#adventures in analysis

[ambrosiagourmet]

I think one of the biggest tragedies of Laios & Falin and their relationship is how much his actions impact her life. But like. Specifically how much they WOULDN’T impact her life as much if they weren’t both stuck in such a shitty abusive situation.

This part of the Falin-tries-makeup daydream hour comic is what got me thinking about it again because truly it just... it seems like such a like an offhand comment that I'm sure Laios didn't mean to be cruel or anything. That's just like. A little kid not thinking about what they are saying. ESPECIALLY when the kid in question is Laios.

But man they depended on each other SO much as kids. Too much. It really feels like they didn't have any other source of positive reinforcement, or anyone else to share themselves with. So of course an offhand comment like that has a huge impact on Falin.

Or this little bit from one of the flashbacks:

This tears me apart. Do you think it tears him apart to think about? I think it does. I think Laios holds every small failure to care for Falin against himself.

And then there's the Bigger stuff. The way that him coping with his own trauma ended up impacting her.

Like his interest in monsters. Like him going to find a ghost, and accidentally revealing Falin's magic to the whole village in the process.

Like him needing to leave. And leaving her behind.

He shaped her life so much, and he carries so much guilt for it. And again, there should have been other people there to help. The same things that made Laios need to leave home are the things that made his leaving so hard on Falin. She ate alone after that. She shouldn't have had to eat alone just because Laios wasn't there.

She was 9 when he left for school, and he was 11.

Nine. And Laios feels like he failed her because he didn't stand by her through this better. As an eleven year old.

Both of these kids deserved so much better from the world.

[shyjusticewarrior]

Jason in mainline comics

Nightwing Annual 2021

Task Force Z

Jason in Wayne Family Adventures

[incorrectbatfam]

WFA spoilers ahead

Content warning for discussion of mental illness

Can I take a moment to appreciate how they showcased Jason's PTSD in the latest ep? This isn't the first time but I feel like this round struck much closer.

Although this is the website where people are open about mental illness, there's still a reluctance to address the "loud" or "frightening" or "angry" or "messy" side of it. Stuff like bipolar, schizophrenia, addiction, PTSD. It's why I'm extremely hesitant to talk about my own problems even under anonymity.

Conversely, there are mainline comics (and other media) that use this category of mental illness as an excuse for characters to go all-out in their aggression. Even if not intentional, it perpetuates the idea that a trigger will always send the person spiraling until either the worst happens or someone steps in as the "hero." It's basically sending the message to people like me that we're a ticking time bomb.

Then there's WFA. Jason's not fully present during his episode. It leads him into a dangerous situation while at the same time he's unable to grasp things like pain. The adrenaline and the overwhelming sense of fear drives him into fight mode. He gets tunnel vision while he's beating up the bar patrons to try and find the Joker. Without getting into details, I've been in Jason's shoes. I've found myself in risky places doing things I'd later regret. All because of the disconnect from reality that makes me believe what I'm doing is necessary. Not even justified, just necessary. Almost like a survival instinct.

And what's so important is that Jason isn't a villain and Dick isn't a savior. Dick reaffirms Jason's trauma and guides him through tangible steps rather than giving broad sweeping advice. Of course there's no one-size-fits-all coping method, but the biggest thing is having somebody in your corner who sees you beyond this bad episode. Sometimes I have that, sometimes I don't. WFA won't show it since it's all about family, but the times I didn't have someone were exponentially scarier.

At the same time, there are consequences that a simple grounding exercise can't remedy—Jason got hurt, he hurt others, and his appearance at Noonan's definitely put him on someone's radar if not the Joker. And they're just as real as his feelings and (hopefully) he's gonna be held accountable. Because that's how it goes in real life. Something sets me off, I screw up, I get bailed out, and once I come down from it I have to fix the mess I made.

Maybe I'm just reading too much into a fan comic. But I know that if a few panels can resonate so closely with me, then it's worth talking about because someone, somewhere is also feeling the same way.

[paragonrobits]

i was thinking about how Simon Petrikov in the advanced stage of his transformation by the crown by the time he met Marcelien would objectively look pretty damn scary; his skin is a shade of blue and so cold that a normal human would have died by that point, his mouth is a mess of razor sharp fangs, his beard is somehow prehensile (and most likely the hairs move more like... tendrils than hairs), his hands probably look more like long claws, his eyes are likely a dead shade of white...

