#and it's why I like breaking down this show and characters

[angelltheninth]

Arcane Characters That Are Big of Heart and Dumb of Ass

Pairing: Vi, Sevika, Vander, Jayce, Loris, Ambessa x Fem!Reader

Tags: fluff, dating, flirting, cuddles, kissing, sparing, muscles, protectiveness

Ko-Fi | Rules | Fandoms and Characters

A/N: This came to me today during my work break. I love himbos and whatever the female version of it is!

PURE OF HEART: She will do anything, put herself in any kind of danger to protect you. Vi is ready to get into a fight with anyone, stand up to anyone if they're bothering you. The bruises might be there after but she knows you'll help her get patched up. Depending on where the bruises are she might get some kisses.

DUMB OF ASS: Charges head first into any situation and that more often than not gets her hurt. One would think she learned to use hear head a bit more by now. And just in terms of headbutting her opponent. However she defends her attitude by saying that she's the muscle here, so you should let her take care of things her way.

PURE OF HEART: First of all she doesn't want anyone knowing she has a soft spot for you. She is very aggressive in her flirting both in public and in private but when you're up close, in her lap she will whisper sweet nothings into your ear. After which she will bite it. Don't blame her, she has an image to uphold.

DUMB OF ASS: Sevika has always been a badass in Zaun, but not for her brains. As respected as she is some also see her as a glorified bodyguard that's now dating her boss's cute secretary. She hears these rumors of course but they don't phase her when she's had a few shots of her favorite drink. Not her best moment.

PURE OF HEART: He is a family man to the bone. And he sees you as his wife even though you're not officially married yet. It won't stop him from grabbing you around the hips and pulling you into a kiss, his tongue tasting of tabaco and your favorite drink. Yes, your favorite, because he wants to taste good when he kisses you.

DUMB OF ASS: While Vander might be one of the de facto leaders in Zaun he's made his fair share of dumb choices. He's forgotten to lock up more than once, leading to the people thinking the bar open and he walked out in his underwear. What made it more embarrassing is that you were right behind him, wearing just his shirt.

PURE OF HEART: Everyone who met Jayce even once can see that he has a heart of gold. There isn't a challenge he won't try to take out, be it with brains or brawn. Knowing he's smart hasn't stopped you from visiting him a few times in the forge and appreciating the way the sweat rolls down his muscled body. He even flexes for you.

DUMB OF ASS: The amount of times he accidentally burned himself because he was too busy making out with you is astounding. He picks you up easily enough. But then backs up a bit too much, touching or stepping too close to the heat of the forge. Either that or he knocks important tools down when he places you on his table.

PURE OF HEART: No one's got your back like Loris has your back. He's is one of the most supportive boyfriends you could ask for, husband material really. Whenever he notices you're having a bad day he will beckon you over and scoop you into his big arms. You're not getting away from him or his cuddles until you feel better.

DUMB OF ASS: Among the Enforcers he has always been known as the muscle, and as more than a bit of drinker. But he also tells the best stories. He can be a little crude sometimes, flirting with you and forgetting there are other people in the room. The next morning everyone is smirking at him and he has no idea why.

PURE OF HEART: Ambessa will crush anyone who has anything bad to say about her, her family, or anyone in her army. Her strength is in her physique, strategy and loyalty of her people. But on occasion she can show her softer side, when it's just the two of you. It's one of her weaknesses, that cute smile of yours that she would do anything for.

DUMB OF ASS: One of her favorite ways to flirt, and have foreplay, is to spar with you. However that tends to attract more than a few eyes. She always acts insanely possessive over you in those moments, her head still in the fight but also getting in between you and her soldiers. it ends up looking a bit like a dance, much to everyone's amusement.

[storm-and-starlight]

Oh, absolutely, I 100% agree that fanfic has huge amounts of interiority, "looking at the characters' thoughts that we never get to see" is a huge part of why it's written! What I'm referring to with "fanfiction bad habits" (if they can even really be called that, because they're not always bad habits if you're actually writing fic!) is stuff like overdescription of appearance or gesture. Fic authors are trying to indicate that the character on the page is the same character as is on the screen, and part of what is distinctive about the character on the screen is their appearance/physicality. For instance, in SPN Sam Winchester has long(ish) hair as... more of an appearance note than anything else? you can dig for character meaning but the show really doesn't do that, but it's one of the most iconic elements of his character, so it gets referenced in fic a LOT and often in places where on a technical level it's either unnecessary or actively slows down a scene. Same goes for trying to exactly describe character outfits. If you switch to original prose and aren't trying to match a character who primarily exists in visual media, you don't need to be constantly describing their hairstyle or walk or appearance, but the habit is there and might be hard to notice or break.

HOWEVER I also completely agree with your statement that a lot of authors (ahem ahem SANDERSON) are writing like they really want to make a movie or TV show, I don't have anything to add but. yeah. that's definitely something I've noticed as well.

A lot of fiction these days reads as if—as I saw Peter Raleigh put it the other day, and as I’ve discussed it before—the author is trying to describe a video playing in their mind. Often there is little or no interiority. Scenes play out in “real time” without summary. First-person POV stories describe things the character can’t see, but a distant camera could. There’s an overemphasis on characters’ outfits and facial expressions, including my personal pet peeve: the “reaction shot round-up” in which we get a description of every character’s reaction to something as if a camera was cutting between sitcom actors.

When I talk with other creative writing professors, we all seem to agree that interiority is disappearing. Even in first-person POV stories, younger writers often skip describing their character’s hopes, dreams, fears, thoughts, memories, or reactions. This trend is hardly limited to young writers though. I was speaking to an editor yesterday who agreed interiority has largely vanished from commercial fiction, and I think you increasingly notice its absence even in works shelved as “literary fiction.” When interiority does appear on the page, it is often brief and redundant with the dialogue and action. All of this is a great shame. Interiority is perhaps the prime example of an advantage prose as a medium holds over other artforms.

fascinated by this article, "Turning Off the TV in Your Mind," about the influences of visual narratives on writing prose narratives. i def notice the two things i excerpted above in fanfic, which i guess makes even more sense as most of the fic i read is for tv and film. i will also be thinking about its discussion of time in prose - i think that's something i often struggle with and i will try to be more conscious of the differences between screen and page next time i'm writing.

[another-goblin]

I like Dr. Ratio's mask a lot for several reasons.

1. It kind of plays with breaking the fourth wall.

I mean, you can't have a mask that's more realistic than your actual face. Unless you are a character in a stylized game, and only the player can see the mask this way.

2. Just the inherent silliness of it.

How does he put it on and off? Is this marble bust made of rubber?

It's about the size of his actual head. Does it mean is it a couple of milimiters thick?

Why does he pretend to read a book (he also writes down some equation and plays chess) while wearing the mask in his trailer? If he supposedly wears it to not see people?

