#being kuroe is suffering

[homuraakumaakemi]

Personal reasons both on and offline have led me to be less active. However, someone’s analysis on Kuroe (please don’t find/go after them) reminds me of what they had said when the anime’s ending was new and fresh. Most people, myself included, were rather bitter, you see, so we didn’t want to see people just…act in a way that we felt was callous and cold to her. I in particular got super attached to Kuroe. This girl is a lot like Homura, and also a lot like me. However, to call her just Iroha’s Homura is reductive and doesn’t do her justice. Kuroe is her own character with her own wants and desires. Even if some of us thought she was (the first) Kuro, or then Homura’s long-lost sister before canon said otherwise, the point is we love HER. We want HER to be happy. Rest under the Read More. Content warnings for discussions of death and suicide, as well as spoilers for the last four episodes of the anime of Magia Record:

Some people think Kuroe becoming a Witch in her despair was thematically appropriate. That the theme in Anireco is moving on from the past so you can look towards the future. That the way Kuroe became a Witch fits in perfectly with the franchise.

I disagree. I was bitter then, and I’m still bitter now.

I feel Kuroe should NOT have become a Witch, especially in the way she did. Yes, lots of Magical Girls become Witches when their feelings of hopelessness and despair reach a fever pitch, but Kuroe’s case felt especially cruel. It pretty much is framed like a suicide, where Kuroe desperately tries to escape from the Labyrinth, then doubles down on the idea that NO ONE can help her. That she is BEYOND any hope of happiness. That she just wants her pain and suffering to end. To say nothing of how her Witch was put down by Iroha, literally framed like putting a rabid dog out of its misery. And then, her death was used to help galvanize Iroha. It really feels like they made this amazing, relatable character…just so Iroha could get to where the story needed her to be, given she also loses Ui, Touka, and Nemu for good in this continuity.

Am I just angry at them not giving my favorite character a happy ending? Hell yes, I am! But people who are better wordsmiths than me have written about how the writing that led to this is not great. How it arguably feels more fitting for Magical Girl Site or Raising Project than it does Madoka Magica, and considering the kind of shit that IS in the original anime and Rebellion, is saying a LOT. Which is a shame, because what we had before this was SO GOOD. And then, the last few episodes happened. And this is the SECOND TIME this has happened to me in series I like!

Although, if there is a silver lining, someone in the game staff seems to have agreed with me. In the game, Kuroe is alive, well, and thriving! She’s in a position to where she’s starting to let Iroha in, and we even get details and context to Kuroe’s backstory, which is amazing.

I can take her never meeting Homura and becoming the big sister Homura never had, finding something in bonding with each other that they haven’t found in many other places. Obviously, I’d love it, and the fandom has both of them meet characters I feel wouldn’t truly understand them.

However, at the end of the day, I want my favorite character to be happy. And in the game, she is headed that way. Two amazing units, being able to actually bond a bit with Iroha, some of the best storytelling the game has offered yet (I’m biased towards any Kuro, and especially Kuroe), and lots and lots of lore and things you can get by implication.

Characters can be interesting AND happy. They can be allowed to heal without compromising what makes them resonate so dearly with all of us.

“This is the face of a girl we want to protect and ensure never makes the same mistakes we did.”

[sol-flo]

joker 2 was fine. i think reactions are split in two sides: either you think there should have been more singing (correct opinion) or you dreaded every minute of it

my friend described it as an end of evangelion movie and i think he's spot on

[tagasaing]

i have to get this out of the way, re: dungeon meshi discussions

major spoilers ahead, obviously.

you know for a series that focuses so much on platonic and familial relationships it’s weird that dungeon meshi has attracted so much useless ship wars though. the most important driving force in the story is two sibling relationships (laios’s search for falin, thistle’s search for delgal) and one of the central themes is how loving others way too much can lead to your downfall (thistle’s desperate attempt to keep his loved ones leads to his mental state deteriorating so much he starts torturing people he claims to protect, marcille’s fear of losing her friends leads to her being easily manipulated by the main antagonist)

even with regards to falin. thistle wants to bring the ‘brother’ he raised back at all costs, he saw a young human woman as nothing more than a dragon, his tool. marcille wants to bring falin back at all costs, she didn’t care about the repercussions of using monster meat instead of animal meat even though she was an expert at ancient magic and should know why it’s such a dangerous practice.

each and every single one of the major characters has some form of tragedy with their family one way or another: the toudens, marcille and her dad. chilchuck and his wife. senshi’s entire backstory. izutsumi’s hidden desire for a mother. namari’s father. shuro and his family. kabru and his mother(both tallman and elf). mithrun and his brother. thistle and the melinis.

even some of the minor characters: flamela and her dead twin sister. the twins and the floke couple. kuro being the closest mickbell has to a family. etc etc

as someone who has reread this manga several times by now, i wonder if people just… read it once as fast as they could and act like they’re some sort of authority on fan discussion. i’ve seen people brag about reading the entire thing in one sitting as if it’s something to be proud of. this manga isn’t meant to be read that fast, that’s how you get people claiming that laios doesn’t reaaally love falin as much as marcille does.

to these people, laios just gets in the way, as if it wasn’t his idea to go down the dungeon in the first place, it wasn’t him who said his pain doesn’t matter because falin suffered more than him, it wasn’t him who felt immense guilt for leaving falin behind, it wasn’t him who found her skull, it wasn’t him who killed her to save her from her chimera form. i feel like people forget about the ‘too’ part when marcille said “i miss falin too”

marcille knows how much falin and laios love each other. that’s why she asked him if she’s allowed to resurrect her and didn’t act on her own. that’s why when both times a shapeshifting monster copied marcille to trick laios, it was what she looked like at the time she was reviving falin.

as someone who DOES ship farcille, none of the romance is canon. this isn’t meant to be anti-farcille. one of the post-canon comics is about falin gently turning down shuro because she wants to travel the world, “you can’t tie a dragon down” after all. she wants to travel the world and find herself because she doesn’t know who she is outside of marcille and laios. even marcille, who was hoping she’d reject him, tears up because of how beautiful and tragic it was.

there are a lot of ship teases because what author doesn’t like a good ship tease. but to say that dungeon meshi is a romantic love more than it is a story about family(both real and found) is a great misinterpretation of the text.

[littlelightfish]

I've been thinking about Mickbell since last chapter came out.

Have you noticed how everyone refers to him as Mick? He's a hafling, they shouldn't call him that since its his first name.

But here's the thing.

We know Mickbell didn't have something to call a family the majority of his life. He was all alone against the word for quite some time. He, as I said before, didn't have a proper family, didn't have any friends. He was alone. No one to care about him, no one to love even in a friendly way.

He can seem to be quite unfair towards Kuro, but truth is he doesn't know any better. He does what he can the best he can, the best he knows, because he loves Kuro so much, he doesn't want to loose his first friend, his first glimpse of a family, the only one that cared for him after so long the first one to recognize him as someone rather than something.

