#And that both sides of the interaction were understandable given the contexts

[yamujiburo]

Why I Love Hanamusa

I get this question very frequently but have never given a really in depth, definitive answer. All just kinda implied through my comics and spread out asks. So here's this I guess! Long post ahead:

First, as a Pokémon fan in her mid 20s, I love seeing a ship where the characters are both in their mid/late 20s. Already, they’re much more relatable to me and my current experiences. Most Pokémon ships are between preteens, which can be cute but ultimately don’t interest me as much as they used to when I was a kid myself. Not enough to get super invested in and draw a lot of fanart for anyways haha.

I’ll also start by saying that canon doesn’t always influence whether or not I’ll ship something. I’m much more drawn to potential. Could the characters work together? Do their personalities work together in a nice way? I feel like this so much of fanon is anyways. Especially with queer relationships because they’re rarely depicted in the first place. A lot of the context for these ships is usually up to the fans to piece together or make up in general. And that’s the fun part to me!

Jessie and Delia have only met in the anime a handful of times. Any interaction they’ve had has either been pleasant, or just a typical Team Rocket interaction, with Delia dismissing them/not seeing them as a threat. Already a great jumping off point for me since, truly, they don’t have any actual beef or true, ill feelings towards each other. It’s not TOO out of the realm of possibility for them to potentially fall for each other. “But Jessie chased Delia’s son around trying to steal his Pokémon!” That’s where that dismissive and aloof attitude that Delia has comes into play. I’ll go more into Delia’s whole deal a bit later but I do think this aspect of her personality is a large reason why this ship can work. It’s not that she doesn’t care that Jessie has a bad past, but she can tell that, on the inside, Jessie’s a good person. And, in a scenario where Jessie is trying to become a better person, is forgiving enough to give her a shot. I feel like this is such a solid foundation for a ship. A character who has done wrong but is trying to be better and another character who is willing to help them be better. A classic dynamic!

It’s not just one-sided though; where Jessie is the only one benefitting and learning from the relationship. I believe Delia could get a lot out of being with someone like Jessie. To understand why, I think it’s important to know these characters’ respective backstories.

Jessie is an orphan/foster child who grew up in poverty. Her mother Miyamoto (from The Birth of Mewtwo) was a Team Rocket operative herself, who went on a mission to find Mew. In order to do this, she had to leave Jessie when she was just a toddler. Unfortunately, Miyamoto went MIA on her mission leaving Jessie to more or less fend for herself. Jessie went through life with zero stability, evident by her MANY different careers and constant moving around. It’s implied in the show that she went from foster home to foster home, and later in life tried being an idol, weather girl, florist, wine connoisseur, actress, most notably a nurse and finally a Team Rocket field agent. And even while in Team Rocket, she, James and Meowth were always doing odd jobs to get by. We see that Jessie used to be a sweet kid, and even adult, but the world and her circumstances repeatedly did her dirty, leading her to become the character we know today. Hot tempered, mean, selfish, etc. But despite this, her soft side does still shine through for the people and Pokémon she cares about. She is incredibly loyal.

Delia, unbeknownst to a lot of fans, also had a rough past (see Pocket Monsters: The Animation). Like Jessie, she had a lot of dreams and aspirations like wanting to be a model and even a trainer. But when she was 10, her mother didn’t let her, telling her that she had to stay home and learn to run the family restaurant (she’s an only child). Delia’s father left her and her mother to be a trainer, and never returned. When she was 18, she married Ash’s father and became pregnant shortly after. But right after Ash was born, he also set off to be a Pokémon trainer. And soon after that, her mother passed away, leaving Delia with just the restaurant and baby Ash. This gives so much context to Delia’s attitude in the show. We see that Delia is pained whenever Ash leaves on a journey, but she never shows that pain to anyone. ESPECIALLY Ash. She’s very quick to shoo him off when he shows any sign of wanting to go on another journey and even when he returns home, she acts more excited to see Pikachu than him almost every time. Without all this backstory, it’s easy to just read this as a funny gag, BUT with context, I think it really shows how quickly Delia shuts down and detaches in order to not confront her own feelings. She’s afraid of losing people and getting hurt again.

All that said, I think Jessie and Delia provide each other with EXACTLY what the other needs. 

Aside from becoming rich and famous, Jessie’s biggest aspiration is to get married. In my opinion, this is more so an underlying want for love and stability. There is no one more stable in the show than Delia. Delia’s lived in Pallet her whole life, she’s worked at the same restaurant since she was young and she is always there when Ash comes back home. She has all the love, patience and stability Jessie needs and craves. While forgiving, Delia’s not stupid and can keep Jessie in check. Delia’s also just an angel, which I feel, would make Jessie want to be better. And on top of all this, on more of a surface level, Delia’s a chef and excellent cook. She shows love through cooking and Jessie, who grew up poor, regularly starving and eating snow, happily receives that love. Jessie’s able to live a happy and healthy life with someone like Delia.

Delia, as stated, is very stable. Likely pretty monotonous and solitary, especially living in such a small town like Pallet. This isn’t a bad thing but it’s a little sad when you consider that Delia also had dreams of traveling, being a model and a trainer. She had to give up so many dreams in order to fulfill her duties as a restaurant owner and mother. And even now, when Ash is off on his journey, she feels the need to always be home and be that stable pillar, leaving behind any ambitions she had, thinking it’s too late for her (she’s only 29 btw). But then along comes Jessie, dangerous, passionate, an absolute firecracker. Someone who’s whole life has been about chasing dreams and either, never giving up on them or finding a new dream to chase. Upon learning about Delia’s past aspirations, I could see Jessie pushing her towards them, letting her know that life’s too short and she has nothing to lose from trying. On top of this, Jessie’s also loyal. She, James and Meowth are depicted as doing anything for anyone who gives them food or shows them kindness. Delia does both so there’s no way Jessie would leave her. This fulfills an essential need for Delia, who is afraid of the people in her life leaving her.

There’s so much potential for mutual growth and learning between these two and I adore that. They compliment each other, they help each other and they bring out the best qualities in one another.

I’m not really sure how to end this and I could truly talk about them even more but I don’t want this to be tooooo long haha. OH I could end it with maybe the most funny aspect of this ship that I've brushed over and also what drew me to it in the first place. Jessie. As Ash’s stepmom. THE END.

[ignisdivine]

My personal analysis on Thorfinn and Canute's relationship in Vinland Saga (manga spoilers)

Alright so, new year is here and Thorfinn x Canute is still one of my OTPs; it's almost two years now since I'm on this ship. Now, I know that even if Yukimura endorses it it's still frowned upon, in a way that us shippers are believed to simply see two men breathing in each other's direction and want them to f—. Now, while I'm not saying that's never the case, I believe Thorfinn's and Canute's relationship is much more than that; even if it's not that fleshed out, only mostly implied in the series, it grants an analysis not from the standpoint of a delulu fangirl (which I proudly identify as) but simply a canon dissection. Welcome to my shower thoughts!

Their bond definitely carries a lot of potential. When I first watched the series after Berserk, I expected them to be pretty much like Golden Age!Guts and Golden Age!Griffith, because of the inspiration which the mangaka admitted to have drawn from Miura. The tropes were there, as well as the parallels: a friendship which starts at odds and becomes life-changing for both people.

The grounds, at least, were set up: they start bickering inside the cart, which isn't a scene thrown out there only for comedic effects, but carries a subtextual meaning, in that Canute lets his thoughts and feelings out and talks freely to someone else other than Ragnar. That amazes the man and rightfully so, as he sees their interaction in a positive light, apt to develop Canute as a person (also, interesting to note that this moment connects to the one on Ketil's farm where 'Sweyn's head' criticizes Canute for 'showing his true heart to that lowly man'; once again, Thorfinn's naturalness and straightforwardness brings that out in him).

So far, it looked like a promising start, but moving on.

One of the most infamous scenes between them is the rabbit stew dinner. Even if Thorfinn is reluctant to join them, after he tastes Canute's stew he experiences a moment of pure joy, probably the first one since he joined Askeladd's band. His facial expression might be fleeting and easy to miss, but for someone like him it's a huge deal; he's usually reserved, guarded and distrusting, which is understandable given his environment. However, for a short while he lets his guard down and experiences life in a way other than a mercenary, and all thanks to Canute and Ragnar.

That could be said for Canute as well, who we learn that for the first time in a while he's able to do something he genuinely enjoys but was always forbidden by his father. Moreover, he confides in Thorfinn out of all, to reveal this intimate thing about himself and asks him to keep this a secret (and once again, he's revealing his true self in front of Thorfinn, something which we don't see him do very often throughout the series).

This is a moment of trust and vulnerability between both, and definitely apt to develop into something more; to bring positivity into their lives and recover faith in humanity.

(I was a bit disappointed in Thorfinn that later on he pushes Canute away and betrays him, but anyways. I get the artistic direction of him and their relationship, as it makes sense in the context of the story.)

From Canute's side, the intention is definitely there. Later on, on Ketil's farm, 'Sweyn's head' asks him if he truly expected to rekindle an 'old friendship'. This serves to prove that Canute, all this time, has indeed seen Thorfinn as a friend.

As for Thorfinn, while during his slavery times he thinks of Einar as his 'first friend', perhaps he hasn't been able previously to tell whenever someone genuinely cared for him, resulting in him shutting Canute out.

All in all, Canute's overview on prologue Thorfinn lets on that there might have been more off-screen interactions between them, for him to come to see Thorfinn as the closest semblance to a friend that he used to have. I understand though, that for the sake of Thorfinn becoming a hollow shell with nothing good happening to him, he was blind to other's good treatments and never let Canute in.

Another moment between them which is grossly underrated is the aftermath of Thorfinn and Askeladd's last duel. Canute jumps in to stop them from killing each other for obvious reasons, as they're both valuable assets to him that he can't bare to lose; that doesn't rule out the possibility that at this point, he might also be genuinely concerned for Thorfinn. He treats him with care and is relieved when Thorfinn regains consciousness, and is nothing but kind to him when Thorfinn goes full crisis mode and spits insults at him.

A very important aspect which, again, is underrated, is when Canute asks him to heal his wounds first and only then resume his duels. Even if Canute doesn't get his dueling obsession and is even against it, he doesn't deny Thorfinn his wishes (even if Thorfinn is practically his subordinate and he'd have the power to—through Askeladd, that is). He simply shows empathy for Thorfinn's cause, and only steps in out of concern for his safety, not to overstep boundaries or manipulate him into doing his bidding. That's the ultimate form of respect and support.

—I also loved the anime-only scene where Canute stops Thorfinn from going after Askeladd, it added nothing new, but I would still like to ask the directors what they were trying to highlight here🤭—

Askeladd's death is another noteworthy moment to point out. When Thorfinn viciously attacks Canute, and we learn that it terrifies and downright traumatizes him (he still reminisces about it on Ketil's farm and even refuses to speak to him because of his trauma), it doesn't stop him from feeling enraged at his men for trying to execute Thorfinn, and ordering them to cease and leave him alone, with all the respect he's trying to impose due.

Even if this moment isn't about Thorfinn, and Canute has his own cross to carry and very good reasons for killing Askeladd (something which broke him for several reasons), it doesn't prevent him from showing once again empathy to Thorfinn. He says 'this cut is a meager price to pay' because he understands the damage it did to Thorfinn and feels regretful, even if Thorfinn doesn't reciprocate and might even resent him at that point. This is very important to keep in mind, because afterwards Canute would go ahead and do stuff which he's aware are wrong, but he'll never show again that kind of remorse.

The fact that he sends Thorfinn into slavery is the most merciful thing he could do; as far as he's concerned, Thorfinn is capable enough to murder his way out of slavery and go do whatever (and yet, Canute doesn't come on a moral high ground on Ketil's farm because of this, but he's once again apologetic/understanding).

