#So I'm saving them the trouble of having to read my rant

[janahanooo]

since I'm playing on the JP server too and Skully looks adorable and will join the ramshakle gang (hopefully) I have a few hc about the ramshackle gang

Rollo being the first one who joined us, I think he would be very judgy about the others. ( and since he doesn't really like mages and magic in generall, he would absolutelly hate everyone except Yuu ofc)

Rollo would also spoile Gidel, because he reminds him of his own little brother and would never get mad at him and would teach him how to read and write

and how Gidel is learning from Rollo, Fellow would learn from Gidel and/or by watching them learn together.

Fellow wanting to help Gidel and supporting him, would end up helping Yuu doing errands around the school/town

although... he might end up causing trouble by tricking people giving him money for his magic tricks... eh, Yuu would save him eventually... maybe.

Skully is the weird kid that everyone kinda likes/ thinks is cool. By being the second youngest in the dorm I think he would be very good friends with Gidel.

By being tallest in the group with his whopping 206 cm height (I think?? I don't remember correctly), he would have problems with the doors and beds in the dorm.

Grim being himself would boss around everyone without a doupt. Even if he knows that the prefect is not always around to save him from the others.

Which also makes me think that whenever Fellow is in trouble or Rollo is planning to burn the whole school down and is caught by Grim, they would have to buy him food/ tuna cans.

That said, this doesn't mean they don't get Grim in trouble if he did something. The wrath of the prefect is something no one can escape. Maybe Gidel.

Honorary mention, Malleus. This guy is always at Ramschakle at night, so I do have a feeling that neither of the guys like him. Lurking around, waiting for the prefect to go out and take a walk with him... suspicious no? Well, I do belive that the boys would do anything just so Yuu can stay with them and so Yuu could not go for a walk with Horntorn.

This was longer than I thought it would be. Well, I hope you guys liked my little headcanons and rant.

[kyri45]

Not me abusing the asks to both share my love for the bioparents AU AND rant about the panels because none of my friends are in the LMK fandom and I'm suffering here so TAKE MY LOVE AND APPRECIATION ABOUT YOUR ART I guess x)

So first of all

I am a SUCKER for that kind of leaning in frames I'm going to print that and plaster it on my wall THEY ARE EVERYTHING /hj

I almost jumped of my chair when this one popped up YOU FED US GOOD its so worth the angst train incoming. Of course the panels before and after were equally as amazing but if I start going about every single panel we're still here in three days AT THE VERY LEAST LOL

Of course this one made me laugh like please their little faces

Using that to point out how much I love ALLLLLLL the silly faces you put in your comics I'm munching on them every single time they're crushy like chips or something just. Nom nom. Yummy.

Poor Nesha (Nesha? Nezha? Neja? I have no idea on how to write his name I already forgor LMAO) needs to be payed more. He tries to save MK and ends up dealing with two lovesick teenagers demons who have no concept of time/place/occasion apparently. Poor him. He gets a pat on the head for his troubles

And of course just the "NOPE I'M KEEPING HIM" mode and honestly we should have seen it coming- Red son was planning to courtnap him and didn't sleep in the past 5 days so he's not having any bullshit YOU'RE NOT TAKING HIS NOODLE BOY AWAY-

Could bet he spent so long thinking about the cournapping in the 5 past days his brain just cannot process that yeah maybe you need to let him down you're just going to drag him in more troubles- Either that or he's just going full protective mode. Both options are good anyways sooooo :)

We stan a protective boyfriend in this house.

---

And finally I'm SOOOOO hyped about whatever is coming next like I know that technically we're supposed to suffer but please I climbed up the angst train so many times now I'm just enjoying it by that point lol. It'll just make the following fluff even more worth it

Also I cannot wait to see MK's plan about the contract I'm so curious I'm dying I love you boys but I really want the plot to progress you can go back to kissing later lol

Finally, thank you for creating this AU. It's stumbling randomly upon it on my tik tok fyp that dragged me into watching Lego Monkie Kid and really THANK YOU FOR THAT. It's such an amazing show I CANNOT BELIEVE I didn't discovered it sooner so really thank for having created this comic because else I could have missed LMK and that would be just saaaad

Fun fact: since I had never interacted with LMK the first time I read your comic, I for some reason thought Macaque was a female (and I probably would have thought the same of Wukong if he wasn't called... well, Wukong because I randomly stumbled upon the myth's Wikipedia page at some point in my life XD). The shock I felt when I heard Macaque for the first time in the show because his voice was soooooo not what I expected x) I'm still laughing at myself to this day

So yeah, from the bottom of my heart, thank you, and I can't wait to see what you're going to pull next :D Wish you allllll the best <3

(I can totally wait, of course, it's just a figure of speech. Take your time, I could wait forever for the next chapter)

ahaha thank you for such a lovely comment!! Glad the scene gived "MINE" vibes as I was planning ahah.

Youu're welcome! It's an honor to serve this fandom. *bows*

[thunder-opossum]

What's Sizzle's sibling's name? And are they alive?

"My sister... If there's one thing I'll always remember, it's that day."

"Her name is a difficult thing to explain. Slugcat nomenclature is sadly foreign to me. Pups don't get names, not real ones anyways, until they've earned them. It's a part of figuring out who you are... I think you can name yourself or others can name you- but in the end it is your choice."

"If it wasn't obvious already my name follows scavenger nomenclature, I've already talked about that though."

"..."

"My sister died forever ago."

(READ UNDER THE CUT FOR DELICIOUS LORE!)

"The scavengers told me so. But they also told me about the cycle."

"I hold onto hope that she woke up again. Whether it was right back up in our home or a whole 'nother body; I can't be sure."

"... It's awful but it's something I could be happy about. Maybe I lost her, but someone else might have her in their life now."

"She was a good older sibling. For all the troubles she caused, I still remember her fondly."

"Even if -this- is my life now, she never could have known it would end up here. She really liked that pearl."

"We both knew not to steal from the scavengers. But she thought that one pearl wouldn't hurt- they had so many after all! She hoped the scavengers would understand her reasoning. They seemed nice enough even with the precautions we had to take."

" 'It looks like Mom's eyes, she is going to love it!' " " 'You should get her a gift too, the scavengers aren't even here!' "

"I grabbed a spear while she climbed up to the pearls. Mom was busy checking for vultures. She didn't realize we weren't close by. We thought we got away with it..."

"..."

"it's ironic, y'know?"

"The same thing that saved me,"

"killed my sister."

"Maybe if I had been better at wielding spears, I could have helped her in some way."

"She was always stronger than me. Mom said I shouldn't let her push me around, but it was always just sibling bonding. I never thought it would get us hurt."

"Maybe if I hadn't been such a pushover and tried harder to keep her from grabbing that pearl-"

"-Sorry, I'm ranting again. I think I should stop talking now."

---

HOW WE FEELING GANG?!?!!

DOES YOUR HEART HURT YET?!?!

BECAUSE IT'S ONLY GONNA GET WORSE FROM HERE!!!

[pluckyredhead]

Did I just read your Super Sons primer from 2020 at 3 am on a Monday morning because I'm having a real normal one? Maybe?! I'm wondering how you feel about how they and their relationship has developed since then. IMO it's... Pretty bleak. 😩

I HAVE A LOT OF FEELINGS ABOUT IT. (Also here's the primer for anyone who missed it.)

So I will say that 95% of everything Jon has been in since he got aged up has been hot garbage, but I do think the exception is when Damian is around. But let's take it from the top!

First of all, I don't necessarily think they should de-age him again. Generally speaking I think it's better storytelling to focus on fixing things moving forward, rather than undoing things moving back. Sure, if DC came up with some big cosmic event that reset Jon to 11, I certainly wouldn't complain, but I'd rather see them, uh...do literally anything with Teen Jon that doesn't suck.

But yeah, aging Jon up to begin with still makes me livid because:

I want my baby to have had a childhood.

It's fully character assassination for Lois and Clark. They would NEVER let their 11-year-old go to outer space with a supervillain. Lois would NEVER just abandon him out there, and Clark would NEVER respond with "Well, I'm sure he's fine, wanna have marathon sex?" I honestly have no idea what Bendis or his editor were thinking.

They have not done a single interesting with him since!!!

Putting this behind a cut because it got LONG. Also spoilers for Beast World in there.

I've said this before, but I have to assume that Bendis wanted to age Jon up because he wanted to write a Legion book. But he also in his wisdom decided to bring Kon back into continuity at exactly the same time, which means we have two nearly identical Superboys that DC didn't and still doesn't know what to do with. Kon clearly couldn't have joined the LOSH because he already had a team, but you know what Super teen was available, and not 11, and who has a history with the Legion that goes back almost as long as Clark's? KARA. But I will save that rant for another day.

And honestly, Kara dodged a bullet, because that Legion book was unreadable. Bendis at his most Bendis-y wall of text interrupt-y conversations and no plot. If I give Tom Taylor any credit it's that the second he got his hands on Jon, he torpedoed Jon/Imra as a ship. GOOD.

And when the LOSH book finally went out with a whimper (that JLA/LOSH miniseries! what was that!!!), we entered the Taylor Era. Taylor's quirks are less stylistic and more narrative than Bendis's. You can spot Bendisian dialogue at twenty paces, but a Taylor comic tips its hand when it sets up a really interesting premise or a really high stakes threat and then immediately undercuts it with a little wet fart noise of nothing. To wit:

Jon's starting college! This will be an interesting challenge for him to readjust to normal life after six years in a torture-volcano and an indeterminate amount of time in the future, and also considering he never graduated from sixth grade. I wonder what will - oh no he dropped out after three pages. (He has done NOTHING in his civilian identity since, btw. I guess he's too busy hovering just behind Dick at all times to work on his GED or whatever.)

