#and NOT just purely from the perspective of a hero to support

[malamilkbeats]

My thoughts? And throwing stuff in the dark, hoping it hits something

The Heart to Heart: I mean, as sweet as S2 EP4 was with them, I couldn't shake off the cynicism of it seeming staged to some degree...but I could just be paranoid from feeling thrown for a loop by his nonchalance. Circubit didn't seem the least bit surprised about being corrupted by Cyanide from the hug. And I don't see much of people-pleasing qualities from Circubit other than this scene here. I wouldn't call it people-pleasing really, only because he might have had a soft spot for her situation since it may have been relatable.

Just by a stretch in assumption here, other than relating to her, he might have had that "heart to heart" with her to very well be re-corrupted and to have a possible stronghold down the line, now that he undoubtedly knows Cyanide doesnt a have stable, caring caretaker.

His Duality Form Control and its possible advantages: Another reason I came to this is that...I sort of agree from braincell's previous lore-informed theory that he was also using his corruption as a form of a second shield/form of escapism (from identity flaws, his past as a pure shape, the flexibility of alignment, etc...).

As dark as it is to think about, causing a rift between Cyanide and Dub could be a strategic benefit for Circubit now and later on. From my perspective, he has taken a more machiavellian, neutral approach to fix what has been wrong in his eyes because it's the only route he has open. He has taken his own means to an end to achieve what he could want, and it's kinda too early to tell whether that's to be a hero himself, rally an entire rebellion against Dub, and/or getting another chance to counter his tarnished reputation from the Royal family, his ex-friend, and most of the Land of Spheres. Or something else entirely.

Yeah, we know he's not completely aligning with either the heores nor the corrupted side. He's taking his own rogue path, and we don't really know where that destination really lies.

No Benefit being Pure: If he does take any of those possiblites, I would like to think his re-corruption here made sense, though. Would you think his goals could be achievable with his pure form? I don't believe so nor would his pure self even have the support from the heroes, caretakers, groups, and obviously the corrupted. We are only really sure that he needs to be corrupted to achieve what he might be looking for, whatever that may be. From the looks of Circusic's talk with Iris, bro doesn't have the best reputation outside of his corrupted form nor was anyone looking for him outside of sheer unconditional concern, other than he's a threat or some traiter in other's eyes, especially Iris, unfortunately.

From the short, Circubit's Recurring Memory, the king had already expected Circusic to raid the castle, removing what he was looking for. But it's unclear whether Circusic was going to steal the item for himself, something else, or Circusic could have been, misunderstood, purposefully misled, or framed. Regardless, there's still distrust of his character.

Back to Cyanide's confusing adventure for self-identity: Cyanide is most likely...POSSIBLY...(just a guess) going to be rejected by both Dub and the heroes, causing her to come back to the one and only place she felt a "crumb" of acceptance/validation: Circubit.

"We might meet again."

Yeah, alright, Circubit. Would it be sooner or later? Like, he knows she's failing to cope with rejection (and other's perception of distrust towards her) since he's already skated down that hall himself.

Honestly, I would be very, VERY surprised the hero gang would be fully accepting of her suddenly wanting to NOT be evil after naively being associated with the corrupts.

Idk, man, Cyanide is a confusing character, but she just baby though

LOOK AT HER. SHE BABY

I'm just curious where she's going after her talk with Circubit?

Any Thoughts/Theories On Season 1, Episode 4 Part 1 Video + Rant

Part 1

Heavily sighs God… Heavily sighs again, but longer… Hey, everyone… I know my sorry ass hasn’t posted something here for so, so long, but, considering that the next episode for Season 2 is here in the current making, might as well get started, right…?

RIGH-

The Episode (Part 1)

MAJOR SPOILERS WARNING

Allow me to explain how my first reaction went here…

So the opening scene of Season 2, Episode 4 start off showcasing on a rainy night, seeing Dub telling Cyanide of his uttered disappointment of Cyanide’s ongoing failures within her missions, telling her that she should’ve corrupted him, implying to be Iris himself I think since Season 2, Episode 1.

Cyanide apologizes to her boss, Dub for what happened from her previous mission with Circubit, as Dub then commands her to go back to Circubit, while not giving a fuck about you crying on her communication device. Cyanide, while staying silent from Dub’s command and still sad, ends the call.

Pauses the episode

Me: This next part made me laugh and got so angered out loud because I fucking predicted that Circusic was going to find Cyanide being fucking miserable in the rain!

Let me tell you something yawl… For some weird reason, we ARE NOW TALKING TO CIRCUBIT AS A PURE SHAPE HERE OUT OF KNOW WHERE?!?!

Continues the episode

Cyanide somehow recognizes Circubit in front of her while he’s a pure shape. Circubit as a pure shape, questions her that is her boss, Dub is being an asshole to her, which also causes Cyanide to analyze the cuss word…

Mega pauses the episode

Me: WOW, OK!!! THIS PIECE OF SHIT IS NOW TEACHING A CORRUPT HERO, WHO IS CANONICALLY 0 YEARS OLD CURRENTLY BTW, CUSS WORDS AND NOT GIVING AN FUCK!!!! Oh my god…. Guys, I just really don’t wanna hear these Heroes start swearing… It’s weird as fuck to me… Especially considering that they are still young and are childlike beings…

Continues the episode

After analyzing (the fucking cuss word…), Cyanide is seen trying to process how she actually feels about Dub as a caretaker (sort of) and boss due to how Circubit describes him. Circubit then sits down next to her through the aforementioned processing, telling her why bother listening to Dub. Cyanide tells Circubit that Dub is her caretaker and has to still listen to him.

Pauses the episode

Me: Well, Dub is her creator (sort of), but all Dub has been toward Cyanide is to be nothing but an insufferable asshole to her and she still listens to him regardless, despite the lack of care and support she has been given from him.

Continues the episode

Circubit tells Cyanide that she’s right, but also says that her boss, Dub is making her upset and not being a good caretaker to him. Circubit then starts giving Cyanide vague advice which I’m gonna briefly explain right now:

“Take my advice, always do whatcha feel is right.” This advice means to “encouraging you to prioritize your own gut feeling and inner judgment when making decisions, even if it goes against external advice or societal norms.” So, I think what Circubit is advising Cyanide to trust her own instincts and make decisions based on what she feels is morally correct or wrong.

Pauses the episode

Me: And also here’s the problem about this in my opinion… The progression of their relationship from Season 2, Episode 1 to Episode 4 so far feels inconsistent and frankly baffling:

S2E1: Back when they first met, Circubit appeared largely indifferent toward his collaboration with Cyanide, maintaining a neutral dynamic. For instance, the first thing he does to her is scare her and not caring about it upon her arrival to the Corrupted Royal Castle. While not caring to fix her naivety here, Circubit gives off this remark, "I'll handle everything," implied he didn’t rely heavily on her assistance, even though they were nominally teaming up, while Cyanide wasn’t doing shit with him from their first mission together. Their interactions were minimal—only about two throughout the episode and both gone for the next 2 episodes—conveying a relationship that seemed purely functional at best.