And now onto the climax: the confrontation on Ketil's farm. They both had legitimate reasons to clash heads, it was after all a battle of two wills between the Vikings, who wanted power and to support Canute's ideals, and the farmers who were oppressed, represented by Einar. However, I'm here to analyze solely Canute and Thorfinn's points of view, and it's interesting to note that in the middle of all this conflict, they still manage to show understanding for each other. While Einar calls the king out on his hypocrisy and tyranny, Thorfinn struggles to understand his overarching motive and ultimately finds him fascinating.

In fact, he proves an understanding for Canute which he doesn't really let on during the prologue. But if we look in retrospect: first, apart from his complaints about watching the trio (Canute, Ragnar and Willibald) pray, he pays attention to Canute's speech about fathers and he's visibly affected by his own memories. Second, before he decides to confront him on Ketil's farm, he remembers his speech in Gainsborough. So, he DID pay attention to Canute and wasn't just a brooding jerk who didn't give a damn about anything. Canute's presence probably impacted him as well, just that he never realized to what extent.

And now onto Thorfinn's own influence on Canute during the confrontation, it's too obvious to even dispute; once again Canute finds himself drawn to his genuiness and straightforwardness, he's watching him through lenses which no one else in that world, at that point, could. I want to emphasize the unique understanding they both have of each other because they've seen each other at their lowest, even if they didn't get to spend much time together; we could say it's a sort of bond that transcends physics. I saw some people call them soulmates and I do believe they're not far from the reality.

In the end, Canute not only feels relieved that he found hope and support for his project, but on a personal level I believe he's also relieved that this friendship is finally reciprocated, as we see Thorfinn also calls him a friend later on.

They don't have much interaction afterwards, sadly, but there were still some noteworthy moments.

One of them is Vargr's flashback. It was funny when I first read that Canute himself shows up with a fleet of thirteen ships to escort Thorfinn's small boat. Employing such a fleet requires resources, and besides, I imagine that Canute, as the king of 2+ kingdoms and the head of 2 royal families, has a busy schedule, yet he finds the time to pay a visit to practically a 'nobody'. Nothing stops him from sending a representative in his stead, as we've seen him send Wulf as a spokesman along with Thorkell to the Jomsvikings, which I'd say was much more important business. I like to joke that Yukimura unintentionally turned Canute into a simp, but on a serious note, that goes to show just how much he values and respects Thorfinn. And let's not mention him sparing Vargr just because Thorfinn said so. As the chief of an army he needs to assert dominance in front of his men, instill fear and prove that he's the supreme force - hence all the beheading business. Yet, he has no trouble humouring Thorfinn, and his change in demeanor when Thorfinn makes him laugh proves once again that Thorfinn brings his true self out, is able to change him much to everyone's surprise (and funny how that comes right after Vargr calls him a black-hearted man, what a contrast!).

Another scene is when Thorfinn starts talking about Canute out of the blue while making a comparison to Bug-Eyes. He says that he has a friend which starts wars, yet he hates these wars the most, which is an interesting point to make. Once again it proves the deep understanding Thorfinn has of him, even if he doesn't agree with his actions. In the bigger picture, just how many people could afford speaking of the king so freely and intimately, and making such gross statements? But it's Thorfinn, and he sees him for the human being he is, and not a warmonger overlord.

Lastly, to round up my analysis on an end note, the part where Canute thinks of Thorfinn amidst the pandemic is interesting. Usually, when people suddenly remember about an old acquaintance, they say "Hey, remember Thorfinn? I wonder what...", yet Canute simply goes like "I wonder what HE would do if he were here", to which Wulf rightfully asks who's he. That conveys to me that Canute spoke his mind out loud without realizing, and/or Thorfinn is constantly on his mind and doesn't realize that the others wouldn't have a clue what the hell he's talking about. There's a certain familiarity in the way he's addressing Thorfinn even after all these years. 

All in all, my analysis wasn't meant to prove my shipping, but only to draw the conclusion that their bond is unique in Vinland Saga and much more than what's visible to the bare eye; it definitely carried potential for more. Now, wherever that's friendship or something beyond, it doesn't really matter, as that doesn't change the canon events. However, it's important to note that friendship during those times is a luxury that's not widely accessible, which makes such a relationship precious in itself, so it's easy for us the audience to feel immersed into it, no matter in which way. Now, it's only my personal choice to see them as star-crossed lovers. Yap over—

[nukecommacomrad]

Hallooo everynyan

yee it is my headcanons of the relationships between the characters, the way how i see it (just hear me out, if you can read)(und i fell like shit, so I need to write for a while, and then I'll start drawing again, and also i want you to know who you're contacting when you see this mindset >:))

in general, it is difficult to do this, given that the characters do not interact with each other at all from the word at all, but you can fantasize. And I can even fantasize in this context :)

I consider this as in the approximate canons of the game and generally do not like that everything would be so easy. Everything should start with a little intrigue, so not everyone has a love relationship and stuff at once, yeee...I know it might be boring for you, but accept it from me that I'm nerd 🤓

lmao good luck sorting this out. I went overboard so much, but I hope that everything is roughly clear there ":)

btw, I'll explain the most complicated relationships I have, which I find quite funny, and I haven't noticed anyone else making the same assumptions yet. Therefore, I will say what I cannot keep silent about 😔🗣️if you want, you can ask me questions about this or anything else! I won't mind at all, and I can still take requests!! I need to do something while I can't draw funny drawings.

Glass Joe&Von Kaiser. Glass is not as cute as he seems, although he is a little silly (but everyone there is a little silly, so this is the norm, lmao)

if you know history you will understand 🔽🔽🔽

The relationship between Kaiser and Joe is really similar to that of an elderly married couple, although they themselves are unaware of it. Joe and Kaiser are the oldest there, so it seems to me that they started their boxing careers a long time ago and have known each other for a long time. Joe also has patriotic tendencies like Kaiser (none of the other guys shout about their country as loudly as he does, lol). Therefore, it seems to me that they must have had a conflict on this ground. When they were both in their prime, they started arguing over who could last the longest in boxing. Joe recognizes strength only in spirit, while Kaiser recognizes physical strength and discipline. And maybe it started when they were over 27 (for Joe) or 30 (for Kaiser). And now, these weirdos are still in the ring, refusing to give up on each other. The Frenchman already has problems with his head physically, and the German mentally (how ironic), but these stubborn sheep do not give up. These many years hand in hand have brought them very close and they can be considered best friends, because sometimes they can just peacefully exist side by side. But, nevertheless, taunts and insults jokingly pass between them, i like that dynamic ✺◟(∗❛ัᴗ❛ั∗)◞✺

Besides, it seems to me that these guys obviously knew Doc when he was still in good shape. They probably remember how he defeated them in the ring, and perhaps the legendary "star punch" performed by Mac. Of course, they wouldn't have recognized Doc now, but they would have found out about it after the second round, it would have been a pleasant reunion of old acquaintances. They have respect for him, so they will treat Mac more kindly than as a destroyer of their skulls.

Don Flamenco&Carmen&Super Macho Man. Oh-Ho-ho-hon yeeee-..I like this ༼ง=ಠ益ಠ=༽งIn my opinion-..Okay, let's assume that the blonde is Carmen Don was talking about (but there's also a theory that Flamenco didn't have anyone in particular, because in Spanish, Carmen is just the epitome of a femme fatale, but okay, let's imagine that he was referring to the very Carmen). For me, she's also as silly as everyone else, so she's the girl who likes to watch men beat each other in the ring and she likes it and she's pretty good at it, knowing almost all the fighters and watching the TV footage if she couldn't buy a ticket. I think she's in love with Flamenco. She doesn't look Spanish, but she probably has Spanish roots, and she lives in America with relatives who live in Spain. For the sake of Flamenco, to see his fight live, she comes to Spain, where a spark broke out between them😍 (yeeeas slaaaayyyy)

but before they met, she was spotted by a Macho Man. Because I doubt that cool men will spend so much on just one girl out of a thousand, which is clearly a sign of attention on his part. Carmen agreed to chat with him, but she did not find him olfactory, and when he offered to buy her jewelry, she did not expect him to do so and quickly refused, because that heart has long been occupied by someone else...

And, my God, what a drama, two people in love with the same girl. But she loves only one thing, and that's clear, but the Macho man tries not to show that it hurts him, although he visibly hates Don for it. And Don also hates Macho for the fact that he keeps up with her sometimes, although it's clear that there's something between him and Carmen.That's why they're rivals>:) und blonde is sexy chicka who deserves a happiness 😘

Aran Ryan. Yeeaa, surprisingly, not all the arrows on it are black, but that's because it all depends on other people ;) And hey, hey, Little Mac is the main character! The person we're playing from. Of course it's impersonal and a bit wooden! Therefore, we must identify him for ourselves and mold his character based either on our feelings from the game, or just to amuse ourselves. And I imagine Mac as a very patient boy who just has an inner scream of horror in his head from everything that is happening(what happened to me when I saw from his face who he was fighting with and what he was going through, jajajaha).Although he doesn't show it outwardly, deep down he really gloats, laughs, gets mad as hell, and sometimes does cheeky things and says them.

He kicked Aran's ass, and Aran seems quite pleased and seems to be enjoying it. It seems to me that Aran still saw the same hooligan notes in Mac, so he can consider him a good rival and friend. And in general, Aran finds friends in other people only those who can compete with him, because he is a very strong boy and he is bored with others. But he also likes people who put up with his antics and maybe find them funny if he didn't do them out of spite. Popinsky, Disco Kid, and Lil Mac himself belong to this type.

They are rivals with Don, because they literally go toe-to-toe in all parameters. They are the same age, the same height and both are strong, but I am sure that Aran has moved higher only because he cheated, and the Spaniard did not suspect this at all (for which he now hates him deep down) ༼ᕗຈل͜ຈ༽ᕗ

Heheheh I like that Don has a pretty scandalous personality, which perfectly shows his loss to lil Mac ffhgdsdhsshgrf

[emblemxeno]

The thing that I think Fates does so incredibly well, enough so that it's probably my favorite in the series in this regard, is how much it frames context and rewards players for being willing to interact with the characters and the world.

You're given a very specific image on characters just from their first impressions as a whole, and the more you ultimately look past that, the more you unearth the whole context behind the setting. The conflict is a great example of this; it seems like one of the many typical "good vs. evil" conflicts in the setting, and the problem with that is the more you interact with the characters and the more you actually interconnect details and known concepts, the more it quickly becomes different from that. The Nohrian siblings are abuse survivors, their father warped beyond recognition into a puppet for an insane god who seeks to burn the entire world to the ground and everyone just treating this day-to-day insanity as somehow normal or justifiable, while Hoshido only has any kind of knowledge in regards to Nohr based on the Faceless attacks that Garon sends through the barrier; this leads to a lot of demonization of the Nohrians that are just not something they're even aware of, with a major part of the parallels they have in a route shows they need each other much more to coexist than they do to be enemies. Nohr was starving, driven by meritocracy and ultimately was still recovering from a country-devastating civil war, while Hoshido was plentiful, had all of its servants determined by the elite, and knew very little when it came to peace. The implication and fact that both were conquering empires and Mikoto's reign was an anomaly, the warped nature of Garon being a sign something was very wrong as a whole, and both factions just assuming the status quo was as it was and that it was just to be accepted that these two factions were meant to clash with each other in ways that completely justified the other.

What Fates does so well that stands out to me is how much of the narrative ends up being expanded upon and given depth by communication. There is such obstruction on much of the characters motivations and you only get the full story from outright seeking out these perspectives, but what it fully intertwines and exposes is that both sides are full of human beings worth protecting and that's clearly something that matters. And it's hard to think of a route that illustrates that more than Conquest, which takes an entire sledgehammer to the idea that the invasion and conquest of a nation full of innocent people wasn't anything but avoidable and that you weren't the hero for it; you did it because you had to with how much obstruction the politics in Nohr led and how you barely had any options to challenge the system that wasn't deliberately breaking it, but it ultimately showcases how much of the conflict is still the choices within the characters. Chapter 24 confirms what Hinoka says in Endgame with Corrin becoming a pariah for his choice (and understandably so), with his final confrontation with Takumi having him understand what he had to do and not trying to twist it or justify it, but how much of it that it actually was his doing and how he needed to take responsibility for that. Which is precisely what he did at the end of Conquest and ultimately talked with Takumi and allowed the two to communicate how they wanted to feel.

