwwwww 🥺

Oof yeah, her dynamic with Winry would be messy. And Ed, maaaaaan. Maybe in this AU he can actually shape up to be a better person (but unlike what Miles believes, that's not Daughter's nor Scar's responsibility)

Omg, that meeting between Daughter and Miles will be ROUGH. And during that scene in the Briggs mining town?? Nobody is prepared for the earthquake to follow

Yessss, the pair of them having to reconnect with who they will become, who they want to be, questioning who are they without the lives they once lived, with so much pain to come. Having someone else in similar straits would be an interesting dynamic

Amen. Kimblee got off easy in mangahood, when he shoulda had his spine ripped out by Scar (glad he gets murked by Scar in 03). Glad he gets his in this AU

Seems like Mustang's fate has been solidified quite yet, but I can appreciate that the Ishvalan philosopher's stone will not be misappropriated for him and his posse. It returns to its rightful people to receive final rights.

Ok, that post in the Ishval tag that you encountered. What the actual fuck. Wtf wtf wtfffffffffffffff

This fucking fandom, man

Anyway!

Fine tuning the interactions between your OCs and the canon cast will be quite the task, given the length of mangahood's story. There's no way Olivier (probably the entire Briggs unit) won't seriously complicate things with Daughter and Miles, but it's promising that Miles is slated to get his shit together eventually.

And the character designs! I really dig Daughter's design, she looks so good! The way you draw her hair is 🤌 Rip to the scrapped brother, but I can see how his passing as Amestrian would have thrown a wrinkle into her life and her insecurities. The love interest is adorable af. He's the one who's going to become a doctor, yeah?

Time to get some artwork of your oc done. Godspeed, heartisrote!

Thanks so much for sharing your OCs and AU! No apologies necessary for the length of the ask, I enjoyed reading it. 😄 If it gets posted anywhere, lemme know.

[thattimdrakeguy]

Bart Allen’s Characterization, as per his CREATOR. | Dare I say, the Bart Allen post, to end all Bart Allen posts? |

Bart Allen is a character that is so often badly characterized that most people out there have no idea what he’s like. He’s constantly characterized as essentially a 7-year-old, and was even believed by some fans to be only 10-years-old to 12-years-old when his solo started. This is not the case, as while he arrived as a 12-year-old at the very beginning of his first appearance, his struggle was that he aged rapidly, meaning that by the end of that fiasco, his age settled at the age of 15-years-old.

This isn’t even close to the only misconception about Mister Bartholomew Henry Allen the second. As due to later writers consistently infantilizing this once magnificent representation of a teenager with ADHD, that had fun dynamics as a fish out of water, his original personality is something that many Bart Allen fans wish would come back from the war once again. It was what allowed Bart to be an initially popular character, that had a decently lasting solo series, that was eventually slowly killed by bad characterization and infantilization.

Heck, it’s hard to begin to know where to start since there’s so many misconceptions about what was intended by his creator. I’m going to do my best, though, as I am one of those many that wish for Bart’s original characterization to come back. He’s not a hyper little boy as people think (Again, he was never 10-years-old. They just didn’t care to draw him properly when he returned. And his return panel is so widely shared these days). He’s actually the most teenagery teenager that’s ever existed.

So I’m going to start with the first issue of his solo series and go from there. I’m using the first ten issues of his solo as my line of research, since by then his characterization is readily fleshed out, and you can understand a lot of his true depth.

Also, this is going to be super long, but if you want to know Bart’s character like a pro-Bart-Allen-Er (?) this is the post for you.

What makes Bart unique, and what’s Bart like at school?

Might as well start with what some people may know about him, it’s how the issue starts off. And it gives you the basic idea of his conflict right away. As he’s a fast paced teen living in a slow paced town.

And how he’s yet to learn that life isn’t a video game, which makes him dangerously oblivious, not in a normal kid way, but like, as you can see, chasing missiles like it’s a video game oblivious. The beauty of Bart Allen is that as how as well as he represents ADHD, he’s still not close to normal in the ways that make him fun to read. He’s an insanely dangerous personality, in a way that can manage to be light-hearted, yet thrilling, in a rare combination I can’t think of any other character having.

Now this is the part I’m excited to tell you about, because everyone knows that Bart is fast-paced. You can barely know him, and there’s good odds you’d know that if you’ve at least seen a bit of him.

BUT DID YOU KNOW BART IS QUIET AND INTROVERTED??

