#I do understand why people like her so much. charming and a great personality isn't she

[shiraishi--kanade]

I find it hilarious how kwko Karin constitutes 90% of all the kwko fanart there is. Marvelous. Keep going

I concur I find it hilarious as well. It's not me honestly I don't think I do anything that special for her to get all that attention, she just... Did that. Completely ran away with the show. Love people for it

[ambrosiagourmet]

I've been thinking about Laios' succubus lately. Mulling it over a bit.

Because I've seen these pages brought up a fair bit, but almost entirely in the context of shipping (on all sides, really). And I really want to understand what they are doing for the story beyond that.

When I went back to reread the scene and section, a few things caught my interest: the way Laios responds to both forms of his succubus, the themes of the volume the chapter is found in, and the other events of the chapter itself.

So let's dive into those three things, and what I think they say about the succubus scene's purpose.

Laios is never fully frozen by the succubus

So. If you compare Marcille and Chilchuck's reactions...

to Laios':

-

There is a difference. Sure, the basics may look the same once it turns into Scylla Marcille, but even then, it functions differently.

Chilchuck and Marcille are completely frozen once they catch sight of their succubus. Izutsumi, as well, isn't able to look away, and completely freezes up once her 'mom' starts talking to her. As Chilchuck describes, "just looking at them makes you unable to move."

And yet, Scylla Marcille has to actively convince Laios to comply. He even looks away from her at one point!

Laios accepts this succubus, but he is never actually helpless to it in the same way. Taken in? Convinced? Sure, at least enough to let things happen that he probably should question more than he does. But magically compelled? Not really. Not the same way as everyone else is. So that's interesting. But let's move on for now.

2. Volume 9 is all about drive and desire

I don't often look at chapters within the context of the volume they are included in, but I think there's some really fun things to be found with that perspective in mind.

For one, volume 9 starts with an exploration of what desire brought Laios to the dungeon:

And ends with a question of what desire brought Laios to the dungeon:

It's also very concerned in general with questions of why people do what they do. Why they are in the dungeon, why they are with the people they are with, why they stay, what they fight for.

In addition to Laios, we see it with Marcille...

Izutsumi

Kabru

and Mithrun

Hell, we even get it for the demon!

It's certainly not the only volume concerned with desires and motives, but it is particularly focused on these ideas.

The succubus scene fits quite well into the ongoing question about desires, especially Laios' desires. It is even placed at an interesting spot within the volume. The volume is six chapters long, and the scene takes place at the start of the 4th chapter. It's almost smack-dab in the middle.

With all this in mind, it is interesting that, with both versions of the succubus Marcille, it's not totally clear which parts of her Laios is rejecting.

The first version of Marcille looks human, but Laios attacks when he identifies her as a monster. The second Marcille looks like a monster, but he seems to believe that she is the real (human)(ish) person that he knows. So is he rejecting the monster at first, and then accepting the person? Or is he rejecting humanity and only interested in the monstrous?

Something to consider as we look at the next point...

3. the rest of the chapter is a seduction, too

This is one of those things that might not be apparent on a first reading, but is crystal clear on a revisit. We see the succubus try and charm Laios over 7 pages, and then see the Winged Lion do the same thing for the next 19.

Much like the succubus, it offers the mingling of monsters and humans. Much like the succubus, it offers belonging.

(and this is the point where I absolutely must also link this post by fumifooms on the succubus, which has some great ideas on how the scene is informed by Laios' trauma and desire for acceptance!!!)

But, back to the point. The Winged Lion wants to feed on Laios just as much as the succubus did, and it uses similar strategies to try and make that happen. Though this chapter isn't really the turning point for the next Lord of the Dungeon (it is Marcille who will, eventually, become the Lion's next victim), it certainly behaves like it is.

Laios is convinced. The succubus gets its meal. By the end of the volume, the reader begins to understand how concerning his desires are. Together, it is all very good at building up that sense of dread and pending disaster, as we see exactly how and why Laios might just fall into the Lion's open arms and bring about the end of the world.

-

So that's the three things I noticed. But there's still something I want to touch on by looking at the way these observations overlap, and what they reveal, together.

As I said, by the end of the volume, you can feel the tension growing. Just as Kabru and Mithrun do, you look back for an answer to the questions that have been built, chapter by chapter: why is Laios here? Where will his loyalties fall? This chapter, and scene, seem to prove the inevitable truth: he will choose the monster, of course. He will choose the seductive, easy power of the Winged Lion.

But the details of what actually happens tell different story: one in which the Lion is wrong.

First, as a reminder - even in Scylla Marcille mode, the succubus never fully entrances Laios. It convinces him, but it doesn't have him completely under its thrall.

Similarly, in the dream, the Lion does convince Laios to embrace the world he is offering. But even within that dream, Laios continues to ask questions that will be vital to him later. It is because of those questions that Laios comes to a new understanding about Thistle.

And it's this realization that he cites later as part of his reason for refusing the Lion's offer.

He is thinking through things the entire time, just like he continues to question the succubus even after it turns into Scylla Marcille.

Laios also expresses an interesting reason for why he wants to see the future of this world. He's not just invested because it would mean people liking what he likes, or him getting to spend time with monsters. The thought that comes immediately before his acceptance is about what he wants for monsters and people.

I don't think it's a coincidence that this statement - "we're living beings that share the same world, but all we can do is keep killing each other" - can apply to the various humans races just as much as it does to humans and monsters. The thing he is thinking about here isn't just a matter of his personal daydreams. It's an idea that underpins every conflict in the story.

Laios caring about how people as well as monsters in this manner is something that the Lion gets wrong every time. Even at the end, he still frames Laios' desires entirely around hating people and loving monsters.

The Lion has heard him express an opinion about the future of the world! It happened right there in the dream, right in front of him! He just didn't take it seriously, and didn't view it through any lens other than "Laios likes monsters more".

He's convinced that he understands how to get to Laios. Maybe the Lion can't truly see everything, or maybe his vision into everyone's deepest desires has made it hard for him to realize how much choice still matters. That people can, and do, choose which desires to act on, and how to act on them.

Whatever the case, he's wrong about Laios, and the story shows us this over and over again.

After all, look at how the succubus interaction plays out:

A monster uses Marcille to appeal to Laios...

He realizes that something about the situation is wrong, and rejects her.

It changes strategies, and makes new offer: to turn him into a monster.

It also assures him that his friends are, or will be, taken care of.

He accepts. Or rather, allows the monster to have its way with him.

But Laios is not as helpless as he initially appears, and what the Lion thinks is a successful seduction also contains the seed of an idea that will allow Laios to later resist him.

We even get to see Izutsumi playing a similar role in both instances, as the one person fully able to take action in the face to the illusion.

The story lays out what is going happen, and then explicitly tells us that the demon and the succubus are thematically related.

The chapter performs a great sleight of hand here - everything about it seems to indicate that Laios is doomed give in to the option to have his deepest desires realized. But if you look closer, it also contains the evidence that he won't. There's a lot more going on for him.

Yes, he still falls for obvious tricks. He is still extremely into monsters, and he still doesn't feel like he fits in with other people. He may, deep down, crave to surrender to the monstrous - to let it absorb him. But he questions more than he seems to. He considers more than people realize. He cares so much more than anyone gives him credit for.

And I think this is part of why we see the succubus called back to so many times, especially with the wolf head addition to his Monster Form, which he specifically added due to his encounter with the Scylla Marcille.

This all stays with Laios. It doesn't just foreshadow the path of the story, it is fundamental to how and why he walks that path. It's not about him choosing monsters, and it's not about him choosing people. It's about how he considers both, and cares about both.

And it's about the forces that think they already know his answer. Mithrun and Kabru. The Winged Lion. The succubus.

It's about how they are wrong.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Considering the canon kwami’s personalities, the way the full ML story ended up panning out, and the following proposed powers, do you think that having Tikki and Xuppu as Order and Chaos for the yin-yang duo assigned to Marinette and Adrien respectively would’ve been better than having the canon setup of Tikki and Plagg as Creation and Destruction? Why or why not?

I like the Order and Chaos idea! Chaos would be a much better fit for Xuppu's ability and Tikki's personality feels like it could fit Order possibly even more than it fits Creation. I also like how this maintains the contrasting personalities for the Kwamis as I think that's a key element of Plagg and Tikki's dynamic so you'd want something similar if you replaced Plagg.