How does he breathe? And talk?

Is it just a mask or a super complex piece of advanced technology made to look like something primitive, like his chalk? With an inner screen, a ventilation system, and so on?

How did he even come up with this idea? Doctor, sweetie, who hurt you? who told you it's a good idea?

Imagine putting a blindfold on because you don't want to see somebody. Even that would be super weird. But a whole marble bust?

And I like how everybody just accepts it. Like, yeah, he's a little weird like this.

3. I just like the face. The soft, androgynous features, the feminine hairdo and the little, gentle smile. Why would he choose that?

4. From what I understand, he wasn't even supposed to wear this thing at the beginning. I saw an earlier concept of him wearing an owl mask. They probably decided against it because there is a separate game faction known for wearing masks. So "wearing it to not see 'fools'" must have been a late addition to his personality.

It's also interesting that we only see him wearing it on Herta's station full of scientists, and Herta herself even comments that she doesn't remember how his actual face looks, showing how little he actually values knowledge, education, and being smart in an academic sense in and of itself.

[caffinated-squid]

Dissecting Pete and his complicated role in The Eltingville Club

Time to talk about Pete, the character that I have actually struggled the most to write about because I have a lot to say and have been struggling to coherently organize it. Also because I have seen some other people make really good analysis pieces about him, so I’m going to try my best to contribute.

On surface level Pete appears to have the same function as Jerry in the club, he is the support of the group and is able to break up a lot of the arguments that Bill and Josh get into. However, Pete doesn’t resolve the actual problem, he actually has the tendency to exacerbate it by actively encouraging the characters shitty behaviors instead of calming them down. One example that comes to mind is the Steel figures, instead of getting Josh to calm down and move on, he goes on a rant about the movie, and then encourages Josh with the idea of burning down the Steel display.

There is also the possibility that he originally joined the club as a kid both to talk about their nerdy interests together, as well as to get away from the violence in his family. But overtime he ended up needing to deal with fights and arguments from the club, as well as eventually participating in it.

*Focusing on Petes temper for a second, I think the main reason why a lot of his outbursts result in property damage is from him having no fucking clue how to deal with his emotions. From the brief scenes we hear his dad talk and what Dorkin has mentioned, Pete grew up in a household that encouraged toxic masculinity and rejected his own interests as being unimportant or for children. Dorkin also mentioned Pete growing up in a physical household where he was hit a lot, (which can also be implied when his dad threatens to break his legs if he ever tries to meet with the club again) so his go to for anything is to get violent, its the only acceptable emotion to express.

**I also like to think this is why Pete had the least of a reaction when Bill goes on his rant tearing him down, its probably the norm for him.

I find Pete’s contributions to the environment of the club to be interesting because of how contradictory it is. Pete is usually the character to call other characters pussies or make fun of them for not doing things that are traditionally masculine, (like the comment to Jerry about how sewing is for chicks, sissies, and sweatshop workers) but at the same time needs to defend his own interests from the club as it gets brushed off as being gay or not worth discussion, including needing to defend his admiration of horror make up/special effects.

His reaction makes sense in the context of his family life since they don’t care about his interests either, and the club being his only friend group probably gives the urgency to both protect his interests while also aggressively stamping out any suggestion that it implies something about him. If bi Pete is canon, I’m assuming he doesn’t even want to think about it because if it were true, it would probably lead to more isolation and more things for the club and his family to shit on him for.

Out of all the character punishments, next to Josh, I think Pete got the worst of it when it came to punishments, as he was forced to throw out all of his horror stuff after the comic shop burned down, since his method of escapism was completely ripped away from him and confirmed as non important kids stuff that he needs to grow out of. It’s also sad to see because in comics like Unstable Molecules and They’re Dead, They’re All Messed Up, you can see Pete’s interest in horror make up and costumes shine through. Mentions of him improving the zombie looks from the prior year and his admiration for the horror make up in The Twilight Zone episodes show that he cares about the craft behind it. (same with him talking about horror icons like Peter Cushing, Anne Rice, and Christopher Lee)

Destroying this escapism didn’t make Pete more of an adult. Ironically he became more of a child as he got older, his insecurity about his interests made him seek out more adult content, both because its content he gets off to, as well as wanting to be perceived as an adult, which is why he gave up comics years ago ‘to take up fuckin.’ Pete never solved any of his actual problems, he’s still short tempered, a sex pest, and insecure about himself, but is now the one abusing other people with his scrap of power, just like his dad and probably his brothers did to him.

[tootiecakes234]

Busy

NSFW(MDNI) ; Character Aged Up

Kinda fluffy, kinda smutty...

It was Saturday afternoon and you were on the couch all comfy. You had cleaned and cooked dinner. Now you were impatiently waiting for your boyfriend to get home.

The two of you have been dating for 2 and a half years now and living together for 6 months. You decided to take that step because you wanted more time together. Between your job and Katsuki's as a pro hero, you guys were always trying to find time for each other. Moving in had made this a lot better, but this past month has really been hell.

Kat left for a week on a mission out of the country, and a day after after he got back, you had to leave for a business trip for a few days. As soon as you thought the worst was over, there was attack after attack from the League of Villains. He was getting called in to work even on his days off.

The time apart was driving the both of you a little crazy. Your mood has been down and you haven't wanted to do much besides stay at home and sulk. You knew Katsuki was getting to a breaking point because you were hearing more complaints about him than usual.

He'd never admit it, but you are a big factor in him keeping his attitude in check. You had a very calming affect on him, so when he goes too long without real time with you, he reverts back to his asshole tendencies.

You are completely caught up in your show, when you hear the front door slam shut.

“Katsuki, why are slamming the door?” All you hear is him in the walkway tugging off his boots and grumbling to himself.

You get up and walk over to where is and all the frustration on his face starts to melt as soon as his eyes land on you.

“What’s wrong?” You ask as you walk over to him and slide your hands into his sweaty hair. “You stink ‘suki”

“Wow thanks. I just worked an 8 hour shift kicking ass all day” he rolls his eyes, “sorry hard work doesn’t smell good.

Even though you complain you don’t move away from him. You feel like you haven’t seen him more than an hour at a time recently.

“You should shower and then come out and eat. I made your favorite for dinner.”

“Yeah, I smelled it outside the door and my mouth was watering. I didn’t have time to eat lunch today.” He says a little hesitantly because you’ve chewed him out more than once over skipping meals when he puts his body through so much.

And you probably would have again, if you didn’t see the exhaustion in his face.

“Then do you wanna eat first, then shower. I don’t want you to pass out in there.”

“If you shower with me you can keep watch. Make sure I make it out alive.” He says as sweetly as he can muster right now.

And you do shower with him. You end up washing his hair for him and giving his shoulders a little massage that almost puts him to sleep standing up.