He LOOKS scary. And this probably contributed to his loneliness BEFORE the great mushroom war. This is all the more a contrast against his genteel, silly demeanor and his role as a caring father figure.

But you know who else probably would have looked really scary at the time in a mundane context?

Marceline herself.

Her skin is an inhuman shade of gray-blue. Her hair, judging by the different between her own hair and that of the human Marshall Lee, probably does not have a normal human texture or appearance; perhaps something more like soft quills than actual hair. Her ears are pointed almost more exaggeratedly even than other characters with similar features. She has obvious fangs, even as a child?

Imagine a survivor, hearing a child in the ruins, and she turns to see you and you don't think its human at all. It's gray. It's got fangs, and pointed ears swiveling around like a bat, it looks like some horrible little demon or gremlin, and its seen you-

And its just a scared child, alone in the world, but our hypothetical survivor doesn't know that. So they run.

Simon didn't.

And as weird as he might look, Marceline didn't look any weirder, and it might have been the first time she saw someone that looked like her, and wasn't afraid of her either.

[emmabirb8]

I've been thinking about this for days now and man, Stanley Pines had a raw fucking deal.

He was doomed for a life of turmoil from the start. Not only did he suffer emotional (and implied physical) abuse from his father from childhood, he was kicked out of his own home at 17 for a legitimate mistake that he never intended to affect his brother's future. He struggled on the streets for ten years feeling like he'd lost his best friend when he and Ford stopped talking during that time, AND THEN received a metaphorical slap in the face when he found out that Ford did not in fact call him out to Gravity Falls to reconcile -- he only wanted a way to protect his research.

THEN, after rightfully getting his feelings hurt and reacting in anger to Ford making clear what his intentions really were, he lost his brother, the one person he'd felt closest to throughout his life, through the portal. He was left with only a third of the required information to reactivate the portal just for the chance to get Ford back -- it was never guaranteed that Ford would even be alive, let alone be able to be located and returned to his home dimension.

But Stanley fucking Pines is no quitter. He stayed focused and worked his ass off learning concepts he had absolutely no education or experience in, all the while blaming himself and hating himself and pushing through the worst kind of heartache every goddamn day for 30 years for that chance. (And honestly, God bless Mabel for betting it all on her Grunkle and allowing him that chance when the time finally came.) And it fucking worked. Just like that, he got his brother back. All that hard work and grief was worth it.

And then he was greeted with an angry outburst and a punch to the face.

This man went through hell and back for his brother, and he was met with a knee-jerk reaction and confirmation that Stanford still seemingly resented him for his past mistakes. Like, I understand Ford's perspective and where he was coming from at the time, but damn it, Stan did NOT deserve that.

He didn't end up getting a proper hug from his brother either until after Bill had been defeated, and by that time, he didn't even know who Stanford was because, once again, he sacrificed everything to save his family. (He was under the impression that his memories would be lost forever and STILL chose to do it).

I am positively beside myself over this man. And this doesn't even touch on the things he did for people outside his family. (Like, he could have easily holed himself up in the shack alone during Weirdmaggedon, but instead, he took in anyone who needed shelter, offered his food supply, and provided a safe place, I'M SORRY BUT FORD WOULD NEVERRRR)

Stanley Pines deserved better. Stanley Pines deserves the whole entire WORLD. He has the biggest heart out of ANYONE and Ford is damn lucky to have him as his brother.

STANLEY PINES MY BELOVED AAAAOOOOOUUUUGGHHHHH

[namisweatheria]

One Piece means a lot to me as a disabled person, which I think would be pretty surprising to anyone who only has a surface understanding of it. The supposed central theme of "follow your dreams" would be pretty alienating to someone like me, right? It really, really would be, if that's what it was actually about.

However, that ignores that Luffy's dream is to be the most free person in the world. And to attain that goal, the first thing he does is find friends to live life with. Over and over again, from the very beginning, he takes on their burdens, all in the name of being the most free.

Do you see what that would mean to me, as someone who needs more help to get by than is considered culturally normal, to the point that it puts me in a whole socially manufactured category of "other"? Not to mention, because of the infantilization of me due to that category, because of being forced so squarely into the "cared for" role, taking care of other people is deeply meaningful and empowering for me. However, the myths of independence and universal natural ability often make it emotionally difficult for my loved ones to accept that care.

