#-for me I feel like you would also tell me it isn't really a good date if only one of us are enjoying ourselves and would rule out-

[starry-bi-sky]

first off -- you posted this 7:35 AM my time and 10 minutes later i woke up so im choosing to believe that the universe saw you made this and decided to shake me awake screaming "GIRLL YOU GOTTA LOOK AT THIS" i am so 💖💖💖💞💖♥️💖💗 over iiiIITT. i love it. i love them. the first video being from the same day as the fight bruce saw is so good. That's such a good tie. Beautiful, poetic. They make me so emotional.

"Who am I if not a blood blossom stan and yapper" 🤝 CHEERS I'LL DRINK TO THAT

im dedicating this to @detectivedarling. i felt inspired after seeing their little ficlet yesterday sadhjfl 🫶

-

Danny's grip on his cane tightens.

"What—"

His voice cracks. He stops, clears it, then tries again in spite of the nausea twisting in his gut. "What are — you, uh, watching, Bruce?" He sounds horribly far away.

Bruce doesn't look at him, his attention laser-focused on the screen. Which is— fine. It's usually not a problem, Bruce gets like that when he hyper-focuses on a case, and unless it's urgent — or he's been at it for hours — Danny sees no need to pull him away from it. He likes the quiet camaraderie they have, it's companionable and unique to the two of them.

He wishes he was right now though. Looking at him, that is.

That way he wasn't watching what was clearly one of Danny's ghost fights. One of the nastier ones, if the collateral damage and rubble on the street is of any indication.

Danny tries to remember which one that is. He shuffles a little closer to the desk, ignoring the rock in his stomach or the ugly weightlessness in his arms. It's not the blood blossoms, that much he knows. He just recently had an injection so it shouldn't be bothering him this soon—

So it's just nerves. Perfect.

Most footage of his fights are— messy, at best. Unusable at worst. Amity Park was obsessed with appearing 'normal' when they first started happening, and typical news stations censor the worst of the fights anyways for publishing, since they can get pretty gory at times. And ghosts move too fast to be caught on regular standard cameras, not including distance and light and—

That is to say— finding usable ghost fight videos is hard.

Danny wonders how Bruce got his hands on this one, and then stops wondering.

The audio is muted, which is - good. Good, because the fight is ugly and chaotic and clearly this was taken on someone's phone. Fuck, he can't remember if he ever saw that before — clearly not. They're hiding behind an overturned car, and Danny grits his teeth so he doesn't tell that idiot to run.

The camera turns up, and focuses on two figures in the air. It takes a few seconds, but when it does, Danny gets hit with a wave of vertigo. His grip tightens and he leans heavily on his cane, he waits for the black dots to disappear.

He- uh, he remembers this fight now. Uh, sort of.

He remembers being twelve at the time, and he remembers some of the injuries he got out of it. His eyelid spasms abruptly. This ghost wasn't one of his regulars, so he doesn't remember whatever name they had, barely remembered what they looked like up until- uh. Now.

Was he always that small? Well— Phantom's never been particularly big, perks of being a dead kid, but— it's - different. Seeing it from an outsider perspective. Was he that small? Or is it just because he's wearing a jumpsuit clearly too big for him that casts the illusion of being small?

Doesn't really - matter. Now. He can't access his ghost form, and he already knows the answers to his appearance.

Phantom is clearly bleeding, viscous and violently green like the bubbles of a lava lamp, clutching onto a limp shoulder that's missing an arm from the elbow down. Half his face is drenched in similar blood, the eye on the drenched side is closed — not because he can't see through the ectoplasm.

Danny's memories of that fight slowly come in a bit clearer. Right. He took a pole to the eye in that one. That had - hurt. A lot. Getting an eye gouged out usually does. It and the missing arm took hours to grow back.

He rubs his eye with his palm for no other reason than it itches.

The other ghost isn't untouched of any injury either, but he's not in a state of dismemberment like Phantom is.

Danny drops his gaze down at Bruce, whose sitting in his chair with his hands threaded together, looking so tense that Danny half expects to meet solid steel if he were to touch his back. His face is - blank. Terribly blank, with an intensity in his eyes that Danny doesn't see often.

He looks terribly distressed.

He opens his mouth, and finds that nothing comes out. His throat is thick with an ugly, tar-like feeling that makes his eyes sting. Kinda reminds him of when someone wraps their hands around your throat and presses. He closes his mouth, then tries again.

"B—" hhhhhh, "Buzz."

Finally Bruce looks at him, one hand slaps the space button on the keyboard, and the video pauses. His expression doesn't shift, but there's a weight in the lines of his face that reminds Danny of a set of weights sagging.

He looks quite like he's grieving something.

Bruce opens his mouth, his voice comes out terribly soft and heartbroken: "He looks like you."

Which is— a terrifying sentence in and of itself. One that makes Danny's legs shake and ignite his ragged, poison-chewed nerves alight with the need to run. An instinctive urge to deny, deny, deny.

How could he? He could say, that's a ghost, Bruce. I'm not a ghost. He could crack a joke, and ask, 'do I look dead to you?' or say something about how he knows that his parents studied ghosts, but that didn't make him one.

He could say that, and he could say it knowing full well that Bruce would see right through it. He'd probably let Danny too.

Danny closes his eyes. They sting, you see? So does his nose, right in the back like someone popped him in the face. And his throat is thick and gross and like someone stuck a spider, the big fat tarantula kind, right down into his esophagus.

He breathes in — through his mouth, because his nose stings and so it'd be best not to irritate it further with air — and it's terribly shaky and uneven. But it clears a pathway to his lungs big enough for him to say — whisper, really:

"You know, I think you're the first person to notice that."

[mcflymemes]

AS SAID BY ASTARION ANCUNÍN *  assorted dialogue from baldur's gate 3

you are mine. no one can change that.

i wish... to drink. and be drunk.

you haven't earned the right to stare at me like that.

you could scream bloody murder out here and no one would ever know.

we should find a tavern and celebrate.

do my eyes deceive me? the gang really is all here.

i'd rather be the only dark power inside your body, if it's all the same to you.

you're cute, you know. in another life we might have been friends.

i don't hate you. because this is not you.

we just have to be vigilant. keep our wits about us.

you can try, but i will stop you.

do what you like. it's none of my concern.

i simply do not care.

we could do it, you know. we could rule the world.

i... i don't know what to say. thank you.

well that's just disgusting.

listen to me, damn it! i'm trying to save you, even if you're too stupid to see it.

believe what you want. i'm done with you.

you have no idea what i can do.

sounds like a delightful dinner plan. perhaps i'll join you.

forgiveness? you've never forgiven anything.

i don't need anyone to speak for me.

i don't owe you a damn thing.

don't worry. i'll keep watch tonight.

just don't ask me again.

is there anything else? any new and interesting ways you can waste my time?

i'll come to you tonight, when you're snugly wrapped in your bedroll and we can have a little privacy.

this time i'll make sure i'm quiet.

you're lucky i'm such an open-minded person.

why send anyone after me? i'm hardly a threat out here.

what are you waiting for? help me!

"you can do whatever you want" sounds terrifying, and it is, but there's opportunity in it, too.

i am so much more than what you made me.

hold very, very still.

i'm sorry, but could you excuse us a moment?

get out of my way. i'm in no mood to talk.

you didn't think i could do it? i'm hurt.

i appreciate your loyalty, darling, but i don't think you understand.

fair? nothing about this is fair.

i don't know who they are, but i have plenty of questions.

i'm glad to hear it.

i do believe you. i know you only did what you thought was best for me.

i just need some time to let it sink in.

you're so good to me.

safe? how can i ever be safe now?

well, hello. looking for a cuddle?

now that you're back with us, we need to have a talk.

how flattering. and disturbing.

please tell me this is important.

there's also gold, sex, revenge... quite the list, really. but failing any of those, i will always settle for shallow praise.

now just tell me i'm beautiful and we can call it a day.

i want to thank you.

you're a vision. and you're so much more than that.

this is all a game to you, isn't it?

for as long as i can remember, i've been used by others.

of course i was attracted to you. look at you, for goodness' sake!

i will forever remember what you did for me today.

that's what you've been waiting to hear, isn't it? that's what you want?

i have been waiting so long for you.

come, give yourself to me.

i'll take care of everything.

it's time to try living again.

i feel safe with you. seen.

we don't have to rush into anything tonight.

would it kill you to dispense a compliment?

looking for something?

honestly, you have no sense of fun.

i do appreciate your enthusiasm, but let's try to restrain ourselves a little.

would you like a tour? we can start with my tent, if you like.

everything was taken from me, too.

well, that could have gone better.

i don't know what you mean.

were you actually worried i was angry?

so what was it like? tell me everything.

i hope i'm not interrupting.

some day that soft heart of yours is going to be torn out of your chest.

what a party. we should do this again.

there you are. i've been waiting. waiting since the moment i set eyes on you. waiting to have you.

you've seen enough already.

i didn't want to lose control.

oh, don't be like that. not every problem has to be beaten to death, my dear.

wait! don't interrupt them!

let's not make trouble for some stranger.

my, this place is fun.

my past isn't exactly a happy story.

that was amazing.

it won't happen again. you have my word.

so many people need killing.

remember who saved you.

don't worry. i'm here.

[genoskissors]

The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy - Initial Character Thoughts

This is going to have a lot of Danganronpa comparisons, name analysis, and just my overall thoughts on each character before the game is out. Feel free to comment your own thoughts!

Darumi Amemiya (飴宮 怠美)

"A young woman known for her mood swings and obsession with all things dark and depressing. She's a big fan of killing game stories and has no fear of death. If she has to die, all she wants is a death that's as dramatic and flamboyant as humanly possible."

