#as like a Meaningful Personal Statement about our characters/personalities/interests etc already

[volchitsa-of-winterfell]

I think nearly all of lewis' aloof persona is carefully constructed, as is his over the top style in the paddock. He's extremely good at distracting ppl or showing only what he wants to. He mimics vulnerability but he's hiding the stuff he's really vulnerable about. All the woowoo spiritual "ohhhhh he's so GENUINE" stuff is also a front (see how kate wagner talked about him).

ooooh bold take and as a fellow mimicker of vulnerability to hide the stuff i'm really vulnerable about, i'm into it!! i understand from your tone that you don't mean this as a particularly good thing but i personally am here for interesting/compelling characters in the vroom vroom soap opera and don't care too much if they're Good People ™ or not lol. (and thank you for the reminder that I still haven't gotten around to reading that Kate Wagner article!)

[asleepinawell]

Been having a lot of Thoughts about the nier series recently and the larger themes of both games and wanted to jot them down and toss them into the void of the internet.

Massive spoilers for nier automata follow, including for ending e. Do not read this if you ever intend to play nier automata. There are spoilers for nier replicant as well, though not for ending e.

One of the biggest themes both nier games tackle is the tragedy of an uncaring universe. Bad things happen to good people, people who think they're good and doing the right thing find out they were actually committing atrocities, the very idea that there's 'good' and 'bad' people is dissected and rejected. At the end of the day, the universe doesn't give a shit about any of us and none of it matters. Enjoy your existential despair!

In nier replicant, the main character starts off as an optimistic young boy who wants to save, not only his sister, but the entire world. After the time skip, nier is a young man whose optimism has (partially) been tarnished and whose goal has narrowed down to just saving his sister. As you move through each route you understand more and more how tragic the world is and how, despite your best intentions, you are only adding to the tragedy of the world. The original 4 endings of nier replicant are all tragic in some way. Ending D has a glimmer of hope in it in the form of nier being able to save kainé at the cost of his own existence, but it's a bittersweet ending and the world is ultimately doomed anyway.

Which brings us to nier automata. Even more so than replicant, automata hammers home the meaningless of everything, the uncaring universe, tragedy both avoidable and unavoidable. The main characters are locked in an endless loop of violence and despair. The worst that could happen, does, again and again. It thrives off the type of tragedy porn I usually hate.

Except....

Except it doesn't. If endings a and b are the opening statement, endings c and d are the facts and body of the essay, but then there's ending e, the concluding paragraph which takes everything we've been told and gives you the chance to draw your own conclusion from it.

Route e starts after you've gotten both ending c and d and is no longer about the characters in the game at all. Route e is about you, the player, and what you believe. It says "we've given you a story of complete despair, we've shown you the universe is unfair and doesn't give a fuck about you, we've shown you things that end in tragedy. despite all of this, do you still believe it's worth fighting for the hope of something better?"

And then it asks you to prove it.

Route e is the ending every fan has asked for when they've said "I'll fight the creators to give my favs a happy ending." Today is your lucky day!

Route e is the ending credits of the game, except that the ending credits have turned into a bullet hell mini game. In fighting the actual credits themselves, you are fighting the game devs. You are saying fuck you I don't believe that everything is pointless. Fighting for better is always worth it. The meaning that we imbue in life is important to us and that matters.

The bullet hell of the end credits starts out fairly simple and gets harder and harder as you go, lasting something like 15 minutes total, which is a brutally long time to be playing something that requires split second timing and 100% of your focus. It's meant to feel insurmountable, just like the challenges the characters in the game faced (the larger plot challenges, not the combat). You will likely die a lot and check points are few and far between.

But there's more to it than that. The first time you die, a prompt comes up:

And then when you die again:

Except now, there’s a message on the screen. A message that appears to be from another player, somewhere in the world.

And again:

(this one really fucked me up, but that’s for a different post).

And then finally:

(thank you user MR-YE-1996)

When you accept the rescue offer, you go back to the bullet hell again, but now you have a wall of other players around your weak little avatar, shielding you from harm. The music, which has been a single vocal track up until now, gains an entire chorus of voices to represent the army of actual players who’ve shown up to save you (and there’s a lot I could say about the use of the (exquisitely good) music in the nier games, and especially about the difference in lyrical themes between ashes of dreams and weight of the world). Every time a bullet hits one of the players surrounding you, there’s a message saying that user’s data has been lost. Users from all over the world are sacrificing themselves to help you. It’s a very nice, heart-warming moment that you still don’t understand the full impact of quite yet.

After you beat the credits, you’re rewarded by a final cutscene. The android protagonists have been reconstructed and will receive a second chance at life. The narration at this point talks about how life exists within the spiral of life and death we are all trapped in. One of the two pods talking points out that even though the androids are being given a second chance at life, there’s a possibility that things will go just as poorly once again. And the other pod agrees, but adds: “However, the possibility of a different future also exists.”

And then the scene ends with this quote: “A future is not given to you. It is something you must take for yourself.”

And this is really the final conclusion of the game. There is no inherent meaning in the universe, so the meaning we give our lives is the most meaningful thing. (And the ‘you’ here isn’t necessarily an individual either. It can be, or it can be humanity as a whole, or even one group). And you, the player, thought that it was worth fighting to give these characters a second chance, and other players out there in the world thought it was worth helping you to do so.

It’s such a wonderfully beautiful piece of meta interpretation posing as a game ending, and also a departure from the final conclusion of previous Yoko Taro games. It feels like a much more mature and nuanced interpretation of the world than the ending of replicant was (I won’t comment on the new ending e of replicant just yet since it didn’t come out that long ago). (Also, for the record, I love nier replicant and the characters in it with my entire heart. This post is not bashing it).

But the game has one more surprise in store for you. After the cutscene ends, you’re given one last choice. The game asks if you have any interest in helping other players the way you were helped. And if you say yes, you’re told that the only way you can do this is to sacrifice all your save data.

I think that sacrifice hits differently for different people. Some people genuinely won’t mind that at all. As someone who probably still has save data from games I played 20 years ago, it felt like a gut punch. To me, save data represents all the time and emotion and energy I’ve put into a game. Games are so deeply important to me in so many ways and have been since my childhood when they were one of the few ways I could escape from a lot of terrible shit going on in my life. (There’s a reason my blog title is what it is). I could talk a lot more about that point, but I’ll leave it by saying that when I saw what the game was asking of me it felt like someone had knocked my legs out from under me.

For more practical players, it also is locking you out of chapter select, the best way to go back and get all the things you missed and grab the achievements/trophies you still need.

The game will point out that you’ll get nothing in return for this (not a lie, there’s no secret reward), that you will likely never know if or who you helped, that you won’t be thanked, that the person you help could be someone you intensely dislike, etc. And with all of this comes the realization that all those people who came to help you in the credits had already done this. Those people whose data was sacrificed to help you get to the final cutscene had already sacrificed their save data to help you.

We’ve now gone from a world where everything is meaningless, to a world where other real actual human beings out there have sacrificed something that represented hours of their time and a varying amount of emotional investment without any hope of reward to help a stranger see a message of hope.

When I was younger, I was more drawn to dark, hopeless stories. Stories about how dark and meaningless the world was. The world was a terrible place then too. 9/11 happened when I was in highschool (an incident that influenced yoko taro’s creation of nier replicant and had a huge impact on me at the time), the pointless wars that happened after and the recession and a million other things seemed to infuse everything with hopelessness. In that world, stories about everything being meaningless and hopeless felt correct. They felt validating. Yes, everything really does suck that much!

That sort of story lost its appeal for me later on. Pointless and horrible things continued to happen, and still continue to happen. The world events of the last few years have been an unnerving reliving of those earlier years, except even worse. The cycles of tragedy are still there with no end in sight. I’m exhausted from all of it. It really does feel hopeless a lot.

But stories that stop at that point no longer appeal to me. Stories like nier automata--stories that say yes, things are terrible, but there’s always hope, you can create your own meaning, it is always worth it to fight for better even if you fail, your life is worthwhile simply for existing--those stories are the ones I think we all need more than anything.

[missnight0wl]

Unpopular opinion: I wish dating was never introduced to HPHM.

I was always rather open about the fact that I don’t have much interest in dating content in HPHM, so you might say it’s very subjective rambling. But I think I also have some more objective arguments for that statement, so… hear me out (or don’t; I can’t tell you what to do).

Some spoilers for the Festival Fun TLSQ, the Celestial Ball TLSQ, the First Date TLSQ, the Valentine’s Day TLSQ, the All-Wizards Tournament TLSQ, and “Cooking Up Trouble” SQ.

First of all, I want to address the most obvious counterargument for my wish: “but people want dating!”. Yeah, I know. But here’s a thing. A long time ago, almost at the very beginning of the game’s existence, when we were only speculating about any love interests, people were referencing one article. The article where the creators claimed that romance is planned for the future (among other things). And if you ask me, it was their mistake. It was a mistake because it created expectations which they had to react to. The problem is that they were never ready to introduce such type of content. I mean, just look at the past events. Andre mentioned dating when he was first introduced back in Y3 (!), and he said then that most people don’t date until they’re in the fourth year. And yes, the Celestial Ball was eventually placed as Y4 Achievement, but the main story was well into Y5 already! What I take from this is that at best, they had only a rough idea for the ball when they wrote Andre’s comment in Y3 (if it took them so long to actually create the quest). And so, I have to wonder – why they even talked about dating in Y3 if they were not ready? Now, I’m not saying that nobody would ask for dating if Jam City didn’t mention it in that article, or Andre omitted that topic in Y3. There’d definitely be people still wishing for some romance. But there’d be no actual reasons to expect that. Because HPHM was created as a mystery story (even if people don’t remember about it anymore), and a mystery story doesn’t really need romance.

The second thing I’d like to point out for the sake of this discussion is that the dating quests require quite a lot of work from the devs team. Admittedly, the quality of those efforts is sometimes questionable, but still. I’m also no tech or game design expert, but here are some things which I believe make dating quests more time-consuming than most of the others:

Designing outfits. Each of the datable characters is given a new outfit (+ new outfits for MC). I also want to notice that most of those outfits are one-time-use. Well, except maybe for the bundles available to buy for real money…

Creating new locations/characters. To be fair, some of “regular” quests require those too, although the majority uses things already existing and being used in the main story.

Creating new animations: dancing, holding hands, pecks on the cheek, more (new) dancing.

Creating multiple routes for different date options – and even if it’s mostly copy-paste, it takes time nonetheless.

To be clear, creating new things for the game is not bad. My point is that basically every dating adventure required ALL of that invested in one single quest – and pretty much none of that can be reused outside of dating. In fact, they’re not even reusing those animations completely for each new date. The kiss from the Valentine’s Day was different from the recent one, the Festival had new dances added to make it more diverse in comparison to the Celestial Ball etc. And what those unique quests have to offer? One cute moment with your date, which is… kind of meaningless. I’m sorry, but dating stories are basically irrelevant in the bigger picture. I mean, yeah, they’re adorable, but that’s it. And it’s just NOT proportional to all the work put into them. Because look…

The dating quests add very little to nothing to flesh out the characters – and if they do, it has nothing to do with dating.

The Celestial Ball did a pretty great job at adding to Rowan and Ben. People often criticise MC for “forcing” them to come to the party, but the problem was clearly about them feeling not good enough to go (not necessarily about them not wanting to go), and so I really loved working on their self-confidence. Bill also grew a lot in that quest, overcoming his rejection from Emily Tyler. Andre discovered his styling talent, so he was no longer “just” a brilliant Quidditch player. Even Penny had some insecurities to face as she wanted to prove that she’s not only popular but she can also create fantastic decorations. So… couldn’t it just be a quest about FRIENDSHIP and our friends growing? The whole dating subplot felt kind of forced to me, or maybe rather detached. Not to mention that THAT was kind of a dick move to leave Rowan and Ben after using the argument:

The next quests were more oriented on dating itself, but at the same time, they’re focused less on the characters’ individual personalities. Sure, there are some differences between dates, but it’s more about distinction than adding anything new. For instance, in the Festival Fun TLSQ, every character yells out loud that you’re on a date (unless you chose to keep it a secret), MC just points out that it’s unlike them in the case of Talbott, Jae, and Chiara. Next example: I thought it’s pretty amusing that Jae writes dreadful poems with cheap rhymes, but it turns out that the note with Butterbeer could also be left by Barnaby. I know that in MY playthrough, Barnaby didn’t leave it, but I can’t see it as Jae’s characteristic, simply because it wasn’t written for his character – it was written to fit Jae and Barnaby, so it’s kinda meaningless in my eyes.

