#aside from the person who created and has control over said character

[hilacopter]

some folks are gonna hate me for this but I think people get maybe just a teeny bit too riled up about characters being ooc in fan content/fanon

[cuntylouis]

"Armand is Alice and Daniel's wife/s and kids aren't real" has become a popular fan theory (even Luke Brandon Field said he liked it!) but i'd be surprised if it was right. I think it's definitely possible that Devil's Minion will be adapted in the show (though probably not exactly like in the books), but i personally think this whole imaginary family thing would be a poor way to handle the storyline for a variety of reasons. I think a twist like that would probably come across convoluted and (as Daniel might say) like something from a telenovela.

We see children's toys in Daniel's house and he's public figure who many people know with an autobiography and everything. Creating decades worth of false memories for Daniel and somehow also maintaining that imaginary life story for decades wouldn't be enough, Armand or whoever did it would also realistically have to have an absurd level of control over the physical world, public records and many other people's minds to sustain an illusion like that. I also frankly think it would be difficult to avoid having some sexist and biphobic undertones to the idea that Daniel's relationships with women were unreal and meaningless and only his relationship with a man matters.

However, the most important reason why i think Daniel's wives and children should be real is that they make him a richer, more nuanced character and are actually central to understanding him and his motives. He has lived a full and complex life that has been influenced and to some extent defined by his encounters with vampires, but those vampires still weren't his whole life. I think it's more interesting to see Daniel's human life and his relationship with Armand and Louis as something connected and overlapping that both affect each other. We actually learn quite a lot about Daniel from what he says about his partners and children.

This scene - as well as how Alice in general is discussed - reminded many people of how Daniel in the books talks about Armand, such as this famous passage:

Parallels between Daniel's relationships with Alice and Armand in the books are obvious but i think they're just that, parallels. Both the sweet little scene where Daniel is talking about Alice's eyebrows and the book scene where he's talking about loving Armand not despite but because he's a monster reflect in different ways who Daniel is as a person; he feels drawn to unconventional and strange and sees beauty where others might not. He ended up in this situation with vampires too because he wanted to interview people who're rejected by the society.

If Daniel already had some sort of relationship with Armand in the past it makes sense that it would be associated with Alice in his mind. There may be an overlap between the timelines of those relationships. A memory of Armand rises when Daniel is reminded of Alice rejecting his marriage proposal, in the books Armand rejected his wish to be turn him into a vampire, which would've been something akin to marriage. I think Alice being real is much more compelling for Armand's character too, with Armand expressing surprising understanding and sympathy toward Daniel's wife rather than just speaking about his own experience through an imaginary woman.

Completely putting aside Devil's Minion and is it a thing in the show or not, i think Daniel's family is particularly important to Louis' and Daniel's relationship. Something that hasn't technically been explicitly said but to me seems obvious is that Louis and Daniel strongly relate to each other as fathers. Many scenes where we see Louis and Daniel show vulnerability in front of each other have something to do with their partners and children. In 1.02 as one of the earliest examples of this Louis replicates the dessert Daniel had with Alice, trying to connect with him and his humanity through it, Daniel shares personal memory and they eat together in companionable silence.

I would argue that Claudia, her memory, and Louis' relationship with her is the heart of the story in these first two seasons. Claudia entering the story in 1.04 marks the shift in the interview and Daniel's approach; he becomes both more combative and more emotionally invested. He has a strong reaction to reading Claudia's diaries, and it's not difficult for any parent to guess that he's also imagining her own daughters in similar circumstances to Claudia.

I think this conversation at the end of the episode (alongside Louis' speech to Daniel in San Francisco and them remembering it in 2.05) is the most important scene between Louis and Daniel. They share the understanding what it feels like to have children and love them so much you don't even have words for it, but still fail them. It's not a coincidence that in the original interview in San Francisco what leads to Louis attacking Daniel is Louis telling the story of Claudia leaving alone and Louis going back to Lestat, and Daniel acting dismissively and clearly not understanding why this is so painful memory to Louis. Daniel was young, stupid and high - and he didn't have children yet. Daniel now wouldn't act like that when hearing this story, and he doesn't in 1.06 when hearing it again. And notably when Louis says that he would now agree to turn Daniel, Daniel says he doesn't want it anymore and specifically mentions his daughters as one of the reasons. Having to watch your children die before you is the most horrifying thing in the world. It's something Louis had to go through and Daniel wishes he never has to, even if vampirism still intrigues him.

Daniel realizes quickly that it all comes down to Louis' feelings of guilt and shame about failing Claudia and his inability to protect her, because he has similar feelings about his own daughters. Louis' story unravels in s1 finale because Daniel recognizes that Louis' more palatable narrative around what happened with Claudia isn't fully true. Daniel carefully read through Claudia's diaries and tried to learn to understand her, and he positions himself as someone who's trying to defend her integrity and reveal the injustice that was done to her. This is again about Daniel's own children as much as it's about Claudia. He knows that he's a bad father, his daughters don't talk to him anymore and it's implied that he neglected them when focusing on other things that interested him more. When Daniel defends Claudia he's on some level trying to rectify his own mistakes and when he calls Louis out he's also voicing his own self-loathing.

Eric Bogosian remarked that the scene in 2.01 where Louis cries and thanks for Daniel for helping him to remember that Claudia could dream is another shift in their dynamic. Daniel looks at Louis with genuine concern, and after that he tones down his usual sarcasm and jabs significantly. Daniel, again, can sympathize with how important this is for Louis. There's a new sincerity and empathy in their interactions. Sometimes the audience forgets that this story is ultimately about Claudia, but Daniel hasn't forgotten it since he first realized it. They're trying to understand together what happened to Louis' child and everything that led to it. I think if Daniel wasn't a father he would've acted differently, and Louis wouldn't have trusted him in the same way either and been able to share his and Claudia's story. I think this shared sorrow, love and guilt they feel as fathers is one of the most crucial parts of their connection.

[kutputli]

It's been two days since I finished watching Interview with the Vampire, and the show has been consuming all my brain space. I didn't have the energy to live blog each episode of season 2, but I want to get my reactions down, before I go in search of reading other people's. This will be a haphazard collection of thoughts, so I think what I will do is start talking character by character and see if that helps me organise things any.

Louis

This one is the beating heart of the show, and I don't see how it would have worked if they had not made him a Black man. Everything stems from what he learned during his life of how to survive and thrive and yet remain kind and compassionate, and watching him be fragile and loving and grieving is soul stirring. Perhaps other people might still have found the show engaging with the role played by a white character (given fandom's embrace of the slave owning pirates in Our Flag Means Death, I am sure a slave owning Louis would not have been an insurmountable problem).

But this story belongs to the Black Louis, and to what Jacob Anderson made of him. Just impeccable acting choices, all down the line. I am mesmerised by him.

Praise for the character aside, he is the moral heart of the show. (I know there is a case to be made for Claudia, but I will get to her after this.) I don't actually much enjoy villains presented as anti-heroes, and Louis engenders so much empathy in a show filled with rather awful people.

Of course, he loves Claudia. And I do see him putting her first to the best of his ability. Claudia may be entitled to her resentment, but that doesn't make it rational fact. Louis encouraging her to leave the first time, knowing that Lestat would follow him if he left, that's a valid choice. And then choosing not to burn Lestat... I am reminded of how few victims of domestic abuse actually murder their abusers. The main desire is always to get away. I don't condemn Louis for choosing to not kill his lover.

Claudia had no roots laid down in New Orleans, but Louis did, and he gave all of that up to support her really rather nonsensical search for mystical vampires who were not as awful as Lestat. He helped her join the coven even if he could see it was a cult. And when she introduced him to Madeline, he listened to her. He turned her for Claudia. I don't ever see a moment where he stopped actively caring for her and doing the labour to prove it. I took the line about her being a burden as fully just transparent bait for Armand.

And when Lestat shows up at the trial, its Claudia that Louis is focussed on. He Always. Puts. Her. First.

The way that Louis finds his way into a relationship with Armand is so heartbreakingly soft. We never see them in their intimate moments as dom and sub, but I get the sense that he would be a tender lover -what he wants is to be respected, to have control.

And then we come to the post-trial choices.

I can somewhat buy him sparing Armand's life during his vengeance murder spree, because it wasn't just that Armand said he had saved him during the trial - if you remember, Armand was only encouraging him to leave Paris. Louis was the one who asked. But also, Armand was the one who let him out of the coffin. He did save Louis, and Louis would have tasted the blood of the person who saved him and known it was him.

I think maybe Louis was able to get over Armand facilitating Claudia's murder, because he saw him as a victim paralysed in the same way that he himself had been. Louis knows about having to keep his head down and be complicit with an oppressive system, and I think he offered the benefit of the doubt to Armand because of that. Perhaps also - Louis forgave Claudia for attempting to murder Lestat because he could see her desparation and why she needed to do it. Maybe Louis created a story for himself where Armand was similarly trapped. I don't know. To me, his choice of staying with Armand is the one I am the most questioning of.

(All of this is presupposing that what we saw was what actually happened. There are indications that there is yet another layer to the trial that we don't know about, and because Louis wasn't there as primary witness for the end, maybe some new facts will emerge to make Armand either more sympathetic, or more manipulative.)

Louis's relationship with Daniel is endearing and charming and all things adorable. I hope they whatsapp each other often and have some uncomplicated relaxing stress-relieving sex.

As for Louis and Lestat... see, I was ok with what I saw on the screen. I saw an abuse survivor leave his second marriage the instant he found out he had been lied to, and I saw him visit the parent of his child for closure. Taking on the burden of Claudia's death is nonsense, of course, but it was believeable nonsense. In that I accept that Louis, after having learned that Lestat did lift a finger to partially save his life, spilled out from all his generosity and love, what he thought might help the wretched ex he saw eating on rats and playing on a plank.

But what I am not ok with, what repulses me to the core, is the apparent conviction of the show producers that Louis and Lestat are destined to return to each other, as the great love of each other's lives. It is true that some domestic abuse survivors never manage to completely free themselves from their abuser, and some spouses continue to stay with the abuser of their child (Alice Munro, looking at you). But that storyline is a horror story. Nothing in the framing of the show indicates that horror. And I do not wish for a season 3 that walks down that road.

[avonne-writes]

I really really can't picture bucky as an omega, he's way too big and in your face for that imo. Typical alpha behaviour and ahem *dimensions* (all-over! not just down there, stop thinking of That Gifset 😂). Buck on the other hand... could be alpha for sure, but between that angelic face and the unassuming manners, I really read him as a more obvious omega. Also some choices were made by the production to present him as other, ethereal (eg the white horse scene), unattainable, and that feels omega coded. Also your writing of him as a sub made total sense to me, and again that's omega adjacent *shrugs* what do you think?