Crazy thing I'm about to say, she reminds me of Genocide Jack. She sticks her tongue out a lot and seems to be completely desensitized to anything regarding death. It makes me think she's just desperate for a thrill in her life.

I don't really like her design but I think if the vibrant colors were turned down, it would be much better. I do enjoy it in a way, being able to dress however you want reveals a lot about someone's confidence. I love how she looks in her other outfit and I honestly think if her shirt was less white, I'd love her hair.

Ame means candy, miya means palace, daru means lazy, and mi means beauty. Daru is not common in names, so it definitely has a meaning. This name doesn't have any straightforward meaning to me, but I suppose Darumi is a more unique character. Her name might make sense later. I do theorize, for the lazy part, she was bored before getting into dark stuff, kinda like Junko.

Eito Aotsuki (蒼月 衛人)

"Takumi's most trusted ally. Eito cares very deeply for his friends and isn't shy about expressing those feelings, corny as they may sound. He's been weak and sickly since he was little, but his impressive intellect might be just what the team needs to guide them through the war safely."

We are all thinking about the exact same image. Anyway, I think I'll love him because it seems he has a bit of a crazy side as well (I love crazy people). He's also very forward and compassionate, so I'll enjoy seeing both sides of him.

He looks like one of Nagito's beta designs which I think tells me everything I need to know. I find him cute but his jacket being the same color as his skin kinda throws me off. I'm also curious as to why he wears gloves, he's dressed like it's winter.

Ao means blue and tsuki means moon. His first name is interesting, as the kanji for Ei is the same kanji used in the game's title, meaning defense. To means human and is also a common ending for a boy name. I find the term blue moon fitting for his appearance, and I assume his role in battle will mostly be defense.

Gaku Maruko (丸子 楽)

"A guy who's true to his personal desires (to put it delicately). He's a coward and always looking out for himself. However, there's something so refreshingly honest about his pettiness that it's hard to hate him. Gaku's also good at taking care of other people once he opens his heart to them."

I will not lie, I don't think I'm going to like him. I'm okay with a character being a coward and I'm okay with a character being selfish, but both does not seem like a mood maker to me. I think I'll find him annoying but I'll be happy to be surprised.

He's got some patchwork in his clothes, so I think he might come from a troubled past. His shirt is really stupid looking though, but it's stupid enough to circle back to being slightly cute.

Maru means round and ko means child, but together, Maruko is a type of meatball. Not exactly the same as Western ones, but very similar. Gaku means comfort. I think his first name goes well with the fact he takes good care of those close to him. In Japanese, Gaku is also a homophone for the word school. As for Maruko, I don't know.

Hiruko Shizuhara (雫原 比留子)

"Leader of the Special Defense Unit. A cold, almost heartless beauty, she always says what's on her mind, even if it means offending others. She's just as merciless on the battlefield, where she gets a twisted sense of pleasure from tearing invaders apart."

She enjoys murder, I think I'll like her. I'm very curious as to why she's considered the leader of the group. The way she's described as merciless on the battlefield makes me think she has murdered before. Maki but a little more crazy (I love crazy people).

She has a lot going on that I really enjoy, the piercings, the makeup, the hair clip. She's also 5'11, which I think will be funny next to our 5'6 protagonist.

Shizu means droplet and hara means original, but is also just a common ending for Japanese surnames, like Saihara and Gokuhara. Hi means compare, ru means remain, and ko means child. Hiruko, spelled 蛭子, is also one of the names of Ebisu, a God of fishing, wealth, and fortune. Ebisu also uses the kanji 比, which is in Hiruko's name. Her last name is also water related.

Ima Tsukumo (九十九 今馬)

"One of a set of twins - Ima is the elder by a few minutes. He acts like a carefree joker, but underneath that humor is a hint of something darker. A hardcore siscon, he thinks of nothing but protecting his sister. If anything or anyone dares to threaten Kako's safety, Ima will show them no mercy."

This might ruin people's perception of me, but I don't care that he's a siscon. Like at all. It might be an uncomfortable attribute but after four Danganronpa games, I could not be less phased. I think I'll like him since he seems silly but also a little crazy (I love crazy people).

One of the cutest characters here. I thought he was a girl at first but he just has luscious eyelashes. I love the color of his hair and the streaks in it, I think they go well with his eyes. His sprite here looks very chummy.

Tsukumo means ninety-nine, which is one less than a hundred and how many days they have left after day one. Ima by itself means now but his name only uses the “I” part of it and then uses horse for the ma part. Basically 今 = Ima and 今馬 = Ima. It would be the same with or without the last kanji, but I assume it's there to make it seem more like a name. However, I can't help but connect him to Oma.

Kako Tsukumo (九十九 過子)

"One of a set of twins - Kako is the younger by a few minutes. She's prone to spacing out, but also has a keen mind and a healthy sense of curiosity. Kako is a big fan of mystery stories and wants to be a private investigator when she grows up."

She seems like a regular teenager to be honest, but the spacing out and solving mysteries reminds me of Chiaki. I think I'll like her, but I can't really pin her personality based on this description.

I adore her hairstyle and her bow. The color of her hair looks really nice with her eye color. Funny enough, I didn't realize her and Ima were siblings until I saw the eyes. Like the uniform did not give it away for some reason.

Like her brother, Kako's last name means ninety-nine. The kanji for ka means past, contrasting the meaning of her brother's name. I like to theorize there will be a character named something including future, but that's a reach. Ko means child, it's a very common ending for female names. It might just be to make Kako seem more like a name, but perhaps it also represents childishness.

Kurara Oosuzuki (大鈴木 くらら)

"The scion of one of the most wealthy families humanity has ever known. She's proud, overbearing, and acts like she's better than anyone else. She always wears a strange tomato mask, never showing her true face."

I like the proud type of character, someone like Miu or Byakuya. She seems to be more focused on degrading others than uplifting herself though, but that's just based on her quote. I also really want to see her face but oddly if it's never shown I won't be disappointed.

I don't really care for masks that completely cover a character's face, I like to see at least some parts, but the fact the mask expresses emotions makes me content with it. I also thought it was a Jack-o-Lantern at first, but I guess it's just a scary tomato? The rest of her outfit is nice, fits the rich girl thing.

Oo means great, suzu means bell, and ki means tree. Suzuki is a very common Japanese last name, so adding great in front of it makes sense for her prideful personality. Kurara is a type of plant that is very bitter. I assume this will also relate to her personality.

Kyoshika Magadori (凶鳥 狂死香)

"A young samurai who's utterly clueless about the modern world. Has never even heard of multiplication tables, let alone learned them. She has a disturbingly close relationship with her katana, the Holy Jumonji Sword."

Kyoshika is who I think my favorite character will be. She's very Tenko like, a character I love very much. Her birthday is 11/11 which I hope is a joke about how she cut 1111 perfectly in half. While she isn't very modern, I can still see she has a reliable personality. Her name also hints she might be a little crazy (I love crazy people). Lastly, Ninja's are cool.

I love her outfit, especially the katana on her hip and the huge cape. She also has a normal ponytail, not often seen in Danganronpa. I like how her ponytail looks like a shuriken. Her face reminds me of Maki a bit, another character I love. I also love the colors. I just really love her so far.

We have a very straightforward name here. Maga means bad or unlucky and dori means bird. Unlucky bird? Crows are often associated with death, but that might not be the message it's going for. Kyoshi literally means crazy to death. Ka means scent, but is also just a common ending for a girl name.

Moko Mojiro (喪白 もこ)

"A young woman who is blowing up on the high school pro wrestling scene. Her courage and boundless energy is a source of inspiration for the entire Special Defense Unit. Whenever she has a problem, she faces it head on. She didn't choose the wrasslin' life - it chose her."

Her personality reminds me a lot of Aoi. Probably with more courage though. She seems like she'll get along better with girls than boys. The boundless energy makes me think she'll be fun to play, but we'll see.

We finally got ourselves another buff woman, Sakura fans rejoice. I like how her hair, face, and outfit are cutesy, it shows she can be physically strong while still being girly, something Sakura wanted.

Sigh... I don't get her name at all, Mo means mourning and jiro means white. Her first name is in Hiragana so I don't know the exact meaning, nor do I really have an idea on her last name. I thought about Peko and how pekopeko is an onomatopoeia. Mokomoko is an onomatopoeia for something thick and soft. Not sure if that relates to her personality. I'd say her last name is a death flag but everyone dies in this game so that doesn't mean much.

Nozomi Kirifuji (霧藤 希)

"A high schooler who combines a kindhearted nature with dogged determination in battle. She's very passionate about the Special Defense Unit's mission, but also seems to be hiding something. For some reason, Nozomi is identical in appearance to Takumi's childhood friend Karua."

I'm a sucker for characters hiding a big secret, so I'm excited for hers, I assume it's related to Karua but how so? Much to think about. She's kind and passionate, so I think she'll be very easy to like as a character.

Cute, cute, cute, cute, cute!!! She is adorable from her hair to her shoes. I really like her hair especially. Her name is cute too. I think she's my favorite design overall, it's pleasing to look at.

Kiri means fog, which, like Kirigiri, I believe represents the mysterious aspect of her. Fuji means wisteria, which are purple just like her. Nozomi means hope, which is a name I was surprised Kodaka never used. I always thought Nozomi would be a great name for Chiaki, but I'm getting off track. Overall her name is peaceful but mysterious, fitting her description.

Shouma Ginzaki (銀崎 晶馬)

"A young man who, by his own admission, has absolutely nothing going for him. On a scale of one to ten, his self-esteem's at negative five. He's constantly putting himself down."

It seems like a lack of self-worth is gonna be his whole thing. I'm not really looking forward to it. Nagito did it too, but was also a very positive person, but it seems Shouma is just depressed. I just don't want everything he says to be about how he's worthless.

His design is okay. I think I'd like it better without the hat but it's not too bad, just makes him look a little immature. I do think his face and haircut are cute. He's also very small.

