#And I can't deny how cathartic a story this has been for me. At least for a couple of years

[thyandrawrites]

man. what was even the point of all the parallels the villains (esp. shigaraki, dabi and toga) to the heroes just to have them all die. what's the point. I'm glad i dropped bnha when i did, that's so damn frustrating. they should have been saved. the set up could have resulted in such a good pay off, just for them to throw that all away.

Hi! Sorry for the late reply. I spent most of last night working on my fix-it todofam fic, haha

Anyway, I've been wondering about the same thing. Despite everything, I don't think this is the ending Horikoshi originally had in mind. He has many flaws as a writer, but I do believe him to be a strongly compassionate person. The main problem with bnha imo is that he always seems to struggle to put his foot down and see through his choices all the way. Enji's arc in particular is full of this type of problem. One moment he's depicted as an unredeemable, unchanging monster, and two chapters later he's someone whose journey to self-betterment we're supposed to cheer for—a misguided guy who is trying his best and still failing. You get what I mean?

If it's true that the theme of DV is dear to Horikoshi (and I think it is, from how intimately he writes its intricacies), then I can understand that duality, at least. The fact that he can't quite make up his mind on who he wants to humanize more. But it's still disappointing. It feels insincere, the way he's wrapping up this story by pretending this is where he was always meant to go. For all of his indecision, at the very least he's never denied the Leagues' humanity, not until this very abrupt, tonal-shift ridden ending. And a part of me wonders if it's just Horikoshi's way to cater to the part of the fandom that's always loudest, the one that's been arguing for bloody 'justice' all along. If he's unable to handle that criticism on a work he holds so dear. And yet, by responding to it, by changing tracks on his own set up, he still managed to invalidate everything the story ever said about compassion, and that's the worst part.

[narcoticwriter]

About putting Xiao out of his misery, that’s a fair perspective and honestly makes it better if we did have to, but I still think I’d cry lol

(it’s banterismylovelanguage btw)

Continuing unpopular opinions, which five characters do you think would find peace in death in endgame (including or excluding Xiao, your choice)?

Okay, this is quite the ask and I have opinions on this. It's in descending order as well.

5. Bennett

Before I'm crucified, let me explain this one a bit.

One of Bennett's character stories brings up the implication that he can't hope to die an adventurer's death that cements him into any legend or lore.

That would be 'too fortunate' for someone with his bad luck.

So if he went out knowing he gave his all and in a really epic and badass way, he'd be able to rest easy.

Why do you think he runs headlong into every conflict and fight? It's not like he's going to actually die anyway. It'll hurt, but he'll be alive.

Will his death actually happen? No, as I am highly doubtful of the fact. But would it be cathartic and ironic if it was the case? Yes.

4. Lisa Minci

You should be expecting this one as the librarian canonically doesn't have that much time left.

Her attitude of helping out with everyone else, and making sure they're okay is what she lives for while she still can.

The way that she interacts with others as well as teaches Razor, gets some of the Knights to take breaks and rest, and even pushes Kaeya towards reconciliation with Diluc (in 3.1 I think) shows how she's no longer afraid to show others that she cares about them.

And if Celestia put a warning on you in the form of taking half of your lifespan, you can bet that the philosophy of "fuck it we ball" is going to apply in this sense.

She'd pass on knowing that she did what she loved, and that was taking care of others and watching them grow and learn.

She'll be a little sad that she can't see it for herself, but she feels confident that they'll be in good hands and I love that for her.

3. Zhongli

This one, I am admittedly less enthused to talk about, but it's starting to feel like that may be the case.

Starting off, this guy is super old and may be older than Teyvat itself, so at some point, he will croak and die.

Second of all, this guy has a forced non-disclosure agreement that doubles as a gag order from The Heavenly Principles, so if he broke it (which he might, given some things he's implied) he would be silenced for good.

And last, but certainly not least, one's retirement is a stepping stone that's much closer to death than not.

He's at a point where he's simply enjoying the feeling of being alive in his twilight years. He's also expressing the fear of forgetting certain memories and as he wanes, so will those.

It has a slightly higher chance of being in-game than I want to think about, but I can't deny its plausibility at any rate.

2. Tartaglia

You heard me the first time I don't need to repeat myself.

"Sure, I might have fallen into the Abyss as a kid, but I became better for it, I swear!"

Yeah, sure you did and you think Celestia won't get around to putting you in check as you collect forbidden powers and techniques like they're fucking Pokemon cards?

This guy's got the survivability of a goddamn babirusa because not only does everything want to kill him, but if that doesn't do it, he'll eventually kill himself with his entire approach to living.

Boy literally throws himself at the most dangerous creatures and people under the sun and still has the audacity to say "Another round!" even those he's been reduced to almost-a-corpse.

