#a lot of people think he shouldnt have been a main character at all but his journey enhances the show and makes the finale feel meaningful

[nyxi-pixie]

okayyyy ive been meaning to talk about this moment forever because i think the way i see it differs from a lot of general fandom opinion.

for context, this is from the dhc section of the dead apple manga. skk are talking about an executive who just died and dazai makes a joke about it, prompting chuuya to deck him in the face and say nobody could believe dazais human. (believe, very importantly. not that he Isnt, just that its unbelievable).

humanity is a key theme to all of bsd, but its Very explicitly central to the skk dynamic. chuuya is an intensely human character in the way that he acts and thinks, and yet! between his ability and ofc the history in the lab, it still gets called into question.

(its pretty solid that our chuuyas the real one, but thats not the point here. sb being an exploration of what it means to be human and whether Actually Being One is all that important to what you are and do, through a Distinctly human character- Thats the point. How you are being more important than what you are.)

then we have dazai on the other hand, where what he is doesnt come into question at all. Even his ability, despite its name, isnt dehumanising to an outside eye, compared to chuuyas corruption or atsushis tiger for example that can take away from their control of themselves. its the how he is, in contrast to chuuya, that comes into question with dazai. he very consistently holds himself outside of humanity both implicitly (through self isolation - shipping container being an extreme example) and explicitly (dead apple dazai talking about humanity as an Outside Observer. he is Not including himself as one of them).

When we are encouraged to doubt his humanity, its dazai Telling us to. he deliberately poses himself as inhuman because he FEELS it. and the dhc moment to me has always felt like chuuya seeing through it and calling his bullshit. Dazais making light of a death to be a dick, to push chuuyas buttons, but also because hes got this constant need to present the worst possible version of himself.

actually if you look at the panels of him when hes talking about the guy being dead, just before he gets dramatic ridiculous exaggerated dazai about it, he doesnt seem to think of it so lightly

(smthn smthn dazai imposter syndrome. the need to deny any of his more human qualities because he feels they dont Fit him. and the links w his questions to atsushi at the beginning and end, his bs 'do i really seem like the type of guy to do x thing'.)

chuuya says hes acting inhuman, that his humanity isnt something people will believe because of the way he ACTS. and then chuuya does an example of his own Chuuya Humanity Act, an act of service for the people he cares about in the form of going to solve the situation himself. AND. ultimately, dazai ends up planning around this later to lead chuuya straight to him so the two of them can deal with it together.

skk pretty consistently ground eo to humanity. dazai through nullification/corruption, but outside of their abilities too (its the thought of dazai - more specifically, not thinking like him - that stops chuuya from killing N in stormbringer and denying verlaines assertion that he shouldnt have been born). and on the flipside, chuuya is part of the reason dazai doesnt khs during or after fifteen. dazais protecting people thing really starts out with chuuya. and again, chuuya makes it his business to call dazai on his shit. (even right the way back in chapter 31 of the main manga, we have that interaction over Q, with dazai saying he spared them only for self serving logical reasons, and chuuya saying he doesnt buy it).

this to me has always felt like part of that. its not 'youre not human', its 'the way you act makes it unbelievable that you are'. its an invitation to prove he is by doing something Real, something worth more than sleeping there til he dies.

and dazai does.

[kindlyre]

thinking more v3 thoughts. it wouldve been REALLY interesting if kaede didnt die in trial 1 and lived so she and shuichi could be foils to kokichi and rantaro, which would be interesting bc the main character always has a partner, but the rival never has. and the difference in ideology could split the group, but as it stands now the v3 cast treats kokichi worse than tbe sdr2 cast treated komaeda, and komadea was a THREAT since the beginning. for the most part, all kokichi did was lie a lot and be rude, so this animosity kind of feels undeserved. like, hajime had a lot more patience for komaeda's shit than shuchi does for kokichi's. so his interactions w the rest of the v3s seems kind of... underhanded and rude. they accepted an assassin into their group but not him, is all im saying.

and it just feels kind of undeserved until chapter 4 where kokichi goes off the deep end. like, before that, he DOES talk about liking the killing game and all, and is insensetive, but he by his own admission a LIAR- why do all the v3s assume the bad things he says are the truth? hell in chapter 2 he spells out MULTIPLE TIMES what his end goal is and what he's doing (trying to caution people from overtly working together because when they do, monokuma punishes them for it, so they shouldnt let on that theyre cooperating) and no one listens?? at all. like its just so blatant because ive been playing sdr2 and v3 side by side, alternating between the two frequently. try it-! the dissonance between how the v3 cast treats kokichi and the sdr2 cast treats komadea is VERY apparent. like sure they tie him up and arent NICEYS to him, but hajime makes a genuine effort to try and understand komaeda, especially in FTEs. shuichi does not extend that same effort to kokichi and imho thats really lackluster writing for the ultimate detective

it just seems like they were going for an ideology clash in v3 but in practice, kokichi is ostracized VERY early on for the crime of Being Annoying, and because of that is placed under a lot of undue scrutiny, with absolutely no one bothering to TRY to understand him. and this happens because he has no genuine foil for his ideology, so theres no ideological conflict, so the writers had to manufacture one by having everyone focus on his (largely just mischevious and at worst annoying) lies and repeat "but all lies are bad!!" unfixingly w/o trying to understand him. which is not really an ideological conflict, it's... kind of childish and they- esp shuichi as the ultimate DETECTIVE- never try to understand kokichi's pov and don't interact with kokichi's TRUE ideological opposition- that they can't trust each other. and kaede and him couldve been great foils in that regard, having the opposite ideological approach to the killing game, but kaede was fridged early on for a male character's development. so thats fine too i guess.

and shuichi and rantaro couldve been foils as well, both leaning hard into detective work but having opposite ideas on what to do with their respective findings- do they trust the group, or not?

also this is just a "hey this would be imo cool" aside, but if it was a kokichi/rantaro pairup.... IMAGINE THE 4TH TRIAL. imagine if it was ambiguous if rantaro was manipulated into killing miu or if it was a willing sacrifice. rantaro doesn't remember, but he admits before execution that, knowing himself, he feels like it was a willing sacrifice on his end, while kokichi insists he manipulated rantaro into it and that he's the true blackened. and we cant see rantaro's memories, so we don't know. and it could be a really tragic trial a la peko's, which would finally allow the cast to know more about rantaro and his true feelings on everyone and the game, in his final moments.

also the sting of the ultimate survivor reveal being so so close by, the tragedy of rantaro surviving a DIFFERENT KILLING GAME only to die in this one, so close to the end... and the implication that he survived his last game by being detached and secretive, only to die because of a connection he had with someone. but thats less meta analysis and more me going "goddamn wouldnt that be fucked up or what. anyway im tumblr user kinderlie"

[moltworm]

watched the wild robot recently, it was a very pretty movie and i liked the design of the robot. i went into it with bigger ideals than i should have for a big brand childrens movie, but i just think that they opened too many doors on big topics and didnt follow up.

complaining under the cut, i mostly just want to write my thoughts down. obvious spoiler warning for the movie

i KNOWWW its a childrens movie i KNOWWWW its a big brand name of COUUURSE it isnt going to be all that i hoped i KNOWWW i shouldnt be looking this deep into it and i KNOWWWW i shouldnt have gone into it with the (externally caused) attitude i did.

but it was disappointing mannn it was disappointing. im going to watch it again in theaters to try and introduce more joy into my heart and change my thoughts but this is all first-pass emotions.

they open too many topic doors without properly exploring them.

duck that is a runt but ends up still being accepted by the flock? Awesome, great! when that duck is an allegory for minority kids, varying as both rep for physically disabled or neurodivergent, and the way he gets accepted by the flock is by going above and beyond and ultimately learning to behave the way they do? baddd. doesn't address that no, sometimes people CANT do things that other people can. almost had "sometimes you have to find a different way that works for you" which wouldve been great but as far as i can tell that was only a transitional point and he DID end up behaving just as everyone else did.

robot that doesnt know how to connect with nature ultimately learning to become one with it?? cool, fun!! when that robot is a metaphor for a minority individual having to drop its original personality in order to survive and become accepted by the community? bad, although i cant weigh in on this too much. loses the fun bits of being a robot. i guess the "original culture" was weirdly intertwined with obtuse capitalism advertising but augh. good to unlearn advertising propaganda, bad to have to almost completely remake who you are just to fit in and give your kid a fighting chance?

expressing that animals have to survive and that means hunting each other? cool moment!!! later saying that you CAN unite them and writing hunting with a negative moral weight and later implying that they can just eat fish and live happily together? aughhhh mannn MANNN. like, okay, animals CAN form really interesting pairbonds. but also hibernation is NATURAL. animals dying is NATURAL. they almost went for it in the beginning but towards the end they backed out. rgh.

it just feels to me like if theyre going for a disabled/minority/neurodivergent metaphor, then those characters that are disabled/minority/neurodivergent are shown as having to Save Everyone to be Liked. The robot has to almost completely Sacrifice Herself for people to end up liking her. They wanted to do too many things and it ended up being a real big tangle all around.

designs are pretty cool. i sorta liked how roz resurrected and named rummage. they couldve done more with the fox and saying "violent raising begets more violent raising" but they Really Already Had a Lot on their Plate. i didnt like the evil robot who was a blatant bait character that didnt even have much "robot" in the personality. i didn't like how they handled robots, i didn't like how they handled animals, and when those are the Two Big Main Bits of the movie, WELL,

im sure that i could be swayed into liking it by someone who does like it a lot and ill probably change my thoughts when i go rewatch it. but i needed to nail down and articulate why it rubbed me the wrong way, as a known robot liker and nature liker.