Another thing is that even if those dates added something individual, it’d be relevant only for a limited audience. Like, I’m really happy for people who wanted to date Badeea, but for me, she barely existed in this quest. It added NOTHING to her character. During the First Date quest, Tulip revealed that girls in her family are being named after flowers (her cousin is called Marigold), which is a pretty neat fact, but I wouldn’t know it if I didn’t put extra effort to see different options. And believe me, there’s a big part of the payers who don’t do it. I’m still seeing on social media people being surprised that Rowan’s gender and House are connected to MC’s.

And speaking of that already: this is why the dating options are being cut off. And honestly, it sucks, but I get it, I really do. The devs have to spend the same amount of time on a character dated by 6% of the players as on a character dated by 36% of the players. Let’s add real money to that, and let’s say that 10% of all players buy gems/energy on TLSQs. Jam City will make more money out of that 36% than out of 6% - it’s as simple as that. At the end of the day, they are a business. Would it be nice to make all players happy? Of course, but it’s easier to keep the majority happy.

The dating quests don’t really matter for the main story – and they won’t matter more in the future.

Why? Because it’d be too complicated at this point. All we’re getting (and what we’ll ever get) are subtle differences in dialogues. And you know what? Even that doesn’t matter much. For example, in Y6, there’s a scene where Talbott calls MC to the Owlery and offers his help in searching through the letters. He talks then about their friendship, and if you took him on a date, he mentions it as well. The thing is that Talbott is pretty heart-warming here in general, how he opens on us being friends:

Sure, that one additional line is pretty cute, but again, is it really a satisfying pay-off from the dating quest, considering how much was put into it? And I don’t think they even can do more because they always have to keep in mind the players who didn’t manage to finish TLSQs in time or just didn’t want to do it.

I don’t want to be only negative about dating because that’s not really my point, so here are some ideas on how to invest all of that time better (and no, it’s not just the lore and in-depth history of the Cursed Vaults because I know I’m in the minority who cares about it):

More outfits for NPCs which could be used for variety. I don’t know about you, but I’m sick of seeing characters like Penny, Merula, Ben, or Talbott in their full school robes ALL THE FREAKING TIME. Ideally, I wish every character to have three outfits: full school robes, some variety of a uniform (so something like Tulip and Barnaby) used in the school but outside of classes, and something totally casual used outside of the castle.

More animations between characters like hugs, patting on the arm etc. Anything which could be used almost on a daily basis, and which would make our interactions looks more natural and less stiff. Seriously, I’ll take a supportive hug instead of a peck on the cheek ANY DAY.

More character-centric quests. So many of our friends need their own SQ: Tulip, Badeea, Liz, Diego. The rest could probably also use them to expand their characters – because those SQs do a great job at this. Like, I took Jae to the festival, and it was alright, but to be completely honest, his “Cooking Up Troubles” SQ was SO MUCH BETTER for his character. We learnt new things about Jae, we had some really cute friendship moments (like this and this)… And it was a super simple quest with only seven parts in total! It just needed to be written: no new locations, animations etc. Yet, the pay-off was just… better, more meaningful.

Another thing that could be done in those character-centric quests is more focus on the relationships between our friends because, in my opinion, this is needed as well. I want to talk here a little about the “All-Wizards Tournament” TLSQ, which I think is really underrated. This is probably because of people claiming that Jam City is reaching too much to reference the books events AND because of Rowan’s absence. And don’t get me wrong, those are valid objections. But when it comes to the characters… this TLSQ was pretty great. We saw a lot of our friends' insecurities (Barnaby, Jae, Liz), we saw their more competitive side (Andre, Badeea)… Badeea was especially interesting to me as she showed that she can be quite cunning when she somehow learnt about the first task. She also didn’t reveal that information to Merula and Ismelda because they were occupying the training dummies, but she did share with MC (meaning that you really want to have her on your side…).

It somehow made me think about the situation from Y5 when she admitted that she tricked Jae into thinking that she knows Apparition by using an Invisibility Cloak. It’s nice to know there’s more to her than meets the eye, which was also cohesive with the main story (even if we don’t see it much). The TLSQ also showed some dynamics between our friends, like Jae and Andre (which I mentioned here). And of course, I really enjoyed the ending conclusion: that some tasks can be dealt with only when you work together. Again, I’d love to see this theme being explored more because it creates such a compelling contrast between Jacob and MC. Jacob didn’t have many friends at school. We only know about Duncan and Olivia, and it’s still unclear if Olivia was an actual friend or a colleague they worked with. Not to mention that it was implied that for some time, Jacob was working all alone. Meanwhile, MC has basically the whole army at this point. It’d be interesting to see that this is one of the things which makes MC stronger than their brother.

Now, the reason why the “All-Wizards Tournament” TLSQ could focus on all of that is because we didn’t waste the time on all of “secret admires mystery”, “oh, who should I choose” etc. So, just as a thought experiment, let’s think about how the Festival Fun could improve if we’d eliminate the dating aspect. First of all, more characters could get more screen time, like Badeea, maybe Tulip… Liz? Diego (our dancer!)? Ismelda? Even Talbott didn’t have a big role unless you chose him as a date. The plot could also be more dynamic instead of a whole bunch of stalling. I’d leave the investigation with Andre because I think it’s a great addition to his character, but it’s also fucking sad that any development he’s getting is around dating. Like, the boy deserves so much better. So, let’s change that! Let’s say he asks MC for help because he’s styling some summer outfits for the upcoming festival, but one of his fabrics is missing. Perhaps it’s a bit more expensive material, so they suspect that Jae might’ve “borrowed” it to make some money. Jae, of course, is deeply insulted because he’s a smuggler and an occasional cheater, but not a thief! They argue with Andre, but eventually, they come to understanding. Then, MC remembers that Badeea wanted to experiment with painting methods, so perhaps she decided to incorporate some fabric into that. We find Badeea and Barnaby, they don’t have what we’re looking for, but there’s some action going on there, maybe including Talbott… Long story short, it turns out that Tulip needed it in preparation for Cruppies race or something. I don’t know, I’m coming up with it pretty much as I write. The point is that the time spent on talking about dating could’ve been used on something more specific, individual, which could be more meaningful in the light of the main story. And since there’d be no routes, all of that would be relevant for everyone after completing the quest. Want it to be even better? Make it a regular side quest, not time-limited.

All right, but couldn’t we just have both: characters development and dating? Of course, that’d be ideal. But as I said before, Jam City is a business and rarely any business is ideal. They’ll always prioritise a limited number of things, and since people whine about dating, we’re getting dating. And again, I’m not saying that dating is totally worthless, and I get that people find it cute and whatnot. I just believe that what dating ultimately adds to the game is not proportionate to the time and effort those quests require to be created. That it could’ve been invested better. Dating is basically stopping us from getting better content (at least in some areas). And we’re kind of asking for that…

[captainmazzic]

"not a fan of the whole “rogue Jedi tracked down by Vader and his edgy minions” plotline in general" Can you elaborate? Am curious to hear your thoughts!!

Hm. I guess it’s just not my cuppa, to be honest. There are so many other tropes in Star Wars I’m far more interested in -- Old Republic era Sith shenanigans, Yuuzhan Vong craziness, Mid- and post- One Sith speculation (that’s where the old EU left off before Disney got their sweaty palms on it), classic Galactic Empire vs. Rebels, pretty much any storyline focused on bounty hunters, Prequel/Clone Wars-era stuff if it involves my faves, etc. etc. 

Like, I like a lot of the inquisitors, as characters. But I just don’t find them interesting. I don’t find their stories compelling. Not in a way that makes me want to consume a whole lot about them, at least. The whole “corrupted Jedi” thing irritates the ever-loving shit out of me, because it almost always carries an implied statement that any Jedi who was disillusioned with the system or who was abused or tortured will inevitably become an evil minion and a terrible person by default, and also they will, to a man, die terrible deaths. And that’s... just not interesting. I hate being introduced to a good antagonist knowing for a fact that there’s no hope for them to survive the story arc. Call it attachment or abandonment issues or whatever, but it makes me far, far less interested in getting to know them.

ex. Hell, I’m still mad about Maul, I will always be mad about Maul, because I invested a lot into that character, having an idea that he was going to end but at least I thought they’d let him... have something. But they systematically took everything away from him, beat him down, tortured and abused him, and expected us to cheer. If they do that with a character as beloved as Maul is, I know for a fact that they’re not going to go easy on newly-introduced characters coded as villains, like the doomed inquisitors.

I have problems with character deaths.

Star Wars can’t seem to figure out what to do with characters that have nothing more to add to the narrative once their involvement in their story arc is done. Because the main storyline has already been established, they seem to think that the only way to sideline newly introduced characters not in the OT/Prequels/Sequels is to kill them off, and almost always without those characters having ANY effect on anything in a positive or meaningful way. Nevermind the fact that the galaxy is huge, and they could very feasibly affect their own corner in their own way without affecting the “main canon”. But Star Wars prefers to kill off characters after dangling them like carrots in front of those of us desperate for anything other than standard hero template. One of the few exceptions I can think of off the top of my head is Ahsoka, but she’s so fucking close to the hero template anyway (and the baby of one of the main driving creative forces in Star Wars, so of course she’s still around), that she just doesn’t quite strike the same chord. Boba Fett (and Cad Bane, if I’m not mistaken) have dodged this bullet too. Fett got a phenomenal run in the EU, solely because of being such a fan favourite. But not everybody can reach that level of popularity, so after a book or two, or a comic or three, or a series arc, most of the best and most interesting characters are conveniently dropped off a cliff or run through with a lightsaber. Can’t have any loose ends keeping our stories from being tidy little episodic packages, can we?

Whatever happened to worldbuilding where there was room enough for lots of stories?

So yeah. I just... I don’t like a lot of the inquisitor stories because I know they’re doomed to die ignoble deaths usually at the hands of their torturer, or some plucky Jedi spouting cute snark or pretentious bullshit.

That and I have zero interest in whatever Jedi they’re supposedly pursuing. I don’t care about their stories. I don’t cheer them on while they run for their lives, I don’t hope that they survive, I don’t worry for their safety. You could fit my concern for them in a thimble and still have room for tea. I don’t care, I don’t care, I don’t care. And since it’s usually the Jedi that are the focus of the stories that include inquisitors, those are the stories I’m least likely to want to read about. 

I got a little off track there, but sometimes the vitriol just leaks

EDIT: I’m not sure what happened there, but the readmore is stuck in the ask itself. Sorry about that. Long post.

[zanyanimalstechnologytaco]

My Hero Academia, the series, the fan media, the community all was a mistake of our time

I hate this show. More than Naruto and more than Fairy Tail. I hate Izuku, I hate Kstsuki, I hate how everyone and everything is just being forced to like everything about them, I hate All Might, I hate the Hero Association, I hate how light hearted and shallow arcs end. And I hate how things ended up with my once favorite character, his ship and everything I ever expected to be better became much worse and theres no male based fan media to or communities that allow my project myself in shouto anymore, seriously hes manly than "Cant stop Sparkling" guy now adays based on all the fan stuff he has about being with deku.

Todomomo was a mistake and Todoroki is a mistake. All bnha ships are unholy and wrong. Bnha is all shallowness and impure GARBAGE. I used to love bnha and was a big todoroki fan. But the more I invested through time in this character, the more i felt alone and isolated from the fandoms intention on shouto being bland fangirl fuel, the more I felt more distant from the character and not even the manga supports my reasons to invest in todoroki whom hori treats like the most shoehorned false hype emo in the show. And that offends me deeply, you got all these characters and the ones that you are expected to take seriously (and live through vicariously) are the most important characters in the show. Deku, Bakugou, All Might, Mineta, Kirishima and even Endeavor are these character and he obviously builds up there hidden character development in abilities and progression, shouto still struggles with his own personal development and is basically the same as he started with the added bonus of jobbing.

Oh and all the hype about him being cool and attractive, just irrelevant blanket statement extra tidbit filler, nothing meaningful but to make shouto explained why hes special, I prefer it if the story elaborates this by "showing" it, which the author just skims through with him and hand waves consistancy with contradiction in other following scenes making him seem like a weaker/dumber from before(ex. Fighting Festival(shouto a top tier student in every respect according to deku) to Stain Fight(Shouto is nothing but quirk reliant) according to Stain). Strongest quirk wise, this is all he has for him but even hes not even the most talented or intelligently trained with it, which makes me wonder of all shouto is just a blanket statement based character that just meant to exist to explore how insignificant he is with all his power and advantages compared to the main duo and other coming of age based events involving the cast. Even his father represents this more than his son.

Todomomo seems to relate to this, but its meaningless, just like everything else shouto has been portrayed by fans, based on how much the author puts his narrative into play which is also meaningless in the grander context of the story. Why make momo and shouto work together in the first place only to not build that relationship in future developments.

