#and there's a pretty significant romance element.

[aroaessidhe]

2024 reads / storygraph

As Born To Rule The Storm

sff novella

a young woman who’s one of a handful of child soldiers created as magical weapons and forced to serve in the military

with the time travel ability that drains her lifespan each time she jumps, she attempts to stop the cold war from becoming an endless apocalyptic conflict - whether through fighting, or deflecting - doing anything she can just to keep the two others she was raised with safe

[utilitycaster]

You've mentioned a few times about Matt making this the Moon Plot Campaign and the cast not realizing it was the Moon Plot Campaign and how the characters aren't necessarily the best for a Moon Plot Campaign and I'm just curious: if you could pick what type of character build the cast played to best fit a Moon Plot how might that look?

Oh man I think I've answered this before but I will always answer it again because my answer is evolving.

The first two things are just general advice:

In retrospect I think Matt should have treated this campaign as sort of a semi-module format. If you will be playing a module (eg: Curse of Strahd, Call of the Netherdeep, etc), your DM should tell you this and essentially say "you can have your own character struggles - in fact you should - but they should be largely internal/things that can be addressed without you going on an extended quest." For example, you can (and should) play a character in Curse of Strahd who is struggling with self-esteem, or religious faith, or cowardice; but you can't have a character who, to address these things, must confront their father, because they're going to be in Barovia and he's not going to be there. I recommend checking out the rivals in Call of the Netherdeep, because their throughlines are great examples - they' develop and engage with the story, but it's very much driven by the plot of the story and not a delving into their backstory. So essentially, have simpler backstories or backstories that inherently tie into the quest, and let the players come up with that by giving them the most spoiler free outline. I think Matt tried to do all that tying up himself, and at times it made things a little too pat; or those characters who had elements that couldn't be woven in as gracefully (Chetney and the Gorgynei; Laudna with Delilah; some of Ashton's stuff) got very brief arcs so we could get back to the main moon plot.

Do not dump intelligence. DO NOT DUMP INTELLIGENCE. Have at least one PC in your party who is not just intelligent but like, educated. Percy, Beau, and Caleb all fit this. Chetney's pretty smart but not terribly educated so he's great at investigation but he's not going to do very well on religion checks. This party should have had a fucking wizard or artificer or cobalt soul monk or knowledge cleric, but also every party should unless you're going full murder hobo. I think it's valid to be into actual play (or d&d itself) for the character moments and the romance but you know what makes that possible? FIGURING OUT WHAT'S FUCKING HAPPENING INSTEAD OF DICKING AROUND CLUELESSLY. My one true house rule for myself as a DM is that one person in the party has to have high intelligence (or like, be a bard or rogue with decent intelligence but expertise/jack of all trades in everything). Play a high int character for the sake of your DM, PLEASE.

On a more specific note:

would have been good to have more Marquesian characters, but also someone from the Empire would have added a significant dimension. I do love Chetney, and I think Travis is the player who pivoted fastest to fit better within this campaign and has a good understanding of what it could have been with a bit more commitment, but yeah I think if Matt had told them a bit more of what was going on he'd have made like, a more serious werewolf member of the Gorgynei who had noticed lycanthropes becoming susceptible to Ruidus and decided to investigate, for example.

I think having more divinely aligned characters would have just made for much more fun interactions. The issue with the god debates wasn't that they were having them, for all I think that anyone who wants to kill the gods is a fucking idiot. It was that none of them knew jack shit about what they were talking about so it turned into an unending Emperor's Nose discussion. Having either someone who was actually trained (a la Braius, who is a welcome addition for this reason, among others) or again just. a person with religion proficiency and a decent INT score would have made it an actual compelling argument of different perspectives, and not a bunch of idiots yelling out nonsense.

It honestly wouldn't have looked much different. In fact, I think you could have kept the bottom table mostly as is with just tiny alterations, and done the following:

Make Chetney a Marquesian member of the Gorgynei with a mission tied to investigating what's going on with Ruidus. He could still be a weird woodworker.

Entirely rework Laudna's premise. You could have kept her creepy and undead, even, but get rid of Delilah and make her a wizard instead. Make her tied to the Grim Verity or an archaeologist who got kicked off the Tishtan site. You could even keep her aligned with Imogen although I'd have made it a more recent meet up of her being on the run and having gone through Gelvaan in trying to avoid the Grey Assassins

I like what happened with FCG ultimately but I think a different subclass would have still helped; make them a knowledge cleric and more intelligent.

Make Imogen and Ashton much more aware of the Apex War and Otohan's history from the get go. Also give Laura a heads up that her character's going to be super central and she will be in the hot seat for much of the campaign.

[colleendoran]

The Secret Language of a Page of Chivalry: The Pre-Raphaelite Connection

Adapting Neil Gaiman’s Chivalry is a decades-long dream fulfilled. The story as text can be enjoyed on multiple levels, and so can the art. You look at the pages and see the pretty pictures, but the pictures also have meta-textual meaning. Knowing this secret language adds to the experience.

Some people pick up the references quickly, but I’ll share with you some more of what’s going on under the surface.

In Ye Olden Days of Art Making, most painters made pictures that contained visual narrative cues. Flowers in a picture might be heraldic signs that signaled political affiliations, or could indicate purity, anger, or love. Purple was the color of kings. A dog in a picture might represent faithfulness, and butterflies could represent the soul.

There are Pre-Raphaelite paintings with so many symbols and ideas in them that you need a deep working knowledge of Victorian and Edwardian social mores to understand what’s going on.

For example, Ford Madox Brown’s Work, a painting which took some 13 years to complete, was first exhibited in 1865 with a catalogue explaining all its symbols and elements. There is nothing in that picture that doesn’t mean something.

I brought some of that visual meta-textual sensibility to Chivalry, (and I’ve written about the symbolism and meanings in the work in other essays.)

I also brought into the work direct Pre-Raphaelite art references.

From 1868-1870, Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones created four paintings illuminating the tale of Pygmalion and Galatea, entitled Pygmalion and the Image, and wrote a poem with each line titling one painting:

The heart desires

The hand refrains

The godhead fires

The soul attains.

A perfect little poem for Chivalry, and I think of it often when some people present me with what I think is a very strange question: why didn’t Galaad just take the Holy Grail from Mrs. Whitaker?

It kind of breaks my heart that people would even ask that.

Burne-Jones painted two versions of this series of which this is the second.

In the first panel of this page, Sir Galaad kneeling before the Grail is derived from the figure of Pygmalion kneeling before Galatea: The Soul Attains.

Sir Galaad’s restraint even in the face of his greatest desire makes him worthy of his prize.

There are two Pre-Raphalite references in this page, the most obvious being in panel 2: it’s Sir John Everett Millais’s 1857 work A Dream of the Past: Sir Isumbras at the Ford.

The painting was very poorly received on first exhibition, compelling Millais to redo significant portions of it. It was caricatured and ridiculed, and then ended up becoming influential and popular, and isn’t that the way it goes.

That’s an art career in a nutshell, really.

The Sir Isumbras image also influenced John Tenniel’s illustrations for the Lewis Carroll Alice in Wonderland novels.

Sir Isumbras derives from a 13th century Medieval romance poem about a good knight whose pride causes him to fail in his Christian duty. He is presented with a series of difficult challenges before he can find happiness again, reunite with his family, and be forgiven his sins. The painting by Millais is based less explicitly on the poem than it is on a later parody of the poem. (It’s complicated.)

My using Sir Isumbras as the base for the shot of Galaad with the children is obvious here. In the Millais painting, Sir Isumbras carries a woodcutter’s children across the ford. In Chivalry, Sir Galaad carries the children of Mrs. Whitaker’s neighborhood down the street.

While Sir Isumbras spent many years learning humility and Christian duty, Galaad has a long quest to fulfill before he can achieve his goal. And on the way to that goal, he’s humble and nice to children, too.

That the Millais painting was such a huge influence on many a depiction of knighthood over the years made it a perfect reference point here, and the story behind both the painting and the poem give it further layers of meaning.

The next panel has a far less obvious reference, but the source is Arthur Hughes’s painting The Rescue.

Arthur Hughes is one of the lesser-known Pre-Raphaelites, but his art is widely seen and influential. He’s certainly been a big influence on me, as many of his paintings appear again and again in Arthuriana references, as he was a prolific King Arthur picture tale teller.

The Rescue (1907-1908) was originally part of a diptych which was separated and sold back in the 1920’s. His style was becoming unpopular by the time Hughes painted the work, and little is known about this work except that one panel was in the collection of Andrew Lloyd Webber at some point. Maybe still is. Dunno.

Anyway, the diptych depicts a little child kneeling in prayer menaced by a dragon in one panel, and in the next, safely trotting away with a knight on horseback. I like that this is a diptych, a kind of proto-comic art form common in medieval religious art, so this was perfect to use here.

Another reference to Arthur Hughes is in this double page splash from later in the book as Galaad on his quest encounters the Hesperides.

I didn’t set out to reference this Arthur Hughes piece at first, but it’s one of my favorite paintings. When I realized my sketches for this scene kept echoing the Hughes composition, I went with it. The Hughes painting of Galahad is one of the most famous depictions of the character, so it makes me happy to have this referenced in Chivalry.

Kindly ask for CHIVALRY, published by Dark Horse Comics in the USA and by Headline Books in the UK at your local comic shops or bookstore. Written by Neil Gaiman. Adaptation and art by me.

For further reading on this project, go HERE.

HERE.

And HERE.

Thank you to my Patreon patrons for sponsoring my work and this post.

Colleen Doran Illustrates Neil Gaiman will be a solo exhibit at the Society of Illustrators in New York City this spring. Watch this space for updates.

Have a wonderful holiday season.

[pillow-anime-talk]

his hot girl.

request: the captains, specifically imayoshi, hyuga and kasamatsu with an s/o who is very confident in her body and wears very hot girl clothes, but doesnt let other people judge her just from her outward appearance alone

# tags: headcanon; current relationships; light romance; mostly fluff; but also drama; school!au or work!au; confident!reader; protective!boys; mention of vomit in shuuzou’s part; rather sfw

includes: female reader ft. junpei hyuuga, yukio kasamatsu, shoichi imayoshi, shuuzou nijimura & taisuke otsubo {knb}

— JUNPEI

↘ That day you and Junpei went on a date to your favorite restaurant. After ordering food, you sat down at one of the tables, immediately starting a conversation about plans for the next few days; your boyfriend had a match next friday and you had two projects to do.

