#NOT like or agree with the way he's characterized XD

[clotpolesonly]

your tags on that necromancied/noah post were SO GOOD ugh I can see it now, and that LINE “Gansey didn't ask if i wanted to live. i guess that's fitting. Whelk didn't ask if i wanted to die either.” FRICKING FRICK. If that ever leaps out of your brain and onto fic somewhere I will be first in line to read it

THAT LINE WOULD ABSOLUTELY DEVASTATE GANSEY TOO, HE WOULD BE GUTTED, IT WOULD BE SO DELICIOUS FUUUUUCK WHEN WILL MY LONGFIC JUICE RETURN FROM THE WAR

[pilferingapples]

@bobafish, re:

#please elaborate on courf's temper 👀👀#tbh I hadn't heard that before

OK! :D these are just Thoughts about him character wise and not like...deep XD

to be clear I don't think Courfeyrac has a BAD temper, I don't think he's a screamy scary guy who blows his top all the time! I want to make that clear; Courfeyrac is clearly A Delight and a charmer.

I do think he has a quick temper, though--quick like a firecracker, where it flares up and dies back in a blink, and , usually ,doesn't do any harm. Two main points make me think this: 1- the Charter Torching Scene. He's just talking with Combeferre, who he knows fundamentally agrees with him, but he gets so worked up about the existence of the Charter itself that he has to throw it in the fire. This is fine! It's a stupid pamphlet none of them need, he's being Dramatic and it's very funny-- but it's definitely not a Relaxed Easygoing Move XD It's pretty much a summary of how I think his temper works-- he gets riled up, he makes a quick comment or gesture (in this case: Setting A Thing on Fire) and he's done. A quick temper, not a bad temper. 2- "Hold your tongue, you cask!" said Courfeyrac. (Night Falls on Grantaire) Couldn't think of any better leadup to it than that XD Courfeyrac is the first of the barricade fighters to lose his patience with Grantaire; it's not a big scene , it's just a quick "shut up" with a little extra insult, and --as I've said of Enjolras' rebuke to Grantaire in this scene-- it is fully deserved, Grantaire is being an ass in this scene. I don't think Grantaire even processes it, he just launches off in another direction. >< But he is the first person to tell Grantaire to shut up, getting exasperated with him even faster than Enjolras, who is pretty much Done with Grantaire's nonsense from the get-go.

There's also the way he's so quick with teasing, sometimes with results you know he doesn't want (like Marius avoiding him for days XD) . All of the Amis are pretty jokey, but Courfeyrac's noted by the narrative to be particularly fast on the draw with a nickname or a bit of a jab.

Again I hasten to say I don't think this makes him a Terrible Person-- I actually kinda roll my eyes at the level of Offense some people take off him -- but I think it's a little piece of characterization that separates him from Legle's more monologuing style of puns, or Grantaire's ...whatever the heck Grantaire is doing XD Courfeyrac gets associations with fire, for his warmth, and sometimes even a nice well contained fire can send out a spark that makes someone yelp; and he gets compared with cats and kittens, and sometimes even a very sweet cat will catch someone with its claws in passing- or on purpose, now and then .

(I bet he can be absolutely brutal when he wants, but that's reserved for people who have it coming. Like Rousseau. Kick his ghostly ass, Courfeyrac.)

[newathens]

i totally agree, the relationships between fathers and sons are prolly my fave elements of pjo, but let's not nerf our goddesses ricky!!

i can't even begin to explain how much i loathe rick's depictions of femininity in the series, he will pay for his depictions of aphrodite and hera, two goddesses very feminine in what they represent. he did the entire concept of aphrodite's children so so poorly, he doesn't even try to show us their skillset and shows them sitting out of capture the flag to do their makeup or whatever?? and i like the idea of hera being obsessed with the 'perfect family' ideal she is trying to get the olympians to live up to but the way rick has portrayed it has fallen so short and it is obvious in general fandom reception of hera that it is inherently misogynistic (the amount of times i've seen people call pjo hera a bitch, keep my wife's name out of your fucking mouth!!). like hera is so misunderstood, she is one of the only gods to challenge zeus and take action especially since she's in a position to do so with less repercussion than others might receive (with the exception of the rebellion and whatnot), but no!! she is evil stepmother!! bitch who goes after zeus' lovers and children!!

and then you have slightly less feminine goddesses (though i'd argue they're still quite feminine in nature) artemis and athena, the former being a manhating stoic girlboss, how fucking creative rick go girl give us nothing. and what's the deal with artemis kicking out two sapphics from the hunt, like that is so icky to me in so many ways. then there's athena, who rick goes out of his way to show that she is a bad mother and person in general (using the roman myth of medusa on a greek goddess?? boooo, tomato, tomato). rick has the most annoying tendency to find one stereotypical trait about a greek god and just latch onto that for their characterisation and nothing else, you see it with some of the gods but it is so so prevalent in the goddesses. poseidon gets his good moments as a dad and viewed quite favourably in percy's eyes (on another note, the blatant bias in the greek gods and heroes books is laughable but that's another time), apollo gets a whole book series to have a redemption arc (good for him, though), hades gets some good moments too (though it's quite annoying to me seeing the fandom praise him as one of the 'good ones' lmao). zeus... i don't like rick's depiction of him for reasons entirely unrelated lol, but the point is that the gods are allowed to be multifaceted and complex, but the goddesses get their stupid stereotypical traits exacerbated and maybe one or two half-assed moments of something else. it pisses me off so much!!!