[freyjas-musings]

so i keep seeing e/riels saying that they want a romance that triumphs the mating bond and i have few problems w that

for az & elains romance story to trumps the matin bond, azriel shouldnt have to believe that the cauldron was wrong. his idea of love IS his mate. he thought mor was his mate for 500 yrs & now all of a sudden, his brothers are w the 2 archeron sisters & theres a 3rd one so ofc hes gonna jump ship & think she’s his mate when mor cont rejected him throughout the yrs (i def think he wouldve never even thought of elain if mor given him a chance). so i think the bonus chpt kind of crushed that “romance trumps mating bond” bc if thats how it started, w him thinking elain is his mate or that the cauldron is wrong, then idk how that would work if u want to discredit the mating bond

not to say there isnt failed pairs, but we’re talking about main characters here. why would sjm write failed pairs w mcs when she loves the idea of 2 ppl being made exactly for one another. also the idea of mates is not only romantic but its also powerful imo- 2 ppl that are exactly equal to one another in both power & title. idk how azriel could ever treat elain as his equal when he is so overprotective of her to the point where he’s almost diminishing her strenggh in acosf. even amren had to say “dont underestimate her”

and also elain- if she wanted to be w azriel, she can just reject lucien, which he has already said in acowar that he would let her go if she was happier w someone one else. BUT SHE STILL HAS NOT DONE THAT. this story could easily be resolved w just that mating bond being rejected alas, we’re here theorizing about forbidden romance & evil lightsingers & “random redheads who r also red herrings to the superior elain and az’s love story”. to me, the e/riel story is so simple. nothing is complicated if she just rejects the bond.

i think the perfect romance story for azriel is for him to fall in love w someone and not even think of the mating bond but then later on finds out that that person is his mate. i think he needs to accept & learn what true love is first before the mating bond can snap for him.

Hi Anon ,

I agree with all the points you have made and logically at this stage it won't be rejecting one bond but two pairs of mates and I simply don't see sjm doing that at all. As far as the other side is concerned they have been so hell bent on refuting Gywn and Az are most likely mates because they know it was game over for Elriel the minute the bonus was released.

There is literally no way anyone will be convinced about Gwyn and Lucien being rejected without a proper reason and that's the thing , this is a fictional story ... SJM could have shown a deterioration in the equation between elain and Lucien but they remain stagnant instead ... meaning it's not still time for their story.

The thing about Elain and Az .... we clearly know Azriel's feelings weren't that deep. We know he hadn't planned past pleasuring himself to the fantasies ... now that in itself spells doom. And this isn't about who is more deserving or anything it's just a clear case of two people with a toxic equation ... neither of them is undeserving of love or healing ...

The fact remains they are just not good for each other . They are NOT how SJM writes her couples .

They will each get their own story and HEA. I see a lot of people adding a healthy dose of ego into it about wanting Elain to reject Az ... but its really not an ego thing ... yes Az rejected her first ... she also gave back the necklace and rejected him back ... I need people to just stop self inserting and acting like jilted girlfriends being bitter about Azriel... its most likely he will get his story and HEA first and That is OK.

[buckgettingstruck]

Tbh I got the feeling this is a first real fandom/first real canon mlm ship for a lot of these BT shippers. As a fan of procedural shows, rep doesn’t tend to be present in my experience. I think they got so frenzied by the high of a canon mlm ship on a procedural show that it went to their heads, and LFJ did not in any way help to quell that fervor. They got way too attached to the character and ship way too fast, and then he took advantage of their excitement to swindle them for money and whip them up into a further tizzy. Then they got cut off from him and it made them extremely defensive of what they’d built between them. Some people took advantage of their looking elsewhere for direction to build followers and sow drama. It’s obviously not a good situation to be in, on either end. It’s not a good reason or excuse to treat others poorly, but I’m trying to understand what could’ve caused this massive disconnect. Have I missed anything?

i think racism plays a big part in it. and the need to feel superior towards others for having the “canon” relationship as well i think. ive been vagueposted about and been called stupid because of that last bit as dumb as it sounds lmfao

i also think some people genuinely believe not liking tommy is homophobic just because he’s a gay character. and honestly i do think many of those people haven’t faced actual oppression maybe ever lmfao but that’s my own game theory more than anything else i think

the biggest bit of all of it really is the parasocial aspect to me. they had access to lou when the main cast isn’t as accessible. and they shouldnt be as accessible! a lot of them who bought the cameos i think began to see lou as their friend rather than a stranger who plays a tv show character and that made things a lot worse. which is incredibly sad considering the amount of money these people paid him and continue to pay even after hes been written off.

[enginator2000]

worst popular infinite headcanon?

oh my. this one got long so im going to spare peoples dashes by putting this under a cut haha

anyways my answer is: making him out to be a little crybaby who is driven purely by revenge and sadness to make the world pay for shadow killing his squad mates, whom he loved in a normal way and saw them as family or whatever. it makes his character so goddamn flat and boring bc thats such a standard villain motivation, and it entirely strips away a lot of his personality even when theres already so little to work with LMAO

i know ive spoken about it at length in the dog&hog server but to me, infinites most notable trait is that hes selfish

in the prequel comic rise of infinite (yay, prequel comic talk. everyones favourite, i know) he deliberately ignores any protests from his gang against accepting eggmans deal of working with him, because eggy singles him out and offers him a place at his side to bring his fantasy of ruin into reality. not infinite and his crew, just infinite

(image has two comic panels. in the first one, eggman is reaching a hand out to infinite as he says "now you are an interesting guy. i like you. how about i hire you to lead my forces? together we'll take over the world!" in the second panel, one of the jackal squad members says "boss! dont be tempted by him. we'll be fine!")

and infinite says yes after briefly talking about how he personally feels bored and tired of how the world is right now

(image has two panels. in the first, infinite is mumbling to himself, first laughing and then saying "interesting. all this time ive been going through the motions. ive actually grown quite tired of the world as it is." in the second panel he stands and says "lets do it doctor! i'll help you change this world!")

