#and meanwhile all the other characters who are still learning their backstories and like I don’t understand why these two are together

[galaxywhale]

my character is connected to another character through our backstories and they’re like.. bonded, he has no choice but to stick with her bc if she dies, he dies and it’s SO much fun bc my character is a lying thief and his character is a law abiding investor and it’s been a looot of fun to ply so far :’)

[quirkle2]

so one thing i rly like abt mob psycho (shocker !) is that the Incident between the kageyama brothers is kept entirely contained. like, most other shows—at least ones that i've watched—feature long monologues of characters traumadumping to other characters, sometimes in the middle of fights, and while that Does happen a lot in mob psycho, the kageyama bros never do this abt The Incident, and i think that's a fascinating choice bc The Incident is the entire reason why the show starts in the first place. it's the reason mob meets reigen at all, it's the reason mob doesn't fight back against teru, it's the reason ritsu goes through his character arc. it is arguably the Most Important Story Beat and the show has countless opportunities to let the characters spill their guts on screen for drama, and yet neither of the brothers let this spill. neither of them talk about it, except with each other

there's been numerous times i've watched shows where people suddenly traumadump and tell their life story unprompted when truly not a single soul asked, but with mob psycho, both the bros are Constantly berated with questions on Why they do these things; Why are you so off-putting and quiet, Why do you not use your powers, Why won't you fight back, Why do you want psychic powers so badly, Why are you ruining these students' lives now that you have them, Why are you helping me defeat my evil dad . all of these questions eventually loop back around to The Incident, and yet neither of them ever let it slip. neither of them Ever share, and the only time they come anywhere close to it is in the wd arc

it is the event that Shaped Who They Grew Into, and yet it is not known by the main cast at all. teru has no idea, even reigen doesn't seem to understand the full extent of it, even though The Incident is what caused mob to come to his office. their parents prolly don't even know

idk, i just think that's a good detail. the brothers both hold the weight of their troubles close to their chests. and even though that makes it seem as though they figure it out on their own, it couldn't be further from the truth

their own experiences with the people around them allowed them to grow and make mistakes and learn from them, all without sharing their deepest secret, and then both took those new experiences and lessons and applied it to this issue, and learned Again

meanwhile, the rest of the cast is largely clueless abt this Entire issue. it's Crazy to me that most of the cast has no idea what the main issue is, and i think it's a brilliant choice. these characters helped the kageyama bros without ever meaning to or knowing about it, no matter how big or small the role. you truly never know what somebody else is going through !

and even in the end, it's not like there's a big reveal that tells every character the kageyama brothers' Tragic Backstory. nobody fucking knows, still. like Yeah they should totally talk this out and go to therapy or smth but i just like the fact that the story doesn't treat it as some dramatic fanfare for Other Character's Shock Value and doesn't let them air their troubles to the ends of the earth. i appreciate that

[the-badger-mole]

Aang was a kid who was the sole survivor of a genocide. Why doesn't that factor in your opinion of him?

I've talked about this before, but his age and tragic backstory are irrelevant. ALL of the main characters are children with tragic backstories, and they are more empathetic, have more growth, and their tragic backstories...actually matter.

Listen, for all people whine about how often Katara talks about her mom (which isn't really that often), it's clear how her mother's death shaped her as a character. It's clear how witnessing her mother's death formed her worldview, and Kya sacrificing herself for Katara made a mark (she never turns her back on people who need her? COME ON! That is obviously her trying to save people the way she couldn't save her mother). Even her wanting to learn how to fight and not heal (which is an insane battle advantage, btw) speaks to her trauma around not being able to defend her mom.

Even Sokka's trauma around the loss of his father and not being deemed old enough (big enough/ strong enough/ smart enough) to go with Hakoda and the other warriors come through in his recurring need to prove himself (coming up with the big battle plan for DoBS, breaking his father out of prison, learning swordplay, etc.). It's woven so neatly into the narrative. His trauma matters to his story.

Toph is the least developed of the Gaang, and her issues with her parents have more impact on character than the destruction of the Air Nomads have on Aang. Heck, Zuko's entire arc hinges on compound traumas.

Meanwhile, Aang's trauma....? What trauma? Yes, the loss of the Air Nomads is a tragedy, but we, the audience, only know it's a tragedy because we have real world knowledge telling us so. Personally, I was in 3rd or 4th grade when I began learning about the Trail of Tears, and in kindergarten when I began learning about slavery (I was born in Harlem. The kindergarten I went to taught us accordingly). When I saw ATLA, I had a frame of reference for the genocide of the Air Nomads. But it didn't really seem to bother Aang all that much. Oh, sure, it did come up when it was convenient to the plot, but it mostly seemed to be a way for Aang to expound on the superiority of Air Nomad philosophy and society to whoever he's talking to. Aside from that, and his first rush of feeling when he found out what happened to them, the loss of the Air Nomads doesn't seem to effect Aang all that much. If he doesn't care about his tragic loss, why should I?

Aang is a fictional character. I don't have to extend the same pathos to him that I would to a real life person. It is the writers' duty to make me feel for him, and they did not. The way he's framed is the issue. And here is where I really start retreading things I've said before, but I think it needs to be repeated (again and again and again). Aang is not framed as someone who has a lot of growing up and learning to do. I could give him a pass on his worst traits because he's a child and still growing, but the show doesn't frame him that way. The show wants me to see him as a precocious imp who's wise-beyond-his-years but still has a cheeky lil' mischievous streak. It's not trying to frame his lying to the quarreling tribes in The Great Divide as a bump in his journey to becoming an effective leader bridging different people together. It wants the audience to laugh at him getting one over on the foolish tribes who absolutely went back to fighting as soon as Appa was out of sight. The show isn't framing his desperation to get the village in Avatar Day to like him as a foolish pursuit he needs to get over if he wants to be strong in the face of adversity. It wants us, the audience, to feel bad for him because his charm isn't immediately bringing the people over to his side. It wants us to be indignant that the villagers don't see how important Aang is and wont' support him. The show isn't framing Aang's non-con kisses with Katara as bad because it hurt her. It isn't making a point to that Aang needs to care about her feelings. It wants the audience to feel bad for Aang and hope for Katara to come around because he's A Nice Guy™️©️®️. Aang is never shown to be a particularly good friend to any of the Gaang, let alone him being kind to strangers just because that's his heart. All of that I would allow to be just him being a dumb kid with growing to do if the show hadn't made it clear that Aang was perfect and didn't have to change, and in fact the world should change for him.

Aang's age and tragic backstory are irrelevant because the show made them irrelevant. All they left us with was a Gary Stu character who hides his selfishness under a thin veneer of cheerfulness. It's not good enough.

[studiodrydock]

Interview With a Werewolf - A deep dive into the character of Westley Vuk from Wylde Flowers

We've put together an in depth look at Wylde Flower's fuzziest romanceable character, Westley Vuk! 🐺💕

Westley, the romantic werewolf bookseller, is one of our most beloved characters, and we had the privilege of chatting with several members of the team involved with bringing him to life, including Iona Vorster (concept artist), Desiree Cifre (narrative director), Mike Taylor (animator) and Ray Chase (his voiceover artist).

We discussed all things Westley including his inspiration, design, and what makes him so popular (and dreamy)! Enjoy! ✨

Writing a Werewolf

Questions answered by: Desiree Cifre (Narrative Director)

Q: Can you start by telling us a little bit about Westley?

Desiree: Westley is a bookish werewolf originally from Alaska. He became a werewolf due to a case of mistaken identity. His identical twin brother, Lou, was a marksman for a logging company, and shot at a werewolf who then returned and attacked Westley one full moon. Once Westley turned into a werewolf, he vowed to keep his distance from humans to protect them and himself, and found safe harbor in the magical village of Ravenwood Hollow. He hopes to find a cure for his lycanthropy and in the meanwhile, prove that werewolves can be positive contributors to the magical community.

Q: What was your process like, including inspirations and challenges, when creating Westley?

Desiree: Our original scope for the narrative limited the characters to the members of the coven and the other, non-magical villagers, so I was delighted when Amanda and Alex told me we would have the budget for a magical village with four residents. I knew right away that I wanted one of them to be a werewolf and that I wanted him to be a romantic interest for Tara. A bookseller seemed like a natural fit so that he could sell Tara the parchment and incantations she would need for her spellwork, and when Iona drew up some concept art of our nattily dressed Westley we all knew that was the right direction for the character. Once I learned we could support him having both human and wolf forms, that opened up the space to create a little mystery around his first appearance in town, and then we got to dive into his backstory a bit more later in the game.

Q: Do you have a favorite line that you wrote for him?

Desiree: Well, I was expecting players to love Westley, but even I couldn't have anticipated how much of a fan-favorite he would become. I have to say one of my favorite lines is one that only plays if you are partnered with him: "Tara, you're looking ravishing today! Not that I want to, or would, I mean, you know." The actor who plays him, Ray Chase, gave such a hilariously brilliant reading of that line and it makes me giggle every time I hear it! The thirst is real.