(sorry for leaving an essay in your inbox but in my defence you asked for this XD)

when did u send this !!!!! 10/10. no notes

he does this all the time and it’s not just the olympian goddesses either. his recent depiction of nyx was so….. i can’t even adequately form my thoughts on the matter. the characterization of the goddesses in the pjoverse are not given much thought. even when i try to rationalize and analysis it, they still fall short. iris, medea, khione off the top of my head, all fun characters but each have something umm distasteful(?) in their depictions. definitely a part of all three series that deserves more examination

[jedi-enthusiast]

On the note of random Mace antis just appearing out of the wood work; honestly it feels like they purposefully go looking for Mace appreciation posts, or any positive post about him (or any other Jedi appreciative/positive post for that matter) and purposefully say wrong/mean things because they think their opinion was asked for and they just have to remind everyone that this character is Actually The Worst, when they aren't. Its like they can't handle us having fun and loving genuinely wonderful and good characters (like Mace, Yoda, Luminara and Ki-Adi for example. Mace cause he's the current target of it, and the other three cause they're usually used as examples of the "worst Jedi" by the antis' standards. When, again, they aren't.) Like we're fine with leaving them be and letting them enjoy things the way they want, but they can't handle doing the same. Like they can go in their circle and have fun, but let us do the same! (Sorry for random ramble and I hope it made some sense, but I had strong feelings lol. But I loved seeing you defend Mace so beautifully. Very Nice XD)

Don't worry about it, it made perfect sense! And I appreciate the ask, it's nice to know that there are people out there who are as passionate about this stuff as I am <3

----------

Honestly, though, it's insane how desperate these people are to argue and how attention seeking they are!

Do you know how many anti-Jedi people I've blocked by finding them posting stuff in the pro-Jedi tag??? I don't understand what's so hard about just posting things on your own blog instead of being a dick on the blogs of people who have a different opinion than you.

As is probably obvious by now, I hate Anakin Skywalker, but I have never gone on someone else's blog---who clearly likes him---just to argue about why I hate him. Hell, I only talk about him on the blogs of people I know agree with me!

Why can't anti-Jedi people just do the same?

Also, on the topic of Mace Windu, I fucking hate the way that fandom has treated him---he deserves so much better! Their characterization of him isn't even rooted in canon, it's them just wanting to bash him because god forbid anyone ever say no to their uwu fascist man baby- (let alone a POC).

Just- ugh.

I'm taking away fandom's Mace Windu privileges until they learn how to act.

[phaerlax]

you as the WolfBoyGuy and me as someone who has just recently seen the puppy light, do you have any tips or what you'd consider Required Reading to get a good grip on writing wolf boys? moreso karu than garu just because i personally have a hard time writing dudes with as much bluster and "doesn't tend to default to conventionally agreed on niceties". i have (admittedly mild) torments I'd like to put him through >_>

Anon is asking me about blorbo... I have been training for this for so long... behold now the ramblings of a man possessed by two wolves. I'll talk a bit about how I approach writing Karu and then include some curated recs.

It took me some time to really get going on wolfboy fics; I also found it challenging to handle Karu's characterization. Two big reasons why:

Tsunderes are just difficult to do if you're grounded in realism. It's a very 'anime' archetype and people don't behave quite like that. This makes it harder to naturally reach for reasonable/appropriate responses when putting the character in situations. The big want/think/say/do splits can also complicate straightforward scenarios (e.g. the character wants something and does what he needs to do in order to get it. This path is often closed to the tsundere).

The game gives little insight into Karu's inner world. NU: Carnival is very dialogue-heavy in its narrative. When we do get introspection, it's often Eiden-focused. This means we basically never get to see the thought process that leads Karu to act this way or that, except in the rare instances in which he talks to himself (like in some H scenes when he goes "ugh it feels so good but-").

The style that I ended up developing for my angry wolf boy writings follows these principles:

Keep him silly. This is because I fundamentally see Karu as a comical character. Yeah, his personality can be traced back to traumas and there's a lot of interesting stuff to explore in that regard, but I am not personally interested in that tbh. The reason I love him is the wacky nonsense and ridiculous behavior that we see in the game. It was at first sight for me. I didn't need depth and I still don't XD Any advice and references I provide are skewed by that. I have a preference for almost never taking him seriously.

Mind his 'narrativization' tendencies. Karu is comically very enamored by the idea/narrative that he's a mighty warrior with many great skills who will conquer humanity and who should be respected and served. On some level, he knows this isn't entirely true, so he will sometimes (try to) avoid situations that would bring attention to his shortcomings. But most often he's trying to prove himself and get others to share his narrative. When something or someone reinforces the narrative, he gets proud, pleased or happy-flustered. When something or someone goes against the narrative, he gets annoyed and angry-flustered. He is very good at ignoring reality, however. Even though he'll seemingly take exception to every little slight, he moves on very quickly and pretends nothing happened. And though he's stubborn, he's also willing to surrender, cut his losses and 'try another day' when he's foiled.

Mix his narrativization with the narration a lot. This kind of free indirect discourse is just my style in general, but with Karu I find myself using it more intensely, to such an extent that the narration can get quite dialogue-like in how it expresses his thoughts. When I want to portray a 'tsundere stumble' moment, I sometimes make the narration interrupt itself as Karu consciously aborts a line of thinking that would lead him to unacceptable conclusions.

Let him just be rude for no reason and with little consequence. Karu's default way of addressing and dealing with people (other than Kuya) is rudeness. At best, he attempts some form of condescension in which the reason he's doing something 'nice' is because you're so weak and he's so awesome or whatever. Most characters seem to simply not mind his behavior and, again, it's usually played for laughs anyway.

Bibliography of Karu Studies

Keep in mind that many Karu fics are kuyaru, and Karu in kuyaru is quite different from the core of the character, since he's uniquely eager to please Kuya. Still, even kuyarus can have some nice insight.

who let the dogs out has a lot of juicy Karu inner conflict, and it even explores the ways in which such hangups make him outwardly grumpier. Due to kuyaru, it ultimately leads him to a place of submission, but his initial thoughts are very in-character.

Baser Instincts is a kuyaru in which Kuya gets to see the pups in a new light, because they help him in a difficult situation. It's another great source of inspiration for Karu struggling to express his feelings.

Bow Down! explores how he might react to Eiden letting him top, in a very true-to-character way.

Lonely at the Top is Karu/Dante, which means you get to see Karu at his prickliest and most insufferable, and how that can be managed.

A Matter of Pride is a good example of the 'concessions' dynamic that can be done in Eiden/Karu.

Goshujin-Ai is an older Karu/Yakumo and a good example of Karu feeling comfortable and doing the 'attempts at condescension' thing I mentioned before.

Slave number one, rub my chest again is me speculating on what it might look like for Karu to ask Eiden to do things to him and try to control sex.

Warden slander wolf Commander is probably a good example of the 'fine I give up but I'll get you next time' potential of Karu, as well as the kind of bleed-heavy narration I talked about.

