#This isn't a redemption story by the way its a corruption arc

[the-cosmos-withinus]

Shadow Puppets au - Charlatans

This is actually planned to be part of a larger sequence involving a third character who calls Belos out as not talking to the Titan, but we haven't gotten to this part in the RP yet so said character's dialogue isn't set in stone, but this exchange is

For anyone seeing this au for the first time

Philip and the Collector "Astrophel" are genuine friends in this au, and have been since Philip was eight years old

No one can see or hear Astrophel unless they have touched the Collector's tablet or the Stella-Luna Amulet that Belos wears around his neck

Astrophel is an active and equal part of Belos's scheme to deceive and destroy the isles, consulting with him and using his limited power to affect the outside world to cause natural disasters on command in order to make it look like Belos is communicating with the Titan

Philip is also actually cursed in this au, and I don't think I've mentioned this before, but his eyes glow when the curse is acting up

[salvagesmha]

The Curious Case of the Jailbreakers

In MHA, the concept of villain organizations having sub-groups or elite squads is nothing new in concept (albeit it rarely is it committed to for too long). For the League of Villains, they had their Vanguard Action Squad. The Shie Hassaikai, they had the Eight Bullets. For the Paranormal Liberation Front/Meta Liberation Army, they had their Base Commanders turned PLF Advisors. Lastly for All For One's army of Villains, he has his Assassins better known as just the Jailbreakers...

Who I think probably has earned the title of the most nothing group during the story's time span. Which is pretty impressive in hindsight.

(Hey, you see this group of clearly seven people - one's in the back of the dialogue box - right? Keep this group shot in mind)

So who are the Jailbreakers?

The Jailbreakers are a group of...eight(?)ish Tartartus Villains that AFO recruited for the purpose of defeating Deku to bring to him (hence them also being called his hired guns or assassins...even if the latter isn't really correct).

On paper, this is a set-up for an interesting premise as the Dark Deku arc, on paper, is also supposed to show Deku trying to reach out to better understand why people become Villains and to at least try to see if they can be reasoned with. The story also established Tartarus to be a place which has numerous human rights violations. So already you can see the potential brewing for a potential sympathetic angle for some of them. If not that, then at least it should be easy to get invested in knowing former convicts are loose and, given their location, are likely immensely strong and provide some backstory to Hero Society as well.......right?

Well........kind of? Of the two, the former was kinda the most realized...sorta? Not really.

Of the Jailbreakers, Lady Nagant easily holds the title of being the most developed of the eight(?) and most thought out of. She's the one that shows the dark side of the HSPC, its corrupt measures to keep society ignorant of issues that could threaten its image. She's the Villain that Deku manages to reach out to sway back to good. She gets her redemption in the Final War. Sounds good...on paper (again XD).

But, in practice, as much as I like Nagant and what she offers, it's still plagued by rushing her introduction and reform stint in a few chapters, and then leaving her comatose up until the final battle. She's in and out of the story just like that. What should have been foreshadowed long ago, and taken its time to really let simmer, is just suffering under a story going too fast to really want to let her stick around.

Yet, that's still way better than what her comrades got - because, wow, did the Jailbreakers run into trouble before Nagant was finised.

Starting with this damning line right here from Hawks:

From the start we're told by Hawks the Analyst that because Deku has One For All, the other escaped cons besides Nagant should be no trouble.

This right here is the start of the Nothingness of the Jailbreakers. Before we even get to see anyone else besides Nagant, a flashback says that we shouldn't be concerned if one of them runs into Deku. That sentence along along is the most damning thing one should never say in regards to a group that hasn't properly debuted.

It is a writing sin, one that makes any attempt at hyping up future villains go to waste! Because, from the very start, you got it into the audience's head that these guys are no real theat. No big deal, because Hawks the Powerscaler said so. Trading out 7ish potential for one who, admittedly, is still not given the best of their treatment is very much a bad call.

This is actually pretty strange for MHA, since Horikoshi actually got it right concerning the other three squads...for the most part XD The Vanguard he made note that these guys were 'elite' compared to the jobbers of USJ, Eight Bullets were noted to be threatening since they had nothing to lose, the Advisors (as much as the story dropped the ball with them) at least had Hawks the Tier King to say they're stronger than average. All three had the story giving an effort to build intrigue and expectation for these guys...things squandered for the Jailbreakers in favor of just one of their number. It's a strange choice, but its pretty much the start of a losing battle for the rest.

And it really doesn't get better for them since after Nagant, do you know what happens to the other two?

Yeah, no, for both the anime and manga, they just get one appearance. That's it. No real showcasing of their powers, no names, any reason as to why they worked for AFO, no real personality either. They're just...footnotes. It doesn't help both get done dirty in different ways. Gangster Fang guy gets caught no problem off-screen to really hammer in the protagonist can't be touched (which...is just a decision I never agree with - decimates the stakes for the story).

King Sharkman isn't even shown defeated. From manga to anime, he just that one still frame (Bones for S5-6 REALLY did not care consistency/extra effort with the Villains, especially the minor ones and it shows). You probably wouldn't even knew they were Jailbreakers were it not for Hawks giving the almighty report that they were enemies sent by AFO.

It's one thing for have dialogue to say these Villains won't be much, it is a very different thing to reinforce that idea. So with these showings, it's now officially solidified in the audience's mind that these guys are nothing special. Which, again, is a bad thing to be doing for your series, especially when you're in the final act and need credible villains to face (which wouldn't be an issue if over half of the credible villains from the First War wasn't shelved, but...that's a topic for another day).

Dictator, the 4th hitman, isn't much better. Sure he has an actual personality, and a cool power, with the bonus of actually using his moves intelligently (with the whole meat shield trick) and providing a boost for Crust post-mortem. But, like with the other two he suffers a lesser case of being disposed of too quickly. He's OHKO'd by Bakugo and only brought up in passing afterword. Arrived too late and gone too quick.

After that, there's a lull since Deku is saved by Class A. By now, you might think, if you haven't completely written off the Jailbreakers by this point, you would have noticed that, after Nagant, there were three of the seven(?) that went down, right? So four to go right?

...

Yeah, now here's the fun part.

???? Who the Hell are two of them?! There are clearly two extras off to the side, so what gives? Weeeelll...just forget about them.

Unfortunately, they're two things that just...don't get resolved by the end of the story. There's six of them here, Hori likely had some original plan that involved six Jailbreakers all getting stomped out during the War...but I guess he just couldn't find room to add in the two......

Okay, scratch that.

He couldn't find the room to add in four, because aside from the namedropped Kunieda and Gashly, no other Jailbreakers either appears or gets focused on, in the manga that is at the time of this writing. Despite clearly showing at least two others on the level of Gashly...they just are not shown off. This especially goes for the Dreadlock Jailbreaker that you would clearly see as being constantly in shot and is likely this guy below.

He was sent to Gunga, we see him at the start...and doesn't appear again. It's utterly bizarre and that's not even getting into the person next to him whose so vague we can't make out any real details.

But, hey, this is just the manga. Perhaps the anime makes things clearer, right?

Nope.

Instead of six Jailbreakers...they just reduced it five, even though we can blatantly see six in the original panels. On the flipside, without the text we get a better view of Kunieda, Gashly, 'Spike' (for lack of better name - also we now know his Quirk) and two of the other enemies. One is apparently bald and next to Spike, so I assume they are on the Gunga battlefield (they're the ones next to Spike in the first manga panel so the anime thought to add them back in)? As for the cloak one...yeah got nothing. I hope the anime does something with them, but if they don't won't be surprised.

But why get hung up on this?

Well, because the story now wants them to be considered important. As the 'wild card' factor that could make their attempts to stop the Villains be in danger. Or rather, it wants Kunieda and Gashly to be important (since Hori made 3/4 others that just...don't get to be shown off - still better than the Advisors situation mind you).