After that you get dressed and go dinner plated for the both of you. While you’re in the kitchen Katsuki hangs off of you like a backpack everywhere you go refusing to let you go.

You have 0 complaints to offer because you’re both touch starved by this point.

You end up eating thigh to thigh in the living room on the floor with some trashy show on. Katsuki inhaling his food in 3 bites and then nodding off while you attempt to finish yours as fast as you can before you completely lose him.

You get up and take the plates to the kitchen and Katsuki is standing at the bedroom door waiting on you.

“Baby, I’m not really sleepy yet. If you want to lay down, I’ll come in a little later.”

“We’re not going to sleep yet. I haven’t held you,awake anyways, or been inside you in almost 2 weeks.” He comes over and starts pulling into the bedroom. “I have a plan. First, I’m gonna make you cum… on my mouth. Then I’m gonna make both of us cum with me inside you.” By this point, you can already feel the wetness starting to pool inside your undies.

“And then, depending on how much energy I have left, I might repeat steps number one and two” this makes you giggle a little and his eyes are twinkling and mischievous. More bright and alive than you’ve seen them since he got home.

“By then, I promise, you’ll be so exhausted all you’ll wanna do is cuddle with me until we pass out.”

“You’re really cocky for someone that was just falling asleep. You probably won’t even have enough energy to complete step one”

By then he has you right on the edge of the bed. He pushes you so you fall back against the mattress with light “uumph”

You look up at him standing there all shirtless and sweatpants hanging low, and the hard outline in those sweatpants.

You think to yourself He might not have to touch to complete step one.

“Y/N the world would have to fuckin spontaneously combust to make me deviate from this plan.” He says as he crawls over you on the bed. “Now, you can either slide these fucking shorts off or I can tear them off you. Your choice.

*little did you know that Katsuki turned off both of your phones while you were in the kitchen and his work phone. He was being literal when he said nothing was getting in the way of this… not tonight. You he would MAKE time for.

Katsuki Bakugo Masterlist

*ummmm this was long but I’m trying to find my groove so…. Thanks for baring with me🤭

[danyseastar]

this is an INCREDIBLY disingenuous take, which doesn’t shock me in the slightest despite season two utterly destroying the fanon perception of alicent many have made up in their minds.

rhaenyra did not want to marry laenor, book or show. it is a direct consequence of viserys’ inability to be anything other than a complacent door mat, and daemon attempting to sully rhaenyra’s reputation in the hopes that viserys will marry her to him. the only husband she chooses is daemon.

the show did her far less justice in that it created a storyline of rhaenyra being given a ‘choice’ or at the very least the ‘illusion of choice’ before being forced to marry. the situation leading up to it is roughly the same minus that aspect is the book. i have no doubt in my mind that viserys would have concocted some scheme to bring the velaryon’s back into the fold regardless of rhaenyra’s reputation being put into question, but i digress. i’m not here to talk about hypotheticals.

rhaenyra has no intentions of not ‘doing her duty’ or ‘not sacrificing herself enough’ in this endeavor. this person is purposely misleading with their usage of only part of the quote (the one that fits the narrative they want to push). below is the dialogue for the scene this person is talking about:

the conversation, as this person so eloquently put, is not about rhaenyra wanting to ‘fuck whoever she pleases.’ it’s two teenagers put into a predicament they don’t want to be in; one because she both does not want to marry and wishes to find love with someone else, and the other a closeted gay man with no interest in women. the full quote is, “that we perform our DUTIES to our fathers, then each of us dines as we see fit.” rhaenyra had no initial interest in not having trueborn children with her husband. this is further proven with the season one episode seven line, “i had hoped to bear your [laenor’s] children.”

another point i’d like to make is WHY exactly is it seen as such a character flaw to not want to be looked down upon, or taken advantage of? to want freedom and flights of fancy and the ability to be happy? a certain someone DID her duty, and she wasn’t happy. she SACRIFICED everything, and she still wasn’t happy. she ultimately decides to gift her sons on a silver platter to the enemy in her pursuit of protecting her daughter and granddaughter; after a conversation where she admits that she was jealous of rhaenyra, for finding that happiness she herself was unable to grasp. this is not a moral failing on rhaenyra’s part. i don’t care what the in world ethics are of any given situation, i’m not going to sit back and look at a system meant to hurt women and root for it, whether my favorite character supports it or not. whether i deem it the ‘safest’ option (it isn’t) for my favorites lives to continue. how is anyone meant to break the wheel if they continuously allow themselves to be stepped on, or god forbid uphold it for their own personal gain?

‘i’m supposed to root* for her?’ you don’t have to root for her. you’re not obliged to. you’re not going to be burned at the stake. you’re not special for siding with overt female subjugation because the only women you deem to deserve better are those who perform their duties unwillingly and sacrifice their bodies and minds in the process. those who don’t fit into mold of the patriarchy be damned, the imperfect victims that they are, the ‘bad’ women of society.

[mari-lair]

hello ! i love your fics and analysis! I was wondering which tbhk ships you think will become endgame?

Anon I have the most white bread of answers but since you asked-

1 - Hananene.

Nene starts the manga by wanting a date. It doesn't matter with who, any hot guy will do. She has many infatuations but isn't in love with anyone, she just want to be loved.

Nene has a lot of small character developments in different areas throughout the manga, but her strongest and most consistent change is her increasing love for Hanako and her acceptance of it.

She is still a girl with a ton of emotions, and she finds hot people attractive BUT now she want Hanako and only Hanako. She rejects everyone she used to have a crush on, there is no doki doki's when she gets the attention of pretty people cause they aren't the boys she wants attention from anymore.

Even Teru doesn't compare to Hanako. She went on a 'date' with him and felt more excited about bragging than the actual 'date'

AND SHE DID NOT BRAG when hanako got back, she just wanted to enjoy that he's back.

I don't even know why I am going so in dept on the couple stablished since chapter 1 but since i'm already rambling: Despite everything crazy going on in the festival NENE'S BIGGEST FOCUS WAS TO CONFESS TO HANAKO. That's something she thinks more about than her own death, like girl- Hanako is her whole world. She will not get a romance with another person.

There is the question of "Will Nene survive?"

If she doesn't, she'll disappear and have no boyfriend but I bet she'll be thinking about Hanako in her death. If she finds a way to become a supernatural in a very wild narrative choice she will be able to stay with hanako in their cursed eternity forever.

In the case she lives and Hanako gets exorcised she won't move on. Aidairo loves tragedies and obsessive love, so I can't see her approaching crushes with the same whimsy after her love dies. And Aidairo would likely preffer to make her suffer in her grief and longing than give her a rebound with some random guy, cause it sure won't be Kou.

2 - Mitsukou

My personal preferences aside, it is clear they are written to have romantic implications. Kou will either die with Mitsuba (As shown in the new timeline), and stay with him in death.