I think that with a/b/o, one has to be careful not to overwrite the characters' personalities to fit their designations. I hate stereotypical abo where the omega might as well be a female OC. But, aside from this, you can sell almost any dynamic to me. So, I can get on board with omega Bucky as long as his personality is the same. But I do have my own headcanons. I see them as either of the below two:

Alpha x Alpha

"unquestioned leaders of our entire group"

Matches their personalities in the show

Gentle, calm alpha + large, loud alpha ❤️

Switching‼️

Even more reason for a playful, teasing relationship - constant dominance challenge

Courting and possessive tendencies both ways

Humorous confusion at times because they've never dated a fellow alpha before

My alpha nesting headcanon

Perhaps the military only allows alphas to join

If A x A relationships are taboo, that might create the same obstacles as a gay relationship in canon era

Alpha Bucky × Omega Buck

This only works with non-stereotypical omega behaviour because Gale is not warm, not social and not generally submissive

Non-traditional omega who’s scared of giving up control finds an alpha he finally feels safe enough with to submit

Gale's looks are indeed omega-coded

Protective alpha Bucky

Possibility of being openly mated

Omega Gale doesn’t have normal heats due to childhood trauma (doesn’t want anyone near him), but Bucky eventually helps him with that

Cue: heat sex 🔥

POW angst

Mpreg option

These are my headcanons at the moment, but as I said, as long as it's in character, I think all dynamics are awesome. 😊

[circinuus]

I read your dad Fyodor post and I was wondering if instead of reader getting with Dazai it could be reader getting together with Akutagawa?

fyodor with a daughter dating akutagawa

0.5k words. fem!reader

❥ since the post in question involved reader as fedya's daughter, i'll write fem! reader for this one too! hope you don't mind, nonnie

the dad fyodor post

Now I'm wondering just how Akutagawa my boy ended up with a Dostoevsky. Regardless, I trust that you take care of him well <3

No matter who his daughter is seeing, Fyodor is protective by default. Natural fatherly instincts aside, he has this viewpoint about how humans are foolish and sinful. Crime is as natural as living and breathing, so humans need to be 'saved,' and the world needs to be 'cleansed.'

If that is truly how he views humanity, I don't think he will deem any person worthy to be romantically involved with you. Even if they're a literal saint.

Bonus points if you're a non-gifted, and if you have nothing to do with his Fyodor-typical criminal activities. You're the closest to being 'sinless' and father! Fyodor doesn't want you to get tainted by anything.

Tough luck for Akutagawa because he's a gifted and he commits crimes for a living💀

Again, father! Fyodor will be more protective and controlling than brother! Fyodor. Simply because the sense of responsibility and belonging is bigger, and he has more power in his position as your parent.

See? Your dad just wants the best for you <3

The whole 'you-are-not-worthy-of-my-kid' aside, Fedya sometimes uses Akutagawa as a pivotal piece in his grand schemes. I feel like he won't specifically dislike him, but he absolutely loves you! That being said, father! Fedya might indulge you and let you meet your dearest Akutagawa—until he finds him better off dead than alive in his quest of creating a world without ability users.

The man, as pale as the winter in your homeland, with steps as light as its snow—your father approaches your disconsolate state. As cold as his appearance may appear, his gesture is warm as he drapes his dark coat over your trembling self, a hand resting on your shoulder while the other comfortingly rubs circles your back.

"What did I tell you? The world is just as sinful as it is unfair," he said. "Sacrifices are eventually inevitable. But it's okay за́йка¹, you're safe with me now," he hushes your silent laments as a hand moves to pet your head.

I mean—look at what happened to Aku in the manga// I'm so sorry, I just love making this man evil.

Alternatively, Fyodor will make an exception because Akutagawa looks very polite :) Just for your fondness for your beloved, he might pull some strings and, let's say, exclude Akutagawa from whatever disaster he is planning for the detective agency, the government, or the Port Mafia.

Akutagawa can be such a sweetheart. I think if he ever gets the chance to meet father! Fyodor, he won't be intimidated, as per se. But he will try his best to be respectful. Because duh, Fyodor is the father of his s/o—as long as he doesn't know his soon-to-be father-in-law might pose a threat to the mafia and/or his sister.

Akutagawa does have this traditionalist vibes and so does Fedya. He obeys people he respects too. So anon you're up to something, this might actually work??

зайка¹ and any other diminutives of заяц (ZAyats)—bunny rabbit—are used when speaking to loved ones, very close friends, and children (source). //cmiiw

honestly, i'm interested in hearing everyone's interpretation of fedya's character. figuring out this man got my brain in a backflip ngl i just kept on making him kill everyone🥲

♡ @ashthemadwriter

[ratsoh-writes]

Hello y’all! Let me introduce you to baubletale!!!

This au is an underground au with a twist! After nuclear warfare decimated the land above, monsters moved underground putting up a barrier for protection. However over the years, supplies grew scarce, but any who dared leave and venture above quickly succumbed to the elements

Over time, some clever monsters found out a way to posses their creations. But there was a trade off. You change your magic to the new possession style, and and loose your ability to perform magic without your creation. However survival trumps their love for their own magic, and after a few generations every monster was a bauble creator. It became the norm for their magic, and kids born no longer preformed their own magic, only being able to transfer it to their baubles

How it works: simular to how the nomads use a sliver of their soul in enchanting their tools, the bauble monsters use a sliver of their soul in animating their creation when they finish making it. What happens afterwards is:

They can move the item, see through it, and in some cases speak and feel through the item as well.

The item aside from being possessed and mobile does not have any other special features, they are only as durable as the materials used to make them, therefore the majority of bauble monster creations are temporary

Bauble creations can also be programmed to do certain tasks without needing the monster directly controlling it. But it takes a large amount of energy and requires being renewed regularly

After the crash, with their possessed creations no longer needed for survival, many bauble monsters began creating for the sake of expression. Nowadays these monsters are associated with all kinds of services like doll cafes, animated servants, acting, and sometimes just plain old art.

Now let’s introduce y’all to the boys!

Stitches (baubletale sans)

Stitches is a tiny skeleton monster, standing only at 4’8 feet tall and aged 40. He has peachy pink magic and the swirly marbled magic of a bauble monster. He recently had braces put in to correct his crooked teeth from malnutrition growing up.

Stitches is…. Well he’s a character. He’s an eccentric monster who seems to adore the strangest things, yet is bored by others that the majority of people consider important. He struggles a bit with boundaries having been pretty isolated most of his life. He’s sweet and cuddly, but sensitive as well can can have his feelings hurt easily. Many perceive him as childish due to his personality, but he’s plenty capable.

Stitches is a voice actor!! His father had saved many tapes of old cartoons, movies and audio books for his sons before his passing. Stitches idolized many of the characters, learning to copy their voices and getting quite good at it. Nowadays he has a gig as a voice actor for a popular kids cartoon. He’s voices the sidekick, love interest and the little brother of the show. He’s also had one of his creations starred in a movie of said cartoon.

Because he is a bauble monster, he has no magic weapon or ability to create and summon one

Stitches special ability is what he calls “sticky hands”. He can stretch the ecto of his left arm up to two feet to grab things out of reach!

Things he loves: bright wild colors, especially neon pink, tie dye clothing, vintage cartoon tapes and dvds, vintage cookie jars, thrift shopping, toy instruments, playing the keyboard, dyed rainbow roses, corn dogs, 80s pop and disco, crazy printed leggings, squishmallows

Tinker (baubletale papyrus)

The younger twin by a few minutes, he’s a 5’11 foot tall skeleton monster with pinkish purple eyes and the marbled swirled ecto of a bauble monster.

Tinker is a monster of few words. He’s always got his head in the clouds daydreaming about this and that and has trouble staying on track in long conversations. However when talking to a creation he’s possessing, he’s quite focused responding easier. He’s a very calm monster and is good at keeping his cool in scary situations.

Tinker owns an online shop where he sells crochet, embroidery and knit wear. Everything is an original piece, he never makes the same item twice. And he takes commissions! He also has a side hustle as a dishwasher for a restaurant he does on weekends. He of course sends a creation to do it as he hates the feeling of wet food on his hands.

Because he is a bauble monster, he has no magic weapon or ability to create and summon one

Tinkers special ability is that he can posses up to three items at the same time that he made. When he does this though, he can’t move, and can only keep it up for about three hours before getting migraines.

Things he loves: the color dark purple, jello and boba teas, violet flowers, yarn yarn and more yarn, string in interesting colors, vintage clothing patterns, rag dolls, vintage lighters and brooches, old records, record players, jazz music

Side characters

Jigsaw: (baubletale Asgore) jigsaw almost didn’t accept his place with the royals, ashamed at how little he and his people had to give, but he was convinced by marionette and now works with the medical board. He funds and manages organizations that research cures and treatments for magical diseases like dimming and LV sickness. Jigsaw is a frail monster, but incredibly kind and compassionate

Marionette: (baubletale toriel) jigsaws best friend and his royal advisor before the crash, marionette convinced him to continue to take the title of royal, and was offered one for herself in turn. Marionette is a regal elegant monster with a heart of gold. She works closely with monsters researching fertility treatments and cares deeply for the humans coming into ebott. She’s one of the main royals who advocates for more immigrant rights

Nook-aster: (baubletale gaster). Technically aster died decades ago. Sick from the radiation on the surface, aster knew she wouldn’t live past her sons first birthdays, so she poured her whole soul into a tin doll she created. The doll, named nook, is merely a reflection of who aster was, it speaks like her, can preform basic tasks, but as time goes on, it’s magic fades away without its creator. Aster did end up living till her son’s second year of life, before she fell down and nook took over. Nook the doll did its best to raise the boys, it fed them, cleaned them, taught them to read and write, and even simple crafts. Thankfully the boys were intelligent, and as nook began to wear and slow, they filled the gaps learning more from the tapes aster left them. Nowadays the doll moves slowly, and only speaks a little at a time. But the boys still adore it and treat it as a true family member

[purgemarchlockdown]

Milgram and The Prince

(A Companion to my Rose Bride post you can read here, not necessary to read as I reestablish all the necessary points I made there here but it be nice to see another person read it) (CWs: Unhealthy Power Dynamics, Sexism, Discussions of Ownership in the context of Marriage, allusions to sexual abuse)

(Spoilers for Utena!)

So, as I discussed in the post linked above. In Revolutionary Girl Utena, There is a dichotemy between a Prince and Princess, with Princesses being (in the shortest way I can explain it) an unrealistic and unhealthy expectation for women to fit into a role that Lacks Autonomy and Power, and if they don't they get demonized and branded as a Witch, and Princes is an unrealistic and unhealthy expectation for men to have Complete Power, Autonomy and Control over Princess.

When we get into the Rose Bride we delve into the ideas of ownership, abuse and demonization, as the Rose Bride should Obey Whatever Their Betrothed Tells Them To Do. This Prince is who we are focusing on for this post.

"She looks gallant in a guy's uniform, but she looks perfect in a dress, too!"

Let's start off with Mikoto and John, as they're the best jumping off point when talking about the dynamic of the Prince and the Rose Bride.

Now, while the Rose Bride (and princesses) as a Role is very traditionally feminine and rooted in gender and well, misogyny. Mikoto actually has been heavily Associated with traditionally feminine characteristics and stereotypes. (Mikoto Interrogations)

T1Q4: Do you pay attention to fashion? A: Of course. No one would want to request something from a designer with no fashion sense, right?

T1Q10: Have you ever gotten angry at other people? A: I don't think I've gotten angry before. Isn't it kind of disgraceful to get angry?

Me, the newborn other you

In Isolation, these characteristics don't hint at anything, however when them put together, plus idea that John was "born" from Mikoto and how he even gets tied into with the rest of the girls by how he repeats his T1 Title and is the Only Guy that does so creates a interesting association with Mikoto and Femininity.