Gin means silver and zaki means small peninsula, but is mostly associated with being an ending for a surname, so I doubt it changes the meaning. Shou means crystal, and like in Ima, ma means horse. The silver and crystal parts are definitely connected, maybe he's wealthy? Or maybe it symbolizes his personality instead. Not very sure.

Takemaru Yakushiji (厄師寺 猛丸)

"An old-school delinquent who lives to ride and rides to live. Despite his rough-and-ready demeanor, Takemaru's really a nice guy on the inside. Impulsive, straightforward, and honorable to a fault, he's sworn to never use his strength to bully the weak."

He seems like a generally good character but I can sense there will be a lot of him yelling. Honestly, he just seems a lot like Mondo to me, so I don't have much to say. I like Mondo but I'm not sure we need another one. Also he says he doesn't hit girls, kids, or the eldery, so first thing I know is he sees girls as weak.

Give him the corn hair and he's literally Mondo. I do like Takemaru's hair though, it's kinda cute. He's got a lot of scars on his face, so I feel like he might be a little reckless. All the characters have dull skin but I feel some vibrance would do him good.

Yaku means disaster or evil, shi means master, and ji means temple. The temple part adds up with the old school aspect, like in Saionji and Shinguji. The first part likely just represents him being a delinquent. In his first name, Take means fierce and maru means round. I think this is mostly just a pun, “Takemaru Hair” is a hair style associated with delinquents.

Takumi Sumino (澄野 拓海)

"The main character of this story. A completely average high schooler from a completely average family. He can be a little indecisive and pessimistic at times, but when he has something to protect, he'll fight with everything he's got."

Classic average high schooler as our protagonist, expected for these kinds of stories. I'm in no way a hater of the archetype, I love Makoto, Hajime, and Komaru lots, so I think I'll like him too. His introduction is pretty negative, but I find pessimism to be an endearing trait, so I feel like I'll love him.

I'm not really a fan of the bright red hair, but it's not bad. I would like if the red and black in his hair switched. Also, classic ahoge. I find his eyes beautiful, they're very sharp, great for a pessimist. Not much to say about his outfit.

I don't know why but I really like his name and the kanji used in it. It just sounds and is written nice. Sumi means clear and no means field, but it's also just a common ending for surnames. Taku means opening land and mi means ocean. I think the opening land part fits the fact he's in a new place and the sea is more metaphorical for how vast it is.

Tsubasa Kawana (川奈 つばさ)

"A young woman who knows a lot about machines and what makes them tick. She had a bright, lively personality, but isn't good with stressful situations. When she gets nervous, she gets nauseous, and then..."

She is so cute I already know she'll be one of my favorite characters. She's energetic and social but gets sick when nervous, I can very much empathize with her... If this game has things like free time events, I'd like to spend some with her.

I absolutely adore her design. Her hair is beautiful, her entire outfit is cool, I like the way she carries herself. She also has the classic Danganronpa mouth mole, a need for all of Kodaka's games. Her necklace thing is odd but I'll look past it.

Kawa means river and na means doubts, however, the kanji for na isn't really known for its meaning and is mostly associated with being a part of a name. The last sentence implies she throws up when nervous, so, for lack of better phrasing, maybe the river represents that? And doubt is what fuels that nervousness? I think I'm reaching here. Tsubasa means wings, which I think is bright and lively like her personality.

Yugamu Omokage (面影 歪)

"A striking young man who's been in the business since long before the war started. Unlike the rest of his family (who are also assassins, by the way), Yugamu believes that killing should be done with love. He enjoys torture and other immoral forms of pleasure."

He's crazy like for real crazy (I love crazy people). His description makes me raise an eyebrow about what exactly "immoral forms of pleasure" are but I won't make assumptions until the game is out. He kills for love which reminds me of a character I love with all my heart. He'll never compare to her but it's okay.

The outfit is very nice but the random organs are a bit odd. That's probably the point, but it's just really random. I find him ugly and I love it. His hair is also bad and I love it. I love this ugly boy.

Omokage means face shadow, referring to imagining someone's face with your mind. Kind of like imagining someone, usually dead, is there with you. Yugamu means distorted. Another on the nose name. Remembering a face but it's distorted, could refer to his own scarred face, or perhaps forgetting what someone who has passed away looks like. He has a strong connection with love, so perhaps someone he once knew. It likely just refers to his own face.

Sirei and Nigou (ＳＩＲＥＩ) & (ＮＩＧＯＵ)

"The principal and commanding officer of Last Defense Academy. To put it another way, a weird little robot that orders the members of the Special Defense Unit around. Under his command, Takumi and the others will be working to wipe out the mysterious School Invaders." "Sirei's assistant and second in command. An odd little robot that has a gentle, caring personality, but is also prone to making careless mistakes. He's completely loyal and subservient to Sirei."

I'll keep it short and simple, if these two aren't funny I won't care for them at all.

I kinda like their designs. It's unique how you can see their brain and heart, but I think that's because those two are the most vital organs. Also, what's with Nigou's lips? I don't even know their gender so I'll just use they/them for the time being. The English description says "He" but the Japanese text doesn't explicitly use he and there no other instance to use.

Their names are romanized in Japanese as well, so they don't have an obvious meaning, but I have a theory! I believe Sirei is 司令 “Shirei” meaning in command and Nigou is 二号 “Nigou” meaning number two, as in second to Sirei. Sirei and Shirei are pronounced the same in Japanese.

Final Thoughts

I'm hyped for this game. I haven't talked about the gameplay aspects but my absolute favorite thing in games is multiple endings. A hundred endings is a paradise for me. A lot of the sneak peaks leave me curious, so I'm excited to play it. April 24th! I think I'll enjoy the cast. I also like the majority of Kodaka's characters because they're so complex, so I have no doubts about loving this new cast.

Sorry for any spelling errors, this was a lot to proofread.

[ronearoundblindly]

Kind of an angsty question: how do they deal with missing/being away from you?

Ooooo, okay, yeah...Kinda angsty but still super sweet. I can do that! I'm not writing this *exclusively* about being apart ON VALENTINE'S DAY, but that could certainly apply.

Warnings for language and vague sexual references only.

Steve Rogers

Absolutely does not realize how grumpy and on edge he gets if you two are separated for a long time. Steve may enjoy that technology has come so far in the last century, but hell if he's ever gotten the hang of texting. He will call or videochat, and he wildly prefers videochatting because he knows that sometimes you lie (fib, really) about feeling okay. Steve's great at reading micro expressions; time apart also equal time he isn't understanding the full lives of the people he cares about.

Bucky Barnes

Buck mostly blames himself for how much time apart he has from you. He, like Steve, doesn't deal with it very well. He mostly becomes more brooding and snippy the longer it is. Bucky is better at texting than his pal but not better about the contents, so no deep convos happening over the phone (partly because he's rarely alone, partly because he doesn't particularly like being on the phone).

James Mace

He's trained for this. I mean, quite a few of them are, and for very long stretches, distances where realtime conversations are impossible, but Mace is diligent about sending messages. He holds on to very tiny, specific memories of you, stories you tell, and places you've been. Your laugh is the best one, the thing that keeps him going. He does keep a file, notes of funny stuff to tell you when he's back.

Curtis Everett

Is not good at reaching out. Internalizes everything. It's...an ongoing problem.

Jimmy Dobyne

Suffers. Messes with his nails and cuticles a lot. If he's home and you're not, Jimmy obsessively works on one of his many Garage Projects to pass the time. He doesn't enjoy feeling needy, so he won't text more than his regular amount. He will, however, admit to how much he missed you after you return.

Johnny Storm

Uh, he's mostly fine. Hits him at the oddest moments--missing you--and when it does, Johnny can't word his feelings in any meaningful way. He gets antsy to do things, but he doesn't know what. The adrenaline just builds until he finally gets to see you. Basically, he mistakes longing for boredom, so he ends up treating the wrong emotion.

Jake Jensen

Leans a little stalker-y but not on purpose; he's so slick with the tech and using IPN, wifi, and GPS to track your devices. It's soothing when he's away to figure out where you are and what you're up to, especially if he knows you can't pick up the phone (or he can't actually talk anyway).

Lloyd Hansen

I don't know if I'm going soft in my old age or whether @ellethespaceunicorn has whittled down my hatred for him, but my gut is telling me Lloyd constantly checks in if he's "missing" you. (Sure, that's probably more of a sexting thing, and he probably would not answer if you were trying to check in.)

Ari Levinson

Torn. He is also trained to be away and go dark for long periods, but Ari really itches to talk to you, especially just before big moments like missions or presentations. You always help him relax and focus. He can't pinpoint exactly when he became so dependent on you, but he's a touch embarrassed.

Ransom Drysdale

Sends a stupid number of texts about absolutely nothing until you respond. The man has no shame.

Andy Barber

Distracts himself in work, go figure, but hey! that usually means he has wracked up overtime and earned a little vacation once you come back home. A nice long weekend together goes a long way.

Since Andy is very practical and won't put much emotion into text (tell him stuff like that face to face, he prefers it), mostly all he communicates while you are away are reminders of to-dos. He is, however, very diligent about saying he loves you everyday you aren't right beside him...and when you are right beside him

Thank you for asking!

[Main Masterlist; Who Would... Masterlist; Ko-Fi]

a/n: omg is 'IPN' correct? why can't i frickin think of the thingy, the unique address thingymabobber. gerdermit!!!

[certifiedsexed]

Hi,

I think I’ve experienced CoSA but when I first opened up about it to my then psychologist, she said what happened to me is a normal part of childhood sexual development and the sooner I understand and internalize that, the better. That it was only my own shame that made it feel like it was traumatic. She made me feel like I’ve overreacted and I shouldn’t even have brought it up in therapy. I almost felt scolded by her. She didn’t even let me finish the story, she just cut me off and started ranting. I’ve been very ashamed of the whole situation ever since and sometimes it feels like I must have made up the whole thing and even when I told my partner I felt like I was “appropriating serious trauma” and “faking”. Is that even possible?