However, I don't think that Order is a great fit for Marinette because, mask or no mask, her power is creativity. Creation isn't exactly a synonym for Order. They're two very different things. Creation can be - and often is - chaotic! This would mean that Tikki's power set would need to be reworked as Lucky Charm would feel even more out of place than it already does with the whole "Creation isn't Luck" thing. The restoration power could possibly still work for Order, but that power isn't why Marinette is the best ladybug. Anyone can cast the cure and it's only important so the fights have no real consequences like death or property destruction. Lucky Charm is the important part for the actual fights. I'm not even sure what power Order would grant. Feel free to comment or reblog with suggestions!

So, while I like the general idea and even think that Adrien wouldn't be a bad Chaos wilder (he's already pretty chaotic), I don't think that this beats the canon setup from a powers perspective. I also wouldn't replace Plagg with Xuppu because Xuppu doesn't seem like the kind of character people will enjoy in large doses. During the rare moments where he's allowed to have his own personality, he comes across as pretty annoying. Plagg isn't perfect, but he's not going to do this sort of nonsense:

Kim: Awww! A flying monkey plushie! Xuppu: I'm no plushie! My name's Xuppu, you nitwit! (blows a raspberry at him) Kim: My name's not nitwit! My name's Kim! (he and Xuppu make faces at each other while Master Fu watches from afar) Master Fu: I'm wondering if this was the smartest move after all. Xuppu: (while Kim puts on the Monkey Miraculous) Just say showtime already!

I think that a character like this would get real old, real fast! Plagg may dish out insults, but he's a lot more clever about them and does come across as generally caring about Adrien. Xuppu would need similar fleshing out if he was one of the main Kwamis and, at that point, you're basically going to get something similar to Plagg so I'm not sure it's worth the work. Especially since Xuppu's power isn't super well defined and stories where the powers are used all the time tend to be stronger when the audience has an understanding of what the powers can do. It establishes stakes and makes fights make sense. If a fight if just whatever the writers want to write today, that's a lot less engaging.

[bublp0pr]

Ame is a wonderful person but a terrible politician. She brings up these protests that hold no form of charm or hook behind them to appeal to the actual witches she's arguing against. She interrupts votes to make speeches but she hasn't thought through what to actually say. Breaking down the actual intentions and ramifications of the decision is a good start, but she puts emphasis on bad sounding things that no one cares about, most of the time not even her if we're being actually honest with ourselves!

Around these witches where honesty wields great power her protests never actually present the core of the true reasons why she's opposing the ideas in the first place either because she herself is so conflicted by them to present it as a concrete stance. If she constantly finds herself admitting truth in the opposing side, then the solution here is negotiation and compromise where she presents the bits she actually finds untenable, holds firm to those, then lets these very wise and old and powerful people help you come up with situations where everyone can be satisfied, that's what a council is FOR.

Like, I had issues with how Ame handled her defence of her station but I held my tongue. But voting against unanimity for the coven's stance was FOOLISH (indry aside that frigid bitch). She tried to protest that the "machines of war" are so horrible and that to break peace is the abomination here. But if you take the time to consider the situation further, her real issues are twofold: the hundreds of thousands of innocent collateral, and Citadel leadership's capacity to change their ways.

Marara literally came to you extending as much of an olive branch as her pride would allow, offering alliance to push forward any terms that would help Ame feel more comfortable about voting yes! Take these conditions for example:

An ultimatum presented towards the citadel. A peace treaty (some form of contract binded in magic ideally) on the table if they can agree to transparency with the Coven about all matters regarding their pursuits into Spirits and respect regarding counsel on what should not be done.

A promise from the witches to avoid the loss of human life during the conflict unless where absolutely necessary. Foot soldiers to be incapacitated where possible, surrender always being offered as an option, military outposts rather than civilian locations as targets.

Amnesty offered to any wizard who can swear under Zone of Truth to not hold malicious intent or support those who do against Spirits. With the official public stance of the Coven being that their conflict is with those damaging the balance of our worlds, not any and all associated with merely with the Citadel.

I mean, if Stone's values truly lie where she's lead the group to believe they are, then aside from overcoming a great deal of Empire pride those conditions should be reasonable enough. Knowing wizards, probably with a lot of lawyering and negotiating the fine print of the actual phrasing of them.

What the Citadel has done needs punishment. A show of force is justified. It's total destruction without the option for negotiated surrender, communication and change for the better that is unreasonable. Wizards aren't raised to understand or respect the spirit world and so they need a reality check and an authority explaining why doing XYZ is fucked up.

The world isn't that perfect I know even if agreed to, bad things would still be done, by both witches and wizards. But it's the intent behind the thing that I feel really matters. The chance offered for everyone to maybe make a good choice, even if they end up rejecting it and proving the fears right.

[bonefall]

Oh I ADORE the idea of a Bumble/Star Flower dynamic. I always imagine Star Flower to have this sweet and soft exterior to her that allows her to manipulate Clear Sky, but is in actuality a cold, solemn, purpose-minded cat who takes no shit. Her geniunely taking interest in this sweetheart kitty who's full of confidence (and probably hates Clear Sky's guts as much as she does LMFAO) is so intriguing pleaaaaase tell me more ❤️

At the moment it's just sort of indulgence because I think their dynamic is interesting, so I haven't completely leaned onto it yet. I probably will though.

What I like a lot about them is that they're so different, yet so alike. They're both victims of their canon's misogyny, in opposite ways. It killed Bumble and prevented Star Flower from being what she could fully be.

In BB, Star Flower was the high priestess of One Eye, in one way, a daughter in others. He was violent and controlling. She was charming and capable. She did exactly what he wanted from her, and she enjoyed being his devotee. They loved each other like a parent and child, and for him, she would stay blind to the pain in the world.

Because she KNOWS that what she does hurts and kills people. Clear Sky isn't the first cat she's skilfully bled out slowly. But when her God is involved, this is not a terrified, screaming person on an altar. It's meat to be prepared for her beloved father.

And as long as she has One Eye to serve, she doesn't have to think about the humanity that is part of her new form. In a way, she's the same extinct medicinal flowers she used to be, before she took a shape as a mortal. She's his treatment. His bouquet. The flowers at a funeral.

And that's a kind of toxic dynamic, too, yknow. To love someone who merely offers you the simplicity of being their butcher.

How could she ever have prepared for his DEATH? To be SEPARATED from him? She is like an angel separated from her lord, whose one purpose has been destroyed.

And then she seduces Clear Sky, the treacherous beast who betrayed them. She'll bleed him like a goat, and be reunited with her father. And even more--

She'll offer it to Thunderstar, too! He understands her anger! Skystar is a snake who's bitten him as well. He will be grateful. There will be more who worship the warmth of the God of Summer, just like her.

But he rejects it, and you know why?Because he's had a toxic dad too.

Not one he loved like she did her own, but it gave him the clarity to realize that sacrificing Skystar HERE, after being backstabbed at his lowest point and suffering for hours, to bring a MONSTER back into the world, would just be revenge.

...and revenge is what Star Flower wants, too. She's hurt, but doesn't recognize that emotion.

(Still working out the climax of Thunderstar's Justice. I'm thinking that One Eye pops up, half-ressurected, and turns on Star Flower for his last sacrifice and Thunderstar saves her from that)

And after that, she can't go back to SkyClan. Of course.

When she speaks to Bumble for the first times, Star Flower is still threatening betrayals. Insisting, chuckling, that she's done Terrible Things and will do them again.

And Bumbs clocks immediately, "You're doing that to get a rise out of me and it won't work because no one would tease their secret evil scheme."

Bumble is going through a lot right now, actually. Thunderstar is getting good at speaking Parkmew on his own, now. Sparrow Heart, her daughter, betrayed her to join SkyClan in the pursuit of power. Her son Pebble Heart goes by Owl Eyes these days, and he's a big strong warrior who doesn't need her. It seems like no one needs her.

She talks a big game about her self-worth, but a lot of it is bluster and self-assurance. She'll insist she's the BEST AND COOLEST CAT THIS SIDE OF THE EVERYWHERE but she's hiding a LOT of guilt, none of it deserved.

I feel like Star Flower is fascinated by this. The dishonesty here. How Bumble presents herself as boisterous and over-confident, but hides a great sadness within it.

Ahh, Bumble wants a God to serve too, doesn't she? Everyone does. Is a Clan a sort of God to serve? ...yes, this is making sense.

For Bumble to Star Flower... she's brand new, an outsider just like she was once. A very strange one with strange humor, who exists at a time when her life is undergoing a lot of changes. She likes the way Star Flower is so interested in her. She enjoys showing her around the territory.

God, sometimes it just... it reminds her of Turtle Heart, you know? Before Tom came. When it was just them, and they were young and they were learning all these wonderful things together.