Kuro doesn't understand common language well, we know for a fact that he struggles with it and that he's still learning to communicate. When Mickbell found him, it was his sense of "I'm in great debt to him because he saved me" what made him attack the one that attacked Mick. "How dares he tuch my savior?" Kind of behaviour. And also revenge I guess. But, hear me out. He hears Mickbell telling something to him in a language he doesn't understand, but he sticks to his side from then on, because he saw a savior in him. Because he feels in debt with him, because he sees that this guy enjoys his company and also feeds him. He is like a stray dog after being adopted, loyal. He loves and cares for Mickbell, he wants to be able to truly understand him and to make himself known to him by talking. He's learning how to speak common, not because it might be useful, but because he wants to be able to fully communicate with his dearest friend, with the one he considers family.

Going back to Mickbell, he saw someone caring for him enough to take revenge and protect him. This aren't little things to do for someone you just met. He knows this, because he probably wouldn't have done that, he 100% would've runned away because he has sense of self-preservation and knows damn well he doesn't stand a chance and he wants to continue living. He makes sure to keep this kobold to himself, at first because of his "if it can be made use of, then use it" principle.

He freed the kobold, not because he was a good person, but because he wanted to take revenge in his own terms. He wanted this man to suffer, he can't pick a fight because he doesn't stand a chance, so he steels his merch, or in this case, frees it. He freed Kuro because he wanted the man to suffer the loss of his merch. Not because he feels sorry for a kobold that could easily chomp his head off (they're usually agressive). Now, after freeing him, he noticed that this kobold would die if he didn't take off the thing he had in his mouth, so he helped him a bit there. This seems a bit out of character. Why did he freed the starved kobold from what could've saved him of being eaten himself? Because he is a good person. He doesn't want this creature to starve to death after freeing him, it would be cruel, and he isn't cruel. He doesn't want nothing to do with the kobold at first, he just doesnt want him to die because he didnt properly freed him, but after seeing how far is this someone willing to go for him? He has no room for doubt, he makes himself his boss.

As I said, Mickbell didn't had a real family before. He lacks of proper social interactions and bonds due to his past. But he loves so deeply. He doesn't want to loose Kuro. He sees him as the closest thing he'll ever have to a family, but he doesn't know how to treat him properly. He tries his best. He feeds him, and cares about him a lot, but he doesn't know how to talk to him. He wants to have him close at all times, he wants to pet him, to be carried around by him and only him, to tease him, to help him. He's always worrying about his well-being. And above all, he doesn't want to be alone. Never again. This is why he does everything he can think of to hold Kuro closer to him. This is why he's saving money, why he pays Kuro so poorly for his job. This is why he doesn't spent much money on himself either. He wants to live a life with kuro by his side because he loves him. He loves him deeply, and cares about him deeply too. He's his family. And he is terrified of the sole thought of Kuro leaving his side. Because that wouldn't just mean being alone again. It would mean Kuro left.

Now, this is what the party sees. A hafling that treats his kobold employee quite unfairly. He doesn't pay him almost anything, he leaves him alone as soon as battle starts, he is possessive about him, and he's terrified of someone snatching him away. The kobold doesn't seem to either mind or notice how unfair his owner is being towards him, and doesn't seem to understand him very well either. They see that they both care for each other more than they first thought as time passes by, but the unfairness of it all is still there. They don't get it. Why would the hafling, if he cares so much, reward him so badly? Why is he taking advantage of the kobold he loves so much? Why wouldn't he let him express himself in his mother language? They don't fully get it.

Time passes and they become closer to each other, just as Laios's party does. They start opening up, bonding, and before they knew it, they're something like a small family, rather than just a group of friends adventuring together. It's clear as day something in Mickbell wasn't quite right just by the way he behaves. He is childish, but it doesn't seem to be intentional. He behaves like a kid, but he is quite mature at the same time. He is like this because he didn't had a proper childhood? He only now can allow himself to behave lightly as he does? To cry at minor inconveniences? To want to be hold on someone's arms? They don't know, but they don't prey about it either.

And without realizing it, they call him just "Mick". Some of them, if not them all, know what it means to call a hafling by his first name. They maybe did it to tease him, maybe because they wanted him to know they consider him family, but he didn't even noticed. He hadn't a proper social interaction with haflings that ever got to the personal level of teaching him something he should already know. Haflings call him Mickbell, he doesn't mind, it's his name. His party calls him Mick, he doesn't mind, it's his name. He doesn't even know hee should care. The party picks up he doesn't mind being called that and gets surprised. Is he letting them know he sees them aa family too? They at first are really surprised, but it losses importance over time. They just use it as a nickname now, but they started using it because they wanted Mickbell to know they're family too, that they don't want to hurt him nor Kuro.

Mickbell it's just a good hearted guy who doesn't know how to do good. He saves up money so he can, one day, live with Kuro. So he doesn't pays him well even if he works hard. So he starves himself (he is underweight too, but it could be for the same reason Chilchuck is, he is 5 cms taller than the common hafling after all). So he allows himself to steal from corpses. He needs money. He has a dream. He wants to have a family.

[dunmeshistash]

ive heard of a page where laios+falin are racist against the kobolds but i straight up do not remember it, so i was curious as to if you have it?

Actually Kabru is racist against Kobolds, Falin and Laios are 'racist' (I'd call it xenophobic but the way people use racist works as well I suppose) about 'mountain people'

It's the Kobold extra from the adventure's bible, quite the controversial comic lol

Unfortunately yes, your blorbos are 'racist' but it makes sense in universe. Kabru lived in a place that was near Kobold settlements I imagine the tallmen there weren't big fans of them. What he talks about Kobold being "impossible to talk to" sounds like a justification to marginalize them. The same thing happened to Laios and Falin in their village when they were kids (remember that Laios left when he was 12 and Falin when she was 10) "You can't talk to them so you have to kill them" is the same type of othering justification Kabru learned about Kobolds. Only the Toudens learned to act that way about other humans and not demi-humans, Kabru loves humans so he immediately picks up the absurd that was being said and is like "oh shit".

I wouldn't say he learned what he said was wrong (He probably thinks aggression is inherent to demi-humans but not to humans) but if anything I think all of them have the chance to be better than they are here. (Kabru is even friends with and is trying to help Kuro. But that might be a "He's one of the good ones" thinking) The racism they are acting here is part of the world they live, something they learned since they were born and it's probably not something any of them has ever confronted themselves about.

Anyway that is all to say I don't think what Falin and Laios specifically say here count as racism because they are being xenophobic about people with a different culture to theirs, like, those people in specific are suffering the prejudice because they don't live the same way his village does. Laios doesn't act racist in any other case, he treats orcs Kobolds, Elves, Dwarves etc about the same (if anything he does some microaggressions cause he's socially and culturally clueless) so I don't think he believes in inherent value based on race like Kabru does. But that's just semantics (?) Both are just as bad.

[muffinrecord]

Also I'm a little harsh on Magia Record's storyline being a little... soft? On the hostilities between characters. But I also understand why things are resolved the way they are.

Magia Record is ultimately a story about characters coming together and saving each other. It's baked into the gameplay-- the connect was a big feature that even made its way into the anime.