The things he did also don’t feel “enough” to count as sexual abuse. Even if I’d never tell that to anybody else.

I’m so lost on how to move on from this situation, since I haven’t been able to bring this up to other mental health professionals because I don’t think I can take the situation with her repeating and it’s so difficult to find good providers to begin with.

Hi!

I'm so, so sorry you had to experience that, Anon. Your psychologist's response sounds inappropriate on several different levels (interrupting you, dismissing your feelings, ranting to you about it), that's awful. 💕

I know its so hard to open up about things like that and for her to not even let you finish and use what sounds like victim-blaming rhetoric to shut you down is devastating.

I'll say upfront, I don't know what happened to you specifically. But I do know people who went through trauma, especially sexual trauma, often feel like they're faking and/or their trauma isn't real/serious. That doesn't mean it isn't real or "enough" to actually be traumatic.

I'll also say, it's not "faking" or "appropriation" to be upset or feel traumatized by something and its definitely not faking to tell your partner about something that happened to you. You did not make it up, which means you are not faking shit.

Treat yourself as if you are someone else.

If someone else, let's say your partner, told you they experienced exactly what you experienced and that they were worried they'd been sexually assaulted, what would you say? What would you think?

I don't know you, but I suspect you wouldn't react as aggressively as your psychologist did. I suspect you would have an entirely different perspective and you would, at the very least, be respectful and kind about it.

I understand the fear of talking to another therapist/psychologist about it. The struggle to find good mental health professionals is dire, tbh.

(I hope you are no longer with the psychologist who treated you like that because that's unacceptable.)

I don't know if you want advice on that front but I would suggest while you obviously don't have to talk about it again if you're not comfortable, if you find someone that you think you might be able to discuss it with, I'd ask some questions first!

Tell them you're scared to tell them something that happened to you because people have reacted badly before. Ask them what they'd do if you told them something that you felt traumatized/hurt you and they thought "wasn't really traumatizing".

Ask them if they have patients/experience with sexual abuse, childhood in particular.

Hell, if it helps, see if your partner can stick with you when/if you ever decide to discuss it with someone else again. Whatever helps.

Hope this helps, Anon. Let me know if you have any other questions. <33

[fadeling]

if it were up to me i could fix the alistair companion quest. i mean most people probably could but i definitely would. here's my pitch:

so alistair is a guy who is actually pretty even-keeled throughout the story, although undeniable that he's idealist and naive. the thing that makes him cool is that hes not simply a bumbling fool covering it up with desperate attempts at sarcasm, he knows his own weaknesses and his sardonic attitude lampshades that while also letting you in on the joke. hes always aware of the fact that hes like if a failgirl was a boy and instead of trying to fight against that impression, he shrugs his shoulders and lets it happen. he lives in a terrible world in a faction that exposes him to The Horrors, so he has to operate on a casual, malleable attitude even if that isn't really true to his heart

that discrepancy makes him confused, conflicted, and most of all: extremely vulnerable to moments of extreme genuineness. (his romance works much in the same vein i think) the way his personal quest starts in the game is actually perfect for showing that about him. he gets ahead of himself, he lets his hopes become known and it's obvious how much he wants to Try even if he understands why the warden may reject him. if the warden accepts, it reinforces him getting his hopes up and he unknowingly feels a bit safer in letting hid idealism just exist for a bit

it's for these reasons that i actually wouldnt change how it starts or the way it's initially presented. i'm even going to keep the fact that he thinks hes the son of a maid and has a sister, because thats what eamon told him and i'm sure it was reinforced by duncan too. i dont think it's a problem for alistair to be wrong about his lineage, but something needs to be done about that

so you arrive at goldanna's house (she would also be given a name that isnt fucking stupid btw) and she's not in a great mood because shes busy and these strangers just kind of demanded her attention to talk about he's her brother when it turns out her mother never died during childbirth at all. she worked at redcliffe's manor but she like, left, man. she did die but that that was a few years later and its actually really annoying that i have to talk about it to two strangers.

her rudeness would be more justified because shes just trying to live her life but this guy has to show up at her door and hallucinate a backstory and promptly get his whole world flipped upside down. it's not really something she had the mental capacity for she just wanted to do the laundry.

NOW this would mean that alistair went into this hoping to gain something, but actually lost more than what he started with. losing the ideal domestic family dynamic stings, sure, but the strongest familial ties he had in the first place were with eamon (a little bit) and ESPECIALLY duncan. now he has good reason to doubt both of them, one of them being especially difficult because it's tangled in so much grief too.

alistair takes a chance on something, finally sticks his neck out, and then he gets hurt. the warden can help him process that in a few different ways; you could coddle him by insisting she sucks and was probably lying anyway, or you could encourage him to acknowledge the truth and still persist anyway. there could even be the asshole third option where you tell him that hes too cringe to live idk. there could even be more things to say, the point is that the sentiment of the warden would accurately reflect how his attitude changes when hes hardened thats all

also theres a bonus opportunity for adding another layer of drama between him and eamon with very little extra effort, and thats always good

[c4tluver02]

Family Video

a/n: haiiii this is my very first pic ive everrrrr written so im sorry if its awful and boring!!!!! if there's anything I can improve on pls let me know!! also id love any requests you guys have! <333 enjoy

summery: after just moving to Hawkins you decided a movie is in order. but when looking for a movie you notice the boy at the counter just can't stop staring at you!

no warnings!

wc: 1k

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All Steve could do was roll his eyes. Robin went on a date with Vickie last night and it was simply all she could talk about.  

“Robin of course she likes you, she asked you on the date. Vickie wouldn't do that if she didn't mean it.” Steve says somewhat listening in and out of what feels like hours long of the same topic. 

“Well this isn't something I can mess up, I mean what if I was too forward or I rambled I mean you know I can ramble!” 

Steve sighs as he puts tapes back into their spot after they had been returned. “Listen Rob, I can promise you VIckie likes you for you and your rambling. There's nothing you need to be worried about.” He says trying to end this conversation and get back to working in peace.

Truth be told Steve was having trouble in the dating department. If you would have told King Steve that he would have trouble even holding a conversation with girls he wouldn't believe you. Yet here he was listening to everyone tell him their love life and him having nothing to say back.

“Steve you don't get it VIckie is perfect in every sense of the word. I mean what if-” Robin gets cut off as the bell above the door rings signaling a new customer and Steve couldn't be more thankful.

You walked in feeling eyes on you, almost like you had interrupted a conversation. You walk towards the comedy section in hopes of finding something interesting to fill your weekend with.

As you start to look around, you feel a pair of eyes on you. When you look up you notice the boy at the counter swiftly turning his head the other way. You smile to yourself at his attempt of making it look like he wasn't staring. You then walk to the drama aisle. You're not really sure what type of movie you're looking for but it's almost as if the counter boy can read your mind. 

“Hey, um, is there anything you need help with?” Steve says with a kind smile on his face as he walks over to you. 

“Hi! Yes, actually some help would be great. I am not really sure what movie to watch.. Do you have any, uh, suggestions?” You say not sounding as confident now that the cute boy is standing right in front of you 

Steve's eyes lit up at the request, the thought of being helpful to such a pretty girl had his heart pounding. 

“Of course, do you have any genres of movie you like?” Steve asks, trying to learn any bit of information he could about you.

“I definitely like romance movies, comedy, horror, and drama of course I guess I'm not really picky when it comes to genres.” It wasn't until you noticed that you and Steve were both completely stopped in the middle of the aisle that you probably could have just said comedy and he could have found a movie no problem. Steve didn't mind your long answer though, he liked that you were so open to talk. He guides you both to the comedy section and pulls out a movie. 

“Ok we have this movie, it just came out and we've gotten great consumer reviews on it” He says with a smile that's probably a little too wide for just helping a customer pick out a movie. 

You look at the movie he's picked and it happens to be one you've seen before but you don't have the heart to tell him that. He looks proud to give you a good recommendation along with his help so you take the movie from his hands and smile at him.

“Perfect! I probably would have been looking in here forever trying to find something without your help!” you say with a smile not really wanting this conversation to end.

It almost seems like Steve doesn't either, or maybe you just aren't good at hiding your emotions as he says 

“Hey uh, how come I haven't seen you around here before?” Steve says hoping he's not coming off too forward the last thing he wanted to do was scare you away. 

You stand in front of him with wide eyes not knowing exactly what to say. You knew this town was small and being new will probably have a few others asking why they didn't know of you. 

“Oh, I just moved here about a week ago. I am just trying to scope out some places and I thought a movie night would be comforting.” You say as you twirl your hair in your hands, a nervous habit you have. 

Steve nods wishing he could ask you a million more questions. There was something so intriguing about you. He wants to know where you lived before coming here, or better yet why you decided to move here out of all the places. Trying to come off nonchalant and cool, Steve pops the question that you weren't expecting. 

“Anyone helping you move, friend, or maybe boyfriend?” Steve looks at you with big eyes and a calm demeanor trying to pull out his King Steve persona even though his night will be utterly ruined if the answer isn't no. 

You blush lightly at his question but just enough for Steve to notice. “Nope, no boyfriend helping. I moved out here alone so packing has been slower for sure.” You say you are trying to sound cool despite the fact you are single and have no clue what you are doing moving and starting a new life all on your own.

Steve's shoulders release a tension he didn't even know he was holding. A breath of relief comes out right and as Steve opens his mouth to say something back-

“Hey are you ready to check out?” Robin says walking up to you guys noticing you have a movie picked out. 