And that's ultimately the core of Fates; how much communication reveals the humanity of the other side and how they're not just tragic victims for you to roll over against, how it's important to understand when somebody needs to be talked to and when somebody is speaking in bad faith. Even Kaze defects because Corrin actually communicates his plan to Kaze in Chapter 11 and because he didn't have any real alternative in this regard, but it makes for such a fascinating narrative as a whole because it's deliberately rewarding to those who seek out this kind of knowledge. It doesn't withhold any information for those seeking to find it; even the Ancient Texts reveal the entirety of the cosmology of Fates for those interested enough to dig into it, and it reveals a perspective that I think is just fascinating.

And I think that's the thing that gets me, because Conquest is just especially relevant IMHO in today's day and age. As an American where it feels like apathy and complacency led to tyranny and oppression, it's important to remember that people are complicated and nuanced, that suffering does not need to happen and that all nations ultimately have humanity to them at the end of the day. Xander and Ryoma try to speak for the longest time how this war and their victory was a tragic inevitability and needed to happen. Corrin, who was shielded from most of the outside world, knew this wasn't the case and that, no, it didn't need to happen. Because we take for granted how much it is communication needs to happen, because we aren't meant to be alone and I think anything that tries to prevent you from communicating to the other side or lies to you to prevent you from seeing the full picture is one that ultimately doesn't want to lose its credence to the audience. This is why I don't like 3H; Fates is entirely consistent with what it believes if you actually communicate properly, while 3H remarks on how "tragic" it is characters like Edelgard are being revanchists who side with Those Who Slithers and doesn't want you to actually question what it says versus the actions of these characters. Fates, meanwhile, leaves it up to you to have these actions be in any way consistent, because the whole point of Fates is how we're ultimately in control of our actions and that allowing us to be dictated by circumstances as it's "just so" is precisely how the characters got into the mess to begin with. Quote Corrin at the end of Conquest:

Anankos? What are you talking about?! Your god has nothing to do with this! We all make our own decisions. You are responsible for all of this, monster! You destroyed the heart of a good man for your own selfish gain. But even you could have chosen a different path. No matter the circumstances we are born into, or the blood in our veins… We are all the masters of our own fate! That is why I am not like you, nor could I ever be. I chose the path I believe in, the path of peace. And that conviction, that strength… I will use that power to defeat you!

Fates I think is truly special, and part of why I get so emotional about it and the lack of respect it gets and people just dismissing it has no depth is that I can clearly see what's being said, and I think it's absolutely wonderful and needs to be preached to the core more. Fates is the kind of story that I think is amazing when you actually construct the full picture and truly unforgettable, not just for how internally consistent it is, but how much it ties into FE's core themes as a series and how much of it we just take for granted concepts like tyranny and cruelty and realize the best way to defeat this is to take responsibility for our actions and actually communicate than dismiss the instance as an inevitability. Almost all failures comes down to excuses, and the way Fates is a sledgehammer and jeremiad to the concept of moral complacency and how interwoven it all is just makes the game so special to me and my heart.

YES YES YES, THIS IS THAT *GOOD* SHIT

What I really appreciate about Fates, like you said, is that it really walks the walk when it comes to communication, humanity and grasping with the weight of people's lives.

It's true that it's cathartic to have characters like Hector or Ike be really gung-ho about removing the problems directly in their way, and taking no shit from their enemies.

But in a broader sense, what speaks to me is Corrin, painted as naive and childish, is correct in the philosophical statement being made.

Why is fighting each other endlessly the status quo? Why do you have to kill your enemies at every opportunity? Why is a future where people can respect one another so unbelievable?

And even then, with all of that, the story doesn't let malefactors off the hook. The abusers of that cruelty and irrationality are punished for it. Corrin gives them the chance, but when they're so set in their ways after that? No dice.

The tragedy here, is that sometimes, innocent people who would very much be able to be convinced, are caught in the crossfire. Dying for their lord, being in the wrong place at the wrong time, being too belligerent and forcing someone's hand in order for them to survive, and just plain bad luck. And Fates' story, rightfully, treats this as something to be upset over, because it respects human life. It doesn't treat it just as a tool to make you sypmathize with what a character is going through, or as just a statistical risk in the background; rather, it materializes the effects of your actions.

And isn't that the beauty of FE stories as they are? They are simulated war chronicles, after all.

[that-left-turn]

Regarding billing and the title of the spinoff, I think it could be true that norman's 3-year contract limited what Melissa could expect. Although some fans believe that Melissa must be okay with the title and billing not being equal, and that she would have known what she was agreeing to when she signed the contract, I think there are some clues that indicate amc know they need to move towards treating melissa better. Although they don't have dual lead status in the opening credits, they do have equal screentime and prominence in their solo title cards. In promotional materials and marketing, both actors were given equal focus (other than individual interviewers asking norman more questions than Melissa when both were together), visually framing them as co-leads. Melissa was submitted for Best Actress category in awards, not supporting. Could these have been stipulations in melissa's contract, or could that have just been amc's decision? And is this likely to continue for season 3?

I understand that the showrunner and amc do have the power to ensure melissa's role is properly recognised, and it was a missed opportunity not to give melissa equal billing in the book of carol. But if, as I think you've suggested before, norman's contract stipulated solo top billing etc., maybe everything else (e.g. equal title card screentime, lead role category for awards submissions, marketing as co-leads) indicates that she received the best possible despite his contract? And maybe that's a good sign for future seasons. What do you think?

I don't think I've done a post on billing/credit, so thank you for sending me this ask.

Norman's initial deal was two years (S11 of the flagship show and S1 of DarDix, same as Melissa's) which was then renegotiated for S2-3. Melissa would have had no knowledge of the terms of Norman's deal when she signed on to return to the show and also no reason to suspect that the title would change.

Norman and Melissa don't have equal screentime, nor do their arcs have equal weight. The Book of Carol even implies that Carol's arc would be given precedence during the season. The external plot is about Laurent, so in a season called TBOC, I would've expected Laurent's arc to intersect with Carol's, independent of Daryl. Her impression of and interaction with Messiah Boy (without the context of a moody Daryl) would've added a much needed layer to the plot and S1 had already milked all there was to gain out of the Daryl-Laurent dynamic.

I'm not sure what you mean by "prominence in their solo title cards." The font is the same size? It stays on screen for the same amount of time? (That's true for everyone from Norman to Joel de la Fuente and Romain Levi.) Neither of those things has any bearing on how important the actor is on set or their financial compensation. Credit and call order do. 'And' and 'with' credit is slightly different because it indicates that, after the lead/s, the actor is the biggest name and/or highest paid member of the rest of the cast.

Norman and Melissa weren't given equal focus in promotional materials and marketing. All interviews, blurbs, reviews etc. state that the show is called Daryl Dixon and it's about Norman's titular character. Melissa is mentioned somewhere in the body of the text. The font size of Daryl Dixon is also considerably larger than The Book of Carol, which is only a seasonal subtitle and media outlets quite frequently dropped it in their reporting. The composition of posters and other key art frame Daryl/Norman as larger or the focal point of the piece. Carol turned into the B-side of the poster when fans complained about the uneven presentation of the original.

(I'm not going to bother mentioning hair, makeup and wardrobe because that would add another three paragraphs to this post and your ask was about AMC, billing and promo.)

All the men interrupted Melissa and took over speaking whenever there was a group interview, and questions are often submitted in advance of interviews, so asking Norman more questions was the plan, not a coincidence. It's his show—it says so right there in the big, bold title!—so of course any reporter will ask him the lion's share of the questions.

The actor's reps submit for awards, not the studio and regardless, it would have made for uncomfortable attention for AMC if Melissa had submitted as supporting actor. Anyone old enough to remember the ensuing public discussion when Rob Lowe submitted as lead for The West Wing while the rest of the main cast was in the supporting category? Or when Katherine Heigl didn't submit for Emmy consideration at all and followed that up with saying she didn't feel like the material she'd been given was award worthy? Rocking the boat draws attention and as a woman, you will get punished for it.

So no, Melissa didn't receive the best possible treatment that AMC could manage given the circumstances. If DarDix had been a good show, with a showrunner who could've written a proper grief arc for Carol and if the studio had run an actual promo campaign for it, Melissa could've earned them an Emmy nod. She has the capability to deliver some much needed credibility to the franchise, if AMC would only empower her to do so.

[i-am-creacheur]

okay listen. I get the urge to talk about my favorite life series ship like it's Canon in every season...BUT. THAT HAS NEVER ONCE BEEN THE CASE.

Yes, Jimmy would be upset if Tango canaried (technical scientific term for that). Everyone would be- even I would be, and I've never watched a single one of his videos. Canarying sucks, and it hurts. Of course I would be upset. THAT DOES NOT MEAN THAT I THINK JIMMY WOULD BREAK DOWN SOBBING FROM A CHARACTER STAND POINT. They have had only like... THREE on screen interactions. One is Tango murdering a man infront of Jimmy and another is Tango cheerfully burning down something one of Jimmy's teammates worked very hard on. WildLifeChara!Jimmy has more reason to hate or be afraid of WildLifeChara!Tango than to be madly in love with him.

I promise you, if Tango had offered Jimmy a life instead of Ren, people wouldn't shut up about for MONTHS. But, because it's Ren, somehow the interaction isn't NEARLY as homoerotic??? I understand having NOTP's, but the Jimmy/Ren ship doesn't even show up ONCE on ao3. Zero fics. ZE-RO. There's no reason to hate something that doesn't even exist.

This same concept applies for Flower Husbands as well- not just in Wild Life, and Secret Life and Limited Life and Last Life and Real Life though- in Empires.

I have no clue about Empires Season 1, but they barely interacted in Empires Season 2- and yet the amount of ship art I sift through on a weekly basis for my side blog is actually insane. Yeah, the few interactions WERE important, but I think Scott only flirted (in video) with Jimmy maaybbeeee three times. I have no idea what the count of that for streaming is, but I swear it is not enough to keep that number so inflated.

Although, honestly, this problem might just be affecting me because of my personal view on shipping- if it's in a context where it doesn't make sense for the characters to be romantically engaged, I won't read it or write it.

For example, my beloved Solidwood! I mostly get their vibes or read their fics from the following series: Evo, Last Life, New Life, Empires2, Secret Life. That's because those settings make sense! They are active, they are engaged, they have near constant interactions or very close base locations. It makes SENSE for them to be shipped. However, if you showed me art or fic of them in, say, Limited Life, I'd furrow my brow and tilt my head and say "no, that doesn't do anything for me." BECAUSE THEY HAVE ZERO REASON TO BE INVESTED ROMANTICALLY IN ONE ANOTHER THERE, AS A STAND ALONE SETTING.

Most of the major Jimmy ships, though, don't follow this rule. I can understand loving a ship so much you want to see it everywhere- but, I promise you, stepping back and looking at which characters actually have chemistry regarding the new setting and social system will do wonders... you won't have to think of new Au's to insert your favorite ship into a new setting... all ships will be your favorite ship (unless they give you the ick). Join the multishiper hivemind /j

No but honestly it's gotten to the point where I will like or dislike a creator/character of theirs by what ship is their most popular given the context of the setting. Like, Tango in Double Life? Awww the sweetie!! I love him :) and then Tango in Empires2 sets off alarm bells in my brain screaming at me. He is NOT meant to be here bringing that ship here, this is NOT its territory. Same problem for Scott in nearly damn near every SMP both Jimmy and him are in... except Wild Life because he's actually been pretty nice and not condescending or forcing on Jimmy. I guess also power imbalances in how fans view them is a major no-go for me...