It’s insane to some, I know, because he’s so often played off as a massive extrovert in modern series, like Young Justice (2019) or even Teen Titans (2003) to a lesser extent (though, that series was depressing, because everyone was a jerk to him for it), but he is actually an introvert. He’s not a hyper person all the time. He’s quiet, and keeps to himself more often than not when he can help it.

Going off of this, he’s so socially distant that he can seem like a jerk--literally since this guy is clearly shown thinking he is a “jerk.”

BY GOODNESS THIS BOY EVEN HAS A GREAT MEMORY, and look at that beautiful handwriting. All of this stuff is the total opposite of what is so commonly assumed about this teenager.

And there’s this constant idea that Bart is some innocent little baby that would do nothing wrong. And I want to tell you that, that is despicable. To downplay the drama this guy plays out. He’s not an innocent little baby. He is an attitude ridden teenager who cannot handle this bullshit. What people assume he’s like would make the real Bart Allen so freaking mad lmao

In fact I see people share this sometimes to say “OH LOOK HOW CUTE HE IS. PURE LITTLE BABY” unaware, that he’s not being himself there, he’s just playing up a persona in a desperate attempt to get what he wants. And promptly goes back to being an attitude ridden teenager lmao

This is just issue one, but you’ll see how wild his attitude can get soon enough.

Heck, I’ll just rapid fire issue 2, just to show you.

RAPID FIRE BART ALLEN ATTITUDE TIME

Look at how pissed off he looks in that one panel. OH, I CAN FEEL THE ATTITUDE THROUGH THE SCREEN.

A simple, yet classic, attitude ridden thing to say.

Okay in this one he’s just absolutely terrifying.

Also I didn’t realized he’s a user of the word “YEE-HAH!” ‘til just now. So hopefully you realized, ‘cause that’s really funny to me.

Wishing harm to the teacher? That scowling face? That’s not very innocent of him. That’s...rebellious I dare say. Almost like...GASP, Bart is a rebellious teenager.

Love that about him.

HE LEARNS???

Onto the more positive aspects about him shown in issue 2...

Like Bart learning to think ahead? That isn’t the lazy characterization he’d eventually have--Who could’ve thunk it, amirite? And he’s staying still? Speaking comprehensibly? Showing worry, because despite not understanding life and death quite yet, he does understand morals?

Why is it that later Bart characterization have a Bart that is more immature, bafflingly crazy, and hyper than what Bart is like, by just his second issue of his solo?

Even later in his solo when other creators took over, and made him closer to that of a 7-year-old than a teenager couldn’t recognize the full nuance of Bart’s character. And it’s such a shame, because it makes Bart lose so much depth, and makes him become so much less interesting.

--

Also he knows when to vibrate just in time to avoid projectiles. I think that’s cool.

More attitude, and popularity in school.

Let’s get some of his attitude out there again, because it’s one of the most reoccurring traits of Bart.

So, another thing about Bart that no one seems to ever talk about, likely because no ones aware of it, is that Bart is his school’s PRETTY BOY.

Yes, he is considered very attractive by others his age. And this is legitimately a reoccurring thing. I’m assuming in a boy band kind of way, since well, look at that hair, strong eyebrows, and always filled with just the right amount of attitude eyes.

Like I assume most people assume that when he’s called cute--people think it’s in like, the same way people find a baby cute--but no, in the series, it’s because girl’s legitimately find him to be very pretty and attractive. Lmao I’m stressing this so much, because when I started reading this series, I was off-put by the amount of times they make this clear, and how no one talks about it.

Everyone thinks it’s Conner that was the pretty boy, but nah, Bart’s also up there as a pretty boy.

More often than not it was actually Tim that was called cute the other way--’til like...One Year Later, that’s when he finally joined them in the ranks of being a pretty boy--though, still noted to be really baby faced and confused for a little kid so not all the times even then lmao It’s a curse that boy has to live with. Let him be.

No I’m not exaggerating lmao.

He is not this weird, loser kid in class, that people assume he is. In fact, he eventually becomes THE MOST POPULAR PERSON IN HIS WHOLE SCHOOL, NO MATTER THE GRADE.

It all starts when Bart gets picked on my the older kids in school (Which makes no sense, because Bart’s in middle school, since that’s where he’d be at his age in Alabama, and I’m pretty sure he’d be in his last year. Yet in other issues, I’m pretty sure they state these guys are older. Maybe they’re just huge compared to the other students? ‘Cause more students are the size of Bart not them. Maybe that’s just how they wanted to represent the jocks. Idk, but I’m pretty sure they’re older kids. Maybe he was written to be a freshmen and someone fact checked when it was too late to change the script. Because that makes a lot more sense, but it’s not uncommon to represent jocks as behemoths for their age in adolescent stories.) and he decides to show them how little he cares.