It never got better, really, losing her lover and her best friend. She's just been GO GO GOing for years, GO out of this Clan, GO get your kittens, GO open negotiations. It wasn't until NOW that she's really had time to process the loss of Turtle Heart.

And that's sort of where they are, now. There's not really an end in sight, they're just very involved and interested in each other. Not quite courting, but not NOT courting either. Sappho and her acquaintance lmao.

[2n2n]

ch. 110

brutality, no survivors.... incredible suffering for the girlies (you, me, JP twitter)

and here I thought shenanigans would continue... this promo image was an immediate punch at 6AM

and yet this was all things considered the easy part...? ugh, but... please a moment to drink it in... all of my beliefs in the true power exchange... it's so satisfying to see it like this. it's easy, simple to still Tsukasa, isn't it... towering, presiding older brother.... his joudai trailing... touch your seal... the virtue by which you are kept safe, kept his. Poor Tsukasa. covetous object...!

a rascal....! uhh I love pocket-sanding Akane with old man parts ... amazing technique ahaha, Tsukasa knows how to make people lose focus huh? he's in such a good mood isn't he~ not as resentful as he was towards Mirai pestering him...

mirai explode lol.... I can't say I feel much personally, I guessed she might do this ... it's sweet of her to protect Akane, but I can't think much of it, beyond what it contributes to how we should feel about her. Noble rat after all? not so dumb as Akane had said before?

Mirai holding the yorishiro makes sense, for why she's typically locked in their boundary without any freedom. sure... easy. another key to haunt us! more keys why NOT

I like to see Natsuhiko being cool like this ... ♥

but this is so interesting...

I'm never sure how much Mitsuba really understood about the Broadcast club's greater plans... I wonder if Natsuhiko is being literal here, and Mitsuba DID know what he had to do, but had settled on his suicidal ennui.... ah, having to analyze your life for something precious is grim... he has an issue of not appreciating what he has while he has it, and being unable to state it...

.... and there's nobody to correct him. This is such a manga about... 'reasons'....

among the things even possible.. that poor keychain was destroyed. I wonder if there were a few things going on in Mitsuba's mind even then...

I really like... that mysteries, kaii need something anchoring them... I like that it's not enough, to exist... I like that the body naturally dilapidates, 'wants' to move on or become something else. It's a great metaphor....! In this manga... the most important thing, is loving something. If you don't love something, you can't stay alive. You won't....

I'm still wondering if the original thing Kou gave Mitsuba back in vol. 7 will ever come back around... or if it just gave him a complex or curiosity about the 'old' Mitsuba (who he snoops on in PP after this, so....) ... and can't itself be precious so much as worming...

anyhow... I like this turn of events, but it is so shocking we're stacking handling No. 3 and also No. 1!!!! I can't believe it!!!! IT'S ALL HAPPENINGGGG?????!?!? We haven't stacked mysteries like this before ~~!!!! It's so exciting.... I like Natsuhiko a lot in all of this ♥ I don't know... like with Tsukasa and Mitsuba, I believe him that he found it all charming in its own way, and that he wanted to offer what he could to Mitsuba for the timebeing. It's not as if there are other options, here... Mitsuba... really was never doing the things that needed to be done.... or letting others know what he needed to do.

I suppose Natsuhiko could wake up Kou to watch this if he wanted, but I find it much funnier if Kou just has to wake up at the end of this and Mitsuba is eradicated... lol...

can't say I really understand Teru's position about the mysteries...

you understand the mysteries are a kind of structural pillar for this region, but the pressure that was weighing on Hanako at least seemed to be the Minamoto ... it was that imperative the Broadcast Club's been taking advantage of. The rumors created an excuse to justify the sense of mistrust in the mysteries. But I'll never quite know what Teru is even capable of ... since he shouldn't be able to touch yorishiro ... but directly threatens to exorcize mysteries. Can you have extant yorishiro without the mysteries utilizing them.... ??? Well, I just don't understand it yet.... must put it aside.

back to what really matters...

I love how peaceful, relieved, serene he looks here.... finally, you've been so patient, Tsukasa... every little step of this has taken so long.... holding the last yorishiro in your hands... trusting Amane to handle you, after... it must feel good. The end in sight....

I really love this reach for Amane's knife...

back in this position, are we?

ah.... poor Amane. For a moment... I appreciate what he's trying to do, here. He sounds patient... he sounds like an older brother. Explaining so cleanly...

you want to be sure Tsukasa understands... maybe you think-- he hasn't thought this through, or he doesn't get the consequences, he's being childish, or reckless, maybe he's misunderstood how it happened before ... I love to hear Amane, say something so direct as... won't see you again.... won't be able to save you ... everything he did last time! to ensure... that you wouldn't be apart! the binding of their souls! tying Tsukasa down to him like a ship in a storm! protection, mooring... keeping you, where he can see you! remaining together, at all costs! that's important to you too, right, Tsukasa? don't you want to see each other?

it's as if you're saying you don't want to be together, don't want to be saved... what do we do with people who don't ask you to save them? why must they insist on leaving you behind?

Mitsuba won't ask Kou to save him. Sumire wouldn't ask Hakubo to save her. Aoi didn't want Akane to save her. I wonder if Tsukasa didn't ask Amane to save him, but Amane did it anyway... her certainly wasn't asking for a hero in the Red House, or to live on coming back.

it's a kind of rejection, isn't it? When someone is so ambivalent about the life you love so much... the life you want with them... it's as if they're saying, "I don't want to be with you enough to live for you."

Of course, every time, they're really saying ... "I just don't know what I mean to you." Mitsuba doesn't feel valuable to Kou; only a replacement, a reminder of something he once cared about. Best to give up. Sumire imagined Hakubo was only placating her, and could only wish not for his earnest sadness, but for him to pretend to be sad for her. Best to let death happen. and Aoi didn't feel Akane knew the real her, imagined he would reject the real Aoi, only in love with his grand projection of her. Best to step away now.

Of course, Tsukasa thought his brother hated him, so...

It all feels so simple and logical! It's saving trouble, right?

Amane made such a gesture last time... in their shinjuu... he tried, he really tried, to say something ... to Tsukasa.

but, the message didn't go through...

but I can only be so sympathetic to Amane, as he's an incredible hypocrite. Of course, Amane has put Nene-chan through everything Tsukasa puts him through.

You also try to grant your beloved a wish for a future that explicitly doesn't involve you, and make her feel rejected, abandoned, given no choice...

Amane...

oh, Yugi twins....

.... why can't you understand when you're precious? Why can't you understand how bad it hurts, to abandon somebody? Amane-chan really suffered without you, Tsukasa. You're always the one leaving him, and getting to feel sacrificial about it. He's trying to tie you down....

.... it's a natural response... to lash out. Rejected... misunderstood... abandoned... why is Tsukasa asking you to give up on him? Why can't he understand, even with that seal on his cheek... even as you died with him....

兄の思いは届かず…

I really love that for the chapter's end.

Amane's feelings never did reach Tsukasa. It wasn't understood, what he had tried to do, his sadness now. But... Amaneeeee....

maybe you could use a taste of your own medicine....

we think we know just how to make someone else's wish come true, don't we?

isn't it such an insult! WHY!!!!!! """"WHY""""""??????

..... I'm out of images, so I'll continue in a reblog, for a couple more thoughts I'm having ....

but for this post... ahhhh. It's unbelievable we're at least starting to tackle... this. I feel bad for Amane, I really do... I feel bad for Tsukasa, too. It's hard to not hurt someone you love ... in an attempt to only hurt yourself. If we hurt ourselves, we hurt the thing our lover adores ... we spit on their love for us.

I can understand why and how Amane can say "I hate you" ... to Tsukasa. As much as Akane could childishly say it to Aoi ... and you know, it is that same unimaginable love which makes it possible. Years of familiarity, it makes you more liable to lash out. There is such a greater sense of betrayal, when you've expended so much effort... when you try so hard for someone... when you're in so much pain about them....! After all I've done... you CAN'T say this or that to me.... etc, etc! Those intense emotions... can make you feel entitled, to never be hurt... you can't hurt me, after all I've hurt for you!

and I do think it's being said extremely childishly... daikirai... he's just, unable to be any more constructive with his feelings, he's so... hurt, mad. As much as Nene-chan is so mad, hearing Hanako spit on all of her efforts she made to reach him... BIG SLAP!!!

Amane, he's maybe endured 50 years of effort and an awful lot of physical suffering for Tsukasa, and it's not gotten through... wwww! I'm sorry, I'm worried Tsukasa might have a PROFOUND amount of suicidal urge. Might be an uphill battle, Amane... you might just need to save Tsukasa because you are selfish, and you want him for yourself. There might be no easier reason ... to keep him by your side. We can't make Tsukasa beg to stay with you... but you won't beg him to stay, will you? I think that would actually do a lot of good, Amane... but you really won't do that....

meanwhile, I love the juxtaposition of Nene-chan's incredibly childish DAI DAI DAISUKIII and this daikirai lol... we all have big feelings don't we lol....! well...