Master, do you have another wolf besides me?! delves into Karu's potential for jealousy as a way of expressing affection. It's pretty canon-compliant because most of it is adapted from NEON Carnival.

There are many other fics in the Karufic Archive, but I think the ones above are among the best for the purposes of thinking about the writing.

Please feel free to talk to me non-anonymously if you ever want to discuss wolf boy content! As you can see I am cursed with thoughts and need places to put them. I'm also always very happy to do anything that I can to shepherd and sponsor GaruKaru content; if you go ahead with your impulse to write about them (please do) and want a beta reader, don't hesitate to ask~

[ultraviolet-ink]

fandom hot take: the aa fandom gets apollo's characterization wrong a lot

Strongly agree | Agree | Neutral | Disagree | Strongly disagree

I definitely agree with this, but hopefully with the porting of 456 onto the switch, more people can see why I love Apollo so much lol! He's a bit of a dork, but in that "I'm 20 years old and I still have light in my eyes!" kind of way that is lovingly destroyed by the end of 4-1! I also like to remind people that he's also a big crybaby, especially when Trucy was "held Hostage" in 4-2, I think that it's really endearing!

Granted, what I really like about him was his characterization in AJ, he's idealistic, but less of a paragon than Trilogy!Nick, he's willing to help people who are definitely not innocent, but not guilty of actual murder... I feel like that was dropped so hard for 5+6 because capcom wanted to redirect since AJ wsn't as successful as the trilogy initially was

He is also a whovian and in my heart and soul, I know he was tangentially involved in SuperWhoLock, he's the right age for it XD

and no, I don't think he views Phoenix as his dad, or even as A dad. Nuclear Family-ification of the found family trope my beloathed.

[egg-emperor]

Hey there! Lurker on your blog. I have to say I agree with your takes. I don't know where people get the idea that Eggman is becoming good. That's never going to change. We wouldn't even have a main villain otherwise! It's much more interesting to see Sage go down a path of villainy and imitating her father like most young kids do with their parents. I love those artworks of them being evil together. It'd be so fun if we got a game where Sage dresses to match her dad more and even attempts to laugh like he does!

It's good to know I'm not alone. 💜 I feel like I'm in this little spot with a very small number of people that don't agree with all loudest sides of the debates right now because I don't believe it's even happening to complain about in the first place. Eggman definitely isn't ever going to become a good guy. I don't know what the fandom is talking about, he's so far morally gray and is still very much evil.

He's the main villain of the series and always will be, he's one of the most iconic ever and they're not gonna make him a good guy and lose that status and replace him with some random guy lol. Sega JP emphasized how he's a bad guy and cool villain the day the update dropped through Sonic channel. All official stuff is still describing and showing him to be very much so.

Since accepting and analyzing Frontiers Eggman much deeper down to every line of dialogue, I realized it's just brought forward a bunch of even more evidence I can use and emphasizes how much of an evil bastard and bad person he in cool new ways that encourage deeper thought. It's been very cool and fun to me to dive in deep as someone insanely fixated on analyzing him XD

And it's also still surface level with the way he was still constantly plotting, scheming, wished he could use what he's learned about the ancients and the end to his advantage, showed low empathy multiple times, laughed at Sonic's death, and made it very clear how much he hates working with Sonic and co. And on top of all that, his dynamic with Sage is based on his narcissism and egotism.

This also didn't change at all in The Final Horizon, it also showed it in even more cool ways and it's great. Sure the fandom created their own vastly different fanon version of Eggman and his dynamic with Sage and talk like it's canon and let it overshadow all the real cool and interesting things about it, but the official media is unaffected. Eggman is the same character I know and love as ever there.

When I shut out what the loudest parts of fandom are telling me to think and feel, I genuinely like what I see and analyze Eggman's characterization to be. I see what they were going for even without Flynn's later writer commentary. And I'm really happy I genuinely like it, I feel happy, content, and at peace with how he's being portrayed and it's relieved me of so much stress and worry.

He's not going anywhere, he's the same diabolical narcissistic egotistical bastard that I adore and find so funny and entertaining! And the new stuff taking him in interesting new directions that emphasize the character he already is and not changing it but further strengthening and solidifying it instead, makes me so happy and appreciate and understand it in even more ways.

That's my funny horrible special guy and I love him so much 🥰

And Sage is still very much not a good person either, knowing all about how terrible Eggman is and still remaining loyal and loving. That combined with his narcissism and ego - the reasons he praises and takes pride in her for the first place - is a delightfully dangerous combination. Just think about how his massive ego and evil could be even further boosted and enabled by her!

And the influence Eggman can have on Sage will also be very fun in return. She's compliant with his orders and knows exactly who he is, what he wants, what he's capable of, and how terrible he is and sticks by him. I'd love to see more of villainous Sage and how Eggman's influence can affect her that way, like seeing even more of the pre Sonic influence Sage will be very fun.

Final Horizon gave us a nice example of how she supports him conquering the world and I'd love to see more of her attitude and feelings on it and what she's willing to do to play her part in it. I also really enjoy art that gets it right and shows Eggman and Sage being evil and reveling in it together. I'm excited to see more because their canon dynamic is fun and has potential to be excitingly chaotic!

Sage trying to mimic aspects of Eggman like behaviors, quirks, and maybe fashion would be pretty funny. I think he'd allow it to an extent, as he'll enjoy how it shows her admiration for him, helps remind people Eggman is her father more which it's easier for him to take pride, and he'll just be very pleased to influence someone in an evil way... so long as it doesn't steal any of his spotlight! XD

[ashesandhackles]

I was thinking about the house elf and SPEW plotline earlier had some questions. Ron reacts to it by actively dismissing it and this makes sense because he is more prone to push back to Hermione than Harry (at the point of GOF) and he was raised absorbing all of the biases and prejudices of the wizarding world without questioning them much. But I was wondering why Harry was so dismissive of Hermione’s attempts at activism? Is it he doesn’t agree with the way she goes about it, or is it that he doesn’t fully grasp that they are in fact enslaved and need more than just wizards being nicer to them OR is he just following Ron’s lead? What’s your take?