The problem is that the damage was both already done on top of other factors.

Like I said before, up until the 2nd War, after Nagant, the Jailbreakers were treated like a breeze to get through by Deku or Class A. Meaning their threat level is nonexistent in spite of Johnny Average saying otherwise.

Another downside to the Jailbreakers is that, unlike the other Squads in MHA, Hori was really dead set on not showing off their designs until their focus chapter. Meaning, unlike the Advisors or Eight Bullets who we can at least speculate or gain intrigue from based on their looks, speculation or potential hype for the Breakers is dead in the water since 'vague shadows' is not enough to work off of.

Even when they do show up, its not really to the story's real benefit since the focus is hardly ever on them, even as the War is under way. No one is really expecting much from them, and the story is still going along with making sure that notion isn't really defied.

And it's just sad because, when the story does focus on them, it shows a great layer of promise for what could have been.

Kunieda is the 2nd best Jailbreakers because he, at his least, does fulfill properly the roles of prior minion villains in the past. Kuneida is Aoyama's Villain - an obstacle narrative to challenge his weakness, in this case being his role as a Traitor to UA, and whether is was worth betraying AFO, with Kunieda having fierce loyalty to the Demon Lord. It also helps that he's allowd to actually, you know, FIGHT - he's not steamrolled like the other Breakers before him, he's allowed to beat others. Granted, it was off-screen but its still something that earns him his second place medal.

As for Gashly............

Yeah, I won't lie. Gashly got a raw deal. If Kunieda barely got anything, Gashly just got the scraps. Crumbs of what could have been. He's shown way, way, way too late for him to ever matter (why wait until legit the final fight to show him off). His Quirk, while just as destructive as Kunieda, suffers from taking up too much similarities from Twice and Skeptic (also people who summon clones). And, to top it off, he's worse off since not only does he not get to speak, he's not tied to any of Class A or important cast to triumph against. Tokage and Kamikiri are the ones to take him down. Not Sero, Ryukyu, Thirteen. They just do not effect his defeat and he's a little more than a foot note before the grand finale, even though he outlasted pretty much every other Villain besides Shigaraki.

And that's kind of the problem with the Jailbreakers in a nutshell:

The story treats them like nothing, even when it also wants them to be something, yet takes every avenue it can to prevent them from ever rising above 'oh, right, they're here too'.

It's a rather pitiful decision that drags down the story a bit since the final act was in serious need of threatening villains to wrap things up...and the Jailbreakers just could not deliver. Which is a shame since they had real potential behind their concept. Villains locked away for being that wicked or perhaps spouting truths the government didn't want to see the light of day. There's a lot you can do with escaped convict villains, but sadly in MHA's rush for the end, the Jailbreaker's threat level are another casualty.

[eddo-tensei]

The Power of Love according to Season 5 of Miraculous

Something disturbing dawned on me concerning...a lot of the development in Season 5 and it comes down to one thing: Love.

At first, Andre and Felix getting redeemed while Chloe gets sent off to the worst fate the show would allow didn't make a lot of sense. The only thing I could get from the writers was just that "Chloe bad, so everyone else good." It was stupid, but it wasn't insidious. At least, not that insidious at first. And then the finale with Gabriel happened and while it took me a while to process my frustrations with this, something finally clicked. Not only concerning that, but some of the other developments I've seen.

Felix getting another chance to the point of JOINING the heroes in the new universe seemed like nonsense until you look at what happened before that. He was someone who Astruc went out of his way to bury in the narrative and was exclusively causing trouble for everyone up to and including GENOCIDE...until he showed his love to Kagami. Suddenly, his actions are seen as righteous and his backstory of being abused by his father was justification for his actions. You see, he loved Kagami and he also apparently loved Adrien too because they were "the same."

Andre was basically just some corrupt politician who was also a pathetic snob. Then when Zoe came in, we suddenly get all of these humanizing bits about how Chloe totally mistreated him (because apparently, not having the guts to say no to your daughter is mistreatment) and when he divorced Audrey, he gets Zoe because he's someone he could be happy with. A true familial love unlike the one he had with Chloe.

Chloe, meanwhile, doesn't love anyone as far as the writers are concerned. Any genuine connection she might have in either the platonic, familial, or the romantic sense, whether it'd be to Adrien, Sabrina, Zoe or Ladybug, are shown to be either fake or so utterly shallow, it doesn't count as "love." With that, everything she does is absolutely reprehensible and doesn't deserve a shred of forgiveness even if it's clear she's a neglected child who needed help. BUT, because she "doesn't love anyone", she doesn't get redemption and deserves to be sent away with a parent who doesn't love her either. Same with Lila, she doesn't love anyone at all and in fact, just jumps from family to family purely to keep up her manipulations.

Finally, we have Gabriel, who had done nothing but sheltered, belittled, and outright ABUSED Adrien as well as commit a multitude of horrid crimes throughout the series. His actions constantly escalated in awfulness throughout the series, even showing that he doesn't care if he destroys the universe to get what he wants. Yet there was always this trait he possessed. His love for Emilie and that ended up coming to the forefront in the finale. Marinette, who had Gabriel dead to rights, decided at the last moment to try and appeal to his humanity because she knows he loved Emilie and in her mind, that love is enough grounds for her to offer him one chance to step up and help. Then when Gabriel opts to betray Marinette and starts the wish, he tells her at the last moment to try and help Adrien remember all of the times he "tried to be a good father," which is apparently an indicator that he actually LOVED Adrien too. THAT ended up being why Marinette decided to lie about Gabriel by saying he died fighting Monarch and went as far as to try and tell Adrien to remember him as a good man. All because she knew Gabriel "loved" him.

This tells me something distressing. Now, the concept of "Love Redeems" is something I'm not at all against and is in fact common in a lot of stories I like. However, it's what Miraculous does with this concept in Season 5 that angers me. The message of Miraculous ends up giving in its grand finale for the Agreste arc isn't that love can help people find the way to kindness. It's that anything you do can be justified as long as you do it for "love." It doesn't matter if you purposely get a cab driver in trouble, attempt to sabotage a date that your crush is in, put together a project that tries to commercialize air, betray someone to help a terrorist, commit genocide, cause untold amounts of damage to your town and beyond, or even destroy the universe! As long as you love someone, everything you do can be justified. Except when we decide that you don't love ANYONE, then we'll do everything in our power to show that all of your connections don't count as love so you can have the worst punishment we could possibly muster. Regardless of intent, that's how the writers ended up describing the Power of Love in Season Five of Miraculous and that's wretched to me.

[ggswaywardgifrepository]

I have so many feelings about Khaos Reigns and it isn't even out yet. UGH. Mostly good feelings, but still.

If you're averse to musings that involve internet rumors, reported leaks, etc. avoid accordingly.

...

...

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Unless we've been cruelly teased, the story is paving the way for a Bi-Han redemption arc and I'm all-in. It may just be hinted at for now and not actually happen until next DLC/next game. Shelving him so early on would be a mistake, IMO. I also think there are existing dialogues that imply it as well. Johnny Cage announcer calling Kameo Sareena "Bi-Han's Future Bestie" definitely implies they have, well, a FUTURE together, and that she will likely be a key factor in his redemption. Unsure if it'll be romantic future or not. I’m cool, either way.

However, this whole thing presents some issues. If Bi-Han regains his cryomancy and takes up the title of Sub-Zero once more, that removes Noob from the narrative unless his lore is changed. IE: Noob separates wholly into two entities, one being restored Bi-Han and another being his corrupted self. And then his corrupted self has its own even more corrupted 'hold my beer' self???

But if Bi-Han stays Noob, albeit a reformed, free of his curse version, that leaves us without a Sub-Zero. And it would be so weird to make it Kuai Liang in this universe. Because that would ~drumroll~ remove Scorpion from the timeline. So there's obviously gonna be some character musical chairs. Some people are convinced Hanzo will be the new Sub-Zero, thus completing the Freaky Friday action between him and Kuai Liang.