↘ The day promised to be calm and the weather was so warm, so pretty.

↘ While having a nice chat with a tall basketball player, you heard whispers on your right. The two women sitting next to you nervously looked at your person and talked about your outfit – tight pants with flared legs that perfectly emphasized your bottom and a blouse with a visible neckline. You loved classic combinations with a hint of extravagance and you always felt great in your body. Plus, it was a date with Junpei – of course you wanted to look sexy and feminine.

↘ You were about to say something as your back straightened and the chest was pushed forward, but your boyfriend was much faster.

↘ “It’s rude to talk about other people, especially in a restaurant. Why don’t you take care of your clothes instead of my girlfriend?” He asked with a disgusted smile, and the two women quickly hid behind the menu card. You giggled, taking your boyfriend’s hand and thanking him.

— YUKIO

↘ It was a summer time, so you had to go to the beach in the company of your closest friends and their significant other. You spent most of your time on the blanket and sunbathing your body, occasionally chatting with the girlfriends of the rest of your boyfriend’s teammates... but still mostly focused on the sun, drinking water, and your boy who having a great time in the sea.

↘ “Y/N, let’s go to the water for a while.” Nakamura’s partner proposed with a big smile, and you just nodded slightly, adjusting the straw hat on your head and also the strings of your red swimsuit. In the meantime, you heard the screams of a woman who telling someone to not look at you.

↘ You looked towards the young woman and the man (probably her boyfriend or husband), then raised an eyebrow. The blonde stranger started telling him to stop staring and you’re not that pretty at all. You... just giggled.

↘ “... Why don’t you start working on your confidence instead of insulting me?” You just said, putting your hand on your hip, and the young woman’s cheeks took on the color of a ripe tomato. “With this attitude, I do not wish you a long relationship. I’m so sorry for you, man.” You said and then you and your friend walked towards the pleasant, warm water.

— SHOICHI

↘ You and Shoichi were invited to his childhood friend’s wedding. You liked the groom and the bride very much, but you felt the eyes of the maid of honour on you, who was looking enviously at your beautiful mid-thigh dress. The bottle green perfectly matched the colors of the room, your hairstyle and make-up, which is why you certainly caught the eyes of many people. In addition, the dress had an exposed back, slight creases on the thighs and silver elements that harmonized with the jewelry you had on your ears, neck and hands that evening. You looked divine.

↘ The bride’s witness, however, had a different opinion on this. From a distance, you could hear her gruff comments about you wanting to take your eyes off Yuri and her white, beautiful dress. Somewhere between the first and second toast, you also managed to hear that you look fat in your outfit and your shoes don’t match to the rest of your accessories. You just smiled at those words.

↘ “... Should I talk to her?” Your boyfriend asked calmly and you just shook your head.

↘ “Don’t worry, honey. I will do it.”

— SHUUZOU

↘ He loves your style very very much and really doesn’t understand how another person (usually a woman) can talk to a strange girl like that.

↘ On that day you were on a trip to the mountains to celebrate your fourth anniversary of your relationship and your first anniversary as a engaged couple. The weather was beautiful and the views was so amazing. You still had less than an hour to drive to your accommodation, but you had to pee and Shuuzou decided to refuel his car. After using the toilet at the gas station, you decided to buy yourself and your boyfriend a small, warm snack. You ordered one hot dog with ketchup and mayo for your partner and a small grilled sandwich with your favorite toppings.

↘ It was hot that day, so shorts and a tank top were the perfect choice. And you could start to tan a little. Unfortunately, after paying for the meal and fuel, and after receiving the food, you heard a very unpleasant comment from one of the gas station customers; his disgusting comment about you looking like a pornstar with a dick in your hand made you immediately wanted to vomit. But your face showed anger and disappointment.

↘ “It’s sad that you have so little self-confidence and manhood that you have to insult others for their appearance. But go on. Maybe someday it will make you feel better.” You replied casually as you left the small building. Luckily, your boyfriend quickly cheered you up with a quick but tender kiss.

— TAISUKE

↘ Summer and warm evenings were the perfect time to go out to the club and party with trusted people. Together with Taisuke, his friends, as well as Takao and Miyaji partners, you chose a club where you could dance, use karaoke equipment, drink something and play bowling. You were in the middle of a little fight between you with your boyfriend and a blonde basketball player with his girlfriend (your bestie).

↘ For today’s outing, you decided to wear leather pants that perfectly emphasized your legs and butt, as well as a white, lace top with gold elements. On your feet you had the most ordinary sneakers and a black bandana on your head. Your outfit was described by Taisuke as ‘very sexy and I want to kiss you now’.

↘ You had a great time while playing and drinking drinks (alcohol or not). Halfway through your game, all the boys went to get more snacks and use the restroom. So you stayed with Junko and Sachiko and engaged in a pleasant conversation about plans for the next weeks of holidays. About the time your boyfriend and his friends left three of you, a group of four men entered the bowling alley. Seeing you and your friends, they immediately started throwing obscene comments at you all.

↘ “... Leather turn me on a lot. You must have worn that outfit to the club on purpose, huh?” The tall, black-haired teenager laughed out loud, and you frowned. You hated pushy men... or rather pushy and stupid boys. However, before you responded to the idiotic comment, your boyfriend and the other four returned to their place, immediately showing their dominance and superiority. The Shuutoku team was definitely more massive and taller than the four strangers, so they instantly fell silent.

↘ You were glad that you could count on the support of your boyfriend and friends.

[oddmawd]

THE ART OF QUEEN SACRIFICE - A Dark Doflamingo Romance

SUMMARY: In chess, a player commits “queen sacrifice” by intentionally giving up their queen to gain a significant strategic or material advantage upon the board. But life is not a game of chess, and such strategies are easier prescribed than practiced — a lesson the princess of Mary Geoise will personally learn when she offers her hand in marriage to the infamous pirate warlord Doflamingo in order to spare her beloved kingdom from his wrath. [Pirate!Doflamingo x Princess!OC. Unnamed/undescribed OC for x-reader fans.] [Pirate AU. Yes, a pirate AU for One Piece. It makes sense in context, promise.]

TAGS & CONTENT WARNINGS

AO3 Link - This fic is hosted in its entirety exclusively on AO3

FANDOM: One Piece

PAIRINGS: Doflamingo x OC (can be read as Doffy x Reader)

RATING: E(xplicit)

WORD COUNT: 8 chapters total, 75k+ words

GENRE: Dark Romance

TAGS: Alternate Universe - Pirate, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Stalking, Manipulation, Emotional Manipulation, Intrigue, Corruption, Chess, Chess Metaphors, Strategy & Tactics, Yandere, Yandere Donquixote Doflamingo, Pirates, Princes & Princesses, Eventual S m u t, Romance, Dark Fantasy, Non-Linear Narrative, Fairy tale vibes, Cis Female Reader, Cis Female OC

WARNINGS: Canon-typical violence, s m u t in chapters 6-8, Doflamingo is a manipulative bastard

CHAPTER 1 - EXCERPT

The princess of Mary Geoise stood upon the balcony to watch her beloved kingdom burn.

She dressed plainly for the occasion. No finery, no frills, no fuss. That night she wore but a simple gown and plain shoes, bare of all regalia but the bauble she never took from around her pretty neck. She clutched this necklace in her shaking hands for comfort. Most days she hid it beneath her clothes, tucked under modest necklines and away from the prying eyes of her maids and watching father, but the time for such caution had passed.

They were almost at the end, now. Her father could levy no punishments graver than what awaited her come dawn.

“My lady.”

The third and newly appointed general of her father’s armies — for their enemies had slain the first and his replacement alike — bowed upon the flagstones at her feet. Distant fire reflected in the depths of his worried eyes. The princess could not remember his name, though she recalled the black tattoos upon his hands well enough. She bade him stand with a nod, gaze returning to the tableau of destruction playing out before her. Fire had not yet touched the noble quarter, but sparks rose to the stars at the city’s edge, spreading inward through the other districts in a sullen, rust-red ring.

“What news?” she asked with the taste of ash upon her tongue.

“Our blockade has fallen. Pirate forces breached the city walls.”

She closed her eyes. “How many?”

“A-all of them.” The general swallowed. “The Pirate Warlord sent them all.”

From his rightful place atop the conquered throne, her weary father murmured, “Don’t…don’t call him that.”

The wan-faced king sat slumped, mouth slick with wine, fingers clasped around the neck of the seventh bottle he’d downed since news broke of the pirates reaching his kingdom’s shore. He did not look like a king that night. Tonight, he was just a man, the dignity of his station crumbling in the face of imminent defeat.

And like a diamond that had lost its luster, he was ignored. “Pirate ships block the harbor,” said the general. He answered to her, now — a princess in name but the kingdom’s queen in practice.  Especially after the secrets that had recently come to light. “There can be no escape. Not anymore.”

He needn’t have said it. The princess already knew. A game of Monarchic Chess sat behind her, half complete, tiles of the board arranged in the shape of her kingdom, the game of this attack splayed out upon them in perfect, miniature detail. But although the game was not yet finished, she could already predict the outcome. The number of ships, the element of surprise, the pirate warlord’s tactics…her forces were outgunned, and with no warning to aid them, they were outmaneuvered, too. The blockade had been naught but a desperate, last-ditch effort to repel his forces, her final attempt to save them — to save not only herself and the monarchy, but to save the people she had vowed to protect. Her people were the ones who truly mattered in this scenario. She had known her efforts would fail from the outset, and that she acted on their behalf in vain, but hope compelled her try for one last chance at victory.

A chance now slipping through her fingers, as impossible to grasp as hope itself.

“Thank you, General.” She turned from him, and from her father, and returned her attention to the kingdom she had failed. “You are dismissed.”

But he did not leave. Instead he said: “There’s more.”