The fear of asking for help, the guilt of being cared for, the weight of someone you loved who could not be as free as you, the insecurity of not contributing enough, the fear that you were born wrong, the self-hatred that says you are not worth the effort, Nami Sanji Zoro Usopp Robin Chopper Ace they all explore the painful obstacles to free connection. Through deeply impactful stories that weave beautifully into the larger one.

All centered around this one person who views loving them and living with them and carrying them as essential to his freedom. Who cannot, for countless reasons, live a normalized life of Structured Relations. Who views exploring and bickering and suffering and laughing with them as the ideal way to live. Who repeatedly puts his life and limbs on the line to do so.

To me, it is an ultimate privilege and freedom to carry other people's burdens. To care for them and live with them. This is central to my whole perspective, and is completely informed by my life experience as a disabled person. I rarely see it reflected back to me. Let alone as powerfully and beautifully as Luffy does.

Nor the other half of it, of wanting to create this life with people in ways that aren't socially normal or approved. Of creating many varied lifelong intimate relations among equals, rather than conforming to the expectation of choosing One Person to live life with and then Creating More.

The utter lack of roles and norms is just as integral and powerful to the exploration of freedom and connection! It is meaningful to me as a queer person, yes, but even this is deeply influenced by my disability. I could never be that One Person, despite everything I have to offer, there is logistically far too much that I cannot do to be someone's equal partner in this society that demands so much from all of us. However, even if I could, I wouldn't want to! It doesn't make any sense to me to only have two people navigate life together on such intimate terms. Can't the demands of society be more comfortably met in a group? Isn't life more fun that way?

We are taught that we can and must do everything ourselves, I just happen to be one of the people that never had a chance to buy into that lie. To learn very early not just the necessity of interdependence, but the joy in it. To learn that it is most comfortably lived with more people involved. To me, close relationships are, love is, a natural extension of that understanding. One Piece celebrates interdependence constantly from the start, while never pretending that it is always easy.

The obstacles to free connection that I mentioned before, they are interspersed throughout the story, and they are always met with "I do the things you can't do, and you do the things I can't do." With, "Of course I can't use swords you dumbass! And I can't cook either! I don't know a damn thing about navigation! And I can't lie!"

These are intentionally impactful moments, and they define the series. I found it very fitting that the Fan Letter focused on a character who was empowered by Nami to feel free and live adventurously despite not being the most physically capable. The character is able by our definition, but the story is very affirming in a disability way, and it was extremely One Piece. I loved how it acknowledged this deep connection between One Piece and the lived reality of disability and celebrated it as integral as it is.

I also believe that absolutely none of this is intentional. It is simply an earnest exploration of human relationships, emotions, and behavior, and it naturally arrives at a radical and disability-affirming viewpoint. Because we are the monkey wrench in the deeply unhealthy (lol) and dominant line of thinking that independence is all. So naturally anything that also disputes that thinking has a disabled-perspective feel to it. The best part is how much it doesn't give a fuck! One Piece is aggressively against conformity in human relationships, in a way that is hard to find in our new world of self-conscious authors.

It's also, you know, the worst part, in terms of all the outrageous bigotry and offensive character design, but god damn it if it doesn't elevate the good parts to unbearable heights. Even the bad character designs can sometimes be more impactful for their intentional "ugliness", when those characters are inevitably taken seriously despite their appearance and the stereotypes they play on, it hits hard every time. I do have a simple hatred for many choices, there is no pay-off for much of the awful problems in numerous character designs and dialogue. But no matter how upset I can be by those things, in the end they can't succeed in pulling me away from One Piece. It's just so crazy and unique and great and terrible and beautiful and I LOVE IT.

[snowflake-owl]

I just realized this is how Simon sleeps when he's guarded up... he's taking care of Fionna and Cake. He's kept the habit since the days he was raising little Marceline in the post-apocalypse, excuse me while I cry.

[inbarfink]

After all these years, ‘I Remember You’ is still one of the great highlights of Adventure Time Storytelling. And not just in the basic ‘what???? Silly children’s cartoon does something SAD??? HOLY SHIT MIND BLOWN’ way. But with the execution of that Something Sad. How it manages to pack so many Complex Emotions into just 11-minutes of television. And especially the way it utilizes the basic Adventure Time format for that purpose.