You look between her and Steve blinking as reality comes crashing down on you. This guy has a job and she probably needs him to get back to it. Not standing here talking to you for forever. You walk up to the counter and see that Steve is gonna be the one checking you out. 

You pay for the movie as you and Steve sit in a comfortable silence. Before you leave you thank him.

“Thanks for all you help… Steve?” You say reading out his name tag on his vest.  

But Steve just loves the way his name sounds coming out of your mouth. He wishes you could say it again. It’s as if an angel just spoke to him. Your eyes, your hair, your smile, it's all perfection. He can't believe that someone so perfect is right in front of him. Like cupid shot him directly in the heart. As you blink in front of him waiting for a response he finally answers. 

“Yea.. Steve! And if you want to come back and let us know what you thought of the movie you're more than welcome to!” Steve says with excitement blowing his nonchalant cover a bit. 

You gleam at his invitation even though you both know you'll have to come back to return the movie anyways. Yet you don't mention it or try to mess with him about it. You simply smile and nod.

“Got it, I'll be back soon for the review!” You say as you grin from ear to ear just by looking at the boy in front of you as you open the door to leave. 

Once you get in your car Steve turns around and sighs. Robin looks directly at him with eyes squinted and a smirk.

“What?” Steve asks confused with her stare

“I saw you have heart eyes for her..” Robin says, poking him in his shoulder repeatedly. 

Steve huffs and rolls his eyes pushing her hand away, “I was just helping out a customer buckley. Can a man not do that?” He bites back sarcastically.

“Mhm sure, I guess so.” Robin says back with a smirk on her face as Steve turns around knowing this isn't just some customer.

[bucksdaffy]

listen, maybe i'm just delusional. maybe i'm too optimistic for my own good. but i don't really care at the moment because i truly feel like tommy is meant to be it for buck.

like i find it so hard to believe tim and co would create such a compelling love interest for buck, someone so deeply interwoven into the fabric of this show, only to decide that buck actually needs someone else. and i find it especially hard to believe considering how they framed the breakup.

"i love you so much it scares me. because why on earth would you choose me? there are so many people better for you, and maybe you don't see it yet, but when you get to know the real me you'll know. and you'll run."

and after letting buck mope for a while, they'll push him to start dating again. they'll put him out there, and through trial and error, he'll figure himself out–but no one will compare to tommy. and when they finally bring them back together, hopefully in a life-or-death situation, they'll make buck prove tommy wrong.

he'll tell him that actually no–i've spent some time away from you, and all it's done is make me realize how much i want you by my side. i'm bisexual. kinsey scale 2. i'm generally more attracted to women, but since meeting you, i can't imagine ending up with one. because you are the only one that i want. and yes, you were my first, but i'm confident that we can make this work. you may not be my in-between, but i'm certain you are my last. please don't give up on us before we even try.

and tommy will take the chance. because they've shown already that tommy truly does love buck–boils and all. he's seen him at his worst, and he was still willing to choose him. he'll take it because he'll realize that buck might truly love him too. he'll see that while buck admires him, he also sees him for who he really is. he knows about his not-so-perfect past, but it doesn't matter, because the tommy he is now is not the tommy he once was. he knows he's not perfect, and that's okay, because buck isn't looking for perfection–he's looking for something real. and tommy checks all his boxes.

you see the potential, right? you can't tell me tim and co didn't strike gold with tommy as a love interest for buck, and you can't tell me they aren't aware of it. the choices they have made so far feel too deliberate to be coincidental. and i just find it so hard to believe they would throw it all away just like that. you don't throw it all away just like that. you'd have to be really fucking stupid to consciously get rid of such a compelling story.

[coraniaid]

I'm doing a Buffy rewatch and it's made me realize that Giles has so many sweet moments with Buffy and Willow, but he never really warms up to Xander. Thoughts on why that is? Love your blog, btw! Your analyses are so insightful and interesting. Hence the question. :)

Thank you!

So ... the most obvious issue, I guess, is that Xander is the comic relief while Giles is responsible for keeping Buffy focused on her mission and aware of the dangers and risks involved. I mean that both in a narrative sense -- these are literally the roles the characters exist to fill -- and also in terms of how they both think of themselves as people. (I don't think you have to be too sympathetic to Xander to realize his humor is a coping mechanism: that he consciously works to be 'the funny one' because he doesn't think he can be as smart as Willow or as stereotypically masculine as he's been brought up to think he should be). And naturally that's going to put them in tension a lot of the time: see, for example, Giles snapping at Xander in What's My Line? when he doesn't take the Order of Taraka sufficiently seriously ("now isn't the time for jokes").

But beyond that, I think there are two or three different factors at play, which we can sum up as "Xander reminds Giles of himself when he was a teenager", or more generally "Xander is a teenage boy, a class of people Giles doesn't have much respect for", or -- taking that word 'class' a little more literally -- "Giles can be a bit of a snob".

Xander reminds Giles of himself when he was a teenager

Of course, on the surface Xander isn't much like Giles at all -- not the adult, educated, respectable Giles we see on the show or the more rebellious 'Ripper' we only hear about until Band Candy. But I think they are more alike than it might appear at first.

People sometimes talk about Giles's Ripper persona as if that's who Giles really is. Ethan Rayne does, in universe, and a lot of the fandom seems to agree with him. It's not really true though, I don't think. 'Ripper' is a mask, a construct that young Giles adopts precisely because it's not the sort of person he's spent most of his childhood being. And what was Giles like for most of his childhood?

Well, we know that he was forced to be more studious than he was naturally inclined to be (he admits in The Dark Age to having "hated [...] the tedious grind of study"). We know from Never Kill A Boy On The First Date that as a boy he wanted to be "a fighter pilot" (compare with Xander's fantasy about being a solider) or "possibly a grocer" (compare with Xander's actual eventual work). We even know, from A New Man, that he could be a bit of a class clown at times (in that episode he starts telling an anecdote about a time he played "a little bit of a prank with the [school's] dart board").

Who does that remind us of? Or what about other similarities: compare, for example, Xander rehearsing asking Buffy out (in Prophecy Girl) with Giles rehearsing asking Jenny out a few episodes later (in Some Assembly Required). Or in Season 6, compare Giles leaving Buffy -- for what Once More With Feeling tells us he believes is her own good -- with Xander refusing to fulfil his earlier promise to marry Anya, also ostensibly for her own good.

There are also big similarities in how both Xander and Giles relate to Buffy. Crucially, both of them describe her as something they're not: a hero. Xander first, in Season 4's The Freshman ("When it's dark and I'm all alone and I'm scared or freaked out or whatever, I always think, 'What would Buffy do?' You're my hero.") and then in a more negative light Giles in Season 5's The Gift (he preemptively justifies his murder of Ben by telling him that Buffy "couldn't take a human life" because "she's a hero, you see ... she's not like us". He's talking to Ben here, but he could be talking to Xander too.)

So that's one factor: Xander reminds Giles of (what he thinks are) his own worse impulses. (I don't think that's a particularly fair assessment on Giles' part, of course. Xander is noticeably more open with his feelings than Giles can be, for one thing. But I think this is how Giles sees Xander.)

Xander is a teenage boy, a class of people Giles doesn't have much respect for

If Xander doesn't remind Giles of his own younger self, he surely reminds him of people he knew growing up. We know (from Season 4's A New Man) that Giles went to public school (i.e. a private, fee-paying school, probably a boarding school). Many public schools in England, even today, are segregated by gender, and (although I don't have the figures to hand) I'd expect the majority were when Giles was of school age, so probably everyone Giles went to school with was a boy.

And what does Giles think about teenage boys? Well, nothing very good. In Season 1's The Pack, he fails to see at first that Xander's been possessed, assuming all his new negative traits are just typical for a teenager:

"Xander's taken to teasing the less fortunate? And there's been a noticeable change in both clothing and demeanor? And, well, otherwise all his spare time is spent lounging about with imbeciles? It's devastating. He's turned into a sixteen-year-old boy."

Later in that same scene he announces that "testosterone ... turns all men into morons". Later still, in Season 3's The Prom, he is surprised by Buffy's classmates recognition of her work protecting them because he "had no idea that children en masse could be so gracious".

We don't really see much of Oz and Giles interacting (beyond Oz appreciating Giles's record collection in Season 4, which is arguably a bit of a retcon since a previous episode suggested Giles is still a fan of the Bay City Rollers), and Buffy doesn't really have any other friends who are teenage boys, so it's hard to be sure how much of Giles's attitude towards Xander is Xander-specific and how much is just Xander being a teenage boy (and thus automatically being suspect in Giles' eyes).

Giles can be a bit of a snob

One way in which Xander and Giles are noticeably not similar at all is their social background. Giles went to public school and Oxford (and it's strongly implied that his parents and grandparents did the same, since going to Oxford seems to be part of his training as a Watcher). Giles had a job (maybe) working for the British Library. Giles speaks several languages, including Latin and Greek. Giles never seems to worry about money at all: he owns a large house and buys new cars, even when he's supposedly unemployed, he's able to give Buffy a gift of a very large check without experiencing any obvious hardship.

Xander ... didn't and can't do those things. I'm not sure the show ever quite makes this explicit, but I get the strong sense that he doesn't go to college not by choice but both because he doesn't have the grades and his parents wouldn't (want to, or be able to) pay the fees. Xander's home life sounds terrible for a number of reasons, but one element is that his parents just don't seem to have the same level of wealth as Willow's or Cordelia's or even Buffy's.

Willow's parents are academics and Buffy's mom owns an art gallery (and her dad does ... something in an office that involves "quarterly projections"), but Xander? In Season 1 we learn he has an uncle (possibly the famous Uncle Rory?) who used to work in a computer research lab, albeit "in a floor sweeping capacity". In Bad Girls Cordelia tells him that she's different from him because "my father has a job". In Out of Mind Out of Sight he admits his mother never cooks and Willow wonders out loud if his parents even own a stove.