Bitter laughter charred her throat. “What more could there possibly be?”

“Messengers from the Pirate Warlord — from the enemy.” He corrected himself with a sideways glance at her father. “They came to tell us citizens have been taken hostage.”

Her blood ran cold. “How many?”

“Hundreds. Our operatives have confirmed it. They are gathered in groups, held at gunpoint.”

She considered this for a time. “And the Warlord’s demands in return for their safe release?”

“He…” The general looked as stunned as she felt. “He hasn’t made any.”

“So far,” the princess murmured. “There is still time yet.”

And so she waited. The general left. In his absence, advisors slinked from their hiding places in the shadows of the throne room to stand about like carrion, black-cloaked and beady-eyed, waiting for the corpse to pick clean with their sharp beaks. They wrung their hands, watching her. Whispered in her father’s ear, though he was too drunk to heed them. Many though they numbered, and brilliant in their own right, they were no help to the princess. They never had been, she ruefully mused. She alone had been their savior for many years, unknowing all the while, fighting their battles for them atop the Monarchic Chessboard. But now, even with eyes at last open to the truth, she was helpless to deliver them from this hell on earth.

It was over. It was well and truly over.

High in her tower above the city, the princess’s eyes burned as she gazed at the burning kingdom, lids heavy and thick in their struggle to remain open. So many sleepless nights. So many games played. So many tears spilled that evening, and in the many evenings before the Pirate Warlord attacked her borders outright. But all had been for naught, and now he marched upon her shores. Her enemy, her foe, her villain — he would be here soon. Soon, she would look the devil in the eye, and fall.

Unable to resist, she allowed her tired eyes to close. Smoke and ash rose from the burning city. Wind caressed her cheeks, her throat, even her hands as they clutched the necklace she loved so much. But the cold comfort of the jewel on her palm could not guard against the distant screams of her people as they were menaced by the pirates who had laid her father’s armies to waste. There could be no comfort for the princess as the noose prepared to pull tight around her throat. There could be no stopping the ring of fire sweeping toward her.

Closing her eyes was an insult to the citizens she had failed to protect. They did not have the luxury of awaiting their fate from the impersonal height of a palace tower. 

Thus, she opened them again to stare into the heart of her burning, beloved capital…but to her surprise, the image before her did not match the horrors in her head. The fiery horizon had not moved. The ring of fire had not closed. No, it somehow held steady, a constant halo of destruction that had moved not an inch deeper into the capital city and the palace waiting at its heart. The onslaught had been held at bay by…she knew not what. Had the invasion halted? But why?

What was the pirate warlord waiting for?

Her hands left the stone parapet along the balcony as she whirled to face the throne room.

“You there,” she asked, but the advisors scattered like crows under the stone of her gaze. She turned instead to the guard at the door. “Where is the general?”

“I can find him, Princess,” the guard said, scrambling. “I can — ”

He vanished through the huge oak doors. She returned her stare to the line of fire. Her knees ached from standing on the cold flagstones for hours on end. The princess had not moved since they received word of the unified pirate army’s invasion of the capital, but she refused to sink into despair alongside her wilting father. The bauble in her hand gave her strength. Oh, that beloved pink jewel she wore on its delicate chain — it gave her courage even when weariness clawed her eyes and dug sharp teeth into her psyche. She rolled it through her fingers, weighing it on her palm and giving the sparkling gem the smallest kiss when she thought no one was looking. The diamond held more than mere glitter or monetary value. It held the very core of her dreams in its facets, glinting back at her with a thousand possibilities and all the lives she might have lived had the unthinkable not occurred.

But the unthinkable had occurred. The war had been lost. The pirates had won. She would never be able to tell the person who had given her the gem how much his words had haunted her since their parting. She would never be able to tell him she wanted to reconsider the offer she had rejected. She would never be able to take his hand and say yes as she so longed to. That possibility had gone dark the moment the fires lit. If only she had met him in some other life, perhaps — 

The door opened, and the general said: “He has stopped advancing, Princess.”

She spun in a tangle of skirts. Once again the general knelt upon the stones behind her. Her father moaned atop the throne, but she hardly heard his cry of despair.

“Have our forces rallied?” she asked, but there was no hope in her heart. “I did not think they would be capable — ”

“No. They are not capable.” He passed a tattooed hand over his weary face. “He could press forward again at any time. He has the forces to destroy us in an instant.” But here he paused. “And yet.”

“And yet he has not.” Her hands fisted, fingernails scraping soft skin. “Why has that monster — ?” She shook her head. “He is just a man.”

“Princess?” asked her general.

“Never mind.” She dropped her hands and turned, head held high, tired eyes unyielding as they dragged her scattered advisors from the shadows. “Tell me again. Tell me everything you know about him.”

“We have told you everything already, Princess,” they whispered.

“Then tell me again,” demanded the princess, “about the Pirate Warlord Doflamingo.”

READ THE REST OF CHAPTER 1 ON AO3. CLICK HERE!

[sampersandman]

Here’s something I said so many times since this clip dropped that I forgot to even post it here: I’m pretty sure this plot element was added to the script as a reflection of what Brendon experienced with adult swim

Galaktikon II was the original vision for Army of the Doomstar, and you can find people working that out and successfully describing the events of the movie pretty much beat for beat back when that album released. The relationship with their fans was something left out, I kind of assume that was already supposed to be resolved in Doomstar Requiem. In addition to that, Brendon talked about wanting to explore Toki and Abigail’s relationship following Doomstar Requiem so I’m not too sure whether or not I think that she was always going to be dropped as a love interest. I really appreciate that she WAS to be honest because it’s actually pretty mature of Nathan and Brendon to acknowledge the fact that he projected everything he wanted out of life onto her- and there was never any actual relationship there. That being said, creating a last second love interest that was used as a plot device for conflict and as a prize, who deliberately avoided Nathan, and basically had the personality of a female Offdensen otherwise, was something that got a good amount of criticism from the audience. She was almost universally hated. So: I’ve been wondering if this was also a meta commentary moment? Like Brendon himself was apologizing? Lol

Always curious if we were actually supposed to buy that the conflict was over Nathan “stealing” Abigail from Pickles too, because it was Skwisgaar/Nathan/the Media that said that and never Pickles himself.

To me it seems like deliberate framing. He kept talking about getting a wife and kids and he shared that sentiment once again in AOTD right after Pickles is playing mom to the band and getting told by Offdensen that he needs to be as good a friend to Nathan as he can. It never goes so far as to actually contrast Abigail and Pickles, like say flashing his face after Abigail’s whenever Nathan is experiencing PTSD, I might think Brendon didn’t want to mislead/bait the audience when his primary objective was most likely to stress the significance of friendship over romance. That seems on brand with what he’d been saying in a lot of interviews going into this, that the entire show was an exercise in masculine relationships. Though he also said this lmao

Finally, On a more somber note: I think the big funeral at the beginning may have been in part a dedication to Jon

[in-g-major]

ATLA Unpacked: Kataang is Reactive, not Constructive (Part 1)

In my last rewatch of ATLA, I came to a conclusion about something that's bothered me since I first watched the finale in 2008. After *the kiss* which closes out the entire show, I've been of the opinion that Kataang was an absolute failure, on multiple levels. Over the years I've held that position through multiple rewatches and the perspectives of many other intelligent, passionate fans. However, why it fails is something I've thought more deeply about over the years. There are the implications of a romance with a very lopsided balance of emotional labor, and issues of one party's consent (Katara's) being violated without an apology. Those are serious problems and valid criticisms, but here I'm going to be examining how Kataang fails because of its position within ATLA's story. As a disclaimer, I am not invoking Zutara in this analysis. For most of my time as an ATLA fan I abstained from the shipping wars beyond an occasional comment, and I only became pro-Zutara within the last year after taking on the responsibility of writing about these characters again. Alright, here goes! Reactive vs Constructive? When I say Kataang is a reactive force, I mean that it disturbs the flow and direction of the narrative (the implicit and explicit messages a story is projecting to the audience) by contradicting and clashing with other things we're presented with. A constructive force, on the other hand, is something which shapes the narrative towards an internally sound and satisfying conclusion. To explain what I mean, I'll be going through the show in episode order. No Kataang in sight yet (B1:E1 - B1:E13) A commonly cited argument in favor of Kataang is that it was part of ATLA from the beginning and the show was building towards it all along. This argument doesn't hold up simply because of how many episodes go by before there are any implications of romantic interest between Aang and Katara. The closest thing to romantic subtext is the way Katara appears to Aang after she frees him from the iceberg. (B1:E1)

By itself this doesn't suggest anything particularly romantic, especially since Katara is the first person Aang sees after a very traumatic experience. Later on he tells Appa "I liked her too" (B1:E2), but that's pretty nonspecific. After this we get exactly zero text or subtext until we're over two-thirds of the way into Book 1. Now a romance between two characters doesn't have to be developed from the very beginning of the story to make sense. However, things get messier for Kataang from here, so hold on tight. The Dashing, Dark-Haired Boys in Katara's life (B1:E6 - B1:E10) In my last rewatch I really took notice of how we see Katara's dynamics with no less than THREE dark-haired boys her age or older in the span of five episodes. First, there's Haru (B1:E6), with whom she builds a very sweet friendship that has some romantic possibilities. They bond over the struggles of losing their parents to the Fire Nation, and he's the first person who empathizes with her feelings about the death of her mother.

Katara: I lost my mother in a Fire Nation raid. This necklace is all I have left of her. Haru: It's not enough, is it? Katara: No. (Disclaimer: Harutara was my OG ATLA ship) Next, there's Zuko (B1:E9), at this point her enemy and the one who finds her mother's necklace after she loses it at the end of B1:E6. Their parallels so far have revolved around the longing they project onto Aang and learning to master their elements. Here, in their first one-on-one interaction, a further connection is established through Katara's mother's necklace. Exactly why this is significant for Zuko isn't clear yet, but it pays off wonderfully later on.