I don't care what you say: HIS 👏 ASS 👏 IS 👏 DYING 👏 YOUNG

Honorable Mentions (and some crackery) -

Qiqi - No one deserves to live as a result of being caught in the crossfire combined with adeptal collateral damage. Homegirl needs to rest for what's left of time.

Xiao - Obviously, as living is suffering and he'll finally have peace.

Yelan - Nerfing her bloodline was a contingency measure and breaking some of her spirit in the Abyss was a reassurance, so what makes you think they won't put her on a shirt if she presses?

Albedo - If you have an Archon, an assassin, and a Khaerni'ahn nervous as well as asking the Traveler to kill you if things get out of hand, things will happen to you.

Mona - She will see something she isn't meant to and she will be dealt with accordingly.

Kaedehara Kazuha - It would be off-screen and no one would know until someone stumbled across a rotting corpse in the wilderness.

Kaeya - It'd be real funny if there was an active political faction in Khaerni'ah that wanted the Alberichs exterminated for usurping the throne Hoyoverse please I'm begging you-

Diluc - It would be partially due to his own stupidity and partially due to the Harbingers making sure he died properly this time.

Shenhe - It would be without her red ropes and she will never feel more alive again.

And now, without further ado, we have number one on this list . . .

Venti

Bet you didn't see this one coming, did you?

I'm sorry, but this little guy has about as many death flags as Eula does grievances towards most of Mondstadt.

He has: talked to the Traveler before the events of the game, witnessed some real heinous shit in the Calamity (Cataclysm?), got his gnosis snatched (maybe on purpose??), and has increasingly been showing up more and more as time goes on.

Why are these points relevant? Because at some point he will spill the beans and will be punished severely for it.

I would make the argument that he's the closest Archon to the Traveler as well as one of the oldest, and as such, it would be that much more powerful if he was killed off in the greater sense of things.

I'm sorry, but I just can't see him surviving to endgame. He's living on borrowed time and he knows it.

Tell me what you think!

[notesofarichlycolorednight]

I have the headcanon that Luke is a Venus Legacy. She's very important in the Roman mythology. And there's more: he has the power to redirect Aphrodite/Venus magic,like firebenders can redirect lightning (very risky and a bit difficult, though). Okay, I'm so obsessed with those headcanons that I can't believe May to be totally mortal. On the top of that,Luke seems to be way above his siblings in power and skill,and we all know that mortals aren't much in Percy Jackson,with the exception of...

Continued. With the exception of Sally,Rachel, perhaps Frederick and Paul(that doesn’t bother me, though. I have (little more than) a bit of bias against the badass normal trope,in most cases. They want to pass them as everymen with cleverness,but I can’t buy someone like Ty Lee as an everywoman. Sokka is great, though). Frank is way more powerful than even Clarisse, despite his lack of experience. Is May that much of an snowflake to have a powerful demigod from an ordinary god?

Continued. Or is she a legacy? Okay,Luke is probably a perfectionist workaholic,so he gets the credit. But being strong enough to get to host Kronos’ essence? Sorry about the length and the anti badass normal rant.

BTW,I love your prankster/mischievous Luke Castellan. I usually am not fond of that kind of headcanon for him,since fandom usually makes him too much like Travis and Connor,and Luke is very different from his brothers (Percy himself even lampshades it). Besides,the whole “silent mischief” fits his personality better,IMO. Luke didn’t come across as a loud guy to me,and he seems to act responsible most of time(for good and for bad, though). 💗💓💝💓💓💓💓

hi there! thanks for being patient with me on this. been busy ;_;

under cut bc it got longer than i was expecting

i really like this idea that May is a legacy. it’s interesting you pick Venus, but given how good-looking Luke was described as and how charming (tho, that could reasonably come from Hermes bc con-ppl are often charming) it makes sense

not to mention, as you say Luke did seem more powerful than most other demigods, being able to take on the curse of Achilles, hosting Kronos, not to mention holding up the sky for however long he did. i think it was Chiron who mentioned that only the greatest heroes are able to hold up the sky, but Luke was so clearly on the wrong side, and Percy even notices that in the books, but it’s like…never explained???