Not only that but Mikoto is Heavily Sexualized In MeMe.

A detail that's strange when even Yuno, who Wears Lingerie in Teardrop. Doesn't get sexualized in the same way Mikoto does. When Mikoto is on screen in MeMe the camera is Gazing at him. Watching him take off his shirt and bathe.

(Utena Scripts)

Anthy:  The one I'm engaged to can do as he pleases with me.

People haven noted that MeMe and Mikoto references a lot of classic horror and I'd like to mention that, not only is dying in a shower a common trope, especially in horror. It's a death that commonly happens to Women. To the point where, the TVTropes Page for Deadly Bath comments on it.

Whenever it's a killer or monster that's the cause of death, the victim is always a woman for some reason.

MeMe seems to be mainly referencing the 1960s Alfred Hitchcock film Psycho, and the most well known scene from the film is the murder of a woman in the shower.

Plus, said murderer, a character with a Very Demonized and Inaccurate Portrayal of DID, is also a transphobic stereotype who kills his mom and then dresses up as her to pretend that she's Still There.

Stepping aside the Many Issues with Psycho's Portrayal of DID and transphobia for a bit, these are More Examples of Mikoto being associated with Femininity.

But it doesn't even end there! Mikoto feels like a bystander in his own life, he's on a train going nowhere in Double. He's predicting his own fate in MeMe. He has no clue where his life is going and part of it is in the hand of someone he knows Nothing About. It's scary and terrifying and his agency is minimal and he doesn't even know who he really is at this point.

Why am I here? It must be a mistake? Take a good look at me Until you find me Why, hey why, I’m nowhere to be found So I will NEVER forgive you if this is happening to me even though I’m right Why, hey why, please let me out of here Please tell me it’s a mistake, that’s it’s a lie

I'd like to mention before I continue that Rypirotes actually pointed out this Exact Thing before! That Mikoto is the Damsel in Distress and John is his Heroic Knight. Or in my case, Mikoto is the Rose Bride, and John is the Prince.

Miki:  Her eyes are telling me... Miki:  that she wants to be set free. Miki:  I will protect you... Miki:  I will protect your beautiful sound, Himemiya-san!

Now the thing about the Princess/Prince dynamic in Utena is that it actually mirrors a dynamic present in Milgram, the Victim/Savior one. I mention this a bit in my Rose Bride post but I'm going to expand on it a bit more here.

We, the audience are very familiar with John positioning himself as Mikoto's savior, it's one of the first lines of Double we ever Heard.

Cling to me, hoist me up as your “savior”

Of course as we know Mikoto has been very Distressed about John and his presence. The loss of time and memory and control and the fear of not being the real "him" haunting him. Making him portray John in a more villainous and evil light.

John is pretty upset about this, but less because he's being portrayed as a villain (though that frustration of trying so hard and yet being feared is a part of it) and more because he feels like he Ruined Mikoto's Life in his attempts to save him.

If only I were never born, if only Why, why I’m so sorry.

Utena:  Instead, I just kept on pretending to be the Prince who could save you. Utena:  I was just being conceited about protecting you.

As we know, John's statements in Neoplasma are Unreliable, as he seemingly tries to shift all the blame of the murders to him in an effort to protect Mikoto since he was Born to Do That.

(Neoplasma)

John: That’s right. I’ll have to disappear eventually, anyway… Disappear, and take all of it with me. I… was born to protect Boku, after all.

The problem is not John wanting to protect Mikoto. It's that John in the attempt to protect Mikoto, harms him. It's not out of malice or some inherent flaw in his birth or anything like that. It's because John treats Mikoto as powerless.

John: It’s true that I was the one who wanted to destroy everything… and the weakness of Boku, who couldn’t stand up for himself all alone, might have been the origin of that. But… that’s all there is to it. Is that a sin?

While John puts Mikoto on a pedestal he also believes Mikoto to be weaker and needing protection, and no matter how True that statement may be, the way he helps Mikoto makes him feel powerless, confused and like a bystander in his own life.

Anthy:  Because I'm the Rose Bride...because I'm a doll with no heart... Anthy:  I thought that no matter what befell my body, my heart wouldn't feel the pain.

Welcome home, another day, another day with that hardly barely there of a smile You’re overdoing it, you’re already broken

John doesn't want to hurt Mikoto, he really doesn't. He just doesn't know what else he could Possibly do, he was made to take all of this on. That's what a Prince does.

Saionji:  So you want to be the prince who saves the helpless princess?

So he pushes people away, hides things from Mikoto, and so on. Because even though he doesn't really know what Mikoto wants from him, he believes this is the only way to help him. (Thank you Laniemae for drawing his paranoia in particular to my attention!)

Utena:  When you were suffering so much...when I had said we should save each other... Utena:  I'M the one who's unfair. I'm the one who's dirty. Utena:  I'm the one who betrayed you.

Hey, I just wanted to save you So why did it come to this?

Which just makes Mikoto's feelings of powerless worse and causes him confusion, worry and stress. And when that reaches a breaking point, John will need to clean up whatever mess gets left behind and the cycle starts again.

The dynamic of the Rose Bride and the Prince is one built on a Horrific Power Imbalance. You don't want to be The Rose Bride, and you don't want to be The Prince either.

"Instead of a princess to be protected, I want to become a dashing prince."

It might be strange to have Kotoko here when the Prince as an archetype both in and out of Utena is associated with men, however the thing about Kotoko is that she idealizes The Prince.

Voice:  but because of the strength of her admiration for the prince, Voice:  the princess made up her mind to become a prince herself! Voice:  But is that really good for her?

Now let's get something out of the way before I start this section, Kotoko has gone On Record saying she isn't exactly attached to the concept of femininity. (Kotoko Interrogations)

T1Q10: What do you think about the word 'feminimity'? A: It's one of the means you can take. It's something you can freely choose depending on the scene, so it's not something to cling onto.

This is Perfectly Fine Actually, as is Utena wearing the boys uniform and having "masculine" interests. Every time we see Utena in girl's clothes in RGU it is when she's at her lowest point and being denied who she is.

The problem is not that they present outside of the gender binary/aren't attached to it, but that they idolize Unhealthy Ideals that Reinforce a hierarchy of power.

Anyways, as established with John, The Prince as a role is one built on having power over someone. By positioning yourself as someone's "savior" you hold power over them and, even if you don't want to, harm them as a result.

Kotoko has seen the world to be cruel and unfair and the systems in place to not be enough to keep law in order. She's frustrated by how powerless she is and acts to make the world "better."

Utena:  You don't see Himemiya as anything but the Rose Bride either, do you? Touga:  Is that wrong? Utena:  It is wrong! Utena:  Cut it out with that "Rose Bride" or "possession" nonsense.

(Task)

Kotoko: Yes. I hate evil. Hurting innocent people with violence, taking away from others, killing people… I hate all this evil behaviour! The law being unable to judge some sins, there's too many of these cases in this world. Having clearly bullied and torturing the weak, but exploiting loopholes in laws, there's so many sinners who still live in such a carefree manner!

It seems like Kotoko might have some unresolved and buried trauma here, as while Kotoko herself says she wasn't bullied. She also stated that when she was already the person she was now back when she was around Amane's age.

T1Q18: Have you ever been bullied in the past? A: No. Are people who've had such pasts the only ones who're allowed to hate evil?

20/6/18

Amane: I see…… You look scary at first impression, but I quite like the way you treat everyone equally regardless of whether they’re older or younger than you. You don’t just treat me like a child or anything like that. Kotoko: Treat you like a child? Hah, you’ve got to be kidding. Back when I was your age, I was already the person I am today.

1moremilgramfan's analysis on Kotoko's clothing in Harrow over here is a fantastic dissection of Kotoko's character design and this aspect of it in particular but my point is that Kotoko tries her best to look strong and powerful, even when she's in emotional distress. She must look strong and powerful and not Weak.

I wonder what that reminds me of.

Kotoko idealizes the idea of there being some quick and easy way to save the whole world. Even if it isn't her that does it in the end.

I've chosen the awaited hero

But for now, if the system in place can't do it then She Will. She will the dashing prince that saves the helpless princess. She'll be the savior of the weak.

Let’s end this! “HARROW” “HARROW” I can’t forgive the evil hurting the weak It’s unforgivable, I won’t allow it, I sweared

But as I said, by positioning yourself as someone's Prince you begin to hold power over them and it's easy to start dehumanizing them and putting your wants and ideals above what they want. Their safety is reliant on yours after all. They can't fight back if you do something that harms them.

Utena:  That's right, I've got to protect Himemiya. Utena:  If anyone can return her to being a normal girl, it's me. Utena:  I can't let anyone else have her. Utena:  Not even my own prince.

Kotoko: From the begin I've never asked for your understanding! My actions, one by one, are bringing earth closer to peace. Useless Weaklings should just shut up and let me protect them!

And Kotoko seems to take a lot of joy and gratification in protecting people. She doesn't care as much about the victims as much as what she Gets Out of Saving them. Their wants are not as important as hers.

...Fufu... This feels so good.

Touga:  While she was engaged to you, the Code required her to obey you. Utena:  You're lying... Touga:  The Rose Bride answered the wishes of her master. Touga:  To make her an ordinary girl was merely what you wished.

By doing so, she perpetuates the cycle of violence she hated so much in the first place. You can see this in T2, by persecuting the guilty voters and physically harming them because she believes she's justified. Exerting power from them in a physical way and wanting to vote more people not forgiven so she can continue handing out righteous judgement.

Kotoko: I handed out retribution to the prisoners you chose to not forgive. Following MILGRAM’s system, I didn’t finish them off right away. You still need time to think, after all. …What’s with that face…? Aside from following your will, I’m deciding to leave the rest up to you. But… You’re too soft-hearted. I would have chosen to not forgive more prisoners. It’d be better if I were the prison guard… Well, just one thing is missing, I guess�� I’ll stay put for now. I’ll wait until your next judgement is over, and then I’ll take action. Don’t worry, I’m on your side. Let’s bring judgement to the unforgivable evildoers.

These actions are harmful and dehumanizing, the victims are not people but a means to an end. It doesn't matter what Happens to them or even to Herself, as long as righteous judgement is brought upon those who "deserve it" for whatever reason she can come up with.

Kotoko idealized the idea of being a savior, and in the process, turned herself into a tool to harm.

Akio:  I've taken enough risks to buy the power to change the world. Akio:  That's how the world works-

"It's alright now. Please go on playing make-believe "Prince" in this comfortable little coffin forever."

Now, again you don't want to be the prince. as The Prince is an unachievable ideal that harms everyone and perpetuates cycles of violence.

However unlike the Rose Bride, the Prince Has More Power and Agency. Whoever is engaged to the Rose Bride has power over her. So, if your worldview can only perceive the roles of Prince and Princess, Savior and Victim, then of course you would want to be The Prince.

Let's talk Shidou Kirasaki.

Now, similar disclaimer to Amane's in the previous analysis. Since I've delving into the abuse the Prince perpetuates in a bit more detail. I am once again stating that while I Will Not discuss csa and sa in general here since we have no proof of Shidou doing that and for the sake of tact. However it will be Alluded to vaguely in the dialogue, especially since I'm focusing on the perpetrators of that abuse.

Once again, do what is good for your health and stay safe.