Idk if you read this whole thing thanks I guess... for anymore needed context I am a Jimmy rarepair obsessed multishiper.

TLDR; Lots of popular ships are inserted into settings without a thought for what that would mean for the setting and any changes in the established social connections, which gives OP the ick. I'm also not policing ships I'm just begging people to please either understand more ships using in setting context or list their AU details in the summaries of the fics. This goes hand in hand with misinterpreting characters in writing also... the more ships you like the more characters you will get to get good at writing!!!!

[shamelesstragedyenjoyer]

Now I'm curious, how would you rank the batfam based on how you'd get along irl??

In a scenario where I know their secret identities, and there’s a professional, almost co-workers-like dynamic, I think it'd varie greatly from one wherein which vigilante roles are completely absent. Among those I'd resonate with most (in the event I was born in their world) are Stephanie Brown, Duke Thomas, and Jason Todd. It's mainly due to shared backgrounds and similar upbringings, I think. Conversely, interactions with Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson, and Damian Wayne might be more difficult for me. Strained, even, due to differences in ethical frameworks, perspectives, class understanding and overall core values. So there's two ratings; one where I'm in their AU and one where they're in mine.

Alfred Pennyworth: 4/10 - He might perceive some of my approaches as unorthodox, but I believe he would grasp the reasoning behind them. Our interactions would be limited primarily to joint missions. We wouldn't be close. | 6/10 In my world about 60% of elderly people seem drawn to recounting their youth to me, perhaps due to my perceived trustworthiness, and I like to think he'd be part of that demographic.

Bruce Wayne: 2/10 - Disagreements on methodology would likely hinder rapport, especially given my skepticism toward billionaires, which might result in minimal interactions outside of vigilante duties. | 1/10. I'd see him as a man-whore.

Dick Grayson: 3/10 - Our interactions would likely be brief and casual, without the potential for friendship. His typical millennial demeanor might clash with my sense of humor. But he reminds me of my older sister, so I can't rate him lower than a 2. The age gap might lead him to treat me like a younger sibling, which I'd find condescending. Certainly not someone I would befriend. | 2/10 My personal envy would breed hostility, resulting in a reciprocal cycle of unkindness between us.

Jason Todd: 8/10 - Especially in a context where we were familiar with each other before his whole "being-adopted-by-Batman" thing. He'd likely resonate with my approach to tasks and comprehend the motivations driving my actions. We're not THAT far apart in age so he'd get my humor, I think. | 4/10 In my world however, because I'd be nervous and there would be a lack of common ground between us without vigilantism.

Cassandra Cain: 2/10 - It would unsettle me to realize she can discern my emotions merely by observing me. While I'm generally transparent, this level of insight would make me uneasy, prompting me to steer clear of her. | 7/10 She shares some personality traits of one of my closest friends. Given my penchant for chatter and her inclination to listen, we'd likely complement each other well and have a harmonious friendship.

Tim Drake: 1/10- He wouldn't understand why I dislike him. And I wouldn't have an explanation. | 0/10. Earth isn't big enough for the both of us (completely one sided beef).

Stephanie Brown: 6/10 - She'd get how I roll, but Tim might have complained to her about me not being nice, so she'd be protective of him. | 10/10 We'd be the kind of girls who were super close in middle school, maybe even a bit too much. We'd drift apart in high school or college but still think about each other now and then, though not enough to reach out and become friends again.

Damian Wayne: 1/10 - Likely would perceive me negatively, interactions would be minimal. | 0/10 I just don't see us getting along.

Duke Thomas: 9/10 - He'd totally get my approach and might even be up for joining in (Bruce would see me as a bad influence). We'd both be game for pursuing each other's not-so-great ideas. Would have tons of fun but also engage in meaningful discussions about race, religion, politics, economics, society, art and allat. | 7/10 I can’t see myself being 100% comfortable around a man despite that, so that's how far it'll get, sue me !

Barbara Gordon: 4/10 - Like Dick, she'd likely see me as a kid, which would irk me because I'd want to be seen as an equal. However, since she's a woman, it'd feels a tad less patronizing and more maternal, so she gets one extra point in my book. | 6/10 She's that nice employee at the bookstore who takes my search for a specific book I don’t remember the name of super seriously. But we would not be friends.

To @voiddaisy who asked me a similar question, this is for you too ! Thanks for the ask !

[ventbloglite]

The thing about this ridiculous 'antiship versus proship' western/English speaking issue is that the basic philosophy of both sides is actually on the same page when it comes to not wanting real children to be harmed by predators.

But whilst one generally has a good grip on how this harm occurs and fictions role in that, if anything - the other does not and instead gives in to illogical reaches guided only by paranoia and ignorance.

The problem therefore comes with antis not understanding what harm is, what causes harm, how predators tend to work, and the role of fiction in all of this. As evidenced by...literally decades of predators existing, being caught, being studied etc.

All communities you belong to, all of them, will have predators in them including predophilic predators. They will label themselves your labels, they will talk your talk and then go against the principles of your group to try and harm/harm minors.

Being a proshipper does not mean liking pedophilic or incest or whatever ships. That's darkshipping. Pro is not short of problematic, just like pro-choice isn't problematic choice. It just means 'for' in this context, the opposite of anti. Proship philosophy at it's core just means being anti-harassment and anti-censorship. But no group is a hivemind, you're going to get bad apples. That doesn't mean the whole group is bad when the above is their group philosophy.

Meanwhile, the philosophy of antishipping isn't all to dissimilar to puritans and other pro-censorship conservatives and involves a vast majority of the community engaging or allowing active harassment, victim shaming, triggering of victims, sharing of inappropriate material to minors, encouraging minors to seek out that material ('to warn others'), suicide baiting, moral policing, dehumanising etc based on personal morals and discomfort.

Which still doesn't mean all antis are bad people! It just means the philosophy is bad and has attracted more people who wish to cause harm in this manner whilst taking the moral high ground.

If you're an anti who was targetted by a predator who labelled themselves 'proship/profic' and used inappropriately sexual and specific ship content to groom you - I'm sincerely sorry. But that predator would have existed and found ways to harm you even if they'd identified as anti. I'm really tired of people using their experiences to 'prove' that all proshippers are pedos. Nobody said that 'no proshippers are ever pedos' because that invites harm. All communities have these people in them.

The vast majority of proshippers, especially if they're adults, do not want or encourage minors to interact. They label themselves 18+ and nsfw if they post that content and encourage you to not view such material. It is within their rights to have spaces for adults, and to create whatever fiction they wish. It is not going to normalise it, never has, never will, except for a minority of people who did not have enough of an education of these things before exposure to understand the difference between fiction/reality (and there are so many proshippers willing to teach you not to see this as ok irl).

I'm not saying it's your fault if you were a victim, it is never the victims fault. Somebody should have educated you and given you the tools to avoid harm before you went online, so that you could ship whatever and avoid anyone harmful, but they didn't and someone insidious said what they had to say to get to you. They are the one completely in the wrong there, completely. Because you were innocent and doing what you thought was best and they took advantage of you.

But the same thing happens with adult antis and minors who are antis too. Does that mean all antishippers are pedos? No. Not because they are antishippers, but because most people simply are not predators.

The real issue here is that antishipping censorvative mindsets teach you that it is easy to recognise a predator by a meaningless label they use 'pro-whatever' or 'anti-anti' or 'whatever-ship that's not anti'. In real life however, a predator is clever enough to hide their intents behind any kind of label you trust. If you trust proship they'll use that, if you trust antiship they'll use that.

Without the actual tools to recognise real grooming, you are always going to be vulnerable. So instead of having a moral war because some of us got squicked by someone elses OTP why don't we actually do what we're all yelling about and give minors tools to avoid harm and holding predators in fandom accountable?

[schmedterlingfreud]

I was tagged by @ma-chi1993 thank you so, so much! (˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶) 💚​💚​

Three Ships: - GerIta (Hetalia); they are the simple Perfection. Among my Hetalia ships, GerIta will always be my Number One, the Sacred and Untouchable One. Culturally, historically, and romantically speaking… they are absolutely perfect for each other. I love how different and complementary their two personalities are. I love how a rigid and stoic personality like Germany finds comfort and peace in a more soft and sweet and easy-going personality like Italy's, who helps him to mature, to express himself, emotionally speaking. And I love how a fearful character like Italy finds comfort and courage in Germany's bond, in his strength. A unique love -- and not necessarily romantic -- that will always have a special place in my heart. 🍺​🍝 - UsUk (Hetalia); choosing another of my Hetalia ships -- sorry, guys, my world literally revolves around two fandoms (xD) -- is very difficult. I choose UsUk for everything this ship has given me on an emotional level, and because it has allowed me to express myself a lot on a creative level. I love it because I see and experience these two characters in very different ways, depending on the thousand universes in which we can insert them -- and note well: I ship "Alfred and Arthur", not "America and England"! But, regardless of how you see them, I love their conflictual dynamics, I love their differences, I love everything that distances them and, at the same time, brings them closer. I (sadly) find myself having a personality very similar to England's, so I love the sense of comfort and peace that gives me the thought of having close to me an energetic and positive character like America. Very self-indulgent? Yes. But who the F cares, right? (u.u) I also love the more tragic side of their past bond, their family history, and also the romantic side that you can develop in an AU context in which the two boys/men are almost the same age and without family ties. A very magical ship ❤️​💙​ - Luberto (Luca); another perfect representation of "opposites attract". I really appreciate the "growth factor" of Luberto -- I don't know if it makes sense, saying it in this way (xD). I love the innocence from which it starts, I love the strong and indestructible friendship that they develop. And yes, I also love the fact that, seeing Luca and Alberto as young adults/adults, you can also develop a romantic side to their relationship. Just like it was true for Italy and Germany, Luca and Alberto are among the very few characters that I can see perfectly under the true definition of "soulmates". That feeling that makes you say: "You will always be my only true one, until the end of the universe". I also love the fact that they both help each other grow through their mistakes, their mutual closeness, but also their distance. I love the fact that they don't always understand each other, but at the same time they learn how to love their differences. I love the constancy of that underlying friendship that remains solid and perfect even without adding the romantic side. I love the fact that they both always have something to teach and learn from each other. I love the fact that, despite the possibility of being lovers, they will always remain best friends forever. "Growth" is the key word that made me fall in love with this perfect ship. 🐟​🛵

First Ship: - LawLight (Death Note); what do you want me to say? L and Light were the first characters I read fan fiction about, and they were one of the main reasons I actively became part of the ✨fandom world✨. Looking back at them now, with my adult and mature eyes, I see many more shades in them than when I was young, when for me they were simply the couple of: "Yes, I hunt you, I have to kill you, you're my enemy, but deep down I love you". I still see so much potential in L and Light's relationship -- despite the obvious toxicity (xD) -- and I continue to love them and their interactions, always conflicting, always intricate, always complex. Maybe, that's true, to remain IC there should be very little space for real romance between two cold and mental characters like them. And this is why, among the "Death Note" ships, I prefer the MelloxMatt. But L and Light were my "first ones" so they will always be the most special ones. 🍎​

Last Movie: I don't remember the last "new" movie I saw (maybe it was "Inside Out 2", so last summer!), but last night I re-watched "The Corpse Bride" while I was having dinner, just to keep my company.

Last Song: Nazhmi Na Knopku by Chernikovskaya Hata (... my current obsession)

Currently Reading: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by Lyman Frank Baum

Currently Watching: Nothing, but sometimes I re-watch random episodes of "Breaking Bad" and "South Park".

Currently Eating: A mug of my beloved instant coffee

Currently Craving: Nothing in particular... maybe another coffee? ☕

Thank you again for the tag (💚), and I'm tagging:

@sigdom @mari--lace @nordic-italian-german

@faunabel @hondakiku @bachint

[snowflakesparklegor]

Path of Ultimate Sin Review Part Two

Part Three

The last and final part to the Path of Ultimate Sin. Personally, my favorite of the three since it ties up the remaining details well being a cinematic finish. Also, yes I did cry at some point well reading Part Three. I think Part Three evokes a heartbreaking tragedy.