You can tell the vibe of the game just by comparing it to the anime in fact. In the anime, a ton of characters die. Iroha is unable to save Kuroe, Mifuyu and Momoko have to die as penance in exchange for saving the ones they mislead, Homura fails to save Madoka (and possibly other PMMM original characters) and rewinds time, Ui dies, Touka dies, Nemu dies. Alina dies. Alina's interactions with Karin amount to mostly fan teasing. We see magical girls in the background who are working together against Walpy, but Kanagi is barely present, which means she doesn't have her moments of grouping up with Yachiyo (and all that represents for the east versus west conflicts).

In the anime, the girls fail.

In the game, they succeed. Characters like Mifuyu, who lead others astray, try to kill themselves for redemption but are prevented from doing so because her friends love her and want her to stay with them. Kanagi gets to work with Yachiyo, showing that they have bonds and similarities beyond their differences. Momoko's group never fractures and joins the Wings of Magius, so their friendship continues to keep them propped up and saved. Kuroe is introduced late in the game but she obviously survives and learns to live on. Homura gets to save Madoka and stay her Glasses self, continuing to deepen her friendships with the rest of the gang. Ui, Touka, and Nemu get to be friends again. Touka and Nemu are put on trial but still get to work to try and save humanity. Alina fails to kill people and has Karin more prominently present to remind you of her softer sides, Nemu fails to get herself killed, and blah blah blah, you get my point. This isn't even getting into arc 2, where characters start off very hostile to everyone but smooth at towards the end.

I've got my own personal dislikes of how conflict ends in Magia Record sometimes-- I feel like it takes the easy way out and ignores more interesting routes. I think ending a story so that everyone gets along can be boring and lazy sometimes.

At the same time, I do respect the writing direction for it. I think there's value in saying that everyone (or damn near everyone) can be saved, that people ultimately want to help each other. People want to connect with other people. Friendship can save all. Your friend might be going down a dark path but you can save them through the power of subtextual yuri companionship, compassion, and understanding.

Like, it's a fantasy because you shouldn't be burning yourself to help others, but also fantasy isn't always bad. Sometimes it's nice to have stories where things work out for the better.

I do think though this is why the darker stories in the game really stand out as fan-favorites. Glasses Homura failing to save Kuro is such a gut punch because it feels like that should be impossible in the world of Magia Record, where you can march into a cult and make the leaders into good guys again. Mikoto's pain and suffering stands out because Hanna is never coming back and Mikoto isn't going to get better again. Ryo and Ikumi stay dead. Jun stays dead. Sakuya stays dead. They don't come back.

I'd wager that one reason the story "Girls in the Hood" and its follow up "Dependence Blue" are so popular (besides good writing) is because the fantasy fails and has painfully realistic outcomes in it. Jun isn't able to prevent Mitsune from contracting, despite trying her best to show that you don't need magic to be strong. The two struggle with communicating with each other, despite how much they care for one another. And Jun dies without their feelings being resolved. In a story where so many characters get happy endings (or learn to accept their circumstances), stories like this stick out and have a painful resonance.

I'm meandering again, but yeah. I wish Magia Record was more brave with its writing and that it wouldn't chicken out on pursing conflict at the expense of making characters unlikeable, but I also feel like that wasn't what it wanted to do either. We can say that it's because they wanted to keep their characters as loveable as possible given that it's a gacha and they need to market it to you, but it's also just a storytelling direction that they preferred at the end of the day. I don't have a link but I remember hearing that the writers wanted to keep the game light, that they didn't want people to log in and feel miserable playing a phone game (I could be very badly remembering this).

And you know what, sometimes that kind of cozy friendship-defies-all was very comforting. I dunno. Yeah.

[klaustheclowse]

As much as I hate him, Mickbell being an antithesis to Chilchuck is really good from a narrative standpoint

•Chuck is a union man, who was exploited in the past and thus formed a union to prevent other half-foots from suffering like he did

•Mick however is a scab, and is the one doing the exploiting, most notably to Kuro the kobold.

Hell you could make an argument that everyone in Kabru’s party is an antithesis/foil to Laios’s (more specifically post-falin getting eaten but could also apply to pre-)

EDIT: After reading some comments, it looks like I ended up getting parts of Mickbell’s character wrong, and I’m sorry for that

[stardustizuku]

I’ve recently been thinking on why there’s people who interpret Kuro in such a drastically different way.

And something I notice is that you can easily tell how someone experiences the series, based on what they think of the GWA.

The way you interpret the Green Witch Arc is indicative of of how you have been interpreting the story so far, and how you’ll interpret it going forward

Generally, there’s two interpretations:

1.- The Reaction Ciel had to the mustard gas, are his true feelings coming afloat

2.- The Reaction Ciel had to the mustard gas, isn’t how he feels.

The first interpretation (and I’m really not trying to be mean about it this time) comes from a very, uhm, shall I call it Teenage-Like? mindset of how pain and trauma works.

I call it Teenage-Like, because I’ve seen it in mostly literature aimed at teenagers, be it fanfics or YA. It comes from an inability for teenagers to actually voice how they feel towards their parents. A helpless feeling of being ignored.

I don’t wanna point fingers but this is the basis of a lot of Self Harm tendencies (physical, emotional, psychological, or others like EDs or digital self harm) come from. A need for people to notice you are in pain. But because you feel like you cannot voice it yourself (or don’t deserve it, it can vary) you start to lash out. Put yourself in higher risks, to have someone find out there is something wrong with you.

So the moment the main character finally breaks down, or has a moment of weakness, it’s interpreted as someone finally being truthful.

This is how Ciel’s reaction is interpreted by the first half.

The mustard gas is simply a trigger of pain, that causes all of Ciel to unravel. He’s in pain right now, cause he’s always in pain. He’s avoidant to Sebastian, cause he’s always been scared of him. He doesn’t trust him. He doesn’t trust adults. Finny is the only one who actually cares.

This makes the fact that Sebastian ,essentially, slapped him to get him to react, come off as cruel.

The boy is finally being honest, and you just tell him he’s being childish? Horrible.

Obviously, that’s not my interpretation.

Okay so, what happens once you’re not a teenager? Once you don’t have an adult figure to take care of you? What happens once you start avoiding telling your parents the pain you’re in, not because you think they won’t care, but because they’ll care too much and get worried and you don’t want them to get worried?

You start to realize pain is not the end of the world.

While, when being a teenager, getting sick meant someone gets to take care of you and maybe notice you aren’t okay, as an adult getting sick potentially means - not going to work. Which means your won’t have money to buy food, which means you’ll probably go hungry.

So getting sick becomes less of a way to get away from the responsibilities you have, and more of a burden.

That’s why you’ll see, in media aimed at adults,mental breakdown less depicted as an opportunity to be honest, and more of a sickness that needs to be healed.

You can have a more honest and truthful conversation, while you are sound of mind. There’s no power dynamic between friends, like it would with adult figures and children. So this song and dance, isn’t necessary.

You don’t have to be sick to be understood. And your friends will rather try to help you, than understand you when you’re suffering. That’s the nature of adult relationships.

This is more or less the framing that comes from Ciel’s breakdown (in the second interpretation).

