#I get why it's divisive.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Kiss Kiss Fallen Tree!

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[itsabouttimex2]

Not sure if you have covered this, but I’ll ask. How would you have gone about Macaque’s redemption arc…if it’s possible with how he was written before season four? No hate or debate, just curious. I like alternate takes on characters :3

Hmm okay I thought on this for a little bit, and the crux of my problem with Macaque’s arc is that he’s established late Season Three to be “not a bad person” when-

1. He enjoys hurting people

2. He goes out of his way to hurt people

3. He hurts many people

4. He expresses no regret or remorse for hurting people

5. He faces no consequences for hurting innocent people aside from his intended victims winning their fights against him

6. His victims are reduced to a hivemind of non-autonomous set dressings who have no feelings on his presence or past crimes

And he promptly just becomes a person that everyone is okay with despite everything. So, if we have to keep the “one good action is enough to redeem you for betrayal, deceit, slandering, multiple counts of assault and attempted murder”, then we need to shift some things.

So I think the best thing to do if we want the actual “redemption arc” to hit the way it’s supposed to in canon is-

1. Thin his list of victims

2. Thin his list of crimes to the point that one good deed is actually a reasonable atonement for all of them

3. Play up his victimhood at the hands of the Mayor

4. Establish his inability to escape from the Lady Bone Demon much sooner

If the crux of his arc is just being forgiven by ONE of his many victims and then becoming a good person, then we just need to sharply reduce the amount of victims he has to make the immediate and all-encompassing forgiveness feel more realistic.

When he’s “sieging” the city in Macaque, the Smoke Demon ignores everyone who isn’t MK and deals no structural damage, creating no victims aside from the Monkie Kid.

When he’s performing in Shadowplay, Macaque portals MK away to fight him alone, leaving everyone else unharmed, creating no victims aside from the kid.

Then, when he’s stolen away by the Mayor, either:

1. Lady Bone Demon implants him with her powers right away, preventing him from running away and immediately establishing him as desperate, or, what I’d argue for-

2. Send the Mayor with him.

When he receives the compass and is released, Macaque pulls a Bone Key-

and throws it away, trying to shadow portal away, only to be greeted by

The Mayor, who proceeds to outright accompany Macaque on this journey, thereby serving as a foil to Tang Sanzang.

Where Sun Wukong was taken under the wing of someone who genuinely cared for him and wanted to see him improve, Macaque is forcibly dragged along by an outright malicious figure who wants to see him rot.

(Fuck, have Lady Bone Demon give Macaque an ice circlet to seal the “foil” deal! Have him be forced into these actions in outright agony! It would help Sun Wukong sympathize with him, expediting the “forgiveness” that a redemption arc needs!)

In fact, every time Macaque tries to leave, or steps out of line or even just fails? You hear an offscreen thud and yelping and then when we get to see him next, there’s new bruises on his body, new tears in his clothes. His fur becomes messy. His eyes grow haunted.

Play up his victimhood to coax the audience into sympathizing with him.

Macaque tries to run. The Mayor hurts him. He tries to stall. The Mayor hurts him. He tries to argue. The Mayor hurts him. He tries to fight back. The Mayor beats him back into subservience.

Establish that Macaque has utterly exhausted all avenues of “escape” before he resorts to attacking the Monkie Kids, and even then, have him try to avoid the majority of them in favor of MK, only to be forced by the Mayor into actually fighting Mei, Tang, Sandy, and Pigsy.

So now every character understands why he’s doing this- and don’t have a reason to hold it against him or expect any further atonement because none of his worst actions (like sieging the Dragon Palace) actually need to be addressed- they aren’t his fault.

That basically solves all the problems I have with the “arc” as it stands, honestly.

[mediumsizedart]

[canonkiller]

shan't lie I do miss the DeviantArt Holiday Wishlist era

[uselessmossball]

RIP his binder

[akkivee]

rosho’s wondering how tf sasara still has copies of his key when he’s already confiscated 50 of them and sasara says he’s shooting for 100 keys confiscated, we gotta get rosho outta there

[mechazushi]

Kaiju Number 8 AU ideas (Cuz' now I have several :-| ) [mostly KafHoshi flavored]

Genderbend AU: Kafka is a wholesome, supportive, big titty tomboy Blue collar girlfriend and Hoshina is a small titty, punk gf who runs a martial arts dojo and is a closeted manic pixie dream girl who need the emotional support to follow her dreams.