S2E4: Then, after 2 episodes, out of nowhere, Circubit begins fucking speaking in pure form for whatever reason. Upon encountering Cyanide again, the first thing he does is start teaching her cuss words ("asshole") with zero hesitation or concern btw. From there, his behavior becomes jarringly inconsistent. He suddenly starts acting like he genuinely cares about Cyanide’s well-being all of a sudden, offering her vague advice, such as to “trust her instincts.” Yet, seconds later, he's allowing Cyanide to make him become corrupted again—seemingly so he can resume his chaotic plans. Their entire dynamic so far felt forced and nonsensical, and I was utterly confused by it…

Do you see what I mean? There’s no logical progression between the neutral, detached Circubit of Season 2, Episode 1, and the suddenly supportive, seemingly empathetic Circubit of Season 2, Episode 4 BECAUSE WE NEVER SEE THAT HAPPEN BEFOREHAND UP UNTIL THIS EPISODE EVEN STARTED!!!

Continues the episode

When Cyanide asks Circubit if that’s what he has been doing, Circubit says Yep! to her, telling her that he’s hasn’t been doing anything his boss, Dub told him to do.

Quickly pauses the episode

Me: Oh my god… Dub is getting some dogshit servants…

Also also, this next part is even more baffling………

Quickly continues the episode

Cynaide, while briefly staying silent, flies up tells Circubit that she actually wants to be a hero instead of being a villain.

ABSOUTELY MEGA PAUSES THE EPISODE

Me: When did you believe that...... When did this thought finally cross your mind Cyanide after the past 3 fucking episodes you were in because there was no development progression up until this point for you to be saying that line with the help of Circubit! All you were was from the previous episodes, Season 1, Episode 9-10 to Season 2, Episode 1 is just being a poorly written woobie with a frustratingly naïve sense of morality that gets you into these dumb shenanigans with these unlikeable/selfish corrupts in the fucking first place, causing you to appear completely distrustworthy and suspicious of most of the good guys into severe depression mode!!!

You were gone for like 2 WHOLE FUCKING EPISODES (S2E2 - 3) in this season so far, which made me almost completely forget about you as a character. And within this episode, the first thing you finally come back to do here is dramatically cry in the fucking rain to make me feel so terribly sorry for you sympathetically with your situation, even though I don't care about you because of how frustrating you are to me!

Secondly, you immediately started analyzing swearing and possibly will do it more later on (which is clearly Circubit's fault btw for swearing at a canonically 0 year old hero with no hesitation), which led me to scream out a huge "WOW, OK!" Because of how unbelievably stupid or maybe even laughable that was for the past 30 something seconds in this opening scene.

FINALLY, this one is just the best topping of how frustrating your character and alignment is on my fucking birthday cake. After some brief advice you've gotten from Circubit's bitch ass, when you said, "I want to be a hero. I do not like being evil.", A few seconds later you intentionally hugged Circubit as a pure form, CAUSING HIM TO BECOME CORRUPTED ONCE AGAIN!!! LIKE, WHAT THE FUCK!!! WHERE IS THIS COMING FROM OUT OF YOUR TINY MOUTH?!?! This baffling and contradictory behavior is the cherry on top of what makes your character alignment—and overall arc so far—so unbelievably maddening.

Slams on on my spacebar to continue the episode

Circubit then tells her Great!, saying to her that they might met again. Cyanide starts quickly zooming toward Circubit, hugging and thanking him by using her head while also… FUCKING CORRUPTING HIM BACK TO HIS CORRUPT FORM FOR FUCK SAKE…!

Slams on my space to pause the episode

Me: The execution of Circubit's return as a corrupt was somewhat exciting, I suppose, but it doesn’t excuse Cyanide’s sudden desire to become a “true hero” this time around without no good development up until this point of the series. This already further shows me how fucked up her neutrality truly is. And, Cyanide STILL doesn't care about the consequences of her actions so far because she actively and intentionally facilitates Circubit's return to his corrupt form, knowingly enabling him to cause more chaos—and does so without appearing to care in the slightest!

AND WHY THE FUCK IS SHE SMILING ABOUT IT!?!? BRO!!!

Slams on on my spacebar to continue the episode

Circubit appreciatingly tells Cyanide that she doesn’t have to thank her while going back to his corrupt form, saying to her about whacha needed to know. After Circubit leaves her, Cyanide starts flashing back toward the worst episode of the TPC series, remembering Cyan's advice and after that, she fucking smiles again and leaves, presumably going back to the main gang or not.

Part 1 ends here.

Finally done, gonna cry in my closet while eating a bowl of ice cream for breakfast....

Plus, If you guys have any further theories/predictions for part 2, tell me in the comments below.

[potahun]

im physically unable to shut up about this line it seems

and this is a post about my personal feelings regarding this line, im in no position to say how this line should be understood

but in S4E25 (yeah when will i shut up about it) when hawks reminisces about what it is that gets to him about endeavor and actually addresses endeavor in his thoughts, this bit:

"You see, I've been watching, so I know. There wasn't a single person out there truly trying to surpass [All Might]. You were the only one. The only one seriously trying to surpass him. .... Really... Just how clumsy/awkward can you be?"

That last bit.

本当に...どんだけ不器用なんですか...?

I've been watching/ reading out of order, but although until then, everything felt to me like it could be interpreted as hawks looking up to endeavor, being endebted to him for saving him from his abusive father, or generally respecting him, this line alone punched me in the gut with the idea that oof ok, he also loves him uh.

there's the tone in which it's delivered that is unbelievable soft and with a touch of helplessness, combined with this mental shot of endeavor looking positively like a loser (i'm sorry):

and then 本当に...どんだけ不器用なんですか...?

out of all words to describe him, in this situation, not brave, not amazing, not something to look up to, not something to learn from even or to admire, no "just how clumsy/awkward can you be?"

if it was just the hero mentality, why 不器用 of all things? isn't this the no.1 he's choosing to support and is currently in the process of pushing onto the centre stage? couldn't "stubborn" have done the job? this goes deeper than the hero gig or what it means, this touches on something about endeavor as a person in a way that is none of hawks' business in theory if not for the fact that he's noticed and it is doing him in

[celaenaeiln]

Robin Dick Grayson Characterization

I'm not sure how or where this started but there's been a rampant misunderstanding of Dick Grayson as Robin.

For some reason there have been posts upon posts that dick was some kind of angry robin and I don't know where this is coming from because in every single comic Dick is said to be the happy one. It seems to be a Covid craze because such defamation was not even in existance before 2020. Every one of the comics - Justice League, Batman, Detective Comics, Nightwing Comics, Jason's comics, Tim's comics, all of them! Talk about Dick being the happiest of the robins.

Some people say that he wanted to avenge his parents death by killing Tony Zucco. However Dick could never do that. John and Mary raised their son better than that.

Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight Issue #100

Where do you see a raging blood-soaked boy fanon makes him out to be?

The biggest supporter of happy Dick comes from Alfred so if you're going around claiming Dick was angry, you're literally spitting on his grave because Alfred ADORED Dick. He thought of Dick as the sole reason for Bruce's happiness which made him love Dick even more.

Alfred is Dick's biggest advocator. When Bruce is hesitant in his initial days of Robin - Alfred says

Detective Comics (2016) Issue #1000

"They will be easier than they ever were for you."

Detective Comics (2016) Issue #1000

"He will see excitement and adventure...and he will help you see it, too."

Detective Comics (2016) Issue #1000

"He's gotten a taste for it, Master Bruce. He has the natural skill and talent. Do you really think you could stop him at this point?"