Others have suggested Frost will be the roster cryomancer going forward, which just seems like a really good way to shit on her popularity even more. I like her, but I do feel like she's an acquired taste and a lot of fans won't take kindly to her ascending like that (although there is that Shao/Bi-Han dialogue where Shao warns him that Frost means to eclipse him...)

My ideal but wholly unrealistic and way too self indulgent outcome would probably be Bi-Han remaining Noob and keeping his chaos/shadow powers but regaining his overwhelming good looks. And I am aware how shallow this makes me sound. But there have been some really great alt type versions of characters. I know I lost my shit in the best way when MK9 gave us human Cyrax and Sektor. MK9 human Cyrax is the very best version of that character, period.

Still, it seems like this is going to be an instance where no matter what choice is made, a certain (and quite possibly large) portion of the fan base are going to be disappointed and alienated.

I really need to get over this. I mean, I love extra crispy Kabal. I can learn to love Noob.

[greentrickster]

I've seen a number of people on my Beloathed and Darling thread go on tangents in the tags where the Villainess and Prince's parents are both bad actually because it turns out the whole system is corrupt/cultish/evil and the kids, by breaking free of it, are actually the good guys. And, I'm gonna be real... I always hide those reblogs. Because 1) I don't want to see them built on (and it's my thread, so I'm allowed) and, more importantly, 2) ...it completely misses the point of the concept.

Yes, the main purpose of Darling and Beloathed is 'aesthetic' and 'cute fun couple,' but, at a slightly deeper look, it's also a story about two people with extremely conflicting world views and moral codes deciding to not only be together, but figuring out how to be together in such a way that neither of them has to truly compromise their beliefs in order to do so. It's about two people, one who is undeniably a good person and the other who is unapologetically evil, deciding to make it work without anything like a redemption arc or the discovery that actually both sides are wrong and they need to find a new, third way to exist. Because if the system itself is evil, then it kind of undermines all the work they've put in to find the pre-existing places of overlap and figure out what parts of their lifestyles they're willing to compromise on to make their partner comfortable without making themselves unhappy.

And that, to me, is a far more interesting concept overall, because it's something we're much more likely to encounter in real life. None of us are ever going to tear down an entire government's worth of systems with the help of love and a couple spunky friends; it's fun to read about, it has its place in literature, but it's not gonna happen. In contrast, there's a very good chance that one day we'll meet a person whom we really like, really enjoy spending time with, but whose views on religion/politics/sports/character ships/whatever are completely at odds with our own, with neither of us willing to change our opinions, no matter how much we like that person in other regards.

And that's when we'll have to decide whether we're just going to stop hanging out, or whether, like the Prince and Villainess, we can find a way to make it work while respecting both ourselves and each other. Sometimes reality isn't about redemption, systemic change, or harsh, gritty truths. Sometimes it's about having the breathtaking courage to acknowledge that a person will never be like you, but being able to love them anyway.

[themattress]

Sailor Moon (Takeuchi): The Top 20 Villains

Ranked using my core tenets for villains, and done countdown style for dramatic effect.

Honorable Mention: Danburite - He's technically not from Sailor Moon, instead being the main antagonist of the prequel Codename Sailor V. Danburite is the leader of the Dark Agency, a worldwide criminal organization that is secretly a subsidiary of the Dark Kingdom. He's a fairly complex character: hating Sailor Venus for never returning his love yet also still loving her, being upset that she favored Kunzite over him yet still working directly under Kunzite, and manipulating her in a Tuxedo Mask-esque guise just to lower her guard so he can kill her...yet ultimately choosing to die himself and use his last words to encourage her to move past him, something he could never do in regards to her. All in all, a damn solid villain.

20. Pharaoh 90 - The ruler of the Death Busters, Pharaoh 90 is a demonic extraterrestrial being bent on destruction. He's definitely the least engaging of Chaos' incarnations, but I have to give him points for a pretty great final battle and even some pathos in his last moments where he gracefully accepts his death and returns back to the Tau Nebula, saying that he wants to die in his home. That sticks with me even when little else about him does.

19. Queen Metalia - While a step above Pharaoh 90, Metalia still isn't all that interesting. She's a big blob of evil that wants to plunge the world into darkness and corrupt all its inhabitants because she's evil. Also, her design in the Crystal anime is underwhelming. Nevertheless, she gets by on how much destruction she wreaks, being the one to destroy the Moon Kingdom of the Silver Millennium and nearly causing Usagi and Mamoru's deaths.

18. Sailor Lethe and Sailor Mnemosyne - The Sailor Moon manga has straight-up villains, tragic villains, and villains who aren't really villains and are just brainwashed. That's why Lethe and Mnemosyne stand out as true blue Anti-Villains: having joined Shadow Galactica of their own volition and even doing bad things, but having a backstory that justifies it, a deep love for one another, and conflicting feelings about their mission the more destructive it becomes. They would rank way higher if they had more screentime, but alas, they do not.

17. Safir - At the same placement as his Toei counterpart, Safir is the brooding young man in the background who develops the Black Moon Clan's droids and watches helplessly as his older brother Prince Demande descends into madness thanks to Wiseman and the Malefic Black Crystal. There is no redemption to be found here, however, as Safir blames Sailor Moon and her future self Neo-Queen Serenity for everything wrong in his life rather than take any responsibility for himself and his clan, which ultimately leads to him becoming forcibly mind controlled by Wiseman and then killed by his own brother. The lesson: misogyny kills!

16. Evil Endymion - Metalia and Beryl long resented that they were unable to corrupt Prince Endymion in the Silver Millennium despite doing so with everyone else on Earth. In the present day, they finally get what they wanted, and the result is a sinister, cold-hearted and unsettling presence. Seeing the heroic, chivalrous young man we've come to know and love become a manipulative, violent sociopath is arguably where the Dark Kingdom arc peaked.

15. Chaos - In terms of personality, there's nothing here. Chaos is the Ultimate Evil and that's all there is to it. But oh, how it coasts by on sheer concept! Turned evil because it is a lifeform that has perpetually failed to get out of the Galaxy Cauldron and become a star, Chaos seethes and longs for universal conquest. This desire is so great that even trapped in the Galaxy Cauldron as a being of pure dark energy, some of that energy is able to leak out, creating all the other major villains that Sailor Moon faces. It's an ingenious way to connect the story arcs, antagonists and series together, tying it all in a satisfying, truly epic bow.

14. Witches 5 - We had evil minions correlating to the Inner Senshi that challenged them and helped their character development before with the Shitennou and the Spectre Sisters, but I think Witches 5 is the peak version of this concept as a purely villainous force. They're all perfect dark foils to their respective heroic counterpart in terms of design, personality and powers, and face off against them not once but twice, the second time after having died!

13. Esmeraude - While the lone female leader of the Black Moon Clan is sadly the least consequential, she makes a stronger impression than Safir by actually fighting the Sailor Senshi on two separate occasions, and both times being a truly formidable adversary who almost kills them all. She also has a strong personality, being a haughty beauty who seeks to win Prince Demande's love and willing to do absolutely anything to achieve that desire.

12. Kaolinite - The Grand Magus of the Death Busters who commands Witches 5, Kaolinite brings a fun DnD aesthetic to the story while also being a fairly fleshed out character, especially in Crystal. Formerly Professor Tomoe's lab partner, Kaolinite now owes her life to the Daimon energy inside her and is obsessed with pleasing Pharaoh 90. Unfortunately, this puts her at odds with his actual number 2, Mistress 9, and seeing Kaolinite struggle even when the odds are against her makes her sympathetic despite being so unabashedly wicked.