When Oboro is disguised as Kurezuki Horori, I do find that aspect interesting because I think Oboro was trying to be someone else to find happiness only to fail. She eventually comes back as herself and embraces the darkness within her and is authentically herself even the worst parts of her.

As for the Beauty cohort, it is as chaotic as the others. It's fun to see their interactions. I don’t especially have an interesting opinion on any of the members other than Sekka but that is because she knew Oboro for years so compared to that I don't have much to say about the cohort members. Other than the fact that I love their designs and what I have seen of them.

Oboro's good action of defending Igruk from Anaise leads to Oboro's final downfall. There were definitely other contributing factors. But if Oboro had never killed Shigeru's grandmother I wonder what may have happened. But it is possible that Nichika would have found something else to get Oboro expelled.

Kumayuki's death, His death happened similarly like his brother. In that they both have something important to say before dying is a tragic cycle even more that Kumayuki trying to avoid the same fate as his brother lead to his death. I didn’t feel as sad about Kumayuki's death as much as Kadoyuki but but that can be because we knew Kadoyuki more so the death had more impact.

Next, Gionji's betrayal. I wanted to write how I don't think the reason behind it fits Gionji. Him having Ophidiophobia and betraying her for that reason. At least not the sole reason. I personally choose to believe that Oboro in the narrative is lying or we are given a biased view of the situation. As this is told by an unreliable narrator, this could be true.

I personally believe that Gionji betrayed Oboro because she showed him a side to herself that disgusted and made him fear for humanity. Because we have to realize this is Oboro telling her side of the story. This isn't told in Gionji's pov. It is biased and told to convince Nishiki to join her so not all of it may be true.

Personally, I believe that Gionji saw the darkness in Oboro when she killed Shigeru's grandmother because we may see the woman in a negative light due to Oboro's pov. But she isn't her husband, she may be scummy but she hasn't wronged Oboro. Oboro killed her out of vengeance because of who she is related to. This is her first act that can be defined as the one that would define her actions in the killing game going forward. To Oboro it wouldn't matter if they are directly involved if they are related to those she wants revenge on she will brutally punish them. This action solidifies and shows what Oboro is capable of. As we see in Part 4 of what she does to Seisuke and Aisa. As well as Seisuke's MoE in her actions against his family. Darkness was always in Oboro, the temptation to act upon those desires was always there. Even in parts of the story there is Oboro holding herself back in parts only for her inner darkness to strike.

Think about this in this light and think about how Gionji may see this. Not out of a hatred and phobia of snakes. But rather someone close to him he may have though of having gone through a lot has shown to be dangerous. Not out of self-defense or to help her mother and her escape of Second Savior Church. But a witness to a vengeful act. I think, Gionji's belief if you consider this is understandable in this context. Which is what I believe is the full context of why he betrayed Oboro. He chose to put her away believing it was right to save humanity and Oboro. Gionji always gave me the impression that he wanted the best in the bigger picture. To protect and do what he believed was right. Also, that Gionji may think this may help Oboro since she has shown a side to herself in that murder of Shigeru's grandmother that this rehabilitation that is said to happen may help her in some way and keep her from harming others. I know, this is defending Gionji but I believe he isn't evil like Byeongwook or good as Kadoyuki. I believe that Gionji is morally grey, a mix of the two. Which is why I view him as an interesting character under this viewpoint. I like Kadoyuki a lot since even though he's a sweet father figure, I find Gionji more interesting on how much you can possibly interrupt his actions. I am personally more interested in characters that can be interrupted as morally grey than characters that are solely good. I choose to view him under this lens but you can view him solely as Oboro contexts him or under the belief that there is more to his actions.

Also, I think Gionji would have suffered even if Oboro hadn't killed him. Because he already was punished for his actions with Hagusa's death. The cruelest thing to do to him would be to have made him live with the fact that his actions had made Hagusa take her life involuntary becoming his love's murderer. I don't know if he knew Hagusa died? I am not sure. But either way he would have suffered. So unlike Byeongwook and Takayuki I don't think his death is really karma. He already had suffered for his decision.

In the end, Oboro was consumed by her anger and need for vengeance. The reason why Gionji betrayed her or reason was gone. Since Oboro has already embraced the darkness part of her. Also, have to admit the twist about Gionji being killed and replaced was something I didn't expected.

I believe she left it out and instead pushed or maybe she chose to paint him as entirely evil or does believe his actions are solely based on his Ophidiophobia. Oboro has been burned before so naturally how she views others is going to be under a negative lens. Like how when Nichika shows sympathy she doesn't believe it is sincere. This is why as a reader I believe not all is at face value. This is how I interpreted things after thinking about Part Three for days.

You have to remember how Oboro is betrayed multiple times. Sekka's actions are morally grey in nature as well. Which is another betrayal that deeply hurts as well considering how long Oboro has known her. Also, Aethera was cooking with the dialogue and with Sekka's betrayal that was brutal and heartbreaking. Just I loved the betrayal. I would say that Sekka was one of my favorite characters of the Path of Ultimate Sin because of her being a morally grey character. She's jealous of Oboro and betrays her. Her being a garbage friend but being a deeply layered morally grey character makes her interesting. She's selfish even if she has her reasons for her actions. She does morally questionable things and is part of the catalyst for Oboro downfall. From how as a child she influenced her to their friendship over the years leading to the betrayal. Sekka puts whatever she wants and protects what she deems precious over everything else and herself as well. Since she gets what she wants being from Oboro's shadow and being important and gains money but in the end she sacrifices her friendship with Oboro. I just have to really say how impressed and amazed I was with Aethera's writing with Sekka and Mangyoku especially. Sekka became one of my favorites so I am definitely saying that is due to Aethera's contribution and how well she wrote the betrayal and Sekka's character. The dialogue between characters and the scene between Sekka and Mangyoku was intense. As well as Sekka's betrayal.

If something did bother me there were the major coincidences that happen when Oboro goes to jail.

I do have to say the fact that Norishige just happened to meet Oboro in jail and happened to have the necklace that Sekka stole from Oboro is too much of a coincidence for me personally. I know, she has the necklace and getting it back is good. I just thought the coincidence was a bit too much. I mean, for one of the people she hates so much to just happen to have something she wants and happen to be somewhere she can get at them. To get her revenge and get back what was taken from her. I know that things need to be wrapped up so it may have had to be that way to rush things along or because there had to be a way to get back the necklace. Personally, I feel like her meeting Norishige would have been good to keep and the necklace we can make assumptions on how she finds it again. That is what I think I would have preferred personally. But that is just my thoughts.

It was interesting seeing the first meeting of Oboro and Tensei. We don't learn too much about Tensei but I imagine we may later.

When it comes to Oboro, I do feel like you understand her and sympathize with her well knowing that she has done awful things. Oboro does get karma at some points, her ending in jail I believe it is karma. A lot of Oboro's actions can be seen under the mortally grey lens or understandable. But I wouldn't call all of them justified. Because when you examine each of them you see that she isn't a perfect person. She's flawed and lets her anger and desire for revenge poison her. As shown in the killing game, I think Part Three shows this transition from Oboro's descent wonderfully. Because even before the last events completely changed Oboro. As mentioned above, the darkness was always in Oboro from the start it just grew and was controlled and in the end it consumed her. She always had it from the start of Part one. Which I love how it's always there not something that was suddenly there, Oboro having always struggled against her inner demons. She always wanted to be happy but whenever she was it was taken away from her. Eventually, after enough betrayal she welcomes and embraces the inner darkness within. That is the metamorphosis of Oboro from a human into the monster that society and some people had considered her to be. This is why, like Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights. Oboro becomes ‘the monster’, the vile snake that people feared and thought she was. She loses so much one thing over another from being put in jail, Sekka and Gionji's betrayal, and the loss of her mother Hagusa.

Something else I liked was how the main cast connected to Oboro's story. Also, seeing a few characters from DAP like Joshua was nice.

I thought the Royal Court Club part was a lot of fun. It goes on for a while but I think the RCC is interesting enough that despite its focus it is a fun segment to read. Also, I love the cards that Danny made. The ones with the characters especially and the CG art in Part Three. Also, Rokunosuke who is a character from Kouji's fangan Harmonious Discord makes an appearence there isn't too much to say about the character since he doesn't get too much of a focus. But if you want to check out the prologue it is posted on Ao3. I did want to spotlight Kouji's and Aethera's contributions. Since they both worked hard on PTUS and had contributions to the MoE. They both did an incredible job with writing.

We saw more of Mangyoku and learned more about it, which was interesting. Her aura power certainly was a surprise. There was another twist with Mangyoku, and we learned about her family life. But given how there isn't much of VoV and we see Rimu in the MoE. So I don't have much to say about it.

I wanted to talk about the choice of color red used in Path of Ultimate Sin. Because the color red has a lot of meaning. Passion and love. Good fortune in east Asia. Sacrifice. Danger, anger, violence, and sin. All of this really does make red the perfect color for Oboro's backstory and also makes red Oboro's color. Because a lot of that just fits Oboro perfectly. All of Oboro's designs throughout the years use red in some way even her disguise as Horori uses a red scarf.

I should discuss my thoughts on Oboro and Steven as a couple. It wasn't too much of a focus in the MoE. But here I feel like it gets shown a little bit. There isn't too much of it. Oboro is drawn to him upon meeting him. As she sees what sort of person he is and is attracted to that. There really isn't much for me to talk about their meeting and their attraction to each other. They are a couple in that both of them are people who have sinned and work as a villain couple. There isn't too much of them together, as I mentioned, so I can’t really say much about the pairing as a whole. As there isn't really shown any development or much of them together. Given how long Part Three is, there is no possible way to go into their relationship too much. I think they are fine as a couple. I just didn't find their meeting and interaction that interesting personally. Since I felt like Oboro's platonic bonds and the toxic relationship she forced into with Takayuki were more interesting to see happen since there was much more of a dynamic feel to them and focus. For example, her relationship with Sekka, watching the friendship develop and then be destroyed by Sekka's jealousy and betrayal, was far more interesting. Oboro's relationship with her family I enjoyed more. But I think that is to be expected.

My thoughts on Path of Ultimate Sin as a whole is that I thought of it as the perfect tragedy and metamorphosis of a woman's downfall into sin. I wouldn't call it especially too dark as much as it is a tragedy. As she embraces the darkness that was always in her as every time she finds something that makes her happy it is taken from her that she gives up on conforming to society's standards and gives up on the idea that there can be good in humanity. Which leads to who she is in the killing game as the Twilight werewolf.

[alexandriaisburning]

041: What makes Zeroranger special, anyway?

CANON FIRE is made possible by the generous contributions of readers like you. Support more writing like this on Patreon. Thank you!

Developed over a decade and layered in mysteries, Zeroranger is a shooter that’s received acclaim from both STG* fanatics and first-timers for the ways it bends genres. But for all its talk about the ways it pays homage to the genre, and the insistence that it’s something special, Zeroranger almost never gets talked about in plain terms, out of fear of spoiling the surprises that await first time players. That level of caution from its fans is almost admirable, but it leaves what makes the game special undiscussed, and makes it hard for both curious players wondering what the big deal is, and leaves Zeroranger’s best ideas unappreciated. 

With that in mind I’ll be doing a deep dive into Zeroranger’s design, with no limitations on what I talk about or spoil. 

On a basic level, Zeroranger is a vertically scrolling STG that borrows ideas from a variety of genre classics, paying homage to them through bosses, stage layouts and game mechanics. After each stage you’re given a choice between one of two weapons, each which will become useful in the next stage, but in different ways, with variations between the two playable ships. After the first stage you get a choice between back and side firing weapons, the second unlocks a lock on laser or chargeable shot, and the penultimate boss fight--against Grapefruit, the ship previously thought to be destroyed during the first attack on the enemy--unlocks a mech transformation with a powerful melee weapon that stacks damage and protects you from enemy attacks. 