That pairing I hate(todomomo), I didnt hate in the beginning only to me because it was the only humanizing aspect todoroki had not related to his family and later the forced shoehorned dynamic with deku and bakugou, it made sense because the two are socially awkward people despite their supreme standing in the class and as first years and yet they both encourage each other by standing firm to overcome their own lack of socialization skills to grow as ideal people and improve socially, which seems to be working for momo now not shouto who's still the brooding loner elitist type(only has friends with elitist characters like friends too) . Now it's a husk and a relic of a potential investment in shoutos own story, I dont give a damn anymore, shoutos has no real anticipating developments to compel him to me, his quirk is boring as fuck since it's just a shooting targeting spammer, he isnt a good character to entertain me from a personal way, he really is a broken record of the same issues with a new idea, his family outside of endeavor and overcooked guy is more boring than him, and god I hate him with deku and bakugou which gives me more a reason to not bother with anything about him specifically since they will always overshadow him as story narrative and progress development narrative types, and I hate those two more. They are really just stand ins as horikoshi escapist fantasies, and both of them get more attention than any character as narratives who pretty much get the most attention in doing the most awesome feats and accomplishments as main roles. The new movie was about that. Shoutos accomplishments center around how he plays second fiddle to that basically instead of exploring the potential of being a pure equal to deku and bakugou, he gets the second in command villains or does something less than them in battles they already excell at in quirk control.

It's all worthless, shouto should not be this popular anything, and eventually this reflects in the popularity polls recently, which I noticed in the west from the previous one, shouto was less recieved by a significant margin compared to the main leads as a third place holder, maybe it shows me that todoroki is losing favor slowly, it makes sense, the author is not doing anything with him that makes people catch interest with the plot about strong heroes and villains getting more relevant as major players, while hes stronger than most the class but not plot relevant with his strength like deku has. Bakugou is like just like deku since the plot focuses on his strength to and is naturally stronger than Shouto via being the more badass and more aggressively driven he gets and thus gets as strong if not stronger and more skilled than shouto out of sheer plot armor. Shouto is just getting hotter and cold, bigger and more raw and unrefined in his power, so he has to control it which is still not as grand as bakugous perfect skills and genius and deku grander scaling in brains and brawn. If I were to make a guess, shouto is just going to to be behind them both as a stronger quirk user eventually and more about being a defensively capable than battle capable like kirishima and ochako, fitting for a major yet minor character, which disappoints me even more since shouto can be more battle creative than both of them if the author didnt have a bias in making deku and bakugou better than him despite having a stronger quirk.

God I hate this series. Theres no likable characters that are relatable or even human, there all shallow power and fanservice fantasies, the only character in class 1s that acts less cartoonish and serves as a stand in audience Surrogate is jirou and tail guy, but they are all about being generic looking compared to the unrealistically attractive guys and girls, the looney toon designed comic relief, and the recycled shonen trope cast. But if anything shouto represents all these shallow functions the most, and it's made him a less than a character too, it made him a sellout fan appeal type with no credibility as a character, which is why men dont like him due to not showing much concern to connect to him as a human narrative, at least the characters compared to him are showing why they(despite acting like shallow cliches) are interesting characters to care about, shoutos thing is telling about how tragically sympathetic his character needs to be as the only important thing about him, not as a part of him as a character to endear towards while he grows and helps build up a leading narrative with his development. His story doesnt help any part of the main lead or rivals growth, or his class, or his own personal objectives for his goals as a hero(being like all might and surpassing all might is a all purpose blanket statement to keep him near deku and bakugou as a power hype, not a individual self defined person). Dragging out objectives(season 1: being anti endeavor on surpassing all might which in the end pledges to learn not to do that and become better, season 2.Learning from the festival and from then on to being able to take endeavors legacy and take his training seriously which compared to deku and bakugou isnt enough to show much, Season 3. Promises to make people depend on him, doesnt happen since hes still the unapproachable person people in his class know him for. Season 4. Still makes promises hes gonna be a dependable hero, still accept his fire side, still be his own hero, things he repeats and fails to attempt because hori is lazy or just doesnt care about showing how much hes changed compared to his mary sue duo. etc) that dont happen and are inconsistent with new story details is why shouto is dead to me. High expectations about him are problematic since the author has agendas that don't involve story relevancy about him compared to the actual leading roles, plus the fan reception helps effect how I feel about shouto to, hes not even popular enough to have drawn pornagraphy with most all the girls and high quality momo hentai fanservice artists and circles, fucking mineta and your average joe otaku faceless male is more likely than shouto instead. That's how much the value shouto means to anyone than just a fangirl targeted audience which is just gay or bishi equivalent to sasuke fanworks and the feminine answer to male targeted audiences of characters like deku, bakugou and mineta, the worst and most common types of shonen stock characters in the series.

I hope this series and all the fans get tired of this shit when it gets eventually cancled. Or maybe it has. I dont really keep up with it anymore.

[haleruby]

Slipping Through Your Fingers (2)

Characters/Pairings: established Mal/Evie, eventual Mal/Evie/Reader (Quim), Reader & the Rotten Four (especially Reader & Carlos once we get in the flashback).

This part is Rotten Four interaction, you with Malvie, and then briefly you with Carlos.

Summary: Evie’s idea to design a dress for the newcomer is met with differing reactions from her friends. The actual consultation ends in a way no one could anticipate least of all Carlos...Poor pup.

Word Count: 4.2k

Notes: I am using a sideblog that is empty and not tagging bc this is only for your eyes, so no need to reblog/like, etc.

I promise it gets smoother once I can use ‘Shadow’ as the placeholder for you (instead of brunette, other girl, guest, etc.) alongside the pov sections of the Rotten Four in the flashback. The writing is still older so…Let me know if it’s too much like sandpaper, lol. I have other fics.

There are some things in this chapter that hint at what is to come in the flashback section. They may raise some questions too.

- - - - -

"You're so gonna regret this," Jay states it matter of factly. Another beaker is added to the steadily growing tower of glass so it is about as tall as the graduated cylinder Evie keeps adding to. Dark brown eyes that are almost black flick away from his handiwork to observe the counter top for more improvised building blocks. "Like, let's be honest, it sounds kinky." "Jay," Carlos admonishes. "Dude, what? It does sound weird." A test tube is moved out of reach from a tan hand, earning said hand ruffling bleached blond curls with black roots in retaliation for the interception. "Ugh, stop it," Carlos complains without any real bite. The test tube is handed to Evie, before Carlos turns his attention to his boyfriend. "We can't judge a situation we don't know anything about; it would not be fair. Evie said she seems sad." "I didn't say it wasn't bad," he corrects. A momentary seriousness displaces the ever-present, easy grin that was used to charm marks to make stealing easier and can serve as armor that hides his real feelings. "But how is she going to help? It sounds like they have a deal. Maybe the money, status, or protection makes it worth being his, so why mess it up?" Adding highly concentrated acid to the concoction she is brewing takes a steady hand to not over or under administer it. The boys' back and forth is starting to distract Evie. "He calls her pet-" "Kinky..." "-and treats her like property." The murmured comment is ignored, though a warning look is directed at the broad shouldered guy, who would cut an imposing figure to most, but now Jay raises his hands up in surrender. "I don't know why--I had to do something, it just didn't feel right..." "A lot of things aren't right." The firm statement cuts through the room as the fourth member of their group enters in through the double doors. Purple hair and mostly violet and green attire stands out against the white, gray, or stainless surfaces of the chemistry lab and compliments pale skin. Her stride is self-assured and commanding, even if she is the shortest of them, because knowing how to force others to fall in line due to her mere presence is something she honed on the Isle. Calculating green eyes cursorily assess the slight tension among them, before settling on Evie in question. "What did you get yourself into, E?" Mal asks with authority, though those close to her would be able to detect the concern there too. "M," she greets her with a smile to buy a bit of time. Talking this over with the more empathic Carlos was the plan, but Jay tagged along and now Mal is also present. Normally, she would not mind some alone time with their unspoken leader, who also happens to be her girlfriend, but not when she is scheming and plotting mode to fix something that has not even been explained yet. "I decided to make something for someone in exchange for information about Auradon royalty. I really just wanted to talk to the girl because-" How does she say this...? Evie keeps speaking, taking a quick breath. "I don't know how to explain it. This man--Sir Alistair is so creepy and I can't imagine having to listen to him all the time. His commands and whatever else he orders her to do. He interrupted my meeting with Ben, and then was about to leave but I didn't get to actually talk with the girl, so I offered to make something. He turned it into me making a dress for her instead, which is what I technically wanted..." Evie trails off, finishing the ramble. She is unsure if that explained enough or anything at all, still working through her own thoughts hampered her ability to convey them to others. "So, it's a pity dress?" Mal deduces. "No," Evie disagrees immediately.

A fine eyebrow raises at the steel underlying that tone, not expecting it. Evie seems more worked up about this than she would expect given how the acid is now hurriedly being put away, rather than being measured with the usual engrossed focus given to her projects. It is worrying. "As tragic as that sounds, you are already an advisor to Ben about the Isle, so why help?" Mal wonders. "You are busy with that, classes, your designs. I don't want you pushing yourself..."  "She knows about arrangements and alliances." This bit of information secures everyone's interest. They were brought together through an alliance, an admittedly unconventional one, but friendship is not a common word thrown around on the Isle, let alone a common concept. Sliding her safety glasses up and off of her head, Evie fixes her girlfriend with a meaningful look that silently requests that Mal listens rather than immediately dissuade out of concern. "When she first saw me she looked afraid-" A blue painted finger nail levels at Jay, who is about to make a wise crack from the set to his lips, "-not like how people looked at us on our first day or how some of the older royals still look at us. This was different. It was not a judgment thing, but almost as if she was ashamed and frightened at the same time, before she just went blank-" A quick snap of her fingers emphasizes this, "-like that. It was different, and I need to know why..." Mal observes Evie carefully, but nothing is said. "I can tell you why. Because you are the daughter of-" Carlos nudges Jay to stop his words, nodding at the look on Evie's face that is edging on somber. "Do you think she is from the Isle?" "You saw how big a deal us coming over was." A welcome event, news coverage, and even a navy carpet was rolled out in an odd mix of tentative hope held by a few and the sensational aspect of it held by the majority. They were a spectacle and a main event. "I don't think so. Or at least I think we would have known if we were not the first VKs coming to the mainland," Evie offers her reasoning on the suggestion. "He could have bought her?" Jay hurries to explain when the two look at him questionably. He didn't mean it like that. "Not that that's right, obviously. But I imagine creating the barrier and stuff took a lot of coin, favors, and magic. If he is a 'Sir' or whatever, he could have had some pull." "I doubt the barrier would be lowered for someone to go window shopping for kids," she comments with a bit of disgust, because the suggestion reminds her of something that still aches after all this time. Special exceptions can always be made. Mal uncrosses her arms, settling on a lab stool on Evie's side of the counter so she is close to her. "You know they would only do it in an extreme circumstance. Anyway, if you want to talk to her that is fine. I will be with you too."  "Mal, I-" "We don't know what she is capable of Auradonian or not, so I don't want you alone," she interjects firmly. Reaching for the hand that grips the edge of the laminate countertop softens the interruption; this does come from a place or care, even if she is not always the best at expressing it. "This is not Lonnie or Jane. We don't know this person, E." "Mal is right," Jay agrees. "Maybe we should also be there?" "No," Mal denies him. Jay pouts. "More people could make her uncomfortable..." Evie appreciates Carlos' support, considering Jay tag teamed with Mal as usual on tactics, since the two tend to agree on a more proactive, aggressive approach than the more moderate, measured ones of their other halves. Her focus turns to her girlfriend. "Just promise me you will play nice tonight-" A squeeze is given to their joined hands to preempt any quip or retort, "-since she is very, very quiet. If I have any hope of learning more, I need that shell to open, not close further." "I will be as sweet as cotton candy," Mal assures with some sarcasm, though there is sincerity in her expression. "You won't even notice I'm there."