[penultimate-step]

One thing that interests me about Koyomi and Tsubasa's relationship, especially early on, is the contrast between how much they care about each other and how little they really understand each other. From their first meeting, their relationship begins with a complete lack of understanding.

All through Bake, Hanekawa is talked up extremely highly by Koyomi. In his eyes, she's the one who knows everything, the one who is always right. Her own catchphrase might be "I just know what I know," but this is in response to Araragi complimenting her about knowing everything. He rarely thinks that she can possibly be wrong - which makes it almost funny in retrospect to realize that he holds this opinion of her despite the fact that one of the first inferences he every sees her make is massively misreading his own issues.

In Kizu, spurred by the day's sense of melancholy and the sudden absurdity of Hanekawa's skirt situation, Koyomi briefly opens up and is emotionally honest with Hanekawa. (Given that we as readers learn most about him from internal narration, this is bigger than it seems: this is one of the moments when he shares the most about himself out loud to others in the whole series.) It's not his whole deal, not by a long shot, but he gets across the basics: his strained concept of the value of friendship and human connections, his sense of nihilism, and his desire not to have to live as a human: "I want to become a plant," he tells her, "so that I wouldn't have to talk or walk." Honestly I'm not sure what a good response is to someone you are only now having a first conversation with telling you all about his depression, but Hanekawa chooses to reject it. She tells him that normally people would dream of becoming something like a rock, but in his case, since plants are a form of life, "You still want to be a living thing." Subtextually: "You don't really want to kill yourself. You aren't suicidal." To this, Koyomi basically thinks, Huh, never thought about it like that. Maybe you're right. and moves on.

….20 pages later, Koyomi chooses to kill himself for Kiss-Shot's sake, stating, "There isn't a single reason for me to bother staying alive." Kizumonogatari is in large part about Araragi's suicidal depression. Hanekawa, I love you, but you misjudged this one.

Even at this early stage of their relationship, Hanekawa thinks highly of Koyomi, much more than he deserves. As such, when confronted with something she considers a weakness, like his supremely low self-worth, she tries to justify why this isn't actually a trait he has.

Much later, by the time of Neko White, she's gotten a better chance to get to know him and become familiar with his him as a person, including his flaws, enough that she and Senjougahara can list them for hours. But that doesn't necessarily mean she understands him or his motivations - because she cares for him so much, she ends up idealizing his bad traits and his personal weaknesses into charm points and strengths. She says at the book's start that she admires him because of his confidence in his own identity, describing him as a person who doesn't hesitate over questions of who he is as a person or what he should be and do moving forward and comparing herself unfavorably to her own lack of sense of identity.

Readers, having read his narration in Kizu and Neko Black know this is far from true; that he spends a huge amount of page count trying to reflect on where he stands in life. The climaxes of both those books are great examples. In Kizu, Koyomi has a huge internal crisis after seeing the death of Guillotine Cutter. He tells Hanekawa that he is unsure if he is human or monster, worrying even that he'll eat her. He is unsure if he is going to oppose Kiss-Shot or not. And on top of that, his own guilt is eating him alive, causing him to question the worth of all his actions in the book so far. There's no way that this can be called a man sure of who he is, and it is Tsubasa herself who snaps him out of it. He relies on her presence as a guide to move forward. She has first hand experience seeing him experience deep uncertainty as to what kind of person he wants to be, but her narration in Neko White claims the opposite - that his consistency and surety is a trait she admires. A similar kind of struggle happens in Neko Black's ending, though given her own stresses and struggles at the time its very understandable that she didn't catch this one. Time after time Tsubasa is the one to see Koyomi's doubts and greatest moments of weakness, but rather than harm her view of Araragi, if anything it seems to have raised her opinion of him. In her Neko White letter, she admires what she calls "confronting his own weaknesses." She talks about falling in love with him when she saw that he was crying as he saved Kiss-Shot, comparing it negatively to how she showed no emotion and smiles through both suffering and aid. She basically says this outright in the letter: to her, all of Araragi's flaws becomes positive. Moments of self-doubt become moments of self honesty, to cry while acting is to remain true to oneself, and so forth.

Not that Koyomi is a genius at understanding her, either. While he admires her, for most of Kizu a lot of whats going on between them is going on in his head - he's projecting his own issues onto her and he deals with her more as what she represents to him than an equal friend, as he will come to treat her later in Bake and beyond. Neko Black, taking place between these two points, shows him in the middle of this transition.

I feel like there's less to say on his side though, just because Neko Black is much more explicit about Koyomi's failure to understand Tsubasa than Kizu is for the reverse. When she feels obligated by friendship to tell Araragi about her struggles with her family, in a reversal of their first conversation from the start of Kizu, he has this to say about it:

Despite having been friends for a month by then he realizes he has still been seeing her more as an ideal than a person. However, his reaction here, in contrast to when the situation was flipped, also illustrates that his way of misunderstanding is subtly different from the way Hanekawa misunderstands him. Rather than a direct dismissal, Koyomi, while originally ignorant, does come around to understanding What Tsubasa will do. However, he does this while blocking out any understanding of Why she would act like this. He can grasp the actions and emotions, but not the underlying causes.

As an example, near the end of Neko Black, after Koyomi has had some time to internalize his new understanding of Hanekawa, he is able to predict her words to her father before Meme tells him, then later develops a plan to deal with the Cat based around predicting her actions well in advance, first luring her out and then baiting her into attacking him. However, despite all this, he seems to have no knowledge, or perhaps is intentionally blocking out, the motivations behind her actions. Theres a reason she calls him "the worst" when he offers to give his time and energy to deal with her stress. (And much like when he healed her injury earlier, this is him dealing with symptoms rather than the true problem.) Because he's totally misjudging what she actually wants.

A similar pattern can be seen in the Cat chapter of Bake, when he first sees the cat. He realizes this means she's stressed, and can guess at how this will make her act and that things might get dangerous, but has no idea what set her off this time, not until the Cat tells him outright why things got to this point.

Koyomi views Hanekawa so highly, almost like she is incapable of making mistakes, despite having personal experience from the get go that she is very capable of making mistakes and that sometimes her inferences are wrong, and that she is often wrong about him, specifically. Hanekawa is wrong about Koyomi because she does the same thing, and views him so highly that she dismisses and glosses over his faults that she has seen personally. Together, they both consistently fail to understand each other because they place the other on a pedestal without meaning to. And yet, the book is clear that despite this gap in understanding, the friendship is no less for it. The care between the two is real, as is the effort they take in each other's lives.

[mono-blogs-art]

Alright, I finished GAP the series. I can't lie, I finished it in 2 days so, it was very addictive. I liked the first half more than the second, in later episodes it all just kinda dragged out a bit and the arguments felt a bit cyclical. But overall, I really liked it! Plus, the show is entirely on YouTube, I love the accessibility of it!

It's my first time watching a Thai drama, and I was somewhat aware before that GAP was one of the most popular lesbian shows coming out of the genre (and also one of the first Thai lesbian shows ever??). It's the kind of show everyone just knows through osmosis or has at least seen a few episodes of. And now that I've seen it I understand why that is the case :D

Overall: I will give the show a 6/10! It definitely has more of a silly, telenovela type edit and structure which is great, but not necessarily always for me. But because of that it also hooks you in immediately. Over time, the pace really starts to show however and it's just too slow for me. The shots are also sometimes a bit inconsistent, some of them look like a straight up painting and others are baffling to see in a finished product. I definitely laughed a few times because of that, but I find it more charming than anything else. It's a silly show after all.

The Plot: Is barely relevant to be honest, the main plot (Sam's company being in a tough spot) is just kind of abandoned after a while in favour of the love story. I didn't mind it. The romance is what I'm here for anyway. It has a very "my parents sold me to one direction" fanfic vibe, and I mean this only in the best way. Getting to intern at your idol's company, then becoming her personal assistant and eventually conquering her heart is a classic. Lesbians need that messy shit too. And brother I ate it up. I also understand now why people were comparing Chaser Game W (2024 lesbian jdrama) to this show, it has a somewhat similar vibe and is also about an unhealthy relationship in the workplace. However, GAP does literally every single thing better than Chaser Game did, and I still thought CGW was fun.

The Characters: I love them. They're simple but well executed.