again, its a decision based off an entirely personal and individualistic opinion that only takes his own feelings into account. you would think that if he valued his squad to the extent that they were "like family" to him, he would have listened when they said he shouldnt make a deal with eggman. if he actually cared about them as much as he cared about himself, he would have trusted them enough to say no. instead he only thinks about what he wants and what he can get, not about what will happen to the others

ive always been of the opinion that infinite used his squad and position of authority as their leader to prop himself up and viewed them more like underlings or subjects that he could order around and be superior to, rather than equals whose opinions and input he valued. maybe he started out having more camaraderie with the other jackals, but it certainly doesnt show by the time we get to the events of the prequel comic, and even less so when we get to episode shadow/the main game

the idea that he saw his squad more like tools to make himself look better than people also makes more sense because when in episode shadow, eggman calls infinites squad "useless" directly to him and all infinite says is "yeah, yeah" in a very uncaring fashion. even when he then spots shadow and says "you.. you destroyed my squad!" its entirely unconvincing to me that he said it out of sorrow or sadness; to me it was more like simple anger that it happened. because now without his little group of followers that looked up to him and did whatever he told them to, he had nobody to feel superior to. he couldnt go on any more power trips by being The Boss bc there was nobody left to indulge him, no one to stoke his ego, nobody to be the boss of. so thats why he felt slighted by shadow in the first place; how dare this hedgehog take away what made him feel special and important. and then of course the ensuing humiliation that came afterward was just the icing on the shit cake haha

it also explains why infinite never brings up his squad in any of his monologues (besides the prequel comics and episode shadow being obvious afterthoughts to the main game loool); he just doesnt care. if anything, their loss was his gain bc it pushed him towards acquiring the phantom ruby and getting to go on the ultimate power trip of world domination and near total subjugation of the population. i think that also ties into his mindset that friends make you weak and you cant rely on anyone but yourself; in his case, thats literally true. if he hadnt lost his squad, if he had initially listened to them, the chain of events we know well would not have come to pass and he would not have gotten to become the powerhouse he did. he would have still been leading his monotonous life and following the same old script. from his perspective they really did hold him back, and only once they were gone was he able to become stronger. he reiterates this by thanking shadow in the dlc for doing what he did in mystic jungle (killing the jackal squad and kicking infinites ass) bc otherwise he wouldnt have gotten the incentive he needed to take on the mantle of becoming a super powered weapon

and if you want some more evidence thats admittedly a lot more of a stretch, you could also interpret infinite creating a posse of past sonic foes as him filling the void of using the jackal squad that was created after shadow had taken them down. he gets to control people again (even if theyre clones that had no choice but to obey him but nyeh i told you it was a stretch), he gets to be a leader again

idk, i just think that having a sob story as a main motivation is (funny joke here) weak. i have never once thought that infinite needs to have some kind of sympathetic or tragic backstory. and maybe thats just my own personal bias coming through bc i prefer villains that are evil for reasons like their moral philosophies or have some kind of goal that makes the audience go "maybe they do have a point tbh" and villains that are just evil for the sake of it over villains that say "my mom died" as if that is any kind of justifiable explanation. imo it almost always comes off as them making an excuse, and its lame. just own it, yknow?

so yeah if i could block one thing from the minds of infinite fans it would be the hc that infinite was tightly knit with the jackals and wanted what was best for them. bc with all the evidence ive seen, its not supported at all, and hes actually the exact opposite; he does what he wants and uses who he wants for his own purposes and gain

also yes i do think shadow straight up killed the other jackals and i do think thats in character for him but thats a conversation for another day

[tremorsmackenzie]

i see a lot of talk going around about how the team were terrible to daisy after 5x14 and one person even said that it was basically a darvo situation, and i want to add my opinion to the pile, cause i disagree with that a lot. i also generally have a problem with how people tend to defend their favourite to the absolute while villainizing almost every other character in this discourse. they all deserve equal amounts of empathy.

lets get a few disclaimers out of the way first: from my perspective, what happened wasnt anyones fault, they were all victims in this situation. fitz cant be blamed for having a psychic split, daisy had every right and more to react the way that she did, thats not even a discussion. it was also just absolutely the right decision, fitz wasnt trustworthy anymore after that. he absolutely did care about what he did though, he mentioned how he was scared by how he still thought he did the right thing at least twice. thats not the same thing as being horrified at what he did exactly, but the reasons for his split didnt go away just because it happened, and this is about as close as you can get in this situation i think. i also think his whole " i didnt have a choice" shtick was more about him trying to make sense of what happened rather than trying to deflect blame, because he generally lacks empathy for other people a bit and getting defensive and not considering whether that is appropriate right now is perfectly in character for him (still terrible on his part despite all that though, and this is probably where the darvo thing comes from as far as it concerns him). now:

the way i see the aftermath of that episode is that with everything still happening, coulson gone and possibly (definitley, its hydra) being tortured for intel, the end of the world still fast approaching, and daisy still being convinced its somehow gonna be her fault (especially after having her powers restored), none of them could allow themselves to break right now. and crucially: noone blamed daisy for the way she reacted or attacked her for it. may thought she wasnt ready for coulsons job after literally just being tortured, and she was right about that, that was way too much pressure to put on her after that (despite that, i still think daisy did a good job, but she shouldnt have had to). mack agreed with daisy fully. simmons was definitley not okay anymore after what happened and acted increasingly irrationally. she just watched her husband torture her best friend while being held at gunpoint by a robot he programmed, after which daisy had no time to talk to her and fitz was locked in a cell and disillusioned about who he was. she was essentially alone to deal with the situation.

it doesnt excuse what she did, but i also dont think she wouldve acted the way she did if she was fully sane at that point. i mean, she risked swallowing literal acid because she thought she was invincible due to knowing she makes it past the worlds destruction. before this, she was very, starkly different. those are not the actions of someone whos secretly a sociopath like many regularly accuse her of being, theyre the actions of someone who has been pushed completely past their breaking point. as for yoyo, she lost her goddamn arms and was absolutely convinced that daisys path was going to lead to the entire worlds destruction. and that was what she was mad at daisy about.

this was the entire tragedy of that situation: its not a question of fault. they all acted terribly towards each other, and they all had good reasons for it, even if they were being unfair or vicious. it just happened.

so they all pushed what fitz did aside for the moment to focus on the mission, but its literally the main factor of what drove the team apart for the rest of the season, because daisy was focused on her interpretation of the prophecy and wasnt gonna trust fitz or anything he said anymore, simmons and yoyo were convinced he was right and felt daisy wasnt listening to them, and then they managed to scrape themselves back together as a team, just barely, and saved the world, losing both coulson and fitz in the process. in my headcanon the team patched up most of their differences after 5x22, based on how it ended, flashbacks and mentions from season 6 as well as the team being friendly with each other again, and the fact that this show isnt the kind to just ignore events like this, if things are radically different between seasons its safe to assume that stuff happened off screen, not that the writers were lazy. losing two members of their shared family probably also provided them with some perspective and reminded them of how much they all mean to one another.

and this hit all of them very hard, and they all dealt with it in their own way without involving the others. all of them, not just daisy. mack focused on his job 100%, may and elena helped him, simmons went to space to find fitz and daisy came with her because everything reminded her of coulson and theyre each others best friend. when they all came back together, they had managed to somewhat move on from what happened and probably werent to keen on bringing it up again. i mean we saw how sarge had them all bent out of shape because he had coulsons face. they were not over it. nevermind the fact that they had another alien invasion on their hands at the time.

[crows-talking-place]

Hi wanna hear my insane Gillion backstory theory? no? SORRY YOU'RE OUT OF LUCK HERE IT IS

Theory: Gillion wasn't the chosen one. Until he was.

ok so hear me out:

Before Gillion, there was the true chosen one. The Original. He was, like Gillion, under the care of exclusively the elders. Something happened while he was training, and it lead to his death. The Original would have been around 12 years old.

No one but the elders (and those directly adjacent) knew who the champion was, so when The Original died, they had to find somebody else to act as a replacement, else the Undersea discover that their precious Chosen One was dead. To avoid these actions coming to light, however, they realised whoever they chose must believe this lie as well, believe that they WERE the chosen one, so it would have to be someone young and impressionable: a child. But who?

We know that Finn left, and we also know that leaving the Undersea is very Not Allowed socially, and Finn as far as people go seemed to be a pretty known presence what with being a known author and scholar, so it is likely his absence was known by the citizens in the capital. Perhaps it was this which led to Gil being chosen by the elders, or perhaps it was something else. Nonetheless, Gillion was chosen, and was dropped into the role of Chosen One.

The elders have access to simulations of some kind for training. We know this. Due to the fact that sounds obnoxiously hard technologically and also how immersive they were when he re-experienced them in the pearl (remember that the simulations he entered were described as identical to those he was trained on, so it's not just a pearl hell thing), I believe these simulations were not purely physical, more a manipulation of Gillion's senses to make him believe things were there. (more eveidence: the ep where Gil trains Chip to use his fire magic by making him think he's being attached by bears and monsters etc), however if they had this ability it's not out of the question they had the ability to do more.

We've already seen people in riptide manipulate memory, it happened to Chip in Noctis. If this person could manipulate senses, manipulating memory wouldn't be out of the question. (I believe some of the memories from The Original were given to Gillion, perhaps to speed up his training. This unintentionally could have also given Gil certain memories of Finn, who according to canon timeline should have left before Gil was born, except in canon we ALSO know that Gillion remembers interacting with him. This fixes the plothole of both Finn not knowing Gillion as his grandchild, and Gillion having memories he shouldnt really have.