Zuko: Tell me where [Aang] is, and I won't hurt you or your brother. Katara: Go jump in the river! Zuko: Try to understand. I need to capture him to restore something I've lost: my honor. Perhaps in exchange, I can restore something you've lost. (That first image is the perfect snapshot of how hilariously awkward this exchange actually is. Zuko's only cool when he's not trying to be) Finally, there's Jet (B1:E10), Katara's first crush. She's wooed by his good looks and guerilla tactics against the Fire Nation, then spends most of the episode smitten with him. Jet empathizes with her mother's death when she brings it up, but he also tricks her into doing something she would never have agreed to with full knowledge of his plans. When she confronts him about it, he tries manipulating her with what she told him about her mother, and she truly turns on him when she thinks he's killed Sokka. It's the first time Katara has had her trust violated, and it's a painful experience.

Katara: Jet, why? Jet: Katara, you would too if you just stopped to think. Think about what the Fire Nation did to your mother. We can't let them do that to anyone else ever again. Katara: This isn't the answer! Jet: I want you to understand me, Katara. I thought your brother would understand, but... Katara: Where's Sokka?... I can't believe I trusted you. You lied to me! You're sick, and I trusted you!

(Just putting those images together had me slightly teary. Poor Katara.) What these character dynamics have in common is that they're all constructive. They contribute to Katara's story without contradicting each other. Her feelings and agency are clearly emphasized, and all three boys exist as their own independent characters while simultaneously being part of her journey. Keep that in mind as we venture into our first real Kataang episode. Related Meta & Additional Reading - Katara's Romantic Agency by starlight-bread-blog

[usmsgutterson]

hi! Could I request a Kaz or platonic!crows x reader with a reader who has some kind of facial scar/s and is feeling a bit insecure about them,like they wear a mask to hide them but around the crows they don’t but lately they have been again maybe because of looks they’ve been getting from people or stuff people have said and so their feeling insecure bout them again (Hurt/Comfort)

If not that’s perfectly fine too! Have a wonderful day :] -🍒Anon

Five Bells- K.B + platonic! crows x gn! reader

Okay! Hi! Thank you for sending this in, I've been planning a lot of stuff lately and using writing to take breathers and still be productive, and I've been writing a good bit of angst in the past few days which has been absolutely lovely. All of your requests have also generally just been pretty fun and relaxing to write so thank you so much for sending them in and I'm terribly sorry about how late they're coming out!

I was just going to do platonic! crows but then the romance thing with Kaz came reflexively so I did both! It's most platonic crows but there's an element of kazzle dazzle romance there, which I hope is all good!

Fic type-hurt/comfort

Warnings- mentions of death by stabbing, slitting of throat, gunfire, bombs, and an illusion to heart attacks (nina calls it "heartrender magic" but that's what I was trying to reference), mention of a mask feeling like a "second skin", mention of daggers being pushed into the side of the head (it's nondescriptive), mention of being stabbed in the jugular, mention of itching powder, mention and depiction of people being dickheads about a facial scar (glaring at the reader when they have their mask off, which the reader illudes to having been a long-time occurrence) if I missed anything, I apologize and please don't hesitate to let me know!

Jesper was the first to notice it, the fact that you'd taken to wearing your mask again.

It was black, a little reminiscent of the medical masks that doctors wore, though it'd been made from Fabrikator altered fabrics and according to you, felt like wearing a second skin.

You wore that mask even in the worst conditions--hell, Jesper had seen you only adjust the mask rather than take it off completely after climbing six stories in the incinerator shaft at the Ice Court--but you never wore it around the crows.

Jesper had grown used to the sight of the scar, idly ghosting a finger along it whenever he would wrap an arm around your shoulders in a booth at the Crow Club after a terribly long job that everyone had risked their lives in.

But, Jesper noticed quickly that you'd taken to wearing the mask again.

Nina, Matthias, and Inej noticed it after him. You wore it day in and day out, just like you used to and like you still did on every single job.

Nina began counting the days she'd see you with it on in a row where Inej began looking at the people around, trying to see if there was any particular glowering set of eyes that was making you as insecure about it as you used to be.

A couple of weeks had passed, and if those who'd made you insecure were still around, they were good at shooting you disgusted looks when she didn't notice.

Matthias was more subtle. He would do as Inej did, as Wylan would later do when he noticed, glaring at the people who were unafraid of him and liked to make you insecure over a scar, a sign of a battle fought and a battle won. He was a calm, still guy who had the stature of a bolder. He was a guy who was quick to anger very rarely, but it seemed he was quick to anger, in that instance.

Wylan and Kaz noticed last. You'd brought the mask to Jesper, hoping he'd be able to repair the significant damage it'd taken in a job you'd done, and nobody heard from you in the two days that it took Jesper to fix it.

It'd been as though you disappeared.

Kaz, a man who'd accidentally become aware of where you were, able to sense you and seek you out since even before your relationship began, resented those two days.

Two days of seeking out the familiar feeling of your presence, two days of not finding it. Two very hellish days, if Kaz was to be honest with himself.

Wylan was less subtle then Matthias in his anger; he'd begun observing just like Inej had, his eyes roving the crowds the two of you found yourselves in like a lion sought out its prey.

He was ready and willing to throw blast powder at those behind your frequent wearing of the mask again, and whenever he threw out a seemingly empty threat, you couldn't help but notice that his voice raised an octave or two, like he was talking to someone who might've been a good distance away.

Nina and Matthias caught a very specific set of eyes one night in the Crow Club at the same time you did. You went to pull your mask up and Nina stopped you, giving you a grin.

"I know the fabric is designed to be breathable, but you really should let your skin have a break," she said. "And besides, you look ethereal tonight. Kaz is going to lose it when he sees you, especially considering the fact that he loves your scar."

You gave Nina an uneasy smile. "I'll be fine if I wear the mask."

"When was the last time you washed it?" Matthias asked with a pointed look. "We've done a lot for the job today, so even if you washed it yesterday, that may as well be pointless now. Let your face breathe in the two hours we have to break, wear the mask for the rest of the missions duration. You can wash it and then wear it again tomorrow."

You looked to the people who were glaring at you; their eyes felt like daggers being pushed into the side of your head. You found that Inej was also glaring at them, her glower fixed and unmoving

They couldn't see her, had yet to do anything other then stare at you, but she'd been visible in your line of sight. Just visible enough, really, and with the intensity that she glowered at them, it was a miracle they'd not felt her gaze.

Wylan and Jesper walked in, the two of them sensing an air of intensity the moment they passed through the doors.

Jesper approached the table instantly. Wylan fell back a bit, trailing Jesper after allowing his line of sight to fall in the same as Inej's. It allowed Wylan to effectively spot the fools who'd been staring you down over your scar, allowed him to glare at them briefly in turn.

"Fools," Jesper said as Kaz approached from a game he'd been manning that was close to the bar. He slid into the U-shaped booth beside you, passed you a glass of iced red wine. "The mask. They've been glaring at you til you've put it back on, eh?"

"A couple weeks now, yep," you admitted. "I thought I was secure. I thought I'd stopped hating the scar and started loving it, but now I don't even feel comfortable going without around you lot. My mask is more of a crutch then it normally is."

"Itching powder will do the trick with them, then," Wylan said determinedly.

"Or a gun to the head," Jesper offered.

"Knife to the throat," suggested Inej.

"A bit of heartrender magic would do it silently and from enough distance so as not to be on the Stadwatches list of persons of interest," Nina said pointedly.

"Fjerdan might would risk a trip to Hellgate, but you love me enough that Brekker would break me out," Matthias countered. "...Again."

"I would not," Kaz said.

"You would if I asked," you said pointedly, finger ghosting over the scar that you'd gradually grown to feel insecure about. Kaz only shrugged as you took a sip of your iced wine, refusing to admit that you were right.

"The scar makes you look wonderful," Jesper said. "I mean--of course you looked wonderful without it, but you look wonderful with it, too. Those people can get stabbed in the jugular, honestly."

"It makes you look intimidating," Nina said. "Especially in the right lighting. I mean that as a compliment, of course. Being intimidating in the Barrel is necessity but nobody ever really looks it lately."

"It's a sign," Matthias said. "For Fjerdans, a scar is a point of pride. It means you fought against someone and you won against them."

"I'll kill them if you'd like me to," Inej offered. "Or let Kaz do it. He looks like he wants to, anyway."

"No murder for tonight," you said.

"Three bells hits and all bets are off," Wylan said. "We'll be done with the job at half past two."

"Sounds good enough to me," Kaz said. "I'll get Anika and Pim to get them drunk and gambling. Drunkards stumble and fall over quick, but with Inej's and Jespers combined skills and some of Wylans itching powder, we'll be set."

"Why the gambling?" Nina asked.

"They've made Y/N self conscious. They're dying anyway, and I'll make a point of stealing their wallets beforehand. More loot for us to split in the end."

"So the demjin remains demonic," Matthias said.

"His demonic tendencies are being put to good use in this case," Nina said. "Y/N, we'll grab tea while the rest of them do their killing. Wylan, you'll come with us. We need you to start a rumor."

"What rumor?"

"That to think ill of Y/N and their scar, to express that through glaring or doing anything verbosely that might make them feel insecure, is to die. Kaz, Jesper, Inej, and I will be the ones doing the killing if Y/N doesn't want to do it themself."

"Work my bombs into that and I'll do it," Wylan agreed as Kaz checked his watch.

The time flew past easily, and before you knew it, you were getting up to finish the job.

In the end, between Kaz's ruthlessness, Jespers impeccable aim and Inejs skill with her knives, those who'd glared at you were unrecognizable by five bells that morning.

[ivesambrose]

𝐀𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐥 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐢 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 🌿

1. 2. 3.

And we're in April 🧡

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Gif 1

A month of regaining balance. Something has been off key in your life that's effecting the harmony in your body as well. A month of looking after yourself, being mindful of what you eat, how and when you eat. You may prefer less spicy foods and even consider a detox.

You'll feel more in touch with the element of air subconsciously. Find yourself enjoying the evening breeze with some tea, collecting feathers, writing things down physically etc

It will be a deeply spiritual month as well. I see that you'd want to distance or unwind yourself from the materialistic side of life or people and crowds overall. There's too much noise and you'd prefer selective sounds now.