You may be wondering: How does this make Bart popular, that’s hardly anything? Well, I want you to read for yourself to see the absolute chaos that he starts. It’s better to witness for yourselves, then to be told about it.

Just trust me on it.

(Unless I got the issue wrong in which, crap, I’m so sorry.)

ROMANCES, SCHOOL CELEBRITY, AND BREAKING THE LAW.

Here’s Carol--she’s going to be Bart’s love interest/best friend. Which do they end up as? I have no idea, because I’ve seen things where they end up a couple, and other things where they think that’s dumb and are just friends. Both played with enough authenticity that it leads me confused. I didn’t read enough to make sure what happens, because this is more about his personality and general life than anything else.

So here she is. Look at that crush. Every relationship has it’s beginning, folks.

See, wasn’t kidding about Bart being the most popular guy in school.

Sorry, I just think it’s so funny no one talks about this. Bart gets done so dirty by other writers and the fandom. No respect towards the man. Like to other people he basically has it all, and the fandom treats him like this little goofy baby. It’s so far from the truth that it may be a real crime in some providences, states, and other countries. 

The best part of his whole solo to me, is when Bart straight up commits a crime, by stealing someone’s car against their will, when he doesn’t even have so much as a learner’s permit, since he just got adjusted to this time period.

It goes without saying, but the idea of Bart behind the wheel is rationally a terrible thought.

SO MUCH SO. THAT HE DRIVES IT OFF A CLIFF. MAX HAS TO SAVE HIM, AND ‘CAUSE HE’S FILLED WITH SO MUCH ATTITUDE, HE BLAMES MAX FOR IT.

Oooh, look how angry he is, when his hair turns emo. Even angsty and bitter in his new relationship.

OH WAIT, THERE IT IS, THEY WERE OLDER BOYS. I WAS RIGHT. SO THAT IS JUST--maybe they all held-back? Is it--I don’t know. It’s off topic. I just now noticed that as I was writing this. 

But don’t be too hard on the young man, he’s just in Junior High and has DDD.

PRESTON

I’m just going to share screenshots for the origin of when these two actually become friends. It’s a super great issue. It’s issue #6. It’s better to read for yourself, than it is for me to tell you the story. Plus, it’d help better make the point that Bart wasn’t just comedy relief, and treated like a total moron baby-boy. And was of his age, and dealt with sensitive, and mature situations, despite his obvious social limitations, from being raised in V.R. in the future.

Bart nearly kills Max

This doesn’t have much to do with anything, I just think it’s funny.

I’m not sure if this issue was even written by Bart’s creator, I think it had a guest creative team come in. Might’ve been because Mark Waid was still doing The Flash still at the time. I could be wrong, though.

So I’m just sharing this because I think it’s super funny.

MORE RAPID FIRE BART HAS AN ATTITUDE TIME.

Because like I said, this is one of his most reoccurring traits, and no one seems to ever want to acknowledge it.

Also I don’t know what order these goes in, but it doesn’t really matter. This isn’t about the stories, it’s about the character of Bart Henry Allen the second.

That last one is more warranted, though, because Max was dying in a hospital. Hence the angsty, manly tears at the bottom of the page. So that’s less, just because of his attitude, but more so actually having a mental breakdown, because he’s never lived long enough to experience something like a family tragedy before.

Again, it’s a great issue. It’s better to read it, then hear me talk about it.

Like if I had to recommend 10 issues to get Bart Allen, it’d all be the first 10 issues of his solo. They tell you a lot about him. Some more than others, but still.

They show a lot of nuance to Bart that may not be evident at first, if somewhat due to his current reputation. He was primarily funny, but sometimes his circumstances could be used for some heart wrenching scenes that could really gut you.

It’s what makes him such a great character.

To be so dumbed down like he is, is awful.

Other things that are important that don’t get shown in the first 10 issues: BART DOESN’T LIKE BEING POPULAR. He cares more about meaningful relationships than people just waiting for him to do something crazy. He loves and misses his mom so much (and takes a crap ton after her). And other nice little bits that add to him.