Jon is going to confront Ultraman! Finally the comics will have to engage with all the trauma he must have - oh no Ultraman's dead.

Jon is trapped in the Injustice Universe! This is a really dangerous universe that might make him question everything he knows about - oh he just lectured everyone and flounced off home.

Beast World is a perfect example. Taylor seems to think that having a hero effortlessly solve a problem makes them look badass, but it's actually the effort that makes them look badass. So like, we spent five months keeping the Kryptonians and other A-class heroes away from the spores because the spores are attracted to power and if a Super got spore'd everyone would be in big trouble...but then in the last issue, they just have Jon fly up to everyone with a spore in them, wait for the spore to jump at him, and catch it? That doesn't make the Titans look smart or Jon look tough. It makes all of them look like idiots because it it was that easy, why didn't they do that in the first place?

On top of that, Taylor doesn't ever really earn relationships. Jon and Jay is the obvious one. Jay has no personality. There's no chemistry between the two characters. Jon might as well be dating a cardboard cutout labeled "Proof of Queerness." (Or "Bernard." Ahem.) But we're supposed to be like, yes, give Tom Taylor a GLAAD award for using queer characters as props, when he's going to turn around and kiss Chuck Dixon's ass on social for being homophobic about Jon? UGH.

Honestly worse for me though is the Jon and Dick relationship. Because Taylor is writing both characters, we're supposed to believe that there's this close mentor-mentee bond there? I don't think they EVER interacted before the Taylor era. (And don't even look at me with that retconned-in scene of Dick finding lost baby Jon. You're telling me that Superman, with his X-ray and telescopic vision, needs to call Bruce and Dick for help finding his own son? Fuck off.)

Anyway it all combines to make basically every Jon appearance for the past three years profoundly unsatisfying. Even the stuff that isn't by Taylor never goes anywhere. Remember when he was jealous of the Super Twins for two panels? And then everyone forgot about it forever? SIGH.

HOWEVER.

However.

If there is one thing that Bendis and Taylor and every other writer got right, it's that Jon is crazy bonkers in love with Damian always and forever. Jon has been written like shit since 2019, but he has also not wavered in his devotion for even one single solitary second.

THE EVIDENCE:

This is the first thing Jon does when he gets back to Earth:

He then tells Damian he's contemplating not joining the Legion because he'll have to leave Damian behind. Damian tells him to go and then come get him if it's cool.

Turns out the Legion is cool. Jon comes and gets Damian. The Legion isn't happy about it and Jon threatens to leave if Damian can't stay, while gazing adoringly at Damian's unconscious body cradled in his arms:

Eventually LOSH is canceled and Jon comes home and starts following Damian around by listening for his heartbeat. LIKE PALS DO!

Then Damian gives him a pep talk!

Then there's this ABSOLUTE CUDDLE:

The way Damian nuzzles into Jon's shoulder! Can you even stand it!

And then there's this:

The climax of Son of Kal-El, btw, is one of the several times Jon is saved by Damian and confides in Damian and turns to Damian for comfort or advice...and Jay is just sort of standing there off to the side. I am fully aware I have ship goggles on but the degree of emotional investment Jon has in these relationships is not the same.

Then they had a special issue teamup:

Then we got Dark Crisis, and I actually love this interaction between them, because they are very different people with very different upbringings and this feels extremely in character to me for how they would both handle the loss of their fathers:

But even when they disagree, they still instantly support each other. Jon comes back with information? Damian makes a plan:

Also, we got the 2022 Pride issue where Jon, Jay, and Damian go to Pride together. I know that story is...contentious...but leave me here with Damian sulking while Jon and Jay kiss, okay?

Then we get Adventures of Superman, which is objectively awful, but Jon does spend his whole time in the Injustice universe thinking about Damian like the seagulls in Finding Nemo saying "Mine? Mine? Mine?"

This whole arc is truly hilarious. Jon finds out that Damian accidentally killed Dick and his response is to a) go find Batman and yell at him for not supporting Damian enough for accidentally killing Dick, and then b) go find Damian to be like "Wow, that must have been really hard for you (accidentally killing Dick)." There's being ride or die for your BFF, and then there's whatever the fuck Jon has going on.

(Meanwhile there's an incredibly uncomfortable scene with him and Injustice Jay where Jay "tests" him by trying to get Jon to cheat on regular Jay. So. That happens.)

And then just this past month we got Nightwing #110, where we learn that Jon is still listening to Damian's heart:

He completely freaks out watching Damian in danger, and immediately intervenes when it looks like Damian is about to kill someone because he knows what matters the most to Damian. Also, this happens:

YOU WIN THIS ONE, TAYLOR.

AND THEN THEY BICKER I LOVE IT WHEN THEY BICKER:

AND THEN DAMIAN LETS HIMSELF BE VULNERABLE BY ASKING JON IF HE HURT ANYONE WHILE HE WAS A KITTY, AND JON GIVES YET ANOTHER SPEECH ABOUT HOW DAMIAN HAS NEVER DONE ANYTHING WRONG EVER, IN HIS LIFE, AND DAMIAN STAGGERS OFF, LEANING ON JON.

This isn't even getting into the Trinity backup stories in Wonder Woman, which, like...Tom King is not valid but Jon and Damian are such an old married couple in them? It's truly incredible?

It took me like 45 minutes to parse Jon's line here as the general 'you" and not specifically Jon saying Damian wasn't straight. But like..."That's for straight people, which has nothing to do with us" is a hell of a thing to say, Jonathan.

I ALSO haven't even talked about DCeased because it's a different universe, but! Jon sitting with Damian while he dies??? MY HEART.

IN CONCLUSION:

Yes, they should never have aged up Jon.

Yes, most of his appearances since have been terrible and bland.

But OH BOY, do he and Damian remain in love.

[featherfangart]

Really love your art ❤️ the wings you draw looks amazing 👏 how does one draw them? 👀 do you use any references?

Oh my god, this ask is making the circle full fr. ;; Thank you SO MUCH, Anon!! I've had an enormous wing kink most of my life, but scared of drawing and avoiding them for uh.......... most of my life lol. So reading this means A LOT. TLDR - yes, use refs of all sorts of birds! use gradients! don't overdoit with brushstrokes! wings are paperthin!

In 2021 I said fck it and-- asked my partner, @lesoldatmort, who's a wing-master to teach me how to wings. And the answer was simple - use refs. I did! And it looked better than before. But. Uh.

Most of my wings looked like-- pillow sheets? Or. Pillows. Blankets. Puffy and thick. (Rafe from December, 2020)

So the biggest trouble for me personally (and for my partner, who was trying to knock it in my thick skull), was to get the wings as thin as possible. And use refs. And draw a lot of wings.

The biggest and best advice I got from my man, was to think of wings as of paper. Flat and thin. And use gradients for the sections instead of too many brushstrokes for each feather. Actually, save on the brushstrokes where you can.

January 2022 this was the best I could do. And that's after a LOT of interference from my partner, who kept nagging me to get rid of brushstrokes and add. more. gradients.

In June I decided I'm cracking the case. Gave up on trying to paint too much, because I prefer lineart 95% of the time anyway and drew the Howl piece. Still too many brushstrokes, but I used vulture photos as a reference for this one. Adoration is from this time as well. Used a pinned down bald eagle as a ref for Zack's wing.

In summer, I did some more random studies, kept looking at wings very closely. Looked at other artists drawing them. In September I was lucky enough to get cmed to draw safer Sephiroth. And that was probably the final moment I gave up on too many details and brushes and started stylizing the hell out of it. And using gradients. And lasso tool. As my partner's been telling me for almost two years at that point. Thin. Finally.

And then I just kept going. Simplifying the hell out of them............

And here we are. I have a problem. It's called a wink kink. And I'm loving it. <3

A few months ago, due to a gender crisis, lol, I even started using the name "Alas" along with Alassa. Which supposedly means "wing" in latin.

So... Thank you for coming to my ted talk and personal vent and rant. Sorry this got so long! However, seeing somebody asking me specifically about wings in my art... feels like reaching a finish line after years of whining. Thank you so much! ;; <3

[number-one-shadisper-shipper]

For today's Wholesome Sonic and Tails Wednesday, may I present:

Tails having friends doesn't mean he's not autistic, or, How Having Zero Social Skills Will Accidentally Get You Adopted

(It's a little long but we'll get there, I promise)

Okay so I read a comment by someone basically saying that Tails can't be autistic because he has social skills and I? just? can't?

First off, yes, autistic people can have social skills. While it is a common symptom to not understand "normal" social cues, autism is a spectrum, and some autistic people have skills which others don't. Along with that, many autistics have learned to mask and imitate neurotypical behavior because of being bullied/punished when they act differently, or because they're trying so hard to fit in. So that in of itself is not proof someone isn't autistic.

Second, where are you getting that Tails has social skills?

Tails doesn't have social skills. Tails has FRIENDS. There's a difference.

You might ask, "How can someone make friends without having social skills?" Well for starters, I think there are a lot of decent people who are willing to be accepting of people who have a little trouble with social skills.

But the main reason Tails has made so many friends without social skills is that NO OTHER CHARACTER IN THIS WHOLE FRANCHISE HAS ANY. Most of the characters are neurodivergent coded, and even those who aren't still have zero social skills. You're telling me that in a world with Sonic the ADHD king, Knuckles the "a punch in the face is a warning" Echidna, and freaking Shadow, Tails is the one going to have trouble making friends? The entire Sonic the Hedgehog crew has exactly one social skill between them, and generally Amy has it. The characters just understand that people have trouble socializing. Maybe that's why they found each other. In my experience, we "odd" people tend to flock to each other. And once we've formed our weird little groups, who needs social skills?

But to show that Tails has very little social skills (and to prove you don't need them) let's analyze his first interaction with Sonic.