(The fact they have the same name could have been the elder's choice: we don't know how young Gillion was taken so they could have given him the same name The Original was known to have in Finn's flashback)

This also explains the reason that the Undersea was okay with the Chosen One being EXILED, despite the prophecy which stated that he needed to CHOOSE THEM or they'd DIE.

Because, Gillion was not the chosen one. He was a replacement. HOWEVER, this is no longer the case.

The prophecy has come to pass, and we all saw it happen.

Episode 82: Moonlight, Storm and Sea.

The pearl is struck by lightning, in the eye of the storm, and Gillion returns to this plane, a changed man. Reborn.

Sounds insane? thought so, im clearly reaching too much

Sike I have evidence for there being 2 Gillions im so right guys

This theory was inspired by a theory created very early into the show's lifespan called "Gillion is Lying" by BoilingHeart, in which two pieces of evidence were presented against Gillion being Finn's grandson (here), both being inconsistancies between the prequel one-shot and the main campaign.

Condi repied with something about taking Riptide as canon over the one-shots as they didn't know the direction the overarching story and characters would at the time, which I accepted, as it made a lot of sense.

However, this exchange was later linked to in a different post, which Grizzly saw and replied to (here)

He (Grizzly) then added to the inconsistency post with this cryptic-ass response:

Now this response surprised me, becasue this lends this inconsistency credibility. Like it's important.

This implies that BOTH the flashback (which would make Gillion in his thirties) and Gillion's riptide age are consistant. But, obviously, that was impossible. So I tried to think back. I then remembered the episode in which Gil was released in the Pearl, and thuse, this insanity was born.

Easy. Gillion wasn't the child in the flashback. The Gillion we know IS Finn's grandson, but is born of a child he was unaware of. The flashback Gillion is NOT Finn's grandson, but is a student (as far as he is aware: remember the Champion's identity is not public knowledge outside of the higher-ups) who has grown up around him, hence having memories of Finn when he was really small.

(sorry for this monster of a post it didnt want to get shorter)

(why cant i put this much effort into my school assignments)

[heyyallitsbeth]

so i let the hyperfixation win.

over the past several hours i rewatched Sword Art Online and SAO 2.

(this time dubbed, last time i watched it subbed)

here are my thoughts:

-anyone who said the dub was bad is just wrong. Kirito's VA really shines in the more comedic or sweet moments (like when first meeting Yui), he reminds me of like a Peter Parker. and oh my lord, the breakdown by Suguha's VA was just a masterpiece. Still have chills from watching it.

-i have such a big appreciation for every character. This time it really shined through how good of characters Kirito, Asuna, and Suguha actually are.

Kirito's internal conflict throughout SAO2 is so good, grappling with their actions they needed to take in SAO to survive. and throughout all of it you can tell how much they truly loves their friends and family, and how kind hearted they really are. Asuna definitely fits into that role as well, being so ready to take care of Yui and so desperately wanting her to be safe and loved and cared for.

And oh my gosh Suguha. I remember people absolutely hated her arc because it is problematic, but the fact is, it's played entirely serious, her feelings arent taken as a joke. She has a genuine and real internal struggle for feeling things she feels she shouldnt, and how she feels those feelings arent reciprocated or cant be reciprocated, and having her heart broken twice by someone who she loves and someone who also does still genuinely love her. Its absolutely heartbreaking to watch.

Man, Sinon is still fantastic. She's still my absolute favorite, and I think she is one of the best characters in the show, and pretty much steals the show from her introduction. Her arc ties in so seamlessly with Kirito's and how they help eachother heal and grow is fantastic. Only complaint is we never got a scene of the rest of the Gals being jealous about the grenade hug she gave Kirito. After Kirito and Sinon nearly died, wouldve been some nice relief so you didnt feel like you yourself were dying.

-Speaking of, while there was definitely a ton of fanservice, the pseudo-harem aspect with the jokes were kinda cute, between characters seeing flirting happen around them, getting embarassed over it, its fun. Especially when people got jealous of Sinon flirting with Kirito over Excalibur. That part was very fun, since they did that infront of everyone else, almost like they were trying to get a rise out of them. Theyre not exactly the pinnacle of comedy, its definitely a trope, but theres something nostalgic about it that makes it kinda enjoyable.

-Speaking of the psuedo-harem, guys if all of you are constantly flirting with eachother (not just Kirito surprisingly, happens between the other girls frequently) and jealous of any affection with that, just start a polycule. You're a group of gamer girls playing MMOs together and all of you have slept in the same bed with eachother. Stop snipping at eachother and start dating eachother. Polyamory is pretty cool. Kirito and Asuna can still be the main duo and be the parents to Yui and Strea; but yall gotta work on the jealousy or just do what every other group of girl gamers does, polyamory. Lisbeth you should not be angrily drinking while watching Kirito and Asuna talk. (this is mostly a joke, im not actually saying they *have* to do a polycule, its more of a joke because of how tropey a lot of the flirting and jealousy is, and yknow, gay girls do polyamory, so dont take this part toooooo seriously.)

-Speaking of girls dating girls, the LGBT rep aint half bad. Argo canonically using both male and female pronouns is really cool! Most of the girls flirt with eachother a lot too, which is nice. Between the female avatar, the willingness to pretend to be a girl, the introversion, the desire to be an avatar in a virtual world more than irl, Kirito might be transgender. All good stuff here.

Overall, SAO is honestly way better than I remembered, even if some parts definitely show its age. You gotta piece it together a little bit with headcanons, but i do that with every show, nothing is perfect. Except Sinon. And a world where trans Kirito is canon. Those are perfect.

[playing-soldier-4077]

"Everyones on stage for the finale!"

Meet the cast!

"Somone will have to get me pregnant first." -Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce

Background: Surgeon from Crabapple Cove, Maine. Drafted into the Korean War, he hates the army. Currently the senior member of the 4077th MASH, having been stationed there the longest.

Rank: Captian, Cheif surgeon

Gender: Male, occasionally uses female titles

Sexuality: Bisexual with plausible deniability

Height: 6'2"

Age: 32

Relationship status: Single

Character warnings: Alcoholic, somwhat of a misogynist/womanizer (recovering), jokes about his truama (has a lot of truama). Bi-polar (Though at the time its referred to as manic depression. Also undiagnosed. Anyway the warning is he has manic episodes somtimes)

"We'll be the ones with our hands on the bible." - Trapper John McIntyre

Background: Surgeon from Boston Massachusetts, he was drafted into the Korean War. Developed an extraordinarily close relationship with hawkeye, before getting his orders to go back stateside. With much regret the only message he leaves for hawkeye is a kiss through the company clerk. They never got to see eachother off.

Rank: Civilian (Former Captian)

Gender: Male

Sexuality: yes please

Height: 6'3"

Age: 30

Relationship status: married

Character warnings: fruiquent adulterer, womanizer, alcoholic.

"I have this strange aversion to being away from my family!" -BJ Hunnicutt

Background: Fresh from residency, BJ finds he's been drafted as an army doctor. He has to leave behind his months old daughter and his wife to work meatball surgery at the 4077th MASH. He meets Hawkeye soon after landing, and they become quick friends. They're attatched at the waist, borderline codependent, and BJ doesnt know how he would've handled life in Korea if he hadn't met Hawkeye.

Rank: Captian

Gender: Male

Sexuality: Repressed

Height: 6'4"

Age: 29

Relationship status: Married

Character warnings: Anger issues, bottles emotions, alcoholic(functioning. mostly.) Does not know when the bit has gone too far; may subject you to pranks (psychological warfare.) Accepting to queer people despite the times, but has internalized homophobia. Has a lot of internalized everything. Very repressed individual.

"Im afraid of Lobsters." -Sidney Freedman

Background: Sidney Freedman works as a psychiatrist, and volunteered to join the Army as one. Though he never signed his loyalty agreement, and values his paitents over the rules of the military, he is still veiwed as a valuable field therapist.

Rank: Major

Gender: Male

Sexuality: Gay

Height: 5' 9"

Age: 43

Relationship status: Married (Lavender)

Character warnings: Makes jokes about his line of work. Canon example: "I'm going to commit suicide." -got a bad poker hand.

Despite the occasional joke, he does take his job very seriously. If this type of joke is a trigger and you still want to interact with the character, just tell me and I'll be sure not to make any :]

Things to note!

These characters, while progressive, are from the 1950s. They may say or do insensitive things.