So Adventure Time is a Board-based show. Each episode has an outline pitched and written down by the writer’s room, and then this outline goes to a team of (usually) two Storyboard Artists who develop that simple outline into a full story. And with the show’s art-style deliberately eschewing staying perfectly ‘on-model’ in favor of having the animators take direct reference from how the different storyboarders draw the characters

And the show being generally extremely versatile in terms of themes and tone - AT has allowed a lot of their Storyboarders to really express themselves and their unique artistic vision as part of the Big Collaborative Narrative that is Adventure Time. 

Now, the Boarders who worked on ‘I Remember You’ are Cole Sanchez and Rebecca Sugar. These two were a Storyboarding Duo from the start of S4 and until Sugar left the AT Crew during S5, and they always struck me as a curious combination. I think really from all of the individual boarders working on AT during that time, these two really are the closest to having like… Totally Opposite Artistic Sensibilities as boarders. 

With Sugar favoring a style that is very loose and sketchy and also very rounded. Focusing on expressions and subtle body language and lighting. And being famous for going deep in depth into Big Moments of Emotional Catharsis

And Sanchez having a very clear art style that emphasizes strong silhouettes and clear lines that suggest flatness. Focusing more on major poses and the character’s positions in the space. And having just a really great eye for AT’s brand of silly humor.

Like, I almost kinda suspect these two were paired together so they can each cover for the other’s “weakspots” in writing ‘Adventure Time’. 

And there were a few episodes that did some really interesting stuff with this very contrasting pair - ‘Jake the Dog’ is another example. Giving most of the Farmworld scenes to Sugar and most of the Time Room scenes to Sanchez both plays to their personal strengths as storyboarders and helps to emphasize the strong emotional contrast between these two scenarios. 

And ‘I Remember You’ is actually kinda unique among Adventure Time episodes cause… Most episodes will have the two boarders alternate between working on the episode throughout it. Like you’d have Boarder A draw a bit and then Boarder B and then Boarder A again… But “I Remember You” is divided between Sanchez and Sugar… basically perfectly in the middle.

So the entirety of the first half of the episode was boarded by Sanchez

Until Ice King pushes Marceline and then leaves the room in shame.

And then, Sugar takes over.

And, like, even if you don’t know anything about the Behind the Scenes of Adventure Time or who Cole Sanchez and Rebecca Sugar even are - the Shift is noticeable. The shift in tone, in narrative focus, in the subtleties in which the characters are drawn. 

The entire first half of the episode has this thin veneer of just being a Silly Goofy Ice King Episode. Sanchez’s talent for Adventure Time’s brand of comedy is on full display… but there is also this underlying feeling that Something is Happening just under the surface. And these hints of the Big Emotions of ‘IRY’ expressed via Sanchez’s kinda goofy style really create this balance between putting the audience into a false sense of security that this is just a Very Normal Episode about two characters hanging out and the Tension constantly brewing in the subtext. 

And then it all comes to a blow.

And then the Shift happens. And now we are in Sugar’s court.

And this subtle shift in the artstyle and storytelling also coincide with Marceline finally openly expressing her feelings and the Reveal of Simon and Marcy's shared past. The episode changes focus from Ice King's silly antics to Marceline's feelings. Everything changes, everything in the first part of the episode gets recontextualized and... even on the most basic level, the episode is now Noticeably Different.

I would almost say that Sanchez’s half of the episode has Ice King define the tone, while Sugar’s half of the episode has Marceline define the tone. But more than anything it’s the catharsis. The reveal and release of those emotions that were building up so expertly through the Sanchez half of the episode. All of the Sugar-boarded scenes in this episode are really heartbreaking on their own, just through the tragedy of the story and Sugar’s expert knowledge of howto convey emotion in the visual medium - but it’s so enchanted by what came before it.

“I Remember You” is truly a great testament to how ‘Adventure Time’ could use every aspect of its medium to tell a great story in such a short time.

[saturnniidae]

HTTYD 2 is ten years old today, it was my first exposure to the franchise and despite its many glaring flaws i can't help but love it and hold it so close to my heart.

This scene is a great example of why.

I love it so much. It's a heart-wrenchingly beautiful reminder that as good as he is, Hiccup is not some perfect hero. He is still just a person, a flawed human being who has cracked under the pressure of his circumstances and is barely given time to grieve his fathers' death.