Now, unlike most of the princes in Utena, Shidou isn't doing this necessarily out of malice, he is not as bad as Akio Othori and I'm not going to pretend he is.

However even if his actions aren't necessarily done out of Malice it doesn't mean he doesn't benefit from it nor does it mean he doesn't harm anyone.

Now I talked a lot about Amane in my Rose Bride analysis but as I mentioned their, people are always constantly presenting themselves to Amane as "her prince," and are frustrated and upset when Amane shows that she can't be the victim they want her to be and Shidou is no exception to this.

22/10/24 (Shidou’s Birthday)

Amane: I warned you. I can no longer turn a blind eye to this wickedness taking place right in front of us. You’re bringing ruin unto yourself. Do you understand? Shidou: No, I don’t understand. It’s my job as an adult to teach you that throwing a temper tantrum isn’t going to make everything go your way.

In fact Shidou parallels her abusive parents a lot in his behavior by constantly ignoring and outright dismissing Amane's feelings and thoughts because he believes that Amane is "just a child."

20/06/13

Amane: ……*sigh*. Is that right. I don’t think I’m going to get along with you, Shidou-san. I don’t agree with the fact you refuse to acknowledge that I have my own free will, and that I should be held accountable for my actions, just because I’m a child. I may have only been alive for 12 years, but all the choices I’ve made, even if they weren’t the best ones, were entirely my own. What point is there in you getting sad when I have no regrets myself? ……please give me back my test. It seems you don’t have the concentration levels required to be my teacher. I’m going to get Kotoko-san to teach me instead. Shidou: Amane…… I don’t think that’s true. However smart you may be…… you’re still just a child.

Shidou doesn't see Amane as a person, he sees her as "child" and thus has less agency than Him. He's the one who should be making decisions for her because he's an adult. Whenever she reacts in a way he doesn't like he dismisses it, she's having one of the Worst Periods of Her Life right in front of him and he's dismissing it as just throwing a tantrum, something silly and childish.

Akio:  A child like you can't appreciate my ideals.

This isn't the only person he does this to, as Es also experiences his belittling and patronizing way of treating children. (Molech)

Shidou: Ah, well… I was just thinking about how despite being a child, you’ve really done your research on this. Es: Hey. [footsteps] You trying to make fun of me, is that it?  Shidou: What? Oh, no. I wasn’t trying to do anything like that. Es: You were. Something’s been on my mind ever since the very beginning… “Es, this. Es, that.” It’s the belittling way you refer to me…  I’m the prison guard, you know that? Shidou: Oh, I’m completely aware of that. But, you’re still a child in actuality. Coming from me, who’s almost twice the age as you are, I just…  Es: What is it? Shidou: For a child like you to be entrusted with this sort of role… My heart goes out to you. 

In a way he's exerting power over the both of them through this, he's an adult, more responsible and powerful than the both of them. It's, frankly, dehumanizing.

If the Rose Bride is an object to be projected on, the Prince is the one doing the projecting.

And as explained in the Rose Bride post, coffins in Utena represent cycles and eternity and to grow you need to break out of it. Shidou is stuck in his own coffin, keeps on trying to return to a life that Doesn't Exist Anymore and when he's faced with that knowledge and the way he's harmed the people around him because of that he continues to spiral.

He wants to die but he can't do it himself so he pushes the responsibility onto someone he doesn't consider as a person.

Shidou: I feel sorry that you had to be given this role. And, I truly apologise for being so insistent about sentencing me to death as well…  But, you’re perfect. You’ll give me the ending I’m most suited for. 

He wants to make up for his mistakes as a parent and pushes that onto someone he can project onto, even though that person has made it very clear how unwelcome and even painful it is for him to do that.

Shidou: Yeah. I’ll do what I can. I can’t have a child making a face like that.

He wants to live but he can only live if someone else is in pain because that means he has a reason to continue existing.

But there are lives that need safeguarding So hey, prolong my life, I’m indispensable

Shidou has fully admitted that he thinks his crime is a selfish one, he did it for himself. No matter How or Why he killed, we know he didn't value the people he killed that much.

“Throw down”, someone’s value Cannot be the same as another

You're in my way, hurry up and die.

The value comes from what they give to him, and in the end, their death was much more valuable to him than their life.

"The One Who Will Revolutionize the World"

Frankly, it's kinda pathetic to be a Prince.

It's is a coffin that one can stay in forever if they don't do anything. Something that harms you and everyone else...mostly everyone else. It's a role that brings about stagnation and immaturity. You can never revolutionize the world by being a Prince, all your doing is just perpetuating a cycle of harm.

Maybe Kotoko and Shidou will stay in their coffins, who knows really with them. They don't seem particularly in a hurry to get out, they don't even seem to notice their trapped in the first place.

Mikoto though...well...John really does want to understand, and Mikoto really does want to know what's happening.

And maybe that's enough.

Anthy:  But, you're a... Utena:  I came here to meet you. Utena:  So don't be afraid of this world where we'll meet. Utena:  ...Himemiya...Himemiya...Himemiya! Utena:  Himemiya! Anthy:  Utena...sama...? Utena:  Himemiya...we finally...meet.

END NOTES: I don't usually put these but since I plan to make this two part series one post minus the utena I might as well talk a bit.

I end this and the Rose Bride one so sappily but that's mostly cause I always need to remind myself after writing these that it's a Breakable Cycle. You write 2k+ words about characters being trapped in coffins and it Gets To You.

I'm so sorry to Fuuta for leaving him out of this...Mikoto and Kotoko kinda took your place...I know your literally a hero in your MV but I could not find a way to put you here without bloating it too much.

Funnily enough while the Rose Bride post had a lot to talk about The Prince is weirdly easy to summarize, the longest part here is when I talk about the themes of the Rose Bride and how that intersects with Mikoto. Though maybe that's just me. Another reason to write the compilation I guess.

I Swear there was more quotes about children and adults in Utena- I suppose it's a lot of its themes on adulthood are communicated visually and/or involve sex so like...yknow. Plus I'd have to explain the cars and it would take me all my effort to not put the Shiori car quote.

[freshlybakedspiderbread]

seiga kaku?

im gonna actively try to keep myself concise and to single points because its been so easy for me in the past to get lost in wicked hermit thoughts and veer off who knows where... Part of it surely has to do with how a long time ago i used to have an rp blog on tumblr where i spent everyday thinking about seiga to some extent!

General opinion/How much I care about them: there was a long period of time where i would say without a doubt she was my single favourite character in touhou. I couldn't properly point to any one reason, or any tidy chain of events that might have led to it, other than learning about her, reading and seeing various very formative doujin works featuring her and the th13 crew, and maybe some old-fashioned projecting led me to latching onto every aspect of her... These days, there's a lot of touhous I obsess and go wild over and to even greater extents than her, but seiga objectively has the longest history of making me go a little nuts, whereas even aya took a little more time to nettle into my brain.

I like Seiga a lot and ive thought about her a lot, is what im getting at!

A ship I love: seiyoshi (seiga/yoshika) is funny in that it has a lot of little 'requirements' to me. Like if intepreted as just purely the evil hermit controlling a tool that she herself murdered to obtain, i think thats boring. But likewise, if its intepreted as just the hermit tragically trying to preserve her departed beloved, well that might be better but still lacking to me.

i couldnt possibly get across my ideal backstory for them right now, but the ultimate gist of it is that Seiga definitely did care for the living Yoshika who then died unexpectedly, before Seiga could decide herself whether she would commit to teaching her the ways of the hermit or simply get bored and move on. Her main motivation in performing the most ludicrously evil magic and create a jiangshi was because she refused to let even the natural order of life and death take anything away from her.

....Thaaaat all aside, i think their interactions in present day are just really funny 😄 Seiga 'spoiling' her dear Yoshika who laughs off being a meat shield because its not like she can die again!

A non-romantic relationship that I love: I think Seiga and Futo have the most oddball dynamic among the taoists and also Futo is probably the only one Seiga wouldn't have intense romanctic tension with. Futo who is a weirdo herself, acknowledges Seiga as their wise teacher of the arts (calling her seiga-donno) and yet also does not think of her as above any of them in their little personal hierarchy because Futo knows Seiga has no interest in being a proper retainer to Miko, so all of Futo's formalities almost come off as either sarcastic or as a really esoteric form of endearment. Meanwhile, Seiga probably thought a long time ago Futo would grow weary of things like loyalty and matters of noble blood or talking like an ancient old person, but none of that happened and Futo remains the same as ever, which has been altogether surprising, charming, and exasperating for Seiga (and everone else but they're all mostly charmed 😊)

The NOTP: i guess you'd have to work especially hard to get me to gel with pairing her up with any of myouren temple's folks. I get the temptation since every other taoist has one or two easily paired up counterpart there, but its not enough to just cross a checklist and leave it at that!

(that said, if you were gonna pair up buddhists and taosists thematically, i get why one might put seiga with shou since they were technically most vital in backstory with miko/byakuren respectively, and also because they both have a servant, one jiang-shi and a mouse. but i always thought seiga made a better parallel witn nue personally)

My biggest headcanon about them: most of this post is already headcanon, but as for another 'big' one...

I believe over the last thousand and whatever years, Seiga made semi-regular (as in maybe once every few years or a century?) visits to the tomb where Miko and gang slept, indulging and refreshing her memories of them, chatting up Tojiko who is now a ghost. And then sometime in 2011 right as her hermit senses told her it was finally time to meet them all again, she went to to tomb to greet them all only to find out literally the entire place was gone 😨

so all within like a week or something, Seiga had to go on a mad investigative quest where she discovered they had all been whisked to Gensokyo at some point, had to learn what the heck Gensoyko even is, how to get herself there, and then arrived just in time to get blasted by the incident resolvers. Really busy time in her life!

An idea for a fanfiction I would like to write/read about them: ha... one day, my multi-part seiga backstory fic incorporating every stray headcanon i've ever had. and then i quit writing forever maybe n_n

That aside, a funny scenario would be Okina appearing trying to stir drama because Seiga is basically the reason why Miko divorced Okina. And Seiga has no idea who she is or about any of that because Miko never mentioned it 😌

Something that makes me think of them: pretzels.

also its someone elses fault but luo tianyi is just the seiga vocaloid to me 😑

[quirkwizard]

What are your thoughts on All For One’s explanation during the o’clock flashback of how villains differentiate from criminals and that because of his quirk being able to give more quirks to a person he can turn “anyone into a villain”? There has been people who’ve received multiple quirks such as the nomu, Spinner, and Machia that are either completely brain dead or in the best cases have barely any sort of mental capacity aside from basic responses, and while we have cases like number six and nagant who have multiple quirks but are still functioning normally they still generally obeyed when given order so it’s not a brainwashing level of control.

For context, you can find the speech in Chapter 92 of Vigilantes or in each of these links.

You're taking what All For One said too literally. All For One does not control people by giving them Quirks. Entities like the Nomu are literally programmed to be obedient and follow orders by Garaki. With the other cases like Spinner, they do become weaker mentally, but that's from the toll of taking on too many Quirks. It's just a matter of how strong the current user is physically and mentally. Otherwise, there still have been plenty of people that have defied All For One that have been given Quirks by him. Number 6, Lady Nagant, Aoyama, Gigatomachia, and most importantly, Yoichi. Even Tomura, the person All For One has the most direct control over, was only due to a specific procedure and Tomura still broke out of it.