Drawing a Werewolf

Questions answered by: Iona Vorster (Concept Artist)

Q: What was the process like for designing Westley? How did you incorporate his personality and backstory into his design? Iona: Initially I started with sketching out ideas for all the Ravenwood Hollow characters in tandem. I wanted to make sure they would sit well together, and since they are all (mostly) fae, I wanted to make sure they felt consistent across their designs while figuring out “what do the fae look like in the world of Wylde Flowers.” Once I had a good idea of what they’d generally look like, I took each character one by one to work out the specifics.

With Westley, the process was a bit more complicated because I also had to figure out what his werewolf anatomy would be like and how far we wanted to push it. Since Westley is a romanceable character, I wanted his werewolf form to still feel personable and able to emote like the rest of the characters, so going very wolf-like with his design didn’t feel like the best option!

As with all the characters, I did have a wonderful character background to reference for Westley, written by narrative lead Desiree! A facet of his personality is that he likes dressing well, so along with him being a bookseller, a suit seemed like the natural choice!

Q: Which did you design first, werewolf Westley or human Westley? Did you have to put any considerations into giving him a (relatively) consistent appearance between the two forms? Iona: I started with his human form, since I knew his werewolf form would need R&D on aspects of his anatomy like his face and legs. However, eventually I moved back and forth between the two, because parts of his werewolf form, like his fangs and his fur, informed design decisions on human Westley. I wanted to hint at his werewolf form when he was in human form, and vice versa/

I also wanted to keep consistency in his outfit, especially since there’s the comical details of his suit not quite fitting his massive werewolf frame, which accentuates the differences between the two!

Q: What is your favorite part of Westley's design? Iona: His fangs! Designing all of him was fun, but I love that he has fangs in human form.

Animating a Werewolf

Questions answered by: Mike Taylor (Animator)

Q: What did the collaboration (if any) look like between you, Desiree and Iona? Mike: I wasn't involved very much in the concept of Westley. As with all characters, I was asked for feedback on each concept, but the concepts are always so good, I have very little to add, and Westley was no exception. Soo-Ling (Wylde Flowers’ 3D Artist) and I would discuss his model more and especially the hair, since we knew that was a big part of his design. We would work together to decide how to structure Westley's hair so we could have the most movement as efficiently as possible.

Q: What types of personality bits or other considerations were you trying to showcase in his animations, and how did you achieve them? Mike: Desiree and Elizabeth put together Casting Notes for all the characters, citing specific actors and/or roles that best exemplified the character. I always started there as the basis. For Westley in particular, I know I felt that he should be a little withdrawn and maybe a little brooding. He's an intellectual who has been cursed with being a werewolf, after all. From that I thought his walk - which is the animation that gets the most personality - should be pretty subdued, compared to the other characters, and he should be looking at the ground rather than straight forward. It's subtle, but hopefully reads just a little.

Q: And for Wolf Westley? Mike: For Wolf Westley, the goal was to make him more feral, without going too far. To do this, I added some exaggerated chest breathing to his idle, arched his fingers and turned his hands inwards, then made his walk very 'stompy' to highlight the extra weight he was carrying around.

Giving a Werewolf a Voice

Questions answered by: Ray Chase (Voiceover Artist)

Q: Can you describe the direction you were given when portraying Westley? What types of personality traits, emotions, etc. did you need to convey? Ray: Westley is a really deep character - and one who I was immediately drawn to. Going back through my auditions for this game, it looks like I only chose to audition for him and the reverend! I love how genteel he is - there's a huge part of me that wants to go run my own bookstore in a small village, so I'm playing out my own fantasies when I'm playing him. :D The voice director, Krizia, was a big help in dialing in just the right amount of werewolf into this character. He shouldn't be frightening, but rather be a warm wolfy snuggle.

Q: Westley's fans have become quite passionate From an acting perspective, what do you think is the secret sauce that makes him so appealing? Ray: I'm definitely using my bedroom voice most of the time for this guy. I have heard that it can be...most enticing....

Q: Are there any lines or beats with Westley that stick out to you? Ray: I'm a vegetarian, so it's always quite alarming when I have to do his butcher shop quotes! I can't believe he eats that much meat... But I guess it's better that he buys from a friend than go roaming the woods at night… And that's a wrap! Thank you for reading! Victoria and the Studio Drydock Team Find out more about Wylde Flowers Here

[princess-ibri]

Tangled Unbraided

For ages I've wanted to find a way to use the old fractured fairytale idea of "Rapunzel Unbraided" Disney was going to do in the early 2000s, and decided to just go ahead and show what I've got. So here's some sketches of how the main characters would appear in this hypothetical Tangled spin off movie:

The original synopsis for Unbraided ran as thus:

“An evil witch named Lucretia despised fairy tale happy endings and plotted to change all that. Meanwhile in modern day San Francisco, Claire and Vince are two vastly opposite teenagers who cannot stand one another. Claire is a short haired, fashion obsessed teen who was concerned with her looks. Vince is a stocky and crude pizza delivery boy on hard times. The two of them get on each other's nerves which gets the attention of Lucretia in the fairy tale realm. Lucretia takes Rapunzel and her prince Beau and transforms them into a squirrel and dog, respectively, while Claire and Vince find themselves filling their roles. Claire and Vince eventually team up with Rapunzel and Beau to defeat Lucretia and return to their respective places in time. “

---

And I'd want to follow the basic plot of that, though with changes with what we have from the actual Tangled movie. But basically two teens from 2007 San Francisco (why not make it a 'period' piece with all this Y2K nostalgia going on that makes no sense to me, a Y2K kid x) get reverse Enchanted and find themselves in the Everrealm. Searching for a way home, mentored by a talking squirrel and dog that claim to be famous fairytale characters also trying to regain their human forms.

The reason the witch tries to recreate the Rapunzel story with two people who are unlikely to give it a happy ending is that she's trying to make a spell to warp reality and bring about another golden flower (so that we can have the one that eventually shows up in Sofia the First) and so gain immortality for herself.

My ideas for the growth journeys each character goes on in this hypothetical movie is of course that Claire and Vince both learn to be more comfortable with themselves/find their real potential, as well as learn that its ok to trust others emotionally, both in a platonic sense with Eugene and Rapunzel mentoring them, and romantically with eachother as they get closer.

Rapunzel and Eugene would have this be an opportunity for them both to work through the concerns they both have about being parents. Sure they both have better parental relationships now, but both grew up with either abusive or absent parents (and then hyper protective ones in Rapunzel's case with Frederick) and though they both want kids they're afraid they might still mess it up. So, getting to help these two teens find themselves and their way home gives them a sense of the type of parents they'll be, and that they'll be ok in the end.

(They also all eventually find out Claire is their many times descendent and thats why she looks like Rapunzel so much, and why the spell called her into Rapunzel's place)

For the Witch I decided to change her name from Lucretia as I already had a character with that name for the Bluebeard story. I still wanted her to have some actual connection to the og Rapunzel fairytale, and a way to know about the Sundrop flower, and while I know we already had Cass as Gothel's kid, per my DisneyVerse she did have more then one over those many many years 😅😬

We already had a benevolent version of another Gothel daughter with my rewrite of Ginny, so I decided this time we'd get to focus on a malevolent one, so our villain for this story is Azalea.

(I based her looks on one of the tree nymphs from Gothel's backstory in OUAT, old Gothel/witch concept art and her name was inspired by Alice from OUAT being Gothel's daughter, just with a sharper sounding plant name x)

Also here's some original concept art of the Rapunzel Unbraided story treatment!

(Some of these might technically be from the Rapunzel treatment but I feel they fit the story anyway)

Also some video! A rough animatic overview of the whole story

And a more polished small clip of Claire and Squirrel Rapunzel

But yeah that's my rough little idea of how I'd incorporate the Rapunzel Unbraided concept/characters into the Disneyverse :)

[utilitycaster]

I've gotten a couple replies of "and that's terrifying" on this post about the more stable members of Bells Hells, and, to be honest, hate that, so let's talk about it.

There's a couple reasons. The first that I still don't know who the fuck thought the Issylra half of the party split would be Team Levelheaded and not Team Abandonment Issues, because, well, it's the latter. The second is that there's been a near constant undercurrent from quite early in the campaign of "oh Orym...he's going to break...he's a powder keg" and while he's decidedly not a powder keg, we did get him finally breaking a bit, and suddenly everyone's like "HORRIFYING that the guy I kept claiming was uniquely angsty is now having a harder time with the party split than the other characters whose equally tragic backstories I've consistently ignored, diminished, and dismissed."

All three of the Bells Hells characters in Team Issylra have issues related to loneliness and being left behind, which is a common thread through the party, but notably, Fearne, FCG, and Chetney being more stable should not be surprising nor scary. Resilience isn't tied to whether or not you're somewhat chaotic, or have mechanically-induced loss of control, and that's what we're talking about here. The reason why Team Issylra is having a rough time of it - and specifically why Laudna and Orym are falling apart whereas Ashton is doing comparatively well - is because they've been constantly pretending things are okay. Chetney, meanwhile, genuinely does think the worst thing that happened to him fucking rules, and has the age and perspective and sheer survival instincts to pull through; FCG has, within the story, had to face some horrifying realizations about himself and so has some tools for this kind of situation; and Fearne is to be honest still learning that consequences are a thing that happens, but she has dealt with a few profound disappointments and is sitting with them - she openly admitted she's not terribly impressed by her parents.