11. Black Lady - When Wiseman corrupts Chibiusa, she becomes Black Lady, the self-styled Queen of Nemesis. Black Lady is a lot like Evil Endymion, but more nuanced as she doesn't do a complete personality flip due to the brainwashing. She still has the memories and feelings she held as Chibiusa, it's just that they've been twisted and perverted: her deep insecurities about living up to her mother and frustrations with Usagi manifesting as vindictive hatred of both, and her desire to keep hold of her father's affections turned into incestuous advances toward him. She may have breached the Top 10 had her resolution been stronger.

10. Queen Nehelenia - When part of Chaos leaked from the Galaxy Cauldron and into the dark side of the moon, it created a twisted mirror image of Queen Serenity: Queen Nehelenia. She's a fairy tale baddie based off the Queen from Snow White and the Wicked Fairy from Sleeping Beauty: a vain ruler who loves her beautiful image in the mirror and whose inner self is a hideous old hag, and a practitioner of dark magic who crashes a princess' birthday celebration and invokes a curse. Derivative? Absolutely. Effective at it? Also absolutely!

9. Crimson Rubeus - One of the most loathsome members of the Black Moon Clan, Rubeus operates by sending the Spectre Sisters out to fight and die for him so that he can swoop in and capture the Sailor Senshi they've rendered vulnerable and get all the credit from Prince Demande. He's a selfish creep and also a dirty coward, always feeling at the first sign of things going south for him. Despite that, he is perceptive enough to recognize that Wiseman may not have the clan's best interests at heart, and at least has the nobility to stand up to him over it even if that ends up getting him killed. If nothing else, Rubeus was loyal to the cause.

8. Queen Beryl - The main villain for much of the original Dark Kingdom arc, Beryl is interesting because in the Silver Millennium, she was more of a victim than anything. A jealous young woman who was misled and corrupted by Metalia. However, it’s a different story in the present day. The Silver Crystal granted her reincarnation and with it, a chance for redemption. A chance not to make the same mistake. But not only does she willfully re-release Metalia and then have the Shitennou re-brainwashed, but she takes things further by plotting to betray Metalia by keeping the Silver Crystal for herself and using its power to rule the universe with Endymion at her side. A case study in how corrosive envy and hate are.

7. Kunzite - While Jadeite, Nephrite and Zoisite of the Shitennou were thinly drawn beyond one basic characteristic (loyalty, passion and underhandedness respectively), Kunzite is a richer character. Despite being the leader of the Middle East branch of the Dark Kingdom, Kunzite is powerful enough to control a worldwide subsidiary in the Dark Agency, and reliable enough to be dispatched anywhere if necessary. He is arrogant and cold-hearted, allowing no personal connections in his life and focused solely on his mission. Yet then he becomes unbrainwashed and remembers being quite the opposite: devoted and dutiful, a protector not an offender, someone warm enough for even Sailor Venus to fall in love with. Tragically, when he tries to betray Queen Beryl he gets super-brainwashed and then killed in an epic struggle with the Sailor Senshi, but his cleansed spirit stays with Mamoru and plays a key role in helping to defeat Metalia for good. And through it all, he does it with such impeccable style.

6. Professor Tomoe - This villain is like unpeeling an onion, layer by layer. He seems like a good, caring father who is caught up in the Death Busters' shady business, with signs pointing him to being misled by Kaolinite. Then we learn he's actually Kaolinite's superior and not misled at all, but still trust he has his daughter's interests at heart since he's gone through such lengths for her. And in the end, we see that he is actually a complete psychopath who cares nothing for his daughter and only went so far for her so that he can make her into the thing he wants her to be: the first of a race of superbeings that he can rule over as a god. After he turns himself into a monster, Sailor Moon has to eliminate him, accepting that he is far beyond redemption. All in all, Professor Tomoe is effectively frightening and loathsome.

5. The Amazoness Quartet - I admit that I'm not that big a fan of Takeuchi's Dead Moon Circus, but even I can't deny that the Amazoness Quartet are spectacular villains. Remember how Chibiusa turned into Black Lady and then into Sailor Chibi Moon? The Amazoness Quartet is that without the Chibiusa part. What's more, they are preteens / early teens rather than adults, which means they rely far less on any sort of sex appeal and more on their raw cunning and deviousness. VesuVesu, CeleCele, PallaPalla, and JunJun...I love 'em all!

4. Sailor Galaxia - Usagi's final opponent is her perfect evil foil. Having grown up in a harsh, uncaring environment, Galaxia is as cynical as Usagi is hopeful, and instead of drawing strength from others, she sacrifices others to build up her strength. Chaos is easily able to manipulate her nihilistic psychopathy, but despite all of her attempts to break Usagi, she proves Galaxia wrong by never giving in and even saving her in the end. Before her (temporary) death, Galaxia realizes that someone like Sailor Moon was really what she wanted and needed in her life, and that even now an ideal like her seems so far out of reach.

3. Mistress 9 - If you want an example of pure evil done right, look no further than Mistress 9, the child and herald of Pharaoh 90. Like Pharaoh 90, Mistress 9 desires the destruction of Earth and its people, but she takes particular joy in causing it, relishing all the pain she inflicts on people...including people on her own side like Kaolinite. The way she uses Hotaru once Professor Tomoe sells her out to her control is especially despicable. When she finally turns into a hideous monster, it truly feels like the inside of her is finally showing on the outside.

2. Wiseman / Death Phantom - And if you want another example of pure evil done right, we have the best incarnation of Chaos in the series. Nemesis was an entire planet made up of leaked Chaos energy from the Galaxy Cauldron, awaiting only the proper catalyst to give it consciousness. That catalyst was Death Phantom, a psychopathic criminal sorcerer banished there by Neo-Queen Serenity. Melding his soul with the planet and magically puppeting his corpse under the identity of "Wiseman", Death Phantom will psychologically manipulate anyone to pursue his goal of taking over the universe and reshaping it into a void of nothing.

1. Prince Demande - Death Phantom's primary pawn? This guy. Prince Demande, leader of the Black Moon Clan. He starts out as a young man with a sensible conviction - an unnatural moon being ruling over humanity and forcing them into elongated lives in a utopian society is blasphemous, as she's basically playing God. Unfortunately, his methods go too far into extremism and terrorism, which attracts the attention of Death Phantom who, as Wiseman, lures him and his gang to Nemesis. There, exposure to the Malefic Black Crystal warps Demande....his motive shifts to envy of Neo-Queen Serenity, as now he decides that he deserves to play God and rule over Earth. And once he attacks Earth, the madman's motives shift again...now he wishes to rule with Neo-Queen Serenity at his side, as he has been overtaken with lustful feelings toward her and wants to force her into loving him. Despite being the worst of scum, Demande still has nuance: he cares for his comrades, especially his brother Safir. When forced to kill Safir, learning the truth about Wiseman and how he's been manipulated, and seeing the true power of the Silver Crystal he thought he could defeat, Demande's despair is palpable and pitiable. But then it brings him to trying to destroy the universe, taking everyone down with him just to prove he can be the master of his own fate, unbeholden to anyone or anything. So in the end, Demande epitomizes the tragic villain.

[princeescaluswords]

So, because Scott is poor, Derek should buy him a new car? That seems logical to you?

Did you come here looking for a fight? Because you just found one. I believe that this ask refers to this post, where I argued that Derek's performative asceticism isn't accidental, and that the show was implying that his privilege and wealth enable his antagonistic behavior in the first two seasons.

Nowhere did I argue in that post, where I compared the speed with which Derek repaired his car window after Chris Argent's thug smashed it to the fact that the McCall family vehicle didn't have a driver's side window all season, that Derek owed Scott a car. I have, in the past, argued that the Hales owed Scott McCall reparations for repeated assaults, property damage, disruption of academic pursuits, and for taking over their self-appointed task of protecting Beacon Hills. I wish that the show had made it explicit in A Promise to the Dead (4x11) that Derek gave Scott the money from Garrett's locker rather than leave it ambiguous.