My Watsonian answer is that Harry understands individual wrongs better than systematic wrongs. This is also a reflection of the author who does better writing with interpersonal relationships than with systemic injustice (she can write about classism well, but the rest is not very well observed). To be honest, I actually do think it's out of character for Harry to not react when Crouch was berating Winky (whereas he does involve himself when he sees how Lucius treats Dobby) - he notices it, the narrative notices it, but he speaks up to support Hermione.

Harry's narrative line on this would be similar to Hagrid's: "It's [SPEW] doing them unkindness and it's in their nature to look after humans" (which, given that the storyline is about slavery, so TONE DEAF). So he, like Hagrid, disapproves of Hermione's methods. This, after we get the worldbuilding detail of house elves highest law being their master's bidding ("Don't you see how sick it is, the way they've got to obey?"), which means to enact their own will, they have to go to great lengths (like Dobby having to iron his ears to warn Harry).

My Doylist answer is that house elf plotline is so badly mangled that the end conclusion does end up being: "Be nice to your slaves" and Hermione, the radical one, is the one who has to concede to Harry's ownership of Kreacher.

Basically, if there is one thing I would like to ignore about Harry's characterization, it would be this and I don't actually have an answer for you. XD

[aeternallis]

such an interesting meta with kim, even if i have a bit of a hard time swallowing that he would ever pose a threat to chay. he's never been aggressive towards him, and he protected him at the warehouse even if chay didn't know until later. so i feel like on the contrary, they're the healthiest of the three

Heyya nonnie~ 

It took me some time with this response, apologies for that. 

You're the nicest of all the anon asks I got in response to what I presume to be this meta that expressed the same sentiments, so I don't mind entertaining you. Hehe! 

I agree, Kim has never been physically aggressive towards Chay, but the way I see it, it doesn't mean the potential isn't there. My own sentiments on this have not changed; the potential and the breadth of what this entails is what holds my attention for this couple. Now, up to where you choose to go with that is entirely up to you; I myself don't know up to what point the idea of physical aggression from Kim towards Chay can go (if it even goes anywhere), because we don't have a KP S2, all we can do is speculate on the crumbs we got.

And we in the Kimchay fandom speculate, don’t we? Every fic author who’s written a Kimchay reconciliation fic with smut involved has played with this potential, even if the potential is zero. XD For my own reconciliation fic though, I dialed it up to a 6 at least, ahahahaha. Besides that, my belief with this is in keeping with the overall themes of the show, yknow?

After all, the show asks their audience a vital question within its narrative: what consequences and hardships do Porsche, Pete, and Porchay endure, to be loved by these Theerapanyakul men?

In my defense it's not as if I pulled that aforementioned meta outta my ass, I do have an explanation for it. Lolol

It's not something I mentioned in my original meta because I know most people on here have issues with the novel, but there is a noticeable change to Chay's characterization in the adaptation. From my own experience and understanding, seeing the changes from book to show is able to provide more clarity on BOC's intent with their changes and overall presentation of the drama, which I think is a good thing, overall.

In the book, Chay is a lot more like Porsche, both in his personality and his way of thinking. For example, take a look at this scene from when Tawan kidnaps Chay, and how much Chay mouths off to him:

In the adaptation however, Chay is knocked out during that scene, so the framing of that situation is very different; he’s portrayed to be a lot more helpless and weak, because of the fact that he was knocked out. I go into the consequences of these changes on a different meta, mostly talking about Porsche and Chay's relationship, if you're interested.

Another example I can think of right off the bat: when the reader first sees Chay and Kim meet (again, as it's implied that there is bad history between them) in the book, Kim pretty much kabedons Chay against the wall, and Chay retaliates by kicking him in the groin. Lol

These are just two examples, but by bringing these scenes up, I want to highlight the change from book to show: in the show, Chay's personality is framed to be milder than Porsche, as someone who’s not a fighter, as someone who's more optimistic, and as someone whose instinct it is is more to call for help than try to fight off an enemy. Barcode's take on this character is a lot more docile (in the beginning, at least), naively bold when compared to the book character, and he doesn't have much of the spunkiness that Porsche has, yknow?

Again, on paper not that big of a change in the long run, but a noticeable one nonetheless.

In episode 5 when Chay talks of his admiration to Kim, he states that he wants to be more like Porsche, and one of Porsche's most defining characteristics is his fighting skills. It's due partly to his fighting prowess that he's able to better enforce his boundaries with Kinn. It's an added asset for him, as it is for Pete to Vegas, but it’s not necessarily the only thing they both have going for them.  

And yet, why doesn't Chay know how to fight? Why doesn't he seem to have the disposition for it? Was he never provided or had an opportunity to learn? Perhaps Porsche kept him from having to learn; this matches up with how overprotective he is of Chay, one could argue.

Again, because of how Chay's character is framed in the show, he doesn't have the brazen attitude that he shares with Porsche in the book (in fact, a few times Porsche even mentions how much Chay is like him); on the contrary, he's a lot more self-reflective in the show and quite thoughtful. This manifests itself in his natural talent when it comes to writing music, especially how he was able to write the 1st version of WDYS in Kim's studio.

Because of this notable change in Chay’s character in the show, the physical power imbalance between Kim and Chay is a lot more noticeable, hence why Kim’s potential aggression towards Chay is more keenly felt in the show (case in point: their bar scenes, lol), at least the way I see it. 

For reals, I still question why they altered this part of the book characterization when they chose to adapt this IP. Lol

Imo, BOC discards Chay’s penchant for impulsiveness and brazenness (similar to Porsche when fighting an enemy off) in the book, but in turn, elevates his mental fortitude when he’s wronged. In the show, it’s definitely more a showcase of his inner strength and self-respect that he in particular was able to draw his boundaries against Kim (aka blocking his number, not picking up his call, etc), without ever having to physically fight him off, as opposed to Porsche and Pete.

[skylights422]

New X-Men '97 tomorrow! I am very excited! But I also had meant to make more posts reviewing the first three episodes. It was going to be multiple posts over different topics, but I am short on time and organizational energy, so I am just gonna make two posts over the biggest topics: The Romance Drama, and The Plot. Romance drama first! It got Long, so it's under a cut. xD (And a quick disclaimer that any negative opinions on the canon writing of couples doesn't mean I dislike people for shipping any of it; I almost never ship anything personally just as a matter of personal preference, but am very much a Ship And Let Ship/Don't Like Don't Read kind of person)

First, I will just say that the Jean/Scott/Logan drama was...always the most boring and confusing part to me in the 90s show? I just didn't feel like they did enough to show why Wolverine was SO in love with her when it seemed like they never spent any time together normally or had any major bonding moments? So I felt like he was just pining based on appearance and the fact they were teammates, which...is fine I guess but not the sweeping, dramatic unrequited love it was always portrayed as.