"He could make you better. He could BE better."

"A hero forged in the LIGHT."

And Dick feels this too.

Detective Comics (2016) Issue #1000

"Then WE help them find the better path. Together."

Detective Comics (2016) Issue #1000

"Let's show them how to do it right."

Calling Dick an angry robin - that's an insult to Dick, Bruce, and Alfred. It's an insult to who they are as characters and it's an insult to the very creation of robin.

Dick wasn't made for vengeance. He was made for the light.

Dick is the embodiment of hope and a brighter future. He's what people look forward to on their darkest days, their shining light. He's the hero of all heroes that came after him. There is no one like him.

There are tons of comics on Dick's journey as Robin but here's a clear one as to his thoughts before he became Robin.

Robin & Batman Issue #3

Dick wasn't angry. He's was sad, lonely, and scared.

But.

This good boy doesn't deserve what you call him. This small loving child. Don't you dare push your evil agenda onto him.

"I don't need to be the next batman. I can be something else. Something better."

"And you know the best part?"

"Now I know I don't need to be alone. And I don't have to be the dark."

"I can be the light."

"I can be Robin."

Batman (1940) Issue #687

Dick was an excitable, brilliant, and over-excelling child. He was a ball of sunshine and happiness who loved laughing, playing games, and being crazy. He was a hypercompetent, crazy child who lived for the love of living and adventure.

It's the loss of the original dynamic duo that Alfred grieves over.

Batman (1940) Issue #687

Just look at this adorable baby!!!

Batman/Superman (2019) Issue #16

"Hey, Batman! You took down one of 'em and I took down three! I told ya I've been practicing!"

"Good work, Robin."

What the heck you cute adorable baby.

"Holy--! Is this a warden's office of a museum of horrors? Look at that old rocket ship!"

"Ew. There's a skeleton inside!"

LOOK AT THAT BABY FACE!! THE PURE ENTHUSIAM IN THE WAY HE TALKS - HE'S JUST A HAPPY BABY BOY!!

Batman/Superman (2019) Issue #17

IT'S A CRIME TO CALL HIM ANGRY.

Love this sweet, adorable child.

Another issue with the “Dick Grayson was an angry Robin” take. It’s not just a different perspective, it’s just blatantly wrong.

How wrong?

In order to fight the Batman who laughs, Bruce creates a machine that will emulate the joy of the happiest person he has ever known-who?

Robin Dick Grayson.

"Happiness is seeing the world though the eyes of children."

The Batman Who Laughs Issue #4

"Dick was the first robin. He had the happiest eyes. Circus eyes. Weightless - leaping, never falling."

Bruce drives himself insane from the joy he feels by looking at the world through Robin Dick's eyes.

Every comic. In every. single. comic. All of them talk about how Dick was a happy child and a happy robin. Dick's talk about it, Jason's talk about it, Tim's talk about it, the Justice League's talk about it, the Batman's especially - all the batman comics - talk about.

I would've actually added about 50 more panels but I ran out of image space because posts only have a 30 image limit.

I'm not kidding when I say it's IMPOSSIBLE. ABSOLUTELY, INCONCEIVABLY IMPOSSIBLE to say that Dick was angry Robin. Dick, Jason, Bruce, Tim, Damian, Alfred, Barbara, the JL, the titans, the Gotham villains - they all talk about Dick was a symbol of hope, joy, and light to Bruce and Gotham.

Not only that but if you read the comics, you would know that Dick was a happy robin because all the following robins had a cascade effect on their personality based solely on the fact that Dick was a happy robin. Jason's personality was the result of Dick being charcterized as happy, and Tim's personality was based off Dick's being happy.

But you know what the biggest piece of evidence against this blasphemy that Dick was angry robin is?

Secret Origins (2014) Issue #8

"...Becoming a much needed FOIL to the batman, whose own grim obsession with revenge could easily have caused him to cross the line..."

Explain something to me. It canonically states the Dick was a foil to Bruce Wayne who used to be revenge obsessed and grim. A foil in literature means a character who contrasts with another character to highlight the differences between them.

So if Bruce was dark, gloomy, angry, and revenge filled and Dick was the foil, then how on earth is it possible Dick to also be dark, gloomy, angry, and revenge filled?

On top of this impossibility of Dick being angry and full of hatred, can we take a step back for a minute and think about Dick's position in all this? Dick is the very first child hero, the one countless heroes after him look up to because he, Robin, was the embodiment of light and goodness. He single-handedly dragged Bruce out of his pit of self-destruction merely by existing because of his charming and playful demeanor. How, then, is it possible for every single character in the entirety of DCU along with every single writer who has ever written a comic - to be wrong?

Let's be clear. Bruce's personality, is written to be the opposite of Dick's personality. And Dick's personality is the opposite of Bruce's. Furthermore, Jason and Tim's personality were written to be a response to Dick's. There's also Alfred waving a massive banner about how Dick is a literal godsend front and center. So. If you still believe, that Dick was not a happy robin, then you have effectively mischaracterized every single person in the entire batfamily aside from Kate.

Congratulations. It's truly an accomplishment to be so wrong.

So no, Dick was not in fact, ever, the angry robin.

Dick was a happy robin and that is the FOUNDATION of understanding the batfamily.

[itsabouttimex2]

I have been going insane about the not beloved au.

The idea and sheer emotions of it just cling to me and haven’t left me for days and I blame you. Just the idea of [User] not only not being the beloved- but in a way being solely viewed that way- and in a sense being completely treated as such where it is very obvious- just- I love it.

The pure angst potential with the au is there and I -‘ screeching about it.

Y/N’s Not The Beloved?

(Monkiefam)

Exactly- Y/N is so heavily defined by being “not the beloved” that it kinda becomes their entire character.

Just like some people get jammed into slots they’re undeserving of by born traits or mere appearances, Y/N is out here getting pigeonholed into the “not our favorite” just because MK is the little monkey demon that their parents dreamed of having for so long.

And it doubly sucks ass, because Sun Wukong and Macaque are such good parents to MK that any criticism on your part will be questioned and “debunked” by well-meaning peers who probably just see you as “spoiled” or “jealous”.

Like, imagine this: your classmate, Y/N, is the adopted child of the fucking legendary hero, Monkey King. He’s married to; of all people, to the infamous Six-Eared Macaque. They have an adorable adopted son who is also a demon monkey.

And if what Y/N has to say about this whole family dynamic is “they spoil my brother too much/love him more than me/expect me to constantly look after him” and like…

From their perspective?

Bitch! You are privileged beyond compare and comprehension! You have two unimaginably powerful parents! They could crumble a civilization and raise a new from the smoldering ashes! They could impose themselves as gods and demand proper tribute! And instead they adopt a silly little mortal out of the goodness of their hearts, and you have the gall to “whine” about it not being enough?

Some of your classmates get beaten for bringing home bad grades? Some of them have dead parents? And a few were disowned for being queer! Others live in filth! Some have literally nothing! Why are you so damn “ungrateful”, Y/N?!

And then desperately trying to explain that yes, you are grateful for them and everything they’ve done, it’s not right for you to miss out on fundamental life experiences just because MK didn’t want you to go, or to nearly flunk a test because you couldn’t sleep on account of MK demanding your attention, or to lose friends that you were never allowed to hang out with because MK didn’t like them.