The Mustard Gas isn’t showing Ciel’s true nature - it’s showing Ciel at his most vulnerable. This means, not in his sound mind.

Saying things he normally wouldn’t, hurting people he normally would hold close, and clinging to people he generally would never try to get close to.

Simply put, it isn’t just “a bit of pain to make him unravel” but a “Ciel is getting psychologically tortured by a weapon used for chemical warfare”.

He’s past being honest. He’s having such a severe reaction, that he cannot function. He’s being tortured and broken, to the point he is no longer himself.

He isn’t being “truthful” he’s scared.

And fear can make you do things that, in your sound mind, you would never do.

The point is that, Ciel isn’t saying what he truly feels or being “honest”. It’s him scared out of his mind, saying everything and anything to make the fear stop.

And the biggest proof is how he treats Sebastian.

The fact that Ciel asks Sebastian to “go away” or “not come near” is perhaps the most glaring reason as to how badly this Gas messed with him.

I’ve said this before but to Ciel, Sebastian is a lifeline. He’s the only tool he has for his revenge. The thing that, even after he lost r!Ciel, he was willing to sacrifice it all to achieve.

And at this point in time, Sebastian is also the only emotional anchor Ciel has.

As far back as the second episode, Ciel has asked Sebastian to stay. Even when he’s having flashbacks, even when he’s having an episode. In fact, Sebastian leaving him is a great source of anxiety - since as seen in BoC in the Asthma Scene, without him Ciel feels powerless enough to die.

He feels more protected with him, because he KNOWS Sebastian will protect him and that Sebastian will follow his orders.

Again going with the analogy of a dog - He feels more comfortable having the chained beast by his bed, simply bcs others are trying to hurt him and the beast won’t eat him right now.

So him asking Sebastian to go away, is throwing away his biggest safety net for a surrogate for r!Ciel, just means he’s reverting to the mentality he had during the cult.

If Sebastian is constantly telling him “it’s okay, they can’t hurt you anymore, you’re outside the cage, you can do what you WANT”

Ciel clinging to Finny is him going “no, im staying in the cage bcs at least the cage is familiar”

And no matter what the first camp tells you, staying in the cage, trapped inside your pain ISNT the healthy option.

(We could argue Ciel’s need for revenge rather than healing is also unhealthy, but no one in the second camp would even call Ciel anything other than a villain in someone else’s story)

So, Sebastian slapping him and going “no, that’s not what you want”, isn’t as cruel as it would be in the first interpretation. Because as we see, he’s right. That’s not what Ciel wants. And it’s proved by the next scene where Sebastian talks to Ciel about what he truly wants.

Rather than Sebastian telling Ciel to “get over it”, it’s closest to a “snap out of it, something’s wrong”

This is further proved by the fact that, Sebastian first instinct isn’t to scare him. He does back away, he does try to wait and gently coax him. But Ciel literally cannot reason with him.

That small but significant difference in interpretation has wildly different outcomes in how you perceive both, the characters and the story.

If you pick the first, you’re reading Sebastian as an enemy. Someone who does not respect Ciel. You see his attempt to eat Ciel’s soul as a breach of trust, and proof that he doesn’t care for him.

But if you pick the second option, you see Sebastian as an ally. Someone who’s running out of time and ways to save Ciel. His actions, while crass, ultimately help Ciel. What he was trying to do, was help.

Yana, very clearly, wanted the second interpretation. However, I cannot, in good conscience, tell you it’s the only interpretation. People are free to pick and chose how they read the text, irrelevant of how little of the actual text they’re reading.

But I will say, picking the first is symbolic of a less mature way of thinking. Common on those who like to infantilize trauma and trauma responses. It’s the easy, safe and comforting way of reading the text. As I said, it’s common in those who want their pain to be acknowledged.

That reading of Kuro is one that speak to me, that you’re not really ready to confront pain. And someone with that mentality, is not someone who’s reading of the text I find particularly interesting. Sure, you can share it, I’ll never stop you, but know you’re speaking to me in an entirely different language. You’re interpreting the text so differently, that I don’t think it’s even the same text anymore.

Again, you’re essentially writing analysis on fanfiction. And I’m not all too interested in dissecting your own trauma sloppily painted over British Aesthetic.

[pythagoras180]

Why the season 4 "arc" between Ladybug and Cat Noir is terrible

The Setup

So, what was the conflict in this arc about exactly? It's been years, and I'm still not totally sure. It probably has something to do with trust, or if "Kuro Neko" is to be believed, it's just about Cat Noir's unrequited feelings. Sometimes Cat Noir is complaining about her utilizing other superheroes, sometimes it's about them not knowing each other's identities (even though this season explained why that rule is in place), and sometimes he's just complaining about being in the dark.

I think the reason some people think there was actual substance here is because of how the the show frames it like Cat Noir is actually being mistreated by Ladybug. But the problem is that there's no real moment where he actually is mistreated. One of the cliches I hate most is when writers want there to be conflict between good guy characters, but they don't want one of them to actually do anything wrong, so then the other character just comes across as completely unreasonable and whiney. Honestly, as the season was airing, the argument could have been made that the problem was entirely with Cat Noir being insecure and selfish. But that argument goes out the window in the season finale, which we'll get to later. But the fact is that the only thing Ladybug is "guilty" of is utilizing the resources at her disposal and following a rule of secret identities that protects everyone.

The only exception to this is in the episode "Ephemeral". Ladybug actually does something wrong here, where she decieves Cat Noir into revealing his identity to Luka and Su-Han without his knowledge or consent. And honestly? This comes completely out of nowhere. The Ladybug throughout most of this season does not seem like the kind of person who would do that. It honestly feels shoved in to try to make Cat Noir's actions more justified. The problem with that is that Cat Noir doesn't actually know what Ladybug did, so this is no excuse.

So the fact that the arc doesn't define what the issue actually is or put the blame where it lies means that there's really nothing for the characters to learn here. I mean, the episode "Penalteam" tries to frame it like Ladybug's flaw is she wants to handle everything herself, which completely contradicts the narrative framing her use of other heroes as wrong. It's honestly just pure nonsense.

The Payoff

So the big payoff for this arc is the ending of the season finale, "Strike Back". Ladybug suffers a massive loss, apologizes to Cat Noir for everything, and he chooses to stick with her despite everything. On paper, this looks like an amazing payoff. And plenty of people did find it emotional, even me at first. But once you actually peel back the layers, you'll see that it's completely hollow.

Let's start with Ladybug's defeat. Honestly, the writers completely rigged the situation to make her lose. Ladybug didn't fail because of a character flaw, there wasn't really a way she could have avoided what happened. Supposedly, her flaw was not trusting or depending on Cat Noir. But how exactly would her doing so here have changed the outcome? It's not like Cat Noir offered an alternative solution and she didn't listen. In fact, he disobeyed her orders and made the situation worse. So Ladybug's "flaw" played no part in this defeat.