The kind of control All For One is talking about is a more metaphorical one. In his speech, All For One is talking about what exactly defines a villain. He believes what defies a villain is someone breaking out of society's box, but believes that defiance comes from someone's will and their Quirk. That the Quirk and someone's will need to be in tune with one another or else it will start to cause problems. He believes that having power over Quirks gives him power over people. That he can make that imbalance in others with his Quirks. That by creating and taking advantage of chaos and imbalance, both on the personal and societal scale, he's able to exert control over others. We see this happen through out the series, but it doesn't work as him exerting his will over others literally.

What's more, that isn't really the point of the speech. It exists more to set up a lot of the villains. For a lot of the villains in the series, their issues come about from a conflict of desires with the world and their own Quirks. Their inability to fit within society, from society's inability to properly help them, or their wills or Quirks causing them to come into conflict with the world. Which I suppose could set up some character for All For One as well. That he clearly sees the issues with the world and only sees how he can exploit them. All with the irony of talking to Kurogiri, an entity who effectively has no will of his own because of All For One. Kurogiri, the guy whose only role is as a walking, talking Quirk that can't talk back or debate with him.

[colorfuldonutrunaway]

Here's another Character sheet, this time for the alternate universe counterpart of Ray/Rei Watanabe. (the fox) This time, I decided that I'm going to explain why some of the metrics are the way they are.

(also I said fuck it and used a headshot from a previous art rather than make a new one)

*Name: Fang is the personal name given by the scientists who created him. They wanted something tough sounding since he's a creature that's made to be used as a soldier.

*Nicknames: In his human form, he takes on the name 'Ryan Feng'. His designation in the laboratory is Project 22, since he's the 22nd successful animal creation of the genetics lab.

*Species/Race: I forgot to add that Fang is technically Japanese like Ray, because the human contribution to his genetic makeup was from a Japanese woman who offered herself as a test subject. She didn't survive to meet her very strange progeny.

*Age: 21 as of 2024, so he was created in 2003.

*Gender: Male, biologically and identifies as such.

*Alignment: His alignment is a result of being a creature made for war and survival. His morals are entirely based around himself and his own survival. Even the friends he's made along the way are almost only kept around for how useful they can be. Fang is not above stealing, killing, and extorting from the innocent if necessary.

*Class/Job: When he and his partner Bone (coming soon) arrived in the nuclear remains of Pittsburg, now dubbed Anarchy City by the residents, the then current mayor was a gang leader who had very little control over his own city, as it was taken over by rival gangs. He entrusts the strange animal duo who recently arrived in town to assassinate each gang leader and their members to free the city. In return...the mayor retires and hands over the city to people who are more capable than he is.

*Perception and Communication: For a fox hybrid, his senses aren't that great. His selfish nature means that his communication skills are quite stunted, as he has no patience for other opinions and feelings outside of his own.

*Persuasion: He's alright when it comes to making good points in an argument. However, he prefers that people see things his way, always, and isn't above threatening people to do that.

*Mediation: He's a terrible mediator. He'll force to arguing people to sit down and shut up with a gun to their faces rather than hear anyone out.

*Literacy and Creativity: Not as well read as Ray, and more willing to use the fastest solution to a problem rather than a creative one, but it's still there somewhat. He can quote Shakespeare and solve complex problems, but he doesn't apply it much in real life.

*Cooking: No knowledge of it aside from the fact that burning something = safer to eat.

*Tech Savvy: Not as savvy as Ray, but can still fix machines and understand a bit about their inner workings so he can get things running when necessary.

*Combat: Oh goodness, the combat. Fang's literally engineered as a living weapon, and trained extensively in the compound he was created in for all 21 years of his life. Hand to hand combat is an instant GG for anyone against him, and his aim with guns is impeccable. Don't piss him off. Seriously though, don't piss him off. When sufficiently angry, he can go into a Berserker state where despite his small size, he can effectively crush skulls and tear off limbs. Woe to anyone who happens to look at him wrong when he's in this state.

*Survival: Ah, this. Fang was also trained to survive well in the post-apocalyptic Earth he was born into. Aside from wilderness and technology skills that have been drilled into his mind from birth, he's been modified to have a strong gut, tougher skin to resist radiation, and a resistance to his body heat increasing or decreasing.

*Stealth: Small size allows him to sneak around and reduce sound emitted by his footsteps. Fang will resort to using blades over guns if the situation demands it.

*Street Smarts: His extensive training in the compound and his selfish attitude make him extremely ready for the chaotic streets of Anarchy City, and the post apocalyptic United States in general.

*Seduction: Being a genetic hybrid who may or may not be aro-ace, his sexual sense is completely fucked. He doesn't see anything as "sexy", he can't reproduce, and doesn't like being touched.

*Luck: Not sure how to explain this one, he has been known to get lucky in different situations, despite his karma probably being in the toilet for all the bad stuff he may have done.

*Handling Animals: His fox appearance gets him attacked or ignored by most animals, and most animals are significantly more savage after the apocalypse of 1983.

*Pacifying Children: "Holy shit, can you stop FUCKIN CRYING FOR ONE MINUTE!? FUCK!"

*Strength: Very high on account of his Berserker Mode.

Height: '5 "02.

*Dexterity: In retrospect this should be higher since he's good with guns and hand to hand combat, so he's gotta be decent.

*Health: Strong for his species and size, but he's been trained to be an efficient dodger since he can only take so many hits.

*Energy: Very energetic.

*Beauty: Not sure what to say here, he's an anthropomorphic fox, whose sense of fashion is basically a tattered biker jacket.

*Style: That being said, the glasses and jacket combo are kinda fire.

*Hygiene: Because he cares so little about the opinions of others, he only practices this when it's for the sake of his health. Otherwise, he doesn't care how much he smells like wet dog.

*Intelligence: While his brain was modified to retain high amounts of information just like Ray, he tends to rely more on impulsive instincts, so it's going to be a bit lower.

*Happiness: With Fang knowing that his only purpose was to be a weapon, he isn't fully sure about his existence and place in the grand scheme of things. His paranoia about potential enemies around the corner and the constant background anxiety of everyone living in a post-apocalyptic world also really add up over time.

*Spirituality: He was raised without religion.

*Confidence: He KNOWS that he's a good fighter, and enjoys being an unempathetic bastard. This has raised his confidence/ego to surprisingly high levels.

*Humor: Was raised around super serious scientists who were only concerned with his daily stats. That tends to leave one feeling very alien when it comes to comedy. Unless if you count laughing at your enemies struggle. Then he does have a sense of humor.

*Anxiety: Again, in hindsight this should've been higher. It doesn't openly bother him, but he keeps it bottled up inside.

*Patience: NONE. Absolutely nothing. Fang will tell people to shut up and get to the point, he'll ignore sob stories, and as demonstrated earlier, he hates the sound of children.

*Passion: If he wants something badly, he'll get it. Though he can lose interest if it's too difficult in getting.

*Charisma: Fang gets his way through violence, threats, and insults. Nothing charismatic about him.

*Empathy: As a result of his genetic makeup and training, he cares almost non-existent amounts for the welfare of others. Except maybe Bone.

*Generosity: He keeps an iron grip on anything valuable, but to be fair that's most people in the fucked world he lives in.

*Wealth: The very little monetary value that exists in Anarchy City is controlled by the duo.

*Aggression: As mentioned before, his personality gets him far in this dog-eat-dog deathworld, so it's pretty damn high.

*Libido: Once again, being an infertile hybrid and possibly being an aro ace (not saying that aro ace ppl don't have libidos, I'm saying that nothing can actually get him interested), he has no drive.

I'll explain more a bit later, post is getting long and I'm getting paranoid that I'll lose progress, so I'll cut it here. Feel free to ask questions.

[k7l4d4]

K Reviews and Rants: Miraculous Ladybug Season 5! Episode 2

Hello all! Welcome to my slow descent into insanity as I gradually tear Season 5 a bigger and bigger new one! As always, a Warning for profanity on my part. Seriously, this season got me so mad...

Episode 2: Multiplication 

Oh boy, not even two minutes in and we've already got Su-Han showing up and shouting about how Ladybug has 'failed as guardian.' Oh, and a brief aside about Flairmidable being Felix, not Adrien... I forget, how did she find out about that again? Either way, it makes a later plot point much stupider. 

Now we get Gabriel threatening the Kwami... yeah, THIS is the man that the authors sympathize with. Seriously, no, even with the Kwami being really flat, this is disgusting beyond reason, and there is no excuse for the writers thinking THIS MAN should ever be considered sympathetic. FUCK THAT NOISE WITH A SPOON. 

Su-Han, rightfully pissed off at Marinette's negligence, although I'll throw the writers a bone and at least acknowledge that this was all Felix's fault for being a complete and utter shit-heel... and then Chat Noir and Ladybug just verbally steamroll Su-Han. Okay, we have already gotten this guy established as an aggressive hardass, why in the world did he not just shut them down right out of the gate!? Not giving someone a word in edgewise does not make Ladybug or Chat Noir look responsible, and the fact that all they said about the Rabbit was that they had "trusted it to a holder" makes me face-palm because IT'S NOT AS IF TRUSTING A RANDOM PERSON INSTEAD OF LOCKING THE THING UP AGAIN OR GIVING IT TO SU-HAN DIDN'T BACKFIRE WITH THE FUCKING DOG!!! 

Deep breathes... deep breathes... 

And now Su-Han... collapses and cries about how sorry he is. No. NO. FUCK THAT. Seriously, even if he's a hardass, this man is a trained monk of an ancient order, which I'm pretty fucking sure includes parts about resisting temptation... and he GOT DISTRACTED OVER PRICY SNEAKERS AND PHONES!? NO. FUCK THAT NOISE. SCREW OFF. There is no bigger way to disrespect even a FICTIONAL CULTURE OR ORDER than by portraying someone meant to be a grandmaster of it as someone able to be swayed from their sacred duty, ONE THAT CAN IMPACT THE FATE OF THE WORLD I MIGHT ADD, by "modern gadgets and gizmos." Thomas, you are a fucking HACK who created a lazy cop-out to avoid having Su-Han ACTUALLY ACT AS A FUCKING MENTOR TO THE PEOPLE WHO NEED HIM, and they STILL NEED HIS FUCKING HELP YOU IDIOT!!!!! 

And after his fucking whining the guy runs off "to get some backup from the temple." Instead of, you know... HELPING!? Seriously, the dude is IMMUNE TO BEING AKUMATIZED, he could be a bigger help by STAYING and FIGHTING with the heroes!!! What the fuck is this shit!? For fuck's sake, having Felix trade-away all the Miraculouses was already pushing the forced "you and me against the world" BS to the point of stupidity, but this!? You could not be trying to isolate them more transparently if you TRIED. Ugh... just... onto the next scene. 

Oh boy, NOW we get Felix's actual last name. And... his dad's name is Colt. Ugh... seriously, can I just comment on what a stupid name that is? Because I am. 

And now we get to Adrien saying to his dad "I don't want to be a model anymore!" Like... I get that they are intending for this to be an impactful moment... but have we EVER gotten a serious reason why he doesn't?? Or even why he IS a model in the first place?? 