I'm never going to suggest that Teen Wolf went all in on an analysis of class struggle -- Heavens, no! -- but it didn't ignore the consequences of the Hale's upper class identity. "Everyone can be corrupted by money!" Peter howls in Monstrous (4x10) and he is a prime example of that. Similarly, Derek's wealth and privilege enable him to dwell, unhealthily, on the traumas of his past. I know of very few people who could take three months out of their life to obsess over family tragedies with no mention of work or responsibility, and still have cars, properties, and personal care items. Derek is not well served by this behavior, isolating himself from the mundane and from the mechanics of living. He intends to achieve his goals by himself due to trust issues, but he is forced to rely on Scott McCall as the only way to accomplish these things, and man-oh-man is he bitter about it.

But as the show had it's lead protagonist argue in Weaponized (4x07) "while we're trying not to die, we still need to live." In fact, I would argue that you can trace Derek's redemption arc by his willingness to live. At the start of the show, Derek is "totally alone" and his wealth and privilege allow him to operate like that. In Seasons 3 and 4, though, he starts to remember how to live. We see him in an actual home, even though it is the Loft of Solitude. He purchases a more practical vehicle. He allows himself to think about romance. He makes friends with the Sheriff and, amazingly, Chris Argent. A key scene is when he puts his wealth and privilege to positive use by trusting Braeden, hiring her to find Kate. He's using his wealth in a positive manner. It is no longer enabling his isolation. Look at Derek in the movie. He is fully living. He has a home, a family, friends, a business. Before the nogitsune seeks its revenge, Derek's primary focus is watching his son play lacrosse and getting him to embrace his family's heritage.

Since Derek's role was always to serve as a narrative foil to Scott, the lead protagonist, this arc highlights Scott's story. Regardless of what happens to Scott, he never isolates himself, with one important exception. At all other times, he worries about his grades, he wants to get into a good school, he wants to play lacrosse, he wants to date people, he keeps his friends close, he works with Deaton, he brings his mother lunch, etc. Yes, there are terrible things happening, but he doesn't forget to live while trying to stop corrupted hunters, Alpha packs, Japanese fox demons, and multi-million dollar assassin hit-lists. Fandom tends to hold the attention he pays to everyday living against him, but Scott knows from direct experience these things are important, and he doesn't have the wealth and privilege to put them on hold for months while dealing with villains or his own trauma. The exception? Season 5A, where Theo schemes to isolate Scott. Scott is still an alpha, a True Alpha, but that privilege alone won't save anyone. There's a reason that Melissa's primary advice -- as much as I might despise it on an emotional level -- is "You'll get them back. You have to."

Teen Wolf certainly wasn't an "eat the rich" show, but it did have a definite point of view that virtue was based in everyday things, the tasks and opportunity that should be in common with all of humanity, and not in the isolation that great wealth, ancient pedigree, or exclusive privilege grants.

[russeliarat]

In regards to Cia in a lot of the LU fanon space (aka fics and headcanons), I feel like she's being portrayed far worse than she actually is in Hyrule Warriors. I do think that Wars would have a lot of trauma regarding her considering she's the whole reason a war was started in his name. I do also think that starting said war is pretty bad. But I don't think she really deserves the black-and-white viewpoint most people have of her, it undermines the (attempted - it was a bad and rushed attempt but an intentional attempt nonetheless) redemption of her character arc. I say this as someone who owns the game and has combed through it for hours to attempt to rewrite that bullshit game.

But I think a lot of people are missing the part where Cia actually had control over her one-sided love for centuries as she only watched each hero and never interacted, but it was when Ganondorf came in and corrupted her that she started the war. She was under Ganondorf's influence throughout most of the game, even when she defected from him and attempted to gain the Triforce. She eventually made attempts to redeem herself after becoming free of Ganondorf due to Lana. There's also an element that Cia herself was exploited for Ganondorf's own power fantasies, it was likely that he manipulated or even told her to go to such extremes as making a war to get the Triforce and just used Cia's quiet yearning as a motive.

As dogshit as Hyrule Warriors is as a game and story, I think the idea that Lana is this perfect good is a great foil to Cia's unwavering evil, both forced to these extremes because of Ganondorf, who then regained their humanity once Cia finally broke free of him, though is more subtle in Lana is actually expressed kinda well compared to the rest of the wonkiness of the game. I think there's something to be said about Cia treatment as a antagonist compared to others like say Shadow, the way they're treated as being redeemed villains who were manipulated by Ganondorf for his own gains is vastly different across the fandom. Idk if there's a reason but it feels so distinct and I can't answer why.

This isn't to say that I don't think Wars would have a lot of issues surrounding what happened, its quite obvious he would have a lot of relationship problems on top of everything going on about the war. Its more a ramble about how people portray Cia post-HW/during LU. I myself don't understand how it happened, but as a DLC that was added for free in the Definitive Edition, Cia was revived and re-evilised, so yes she is technically alive still. I don't blame people for thinking she's some mega evil seductress that wants to capture the hearts of all the Chain, she seems very one-sided as a character at first without either getting the game and playing through yourself or skimming every website about the game (which is surprisingly few compared to its Age of Calamity counterpart - which also has its issues) and analysing the very misleading text in wiki pages and reviews. But no, she's not portrayed as a rapist (wtf literally where in the game is it even implied) nor is her character shown to be a pedophile (each hero she has been shown to fawn over are very explicitly the adult heroes).

I'm fine with headcanons, but the kind of stuff I see passed around in LU fanon is basically character assassination. It's kind of sad to see Cia just absolutely obliterated. I'm fine with some of the tamer headcanons, but some of the aforementioned like her being a rapist or a pedophile is so gross to me (and yes I've seen both multiple times in many more words to try to soften the blow of the writer/headcanoner's implications). I don't really like her character myself but I feel like I've analysed her and reworked her and picked apart her character too much to even consider humouring these kinds of ideas. Saying things like she's hypersexual or playing into her seductress image and appearance is fine because it's almost canon, I'll even agree with people calling her a stalker because she definitely was one during the war, but saying anything close to her committing anything more extreme is just not it for me.

[onewomancitadel]

I have received news from the front (Twitter discourse) that talking about abstract characters 'deserving' xyz given narrative outcome as a given consequence of thematic intentions and not just simply what a character should flatly 'deserve' emotionally is apparently 'anti-empathy'; the spirit of the original criticism was to reject overly punitive approaches to characters through narrow moral reasoning and to consider their higher emotional purpose (and character needs), which I find an ironic criticism. I don't think the notion that characters 'deserving' something on the basis of narrative needs is actually anti-empathy at all - it doesn't preclude an emotional response to their arc, but you can't reason based on whether this character you really like should be rewarded just because you like them or punished just because you hate them. What feelings are elicited when things contrary to your deeper desires happen? What are the things that need to happen?

I think it's a little static sense of storytelling, too. It's not like characters stay one thing or another, and as they evolve over the story, and do the things they have to do, they evolve beyond your first impression. Maybe you think a villain doesn't 'deserve' redemption, and then you watch it evolve onscreen and come around to it. Maybe you can scarcely believe the corruption of the hero and find their fall painful. Maybe that's the point.

The point of discussing 'catharsis' in storytelling, and not just vindication, is that it encompasses a spectrum of emotion which acknowledges the transformative feeling of storytelling - that isn't just about whether it makes you feel good or not. That's one type, and sometimes, yes, you want that; sometimes that's hard-baked into the genre expectations or the flags we get about character or narrative stakes. That's the intelligible system of storytelling. But if a character's ending is disputed from what they deserved on an individual reader/viewer level, the story could be anything if it's divorced from the aims and intentions of the storyteller. Everybody lives and all the bad guys die. I mean, sometimes you need a story where everybody lives... there's always a time and a place.