(I mean Wolverine was so torn up about them getting married he REFUSED TO ATTEND and instead spent time trying to kill an illusion version of Scott in the Danger Room, that's. Very dramatic! And for what? Maybe they covered it a little bit in an episode I haven't re-watched yet but I remember Past Me at least not finding the explanation impressive enough lollll)

So, I'm not...super looking forward to more of it in this new show, but also expecting it since it was always such a feature. I'd rather not have Jean kinda date Logan just because she's mad at Scott and Logan wants to? But it won't shock me. By and large I have made peace with my dislike for that particular love triangle since I'm otherwise such a fan of both series. (And so far anyways Logan has been a little less weird about his unrequited feelings even if they're still pretty obvious)

THEN we have the Rogue and Magneto romance. This one I have had more mixed feelings on. My kneejerk reaction was confusion and dislike - I didn't know until I looked it up after the episode that they were together in the comics, and since they weren't in the previous show, it felt...really random. (Also I am just not much a fan of couples with large age gaps, obviously Rogue is an adult and can do what she wants, it's just not my cup of tea. Plus Rogue and Gambit is one of maybe, like...five? Couples in media? That I have any investment in AS a romantic couple lol, but mostly I was just not looking forward to more romantic drama in general since it's just not something I tend to enjoy much)

Now I have two opinions. One is simply that I am Over feeling bothered by it and just curious to see what they do with it, since Rogue and Magneto do have some compelling thematic reasons to have scenes together anyways. And Rogue and Gambit definitely COULD have a mature conversation about it, which would actually be pretty neat.

Now my main quibble is that it was introduced so suddenly, and with so little explanation. As a general rule, I do NOT consider 'it happened in the source material' to be a valid excuse for anything in an adaptation unless it also makes sense within the established lore/characterization/etc. of the adaptation itself. A Doylist explanation existing does not remove the need for a solid Watsonian one, and if there just...isn't a Watsonian explanation, then I feel it is lazy writing at best, actually terrible writing if done badly enough.

There's definitely still time for them to give some kind of flashback or explanation for Rogue and Magneto though! You can introduce new aspects to character's pasts, in general. So I am holding out my final opinion to see if they do that, and in what way.

On a smaller, technically still hypothetical note, next for romance drama we have: Morph crushing on Wolverine. I do agree that it's extremely possible, even likely, that Morph seeming Interested in Wolverine in this version is deliberate - I mainly say hypothetical because I have seen some VERY overtly queercoded stories/scenes/etc. be written genuinely by accident, and at this point I'm really not sure how it was intended (like, if it's meant to be anything bigger than the scene itself or not).

And once again, I have mixed feelings on it. On one hand, having an openly gay character in an X-Men cartoon is good! It's nice to see some diversity in orientation. And Morph makes sense since they are the closest to a blank slate as you can get with a pre-established character, only being in nine episodes total of the original series - very spread out ones, as well.

But well, there's two reasons I feel kind of egh about it. One is that nearly all the Established Duos that got a lot of attention in the original show were romantic ones, and as someone who is fundamentally more invested emotionally in non-romances, I really liked the thought of having a best friend duo to fixate on. (We do still have Magneto and Xavier but XAVIER IS DEAD RIGHT NOW SO IT ONLY HALF COUNTS)

The other is that it...would almost definitely be another unrequited crush. Which for one, is just drama that isn't interesting to me. But also I dunno if 'sad gay bravely accepts never getting with the love of their life' is amazing rep for...friendships OR gay people??? Like you could write it so that Morph is genuinely fine being 'just' friends, and maybe in an ideal world that would even kick Wolverine into considering he could maybe be More Normal About Jean. But I worry about their friendship falling apart or it being made out to be 'not enough' to Morph and ultimately just making everyone look bad (and also if they push too hard on the Sad Morph Angle I feel like it could just be another case of villainizing people for not returning affections which I just, REALLY HATE)

SO I'M ON EDGE ABOUT IT. Possibly they won't do much with the concept at all, which I'd frankly prefer. Possibly they'll find a way to write the one-sided romance that is actually considerate to both sides and doesn't destroy their friendship. Possibly they'll even introduce other gay couples somewhere in the show so the rep for it isn't all riding on Morph's shoulders! But I am also very aware how easy it would be to do this wrong. SO WE'LL SEE.

[fictionalstoryteller]

Rating the Celestial Beings from LMK Based on How They’d Babysit Your Kid

Fandom: Lego Monkie Kid

Characters: Monkey King, Nezha, and Chang’e

TW: nothing but fluff! ☁️

Genre: Implied platonic relationships 

Extra: I’ve been most excited for this list since it has some of the most iconic characters in the show. But small problem… I haven’t seen season 4 yet… so that means Nezha and Chang’e might not be totally accurate since I haven’t seen if they get more characterization in season 4. Hopefully that isn’t an issue! Anyways let’s continue with the list down below ⬇️

Monkey King:

Monkey King would be happy to help you out by babysitting, and also SUPER overconfident. After all, what kid wouldn’t want to hang out with the legendary Sun Wukong? 🤩 

He’d also be a little bit nervous, but either he’d be too prideful to show it or more self assured than nervous. It all depends on the situation.

You’d have to drop your kid off at Flower Fruit Mountain, which would be hard to get to… and even if he met you somewhere and took your kid to Flower Fruit Mountain himself, you’d still have to go pick them up.

If your kid does somehow make it through the trip to Flower Fruit Mountain they’ll have a multitude of places to play. After all, it’s a big island with a lot of cool locations to explore!

Monkey King has only two types of food on the island. Peaches, and peach chips. Hopefully your kid likes those-

Despite being irresponsible at times, your kid will be 100% safe due to Wukongs powers.