Xander is working class coded in a way that really none of the other characters on the show are. None of the other characters until Faith arrives in Season 3, anyway. And crucially Giles also doesn't seem to care for Faith: he treats her much more like Xander than he treats either Buffy or Willow (or even Kendra, who he seems to warm to quickly in her limited time on the show).

I don't know how intentional this is on the writers' part -- I suspect it isn't very intentional, honestly -- but it seems noticeable that Buffy and Willow are both (at least initially) well-behaved, rules-respecting children from stable homes whose parents have money and who encourage their children to take education seriously, and that they are all also fairly obviously Giles's favorites. Especially when you factor in Giles general air of mild (and sometimes not so mild) cultural superiority ("She's quite a good poet, for an American" in Never Kill A Boy On The First Date, say; or his complaint about a demon after money in Enemies being evidence that "no one has any standards anymore"; or his suggestion that Xander taunting the fear demon in Fear Itself is "tacky"; or his arguments with Jenny -- in which she repeatedly calls him snobby -- about the relative merits of rare, curated books as opposed to more accessible forms of knowledge; or his attitude towards Buffy's taste in fashion or music more generally).

And ... well, this is consistent with who the show tells us Giles is, right? Somebody with his background would be encouraged in all sorts of small ways from a very early age to look down on somebody like Xander. Somebody who doesn't go to the right sort of school or talk in the right sort of way or know the right things or have the right sort of parents. So perhaps it's no surprise that he does exactly that.

[utilitycaster]

Sorry for the incoming wall of text, but this is something I've been thinking about a lot in light of c3.

After seeing the post you reblogged about Trent, I was wondering: what are your thoughts on how CR in general seems to portray the intellectual pursuit of arcane magic (ie wizardry) as inevitably leading to corruption and potential world-ending consequences? The Age of Arcanum (in particular Aeor and Vespin Chloras, especially in light of how they were both understood/portrayed by Brennan) is the most blatant example, but in modern Exandria we've got Ludinus, Delilah, and everyone associated with the Cerberus Assembly generally being up to nasty shit, Vasselheim banning arcane magic only being portrayed as more of a justified overreaction rather than an injustice (given that it effectively bans sorcerers from the city), Essek being willing to re-ignite a war for the sake of knowledge, Vecna in general, and everything about the way the League of Miracles are written in Tal'Dorei Reborn.

Even wizards like Caleb and members of the Arcana Pansophical are portrayed as "one of the good ones" at best--Caleb I imagine at least partially because he's a PC and Liam was approaching from a slightly different angle than Matt, and the Arcana Pansophical are still portrayed as well-intentioned but elitist at best. You'd be hard-pressed to find a truly "good" high-level wizard in CR, while corrupt and elitist ones abound. The whole thing feels vaguely anti-intellectual to me (I don't think that was Matt's intention, but it is telling that the closest thing Exandria has to a "good" knowledge-based organization is a religious organization that doesn't seem to trust wizards in general).

I feel like you are reading things into the portrayal that I personally do not, and I also feel that the whole Wizards Vibe is directly discussed in Campaign 2, with this line from Yussa: "At a certain level of arcane practitioning, morality becomes a bit ambiguous..."

The thing about wizards is The Hubris Is Part Of It. Like if a wizard isn't kind of an arrogant prick, even if they're also a genuinely good person, they're not very fun, and also why wouldn't you be arrogant if you're a wizard? Other people have to get magic from pacts and deals and worship or sheer luck, and you worked for it and built it piece by piece yourself! I think some of it is that wizardry attracts a certain type of ruthlessly ambitious person. I also think that it's notable to consider wizardry vs. general scholarship; a lot of the scholars, notably the Cobalt Soul and Grim Verity, are portrayed very positively, and even smaller institutions that perform both arcane and general research like the Vellum Steeple and Starpoint Conservatory and Aydinlan Seminary and Marble Tomes Conservatory, are like, closed off and snobby at worst, which isn't even imo anti-intellectual so much as a valid critique of access to higher education.

I would also note that pretty much all Evil World-Destroying Wizards who had that intent come from two sources:

The Age of Arcanum's flying cities are generally portrayed as places that fed into wizard egos and led them to believe the world was theirs to conquer, but even then, the Raven Queen pre-ascension, Patia, Laerryn, Cassida, and even Vespin all in the end come off as deeply sympathetic people who, when the chips were down, tried to do what they believed was right but did not always have good judgement. None of them were evil nor malicious. There were plenty of selfish and horrible wizards (Vecna, the various wizards of Avalir and Aeor who prioritized their safety and power over those of the people of their cities), but we've seen a lot of really shitty fighters or warlocks out there too.

The Cerberus Assembly, a body cultivated specifically by Ludinus Da'leth from its inception, which means someone like Delilah, Trent, or Vess can thrive; I think the issue with Delilah was frankly the optics more than Ludinus having a problem with her (and even Vess had a bit of a too-late redemption, realizing that unleashing the Somnovem would do untold damage, and tried to stop it unsuccessfully; and I'm not sure Trent had any plans for the world, simply for hurting people). And even then, much of the assembly either fits the Yussa "morality is ambiguous"/hubristic and dickish but not evil, or is straight up neutral or good. Like, Oremid Hass is probably not a great guy but as far as I know he was just kind of a hardass with his students and a huge cat person.

Like, it feels you are really selling short the generally benevolent Arcana Pansophical wizards (Allura, Eskil, Drake); the many wizards of the Kryn Dynasty (of which we only specifically know Tuss Waccoh and Essek Thelyss); Yussa, who makes weird choices but does not harm people, and of course Caleb (and Lyra, while we're at it) to try to make an argument that doesn't make sense.

As for Vasselheim, I've always found that in-world the arcane magic rule was kind of...inconsistently applied. Like, it never really came up in Campaign 3, and they had no real issue with Allura, and Lyra and Zahra presumably are fine (and I'm not sure why, to be honest, you're mentioning sorcerers to me, the Sorcerers are the Rogues of the Casters Person, particularly since we straight up don't see sorcerers discriminated against in Vasselheim - Gilmore was totally fine and indeed appreciated in his assistance). It always felt like something that kind of got semi-abandoned in the lore and only came up to point out that Scanlan was being kind of a dick (which often he was)(affectionate).

So I guess what I'm saying is I feel you have standards for "good" that I think might be exceedingly high, or at least higher than I'd set them, as well as are conflating arcane prowess with the only form of intellectual pursuit. You are entitled to this reading, but it's really not one I remotely share.

[the-stove-is-divorced]

Truly the grief for shows with 20+ eps a season is so indescribable, not everything needs to be 8-10 eps with 45+ min each episode!

And honestly, so true? Agree heavily here. I love the drama of the scene (mostly), Cecil v. Mark, ex. Mark thinking Cecil would outright try to kill him, b/c Mark's prob seeing the Nolan in Cecil, who takes the rejection of obedience into outright violence (presumably?). But still! Lacking! This would hit harder if there was more built up to Mark's trust in Cecil, any mentor-like advice, or paralleled Nolan in Cecil as it did Mark! But, Mark's difficulty in vocalizing his own morality, like you mention, just kinda leaves me a little confused on this whole conflict between them. It retracts from scenes with Oliver, too, it retracts the drama of A LOT, if it just leaves same outright squinting at the screen, 'cause the very foundation, what Mark knows and thinks is right, isn't exactly solid and established.

Like, why doesn't Mark vocalize the importance the HELPING people? Some classic spidey "great power, great responsibility", why is my guy going through the motions, and clearly STILL struggling? I feel like s1 does make some point to highlight Mark does want to help people, or trying to prod at his idea of what helping people means, even if it ends up going terribly wrong. Him failing to rescue a dying woman, him roped into fighting Machine Head, does prod at his ideas of what his job can/doesn't mean, but it feels like they never dive back into that properly? Which is strange, 'cause that's another potential Eve, Mark tie-in, as Eve realizes she can't do everything yet, Mark tries to figure out what he can do. Then they're both learning! Even supporting each other while pushing character growth! But it seems his only goal posts are Don't Be Dad (somehow? vaguely? no sub-goals, here), and Punch Bad Guy...? It's so strange.

Rewatching clips of s1's Mark vs Nolan fight rn, and Mark's weirdly unspecific morality is even weirder? He was trying to save ppl in that battle, desperately, no? I would think post-Nolan fight, he'd want to work real hard in gaining public trust again, and getting real emotional when ANY civilians die. Nolan outright tells him it's his fault ppl died, and Mark, later, learns Nolan is dead ass serious (pun intended lol) about replacing him, why wouldn't that message sink in further? Make him try to saving people first, over fight? Why not show Mark struggling with taking out the bad guy to stop threat, OR saving people whole the threat lingers, unable to choose a higher priority or outright choosing the wrong one, ultimately taking any mistake as proof the s1 fight was his fault.

Truly, some good ol' flashbacks into Guardian dynamics would be so thrilling, because yeah, it seems they were all in good terms! I also just want it so bad. How dare you gimme bootleg Justice League and then don't give me the dynamics. Outright entertainment robbery. YES TEAM DYNAMICS MY BELOVED FOR REAL. The deprivation of small, but so TELLING character moments make me so ill, because it's SO NEEEDED!!! Same brain waves, because the outright visual communication of these characters is NEEDED and would make me so ill in a good way. The budget issue limiting this show will never NOT drive me insane because Amazon HAS THE MONEY FOR SURE, but refuses to make this show something that, even if the writing isn't exactly fantastic, the FIGHTS could be legendary, if not playful. Also WHY did all of them go fr????? That's such a stupid decision? Especially if limiting it down further could have more character moments, even if small visual cues the show lacks!