Each weapon allows varied interactions with the level design, covering different areas of the screen and allowing you to approach enemy patterns in a new way. Since you can’t have both weapons of each tier, you’ll have to choose which weakness you’ll accept, and pair it with other weapons that can cover that weakness. It encourages repeat playthroughs to try different strategies and learn the stage layouts, which is good, because Zeroranger will demand repetition. 

At the core of Zeroranger is the theme of karmic cycles, repackaging long standing genre concepts in a way that ties them to the ongoing narrative. Like Neverawake, Zeroranger plays with the concepts of Loops--second playthroughs that remix the original stages--but here it acts closer to something out of the Nier series. The initial playthrough is only setup, with a repeat playthrough being the de facto second act, with altered context that builds on your original understanding, followed by a third and final act that brings a proper conclusion. 

The karmic themes even affect the meta progression of Zeroranger. Score contributes towards earning the next of nine total continues, used to retry a stage from a checkpoint after death. Continues are represented by the nine orbs that fill out a wheel at the end of the run, which itself resembles the Wheel of Samsara, often used by Buddhists to describe the cycle of existence that mortal beings are subject to. 

By framing each attempt as another cycle or reincarnation, it implies that each death has in fact happened, and the only way to escape the cycle is with enough perseverance and knowledge. It blows up the scale to a cosmic degree, and makes your journey to the end of the game, and the knowledge you build of its world, into a form of mechanical and narrative progression. 

This knowledge of the world becomes integral to the second loop, which introduces major changes to the patterns and layouts of the first loop, but allows you to return with all your weapons. With these previously unavailable weapons you can easily dispatch enemies that were hard to deal with, and details that seemed mysterious on the first loop fall into place. One of my favorite examples of this are the enemies who appear in the background, before flying into the foreground to attack. On the first loop they seem like a cool, decorative detail, but on the second loop, with the lock-on laser available, suddenly they’re targets you can pick off before they get a chance to attack.

The final act begins when you meet the Grapefruit for the second time and reveal your mech form, allowing you to have a proper duel where they’ll whip out several abilities, including more powerful versions of your own weapons, revealing why they were the first choice in dealing with the enemy. 

After defeating Grapefruit you’ll once again face the final boss, but this time instead of the boss rush of the first loop, they’ll give up and offer you another power up. 

Here Zeroranger shifts into its final act, requiring you to solve a series of puzzles before gaining access to the true ending. Grabbing the powerup shows you the ���ending” and puts you into a loop where you’ll replay the first stage in Final Boss mode, leaning harder into Zeroranger’s CAVE** influences by changing out your default weapons for a Dodonpachi style barrage of bullets and bombs. Completing the stage and grabbing the powerup puts you into another brief minigame before glitching out and returning you to the title. 

To escape this you’ll need to reject that final powerup, either within the Final Boss stage or before, during the boss room where the boss rush takes place. By rejecting the offering you gain access to Despair, the real final boss hidden beneath the facility, who naturally has several phases to complete. The first phase is a puzzle itself, requiring you to carefully observe the orbs emitting the attacks, and time your own attacks to destroy them close to simultaneously, or otherwise be stuck helpless in yet another looping trap. 

Completing the first phase reveals the true form of the final boss, Despair, a suitably terrifying challenge with a massive suite of attacks whose design could inspire its own essay. Compared to the cerebral challenges preceding it, this final form is more straightforward, but learning the complexities of the patterns often felt as hard as the combined challenge of every obstacle met on the way here. 

Defeating Despair reveals the true final boss challenge--a sequence that reveals the origins of Zeroranger’s world, and connects several unresolved narrative threads. Not only must you complete it completely stripped of your previous arsenal, but you’re given a single chance to do so. 

Not quite understanding the gravity of what the game was implying there, I took on the final challenge after an exhausting struggle with Despair, desperate to finally see the ending--only to have my save deleted after I failed. 

Not only do you need to scale the mountainous challenge of defeating Despair, but you need to complete it with continues to spare, as each continue orb becomes a health point for your final confrontation. In addition, you have to quickly adapt to playing without any of the weapons you’ve built familiarity with during your playtime, and learn the new boss patterns on the fly while unraveling how exactly you can damage the boss. Practice runs are impractical, as you’ll have to complete the whole game at least once before returning, making the minimum time between attempts nearly an hour, if you’ve complete mastery of the rest of the game. 

So I cheated. I downloaded my save from the cloud, backed it up, then went back and completed it on my third try, after restoring my save twice. As I finished the final challenge, Zeroranger left me with the same message it began with:

May you attain enlightenment. 

By circumventing the challenge, by failing to persevere in the face of disaster, I’d arguably failed this goal. I’d given in to my material desires and skipped the suffering necessary to achieve the knowledge needed to break free of the cycle. Fitting then, that Zeroranger’s conclusion is one that’s hopeful, but open ended, implying that this current cycle has been broken, but the events that caused it may one day repeat themselves. 

Then Zeroranger deletes your save. 

Records carry over, and the color palette and story change to reflect your achievement, but progress unlocking stages is once again reset. You’re free of the meta trappings of the story, but are given one more reminder of how temporary progress is, and challenged one more time to complete a run to get the complete credits sequence. 

It’s a novel approach to player progression in a STG that not only reframes common genre ideas with a thematic approach, but slowly pushes players towards goals that the genre diehards naturally shoot for. By visually indicating the progress towards extra lives and continues through its score counter, it alerts players towards the importance of scoring for continued survival as well as the leaderboards, and encourages them to look for opportunities to maximize score. 

The harsh requirements to witness the ending almost guarantee that a player will be forced to start over, and unless they cheat (guilty), forces them to learn the stages and scoring systems to quickly earn back their progress. That process, and the need to hold onto as many continues as possible for the finale, pushes them closer to attempting the 1-credit clear, what most STG players consider the first major milestone in learning a game. Simply put, it’s a run where you complete all the stages in the game without using up a continue, and often denotes mastery. 

The parade of secrets and homages, alongside the narrative driven recontextualization of game mechanics and premise shifting final acts create  a novel approach for both genre veterans and newcomers, upending expectations with each new twist. Zeroranger’s revelations mark it as equal parts mystery and action game, and asks you to dig deeper, coming to an appreciation of its layered design in the process. 

Personally, as much as I respect the final act’s commitment to delivering on Zeroranger’s themes of struggle, persistence and reincarnation, the harsh penalty of deleting your save was demotivating to a degree that I didn’t feel was worth the tension it imparted. I can only imagine how a less experienced player might feel, struggling for hours to reach that point, and possibly being unsure if they could reach it again. Zeroranger’s patterns and stage design are often less demanding than most of its contemporaries, but they come with harsher penalties for failure. 

Even given that, it’s not hard to see why Zeroranger captured the imagination of so many. Designed intentionally to be approachable, with enough mystery to satisfy the lore hungry theorycrafters, Zeroranger provides many entry points. Paired with its striking two color palette and memorable soundtrack, it paints the picture of a greater world beyond its borders. The drawn out finale demands you engage Zeroranger with your entire attention, and its dramatic set pieces and score bring an emotional climax that the more traditional arcade style titles often can’t spend the runtime on. 

Even after the credits roll, Zeroranger leaves plenty to discover, both within its boundaries and outside. Its themes of karmic cycles and open-ended conclusion invite you to explore it further, and its homages and secrets point to other games and worlds whose influence helped bring it to life. It’s an introduction to the mindset of a genre fanatic, an homage for all those who’ve already journeyed through the genre to arrive here, and an invitation for those who haven’t to share in that same passion. 

--- Zeroranger is availble on PC. Homebrew ports are availble for the Switch and Linux based handhelds via Portmaster.

--- *STG: ShooTing Game, aka SHMUP or Shoot-Em-Up. A community term for the genre of arcade style shooters used to differentiate them from the more common first and third person shooters.

**CAVE: Developer of several major entries in the genre, and credited with popularizing the danmaku (bullet curtain) or bullet hell sub-genre. Their games are often marked by complex enemy bullet patterns, with a powerful player arsenal that can hit many parts of the screen at the same time.

[margridarnauds]

What's your opinion on Mad Sweeney in American Gods TV series?

He seems like a good starting point to many things about Irish mythology and history and its perception and I'd love to know your opinion, if you're willing to share.

Oh, god, so this is going to be complicated (I'm having another rough evening, so I'm finally getting to the backlog.)

First off, let me be honest about this: My standards for medieval Irish lit adaptations are high. Potentially too high. I try to acknowledge what any adaptation is trying to do, whether the execution lives up to the intent, what I think they do that's innovative, and what they do that isn't, but the truth is that I have very, very high standards for this. Especially for Lugh and CMT, because even though Bres is my baby, Lugh is too. I make fun of him, but he's almost as much a part of me at this point as Bres is. I've had over a decade to form a close attachment to him and think about what I'd like to do with him. This is important because...I distinctly remember being a teenager on here, seeing a bunch of adult academics on here act like they were the supreme authorities and objectively right on how to adapt these things, and getting very intimidated about...doing anything with these things. (Also see: The reason why I stopped interacting with Arthuriana and Greek Mythology after I was, like, 20 -- it got very exhausting to make sure that all your headcanons followed other people's headcanons.) And I don't want to do that. I am going to try very hard to not repeat the sins of the past.

Let me be honest with a second thing: In my opinion, it is nigh impossible to adapt medieval Irish lit. Or, rather, to adapt it in a way that's both relatively accurate to the cultural nuances while also being satisfying. Any of the Mythological Cycle, Ulster Cycle, or Fenian Cycle, because there's a whole cultural context to these things that isn't always immediately obvious, and unless you have an intricate understanding of it, you're going to fail. And I'm not just saying it as an elitist academic: I'm saying it as someone who once SWORE I was going to create the Most Accurate Irish Mythology Adaptation...and then ended up getting three degrees and working on a fourth in order to achieve it, STILL not feeling like I can do the source material justice. Medieval Irish texts aren't long, but they are DENSE, and it's very easy to end up tangled in them if you aren't careful. Rick Riordan did an online MA in Celtic Civilisation at UCC and spent time in the Gaeltacht learning the Irish language, got accepted into a PhD program at Harvard before he had to pull out. Like...that's what this material demands. Not requests, demands. All this to say...I wouldn't say it's a value judgement, on a whole, if a given adaptation stumbles.

So, onto the actual question:

Here are the cons, as I'm rewatching his flashback scene. On the record: I don't like it.

Let's go into why I don't like it, so we can see whether this is me being Me or not. First of all: Sweeney/Lugh blames " Mother Church" for turning them into "fairies and saints and dead kings" -- this is a popular misconception, especially if you run around in pagan circles, and it enjoyed a level of popularity in the field itself up until the 1980s. That being said, current research in the field generally focuses on reminding people that literally *all the material we have about the Tuatha Dé from medieval Ireland was written by Christians*. Christians who CARED about reconciling their own traditions with the doctrine that they loved dearly. In other words...Mother Church saved Lugh's ass. Also, the idea that Leprechauns are descended from Lugh, which...no one seriously believes in the field and is kind of embarrassing in there considering how widely debunked it is.

As a side note, it's understandable why they use the modern Irish pronunciation for both "Lugh" and "Tuatha Dé Danann" (never a term I use, btw), but it throws me off.

Then, the voiceover from Thoth.

"You were the god of the sun, of luck, of craft, art, of everything valuable to civilization. 'The Shining One', they called you. You saved your people from their old enemy, the Fomorians. 'Lamfhada' they called you, 'long hand', for your skill with your spear...but the Tuatha Dé Danann were scientists and artists. The Fomorians were madmen. Monstrous beings that came from under the sea, under the ground, under the surface of things. Nightmares. The madness. It came from him. Your father's father. One eyed Balor of the Fomorians...He tried to kill you. He heard prophecy that his grandson would kill him so he rounded up all his grandchildren and drowned them all in the lake but, you survived, like you always do."