Wukong is such an attention seeker, but because of this he’d be great at entertaining your kid! He could show them some basic training moves, let them explore the island, play with them using his powers, and so much more. (Anything to make them think he’s just the coolest dude ever)

I get the impression that he would interact with your kid the same way he interacts with MK. Lazy, teasing, warm and protective. 

I can’t see why he wouldn’t be a good babysitter in all honesty. He has a personality kids would be drawn to, and literally nothing would be able to harm your kid when they’re with Monkey King. And he lives in such a cool place! I refuse to believe your kid would be bored with all the animals and hidden temple stuff. My only complaints are about the transportation and food situation… how do you plan to drop off or pick up your kid? I mean I’m sure you could find some work arounds, but it sounds like such a hassle. And we’ve only ever seen Wukong eat peaches and peach flavored chips while on the island, which leads me to believe there isn’t much else there to eat. But you could argue we only see him eating the same type of food because he’s a picky eater, and that there’s other type of food elsewhere on the island, so I’m not deducting too many points for that. Overall he’s getting a 8.6/10!

Nezha:

I’ve been doing some research on the lmk characters recently, mainly the celestial beings, to understand the Journey to the West better. While digging around I learned that in China it’s commonly believed that Nezha was a patron god to children and teenagers. No wonder he’s so patient with MK! I think it’s safe to say he knows how to deal with kids

You won’t have to worry about Nezha slacking off, if anything he’d take his job SUPER seriously. 

Though, I can see this being a problem for some kids considering children usually hate serious adults.

He’ll have to take your kid out to town since taking kids to heaven to hang out is probably a no go. 

I’m not sure how well versed Nezha is in the modern world, so he might need some help figuring out certain things. Which, let’s all be honest, would make for a hilarious comic! Wouldn’t you agree Tumblr Artists? Hint hint wink wink 

Based on his mythology, I can totally see him having a soft spot for kids. Nezha would probably give even the most rebellious kids the benefit of the doubt because, in his eyes, they still have a lot of growing up to do. 

If they’re fans of Monkey King he’s going to be so mad XD 

He probably won’t have much of a plan for the babysitting session, and will rely on your kid to decide what they want to do (though, their options might be limited if you don’t give Nezha some money)

If Nezha is in a good mood, and if your kid is convincing enough, he might even show off his awesome fire wheels. Don’t worry, he’ll be sure to take them a safe distance away from the city

Nezha is amazing, and he totally has this in the bag! He’s got his mythology, patience, and powers working in his favor. He might be a bit out of touch with the modern human world, and some kids might hate him for being super serious, but both of these things are fairly navigable. As long as you give them enough money for lunch, everything will be fine. That being said, because of his limited knowledge and his unlikeliness to his powers if he deems it too risky, most kids might find him a bit boring… I’m going to have to deduct some points for that sadly TvT. 8.6/10! 🩷 

Chang’e

I feel like Chang’e would be SUPER excited to babysit, but I’m just guessing based off of her overall cheerful attitude.

Unlike Nezha and Wukong, Chang’e would be able to babysit your kid at her place or out on the town. This is because she probably knows at least a little about mortal customs considering she has a phone (which is good considering not many people can go to the FLIPPING MOON)

If she babysat at her place she could teach your kid some new recipes, show them her bunny robots, and so much more!

Because she has a phone an a TV show, I’d say she’s fairly adapt with how the human world works. She’d have no trouble fitting in with mortals if you’d prefer her babysitting on earth

Chang’e totally packed homemade lunches that are both nutritious and delicious. She’d also bring at least one sweet snack for later on as a reward of sorts.

Chang’e has shown that she’s willing to hear people despite misunderstandings or previous mistakes, which is an incredibly useful talent when dealing with kids.

Honestly? She hasn’t been in enough episodes for there to be any MAJOR negatives I can call out. In fact, she seems perfect! Unlike the others on this list, she can be flexible with where she babysits. And she has a naturally cheerful demeanor, which most kids would absolutely adore. Also there’s no way your kid is going hungry! Because of this I am happy to say that Chang’e, the underrated queen, is the second character in this series to get a 10/10! WOOOHOOO 👑🍜

[Wow that took way longer than expected. Sorry for the wait! But while I still have you here, who should I rate next? The spider gang or the demon bull family?]

[dandelion-wings]

For the character meme: Childe please!

Thank you for the ask! :>

How I feel about this character

I like Childe a lot! ...When I'm thinking about him. The thing with Childe is that he's not a character I actively think about unless he shows up in canon or someone else brings him up, or I see him in a fic/art or mentioned in a post. At which point I pretty much always go, "Oh, yeah, that guy, I like that guy! :D My battle-buddy frenemy! Way to go, that guy!" and briefly dwell in the Liking Childe vibes until he fades again from my awareness. I wish he didn't fade out like that on me because I know a lot of people I like talking to enjoy him, and I suspect would enjoy me popping into their DMs to go "[scenario] with Childe. let's go" as much or more as they do me doing it with Jean or Kaeya, but XD;;;; he simply does not occupy my mind in that way.

I do also find him fascinating as our best clear exemplar of what happens when an ordinary human has extensive direct contact with the Abyss.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

Hmmm. Childe is a character I'm willing to buy a ton of relationships for, but I'm not super invested in shipping on his own. He IS one of only two Lumine ships I have! I also find Childe/Zhongli to have extremely strong potential, but I absolutely cannot enter into the ship on AO3 or social media because it's one of those M/M ships that is so big, and so heavy on the fanon/any-two-guys elements, that sorting through the content available for content that fits the characterization and dynamics I want is exhausting. :(

My non-romantic OTP for this character

I really liked his interactions with Yoimiya in that one event, and what we saw of him and Ekaterina in the AQ. I also loved what I saw of him and Xinyan's dynamic in Labyrinth Warriors, though I admit I never finished that one--regardless, I am currently building a team based around their interactions there, I liked what I saw that much. XD

My unpopular opinion about this character

Yet again I'm not familiar enough with the fandom opinions to know where I differ that much, but I will take @theabysscomeshome on faith re: views the Liyue drowning, and agree with the opinion that Childe worked hard on that and that hard work should be respected!

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

While I did like Skirk fucking yeeting him back out of the Abyss, I really wanted to see more of him with her, and I really hope they bring them back together at some point so that we see it.