I feel I violently check out when it comes to romantic focused media to not fully click this trope is so persistent and so ODD? Like HELLO? That's such a backhanded gift at best, inpersonal and one-sided, and outright cruel if I really wanna go there 'cause like you said, you don't know them. Even making a JOKE out of what's supposed to be a meal meaning gift is crazy??? Like this is fiction, a gift is GREAT way to demonstrate intentionally who these characters are and their relationship to each other. Don't remember the episode or if you're there already, but Justice League has an episode where Wonder Woman + Batman get Superman a bday gift before plot happens, (tho it's strange tbh, in the comics WW's gift is actually Batman's? But they switch it for the show if I'm not mistaken???) and GREAT moment!

Kate and Immortal piss me off so bad but we've already discussed why, like this girl isn't a character istg, EXPLORE HER DAMMIT, but seriously! We got a secret identity plotline BRIEFLY before dropping it and then just straight up functioning on how it's not a thing at all like hello????? Can this have any consequences or impact, even if it's people just look the other way? Which is so odd when it's a common staple for the hero genre, too, but I suppose they don't want to explore it? Perhaps too much of a staple to be interesting for them?

AND TRULY i am so tired of mark getting kicked around, bro, what the heck? Do something before the eleventh hour? But characters being genre savvy would be so funny, imagine somebody just pretends to be hurt to get Mark to actually focus lol.

THE ROGUE GALLERY IS SO SAD AND IT MAKES ME SO UPSET. How we get a bootleg JL and no actually good rogue gallery????? CRAZY WORK. Like part of the WHOLE FUN of superhero media is the villains, like, batman villains are crazy interesting or always just entertaining to SOMEONE, poison ivy, harley quin, penguin, etc, which usually reflect back on batman's character in some way if ya wanna dig into it, or just enjoy a good villain! Instead... it's just sad and empty. Currently foaming at the mouth for ANY super villain to be a mark parallel (like a former villain sidekick trying to step out the shadows of their mentor), or straight up used to be Nolan's nemesis and just tries to keep it up with Mark, insisting they're the same for example IDK. Villains are also good at establishing the world!!

ALSO SO TRUE? I don't think it's ever been actually acknowledged??? Ever?? Why doesn't he explore being mixed raced???? My guy is mixed race AND half human, there is SOMETHING to say here. ALSO SO FUCKING TRUE? WHY CAN'T OLIVER AND MARK BOND ABOUT BEING HYBRIDS? ABOUT HOW OLIVER CAN'T PASS AS EASILY?? My guy can't even go to school 'cause he grows up too fast, like can we talk about this??? Can Oliver be a person??? That could put some conflict / added conflict in the relationship?? Can Mark think about what it's like be HALF ALIEN? Can this mf have some unique oddness because of being a hybrid, I BEG. This is why the lack of self introspection in the desert makes me utterly insane. IT WAS RIGHT THERE.

Also you're telling me we got demons, billion dollar teleporters, cursed family lines, aliens, but nothing to instantly make Oliver look human so he can walk around? Easy way for Mark to feel indebted to Cecil, or Oliver trusting Cecil, something???

Cecil is so fucking interesting because he truly must be Like This. Which is even funnier because you'd think he'd be easier to guess with a focus on his, like, trajectory but no???? At least to me. I am squinting, personally. One would think you'd want needed allies close by and endeared to you, control 'em better, but Mark threatens, and he threatens back even harder, like I GET WHY but also DAMN. Instant escalation. Never threaten this mf, he'd take you AND himself out. It's also funny because like Oliver kills and Mark struggles articulating why it's bad, but also Cecil is presumably A-OK with killing (now) but only when he says so (assumingly). Like, don't kill because we could use them, isn't a because it's bad :( argument???

So, I'd imagine if he had to tackle training/mentoring Mark and Oliver it'd be a challenges in the opposite direction. Like No, Oliver you can't kill them ALL. Yes, Mark you DO have to kill sometimes. I'd kill to know what that looks like. Does Oliver get a whole team dedicated to training him, and Cecil check-ins?

But back to his side of things, I just wanna shake him furiously. Like, you point out, you're telling him to stand down WHY inducing pain AND beating him the fuck up like HELLO? You did not make Mark seem dangerous, now YOU look unhinged in dangerous in a desperate power grab/for control. You're basically tazing someone and telling them to calm down LMAO. Which also like did you try calling them off or is this legit an error here? Which yes, yes, characters can make wrong decisions or have flaws and ruin things despite their best intentions, paved roads and all that, but also it so funny if you tilt your head. Cecil why. I get it yes, but also Cecil, no, Cecil no.

Also exactly, when it's TOO vague I just stare the doc. There's no jumping point to push it's anything goes and how hard do I want to overthink it?

While I'm not too familiar with the DCU- your batfam meta posts are intiguing- so in transfering some of the broader strokes from them- I think you tackling a 'Mark isn't Nolan's biological son' fic would be fascinating. Sort of a step to the side of the 'what if Mark never got his powers' fic that sometimes pop up in the fandom

OOOOOO chewing on this currently, hm, the much a distinct flavor of exactly what you’re talking about, but the potential for more family drama depending on WHO knows. Does Mark know?? Is he waiting every day only to be crushed? Does he confused non-Debbie features with Nolan’s? I suppose I’m not the most enthusiastic about non-power AUs, but I think there’s something very fun to explore about Mark having to settle with, if he knows all his life, he will never have powers? I think the trajectory of his dreams will obviously shift, I can see him still having that distinct fatherly idolization, but perhaps embraces being useful to the GDA? Cecil’s number one intern—only intern—curtesy of nepotism, ha! There is something tickling me about Mark taking the Robin Route/Role for the Teen Team in terms of having no powers, just insane skills, BUT there’s something way more delicious about intern Mark when s1e01 happens and Mark tries snooping around to find out the truth about what happened to his Dad.

I wonder if, with Mark having a whole another father, if they’re more or less distant relationship, depending on WHEN Nolan entered Mark’s life? Like if Debbie met Nolan later for this, or just for fun, they dated once, separated (Mark being born during then), then they happened to stumble into each others lives again and Mark’s already been born, anywhere from tween to teenager so there’s a gap in how close they are. I feel like one important aspect of the whole Family Drama is how close they’re supposed to be, a functional, loving family turned upside down? So I wonder what more distance does. I wonder how Nolan copes when his family is entirely human and he can’t project onto Mark.

I love thinking about these, omg.

[undead-moth]

I know I've been on about this for a while now and I'm being a hater but you're telling me SydCarmy was "always meant to be platonic" even though there are two seasons of writing making use of tried-and-true explicitly romantic tropes, themes and writing signals, and SydLuca is going to be romantic because...he was nice to her on screen for a few minutes?

I don't even care if people ship SydLuca, or if they just prefer it, but you can't honestly tell me that you believe Carmy was always meant to be a friend but Luca is an obvious love interest.

Just because Syd and Carmy haven't kissed or confessed their love to each other doesn't mean that isn't very obviously the direction this show is going. The Bear has already shown you who is endgame. It has shown you every episode of the show so far.

Honestly I really don't think The Bear fanbase understands this show or cares about these characters or the story being told here, which is unfortunate because this show is shockingly well-written in comparison to most shows right now, and we should be so grateful for it but all we're doing is complaining that the writers led us on by not making a ship canon fast enough. It's just. Sad.

[dazais-guardian-angel]

Chapter 110 is 13 pages long welcome to hell!!! so in a lot of ways this is just more fuel for a theory that I've had for a few weeks now, that's only gotten stronger with each recent season 5 episode, which is that the last episode of the season is gonna end on 110, and that Asagiri/Harukawa and Bones have been collaborating to make this happen, specifically because it's a major turning point that would be the only good place to end the season on.

When we started getting especially long chapters again (like from 25-35ish pages, with the exception of 107.5, the last two being some of the longest we've ever had), at first I just assumed that Asagiri/Harukawa got freed up from some other obligations they'd been having to cause the extremely short/half chapters, like promotional stuff for the anime/Beast movie, or working on light novels. But then 109 happened, with the "supposed" death of Dazai, and heavy emphasis at the end on how literally everyone is at their lowest point right now, and I got to thinking. 11 episodes is a strangely specific number for an anime season -- why not 12, or 13, or even 10, like you'd usually see? Why have we gotten suddenly gotten two 35 page chapters out of nowhere, that's almost unheard of at this point? They're both beautiful chapters, don't get me wrong (as always), and maybe A/H simply just didn't want to cut them in halves because they felt like the full emotional impact wouldn't hit/that there were no good cutoff points in them, but you can't deny that it's surprising, after all the shorter chapters we've been getting. Why has the anime been going at such insanely breakneck pacing for the most part ever since around the Sunday Tragedy chapters, even more so than it has in the past? So much so that it feels dangerously close to overtaking the manga?

Well, maybe, just maybe, it's because..... Asagiri decided a long time ago that whatever happens in 110 is the only point that feels "season finale"-worthy enough, in an arc that still isn't anywhere close to being completely wrapped up, and so both the manga and the anime have been specifically coordinated to reach that part within 2 and a half weeks of each other?

I've seen a lot of people now think season 5 will end with 109, and as much as my sadistic side would find that hilarious, I honestly don't think they'd do that and realistically don't want it to happen; it'd be so cruel to cliffhanger the anime for years like that, and just doesn't feel like a season cliffhanger BSD would do, a series that is ultimately hopeful and uplifting. Seasons 2 and 3 had a positive, conclusive ending; the only reasons seasons 1 and 4 didn't was because they're technically not really full seasons of their own, and are more like the first cour of another "season" that also came out that same year (seasons 1 and 2 both aired in 2016, so they're more like one big season, and seasons 4 and 5 have both aired this year, so they're also more like one big season, again taking into account how episodes 12 and 50 are not satisfying finales like episodes 24, 37, and hypothetically, 61, are). I really can't see season 5 ending with Dazai and Fukuzawa's supposed deaths, Sigma being unconscious and maybe close to death, Atsushi being vulnerable and limbless again, everyone we love still vampires, and the entire world being basically doomed; that's just too depressing and not like BSD at all. However, having said that, if it doesn't end there, there really isn't any good place to end the season before that, either, that feels in any way satisfying or like a finale at all. And so, to me, that only leaves after 109: chapter 110.