You'll realize that to get what you want you'll have to detach from what you see and go within. Remind yourself that you have / will have this without having to take extra steps. Less planning and more inner discipline. By that I mean, instead of going back to your old ways of thinking or being which will only make you repeat the same cycle in a different font, switch the narrative to see the change.

There will be change in your heart in regards to what you want in love and what you seek in life. Trust your dreams, signs and intuition. You'll also see something emotionally significant manifesting for you.

Lastly, learn to fill your own cup and accept help when it's offered to you.

Gif 2

Brace yourself for an incoming metamorphosis. It is unavoidable. You have been sensing it but perhaps trying to avoid or hold it together but the more you resist it the rougher it will feel when it's not supposed to be that way.

There's immense luck when it comes to work, finances, career, studies and/or networking however. Being in the right place and being around or coming across the right people at the right time.

Simplify your life this month. I feel some of you are trying to make peace with something that's ended or gone. But the sync and rhythm you seek in life is slowly catching up with you.

Keep your focus on whatever it is that you want, the destination could be anything personal to you.

Keep your focus and don't waver.

Drink more water by the way, enjoy a dip in the pool or a treat yourself to a nice bath when you can.

Know that you're making progress even if it isn't always linear.

Gif 3

When you let go of control and simply stop to smell the roses or rather just step into the mode of, 'No thought. Head empty. Only vibes.' that's when everything you want start coming in.

You'll have a change in mindset and approach, pick up a hobby or something that diverts your attention from things that get you overthinking. I see you simply being an observer but having little to no clue that you're the one being observed from near and afar.

I do see a deep romance blooming or simply on it's way to you. But I see you romanticizing yourself and the life that you want.

It's like you're preparing yourself for your desires this month. Focusing on healing your inner teen. A lot of sudden breakthroughs and renewals.

I see some of you learning or teaching others or teaching yourself something. Intuition will be heightened and people will be drawn to your presence a lot this month.

Try some channeled meditation, magnesium supplements and yoga/stretches or light dancing. You may be prone to feeling a little drained post waking up from dreams.

I heard the lyrics by Lana, "All the pretty stars shine for you, my love."

[deer0skullz]

Does anyone else feel like Umbrella Academy, What We Do in the Shadows and Our Flag Means Death went down very similar paths or is that just me?

To preface, this is mostly based on how I felt as I watched the shows but also on some of the opinions I picked up from the fandoms.

Also, I’m not going to go back and rewatch all of these shows for the sake of a Tumblr post so I’m working from memory and if you feel like I’ve misremembered any of the plot/ characters let me know.

1. Started as well-received and highly acclaimed live-action fantasy shows with ensemble casts.

Based on my own opinions and what I remember from other fans, UA seasons 1-2 were fairly well received, as were WWDITS seasons 1-3/4 and OFMD season 1.

They’re all definitely different genres of fantasy but I’d say they still all fit under the label. And they obviously all have ensemble casts, with the Hargreeves in UA, the vampires (and Guillermo) in WWDITS and the pirates in OFMD. Even though the plots and characters can be quite different they all have similar vibes.

2. Noted for having open queer representation.

Klaus and Viktor in UA, pretty much the entire main cast of WWDITS, and multiple main characters in OFMD.

3. Tied to already established and respected creators.

UA is based on the comics written by Gerard Way who, of course, is also well known for My Chemical Romance. WWDITS is based on the film by Jermaine Clement and Taika Waititi, who are both executive producers of the show. Taika was also involved in OFMD as the actor for Blackbeard and as an executive producer. He has his name tied to many acclaimed films like Hunt for the Wilderpeople, Thor Ragnorok and Jojo Rabbit.

These are obviously not the only famous people tied to these projects but it’s just a sample of the talent involved in these shows. I feel like the fact that there was so much talent working on these shows makes my next point more interesting.

4. Experienced drops in quality and/ or introduced problematic elements that caused fans to lose interest or respect.

Again, this is opinion based and if you still liked the shows during these seasons then more power to you.

My overall feeling about all of these shows is that they lost a lot of the joy from their initial season(s) as they went on. Like, they just got significantly less fun to watch. But they also had more specific individual issues that I would like to get into.

I stopped watching UA during season 3 and don’t plan on watching season 4. I feel like a lot of people will already know what I might be referring to with this but yeah, the scene where Allison *did that* to Luther made me so sick. I feel like that season absolutely destroyed her character, and as I said, it just wasn’t anywhere near as fun as seasons 1 or 2.

WWDITS is probably the most successful of the three in my eyes but I could still apply the same argument about loss of enjoyment. The “Guillermo wants to be a vampire” plot line got very stale for me, especially with how they “resolved” (?) it. Saying “oh he’s a vampire now oh nevermind he doesn’t actually like being a vampire and also can’t be one anyway so everything’s back to normal” felt like such a waste of time for me. I know a lot of people also criticised the show for queerbaiting because of the Nandermo plot lines and teases. I wouldn’t necessarily call it queerbaiting but I would agree that the “will they, won’t they” is very played out at this point. Another big criticism I have of the later seasons is how Marwa was treated. The fact that she had no autonomy and was being forcibly changed mentally and physically to appeal to Nandor was treated as like, a running joke and I just found it kind of disturbing. Dark humour is pretty common throughout the show, but given how often her character appeared it felt a lot more, significant than throwaway jokes about drinking human blood. I feel like they could have done so much better with her character.

OFMD is probably the most egregious example of the 3. Season 2 was just not good. I’m not saying it was the worst thing I’ve ever watched but it was incredibly disappointing. The pacing was off, the characters were off, the dynamics were off. It was all just very off. The huge cliffhanger ending with Evil Blackbeard felt like it was resolved way too quickly and everything else in the season felt equally rushed. A lot of the character dynamics, but especially Ed and Stede, just felt wrong to me. From what I understand there were production issues or something so I’m not saying the writers just woke up one day and decided to be bad at their jobs but I can only really judge a show by what I saw on my screen, and what I saw was so far removed from the quality of season 1.

5. Finished on a sour note.

UA ended after 4 seasons, with the fourth being released on Netflix today. I haven’t seen anything that indicates whether this was the intended endpoint or whether it was cancelled. WWDITS will end after season 6 which comes out in October. Again, I can’t find anything indicating whether this was the intended endpoint. OFMD was cancelled just a few months after the release of season 2 in October 2023.

I can’t tell other fans how they should feel but for me I’m incredibly disappointed that 3 shows I really enjoyed saw a gradual (or not so gradual for OFMD) drop in quality that ultimately culminated in them just… ending.

Like I said, I have no interest in US season 4, but I am still somewhat hopeful for WWDITS. I would be really happy if they could bring it back to what it was.

Conclusion

I don’t know what the point of writing this was other than the fact that I’ve always associated these shows as having the same vibes and I feel like it’s interesting that they have a lot of similarities and went down similar paths. Also I just like yapping.

[whinlatter]

Cho Chang for the random character ask: 4, 9, 12, 27, 43

cho! this was actually so fun to think about. cho is an underrated character and a boss bitch and i for one have relished the opportunity to think more deeply about her, so cheers for that anon! (i'm merging the other ask i got about cho with this one for a bumper cho post)

1. Canon I outright reject

i do not tend to outright reject canon because i am a boring yawn canon compliant girlie but i will say i find it weird to think that cho would be randomly checking/carrying her DA coin on the night that harry just happens to arrive back at hogwarts in DH. it’s not even for plot it’s just for the ensemble vibes. pointless cameo sorry! the whole point of failed high school romances is to never resolve them and just memory block them out for all eternity until you bump into them in the veg section at the big supermarket when you go home for christmas and make awkward small talk then see them again at the checkouts and want to die

2. A canon or headcanon hill I will die on

part of the reason cho was so (understandably) distraught after cedric's death was because of a dynamic in their relationship of cho revering/idolising cedric that only deepened after his death as he became somewhat canonised in popular memory. when they got together, cedric was a seventh year and cho was a fifth year. often when you're 15/16 you definitely look at 17-18 year olds like they're the coolest people on the planet and you're lucky to be in their orbit basking in their great worldly wise glory (lol). and while i’m not doing up age-gap-is-problematic-discourse i am saying that if you're in the last year of school and your mate starts going out with someone two years below who is doing their GCSEs or whatever you do a) obviously take the piss out of them but more importantly b) tend to see a pretty big gap in maturity and life experience that often adds a weird power differential in the relationship. that's not to say that cho didn't really miss cedric's company, but also that the grief was made worse by the fact that she likely saw him as a saint-like figure she was in awe of, a view that only received mass endorsement after dumbledore's eulogy of cedric, so she's not even really able to mourn a real person, but just the idea of someone purely heroic and good who she will never be able to replicate again

4. Favorite line

“He asked me out, you know,” she said in a quiet voice. “A couple of weeks ago. Roger. I turned him down, though.”

in this house we stan 👏 petty 👏 queens 👏

or...

“What about your parents?” asked Harry. “Well, they’ve forbidden me to get on the wrong side of Umbridge too,” said Cho, drawing herself up proudly. “But if they think I’m not going to fight You-Know-Who after what happened to Cedric —”

actually huge props for cho for joining a resistance fight club with no parental support for anti-ministry action. because in canon you have the weasleys whose parents are so politically involved, and whose sense of political right and wrong is (bar percy) so instinctual because it's how they were raised, it can be easy to overlook how significant it is when other characters who don't come from that family background/political lineage get involved in risky acts of open rebellion. like yes her defence of marietta is misguided, but cho is a boss bitch who lets her grief be fuel for a good fightback and i for one applaud it

8. Unpopular opinion about them

ok this is going to sound like me doing up pure ginny defender but for all ginny gets slated for having many a jealous moment (including with cho in DH) i do think it is Interesting that people overlook how insanely jealous cho is of hermione lol. i do like that element of cho's character - or rather, think it lets her be well-rounded and interesting, giving an insight into how the trio are perceived by other members of the student body, but also allows cho have this messy petty teenage side to her (people often tend to write her in fic as this very worldly mature grieving widow figure, instead of like, a girl going thru it and wildly acting out emotionally and developing a whole host of insecure abandonment issues that are mostly to do with her grief). but i love how she like sees red and goes full how many girls are you meeting after me!!! alexa play bust your windows!!! i am going to storm out and YOU are going to pay for these coffees!!! so yeah, my unpopular opinion is cho is petty and messy and obviously harry fucks up more but she does kind of act up and you know what, that's fine! she's still worthy of the world! (you know all i do is ride on my let girls giggle and be messy crusade)

9. Scene that first made me love (or hate) the character

i stan the temper tantrum cho has when she loses the quidditch final. go girl have your strop! she’s just like me fr

12. Crack headcanon

cho's gang of girlies wore potter stinks badges in the dormitory after that horrendous date to cheer her up. and she was like yeah you know what! he does!