Next, there's Ladybug's apology. Let's break down everything she says and see why it's nonsense. "I wanted to control everything" When exactly did Ladybug overstep? She never put overbearing limitations on Cat Noir. She acted like a perfectly reasonable leader. "I didn't listen to you" Listen about what exactly? When did Cat Noir tell her anything that she disregarded. "I lied to you" She did, in "Ephemeral". Too bad Cat Noir didn't know about that. And considering her lying ended up interrupted, it's honestly just the intent of lying. "I kept you at a distance" At the beginning of the season, they're actually much closer than they've ever been, as they hang out outside of battle. What exactly is Ladybug referring to here? The only thing I can think of is the Rena Furtive stuff, but there weren't any consequences to this and Cat Noir had no meaningful reaction when he found out the truth. "Every time you offered me a helping hand, I never took it" Like I just mentioned, Cat Noir never offered alternate solutions that she ignored. The only thing this might be referring to is the opening of "Kuro Neko", but it was clearly explained why he couldn't actually be helpful in collecting the Miraculouses, and he was obviously in the wrong there. So, since Ladybug never did anything actually wrong that Cat Noir knew about, this apology doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Cat Noir only ever complained about stuff that wasn't actually bad or her fault.

As for Cat Noir sticking with her, well again, that falls flat because she didn't do anything wrong to him. He'd have no reason to do anything else. And considering how much he complained about the other heroes, he's probably quite happy that they're gone now. Cat Noir is not making a sacrifice, he got exactly what he wanted.

So this payoff means absolutely nothing. Honestly, the framing is very good which is why it tricked so many people into liking it. But ultimately, the lack of any decent setup leads to a payoff that falls completely flat, even if the payoff itself is well written.

The Aftermath

If what I've talked about already wasn't bad enough, this arc also ultimately has no impact on the overall story.

If you're going to make an arc where Ladybug learns to trust and depend on Cat Noir (which she always did, but whatever), then the obvious effect that should have moving forward is that Ladybug should choose to trust him in a situation she previously wouldn't have, and she would benefit because of this. Except, there is nothing like this. Throughout all of season 5, there is not a single moment where Ladybug puts more trust in Cat Noir than before. I know that the moment that most would point towards is the season 5 premier, "Evolution", where she trusts Cat Noir with the Rabbit Miraculous. Hmmm, Ladybug trusting Cat Noir with a time Miraculous. I guess that is a new thing. Wait, no it's not, that literally already happened in "Miracle Queen". So Ladybug is just doing something she already did 2 seasons ago. And there's also no real benefit to this. Cat Noir didn't do anything with it that Ladybug wouldn't have done if she chose to use it herself. So this moment is completely substanceless. This is not a new level of trust, and Ladybug doesn't actually benefit from her "growth". And it doesn't help that this is the only moment that might qualify as the aftermath of the arc. Throughout the rest of the season, Ladybug displays absolutely no amount of exceptional trust in Cat Noir. And ultimately, it probably would have been better if Ladybug instead learned not to depend on Cat Noir, as he ends up playing no role in the final battle, and she has to handle everything alone.

So in the end, the so called arc in season 4 had a poor setup that didn't have Ladybug display actual flaws, a poor payoff that has Ladybug lose because of factors beyond her control, and an aftermath where the "lesson" she learned plays absolutely no part in the events that follow. I genuinely think that the reason this arc exists is just as filler, and to create meaningless drama for fans to talk about.

[high-mackrels-musings]

The Parallels of Ki-Adi Mundi and Anakin Skywalker

This is an adaptation on a piece I wrote on reddit seen here.

I have written about Mundi before seen here So it should not surprise anyone to learn that he is amongst my favorite Jedi. And he is far too often demonized amongst the current fan base for actions that are usually taken wildly out of context, or blatant lies perpetuated by ill-informed YouTubers and commentators. 

This video is the bane of my existence. But today I want to talk about something that is so often ignored. And that is the, more than likely unintentional, parallels that the Cerean master has with the Chosen One Anakin Skywalker. To me the parallels have been obvious since I first read the comics of his when I was younger. But I don’t really see them come up all that often. When the truth of the matter is that the two of them are possibly the closest in terms of being alike. And I wonder if Mundi isn’t the Jedi that should have trained Anakin, and the Jedi he should have become. 

The two after all shared a common background. Both arrived to the Jedi temple as older recruits to the order, found by rather eccentric members of the order. An’ya Kuro, The Dark Woman, found Mundi. And Qui-Gon Jinn found Anakin Skywalker. Both seemed to believe that the two younglings would be important figures for the order. Mundi of course went on to be a member of the Jedi Council, and Anakin would go on to be the youngest member to join the council. 

It is this shared background that is the beginning of their parallel lives. Mundi himself would return to Cerea, a freshly made Jedi Knight. He was confident of his skills and returned knowing his family was in need of a Jedi. His family and village were plagued by raiders and gangs. And he returned a Jedi Knight to free them from this trouble. Mundi no doubt remembered these raids from his childhood. Having witnessed his father beaten by these gangs. And like Anakin Skywalker, when the esoteric Kuro took him away. He promised to his father, “I’ll be back, and I’ll be big and strong, and I’ll beat them all up. And they’ll be sorry! You’ll see.” 

Of course, most everyone here should know Anakin’s story well enough to see the parallels. Anakin himself states to his mother the penultimate time they see each other, “I will come back and free you, Mom. I promise.” Both show them that they had a sense of attachment as children. Both having come to the Jedi older than others would have. And of course, both would return to different results. 

Mundi would return to confront the man who tormented his family, only to find a broken half blind man. And Mundi would not take revenge on him saying, “For the former chief, there is no greater punishment than that which he’s brought upon himself- to be rendered inconsequential. Justice has been served.” It is a striking contrast with Anakin, who took revenge and slaughtered the tribe of Tusken’s who tortured and murdered his mother. 

While these two events are not the same, Anakin witnessed his mother die in his arm after all, while Mundi’s family lived. You might perhaps be able to say that this is where their paths diverged. But still one can see where Mundi differs, for when confronted with a choice Mundi chose not to take revenge. It is still one of the chances that the two of them are connected in a way. They have these two parallels.  

Of course, both also suffered from a sense of pride and arrogance. Mundi was Yoda’s padawan. And Yoda notes the arrogance of the young Mundi when he proclaimed that he had no blind spots, only to be tripped by the esteemed master. And indeed, his desire to go alone and attack a whole raider gang camp all by himself shows this sort of arrogance when he denies the need for any help saying to his father, “My lightsaber … The training of my Jedi Master …, And the force are my allies,” A belief that he could do it all at this young age shows his arrogance in his abilities. 

Of course, Anakin is not so far behind in this sense of arrogance. Obi-Wan says that his skills have made Anakin arrogance in Attack of the Clones. And in The Approaching Storm when Barriss Offee remarks off hand that Anakin might match Yoda in skill, Anakin rebuffs this saying Yoda is more teacher than fighter surely. A sign of his belief in his skills. And his decision to attempt to engage to Darth Tyrannus in a fight without waiting for his master shows this arrogance that has been highlighted before. 

Perhaps the most well-known thing to Mundi, besides his large head, is that unlike that majority of Jedi of his era he was married. Mundi had a large family, as per Cerean tradition he had a bond wife, and four honor wives with several daughters. Mundi has been wrongly accused of not caring for his daughter or family. However, this could not be further from the truth as he admitted many times that he loved his daughters. What he was not was attached to his family. 