Or live to have an intense homoerotic 'friendship' with him.

He legit can't get mitsuba off his head, he thinks about him more than anything during the manga and he has A LOT of problems to think about.

I can't personally picture an explicit confession but we had a lot of equivalents already. It would be weird for Aidairo to send them to the aquarium, make Kou obsessed with mitsuba (and vise verse), show that they are 'very very close' in this new timeline, keep drawing them star-struck by each other and so on without romance in the head.

Kou is also never able to put his feelings into words, like, bro that's suspicious as hell.

They always get matching art with all the couples in Aidairo's twitter arts too.

That's not queerbaiting, they may not be explicit but by the lord they are not subtle at all, there is never a single "oh Mitsuba is like a brother to me" moment, they don't undo any of the gay implications we see, they double down on it.

Kou may be bi but it sure isn't the Nene route that Aidairo is playing.

3 - Aoikane

Akane has loved Aoi since he was a little kid. Waaaaaaay before he got a clock keeper contract.

He saw that Aoi cared so much about his opinion that she'd break out of her cold persona and burst into tears at the idea of being hated, and he locked in for life.

They are the codependent childhood friends troupe, the "I know you better than anyone" troupe, the "you are a part of my life I can't live without" troupe and they both love each other from the very start of the manga, not showing romantic interest in anyone else.

Nothing has made Akane change his mind about being with Aoi. Not being stabbed, not being rejected many times, not facing how bad aoi is at deling with her issues head on. He'll do anything for her time and time again.

in Akane's own words:

They had many build ups and a whole arc dedicated to their developments with each other (which is a lot considering they aren't main characters and Aoi usually get no focus in this manga.)

Narratively, it wouldn't make any sense to dedicate so many chapters pointing out how much they mean to each other and slowly working through their issues only to slap another ship at the end.

And is not like Aidairo said "They had their arc let's never talk about them again!", the author went out of her way to say "Even in a world where Aoi is in an arranged marriage, she still loves Akane"

They aren't subtle.

From the matching names, to the way they both crumble when they are separated from one another and keep thinking about marriage, they are very devoted. They have already explicitly confessed to the audience that they are in love with each other.

They'll either stay together forever or they'll die together.

[rei-ismyname]

Uncanny X-Men #8 review - Raid on Graymalkin finale

Raid on Graymalkin has been a strange event in a lot of ways. It happened very early after an editorial and creative team change, it's only four issues spread over 2 books, and perhaps most of all, editorial both spoiled the ending and hyped up an ideological divide between Rogue and Cyclops. The big question is 'was the hype paid off?' Sadly, no - Uncanny #8 doesn't so much land the plane as crash it into a mountain. A plane crash can be a spectacle though, let's break it down. At the very least it looks great. This is a long one, so strap in.

We get to know Scurvy a little better.

X-Men #9 ended with both teams in Scurvy/ Philip's psychic thrall and Charles Xavier taking the stage after Kurt and Kwannon freed him. Uncanny #8 opens with his POV of his recent history, showing a 'Not All Mutants' mutant and how he ended up in an abusive relationship with a right wing podcast host. Well, it shows how they met, how his powers work, and how Warden Ellis has used him.

His powers aging him drastically explains why he's reluctant to go all out and perhaps how his powers helped an Infowars knock off to get this job. YMMV on whether this makes him sympathetic; it's certainly a 180 from the plain pathetic he has been portrayed as thus far. We spend a lot of time with him this issue, but it's all so vague I don't feel like we actually know all that much about him. He is portrayed as a victim, though he's also in the process of frying our heroes' brains and enslaving people. On the other hand, we get so little of his motivations and feelings that there's not much there. Villains/antagonists need to be developed to be interesting, and I'm not sure if Scurvy is a victim of Ellis' crusade or a self hating mutant who gave 'everything to a dream' for ... reasons. He's literally killing himself and it'd be good to know why.

Scurvy has been hyped as a Psychic on par with Xavier, something Xavier himself hasn't exactly confirmed but he has admitted Scurvy is an obstacle. They haven't met but Scurvy's been aware of Xavier, presumably because he's world famous and announced Krakoa to everyone on the planet. Scurvy suggests it's more than that - he and Charles are part of a group of five mutants called Avians, one of whom died - Harvey X. Chuck has had an oversized presence in Simone's Uncanny X-Men and another vague mystery about him takes up space that could be used to develop other characters - The Outliers, Jubilee, Nightcrawler. This 'Avian' business feels like The Twelve and other similar half baked plots, and how can Charles have a tumour if he's in a relatively new body? He died last in Inferno AFAIK, but more than that it feels unnecessary. I'm not invested in believing or disbelieving it, though Chuck dying might make X-Manhunt more interesting.

Chuck isn't showing up again until March, and Scurvy ages 10 years during this issue. Why are we spending all this time on these people that aren't main characters? Does Xavier really need to be part of some special unexplained group? He's been a very special and prominent part of the X-Men since 1963 - new old girlfriends and vague hints of specialness feel like mystery box overkill. Maybe Scurvy is lying as part of their psychic battle. Laws of narrative economy suggest otherwise, but either way - what's the point? Also, Avians? Are they birds? Maybe it's a Shi'Ar thing but right now it sounds ridiculous. Avians 🙄

Juggernaut knocks Rogue out of Scurvy's control and she thinks she has time to do the same to one other person. She apologises to Gambit for not choosing him and picks Cyke as the tactical choice, nearly knocking his head off. He snaps out of it too and shit gets bizarre.

For some reason Scott chooses this moment to berate Rogue for 'bringing kids into a war zone' which is a super valid point but I find it difficult to believe he'd bring it up while they're on the back foot and threats are everywhere. Rogue's answer is even more puzzling. I can believe she'd make an appeal to emotion but it's not a real answer. 'At least we don't have Magneto on our team' is not a rebuttal to nearly getting children killed, but it also does not make sense.

Magneto has been reformed for YEARS at this point and was a driving force behind Krakoa. She's saying like he's some irredeemable villain when he's the most heroic he's ever been. He and Rogue had zero interaction on Krakoa, where he was considered a national hero and famously was very tight with her hero Xavier. If she has an issue with the sins that came to light after Inferno, then she wouldn't be so charitable to Chuck, either. Maybe it's Scurvy's influence, but if so then what's the point? This isn't ideology, it's dodging the question at worst or petty bickering at best. Has Rogue forgotten her extensive history with Magneto, or her own start as a villain? What about her husband's involvement in the Mutant Massacre or her parents' unrepentant villainy? When considered in the context of Simone saying that Rogue and Cyclops would occupy the Xavier/Magneto relationship it looks like a missed shot. You'd have to ignore decades of history to make it work. Sigh, this was an unforced error and it really bums me out.