Sometimes, though, I think people have lost the good art of longing. We're delivered such cynical endings in popular media cultural moment after moment, and denied the catharsis of real tragedy. I feel such pain and longing for Paul Atreides and the story he could never have, by design. It's very powerful, and it hurts a lot, but it's done successfully and in a way that I cannot deny it's the only appropriate story, for the world he's in and the purpose he serves. It's not a 'shock'; there is a terrible weight on him from the moment he's introduced. The gom jabbar is no mere task to be overcome but a demonstration of the pain he can bear. Literally. In two senses. (To bear, as in withstand, and to carry). It's a massive cast of gloom over his story.

Sure, I think we can get a little abstract with the whole 'narrative criticism' thing; storytelling is storytelling, and at its barest components we feel what we feel. That's the magic. But on the other hand, once fandom (and relatedly media) discourse begins playing the narrative criticism game to condemn naughty, naughty villains and the apologists who love them (or valiantly defend Characters Who Didn't Deserve to Die), you do actually need to start asking questions about what basis you can start saying who does and doesn't deserve to live or die or go to space jail, and start digging deeper into what ideas these characters service. It can seem mechanical, but only when you get too close and forget what it all serves, which is that higher purpose of the story proper. We can talk about absolute appropriateness not just in subjective feelings, but in that world the story inhabits. Maybe, sometimes, the unfairness is the point. *shrug*

I'm still reeling from this position being called 'anti-empathy' though. That's a new one. I think empathy is one part of the picture here, and probably something that people miss as much as they catch it. Lol.

[sylleblosscm]

I picked up CC again and I need you all to understand how invested I am in Good Seph. Because. Because they made him a better character by making him a worse character it just boggles my brain.

Because in the OG 7, he really doesn't function as anything other than a generic muahaha. You know, gotta have a villain so the heroes have a reason to hero. 'He hung around some books and then got very angry and murder-y' is a perfectly passable villain origin story - his actual devolution from good guy to bad guy doesn't really matter because it's irrelevant to the story. He is doing Bad Things and he has to Be Stopped. (And yeah I realise there was more to it than that, but I'm being reductive for the sake of brevity here.)

Yet by its very existence, CC makes it relevant. Now we have a clear enough picture of things to see the flaws in the tale. We experience Seph as the hero we're told he used to be. And damn if he isn't loveable. Loyal, compassionate, principled; able to make jokes, all the while taking his duty to protect others very seriously. He's also a very existential guy. Very philosophical. At multiple points in the story his worldview is directly challenged, and/or he undergoes some intense trauma, and he always falls back on his own moral compass. He'd rather destroy himself than become a weapon wielded against others - thus the more he realises his position in life does more good than harm, the more tortured he becomes. This doesn't inherently make his turn to evil unbelievable, in fact in the right hands it's the perfect tragic setup with his own ideology being turned against him. The issue is in the execution.

Now, maybe it's because we're not really in his head. Even up close as we are we're still not privy to exactly what's going on when everything goes down since he shuts himself away. But that doesn't excuse the problem of it all feeling a little...like falling in the desert and landing in the ocean, if you feel me. The natural endpoint of a moral and good character who becomes corrupted in some way is usually some manner of redemption, but Seph never gets that. He's just fought and killed like any other one-dimensional villain - not a hint of "oops, he was being controlled the whole time" or "his morality was messed up but in the end he saw the error of his ways" to speak of. So experiencing him as this fundamentally moral person deeply concerned with his own goodness then having him heel-turn, regardless of the justification, only for that foundation to never come up again feels a little hollow. I can't replay vii anymore and fight him without thinking of the way he used to be. Beating him doesn't feel victorious, it feels sad.

And yet. And yet. For as iconic a villain Seph is, and as much as I appreciate him for what he is to vii, I actually prefer his CC iteration. I don't think every villain needs a Tragic Backstory or a ton of nuance. And I certainly don't think that vii as it stands would necessarily benefit from a Seph Redemption Arc or a more relatable and sympathetic villain. It's a pro-environmental romp with banging music and a strong emphasis on mental health. It doesn't need to be anything else. I just think CC Seph is neat and I enjoy him ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[ultrahpfan5blog]

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness Review - Contains Spoilers

Came out of DS2, and it ended up being quite a trip. Have to say that its a movie that left an impression on me for sure and a good one. I wouldn't call it one of the best MCU movies but its definitely one of the most memorable and unique ones. Definitely a film that felt different in a good way. But its not without its flaws.

The film is one of the few where I feel that watching in 3D really helped enhance the experience. The visuals are definitely really cool and all the action scenes are hugely enjoyable to watch. From a story perspective, this film is a lot like The Terminator. Wanda being The Terminator, America Chavez being Sarah Connor, and Doctor Strange being Kyle Reese. There are some visual cues that are reminiscent of the movie as well. Wanda is a legit terrifying villain in this movie. Probably one of the best villains in any MCU movie. WandaVision definitely does enhance the viewing experience of this film from that perspective. There are lines and musical cues that are directly from WandaVision and her whole plot is related to her trauma. The story isn't all that complicated, and that's a good thing in my opinion. Its just about Strange trying to protect Chavez from getting killed from Wanda and that leads to a trip through the Multiverse. One of my fears was that this film would feel like a Wanda movie and less a Doctor Strange and I'm happy to say that's not the case. Doctor Strange is really the anchor of the film and his character goes through quite a journey and has a fairly fulfilling character arc. I feel this probably the most likable Strange has been in the MCU. This film really humanizes him quite a bit. As I mentioned before, there are some really cool bits in this film. The coolest of which was a musical note based fight with two Doctor Stranges. That was pretty awesome. The finale was also pretty sweet with Zombie Defender Strange. There are some very dark and spooky sequences where Wanda lays waste to everything and everyone that comes in her way. Honestly, the action scenes are exhilarating. One of the things that I was initially disappointed with before watching the film was the runtime. I expected the film to be longer, but having watched the film, it makes a lot of sense. Because the plot is not overly complex and the setup for the villain is already accomplished in WandaVision, it makes sense for the run time to be 2 hours. While I loved the trippiness of the visuals and the action, I think more of it would be too much of a good thing and would have gotten overwhelming and repetitive. I think the film manages to use the time effectively and given some closure to the Strange and Christine relationship and establish a pretty affectionate mentor/mentee relationship between Strange and Chavez.

There are issues with the film, like I mentioned earlier. While Wanda makes for a terrifying villain, the film doesn't quite earn her turn to the complete dark side. While on one hand, there are references to the Darkhold having corrupted her mind, but on the other hand, Wanda seems to be completely aware of the things she's doing. The end of WandaVision didn't really imply that she was this unbalanced. As it stands, I'm not sure where else the MCU can go with her, because she's about as evil as she could have gone, but she also then had a redemptive moment at the end. They can't go back to her being evil because that would make the end of this movie pointless, and I highly doubt she's dead. The Strange and Christine relationship is also a big crux of this film. While I think there is a very affectionate chemistry between Cumberbatch and Adams and the What If episode about them went a long way towards making that relationship stronger, the the film is depending on an emotional investment in that relationship which the MCU has never really earned. Then there is the use of the cameos in the film, which probably represents my biggest disappointment with the film. I was spoiled on the cameos before the film, so I didn't have wild expectations going into this about other unexpected appearances, but what was disappointing is that the film has some high profile appearances of actors playing major characters, all of whom ended up looking really stupid and going out like punks. The whole storyline about Strange being on trial didn't really hold up in the first place. They were basically judging him for another Strange's actions, despite the fact it did seem that, despite his mistakes, Strange was really the key to defeating Thanos even in their universe. The level of distrust and some of the arrogance shown by Captain Carter and Captain Marvel and the stupidity shown by Mr. Fantastic and Black Bolt and the rest just makes their appearances very disappointing. I mean, its really cool to see Patrick Stewart as Xavier and Krasinski as Mr. Fantastic but they really get nerfed. Surely Xavier could have put up more of a fight in Wanda's head or done something and Mr. Fantastic could have done more than just get shredded. Captain Marvel and Captain Carter were oddly unlikable and they went out like punks as well. On top of that, there is a layer of conflict between Mordo and Strange in our universe which we have never seen on screen and apparently happened between movies, which this movies depends on to have tension between our Strange and AU Mordo. Its a weird choice and again seems unearned.