- - - -

Most would probably hardly notice she is there... There should be the sounds of two sets of steps mounting the stairs to climb up to the level that holds the girl's dorm rooms, but only one distinctive clack is heard against the hardwood. Using her peripheral vision fails as does glancing to the side. The brunette remains just behind her almost in a blind spot, though Evie does not feel threatened. Slowing her steps was mirrored too. Jay would admire these skills that would speak to thievery or going about undetected on the Isle, but it seems like the goal is to go unnoticed--to take up as little space as possible--to disappear into the background, if not needed. It makes Evie feel sad... "-the grand fireplace can be used to roast marshmallows too, so it's great for s’mores," she continues speaking, though there has been no response aside from the initial stilted nod of greeting. Evie continues the abridged tour of the dormitory hall to fill in the quiet, but also to acknowledge her presence by addressing her without expecting anything in return. The long game will need to be played. "And here is my room, where all the design magic happens," she says it with a touch of drama. A golden key is pulled out and inserted into the lock after a single warning knock is given. Entering first occurs, she knows that waiting to let the brunette do so will lead to an impasse with them standing in the hallway all night. Evie spots Mal on her bed, sketchbook in hand, and phone off to the side. That is a relatively nonthreatening position. "This is my roommate." A hand gestures to the purple haired girl, who gives a lazy wave too intent on whatever she is shading to look up in a proper greeting. There is a difference between being rude and being inviting, but at least Mal tried... The brunette lingers on the threshold as if realizing once she crosses it the point of exit will be sealed completely. "Please come in and we can get started," Evie patiently requests.  That gets her moving again, so the door can be shut, though the motion is short lived. (Y/E/C) eyes are trained on Mal so intently that the gaze can only be described as utterly piercing; there is nothing subdued or subtle about it. Her movements always seem rigid, but now it is like she is locking herself in place or holding herself back. Her arms are pulled behind her with one hand securing the wrist of the other just below the small of her back in a form of an at-ease military position that lacks any ease. Lips remain set in that horizontal line that does not convey much of anything, but something that may be confusion causes a slight crinkle to form between her brows. If only she was a little closer, Evie could attempt to parse out her expression better. Evie realizes she is staring at the brunette staring at Mal, but makes no effort to stop it. This is the opposite of their first interaction; it's like she is transfixed, rather than trying to retreat inwards. "Didn't your parents teach you about staring?" The quip is delivered without Mal even glancing up, but when she does everything shifts.

It would be similar to violent magnetic repulsion as soon as green eyes deviate from the sketchbook, (Y/E/C) instantaneously flick away to study the floor. Evie can see the  tension she would like to think she somewhat alleviated snap back as the brunette's neck bows ever so slightly, trying to fully correct the previous direction of her gaze. The grip on her wrist also tightens up to what must be painful; it is like a full body, silent chastisement. Reaching out to prevent her from further retracting inwards crosses Evie's mind, but they are not that close... "Don't mind her personality. That is just Mal," she jokes to try and salvage the situation. Evie steps forward, past their two beds, and the small kitchenette and into her makeshift sewing area, hoping the brunette will trail behind her as usual and be away from Mal's scrutiny. "We will be over here anyways." A chair is pulled out, before she hovers, planning to assume her usual comfy seat at the drawing desk once the other is occupied. "You minded it enough to date me..." Mal snarks, though there is the start of a pout to her lips. "So, not the time..." Evie admonishes; this is not one of their friends or classmates, but more of a client, who she also wants to learn more about. Bantering with her girlfriend can occur later on. Unless maybe Mal is trying to ease things...? Somehow the brunette looks more uncomfortable now as she passes the bed without a spare glance at Mal, sitting in the chair, but not allowing her back to rest against the cushion. She sits ramrod straight like she is ready to stand up and leave as soon as possible. There was the slightest frown that is now gone with that neutrality back in full force. Making eye contact is near impossible for Evie to achieve when the pin cushion is being observed like it holds the secrets to the universe.  Is she homophobic or just dislikes the topic...? "I thought your girlfriend would always be an important part of your time?" Mal presses. Now, Mal is just being difficult on purpose, likely because the discomfort from their guest was also picked up on. "M," she warns. "What?" The question is asked with affected innocence. Closing the sketchbook with a snap, Mal throws her legs over the bed, almost rising to join them, but remains on the edge of the mattress at the disapproval from Evie. The way she was looked at earlier bothers her. The intensity felt familiar; it was like she was back on the Isle: young, on edge, and simpering with the need to prove herself to her mother, but that there was something bigger and greater watching over her until she could get that far. The intensity didn't make her feel small, but seen too deeply. Mal failed to grasp why that was since the other girl folded rather than entertain a proper stare off. Her magic roils under her skin as if her veins funnel viscous magma throughout her system, not lifeblood; this feeling usually signals the need for her eyes to switch to a verdant emerald. She does not feel threatened, just that something is wrong, which makes her want to push to figure out why. "I bet she agrees with what I said. How about this: if you agree, don't say anything at all and if you don't agree, say something?" Mal goads, trying to force a reaction besides the stiff quiet. ... No reply is given. "See?" The triumph of being right seems bitter, because she did not want to be right, Mal wanted answers. Evie is moving past annoyance to disappointment in how her girlfriend is behaving, but it goes beyond what she suspected the reason was for the comments. She can feel a faint charge to the air that translates into a unique warmth skating across her skin that most would not notice; however, she knows it is a sign that Mal's magic is becoming more active from their time together, but why is that? A questioning look of concern goes ignored. Green eyes are now assessing the brunette just as searchingly, though the view is only of her profile since the pin cushion is still the sole object of focus. What is going on?

"Can we reschedule, please, Evie?" The tone of voice used is soft and gentle, it is only meant for the one across from her to hear. A folded piece of paper is slid across the surface of the desk, coming to a stop just before the blue haired girl, who still seems to be processing she is being spoken to. "My measurements have not changed, nor the typical expectations he has for a dress," she explains efficiently. "You don't have any preferences or ideas...?" Evie asks reflexively, surprised she is being addressed. "At all?" "No." A wry, sad smile gives the barest of curves to those lips for a second, and Evie feels something within her fracture just a bit. That was a stupid question. Scrambling to recover—to adapt—to say something that will get her to stay longer yields nothing, except a hand covers the one that rests on the paper. She does not know what to do or how to help just that she needs to. The skin beneath her palm is cold, bordering on an unnatural chill that is not off-putting, but definitely unique, just like how Mal's hands tend to hold a warmth to them. Fingers flatten themselves as if trying to become one with the surface of the desk; however, the brunette does not pull away, though she did tense up.  "Fairest of them all or the sweetest?" The question is posed rhetorically with underlying sincerity. "But don't trouble yourself with this." She is actually talking, full sentences and clauses talking, to her after she has rambled and prattled on about the architecture, her classes, and favored design styles on the walk from the visitor's center to the dorm halls. This is what she wanted, though the message is not what she anticipated at all. Was she so transparent about wanting to help? "Why not?" Evie almost whispers back the question. . . . (Y/E/C) eyes actually seem to be taking her in this time, probing in a gentle yet intense way. This is unlike people admiring or judging her beauty, instead it is much deeper as if something lost now has the possibility of being found. It feels as if she is being assessed to decide if more can be said--if she deserves trust--if it is safe. That dark emotion lurks again, but it is overshadowed by conflict that soon eclipses everything else, leading to the brunette sliding her gaze to the side. Feeling the fingers slip out from under her own causes a feeling of loss that gnaws after the perceived sense of progress. Evie very nearly tightens her grip to prevent it; however, choice is already a luxury, so she will not take her's now. "Goodnight, Evie." An end point. The goodbye was not delivered curtly or dismissively; there was a finality that seems to pin Evie to her chair as the other girl rises to leave. Mal looks between the two, feeling just as stricken about her leaving even though making sense of the low tones of the conversation was difficult. What the fuck? The emotions confuse her immensely. Arms cross tightly around herself in a firm hold as if trying to provide some structure to her thoughts that do not need to be burdened with these sudden, inexplicable feelings. "What is your name?" There is no reply, not even a glance, as her bed is passed, not that she really expected either after the jeer she made at the silence.

They both feel frozen for a moment. The door closing shut near soundlessly aside from the faintest of clicks snaps them out of it. "What was that?" "Yeah, what was-" A hand lashes out to the side to punctuate the question, "-that?" Evie stands abruptly. Her warm brown eyes that border on a golden hue seem darker with anger like a honeycomb that should be harvested, though there is a lack of sweetness. There is no excuse for what happened. "I asked you to be nice, because this is important to me, and instead you antagonize her? Knowing that her situation is probably horrible?" "I was trying. She started it...?" The words sound weak to her own ears, forcing her to stifle a sigh. "Evie, I didn't mean for it to escalate, but I just felt—I don't know-" Teeth sink into her bottom lip for a second, though self-editing around her girlfriend is rare compared to engaging in it around everyone else to keep her   not to be trifled with reputation intact. "...Things? And reacted, ok?" Mal offers a hand tentatively, trying to show some contrition now that her magic has somewhat calmed.

Evie pauses, but relents and takes the offered hand. "I'm sorry..." - - - - -

"I'm so, so sorry!" A string of apologies leave him profusely. Playing keep away indoors and outdoors is something Fairy Godmother specifically told them not to. Jay took one of the sprockets he needs for something he is working on and challenged him to a game. He was barreling down a hallway barely in pursuit of the swift thief, but instead of taking the corner he slammed directly into someone. He usually has to use hints left by Jay or the sound of his laughs to find him anyway. He definitely lost the little chance he had at winning... Carlos is actually on top of the person as in half laying on them, since they caught him partially. This is awkward... He bowled them right over. He is lithe compared to Jay and shorter, but the momentum from sprinting through the long halls probably packed a wallop. Hurriedly sliding off of the--Wait, the person is a girl. Carlos creates more distance between them, before he actually looks more closely at the figure in black, who is sitting up slowly after having landed harshly on the marble floors. Dark brown hair is styled differently in a way that gives a better view of her face; it's sharper now and more defined. While his own frame was wiry from the shortage of food on the Isle, he knows that losing some baby fat in the face is common in teen years and happened to him too. She is still just as beautiful as he remembers. Her skin is a little paler than he recalls; maybe she does not go outside as much? There is faint purple blooming under her eyes that alludes to tiredness more so than eye shadow, but it would not be that noticeable from a distance. It's those eyes that seals it. Just like the ocean, there was always something anchoring in those depths when he looked into them. He knows Mal and Evie were closer to her, but he feels like he could stare into her eyes for ages because she always took care to look at him a certain way. He needed that care after some of the incidents that befell him on the Isle. It made him feel whole, not broken. Not a something, but someone who was worth having around. She rarely showed herself in this form, except when he needed her most. The uncanny ability to know when that was to offer comfort in the form of a soft gaze and innocent, gentle touches (a hug, a hand hold, steadying his hands with her own) soothed him when he was younger. He blinks, bringing his knuckles to his head to tap it. No, this is real, not a dream.

Now, it is like the sea is in flux during a violent storm. There is nothing grounding in the turbulent, almost tortured (Y/E/C) depths that are so unlike what he remembers, but at the same time are oddly nostalgic. She appears utterly conflicted, unsure what to do or where to look. What happened? It is as if seeing her is a grave offense, like Carlos wounded her from his mere presence. His stomach turns with a sickly feeling due to how he is being regarded, since his knee jerk reaction would be to give a hug and never let go again. They already lost her once. Shame suffuses her; it is an emotion he knows all too well from growing up with Cruella. Her gaze averts to floor; shoulders slump under a weight he can't comprehend; legs are drawn so her knees are just under her chin as if taking up less space will fix things. Arms wrap around her legs tightly to ward off attempts at prying; and finally her face is hidden in a last ditch, irrational effort to make it all go away. He feels his breath leave him at the sight, knowing this position is one he adopted frequently on the Isle.

It feels wrong to see his former silent protector like this now. "...Shadow?"

[fadedtoblue]

I'd normally just message you about this, but I think it'd make some good meta. What do you think when folks say "Matt belongs with Karen and Daredevil with Elektra" ?

Sorry it took me so long to finish this, as you know with me…I ALWAYS HAVE A LOT OF THOUGHTS. I appreciate the question though and I enjoy the chance to think about this concept more deeply…I certainly made a lot of effort to make sure my reasoning felt logical? Disclaimer: this is going to focus more on DDS2 Elektra than post-TD Elektra because there’s a lot that isn’t entirely clear about where her characterization is meant to go from that storyline. I don’t want to muddy the waters up too much so I’m just drawing the line here now. I might write something separate regarding the end of The Defenders b/c I’m seeing some conversation popping up here and there around the motivations behind that ending but, yeah, not super relevant here. I also apologize in advance b/c I think I’m going to go off on a couple of meta tangents regarding both Karen and Elektra before I get back to addressing the crux of the concept so…bear with me!

Let’s start out by quoting some words from Mr. Cox himself, who was fairly consistent in falling back on some variation of this hypothesis in almost all the interviews I’ve read / watched with him during press for DDS2 – this quote isn’t quite exact to the question, but it’s close…I’m also sure there are better ones, but this was just the first one I had accessible:

With Karen, he’s Matt Murdock. He’s the kind of man he’s always wanted to be. She brings out of him a kindness and a generosity and a belief in law and order, and right and wrong. She taps into something that is the kind of person he’s always seen himself – the kind of person his father wanted him to be. But Karen doesn’t know about Daredevil, and that’s undeniably a huge part of his life.

With Elektra, it’s the opposite. She knows all about Daredevil. She accepts that, and encourages him in a way that no one else does. But she also sees a dark side, or she tries to draw out of him a disregard for law and order, a disregard for people and property, and those things which isn’t who he is.