On the other hand, I think Orym has worked through the earlier stages of grief, to be sure, but he's put a brave face on over it and tried to look at the bright side. Which isn't the worst idea, but it means when the things he's built that idea of a bright side upon - Keyleth's infallibility, his relationships within the Crown Keepers - are nowhere to be found, he doesn't have anything to take hold of. He adjusted to one devastating change by clinging to the constants, and now that many of the constants are gone too, he has no mechanism to process the change in their absence.

And this is Laudna's whole deal, right? I do in fact agree that her initial death was still the worst thing that's happened to her so far, but that doesn't mean she can't still be incredibly upset by major events. It's comforting to know you've survived worse, but it doesn't necessarily help you actually get through a slightly less terrible (but still pretty terrible) situation. She says she can't stop compartmentalizing or she'll cry - but like, she'd probably feel better if she'd just spent the second watch crying. Like Orym, Laudna's developed this idea that she can will things into being okay, and in the end, she can't. Leaning into the "Today SUCKS" attitude would, honestly, help her, and I'm hoping she does so.

Ashton meanwhile doesn't have healthy coping mechanisms, but they do have coping mechanisms that work in this situation (namely, drinking and hitting things). He also, more importantly, has no investment in pretending things are okay. Ashton thinks the world is full of utter bullshit that will fuck you over, and the point is to get through it, and sure, it's a very cynical mindset, but there's a reason why toxic positivity is, well, toxic.

As a sidebar, I also think that Ashton has, fascinatingly and despite their drunken talk with Laudna on the skyship, put their abandonment issues into perspective. Ashton is able to handle the current situation because, logically, they were teleported to a random location beyond their control and with no capacity to contact other people, so it's reasonable to assume the other half of the party is in the same position. No one abandoned anyone. To quote Ashton themself, actually, from episode 25, "Sometimes shit's just fucked up, and the only thing you can do because you didn't do anything fucking wrong, is get the fuck back up and do the exact same thing all over again knowing that there was nothing to learn." On the other hand, the fact that Milo saved Ashton makes that particular situation worse. If Ashton had been left to die in the street and a random uninvolved stranger picked him up? Then you can at least imagine the Nobodies had to leave, or couldn't pick them up for whatever reason, or even perished themselves. The fact that Milo was able to make this choice means the Nobodies also had the ability to make a choice, and the choice was to leave them behind, and that's what stings, and that's the unique loneliness, and that's why this situation isn't comparable.

So anyway, in summary, it's unsurprising the two people who have handled grief and tragedy by trying to quietly (in Orym's case) and not-so-quietly (in Laudna's) smooth it over are finding themselves completely unable to do so and barely holding together, whereas the people who allow themselves to be upset or, frankly, just go apeshit, are doing much better.

[blueikeproductions]

Some Chinese trading cards based on TFONE came out, and they show off models of two of the other ancient Primes.

Spoilers obviously.

The movie shows us all 13, but because of the nature of the story we don’t really get a good look at any of them besides Alpha Trion.

These cards show off the designs of Quintus Prime and Micronus Prime.

Quintus takes heavy cues from his Aligned design.

But simplifies it greatly and pushes the design into a clearer Hindu god like direction.

I like to think he sounds like Apu and, per a friend’s idea, did this to the Quintessons:

Because all the Primes had Cogs, they all can Transform (which runs counter to Aligned’s idea of Amalgamous Prime being the first one to Transform and pass down the Cog, but then Aligned contradicts this with Nexus Prime being able to Transform also, so…), but into what we don’t know. Once more Quintus eludes us into what he turns into, though this design has notable wings, so maaaaybe he turns into a jet? At this version looks capable of Transforming, vs his Aligned & EarthSpark designs.

I still kinda prefer the monk design of EarthSpark Quintus, and I still like to think he Transforms into a G1 style Quint ship.

But I’m hazarding a guess the upcoming Age of Primes toy line will probably use the TFONE design as a basis, so maybe we’ll finally learn what he turns into.

The TFONE Quints do loosely resemble Quintus, so maybe this toy is already a hint at what Quintus Transforms into.

Micronus meanwhile looks like this.

He looks like a hybrid of the RiD15 Micronus and ROTB Rhinox.

I like that they kept the RiD15 body type, as I prefer Micronus being a squat, bulky guy like Hey Arnold’s Ernie Potts vs the hard to read skinny design they had for Aligned originally.

Still don’t know what Micronus turns into in TFONE, though the RiD15 design implies he’s a Buzzsaw like Jetstorm and Slipstream.

Funny enough, like how the movie never clarifies if the Quintessons were created by Quintus Prime, Mini-Cons, Micronus’ descendants in modern media, are never referenced as existing on TFONE Cybertron. The Miners are tiny until they get their Cogs, but they’re not supposed to be Mini-Cons, so. -shrugs- Modern media also says the Mini-Cons are native to Cybertron’s moons, a nod to their original creator, Unicron, being disguised as Cybertron’s moon in Armada; so maybe the TFONE Mini-Cons are up there chilling on the Moons, lol.

The movie made the wise choice to keep things simpler for casual audiences, but the modern 13 Primes are themed around certain races, genders, powers, and technologies, and it feels like writers are never sure on what to do with them because of this. Onyx Prime still makes more sense as the main antagonist for RiD15 because of the emphasis on animal type Decepticons, but they used The Fallen for rule of cool and marketable reasons. I feel like Cyberverse could’ve had Vector Prime as a central character due to the show’s habit of flashbacks and time skips over Alchemist/Maccadam, and Quintus Prime to better tie things to the Quintessons. I feel like Liege Maximo would’ve worked well in Cyberverse too but I don’t know what he’d DO either…

Still now that we have a better look at the TFONE Primes, they look cool, and I want to talk about the other designs once we get proper character models, so stay tuned for that.

My current guess now, until we get toys that say otherwise, is the upcoming Primes toys might use TFONE’s designs as a basis, as the intent was to use TFONE as the new backstory anyway. I suspect aspects of Cyberverse and EarthSpark might influence things though, as those who got a good look at TFONE Alchemist say he takes most of his look from Cyberverse Alchemist Prime.

So hopefully we don’t have much longer to see toy wise.

[let-us-cultivate-our-garden]

So I don’t know if you know of Doug Walker, but recently released his Disneycember review of The Owl House.

While he praised a majority of the show, he criticized the main villain, Belos, of how he was written.

Many of the comments tried to defend the writing of the villain.

Doug Walker..

Now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time.

Yes, I am very familiar with Doug Walker; I loved his stuff along with Channel Awesome years ago and then the allegations came out and fortunately, the other contributors on that channel moved onto bigger and better things. Meanwhile, Doug just stayed the same, so I don't watch his stuff anymore.

Any way, I think it's funny people are scrambling to defend Belos' writing because, despite my own personal opinions on Doug as a critic, I actually agree with him.

For a show that is ostensibly about subverting tropes and not judging a book by its cover, by showing how people can choose to change or not, etc. Belos is a throwback to an earlier era where the Big Bad had basic motivations and characterizations. And for a show like toh, that actually ends up hurting the narrative.

I have categorized the comments I found defending the writing and here are my responses to them:

Belos does have a deeper layer, you just have to look for it.

While a show can certainly foreshadow and provide little hints about a major character, eventually all of that setup will have to pay off somehow. There has to be a reveal both to reward the viewers that have been paying attention and to inform more casual viewers who may not have. Fans analyzing every little frame to extrapolate a major character's backstory only for that backstory to really not matter in the end despite it being set up for a season is just bad writing. full stop. [A viewer should also not have to look on social media for crucial information on a major character.]

It's also not clever that the show left so much room for interpretation on Belos; it just means that they didn't make a commitment to what was being set up and reduced his character to glib one-liners whenever we learn something interesting about him (Masha's "little bro was jealous of big bro" line and Papa Titan's whole spiel).

2. Belos would have been written better if the show had more time.

The Toh crew knew about the cancellation during production of Eda's Requiem and wrote all of 2B with it in mind. So they knew they were working on a time crunch but still introduced elements like the Collector when they should have spent the time wrapping up their story. The cancellation is not an excuse for sloppy writing.

3. Belos as a villain works more on a meta level.

So the argument here is that Belos is the antithesis to the BI; it's accepting and diverse while he is hateful and only accepts things that conform to his worldview. The characters in the story change and grow, while Belos does not. The problem here is that a villain can't only work on a meta level, it has to work on a narrative one as well.

If the BI is place that accepts weirdos then how did someone like Belos come to power? Oh, he lied his way to the top and created problems that never existed? That just makes your populace look dumb and easily manipulated. The BI being so accepting also undermines the threat credibility of the Emperor's Coven because why should we worry about them if they have no real influence over how the BI residents think or behave aside from when the plot needs them to?

Also, I strongly disagree with anyone who says that toh has a "people are complicated and choose to do good and bad" theme when all of the good characters can blame their bad actions on being manipulated or on circumstances outside of their control OR the narrative ignores/downplays anything bad they did (cough cough Amity and Lilith). Meanwhile, the villains are just shallow with basic motives and this is supposed to be a deep message about how Some People Are Just Bad.