(I adore scenes like this — It humanizes characters so much more, and just adds to that layer of perceived realism.)

And you can see the regret on his face as soon as he says it. But in that moment he doesn't do anything about it; he's still processing Stoick's death, and he only snaps out of it when he sees Toothless is under the Bewilderbeast's control again and Valka has to hold him back from attempting to go after him.

What he said and did to Toothless there was a momentary lapse in judgment fueled by grief. And later, as he breaks Toothless out of the Alpha's control, you can see he feels terrible about it. About how, even if it was brief, he pushed away his best friend. And he loves Toothless so much.

The way he talks to him literally breaks me every time I rewatch it.

"It wasn't your fault, you'd never hurt him, you'd never hurt me."

"Please, you... are my best friend, bud. My best friend."

And when Toothless comes back he just looks so elated to see Hiccup.

Though, Something that's even crazier to me is the fact all this takes place over less than a week. Once he gets toothless back and Drago is defeated, he is immediately made chief. And with the state berk is in, he is given presumably no time to properly mourn Stoick, or to fully adjust to the presence of his mother.

(though I feel his and Valka's relationship will never be what it could've been. He knows she chose not to come back, and that is a blow to their newly formed and fragile bond that, as much as they love each other, is not something she can ever fully make up for.)

But at least through everything, since the beginning, the one real constant he's had has been Toothless.

They're friendship was built off a mutual feeling of out-of-placeness, then unconditional trust and unwavering loyalty.

they love each other so much it makes me wanna throw up

[essycogany]

Small Things Can Make Big Differences 🩷

Hi, Fans Of Amy Rose!

This is my opinion and we don’t know what could happen between now and Sonic Movie 3. Anyone can disagree. I’m 100% fine with that and this isn’t going to tarnish my enjoyment of the film at all, but I’ve got to get this off my chest. I’d love to see Amy Rose in Sonic Movie 3 and would be disappointed if she wasn’t in it. Yeah, she’d probably not have a HUGE role or time to develop as much. I get it, but at the same time, I personally don’t think we should shy away from characters having small arcs.

Tails had one in Sonic Movie 2 and I wouldn’t say the movie would’ve been better without him. I don’t think we should have to justify a main character like Amy who’s existed before KNUCKLES (and debatably Tails) being in a movie about her own franchise. We shouldn’t have to wait a whole year for it either. Stuff takes time sure, but other movies with Pokémon, the Avengers, Mario, My Little Pony G4, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and many others did it and did it well for the most part. Most of these have tons of characters that they wasn’t afraid to show in one movie. Characters with smaller roles still impacted the movies and in a memorable way too. We shouldn’t be so timid in bringing Sonic characters in Sonic movies. They’re just as marketable as these other franchises. The successes of the Sonic trilogies proved that.

Without Amy or other characters it doesn’t feel as full as it could be. Not saying we should’ve got all of them from the get go but a little more would be nice.

I’m saying this respectfully but that doesn’t make sense especially if we have enough time to flesh out the human core characters/side characters who aren’t even part of the main franchise and not the ones most audiences came to see in the first place. I’m neutral and understand both critiques and defenses so you can decide where to go to on that.

Back to before, you don’t need long drawn out character development in order to be written well. Tails turned out fine despite his small role. Heck, Amy’s roles in the GAMES were usually small but not less impactful because of it. Amy practically helped save the entire world with her “small roles” and one for an emotional and impactful moment with Shadow. Even small things can make big differences and that’s one lesson you can learn from Amy.

Amy’s interactions with Gamma in SA1 impacted the robot to the point of him sacrificing himself to free a Bird he needed to stay alive.

Amy believed in Sonic when the whole world (or Silver) was against him in Sonic 06.

Amy showed kindness to Sonic as the Werehog and gave her closest friend encouragement. She still loved him regardless of how he looked.

There’s more examples, but these are the most well known. Do you notice how most of them were small actions or small moments of development in small roles. And still managed to make Amy a wonderful character while impacting the stories?

I’ll also just show this too.

Also, don’t worry about her stealing time from Shadow. The film’s called Sonic Movie 3 not Shadow The Hedgehog. He can share the spotlight. Knuckles did in SM2. There’s no excuse in my opinion.