I'm... honestly surprised that they made Gabriel go just "okay, fine, is that all?" Because dude, you just massively undermined what should have been a suspenseful moment, because I don't know, it's not as if you haven't portrayed (and WILL portray) Gabriel as a toxic, selfish OVERBEARING CONTROL FREAK!? Why in the world is he just giving in so easily!? (I know why, but still) 

Heck, if anything, this just hurts Adrien's character as well because it makes his struggle to stand up for himself seem... petty. Like it's no big deal. It just trivialized all the effort they have insisted he's been putting in to assert himself, and he just... goes about his day. What the hell? No drama? No tension?? Seriously, after stringing along Adrien being a doormat for FIVE SEASONS, you aren't even gonna give his first big step towards independence the respect of having him put up a fight against his dad's control? No, he just rolls over, because WHY THE HELL NOT, RIGHT!? 

...And now we get Alya trying to reassure Marinette at how well she knows Adrien. I'm gonna get to that, but first, I'm gonna talk about Marinette's concerns. 

She's worried that maybe she doesn't know Adrien as well as she thought, because Felix fooled her. Marinette... are you fucking delusional? I am not taking that back, Felix is FUNCTIONALLY IDENTICAL TO ADRIEN aside from his clothing and hairstyle, WHY THE FUCK WOULD MARINETTE BE ABLE TO TELL THE DIFFERENCE!? So on this, Alya actually makes a good point that beating herself up over getting fooled is stupid. 

On the OTHER hand, Marinette questioning herself over Adrien... THAT would be an honestly interesting plot, and could've been interesting to see Marinette analyze her obsessive crush/stalking behavior up until now. Instead... Alya holds up the FLIMSIEST argument against Marinette's concerns I've ever seen. 

They've played video games together... once. Exactly ONE FUCKING TIME that I know of. That's something that he could've done with ANY of his friends, so it's not some fucking sign of how close they are. Adrien modeled Marinette's clothes... BECAUSE HE IS A MODEL. It's literally his JOB to model clothing. It's AGAIN not a sign at how close they are or how well she knows him. And... they went out to the movies, with Marinette being "incognito" for some reason. 

If anything, Thomas, you have highlighted HOW LITTLE THEY KNOW ONE ANOTHER. Of the THREE "stellar examples" given, only TWO of them have anything to do with Marinette being friends with Adrien, and they aren't something that is magically unique to her in the slightest, so why the fuck is attention being called to her going to see a movie and playing video games!? Heck, the third was literally all about Adrien DOING HIS FUCKING JOB, and if the image is any indicator, it's the Pigeon Hat, SO HE COULD NOT EVEN ENJOY IT. For FUCKS SAKE this is stupid. 

You have presented the most tepid, poorly constructed argument to reassure someone of their feelings I have ever fucking scene. By all rights, Marinette should be looking at Alya as if she grew a second head if she thought THOSE examples were supposed to reassure her!! How in the world are three minor examples that he could've done with FUCKING ANYONE supposed to be proof to her?! If THIS is the extent that the two of them hang out together, it looks MORE like Marinette doesn't fucking know Adrien AT ALL. Rusty Spoon Fucking SHIT!!! 

Wait wait wait, NOW we get a fourth example... of Marinette kissing what she thought was a statue. How. In the fucking WORLD. DO these two not realize how absolutely CREEPY that is!? Do they just- just think reality works like a romance novel or something?? At fucking minimum Marinette is embarrassed by it... but I'm pretty damn sure it's not for the reason I hope. 

And now we get into Marinette's ranting over how stupid she is, and to be honest? I'm kinda agreeing with her. Now, I don't blame her for mixing up Adrien for a statue, they were in a fucking wax museum, her not realizing him standing perfectly stock still was the real deal is ALL ON HIM for thinking that would be a funny joke. It's still creepy as hell that she tried to kiss what she thought was a statue of her crush, though. 

This is just another classic case of Tommy and his boys presenting a GENUINELY REASONABLE CRITICISM of the characters... and we just fucking KNOW that they are gonna go "but but wait!" about all this and explain why this is "wrong" and do so in a way that doesn't even bother to fucking address the criticism!! And now we of course get Alya fucking bringing up Marinette's brief relationship with Luka (obviously not by name, of fucking course) as a guise for "not being in love with Adrien," and fucking hell are they seriously treating this as her "not being able to resist him" or some shit like that!? NO!!! YOU DO NOT DO THAT. 

What she had WAS A REAL RELATIONSHIP and it fell apart for reasons THAT HAD NOTHING TO FUCKING DO WITH HER CRUSH ON ADRIEN!!! In what way was her and Luka's relationship ending having to do with Adrien? Explain that to me. Go on. I WILL WAIT FOR YOU TO COMB OVER THE SERIES AND PROVIDE AN EXPLANATION, DUMBASS. Answer? There isn't one. What happened between her and Luka was a lazy copout to get rid of the romantic false leads at lightning speed, and trying to tie it to her crush on Adrien is just in bad taste. Like, are you saying that she was unfaithful to Luka?? That she didn't maintain a healthy relationship with him because she was still obsessing over Adrien, and NOT because the guilt and inconvenience of trying to maintain a double-life was eating her up inside!? How in the world are we supposed to know that!!! 

And... Alya, trying to act as if Marinette putting the safety of fucking Paris ahead of her crush as something she won't be able to pull off, and almost silly. Alya... is not being presented as a good best friend. Quite frankly, she is doing the fucking opposite in that she is going against Marinette's wishes, and it is disgusting. And I KNOW it's gonna get worse. 

And then... we get a scene of Adrien calling, and Marinette's inner spaz kicking in where, instead of just DECLINING THE CALL WHICH WE KNOW SHE CAN DO BASED ON THE SCREEN IMAGE, she throws it at Alya who, naturally, answers, and gets told to tell Adrien Marinette isn't there... for fuck's sake, this is pathetic. They are making it transparently obvious that Marinette "no longer pursuing her crush" is doomed to fail right out of the gate by signaling she's not gonna put in the effort to go through with it. FUCK. THAT. 

And Adrien apparently took Marinette telling Alya to "tell him she's not there" literally. Wow, what a brilliant young man, isn't he? Clearly he can recognize sarcasm! Why don't we all give him a long, slow, round of applause!! And the fact that the show treats him having a short, no-effort confrontation with his dad that resulted in his dad just... giving in, right out of the gate, as a "heart to heart" is depressing, and seriously stupid. 

Now we get Adrien trying to tell Marinette how much she means to him... and I gotta ask. WHAT good advice has she given you that isn't what amounts to common sense!? Now, I get that he wouldn't have a lot of that, given how sheltered he is... but the show treating her extremely minor moments of being a very basic friend to him as her being this irreplaceable figure... again, do these idiots have ANY CLUE how to establish a meaningful relationship? AT ALL?? 

See... this would be sweet... if Marinette's reaction weren't painfully clear that she has no clue what the fuck he's talking about. And the episode is trying to frame this as her being "in denial" or something stupid like that, and immediately has Alya ignore Marinette's wishes by pushing her to pursue him again. Again, NOT BEING A GOOD FRIEND. Friends don't push their friends to pursue someone they've said they don't WANT to pursue. And Astruc, if this little incident was meant to be some kind of joke about Marinette "running from her feelings," it falls completely flat on its face because all you've done is build up a case on just how TERRIBLY the Love Square is put together. If your best efforts to show how well Marinette knows Adrien are two incidents that he could have had with ANY friend of his, one moment of him being on the job as a model, and a moment of Marinette being CREEPY AS FUCKING HELL... then I think that says so much more about your skills as a writer than it really should. 

And after a moment of Adrien's "she's just a friend" commentary getting called out as BS and musing at how "special" she is, we get a scene of Nathalie reappearing (No, Nathalie, don't leave your lunatic boss and expose his crimes to the world, and get his abused child away from him, go BACK, that won't make you look bad AT FUCKING ALL!!) and smiling at a sleeping Adrien. Seriously, why in the fuck is this show trying to set up Nathalie as some kind of mother figure!? In Season 1, she treated him like he was an annoying consequence of her job, and apparently has been getting him pens for his birthday in place of his dad getting him ANYTHING for years... and when a classmate came over, she decided to steal the present and pass it off as Gabriel's. Yeah, THAT is a woman who deeply cares about her boss' child right there!! 

And... Ladybug... AUTHORIZED... Alix's dad to spill the beans. Heh. Heheh. HEHEHEHAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAAA!!! YOU KNOW WHAT'S FUNNY!? ESTABLISHING REPEATEDLY WHAT A MASSIVE DEAL IT IS FOR A SUPERHERO'S IDENTITY IS TO BE SECRET, AND THEN HAVING IT BLOWN FOR THE WORLD TO SEE, INSTEAD OF ESTABLISHING A BASIC FUCKING COVER BECAUSE HOW IN THE FUCK WOULD THEIR CLASSMATES KNOW!? HECK, IN THE BURROW, SHE CAN EVEN RESEARCH THE COVER STORY ON HER OWN TIME TO MAKE IT CONVINCING!!! YOU ARE JUST SETTING THIS MAN TO GET FUCKING TARGETED TO LURE HER OUT YOU ABSOLUTE IDIOTS!!!!!!!!!!! 

Just... fuck this ENTIRE load of shit altogether. Fuck it good and slow. 

...And after a brief round of the class being "worried," we get Chloe being used as the strawman to insult Ladybug and Chat Noir so that her claims that they are all in danger because of their incompetence is nonsense. Like, it's still more Felix's fault then theirs, but this shit ONCE AGAIN just highlights how absolutely fucking stupid the Love Square has gotten. FOUR FUCKING SEASONS and Marinette still cannot get her shit together regarding Adrien, and it lead to a disaster!! A disaster she had no fucking way of predicting, BUT STILL A FUCKING DISASTER!! You don't use a Strawman to attack complaints against your characters, IT MAKES YOU LOOK LIKE A LAZY CHILD WHO CANNOT PUT IN THE WORK TO SHOW SOMETHING MORE COMPETENT!!! GAAAHHHH!!!! 

Okay, and then we get a scene of Lila encouraging the class (well, "encouraging" the class) to support Ladybug, while also taking lowkey digs at Ladybug and Chat Noir's age and experience (didn't we have an entire episode in the past based around Ladybug obfuscating her actual age to conceal her identity!?). 

And we get a montage of the groups trying to suppress negativity... which I would like if it weren't interspersed with Adrien attempting to repeatedly kiss Marinette. Like, I don't care if they are meant to be French. Cheek-kisses are a thing, but given he is aiming for her lips, THIS IS NOT A CHEEK KISS SITUATION, and more scenes of Alya refusing to accept Marinette's choices by pushing her in Adrien's direction. Astruc, AGAIN, THIS IS NOT HOW YOU PORTRAY A RELATIONSHIP!!! Oh, and we learn WHY Gabriel was so cool with no longer having Adrien as a model... he's intending to use his image without his approval or consent. And Then Nadja jumping to "is Paris free from Monarch!?" leading up to Ikari Gozen making a return shouting about making Paris a "modern city." 

Like... okay, a villain goes silent, WHY does that equate to a villain no longer being a threat exactly...? 

Ugh... And... I do not even GET why Ikari Gozen is talking about Ladybug and Chat Noir being outdated and needing more "modern heroes" because they haven't even been active for TWO YEARS!!! 

Also, why in the world is Marinette immediately jumping to the Akuma being in the same place it was last time!? 