Anakin of course was also married, having fallen in love with Padme Amidala and married her in secret. Thus, like their shared background and shared arrogance the two of them also share something unique within the Jedi order, even if there are differences to how it is they come about. 

The subject of attachment has been discussed a lot, but it’s important to note that it is not the same as having an attachment to one’s family. It’s a marked contrast to Anakin Skywalker who had difficulty letting go of either of his loved one’s. He’s unable to cope with the death of loved ones and can’t quite understand others who do. Indeed, he believes, in Secrets of the Jedi by Jude Watson, that Obi-Wan couldn’t possibly love Siri Tachi saying: 

“Obi-Wan had stood over the man who had killer her and spared him. If he had loved Siri, could he have done that? … But the way Obi-wan had spoken had been so measured. With a temperament like that, it was impossible to love, Anakin was sure.” 

And of course, we should all know what he does in the pursuit of keeping his wife alive. His inability to let go presents clear and present danger for the galaxy. A noted contrast to the way Mundi reacted to his death. While the intricate details of his grief are not known he stated, “I found it difficult to accept, but I had to if I was going to stay true to our beliefs.” Mundi managed to put aside his grief and move on, as is the Jedi teaching. And it is worth noting that Anakin himself asks Mundi about his family asking how he could have one. Mundi responded, “I cared for them, but I tried to remain unattached. It was always �� difficult.” Of course, this leads one back to the idea of how Mundi was able to reconcile his love with his family versus his duty as a Jedi. 

 Shortly after meeting Anakin Skywalker Ki-Adi Mundi wrote of his meeting of Anakin. He spoke of the potential of the child and possibility of the fact that he might be the chosen one. Though he also spoke of his wariness towards him saying:

“Jedi are trained not to feel fear, but I believe that this may be the discomfort I sense from Anakin. No, I’m not afraid of him. He is, after all merely a boy. But as a father myself I can positively attest that children can grow in unexpected ways, and this may be what I fear: not who Anakin Skyawalker is, but what he might become.”

It's interesting to note that Mundi uses his experience as a father to speak about how Anakin might have grown up. And we know he was right to be wary of who Anakin would eventually become. So, often do we hear that Anakin needed a father figure, and it seems to me that Mundi, might have been a better candidate than most to take over that training given his similar background. It is an interesting question to ask then if Mundi was the ideal Jedi to do that. And if he was the Jedi that Anakin might have ideally grown up to be. 

    Sources Used:

    Star Wars Republic: Vow of Justice

    Star Wars Republic: Prelude to Rebellion

    Star Wars Republic: Outlander

    Star Wars Republic: No Man's Land

    Star Wars Attack of the Clones

    Star Wars: The Approaching Storm

    Jedi VS. Sith: The Essential Guide to the Force

[inkyclone99]

• Bloodied Heartstrings / Michaelis Bros AU •

Completely sane not even slightly odd AU

I don’t. Even know where to begin with this one.

I guess. Maybe like. Ok. I have this DioJona fic called Bloodied Heartstrings on ao3. It’s about Jonathan being revived as a woman by Dio, giving JoJo the body of a woman during SDC (JoJo in that is a trans lady but is still figuring it out)

This fic is kinda like how I like my taste of DJ. It’s fun with all the lil alts it has. Trans lady Jona supremacy. Dio is the ally

Anyway there is a lot here including the crossovers. Kuro makes some sense but I’m aware Star Wars is one hell of a stretch. So under the like Imma explain. It’s a LOT.

Ok. Let’s start from the very beginning.

Yes. The Joestars and Phantomhive are related. But it’s pretty distant enough they know each other but not that close. Claudia and George are cousins.

Mary Joestar is alive and well, because she is a vampire. Yes. She was turned by her own purchase, the mask. And when the carriage crashed, she got in a primal instinct of hunger due to all the blood, and to protect her son, she ran away. (And I hc she was the one that brought the star birthmark to the family, which is very convenient for the Joestars)

Now here is where crossover starts to kick. Dio is not Dario’s son.

He is Sebastian Michaelis’ son.

Eleanor (maiden name Michaelis) Brando married Dario, but she later on was sold by him to work at a meeting…said meeting of a cult. One that summoned Sebastian.

Out of everyone, he chose Eleanor cuz she was the purest (which in his vision, would make her more fun to corrupt and taste). She had very standards wishes, but the third one…she wanted a child.

She was over the age of a young maiden, and she was never able to bear Dario’s child. But she always wanted one.

So, for that, Sebastian gave her his child, later named Dio (because Sebas thinks he is so funny)

Sadly when Dio was 9, Eleanor got deadly sick, and by that point, Sebastian had no idea he had fallen in love with her, he didn’t understand those feelings. All those years with this odd family, he was never able to corrupt the nice soul of Eleanor Michaelis. So, when he devoured her soul, it tasted like splendidly sweet chocolate, which he hates to this day.

And sadly, he abandoned Dio after that. (Shame on you Sebastian) Dio was raised by Dario after that and we know how that goes.

JoJo canon goes JoJo canon, same old same old, Jonathan doesn’t know his gender yet all and all, marries Erina, gets killed by Dio

George II and Lisa Lisa get together, have Joseph, he dies and she disappears

Battle Tendency happens but with a twist: Caesar lives! And he and Joseph marry (don’t worry about homophobia world). Later they ask Suzi to be their surrogate and they have Holly!

Also to clean Joseph of being a cunt, Josuke is not actually a cheating baby…he is a accidental threesome baby. (CaeJose are bi4bi what can you do, lucky Tomoko)

Then my fanfic happens. BHS. Which, I KNOW, it’s not done yet I’m so sorry I’m so slow with it. But believe me, I have the end perfect in mind and I’m gonna spoil it. Sorry

Anyway, after being awaken (he never actually slept in the coffin) in “modern” times in Egypt, Dio revives Jonathan with a body that he always deserved, of a woman (who yes it’s Giorno’s shitty mom).

Fanfic happens fanfic happens they get together they fuck Jona gets pregnant.

Then, spoiler warning.

SDC happens. Dio was almost killed by Jotaro, but Jonathan got in the way and stopped everything (it will be cooler when written down trust)

No one dies too all Crusaders are fine. And it’s an awkward travel back to Japan

Because Dio does have a cure that doesn’t involve killing him and possibly Jona. The stand arrow

The stand arrow awakens Holly’s stand fully. Then Joseph is informed of a lil boy in Japan suffering the same thing as Holly. Realization hits the poor bastard and he sends the arrow to cure the boy

Also…yeah. JotaJona happens. Hear me out. They are so distant and at this point just not really related it’s FINE AJSBSKSNSKSJSKSJKSKSKS

I just really love this ship ok and I don’t have anyone else that I like to ship Jotaro with that much.

But first Giorno is born. He is actually a trans boy here just doesn’t reveal until later. Which is funny, cuz Jona was the last one to discover and understand too. And now she goes by she/her fully.