The performances in the movies are all outstanding. Elizabeth Olsen is getting a lot of plaudits for her work and its well deserved. She's superb and pretty scary and yet there is a layer of sympathy that you have with her right at the end. Benedict Wong as Wong is wonderful, with a genuinely substantial role. Rachel McAdams is always lovely to have although she is still not used to her full potential and it doesn't seem like we will see her again. Xochitl Gomez as Chavez is quite likable. Ejiofor as Mordo, Stewart as Xavier, Krasinski as Mr Fantastic, Hayley Atwell as Captain Carter, Lashana Lynch as Captain Marvel, and Anson Mount as Black Bolt are all welcome presences. But the film's real anchor is Benedict Cumberbatch. I think people will underrate his work here because his performance is subdued and understated compared to Olsen's more overt villain character, but he carries so much of the weight of this film. There is a hidden pain in this performance. He has to play it as a man who is keeping it all bottled inside. And despite that you really feel he's going through a journey and he adds quite a bit of humor to the proceedings.

Overall, Sam Raimi definitely bring a distinct horror touch to the movie. I will say that he, along with Taika, Gunn, and Chloe Zhao, are the directors whose distinct touch is very much apparent when watching the movie. I can imagine this film is not for everyone. Someone not caught up on WandaVision or Doctor Strange's journey in the MCU so far, may not connect with this movie much and find it cluttered. For me, I really enjoyed it. I give it an 8/10 on first viewing. I'll probably give it another watch next weekend.

Also, I would say that a non comic follower would have zero idea who Charlize Theron is playing in the mid credit scene. Could have included an "I'm Clea" in the scene. Also, the post credit scene is an epic troll. Got a big laugh out of that. Basically similar to the Captain America one from Homecoming.

[kiseiakhun]

The worst part of enemies to lovers to me isn't even if a redemption isn't done well. Sometimes you can have the must beautifully written redemption arc and then it becomes obvious the writer didn't plan for what happens after and suddenly the bad guy has a personality switch and loses all of their past morals and there isn't any more conflict, ever, and they just unconditionally love their partner and become Good and Supportive and Wholesome.

No!! If they are an asshole they should STAY an asshole. Why erase the most interesting part of their personality!! This is why I think it's actually pretty hard to write enemies to lovers well, because if readers tuned in for a specific dynamic and then you go and change the dynamic, they will not be happy, but this type of story relies on you changing the dynamic in its central premise. It's hard to do that in a way that makes everyone happy, that draws a congruent line between the past and current self. It's so easy to fall into storytelling tricks that feel stale and overwrought, and it's hard to decide which traits connect the throughline. My biggest issue with this trope isn't even that it gets boring after they get together, it's that 50% of the time it feels like completely different characters in a completely different relationship.

I wouldn't say I prefer corruption arcs, but most of the corruption arcs I've seen do feel more cohesive and well done. I can recognize the character behind them. I think it's because there's less tropes to fall back on? It's not as common of a narrative as the redemption arc, there are entire genres of romance built on the redemption arc. Tropes are not bad, buut they do become bad if people fall back on using them because they're easier and not because they actually work with the story.

[dreamhot]

who do you think is going to be the big bad of the server? like c!dream is a villain but i also think he’s being set up for not really a redemption more like a he just leaves type arc. i’m thinking dreamxd is probably gonna be the big bad with c!ranboo and maybe c!george. imagine the angst possibilities of c!george takes dreamxd’s side as a villain

this is a fun consideration because it forces you to wonder if there IS gonna be a big bad overall

obviously c!dream is the main antagonist - his actions have been at the centre (or at least a focal point) of pretty much every major conflict. however, i find it hard to imagine that he would be in any position to cause much havoc once he's gotten out of prison. sure, there's a chance he could regroup and come back with a vengeance, but ... he's just one guy, and there's no saying he would have anyone really backing him if he wanted to start shit. and what would his goal even be at this point? i don't think there's a question of 'reuniting the server' or whatever his old claims were. so like... revenge on c!q and c!sam? going after c!tommy? i find it more likely he would scarper and stay out of the limelight for a long while

that leaves the other characters who have been acting ambiguously, if not overtly villainous. i don't think c!q has terribly megalomaniacal intentions in spite of his actions, so i don't think it would be him. i can see c!wilbur causing a lot of damage if he remains unchecked, but i still don't know if he would be a BIG bad. i don't know enough about c!ranboo's lore to speak to his alignments, tho ofc the enderwalk raises a lot of questions in that regard. as to c!george ... i still feel like the cc just isn't engaged enough with the lore to take a position as a main antagonist (much tho that concept would be cool lmao). and while i would love to see dxd become a more relevant power to the other members of the smp, i couldn't say if they're invested enough in the server's goings-on to have much skin in the game

which brings us to the consideration of what it means to have a big bad - because a final boss, so to speak, implies that the story is going to end. so whoever fills that role is going to be in some capacity responsible for the end of the dsmp story as we know it. so what if the main antagonist of the story is merely ... entropy?

(credit to @strandedcrow for making me aware of this concept btw)

imagine. the server has a thousand loose plot threads dangled about. unfinished arcs, unanswered questions, conflicts with no resolution. the server has been locked in a cycle of distrust and violence for so long, so much of the sense of community lost, all while people continue to stab each other in the back or look out for their own. the server itself is ailing, wounded - or in computer terms, corrupted. and what do you do when hardware is too broken to function?

you perform a hard reset.

the big bad of the dsmp may not be a person. it could be the fact that the server can't continue in its current state & needs to begin anew, free from all the pain and mess that brought their society to a shambles. the only way out could be starting from square one - a clean slate, both for the server itself and the people involved

... but that's just a theory

[decepti-thots]

this wouldn't leave me alone, incoherent and extremely off the cuff thoughts follow, blah blah half of this is rough vibes I'm not Committing to a Take here, u know the drill

Elegant Chaos primarily presents the idea that Megatron was "better than the alternative" or a "necessary evil" to set the reader up for a rug pull. They believe this as a plausible possibility because they have come to relate to the Cybertronian cast as their default identification characters, functionally the 'human' stand ins, and the Cybertronian characters only really (usually) care about Cybertron, at least in more than the broadest, most abstract sense. Other species are referenced, but overwhelmingly in passing, often as part of a joke, and with at least mild disdain a lot of the time. (Tailgate jokes about squishing organics en masse in the vanguard pre-war; noone blinks.) So when Rewind insists that no, actually, the only way to argue the FU is 'better' is to disregard the vast majority of who died in the war, and he is not going to do so, it reorients the perspective jarringly. Megatron was better for Cybertron, but at everyone else's expense, and the audience becomes aware that most of the characters did not see it that way at the same time they realised they fell into the exact same trap. Not just Megatron, who notably isn't even present (because EC is not really about him as a person), but almost everyone.

It doesn't work perfectly- I could nitpick where the allegory shows cracks, much as I think EC is overall great and very tightly written- but it works well enough to be a really solid bit of work that holds its thematic weight admirably. It does that work not just for Megatron, but for a bunch of its characters. It has as much or frankly more to say about Rewind or Whirl or Brainstorm. And that the story is ultimately not concluded through a moral lens matters because it says that nobody can argue Rewind wasn’t right. So the knowledge going forward is that Megatron does not get to sit comfortably with the reassurance that no matter what he did, the alternative was worse. Because that's no longer true; and the fact the crew briefly believed it might have been is only a reflection of their own shortcomings.