It’s especially bad in the situation that Y/N is particularly young, around say… under thirteen, or maybe semi-verbal, if they’re shy or anxious, and they haven’t learned how to properly communicate and express themselves in a conducive and effective manner, which leads to exchanges where what Y/N says is utterly ineffective at conveying what they mean, like:

“My parents love MK more than me.” (My parents unhealthily prioritize him even at a cost to myself.)

“Aww, sweetie! He’s just new to your house! You’ll get used to him!”

“I have to babysit MK so much that I don’t get to hang out with my friends.” (My budding social life is beginning to crumble under the weight of being a caretaker to my little brother.)

“You’re such a good older sibling! I bet your parents are really grateful to have a babysitter on hand!”

“MK wanted to go somewhere new yesterday, and he made our dads take me. I didn’t get to sleep.” (MK’s immediate happiness is becoming more important to both of our fathers than my physical health.)

“I bet you all had a lot of fun if you’re this tuckered out, huh? You’re lucky they took you!”

It gets to the point that Y/N, as they grow up, turns to the internet for validation and support in their life, probably to results that are equally split towards positive/negative.

“NTA- Clearly your fathers do not respect your health or feelings! Pack up and move out!”

“I can’t move out though? We live on a sacred mountain and I’ve never had a job because they make me babysit MK instead.”

“ESH cause y’all sound exhausting. I’d beat the fuck out of this “MK” TBH. What a brat.

“He’s nine though??? WTF dude?”

“Honestly all these NTAs and ESHs are so confusing clearly OP is a fucking ungrateful brat who’s gonna regret pushing their family away when they’re alone and have nobody. MASSIVE YTA kiddo.”

“I just want to stay home and sleep because I’m tired as hell from all the other family trips that I went on with my family? This is the first time I’m saying no?”

And slowly growing more and more ostracized and confused by everything in their nonconventional little family and how MK’s obsession with them is both fueled and enabled by Wukong and Macaque’s obsession with him, all slowly heading to a peak-

And when you snap, you are inevitably going to snap hard.

[a-spawn-on-my-lawn]

I need to talk about how strong Astarion i think really is. Wall of text under the cut~

While this man is going on about his daily business of shit, pure shit, he is abducted by a giant nautiloid, gets stuffed in a coffin for the 2nd time in his life but this time, a tentacle monster inserts a worm into his eye. he falls out of the thing and figures he can stand in broad sunlight, like wtf, this might be more than enough to drive a grown man very anxious when you ask me.

but he adapts to the situation within seconds. he waits for tav at the shore and gets along with them. he makes up his nice simple plan just as they go. he just goes with the flow. he's there chillin' in camp and reads his books, gets drunk on bears and enjoys his new freedom. he tries to improvise on his own plan on how to kill his very master. just the fact he believes he can do it is so massive to me. he truly believes he can do it. he is never fatalistic. surely, there is angst, but he never has serious mental breakdowns. he never claims that he believes cazador will get him and kill everyone; not even the gur in the swamp is able to unsettle him.

he doesn't give up

i write from a perspective of someone with quite heavy (c)ptsd symptoms so I know how I react to stressful situations and calling Astarion's situation "stressful" is a massive unterstatement, lol. i bow to astarion. he could easily just sit down, empty 50 bottles of wine and tell tav how everything's hopeless, how cazador is surely going to rob him of his freedom again or he becomes an illithid before that; he could even go further than that, if you know what i mean. he could give up on his life and ask tav to just end it all with a stake after going through what he went through, but nope. this man always has hope, he gets up his juicy vampire ass every single morning even though he has two massive burdens to deal with (cazador + tadpole). he never lets himself down. this lil vampire is a hero.

in the dynamic of astarion and my tav, he is the one with more resiliance. i do not perceive astarion as someone who is always in need. surely, there are times where he needs a good cuddle or support when having a nightmare, a bad day, triggers, or help in healing in terms of his sex life etc. but generally, this man is like cryptonite. probably because he knows how to deal with all kinds of pure shit, he's more resilient than my tav. like he got her back. he gives her some good pep talks. sassy astarion kinda pep talks, in a way he doesn't sugarcoat anything and playfully insults her a dozen times and tell her to get back on her feet, but they do the job. he drags her out into the sun if she doesn't want to leave the bed. he'd carry her infront of him like a wet cat if necessary. yep, that's how it is for me.

[thorntopieces]

An addition to my post about Genesis from a few days ago, this time from Zack's perspective

Zack comes to Midgar having heard tales of the great hero Sephiroth and his many exploits. It's not the only thing that draws him to Midgar as opposed to the countryside town of Gongaga, but it's a factor all the same. He leaves his parents behind with nothing more than a note on his pillow explaining to them that he's going to Midgar to become a SOLDIER and that he hopes that they will support him through it. He's only thirteen but he's strong and the few times he stuck his hands in a pool of mako it only barely stung and he's talented enough with Materia that he should be accepted right away

Leaving his parents behind hurts and their potential condemnation of his choices make him too scared to reach out and to come home and visit even when he's granted leave. Any mission that goes even close to Gongaga he avoids

Sure enough he's accepted once away, without spending more than two weeks in the infantry barracks before he's accepted into SOLDIER. The mako shots hurt more than the pure mako ever did, but he supposes that has to do with it being injected straight into him, rearranging the cells in his body to enhance him similarly to the great First Class SOLDIERs he has heard so much about. During the injections he cries, fourteen years old and in pain, nauseous and afflicted with the worse headache he's ever had. A research assistant snaps at him to suck it up and it stings so bad he doesn't ever let himself cry in front of anyone else, not until Aerith

Angeal is the one that finds him outside R&D, staring at a wall, clutching his sluggishly bleeding arm (he never sees the research assistent again that snaps at him and refused to bandage his arm 'because the mako would clear it up'). Angeal takes him under his wing from that point onward, protecting him from the worst horrors of SOLDIER, all the while asking himself how they let a barely fourteen-year-old kid into SOLDIER

When he meets Genesis, Genesis brushes him off immediately, entirely disinterested in him. Angeal tells him not to take it personally, that Genesis doesn't easily warm up to other people in the same way Sephiroth doesn't, but Sephiroth is polite in a way Genesis isn't. Genesis seems to hate him. Zack swallows down the rejection and pretends it doesn't hurt him because he's developed a reputation for being happy all the time and no one wants to hear him whine

It takes him until the conversation at the hillside overlooking Gongaga for him and Genesis to finally talk and for Zack to realise that Genesis doesn't really hate him. But it's almost too little, too late, because the only other two people important to both of them are dead and gone

But at least they have each other

Edit: I wrote a small fic about this, that isn't as angsty as this is, it's just the hillside conversation. You can find the link to it here

[gryficowa]

Boycott!