Mon is understandably a bit boring, suffering from being the protagonist, but she does have a few key moments that were either really fun or really made me emotionally connect, so I like her. She's cute! And I loved her boldness and rebellious nature in the first half of the show, sadly I think it got lost a bit in the second. Overall this show isn't really interested in exploring sexuality that much (even though it's very steamy), so Mon just kinda goes from "Don't be silly, she's a woman, I'm not interested in her like that" to making out with Sam. Like girl, I get it but also... I wish we could've seen a bit more of that discovery and exploration (we do see it much more on Sam's side though). Mon also doesn't have a ton of agency, she's kinda powerless in a lot of situations because she's just a normal girl, not an... insanely rich noble lady CEO with powerful connections. You know, unlike her boss.

Sam is the true main character of the show, driving pretty much the entire plot in one way or another. She is also by far the most entertaining and charming character and I'm obsessed with her. She's a horrible person, wildly inconsistent, toxic and emotionally immature in every way, and seeing her ice-cold facade thaw every so slowly throughout the episodes is just so much fun. Underneath it all she's just a Weirdo who is so deeply traumatized by her upbringing that she's still just a kid at heart. I say all these harsh things because they are true, but also because despite it all the show somehow pulls it off to make her really likeable. Sam is funny, mean, extremely cute, pathetically down bad and horny, and just going through all the emotions ever, and her actress Sarocha Chankimha really pulls it off and I can only be impressed. Sam's development in the second half of the series also really works because it's surprisingly consistent, her falling back into her bad habits and eventually accepting her tragic fate made so much sense. She couldn't have achieved her freedom on her own and I'm glad the show didn't go that route either.

As for the supporting cast, Sam's friends are definitely the most interesting. I just wonder how Sam, a cis "straight" woman, ended up in the coolest queerest girl gang in town. Only because they were friends in elementary school? Honestly that's the most unrealistic part of the show for me LMAO. Sam's fiancé Kirk is The Man in the lesbian show, he's alright. Mon's friend Nop turned out to be surprisingly sweet in the later half of the show, which was a delight. The big villain of the series, Sam's grandmother, is ... Well, it was certainly a choice to have her end up where she did in the end. I wish they'd have done something a bit more bold with the character - I found it a bit of a cop out. Not all villains need to turn out to be nice in the end, especially not this one. But I can respect the choice, and I'm ultimately more in favour of a character working to become a better person than a villain succumbing to more evil.

One thing that's undeniable about the show is that it's hot. The leads have some insane chemistry going on and you can't look away, every scene with them feels electric, especially in the beginning. I was also surprised at how sexy the show is overall, like okay, we just dedicate an entire episode to Sam and Mon wanting to fuck. And there is an honest-to-god eating out scene that made me go 😳 I appreciate the show for that :D

Overall, I'm glad this was my introduction to Thai GL, I understand why it's a somewhat foundational text and I really enjoyed my time with it. I'm also happy to hear that it's been a kickstart for the actor's careers, and that the two girlies are doing more sapphic shows together now. I'm actually already watching The Loyal Pin (trying to watch and stay up to date as it's currently airing!) and that show is much more my style, even though it's also quite slow. But it's fun to see the same actresses play completely different roles. I loved Sam a lot, but overall I think I will enjoy Anin and Pin more.

[peccaberry]

what are your headcanons for Volo, Rei, and Akari??

Great question, thank you anon! Obviously a lot of this is also gonna be stuff I've included in my fanfic but I'll go ahead and put it here too for those who haven't read it djdjdjd.

Rei (MC): He misses home a lot and copes by the huge cultural shift of being stuck in the past by trying to cling onto what he remembers of the future. A lot of this would be things like memes and songs that he could repeat verbally which is a big reason I love him having a Chatot. It would probably be soothing to have something familiar like that while in a place where he has so little of what he remembers with him.

He was around 15-16 during the events of PLA. Late growth spurt which is why he looks so tiny for his age.

Rei is gay and being closeted in the Hisuian Era has been really hard for him. He misses the internet where he could talk to other queer people and find support. He had a HUGE crush on Volo and considers him his first love although he never told Volo that. Volo never had any idea bc let's be real he had Arceus blinders on.

He had to grow up really fast due to the situation he was put in and carries a lot of the trauma of too much responsibility too early on him. He feels like it's his responsibility to fix everything because he's quite literally been expected to from a young age. It would be important to him healing to unlearn that.

He feels incredibly heartbroken over what happened with Volo. He both misses the friend he lost and feels incredibly hurt by the enemy he gained. Both these feelings exist within him at once and it's very confusing to deal with.

Rei does not like Kamado or Cyllene after the trauma they've caused him. He's made more peace with Cyllene than Kamado although he doesn't trust either very much.

Rei loves Akari very much and her constant friendship and support is a big reason he's been able to keep it together after everything that happened to him. They are pretty inseparable.

Volo: This mfer has autism. He's not super popular because a lot of people think he's "off". He doesn't particularly care and spends most of his time on his special interests (history/mythology). His closest (platonic) relationship is with Cogita and she is easily frustrated/annoyed with him.

He's pansexual and how attracted he is to someone correlates more to how interesting he finds them than gender.

He was a teenager during the events of PLA (around 17-18) and hit a massive growth spurt earlier during puberty (13ish)

There is no "real/fake" Volo. Both the Volo you originally meet and the Volo on the mountain are just him expressing different emotions/sides to himself. The only real difference is that he's probably not as genuinely happy as he could be so it's more of a mask at this point to cover up trauma/rage. If he was to recover more from his issues he would probably still act silly and friendly but it would be more genuine and the rage/hate would subside more.

Volo never stops asking questions and is way too curious for his own good. Whether you consider this annoying (Cogita) or charming (Rei) is up to the individual person.

Volo's trauma and worldview has something to do with growing up in a region where there was a lot of war and fighting between clans. Since peace was only more recently established it's not his "normal". He doesn't have any faith it will last and believes humans don't have the capacity to get along with each other without being forced to.

If something catches Volo's interest he will pursue it relentlessly until he understands it.

Volo is really good at the Celestica flute

Akari (NPC):

Akari snuck onto the Galaxy Team Expedition ship when they were docked in her home region because she wanted to join them. Laventon was the one who found her and advocated for her to be allowed to stay and help him as his assistant. Kamado allowed it and she had been there a few months before Rei, trying to get the basics down.

Akari isn't just good at crafting, but doing art as well. She's amazing at painting and it's her favorite thing to do when she has time to herself.

Akari still has a fear of Electric types (especially the shinx line) after being struck down by one. She's come to peace with Pikachu and is learning to get along better with him as time goes on but still struggles from time to time.

Akari is Aromantic and Asexual. She loves Rei Queerplantonicly and he feels the same way about her although she feels confused about these feelings since there's not a lot of cultural understanding about them in her time period.

Akari enjoys listening to Rei when he talks about the future. As long as he doesn't seem to be doing anything that will put him in any danger she will watch him be as weird as he wants and egg him on because it makes him happy. They both know she doesn't really understand what he's doing/talking about but Rei appreciates her being willing to pretend to make him feel less alone.

[gollumsmygel]

I just finished all available episodes of ATLA on Netflix and I am upset that I have missed out on quite a lot since the episodes are incomplete for some reason. Missed the whole fight in Ba Sing Se, the legendary Toph metal bending scene, some Zuko stuff... the last season isn't even complete so I had to stop prematurely.

Anyway I find the characters, especially Zuko, so freaking hilarious.

So I first started watching the show back when I was a kid and I used to remember Zuko as a very serious character. I mean, he was out there to capture the avatar and restore his honor right? So serious stuff if you ask me. Anyway I started watching the show and I find him hilarious. Even the way the producers did him is hilarious. Like that one time he dodged Sokka's boomerang only to be hit on the back of his head. I do very much like how they captured angsty teenager on Zuko tho. I however feel very bad for Mai for having to deal with him because /sheesh/ couldn't be me. He was so confused and nothing made him happy. He's talking so sincerely to Iroh and when his uncle didn't response, he explodes haha.

Aang also. So much like a kid. A silly little boy blended with some monk wisdom here and there. With my adultish brain I sort of understand why he was so afraid of facing Ozai. Why the responsibility was so heavy on him. So I guess it's such a great detail since I never seem to see it on animes I've watched (dont come for me I said animes I've watched and I haven't watched okay pls thanks)

Also so cute how he mixed up Katara and "Katara" from the theater play. Also ugh their kissing scene episode was missing so I didn't get to watch it. Missed the whole invasion plan, in fact.