On a super simplistic, superficial level, yeah – it makes sense. Karen and Elektra were already involved, in very different ways, with the two sides of Matt’s hyper-compartmentalized lifestyle. As a result, I understand why there’s this intrinsic pull to connect Karen with Matt’s ‘day’ life and Elektra with Matt’s ‘night’ life, and then draw the line from that to, “Matt loves Karen, Daredevil loves Elektra” and vice versa. I disagree, however, with the basic premise of Charlie’s statement / this kind of statement in general, mainly because while Karen and Elektra both make very useful props to further illustrate the trials and tribulations of one very confused and conflicted Matt Murdock, you can easily remove both of them from the equation and come to exactly the same answer: which is that Matt Murdock was already a kind, generous man, with a belief in law and order and right and wrong, coupled with an absolutely hypocritical flagrant disregard for law, order, people and property every time he runs out and pulls on that mask. If you look up the word denial in the dictionary, it might as well have Matt Murdock’s pretty face filling up the page. My point is…Karen didn’t make Matt better and Elektra didn’t make Matt worse. Matt was already the man he had chosen to be, and for some reason it seems easier to credit / blame either one of these women for his inherent character traits when in fact, this was the person he already was before either of them came into the picture.

Now, I think a better way to phrase this concept is that Karen is attracted to what Matt Murdock represents, and likewise, Elektra is attracted to Daredevil represents, and that is why Matt belongs with Karen / Daredevil belongs with Elektra. And to this I say….mmmm maybe, maybe not. Based on what we’ve been given so far on the show, one could argue that neither Karen or Elektra have yet had the opportunity to fully experience both sides of Matt Murdock and maybe neither of them ever will. But I think there is enough here to try to figure out whether the Karen –> Matt / Elektra –> DD line of thinking holds water, and whether either of them have a better shot of being the right fit for both sides.

Let’s tackle Karen first.

On paper, there’s a lot that should work between Karen and Matt. It’s sweet and innocent in a way that so many things aren’t in Daredevil’s world. They share a lot of similar qualities – real go-getters for truth and justice and light, stubborn and quite headstrong, but still caring and empathetic individuals. I can see why they get categorized as the nice / healthy / safe option. But the primary problem with all of that lies in the fact that the foundation of their apparent relationship might as well be built on sand – almost everything they think they know and love about the other are at best half-truths, at worse, straight up lies: Matt, a blind, super stand-up handsome attorney with a genuine heart for justice, lives quite the secret double life as Daredevil, crime fighting vigilante with a not-talked-about-enough rage problem, and Karen, sweet, strong, spunky secretary with a heart of gold, has a secret murder on her conscience and an as-yet-to-be-determined dark and tragic backstory that may completely turn our opinions of her on its head. My issue with this is less that they keep secrets – who doesn’t keep secrets in this universe? – but that the image they’ve built up of each other and have become attracted to are very incomplete versions of themselves, and thus renders their relationship sadly superficial in a way they weren’t even aware. Which means the ironic thing about them being the conventional, safe romantic option is that nothing about them is actually that conventional or healthy or safe at all. Their relationship can be summed up by them lying to each other and to themselves about almost…everything, which isn’t a judgement of either character, it’s simply facts.

Now to be fair, from a storytelling perspective, this doesn’t mean there isn’t some hope of salvaging a meaningful relationship even with the deceit (one could argue this is exactly what they managed to do with Matt and Elektra). It certainly wouldn’t be the first time a television show deploys that old trope: two people who thought they knew each other realize they didn’t actually know anything about each other, harshly re-examine everything they’ve built up about each other so they can knock it all down and start from the beginning, etc. But I think the show has laid some interesting track with Karen’s character development, and I question whether pursuing a romantic relationship with Matt would honor that development in a positive way. My interpretation is that Karen, despite her propensity to get herself into very questionable situations, doesn’t actually want the danger. Yes, she finds herself more often than not running toward it, and she has an incredible amount of empathy for those who do not operate fully in the light, but that doesn’t mean she enjoys being in these dark and dangerous situations. She doesn’t want to see people she cares about get hurt. She doesn’t want to see herself get hurt. I do think she accepts that danger is oftentimes an unavoidable part of the process toward uncovering the truth (something that she learned from Ben and I think a huge reason why she worked as hard as she did to get as far as she did with Frank) – that danger in service of that truth can be tolerable, sometimes even bearable to live with. I’m not sure the way Matt goes about it, however, is compatible with her newfound tendency toward self-preservation.

As poorly as the post-DDS2 revelations were handled in The Defenders, I can still appreciate the little character nuggets they did throw out at us to better flesh out Karen’s headspace and motivations. I know the way it played out frustrated a lot of people – it frustrated me too. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that her stance on Matt as DD was not really that far outside the realm of believability. She’s not an idiot or a wet blanket or whatever negative descriptor you want to throw in here. She’s someone who has gone through a shit ton of trauma and wants to feel like she has some control over her life. She wants to be doing something that gives her purpose and fuels her passion (which she has found, through investigative journalism). And here’s the kicker: she wants to survive long enough to do these things. I know, I know, she still gets herself into some pretty crazy situations but I think to her, these situations are worth it if they can fix the things about her that are broken? If they can right the wrongs that lurk in her past, and if they can give her life a sense of meaning and purpose. I just really and truly don’t know what a relationship with Matt would offer her except all of the danger without any of the personal payoff. To constantly wonder about his health and safety and what her proximity to him does for her own chances of survival. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that their relationship only gains positive momentum when there’s nothing else is happening to fuck shit up. But the second any sort of outside stressor gets thrown into the situation, it might as well be like throwing a grenade into their personal growth. And the big reason for the constant imploding of progress always boils down to Matt and his secret identity. Which is such a salient reminder to me that when Karen fell for Matt, she didn’t know about Daredevil and thus was never afforded the choice in whether she wanted to be involved in Daredevil’s shenanigans. Honestly, it’s also not like she knew him long enough or well enough to have him consider her in that part of his life anyway. But this only highlights to me just how damaging these lies and omissions have been and how confusing they are to untangle after the fact, especially in light of all she’s been through personally. This is why I don’t really blame Karen for being wary and self-protective post-identity reveal and why I have to wonder about what positives this could hold for her as a character other than to check off the canon love interest box for Matt Murdock*. 

* A point that is interesting to me when compared to someone like Claire, who while not a comics canon relationship, was still meant to fill in that love interest role in DDS1. People have complained about her not getting her fair share of exploration as Matt’s love interest (a complaint I certainly shared back in S1) but regardless, once Claire had the information she needed to evaluate Matt and what this potentially could mean for the two of them, I think she made the very healthy choice to nope the hell out of there.

Karen may be “better” for Matt…but is Matt “better” for Karen?

And what about Elektra?

At first blush, Elektra represents every violent, id-driven impulse Matt Murdock tries to hide from the world and only chooses to unleash when he dons the Daredevil costume. Her introduction to Matt’s world is of a woman who exists as unfettered passion, of caution thrown to the wind, no thinking – just doing. It’s not surprising that this sort of encouragement leads to stolen cars, breaking and entering, damage of property, and almost-murder. Fast forward ten years later, and it seems that not much has initially changed, that present day Elektra still embodies so much of the young woman who first gave him the taste of pleasure through pain, and conveniently presents as an avatar for Matt’s darkest desires, the one who validates Daredevil’s actions and very existence. The fact that she comes to Matt looking specifically for Daredevil’s help, and ropes him into a crime-centered mission whilst unintentionally undermining the work that he does as Matt Murdock, lawyer, makes it easier to put Elektra in the “wants DD, not Matt Murdock” column. Some would probably take it farther and argue that nothing about Elektra is worth redeeming and that her influence should be kept away from Matt at all costs.

As with almost everything about Elektra, it’s not that simple of course!

I think the first step is looking past the bullshit storyline Elektra got saddled with regarding the Hand and the more superficial backlash toward her character because she had the balls to not only represent but encourage the other equally valid part of Matt’s life as Daredevil (and this can’t be said enough, but Elektra deserves ZERO culpability for Matt’s inability to balance and prioritize his own shit). When you do you’ll find there are quite a few fascinating insights into her character that develop over the course of DDS2, which may not serve to make her relationship with Matt any more “normal” or “healthy” (both terms that are laughable when used in relation to Matt Murdock anyway), but do provide a really crucial prism through which to examine what they could be together.

In my opinion, the thinking that Elektra is good for DD and not Matt is short sighted. Yes, she is an incredibly skilled fighter and appears to have a higher level of respect for Matt’s activities as Daredevil than she does for Matt’s work in law. But is this actually true? We know that Elektra likes to conveniently play up the femme fatale role, throwing in a bit of the enabler / bad influence for good measure. We also know she views the world with much more disdain than Matthew, and has a less stringent moral compass than…well, almost everyone. But as this wonderful post by @xtltokio highlights, at the heart of it (and I’m focusing on DDS2 here) Elektra is actually one of the good guys. And I quote:

Elektra was fighting a war, a bloody, messy and complicated war. But most of all she was fighting for the right side. In addition to being raise to be a Assassin, a weapon, she was also a soldier in a war she believed in. She hated and was terrified of turning a weapon to The Hand.

As a valued soldier in the Chaste army, Elektra is literally all about taking out the bad guys (yes, by killing them), rooting out evil and dispensing justice against the Hand. She’s just quite a bit more pragmatic about it than Matt. And it’s funny – we all know and acknowledge that Stick is an obnoxious asshole but  no one ever questions whether he’s on the right side of the war while he’s cutting down ninjas left and right, do they? But I digress. Now, the flashback sequence in TD 1x07 in particular does a lot to put some of Elektra’s actions from 10 years ago into further context, especially this quote from Stick: “[Not killing] doesn’t make him good, Ellie…it just makes him weak.” What is it that makes Elektra’s moral code so much worse than Matt’s? That she has no hesitation in dispatching people she perceives to be her enemies so that she can keep the people on her side of the war safe? Is her sin that she sometimes enjoys the thrill of the kill (honestly, I still find this assessment to be a little questionable). And what does that say about Matt, who has a strict moral code about not killing, but most certainly derives a certain level of pleasure and willingness to embrace a lack of self-restraint when it comes to violently injuring his opponents?

When it comes down to it, Matt and Elektra are two people cut from the same cloth, coming of age in the wake of trauma and violence, trained by Stick to harness their anger into something deeper and darker and we know one of the only reasons Matt didn’t descend down to the same darkness was because his training was cut short. So we have to realize this is some absolutely crucial context to judge her character by. When we do, we know that for as much as Elektra exhibited unhealthy, and yes, sometimes toxic behaviors in her early relationship with Matt (though it was also in service of a mission and not necessarily indicative of what she would have done on her own), we also know that Matt changed a core part of her being, or if you don’t think it went that far, can at least admit he planted a seed of change within her. And the fact that this inherent goodness within her has been brought up so many times in show canon that I honestly don’t believe it’s incidental. I really believe that even in the wake of The Defenders, making sense of that potential goodness will be a core part of Elektra’s story should she reappear again in the future. And it is within this potential for light that I find possibilities for a successful Daredevil and Elektra pairing, and even more so in one for Matt and Elektra.

It’s funny to me when people say Elektra loves Daredevil and not Matt Murdock because she fell in love with Matt Murdock before Daredevil ever existed. She was the first one to know and embrace the duality in him. She also knows that Daredevil isn’t a separate part of Matt – Daredevil is Matt. Admittedly, it took him longer to understand the duality within Elektra, but for all of his self-righteousness, he never lost his belief in her. Even with the lies, they have never been anything other than themselves with each other. The way they viewed the world, their personalities, their abilities, everything was out there for each other to see and explore. The biggest thing Elektra hid from Matt was her work with the Chaste and relationship with Stick yet even that is the kind of lie that ultimately Matt would 100% understand because of own his history and familiarity with Stick and his causes. And I don’t think this can be said enough, but does anyone remember when Elektra actually develops as a character over the course of DDS2? Like how by 2x08 she has genuinely accepted Matt’s desire for the light, no strings attached? She is GLAD that she didn’t snuff out his darkness? And when Matt asks her to leave, she DOES. She is willing to walk out of his life because he believes they are corrupting each other and as hurt as she must have been in that moment, she does exactly what he asks of her. And remember how she is willing to be convinced by Matt that she doesn’t have to be a weapon for the Hand, and she makes the choice to fight on his side? And how she is absolutely frustrated with his desire to save the Hand hostages because she rightfully identifies it as a trap, but she knows how he is and she helps him anyway. Even Father Lanthom directly rebuts Matt’s statements at the beginning of Defenders, when Matt questions whether Elektra would be disappointed in him for abandoning Daredevil. Because he’s clearly heard enough about Elektra from Matt’s many visits to be able to piece together an image of this mysterious, damaged woman that isn’t just the coldhearted monster people seem to think she is, but the feeling woman who actually cares about Matt’s desires and wellbeing that exists underneath. It’s odd that all of these things seem so casually discarded in favor of highlighting Elektra’s darker tendencies, huh?