(If I take this too far, do tell me. I dont intend to play into this much if at all, I just wanted to put the warning up. Please tell me if I write somthing I shouldnt, I struggle with knowing when to stop occasionally. This probobly wont be an issue, but the possibility is worth warning for I think)

[show-us-kaidenshenandoah]

i think we need to switch up "hear me out" cakes to be multiple cakes

and your friends' reaction decides where your pick goes. like. they do "the council has decided to hear you out" type shit, y'know?? like. not on degrees of "we agree/disagree" but on the "this is a Hear Me Out/that is a Chronically Online take/that is a You Are Not Alone pick", you feel me?? i can say more

(also heads up: all my examples here are male. bc im building off what ive seen on people's cakes and most of "the spectrum" is men; bc a LOT of people's female hear-me-outs are just "a woman who is mid 30s or older" (who may be a lil kooky, like Eda Clawthorne from "Owl House") or be a female monster-fuckery example (like the female xenomorph from "Alien"). i've never seen an in-between in one of these cakes. the only one iiiii could think of was when 10 year-old me thought itd be cute to hold hands with (in a sapphic puppy-love way) or kiss the cheek of Eliza Thornberry from "The Wild Thornberries", but even then, i dont think Eliza is that weird for me to have crushed on as a kid??? anyway. if a wlw or "im not a girl but i like girls in a sapphic way" type or even a "im horny for women in a way that is not a cishetero white man's headspace" wants to help me by thinking of female equivalences for these following categories??? ill proverbially kiss your forehead. my brain is too dead rn, im also a two-spirited person who is kinda aroace (demi-romantic and very asexual) anyway, and im too focused on "Hollywood, do better" about the lack of spectrum for women to Actually Think Of The Rare Female Characters Who Do Fit This Overall Spectrum Of Items rn)

1️⃣: the main biggie is still the "hear me out" cake

in my opinion, these are ones where the creators themselves would be shocked you liked them (eg. me when i was 11 and going all 👉👈 about the headless cockroach from "Growing Up Creepie" or, y'know what, fuck it, the number 5. not Numbuh 5 from "KND", but the literal number 5 in mathematics. give me absurdism). and i say "creators" bc there shouldnt be irl humans here; bc thats either mean bc its based on looks (stop putting Steve Carrell in there) or its "buddy?? this just killed the mood" (like irl serial killers and shit, like, "no, no, save that for your therapist, no"). so we are predominantly looking at fictional, animated (2D, CGI, comics, illustrated, etc), puppets, masked, heavy make-up, that kinda thing okay?? not just a literal irl person and their face. that just feels mean (why! have i seen!! Steve Carrell! four different times!! guys!!! he's a real person who other real people can look like, that could hurt his or someone's feelings in a big way, wtf!) plus also some absurdism (again, the number 5, but maybe also planets? like Planet X would be on par with the number 5 to me of baffling but "...y'know what? i'll hear you out. sell me on this" lmao)

but again, that's irl humans. so it can be fictional Regular Humans (they just, i guess, gotta be very heinous to be a Regular Human yet qualify for this) (eg. Chris McLean from "Total Drama Island". bc my friends heard me out during a ppt of Weird Childhood (+ Some Lifelong) Crushes i did where one slide was the "Growing Up Creepie" cockroach with snorts and snickers, but still. and then i changed slides to Chris and they screamed and did a (joking) impromptu intervention for me bc of that, even tho *i* think Chris McLean should be one of the two other cakes im about to mention. but i have been out-voted), it can be costumed actors (eg. a live-action "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle" of your choice, the Ferryman from "Annabelle Comes Home", the logo of the Quaker Oats guy, or MAYBE Moe from "The Doodlebops") where there's a spectrum of "that's a guy and his face" and enough make-up where you're like "okay, this hear me out has nothing to do with the facial features here being considered 'ugly' or unconventional"

but just: overall the Appearance Fuckery is either "has no intention of making this person/creature/thing remotely attractive" (eg. i seriously doubt the number 5 was designed to "be hot" lol) OR "they are actively trying to make this person not-hot and not-cool on purpose" (eg. the giant headless cockroach from "Growing Up Creepie", he's not supposed to be hot or cool, he's just kinda there lol but i guess you could also argue like.. idk, im thinking of how Robert Pattison did a very unattractive voice while acting as the Grey Heron of "The Boy & The Heron". like, youre not supposed to find the Heron attractive or cool or anything, i think lmao). that's the point here. at least to me

2️⃣: the other is "normal: but chronically online take" cake, it is the middle one of this trio i am pitching

in my mind, this is the category where "someone put effort to make this character seem attractive or cool or likable beyond their actions"... but they're also unconventional as a pick, it's "not a 'normie' choice" to make (no derogatory intent to "normies" btw)

so this is where we get into shit like the Green Goblin from the Toby McGuire "Spider-man" movies, specifically his robo-suit. sure, the suit may not be rom-com-attractive to look at, and, sure, he may be written sympathetically so audiences have affection for them (moreso Osborn with how they made him scared of himself and clueless to the harm he has caused, but close enough); but that robo-suit WAS made to look COOL. it was made to be liked and gotten toys and posters of, and a person having a crush on the Green Goblin in the robo-suit is a "normal: but chronically online take" in my mind. does that make sense?? bc im adding John Silver from "Treasure Planet" up there too, bc it's Disney and he was meant to be likeable (to betray Jim, yeah, but still), he was not meant to be a romantic lead, but he was drawn and characterized to be likable. that's just a fat man that's a cyborg and a little bit alien; and he's hot. he's a normal person to like, in my mind

but this category as a whole would be me vaguely Getting why some "normies" would scream "nO, YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS" at the pitch, yet also knowing all of my fellow chronic online buddies would approve of the same pitch. like, the chronically online just heard "goblin robot suit" and "anti-hero dad-figure fat cyborg pirate" be upheld as a "hear me out" and would respond like "ah, good choice, mmhm, yes" like we were discussing wine. but like. then my friends wouldve paused and gone like "....not weird enough to be a 'hear me out' tho". like?? as if it's objectively true or a Basic Bitch take? (my chronically online brethern: it's not. lmao it just is a Basic Bitch take to our niche, it's Fucking Weird outside of us)

so it's that in-between of "would be Freak Behavior to any hypothetical 'normie', but would not be to anyone chronically online". so the 1️⃣ category would be where both "normie" and the chronically online are going "pARDON??? HUH?" to the same extreme degree. but this one, 2️⃣, is where it's a more lower-level mix. like maybe some chronically online are going "hUH??" while some are going "oh, yeah, obviously"; but for the most part, this is "normies" go "HUH?" and chronically online go "this is an objectively agreed upon take, not a 'hear me out' pitch". idk, i hope that makes sense. like. maybe some more examples would help, we already discussed two, but we can do more. the two i just did were examples of "not THE most 'obviously yeah' takes for the chronically online" because i wanted to start us in on the logic of why they would count here (at least, to me) so then these next ones can be a "ooooh, yeah, i can see what you mean now", you feel me?

bc, yeah, obligatory "yes but that's obviously objective and not a 'hear me out' pitch" to Kovu from "Lion King II", yes, Nick Wilde from "Zootopia", yes, Robin Hood fox from Disney's "Robin Hood", yes, Gil from "Finding Nemo", yes, Garrus from "Mass Effect", etc, etc, again, they were made to be a romantic lead and/or made to be cool. so, to me, liking them is very normal. and, again, i get that it only is a "yes OBVIOUSLY tho" in ✨️a chronically online✨️ way. but i think most other chronically online people would agree like "yes, weird to 'normies'; but not us" and i think both the "normies" and the More Newly Chronically Online could follow the logic since we just broke down how Green Goblin's robo-suit and alien-cyborg John Silver might be More Unusual Picks but same logic of "made to be liked in some way, ergo Liking Them Like That is not actually that weird". you feel me??

like the creators of these fictional guys would go "oh!! oh, that makes sense, yeah, okay, didnt intend that but nice!" you feel me?? like the spectrum goes from "wHAT?!! ...actually, y'know what, i see it" to "odd choice, but also?? of course". am i making sense?