Honestly? If I had to choose what type of character I would be, I would choose an anti-hero, because I feel like I'm not cut out to be a hero or a villain, just random thoughts

I love a story when a flawed character finds their place, but I'll probably never be one, so I'll just be an anti-hero, sitting in the shadows, I have too many flaws, but not enough to be a villain, I just don't like the idea of ​​a hero, pure without any flaws and with a big heart, the antihero also has a heart, but he knows reality, despite his flaws, can fight something that even a hero can't cope with, I may have a different perspective than others, I just would never want to be seen as white or black, I am gray and the world loves to see only two colors, never a mixture of both, so how you see history, it must always be presented in black and white, because people can't see in between and it sucks… I know, I've written a lot, but I simply can't describe myself better than an antihero…

Now that I have your attention:

[like-yknow-nyah]

one thing i have to really appreciate about haikyuu is its restraint in narrative framing. it makes the anime soooo rewarding to re-watch. what i mean is that your typical shounen is rather heavy-handed when tying up narrative threads, sometimes over-saturating its climactic moments with flashbacks to make 1000% sure the audience doesn't miss the influence of past events and themes. and don't get me wrong, haikyuu certainly has these moments, and usually uses them to great impact (though i do take issue with how many times we had to see that flashback of ukai saying "don't underestimate what it takes to be a ball boy" in s4). but in a lot of other shows, if it doesn't have a flashing signpost screaming to you that it's important, it's not. haikyuu still leaves a lot for us to find - stuff that isn't particularly emphasized but is too consistent and well-aligned not to have been fully intentional and meaningful. i am continuously impressed by furudate's thoroughness; there is not a single thing in this story that is purely incidental, and the diverse cast is so well utilized. whenever character growth is occurring, the supporting cast for that arc is meticulously chosen.

i just re-watched the mini arc where kinoshita fumbles his chance to have a hero moment on court, and all of the narrative focus goes to noya's shout-out after kinoshita's sideline support spurs him into action just in time to nail his receive. which was great! fine. BUT what i found equally compelling despite the fact that it just kind of breezed past was the moment kinoshita returned to the bench, and suga wouldn't let him sulk because he would have more chances. it's so important that it was suga to say this, as we saw him all the way back in s1 lamenting his limited time left on court. he's the only third-year that isn't a regular because he just can't compete with genius setter kageyama tobio, which is kind of a sad last hurrah. but we watch him make peace with this situation; suga knows more than anyone else that the only thing you can do from here is relish every moment you get on the court and look forward to the next chance. and this parallel resonates in a way that strengthens kinoshita's own conflict. the fact that they made a callback to his quiet little arc THREE WHOLE SEASONS LATER with no fanfare whatsoever is insane. but also *chef's kiss* impeccably tasteful imo. and that's just one small example. honestly, i'm trying to focus on a different character's perspective every time i revisit, and every time, it leads me to completely new revelations about the cast's silent growth throughout the series, especially those that don't wear their hearts on their sleeves.

[sandraharissa]

To me the core theme of arcane is this specific type of conflict that repeats over and over again in all the main aspects of the story that centers around 'sibling relationships'.

Starting with the two cities. We have Piltover and the bad side of Piltover. Technically they're supposed to be one and the same but one is the 'golden privileged child' while the other is disadvantaged and needs to rely on the rich side of Piltover for support, they can't do it by themselves. And then the rich side of Piltover fails in its duties of taking care of/protecting/supporting/whatever the poorer side and a split happens. Zaun is created and it becomes so dangerous and volatile, it becomes a menace and an active threat to itself/the outside and there's no going back. It's the monster Piltover created and even tho the Undercity suffered unfairly at this point it has become so monstrous there may be no improvement/redemption for it.

And obvs that's the exact same thing that happens with Vander/Silco and Vi/Jinx. However it's also imo completely applicable to Jayce/Viktor and even Heimer/Singed. Jayce and Viktor will only reach their break-up era in future seasons but it's a given this will happen but I know I obvs need to explain the Heimer/Singed example.

Based on what we know about them Heimer is just naturally immortal/long-living, how lucky for him, and completely lacks any ability to relate to beings who from his perspective live short life-spans. Meanwhile Singed is just a human and on top of that he had a 10yo child who died from some kind of disease(maybe?). Currently he is obsessed with discovering immortality: experimenting on ppl, mutating them, resurrecting corpses etc. possibly in an attempt to find a way to heal/resurrect his daughter. And we know him and Heimer were partners and that Heimer didn't help him and threw him out of the university or smth for his research. So the exact same dynamic as the other pairs.

So notice how we've got the cities, and then each city has its storyline, and each storyline has a pair of protags who reflect the conflict between the cities, and then each pair also has the pair that preceded them which also reflects the same conflict. In Zaun all these connections are about family ties: brothers, sisters, fathers/daughters, with inherited political/social roles like the Piltover sympathizer and criminal/revolutionary. Meanwhile Piltover storyline connections are about 'progress': science buddies, mentors and students, with Jayce succeeding Heimer as the barely-scientist-moreso-a-politician and Singed/Viktor being mad scientists. We've even got zaunite 'older siblings' associating with Piltover and piltovan 'younger siblings' being from/associating with Zaun.

Just really nice parallels all around.

But I actually have an honorable mention to add here at the end lol.

Mylo and Claggor. Obvs they don't quite fit cos they never develop into this kinda dynamic and they were never meant to but I can't help but notice the similarities. Claggor being the pure hearted hero archetype, looking like Vander, naturally good fighter, seemingly lacking insecurities, seems like the 'second in command' after Vi (second best with the fighting machine, Vander speaks to him second to get info about what happened), meanwhile Mylo giving off 3rd child vibes, full of insecurities and needing to prove himself, physically looks like a stick bug, a bit of a bully, "weird" lock-picking talents that he struggles with and isn't respected for (like Singed/Viktor's science, Powder's bombs or Silco's dream) that are actually super useful and impressive (like he could have been robbing millions from Piltover banks if he got adopted by Silco instead lol).

[kaibutsushidousha]

Your opinion on Ayaka and richard relationship?

Oh right, Ayaka won't wake up for the rest of volume 9, so I guess I can already go over this one. Honestly, I'm tempted to wait until the series is over. This is one is difficult because Ayaka has been recontextualized pretty hard recently and they haven't interacted since, but I suppose I can give it a try.

In the simplest terms, they're really fun in a very basic way. A classic dynamic between a tried-and-true pair of staple archetypes rooted in a manic pixie dream boy arc. Ayaka's identity is quite innovative but the way she interacts with her Servant isn't. In fact, it's taken directly from Fate/Prototype's own Ayaka.

The main progression they get throughout the series is discovering their dreams together. Saber wants his personal hero to hear his song of triumph and Ayaka wants to make Saber's pure-hearted dream come true without him needing to sully his soul further.

Ayaka's dream being to grant someone else's wish fits really with her hidden nature, but it's easy to see why Richard's wish feels special. It's completely heartfelt and unambitious. A dream entirely for the sake of someone else. And the most important is that this pure and selfless dream is coming from a man plugged 24/7 to a greed amplifier.

As the recent talks about Rider and Berserker establish, Saber Richard I is a lot like Saber Charlemagne and Archer Napoleon. A heavily romanticized image of a brutal overlord. Perhaps he can't produce a greedier dream because he himself is also a dream. The gentle lie Ayaka needs. A strange fake, even.

Even without her memories, Ayaka was still consumed by the guilt and fear that came with taking A's life, but Richard's support let her find meaning in fight and become a better person. This reflects Saint-Germain's last advice to Ayaka: judge Saber by what she sees of Saber in the present, not by Richard I's life. A's human perspective left Ayaka horrendously disgusted with things she did as a natural Holy Grail, but like Saber, Ayaka Sajou is also a new person who should be judge herself by what she will do as Ayaka, not by A's or Little Red Riding Hood's lives.