so for him to have more than just half godly blood in his system would make a lot more sense than the “it’s complicated” explanation we’re given in canon

i really like that hc that he can redirect Venus magic (my mind first went to charmspeak) but that it’s difficult and dangerous. like it’s such a cool concept, tho i’m not sure how much it applies to Luke? like maybe that’s a skill that any child or legacy of Aphrodite/Venus would have, but Luke was unable to unlock that power, or at least the full potential

bc it’s just that, and i think it’s mentioned by Annabeth in moa, but a big reason that Luke fell into Kronos’ trap was because Kronos fed Luke a lot of what he wanted to hear, manipulated his thoughts and it’s implied by Annabeth that Kelli also had a lot to do with manipulating him by using charmspeak

like i guess if it’s difficult and dangerous, it would make sense that he was unable to redirect her charmspeak, esp with Kronos also manipulating his thoughts and emotions, but it doesn’t quite fit…tho i think that has a lot of potential to be a story arc regarding the development of Luke’s character, kind of like how it was for Zuko and lightning

but that would also imply, following Zuko’s story arc, that Luke eventually realized the error of his ways and joined the gods’ side

altho, it would be more interesting, playing off him being able to hold up the sky, despite not being the “hero,” if he learned how to redirect charmspeak but remained “loyal” to Kronos

anyway /tangent

i can see where you’re coming from regarding the normal badass trope. i’m not sure how well Rick executed it (if he even did) bc in my opinion, it’s not necessarily that Sally, Rachel, Paul, and Fredrick are what i would term as a badass. Sally can see thru the mist and Poseidon loved her so much he offered immortality. that speaks to her character, but isn’t exactly badass. Rachel is the oracle, but doesn’t have any combat skills to speak of. in en extenuating circumstance, Paul used his sword-fighting skills to help protect Sally and others, but i doubt he’d have much else use for swordsmanship except if he were to take up acting. like Paul, under extenuating circumstances, Fredrick piloted a plane and shot at monsters with Celestial bronze bullets he’d made himself, tho i imagine that’s as much action that plane is going to see for the rest of Fredrick’s life

the acts themselves are certainly badass, but it doesn’t necessarily speak to their character as being a badass.

now, of course, being a badass doesn’t constitute being able to beat someone up. Rachel throwing her hairbrush at the lord of titans is p badass. and sally charming one of the Big Three gods so much he offered her immortality, not to mention killing Gabe and his buddies indirectly, is v badass. so being a badass can take many forms, i’m not denying that

but it doesn’t quite fit what i see the trope being, as defined by society, whereby to be a badass, you have to have some combat and strategic planning skills or smth. i hope that makes sense

i guess this is all just more complicated than i was originally thinking, bc if badass can be defined in so many ways, so can normal?

you mention Ty Lee, right? now i haven’t watched a:tla in forever, but from what i remember of her character, i never actually saw her as some everywoman. she was friends with a sociopathic princess whose father colonized the rest of the world. that’s not exactly normal. i mean even taking away the sociopathic and her father part, she’s friends with a princess! that’s not exactly what i’d constitute as normal you know?

but it’s hard to say what’s normal in that universe, right? bc nonbenders, like sokka, are considered “normal” and average bc they can’t bend, when a majority can. and sokka is often talked abt like he’s “normal” but his tribe taught him how to be a warrior from a young age. his father went off to war, and his mother was killed by a firebender when Ozai began colonizing the other tribes. that’s not normal. even in that universe, bc the avatar is supposed to keep peace b/t the different benders

so it comes back to how society defines the trope, where normal is your average person (no special powers, no secret talents, just goes abt their mundane day at a nine-to-five and binges TV shows on Netflix when they get home) and badass is having that hidden talent (that they most likely don’t even know abt) or learning to be a badass as their character arc and as the story progresses

gosh, hope that all made sense. long story long, i agree with you that it’s a tired trope (in that we’re introduced to someone we consider and are supposed to think is average but, surprise! they actually have a hidden talent that turns them into a badass), but i think if done right, it can be really cathartic and exciting

/tangent 2

yes, i think being legacies definitely affords demigods more power, bc they have more godly blood. and you make a good point: why was Luke so powerful and special? esp as a son of Hermes. i think a reasonable explanation would be that he’s a legacy

by definition, tho, him being a legacy means that May is also a legacy, bc Hermes can’t have other godly blood from other gods with him being a god himself already (disregarding the fact that gods don’t even have DNA)

no worries! as you can see, i kind of went into some rants too!

oh thank you!! i’m glad you liked those hcs. yeah, i like to think that Luke definitely pulls pranks and enjoys it too! but the way he’s portrayed in the books, he’s much more serious than Travis and Conner, probably bc of the house he had to grow up in, being on the run at a young age, and then going thru so much heart-break and trauma before he even turned Travis and Conner’s ages. that ought to subdue you a little

so i wanted to make sure i expressed that in my hcs, long story long lol. i like to think of Luke, before Kronos and all that shit, as a fun and easy-going guy but in a quieter and more subtle way than Travis and Conner specifically

thanks again for sending these!! i love, love, love talking abt to ppl abt stuff. my inbox is always open!

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