like you could put your unconventionally attractive people here if they dont quite fit (or fit at all, potentially) with the next cake. like, i wouldnt be mad if the the Purple Wiggle from the original "The Wiggles" group went here, y'know?? like, yes, the Purple Wiggle breaks my "please have it be animated or a puppet or a mask or have heavy make-up, so we arent just potentially arguing about facial features of an irl human (bc that's mean)" rule technically. but thats enough of a "hUH?? i mean yeah buT HUH????" that i, for one, would forgive it and let the Purple Wiggle be on this cake. because it's not about his face or appearance: it's a "hUH??" because he is a fucking Wiggle, so that's what makes him unconventional. does that make sense?? like the "....fucking way way out of left-field, but Yeah Okay" type "unconventials" rather than "well yEAH" like Milo Thatch from "Atlantis" or Roger Dearly from "101 Dalmations" who would be on the next cake (instead of this one), for me, personally)

3️⃣: and the last one (as far as i can think of it, and this one would really be a cupcake or a one-person-serving of cake bc your goal is the other two. this one shouldn't have too many people on it, so you skimp out on this cake for sure) is like the council deciding "normal: not as weird as you think, you're not alone at all" cake. not a "you're basic" tho, but that this pick is more popular with society than the person realizes it is

first of all: this is not a "punishment cake" of "nope, doesnt count". i just vote it be the smallest cake bc it will, ideally, have the least amount of people in it compared to maybe the other two. but yeah, it should be a "no, thats such a valid take, i think it should go on the 'youre not alone' cake", y'know?? like, this cake's purpose isnt to knock someone down, its to be like "omg dude i have so many tiktok thirst edits of this character to show you after this" or "there should be so many more of this guy, this has to be objectively True That This Person Is Attractive, i think we as a society just agree via osmosis, we dont need to hear you out, we need to let you into the discussions about them, let's set up a text-channel on discord about them" type of 🌈realization🌟 okay?? bc the moment anyone is mean about someone trying to be vulnerable and silly online, im rescinding my pitch for this cake. cool? cool

this is for the people who put on Stiles Stilinski from "Teen Wolf" and just... buddy, idk if you actually read the assignment. Dylan O'Brien who plays Stiles Stilinski is an attractive man, like who needs to "hear you out" on this?? im confused? let me show you how MANY MANY MANY edits and fan-art that man has, even with his head shaved. like. im not mad you picked him, he's an attractive guy, sure, why not. i just am surprised if someone maybe teased you to the point of bullying to have thought this was a "hear me out" and not a "oh, yeah, well, of course, that much is obvious". like. that's fucked up if someone made fun of you for Dylan O'Brien (or Steve Carrell since i mentioned him before. and, really, all irl people go on this cake. hell, i wouldn't be surprised if the Purple Wiggle ended up on this cake after some council deliberation and after the surprise of "The Wiggles" name-drop had calmed down). but also, like, someone bond with the two tiktokers i saw pick Dylan O'Brien and show them fanfic of Stiles and thirst edits of his role in "Teen Wolf", preferably while the said tiktokers gets to giggle with ice-cream and a cozy blanket, bc they deserve to have known about the outpour of love their pitch has had, they do not deserve mocking or hatred for their pitches, bc they didnt know what they didnt know

but also i think kind of most fictional characters who are Main Characters + Have A Romantic Interest go here, even if theyre slightly unconventionally attractive, like i said with Milo Thatch of "Atlantis" and Roger Dearly of "101 Dalmations". maybe a different group of friends would decide otherwise, but if i was in your tiktok?? "not as weird as you think" cake for sure for Milo and Roger. like. id also put some "odd choice but yeah" that are not SUPER out of left-field here, like i saw someone put on a couple of people who are Fright Actors that have gone viral. and im like "..out of left-field for sure, but part of why they went viral is bc they are conventionally attractive 9 times out of 10", you get me?? does that make sense? like i saw someone say "the grandpa from the 'Johnny Tsunami' movies" and that's out of left-field and there's no thirst edits of him (as far as im aware), but also i would say "not as weird as you think, actually"

like. the boundaries are nebulous and group-dependent, but i just think itd be fun and itd be a cool spin that also will get some comments to shut up about what is/isnt a "hear me out" cake. bc i agree some of these "hear me out" cakes dont have enough of group 1️⃣ (for me), and are instead all 2️⃣ and 3️⃣ (for! me!!); but also sometimes people just are unaware and haven't been "let into the room" to know how popular and/or objectively acceptable their pick is, and i dont wanna shame people for that lack of awareness, that's mean. instead, get excited for them like "omg i have so much to show you!" or "we NEED to talk after this video bc hard-same but nobody else is talking about it, i feel like!!" y'know??

but, yeah, that's my compromise/pitch lmao

[astronnova]

Okay but I wouldn't purely blame LMK for the flanderization of Tripitaka. All the flanderized depictions in fan works I've seen are from people who actually read the book and made fan art of the original source. And both versions of Trip develop into better people, anyways. Also, it's a little hurtful to say that most people don't analyze what they read, no? Granted, it's a kids show so much of the fanbase are minors, but like...kids will be kids.

my bad that it came across as hurtful! thats not my intention, i meant it as more of an objective viewpoint on something that's become widespread online and irl then just an insult to people.

unfortunately, a lot of people within the uhhh lets say 15-early 20s range dont... dive as deep into literature as they should. you ever heard of that one meme about "the door is blue because the author liked the color blue" ?

this is just one of many, and you couldnt go anywhere online without seeing somebody make this kind of joke. schools dont even really teach deep analysis of literature recently (i should know, ive been in multiple english lit classes and most of them don't dive as deep as you could and should. the only one that does that is with my most recent professor), and this stuff happens in highschool. yknow, during students most formative years of learnin stuff.

kids shouldnt just get a free pass on choosing to ignore the main point of a piece of literature because "kids will be kids". literature is the backbone of critical thinking, most people develop that skill through reading, and stories have a greater purpose, especially classical ones, than just "heres a show that provides constant stimulation with no reason".

i probably sound a little crazy or something, and im not articulating this as well as i could due to me taking *checks notes* two melatonin like 30 minutes ago BUT anyway tldr for that section is that a lot of people just dont dive deep into literature and its true meaning. a lot of folks like only looking at the surface level bits because its so much easier and simplier than writing an 1000 word essay about the importance of a certain theme within a piece of classical literature or something

steering this back to monkie kid,

the thing i explained above i think is one of the sources as to tripitaka, and sun wukong's, flanderization within the monkie kid fandom. instead of looking at the characters with the original intent of the religious text, its looked at as more of a "well he did X so he's a bad person". its too literal for a religious allegory. trying to apply strict "real world black & white morals" onto characters like this just wont work and will end with every character from the original jttw with the label of "bad person".

i could go onto a whole rant about how the recent decline of deep analysis of literature is the reason so many people seem to prefer "childrens cartoons" (because of the easier to understand morality/lessons) over, say, classical work or hell even some modern classics. this isnt an insult towards ppl that like "kids cartoons" btw, like look at my whole blog its just about cartoons LOL . i think theres more than just that one reason as to why people, at least online, gravitate towards childrens cartoons (likely because theyre more fantastical rather than trying to cater towards "adult gritty realism" and are animated, which is hard to find nowadays with all this "live action remake" junk), but i do think its one reason.

again, my bad if i sound like an ass or something or if i dont make sense, its like 12 am and i shouldve been asleep like an hour ago but im easily distracted LOLOL . but yeah, i think the source of the flanderization is just people misunderstanding the point of the original text and trying to apply modern storytelling conventions to something thats meant to be a big ass metaphor for enlightenment

[diabolikpersonals]

someone in the watch party today (sorry, I don't remember who asked this!!) asked if we could make the next installment in dialovers, what would the game be like? and I didn't have a good answer at the time but I thought about it a lot and I think I've come up with it lol

(sorry this is a super long post, I went into way too much detail. cw for canon-typical dialovers stuff including suicide and incest)

so I started by thinking of which parts of dialovers haven't been adequately explored yet, in my opinion, and that got me thinking about yui specifically. I've seen posts lately saying that the more recent dialovers content has been about the relationships between the boys more than it's been about yui and her partner, which is a trend I've noticed too. I don't hate this trend, because closely inspecting the familial and friendly relationships in dialovers is honestly my favorite part of it, but the big drawback of it is...what about yui?! is she not also a part of our big fucked up family! shouldnt we also be analyzing her character! shouldnt she have full character arcs of her own in the games!! a close reading of the non-romantic relationships and an important, central part for our main character...we CAN have both things!!

so I decided I wanted my hypothetical dl game to have a plot that revolves around yui's character. it's my interpretation that some of her themes are family, belonging, feeling loved and wanted. the very first thing that happens in dialovers, where our story begins, is yui being abandoned by her father and left to fend for herself in a house full of people who want to hurt her. when her father shows up later and insists he loves her and wants to protect her, how can she believe him? she was left to die. even if she becomes close with the vampires as the story progresses, the fact that she was abandoned doesn't change, and it still hurts. and I used to poke fun at the scene where she finds out she's adopted, right? I was like "you're in a house of vampires, why are you so stressed out about the fact that you're adopted? isn't that the least of your problems?" but that is the ROOT of the problem!! yui is learning that this isnt even her first time being abandoned. her birth parents didnt want her, her adopted father apparently didnt want her.......and that's why yui gets so heartbroken in scenes where she's abandoned or left behind by the diaboys. if not them, she has NOBODY to go home to.

yui wants to be loved! she wants a family that wants her too! she wants a home where she can stay with people who love her and will protect her! so what's a good way for us to pick that apart in a dl game?