To start with, before meeting Sonic, Tails is just wandering around alone and bullied. Little guy, all alone, can't make a friend to save his life.

And then comes Sonic.

Depending on the version of backstory we're looking at, we have:

Tails spots Sonic, decides he's cool, and starts following him around until he finds his plane, which he then fixes and repaints without asking. Sonic shows up and is like, cool, you can come with.

Stalking will get you adopted, folks

Actual dialogue: "You looked cool, so I followed you, and when I found your plane, I figured I'd fix it up and we could be friends!"

Or Tails being bullied, Sonic runs by and stops it, and then again Tails just starts following him around until Sonic decides he can come with.

And the there's the movie version, where Tails, who's been remotely spying on Sonic for a years, shows up and HITS KNUCKLES WITH A STOLEN POLICE CAR, tells Sonic to jump in, and Sonic does because he's afraid for his life, upon which Tails proceeds to excitedly rant about how excited he is because he's literally meeting his special interest.

Also the version where Tails just falls on Sonic's head:

Does any of this scream "social skills" to you?

And in all these situations Sonic, who has zero social skills himself, just adopts him on the spot because that's just... who he is? This dude just wants to help everyone. Half his friend group have introduced themselves by trying to kill him, but he's willing to make friends anyway. And then those friends become Tails's friends, because he and Sonic give off classic "extrovert adopting an introvert" vibes (I'm not sure that Sonic is actually an "extrovert", but he's def. more open and better at making friends).

TL;DR: Having social skills doesn't make you not autistic, but even if it does, Tails doesn't have social skills, he just has a great big bro and a group of people with even less social skills than him

[inkblackorchid]

I was gonna try to keep my mouth shut, but I can't. I just can't. I have to go on another Aki rant because I feel like I'm going to explode. It's about this scene:

This drives me insane and I'm putting this under a readmore. Expect incoherent screaming, all ye who enter here.

Ok. Ok. I have so many issues with this scene. Specifically, with the way it develops later, when Aki's busy trying to figure out how to save a child from being swept up by a storm:

And I just. Look, I think the fact that I already wrote a fic that basically completely turns Aki's reaction here on its head should basically tell you everything. But! But. Allow me to defend why I think this whole scene is one big heap of horseshit, with a bit of analysis of canon and actual evidence to back up my claims and shit.

The thing is, I have seen people give this scene a charitable read. I've seen people be happy for Aki to enjoy freedom from the psychic powers that have given her so much trouble in her life. And the thing is, if this were season one or season two Aki, I would be completely on board with that take. Unfortunately, this scene is preceded by the pre-WRGP arc. But more on that below.

Moreover, I can make an educated guess about what they were going for here (in terms of messaging, because this is a kids' show at the end of the day and messaging is something you have to be properly concerned with when it comes to these). I can imagine it running somewhere along the lines of "you don't need special powers to be a hero". Or even "you can grow past the hurt and/or the mistakes in your life and still become a good person or even a hero". And really, I wish I could believe that take. It's just. The writing simply doesn't add up. I wish it did, but it doesn't.

This is where we get back to the pre-WRGP arc. And not just that, actually, but the timeskip between the dark signers and pre-WRGP arc, too. Because the thing is, the last time we have seen Aki in anguish about her powers on-screen by the time the episodes above (108-109) arrive was during the DS arc, during the duel with her father, which happened during episodes 40-41. 40. to. 41. This was over sixty episodes ago at this point. And after that, that's it. As far as the DS arc is concerned, Aki's conflict about her powers is resolved the second she controls them for the first time when her father tries to interfere in her second duel against Yusei.

(Yeah, remember this moment? That was literally the last time we saw Aki in conflict with her powers.)

And I know some people would argue "but what about the dark signer duel with Misty?". And yes, I get it. Misty does accuse her of having murdered her brother with her powers and Aki gets incredibly (understandably) upset about it. But the thing is, we know that's fake, and during the duel, Aki knows that, too. She goes as far as insisting that there were no casualties at the duel where Misty thinks Toby died.

(Yes, I have screenshot proof for literally every dumb little thing in this show, why do you ask?)

It's only after Misty keeps pushing and backing her into a corner during their duel (and literally gaslighting her) that she begins to believe Misty's version of the events. Which is why this doesn't "count" as Aki being in conflict with her powers the way her second duel with Yusei does. At least not to me, feel free to debate me over this if you wanna.

Okay, but what am I driving at here? Fair question. Let me hop back to after the dark signers' defeat.

So, we know there's a half-year timeskip between the DS and the pre-WRGP arc (which was allegedly enough for NDC to connect the city and Satellite, deal with all the social issues that entailed, and also build a giant duel network, which I will never believe but I digress). Unfortunately, what exactly our main characters did during that timeskip is never addressed, it's just kind of there to segway immediately into the WRGP setup. So the only thing we can do is guess at what they got up to based on where they are as people by the time we get back to them during the start of the pre-WRGP arc. So where's Aki at when we see her again after the dark signers' defeat then?

Oh, she's attending duel academy again now! That's nice. So that probably means the student body isn't scared shitless of her anymore and she's not being ostracised anymore.

Wow, she's an exceptional student! That means she must be a really good duellist. So she got the hang of her powers, then?

...Ah.

Do you start to see my problem? Past the DS arc, we are not being given any indication that Aki is still struggling with her powers or still resents them or herself like she used to. You could be forgiven for thinking that she's healed in the meantime. She's fine. She has accepted herself and can now use her powers safely. Which makes her later claiming "she no longer needs that cursed power" a bit... hmmm. And another thing. The fact that she refers to it as "cursed" rubs me the wrong way. After the defeat of the dark signers, she literally never does that even a single time before the moment in the hospital during the storm. (I'd post all the screenshots to prove it here but for one, tumblr doesn't allow it, and for two, I hope you'll believe I did my due diligence without it.)

And it just irks me. If the powers are still a "curse" to Aki by episodes 108-109, why give us the moment above?

And why give us this moment, where she saves Sherry, Yusei, and herself with those powers?

And why give us this moment, where she literally uses her powers at a public event to protect people, and is evidently not cussed out as a witch for it? Neither of these moments do anything to indicate that Aki still hates her powers. They don't indicate that she sees them as a "beast of burden" or necessary evil of a sort, either. On the contrary, I don't think it would be too out there to claim all these moments make her look rather badass. Like a small celebration of "hey, now she can finally use these powers for cool and not evil things!".

Yet, somehow, we still end up with episodes 108-109, where the writers expect the audience to buy that Aki was secretly still hoping she might eventually be rid of these powers after all. And maybe this would be easier to swallow if there weren't also the fact that they later literally go back on it to add to this confusing mess. Because the thing is, we all know the finale scene after the three-way duel with Sherry where Aki protects them with her powers (which have suddenly reappeared, aha!) again and also finds out she can use these powers to heal. So not only is the framing of Aki suddenly being glad to have lost her powers extremely weird, it's also temporary anyway!

So my question is. What was the point. What was the point of all this if the writers ended up going back on it anyway? Because I want to believe there's a reasonable, charitable explanation that also makes sense with what they show us in terms of Aki's characterisation past the DS arc, but if there is, I cannot for the life of me find it. If anything, this whole thing feels like it completely contradicts itself.

First, they tie up Aki's conflict with her powers with a neat bow after she manages not to hurt her father anymore. Then, they launch into the pre-WRGP arc and blatantly tell us that she can now control them. No questions asked. Indisputable fact, and we get nothing that contradicts that, either. Then, we get a bunch of setup showing her using her powers, too, and what's more, we get other significant players in the cast taking notice of it, too, as though it might become relevant. Because Sherry isn't the only one who gets curious about Aki's powers.

(I will never understand how Placido's hood works together with his horn-thingies and have stopped trying at this point.)

The literal, central antagonists of season 3-4 also take notice of it. Like that means something. Like it'll come up again later. But, well. We know it doesn't.

Instead, she suddenly loses her powers out of nowhere (and we are never given a reason for it, either, which does nothing to make this writing decision seem anymore understandable). And, look. The thing that upsets me most about this isn't even the fact that it feels a little inconsistent with Aki's character post DS arc. If that were the only problem, I could still suspend my disbelief far enough to go along with the idea that she secretly still hated her powers quietly in the background and wanted them gone anyway. What really pisses me off is that it reeks of zero setup and knee-jerk decisions in the writing room ten miles against the wind. If they wanted us to believe Aki's glad to be rid of her powers, why give absolutely no indication that she's at odds with them past episode 41 anymore? Why let her state outright that she can now control them? Why show her on several occasions using them to her own and other people's benefit, the way a hero would? And if her powers are supposed to vanish and it's supposed to make sense, why is there no reason for it? They already used cyborg timetravel at that point, they could have literally come up with any nonsense related to that and it would have probably made at least more sense than just letting her powers vanish for no reason at all. Also, if the message behind all this is supposed to be either of the things I mentioned way above—if the idea the audience is supposed to be getting is either "you don't need special powers to be a hero" or "your past and/or your mistakes don't define you and you can heal and grow past them"—why reintroduce the powers, which, in this reading, would be a symbol of Aki's pain, of her mistakes and her dreaded past, at the very end, during the finale, then? It just doesn't add up, and it frustrates me to no end.

The writers wanted to make the moment Aki realises she can help people (well, one person, a child) without her powers seem triumphant so bad, but every time I watch it, it just completely falls flat for me. This isn't a triumph, this is a hot mess of bad writing decisions. All I'm saying is, if they wanted me to buy that Aki would be happy about losing her powers here, they were missing a hefty amount of setup and also shouldn't actually have given them back to her during the finale (no, not even as healing powers).