[eric-cartman-my-beloved]

Im sorry but I cannot see Scott being dominant at all 😭 I feel like at the end of STMD Scott's ego was destroyed and he was just so vulnerable at that time. Eric would definitely dominate him due to his charisma and the fact he weighs much more than Scott who is most likely anorexic after the chili incident. (All of this would take place before Scott got sent to the mental hospital)- Eric could ask Scott to do borderline fetish stuff and Scott had to do it because he was scared of Eric possibly torturing him. Can even see Eric kidnapping Scott to make him his plaything and Eric even forces him to say disgusting stuff and records it. Maybe his 201 ver would be more dominant rather than his S9EP6 ver but since Scott is insane in his 201 ver, Eric would have a lot of fun with it like trying to convince Scott he never ate his parents and its all in his head.

Now that was a take I wasn't expecting to see, but it is very welcome nonetheless xD Scott being "the more dominant one" in Tenormancest usually seems like the default choice, but anyway, let's get into this.

So, I fully agree that later on in their lives Eric would not tolerate being bossed around/dominated, and would defeat Scott in a potential fight like that because of all the differences in their body types.

However, a nine-year-old kid beating a sixteen-year-old in a physical fight seems...fairly unlikely, to me at least. Because, if I recall correctly Eric is currently about 40kg (Is that 90 pounds? Correct me if I'm wrong) and given Scott's height it's safe to assume he'd be at the very least over 60kg (Scott does seem to be standing at about 180cm - 6 feet - to me, although obviously this is just speculation since there isn't a way to determine his exact height), even if he'd lose significant weight after the chili incident.

Although, I can definitely see Eric dominating him right after the incident. Scott seemed almost numb - he didn't even push Eric away from him as he was licking his tears - so yes, it's likely that he would be too devastated to fight Eric off.

I am conflicted about Eric torturing him and going through all the trouble of kidnapping him, because even though I love the idea and love love Eric being a messed-up little devil, once he made Scott eat the chili he seemed almost... disinterested in him, judging by his reaction to their meeting again in "201". Then again, maybe he could become addicted to the feeling of using a ruined Scott as his plaything🤭 Either way, this idea is amazing...!

Especially after Scott recorded him singing the "piggy" song, it'd just feel natural payback for Eric to record Scott do some humiliating things for his own entertainment.

Usually I lean more towards a more "dominant" Scott, but I am open to seeing a more "vulnerable" characterization for him too!

As for the last one, I'm still considering it🤔 Eric is an excellent manipulator, but I don't think Scott can be persuaded that easily, especially in this matter. It would certainly be interesting to see a more "broken" Scott than usual actually staring to believe Eric's lies though.

Thank you for giving me your input with this ask, it was quite fascinating to read and to respond to!😄

[vic-the-crayon]

As you all may know from my master list, I have watched Object Trek.

The show was canceled after three episodes, but the creator announced season 2. I hope the best for this show, but before it comes out, there are two characters that I feel have a lot of potential, and wanna talk about them.

First character: Water Balloon

Anyone who has seen this show has noticed that he seemed… familiar. He has one eye, he’s small enough to fit into other people’s hands, he’s smarter than the other contestants (or at least his team), and his voice… he’s Plankton. Water Balloon is an expy of Plankton. IDK if it was intended or not.

Problem is, that’s where the similarities end. He’s not villainous, and he’s not funny. He’s just… a plain nice guy, pretty much like almost everyone else on this show. Which is a shame, because a Plankton expy should be one of the best parts, if not the best part of your show, should you include one.

Which, to an extent, he is. As far as I can tell he is the fan favorite, at least among his team.

Second Character: Loudspeaker

At the beginning of the first episode, Megaphone revealed that he was in a competition with Loudspeaker, his sister. His Object Trek vs her Object Odyssey, whoever got all of their contestants onto the island known as Objectoo first got to have their object show continue while the other show got canceled.

The show was canceled after only three episodes, before we got anywhere near Objectoo and especially before we got to meet Loudspeaker and her contestants. But it’s safe to say that Loudspeaker was going to lose and have her show canceled.

A story line that I think would be really fun, if it ends up in season 2:

Loudspeaker and her contestants lose the race and her show gets canceled.

Loudspeaker bitterly watches an episode of Object Trek, she watches Water Balloon’s performance and sees how good he is with technology and decides that she could use him to get her back on TV.

For that to make sense, Water Balloon would need to be characterized more like Plankton.

And no, being mean wouldn’t have gotten him eliminated. He’s one of the team captains. At the end of the first episode it was revealed that one of Megaphone’s rules was that the team captains would be immune from elimination every episode until they reached Objectoo.

At the very least, Loudspeaker and Water Balloon would have been able to meet each other, and she would have been able to watch him long enough to want his help.

Loudspeaker contacts Water Balloon, it doesn’t matter if he’s eliminated at the point or not, offers him more money than he would have gotten from winning Object Trek, and a promotion to co-host.

Changing his character is especially important here, because in episode three he was given a prize for getting the most likes on his team. The prize? $1,625,739.84, and his reaction? “Uh, okay?”, and then later in the episode he just gives away all that money to buy a blueprint for his team without a second thought, or first thought for that matter. XD

Water Balloon agrees, and they both start scheming.

I imagine that if season 2 switched to contestant voting, Water Balloon would lay low and pretend to be a good person, then when no one is around, he would sneak around Megaphone’s office, sabotage the challenges and Megaphone’s tech, and update Loudspeaker on his work.

If season 2 stuck with viewer voting, Water Balloon would be characterized as being openly a jackass, and if he was eliminated, he could break out of the Big Box, but in a way where only he could escape, such as cutting a hole that’s only big enough for him to get through. And only after he escapes does Loudspeaker contact him.

Loudspeaker would have Water Balloon live at her house/office. Maybe she could make a tiny bed.

Also Loudspeaker should be more like Karen, but like, if Karen was the mastermind instead of Plankton. And her and Water Balloon’s dynamic could be similar to Plankton and Karen’s dynamic.

The rest of the season would have the plotline of the both of them coming up with and attempting various strategies of getting Megaphone off the show and replacing him with Loudspeaker. These methods include but are not limited to:

Making Megaphone look like an incompetent shit to get his ass fired.

Ruin Megaphone’s reputation to get his ass fired.