The key difference between Ayaka and Saber throughout the series is self-awareness. He was an ideal knight who is perfectly aware and outspoken about his past life being all sins and bad decisions. He never denies responsibility but never self-loathes either. Meanwhile Ayaka was an amnesiac who hated herself intensely for a crime she didn't remember and couldn't properly place herself as the culprit.

Ultimately, Ayaka can only be freed by learning that past sins shouldn't follow you into a new life. Saber already knows and shows, but Ayaka struggles with the idea a lot. She needs to see it in Saber to be able to see it in herself, and I believe that's why Saint-Germain just showed her Richard's past in full.

[nitewrighter]

“We don’t know what the hell her deal is”

Sounds like THE major problem with Donna in particular, and the Wonder Woman mythos as a whole come to think of it.

With Donna, they just won’t leave her origin alone for 2 minutes

For Diana in general, ever since marston died dc just lets writers do whatever. It might just be garden variety sexism, but the og writer dying in the middle of the first run probably didn’t help.

Batman, you know he lives in Gotham city, he’s a billionaire, he operates in the batcave his friends are Alfred, Robin, the Gordon’s etc, his archenemy is the joker etc.

Superman, he lives in metropolis, works at the daily planet, his friends are Lois lane, jimmy olsen and Perry white, his archenemy is lex luthor etc.

But Diana? Where does she live? Where does she work? Who are her supporting cast? Who are her her rogues gallery? It’s all libel to change on the whims of whatever writer is assigned to her that week.

Because it’s all mercurial, there’s no baseline, so neither franchise nor fanbase can gain a proper foothold.

Writers can’t even agree on if she’s just as, or even more against killing as Bruce or Clark, or if she’s the one member of the trinity who’s willing to kill.

Guys, in every category, just pick one and stick with it.

I mean like, I'm no Wonder Woman expert, but the general vibe I've gotten from the Wonder Woman comics I've read (the Rucka run, Dead Earth, a handful of crossover events including the Metal saga and Final Crisis) is that, yes, Wonder Woman is willing to kill, but also there have been circumstances in which other members of the Trinity have killed. Wonder Woman's willingness to kill is almost entirely defined by a painful necessity to do what she can to preserve life. She killed Max Lord to stop him from murdering countless innocent people, but that largely got reduced to being a plot device and also unfortunately guided a lot of really lazy writers who thought that the fact that she was willing to kill defined her character more than the actual philosophies of the Amazons. Of course, as you say, there's more than a fair share of continuities that have the Amazons be just as big warmongering murderous assholes as Thanagarians because... a Greek Mythology themed heroine is only interesting if she's aping Zack Snyder's 300, I guess.

I mean from a Doylist perspective, the existence of Donna to begin with is kind of narratively fraught. Like, let's go with the "Diana is basically a Demigod" interpretation of her character--it's not like a demigod can't have a sidekick--is Ares nearly as fun without little gremlin Eris chucking her apple from the side of his chariot? Hephaestus has his robots, etc. So like... it shouldn't be that hard to come up with a character who's both an ally and foil to Diana, who contrasts her while supporting her, but that was never really what Donna was, and that's not really what motivated Donna's creation. I think what's repeatedly shot Diana in the foot as far as helping her create her own solid lore footing is the fact that DC sees her as being defined more by The Trinity™ than by her own standalone stories. Hell, her daughter fucking takes on the name 'Trinity!' Like, tell me you gave her a daughter purely because Bruce and Clark both have kids without telling me you gave her a daughter purely because Bruce and Clark both have kids. And unfortunately, that's kind of what's heavily factored in to Donna from her very start--did you give Wonder Woman a sidekick because she needed that contrast, or did you give Wonder Woman a sidekick because Batman and Superman have their own respective 'hero families?'

Anyway, I tend to define my Wonder Woman by the Rucka Run more than anything else, though tragically, that ended up being a run that defined Donna by her absence more than her presence.

[harleyxhoward]

Analyzing The Abilities of Characters From The Boys Pt. XVIII

🧨 Ryan Butcher🧨

An under-analyzed character from The Boys cast, Ryan is the son of The Homelander. Being the first official natural-born superhuman, I find it curious that Ryan was never injected with compound V. Even though none of the babies could have consented to being shot up with a potentially lethal drug, Ryan having a genomic affinity for world shattering power forms the basis of any Evil Superman story you can think of.

Ryan being the first, and really the only one of his kind, creates this distance between him and the other Supes. None of them chose this life, but Ryan was raised with powers he never got to explore nor understand, while he was sequestered away under the protection of Becca. Homelander’s reaction to this lack of self realization is heartbreaking to me, specifically because, unlike Homelander, Ryan was raised a human instead of an experiment. I find it almost insulting that Vought essentially propped Ryan up to have the exact backstory they fabricated for “John”: a quiet life in a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere, à la Clark Kent’s origin story.

Ryan being this cookie cutter doppelgänger of his father creates this dynamic of showing the audience the hero Homelander could have been had he been raised by people instead of maniacal scientists in a lab. Additionally, it provides a bitter form of clarity on the nature of corruption. Given the circumstances that John went through, wouldn’t any and every baby grow up to be exactly like him? You can try to explain that you’re special or you’re different, but without any form of support system or human socialization, and between being baked alive and probed beginning at infancy, I doubt most people would be capable of maintaining their humanity.

I pray that Ryan is able to truly internalize that the deaths of Becca, the stunt actor, and even Grace weren’t truly his fault. I mean, if someone gave you superhuman strength as a preteen wouldn’t you have an alarmingly high body count by now? If you ask me, the kid’s doing good, all things considered…

I think the most valuable lesson you should take away from his character is the concept of chance. Anyone, given the circumstance, could have been either John or Ryan. Ryan has the *chance* his father didn’t to be a real hero, but whether he chooses power or mercy, is entirely up to chance.

*Butcher’s influence on Ryan is fascinating to me because, he’s a horrible role model. Butcher has just as horrible tendencies and selfish whims as Homelander, and yet, in Ryan’s eyes, is the more humane of the two purely because he’s just some guy. Now that Butcher can rival the strength of Homelander, and Ryan knows everything his father’s done, only time will tell how Ryan will begin to unpack his new perspective on Billy.*

[greenerteacups]

Hi, @greenerteacups! My girlfriend and I love your writing in Lionheart so much! We love how true the characters feel to themselves and often feel even more like themselves than in actual canon. We talk about Lionheart all the time.

We especially admire how Draco takes realistic strides in his development into a person who cannot accept the beliefs of pure blood society. However, it struck me today that all those changes started with Draco's separation from that world at Hogwarts in Gryffindor House, something which Dumbledore admits to influencing at the end of the first book. Dumbledore likes to have his hands in the middle of things, obviously, and it makes sense to have the Boy Who Lived somewhere cut off from the Wizarding World living with no strong positive relationships so he can manipulate boy hero later. But I am extremely curious as to why the headmaster just had to mess with this one rich kid's sorting with no promise of it paying off. In fact, we have had no clues at all as to Dumbledore's motivation nor has it been questioned since the first book.