Moreover... I'll freely admit I also have a personal problem with this scene. I've seen this show and these episodes several times by now, and during my last rewatch and my current one, something about this scene has been creeping up on me, and I think I've figured out what that is now. So I talked about the possible message behind this scene already, and the reading I've given so far was fairly forgiving. But the thing is, there is another reading that has occurred to me that I can't unsee anymore. As much as you could make a valid case that this scene is trying to say that people don't need to be special to be heroes and save others, that past mistakes don't define us, and yadda yadda, there's also a much, much less pleasant way to interpret this scene: "You're better off if you don't stand out." And I'll freely admit, this interpretation probably occurs to me specifically because I was considered a "weird kid" at school, singled out by bullies, and avoided by "popular" kids (take a wild guess why I relate to Aki so much!). And over the years, you learn to downplay that "weirdness" because you become desperate to be accepted by someone, anyone. And given everything the show gives us about Aki's relationship with her powers, it'd make sense that this idea would be buried somewhere in her head, too. It's better not to stand out. Don't be weird. Sand down your edges so there's no chance people could get upset about them. You're better off being whatever everyone else considers "normal" than being whoever you are. It doesn't matter if this is a part of who you are, just become someone else. Someone who's easier to accept. Who's easier to love. You don't need your "weirdness".

You don't need this cursed power.

You know, the "cursed power" that Aki had from the beginning of the show, that was a part of her for years, and that the show didn't give any indication could vanish. The power that we were led to believe would just be there forever, because it was simply a part of Aki, not a conscious thing she (or the narrative) could choose. The power that we were, for all intents and purposes, led to believe she had mastered and maybe even accepted along the way. But sure, let's get rid of that. It's better if she's """normal""". And more convenient for the writers, too! After all, if she doesn't have powers anymore, they can't cause plotholes (of which the WRGP already has enough) and can't possibly give Aki any more badass moments, which makes it that much easier to sideline her. And let's package this weird, shittily set-up moment in a message about how she's better off without her powers anyway. She's happy! It makes complete sense that she's happy. She's finally normal like everyone else. Ignore the way people who might relate to the character could possibly interpret this moment differently. And ignore how none of the writing surrounding this moment makes sense.

...Sigh.

Okay, I think I've let off enough steam. I just. Yeah. I'm sorry, but I cannot for the life of me view this scene in a favourable way and watching it today made me want to chew glass tbh. My only solace is that they went back on this trainwreck writing decision in the finale. Which, really, just makes this whole mess really, really pointless, doesn't it?

For anyone who stuck around this long, thanks for reading. Sorry if this got extra-rant-y. Idk man, I just think “it’s worth the effort to accept yourself as you are, even with all the bits you might not like at first” would have been a better message than whatever this turned out to be.

[ron456]

ADHD/ Neurodiversity rant, Ig?? (TLDR at the end)

I feel like I've definitely went through some character development over the years but especially when I learned more about my ADHD.

They don't really give you that much info when you get diagnosed, I feel (I got diagnosed pretty young at like 7-8 and started taking meds when I was about 9 years old, I think).

And I started learning more about it in, like, middle school and it was wild to figure out that I wasn't alone in these experiences I was having like RSD (AND THE RSD CHEST PAIN- I WAS LIKE "OTHER PEOPLE WITH ADHD FEEL THIS TOO?!?"), Sensory issues (I get pissed if I get overstimulated and it was a relief to find out that other people feel like that too), skipping lines when I read and getting headaches while reading even though I wasn't dyslexic (Convergence insufficiency), being uncoordinated (my handwriting always going upwards instead of in a straight line, having trouble with using keys, or getting food all over myself when I ate) , problems with emotional regulation, etc.

Shout out to people on tiktok/youtube who have info on ADHD like: Connor DeWolfe, Ethan Nestor & Markiplier (not really their main content but they both do have it and occasionally talk about it. Ethan has the hyperactive type and Mark has the inattentive type), Olivia Lutfallah (her ADHD simulators are SO ACCURATE- And she has AuDHD so she has some stuff about autism too, I believe)

I remember I felt sorta daunted at first to realize I was way different than my peers than I first thought

and I had that sorta grieving process that people get when they get diagnosed later in life even though I had already been diagnosed

Like, "Damn. If only my past-self had known that. Maybe I could've shielded her from getting hurt."

But also, knowing more helped me move forward with more of a plan, I guess

Can't accommodate to yourself if you don't know what to accommodate to, right?

Anyways, I'm saying this because I think it's so important that people be taught more about Neurodiversities

Kids, parents, teachers, etc. should all be more informed because it saves a lot of confusion and pain for people in the long-run

Cuz a kid won't know that they have a different brain because that's all they've ever known. Sorta reminds me of the quote:

“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”

But yeah, if it hadn't been for my second grade teacher who noticed that I was coming home with classwork and who didn't think I was just being lazy, I don't know if I would be here, today, to be honest.

All it takes is one person to notice the signs of neurodiversity and speak up to change someone's life for the better

which is why I always try to educate my friends on this kinds of things so that they can be more helpful and understand of people with neurodiversites and of themselves if they realize they have a neurodiversity

Also, I write about this because I used to find characters like Mable Pines and Steven Universe annoying until I realized they exhibited ADHD symptoms and there was probablyyy some internalized ableism in my mind as a kid. I was able to watch the shows with these characters in them as a teenager and realize how much they characters were like me! And I loved them for it! It's really cool to see how much my knowledge and acceptance for my ADHD has grown as I've grown!

Anywayssss, that is all. I'm on my meds rn and I had some motivation so decided to talk about this hehe. I gotta get ready for some babysitting rn lmao.

TLDR; People should be educated more on the signs of Neurodiversities so that people can get the help they need sooner instead of thinking they are "Wrong", "stupid", or "broken". I bolded some cool resources for more ADHD (and some other Neurodiversity) info and a cool quote :)

[sparkles-rule-4eva]

https://www.tumblr.com/bebeiaarts/673335597863256064/my-headcanon

Went ahead and read this post. And laughed a little, ngl.

It's basically a defense post for shipping Sonic with human girls, and a hate post towards Sonamy/Sonally shippers. Called 'em all "fanbrats." Immediate generalization, assuming all of us are the same.

I'm a Sonamy shipper, not Sonally. Why I don't ship Sonally? All I've seen of Sally -- while she's generally a good person -- she's very controlling, especially of Sonic himself. She doesn't like Sonic for who he is; she's constantly trying to make him more serious and their personalities clash an awful lot. But does that mean I hate on and judge Sonally shippers? No. It's just a ship with fictional characters, peeps. Lighten up. I don't get triggered if I see others making art for them and stuff. I just move on because it's not for me.

Ah, yeah, Amy's worse qualities HAVEN'T disappeared? Sorry, could someone remind me of a time during the IDW comics, during Frontiers, during MOSTH, when Amy was making Sonic uncomfortable with stalker-esque behavior? Right. There wasn't any. It's a little something called character development and maturity. Happens as one grows older.

And this isn't the first time I've seen people complain that they're turning Amy into Sally 2.0. Actually, they're not. Amy Rose has a heart for people that Sally never did. In IDW, Amy took over the Resistance and changed it into the Restoration because Knuckles disbanded it on a whim, and she couldn't bear to see so many people displaced and in trouble. Because she's got that heart and LOVE for people. That passion.

Amy loves Sonic exactly for who he is. (I've talked a little about this before but will gladly elaborate for those who refuse to see.) She outright said to him, "I can't change you. I don't want to change you."

She loves that he's an adventurer. She loves that he has a heart for people like she does as well. She loves everything about him -- through anything.

Another person claimed they didn't ship Sonamy because "Amy only loves the hero facade Sonic puts on." Sorry, remember that episode in Sonic X where it showed Amy was well aware of Sonic's dislike/fear of water, and instead of getting angry or disappointed with him, she made him a good luck charm bracelet to make him feel better? Or that time when she scolded Knuckles for making fun of said fear? Or when he was badly electrocuted to the point of unconsciousness and she stepped up to take care of him? Or when she dove into a giant mass of water after him, knowing she might not be able to save him but not wanting him to be alone? I could go on and on.

That love of hers, that passion, is also for people in general (he's just #1 in her heart, according to Sega). In Frontiers, she showed concern for him when he appeared to be struggling. She shared her desires to share her love with the world, even if it meant taking them apart, and he encouraged her to do so, adding that he wanted to hear all about it when she got back.

Pardon us for feeling like Sonamy is more canon after Frontiers. I'd like to see YOU come up with a platonic explanation for "Wish we were sharing an umbrella, Amy," and "Amy, I should've made up my mind sooner."

Also, it's pretty unlikely Amy is still 12. They stopped confirming their ages years ago. With how much has been happening, I wouldn't be surprised if they're all aged up several years.

"Thinking we know better than Sega themselves." Bruh, "Sega themselves" have confirmed time and time again that Sonic has feelings for Amy. The only reason (besides the mandates lol) he hasn't confessed to her is because

Sonic isn't good at dealing with feelings

Sonic isn't ready for a relationship at this point in his life/doesn't need one

Sonic loves Amy, and Amy loves Sonic. But they're both aware that Sonic doesn't want a relationship for the time being, so they're fine being friends.