If you're going to contrast why your good characters are capable of growth then you need to show why your villain does not. What is stopping them? How do they react if given a legitimate reason to change (that isn't a cheap jab at Steven Universe)? What is their justification for their actions?

Whatever the answer is, the narrative has to support it and not undermine it with a stupid joke.

4. Belos is so refreshing when every villain character is redeemed.

Watch more shows. If you think that every cartoon villain post-Steven Universe is being redeemed then you're incorrect. Redemption of a show or movie's Big Bad is still in the minority while the redemption of the main villain's lackey is a dime-a-dozen.

Ultimately, I think the problem with toh is that so many of its fans take its thematic statements at face value without ever really stopping to think about the execution of those themes and if they really work or not.

Belos just happens to embody this little trick that toh does: it claims to have bold and timely statements and important themes, but the structure and execution of the plot, character development, and world-building undermines any attempt at a consistent or coherent message.

[chibimui]

The Apothecary Diaries LN2 Thoughts - Part 1 (Prologue-ch5)

Alright, I've started Light Novel 2 and boy, I have so much to say. As I said in my thoughts for LN1, that felt very much like an introductory book, but LN2 we finally start getting a bit more details about different characters, and we start seeing mysteries in the story that start linking together to form larger plots.

So, let's just jump in to it.

(Warning: These thoughts may contain spoilers from later light novels all the way up until LN15.)

I think a lot of the things I'm going to be highlighting are all the hints, clues and bits of foreshadowing we get to future events, and information about characters. LN2 is centered more around Maomao's backstory, but it does also set the foundation for the major plot/mystery that occurs throughout the next few novels.

Right away in the prologue we start off with conversation between Jinshi and the Emperor. I found the descriptions of Jinshi and his inner thoughts as he talks to the Emperor really interesting because there is a certain level of comfort, but also a guarded aspect in how Jinshi acts around him. I guess that makes sense because regardless of whether this man is Jinshi's "older brother", he is still talking to the Emperorof China of Li.

We also get our first mention of a "wager" Jinshi has with the Emperor. This conversation definitely adds to the bag of evidence that Jinshi has some suspiciously deep connections to royalty. Not anyone can just make a bet with the Emperor and get away with it.

We also get more evidence of how Jinshi sees himself, and it's always just so sad to me. He describes himself as "average" and he reiterates his belief that it's only his looks that give him any advantage in life. The unfortunate thing is, it makes perfect sense he sees himself this way based on other things we learn about him. Jinshi was raised in a super sheltered environment, he rarely ever got to go out and rarely got to interact with others. Once he was allowed to interact with others, it's also easy to assume that most people probably focused more on his looks than anything else because he's just that attractive AND because of his status as a member of the royal family.

Given all of this, it still really stands out to me how truly childish Jinshi really is. And I don't even mean in a bratty way, I mean... he genuinely kind of seems like a lost little kid sometimes who is still learning how to build connections to people in a normal way and not in a political way.

Anyway, moving on - the prologue jumps to Maomao leaving the Verdigris House because she's been bought by Jinshi (he paid off her debt that she owed for the nights Lihaku spent with Pairin). Here, we get another hint of foreshadowing!!

I am going to assume, with later knowledge, that his face darkening was due to Luomen thinking about who he had worked for the inner palace and realizing Maomao is working a bit too closely with those same people.

Can I also just stress again, I love Maomao's relationship with Luomen. Even though he's not present in this novel, Maomao thinks about him a lot and his presence is felt by the way she frequently refers customers to him, and uses his reminders/lessons to her as a guiding compass for how she should act and approach things.

Now with Maomao working for Jinshi we also get way more interactions between them and so much more room for the absolute hilarity that occurs because they are still learning how to read and understand each other (of course they both suck at it, but Jinshi is trying so hard. Maomao is trying much less, but she puzzles about him way more often than when she first met him, so... progress!!).

Seriously these two are a whole freakin' circus act. We have Maomao who just straight up just doesn't listen to 90% of what Jinshi says because it's unimportant to her, and Jinshi just barging along thinking he's done the best thing ever and patting himself on the back. Meanwhile, Gaoshun continues to suffer.

Back to some more foreshadowing!

I was really surprised to see that right away, before we even meet Lakan through Jinshi, that we already get hints that there is something about going near the military barracks that Maomao does not want to do.

Chapter 2 is when we finally get our first mystery for the book--the storehouse blowing up. We are also re-introduced to Lihaku. We get an observation from Maomao that Jinshi has asked her to keep her freckles, which Maomao doesn't understand, but I think comes from Jinshi wanting to protect her. Maomao is truly missing all the signs that Jinshi is actually personally interested in her well-being, but honestly? Fair, it's not in her best interest to begin assuming that someone of Jinshi's status would be personally interested in her, especially since he's currently her direct employer.

Also in the novel it makes it more clear that all the rumors about a courtesan being bought out from the Verdigris House are about Maomao.

I like this early team up of Maomao and Lihaku. I think it shows that Lihaku is a pretty practical guy who isn't really caught on social standing too much because he just lets Maomao do her thing which is actually pretty abnormal. Regardless of the *ahem*, "gift" she gave him last book, Maomao is not an officer, she isn't even a court lady. She's just an attendant, a servant--and a female servant at that. She is basically bottom of the food pile. Lihaku would have had every right to tell her to screw off, and another person might have, but he doesn't. Truly, what a stand up guy. He has another great moment in this book later that also shows what a truly decent guy he is.

As we continue along with the novel, I continue to enjoy all the juicy little bits of detail we get from both Jinshi and Maomao as she works under him, like this:

First of all, the highlighted line just made me laugh.

The rest of the passage also caught my interest too though because this very much shows a Jinshi who is still trying to understand how he can get close to Maomao, but still hasn't realized how to do so in a way that isn't just "buying her out". He geninely wants Maomao to like him back and knows this can only work if he respects Maomao's boundaries, but this boy is stumped. To be fair, his method of connecting with people through favours and transations is probably all he knows growing up in the palace. Unfortunately, Maomao is absolutely the last person who would respond positively to such a method.

Even just their banter is so much more funny in this book though. I'm not even sure if Maomao herself realizes that she's become way too comfortable getting sassy with him.

Maomao's lesson, chapter 3, is one of my most favourite moments in the anime, again, just for pure humor. It was so funny. The anime captured the novel's description of curious puppy Jinshi so well. He wants to know what she's doing so badly. I'm sure Jinshi is aware of what sex is and how it works, but I imagine currently he very much sees it as a means to an end to have a baby and nothing more. The more pleasurable side of sex is probably something he doesn't think too much about, likely due to suppressing his testosterone. I feel like his curiosity is very much coming from an innocent place - I think he genuinely cannot fathom what on earth Maomao could be teaching that isn't basically a medical lecture.

Hilarity aside though, this is the first time we get introduced to the new concubine, Loulan! Her description is so telling and drops so many hints about her real character, but I love how we don't get the pay off for any of this until LN4.

Right away, from the very first description of her, we get the detail that it's impossible to tell what her eyes really looked like due to all the make up she wears. The hints were there the whole time! Such great pacing. Such great placement of details that make it rewarding for a reader to go back to and read again.

I'm going to be jumping ahead again as we go through another mystery in chapter 4, this time the man who has been knocked out from some severe food poisoning. This is also our first introduction to Basen (without knowing it's him)!

Ya'll, I love Basen. He's my precious boy in this series okay. I will protect him with my life. He's just... he's just a little guy trying to do his best. I love how serious he is, but also how that makes him so awkward. I love how he's learning to become more comfortable around women. I love how he's a duck dad. I loooove his romance with Lishu and I desperately hope we get a happy end to that soon. I will talk more about all of these things when we get there - but for now, we actually don't even know who Basen is. We just know he's the help Gaoshun found for Maomao.

Currently Basen just seems like a dude with a major stick up his ass. Knowing what we know about Basen later, I do wonder why he's so grumpy around her. Part of it can be chalked up to his natural awkwardness around woman, but I feel like his coldness is beyond that. It makes me wonder how much he knows about Maomao when he first meets her--if he's only heard about her through Gaoshun and so only sees her as someone who adds stress to her dad's life by way of Jinshi, or if he knows about her through Jinshi and is just kinda wary because honestly - Jinshi probably describes Maomao in the weirdest way.

Jinshi: Basen, Maomao glared at me like a bug, it was amazing! Basen: HOW COULD SOMEONE TREAT YOU THAT WAY >:(

Anyway - we will have many more opportunities to talk about my baby. Random passages I highlighted from ch4.

Maomao thinking about Luomen and using him as her guiding compass to remaining ethical and moral.

LONGAN REPRESENT. I am going to take this time to make a PSA and say that lychee's are mid. They're fine as a flavour for drinks, desserts etc. but on their own, longans are 10000% better, and so are rambutans. I said it. I am someone who is very grumpy that everyone loves lychee's.

Jinshi forcing Maomao to vomit was hilarous in the anime. I love the way his VA was just like "HA-KE!!!!" Top notch voice acting.

Another A+++ scene from the anime. Sorry I know this isn't an anime review but like, THIS SCENE WAS SO FUNNY YA'LL.

(I just want to add I never once said my thoughts reading the light novels were ever going to be intelligent or deep).