'I'm never going to be you and you're never going to be Professor X' is flat out weird. Cyclops answer of 'good' is consistent with his argument last issue, but it makes it look like they're not having the same conversation. Finally they realise they're in a war zone and only now does Rogue defer to Cyclops. Oookayyy. They say 'Magik and Wolverine' together in a moment that's both cheesy as hell and should underline their commonalities. I'm almost feel bad ragging on this, but it's not executed well. At least Rogue is consistently characterised as a cowboy. That's something.

Magik and Wolverine start freeing people then stop to agree not to kill each other. Deathdream says weird stuff, as usual, and the two make up. Jitter has her second instance of love heart emoji'ing a woman, which is cute but still deniable as actual WLW representation. I hope Simone cashes this cheque.

Queerness should be something that's not notable in a perfect world, just a part of the character. We don't live in a perfect world though, and we don't know a lot about Jitter. We know her powers, that she's Malay Singaporean, that she has a stutter, and that she possibly likes women. It's not enough for issue #8 of the flagship series. The choice was made to heavily focus on Xavier and Sarah Gaunt, and a casualty of that was getting to know main characters. It wouldn't be such a big deal if the payoff was worth it, but what did we actually learn? Instead of giving readers a break from Charles Xavier, he's been a regular presence. His appearance in this event could have been more impactful but I feel like we never had a chance to miss him.

Kwannon and Kurt reveal that Scurvy made them fight, which Rogue is aware of, and she adds that 'we're broken.' I'm not sure what that's supposed to mean, but this undermines the stakes of the ideological conflict. Is it manufactured or isn't it? None of them consider attacking Scurvy while he's fighting Xavier, either. Nobody is acting like they're in danger. It feels unserious, like the characters are just waiting for things to happen to them.

At this point I don't really care who Inmate X is. Uncanny X-Men has been dropping these mystery boxes that readers can only guess at, and like with Harvey X being the one pulling strings, it comes out of nowhere. It's another Avian, which means nothing to us beyond a vague implication of specialness. We know that Ellis considers it a bad thing if he get out of his cell, but that doesn't narrow it down aside from it being a he.

Aw, cripes - popular gen Z saying

Interestingly, Xavier's astral form is that of his Cerebro-helmeted onesie twink. It could reveal that he hasn't changed at all in how he sees himself and his role as shepherd of mutantkind. It's very different from his classic astral battle appearance, and I love it thematically and visually. Scurvy and Chuck as astral giants towering over the schoolprison is striking, though the casualness of their dialogue mutes it somewhat.

Not sure how Ezra or Ellis can tell Scurvy is losing a battle on the astral plane, but she does what she should have done before this and gets a gun. Calico is overjoyed that the Outliers (except Jitter) came for her, but what could be a heartwarming moment is undercut by their dulled expressions. I can buy Deathdream doing this, but Ransom has been emotionally aware prior to this. We have zero details, but aren't these kids tight after months of being on the run together?

It's finally time to stop standing around, as Ellis and guards are here with guns. The X-Men, having already beat up plenty of these dudes, aren't impressed. They stand together (no idea where Chuck and Scurvy got to) and Cyke urges her to stand down, pointing out that they're not as nice as the Avengers. Rogue agrees in the shittiest way possible, thinking 'sometimes visor boy says jus the right thing.' Weird ableist stance from Rogue, but all it does is highlight how shallow their conflict is and remind us that Gail Simone doesn't like Cyclops.

Ellis doesn't blink, telling them her 'brother died because of trash like you.' We knew this already, and I'm wondering if there's anything else to her. She's established as a threat but she's not especially interesting. She helped with Sarah Gaunt out of empathy (?) but here she is flinging the same old slurs. I'm not sure if her dark skin is meant to be noteworthy or say anything. So far it hasn't been a part of her character in any way other than visual, no commentary on how someone who has experienced minority oppression becomes so hell-bent on dealing it out herself. How does a person become willing to enslave and torture, and even (as we'll see) destroy two towns with thousands of humans in them? Her brother died, sure, but that's thin characterisation for a multi-arc villain.

Chuck wallops Scurvy with an uppercut!

Ellis brings out The Trustees again (who the X-Men easily defeated) to have Blob recite 'the pledge.' Very messed up but it shouldn't exactly convince the X-Men to do anything other than smash this place to pieces. She threatens to let Sarah Gaunt loose from her comically large chains that shouldn't stop her for a second.

Cyclops points out that with Scurvy's defeat Ellis' big gun is down. She laughs at that, and for some reason Chuck doesn't immediately take over her brain. Her big gun is more literal - a fucking network of sonic cannon satellites. Who TF gave this lady a Death Star? She has Merle and Haven targeted but Rogue thinks she's bluffing. Logically, you'd think so. Would the US government really accept this maniac destroying towns with a space laser? Not sure how they'd spin that. Also, neither team have any leverage to stop her using it whenever she wants. I feel like she's forcing them to kill her right here and now, lest their strategic position becomes 'able to be killed at any time without effort.' They could even just send her on permanent vacation to Limbo, see how her bullshit flies with Maddie Pryor.

Ellis lets them take the people they came for (why?) but that's not enough for Rogue. Siryn speaks to Rogue personally while crying, indicating she's herself, as much as she can be with all the torture, mind control, and who knows what else? It's only when Xavier intercedes that Rogue listens.

Charles explains why he needs to be in prison (though we know he'll change his mind and escape in March) and they have an emotional exchange. It works, I guess, but Rogue looks super selfish and ignorant. Free Charles for personal reasons when he doesn't want it at the cost of two towns? Doesn't seem like much of a choice (other than knocking Ellis out while she's in your face.) It feels a bit regressive for Rogue, too. She is aware of everything from Fall of X (including Chuck manipulating one of her mothers and trying to permanently kill the other) and hadn't really had or needed a mentor in a long time. Sure, everyone is lost after Krakoa, but WTF is she so attached to Xavier? It's great that he was the first to believe in her but this feels almost infantilising. Rogue is better than this.

Scott has Magik open a big portal before 'she' can stop you. I assume 'she' refers to Rogue, except Rogue is shown willingly walking through it with everyone else. Ellis wasn't interested in stopping them. It's like everyone has the script and realises the event is over so it's time to go. I have difficulty believing any of these characters would just meekly leave, not because of Xavier, but the multiple sonic space cannons that can kill them anytime plus their enslaved comrades. There's eight regular ass humans with guns in the way and this is their shot to do anything about it. How many of these X-Men could take them all out by themselves? Cyke could optic blast them unconscious, Magik has multiple methods, and many of the others could just punch them while ignoring bullets.

Yo, where's Quentin? He arrived with you guys.