If you ask me, there seems to be quite more going for Elektra than initially meets the eye. I fall back on this Elodie on Elektra quote a lot, but I think it sums it up so nicely:

They seem to be very different, but maybe deep down, they are quite similar and that’s where their bond comes from. She comes across as being the bad girl and he comes across as being the good guy, but maybe they’re both somewhere in the middle. Maybe Matthew isn’t that good and maybe Elektra isn’t that bad. They complete each other.

So it all boils down to a few key factors for me.

Let me preface this conclusion by saying that I honestly don’t think Daredevil’s story, at least if they continue to follow the blueprint set up by his very long and robust comics history, includes any sort of Happily Ever After. The closest thing he’s got to any sort of safe and stable relationship is with Foggy and I do think in the end, Foggy will (probably) be the one left standing. But the question is whether there’s any truth / logic / weight in the concept of Matt belongs with Karen and DD belongs with Elektra. And ultimately, I say: no. I believe that just as Karen and Elektra both deserve someone who can fully appreciate them for who they are, Matt also deserves someone who can appreciate him for who he is, for both sides. If you were able to break Matt into two halves, then sure, each of these women would probably be more appropriately matched with one half over the other. But Matt isn’t two people. Matt is one. So if I have to consider which person would actually work best with Matt as Matt Murdock and Matt as Daredevil, Elektra will have the edge for me.

I don’t doubt that they’ll take Matt and Karen back down that road in S3 but as someone who may not ever love this character, but can still respect the changes they’ve done with her, I just can’t see how this is going to work without making Matt into a completely different person, or sacrificing a lot of the strides they’ve made with Karen’s characterization. They’ve done such a stellar job giving Karen stories that allow her to stand on her own, even when she stumbles and makes mistakes and forces me to curse under my breath for the umpteenth time. And it’s not that I feel like she doesn’t deserve to also have romance and softness and love, it’s just that based on all of the things we know about her, I’m not sure Matt can ever give her what she needs, or vice versa. Time and time again, Matt had demonstrated that Karen just isn’t that high of a priority in his life – given the choice between Elektra and Karen, 9 out of 10, he’s going with Elektra. And the sad thing is that I’m pretty sure there was absolutely zero active intent to abandon and belittle Karen, but his actions and his words were always in character, and the message was crystal clear. Sure, there are ways that Matt can certainly be a better person and friend and boyfriend, but there will be limits to that growth because Matt Murdock still has to be Matt Murdock. As long as Daredevil exists and Matt lives his life on the edge of some unpredictable danger, I think that’s just going to be one edge too much for Karen Page. I don’t think they’ll ever be able to eliminate that fundamental disconnect between the sweet Matt and Karen they hypothetically want to be based on the fronts they put on for each other – the one that seems so nice and healthy and safe – and the one that is reality, the frustrating and messy and confusing one where you acknowledge that maybe although they’re two people who have enough in common to be good friends and care deeply for one another, but the future just isn’t there, much like how it ended with Matt and Claire.

Most Mattelektra shippers will be the first to confess that this is no model relationship. We know it’s not healthy. We know it’s messed up. These two clearly have a bond that seems to defy reason or logic and sometimes, even sanity. But even so, at its core, their emotional connection is still rooted in a foundation of unconditional love, understanding, and belief in one another. It’s the sort of thing that leads them to give more to each other than they’d ever been able to give to other people. And because they know each other just that well, and believe in one another to such a degree, they are willing to run headlong into danger and death for it. This bond hasn’t always been used in the best way, nor have they ever had the chance truly be their best within it (I would say that Elektra’s death in DDS2 cut that potential tragically short for now), but I do think this quality gives them a very unique potential to bring out more from each other and to eventually become the best possible people they could be, within the context of their existing flaws and shortcomings. I think it’s more realistic (within the world of the show) to see Matt change himself enough to be a better partner for Elektra without sacrificing the things that make him who he is. And in turn, I can see a similar trajectory for Elektra, where she can also figure herself out and find a purpose for her life with a freedom that she was never afforded before, but also have someone who is supporting her and encouraging her along the way (mostly) without judging her.

*goes back to see what the ask was about* SO YEAH. Does this answer your question? Who the hell even knows.

But now you get to read my very long thoughts and you (and anyone else) can feel free to tell me what you think…I’m even open to some respectful discourse and disagreement as long as it doesn’t devolve into trashing my ship. I know I’m not as emotionally invested in Karen’s journey so maybe my reading on her is off…if I am, I’d love to hear some other takes. I’m just glad I’m done writing this thing :D.

[queerastronauts]

(Cross-posted from Goodreads)

4/5 stars

What is the power of storytelling? This book was recommended to me based on a comment I made of how big a fan I was of The Raven Cycle, which, if you followed me on tumblr at any time during 2015 or 2016, you would know was an understatement. The recommendation was spot-on: this book is perfect for lovers of TRC, both because of world building and writing. And, if you like two boys falling in love, this is also well done (my copy has a stonewall sticker on it, so you know that's serious business). However, while the tools the story uses are similar, (psychic families, destiny, gay love, etc) the shape the story takes is very different, as the purpose of the story is very different. Spoilers ahead.

Well, here are a few spoilers for TRC: There is magic, and there is a magical boy, who comes from a family of magical boys, who falls in love with another boy. I know, sounds familiar, right? Well... meh. Because once you start thinking about the actual content of the book, as opposed to the framing - essentially, everything mentioned above - you realize there's not much similar between them at all. I mean, there are the obvious differences. First person, vs. third person limited. Limited cast of characters, vs. wide cast of characters. The actual storyline is different, of course. But that's not what I'm talking about. What is TRC about? What is Wonders of the Invisible World about?

I was - still am, to an extent - a big fan of TRC for about a year and a half. I blogged about it. I wrote fanfiction. I bought digital and physical copies. I talked about it irl. A lot. That doesn't make me an authority or anything. But it does mean that I think I have at least some credibility when I say that I think that TRC is a book about family. Found families and genetic families, good families and bad families, small families and big families - they're all there, interwoven into a bigger story that pretends to be about destiny and adventure and magic and love. When you take it apart, you can't help but notice that all of these are only decoration, and the actual subject is... well. Family. Duh. I said it like seven times already.

So, what is Wonders of the Invisible World about, again? Well, I am hardly even close to an expert on this book. I have not spent a year and a half of my life analyzing it and reanalyzing it and tearing it apart and putting it back together and discussing it with dozens, hundreds, thousands of people on the internet. No. In fact, I finished the book about 15 minutes ago (as of writing this). It's not exactly given me a long time. But I like writing reviews when my impression of the book is fresh, even if (very) often I go back and change my opinion (sometimes years) later.

Sorry to go off track again, but I recently rewatched an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer called Lies My Parents Told Me. It's a late season-7 episode, near the very end of the series, so I won't spoil the plot, only the essence. It's not about the parents. It's about the children coming to term with who they are despite their parents. And that, my friends, readers, and possibly enemies (do I have enemies? that's for me to know and for you to find out), is what I think this book is about. This book is about... well, growing up. Through the metaphor of a literal spell, it explores the real reality of the fact that we change so dramatically between the age of 13 and 17 that we stop remembering who we used to be, that without an outside reminder of our past selves there is no way to access it. It explores the fact that a first (true) love can be more powerful than any parent. It literally spells out the fact that a parent might, at times, do what seems to be best for their children, sometimes at an immeasurable cost, and that they, being human, are sometimes mistaken in doing so. And as Aidan himself says, all of us, always, are writing our own stories. Some of us are the driving force behind it, and some of us are letting ourselves be led through it. But the story is being written regardless. And that story is who we are. This story is who Aidan is, or rather, the process of him discovering who he is. And that, I believe, is what this story is about.

Now, for what I liked and disliked: I really didn't like the unevenness of the bookends. For one, if the paper people thing was meant to be a framing metaphor or something like that, it wasn't particularly interesting or meaningful imo, but also, it should have appeared more if it was the intention. I feel like the reason it didn't get shoved in elsewhere was <i>because</i> it didn't fit. Also, if you're going to do a book end, do it properly, like in the Outsiders, and don't!!! Show what comes after!!! That's so much cooler!!! Idk, I mean I get why, but I personally would have loved to have just ended with that uncertainty. (My friend Roni would KILL ME for that statement. She once corresponded with an author over that kind of ending.) Otherwise, you could tie it all up neatly and then have the last part be an epilogue instead of a proper chapter. I didn't enjoy the fact that 2/3 female characters were villianized in one sense or another, especially with the fact that only one of them was a main character. But I mean, that's why I've been trying to read more literature by women instead of men, so really I should've known. I did, however, LOVE the opening. It really drew me in, and I truly felt the way the fog was burning up from the shock of being recognized. I enjoyed the writing a lot. The gay was truly sweet, and not at all sexualized, which is a rarity nowadays (though possibly credited to the fact that it was written by a man for a non-specific audience, while when it's written by a woman and/or for women, mlm romance tends to get much more gratuitous). Then again, I am not a gay man, and it's possible that my opinion on this is clouded by much worse cases.

All in all, I enjoyed the book a great deal, enough to read it all in one sitting. I definitely recommend it for people who enjoyed TRC or All the Crooked Saints, as well as anybody who could use some sweet, sweet growing up fantasy metaphors.

[mjbookreviews]

On Writing by Stephen King

My first (and surprisingly not last) nonfiction book of the summer

I grew up reading fiction because it always seemed more fun; I loved getting lost in other worlds.  But I’ve been trying to branch out my reading tastes, and honestly, I think I’ve been missing out.  And if there’s one nonfiction subject that I will always want to read more about, it’s the craft of writing.  I love reading about what ~real~ authors have to say about writing: their tips, tricks, and philosophies.  How their little writerly minds work. I’d heard about On Writing a few years ago, but I didn’t seriously consider buying it until this year after a classmate recommended it.  So I picked up a copy of the 10th Anniversary Edition (which I think tells a little something in and of itself, but I’ll get back to that) and set to learning about writing.  WARNING: This review is going to get long.  I love to write about writing, what can I say.

I think that this is a pretty valuable book for someone just beginning to think about writing seriously, which is the position I find myself in now.  I really appreciated getting King’s honest opinion on things, an incredibly successful author who doesn’t seem to hold much stock in caring if his work is taken as “literary.”  Personally, I found King’s views on things very comforting.  As an undergrad, there was always a little part of me that was somewhat intimidated by my creative writing courses.  My stories were not strange or deep or meaningful enough, I thought. They were too easy to understand, too accessible, too easy to enjoy.  I think that King does an excellent job of pointing out that for many authors, making your work “literary” is not how writing should work, and that as a beginning writer, you should work with what you can rather than worrying about whether it will be considered “intellectual.”  At least, that’s what I got from it, because that’s what my fears are.

King starts with a tidy biography of his early life; how he began writing, what the influences behind his writing were, what people shaped his career, etc.  I enjoyed this part because I like to learn what make writers tick, but I admit that that the next few sections of the book, where we get to his tips for writing, held my attention more.  Maybe that’s kind of rude, but I doubt King would care much.

First we learn about the “Toolbox,” or the basic things that every writer should have handy.  For King, this mostly boils down to vocabulary and grammar.  Like any good creative writing teacher, he warns against passive verbs and adverbs.  Language, style, and length all go in here.  The best little nugget I took away from this section: “I’m convinced that fear is at the root of most bad writing.”  Fear to use bold verbs, to portray accurately, to tell the truth.  That definitely holds true for my own writing.

Next was the main part of the book, “On Writing.”  I found this section the most informative/helpful.  There are so many great tips to take away from this section for writers new to the whole writing thing, from the necessity of reading above all else (other than, you know, actually writing) to when, where, and how long to write on a daily basis.  There are at least around fifteen things in this section that I want to touch on, but I’ll try my best to keep it short(ish).

As I just mentioned, one of King’s first pieces of advice in this section is as follows: “If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.”  To this end, King goes on to describe his own reading and writing habits, reading whenever possible and writing 2,000 words a day basically every day.  This helps keep his story and characters “fresh” and “exciting” for him, and he encourages beginning writers to set a similar schedule to his: pick a time to write (preferably the same time every day, and, for King, preferably the morning) and then set a goal of writing 1,000 words every time you sit down in this space.  King encourages creating your own writing space, a place with a good desk, good light, and a door to close out the world with.  