I imagine the church contacting her again; it wouldnt be the first time it's happened, but I don't want yui to just be able to say "no thank u" and start a gunfight and then walk away this time. I want the vampire hunters in the church to capture the diaboys, injure them, lock them up, all under the guise of protecting yui. with her loved ones taken, yui cant just refuse to go with them—so she has to, and this game mostly takes place in a church as a result.

now that yui isn't clueless about what the church does, the church intends to make her into a vampire hunter too. she can train there, and the members of the church will protect her until she can protect herself. (I imagine a named minor character will be her mentor and stuff.) they use sweet words that conflict yui a lot, insisting that they're her family (and these are probably people yui knows and grew up with, so they're not just saying it for nothing!!), using her religion to sway her opinion (this is the right thing to do, as one of God's children), yui would be able to help innocent people as a hunter, etc. Make her really think about what she wants and which "family" can provide her with it! It's not as simple as wanting to stay with her boyfriend. The idea that this family, the one she had been with before the events of HDB, who raised her....didn't actually abandon her and they really want her after all........it's tempting!! yui's heart is torn! she WANTS to believe that those people loved her!

but still, hurting the diaboys is too much. yui doesn't want to do that. throughout the game, yui visits [certain diaboy(s) depending on the route ur playing] to create a plan to rescue them. the members of the church figure out she's visiting them, and shake their heads and lament the fact that these demons have brainwashed her.....but they let her continue meeting them, because they want to show yui the how cruel and animalistic these monsters can truly be. they keep the diaboys starved, and even tempt them with yui's blood while keeping her just out of reach...and of course the diaboys get hungrier, angrier, more desperate...until they really do look like the monsters the church has been describing...!

"but nat, how am I gonna get sexy scenes if the diaboys are being held captive" dont you see, masochistic target audience?! it's about the DENIAL!! it's about the thrill of knowing just a few feet away, this vampire is shaking in desperation to go fucking crazy on you and the cell bars are the only thing stopping him from tearing into you right now, but who knows how long those cell bars will even last?! doesn't he seem to get even stronger and more violent the hungrier he gets— and when you finally get a moment together, with nothing between you, and he needs to make up for lost time...!!

[cough] anyway, we can graduate from masochism to sadomasochism, right? it's my game after all. caged vampires are sexy. and yui can sneak out to offer them her blood anyway, even if it means it will hurt a lot >///< so you'll get your sexy bloodsucking scenes, ok!! pic relevant. use ur imagination.

there's too many diaboys for me to go into detail about what their routes would be like, but to be flexible with it…I'd hate to just keep them in a cage the whole time, right? so let's think about what the church can do. kino's taught us that the church has weapons that can take away a vampire's powers temporarily. using those, it'd be easy to let the diaboys out so the church can use them for their own purposes. they can be threatened into doing the church's dirty work, for instance. they can be tied up somewhere while yui's mentor makes her take practice shots at them, that'd be an awesome scene!! we can put certain diaboys together and watch them turn against each other, we can keep them alone and watch how they spiral out of control………tons of fun to be had.

and the main villain? seiji komori of course!! that bastard!!! he's gonna have all sorts of chances to say the creepiest stuff to her in this game, ugh. all that stuff about yui being tainted by the vampires' evil, all that stuff about marrying her (eugh!!), or killing her if she can't be redeemed..........so much religious trauma here. he'll make a great, very hateable villain.

so yui has to strike a balance between obediently training as a vampire hunter and helping out the diaboys. the choices the player makes can probably be labelled as sadistic or masochistic, with the sadistic choices resulting in her treating the diaboys more cruelly (yknow, to pretend in front of the church members!! or is she not pretending...? heheheh) and the masochistic choices resulting in her treating the diaboys very kindly.

choosing too many sadistic options will give you an ending where yui sides with the church for real. depending on the route, she could become a hunter and kill the one she loves herself. or, after the church successfully gaslights her into thinking the diaboys were brainwashing her, she could think of herself as tainted by their demonic energy and take her own life in shame.

choosing too many masochistic options means the church won't trust her. it'll result in an ending where the church is out to kill yui and the vampires (again, the specifics will depend on the route). they'll treat it like a mercy killing, like yui had been tricked by the vampires all this time, and only the player will be left knowing this isnt the case :(

and when u pick the correct balance of sadistic and masochistic options, u get the vampire ending!! it's tough to describe the specifics because, of course, I'd like it to be different and uniquely interesting in each route. but in general, yui should come to some conclusions about her identity and where she belongs: her true family should be with the diaboys, I think that's obvious. they love her, they want her, they won't abandon her. she also has to reconcile stuff about her religion: what does it mean to her now, after all that? what is her relationship with God? does yui still think of herself as a sinful person for who she loves and how she loves them? is that what yui's religion has been about all this time, and can she recontexualize it based on her experiences? did yui learn something from her time in vampire hunter training after all?

and THAT'S the diabolik lovers game I'd make, if I could B)

[okthatsgreat]

new opddmh updates..... like. three of them. crazy. haven't been keeping up as well as usual (acting stuff and work tag teaming my free time and absolutely destroying it) but i have finally started to binge and i truly truly love what u r doing w makoto and miu. so different but still connecting on an in-depth level and balancing eachother out ....... sometimes a relationship is an ex-reality show killing game figurehead and the world's worst teenager fresh out of the hospital against the world. do u have any insights on the way u write relationships and connections or just them in specific that come to mind bc oh my god. please do tell

HELLO AGAIN :]!!! AND HAHAHAH THATS ALL GOOD ive been so busy also FINGERS CROSSED IM ABLE TO GET MY UPDATE SCHEDULE ON TRACK LOL

TALKING ABOUT THIS FIC!!! :] big ole ramble down below lol

(i use the word "partner" a lot here but just know i am not referring to strictly romantic relationships lol)

OHHH GOD. relationship writing advice HMM HMMMMM. it really is very complex bc there are SO many different types of relationships that can be written about ghfdgjh so advice definitely varies!!! i think something helpful that i've learned is that unless you are purposefully examining power dynamics it always helps to view both sides as fully realised characters. very very rarely do you want to have a character who is solely there to agree with their second half and have no personality or history outside of this. i see this happen a LOT with romantic pairings but it's also an important note for platonic pairings as well!! ESPECIALLY if the main focus of the story is on this specific pairing-- it shouldnt feel like one person is a human being while the other is a cardboard cutout whose only purpose is to be there for their partner. again there ARE a few exceptions to this and how it is portrayed but its the main rule i like to stick to!! :]

if i feel like ive written a character who is solely there for their partner something immediate i go to is giving both characters something that separates them!! most of the time this includes fleshing out a backstory thats different from their partner, that might influence the way they see things within the narrative. give them a different hobby, maybe a different friend group! give them a different perspective on the events that are unfolding, a different way of coping that might not be beneficial to their partner!! and remember that it is OKAY for them to not agree on everything!!!! do not be frightened into thinking you need every single relationship in your story to be perfect and unproblematic and completely agreeable, especially for longer narratives that call for conflict

OH AND IN REGARDS TO FANFICTION... piece of advice i try to follow is donttttt try to mold characters into entirely different people just so they can stay happy and agreeable with their partner lol. if theres tension theres tension!! if theyre petty then theyre petty!!!!! even if there isnt conflict and youre writing fluff, you dont have to erase their personalities just to fit them together as a happy couple! sometimes the challenge in writing comes from finding what happiness means for that specific character/pairing, and that may be very different from the typical idea of romance/happiness!!