23. If they were a scented candle, what would they smell like?

ohhh man i am going to have to pass on this because i literally cannot name any smells. she's too prestige and gorgeous to not smell lovely though!

28. How they feel about insert character of your choice from the same fandom

i am kind of obsessed with a cho vs ginny bitter rivalry that doesn't actually have all that much to do with harry lol. cho is two school years older than ginny (given ginny is an end-of-august birthday baby, cho fully could be three years older than her, given hermione is two calendar years older than ginny and is only in the year above). so ginny is a little pipsqueak irrelevance to cho, whereas i expect cho lives in ginny's head rent-free while she's still in the throes of her deep unrequited crush on harry. then ginny goes out with michael, cho's teammate, and is in the DA, so probably is around a lot more, maybe they're semi-friendly, all going fine - until ginny pops up for the quiddich final in ootp and publicly demolishes cho on the quidditch pitch. can you imagine being a (almost or actual) seventeen year old getting the snitch snatched from under your nose by gryffindor's fourteen year old second-rate substitute seeker (especially after a year of playing badly?) i'd be fuming. no wonder cho cries and chucks her broom on the ground. so then ginny chucks michael for being a 'sore loser' (i think this must have also been a bit connected to cho, if all ravenclaw are having a great big public sulk lol), and then michael immediately gets with cho (canon implies that evening lmao). even if ginny didn't care about michael all that much, there is something pretty galling about your ex moving on to your sporting rival an hour after you break up lmao, and something very messy from cho to try and get back at the girl who just beat you by immediately hooking up with her ex lol. you can just imagine michael and cho bitterly slagging off ginny in between snogs at that post-match commiseration party. and then the following year, when ginny beats cho again, in a match cho 100% viewed as a re-match and a chance to finally best the person who humiliated her... i'm just saying, those two hate each other (at least as teenagers) and it doesn't even really involve harry lol. and i for one love it!

43. 3 favorite foods and 3 they despise

i am also bad at questions like these i'm so sorry 🫣 literally have no world/character-building capabilities to imagine people's favourite anythings. i do like the idea of cho being thoroughly unimpressed by the quality of the hogwarts cooking though! do i back a fleet of house elves living out their days in a castle in the scottish highlands to know their way around any kind of asian cuisine? no i do not. cho would have every right to fume

[riddlerosehearts]

can i be honest and just say that the snow white remake deciding to get rid of the romance is SO incredibly annoying to me because like... snow white's prince is what people like to claim the princesses are. he doesn't have a canon name, he doesn't show up anywhere except at the beginning and end of the story, literally all he does is sing to snow white and kiss her, he essentially has no personality and his one and only purpose is to be a love interest. rachel zegler claims that the original snow white has no function beyond "someday my prince will come", but really, she's an abuse victim who chooses to be kind, to have hope and to dream of love, and to take control of her own life by doing housework for the dwarves in exchange for being allowed to stay with them. the prince is the one who has no function beyond "one song", other than to rescue snow white and make her happy!!

but the thing is, he wasn't planned to be such a nothing character!! walt wanted to do more with him, if only they hadn't had so much trouble animating him at the time. and i was hoping so badly that the remake would flesh him out and give snow white a truly beautiful romance with her prince, like she deserves, because there is nothing wrong with an abused teenage girl, or any girl for that matter, wanting to find true love! but disney has decided that actually there is, i guess?! i was hoping maybe they could be childhood friends who met before snow white's parents died, because in the original movie it seems possible, to me at least, that they already knew each other and that's why he was so comfortable sneaking past the castle walls and joining in on her song, and why she was so immediately enchanted by him. that maybe the reason she was surprised at first and tried to run from him was because her abusive stepmother didn't want him around and might harm him. or if not that, maybe he wants to work out a trade deal between his kingdom and hers and he comes by and introduces himself like a normal person instead of sneaking in. but instead they're just getting rid of him entirely and at this point i'm surprised the cinderella remake gave kit and ella such a beautifully developed love story instead of just removing prince charming and making cinderella some kind of shallow girlboss.

and then also, they're not including the dwarves all because peter dinklage complained that it's stereotypical to have a story about dwarves living in a cave when, um, they literally fucking don't?!?! it's kind of a pretty significant plot point that the house snow white is staying in is their house and they just work as miners 😭 i'm so tired of celebrities who probably haven't watched a disney movie since they were in diapers thinking they need to say shit like this. AND this whole decision is not even working out for disney because now they're also getting slammed by actors with dwarfism who are understandably disappointed at losing the chance to audition for those roles. when they could've just idk, kept the dwarves and taken the opportunity to be inclusive and give work to a highly underrepresented demographic instead of removing them based on blatantly false information?? and if the dwarves working as miners is still considered stereotypical/harmful, then why not... give them a different job that isn't?

sorry it's just. ugh. disney would be nothing without snow white and every single time i see promotional stuff for the remake it's all just the cast and crew disrespecting snow white and trashing it and saying they're making it better by cutting out its most important elements. i have nothing to look forward to with this movie anymore (not that i was looking forward to it that much to begin with) because apparently the only thing it shares with the original is its title character, and i'm sure she'll also be nothing like her animated counterpart.

edit because i didn't really expect anyone to see this: idk if the whole "getting rid of the romance" thing is true because after writing this i remembered that i've also heard something about the prince getting replaced with a new "robin hood-esque" love interest named johnathan?? so if they're still keeping him then there will still be romance i guess, it just won't be the classic fairytale romance snow white is associated with, and my frustration toward them choosing not to develop the prince into an actual character still stands. ESPECIALLY SINCE i also read that snow is supposed to "ride into battle with him"?! snow white?! imagine if in cinderella (2015) they changed prince charming into a roguish robin hood type and had ella fight battles with him. it would've been so weird and so far removed from the animated cinderella in a very jarring way. i hate it. also, because of an annoying tag i got on this post i also feel the need to add that i do NOT have a problem with "political correctness" or rachel zegler being latina lmao. i do, however, have a problem with her insulting the original snow white while openly admitting that she has not watched the movie since she was a child.

[zarvasace]

Another Point in Favor of Vidow

By this point, many of us in the Four Swords manga fandom are aware of the relationship that is (or maybe isn't) implied between Vio and Shadow. I agree that it is up for some debate, but also my opinion is that the relationship is as clear as it can get, operating within the bounds of its context—that is, early-2000s Japan, kids' manga, the bias against gay couples.

This is just another pin on the conspiracy board of red lines!

The moon is present in three main places during the Vio/Shadow arc—very first (and most damning) when the two meet one-on-one, once in a panel showing the Fire Temple that the two are hanging out in, and once behind the two as they ride on the dragon to cause chaos. (Many thanks to @hauntinghyrule for helping me find those!)

There is a common belief in Japan that the author Natsume Souseki once told a student that their translation was wrong. They'd translated "I love you" as "kimi o aisu," and he thought it was far too blunt. He was a product of the Meiji era, and preferred the idea that the Japanese language should be more poetic and subtle. He then proposed the idea that instead of "ware kimi wo aisu," one should say "tsuki ga kirei desu ne" instead, which translates to English more as "the moon is beautiful, isn't it?" (You can read more about that, and why the guy might not have actually said it, here!)

You can see where I'm going with this.

Whether or not Souseki actually said it, the phrase is widely understood to be a sideways way of saying "I love you." The moon has a lot of meanings in Japanese culture and language, and I won't say that this is the interpretation, or if our lovely authors meant this at all, but they might have. They seem fond of hinting at it. ("We feel blessed that the characters' feelings came across so clearly.")

If we can read into the presence of the moon as presence of romantic possibility, what happens then? Well. A lot.

When Shadow first approaches Vio, he's seen hanging out on top of a pine tree with the moon bright and full behind him.

This isn't the actual manga panel, I don't have that right now, but this art was based on that specific scene, and you may recognize it. There are a few other panels this scene that Vidow shippers like to call out—Vio's apparent blush when Shadow casually moves his sword away (a power move regardless of intent that made me fall in love with him), or the way Shadow hangs on Vio when persuading him to turn to the dark side. If we can read the moon's presence as a hint towards romance, then it's pretty clear what's being implied here—there's an element of seduction.

The second place we see the moon is just after Vio and Shadow's heart-to-heart on the balcony, one of the only canon interactions between them during this period without a lot of plot happening. Here's the panel I mean:

Like hauntinghyrule pointed out, if the moon is visible here, it was likely present during that conversation. That feels like reaching, but I think it's pretty significant that we can see the moon in this panel, too. It's here for that bonding moment. It's part of establishing the tone and setting. If the moon is inherently romantic, then so is this scene.

And then the third panel that the moon is seen in is this one, Vio and Shadow flying on a dragon to bring chaos and fire:

If the moon means romance, then this is a date. They've had their moment, they're in love, all is going well.

It might not mean that much. I could be veering into atla-levels of overanalyzation, for sure! However, this feels like something that could definitely be intentional. "月が綺麗ですね" is understood to sort-of kind-of mean "I love you," turning the moon into a symbol of implied love.

And...it's very thematic, even if it isn't intended. Come on. The moon, hinting toward unspoken romance in some of the scenes where Vio and Shadow's dynamic is at its most stable? Dramatic. Amazing.

...You could read even more into it, and say that Vio is Shadow's moon—reflected light of the Hero or the Princess, guiding him to see the good, a desirable light in the darkness that Shadow insists he has to stay in. There's something lovely about that interpretation, too. :)

[tamelee]

Hi, do you think they'll make S and N straight in the live action movie? Like making S nicer to Sakura or not even keeping the kiss or enforcing the idea of S and N being "brothers",... Anyway, I expect nothing but still... it stings.