I think that this is really great advice for a beginning writer, as this has the double effect of actually getting you to write and also making the whole writing thing feel official.  I do agree with his decision to point out early on that all writers are different: some can write thousands of words in one sitting, some labor over the same ten words.  But I suppose this book is marketed more toward people interested in commercial writing, where writing and publishing regularly is the goal, so having a system of getting out tens of thousands of words a month is probably a good idea. You also can't know what kind of schedule works for you until you try.

One thing I really loved about this book was his straightforward approach to those big, scary things called plot, symbolism, theme, etc.  In fact, King does not believe that plot has much to do with a writer’s job.  “The job of the writer is to give [their stories] a place to grow (and to transcribe them, of course).”  Rather than trying to figure out every single plot point of a story in advance, King advises beginning writers to just write.  The story will come: “Stories are relics, part of an undiscovered pre-existing world. The writer’s job is to use the tools in his or her toolbox to get as much of each one out of the ground intact as possible.”  I love this idea of stories already existing in you; you just have to find them.  This takes so much pressure off of someone just beginning to write.  You already have what you need, and now you just need to work with it.  This doesn’t make the job any easier of course, but it does make for a better mentality, in my opinion.

Similarly, King warns against getting too hung up on symbolism and theme.  As King points out, “symbolism doesn’t have to be difficult and relentlessly brainy.” And as for theme, “starting with the questions and thematic concerns is a recipe for bad fiction.”  This is something I personally get really caught up on. In college, I would read all these incredible novels and marvel over how intricately put together the book was, how incredibly talented the author had been to create a work that could draw so many interpretations and subtly touch on so many important themes and allusions. And let’s be real, I don’t think I’m ever going to write the next Scarlet Letter, but to even get close to something like that… I wanted to figure out how to do it.  But King reminded me that I was going about it all wrong. Perhaps this is a claim that works best for writers who want to write commercially successful fiction like King’s rather than literary fiction, but I think it’s a good reminder for us average beginning writers that sticking to the basics (aka the writing part) is what leads to a successful story.

This brings me to another interesting thesis in King’s book: “While it is impossible to make a competent writer out of bad writer, and while it is equally impossible to make a great writer out of a good one, it is possible, with lots of hard work, dedication, and timely help, to make a good writer out of merely competent one.”

Wow.  Quite a statement.  At first I kind of fumed about this.  What do you mean not everyone can be made into a great writer?  Shouldn’t we be wary of building up these “possible” and “impossible” situations? But the real reason for my fear and anger at this statement was simple: I did not want to hear that I might never be a “great writer.”  It has taken some time for me to reconcile with this idea, but perhaps the thought of being a good writer isn’t so terrible after all.  Being “good” doesn’t mean settling if you’re putting hard work and dedication into it, as King says.  And how many of us can really be expected to join the ranks of the Hawthornes, Woolfes, Morrisons, Austens, and Borgeses (Borgess?  Borges+s?  Borges’s? You know what I mean…) in our writing careers?  There’s nothing wrong with wanting to write something that even your favorite author would praise (we all fantasize about it, don’t lie), but it’s important to keep realistic goals and expectations when it comes to writing.  Trying to make a living from a creative career can be unforgiving.

There’s so much more I’d like to touch on, but since this is already over 1,500 words, I’ll end it with this paragraph.  The only thing I really took issue with is that this book was first published in 2000, and I think that a lot has changed in the last seventeen years.  The way King got into writing and publishing stories seems like a much different world than what I know, though perhaps I just haven’t tried to publish stories as much as King did as a teen.  At one point, King recommends subscribing to writers’ journals and buying a copy of Writer’s Market, which I subsequently went and looked up on Amazon.  But isn’t my quick search kind of the issue here?  Do people really use these things anymore?  King also advocates for writing your entire story/novel before showing it to anyone (preferably your “ideal reader”), so I suppose this means that he does not support the structure of workshops that most MFA programs utilize.  But if you’re like me, you don’t have an “ideal reader,” and getting into MFA programs and other types of workshops is one of the few ways to meet people that might become your first readers.  I feel like getting an MFA is just expected of anyone serious about writing nowadays.  Perhaps an updated 20th Anniversary edition could answer these burning questions?  (The real question though: how has it already been almost 20 years since 2000?  Jesus.)

[lj-writes]

@illiterallylondon​ The sheer length of our thread was verging on a health and safety violation, so if you don’t mind I’ll start a new one and make use of the cut tag. I will also attempt to categorize and summarize the issues, for any poor soul following along at home.

As I understand, the issues are as below:

1. Whether Finn could be interpreted to be a match for Kylo Ren according to your shipping pattern

2. Whether it is unfair to Kylux fans to argue that the popularity of Kylux is motivated in part by subconscious racism

3. Whether Hux is, in fact, more popular than Finn and Poe

4. Whether Hana Yori Dango proves the popularity of your stated shipping pattern unaffected by race

5. Whether you are a sea lion who leeches off others’ time and energy, then claims moral victory when others won’t give it to you

6. Miscellaneous

I will proceed in this numbered order, rearranging the points and statements as necessary.

1. Whether Finn could be interpreted to be a match for Kylo Ren according to your shipping pattern

So you insist, over and over again, that your interpretation of the characters is the only valid one and your interpretation of why Finn can’t be part of a megaship with Kylo Ren (or whomever) must hold true. You kept gerrymandering the hell out of your so-called shipping pattern, saying the characters can’t be moral opposites, can’t want to kill each other etc.

Except you admit that shipping patterns are malleable and not that rigid and furthermore don’t hold across fandoms, see Point 2 below:

2. Whether it is unfair to Kylux fans to argue that the popularity of Kylux is motivated in part by subconscious racism

“Yet you imply that Kylux is only popular due to racism by saying that if the shipping pattern was a major factor in the pairing’s popularity then Finnlo would be a ship, thus people only like Kylux because they like white people. Which, yes, is saying that race overrides characterization.”

You are completely misunderstanding what I was trying to do there. What I’m getting at is that your “shipping pattern” is bunk. You acknowledged yourself that this is malleable and based on fandom thinking by saying in regards to the shipping pattern applying to Drarry (emphasis added), “regardless of how in-character that may be.”

Also you contradicted yourself when you said near the end of your post:

‘I said in my original paragraph that your argument is that fans of Kylux are moved “primarily” by racism. And did not mention it being the “only factor” anywhere. At. All.’

You... literally said “[I] imply that Kylux is only popular due to racism.” So you did, indeed paint my argument as race being the only factor of Kylux’s popularity? LOL.

To address your constant assertion that I’m saying I’m saying Kylux is only popular due to racism (with ridiculous claims that characters of color should have no fans at all if this were true), let me try to explain it this way:

Let’s say a show has two characters, A and B, and ten fans. There are a number of reasons why any given fan might like A or B. It could be characterization, gender, their plot, background, all these are factors to different degrees. If race is a factor, it would--together with other factors--weight preference one way or the other. So if A is white and B is Black, seven fans might like A while three like B. If A is Black and B is white, four fans might like A while six fans like B. Under this scenario there are three fans who would have liked B better regardless of race, but for the fandom as a whole race still played a role in who was more popular. It doesn’t have to be a primary or exclusive factor, as you kept trying to paint as my argument, it can still be a decisive factor without being either.

That’s all I was saying from the start, that race affects fandom preferences as a whole. I’m not talking about individuals, but in the aggregate there are discernible patterns which you have acknowledged. If you agree, as you claim, that race can affect fandom preferences and is a factor, then we’re in agreement. There’s nothing to discuss and you caused us both to waste a whole lot of time and words over nothing. Happy?

“…Again, I’m forced to repeat myself, but Kylux shippers are people. Calling out racism in fandom is calling out the shippers who participate in said fandom. Unless you’re saying that shippers aren’t people.”

I “called them out” as being affected by subconscious racism. The exiestence of which you acknowledged. The only sense in which I called anyone racist (words that you put in my mouth, by the way) is in the sense that they are affected by racism in their fannish preferences, which is a systematic issue and not a matter of personal morality. The only sense in which you could possibly feel judged by this assertion is by making these systematic issues about yourself, which is exactly what you are doing.

Put another way, if you think subconscious racism in fandom exists but it’s unfair to say fandom racism has any meaningful effects (because they affect people, obviously, and that according to you is calling them racist), what would be a good way to talk about fandom racism? Is there a way to talk about fandom racism that you think doesn’t call people out or judge them for being racist?

Also notice the giant dose of hypocrisy in this:

“Thanks, again not a part of some of these fandoms but I’m taking your word for it [that conflicting explanations are given for CoCs’ comparative lack of popularity].”

So like, you think it’s sooooo unfair for me to supposedly call Kylux shippers racist, but it’s okay to call Rick/Darryl shippers or Steve/Bucky shippers racist? Because I’m actually applying the exact same logic to all these ships, that their popularity, and the lack of popularity of characters of color ships, are driven in large part by subconscious racism. Yet you’ll take my word for it when it comes to fandoms you don’t know. Why do you think it’s okay to call a bunch of people you don’t know racist?

Also, if you think this:

“Not personally a part of the MCU fandom (I tend to strongly dislike superhero movies) so I can’t speak to this point.“

is the same thing as this:

“I’m taking your word for it and accepting that as someone who is a part of the fandom”

...then you really need to update your communication skills. Like seriously.

3. Whether Hux is, in fact, more popular than Finn and Poe

“Hux does not surpass the hero in popularity in the majority of fandom, just as Boba Fett and Tarkin and TR-8R do not. However in more niche communities (Kylux AO3 fandom, Boba Fett/Tarkin fansites and certain SW fansites) they surpass the heroes in popularity.“

This is an unwarranted change of subject. From the very first post I was talking about what one might call “deep” fandom--the part of fandom that writes fanfics and ships characters. This is by no means the majority of the moviegoing audience, so your trying to shift the discussion to the larger casual fandom is a derailment.

4. Whether Hana Yori Dango proves the popularity of your stated shipping pattern unaffected by race (+ Buffy fandom)

“So let me get this straight: you previously argue that people of color can be racist (which I agree with btw), then go on to imply that the fans of BOF are Asian-American therefore racism likely isn’t a factor…?“

That is not what I argued at all, please read again. What I said was, emphasis added:

“Actually race still does affect fans [then going on to cite the disproportionalely Asian-American viewership of K-Dramas]“

This was in response to your statement that “I explicitly cited HYD as an example for race not affecting fans of a series.”

So like... I’m not sure how you got from here to there, but maybe calm down and stop jumping to conclusions?

Also, the part where I said “Also telling fans that they have nothing to complain about because Finn and Poe still have followings” was in response to this part:

“Kylo and Hux are more popular. It doesn’t mean Finn and Poe are unpopular within the AO3/Tumblr fandom at all. There’s nothing lacking in their characters, they just don’t fit the mold.“

Since my entire OP was about comparative popularity, not about Finn and Poe having some sort of following, this misses the point and comes across as disingenuous. Also, as discussed above, your whole “mold” argument is bunk.

“Buffy is more popular than Spike but Kylo is also more popular than Hux.”

Um... false comparison because Kylo’s not the hero, in case you haven’t noticed.

“My point in HYD is that. Again. The ship is non-white and falls into the shipping pattern, and is popular. Indicating that race didn’t bother HYD fans,”

Okay, so you’re moving the goalposts again and again here. I specifically talked about popularity comparisons between characters of different races in the same show, but you’re trying to drag the discussion to a monoracial show. Also, as I have said and you have accepted, this same shipping pattern does not hold in multiracial shows such as the MCU and The Walking Dead.

Besides, as I have already said, race (race, not racism), does in fact affect the viewership of K-Dramas. So in addition to being a derail your basic premise fails.

“The American version would’ve been much more popular if all people cared about was race and not characters that fall into a pattern of interest.”

I. Never. Said. All. People. Cared. About. Was. Race. Stop putting fucking words in my mouth, and if you want to rehash this point again please read my “A and B” example above. Carefully. Also you contradicted yourself yet again when you claimed you never claimed that I said race was the only factor.

I specifically made intra-show comparisons between characters in the same show because there are too many factors that affect the comparative popularity between shows. The American version of HYD failed because it sucked. I never said a show’s quality doesn’t matter and that race overcomes all other factors. Again, stop derailing and stop putting words in my mouth.

I already addressed your point about the YouTube video. Don’t try to waste my time more than you already have.

“To start with, I didn’t say that younger girls don’t write fic, just that most HYD fans who are teens (especially having a shitload of content for their OTP) aren’t as likely to produce content for said OTP. Which makes sense seeing as there is a disproportionate amount of fans vs the amount of fics in the HYD FFN archive.”