Now Toph, I've always loved Toph. Since I wad a kid. There's just something about a seemingly vulnerable, tiny little girl becoming the first person to bend metal. She's so cool, her humor is great 10/10 top tier. My ATLA experience wouldn't be the same without her. Also love how she has the cleanest bending form. No unnecessary movements at all.

Katara, also hilarious. I love how she has this charm that attracts all these guys but she's also easily swayed by them for some reason. Like with Jet and Zuko? You know she had a thing for them both. She trusts them then get bitten in the ass for it. And then yeah Aang who ended up being her endgame.

Sokka also has some charms but not as much as Katara ig? Anyway water tribe people are canon attractive people. What I love about Sokka is he really redeemed himself. Handling their schedule and reading maps? Very crucial for avatar and world-saving stuff.

[chokkito]

My friend. May I know more of Myo? <- is thinking of adding her to my already too long draft post of the Alnst OCs in Fear and Hunger Termina AU (I can give you Flor's moonschored form :])

OH MY GOD YEYEYEYEYEEYEYEYEYEYE!!!!!!!!!!!! EHEHEEHEHE FUNGER AU! FUNGER AU!!! U cant see it but im kicking my feet and giggling rn..........AND PLEASE GIVE ME FLOR'S MOONSCHORED FORM!!!!@<%^_^ I LOVE MOONSCHORED FORMS OF OCS!!!!!

BUT OK, MYO TIME!!!! IT MIGHT SOUND CONFUSING BECAUSE I WILL BE RAMBLING BUTTTTT I'LL TRY TO MAKE IT ALL UNDERSTANDABLE

Myo's name come from Myosotis, aka forget-me-not flower, it has a lot of meanings, but the one that i think it has mostly to do with Myo is this one:

"It is a testament to your relationships and promises the other person that you will never forget them in your thoughts." (Trust me, it will become important later)

Her owner is an octopus-like alien called Quornix, i haven't decided yet what her owner is but they have money and influence. She was "adopted" when she was around 1-2 year old, and she was given to her current owner as a gift from another alien, who was a close friend of Quornix - when they adopted her, they didn't plan for her to actually participate in Alien Stage, but this previous friend of them convinced Quornix to do so.

Before she was "adopted" by Quornix, she didn't live just with her previous owner, but actually lived with her actual father - like, THE HUMAN ONE. Since he was a pet of this previous alien, despite living with them for a small period of time, Myo never forgot about her dad - which made their separation even worse. I can totally imagine that in the first years till she was around 10, Myo had a really hard time grasping into the fact she would never see her father again..........And the worst part was that they weren't able to say goodbye to each other, as, when she was given to Quornix, her father was participating in Alien Stage, so he only knew of her departure when he came back.

I imagine that one of Myo's main traits are how reckless she is - she does not think about the future and prefers to just do things she wants without thinking about it, as she feels as if things could easily be taken away from her without her even noticing, so she wants to cheer these things up as much as possible before the end finally comes. A bit pessimistic? Yeah, but she hides it behind a charming personality and some small jokes here and there.

^ Alongside that, she is someone who gets attached to people EASILYYYYYY, like, if someone is slightly nice to her, she will already see this person as a friend and defend them with all her heart. If she loves something, she will continue loving it with all her heart, and if she hates something, she will hate it with a burning passion.

She is not a mean person, but at the same time, she is scared when things don't go her way, and she absolute HATES not knowing information or having things hidden from her, as she feels if she doesn't know everything, then she will get stabbed in the back. That's why she absolutes loves gossip, because it's an easy way to grab information without putting a lot of effort into it. She knows that, as a pet, she does not have a lot of power nor will any alien trust her with information, so she has to get it in different ways.

Because of learning how to hear without saying anything, she also is great at making people like her, which makes her personality be seen as even more charming - she knows what and when to say things, and this makes her normally go under the radar. She isn't someone who hates attention, but the idea of being the "main attraction" of something big such as Alien Stage scares her.

Her relationship with her owner is....Weird. It's hard to explain - she has actually two "owners" per say, Quornix (whom i mentioned before and whom she was given to) and Zyloxia. They are aliens who live together and who kinda "co-owned" her. She doesn't hate them, but at the same time, she can't find a way to like them - Zyloxia is a lot more berable in her opinion, but staying near Quornix makes her sick, especially due to the memories of how scared she was when they came to get her. As for the way they treat her, they treat her mostly fine - she is their only "pet", so they gave her all the attention she needed, but they also had the problem of expecting her to act according to what they wanted for her - they wanted a pet who was exceptional, and Myo just wanted to be normal.

Sooo remember when i mentioned her father up there? Well guess what. They. Compete together!!!! When she goes to Alien Stage, they actually put her agaisnt him - of course, she remembers him, but he can't recognize her, mostly because of how depressed he is. Stuff happens, Myo has a breakdown and cries a lot, and ends up losing, being finally hugged by her dad in her last moments as he finally recognizes her, it's. Pretty sad.

But ayy!!! At least i made her stage outfit, so look how cute she is!!!

They took out her curls...Sniffs................But yea theres also more flower symbolism in it *points* 🫵 look at the forget-me-not flowers there

But yea, thats what i can remember!!! Thank u for asking me about her ueeeueeee, and if this rambling sounds confusing sorry its 1am here...............

And also hwve her dad because hes very important to me too <3

(Stupid old man!!! Ignore he doesnt have his beard in the second photo.....)

[ben-talks-art]

The Importance of "fun to watch"

(as always, spoilers for Chainsaw Man manga)

Something that I sometimes mention during my talks about my favorite characters, how I analyze characters, or my talk about villain characters is the "fun to watch" factor.

What I mean by that is that sometimes characters will hit very similar beats with each other but the way they are executed can really affect how much you will want to follow them through the story.

I think a nice example of this is Simon from Infinity Train and Makima from Chainsaw Man (I'm never gonna get tired of talking about Makima).

Both of them are very similar in that they exist to send a very important message about the dangers of entitlement.

Simon, just like Makima, thinks he's always right, always knows what's best, always should have everyone following him and listening to him, gets upset when someone doesn't, and keeps using this mentality as an excuse to hurt others and take advantage of those more naive and innocent than him and still try to view himself as the "good guy."

Both of them are great at fulfilling their jobs as a character, that job being, exposing the harm of this way of living, and they do it in very interesting, very realistic ways that might lead to good discussions and debates about the topic.

The one thing that differs is that, unlike Makima, Simon isn't fun to follow or watch. This dude has zero charm as a character.

Simon's thing is that he's basically acting like a kid that never grew up. He isn't particularly clever about the way he argues things nor does he have that interesting of a motivation as to why he's so entitled and arrogant. He's basically written like a brute caveman who gets irritated when things don't go his way and lashes out at others like a flailing infant who's angry that his toy got taken away.

Following Simon is honestly frustrating and I mostly just keep thinking to myself "when is someone gonna shut this guy up?"

Meanwhile, we have Makima who is doing, basically the same thing but she does it in such a more interesting way. She's taking advantage of people who don't know better and using her entitled motivation as an excuse to hurt others... But she's being so clever and creative about it, and you feel like she's working so much harder to obtain her goal.

You can tell she's actually taking the time to listen and understand people's problems and needs and calculating what she needs to give in order to get them to depend on her in return.

Simon feels like an entitled baby, while Makima feels like an entitled adult. They're both horrible and they both send a great message but watching Makima, to me personally, is so much more fun.

You can see the difference from the scenes that best showcase their character.

Simon's scene is in the end of season 3 where Grace tries to argue why he won't stop and try to change, and his response is "Why would I when I'm always right?"

It's a great line that perfectly shows the kind of person he turned into, a simple brute that refuses to listen to others.

As for Makima, we have one of my favorite scenes of the manga (favorite scenes from any manga, really), the "Chainsaw Man doesn't spit" speech in chapter 95, where she just goes on and on about who Chainsaw Man is and should be, as if she knows the person's role in life better than the person itself, kinda like those parents that try to define what their kids should be while ignoring what they want to be.

They're both basically saying the same thing "I'm right, you're wrong, you should do what I say", but Makima's way of doing it is so much more sophisticated, so much more mature, and seeing an adult going so far for such a child-like mentality just makes the idea of entitlement look a lot more dangerous, while Simon just feels like a misguided kid saying misguided kid things.

That's not to say I think Simon is a bad character, I actually think he's the perfect character for the role he's meant to play, but it's clear that he's meant to be something that affects the characters we're actually meant to care about and not someone who should be the focus.

That's another important thing to think about, understanding a character's role and how much they should be in the narrative. I can't imagine Simon as the main protagonist in a story, I feel like that would be unbearable to watch, while Makima, I could totally watch an entire show with her as the main lead just going around messing people's lives for her stupid reasons while looking always elegant, mature, and charming.