Overall...I don't love it. It's a very generic look at Lugh and a very generic look at the Fomoiri, which really focuses on the idea of the Fomoiri as an Evil Race, while the Tuatha Dé are the Ideal Logical Aryans, with the Fomoiri being the one to "infect" the Tuatha Dé with their evil, evil genes which cause everything wrong. It ignores the nuances that actually exist in CMT (Tethra isn't Indech isn't Balor isn't Bres). The reference to Balor killing his grandchildren is in the later folk tradition, not from the medieval text. Most importantly, the notion of Lugh as a "sun god" is something that's not GENERALLY believed, or at least not something that's taken for granted as true anymore. In general, if I was to assign Lugh to a FUNCTION, and this is something that I feel like is a CRUCIAL thing to miss, is that Lugh Is Social Order. He is the barometer that you can use to judge how a given writer views Irish society. He is a savior, he's pragmatic, he's ruthless. He's striking, like a cut diamond that, every single time you look at him, you see a new facet of him, catching the light just so.

All that aside, the flashback is really unfortunately racially coded in a way I really don't like.

The Fomoiri being depicted as dark to the Tuatha Dé being fair skinned is one of my LEAST favorite adaptation decisions, and it's one I see unfortunately frequently. (The one detailed description we get of a Fomorian, in CMT? IS BLOND. AND HOT.) While Lugh is depicted as a stereotypical Celtic warrior, with the red hair (which...there is no depiction of the TDD that is WRONG, but redhaired Lugh bores me), torque and the woad body paint (which is NOT something that we have any record of the Irish doing.) There are some later descriptions of the Fomoiri coming from Africa, but...if we DO make that decision? WHY IS LUGH WHITE? (Also it annoys me that Balor is described as "Lugh's father's father" -- like, it's a petty complaint, but it's erasing Lugh's mother and his heritage from her, especially when the battlefield is all men in the flashback. It's a very macho version of CMT that I don't like and, again, misses that Lugh isn't (just) a Macho Warrior -- he's also society. That includes the part of society that includes women.) (Lugh is not a misogynist...even though he has a bad history with his wives cheating on him...he IS a classist. He hates all poor people equally.)

Anyway:

Here are the pros:

So, I've just said that this depiction was simplistic, racist, and not particularly accurate to the spirit of Lugh from the medieval texts, even if it technically gets the overall details (Lugh Defends TDD From Grandfather) right. What DO I like about it?

...I do like that it actually sheds a spotlight on Lugh. I like seeing my funny little guy around. And, really...as picky as I am...I HAVE to be grateful for what we get, because that IS the state the field's in, even as I resent that we can't ASK for more. Lugh has never become RIDICULOUSLY popular in Ireland, or anywhere else in the world, with the Nationalist movement skipping over him almost entirely, in contrast to figures like Cú Chulainn and Fionn who are recognizable. I think it's good to get people interested in this sort of thing, though I think the issue is that it doesn't really encourage people to do more, since it's...the same old misconceptions as always, the same things I was reading fifteen years ago, the same simplistic binaries, in an era where we have a lot more material that IS publicly available and, frankly, they had the budget to consult an actual Celticist. It feels like, for a series that, overall, was praised for going beyond the stereotypes of these mythical figures, it's kind of a letdown. I think they could have definitely done better tbh.

[pentition]

To be on the safe side... Spoilers:

I feel like the antagonists of this game were always clear to me (personally) just due to the lack of content given to them. Yeah, it was enough for players to determine whether or not they liked a character but in terms of missions and interactions I feel like there's a bare minimum. And because of that, it made it more obvious to me who the antagonists were set up to be.

Mayor Gale in Portia had some neat missions and interactions that made things more personal during your character's residency there. Mayor Trudy doesn't arrive in Sandrock until later, and while I can only recount one side mission I do also recount little interactions and commentary she made. Whereas with Minister Matilda, she only existed in the context of the main story missions for the most part. There was a detachment to become personal which contrasted her friendly demeanor.

I feel like with Matilda, it's a little easier to overlook her compared to the others initially. Minister of the Church means the way she carries herself is kind of to be expected. Especially for those who played Portia and when put beside Miguel - this reserved, friendly enough but still an authority figure demeanor is a given. It always felt strange to me that there wasn't much personalizing going on but it wasn't until Trudy returned to head Sandrock that the vibe I was getting became clearer. The way Matilda behaves towards Trudy is very condescending. Often being friendly and using a friendly voice even when her words aren't matching up. Or even her actions (being the face of Sandrock instead of Trudy).

We see more of a tonal shift of Matilda keeping her control over Sandrock and its citizens. Don't get me wrong, I understand why it can look like it's just people having connected to Matilda in Trudy's absence. They got used to the firm but kind all the same hand. And the mayor, by comparison, is so much gentler and less assertive to regain people's attention immediately.

With Miguel and Pen I just had red flags because people generated a decent amount of interest in them both I feel like, yet each update wasn't really adding much to them. They may not have been as popular as some other candidates, but even before Logan was announced they were still pulling at a decent level for interest from the players. And seeing that we got nothing time and time again it made me think of Portia once more - with Aadit.

Sandrock did a better job integrating these characters into the town, whereas with Aadit he kind of fell into the background and then faded out of even that. Which, for his character, made sense but from a gameplay perspective was a mistake I think. Unfortunately, the feeling betrayed by Miguel and especially Pen for me doesn't really stem too much from their actions. I more feel betrayed Pathea didn't commit more attention to them. If you want that betrayal, more missions and interactions should have been there. More diving into the characters. Hell, even more possible outcomes for them.

They do well in some instances, like with Unsuur, and his crush on the builder. How that comes up in interactions before you accept or reject his interest. Things woven in so nicely to determine the flow of a relationship and what it will be.

It feels like with Miguel, it's especially a missed opportunity. There's a lot in that fella that could be shared or conveyed in interesting ways. Mind you, I did a full restart of my game after the full release so I'm only going off tidbits of info I've seen cropping up on him post the Sandrock takeover. But even before then, in the lead up or during his imprisonment and realization of his actual role for Duvos, I feel like there's a loss of character development. Or... an expansion on what's already there so we can understand him more and see him in a more honest light.

With Pen I feel like there was potential whether he turned out to be good (what a twist!) but even also if he (likely) was going to be one of the bad guys. It makes sense for Miguel's perspective to view what they are doing as protecting Sandrock. He believes they are choosing a lesser evil, to some extent. But for Pen, it's interesting, he's the Protector of Sandrock but is also a man who loves violence. It feels like a missed opportunity to not have had him playing that up in missions or in the background more. And in doing so, earned more trust. Whereas him appearing as all talk makes him more suspicious. It calls into question his competence and morality early on. It's not like Pen hides when he doesn't given a shit about something but the comedic poor excuses or blatant disregard makes him look incompetent in the story. Whereas, if you hangout with him and take him on a stroll outside of town, you'll see how quickly he executes monsters. So we know he's not lacking in competence then when it comes to battle, so then it just instills it's a morality thing that he isn't rushing to play hero.

Which, to an extent, is definitely believable. Maybe if he was in the background trying to intercept Logan and we got more insight to that it would make more sense. As it stands, he really is just a lazy cat that gets up only when he wants to. For someone so violent and an outright bully, he doesn't actually do much beyond verbal stuff.

Pen also makes it apparent he isn't one to be ordered around. He humors Miguel and seems to only listen to Matilda on the more serious missions. But even that could be liable to change if he felt like it, I think. It makes me wonder if his loyalty to Duvos is because he can get the most fighting done via being on their side. Or, if the rumors are true and he was an experiment, if his loyalty stems from a soldier mentality. But that has me calling into question how loyal he'll be in the long run when he's so self-centered. Unless Duvos is providing his bloodthirst and other needs well, I could see him not having a reason to leave.

...Except, it would be nice to have that option, wouldn't it? I feel like Sandrock provided the perfect opportunity for it. If not in the main story of the game, then a possible DLC would be interesting. Let him have gained friendship and shoved it aside for loyalty to Duvos. Let him have played it off as no big deal to him when really, in the silence alone and imprisoned, he begins to feel the weight of it.

For the main game story, I could see him sticking to Duvos through the town takeover and even in his boss fight. If we're talking Pathea silliness, what if the mirror jogged his memory on how the builder made him that mirror and then helped free him from it? And how Burgess helped, too and then his epiphany to be kinder to him that he poorly fulfilled. Memories and emotions can work like a chain reaction, especially when instilled into a person who clearly hasn't known genuine friendship. He could have came around in the Matilda fight and space punched her up there, a prime opportunity. Then been taken in for questioning.

We have the builder put into the positioning of giving character statements to others in the game. Maybe the option to have Pen serve his sentence in Sandrock and actually get hands on in making it better after what he did would have been fitting? Portia allowed Tody to stay despite his actions - which, sure, are lesser than a Duvos invasion but were also still very damning.

If we're talking DLC potentials, why not have Pen break out and escape into the desert. Word comes back to Sandrock and the builder is the one to find him.

There is a lot of potential with integrating Miguel and Pen into Sandrock more without it changing Pathea's formula of storytelling and how they do missions and interactions. Also I'd potentially add Matilda to this but she's coasting in space last I recall, lmao. But her backstory interests me enough to want to have a dialogue about it in game.

Anyways, there are so many tidbits in the game that could really pave the way for such developments. I hope maybe future DLC will expand on them because I just like the idea of Miguel having a redemption arc and learning beyond his beliefs. Pen becoming compromised because he's in an environment that isn't Duvos and it's healthier for him. And Matilda, we'll see. Still collecting my thoughts with her.

At the end of the day this is just be airing out thoughts into the void but if you made it this far. Hi!

[infernaltenor]

maybe im just a super salty person bc its 5am and im Still not sleepingn and Still thinking about it but i cant help but feel that qtubbo fans are some of the most hypocritial people ive ever seen. this is like. full of generalizations and just observations ive made as a crow and im. typically defensive and salty so im gonna try to be objective but at the very least im not trying to neg on the characters or the ccs, since im directing this towards the fans. its also like a solid two months of build up .so. oops?

but uh. how to start explaining this. well for one im taking this as a recent fan who is a phil watcher pretty much only. but i tend to chronically read posts about other characters since when im into things i like to be informed on all cases (idk constant instinct i have lol). like i said im gonna focus on qtubbo here, if i go into qphil stuff its purely as a comparison point. i cant speak much on interactions with other fanbases since i simply am Not informed enough but yknow.

for one, i think both tubbo and phil ahve similar things when remembering lore that is Not their own. not a neg on either one, since i dont expect them to remember it, but both have forgotten major stuff recently, ie. fred's kidnapping (phil) and the birdhouse (tubbo). both things happened before purgatoryand the subsequent forgetting happened after so even in character it makes sense (they had more to worry about), but i also think reactions in character tends to fuck with audience perception. ie, tubbos very visceral reaction to the ill timed fred joke phil had made (and it was ill timed, and thats all that i feel was criminal about it. tubbo and phils friendship is very much based on banter and friendly barbs, lots of teasing from either side. phil simply shot back on a smilar level as tubbo had originally, making his joke about "phil and who?". other people have spoken on that so im not gonna rehash about whos comment was worse, since imo they were both just shy of being insensitive, had tubbo not been dealing with freds presumed death at the time. im not gonna talk about the funeral, becasue if i do i'll get mad.). likewise, when tubbo forgot birdhouse phils reaction was much less outwards. he just said a birdhouse wouldnt be slaying- given the imprisionment he had, it makes sense that phil would associate it negatively, especially since it catalzyed all of his future derealization episodes. both of these are simply ooc things imo, from their original standpoint. i dont think either is in the wrong for forgetting. but what annoys me is the fandom perception.