Sabotage the challenges, so Megaphone gets so frustrated that he quits.

This would all come to head by the finale. I don’t know how but it would.

So there’s a chance that this idea was planned by the creator for the very beginning anyways. But I’m not sure because Water Balloon was not characterized in a way that would seem that he would become antagonistic, and we didn’t get to meet Loudspeaker in the show.

I just really want Water Balloon and Loudspeaker to have a villain arc and be a power couple together. Either platonically, or romantically. I see the potential in them together .🤭

I just wanted to put this idea out there. Thanks for reading.😊

[blazichu]

I really love your fics and snippets with special emphasis on how you write Ingo and Emmet. You are very consistent with giving each of them interesting emotional development without diluting it into just sad times for sadness sake. I'm not saying it's bad to write things just to feel a strong emotion, but those emotions are more interesting and compelling to explore when characters get to feel them and come back stronger or even just learn from them in general.

I know I probably touched about this in the fic comments on AO3, but MHIMH was a wonderful example of this. I thoroughly enjoyed the ups and downs of Ingo's learning process where he has to push forward in an unfair situation. In the end he not only survived, he is now stronger and more in tuned with his ideals than ever while still holding his emotions and resolve to go home close to his heart.

I am so excited to see Emmet's side of this story in AGAS. I love the start and how it talks about how, while the pain is still there, he manages as well with life even if it is with a heavy heart. Emmet is also a very strong person and I will enjoy seeing his emotional development through his side of the story. As he learns of his brother's trials and resolve.

It is so rewarding to see that even when they are so far apart they will find strength in the other to move forward.

Oh, thank you! It's really kind of you to go out of the way to share your thoughts, and I'm very happy to hear that you enjoy my writing enough to break it down like this!

I agree that there's absolutely nothing wrong with a fic where bad things happen just because that's the story someone wants to tell-- and frankly, I see shades of that in one of my own pieces-- but in general, I believe that the depth of angst, horror, or what have you will always be enhanced by giving the piece moments of levity and hope. I think that probably contributes a lot to characterizations, too-- allowing them to fall into both extremes.

Admittedly, I do get a bit self conscious about my interpretation of the twins, because there are certain fanon conventions that I've started pulling away from in the past year. I feel like it's more visible with Emmet than Ingo, and that's going to be coming up in AGAS. As to your hopes for seeing him develop as a character, I think that definitely does happen, but I'm not going to go any further into that for now.

Ingo in particular… it's funny. I know you described Emmet as an "unstoppable force" in an earlier comment, and I see Ingo as being very similar, just in a more subtle or gradual sense-- like an inevitability. They have two very different connotations, but at their core, are very alike; it's an interesting interplay and part of what makes the characters fun to work with. Idk, maybe I'm being pretentious again xD

"It is so rewarding to see that even when they are so far apart they will find strength in the other to move forward." Just wanted to repeat that, because I love the way you worded it. I absolutely agree!

[thatscarletflycatcher]

I hate the modernity in 2019 little women. It's fine if you're doing a bridgerton or Dickinson type of thing. But in little women it just feels wrong.

Like how jo and laurie are so touchy.

Or how it the scene where meg twists her foot at the ball and they bring her home, jo starts to strip down her clothes right in front of him. And marmee is all like, call me mother! Mind you, this is the first time laurie has met all of them.

None of it is time appropriate. I won't talk about the costumes or loose hair cause it has already been covered by costume reviewers on youtube. (The movie did NOT deserve the oscar for costumes.)

Also, am I the only one who doesn't like the casting in this movie?!

Saoirse Ronan is fine. She's no Winona Ryder but that's okay.

Florence is an excellent actress but with her heavy voice it absolutely took me out of the moment whenever she played a 12 year old amy. It just looked like a fully grown adult woman, in a child's frock, acting like a child.

Timothee chalamet was meh. Or more correctly, the writing for laurie was meh. And he does not look like a father of a child at the end of the movie.

Laura Dern. I think she was good but the writing failed her at times. There was no gravitas to her character. She was too smiley. And too modern.

Emma Watson feels like emma watson in all her roles.

Rest of the characters, beth, professor bhaer... utterly forgettable.

Also it's my personal view that little women as a story works best in a linear format. It's a journey you go on with the girls and see them grow in more ways than one. Which is why the back and forth between childhood and adulthood was lost on me.

Hi, anon! That's a lot to unpack! XD

I think the modernity is jarring to me because it is so so intentional. Like it is screaming LIKE ME BECAUSE I'M HYPE AND MODERN. And at that point, make it a modern day version. But Sony wanted not modern day version, no, Sony wanted juicy juicy American classic period drama cash grab! This, in my opinion, explains many, many things about this movie. The weird meta non meta ending, Jo is asexual but she's also devastated that she cannot marry Laurie, yay girlboss Amy but also you should like her because she cannot be liberated like Jo, etc, etc, etc.

I agree with your assessment of the characters, mostly. I actually think Ronan would have been a far better casting for Amy and Pugh for Jo. There's a heaviness of presence and a matter-of-factness to Florence Pugh that Saoirse Ronan utterly lacks (her efforts at appearing rough and careless remind me of this:

But all that sort of ethereal yet sharp vibe that Amy has? would have suited well (and she's a natural blonde too!)

But. You know. Greta ships Saorise/Timothee, I guess.

I also very much liked Eliza Scanlen as Beth. She was given very little to work with, but she left an impression on me (we can debate till tomorrow if the characterization was right, but that's another matter).

I actually think Little Women can be done in altered timeline; the 2018 modern movie, IMO, did it well. It took as pivotal element the castles in the air (the dreams the sisters and Laurie have as teenagers and who they think they will be in a decade), focused on Jo as the main narrative pov (a story built on flashbacks needs someone to be the one reminiscing the past, generally speaking, we don't talk about Tenet), and kept working on how the past shaped the present, and how it can also bring a light on the way to the future. The problem with the way 2019 does the altered timeline is that it is unfocused and meandering. It doesn't know why it is going back and forth between past and present. In this movie it is just a gimmick because Christopher Nolan does it, I guess, and that makes his movies masterpieces or something. Some of the transitions are forced and hackneyed (from Beth's recovery to Beth's death) and others are just... random (from a sleeping Amy to a sleeping Beth).