Pardon the rant, lol. And jsyk, this isn't necessarily a persuasive speech. If this convinced you to ship Sonamy, cool! If it didn't, I don't care. Again, these are just ships with fictional characters. I have fun with them. I don't get outraged if people don't ship what I do. If you don't like it, move past this post and keep scrolling. See if I care. 😂

[vimesbootstheory]

ive been absolutely BINGING your cobra kai stuff today (and i owe you a few good comments i think, once i can sort out my thoughts and type them out, cause WOW). but one thing that stuck with me is how you write characters with brain damage, and i was wondering if you had any tips on how you do it? i know that not all brain injuries manifest the same, but id love to get your perspective on it!

hey anon! so pumped to hear that you're enjoying my ck stuff 😁 you do not owe me any comments but I will absolutely cherish them and roll around in them like silk sheets whenever your thought-sorting comes to its natural conclusion, really looking forward to your thoughts 💕

also! you have activated my sleeper agent activation phrase lol. some day I am going to come across someone who is into both of my two most recent, most significant fandoms, and then I'll really be in trouble for, uh, literally giving someone a brain injury in every single one of my last five projects. I finished my first draft of a novel on wednesday and guess what! mc also has a brain injury

ohhh god thank you for giving me an opportunity to rant about this topic. I'm not going to pretend that this is going be anything close to comprehensive, I'm gonna keep it buffet-style. the experience that I'm bringing to this is that I am a speech-language pathologist who works with clients with brain injuries, so my experience is biased towards brain injuries that affect communication or swallowing in some way. but this is most brain injuries so we're doing pretty ok. I myself have never experienced a brain injury.

I have no idea how to organize this so I'm going to throw spaghetti at the wall. cut to save your dash, for length. god, the LENGTH. idk come back and read this when you have an afternoon with nothing to do or sth.

Writing a Character with a Brain Injury

as you said, brain injuries don't manifest the same. in fact they can vary wildly. honestly this can be such a gift as a writer, because you can add an interesting wrinkle to pretty much any scene by pulling out a symptom and having it manifest and see where the scene takes you. oh, this character who prides themselves on being stoic is, idk, explaining a plan to their surbordinate? well what if they just start fucking crying because emotional lability post-stroke/tbi is a bitch? what then?

for me, when I write someone with a brain injury, I plan ahead of time what parts of the brain got impacted. I know my way around the brain pretty ok (as much as anyone does), especially in the left hemisphere perisylvian area which is v key with core language, so I can do that. if you want to take writing a brain injury Super Seriously, you could also do that. do a little research, see what happens when certain corners go dark. damage can be super localized and only affect a narrow range of functions, or it can be diffuse, or it can cover big areas of the brain while leaving others alone.

one thing I don't think I've ever seen portrayed realistically in fiction is post-traumatic amnesia (PTA). for many TBI survivors, there is a period post-injury when the formation of new memories is v poor. they can't really get much high-level recovery done in this time frame because learning is on pause until PTA is over and done with. fiction often does retrograde amnesia with brain injuries, but in my experience, PTA is way more of a thing. amnesia surrounding the time immediately before and after the injury itself is also v common.

a fun ("fun") aspect to this stretch of healing is confabulation. This is when, post-TBI, the person makes up fictions (partial or total) that, to some extent, fill in the holes in their understanding of their lives. they are not aware that these fictions aren't true. this also makes them very susceptible to being lied to. go forth and play with that.

insight! insight is something that is so huge with brain injuries. insight is the capacity to recognize one's own difficulties post-TBI. people can get very agitated about this, which is not helped by agitation being very common in the early stages of emerging from a coma. you like to think that you know best how your brain is doing, right? it's YOUR brain. but also, recognizing and assessing your own behaviour is a cognitive function. a function that can go on the fritz when your brain is damaged. one of the first steps towards recovery is often recovering the faculty of being able to recognize that you're not functioning as you were before, and are in fact experiencing Symptoms. think how disorienting and upsetting it would be to not be able to trust your brain to assess how your brain is doing. extrapolate that, empathize with it, and you're already going to resonate more with your brain-damaged character than 99.9% of representations in fiction.

people on this site love talking about executive function, let's get into some executive function. this is our prefrontal cortex damage, and it's one of the more interesting spots to give a character brain damage. that's going to make attention hard (sustaining attention, switching attention from one thing to another and back, both zoning in AND zoning out as needed). processing speed, organizing thoughts, these are all likely to take a hit with this kind of damage.

another one I don't see people talking about! is! initiation! initiation is getting started on something, and also getting yourself to STOP doing something. this is also under the executive function umbrella. from the communication side of things, I see this most in a tangential, rambling, never-stop-talking style of speech; they can't initiate the choice to stop talking. one of the more frustrating aspects of this symptom is that if people haven't met the TBI survivor pre-injury, this is a symptom where people tend almost universally to just assume this has always been part of your personality.

taking that point and running with it: for a lot of executive function symptoms, other characters might assume (if they haven't met them before) that they are just part of the TBI survivor's personality or (if they knew them pre-TBI) that their personality has changed. like it's psychological rather than neurological. people in general are bad at understanding brains! me included, but maybe a little less bad than the average.

your average TBI rehabilitation team will involve, outside of the more obvious figures like a neurologist and your primary care physician: a psychologist, an occupational therapist, a physiotherapist, a social worker and/or case manager, a speech-language pathologist, sometimes a vision therapist/ophthalmologist, sometimes an audiologist. I tell you this to show the breadth of impact on one's life from a TBI.

vision stuff is nuts! your character might have double vision, they might have some neurological blindness. I don't know a lot about occipital lobe damage outside of having to check for it in reading assessments. hemispatial neglect is bonkers, that's where the character can technically SEE both halves of their visual field, but they can't pay attention to half of it. they can't notice it, it's cognitively irrelevant.

I'm also gonna do a disservice to my physiotherapy ("physical therapy" in the US) and occupational therapy girlies by being pretty broad strokes here. I am but a humble SLP. depending on how severe the injury is, where it impacts, the character may have to spend time relearning how to do all those activities that make up a life (cooking, getting dressed, manipulating small objects with their fine motor skills) in OT. likewise, gross motor skills might be impacted. might need to relearn how to walk; one side is often more impacted that the other, again depending on the nature and location of the damage. I'm always hearing about BALANCE being a big PT goal.

the process of eating/drinking and swallowing is extraordinarily complex and frankly it's a miracle we manage it regularly. many many people go through a recovery phase (which might be brief or may carry on into months and even years) of having difficulty with bolus prep (basically, getting the food/drink matter ready to be swallowed) and swallowing. the most significant danger of this is NOT "choking" on foods, the way we usually think about choking. it's more about food/drink material getting down into the lungs without sufficiently coughing it back out, and then they can get a lung infection called aspiration pneumonia. they may need to be on altered solids and/or liquids (e.g. softer, more consistent solids, or thickened liquids; straws not a good idea, nor are mixed-consistency foods), and to use strategies to make sure they're eating safely.

so I've procrastinated my own dang field long enough: communication. (swallowing is also in my field but I don't do a lot of it in my day-to-day) lol I'm a little overwhelmed by the idea of trying to convey any kind of comprehensive idea of how a brain injury can impact communication. so many ways!

maybe the best-known: Aphasia. acquired dysfunction of core language. this may make it more difficult to understand incoming language (reading, listening, seeing others' sign language), or express language (speaking, using sign language, writing), or both. this can mess with expression/reception of individual words, sentence structures, use of prefixes/suffixes/grammatical words. the most severe aphasia is global aphasia, no expressing, no understanding; note! this does not mean they can't think. this is why it drives me fucking nuts when people talk about "thinking in" a second language. language is not the medium of thought, and thought transpires without language. the mildest form of aphasia is anomia, where trying to retrieve the word you want to use is difficult. EXTREMELY common. this is pretty easy to slip into a character's dialogue, just have them stall on a word. less common words are, perhaps predictably, the most impacted. anecdotally, for some reason, "dishwasher" and "safety pin" are almost always hard?? I blame washing machines and paper clips.

big oversimplification, but, if they have expressive aphasia, they know what they want to say, but they can't get it out. if they have pure receptive aphasia, this can manifest as being able to get out a lot of language at a pretty fair clip, but it not being what they want to say; they don't understand what they're saying, and they don't know they're not making sense. if given the choice, I would take receptive aphasia, because expressive aphasia is INCREDIBLY frustrating. I've seen so many adults with expressive aphasia break down crying, it's just so frustrating to know exactly what you want to say and not be able to say it.

TBIs can also mess with the communication between the brain and the muscles responsible for speech, leading to difficulties with coordinating those muscles, which can basically look like mispronouncing words. I would be cautious trying to portray misarticulations in dialogue. if your character has apraxia, maybe restrict it to an out-of-dialogue comment about mispronouncing words, having difficulty putting the sounds in the right order, rather than trying to write it out in dialogue. This brain-muscle communication can also manifest in a family of conditions called dysarthrias, which can lead to slurred speech, it can lead to really tight, strained speech, it can even lead to the TBI survivor sounding drunk (when impacting the same part of the brain that alcohol inhibits when you're drunk).

I don't see a lot of right-hemisphere injuries in my line of work, because in most people the most significant language centre is on the left side of the brain; but, one notable exception is prosody, the melody of speech, which is usually associated with the right hemisphere. injury to the RH can lead to monotone-sounding speech; I'm not going to armchair diagnose timothy omundson but I've often wondered if he had a RH stroke.

there's a real, often incredibly daunting grieving process associated with having had a serious brain injury and realizing that your brain, often your closest physical-world reference point to where the YOU sits in your body, is now different. it might get back to how it was before, it might not. one way or the other, that person will likely need to grieve that.

I often find that people who pride themselves on being intellectual have the hardest time with symptoms of brain injury. when your intellect is very central to your self-concept, it can be very difficult to digest that that part of yourself has been changed, and not in a way that you ever wanted.

I have been picking at this for... uh goddamn. couple hours. okay I'm gonna stop. thank you for asking! this is not nearly complete! but it was fun to write! if you have any questions please shoot me all the asks

[amethystina]

Dear Amethystina,

How could you do this to me????? I think I'm going to perish. PERISH. You posted about Mad Dog and twinky Woo Do Hwan and??? How could I not watch it???? And now I've just finished episode 12.