The movie doesn’t have to have Amy and wouldn’t be worse without her, but I think we shouldn’t overlook her importance to the franchise even if what she does is small. Or feel bad for being more aware of what little we get in these movies. It’s okay to admit certain flaws. Nothing’s perfect and not above criticism as long as we’re respectful about it. And for the kiddies who would like to see a cartoony animal girl character for the first time in these films, Amy would be a fantastic way to start.

Amy debuting in Sonic 3 and interacting with the boys would be a lovely way of establishing that close connection between the core four of the franchise. They’d literally have the definition of love at their sides. Again, small changes can make big differences. That’s all I have to say. Now I’m going to continue to be excited for the 3rd Sonic movie.

[clearwingedmaven]

My full analysis of the Empty House isn't coming quite yet, but I wanted to do something that would... bridge the gap, so to speak.

For one, I tend to avoid The Final Problem sometimes, as it will make me cry(I am a sap, truly), but there is always a part of me that will genuinely appreciate the Empty House.

Let me talk a little about Holmes’s return.

For 1893 England, Holmes’s death was... well, basically one of the single biggest moments in fandom culture since the Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens came out.

(It is often believed, actually, that the Pickwick Papers, and by extension, all of Charles Dickens works were the first fandom!)

You all know that Victorian England was beside themselves. But there was more than that.

People held actual demonstrations. They frantically wrote to Doyle to change his mind, devastated that Holmes would actually die. They found Joseph Bell, whom Holmes was based off of to try and fill the void. There's accounts that people would dress up as the characters and go on pilgrimages to Reichenbach Falls, as another way to cope.

For Victorian England, with not much to do when they returned home, they were mourning, quite nationally. (And in my research on fandom, Holmes’s death in 1893 was perhaps the first mourning of a fictional character to such a degree.)

And then Holmes returned. While yes, the Hound of the Baskervilles came first, Empty House followed after to explain what had happened, to ease the public.

And as much as Doyle was... bitter about this, Holmes’s return is unusually gentle. He doesn't come in in a blaze of glory, he doesn't loudly declare he's returned, he comes to his oldest and dearest companion(and maybe more?) Watson, to tell him he's back.

And of course, Watson faints. Doyle could have easily had Holmes chastise him, or leave, but instead opts to stay with Watson, to bring him back from fainting, and apologize.

And I think that level of detail is... one not often noticed.

Lastly, I love the different adaptations of the Empty House, because they inject their own gentleness to it.

Granada Holmes goes for a hug, and tenderly brings Watson back to consciousness. Soviet Holmes gently tells Watson(and Mrs. Hudson) that he's back, and hugs them both. And so on.

And it's brilliant.

[shyjusticewarrior]

Mainline Jason & WFA Jason

[artist-issues]

They did a really good job with Shadow in this game.

They got him back to who he was in the first game he appeared in—while adding in how his experiences since his time as a naive test-subject have changed him.

I missed the Redeemed Shadow from the Final Story of SA2. That version of him, those moments where he’s decided very quickly who he is, “I must destroy all the evil the Professor has created!” Or “How are you doing, Sonic?” Or “I’ll take care of this, while you run to get the Chaos Emeralds!”

All the lighthearted confidence in who he is now and what he has to do—all the concern for his comrades who just a second ago he was claiming to be so much better than—all the humility of ‘you get the Emeralds, I’ll hold ‘em off’ and ‘maybe you’re the Ultimate Life Form, Sonic’—I loved that snippet of Shadow we got to see.

Then he falls and “dies,” and from that point on I got treated to angsty I-Don’t-Know-Who-I-Am Shadow. Closely followed by Grimly-Passive-Agressively-Duty-Bound Shadow.

No more humbly completing a mission for the good of others. Very little demonstrative concern for others. No more compliments to comrades. Made me sad.

But you know what, it made sense. Because even though he’s learned that he’s supposed to be living for others, he doesn’t get to have his family. So that’s sad. He essentially has to live for people he doesn’t feel close to. Add on top of that the Dark Side, the fact that a sadistic race of monsters is in his blood, and of course he’d be bitter.

But in this game Maria speaks directly to Shadow who’s been through all that. All that garbage with the Black Arms, all that garbage with almost destroying the world himself out of revenge—Maria talks to that Shadow and reminds him of who he is.