Okay, but chapter 4 actually has some pretty serious stuff regarding Lakan as this is the first time Jinshi mentions him to Maomao and once again, Maomao has a very suspicious thought that implies she knows much more than she's letting on:

I feel like the anime was also pretty good about drip-feeding the fact Lakan and Maomao are connected, but I feel like actually reading the words on paper and not just hearing it as an after-thought from Maomao makes it so much more obvious that Maomao knows Lakan. I know this specific thought from Maomao was also in the anime, but I still feel like in the anime the viewer picks up much more quickly that Lakan knows Maomao and is probably her dad, but not necessarily that Maomao knows who he is unless you were a very astute watcher (which I was not, I'll admit). The novel makes it pretty hard to ignore the fact that Maomao has some serious beef with someone in the military.

The novel I think also makes it much more clear that part of why Lakan is antagonizing Jinshi so much is because he thinks Jinshi bought Maomao for to be in a relationship with her. The anime genuinely makes Lakan out to seem pretty creepy, vile and gross before they spill his backstory, but in the novel -- while he certainly comes off as antagonistic, it doesn't seem as extreme. He just comes off as someone who has a bone to pick with Jinshi specifically.

The hilarious bit about this portion when Lakan is describing Fengxian, Maomao's mother and a former-courtesan at the Verdigris House, is that at first you think you're only supposed to think of Maomao and how Jinshi also reacts the same to her.

But... given what we later learn about Gaoshun and his wife, this kind of also applies to him too. Gaoshun's reaction isn't just in relation to Jinshi, but I think he's also realizing that this applies to himself. LOL.

Chapter 5 is another mystery - the Lead mystery with the family of three brothers who were left with a mysterious will. I really liked this mystery, it was clever and I like how it felt more like a puzzle. Passages I want to highlight from this chapter:

Noooo Maomao, Jinshi is trying - really, he is! But again, highlighting how much Maomao is actively just not noticing what Jinshi is trying to do despite his best efforts. He's trying guys, HE'S TRYING.

And this passage that finally directly introduces Basen. I am wondering if Basen's disdain here is legitimate of if it's just what Maomao is assuming. At the same time though, Jinshi aside, Maomao is typically really good at reading people so, once again, I do wonder why Basen seemed so grumpy around her.

Anyway, the chapter ends with Maomao solving the mystery and once again, trying to give her dad some more business by referring people to him if they're feeling unwell.

This isn't an original thought, but I was watching some YT reactors who pointed out that Maomao constantly thinking of Luomen juxtaposes how much disdain she has for Lakan and it was an observation I really liked. I did find it interesting how often this novel specifically had Maomao referring people to Luomen, and there were more than few times where she refers back to Luomen when thinking of what to do (or what not to do). I didn't know why these details stood out to me, but I like the direction the YT reactors went given that this entire book is basically about Maomao's parentage and family - but throughout it all, we get to see who she really thinks of as her family, which is Luomen and her sisters + granny at the Verdigris House.

Anyway, I am ending my thoughts here because the next few chapters pack a lot of punch and would make this post way too long. I think given where I'm stopping now, we can assume this novel will be broken up into 4 parts, if not 5. We'll see how many thoughts I have!

Hope you enjoyed the first part and part 2 will be coming soon!

[ch6-7]

Previous LN: Vol 1

[yamayuandadu]

Can you talk about MikoSeiga and why you like the ship ?

I think at least for me the appeal of Miko/Seiga lies in the plot of the game itself more than anything. As I already said at some point in the past it’s bizarre that a pairing which is in no small part based on character a declaring character b coming back to life is going to be a bigger deal than Jesus doing it is so niche. And that’s even without taking into account character a does it after waiting for nearly 1400 years for said resurrection (which she facilitated, and which involves character b implicitly transitioning on top of it all; also going by SoPM Seiga’s interest in people is often brief which makes waiting for Miko’s resurrection all the more unusual imo). If this happened in a mediocre live action tv show there’d be 10000 fics on ao3. More under the cut.

I can't deny that a major obstacle is that despite the interesting portrayal of the connection between Seiga and Miko in the Youmu route in TD no subsequent Touhou media does much with it. Things are further complicated by SoPM throwing in the reveal that Seiga basically doesn’t have much camaraderie going on with the other members of the TD cast; the fact Miko basically became a one for two deal with Byakuren doesn’t help either (will admit I think that has outstayed its welcome, I’m glad they appear separately from each other in recent Detective Satori and Lotus Eaters).  With that being said, I nonetheless think Seiga is still the most interesting option when it comes to Miko’s shipping prospects - and vice versa. Granted, Seiga’s only other real options are… Yoshika, who’s dead and barely a character (and also waste of a name; her stocks would be higher in my eyes if she was anything like the legendary version of her namesake, who according to Oe no Masafusa called himself the “greatest madman under heaven”, enjoyed alcohol and company of women, decided to become an immortal after cucking his examiner a day before his civil service exam, and feuded with Sugawara no Michizane) and I guess Kasen, who she interacted with like once for two pages... which is not much compared to other WaHH-based Kasen pairings. Yoshika arguably does have a backstory to explore but the more takes on it I’ve seen, and the more I learned about her namesake, the less the fanworks focused on that interested me; meanwhile I still feel the same about the aforementioned plot elements from TD.

In addition to what is directly said or implied in the game, I think imagining how Seiga and Miko met and what their interactions in the past were like is another major draw of this pairing. It doesn’t seem like this is a popular position either though - Seiga doesn’t appear much in fanworks focused on Miko’s past even though you’d expect her to hang around for a while - you don’t learn Daoist secrets in a day, in legends immortality preparations might take decades. Granted, Miko’s pursuit of immortality honestly feels glossed over in most fanworks about her in general, even though it does reflect an actual legend. Tragic! Speaking of legends, funnily enough if you dig deep enough you can even find direct precedent for adding a romantic component to the transfer of immortality knowledge itself, “Daoist adept falls in love with a female immortal” is basically a stock type of Six Dynasties/Tang romantic and/or erotic poetry. I like to think Seiga would read or even write these herself and that she sneaked some into whatever more standard Daoist literature she provided her with. As a joke, of course. Totally not a suggestion or anything. I think even just the fact it can be a purely romantic relationship is interesting in itself in the context of Miko's backstory, tbh. Sure, if she is prince Shotoku, she has 4 wives - but most if not all of these marriages would be political (and let's not look deeper into the family tree, too). Romantic love and marriage were not necessarily the same, as the cases of many famous literary characters and historical figures attest. Also, do any of the wives have immortality elixirs to offer? Yeah, thought so.

A final angle I think offers room for interesting is considering what impact Seiga might have had on Miko’s decision to take the form she did. Fwiw, Ge Hong recorded a legend about an immortal named Liu Zheng who after being mentored by Change’s could change own gender (and also magically ripen fruit and vegetables and hide armies as animals to let them surprise enemies, among other things; I sadly think in context the gender fluidity is just meant to be an outlandish wacky power, based on that). The precedent for Seiga discussing magic hrt with Miko is there. A potential issue with exploring the last option is the common weird fandom opinion that Seiga is uniquely immoral or whatever, which might bring unsavory implications, but it’s not like I’ve ever endorsed this view. Save for the grave robbing Seiga isn’t really very different from how actual immortals act in legends, and her actively facilitating Miko’s transition would go well with the symbolism of an immortal choosing to stay out of heaven (which typically served as a way to display opposition to prevailing attitudes of the time and a desire for freedom - heaven mirrored the earthly bureaucracy, and historical texts about seeking immortality often reflect disillusionment with the latter).

[srhunt]

Haunted Mansion’s Biggest Issue (to me)

I was very excited to finally see Haunted Mansion this year. I had given up hope on ever seeing this new adaption in the 13 years since Guillermo Del Toro announced it with barely any news in between.

And I did very much enjoy it, it’s at least better than the 2003 film, which is all I wanted it to be.

However, there is one thing that stopped me from loving this movie, and that’s how they handled my favorite happy haunt, the Hatbox Ghost.

Now, design wise, he looks great. He’s intimidating, he’s creepy, all around they nailed it. Not thrilled that he’s played by Jared Leto, but thankfully he’s barely noticeable.

Where my issue begins is when they learn the Hatbox Ghost’s living name, Alistair Crump.

I’m not opposed with giving Hattie an actual name, mind you, and I do appreciate the nod to original Haunted Mansion Imagineer, Rolly Crump (though it’s kinda backhanded to name the villain of the movie after him). But from the moment they learn his name, he stops being the Hatbox Ghost and becomes Alistair Crump. Let me explain what I mean.

Alistair Crump was the child of a wealthy family. He was kicked out of his home by his father after crying too hard at his mother’s funeral. Cut off from his family, Crump had to climb his way back up from nothing. Meanwhile, he studied the dark arts. After his father died under mysterious circumstances, Crump gained control over his family estate. He’d throw lavish parties, inviting the people who turned his father against him. At these parties, he would murder the people he believed played a part in his father’s abandonment of him. Crump would bury the bodies under the house. This continued until his staff discovered his secret and turned against him, decapitating him and burying his remains in the same place he disposed of his victims.