After some convincing and lil dates JotaJona also get together. Technically DioJotaJona Ofc but Dio and Jotaro still don’t really like each other. But they love Johanna (her new name), so they accept each other like a sitcom. A love triangle without the bottom one would say.

Then Jolyne is born, the most perfect descendant of Jonathan Joestar there could be in canon, is now her daughter. It’s poetic to me <33

And some time later the gen Z Jocelyn is born form DioJona. She is my lovely oc <33 more about her soon promise.

Now going to the Phantomhive fun. Grandpa Undertaker / Claudiataker canon. He hit that.

Anyway canon goes canon goes until the end cuz we have no clue how Kuro will end (though I’m certain it will end with Ciel dying as a child).

Here Undie is defeated and R!Ciel dies Fr this time. O!Ciel covers up saying he was an imposter. Then, he marries Ran-Mao (I have a fic about it, the only fic on ao3 without creepy Lau in the mix)

It’s my rarepair don’t judge me

Sebastian becomes merciful, letting Ciel have a full life before taking his life (he became a softie).

So, Ciel and Ran-Mao have twin girls: Claudia and Rachel. My girly Claudia becomes the Queen’s guarddog when Ciel is incapable of action, and Rachel goes on to have a family.

Years pass and nowadays we have Shiori Genpō. Yes. From the weird Kuro live action movie. She is CANON. And the current head of the Funtom company. (Also dating her maid who is descendant of Mey-Rin and Bard)

Oh and who is that plague doctor mask shinigami with oddily familiar eyes and hair color? Mmm I already spoiled enough here.

Ok. Now.

How the fuck Star Wars fits in this SHIT

Because like. JoJo and Black Butler. Odd. Sure. But somewhat fits in the same universe without contradictions. Mainly with Phantom Blood. (Jack the ripper being multiple killers would be canon here. JoJo Jack is the copycat)

But STAR WARS?

Isn’t that just the tism hyperfixation bullshit at it again?

…yes. But I also have an explanation to it…kinda.

Ok so. Earth is in the SW verse, but it’s SUPER distant from the Known Regions. Barely anyone knows about it and traveling there is almost impossible.

It is possible though, for supernatural beings.

Sebastian can travel around with portals he can create himself. It’s simple and fast.

After Ciel dies at 90s around of age, Sebastian has a lot of feelings to deal with. His love for Eleanor, his care for Ciel that allowed him to live longer…he needs to rediscover himself being more than a soul eating demon.

So, he travels around the galaxy.

Knowing new places, going in adventures, becoming a bounty hunter for funsies, stealing lightsabers and using them like child’s play without the need of the Force

One day, he meets Jango Fett. And Jango is SO IMPRESSED by this fuck ass Weirdo that he invites him to be a trainer in Kamino.

Sebastian goes why not and goes. But because of his abilities, the kaminoans are interested in using his blood to create an enhanced clone soldier, along with other blood donors for the rest of the experimental clone squad.

Sebastian, who is very conflicted with his humane feelings, accepts it. And even if the clone child only has like 10% of his blood just for his enhanced senses, he sees the clone child as his son.

And that son is Hunter.

Sadly, the kaminoans forbid him of interacting with Hunter, because of attachments and bs. While the other boys’ blood donors don’t give a shit, Sebastian does, and sneaks in to have some time with baby Hunter all thanks to Omega, who Hunter later adopts.

During the battle of Kamino in TCW, Sebastian protects Hunter and his brothers from the droids, and then…he disappears. He goes back to Earth.

Because he knew he wouldn’t be able to leave Hunter if he returned to him after That Day. He’d steal Hunter and raise him for the mistakes he did.

Yet. He once again abandoned a child. Because he lives in conflict.

Years later, after SDC ending, Sebastian reconnects with Dio (it’s VERY HARD as it SHOULD be), and then contacts with Hunter again (who is less hard Ofc, actually Sebas was his idol even without knowing their relation)

And there we have it. Ofc when it comes to Hunter the AU differs depending on which ship and kids I have with him lol. But the Earth part is mostly the same in all.

…so. Yeah.

There we have it. My fucking, weird ass AU. I know it’s a lot. It’s strange. Some would say bizarre. But it’s my baby AU.

I love it. I will most likely reference it a LOT. I might pin this too.

So. Yeah. Lol. Now you have context for my other post with Dio and Hunter lol

ALSO SUPER IMPORTANT FACT: Sebastian is Japanese (Yuta Furukawa) so both Dio and Hunter are hafus hehe

[childrenofthesun77]

...okay, so I'm probably not the first person to notice this.

But gear's earing that he points towards when he says that he did the same ritual he wanted to help kuro with already on himself before:

actually looks pretty similar to the pieces of the necklace the count used to create the servamps:

The different pieces of the necklace seem to contain one demon each and the count used them to create the servamps.

So...did the count either learn this technique from the werewolves or is he possible even originally a werewolf himself? It would explain why he's immortal, that's why I'm wondering about this.

Gear says that the ritual is used to remove spirits, could it be that the count removed his own sins using the werewolf ritual and created the demons this way? But he went too far and removed too much unlike gear who only removed one part of himself? Him removing the sins from himself would also explain why he's so weird and doesn't understand other beings. As the sin demons say, they are a natural part of being a human and we have seen multiple times that denying their existence is harmful, removing them all from you would probably lead to you not being able to relate to other people anymore.

Maybe removing all these parts of himself is also why he has no appearance. Without his demons he's not a person anymore.

The count originally being a werewolf would also explain why he has magical abilities (gear can also use magic) before other magicians existed and why he's so anxious about certain people dying. Gear talks about how his immortality makes him sad because human friends do die, but unlike the count gear seems to accept death, grieves in a heathier way than the count and is able to move on and make new friends. Could also explain why his magic and creations are all strongly tied to the (full) moon.

Another similarity is that while werewolves apparently can't reproduce gear was able to have descendants by sharing his life force (it's mentioned in chapter 135 which isn't translated yet) with a woman and through her human children tsurugi is related to gear. Sigurd explained to nicco that the magicians came to be because the count let humans drink his blood, three survived, got magical ablities and became the ancestors of all human magicians:

Maybe the count is more of a werecat though. He and the sloth demon do seem to have a closer connection, even though the count's appearance changes depending on the person looking at him he does usually keep his tail and the tip looks exactly like the one of kuro's cat/lion form and similar to the the one of inner sloth's non-human form.

It was also stated multiple times that the sloth demon is the strongest. I wonder why that is. Servamp comments on the fact that being lazy is often actually a sign of depression/anxiety through kuro's arc, so maybe the count was depressed and that's why the sloth demon is the strongest? Basically the demons strength depends on how much the count suffered from the different sins? It would also explain why melancholy is so strong, I assume kuro refusing to see him no matter how many siblings he sent his way to tell him to come looking for the count made him extremely sad and probably even made him come up with the plan to have himself be killed and then put in the same body as kuro through the ritual.