Once Rogue has walked through the portal (clearly willingly and without duress) she objects again - 'no. We can't leave him there!' Cyke echoes Charles' own words and promises to get the others out, but Rogue punches him maybe ten feet and not only repudiates Scott's promises (?) but places the blame entirely on him. He blasts her and tells her to grow up (kinda fair) but then their teammates hold them back. Beast tells Scott he won, but this looks like a narrative trick to pretend Cyclops wanted to fight or has any reason to.

Rogue turns to leave with mild venom and her team follows. Hank assures Scott that he had no choice and Scott disagrees but doesn't elaborate. I hate to see X-Men fight but it's even worse when it's over nothing. The post-portal events feel like Simone going 'hmm, didn't really sell that ideological divide or their falling out, fuck it, just have Rogue punch Cyclops.' I think Cyclops was mostly right here, but it's more than Rogue was wrong and the conflict was contrived. I just don't buy the degree of animosity Rogue has and all the reasons given feel out of character. If that's who Rogue is right now I can accept it, but it's not very heroic and she's had multiple egregious failures of leadership. If this is identified as a character flaw that needs working on or a mistake that she regrets it could make for interesting storytelling, but all the information we have suggests that's not the case. Uncanny is frankly a trainwreck, but at least it looks fantastic. The letters page and other media suggests a lot of people are enjoying this book, and I couldn't be happier for them. I just wish I was too. I'll keep reviewing it of course, and I'll be less harsh than this review was. It was hyped and it called shots and didn't deliver. Doing that sets expectations and gives me another metric to judge it by. Hopefully we can get on with learning about the characters who've been neglected.

As for Raid on Graymalkin as an event, it had its ups and downs. Most of the ups were in X-Men and most of the downs were in Uncanny. Ultimately it didn't fulfill the promise it made so I judge it as a failure. We didn't learn a great deal and it boiled down to a cynical excuse for X-Men to punch each other. The mysteries it introduced feel dull to me and I am not especially interested in the Avians or Inmate X. The solicits for X-Manhunt spoiled that Xavier wasn't going anywhere, which left us with forced conflict. I'm far more interested in the aftermath of the event, especially the Alaska team dealing with a visit from the O*N*E. They don't really need much reason to fuck with the X-Men so I'm not crediting the event with that.

Thanks for reading!

[starguardianniom]

Fair enough. But still, also love, because Gabriel did love his wife, and Marinette... yeah that's more obsession than anything else, you could say it's love, but hers is really an obsession down to science, and since she's not getting therapy anytime soon to get some serious help about it given she kinds of needs it since her love problems stem from a traumatic event I can't ship her with anyone, and I absolutely refuses that she dates Adrien after season 5 and the London special. She took the easy route and I honestly hope it will blow in her face and that Adrien will have the self respect to break up with her and never take her back after that. Nobody twisted her arm to make her choices, she decided on her own. Gabriel isn't there to force her, he asked her to and he's dead so he's no longer in position to do anything about it but she still chose to respect his wishes, and I cannot forgive that because he doesn't deserve it, the world doesn't deserve to be lie to about it, and Adrien doesn't deserves the lies either, also because it will come to screw him over in the future most likely because Lila/Cerise/Iris is still around and she could take down Marinette's lies. And honestly I hope she does because Marinette lying to the whole world about Monarch, I'm sorry but that makes her an even bigger liar than Lila at that point. She's the hero of Paris, she's not supposed to side with the local magical terrorist just to spare his kid's feelings and avoid another kid to have her mom send to jail, sure it sucks but their parents are evil and really needs to be stopped. Marinette shouldn't be the one to decide about abusive parents, the situation with Chloé proved she is completely incompetent at dealing with those, why on earth did she think she would do Chloé a favor by having her make up with her abusive mother who had no qualm about insulting her on live television and is half responsible for Chloé being the way she is (as she is imitating her mother) I honestly cannot fathom how she thought Chloé would get better having a second toxic parent around to enable her worst behavior.

Anyway rant over yeah love is pretty much obsession in this show unless you're a background character...

The Power of Love in Miraculous Ladybug

It's bad.

Legit bad.

Just in the opening song, you hear: "The power of love always so strong!"

More like always so strong at creating all the problems in the freaking show fr.

Gabriel is Hawk Moth just to get the miraculouses to save his wife, so he is motivated by love.

Marinette legit screwed herself up in 4 of the 5 seasons finales because of love.

And that's not getting into all the akumas she caused just because she was so caught up in her own feelings that she screwed over other people or just ended up hurting other people's feelings in her wake.

The world legit ended because of her love.

Also had to reset an entire timeline too because she couldn't stick to her plan the moment she learned Adrien was Chat Noir.

Let's not forget how the show portrays Marinette's love of Adrien, via stalking, knowing everything in his schedule for the next 3 years, planning his birthday gifts for decades in advance (and apparently having weird gifts too since she threw one of them in the trash once she saw Adrien's confused reaction to it), getting jealous of any girl getting close to him to the point that she once teamed up with Chloé to get Kagami away, and Kagami had done nothing to deserve being humiliated publicly like that, even worse is that the year before Marinette got humiliated b Chloé in front of a guy she liked by said guy she liked which started her whole obsession about Adrien later on which just makes her a double hypocrite in Animaestro.

Marinette treats Adrien more like a prize than a person, you're not gonna make me believe that everything she knows about him is stuff she learned from him by talking to him, please, given how she could barely speak to him you really think she would pull this off? Pretty sure she just researched him online, at one point she pratically begs Nino to tell her what Adrien finds funny.

And yet not once does she consider if Adrien would actually have a word in their relationship, she called him her Adrien as far as season 1.

Meanwhile, Gabriel loves his son but also emotionally abuse him, and also gets physical with him once he learns he's Chat Noir, he yeeted him to the Eiffel Tower, I never forgave him for that.

He also loves his wife, but he also ended up losing his one real chance at bringing her back just to get back at Ladybug, so you can say his love wasn't enough anymore.

The Power of Love was motivating him until it changed to obsession at revenge with Ladybug.

Now I wonder what's it's gonna take until Marinette realise her love for Adrien is her downfall. So far it screwed her over everytime more than anything else, it's not her strenght it's her biggest weakness that brings out the worst in her, and it got brought to it's height in the season 5 finale and the London special.

Lying to the whole world about Gabriel just to spare Adrien's feelings because Gabriel asked her too, especially after everything he did to him, to her and everyone else? Yeah, no.

It just traps Adrien more.

It's disgusting.

The Power of Love is the biggest evil in the freaking show to the point it's its own character.

Lila wish she could be just as bad.

Maybe she will be able to show us.

And with how season 5 ended, I'm wondering how The Power of Love is gonna do, probably do even more damage.

The Power of Love shown by the main protagonist and the main villain is the most terrifying thing ever in the show.

[jalebi-weds-bluetooth]

Hi S!