Did you notice something was missing in this story?

Something very important to the Hatbox Ghost?

Like…a hatbox?

Yea, there’s no mention of a hatbox in his backstory.

This issue becomes even more glaring when the protagonists need to find an item that belonged to him in order to banish him.

You’re probably thinking it’s a hatbox, right?

No, it’s his top hat.

The top hat that’s still on his decapitated head.

Oh, is his head inside a hatbox?

No, it’s in the dirt under his old mansion.

Most of the time, ghosts are depicted with items important to them in life. Constance Hatchaway has her pearls and her hatchet, Madame Leota manifests in her crystal ball. And it’s not just the Haunted Mansion that does this, look at Thirteen Ghosts from 2001.

Each ghost has an in-depth backstory that can be found on the DVD’s bonus features, and each backstory explains how they died and why they were selected to fill a specific role in the Black Zodiac. They look the way they do because it reflects their past lives and their deaths.

So why does Alistair Crump carry a hatbox as a ghost if he had no ties to it in life?

This issue drives me nuts because it easily could’ve been fixed. Maybe when Alistair was kicked out of the house, he was only given a hatbox to carry what little he could, or maybe his staff hid his head inside a hatbox.

Crump only has the hatbox so he can do the gag with his head. That’s it. His titular hatbox holds no importance to him. He easily could’ve been swapped with any other ghost in the Mansion and nothing would feel out of place.

The hatbox is so unimportant to Crump that towards the end of the movie, he doesn’t even have it anymore. After we learn his backstory, he’s never seen with the hatbox again.

Even this new Funko Pop figure doesn’t have his hatbox but then labels him, “Hatbox Ghost.”

To me, Alistair Crump and the Hatbox Ghost are two different characters. Crump may look like Hattie, but he is not the Hatbox Ghost. Which is the biggest disappointment of this film to me.

Hattie is such a fascinating and mysterious character in the mansion. He has a backstory that’s never really explored. His role varies from story to story. Why is he in the attic with Constance? Was he one of Constance’s grooms? Why does he have that hatbox? Why did he disappear for so long in the context of the Mansion’s story? Where did he go and why did he come back? Was he a victim? A coconspirator that got betrayed? There were so many ways they could’ve taken his story and they picked probably the weakest one.

It does make me wonder what Guillermo Del Toro’s original vision for Hattie was. But alas, we may never know.

Maybe in another 20 years we’ll get a different take on the Mansion and Hattie.

[mikittalabs]

in a mood right now and i've been playing fire emblem again, recipe for disaster so let's just get on with this post.

anyway it feels like every time an fe fan mentions liking something about engage, it's in spite of it. there's always a "but" tacked on. like you can't really like engage, alear's hair is red and blue and isn't that so dumb!

and i get it, engage is tonally light. it's not about poorly written politics like 3h is. it's great that 3h has a sad line from dorothea a few dozen times and that characters love to talk about how much war sucks every 10 minutes.

it's weird and annoying. every criticism of 3h is fought back against because actually you just missed this single piece of lore from a random npc in ch6 you fucking nincompoop. did you even play the game? the fact every character loves to exposit information at you is actually a good thing and a sign of good writing and doesn't completely muddy up the experience.

meanwhile you have to prove that you actually like engage. and yea. i love engage. i think it's great. i'm gonna talk about things i like because i think the game is good. there is no "but" here.

think a perfect example of this whole "in spite of" thing is yunaka. that's not to say i don't like her, i think she's great, too, but she's also the character who angsts the most out of the cast. her ass is not slick when it comes to hiding her backstory.

naturally, the fandom likes her in spite of engage. like i'm sorry that hortensia is so offputting that you completely missed her story about abusive families and desperately reaching out for something that you can't go back to, and might not have existed in the first place. it's so sucks that celine talked about tea in the 2 supports of hers you got. it sure would be a shame if she's hiding some odd feelings of resentment towards alfred or her cruel tendencies.

sorry guys, supports can't have subtext. if your characters aren't saying exactly what they feel and exactly why all of the time, then it's bad writing. actually subtext is just bad. exposition dumps are where it's at! i loved that part where rhea looked at the camera at the end of verdant wind and told us the entire history of fodlan. or like, the majority of 3h supports.

i forget if i ever posted it but i called 3h characters a vehicle for more lore, and i think i was kinda on to something. engage has a lot of silly supports where characters are just goofing around, but they were never used for more lore in the way 3h uses its cast.

3h supports typically involve someone just telling the other their entire backstory and i'm not about to argue that it isn't giving you more information on a character. in an extremely physical manner, it is. but it's obnoxious. it's an extremely unsubtle way to get across information.

in a very literal manner, you, as the player, are learning about this character. things have in fact happened to them, but i think the crucial difference lies in how this doesn't usually tell you anything about the character as a person. you can draw connections between how they act and their backstory, sure, but what does that actually say about them?

sylvain acts like that because his family fucking sucks. this is true, but he's still acting like a fucking cunt. i understand that crests are so highly valuable in fodlan society that he was objectified and reduced to the fact he had a crest. he says that himself in his support with mercedes. it does not change the fact that he is still a piece of shit to women. contrary to popular belief, i don't think the fact that he's nice to annette changes that fact. also like, mercedes's own backstory is completely glossed over in that support, but that's another conversation for another time.

contrast that with pandreo. he's a silly goofy party guy. there can't be any depth to him because this is engage. except you read his supports and realize he's a deeply faithful man. he found faith when his parents were being The Worst and he parties because it's how he expresses his faith. perhaps you're initial perceptions of a character are not always correct. something you would think fe fans would know considering sylvain has supports where the support partner says something to that effect.

ok i'm starting to get a headache so i'm just calling it here. see you all in hell or however people end these long posts

[acourtofquestions]

A Maasverse note because I think sometimes characters get poorly judged both by other characters, plot lines, & fandom reception (of course this is all fictional… so this post is also purely fiction… and probably has some “fictional world differences” or “rules” to apply… but still😂)

This started with the *sarcastic* “lovely” talk with Darrow about the “people of Terrasen” because the idea of blaming Aelin — who, btw, let the record show was ONLY an EIGHT-YEAR-OLD CHILD!!! — for “abandoning them” when she WAS A CHILD really got on my nerves. Especially as even this conversation is taking place with a 19-year-old… while not 8, and “old enough” in her own right; SHE IS STILL NINETEEN… and if you ask me IF ANYONE did any “abandoning” it was the people of Terrasen who simply went “hmm… we can’t find our queen… oh no! She must have drowned! No need to think further!!! MOVING ON!” meanwhile she was KIDNAPPED, after having her ENTIRE family assassinated IN FRONT OF HER (at EIGHT) and nearly drowning to outrun the assassin trying to KILL HER, & Arobynn was NOT much better; she couldn’t escape (cause SHE WAS EIGHT and with an ACTUAL ASSASSIN) and by the time she had “learned” (been forced into & through traumatic, abusive, horrifying, painful experiences for YEARS) enough to be “allowed” to leave the keep and at all able to even possibly run far enough to somehow get to Terrasen it was already GONE there was nothing left for her to go back to or save, and (even then) she was STILL A CHILD. She came back in under 10 years, barely an adult, she SURVIVED, give the girl some CREDIT PLEASE!!! And yeah, she was an assassin, no it’s not the most moral of jobs (but this is fiction) it was that or death, she went to hell & back (this was NOT some pampered upbringing) and YOUR queen endured it FOR you (and YOU damned her to it, or is it not fair to blame you? Oh, so it isn’t fair to blame y'all… yet the EIGHT-YEAR-OLD is fine?!) and to be honest, from her lineage (which kind of doomed her already) to the state of their world, they may actually NEED/want to have an Assassin as a Queen. Like yeah, she did that, she SURVIVED that, she is capable and smart and can actually lead a war. Can any of you old men gawking at her say the same??? Hmm??? No, you can’t because even though you all saw horrors, we all know the CHILDREN of Terrassen endured the worst; Aedion fought your wars, Elide was also kidnapped (not that any of you care; but it did keep her alive—I guess?), so can we just be glad you all are alive?!? AND LEAVE AELIN BE FOR ONCE, PLEASE! (I’m sure Darrow “has his reasons” and a backstory, but as a general point & issue I really can’t stand it).