I'm not at all picky about the reasons for canon divergent events. I'm eating up Lionheart as-is, but I was wondering if we might get some sort of insight in the future into Dumbledore's motivation for influencing Draco's sorting? Maybe I'm just thinking about this too hard, but I'm really curious now if it was for plot purposes or if it was for reasons that we will find out later or perhaps even for reasons that might continue to affect the story.

As always, thank you so much and we hope you are well!

Hello! First, thank you for such a detailed message, and for such kind words of support! I hope you and your girlfriend enjoy the upcoming chapters.

As for Dumbledore — yeah, this is one of those things where an eleven-year-old megalomaniac goes "of course this makes sense, I am the center of the universe and everyone should care about me" and then later on goes "hang on. what was the reason for that?" The following isn't canonical (I sound like a broken record at this point, I'm always going "I don't get credit for it if it isn't in the text!" but it IS true, and the following is just me riffing on what's already written. None of the following requires knowledge of things that haven't happened yet, although there will be conversations about Draco's Sorting to come).

Dumbledore's phrasing in Chapter 8 implies Draco wasn't completely unusual — "But there comes the rare case, now and then," — i.e., Draco may not be the first. But then, why Draco, instead of, say, Theodore Nott? Daphne Greengrass? It doesn't seem like their time in Slytherin has been terribly beneficial for the educational experience. It comes to mind that Draco, for all that he is another random rich kid, is a rather special rich kid; he's the joint of the Black and Malfoy families, which were the two primary bastions of power/support for Voldemort during the war.

I guess another way to frame it is this: from his perspective, putting Draco in Gryffindor places the heir to Voldemort's power base squarely where Dumbledore can keep an eye on him, and removes him from a social environment where he could network with other powerful aristocratic children. You know that marriage allegiance network that Pansy describes? The one that's copying the Black/Malfoy/Lestrange network from the first war? Draco's a crucial missing link in that chain. He's also surrounded by Harry's friends and Order members, which — while you can't always count on the Power of Friendship to save the day, cf. Peter Pettigrew — that experience is never not going to affect his judgment and beliefs.

You know the medieval practice of "warding," where you'd send your kid to be raised by another aristocratic family, and then they'd come back when they were of-age? That was one of the main levers of allegiance besides power — because not only is your kid functionally a hostage, so you can never fuck with the family that's warding them, but they're also growing up around that family's own children, forming close friendships that will endure after they leave and return to inherit their own titles. It was tactical, especially for families whose own territory might not be the safest place to raise a child.

Lastly, I also want to flag — and this is discussed in the draft of an upcoming chapter, so I'll keep it short and classy — but Dumbledore is making a really huge claim to Draco, i.e., that he's capable of changing the Sorting Hat's mind. He doesn't explain how he's done this, or what methods he used to interfere with its magic. Draco seems to believe him, but I don't know that I would.

[croc-odette]

the way it took less episodes for tng to begin to humanize the borg the most inhuman trek villains who were actively built up as literally like faceless drones there wasnt much of an ethical implication about killing but literally their second appearance in best of both worlds already trying to imagine what it would be like to be a borg drone from picards perspective and next they show up in i borg where its like ok we take the normal star trek approach of seeing every living being as worthwhile and not inherently monstrous and so on that was fewer episodes than what theyre doing with the gorn its like crazy

Even just from a style perspective, the borg spent a few episodes like ‘oh no, scary!’ And then bc that would have been boring to just keep doing, they started to do eps like ‘what if we captured a borg, could we ethically send it back with a disease to kill all of them’ or even just some pure drama of ‘what if captain picard…. BECAME a borg???’ And then an episode following up on the guilt of that. And even then, I was surprised how few tng episodes were about the borg. Snw is hamstrung by having half the eps in a season, but instead of really packing new stuff in, they keep wasting time on ‘what if we had cool guns to kill gorn monsters with’. Which while fun or silly in its own self-aware genre, feels really out of place and boring in Star Trek.

I think it also is just an incoherent view of the gorn as a species. They’re instinct-driven violent predators with no intelligence; but they’re also smart enough to build ships and space suits? They’re cannibalistic, but they’re also able to work together to command ships. They’re animals who are just trying to eat; but actually they’re intelligent enough to be ‘pure evil’. It’s whatever is convenient in the moment to justify unexamined thrill in murdering them.

If they were animals with instinctive behavior, then I think the Star Trek precedent would be: let’s defend ourselves and get the fuck out of here, but also these are just animals trying to survive and reproduce (ie: picard wouldn’t develop a bloodthirsty vengeful hatred against all bears if a bear killed a crew member). There is no ethical behavior behind animals eating and surviving. A wasp is kind of gross when it reproduces by injecting its eggs into another insect, but it’s not ‘evil’.

But that would mean the gorn wouldn’t be intelligent enough to have spaceships, which creates the convenient problem that our brave heroes HAVE to keep killing them without debate bc the gorn are able to pursue them! So somehow the gorn are smart enough to build spaceships capable of pursuing starfleet ships. They are smart enough for their actions to be considered ‘evil’. But not smart enough to be considered a race with a culture or intellect.

I’ve already talked about how the ep where they say the gorn block telepathy, meaning spock can’t talk to them, is a deliberate way of writing off diplomacy as a possibility. Those nasty gorn are just so mean and violent (and capable enough) that they block telepathy! It’s their fault! Which prevents a devil in the dark Horta solution, and allows the show to shrug and keep using guns as a solution.

I say all of this crap not because I really care about the integrity of the gorn. Who cares, it’s a fun alien. But in a franchise that wants to claim political awareness and goodness, its unsettling to dissect repeated writing choices over and over again (not just about the gorn) that support classic conservative and jingoistic talking points. “The enemy isn’t human or even intelligent, it’s an animal operating on base instincts; except when it’s so smart it can outwit our brave soldiers. And when you kill them, you can ENJOY killing them, because it’s one more dead enemy.”

The borg, changelings, jem hedar, Klingons, romulans— they were handled, some more than others, in ways that should invite criticism and skepticism about the intentions of the show. But they were humanized and explored further than ‘excuse to hand everyone an assault rifle and swat armor.’ A new show would ideally be improving or challenging past shows’ failures or missteps, not taking a huge step back. The gorn problem is even more glaring because it’s a sharp and bleak turn from the themes of trek shows that precede SNW, and from the actual episode the gorn come from.

[quirkwizard]

Hey QuirkWizard! You have quite a few Quirks that produce a unique type of plant. As such, if you got isekaid into MHA, which Quirks would you want and why if you were going to try to become a hero at U.A? The Quirks are Solar Flower, Panic Plant, Sprout, Fruition, Magic Beans, Look Out, Red Roots, Overgrowth, Budding, and Seed Shot. Can’t wait to see your response! Also if you have the time it would be cool if you could also do it for if you were just planning to be a civilian!

How would you create a quirk based on the concept of seeds?

What an oddly specific type of Quirk. Still, I do enjoy talking about what Quirks I would like to have. For the sake of this, though I try to keep the discussion to seed based Quirks, so no "Grow Up" or "Garden", and I'll mention these from the perspective of a civilian, as a UA student, and as an established hero as appropriate. And right off the bad, I'm removing "Panic Plant" and "Red Roots". It's honestly hard to think of ways to use those Quirks that would be helpful and don't make me look like a super villain .