Eager to know Jalebi's honest opinion. Is Arnav a classist? His actions and accusations of "gold digging" against Khushi seems to say so. Later on during the 'dadi track' he seems to oppose her evident classism. But is that because now Khushi is his wife?

Hey!

This is an interesting question because there is a yes and a no.

A yes because had Khushi belonged from a higher class, Arnav's treatment of her would have been different. So if a person is treated better because of their class, that's classism.

However, Arnav has absolutely no qualms with people from lower class. When he learns that Akash loves Payal, Arnav's main concern isn't that Payal comes from no money and lower social status, his concern is whether or not Akash is ready for a lifelong commitment and isn't being childish just because he's infatuated. That is Arnav being a really sensible brother.

Arnav actually has no difficulty gelling with Khushi's family. Any problem Arnav faces in Lakshminagar is a direct result of Khushi annoying him. He's, in fact, quite sensitive to Gupta's monetary stretch. He doesn't order Italian food for himself simply because the Guptas don't know fine dining. He actually orders it for everyone - even though he's annoyed the hell out of Khushi because ordering food for just himself at a guest's house is rude.

And let's not forget, Arnav gets annoyed every time Manorama makes a comment on class on either Payal or Khushi.

Dadi track had a lot of missed potential in my opinion. It would have been great for Khushi to point out that Dadi mirrors a lot of Arnav's earlier opinions of her.

To be honest, more than Khushi being his wife it's about the time when Arnav's misgivings about Khushi started fading (around post Janmashtami). I think that's when he figured out Khush is a bit stupid and absurd, but not the gold digger he assumed her to be.

Hence, he's a bit disturbed when he learns that Manorama accused Khushi of robbery (because Anjali is right about Khushi being unjustly treated at Shantivan).

[I've always interpreted Arnav asking Khushi tum theek ho that day for more than just the getting her earring stuck on his jacket - which is also a weird thing to ask if someone is ok after an accessory got stuck, lol]

And then during Dadi era he loves Khushi, so of course he's taking a stand for the woman he loves.

He loves Khushi. He loves her family.

But there is a slight, inherent, classism in Arnav because reality IS that Khushi would have had a lot of things easier for her if she just belonged from a better class (not even his equivalent but just if she spoke English, or came across as upper middle class).

And it is classism that it takes SO much for him to start viewing her nicely. To throw away his prejudice. Her class plays a key role here.

Anjali has to keep justifying Khushi's intentions. Khushi has to prove her kindness and selflessness MULTIPLE times to his family. Arnav has no hesitation to shove money in Khushi's face.

It is classism that he resorts to insulting her class when he wants a shield for his growing attraction.

And Arnav would have thought twice before hurting her because she holds some power. Now power dynamics is a whole different monster in this conversation because not just class but even gender, their careers, Khushi's family and patriarchy play a key role behind the grossly imbalanced power dynamic between Arnav and Khushi.

In short, there is classism because Arnav feels entitled to do his way when he's being ruthless. But also Arnav is completely accepting of people from different classes and he does not think he's amazing because of it.

So a yes, and a no.

Love,

S

P.S: Anjali exhibits privilege in and a very very slight classist nature as well. A person of lower class cannot tell Anjali no. She keeps compelling Khushi multiple times because of this class difference (not just because Khushi is kind).

Anjali is kind and cultured enough to say the right thing but she is not beyond manipulating situations to her benefit. Anjali cares far more for her brother, so she's completely fine subjecting Khushi to continuous interactions with her acrimonious brother, misusing her financial strength against Khushi, having Khushi constantly come over to her home even after her job is over so Khushi has to juggle looking after her parents and tuitions and being Anjali & La's buddy time while her transportation costs are totally not being covered.

Anjali is blind as hell to the fact that Khushi's time is of value as well.

[tenderpreyy]

​I’m thinking again about Astarions sexuality and how I've seen some people (to be fair, just a few) talk about it. Mainly, people pointing out his flamboyant behavior, and that us as players are learning more about his past male lovers than female ones and basically all these things for some people pointing to him being gay or at least not interested in women in the same way he is in men. And him only being a romance option regardless of gender, because, well, all companions are and he is therefore just "playersexual", only showing interest in female player characters because he has to, because of the game mechanics.

I think what really rubs me the wrong way about this topic is that it echoes the kind of things bi/pan people (speaking as a bisexual woman myself) find themselves dealing with irl. Whether through some form of internalized biphobia or from the outside through other people's comments. Of course this is about a fictional character so it’s not like he has any feelings that could be hurt. But when i see people tallying up how often he mentions men vs. how often he mentions women it really reminds me of a way of thinking I sometimes fall into in regards to my own sexuality. This is definitely just an internalized response and not something I actually believe when I truly think about it for a second, but I know these patterns of thought very well. Of observing my own behavior. How often do I find which gender attractive? Am I attracted "enough" to women? Do I talk about men's attractiveness too often? Is it the other way around? Am I only saying this woman is attractive to prove something to myself? I literally have a girlfriend and my attitude towards mine or other's sexual orientation is generally a huge big "whatever, I don't care". And I still have a passing thought like that from time to time.

So seeing people talk about a fictional character in this way really sends home how many people (whether consciously or unconsciously) see attraction as some sort of equation, you can solve, where in the end you get a result of either gay or straight.

[moeblob]

Amazing, take some of the side character demons from Evil Bound.

Vincie is a menace to Chuck and Chuck alone so in Hell, Chuck hexes his hand behind his back so that he isn't grabbed as much (and it's harder to pet him). Chuck is like the most irresponsible older sibling ever to demons though so Kelvin recruits him (as an older sibling vibe) to go help him get his ACTUAL older sibling from Earth. Chuck agrees. And then drags Vincie from Hell with them because no one else wants to babysit him and he refuses to unbind the hex just to re-hex when he returns to Hell.

In Hell, Kelvin actually doesn't appear much different than his human form! Like Kronos, the lines under his eyes are red in Hell but black on earth. Chuck however? In Hell he has wolf-ish ears and has a fur lining his neck (note the neck scars in human form). In addition to that he has four eyes in Hell (note the scars under his eyes in human form). Vincie just has horns in Hell. And! In Hell the hex doesn't have a silly looking "tied up" look, it's invisible unless Vincie strains it with movement and then its red text. But it shifts on earth to be visible.

Vincie's biggest agony for the entirety on earth is "dude it's colder here than in Hell I want a jacket to slip my arms into BUT I CANT BECAUSE IM BOUND".

[weatherman667]

Thirteenth Section

After chatting with @decreare I realized that Gandalf fulfills the same role in the story as Manic Pixie Dreamgirls.

And so, the question is, what role does the character have in your story?

And if they don't have a role, why are they in your story?

Individual characters can fulfill multiple roles, and it's important to do this, to keep them interesting when not focusing on their role.

Let's Nora Valkyrie. She has two primary roles in RWBY:

Jaune's Minion

Comic Relief

Yes, she's an absolutely wonderful character, but her role is as comic relief.