wow sorry don’t know what got into me there maybe it is a lil personal?😅😂

Then into one that keeps popping up and bothering me: the argument & anger towards Nesta & Elain. Now while it does have its place (and I have been there too during points of my first read), I also am taking it all into account, and while I’m sorry that they let her go into the woods they were children. Nesta was a CHILD. Elain was a CHILD. (Maybe I don’t know exact ages, but they can’t have been in their 20s & 30s😂). THEY WERE ALL CHILDREN TOO. While Feyre was the youngest, while Feyre deserved safety & protection, while Feyre truly did go through a lot (and the fact she didn’t feel loved is absolutely gut-wrenching and wrong) some of which she may have been able to be spared from… she also wasn’t the only child, freezing, starving, losing parents, and terrified. Even Nesta as the oldest was still a kid. Elain is not that much older than Feyre, and she was a kid too. And yes, Feyre was a child, she was FOURTEEN, she was their little sister, and she was a child too even more. But honestly the truest guilt relies on not the sisters (THREE CHILDREN) but on the ACTUAL ADULTS; their father; who did have his issues & eventually redemption (and yes parents aren’t always capable that does happen; disability, pain, grief, depression, they are beasts), but also he still remains FAR more responsible than Nesta or Elain or even Feyre EVER should have been in the first place. It lies on THE ENTIRE VILLAGE that abandoned them; CHILDREN, whose mother had DIED, whose father was CLEARLY UNWELL, who were freezing & starving (& while the village may have been struggling they COULD have struggled TOGETHER and NOT LEFT CHILDREN to their own); THEY should have been the ones to step up. Not Nesta. Not Elain. Not Feyre. The three sisters were all children. And while any oldest sibling knows we are capable of filling roles, that doesn’t make it right; nor does it make anyone’s brains fully formed… so… like… they literally couldn’t think beyond more sometimes. And yes, while I can’t imagine sending one of my siblings (older or younger) off into the woods alone for any reason (I also could understand going off before they could stop you; I can understand why & how Feyre might’ve without them even knowing; because if it were my family it wouldn’t matter I’d do it, even if someone older was there), but I also can’t pretend it would be oh so easy to keep all four people alive by yourself (to a certain extent Nesta needs to be alive because she is the only “semi-adult” in the first place) and still as a child abandoned by the world (she had her issues too) she was a daughter so sure her father would save them begging for it in agony over it and lost in the world. While I in Nesta’s shoes would NEVER have let Feyre be near anyone during a break in, we don’t know the full story, Nesta may not have had options; she may have just run, grabbed Elain who was close by, and hid because at least she could keep them alive; and she was also a terrified child. And while Elain “went along” in Nesta’s shelter without protest; WHY WOULD’NT SHE? All children crave & deserve protection, safety, kindness, love, she has that in Nesta; why would she run from the only stability she has; especially as the child that lost something else (where Nesta was the favorite & simultaneously resented their mother, and Feyre was the “forgotten” child who never got to be a child or know such a kind of safe love, Elain did which means she knew the loss of it she had a mother to grieve) she was young and terrified and holding on to the only thing she could? And what happened to Feyre was terrible, she was forced to shoulder a burden alone, she also took it on (not blaming her, just saying she also didn’t say anything; because it was survival) and yes, it was wrong. But what happened to Nesta and Elain was also wrong. The three of them were children, and they could have done better, but they did their best and survived. As adults, they have begun healing those wounds. What else can we expect other than accountability from the ACTUAL adults at fault?! *and by actual I mean fictional😂*

The past is past. (To some extent in this context side at least)

So I guess all I’m saying is WHY ARE ALL THESE YA NOVELS BASED ON BABY’s AND TEENAGERs AND WHERE ARE ANYONE's PARENTS (oh wait their all orphans that tracks now) CAUSE I GUESS IT'S THE TROPE 🤦‍♀️ and the next character that gets all political & sexist & “my way or the highway child” during the middle of a WAR by blaming Aelin (or gods forbid poor the more I learn) Aedion for what they did to survive as children during Empire of Storms is going to get my wrath😅😂🤣 and don’t you dare Darrow EVER talk to Lysandra like that again!!! *thank you, Rowan, for protecting them; your family; with pride* (at least the 200-year-old stepped up to the plate😅😅😂… too soon?)

Shoutout to iwantavaldezinator for fandoming with me about the Terrasen issue😂

[suffarustuffaru]

Reading your tags about how people miss the very obvious "there's some fucked up shit boiling underneath" regarding Otto, just gave me a sudden realization. Otto is the only character I know in fiction where they act all innocent and drive up the "clumsy", "just in the side-lines" and "straight-man (heh)" persona. When. Like no one's in the EMT camp is buying it. They know he's way more capable than he let's on. Meanwhile, the tomfoolery is completely brought on by the Western audience.

Like Otto is failing miserably to make other characters believe that he's not up to mischief, Roswaal even thinks it can bring his downfall. But the audience, who even sometimes *sees* his fucked up thought process, is buying it.

*head in hands*

no u bring up so many good points bc ive been really thinking about this for a while T^T its such an interesting phenomenon in the difference in perception otto has between the japanese speaking half of the fandom vs the english speaking half which can be explained by—yeah. media illiteracy mainly. im also putting my head in my hands anon T^T

because—okay sorry wkdndn im gonna get into meta again but hear me out bc this pattern of the fandom underestimating otto is interesting bc i kind of sort of i cracked the code maybe??? o.o i think the nature of otto is a character is that youre SUPPOSED to underestimate him at first, just like what happens sometimes in universe. i mean wayyy back then i definitely wasnt expecting him to get more depth added to him in arc 4–which was a pleasant surprise—which is also the reaction the vast majority of people have to reading/watching arc 4, along with the other vast majority reaction which is being a bit endeared to ottosubas friendship and respecting otto for being a good friend. and then its easy to underestimate otto bc of 1. all the chaos going on in rezero at any given moment and 2. hes almost always overshadowed by other characters doing worse shit or being more insane than he is and 3. otto of course damn well knows hes easy to underestimate and counts on that. thats what he did against roswaal in arc 4. plus—i mean even aesthetics-wise hes 100% DESIGNED to be easy to underestimate. his outfit and physical features make him look either friendly or frazzled or soft. so i think that the point is that we were supposed to be kind of fooled—at first.

because yeah, we’re endeared to otto. we respect him for helping subaru the way he did. we think that hes a nice person and we now support his actions especially after feeling sympathetic towards him after learning his backstory. (or at least the average audience member will think this wjdndn.) but like—you dont even NEED to look at any side content at all for it to dawn on you that theres something Wrong. with him. like all you need is main route arcs 3-8 aka ottos entire screentime thus far, because at arc 4 its so easy to overlook otto unless youre thinking a bit deeper (for example—he gets violent with subaru. like yeah its entertaining, its played for laughs a bit, yeah subaru needed to be snapped out of his own head, but was it 100% necessary??? why did otto have this response??? bc if you just look at the main timeline otto really decided to beat up subaru first. and bc this tendency is now Less Funny in arc 8).

but even if youre just looking at rezero face value, when you get to arc 5 its starting to get even more clear that ottos weird in the head. like we already saw him being very good at scheming and planning in arc 4–in arc 5, we find out about otto hiding the tome for a year. we find out WHY hes been hiding the tome for a year. the tome then leads the witch cult into priestella, so like—in the sense, otto is RESPONSIBLE for arc 5. but theres STILL a tendency sometimes for the audience to continue underestimating him even though by this point we’re getting more clues and many characters around otto, like you said anon, KNOW hes very capable. i keep wondering why this is, but arc 5 is, again, FULL of chaos and different storylines happening at once, so its so easy to almost kind of forget otto there in the background until he occasionally pops up again. plus otto serves an additional role as comedic relief sometimes—he spends all of arc 5 being bitchy and whiny (i say this affectionately HAH) about his camp being full of disasters, for example, so i think the natural response from the audience tends to be “aw otto!! what a silly guy!!” sometimes. you know? so its like. i think at this point some people tend to be like “yeah fair that otto was wary of roswaal and thats why he saved the tome…. anyway ooooh whats going on with these other plot points” wobsbss. its so fascinating bc—ok this might be my own personal experience but anyone reading this pls tell me if you agree or not—i dont think ive seen a lot of people actually even MENTION otto bringing the tome into priestella attracting witch cultists. and the english speaking fandom LOVES to go into certain characters’ wrongdoings so why gloss over otto????

the only explanation i have for this is that from arcs 3-4 underestimating otto is. kind of the point of his character UNTIL you get to arc 5 and the clues in the main story start seeping in even more. and also the western audience DOES have media illiteracy a lot. theres that too. just look at rezero content on youtube or reddit or fanfic sites or other things of that sort T^T but no yeah i think ottos nature as a character exacerbates it. youre supposed to start asking questions about him. youre supposed to start connecting the dots and then SUDDENLY its now EXTREMELY obvious in arc 7-8 and even while theres so much chaos going on its basically shoved in your face. arc 7-8 is just delivering on all the leadup that was arcs 3-5.

and i think that youve gotta be media illiterate for sure to NOT get that otto is not squeaky clean and innocent BY ARC 8. i think that ottos the deconstruction of the loyal best friend trope, and also a mirror into what subaru couldve been like if he decided to be more ruthless instead of jumping right to forgiveness and saving everyone, except sometimes that flies right over the audience’s head wkdndnd. it confuses me bc ive seen some people completely miss the point or completely agree with otto and overlook the Bad Parts of it or, you know, STILL think ottos perfectly sane—like T^T please.