I think things are really gonna turn around next chapter. Like I said, everyone is at their lowest point right now, it cannot possibly get any worse, the framing of Dazai, Fukuzawa, and sskk at the end of 109 is telling us that; this is the time for the heroes to finally start winning again, with Aya being so close to pulling out the sword, and for all the thematic reasons other people have talked about to death that I don't need to go into here again. This upcoming chapter being so short again makes a part of me wary of 110 being "the one", so to speak, I won't lie, but at the same time, it's very possible that it needs to be that short because that's all the final episode of the season will be able to reasonably fit in, since it's already gonna be VERY close if they do make it all the way to 109. And at the end of the day, I don't doubt at all that Asagiri and Harukawa can make these the most monumental and game-changing mere 13 pages ever if they wanted to; a chapter does not at all need to be extremely long in order to be an important and impactful one, even if short ones we've gotten in the past haven't felt the most important.

An additional thought I've had, though this is much more crack territory than all this already is, is that since we know from Anime Expo that a Stormbringer movie at some point is highly likely (judging from Asagiri's reaction when someone brought it up), it's possible that chapter 110 and thus the final episode will involve the long-anticipated return of Verlaine and/or Adam, or at least some other major reference to Stormbringer, that would naturally and smoothly lead into a Stormbringer movie to explain things to people who haven't read the novel. It would make a lot of sense, especially since the s4 OP has the Old World sign behind Chuuya, which might be a hint that this has been in the works ever since seasons 4/5 were first in planning with Asagiri. We also know that Dazai and Chuuya's voice actors apparently struggled to record their lines together this season, which probably relates to 101 and possibly 109, but it could be 110 too.... I could be very wrong, as I'm no expert on this kind of thing, but I kinda doubt they would bring Chuuya's actor in for just the vampire growls, and Asagiri placing heavy emphasis on Chuuya's importance this season in that one interview gives me the impression that he's talking about much more than just 101/109. But that's the least solid evidence I have, that's just mostly based on vibes I get.

So basically, I think a lot of factors -- the unusual episode count, how close the anime is to catching up to the manga with three whole episodes left, the seemingly arbitrary recent chapter lengths, and the climactic events of 109 -- can tell us that 110 might be a very, VERY big deal. Again, there's of course no way this arc is anywhere near close to being finished, with so much left to address and resolve, but since it is currently incomplete in the manga, unlike the previously adapted arcs, if the anime was going to adapt it at all, they'd have to find a place that feels satisfying enough to end this season, knowing there won't be more anime for a long time after this, and so I think they specifically planned for that, from both Bones' and A/H's sides. 10 episodes might not have been enough to reach that point, but 12 or 13 might have been too many it wouldn't have been if Bones actually decided to slow down and let the story breathe the way it needs to, but this post isn't meant to criticize the anime, so maybe 11 was just right. And maybe Asagiri and Harukawa specifically pushed to make recent chapters longer than usual, in order to make sure that the manga reached the story content in 110 the monthly release right before season 5 was to end.

Is this just copium? Absolutely. Am I going to look like an absolute clown in two days when this post ages like milk? Probably. But the evidence is There, so let me just enjoy my delusions until Sunday, okay 🥂🫡

[oifaaa]

I'm not gonna lie I've been pondering for the last 30 minutes or so on what a good animated Robin movie would look like and Im kinda coming up blank I'm even getting stumped on which Robin the movie would focus on and outside of that what story should be the main focus

[wordsandrobots]

#ugh. I had stuff to say and then tumblr killed it#to me‚ Cronicle feels like he’s the source for One Significant Aspect of Harry’s characterization that Schwarz didn’t have#(and also he’s not enough of a hater to really be up there with Jerrid)

Just copying in your tags so I can say, OK! Yeah, it didn't sound like Cronicle is as invested in punching a child to death as Jerid was, I was just reaching for what sounded closest to the shape of his arc.

Looking at it again, it's remarkable how that first row sets the patterns for the rest of the masked weirdos in various different ways. The influences all start overlapping after a while, and I'm unconvinced it's all straightforward 'this character is a homage to a previous one' anyway. Certainly, I don't actually believe Rau was created with Iron Mask in mind (that would be kind of weird, honestly), more that by pushing a Char-alike into a more 'arch-villain' mode, you end up back at something closer to IM than Char himself. Same with Prospera, who doesn't otherwise fit the story-telling patterns we're used to with Char-clones.

At a certain point, one has to admit that 'a person in a mask' is the only constant; everything else can and will be remixed depending on the story the writers want to tell. McGillis is a vastly different character from, say, Graham, who has obvious antecedent in Bruder but also big differences from him, and none of them align to Char in more than an aesthetic concept. McGillis even breaks out of the role of 'rival', in the strictest sense, with it falling on Vidar to be the rival to him.

This is one of the great strengths of Gundam: it's willingness to change everything up while playing with the same iconography. It's the imagery that is the constant, not the characters, even archetypally, and that has allowed it to sustain itself in a much more interesting fashion than if it had just kept to sequels and reboots of the same story. It is at its worst when it merely recapitulates (*cough* SEED *cough*), and at its best when it goes off in wildly new narrative directions (G Fighter, IBO).

#and boy oh boy was I feeling that attempt to recapture Char with Zechs#I was going BONKERS watching Wing

Zechs is fascinating in that, while he speed-runs Char's failure of the test-of-convictions pop-quiz, cramming two series and movie's worth of development into a single anime, he also follows through on an idea the original Gundam toys with but doesn't make foundational: that of Char and Syla representing two poles between which Amuro is being pulled. Syla is firmly in the 'fight for your community, deal with the real world as it is, act for others' camp, while Char is (at least trying to be) in the 'this is all for the greater good, war makes us stronger, it's all about me' one. I think a lot about how definitional it is for him as a character on 79 that he doesn't recognise his own sister properly now she's grown beyond the idealised, innocent image in his head. That's an incredibly acute bit of characterisation when coupled to his treatment of Lalah.

But in Gundam 79, it doesn't quite land, even though that's the shape of the final confrontation, because Syla is not herself a protagonist in the way that both Amuro and Char are. She *ought to be*. That would have been the better writing choice. But it was 1979 and she was a woman so she's relegated to a support role.

Whereas Relena is arguably *the* central character of Wing, in terms of who the plot actually revolves around, so it more openly sees Heero in a tug-of-war between her philosophical position and the hopelessness her brother falls into. Heero winds up stopping Zechs' attempt to become exactly the kind of living weapon Heero himself was supposed to be, largely because of Relena's influence, where Syla was merely one part of the White Base's influence on Amuro.

And this isn't a comment about the quality of those respective shows. Wing suffers immeasurably more in the coherency department than 79 does, for a host of behind-the-scenes reasons. But there's an evolution of plot structure there that is compelling, especially for me, as someone frequently frustrated by Tomino having clearly excellent instincts as a writer in terms of his structures and character concepts, that he fails to follow through on because he needed to get stuck at home with his wife and daughter for a while to properly recognise women as being real people.

Unrelatedly, I've been listen to Propaganda's 'Duel' a lot while writing these posts. Seems fitting, somehow...

Fear not, everyone, I am here today with an exhaustive* spotter's guide to that bunch of masked lunatics we like to refer to as 'Char clones' in the Gundam fandom. Because people are always getting into this monolith of the mecha anime canon and I thought it would save some confusion.

Row 1, left to right:

Char Aznable (Mobile Suit Gundam, 1979): hey, it's that guy!

Quattro Bajeena (Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam, 1985): it's that guy, again, supposedly

Free space (Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ, 1986): ZZ omits masked lunatics to make room for all the unmasked lunatics

Iron Mask (Mobile Suit Gundam F91, 1991): evil uncle stepfather dad cut-price Darth Vader

Cronicle Asher (Mobile Suit Victory Gundam, 1993): some guy who is not really trying with this whole 'mysterious masked man' thing

Schwarz Bruder (Mobile Fighter G Gundam, 1994): just your average German ninja sportsman guy (honest)

Row 2, left to right:

Zechs Merquise (New Mobile Report Gundam Wing, 1995): a totally new guy with very familiar fashion-sense

Jamil Neate (After War Gundam X, 1996): ersatz guy, but not the one you think

Harry Ord (Turn A Gundam, 1999): what a guy!

Rau Le Cruset (Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, 2002): not that guy

Neo Roanoke (Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny, 2004): also not that guy, or that guy

Graham Aker (Mobile Suit Gundam 00, 2007): This guy...

Row 3, left to right:

Full Frontal (behave yourselves; Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn, 2010): not that guy either, probably, maybe, perhaps

Zeheart Galette (Mobile Suit Gundam AGE, 2011): a guy named after baked goods

Luin Lee (Gundam Reconguista in G, 2014): 'Captain Mask'

McGillis Fareed (Mobile Suit Gundam IRON-BLOODED ORPHANS, 2015): a guy who is way too into this

Vidar (Mobile Suit Gundam IRON-BLOODED ORPHANS, 2016): say, Iron-Blooded Orphans, how come mom lets you have two guys in masks?

Prospera Mercury (Mobile Suit Gundam the Witch from Mercury, 2022): mom

*Mainline series, at time of writing

[ieidolon]

now that i'm playing dragon age: veilguard i understand hbomberguy so much better. think i could probably do a 3.5 hours long video called "dragon age: the veilguard is FINE and here's why"