If you took Nora out of the context of being Jaune's sidekick, she would just be causing wanton destruction. And this is one of the things CRWBY failed when they wanted to give her a TragicBackstoryTM.

They wanted to turn her into a heroine with her own agency, because girl power, and...

They honestly seemed to forget that RWBY are the eponymous heroes. The show is literally named after them. They each had their own trailer showing them being uniquely heroic.

But why can't Nora be her own hero?!

Because she's a B-lister from a B-team.

But what if Nora wants to be the hero?!

She doesn't. She's a loveable orphan that found a family.

But, it's not like she got a daddy warbucks to adopt her?

No, but Nora grew up fighting the grim(m) creatures from your darkest nightmares, and likes hitting things with her hammer. Giving her a Little Orphan Annie ending is like keeping your cat locked in your apartment, and wondering why he keeps scratching the doors to get out. Even worse if you give that cat a two-handed maul.

Could Nora be an independent hero? Yes. Would she be happier that way? No. So, by making her an independent hero, all you are doing is torturing her for your own vanity.

RWBY (show) is explicitly designed as a Points of Light in the Darkness setting. The four kingdoms, the huntsmen academies, huntsmen in general, and the main characters in specific are the points of light in the setting. If those lights are snuffed out, you get Dark Souls.

This is getting into the Theme, of the story which is a different, but related, point.

One of the reasons I hated the introduction of Saphron and Terra into the setting is not because I hate them. They are actually wonderful characters. No the reason their introduction was idiotic is that the role they serve in the story is that of a hotel.

They current year it. Like Veilguard. They tip toe around on eggshells afraid of pissing off the woke crowd by having the insensitive dolt (Nora), ask where the lesbian baby came from.

We don't delve down into Jaune's history and upbringing. We don't pick up the trope of found family that RWBY is leaning so heavily on, that when they stop, the City of Atlas literally falls to the ground.

CRWBY decided to break up the found family, after crawling through broken glass to get RWBY back together again, and they do it for the sole point of short-term drama. Because fighting a morally ambiguous unkillable witch is apparently not enough drama for them. After we are literally told that the way to defeat Salem is through kindness.

Anyways, having Saphron and Terra there would be the perfect time to talk about Jaune's relationship with his family, and then lean into found family.

Let's say you are creating a party, and you want to add a demolitions expert. We're going to assume for the sake of assuming that you need a demolitions expert.

Why did he join?

What does he do when he's not blowing things up?

Is he comic relief? Is he a womanizer? Is he the strong, silent type that only talks when he absolutely needs to, and so the audience will know that when he finally speaks, it's important?

Let's say he's a womanizer. Does he hit on women he knows? Does he hit on party members? Their relatives? Does he hit on every woman he sees? Does he have a type that he will drop anything to hit on?

If he hits on party members, and she doesn't like it, it creates intra-party conflict, which is one way to make even the most banal moments interesting. Just like any RPG has Dwarf on Elf racism.

If he has a type, all you have to do is introduce his type, have them disappear, and the next day have him show up with that clue they were looking for.

But a character's role can also be more banal. In the Prime of His Youth, he surrounds himself with powerful, dynamic characters.

And Sirenia. She's basically a shy tumblr user trying to survive in the real world. She does not add any advantages. Her presence is still necessary, as having to care for her is what brought Jack out of his isolation and interact with the world(s).

You'll see this with any show that adds a little sister character. Okay, the world is ending, and you have the exact right set of high schoolers needed to save it. And the protagonist's kid sister. Having the kid sister means that every - single - thing the protagonist has to do has to resolve in way for him to care for her. Martyrdom is not going to suffice.

Hell, a great example is Bioshock: Infinite. There is a melee kill, but it's so brutal that Elizabeth is horrified of it. Most gamers stop using it to the point they forget about it. Yes, she's an all-powerful reality warper, but her role in the story is making someone who managed to get disgraced out of the PINKTERTONS a better person.

Or in Deadpool & Wolverine, where Professor X is such a great character that he stops Wolverine from killing, just by being disappointed.

How I write

Keep reading

[remyfire]

It's interesting to me that when people are feeling particularly vicious and biting, they always go after Beej. Like, the venom I will see spat at him specifically is just remarkable.

[keen-eye]

Hello, Dean 🫵

[briefhottubcoffee]

I understand all of this. I understand his character. I know he’s on a mission, I know he has trauma. I get it, I really do. He’s one of my favorite characters after all. It is nice that he was there. It’s fine that his actions speak louder than words. I’m good with him taking forever to show his emotions. But he already has, many times. So I don’t think this is me wanting him to be somewhere in his feelings that he’s not. That’s why I don’t like this moment. It’s jarring and doesn’t make any narrative sense.

After each major arc there is a brief moment of reflection from Twilight. He’s either thinking of himself or his actions, Yor, or Anya. Each moment has shown how the previous experience affected him or how much he’s growing to care about his family. His journey is all about breaking down the walls around his heart and after each arc, we see a crack.

The dog bomb arc:

Tennis (this plus the park bench):

Cruise ship:

His backstory:

Even the mole arc:

Even the most recent arc (Idk, winter break?) had this:

Each of these reactions makes sense to me. Even if he’s not being “emotional” he’s having an internal reaction to the circumstances, he’s thinking about the repercussions of his actions, or he’s thinking about his family. It’s a moment for the reader to check in with him, the protagonist, and see how he was affected by what has happened.

This is what we got after the bus hijacking, after Anya (his child) had a bomb on her neck and was held at gunpoint.

This one single panel of reflection. It doesn’t make sense. There’s no step forward, no crack in his foundation, no genuine concern for Anya, just Twilight clinically talking about her trauma. I can assume it would’ve been just too much at this point in the story, for an inner thought that shows care for her. That’s fine. I can still not like it. I can still argue that doesn’t make sense. Plus, I’m criticizing him so I’m not putting him on a pedestal.

30 Day SxF Challenge

Day 8:

Worst moment for you?

I’m going to take worst moment as a moment I straight up didn’t like. There have been really sad and heartbreaking moments where I go “I don’t like this” but I can appreciate that they are important to the story or the character. (Like Twilight’s heartbreaking backstory or mentions of war or Anya’s past etc.) ‘Worst’ for me means I am straight up confused, irritated, and annoyed by the moment. And there is one big one that comes to mind:

Sometimes I think I am too harsh on Twilight when it comes to his progress with Anya but like, wtf was this dude? He was so blasé about his daughter being in a perilous situation and almost dying. I know it’s going to take some time for him to embrace his feelings, I understand his character. I’m sure he was deflecting some of his stress about Anya here to being around SSS. But this is a five-year-old girl, one he is close to. I expected some kind of reaction. This nothingness was just weird!