And let me tell you. I have suffered. The PAIN of watching Jang Ha Ri (who I really want to like, mind you) and Kim Min Joon doing their stupid flirty thing. Maybe it's because I haven't finished the drama, but I feel like Ha Ri is being done dirty. And without even mentioning the surprisingly homoerotic bromance of said Kim Min Joon and Choi Kang Woo.

Since you are the reason I started watching Mad Dog in the 1st place (curse my similar taste), I'm ranting to you. I know you have no particular obligation to reply. :) But these are my thoughts, and I must tell them to someone because I don't know anyone else who watches this drama, and the tumblr tag for it is a vacuum. Let the rant commence.

How could the writers do this to Jang Ha Ri's character?? Maybe it's just bc I haven't gotten to that part yet, but she barely got any backstory, and I'm 3/4 of the way through this drama. Just a couple lines abt her father being saved by Kang Woo. And that's it. That's it! Even Cheetah got a friggin flashback. Even though he's a less significant character. (Pardon me, Cheetah, but it's true.) Since she has no backstory, her character feels rather ungrounded. We, the audience, don't really know who she is w/o the two main leads. With every other character, we know who they are on their own, because they got a rather thorough backstory.

But Jang Ha Ri has barely any, which I think is strange, since she's pretty important. Therefore, whenever I see her on screen, I just can't connect with her. In the beginning of the drama, I was like "wow, this is such a good setup for her character! i can't wait to see what the writers do with her". But now I'm 3/4 of the way through this drama, and she's got almost nothing. That causes me to feel like she's been shortchanged, and that her relationship with the other characters (especially Min Joon) is built on a foundation of sand. They told us abt her background, but they didn't show it, which kinda invalidates her relationships w/ other characters, because she's barely a character by herself. That's not to say that she doesn't have personality, but we don't understand her on her own, we can only access her thoughts when she's with the two male leads, or doing smth for them, etc.

She can't have a romantic relationship with someone else if the audience doesn't know who she is on her own. (Kinda like how, in real life, you have to know who you are and love yourself before you can love someone else.) That's why her and Min Joon's relationship feels so insincere, because in it she's basically just Min Joon's love interest. As you can tell, I'm a lil salty.

And on top of all that, Min Joon and Kang Woo have such promise as a couple!!!!! Kang Woo choked Min Joon up against a wall. (parallels to the Devil Judge) They were living together. For God's sake, Min Joon cooked Kang Woo a thank-you meal for caring enough about him to check on him when he was in trouble, for saving his life. How Min Joon looked so crushed when Kang Woo told him they weren't living together! And I can't even read any fanfics about it, since there's literally only 3 fanfics for their pairing on ao3! And none of them are written the way I think the characters should be written. So I may have to write a fanfic for them myself, since I need them to kiss.

For my ask, I request a few words of comfort involving Min Joon and Kang Woo. I would ask for a short lil drabble where they're happy together, but if that isn't smth you want to do, just pretend I never asked. Just say "They kissed and lived happily ever after. The end." Those words from you would bring me great happiness in my time of sorrow.

Ever your faithful reader,

Sofapup

(P.S. And btw 39 of WHTD was heartwrenching and I loved it sm and I cried why do you do this to me)

I'm sorry this took a little longer to answer than usual but when I got this ask, you were actually ahead of me in the drama since I've been putting it off for so long x'D So I had to wait until I had also finished episode 12, just in case there was some important information there that might influence my reply.

Also, I want to point out that I never actually told anyone to watch Mad Dog since I still haven't finished it myself. So you only have yourself to blame, my friend ;)

ANYHOW. Your feelings about Ha Ri mirror my own. She is done SO dirty. I was SO EXCITED when she first showed up because it seemed like she was going to be a really interesting character, but, pretty soon, I realised how wrong I was. I agree that they've given her almost no backstory whatsoever and so nothing she says or does feels truly anchored in anything. And she fluctuates wildly between confident badass and flustered damsel in distress in a way that's genuinely baffling to me.

Like, in episode 12 when she got chased into a dead-end by the baddie and everyone was freaking out — including her. But, like, my dudes. Did you all forget how she literally parkoured her way down a three-story building in episode 1? Her ability to climb and acrobat her way out of trouble has been firmly established. But now she can't even climb the pile of rubble in front of the one-story house she's caught next to? What the actual fuck is going on?

I am FURIOUS on her behalf.

And that is actually one of the reasons why I'm having trouble getting through this drama. That and the general inconsistent characterisation (not just Ha Ri), plus the shoehorned flirting. The general plot and setup of the drama are fine and I like quite a lot the characters and their relationships, but it's also forcing a lot of confusing and contradicting information in my face in a way that instantly makes my hackles rise. It feels almost clumsily unprofessional?

Like, don't get me wrong — I'm still enjoying most of this drama and I'm pretty sure I'll finish it — but dear LORD is the characterisation bad in some cases. At this point, I think I can say I'm pretty good at characters without that being taken as bragging, yeah? I have a pretty easy time pinning down their personalities, behaviour etc. etc. And when I can't it's usually a bad sign because, nine times out of ten, that means your characters are inconsistent. Either because the writer doesn't have a clear picture of who they are, or because they keep making the characters do things they usually wouldn't because they want to advance the plot (poor Ha Ri suffers from both, I'm afraid to say).

That's not to say that a character has to be predictable. Kang Yo Han is a good example of a character who was unpredictable enough that I couldn't say for sure I understood him until I had watched the whole thing. I needed all the information before I could form a clear picture. But, even then, he was consistent in his characterisation throughout the entire drama. To be honest, he's one of the most consistent characters I've ever seen, especially since, even on a rewatch, his actions don't change. You understand his motivations better, sure, but his actions are exactly the same and that, right there, is something I am in awe of. Even the impulsivity, recklessness, viciousness, sudden swings in direction — all of it was consistent in the end because his core personality and values were. Kang Yo Han is a marvellous character from a craft perspective.

But in Mad Dog? Shit's all over the place for the majority of the characters. The most solid ones are the bad guys since their core personality trait is "hilariously evil." Which might not be a very nuanced personality, but at least it's consistent. Almost everyone else has been forced to be out of character for convenient plot purposes at some point.

And the worst crimes by far are committed against Ha Ri and Min Joon in order to force their romance. Now, don't get me wrong — I LOVE romance and the actors have some pretty nice chemistry — but none of it really fits. Not with the rest of the story, the pacing of the rest of the story, the (small amount of) backstory we get for the two of them, the tone of the rest of the story, or the initial characterisation we were given. It feels like a literal case of "here is a male and a female of roughly the same age and now we need to make them kiss because heteronormativity" with no thought to how to actually make it believable. So they cram in cutesy and supposedly romantic scenes (often with Min Joon feeling a really confusing need to protect Ha Ri? Even if she could literally kick his ass? But because she's a woman he has to I guess?) that either happen out of the blue or just way too early in their relationship for it to be believable and it just annoys me so much.

I swear, after the car explosion thing in... can't remember the episode. But Kang Woo drags Min Joon out of the burning car, yeah? And Ha Ri shows up and FOR SOME GODDAMN REASON pulls the unconscious and clearly injured Min Joon into her arms? Ma'am. Girlfriend. Bestie. He's got a bleeding head injury — possibly also a neck injury. Maybe don't move him more than necessary? Also, isn't he a conman? As in, the type of person you claim to hate most because of your tragic past? Why are you suddenly pulling him into your arms like he's your injured boyfriend? He was fine just lying on the ground, I promise. This really isn't necessary.

And THEN you find out it's because she needed to get blood on her jacket so that Min Joon could get worried and ask her about it when he was at the hospital later and she could tell him she was fine because it was all his but ooooh loooook, he caaaares about her! Isn't that cuuuuuute?

Someone please put me out of my misery.

I legit had to pause the episode and just stare out into space for a couple of seconds when that happened because that's just SUCH TERRIBLE WRITING. I can do better than that and writing isn't even my job! It made NO sense for her to act the way she did and it honestly just made her look stupid. All for a clumsy attempt at furthering her romance with Min Joon? I am FUMING.

(Is the script forcing you to be stupid, Ha Ri? Blink twice if you need me to come save you)

And the forced romance between Ha Ri and Min Joon is only made more hilarious by how effortless his connection is with Kang Woo. It's more consistent with their characters, consistent with the overall pacing, and genuinely more interesting. And it just baffles me how completely off the mark the writer was since Kang Woo is getting all the important emotional scenes with Min Joon, not Ha Ri.

Like, the scenes where Min Joon is vulnerable and talking about his childhood and dead brother? Which would be great in order to build trust between him and Ha Ri? He's having all of those scenes with Kang Woo. Which I don't mind, of course (it's HILARIOUSLY gay) but that just proves that the romance between Min Joon and Ha Ri was an afterthought and the build-up of it was just slapped on without much thought to the characters. It's romance for the romance's sake. Because the actual building of a relationship, sharing of emotions, of grief and painful memories? Min Joon doesn't do that nearly enough with Ha Ri to make the romance stick, especially due to the aforementioned problem with her having too little backstory and firm ground to stand on. He honestly has more connection, more in common, AND more chemistry with Kang Woo.

So, long story short, I feel your pain. Ha Ri is being treated so, so unfairly and it makes me so angry. But, on the other hand, I find the gay romance brewing between Kang Woo and Min Joon absolutely amazing. And, to my surprise, I might just have to retract my earlier statement about the writer not having any idea about how gay this is. Because I actually went to check who the screenwriter was and turns out it's the same woman who worked on Beyond Evil. Which I have not seen but reports tell me it's hella gay. So, tbh, the gay might not be as unintentional as I first thought?

Like, I obviously don't know this woman but it would be HILARIOUS if she's just sneaking gay shit into her shows and subtly sabotaging the straight romances by making them this shitty. I know we're reaching conspiracy theory levels here but I would definitely do that if I were her.