this is a problem im going to link back heavily to purgatory. im not sure if it was present beforehand, as i only really got into qsmp the last two-three weeks in october (bad timing) and had only really been watching vods in order to catch up. that being said, i think the bolas and soulfire rivalry had widened the gap between the fans, which in turn affects negative perception. later weeks in november had full bad faith interpretations of phil because he was critical of tubbos choices or simply didnt understand sunnys character perfectly. and there were. a lot of those. purgatory had happened just a few weeks prior, so i liken it to that. maybe it is just my expierence, but the phrasing of a lot of character crit and analysis between the two has wildly different interpretations of a character (to wildly different results)

you can get qphil fans explaining against a bad faith interpretaiton, and people will (and have) called them excuses to defend against character analysis. i have noticed, however, when qtubbo fans do the same thing (and they have) it seems to be more of a matter of adding context to the conversation. thats.... exactly what qphil fans are doing however? when talking critically about qtubbo not communicating with other parents and friends both his and sunny insecurities, its all that hes younger and in a bad mental state. but you have something about phil not understanding sunnys character perfectly, and hes a cruel stepmother and such; and when an explanation is added to why hes not a bad father nor a good father, just an imperfect one trying his best, its simply a "mindless defense against a crit of his character". are these not the same things? providing context to a percieved bad faith interpretation? idk. i cant tell if its the age or the percieved roles theyre supposed to take, but why is tubbo allowed to be imperfect and doused in outward angst, especially when interacting with other characters (ramon had to take the initiative to communicate with tubbo. and yet. age age age.) phils just as complex and imperfect and unwell. all of qsmp is unwell. it is an explanation, not an excuse.

anyway. i think i was thinking about this because of the flightless bird/ostrich dna joke. ill timed, just like the fred one. but phils reaction speaks volumes doesnt it? if its an age one maybe he'll overdramaticize, but he laughs it off mostly. theres a lot he laughs off. he doesnt. "if your kid wasnt here id kill you". tubbo doesnt know about phils failed flight. he probably wont for a while (i cant help but think qphil is embarassed. he was knocked unconcious from hitting the water too hard. and he knows how to fly? fuck, man). i think its wild, however, that one fred joke gets the entire fanbase ready to deface and mischaracterize the whole character. but one wing joke gets maybe shocked laughter and about two posts complaining? idk. maybe im just complaining about nothing, im tired as fuck.

tldr is that tubbo fans are so wildly hypocritical that they cant see when theyre doing the same thing as everyone else. im sure im being hypocritical in this post, its human. but its annoying as fuck when its everywhere, and i think purgatory made it worse.

[thetangycheesemanwithaplan]

Eddie Diaz (+ Family) speculation

Highlighted is the main points and then i go into more thoughts on each

•One of Eddie's sisters has moved to LA(Maybe even both)

-Eddie said at the beginning of EP 6, that he dropped Christopher off at his cousins. I know this could mean one of Eddie's cousins (which would be second cousins to Chris) But we've never heard of any of Eddie's cousins living in LA. We only know of Tia Pepá currently living there. And although this could still be Tia's children/Eddies cousin's, I find it odd that they're only coming up now. All the years of child care support Eddie has needed ? It would have come up sooner

-We've been told we will meet his sister(s?) and I don't think it's going to be just a passing moment (like his probation ceremony where they were just seen)

-I feel like they're laying some ground work for more Diaz Family stuff and this could play into that. I feel like his sisters will be key to parts of his story line (more on this below)

•Abuela has also moved back to LA

-Look is this partially cause I want more Abuela? Yes . Do I want a spin of show with Tia Pepá and Abuela being gossiping shenanigan queens? Absolutely! But Abuela was at the wedding. No context was given to this she was there, I don't think she's flying in just to be a guest in the wedding and if she had flown in with the rest of Eddie's family it would have been mentioned? (If the whole family was in town Eddie would have maybe said I've dropped him off with my family not at his cousins- it sounded like a more permanent situation with his cousin not a visiting situation)

-She lived in LA prior and moved back to Texas cause of COVID and I can bet your ass she wants to come back (get away from Helena and Ramon) I also see that being a problem to Eddie's parents and they would have brought it up as a concern for her well-being but if Eddie's sister has moved also, you know Abuela is arguing a case to move cause there's even more family to keep an eye on her etc (she packed her bags and went fuck this, I'm out)

-This plays into the groundwork for Diaz Family stuff

•Shannon is back

-We know this based on the photo we've seen and it's going to be interesting to see

-We can almost rule out the reason Eddie sees her as anything medical as they've just been through that with Chim. And I reckon it'll be in ghost form (hence the title) but my question is will it be like the Shannon&Chris scene where she's there but not seen or is it something Eddie sees

-I think there will be an interaction of some sort between them, maybe not directly but there will be an Eddie x Shannon conversation going on. Eddie has just finally been made aware/acknowledged of all his repressed catholic guilt (RCG) and a lot of that is going to tie into his relationship with Shannon and the reasons behind it. His unresolved feelings that he is dealing with have come up now because of this RCG. He may have thought he'd made peace with it but now he's dealing with this its probably brining up a lot for him. He either imagines a what if scenario and we see Shannon if she had lived and they have a conversation or its a ghost version who appears to him when he's thinking about it all

-I like the idea of a ghost version that Eddie interacts with because he's now questioning his entire belief system (RCG) and what better to challenge that system then a mf ghost (Eddie doesnt belive in that kind of stuff. Talking to a grave and them watching over-yes. Shannon the friendly ghost not so much)

•Eddie will reach out to Abuela (and his sister) to talk about the Shannon of it all

-After Eddie see's Shannon, he's got even more on his mind. He goes to Abuela's. His sister also happens to be there (You see al these theories coming together now). He talks about what he's going through and his sister and abuela talk him through some of it. His Abuela offering the supportive parental side that he doesnt always get from his parents and his sister offering an understanding thats on the same level because she was raised the same way, she understands his upbringing better than anyone. And yes there are differences , Eddie was told to be the man and step up,but she was there, she lived through it with him

-Eddie has done so well with therapy that i feel he would want to talk about it but not with his parents so Abuela seems the most likely. I feel like he would want to get an understanding of it before he even dared to confront his parents. This RCG will be an ongoing thing but i think Eddie starts to take steps to figure it out.

•Diaz Family Drama(The Will)

-His parents will be in town for something (maybe an award ceremony/presentation of sorts) and although i don't think Eddie's going to come out and say RCG to them, i feel like some comments will be made towards his parents.

-I believe these comments will be about The Will. It'll come out that Buck becomes Chris' legal guardian if anything were to happen to him and this causes outrage and Eddie explains that he wants Chris raised a certain way and Buck understands this(aka not the way Eddie was raised-RCG). Also that Buck is the closest thing to another parent Chris has and therefore it makes the most sense as a person in Chris's life.

-Bonus of if this is when Chris also finds out and despite Helena and Ramon's protests Chris just says 'Buck is like a dad to me'

Shoutout to @whollyjoly and @buck-up-buck as always for listening to me ramble about this like last week! I'm only now putting it in writing

[amethystoceandespiser]

disapointment with izuku and katsuki's arc

taking in count how, even though we are told we are seeing or reading izuku's story, Bakugou ends up hijacking the narrative to make himself look good in comparison to Izuku. which is infuriating since both of them have concepts on their backstory that could make the story better. their dynamic since coming to U.A. didn't change from when they were in middle school and the narrative still tries to gaslight us that their interactions are signs of "friendship" when in reality is, has, and will be stocholm syndrome, since bakugou even when we are TOLD he changed, still demeans, insults, and has a lack of respect for Izuku as a human being that i worry for what kind of fuckery horikoshi went through in terms of relationships. the only way that the arc could have a vestige of quality would be if Izuku at the very least expresed that he resents Bakuhoe for his abuse, but hori turned his own MC into an enabler for his behaviour by trying to tell us supposedly why Izuku thinks Bakugou would be a good hero.

i mean, "bakugou's determination, "charisma", and quirk control make him hero material", no Izuku, you're listing the things you envy of him, not his "heroics qualities"

bakugou's apology? it didn't move me even a little bit, the timing for it was when Izuku was at his weakest and couldn't think straight to comprehend what the hell bakugou wanted to say, and it seems to only be there so that Izuku is shocked enough to let the last remains of adrenaline he has, fade away to pass out. the apology in and on itself was straight out excuses, excuses and more excuses that we are TOLD are what Bakugou tought about izuku, even when after hundreds of chapters of the manga we got jack shit of evidence to prove these claims.

the second fight they had? pure fan service for bakugou stans telling us that "he changed". yeah, he did, but not the ACTUAL issue that he has as a character. him calling himself weak after defeating Izuku actually defeats this claim of being weak making it worth less than shit. this could have been more gut wrenching and understandable (as awfully unnecesary as it is) if he lost to Izuku, that wasn't into the fight at all, it could have shown us izuku's strength, it could've been humiliating for katsuki, but at least this claim admitence of vulnerability could have been EARNED.

his kidnapping by the league of villains? it was only used as a plot device to tell us that bakugou wants to be the best like All might, instead of making him reflect that the villains not only choosed him for his power, he was chosen for his demeanor, behaviour, and personality being more benefitial as a villain than as a hero. he never reflects that they chose him because he's an straight out horrible person.

and one of the worst travesties of the narrative. ¿the final exams? ¿that pair up Bakugou and Izuku together because of their "rivalry"? i don't know what the hell aizawa smoked, but i need some of it to relax after having to deal with his BS reasoning.

i have two mayor problems with this particular issue:

by the context we are given by the teacher (what we are told), they are tested together because their rivalry could be dangerous if its left unatended like it was currently seen (something that should be aizawa's responsability to deal with). the problem rises when we take in count their behaviours (what we are shown) in which someone could see that the agression is completely one-sided from bakugou's side. meaning that if they're tested together, the over-all weight of the failure or success of the team is solely on Bakugou, since Izuku has no problem working with anyone since he can sinergize quite well with his skill set in analisys. this test is unfair for izuku since they are putting part of the blame of bakugou's shittiness on izuku, and these exams should show what they learned or how they react in situations outside their confort zones. my point is that it doesn't showcase anything that we haven't seen izuku acomplishing before, this test only favors bakugou.

another pair that was mismatched on this exam was shoto and momo against aizawa, since shoto's problem, while technically is an overeliance on his quirk, he's been using only half the incomplete version of it for a long time, meaning that pairing him up with aizawa is logically speaking, more counterproducent than needed

the way it should have been is: izuku and momo vs aizawa; shoto and katsuki vs All might.

for the former, izuku and momo share a similar trait at this time in canon that is self doubt of their own worth and capabilities, and with aizawa as an opponent, Izuku is reminded of his past as a quirkless individual, and can try to work around with momo about their issues regarding their positons in the hero course and how they use their quirks. izuku could acomplish passing the exam without using and start to heal from the malicious programing that make him believe his past as a quirkless has no value and can work on raising momo's self-steem and make them grow closer as friends. (also i think this is the perfect place for some Izumomo interactions)

for the latter, katsuki and shoto had the same problem that is pride on their quirks, and it has the upside of getting Katsuki the hell away from izuku's story, shoto wouldn't have the same patience izuku have towards bakugou's bullshit, and the possibility of them failing the exam despite being considered the strongest of class 1-a could be one of the biggest humble pies bakugou could recieve.

izuku and bakugou's arcs could work... as long as Izuku and him are separated. if the fics of Demonic Quirks for Dummies taughth me anything is, that with people that izuku could be open about his past as a bullyng and discrimination victim, and with a large distance away from katsuki, he can start to heal and start to see that his life has value and matters for the people that love him, not for having power, but because he is someone that affects those around him, making them wanting to be better versions of themselves, and that are willing to give the favour back. and actually having Katsuki reflect that he is a horrible person, while been humiliated for his shitty behaviour, makes their growth more palatable to enjoy.