So now he has anger and he has reason to be detached, and bitter…but he’s also been reminded to choose not to be detached and bitter.

That’s a much more fleshed-out character than I thought SEGA would develop him into, after everything

[saphstories]

Now I might be stating the obvious here but...

Ya think the reason Shadow is so offended by Sonic calling him a Faker is because it's the one thing Shadow is most afraid of? That slim chance that he isn't...real? That he's artificial...a fake?

[the-sky-queen]

The thing that's so cool about Shadow is that his original motives actually make sense, regardless of Gerald brainwashing him. He went through so much pain on the Ark so that they could find the formula for immortality. So they could cure Maria, his SISTER. And then she was killed. It was all for nothing.

Shadow had every reason to hate humanity. They took everything from him and it was about time he returned the favor.

It was only because of the fact that Maria means so much to him that he changed his mind in the end. Shadow made a promise to Maria and he NEVER breaks his promises. Ever. If it weren't for his pure integrity, Shadow would've destroyed Earth without a second thought.

And he would’ve gone down with the ship. We saw what Shadow was doing when the Ark started falling. He was just standing there, looking out the window. He wasn't trying to save himself in any way. He was just done. So tired of fighting and ready for it to be over.

It was only Amy reminding him of his promise to Maria that gave him the motivation to keep going. To do everything he could to reverse all the damage he'd done.

He had no reason to care. But Maria means that much to him.

[tiredandoptimistic]

I know that Tangled: the Series has it's flaws, but it's also literally the ideal sequel series conceptually (and I love it forever). They didn't unravel the happy ending of the movie, they just looked at the established traits of the characters involved and elucidated how they would continue to play against each other.

Rapunzel is an eighteen-year-old who just got free from her abusive mother for the first time in her life. She's been dreaming of adventure for years, and just had two days of wild exploration. She finally got to experience the world she spent so long imagining; of course she would want to keep that going, of course she wouldn't be happy living as a princess in a castle. But also, it makes perfect sense for her to be conflicted because she's always lived through stories, so she takes the concept of "happily ever after" very seriously. All the most important people in her life (Eugene, Gothel, and King Frederic) have always reinforced the idea that you should strive for a life of peace and rest, meaning that until Cass, she thought she was weird and wrong for wanting something other than a life of luxury. And she does enjoy the luxury. There's enough new and exciting things within the city walls to keep her busy and excited for a few months, but eventually she was always going to feel that pull to explore new frontiers and meet new people.

Speaking of the people who influence her, they all have valid reasons for acting the way that they do. Eugene has already experienced years of adventure, so he's familiar with the bad parts and disenchanted with the good. For him, life in the castle is the novelty, so that's where he wants to stay. It's his relationship to Rapunzel that changes him, allows him to experience the world through her eyes, to see the beauty and wonder that she finds everywhere. He doesn't quite get where she's coming from at first, but he loves her and is able to come around and understand her point of view and do what it takes to make her happy.

Then there's Frederic, who's a somewhat complicated character. The movie didn't give him much of a character (not even a line of dialogue), and he exits as a purely benevolent symbol of "happily ever after." That worked for the movie, but the show needed conflict; so Rapunzel's parents needed personalities. Even though the writers didn't have much from the original text to go off, it's not difficult to infer that the man who spent eighteen years aware that his negligence allowed his daughter to be kidnapped (or killed, he didn't know what happened to her) would become rather protective of said daughter once reunited with her. The way he treats Rapunzel, doing everything he can to keep her locked up and ignorant, isn't good but it's understandable. He's been king for decades and he's exhausted, he wants to give his daughter the sort of happy and peaceful existence that he didn't have. He doesn't understand that she could go through all the shit that happened in her two days of adventure and want to go back out there. He's so confident in what he wants for her that he doesn't stop to listen to what she wants for herself. Now, again, these feelings are no excuse for his actions, but they do explain them. Frederic is fundamentally a good guy who's trying his best for his family, he just needs to learn to listen to what they say they need. (Which he does! Eventually. This is what character arcs are for).

It's just really neat to me how they looked at the movie and took these characters and thought about how they would come into conflict, how putting "THE END" on the screen wouldn't actually solve their problems. I love me a good villain, but sometimes it's nice to watch something where everyone involved has a good point and they just need to communicate and compromise a bit to find the best solution.