AND NOW ON TO MAKOTO AND MIU first of all. i am so sorry for making you read paragraphs upon paragraphs of me just rambling nonsense at you GHFDKGSH BUT I APPRECIATE IT!!! and second of all this technicallllyyyy is advice i guess but its WAY more specific now!!! lol

anyways when it comes to writing their relationship most of their dynamic is based off of their differences! opddmh miu is brash and loud, and even though she is trying more and more to filter what she says she still speaks before she thinks and grows restless very easily. opddmh makoto on the other hand cant afford to be brash and loud and thinks quite a lot before he says anything, and is lot visibly calmer. so its fun examining how their differences are able to influence the other throughout the fic!!!! miu NEEDED that calming influence considering the state she was in when makoto found her, i quite frankly have no idea where the hell she would be now if makoto hadnt been so patient and understanding ghfdksghkf. makoto on the other hand is a man chained down by responsibility, so much so that his life has become extremely dull in his eyes just because of how repetitive it has started to become. miu is a serious change to this and offers him some kind of purpose while also reminding him of not only how SCARED he was as a teenager first exiting the simulator but also how unrestrained he had been before the years went by. theres a balance there!!!

but at the same time, there ARE some similarities. theyre both a bit paranoid, and even if miu is more willing to be vocal about her distaste theyre both scared of danganronpa as a company. they also both strive for some kind of peace, even if they have different versions of it-- makoto wishes to be unburdened by the weight of responsibility and his Ultimate Hope persona while miu wishes for stability in her relationships with others, even if she just isnt the best at it. its why i like writing small moments such as the two of them just sitting in the car and chatting or the most recent moment where theyre not talking at all but are still comfortable in each others company-- they dont explicitly tell the other that theyre super happy and at peace but they both subconsciously understand :)

OKAY CUTTING MYSELF OFF!!!! GFHDGFDJ THANK YOU SO SO MUCH <33

[sickknotdoom]

hiii long time listener, first time caller!! my hot sparkletake is that despite the cast being pretty diverse in both gender and sexuality, basically everyone is just written to be pansexual when shipping in concerned.

i think caroline has been done the most dirty by this, considering she's a lesbian in a cast of almost entirely men/nb. her relationship with uni at least makes sense now that kneebs is open about her gender, but almost everyone else she's being shipped with (in canon at least doom and jay) are either amab or transmasc. and like, i know irl there's a lot of grey area for nb/transmasc in lesbian spaces, but it just feels like kits using that as a get-out-of-jail-free card instead of an exploration of any character's gender identity. like, for all intents and purposes, doom is written and depicted as a man, but as soon as kneeb decided he was agender caroline is all over him (and talking about his dick) despite kit changing literally nothing else about him. not to mention there's an identical transfem lesbian rodent who's been there the whole time....

and i know kitty says cometcare isn't canon, but i feel like she's allowing it's... overindulgence to influence canon (i know blah blah clogging the main blog is old news). we already got that christmas comic to retcon carroom as always being a thing, and i wonder if the same is going to happen with anyone else

i think ive brought up the agender doom thing before. as somebody whos........ within the sludge between agender n transfem but moreso agender leaning???????? i really dislike how dooms agender identity is completely disregarded until carroom is brought up. i feel like the kissmas comic wouldve worked better if caroline was like "I DONT WANT MY GIRLFRIEND DATING A SERIAL KILLER" instead of "I STARTED LIKING DOOM WAY BEFORE MY GIRLFRIEND DID" like Im Sorry What

as a darkmagic (doom x uni) truther id find it really cool if mood x caroline was a possible pairing too. theyd be twinning!!!!!!!! also i hope more characters genders get explored in the future of the comic or ATLEAST in cometcare if thats what kits prioritizing, as you said about letting the overindulgence influence canon.

speaking of indulgence & also related to doom, this is heavily unrelated but removing the parallel to mindless self indulgence (Brainless My Own Enjoyment) & any other problematic bands/artists/corporations (ex. wcdonalds or what have you) from the lore page list of group parodies whenever kit gets told to is annoying imo. not a major issue at all but id still like to point it out. either make up completely fictional groups or have the parodies in but criticize the originals/state you dont condone their actions, pretending they never existed gets on my nerves because. Bad Things Happen On Spinch as evident by idunno The Existence Of The Hospital? im not saying to Spinchify The Lead Singers Victim because thatd be insanely disrespectful but it shouldnt be that hard to just Let Bad People Exist On Spinch in a similar vein as cuddles or whatever, they dont even need to be acknowledged outside the parody page. Let The Rat Use Rateyourmusic And Have Icky Fave Bands

[pinkeoni]

I dont want to milk the discussion to death but i am writing this after reading the post and comments under that post on reddit. You dont have to answer i am just writing it as an observation.

Its understandable why people do not see Will's importance or role. What the writers did with him wasnt just holding the spoiler for the finale. After all you can still pull a plot twist while revealing some of the stuff or putting more setup. But theu revealed basically nothing with litte to no setup. In Will's case it doesnt help bc they also sidelined him way too much and separated him from the main plotline. That is just a writing mistake and admitting its not hating on the writers.

I dont want to sound rude. And Whenever i have this discussion with people i tend to keep an open mind to the both sides. Overall though i tend to agree that if your writing is pretty much alien to most of your audience then it is bad writing. This show isnt written for a selective part of the audience. I wish people would realize that. If i go to twitter, reddit, insta, tiktok or other sites that make posts and analyses about ST and i see the majority of people call Will unimportant then the writers failed at even hinting at his importance. People shouldnt be saying he is an irrelevant or unimportant character that doesnt do anything. It is not just El fans who say this, its the majority of the audience. It was the writers job to stop this accusation by putting more setup and adding more screentime for him before the finale season rolls, even if they want to pull a plot twist in St5.

People also dont like plot twists that has little to no actual setup. That is why plot twists are tricky. Also keep in mind that the same thing applies to byler going canon... i dont want to sound like i dislike the show because i dont. But i have to admit that they flopped the writing. I genuienly think that once St5 rolls people will realize this more. Heck even some Will fans themselves think he is not that important and what happened to him were all coincidental. Can we blame the overall audience for thinking that way?

My problem isnt that i think Will is unimportant but rather how the writers approached it. It is full of bad decisions and lack of good writing. And whatever plot twist that they may pull might not even have a positive pay off at the end due to how they have been writing things. In that case is it even worth to pull a plot twist if the pay off also flops? Imho the Duffers dont realize that their setup for a potential pay off is built on a weak construction site but they like the element of twists so they dont care about the coherent build up and progression.

Will the audience's response to what happens in St5 be "Wow this is so true how didnt i see it coming" or will it be majorly a reaction like "This is bullshit there was almost nothing that suggested this"? Because the latter one seems more likely to happen, unfortunately.

Anyways this was all over the place but admittedly i wrote it after reading the comments on reddit as an overall afterthought. I respect your opinion but in think there is a major disconnect btw the writers and its audience here in terms of writing imho.

Hello anon,

Decided to go to sleep before answering. No, I don't think you're being rude, and to be honest I agree with a lot of what you said. I think that the points we disagree on we may just continue to disagree on 😂🤝

I don't think you are hating the show for pointing out flaws in the writing, and in the post I just made about this I do at least try to acknowledge some of their shortcomings such as— shafting Will's presence and not balancing the supporting casts' storylines. I do agree that, like you said, that Will's role in the story could have been emphasized more.

The thing that I do disagree with, and maybe we just won't ever see eye to eye on this anon, is that there wasn't any setup at all, especially concerning his role in the supernatural plot. I listed off the evidence and gave my reasoning in my post, so I won't repeat here as to not sound like a broken record.

I also agree that no, the show isn't written just for the over-analytical people like me, but I think surveying reddit isn't an accurate depiction of the general audience. Granted I don't see much of sttwt, tiktok and insta so I'll just trust your word for it. But in that specific reddit thread, it seemed like fans who were adamantly trying to deny Will's importance, using faulty evidence as proof. It's interesting because these aren't really fans who watch from a surface level, they actively participate in fandom and willfully skew their perception of the text in order to fit their vision of things.

I think when it comes to revealing Will's importance and having it not come out of nowhere, it will all come down to execution in this final season. If the show reminds the audience of some of the hints leading up to it, then maybe they won't feel so vexed when the reveal happens. If they throw us in the deep end and start pulling out new details then it would definitely feel out of nowhere. It'll be a fine line for them to walk for sure.

But anyway that's where I'll leave it anon. I appreciate you sharing your opinion, although I still maintain some of my thoughts on this and I think you will too and that's okay 🤝