2. OOPS! All Kaiju!: Iharu (bright pink with wings), Aoi (navy blue with armor plating), Haruichi (sea foam green and spikes?/acid?/speedy? just double checked its definitely projectile spikes), and Kikoru (lemon yellow and blade creation/ manipulation) all undergo the same kaiju-ification process that Kafka went through and now he has to act as the Peter B. Parker of the group.

"Yes, you shed like a lizard does. It takes a month and it sucks the entire time. For the love of GOD, don't pick at it until it's ready otherwise you end up with rashes."

You could include Reno in there, I'm sure he'd have a badass design, but I didn't because I want to put him through the same mental downward spiral that I think Hoshina would go through when they realize they're into monsterf*cking.

Reno is just sitting there like "What is wrong with me?" and Hoshina is standing next to him with a blender bottle saying

"Bit of advice? Get over it soon because fighting the post nut clarity is not worth it."

To which Reno asks "How would you know?" as Hoshina's eyes pan over to Kafka who's teaching Iharu how to use his new kaiju tongue to eat out a pint sized ice cream container.

"O-oh...." Reno says as realization dawns on him.

"Yeah" Hoshina says as he smacks his lips, "That could be us right now."

"SI-SIR!"

"Hey, don't act like you weren't thinking it too."

3. Model AU: Mina runs a modeling agency and Hoshina is a talent scout. She sends him to find people that a modeling agency wouldn't typically consider for modeling in an attempt to showcase diversity in a positive light. Not knowing where to start, Hoshina heads to a bar and accidentally meets Kafka. The two talk and it comes up in conversation what Hoshina has been set out to do. As a joke, Kafka makes a bet that Hoshina can't make a garbage man be the next top model. (he's the garbage man in question.)

Kafka and Mina know each other. They fell out of contact when Mina made it into college and Kafka had to help support his grandparents through a rough time. Hoshina then hires Aoi (blasian) Haruichi (top surgery scars) and a delinquent brother-sister duo for the teen division (Iharu and Kikoru, who are orphans being raised by their successful gamer live-streamer older brother Narumi. I'm aware this part's a bit of a stretch, so just consider it a non-essential personal flair.) Reno was already a part of the modeling agency but had started to have problems dealing with body image, which Kafka helps correct and sets him on a healthier path. Iharu and Reno later become actors in a popular Power Rangers knock off show and become a canon couple on and off set.

[narugen-moved]

suddenly thought about how reno, similar to mina when she first enlisted - was thrown into a situation where they were known to be gifted/talented and had to put their lives at risk right off the bat.

except. mina clearly and obviously looks out for reno and places him in the division with a captain whom she KNOWS will nurture and look after him well. because mina herself understands what it’s like to be thrown into the battlefield with one big weapon for the first time…

and she doesn’t want reno to go through the same fear she did… it also helps that unlike mina who was alone, iharu was with him 🥲

mina you are SO SO SO KIND!!!!!!!!! giving reno the support that she never got…

[alexcabotgf]

not to be true crime posting on main but i think i'm falling down the wm3 rabbit hole again

[iriysse]

headcanon.

When Elves re-embody typically they are given bodies identical to their original ones. When Aredhel was re-embodied, however, she specifically requested a new appearance. She could not rewrite her life, but she desired at least to be a little less 'doe eyed and gullible looking' as she called it, and something felt like a clean slate if she could start anew from the very foundation of how she looked. There were no memories of staring in horror at what she had allowed herself to become. Mandos considered and granted her request, and she left his halls feeling as if she had been made anew. Those who knew her could recognize her after a moment of initial confusion.

[miodiodavinci]

anyway probably my favorite thing about fafnir is the ever present gap moe of this incredibly sad and tired looking corpse man acting and behaving like a nervous little creature in a shopping mall, or perhaps a teenager who has been miraculously hired onto their first job despite having None of the qualifications w

my other favorite thing is the fact that he can do this w

[selfmaderibcageman]

Okay thats enough hoi4 for a few years again im back to normal

[aroacettorney]

tbh i wish aup had more reps for characters who achieve greatness purely through hard work and effort. the emphasis on genius/being special is mayhaps way too much to the point that it feels kinda damn depressing for those who aint born as one.

[chronurgy]

I'd probably be less annoyed by bioware's choice to focus so heavily on a specific subsection of lore if it was a subsection of lore I actually liked

[burnpianoislandburn]

makes me kinda sad honestly how easy it is to make shitty goth music

[garciapimienta]

Need people to stop saying Pau Victor is this season's Fermin