Seed Shot: On paper, this would be an affective option for hero work given that sheer variety of seeds that the user can make. And while I do think experimenting with the seeds could be fun, I ultimately think it's too offensively focused for my tastes. Plus that level of experimenting could get old fast.

Magic Beans: I would be tempted to take this option if I wanted to be a hero, especially at UA. They really don't have a healer and that is extremely valuable role to have since they're so sparse. Though realistically, there is no way I'd be able to keep up with all the shenanigans of Class 1-A with such narrow and group oriented power.

Budding: This could be rather useful in hero work. If the whole point is to do as little damage as possible, there is a lot of value in ending a fight before it even starts. Though it's a bit too passive for my preferences and it's overall going to requiring more setup then a lot of heroes or civilians would have use for.

Look Out: Besides me enjoying the fantasy of throwing out turrets to fight people, I think that this has enough options that that it can be varied as it is while still having room for growth. Sure, it's still pretty offensively focused, but it can still be used for defensive and security reasons, both in hero and civilian life.

Overgrowth: If I was purely going for the best hero possible barring personal preference, this might be the option. Being able to sprout out massively pillars of wood from any location, which you can then shape, would be immensely useful given the convivence of it and the variety of ways you can shape something like wood.

Fruition: This is like the middle ground between "Seed Shot" and "Magic Beans". It's a much needed support option for Class 1-A and other heroes, but there is enough variety in it that I can keep growing and evolving it as the story goes on and can more easily adapt to whatever the story has to throw at me.

Solar Flower: I could see this being useful for hero work or my own civilian life. On the one hand, it'd be a nice defensive ability that could be extremely valuable in disaster areas where power is scare. On the other hand, I don't want to pay for my own electricity and I get bragging rights for being so supportive of green energy.

Sprout: This is another one that could go either way with. I like the idea of just having this pure utility power that would keep me as far away from the fight as possible and only be of use in more support roles like information gathering and rescue work. Plus they would just be so fun to have around as little helpers around the house.

[artbyfinnbrown]

My Re:Zero/Madoka Magica crossover AU

I've had the idea for this AU in my head for over a week now, so I decided to type it all out

Either takes place after arc 2 or arc 4 of Re: Zero (personally leaning towards arc 4 because that way there are more established characters and Subaru has gone through a bit more character development) 

At the beginning of one of Homura’s time loops, Homura, Madoka, Sayaka, Mami, Kyoko, a few copies of Kyuubey, and several witches all get iskeaied into Lugunica.

Sayaka and Madoka aren’t magical girls yet, so as far as they’re concerned, they’re in an isekai story, not a magical girl one. But for some reason they can’t find the person who summoned them, and they don’t have any overpowered abilities either, what’s up with that? 

Though I have the idea that eventually, rather than becoming magical girls, Madoka and Sayaka learn use lugunican magic and/or spirit arts, and as it turns out Madoka has a large amount of magical potential. At this point, Sayaka becomes convinced that Madoka is the protagonist of their isekai adventure and could not be happier to help support her best friend. Madoka, meanwhile really just wants to go home because she’s sure her parents are really worried about her at this point.

Mami also wants to go home. Not that there’s anyone who would miss her, but without her, there is no around to protect Mitakihara from witches. However, Mami is also has a tendency to want to help those in need, so she ends up saving people from some bandits, and then she fights some mabeasts, and one thing leads to another and suddenly she’s become a local hero. Once she finds out that witches have been brought into this world as well, any goals of trying to get home have been thoroughly deprioritized.

Kyouko is less concerned about going home (she doesn’t have anyone waiting for her either), so she’s completely fine with starting life again in this new world. And as much as she won’t admit it, she is still a good person too, so she ends up accidentally turning into a local hero as well. (although her heroics are less stopping bandits and mabeasts and more robbing corrupt nobles and merchants. She probably becomes a wanted criminal)

Homura is freaking out, because rather than waking up in a hospital bed like every other loop, she wakes up in a forest she doesn’t recognize. Did her power do this? Did a witch do this? Most importantly, how is she supposed to find Madoka?

On a funnier note, because she’s stuck in a fantasy world, Homura has no way to aquire guns, bombs or missiles like she does in canon. Instead she probably steals an entire castle’s armoury and/or learns how to make guns herself out of pure spite. 

My personal ruling is that Homura and Subaru’s powers just don’t work on each other, which is very concerning for both of them. 

From Subaru’s perspective, everything just freezes for times ranging for a few seconds to several minutes. Nothing noticeably bad happens, but that's almost worse because it means that means something bad could be happening elsewhere and he's powerless to stop it. 

From Homura’s perspective, time just rewinds at seemingly arbitrary points (which is more evidence to support her theory that her powers have started to malfunction after looping too many times)  

Witches getting iskeaied to Lugunica is a bad thing. Because while there are people with the power to defeat them, magical girls are the only ones with a established method of detecting them, and not being affected by the witch’s curse. The increased number of deaths and disappearances across Lugunica probably hastens this AU’s version of arc 3/arc 5, with the royal candidates being called together to discuss how to deal with the issue. Also pmmm witches are definitely not getting called "witches" by lugunicans, due do the phrase "with" being associated with something different. People don't really know what the

I like the idea of each of the main girls ending up with one of the different camps. In my mind, Mami ends up with the Felt camp, Kyoko ends up with the Priscilla camp, and Sayaka and Madoka end up in either the Anastasia or Crusch camps (or maybe get spit up and end up and one.) However I don’t have any specific interactions planned for any of these characters yet, so who ends up meeting who isn’t set in stone yet.

“Arc 1” of this AU would be the magical girls getting isekaied. For Subaru’s half, a witch attack’s Roswaal’s manor, forcing Subaru to loop several times trying to figure out what this thing even is, and then how to defeat it. “Arc 2” would be a variation of either Arc 3 of 5 of Re:Zero, but with the inclusion of magical girls and witches. Beyond that, I don’t have a clear idea of where the story would go, but I know I want it to go somewhere.

Whenever they do meet (which despite being one of the key parts of this AU, I haven't actually worked out yet) the dynamic that Subaru and Homura will be interesting. I think Subaru would initially want to be friends with Homura, but would become unnerved by her detached way of dealing with everything. (mostly because he worries that she is what he will be like after using Return By Death too many times). 

Homura, on the other hand, wouldn’t want to be friends with Subaru. But once she figures out his ability, she would realize that Subaru dying could erase any progress she makes in keeping Madoka safe, so she reluctantly appoints herself as his protector. Also she won’t admit it to him, but she’s definitely jealous of the fact that he has been able to overcome the various problems this world has thrown at him, and that the point that he gets to loop from updates, and that he gets to keep the emotional connections he makes makes rather then being forced to start form nothing (some would say… from zero) every single time.

Madoka and Emillia should be friends. I don’t have any deep thoughts on this. I just think they would get along.

In at least one loop, one of the young girls of the Re:Zero cast like Petra, Meili, or Felt becomes a magical girl, and things go horribly wrong.

Walpurgisnacht also got isekaied, but she got isekaied to Vollachia or somewhere else far off where she won’t be relevant for a while. She's a problem for later.

Also, I like the idea of magical girls from the spinoff manga like Oriko and Kirika getting isekaied as well, but I don’t have any specific plans for what they would be doing in this AU yet.