Thank you for your service, ma'am.

(Too bad you write such shitty female characters, at least in this drama)

Anyway. I'm genuinely confused by the tone of Mad Dog because they play it very straight (pun intended). I mean, looking at The Devil Judge I think it's pretty clear that there's a cheeky little undertone of "we know what we're doing but we're not going to say outright what it is — if you know, you know ;)" But in Mad Dog? They don't even really address the fact that Kang Woo and Min Joon have all the deep, emotional scenes while Min Joon and Ha Ri only get cringey and clumsy "romantic" scenes. But Min Joon and Ha Ri is the endgame?

While Kang Woo is probably meant to become a substitute older brother to Min Joon or something? But I really question why they had that whole "whoops, Min Joon accidentally impersonated Kang Woo's wife there for a second" plotline in that case. Man, I was laughing so hard x'D Like, Kang Woo outright says that Min Joon is the first person to cook for him and share a meal with him in that apartment since his wife died.

Sir. I... don't think you realise how unintentionally gay that sounds.

(But maybe your writer does. I'm keeping my eyes on you, ma'am)

Because if Min Joon had been a woman? That admission would have been taken as a hint of something romantic possibly brewing between them. Not necessarily that Min Joon was taking Kang Woo's wife's place, but stepping up as the next candidate, at the very least. And I find that absolutely HILARIOUS.

Okay, this is getting really, really long. As you can see, I also have A LOT of thoughts on Mad Dog x'D But also, as mentioned, I haven't finished it yet and if I ever were to write anything (which I honestly can't promise since it depends on how the drama ends and what my (already packed) schedule looks like) it wouldn't be able to until I have. But trust me when I say that I am quite intrigued to see where this goes — even if it means I have to suffer through the shoehorned flirting between Min Joon and Ha Ri.

(For the record, I am ANNOYED by how much I dislike those scenes. I WANT to like their romance! But it just feels so, so incredibly clumsy and forced and I, unfortunately, have standards. So it's a no from me so far)

Also, fun fact: I started Mad Dog as a palette cleanser after a lot of gay romance dramas, wanting something different. And, I mean, a story about life insurance fraud can't be gay, can it? So I went in with the best and purest intentions.

But then I started watching and somewhere around the point where Kang Woo slams Min Joon up against a wall for the first time I just put my head in my hands. Because I could see where this was going.

And then I made the mistake of looking up the poster for the drama and, I swear, I was beginning to have war flashbacks.

That's not gay at all.

And this isn't even the first time this has happened to me

Or even the second, third, fourth, or fifth. I think I'm up to seven or something? At this point, there's a joke amongst my friends that I have a gaydar meant specifically to locate gay dramas that aren't actually gay dramas — especially when I'm not actually looking for them.

It's a weird superpower to have, but there you go.

ANYHOW. Yes. Good luck with finishing this drama, I guess? I'll try to do the same but, considering my current pace, I can't say when I will. It's a bit of a drag sometimes, not going to lie. But I do like the plot and characters enough to want to see through to the end.

Also, I'm so glad you liked chapter 39 of Who Holds the Devil! Thank you! Now take care, darling 💜

[multimix101]

Alright so I'm having a moment where I'm listening to music and imagining a music video - as one does -, and I have a cool idea for matching a clip of 'Family Line' to Chosen's story This'll essentially be me throwing ideas into the void while I have them - I can't animate for sh[beep]t so I can't make it myself ;v;

All that I did, I tried to undo it 'All that I did' shows a few instances of Chosen doing damage during the outernet rampages with Dark, and then 'I tried to undo it' shows the corresponding instances where he helped sticks instead - e.g., the first moment being him crushing Mitsi with a falling rock, and the second being him saving that stick from another rock while being chased in AvA 9

All of my pain and all your excuses This shows Chosen being tortured as Alan's slave

I was a kid, but I wasn't clueless 'I was a kid' is a wide shot of Chosen standing in the animator app, before zooming in to see him narrowing his eyes in resentment/anger on 'but I wasn't clueless'

(Someone who loves you wouldn't do this) Flashes between multiple moments where Chosen is being hurt - Dark making his virabots attempt to kill him, Dark killing the colour gang himself, Victim fighting him in the box and tying him up, and of course the slavery

All of my past, I tried to erase it This shows Chosen having a panic attack in the dark living room of the house shown in the Showdown, rubbing his hands over his head and trying to calm down

But now I see - would I even change it? On 'But now I see' Chosen is looking at the colour gang talking to/having fun with each other (over-the-shoulder shot where he's blurry and close to the camera while they're in focus and further away, facing us), and on 'would I even change it?' it's a medium close up shot of Chosen's troubled/thoughtful expression as he ponders that question ("they are so happy - if I had a chance to change the past and give Dark and I a better life, would I even do it anymore if it meant risking the kids' happiness?").

Might share a face and share a last name, but... This shows Victim and Chosen glaring at each other - taking turns for their expression to get more intense (you can... invision what I'm talking about- like, narrowing your eyes more or getting more disgusted- it's quite common in animatics). Chosen on 'Might share a face' and Victim on 'and share a last name, but...'

We are not the same The background simply fades into black as the only thing left on screen is a red, flickering piece of text displaying the lyric

...If you've read this entire rant - you are beautiful, here is a cookie :3

[dwrlm-orion]

ABOUT THE NEWEST TWST HALLOWEEN EVENT🎃🐦‍⬛

Here's things I take a notes from the event (correct me if I'm wrong or just TELL ME IF I MISSED SOME THINGS)

IMPORTANT, this is just my notes and rants so it will get messy, I mean a real mess. And I'll mix Indonesian and English language since it's easier (for me and my english it still improving, I hope). Hehe :D

It's gonna be a long post I ever type. Help

Not recommend to read since this is just my rants.

🎃

Halloween Event Tittle:

"Lost in The Book with Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas"

I wonder how Tim Burton will react to this, HE NEED TO KNOW

This is part 2 of Lost in the Book Series. Which I didn't expect tapi gak akan ku tolak 😳

Some facts yang udah terungkap sampai hari ini (btw, eventnya besok ahay GASKEUN~):

Twisted version dari Jack Skellington, named Skully J. Graves (honestly it's a cool name, and WE WON'T LET THE ENGLISH VERSION MESSED UP AGAIN JUST LIKE THEY DID TO KIFAJI AND FELLOW-ekhem)

SSR card: Leona (I CAN'T BREATH, WHERE'S OXYGEN?!!), Jamil (NJAY, JAMIL WITH HIS HAIR DOWN?!! SENGGOL DONG BOS) & Sebek (LET'S GOOOOOOOOOO BABY CROC!!)

SR card: Riddle (THIS IS HIS 2nd BOOK, GIVE HIM A BREAK. And, what in the Ciel Phantomhive???? Bro, I'll give my everything just to get your ass card, luv you), Trey (O-M-G, are you here to babysit Riddle??? or opened your own bakery in Halloween Town??? #babysitter), Jade (YOU'RE NOT TRYING TO BE SEBASTIAN MICHAELIS, AREN'T YOU?!! Nice hairstyle btw) & Idia (STAY SAFE BRO, I HOPE YOU'LL SURVIVE BRO, I'LL SAVE YOUR ASS IF YOU GET STUCK ON THE TREE- I got feeling he'll got stuck on a tree at some point)

R card: Azul (Honestly, WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?? KAYA TIBA-TIBA BANGET NIH GURITA HADIR- but I'll enjoy your stunt dan skema penipuan yang akan kau jalankan MAJU KAU GURITA GULUNG!!), Vil (BEAUTIFUL QUEEN!! WELCOME TO THE NIGHTMARE- also you're here to babysit Epel??? #babysitter 2 I got feelings he'll get into more trouble because of his gremlin son), Malleus (BABY GORL, WHAT IN THE W- IT'S GOOD TO SEE YOU TRAPPED HERE, SAYANGKUH!!) & Epel (DON'T GET YOUR MOM Vil INTO TROUBLE!!)

SKULLY GANTENG DAN MENAWAN BANGET PLIS (Gojo reinkarnasi ke semsta yang tak terduga ehe)

Overblot team hadir semua bos! (APA ARTINYA INI????)

Story might be follow the original movie or rather more drama and chaos?? This is NRC students we talked.

ORIGINAL JACK SKELLINGTON ON THE SHOW!! Also Sally and Zero is here?? holy- DID OOGIE BOOGIE WILL SHOW UP TOO??

And I notice the tone color on the card is more grayer or darker??? Riddle's bright red hair is supper grayish in his card. Perfect for this Halloween event :D

AND THE SANTA CLAUS?? OR TWISTED VERSION OF SALLY???

🔥🔥🔥THIS HALLOWEEN WOULD BE FIRE!!!! 🔥🔥🔥

I want to add some of movie that have been adapted to event (as I remember so far):

Tinkerbell (fairy gala?? It's fairy themed)

Pinocchio (wishing star event and playful land event???)

Hunchback of Notre-dame

Lilo and Stich

The Nightmare Before Christmas (we're here!)

What's Next ?????

And I want to make a list of potential Disney movie that might be turned into future event in Twisted Wonderland (just my hunch but we'll see #smilemenacingly):

Frozen (trapped in the endless winter??? I'm in)

Zootopia (I'M WAITING FOR THEM TRAPPED IN ZOOTOPIA AND MEET WITH JUDY. I'm watching for you, Ace)

Dumbo (obvi, classic and nostalgic. Yana-sensei will do this right?? RIGHT?!)