Hi~ Yeah I feel you.

Oh I have many expectations- 's just that not a single one is any good.

It’s highly possible they’re going to push contrasting narratives. Unfortunately. Though I don't see the point in forcing any of these ideas into a movie, because there's simply no time. It will have no meaning either way unless 'romance' is going to play a significant part in it... which also wouldn't make any sense.

It's a lose-lose for all of us no matter what you ship...

However, they’ve always done it with filler (everything aside the source material and... arguably Kishimoto's add-on's) as well as marketing material. Some is still subtle enough so people can argue about it, but argue they will. (Ah! Isn’t that so very clever?) It isn't for nothing they used to force Naruto on Sakura aggressively and love to make him look like an idiot in filler, or introduce random girl characters as part of a new movie-plot so he can not only be the Hero to save the day, no, he can be their personal Hero. Because, oh, isn’t he actually so handsome now that he saved me? It’s a lame way to check off the romantic elements they for some reason always need to add in and give to Naruto, disguising it under the excuse of “character-arc-stuff” because Naruto can't evolve even a single belief unless the girlies’ minds change about him first. Let alone narratively it destroys Naruto’s character, because a huge "problem" is that he’s people-pleasing his way to being liked and pretty much all filler I’ve come across only strengthens this flaw (I saw ‘flaw’ lovingly btw). Name a single thing that faithfully stayed true to the Manga and wasn’t made by Kishimoto:…

… right. 

Imo, best case scenario? They just leave out everything beneath the surface, pick a single Theme, focus on the Shinobi in a way that still allows for a bit of believable growth in these characters. Something that can still show the current while pushing for some realization and round it out somewhat satisfactory in the end. If they’re going to try anything beyond that, it’ll fail.

Kishimoto created art, but the sole decision for an adaptation means art is now ground through a giant meat-mill of great team-effort and commerce. Every medium functions differently and this decision alone comes with many problems. (Length ’s an important one. Structure too.) You can already see it in the interviews that are held about this project. Too many people are involved that have influential say about the outcome of the creative decisions. There’s also the lovely men in suits that have all the control and yet have zero creative-skill although they’d like to believe otherwise. Studio’s by itself have their own politics. This never bides well for adaptations. Very rarely is it acceptable. Very often it’s disappointing. Almost always it’s a high-budget fantasy. And yet they always know that fans are going to be critical and still not care. 

Stubborn as hell. 

(It’s different when it’s not really an adaptation, but more inspired by an existing story. HTTYD for example is very, very loosely based on a book-series— it has little connection, but there’s obviously still a story idea in there… )

[warlordgab]

Analysis of shipping: One Piece anti-romance arguments

Years before Oda was asked to write Strong World, years before the Summit War saga, even years before many of us joined the fandom, a significant portion of fans shared an anti-romance sentiment.

This perspective was so widespread that it seemed as if the One Piece community in general was convinced no pairing would ever become canon. Sure, there were some exceptions: 

Some people dispalyed indifference toward the anti-romance trend, but also towards the emotional narrative of the story. So, they would likely support shallow premises anyway

Others shipped characters by relying on inter-series comparisons that no longer hold up nowadays. (it didn't take long for perceptive individuals to find out how unlikely those "theories" truly were)

Some of these people were editors on other wiki sites, that pointed out how filler provided shipping fuel for stuff that never gets actual development in the manga. And yet, the same editors also promoted a non-existent "sexual tension" as many shallow shippers would, but I digress.

Still, since that era, a lot of arguments had been made for this position regarding romantic love; some were forgotten, and some stuck but in pretty unexpected ways.

So, here we’re going to consider those arguments, how bad they aged, and what possibly led to the anti-romance idea losing its initially strong foothold in the fandom.

The anti-romance idea through time

Firts, let us consider that one of the most important elements that helped the anti-romance idea to grow was how Oda talked about the subject. When the mangaka was asked about if someone from strawhats (except Sanji) was in love, he replied in a SBS they were all "in love with adventure."

While that was a pretty creative answer, it seems some readers weren't satisfied with Oda’s reply. But, it wasn’t like fans couldn’t agree that the statement was technically a correct.

Not to mention that fans back then didn’t have the Hancock character westerners simp so hard for. Instead, they had Alvida as the first woman calling dibs on Luffy...

... But, this was easy to dismiss given how they never became allies or friends.

Still, that doesn’t mean the anti-romance idea didn’t have its weak spots. In fact, Oda gave us an interesting “insight” on one scene, that LuNa fans loved, in the SBS Volume 32:

This was long before Summit War saga. It's interesting how the only girl that managed to make Luffy a “little horny" was Nami.

It’s true that the Oda’s answer would later change to what basically amounts to “bad influence,” when he was confroted with the fact Hancock’s beauty couldn’t get the same response from Luffy. But, the fact, still remains that it was Luffy’s response, unless people want to argue Luffy’s companions have a greater influence on his libido than Hancock’s beauty ever could. Doesn’t sound so good when you think about it, does it?

Of course, a lot of perceptive readers and even some anti-shippers know that being as “horny” as a “healthy boy” is not something inherently romantic. So, even if this moment left a crack on the anti-romance argument by displaying Luffy’s “healthy” reponse to Nami’s sex appeal, that still wasn’t enough to debunk it.

Needless to say, some anti-shippers may claim being “horny” is a must for a relationship to grow, but that myopic perspective completely disregards how emotional connections can develop by sharing meaningful moments instead of lusting after a potential partner. 

Moving on, Oda’s vagueness back then just encouraged readers to keep discussing the subject of potential romance by relying on the manga material they had so far. Still, the anti-romance crowd would shortly get another argument, when Oda stated the following:

“One Piece is basically a shonen manga, manga for boys, so romance isn’t depcited“

Ironically, this is where the another crack in the anti-romance idea starts to show. As many chapters later, we got something subtle about Usopp and Kaya at the end of the Ennies Lobby arc.

But, the fact the story focused more on its plot, themes, and other characters, probably made it easier for everyone to miss how this relationship could contradict the 'no romance depcited' argument.

Later, the fandom got introduced to Boa Hancock. While Alvida’s interest in Luffy got scratched as “not romantic enough,” Hancock’s infatuation for the hero couldn’t be ignored due to how over-the-top it was. But, it still wasn’t enough, why?

Because the relationship between Luffy and Hancock never develops into something deep or truly impactful, as Hancock’s crush remains as one-sided as it can get.

Luffy’s rejection to Hancock’s proposal just made it a lot easier for the anti-romance argument to stay strong despite the few cracks it had at that time.

Specially, when you factor context. Luffy’s reply was framed as a negative response to Hancock’s promotion of herself as a potential wife. Add Luffy’s personality to this setup, and no matter how you try to put it, he sunk that ship before it had a chance to sail.

Debunking the “no romance” myth?

So far, we’ve seen things that could a best put a dent on the anti-romance argument. But, what actually destroyed this myth?

We have to flashforward to the Dressrosa arc. Two pairings with tragic backstories were introduced: Kyros and Scarlett & Señor Pink and Russian

Kyros' relationship Scarlett story serves as part of the compelling drama of his background. And we can tell how Pink’s relationship with Russian made his character and current state and struggle emotionally impactful.

This obviously destroyed the argument of “no romance in One Piece” and contradicts Oda’s own “romance isn’t depcited”

It became easy to see that romantic love was not only playing a part in the story, but it was doing so in a way that didn’t negatively impact the author’s work. Instead, Oda used romantic love to enhance both character and story.

And this wasn’t going to be the last time, as One Piece Film: Gold gaves us something we’re about to consider in the following section, as Tesoro and Stella were depicted as lovers.

However, the greatest blow to this argument was delivered by something that not many people saw coming: SanPu's tragic love story

We already know that Pudding’s initial affection was just an act to fool Sanji and carry out Big Mom’s plot against the Vinsmoke family. But, as soon as she has her first genuine moment with Sanji, she develops actual feelings for him as the chef shattered the image she had of her own self for years. 

Needless to say, due to their respective crews being enemies, this relationship couldn’t become official, as Pudding gives Sanji a pretty romantic farewell... before removing it from his memory.

Here, romantic love plays a important role in the emotional narrative of the final scenes.

I could mention Kinemon and O-Tsuru, as well as Oden and Toki, but I think that would be overkill at this point.

Still, while the “no romance” myth got destroyed, the anti-shippers didn’t give up, those who saw how this approach became ineffective in promoting anti-romance just made their arguments undergo a microevolution. And this is where we get to the final stage:

“They’re in love... with adventure”

Given that the statment of “romance isn’t depcited” became completely useless, one would think that’s the end. But, instead of trying to encompass the entirety of One Piece, the idea came back to its origin.

All strawhats are “in love with adventure,” so accordig to self-aware anti-shippers, there will be no romantic relationships between members of the strawhat crew, because adventure is their only “love.” But, as the philosopher George Santayana once said: 

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”

And even the old version of this argument started to shows some cracks at the Zou arc:

Nami was both happy and eager to receive Luffy and the rest, and as pointed out by perceptive readers, she could've ran to someone else, like Zoro, something some westerners in high positions clearly wanted, but I digress.

Instead, she went straight to Luffy and only then she let out how she felt about their current predicament with Sanji...

...people try to downplay it by saying the moment was all about the chef. But, the thing is, not only she could’ve ran to someone else's arms, she ran straight to Luffy, but also poured her heart out only when she was with him.

This scene was truly remarkable as it was not only impactful, but also consistent with previous developments between Luffy and Nami as seen in Oda's works.

As we already already analyzed multiple times in this blog, this matches the trend of Nami seeking (and finding) hope, comfort, and strength in Luffy.

While this isn't something explicitly romantic, this consistent bonding could likely lead to a potential growth and an eventual relationship upgrade if the author keeps working on it.

After Dressrosa damaged the credibility of their arguments, and the possibility of more development from characters so important to the story, anti-shippers had seen better days. But, that wasn’t the only thing that left another crack on the last anti-romance argument.