and yeah so back to what you said about otto Not being underestimated In Universe—its such an interesting detail bc hes ALWAYS been simultaneously pathetic and Very Competent wjdndnd. but yeah no all of his friends have seen various hints and clues and evidence of what hes capable of. like even though he hid the tome from them successfully and even though hes hiding info now its INEVITABLE that its gonna blow up in his face one day. like you got characters like garfiel who literally saw otto punch the wall and break his hand in an unhinged fit of rage, julius who got snapped at by otto and while julius is a Bit naive definitely knows somethings off there, anastasia whos smart as hell and definitely knows not to underestimate otto, and roswaal who, like you said anon, literally went out of his way to stop otto from breaking his hand in another unhinged fit of rage and warned otto that he will literally be destroying himself if he keeps going on like this. its this fascinating dichotomy bc otto is NOT fooling anyone around him but at the same time his current schemes are mostly unnoticed—for now—which yeah i havent seen that in a lot of media!!! its an interesting balancing act bc people around him realistically know hes competent after seeing the Proof of that for the past couple arcs, but otto is still finding ways to try and Win…

which—again, the anger and violence is an extension of arc 4 otto!! this is the same guy!! hes always been like this!! ottos kind of stayed the same, deep down, this whole time and as an audience its ONLY shoved in our face with a big gigantic spotlight on it FOUR ARCS LATER, but it was hinted to all this time. and like you said anon—we LITERALLY see ottos fucked up thought processes. literally what sane person thinks any of that shit. its spelled right out for the reader HAH T^T which—yeah. media illiteracy…. and also this whole ask was a longer way of just saying that otto is VERY easy to see at surface level if youre media illiterate. but at the same time it should be very easy to figure out otto is A Bit Fucked Up bc tappei underlines it in bright red print!!! i think people sometimes just hang onto soft awkward silly otto and forget about the rest T^T either that or they dont think he cares about subaru at all. which. that phenomenon of thinking characters that do care about subaru Dont Care is also interesting to me bc why????? we’re at arc 8 and you STILL dont get it??? o.ooooo

but yeah apart from that….. i said this earlier but yeah sometimes some people agree with ottos realism in arc 8 which is. understandable, but the whole point is that he is EXTREME. with it. hes Not in the right here, but the same crowd that wants wanton revenge in rezero is gonna agree with that kind of stuff T^T ottos been lurking in the background so much so that tappei made it meta by doing the whole “walking in darkness” part of his character, so i guess people just. dont see ottos ACTUAL worst traits and instead think he would ditch subaru at the first opportunity or something. but at the point we are now, arc 8 ottos problem isnt that hed ditch subaru. his problem is that he would sacrifice the world for subaru. his problem is that he gets extremely angry at subaru for trying to do good. his problem is that hes trying to micromanage everything around him and is willing to sacrifice anything necessary to get what he wants. but sometimes people dont get that bc otto doesnt look sound or seem like a character thatd do that. the Underestimation part of his character is doing too well on. certain audiences. please T^T the soft and awkward and silly parts ARE part of his character just like all the Darker parts are!!!

additionally im also wondering if western audience perception of otto is also clouded by the fact that otto looks and sounds more feminine / androgynous and he doesnt have the appeal of Overt Power either……. he cant Really be waifu-ified… and he cant be used as a weird self insert like subaru…. and you Have to look at him closer to understand him…. and for some reason people dont tend to hate on him so aggressively, if anything people cant even see his actual canonical flaws half the time wkdndn so if youre not paying attention otto CANT be aggressively hated on bc theres nothing there if ur not looking at it….. and if youre not paying attention otto seems more “boring” compared to the others…… (not that people arent allowed to not have otto as a favorite character bc thats totally fair but im talking about the tendency to think hes Saner than he actually is.) but yeah these are just my guesses. i have no clue the western fandom is a little T^T some people unfortunately cannot read.

anyway. big thank you to the japanese fanbase for understanding ottos character more and making so much wonderful fancontent for him T^T also i think that we as a collective fanbase should stop underestimating otto in general bc its exactly what he wouldnt want and i think itd be really hilarious. <3333 make him explode with rage please

[mystic-myrtille]

Do you think people who always hated the LS have an easier time hating on Movie!Adrien than people who used to ship it?

From what I've seen anti LS peeps like movie!Adrien, while fans of the show hate him. I thought that was weird at first, but after thinking about it, I think I have an explanation as to why.

The focus of Movie!Adrien's sad backstory was the death of his mother and that causing problems in his relationship to his dad (who wasn't as much of a horrible person as in the show, so abuse wasn't really an issue the movie touched on) but also affecting him as a person. He was closed off and afraid of getting close to people. Basically you could say he was more like his PV version. That's already a strong contrast from his show self with the strong craving for human friendship and love, so that probably already threw people off who liked show!Adrien.

We first learn about his mom when he goes to that theather where she used to perform. It's his place where he feels closest to her. Then he starts talking about it with Marinette/Ladybug and in the end he reconsiles with his dad, telling him that "yes, mother's gone, but we're still here" and they hug it out, accepting things for what they are. Now I don't want to give the movie too much credit because this "arc" was not fleshed out at all. Most of that happens in the montage. The basis was there, but after establishing that, they rush through the movie and put their focus more on fights, the romance and the music. And I think this rushing through things is the reason Adrien enjoyers couldn't connect to this other Adrien. Basically "The first one was great, so why should I care about this new one that is so different? He's less outgoing despite his dad already pushing him away and him hating loneliness? He's more mean to LB during their banter for no apparent reason? Where is Chat being a shoulder to cry on when LB looses her self confidence?"

If you present a new interpretation of a character to fans of said character, you'll have to try a little harder to convince them this interpretation is good with actual good story telling, which this movie severely lacks due to the very simplistic plot, and also... not relying on the show and the audience having to fill the blanks with information from the show as much as the movie did.

Meanwhile salters see show!Adrien as someone who gets a lot just handed to him because he made a sad face, generally has no agency and makes Marinette's life harder than it has to be and they don't like that. Then along comes this other version where his emotions don't feel like a constant pity party but are something he learns how to deal with, he doesn't constantly makes missions harder than they have to be (expect the ending sort of) and he finally has some agency. That's what I like about the way he's being portrayed. And as I said, the movie doesn't flesh those aspects out, but the premise alone of Adrien having to overcome his mother's death with the help of people around him is so much more interesting and likeable for me and probably others too, unlike the constant whining about how hard his life is until somebondy (Marinette) comes along and bends over backwards to fix it for him while he stands around and looks pretty.

So yeah, that's my take on the situation. I do find it pretty funny though how some stans act like Movie!Adrien is some alpha dude bro while show!Adrien drinks his respect women juice. Not to burst your bubble but both handle LB's rejection very poorly and are dicks to her about it. At least movie!Adrien still jumped to action instead of immediately abandoning his miraculous

[strawglicks]

thinking abt how every spamvil hater ive seen villainizes jevil and victimizes spamton to the moon and back. like their argument against spamvil is ALWAYS, without fail, "it would hurt spamton :(" and then they have nothing to say about jevil or talk abt how jevil would hurt him somehow.

First of all idk where this weirdass villainization of jevil is coming from. People seem to think hes this irredeemable soulless clown who feels nothing and doesnt care abt anyone. Meanwhile, ingame, he literally admits he is lonely and was close to Seam in the past. Yes he needs to learn how to be serious and has a cynical view of the world, but for some reason the fandom doesnt see him as a complex and flawed character. they just decide hes too far gone and would hurt anyone he has a relationship with, including spamton.

And then theres spamton, everyone's favorite innocent angel never did anything wrong bbg apparently!! The fandom doesnt treat spamton anything like they do Jevil. They actually want good things for him, a better future, and feel sorry for him. That's not a bad thing, I feel the same, but these same people will ignore all his flaws and how literally evil he was in the snowgrave route. Spamton is not a good person. I thought this was explicitly clear in the game, but apparently bc he has sad lore spoonfed to the audience this is ignored.

In regards to Jevil, Spamton is extremely bitter and jealous of him. The only things spamton himself has said about jevil is that he wishes to "surpass" him, and that he lost to jevil's games in the past. He even admits he cheated in many of these games. Spamton is not a trustworthy person. if you havent noticed his character is literally based on scam emails. Spamton is just jealous of Jevil's happiness despite the situation theyre both in, which is understandable in a way. Still, it doesnt mean spamton is in the right for being bitter and resentful. There's no real evidence Jevil has actively hurt spamton in any way, esp not on purpose. He literally just beat him at games and is way happier than he is and he's angry about it.

People consume all this shit at SURFACE LEVEL- reminder that this is an unfinished game MADE TO BE ANALYZED- and dont look any deeper into these very complex and interesting characters. All these spamvil haters assume Jevil is just irredeemable and too far gone and find spamtons backstory depressing but dont think about what these two NEED to heal from their experiences. Having gone through similar shit, they're really the only people who could understand each other to such an extent. They both need to let their guard down and listen to each other because they can offer each other a different point of view on a similar situation, which is what the both of them NEED more than anything. Yes it would take a lot of time; these are very flawed people. But you cant just. leave them where they are right now and expect either of them to heal completely on their own. Being alone is the LAST thing either of them needs. Jevil literally admits to being lonely and spamton ACTIVELY gets worse the longer he is alone. Yes he has trust issues, but he needs to be able to open up if he ever wants to get better.

Theres also the argument of "spamton is afraid of clowns" which isnt valid anyway because i just got done explaining how even if hes afraid of opening up and being close to people, spamton NEEDS it if he wants any chance at getting better. Sometimes you have to face your fears to make any progress. Plus spamton himself has never shown any sign of fearing jevil. He's only ever regarded him with bitterness and jealousy.

idk how to conclude this fuck you