Beauty and The Beast (aside from Vargas, I WANT TO SEE MORE OF TWISTED VERSION OF BATB CHARACTER PLS)

Bambi (I don't know why I add this movie but I LOVE THIS MOVIE FOR YEARS)

Brother Bear (EHEHEHEHEHEHEHE)

Winnie The Pooh (I mean what's wrong with Pooh and Friends make disaster at NRC?? Crowley will be in despair and suffer, now that's gonna be delightful)

Tarzan (I can imagine the first year trying survive in the jungle. Also Rook in Tarzan cloth??? 👁️👁️)

Jungle Book (Exploring the jungle is fun, boys 🙃)

The Emperor's New Groove (WE WANT TO SEE TWISTED YZMA)

Mulan (I know what you're thinking but SILVER GONNA LOVE IT WHEN HE MEET HIS IDOL)

Tangled (Them being tour guide for Rapunzel is hilarious. They'll get more lost but who cares)

The Princess and The Frog (Swamp time people!! Also, who's gonna kiss the frog?? Lilia will)

Peter Pan (I mean it's cool but The Prefect currently experience this *side eyeing Crowley)

Atlantis: The Lost Empire (WELL- IT HAVE POTENTIAL)

And the list goes on...

WE ARE SO READY FOR TOMMOROW!! APAPUN YANG TERJADI CINTAKU PADA TWST INI YANG BERSINAR SEPERTI SINAR ULTRAFENG DAN SELUAS SEMESTA INI AKAN TETAP MENGEBU-GEBU!!!

[nyarlathotep-thecrawlingchaos]

hiiiii i don't know if you are okay with your followers ranting, if you're not just disregard this and I'm super sorry! (And sorry about any typos I'm on phone and sometimes autocorrect does what it wants)

But basically I was feeling down in the dumps and I wanted to read some content about comfort characters and I stumbled upon a Mihawk fic so I started reading and (trigger warning here!! Mentions of abuse but nothing graphic described!!! take care of yourselves and your peace!!!) it sadly was untagged with tw and for some reason, in what should have been a normal mihawk x reader, there was him being extremely toxic and demeaning towards his significant other either because he had a bad day or he was jealous and stuff like that.

I know it may seem silly to some people, but it really screwed me over. I know everyone can write what they want and headcanon characters how they want but it got me really upset and I figured someone who finds comfort in writing and watching shows and stuff could understand

Thank you for all your content, and especially for not making Mihawk abusive towards the reader. To me, he always seemed just as you portrayed him. Cold, perhaps, but not one to put you through emotional and especially not physical turmoil. Your fics and even little drabbles and comments are super nice and they helped cheer me up so thanks a whole bunch. And especially thank you for tagging tw stuff too and making this a safe space.

This applies to all characters, by the way, not just mihawk. You write all of them wonderfully and I love reading through them, especially Sanji and Shanks. It's just at that particular moment your mihawk content really saved me a good few silly tears. Thanks ❤️

This is very very important and I'm glad you sent me this. I'm NOT glad at all that you had to go through that. So I'm gonna make this a PSA.

It takes very little time and effort to add a trigger warning to a fic and there's no excuse not to. We don't know what everyone's triggers are, no; but if it's something blatantly obvious like toxic and abusive behavior, mental health troubles, graphic violence, etc:

Then, my comrades, PLEASE PUT TRIGGER WARNINGS BEFORE THE CONTENT.

And Anon, I'm so so sorry you had to go through that. I wholly understand the importance of comfort characters and how stumbling into that kind of fic unknowingly can essentially ruin it.

I'm beyond happy you've found my blog to be a safe space, and I hope that it continues to be one for you and anyone else that needs it.

I also understand that everyone needs to let out a good rant now and then, and this is absolutely a safe place for that too!! I'm happy to hear from anyone at any time about anything, my ask box and inbox are both always open, so please don't hesitate utilize them ❤️🫂

[svnflowermoon]

hi

remember the anon from a few weeks ago who asked for advice about a girl called M? an anon with the emoji 🫀? well idk if u have already guessed but that was me

i told M that i like her and that if she didnt like me back she must tell the truth and she said ‘thats the thing, i dont know how i feel about you’ and then i told her i would wait

now i dont know what to do except wait, and like i can do that but like im just scared and we’ve been thru so much shit over the years between us and i feel like M probably doesnt like me the same way and thats why she said she doesnt know as in i dont completely know if i dont like you…..

like we used to be best friends and then we werent and like she smiles at me and ive heard that she wants a girlfriend, but i’ve also heard she likes this other girl who is super pretty like M and like im not that pretty and what if she is holding a grudge against the stuff i said last year to her???

like ive been depressed and sad and cried so much over her before, and missed her so much, and ive felt the whole spectrum of emotions over her, and i really care about her and i worry about her and i love her but what if she’s never felt like that towards me??? what if what she felt about me was a silly crush she had for like two months?

what if she leaves me waiting for months or years and then tells me and then ive spent my whole high school loving her and she didnt?? then what?

oh my god im ranted so much im so so so sorry you had to read all of that but i really needed to tell someone who would understand?? cos like non of of my friends have experienced desperate lesbian yearning and its like so hard cos they like guys and i dont

i just like her so much and i dont know what to do if she doesnt like me

again im so so sorry

omg hi!! i'm gonna be honest i'm oblivious so i hadn't figured out that it was you 😭😭

oh my god that's such an awkward situation like there's really nothing you can do except wait for her omg

i hope she likes you back omg, also about the whole thing abt the other girl, there's a chance she just has a flirty personality and has trouble figuring out who she likes fr bc she flirts so often?? idk i wouldn't know i can't flirt for the life of me. (also i'm sure you're gorgeous don't put yourself down like that angel <333)

considering you're feeling so strongly about the whole thing, i'd recommend making sure you spend time with your friends. try not to isolate yourself, just because you're waiting for her doesn't mean you have to put your whole life on pause. genuinely like spending time with friends will boost your mood sm, it won't fix it entirely but it will help you remember that you have other people in your life that are there for you <33

if she leaves you waiting for ages and then tells you that, then honestly she's an asshole 😭 if she didn't feel at least SOMETHING for you, she would probably want to let you know as soon as she could to save you too much hurt. ofc idk cause idk her irl but personally when i don't like someone i want to break that to them as soon as i can. so i think she probably likes you, it might not be as much as she did before or as much as you like her but i bet she likes you

don't feel bad for ranting omg never feel bad for ranting it's okay <333 the desperate lesbian thing is so real lmao i totally get you, please feel free to update me on whatever happens <33

[missdeepend]

Erza Scarlet and Elsie Crimson

A warning as always: This is going to mention scenes from chapters of the Edens Zero Manga as well as 100 Year Quest. If you are not caught up or have not read these, I highly recommend you do before continuing this post.

Erza Scarlet and Elsie Crimson have always been rather, vague in my heart. I don't mean like forgettable by any means. We all know how memorable Erza's scenes especially are. However, them as characters never quite sat right with me.

I know I'm about to piss off a lot of Erza fans... but I gotta say I don't like her. I mean I do, but she isn't even in my top five. I do have many moments that I enjoy of her and she is one of the funniest characters. I feel like her character has just been downgraded into something of comedic relief or destroy the enemy after some to little trouble. Especially in 100 Year Quest she doesn't have the feeling of the original Erza, though in many cases it is like that for all the characters.

There are moments I do enjoy of Erza. Her moments of seriousness when she takes the lead in team Natsu in plans are great, even when they go awry. Her fight against Minerva and Kagura is one of my favorites and can we just say how amazing Tower of Heaven and her backstory was when it was first presented. I feel though that many of these moments have been stripped away and given us nothing but moments of absolutely bodying an opponent for the sake of "badassery". I will die on the hill that Erza's battle with Irene was absolutely amazing until Wendy was no longer involved.

Then there is Elsie Crimson, oh boy. When she first came out I remember how crazy the fanbase went. Sure we had Plue return from Rave Master and Jellal had a similar person in Rave Master, but something felt... different. In the anime their voice actresses were the same. Their power was almost identical and... it was Erza. I passed Plue for just being a mascot and the same for Happy. But Elsie will always be.... Erza to me.

That isn't to say that there aren't good moments of Elsie. Her moments reminicing with Shiki about when she was taken in by Ziggy hurt my soul and her and Justice had great potential. But that was all it was, potential.

Erza and Jellal are still great in my opinion. Their dynamic is cute and embrace the friends to enemies to lovers that can't really be together. In a way I see it as Erza having honor to hold onto while Jellal has his own honor to find.

Elsie and Justice... I like them... but I can't help but to feel I like them because they are just... Erza and Jellal switched. They have a different backstory of course but its the same structure. To me it seemed like Mashima just used our heart strings tethered to Erza and Jellal to carry Elsie and Justice. Not to mention, while I enjoy Jellal as a character in his many moments, Justice is not a good character. But thats a discussion for another day. I will rant about him eventually. I feel like pieces of their characters work so well as they are, if only the other didn't exist. Elsie works to me because without Justice her scenes (other than that one allowing Ziggy to live) work so well for her. Her character being an unstoppable force high ranking in society that even Valkiyrie struggles against works because she isn't a main character. She doesn't swoop in to save their day unless Justice is involved or Ziggy. We couldn't pray for her return to defeat Drakken or Shura because...it was never going to happen. That is who Elsie is. So the moments where she one shots someone we know are deserved. The fights we see she struggles in we know that person is a force to be reckoned with.

Meanwhile, Erza works because she is like the big sister character, especially in the eyes of Wendy, Natsu, and Gray. She is there when you need to count on her. The reason her fights tire us out or seem unreasonable are because we see her as a main character. She just has main character syndrome attached to her.

If you could take Erza's relationships with people and her good bond with Jellal. It could be the story of Elsie and Justice or her original story and mesh it together with Elsie's perk of being a side character hardly seen I feel it could work wonderfully.

But I'm curious about what you all think about Erza and Elsie. If either got into a duel who would win? My bet is on Erza because the main character syndrome.

Anyways, I'll see you all later in the Deep End!! <3