The second FU story, Dissolution, contrives a bunch of reasons the functionists are Still Worse Actually, so now Megatron-the-individual-character has a bigger, worse big bad that can theoretically facilitate his narrative Atonement. It renders them more tangible so he can go fight them as part of a numbers balancing game and Win Redemption. And the thing is, you can come up with any number of reasons WHY this might feel necessary- the functionists represent corrupt *systems* while Megatron has come by that point to be framed as an *individual* in a way that would feel thematically weird now, the longer you stay with the functionists conceptually in-universe the less plausible it seems they would actually just stay on Cybertron, etc.

But EC had a built in answer to those issues, which was that it ended before they became problems that needed solving. Megatron's later development into an individual more than an icon to the reader does not infringe upon EC because it happens later, over time as the series goes on; the implausibility from an in-universe point of view doesn't matter because we don't hang around to question it too long, moving onto the next arc before the nitpicking really starts. The big reason these things BECOME issues is that we... return to the FU, so they're solutions to problems the second arc itself has created by existing.

The functionist universe is a great narrative device and like... not very good "lore". It's a metaphor, one which EC could sustain for about as long as it ran for and no longer. And the way Dissolution reuses it for the sake of facilitating Megatron's personal growth is not just hollow in itself to me (though like... it is), but also deeply irritating in how it undermines EC's much defter use of it as temporary shorthand. It undoes the more difficult questions that EC makes the cast, and reader, sit with. It’s annoying. It adds no thematic question of equivalent interest for Megatron and removes the perfectly good one EC provided. It’s cheap! Dissolution annoys me deeply every time I reread it. Alas.

i recently skimmed back through the second functionist universe plotline and you know we try to keep it positive on this blog, or at least constructive, but i really do hate that the second FU plotline pulls back from so much of the thematic nuance of how Elegant Chaos handles 'what would the universe be like without Megatron in it'. i don't think it actually undoes the good work in that arc when read on its own- that's just not how i see serialized storytelling- but it comes annoyingly close.

[aelaer]

Completely irrelevant to your upcoming fic, but I'm curious about your thoughts on Wanda as the Scarlet Witch, and her expected appearance on MoM? It's a frequent topic of discussion revolving around the Dr Strange fandom or the MCU fandom in general, so, any thoughts? It's sort of a... 'sensitive' and 'controversial' (?) topic to touch so you don't need to delve into details if you don't want to.

It's all good! I like random asks that get me thinking.

For anyone who's newer to my little slice of internet, I am heavy in the camp of a tag I borrowed from AO3 writer Gwendolyn Stacy (xxgwenstacyxx here on Tumblr, but we're not mutuals so I don't want to tag her and be bothering her). Anyway, the tag is "In This Fic We Love And Cherish All Canon Characters". I stand very heavily by that tag. I don't use Civil War Team Iron Man/Captain America tags, and don't write fics with one side focused on. I don't click on them to read anymore either, haven't for a couple years. I refuse to read "not Team Cap Friendly" and all of their iterations, and I don't enjoy fics that use characters as an author avatar to voice opinions as opposed to maintaining their own agency with their own unique opinions. I can go on and on an on about this, but you didn't ask about that so I'm gonna stop that tangent.

With all that said, Wanda isn't a favorite character of mine. She's *not* a disliked character--I think the only MCU character I actively dislike and would have a hard time to write about objectively is Thaddeus Ross, so I'm lucky my faves also don't like him--but not a favorite either. I think she was a character long, long given the short stick in terms of character growth and development in the MCU and, like Natasha, should have had her own solo thing long ago. But I suspect that if Disney+ did not exist, a lot of characters who deserved more light would not have gotten it (or continue to not get it).

I think the Doctor Strange movie should be focused mostly on Stephen (obviously), but that a side focus of other magic users 100% makes sense, so her inclusion in the film itself is perfectly logical to me. I'd prefer her to have equal or less screentime than Wong, but I'm not sure it's gonna go down like that. I feel the same way about America Chavez, but I'm also super biased towards Wong as being one of the greatest people ever. Like, I'm pretty sure I like him more than Tony at this point of time. Sorry Tony :P

Regarding Wanda being more powerful than Stephen: This is how it is in the comics, so it's not a big deal to me. It's not like power is the equivalent of skill, and I think Stephen is more skilled than Wanda. Wanda's a bomb; Stephen's a sniper rifle. Both have their purpose.

Regarding Wanda being the possible Big Bad: Had a big conversation on Discord this weekend about this, and I honestly think that if she is the antagonist in this film and not, say, being corrupted by the Darkhold One Ring of Power-style, then it will make the last couple episodes of her series and the growth she experienced there entirely pointless. I strongly feel she has to have that redemption arc and, if she is the antagonist, it either has to be a variant version or due to corruption from the Darkhold that she manages to break out of before the ending.

The big, big reason I believe this *must* happen is because Wanda being a villainous character is inspired by a series of comics, written in the 21st century, that are *filled* with problematic tropes and misogyny. While it's nice to let a story stand on its own without thinking about what influenced it, I don't necessarily think we have that luxury with a history such as this. To read more about how a once-beloved Avenger was ruined by one comic book writer, check out this fantastic article.

Overall, I am rooting for Wanda to continue to be developed to a strong 3D character with all the complexities of a traumatized human being. But I think she needs to swing to chaotic-good/neutral-good/neutral-neutral and cannot be wholly selfish for her show's finale to work. The MCU's done sympathetic villains before like Loki, but that may be more on Tom Hiddleston's acting rather than the script he was given to work with. I don't know if Elizabeth Olsen can pull off the same thing if Wanda starts slaughtering people. I'd rather not see it happen, anyway.

Honestly, I'd just like for Stephen and Wanda to be friends. Is it so much to ask to have superheroes who are supposed to be "good guys" stop fighting each other? Civil War was, objectively (and not thinking of fandom consequences), a very good film, but I don't want to do it every 5 years either.

[mousterian-writes]

Morbid and Garbage for Kel'Thuzad, Warped for your pick? :>

Morbid: how do they feel about death? Either their own or others?

As a lich, death and rebirth is part of Kel'Thuzad's life cycle. Its one of those things he has to plan around and schedule (if he isn't subject to misadventure). It's the best way to heal all of his injuries and reset all the wear and tear on his body. But, I don't any of the liches really enjoy dying. They're complicated undead; it's painful to die and resurrection sickness affects them for a period after they reincarnate. In that way I think now he's a bit blasé about it.

Garbage: what is some emotional baggage they carry?

On some level, I think KT is forced to compartmentalize what he did in service to the lich king because he wasn't always in control over himself. He has to build that separation for his own sanity, which I think is a pretty natural reaction to that situation. However, I think he was the brain (and the charisma) behind the success of the cult of the damned. It was his messaging, of teaching people magic & giving them social equality, that won people to their cause- which I think he believed in. But he had to watch it be used to this nefarious end. KT had one opportunity to stop it all though. When Noth threatened to go to the authorities when he realized the plague cauldrons were going to be used, KT could have put a stop to the whole thing. But instead he murderd Noth, which I believe he did of his own volition. To me I think this shows he believed what he was doing was necessary & that summoning Archimond was the best way to cripple the burning legion.

TL;DR- he feels guilt for killing Noth & he doesn't trust himself necessarily because a lot of the things he believed were used for eeeeevil.

Warped: have they been corrupted? Have they been darkened and twisted by the story? Or is theirs a path of redemption?

I'll stick with KT. His arc is about him becoming himself again and stepping up to accept the responsibilities in his personal life. He has to prove to himself that he's worthy of friendship/love etc. I don't really think of it as a redemption arc- that sort of implies to me that he would have to atone for his wrong doings. Right now if he were to confront that part of his past he would totally implode.