WHAT DOES BART LOOK LIKE

All right, so you may be thinking to yourself ‘That’s a stupid question’. Which, 1. Mean 2. I get that. But I’m saying that because through the magic of lack of care or maybe just lack of attention, Bart’s appearance got sort of fumbled along.

What do I mean by that?

Well--

Wait nope. That’s not it. That’s from TMZ.

Sorry.

This is it:

Now there’s a chance you’re thinking to yourself “Well, that’s clearly not what he looks like in his comic”, and I’ll tell you why. Because Ramos has a very different style from the legendary Mike Wieringo. Ramos has a more cute art style, that was meant to compliment the purposely sitcom style of the writing.

It’s not supposed to mean Bart has a giant head, and a lanky stick for a body. That’s how Ramos drew all the teenagers Bart’s age.

And it was the 90s. So bigger muscles is just a thing you have to come to expect. So I wouldn’t say he’s meant to be legitimately a body builder at his age. I mean, Tim was supposed to be lean enough to just be thought of as skinny, yet you wouldn’t imagine that because different artists like Tom Lyle (R.I.P.) and Tom Grummet chose to keep with the growing style of the 90s.

Even in Bart’s first appearance he’s a little more leaned out:

But still obviously with good muscle definition, and not as lanky as other artists would have you believe.

You can tell that he was meant to be a pretty boy (If I had to take a shot every time I said pretty boy in this post. I’d be dead so long ago. I’m gonna have to take a purge from saying the word for a bit to get it out of my system if I can) with his hair, eyes, and general looks.

While meanwhile Mike Wieringo drew Tim Drake like this, to give you a comparison to give you guys a better idea what Bart’s look is meant to be in comparison:

Okay maybe--not in that situation often, but still. He doesn’t have as much muscle definition, and his armor is  more artificial looking like the movies at the time and his face is lot more baby-esque. Meaning Bart’s supposed to be prettier, have more muscle then him, and going off of the different panels, even taller than him.

Though inside the series, he was depicted more serious when it matched the mood, and his armor more thicker.

Just leaving more examples to show what you’re suppose to gauge out of Bart’s actual design, because later artists kept drawing Bart with the Ramos look more in mind--even if they drew the other characters more normal. Which could be super weird looking at times.

Okay so maybe I just love Tim a lot, and really love Mike Wieringo’s run on the series. Sue me. He’s a great artist, and I miss him dearly.

But basically, you can see what I mean at this point. Though sometimes Tim’s look would slightly change depending on the issue. I think this is enough panels to freaking get the point across that Wieringo generally drew Tim like this, and he’s one of the best Tim artists--Sorry, I really want to reread his Robin issues right now.

But anyways he drew these around the exact same time period, and this is the best I can do to show what Bart’s designer intended him to look like, and give any sort of idea what he’s meant or at least could look like generally outside of that art style, by comparing it to how he drew his Tim, since his artists at the time stayed more consistent with his looks. While Bart’s all followed the slowly more exaggerated cartoon style, that eventually bled out into comics that made no sense for him to be drawn like that in.

Which is why I made this section, because what happened was super weird.

It’s a unique situation I know. But I dunno, I just wish more artists would’ve paid attention to the Wieringo design, since you know, he helped create Bart by designing what he looked like. Using a specific person’s art style, that is supposed to be exaggerated and cartoony--that doesn’t work when put into different comics where everyone else is drawn more normal.

Also Bart can grow some really nice sideburns, even in the Ramos art and no one gives him compliments on that. For shame.

--

So there it is, the basics of Bart Allen as per his creators.

An entirely different beast than what people expect out of the Flash of from the Future. So much so, that if I didn’t know later writers would water down and mush Bart into bits, I’d be completely lost as to why people think he’s this entirely different character.

One thing also is that, Bart actually shows an attraction to woman. It’s just not pushed over your head. It just wasn’t in the first ten issues, so I have no panels of it. But I’m assuming most would agree that having pink hearts floating around his head as he looks like Jesse Quick would illustrate that he’s clearly very attracted to her.

He’s the most teenage boy to be a teenage boy. He’s not innocent, he’s not polite, he’s not cutesy. He’s an attitude ridden, messy, bucket of disaster energy, that runs a muck and gets popularity from it.

In essence, he’s freaking great.

Hopefully this actually helps anyone out there that may want to learn more about him, or even write or draw them in their recent creative spark. He deserves the love enough.

If you read all of this, thanks. ‘Cause I wrote this all today in the last three hours of my life, because I didn’t realize I didn’t already have this post done.

Don’t forget to feed your fish.