Let’s talk about One Piece Film: Gold

At this point, a lot of LuNa fans, and many people who read my post already how Oda changed the climax of One Piece Film: Gold, and his work speaks for itself...

...as explained in the special Volume 777, Tesoro was in a romantic relationship with a slave: Stella. Their romance ended up in tragedy when he failed to save her from getting bought by a noble.

If we see the climax of the movie, as well as Oda’s draft of the scene, we can see that the intent was for Luffy’s situation with Tesoro holding Nami in his grasp to mirror Tesoro’s own tragedy back when he lost Stella. And thus Oda drew a parallel between Luffy/Nami, and a romantic pair: Tesoro/Stella.

However, many people would find such things too subtle or simply insufficient. But, even if we ignore emotional narrative and trends, the real weak spot in this “no romance in the crew” argument, is the basis itself: “They’re in love with adventure”

This isn’t only a clever response, and a way to avoid the subjet. It is a reminder of what One Piece is at its very core. 

You probably don’t hear this one pretty often, but One Piece story is “romance.” In fact, here are some definitions that show how that statement is far more accurate than more people would imagine:

Romance:

“A mysterious or fascinating quality or appeal, as of something adventurous, heroic, or strangely beautiful”

“A long fictitious tale of heroes and extraordinary or mysterious events, usually set in a distant time or place”

“A narrative in verse or prose, written in a vernacular language in the Middle Ages, dealing with strange and exciting adventures of chivalrous heroes”

– thefreedictionary.com, 2016

“A prose narrative treating imaginary characters involved in events remote in time or place and usually heroic, adventurous, or mysterious”

–  Merriam Webster, 2016

Romantic:

“Marked by the imaginative or emotional appeal of what is heroic, adventurous, remote, mysterious, or idealized”

“Having an inclination for romance: responsive to the appeal of what is idealized, heroic, or adventurous”

–  Merriam Webster, 2016

Remember what’s the title of the first chapter of the manga? “Romance Dawn.”

The claim of the strawhats being in love with adventure fits the definition of “romance” in the framework of the series. But, does this concept exclude romantic love?

No, this narrative style can easily include romantic love if the author wishes to. In fact, as far as we seen, One Piece featured this kind of relationships multple times in the story.

So, trying to uphold this anti-romance phylosophy is ultimately pointless as the only argument left is not enough anymore, and the story already debunks most, if not all of the arguments.

Shippers take the anti-romance approach?

While anti-shippers don’t have a solid ground to stand on, some of their arguments are still used nowadays. Ironically, they’re used by shippers in an attempt to discredit rival pairings

This why the “no romance in the crew” lives on. More often than not, shallow shippers don’t even try to quote the author, instead they repeat what they hear or read in YouTube or Reddit. 

This applies to many newcomers that lack the time and patience to stomach a long-running series, as well as people who let their bias for certain characters dicatate their view on the story, something akin to the mindset that feeds the endless squabble of Zoro Vs. Sanji.

Still. the point is that the anti-romance arguments are now the greatest assets for pretty loud individuals to wage shipping wars out of ignorance and hate.

However, this doesn’t mean that there aren’t any active anti-shippers using these arguments. It’s just that LuNa seem to be their favorite target

But, that leads to the question: Why LuNa? Why are pairings like LuHan, SaNa or ZoNa seemingly getting ignored by anti-shippers for the most part?

Well, you guys probably realize I haven’t mentioned Sanji at all in the “Debunking” section. That’s wasn’t something incidental

By the time, the community rebuffed the idea of romantic love in the series, Sanji with all his corny flirting and pervy gags never made a dent in the anti-romance arguments because most people knew back then that being horny is not something romantic. Even when Hancock appeared, fans knew a well-written pairing could only happen if the feelings between the characters become mutual.

So, what makes Luna the favorite target of these people? What makes the pairing stand out to anti-shippers?

Is it because their consistent bonding is the perfect setup for a relationship upgrade? Is it because their moments are far more meaningful and impactful from a narrative standpoint? Or is it because the alternatives to LuNa lack the potential to grow? I’m not sure about it

Still, those who had seen all of this, know better. At this point, anti-romance arguments mean little to nothing in the story. And Oda will keep writing characters and human relationships regardless of what fans do or say.

So, instead of going around making noise about how “there shouldn’t be a romantic relationship in the crew” or trying to start senseless war between fandoms, we should enjoy the ride and see what Oda has in store for us in the final saga.

[nihilnothings]

The Contradictions of Denji Hayakawa and why it’s humanly real

Introduction

“Why does Denji not learn his lesson, is he stupid?”

You’re not entirely wrong but you’re not entirely right.

One of the common gripes of some fans is that Denji appears to not have changed because he keeps falling for women with red flags in exchange for sexual favours, but honestly if anyone paid attention and not get let their emotions do the thinking, he actually has changed for the better in one aspect but he’s struggling for another:

Denji has succeeded in familial love but it doesn’t necessarily mean that it translates to his romantic life.

You can be a decent/good friend or good brother but that doesn’t mean you’ll not fumble with women or romance

What Denji Has Succeeded and How He Did It

One good thing that Makima (unintentionally) did was putting him with Power and Aki. They had a rough start but eventually as all people know he eventually saw them as surrogate family members and Power became one of if not the first close female character he viewed in a platonic sense than in a romantic/sexual sense as at least from his end.

Though they were gone from his life, the lessons he learned never left. Old Denji would only think about his own survival and the carnal pleasures of sex as well as basic necessities, New Denji however stepped up and took on the big gamble of raising the ticking time bomb that is the Control Devil, Nayuta. It can be implied that due to him being shown good examples, Denji was able to succeed in raising Nayuta.

This can strongly conclude that Denji learns by being shown and eventually doing it himself.

For all his setbacks he was a good brother because he had one himself

Interlude: A Common Trope Being Slightly Subverted

We and most of their mothers here know how Part 1 ended, Denji’s broken spirit is mended, he learns more about love and relationships, defeated Makima, and now focuses on living another day as CSM raising her so hooray no more issues right?

It even ended in a seemingly victorious note

I feel like when a long-running series has a continuation and replaces them with a new protagonist, people expect the old protagonist to act as some sort of “mentor” who has everything figured out and helps out the new protagonist in the ropes.

The thing is just because you have one thing figured out doesn’t necessarily mean it translates to everything, real life isn’t like that.

For all of its fantastic elements, Fujimoto characters tend to be praised for being “human” or “real”, it doesn’t exactly mean that it 100% translates to our reality but the way they behave at least resembles somewhat to us humans in real life. Like humans we are, we don’t move linearly forwards or backwards, we move in a haphazard direction that eventually, hopefully, takes us forward, only to repeat that cycle again for a different experience until we reach our inevitable death.

This is what’s currently happening to Denji, he hasn’t had all the things figured out (considering his background, pretty impressive tbh) and he hasn’t reached his goals of finding a good romantic partner. If he had succeeded, then we would be shown a “perfect” Denji that’ll eventually woo Asa without having his own issues or a character who acts as Denji’s girlfriend as a sign that he as a character is fully actualized.

Which is why we see him relapsing against his better judgement.

What Denji is Struggling Right Now and Why Old Habits Die Hard

One of the other things that Makima taught him right is that the activity of sex will be good when it’s done with someone significant and this usually means a romantic partner.

Therefore, when Denji wants sex he also wants a romantic partner along with it.

Now the problem lies in the fact that most of Denji’s romantic experiences weren’t really good at all, most of the women in his life tried to kill and use him, even Asa did once, but thankfully he was shown that she might not be all that bad after all and might lead onto something good for once even if the paths have now caused them to diverge putting that development to a halt. As it is strongly suggested that Denji learns by example, the fact that terrible examples were mostly shown is what’s probably causing him to blunder his romantic life which inadvertently blocks him from having good sex.Not only that but he was essentially mind-broken by Makima to the point of him losing any desire at all, considering how IRL abuse leaves scars, it cannot be denied that toxic patterns still exist within Denji in relation to romance and sex.

He used Chainsaw Man, an important part of him and the part that many people love (especially the ladies), as a means to hook women into a romantic relationship with him, though with Yoshida’s attempts and no sign of a girlfriend, it seems that tactic might not be as effective after all (ironically it did lead him to score Asa unknowingly).

Then, for the sake of Nayuta, he gave away that identity, and thus no longer had a tool to woo women because with all the things that happened in Part 1 and in Part 2, no women seemed to be interested in Denji Hayakawa, thus leaving him listless and desperate. With that he removed the intimate part of sex and hyper-focused on the carnal part out of boredom and desperation with Sus Girl.

However, him struggling doesn’t necessarily mean zero progress, Old Denji wouldn’t have thought of anything and just went with the flow but the fact that he did thought of it shows that he shouldn’t be doing it (he even has a look of shame of doing making the scene of 137 both hilarious and depressing, in the words of abridged Popo, deprerious).

Relapse is a bitch

If Fujimoto didn’t show the hypothetical scenario then we would’ve thought that it was just a cheap gag but the fact that he showed it means that Denji and he knows that this is what the character should be doing but instead he did the opposite making the scene both a gag and a message that change isn’t easy.

Relapsing is a real thing, ask any druggie, addict, junkie, smoker, etc. they all know that it’s wrong but they do it anyway because it’s been their “normal” for so damn long. Heck, let’s not even get to addiction, how many times do you know that procrastination is bad yet still keep doing it anyways? Some might already succeed but a large part of people still keep doing it because it’s been their “normal” even if being productive is better than doing useless shit like making an analysis of Denji’s contradictory behaviours instead of revising your thesis.

Conclusion

Denji’s constant back and forth on the surface looks inconsistent on the outside, but considering all that happened is it a surprise that he’s failing at romance and attempts despite his best in dealing with it? What he needs is someone to show him the right way of handling it, that person doesn’t have to be perfect, but at least teach him that relationships should not be completely transactory and is the work of two people, only then can he probably reduce his mistakes and develop healthier approaches.

Relapsing is a human experience and considering that CSM characters are said to be close to real life, maybe we should view his experience as someone who is struggling to be better but has no capable person to show him.