How do you know it’s disproportionate? This goes back to my point about casual fandom and deep fandom. Deep fandom is only a tiny, tiny drop in the sea of casual fandom. Only a small portion of HYD fans will write fic, but the same is true of any show. So your attempt to extrapolate some vast hidden fan base for HYD out of proportion to the number of fanfics doesn’t work, really. Especially since the original topic in the first place is deep fandom, not casual fandom, so chalk this up as yet another derail.

Also your points about K-drama and FanFiction.Net demographics are either hilariously deceptive or hilariously ignorant, I can’t decide which?

“Because compared to the other numbers in that study the 16-20 group made up the majority of K-Drama viewers.“

That’s... that’s not what a majority means. A little over one-third of K-Drama viewers are in the 16-20 group, which contradicts your assertion that “most of the HYD fans are teenaged girls.”

“Also in pointing out that FFN tends to have younger writers kind of confirmed my argument that searching for HYD fic in AO3 would be taking an inaccurate sampling since most teen writers use FFN.”

Um, “most FFN writers are teens” is not the same thing as “most teen writers use FFN.” Just pointing that out.

“The people who wrote fic for HYD were bound to post it on FFN, but most of the HYD fandom really couldn’t be bothered to write fic for it. Otherwise we’d have much more than 1k fics in the FFN archive right now.“

What... you’re not even making sense anymore... do you notice the circular reasoning? You’re starting with an assumption (FFN underrepresents HYD’s popularity) that is also the conclusion (HYD is a lot bigger than the number of FFN fics would indicate). Holy shit, this is such a mess. It’s like a car accident I can’t look away from.

“I gave you evidence which you responded to once and never mentioned again. How do you explain the millions of views on videos like this (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVxQ_g2NL6g) otherwise? If we’re taking the amount of fic to equate to the amount of fans (about 1k) then where are these millions of English-speaking people coming from?”

As I said above, only a small proportion of fans of any work actually write fanfic for it (”deep fandom”). This is true of HYD but it’s also true of any fandom. You have failed to show, except with your hilarious circular argument above, that the number of HYD fics is disproportionately small in proportion to its actual fan base. Of course the number of fics is smaller than the number of fans, because it always is.

5. Whether you are a sealion who leeches off others’ time and energy, then claims moral victory when others won’t give it to you

“I literally said that if antis really cared about their cause that much they’d be ‘more open’ to conversation. Not ‘they’d be open to spending enormous amounts of time’ debating with me.”

This is disingenuous, coming from someone who makes it impossible to carry on a conversation that doesn’t take enormous amounts of time and energy. For instance, my OP was 175 words long. Your reply was more than twice as long at 448 words, and you derailed and deflected and changed the subject and strawmanned in every single post until the thread grew into a monstrosity that I’m afraid to even do a word count for, mostly because I’d hate myself for how much time I wasted with you. I mean, I’ve already spent four hours after finishing a major project replying to your ridiculous points.

“If you think productive activism is screaming at someone who wants to talk then blocking them off without letting them speak, I’m sorry, but you’re not being productive.”

What I’m doing isn’t productive, either, talking to someone who debates either as dishonestly or badly (I don’t even know which, I think it’s the former driving the latter) as you. This is not being open to conversation.

“I have been very open to discussion and have actually had my opinions completely changed and renewed…I’d consider myself at least relatively open-minded, yeah.”

Open to discussion... by constantly putting words in my mouth. (And not even keeping your story safe on which words you’re putting, lmao.)

Open to discussion... by making a discussion that I made clear was not about you, about you.

Open to discussion... by constantly changing the subject.

Open to discussion... by using terrible math and terrible logic.

Sure, Jan.

“What am I doing now? Ignoring all your comments and not reading them?“

The part about “educating yourself” completely flew over your head, right? To be clear, “educating yourself” does not mean “demand that others educate you.” The subject of the verb “educate” is different in these two clauses, just so you know.

“So I’m meant to listen to the ‘grievances of fans of color’ but also shouldn’t ask fans of color to spend time talking to me. Gotcha.”

Are you really this amazingly literal-minded or are you being purposefully obtuse? Googling “fandom racism” is a thing? Reading the many, many articles by fans of color about fandom trends and fandom experiences is also a thing?

Going on to people’s posts and shoving your unwanted, stale opinions on them is not listening. Opening with “actually, this is why you’re wrong (and also how dare you call me racist)” is not listening.

“If you don’t think there’s anything wrong with pretending to be an activist so you can jump on a bandwagon of sending people hateful messages, then I really don’t know what to say.“

All it takes is searching “harassment” on my blog to learn where I stand on that sort of thing, but nice try painting me as something I’m not. :)

“So if I really was a sealion, I would have demanded that you respond to me in what was meant to be my final response by calling you a coward or something“

Did you read the meme originator comic? Being a sea lion isn’t limited to calling people cowards, it’s about implying that those who don’t respond are unable to defend their points or are in some way lacking--which is exactly what you did by saying antis would be more open to a conversation with you if they “truly wanted to change the situation, or help.” I.e. by not answering your points, they’re not being open to conversation, hence not changing or helping anything. People who didn’t want to talk to you (not talking about harassment, just quitting out of frustration) didn’t bother because, again, it’s nothing we haven’t heard before and you've shown yourself to be a dishonest debater. Also because they know when to quit, unlike me.

“If I really was after validation or whatever, I’d be using tags. You know, so like-minded Kylux shippers could find my argument and agree with me.”

Goalpost moving, after you’ve had it explained to you very clearly what claiming moral victory is. Not that I expect any better from you at this point.

6. Miscellaneous

“Also, Star Wars isn’t groundbreaking storytelling? Are you kidding me?”

So again we run into the problem of using words in different senses. What I meant is that there’s nothing terribly new about the characters or storytelling, directly in response to your assertion that Finn and Poe don’t fit “the mold.” You seem to have taken it in the sense that it’s not popular or good, which... isn’t the meaning of groundbreaking? But I see now that you mean the mold as in the mold of AO3 shipping, so whatever.

“Hilariously enough I actually disagree with the Hux fans (which you probably assumed I’d side with), although I do think TFO’s attack on Hosnian Prime is pretty comparable to America bombing Hiroshima.”

I didn’t assume, I only showed what I sometimes do on this blog. Thanks for assuming what I assumed, though? And no, it’s not comparable. Like, I believe the bombing of Hiroshima was a war crime, but it was not the deliberate extermination of an entire population without warning or declaration of war. Monstrous as Hiroshima was, Hosnian Prime is incomparably more monstrous.

[qrhymes]

Gintama 2017 Ep. 4-6 – Why the three Ominous Stars work so well?

I love Gintama, it is one of my favorite shows of all time. I’ve follow the series since 2011 and I have found myself both surprised and fascinated time after for this roller coaster of emotions that is Gintama. Sorachi is a Genius, who has created some of the best moments, characters and arcs that I have ever seen in fiction…And holy shit he is still reminding us of that fact even after thirteen years of publication.

All of us lost our shit when Tthe Shogun Assassination arc got to its climax and how forget that time when us, manga readers, believed that the Author Gorilla actually killed Kondo (Anime only watchers won’t know but Kondo was professed dead in the wiki during the first weeks of Farewell) and just in the last episode of the anime, Holy shit the Joui 4 (Minus Kurokono)

(...its just too beautiful....)

And now we have the current arc of the manga and…boy oh boy it has been intense, but I’m digressing.

There is a lot to talk about the manga and the anime but for now I wanna focus in the recent events of the anime and how it’s recent mini-arc and why, despite its fillerish nature (In the grant scheme of the Rakuyou), work so damn well.

And I’ll be honest with you guys; it’s not rocket science, Sorachi simple and plain gives to his fights, his characters, and the overall meaning of the fights a lot of weight and emotional stakes.

(...Sniff:..)

A fight can be more than just a spectacle of two (or more) character beating the living shit out each other; can be an opportunity to flesh out a character, to develop it, explore different ideas or themes.  And this is exactly what these three fights are.

First of all Shoukaku, Hankai and Batou (Kudos tou you if you remembered his names without checking the wiki) aren’t what you would call memorable, each one has a good design and the three have enough personality and quirks to be interesting for their respective battle but in the large scale of Gintama antagonist there are in the very bottom, so what make these fights so damn good and memorable are not their antagonist but his protagonist and what means each battle for Katsura, Sakamoto and Gintoki.

So, let’s go in order and let’s start with Katsura.

Katsura vs Shoukaku it’s probably the one that feels the most “familiar” with Katsura pulling a “YOU SHALL NOT PASS” and then having a one o one, pretty simple…and then we have this.

I would say that I’m impressing, after all it’s a damn clever move that takes probably the most well know catchphrase of the series and gives it this heavy emotional baggage that dates back to his childhood, that it’s also a symbol of his friendship with Gintoki and Takasugi and shows total new meaning to his personality and to a quirk that was to this point just a funny line but now, it’s a statement about the past, friendship and about himself, but this is something that Sorachi has accustomed us.

You know when a funny gag about shooting a bazooka to a Mayo addict got transform in this complex about envy and jealously.

Or that other moment when you are laughing of Gintoki singing the Doraemon theme because he is terrified of ghost, and then you remember that he grown up in battlefield and is deeply hurtful about the people that he kill in his past (Oh oh, much better, why not created a literal manifestation of Gintoki past’s ghosts in Utsuro….Oh Sorachi you are undoubtedly a sadist)

This is how Sorachi plays his game but it’s not less meaning full just for that, the battle has a nice rhythm to It and in the same light that the GinTaka fight in Assassination, has a great understanding of how and when using the flashback without affect (too much) the battle in the present.

So the verdict; Katsura, you are pretty good.

The Hankai battle is a different kind of breed, not only is less of a fight but also its focus is in three character instead of on…and one of them is Nobu Nobu…no fuck no, this asshole kill Shou-chan he doesn’t deserves any kind of redemption or laughs that aren’t at the expense of his person…and…holy shit Sorachi you did it again.

The power of a Joke it’s enormous you know? how much humanity gives to any type of character the pure ability of crack a joke or been part of a more casual joke. Nobu Nobu doesn’t get redeems or has a free pass for his actions, more ever it’s the contrary, he needs to leave for the lives that he has ended. It was a message that was give it well enough, subtle enough and again the light tone did wonders to give some sort of humanity to this asshole that just a few chapters ago was a anthropomorphic blank to hated.

But the undisputed MVP of this battle is the Loud Fellow himself, Sakamoto Tatsuma.

We already knew about his perspective about what means been a leader, this charismatic and smart badass who’s charming personality draw this bunch of people without a place to his cause.

And the contrast between him and Nobu Nobu it’s great and funny, and then you throw Mutsu as the representation of those who follows leaders like Sakamoto (At least when they are in a ship…and talking about ship, I ship them so hard) and then you have then fighting Hankai in reactor and…

It’s awesome But the real emotional pay off of this fight would come in a form that I think nobody expected.

Sakamoto injury is meaningful and poetic in the same grade, this career ending injury that would prevent him to participle in the final battle of his comrades and that it would also drive him away from his old friends but that also would allow him to follow his dream and inadvertently make the greater good, as Gintoki one say “Fighting the fight that we can’t”. It was one of these emotional punches to the gut that which are so synonymous with Gintama and makes this battle my favorite of three because of its final twist.

You three are indeed pretty good too.

And then we move to the final battle of the three Gintoki vs Batou.

This is arguably my least favorite of the three, been shorter and less deep-felt that the previous two, but it’s still has a lot to say.

First of all, I love the sideways between the Hankai fight and the Batou fight, it’s a nice touche that Batou and Gintoki have a little history together and of course seen Gintoki and Takasugi pissed off for Sakamoto injury it’s just so sweet.

For the fight itself, it’s a primal example of Sorachi’s ability to mix action and comedy

Bakuyasha is pure gold comedy, Sorachi is a master in the art of defying expectatives and he continues to prove it

I will never forget you, Monday Elizabeth

For the rest of the fight and what means overall is another well-made introspection of Gintoki’s character.

Gintoki always has been this awesome character with a lot of mystery and layers added to his persona and every arc has been this hint to resolve the enigma that is Gintoki, the issue here is that most of this got resolve in Assassination and with the posterior entrance of in Farewell we get this transition of just trying to understand this guy to seeing face this literal manifestation of the ghost from his past, this is the reason that this fight falls a little more flat that the others…but nevertheless it’s still a great fight, a character piece of a character that a lot of us just love and every new inside to him is welcome.

Some my final verdict

Pretty good.

These three fights were a mere sub-arc in Rakuyou  arc, but they overflow with the reasons of why all of us love Gintama, the characters, comedy, the action, the human drama, the feels, etc.

It’s a perfect piece of all that is good with the series and great story overall.

So, thank you Sorachi, for giving me so wonderful watching experience and I salute you Author Gorilla

because Sir, you’re definitely pretty good.

PD: If you didn’t notice yet I also love Ocelot, he is also Pretty Good