And how are Ikari Gozen's Mouse Miraculous powers STILL GIANT SIZED!? Seriously, they should be smaller than the size of her FOOT!!! That's how it was when Marinette AND Mylene used it! Ugh... 

And now we get Marinette giving Tomoe a useless Magic Charm... and the reveal that Tomoe is Gabriel's accomplice because WHY THE FUCK NOT, AM I RIGHT!? Seriously, this is idiotic. And now we get the reveal of the Alliance Rings... THIS is gonna be a fucking fiasco. Seriously, not even remotely subtle about this. AT ALL. 

Seriously, AGAIN, why are we supposed to sympathize with Gabriel IN ANY FUCKING WAY WHEN HE PULLS SHIT LIKE THIS!? He cannot be stupid enough to not get that using his son's image without his permission is no fucking different from being a model, especially since he didn't even TELL Adrien about it!! GAH!!! And apparently either Felix showed up back home sometime since Chat and Ladybug went to look for him, or he was there the whole time and Amilie lied through her fucking TEETH. I'm willing to bet it's the latter... YUP it's the latter. Seriously, protecting your son from the consequences of his actions DOES NOT MAKE YOU A GOOD PARENT!! Heck, he literally could've LIED TO THEM and they probably would've BELIEVED HIM BECAUSE THEY CLEARLY WANT TO TRUST HIM!!!

[egg-emperor]

"I love that Eggman is pure evil. If I wanted a nice/peaceful character I'd..." is kind of a false dichotomy, man. Most people aren't arguing he's pure good, just that (despite still being a bad person) he has some good qualities here and there. It's fine to not believe that yourself, I'm not arguing against it. Just that I feel most people aren't making out Eggman to be like Tinker (a good guy), but rather making him out to be like Bowser (a bad guy who's not supposed to be completely bad).

Nah it's not, trust me. Speaking from experience, I've seen a whole bunch of people who specifically say they like him as a character but literally dislike his evil despite that being the main point and defining descriptor of his character as the villain, and want him to be morally gray/a good guy/hardly evil at all as a result and that's just not who game Eggman is.

But they insist he is, that he doesn't know he's evil or doesn't really want to be deep down and has no choice, try to give him excuses or reasons for his evil like trauma to justify his villainy, downplay his cold-hearted acts, and now say that he's becoming a better person because of Frontiers despite the game not actually suggesting this at all.

And these are some of the same who get at me for liking Eggman as evil as he appears and how I write him that way and share my findings in analysis, and that's what I'm specifically referring to in that other post. I'm just questioning it because I don't understand what is so bad or unlikable about the main villain of the series actually being evil.

And again I'm just not a fan of the Eggman and Bowser comparison if it's to say they're alike because they're really not, it just emphasizes how different they are even more to me. Game Bowser isn't as evil as game Eggman. I'm a much newer Mario fan but people more knowledgeable than me have put into words why Bowser is the better guy than Eggman better than I could

But when it comes to Eggman, he causes mass amounts of global destruction, pollution, damage to the environment and wildlife, tried to kill kids as young as six and eight years old, has abusive behaviors that create multiple plot points, and wants to rule the entire world and be the emperor dictator who has power and control over everything and everyone and suppress freedom.

He has no limits known aside from actually destroying the entire planet so he can't rule it and that's not for moral reasons but purely selfish ones. He also isn't genuinely nice and selfless in any capacity, not even in his relationships with his creations and lackeys, which have most often been abusive and caused many to try to betray and escape him.

I know you said you're not trying to argue against it and I'm not trying to argue either but I just want to say that with all that in mind, I just can't understand the Bowser comparison. Eggman has had much more catastrophic impactful acts in the games over him in the games I know of, so the comparison doesn't seem fair. Eggman has the most inherently evil and dangerous intentions.

There are people out there who make him out to be like Tinker as much as there are ones that make him out to be just like Bowser, or at least wish he'd be like both, neither of which I can understand or get behind. Eggman is really that bad, I don't see any solid evidence in any of the games that suggests otherwise when you look at the examples they commonly use in full canon context.

If we were talking about Boom Eggman specifically however, then I could see where people are coming from and it would be more accurate. But game Eggman has never been less than diabolical evil.

[dire-kumori]

Oh and i had a question about, like, logistics of the reaper au!

Assuming there's a possible ending where reaper Mike dies and young Mike manages to live... do you think it would change things? Would it matter, in the end?

Or is Evan still fated to die at Mike’s hands, is Liz still fated to die, too? Is young Mike still fated to grow up and get scooped before ultimately dying while trying to kill his younger self? (Which is just... very, very sad and horrific in so many ways)

Because if none of these things happen, it could create a paradox; where would reaper Mike have come from if Evan and Liz never die, and Mike never gets scooped?

...Very good question.

Okay, so I like to think that Reaper Mike's mission is ultimately doomed to fail. Obviously he's never going to successfully erase his past self. But after a while, it's stopped being about 'making things right' and 'protecting Evan' and more about 'hurting (kid) Mike as much as possible,' so that doesn't really matter to him. At a certain point he just kind of stops being 'Michael Afton' and just becomes 'the Reaper.'

But Reaper Mike isn't the only one who's changed by the repeated loops. Even with the memories fragmented, young Mike is living out... weeks? Months? Hell, maybe even years in this loop. He's growing up, essentially, but without aging. I mean, of course his emotional and mental maturity is skewed because - [vague gesture at the blood-soaked death parade he's trapped in] - but after a certain number of loops he isn't quite the same person who would have thoughtlessly shoved his brother's head into moving machine parts. Especially not when he still has the broken images of Evan sobbing hysterically and begging the somebody to stop hurting his brother (the Reaper turning its fury onto Evan for daring to get between him and his target, past Mike throwing himself over Evan's little body in a vain attempt to at the very least save Evan's life, if not his own) floating around in his brain.

Can you tell I'm just word vomiting at this point? I kind of lost track of the original question.

I'm not 100% what this would mean for the Reaper Mike because with past Mike growing and changing, the Reaper would inevitably change as well. I like throwing characters up against forces or circumstances beyond their control, but I don't like saying things are just fated to happen. If things play out the same way again, it's because factors leading to those events are still the same. It might actually be that so long as Reaper Mike is stuck outside of his own time, he's largely unaffected by changes made to his past aside from some ripples in his memories. He was pretty shocked when his past self made choices he was certain he never would have made, such as seeking vengeance for Evan's sake after the loop where the Reaper killed them both. So scratch what I said above, past Mike is growing, while Reaper Mike stagnates, wallowing in his self-loathing.

[runcriedthecrawlingif]

I just read the entirety of the current build, and wow, this is one of the strangest WIPs I've ever read (positive).

The setting is absolutely fascinating, and I love Faren and Kal so much I don't even know how to express it! They are both so awesome! I also like the MC's personality a lot. A MC with a somewhat set personality can be very hit or miss obviously, but it's a big hit in this case, since clearly their personality allows for interesting growth. The way we can still fine-tune their mindset and what they value is also a nice thing. Like mine is bold and sarcastic, but cares a lot about people and always thinks before acting and tries to negociate before fighting.

I did encounter two situations I think were bugs though. Like I said, my MC is very charismatic and has a silver tongue - that's what I've been focusing on every time it was possible. But in two instances, it seems the game considered my MC isn't charismatic? - The first one, I'm not sure if it's a mistake or not, but if it isn't, it seems a bit out of character: when playing the truth or fiction game with Reva in chapter 2, I've picked the option to tell the truth hoping to fool her into thinking it's fiction, but she figured it out - I think it's an instance where a charismatic MC should be able to fool her, right? And also, slightly unrelated, but when she figures it out she says "That's fact. The blush on your face says it all.". But would she notice that with the very unique lighting coming from the bioluminescence? And even then, on darker skintones it would be invisible anyway, most likely. - Second instance is a bug for sure: during the hilenite fight in chapter 5, but this one is evidently some sort of coding error. If I try to taunt the leader, no matter if it's on the attack or the evade path, I have this:

Considering this is my MC's specialty, it should have worked? I mean, the fact the game says "it's never worked for you before" doesn't make sense. This is a screenshot from the Evade path, but on the Attack one it's the same issue.

Oh and also, there's a typo (or well, some stray code, rather) here:

That aside, a few theories I have, because why not:

The whole rot theme makes sense since, judging by the name of the "gods" they are related to fungi and thus, rot is part of it.

MC's nightmare with their mother is a memory, not a mere nightmare, and whatever she did to the MC in that memory, it "protects" them against the "gods". A lot of fungi are parasitic and I think the bond people make with gods is basically the gods being parasites that control their hosts to a degree. The MC must have some sort of protection against that now.

The "flowers" the MC has to interact with and is supposed to "feed" with their blood are all part of a huge interconected organism linked to the gods, and this is what the "path" is. Normally, I guess the nutrients from the person's who undertakes the Path blood probably create some sort of reaction of revitalization that makes more "flowers" (or whatever) bloom alongside the "veins" that link the organism, until they reach the core of it where the actual "gods" are. But since the MC is poisonous to them, the blood produces a decay instead. But since these veins are present anyway, the "Path" - as in, the visual representation - is still visible, but doesn't appear as it should since what should be revitalized dies instead.

The sheen over the grass and various other elements of the story make me think these "gods" are vulnerable to metal in general, and that whatever the MC does now is somehow related to that.

The character other than the MC that we can name seems to appear as "Vein" on the character screen before you set a name for them... It's uncannily the same word that the one I was thinking about when I was trying to understand the Path, and that sort of lead me to think they may be one of the "gods", or at the very least a "byproduct" of sorts. Also, the way they are described as so beautiful and what not is similar not only to the description of the entity in MC's dreams (and rejecting the entity lowers their relationship score, besides), but also to the way the entity in Kal's "dream" was described.

That leads me to wonder if Kal didn't already "bond" with a "god" in the past. I somehow feel like they came in contact with something they shouldn't have, and they fell victim to the parasite. That could explain why they were in favor to the stranger joining - if said stranger is indeed a "god" or part of that organism, Kal may not be able to refuse them, physically.

Aaand I think that'll be it! I'm not expecting you to answer to my theories of course, but I hope you at least find them entertaining. I rarely think so deeply about all implications and possible reasons behind what's happening in a story (more often than not, I'm just in for the ride and enjoy), but this is really too fascinating not to think more deeply about.

This is honestly super helpful, I won't say anything about the theories for reasons but I love hearing them anyways.

For the charisma bugs (including lying to Reva because there was already a variation in there), I am a fool who types too fast and has a peppering of $charimsa variables in my code. They should be fixed by today.

As for the MC with semi-set personality... As much as I want players to be able to have agency over who their heir is, I think for the purpose of character growth and developing relationships, there are some things that do need to be set. Like the fact that the heir has grown up having to prove themselves. Or the way their relationships with their mentors/parents shaped them.

[ciboriaadastra]

🔥khoa and/or talia

I can do both! :3 under a cut because I talk too much

Talia my lovely <3

Preface: I won't get into the violent racism of the Morrison retcon and any characterization that builds upon it or the orientalism in pre-Morrison canon because those are obvious popular opinions people should be against. Anti-racism is not a hot take, basically. And there are people on this website who have already talked about this better than I can with the insight of being directly targeted.