That's kinda what part 1 already is anyway.

(Of course "fun" is totally subjective. I would absolutely get it if people were to say they find Simon more fun to follow than Makima. I would probably not share their feeling... But I would understand that it's possible to feel that way.)

[blaacknoir]

Hey. Sorry to bother, but I'm genuinely curious. Can you explain why you don't like fans calling Homelander 'John'?

I think I kinda get why but I'm also a little confused and if it's because of what I think, I disagree. The first person we see call him that is Vogelbaum, and he has a bit of a bad reaction. But this is Vogelbaum and he doesn't like Vogelbaum so I think the disdain is more from there than anything.

Homelander says he 'gave up' on his secret identity a long time ago to Starlight, but I don't think he hates his name or even dislikes it. (Actually, that scene I would argue more so implies Vought encouraging him to give it up so he can make them profit full time than anything else.)

I say this because there's one person who does call him John and it affects him differently than when Vogelbaum does it. And that's Maeve. And don't get me wrong, it's not particularly great reaction there either though she does also say it a bit mockingly, but it's what he says after that I find more telling.

He says something along the lines of: "Don't you dare fucking 'John' me, you're not going to get the easy way out of this." And I think it implies two things.

If Maeve knows his name, he had to have told her at one point, so his name is probably something he considers very private and personal, only giving to those he really trusts. (Obviously, he never got the choice with Vogelbaum.)

The other thing implied is a sensitivity to hearing his name, but not necessarily in a negative sense. What he says struck me as him being mad enough that hearing his name, even from Maeve, isn't going to soften up anything. But it could also mean she has used his name in the past to soften his anger.

And if she did, and if just hearing his name could do that, it doesn't imply he hates his name, it implies for lack of a better term, that he feels 'humanized' when he hears it. Understandably, I think that would give him mixed feelings about it from different people and that it really depends who's saying it, when and why. But not that he hates it.

Sorry for the TED talk, I clearly have spent too much time rewatching The Boys and micro analyzing every single little micro expression made by Antony Starr and context within each scene and it makes me a weirdo, I know.

It could also just be a personal preference of yours and others and I'm a double weirdo. But I don't know, I kind of like the complexity of emotion that can be explored just with Homelander's civilian name and how he feels about it.

You are never a bother! Sorry this took a bit of time to get to. But here goes. *cracks knuckles*

The first person we see call him that is Vogelbaum, and he has a bit of a bad reaction. But this is Vogelbaum and he doesn't like Vogelbaum so I think the disdain is more from there than anything.

Vogelbaum: How long's it been, John? Homelander: *chuckles* Long enough that nobody calls me John anymore.

This is definitely a case of disdain disguised as nostalgia, so I agree with you there. To me this is a kid going back to his hometown and hearing his kindergarten teacher calling him a pet name. The chuckle implies warmth (and in any other situation, I'd interpret it at face value), but Homelander has nothing but contempt for Vogelbaum.

Homelander says he 'gave up' on his secret identity a long time ago to Starlight, but I don't think he hates his name or even dislikes it. (Actually, that scene I would argue more so implies Vought encouraging him to give it up so he can make them profit full time than anything else.)

Homelander: Hey, is that your, uh, secret identity? Starlight: Mm-hmm. Homelander: Charming. Starlight: Thanks. Homelander: Yeah, I-I gave up on mine, oh... a long time ago now.

I can definitely understand how you'd interpret this scene that way, and of course, there's no wrong interpretation. But to me, the tone is one of.. almost dismissal. "I'm fulfilling a social obligation but I'd really prefer it if you were somewhere else." Because remember, this is the scene where he's actually watching Madelyn pumping through the wall. He's only half paying attention to her here, because he's also trying to ogle literal mommy milkers. (I am so sorry I made you all read that 😭)

[All the stuff you said about Maeve.]

I think there is some complexity here, but it doesn't necessarily mean that he still has positive associations with it. I'm just gonna lay out my headcanons and go from there.

So I think that by the time Homey and Maeve start dating, he has given up on "John." We don't hear anyone else call him that. I'm actually willing to bet that the number of people who know his birth name can be counted on one hand. I just don't think he's ever really had any attachment to it; he's been groomed from birth to be the Homelander, so why would he? But I think at one point, Maeve (who is and will always be Maggie first) asked him about it. And she was close to him in a way nobody else was--as an equal. More than that, she's the only person who's ever bothered to ask. So he tells her.

It doesn't build on an attachment to the name, I think it becomes a sort of... a special thing, a secret thing, shared between the two of them. It's a part of himself that he's not attached to, but that nobody else has ever asked to see, and he gently places it in the palm of her hand. And when Homelander fucked everything up (because, surprise! A lifetime of being both manipulated and ass-kissed and isolated and surrounded by yes-men leaves you with no knowledge of how to have and maintain a relationship), Maeve takes that secret thing and gently places it on the table before she leaves.

And Homelander takes it and puts it back inside his heart and never talks about it again. Because despite the fact that it was his fuckup, all he knows is that Maeve hurt him. Emotional pain is all he knows, it's all he has context for, and he (and is it really him? or is it him, the one who talks from the mirror?) will do anything to avoid feeling it. Which means hiding those four letters and their association with him deep inside himself.

I don't think Maeve ever used it to de-escalate things with him. When she calls him "John", it's an appeal to those memories. She takes a fucking stadium light and shines it on that secret thing he gave her, that secret thing that she gave back, and how fucking dare she just grab it again like it was hers the whole time.

And it could have been anything, really. It could have been the fact that he never really had parents. It could have been the fact that he killed his "mother." It could have been the fact that to teach him to fly, the scientists just shoved him off a high surface. But it's his childhood name, and that makes it easy to be used as a tool to manipulate him.

I just don't think it's his name. I think it's a word that used to describe him that doesn't anymore. (And there are a lot of words like that. John, child, scared, alone, helpless—) When he thinks about himself, I think the name he thinks is "the Homelander."

And I sure as hell don't think his last name is fucking Gilman.

[aerkan]

SPOILERS FOR SHADOW AND BONE SEASON 2

Okay, it's the time of the year to get controversial. Yay!

Sooooo, three days ago (16 March 2023) the second season of Netflix's Shadow and Bone aired and surprisingly I quite enjoyed it.

I know, I know, shocking.

But let me just tell you why.

The characters are better.

Alina: She got herself some agency that doesn't just revolve around Mal (yes, she tries to not have him die and stubbornly refuses to entertain the thought and that's understandable because she loves him, but the other characters don't let her just hide from it) and in the end doesn't lose her powers (I was especially happy about that) AND stays with Nikolai to try and fix their country. She takes responsibility (more than in the books at least), which I loved to see. Also at the end she looks like she's happy about being able to control shadows and to kill the girl - which... I know some people won't like it, but I do because you know what? IT PROVES ALEKSANDER'S POINT. He may have not seen this side of her for himself, but he knew it was there somewhere. He kept telling her that she's young still but once she knows, once she lives through a failure after failure to save their people, well... she might be even worse than he was to keep them safe.

Mal: oh, this boy gave me a headache in the books, but they managed to make him better. He knows Alina was meant for something greater than an ordinary life and knows that he wasn't. Mal in the books held Alina back so many times, but here they are actually trying to make him suportive of her decisions. And in the end he decides that he wants something for himself that isn't just Alina and what she wants. So yes, I liked that change a lot. I sincerely hope that they won't get back together, because they seem to me better of as friends.

Baghra: I hate this woman, I really do. I hate that she just disregards what her son tells her and contradicts herself constantly and seem pretty manipulative all around. But the fact she acknowledges the fact she's not a good person, that she actively tries to do something instead of petily commiting suicide just to hurt her son, that made me like her more than in the books. I still hate her, but just a little less. She's a bad person, moraly worse than she was in the books, but she's a better character.

Nikolai: I loved him, so much. I think they nailed his character. The balance of hope, despair and charm that I loved about him in the books. The choice they made with Dominic surprised me, but in a good way. Nikolai's dynamic with anybody was great, the friendship between him and his people was lovely to watch in my opinion.

Zoya: I never thought I would say this but I don't mind her existence. I hope they won't ruin her like the Nikolai duology did, because so far she looks like a character that makes sense and isn't frustrating or annoying.