Talia shouldn't be the focus of man pain or the target of blame for it, because—aside from the fact that this is lazy, misogynistic writing—she actually has little to none to do with the source of angst for those characters (namely, Bruce and Damian). Fanfic writers are extremely annoying about this.

I cannot read a regular batcentric fanfic that involves Talia, because she is always utilized to be a source of angst when at best she's a vehicle for it and it becomes quite clear this is the writer's way of dumping their misgivings about Talia, either as a potshot at her in a different shipfic or the fanfic's premise is [Character] stands around and yells at Talia for a thousand words.

The angst for Bruce and Damian specifically has less to do with her as a person and more to do with the theme of loss (abandonment trauma, loss of childhood, loss of control in your life, etc.) for which she happens to be a key character in facilitating the events that allow its exploration. Considering that loss is a major theme in her story, it's only natural that characters who are tied to her development experience a form of loss in relation to her.

Neither of them should hold any grudge or contempt towards her over their own pain, because she did not do anything to them that would warrant it; people who think that they should overblow the effect of her actions vs. the effect of the status quo they all operate in. Bruce has abandonment trauma because he developed it after an unalterable traumatic childhood event. It will always be unsafe for Damian to grow up existing as a part of the al-Ghul bloodline just as it was unsafe for Talia. Bruce's issues are internal, Damian's are systemic. It's hardly Talia's fault (especially not solely hers) that these issues rear their heads and strike.

Could they irrationally blame her for their problems? I guess, but most people aren't coming from a perspective where they would purposefully have characters behave irrationally for the realism after which they may check themselves (or be checked by someone else); most are rationalizing the irrational because they would behave that uncharitably to others. And its the misogyny.

Idk. I think Talia's a great character when you don't constantly have a bitch in your ear telling you she's a horrible mother and that she's an example of Bruce having terrible taste in women. My house is open for MILF lovers and women enjoyers.

Talia should have friends who have nothing to do with the Batfamily (or being adjacent to it) and don't know anything about her family or the League of Assassins.

Pretty self-explanatory, but I think it's not enough for her to have friends in the League, friends in fellow assassins, or friends in the bat-network, because it still creates a space where Talia is looked down upon by somebody for factors outside of her control or for not being the kind of woman they think she ought to be.

I also think she should be at the club.

She's transfem because I said so.

The transgender narrative, if you would.

Speaking on a meta level, it's about how trans women and transfeminine people are treated as if everything is their fault (indicted on false, bigoted narratives for things they would never do), having such a small network due to being isolated from a healthy source of community, being a target of fetishization, a constant trend of loneliness due to these factors outside of their control.

It's also about Talia leaving men (manhood) behind to discover who she is as a woman. The transition from an old life to a new one that provides a better sense of power and control over oneself than what existed in the old life. The transgenderisms in the concept of death and rebirth, a theme associated with the al-Ghuls as guardians of the Lazarus Pits.

I know transfem hcs are not popular (especially for canon female characters), so this isn't meant to be a hot take...I just haven't seen anyone else consider transfem Talia before. At least not outside of t4t Brutalia, which is often mostly about making transmasc Bruce make sense in the overarching story (Damian) than it is about both of them having trans narratives/themes. That is a problem more generalized to tmasc4tfem hcs than it is specifically a Brutalia problem, in that usually the transfem character's transfemininity is treated as an afterthought.

Though that last bit is not as annoying as people who reinvent the test tube eugenics baby backstory for Damian because the idea of Talia being trans is so beyond them for some reason. Like...why is eugenics more plausible than transfemininity to you? That's weird!

Minhkhoa you are so... *punches wall*

People who see zero value in his character just because he occupies the same archetype Two-Face represents (childhood friend turned foe) are needlessly obstinate.

The excuse is essentially that they don't want to read about a concept that is like a pre-existing concept but with a different perspective/spin on it. Which is an odd opinion to have when you're reading Big Two cape comics and you are constantly reading new perspectives/spins on the same concept, because an end does not and will not exist for them. And it may in part have something to do with Harvey's canonical whiteness vs. Minhkhoa undeniably being a SEAsian man.

Idk. It's strange to me, because Harvey and Minhkhoa exist in different periods in Bruce's life that do not overlap. Harvey and Bruce went to school together when they were little and reunited when Bruce returned to Gotham. Minhkhoa occupies a specific timespan between Bruce's highschool years and his return to Gotham. Harvey is not present during Fear State when Minhkhoa breaks the truce. When Bruce seeks out Harvey during Gotham Nocturne, Minhkhoa has long left Gotham to train Clownhunter.

In addition, the reasons they are important to Bruce's character are different. Harvey's deal is that Bruce cannot be so personally removed from the politics of Gotham and the plight of the average Gothamite and still think he can make a meaningful difference. Bruce was oblivious to Harvey's personal struggles, so all the help Bruce tried to give him generally did more harm in the grand scheme of things.

Minhkhoa on the other hand encapsulates one of the overarching themes introduced in BTK: think bigger. Bruce is not maximizing his potential to help the world; he's focused on a dinky rotting city off the coast of mainland New Jersey, a small state in the imperial core. He could renounce his status and generational wealth to commit himself to taking down criminal/capitalist empires all over the world exploiting people in countries in the Global South, to no longer be of the exploitative class and instead become an avenging angel for the exploited. Bruce is a one cause, one dedication type of person. Which isn't bad, just different. The point is not who is more right but to contrast different approaches to vigilantism and to critique a different aspect of what makes Bruce's status as a wealthy, ruling class American an obstacle to his efforts to reduce crime.

I hate fanon interpretations of Minhkhoa </3

If I was paid $100 to wallop people with a wooden baseball bat every time they said the word "psychopath" as a legitimate description of him, regurgitated ableist stereotypes around AsPD and personality disorders in general, or elected to flat out erase the struggles Minhkhoa had since his childhood despite it being an important aspect of his backstory and characterization simply because the concept of a person who struggles with low empathy is deeply uncomfortable to them; I would have enough money for a down payment on a house.

I've talked at length about this to you before here last year, but it still holds up. You'd think it'd be hard to fuck up the characterization of a character who only has like...three points of complexity...but then you will always be surprised.

I'm also :/ at the growing trend of Minhkhoa getting sucked into the fanon Batfamily vortex of doom. It will not end well for him.

I don't like the Wight Witch being added to Minhkhoa's lore. She should be her own independent character.

This is part of a bigger issue with Minhkhoa's characterization in which other DC writers strip important things from what Tynion established and adding relationships that don't provide his character with any meaningful development to make up for it. The singular L I've seen Ram V take when writing Asian characters.

I like Rhea Sinha. Her story is interesting and engaging on its own. I don't think Minhkhoa (and Bruce by extension) needed to be part of it. You could replace them with any other men and it'd still be compelling. For once in my fandom life, I want my blorbo (Minhkhoa) out of the good story.

It's also that this is a pattern of women being linked to Minhkhoa just as in-universe proof he exists outside of Bruce. You see this with Angelbreaker as well when she makes a comment during the Shadow War arc about Minhkhoa just wanting her to be his Catwoman. Which was extremely corny. You can have Minhkhoa attempt to emulate Bruce for the parts of himself that he believes is lacking or to outdo Bruce in ways he thinks Bruce could have been better without trying to make them 1:1 in every single way possible, else he just comes across as goofy and like he has no principles of his own besides spite for a man who dumped his ass 20-some years ago. Like...I get he's obsessed with Bruce to an embarrassing degree, but why do women have to deal with his mess?

I'd rather comic writers create characters who are just made to flesh out Minhkhoa's existing lore (at least what can be made cohesive of it) than create characters who are clearly supposed to have their own stories who just get linked to him just to be linked, if that makes sense. Like how Alfred exists to explain who raised Bruce when his parents were murdered and who helped Bruce in his early Batman years and who is there to help Bruce when he's too injured to retreat to the Batcave on his own. Flat and static characters have a place in media.

[dreamingdarklyblog]

I'm curious about more hypno-based games you might have played and your thoughts on them. Good, bad, recommendations, open to anything. -Anon

Hmmm, Allright. Let's start with...

Lab Rats 2 - Reformulate!

The original Lab Rats is fine too. But Much less a game, more a visual novel. Very on rails with few to no real choices. And MUCH smaller. Basically totally different style too. Barely related aside from a loose plot connection that you don't need to know to play 2.

Now, just to note, the original developer gave up on it. So it's been taken over by modders (hence "reformulate"). You can play just the base game as well, but I haven't noticed any benefit to that. The modded version just adds some more story, more characters, more things to play with.

So what's the game about?

Well, just to warn you at the core, like most games based around sex and mind control, it involves a lot of things that irl would definitely be a crime. It's not as creepy or "forced" as many are, and for the most part there's at least a pretence of consent to things. Buuuut... well, you get it. But if you like my work you're likely comfortable with that in fantasy.

So the main gameplay is basically - You're a guy who opens a lab that is making mind and body altering chemical formulas. And of course pretty much every other person in the city is an attractive woman.

The main Gameplay loop involves managing a staff who procure supplies, researches formulas, makes them, markets them, and handle HR at the office.

The formulas themselves cover a wide array of fetish material. Things to alter obedience levels, sluttiness, and romantic feelings being the main mechanics. As it goes on you can use said chemicals and repeated orgasms to induce a trance state and more directly alter characters beliefs. Maybe make them like dressing slutty. Or like cheating on their spouses. Get off on incest. Enjoy giving blowjobs. Or maybe just make them hate Mondays and the colour Yellow.

The cool thing is that all of that actually does have a game impact. Though sometimes a small of subtle one. Making them hate yellow will reduce or eliminate yellow from their wardrobe. If you force them to wear a yellow uniform, they will be unhappy about it. Making them love sucking cock will make their arousal increase faster while doing so, while making them hate it will reduce it.

You can train up various stats and skills to become more effective at different actions.

If their obedience stats get high enough you can order them to do many things. Change the names they answer to. Exploit trances to add triggers (just the one currently, to trigger orgasm). Lots of options.

There are also formulas to do more advanced things. Alter their hair colour, breast size, even height or skin colour (in the modded version). Give them a very strong fetish for different things. Induce trance directly. Induce random orgasms. Make them randomly strip throughout the day. Induce lactation (and though the system is finicky and awkward. Can have them lactate specific formulas and set up a milking lab to increase production).

The number of options is actually pretty overwhelming. It's a big game. And that's without getting into all the different sub plots that many different characters have. There's probably a dozen or more "named" characters (really everyone has a mostly randomly assigned name. One or two are set, others have a defined first name but a random last name, and most have totally random names) that have a story arc for you to explore and unlock, usually through specific actions or getting their stats to certain levels.

So yeah... I really like all the options. And experimenting with different ideas. The graphics are... Meh. All the models look rather similar, and pretty plastic. But they aren't terrible.

I dislike how long it takes to unlock things without cheating. It would be fine if it was for one play-through, but every time there's a patch you basically need to start over, and it would take hours to re-unlock everything even WITH cheats. Without them it's punishing. So I'd suggest cheating after your first time.

The game is still being expanded by the modders, though updates are infrequent. I think they're mostly focused on adding and completing storylines to characters. As well as improving some of the systems of gameplay to make them more intuitive.

Overall I really like it. I've played through it a few times ;). Lots of behaviour and body modification, and toys to play with.