And finaly Aleksander/The Darkling: In the first few episodes I honestly couldn't get over what they did to him, but then they added these little details and for me they painted absolutely different picture of the character than just an irredemable villain that the books tried for. Him saving his grisha from being tortured at the hands of the First Army and then promising Genya he will find David for her, thanking her even though she couldn't do what he asked for and shielding her from the Nichevo'ya while he was in immense pain? That showed the love he holds for his people even when he doesn't express it in plain sight. Him not killing Genya for deserting and honestly... who knows how much of the scars on her face were made by his direct command? Then the fact he is able to direct the Nichevo'ya but can't fully control them? God damn it, but they were made while he was dying and he can't get rid of them. The fact they killed his mother when he didn't want them to, that he cried for her like that? The 'Leave her alone! No!' when the Nichevo'ya attacked Alina? His speech in the final episode which made perfect sense and Alina will find out the hard way he was right? The bloody fact he admited that Alina was his peace, which... you know... he loved her. That's just a bloody fact that even the show wants us to know.

I just, I found it refreshing that yes, while they made him probably more deranged than the books, they also made him more human. They made him lose more and they made him feel more. They didn't just make him a paper cutout of a character (which to be fair, the books tried really hard to do). They made him an ancient force to reckoned with but also a man that lost more than anybody could possibly imagine and decided to go nuclear. And yes, of course I would love to see the characters admit he was right and instead of fighting him try to work together for a better Ravka and against the witch hunts, but we all knew that wasn't going to happen. I honestly think they made him better though. Still a villain, yes, but a one that suits his world more.

The crows: I don't have much to say there, they kept their canon characteristics and, in my opinion, managed to fit them into the story quite well.

So, overall, while the series has some of the frustrating things that the books had, they did get rid off a lot of the bigger ones.

There are really only two things, which I didn't like: David's death and the fact the show as a whole forgot that Novyi Zem and Shu Han are not friendly places for Grisha. I swear I was fuming when they just mentioned they would love to go to Shu Han. Like, that's amazing, but you would end up on a lab table with needles in your brain.

That's all. Thank you for coming to my tedtalk.

[meraki-yao]

Omg I don’t like the live adaptions for Disney movies across the board so I just didn’t want to watch the little mermaid and I was so worried people would think it was because of racism! I’m sure she was great in the role and I absolutely did not care that they cast a black woman in the role but I wasn’t going to watch the movie for a million other reasons! None of them having to do with Halle! (Sorry Halle!)

I... I can freaking write an essay on my opinions on live-action Disney remakes. The only one I see of any actual value, which ended up becoming one of my all-time favourite movies, is 2015 Cinderella. It wasn't a one-to-one remake of the original, the costume and cinematography actually looked like a fairy tale book. It also improved upon the flaws of the original, namely giving the Prince a clear personality and backstory, giving Ella and Kit a chance to connect before the ball, cutting down the animal bits, giving Lady Tremaine an understandable yet logical reason for her behaviour, and give Ella a stronger, clearer character as well. It might as well be a new Cinderella movie, separate from the 1950 animated one.

The rest have a lot of flaws and do not add much to the original story while actively diminishing certain messages in the original.

(Spoilers for live-action remakes of Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King and The Little Mermaid, also I went on a rant again lmao)

In Beauty and the Beast 2017, Gaston is painted more sympathetically as he actually helped Maurice, and Belle comes off as arrogant and impolite. Instead of the library being a gift from the Beast to Belle which was a monumental change in their relationship, the library was just Beast judging Belle's taste in books and showing off how well-read he is. It isn't endearing.

In Lion King 2019 (holy shit I'm mad at this one, I mentioned this before but I was such a Lion King fangirl when I was younger) they removed Be Prepared, one of the best Disney Villain songs ever, and took away the menacing factor of Scar. Scar bitch slaps Mufasa and “Long Live the King” was more or less shouted, which just takes away the horror of the sudden, quiet betrayal of the original whispered "Long Live the King" and killing Mufasa by letting go and having him fall to his death. Daylight was present throughout the entire "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" scene. Mufasa didn't appear as this almost religious, God-like figure in the clouds, it was just the clouds because of realism, and that makes the scene so much weaker because there's not a figure to visualize. The CGI was so focused on getting the anatomy right that they completely forgot how animals emote (animals can be extremely expressive) so all of them appear expressionless

In The Little Mermaid 2023, the musical numbers were arranged and filmed/edited in a way that takes away the charm of the original. For example, in "Under the Sea", during the bridge where Sebastian ticks off a list of different sea creatures performing, instead of showing said sea creatures during each line like the lyrics intend, it just shows random stuff randomly. They added an instrumental break that slowed down the song's momentum and didn't rebuild it. And why is Ariel singing Under the Sea when she's trying to leave the sea??? Also, I usually love Lin Manuel Miranda's songs, big fan of In the Heights, Hamilton, and the music of both Moana and Encanto, but the new songs he wrote for the movie didn't add anything, and actually dragged the movie in places that should have been quicker, like Scuttle butt. The reason Triton came to terms with Ariel's longing for the land and gave her legs in the end is because he saw Eric kill Ursala for Ariel, which disproved his original opinions of humans being selfish, dangerous creatures. In the remake, 1, Triton straight up died when Ursala took his trident, so he didn't see the final battle at all 2, Ariel, a mermaid who has never been on a ship's deck before, heck from the movie I don't she even saw a functioning steering wheel, somehow managed to accurately steer a ship, in the middle of a storm and a giant whirlpool, while having no legs, that's not reasonable 3, even if Triton was there to watch, Eric didn't do shit in the final battle and was basically useless, so why would Triton change his mind? The whole point of Triton's trajectory in the original was him getting over his prejudice towards humans and learning to understand Ariel's perspective. That entire arc was rushed and more or less gone in the remake. And see how none of the issues I mentioned above have to do with casting Halle? It's entirely about the storytelling and the musical arrangements

Ok I did not mean to make this so long, I got carried away lol can you tell I'm passionate about the subject

Someday I think I'll write proper Disney essays

Tagging two of my Disney friends/mutual cuz I kinda wanna hear your opinions: @pippin-katz @lfg1986-2

[essayofthoughts]

So I know you study the PCs of C1 with great intent and care - but how do you handle the NPCs, which get far less screentime and are all filtered through Matt? With, say, Cass there are easy shortcuts - looking at Percy and finding what they might share - but less to use with Syldor, for instance (who the twins likely tried hard not to emulate).

I mean, even with Syldor I feel like it's kind of possible to reverse engineer him in how the twins behave? Like they refuse to act like him, but his shittery still impacted them and their behaviour. Vax's defensive attitude and protectiveness of Vex, how he hurls himself into harm's way. Vex's quiet observance, the way that she can fold into herself when made to feel uncomfortable, ashamed or guilty.

It suggests Syldor used shame to police them and that's why Vax refuses to feel ashamed at all - he knows Syldor's full of shit and aggressively refuses yo abide - but it worked on Vex and that's why she reacts so badly to that and why Vax can get so overtly protective and defensive then. It also seems very likely that Syldor tried to play them against each other to some degree - Vex's desire to fit in versus Vax's indifference - and while that might have caused some disputes I think ultimatelynit only pulled them closer together.

But. Well. Syldor alone isn't what you're asking about.

For minor characters - ones which appear only the once or only fleetingly - I don't worry too much. I go off general vibe and make use of what is seen in canon. For more significant characters like Gilmore, Allura, Kima, even Clarota or Victor who are there several times but aren't so significant I think about what we do see of them and what facts we know!

Clarota was exiled by his people - so he's lonely - but he's also a mindflayer and so believes in his own superiority. Even in his weakened position we see him take an aggressive stance at a few points and he very kuch isn't there to make friends. Why would he be? Some companionship is better than none but it isn't at all like the elder brain or his own people and again - they are beneath him.

Allura was once an adventurer. For all her status she's much more understanding of and patient with VM than they necessarily deserve - because she's been there too.

Gilmore is a theatre kid. I'm pretty sure Matt has mentioned that Gilmore is based a little on someone he knew - queer and in theatre iirc - and so I use that same vibe of like... gregarious charm and utter self-assurance.

As I've said already you can also do a lot with dialogue to figure things out. There's a great Star Wars post circulating that has a wonderful point of like... don't ask what kind of person willingly dates trashfire murderer Anakin Skywalker. Just acknowledge that Padme is that kind of person and go from there. See her characterisation and find a way to slot that in. She has blindspots or perhaps isn't so perfect in her beliefs or perhaps she's makinf excuses or has a case of the I Can Fix Hims. Regardless - if the character does the thing, use that to inform the characterisation.

So... yeah. I use what we see and use that to capture the... idk, general shape and idea of the character, and then I try to replicate enough of the quirks or accents Matt gives them to keep them recogniseable.

After all, how many fics feature Victor and, one way or another, keep him recogniseable just by maintaining his abrupt, bonkersness?

Ask me about my fic ideas!