I assume he was behind C3 ordering the servamps to kill him because he's the one who created the magicians and thus C3 and lily who is kind of working for him was probably the one who put the idea that the count needed to be killed into the head of his eve (aka a member of the alicein family who hold a lot of power in C3 basically since the beginning. I explained this in more detail in another post). The people from C3 even said that the count can only be killed if he wants to and yeah, kuro didn't truly kill him, but he did destroy his body and kuro seems to have met little resistance when he attacked the count. Which probably means the count wanted this to happen.

[nyc3]

One thing that is now unfair to ask is...what is Nine's name? Look hori treated him as an afterthought but his lack of origins works better than the comical twnko's origins.

Yes his family was all killed thanks to him but ...I can't help to think that scene was too ridiculous.

We never saw anyone mentioned them again, not even shig. (He remembers them in MVA and we do see the disgusting human puppet hori flay around) But that's it.

So Nine...

Im not one of those people who think a new character needs to be related to a pre stabelished one. Nine doesn't need to be a Todoroki, Shimura or hell even a lost Midoriya (hahahahahahaha as if hori would care for this family)

But ....imagine if Nine was related to Oboro, somehow, wouldn't that be interesting?

Maybe, maybe not.

Oboro's character became a thing to turns Aizawa into a better character...and fails. Kuro was sacrificed for nothing.

The thing about Shigaraki/Tenko backstory is that it feels... a bit overdramatic?

Well we can say that about his whole character, but the part of his backstory in particular when he kills his family is so exagerated for the sake of shock value that it kinda feels comical.

Horikoshi tried a bit too hard on make MVA feel like the edgier and "different" arc of the series, but the contrast in so big that I can't take it seriously.

Especially when Hori already nailed a dark tone without being super explicit or over the top.

Take the simplicity of Eri's backstory for example:

No blood, no unnecessary violence, just two panels giving a basic idea of what happened to Eri's father and yet the image of those clothes lying on the floor is much more haunting and eerie than the enterity of Shigaraki backstory.

Why Horikoshi stop being subtle with his storytelling?

...

Anyway going back to Nine real name, or the lack of one, I think it's interesting how that aspect of his character adds to the underlying theme of how AFO and Garaki dehumanize people, especially the ones that are part of their experiments.

We know very well how AFO doesn't view other human being as persons but rather objects that belong to him. This starts with his very own twin brother, which name Yoichi means something like "my first possesion".

And just like Nine, number 6 from Vigilantes was a child which whole life was modeled by AFO. They both are just numbers without a real name.

In this case the idea is presented even more explicitly because Six was a child who suffered some kind of amnesia and couldn't even view himself as a normal human with a face.

He even died as a monster without ever know if he had an identity outside being the number 6.

It's funny how you mention the idea of Nine and Shirakumo being connected somehow, as isn't the first time I've hear that.

It's interesting notice how they share this common theme about sky and clouds as part of who they are (Nine's name also is supposedly a reference to the term "cloud nine") both Nine and Oboro are individuals willing to sacrifice their own lifes for others, and ironically both of them ended being experimented by Dr Garaki.

I even have the headcanon of Kurogiri being the "Number 7" in this line of experiments were Nine and Six belong, as sort of missing link between Six and the sentient nomus.

I probably should make a post later explaining better this idea.

And yes for Horikoshi, Shirakumo was just a diposable character to make Aizawa look cooler and more edgy.

While the author of Vigilantes clearly invested a lot of effort on making Oboro a real and memorable character which complements Aizawa rather than just being an accesory. But that topic deserves it's own post as well.

P.S: I have an idea of what real name we could give to Nine, but I keep it for me at least for the moment.

[kats-fic-recs]

My favorite Kuroken fics <3

In Another Castle

Kenma feels his face go hot. People have to be looking at them. They’re having a fight in front of a real estate agency. But he doesn’t look away, and musters the courage to say, “Kuro, I want you to live with me.”

The Whole Of The Moon

Tetsurou has never thought about it before, but right now, he is absolutely and thoroughly terrified.

Because he’s so, so in love, and he’s always known that Kenma is it for him, but what if he’s not it for Kenma?

Or: a Kuroken soulmate AU in which both of them suffer and there's communication in all the wrong ways

Not For Nothing

Kuroo-san never says no to you,” Shouyou says

Not Your Mother's Hot Toddy

Kuroo always knew he would eventually end up killing someone for Kozume Kenma, he just thought he would have a lot more time to prepare.

Or: Kenma's hungry, Kuroo's bad at thinking on his feet, and Shouyo just wants to make friends in the city.

Live From the Lonely Hearts Club♡

(Kodzuken lets out a sigh that cuts so deep, it nearly startles his cat off his lap.)

I think I’m being obvious. I probably don’t need to spell it out for you guys. It’s clear as day, isn’t it? I’m fucking in love with my best friend. And I have been for a very long time.

So it pains me to say that I think I’ve made the stupidest mistake of my entire life. Because a week ago, T asked me if I wanted him to be my fake boyfriend.

(Kodzuken drags his hands over his face.)

And I’m pretty sure I said yes.

*

Kenma is so stupid. When did he become so stupid? He’d always thought he was kind of smart, but maybe he’s been stupid this entire time.

five snapped heartstrings

“From the day you are born, you have a countless number of strings wrapped around the ring finger on your right hand. These strings extend out to all of your potential soulmates. As you grow and make choices in life, one by one the strings will slowly begin to fall away until you’re left with one. At that point, your one true soulmate will be waiting for you on the other side.”

-

Kenma was seven, and he was certain of one thing. He wanted Kuroo Tetsurou to be his soulmate.

it's like a summer shower

Kenma’s breath catches at the memory, and then he’s blurting out, “Do you still have it?”

“Have what?”

“…the recipe,” Kenma replies haltingly. A pause. “And maybe some pictures for how it looked all set up.”

“Kenma…” his mother says breathlessly, and he’s honestly not sure if she sounds awed or horrified. “Are you going to attempt to make it?”

-

It's Kuroo's and Kenma's anniversary and Kenma wants to do something different - cook him dinner. He regrets the decision pretty much immediately.

crushed little stars

When Kenma was 13, he swore to himself that he would never, ever get star tear disease.

Three years later, he met Hinata Shouyou.

A purrfect match

"Hi Uncle Tettsun!” Nozomi says without moving an inch. “There's a kitty cat under here."

Tetsurou sighs, adjusting the heavy bag on his shoulder. There's been a dramatic increase in the number of cats hiding under homes or dumpsters or in trees lately, ever since the Kozume family's latest announcement. People have been chasing them down, knowing that whoever takes the key from the royal cat's collar will be allowed to marry the crown prince.

[Five times Tetsurou meets a cat, and one time he meets a human instead].

The Space Between Thinking and Feeling

“She might have assumed that we were dating and I might not have corrected her, yes.”

Kenma’s eyes are caught in a frenzy. Tetsurou isn’t sure why he’s that upset about this specific part of the story. “Why?” Is all Kenma asks.

Tetsurou shrugs. “I don’t know. She invited you to the wedding. I want you to come. It just seemed easy.”

“Dating me seems easy?”

“Pretend dating.”

(OR Tetsurou doesn’t want to go to his mother’s wedding alone. Good thing he has fake-boyfriend Kenma to tag along.)

Wallpaper Heart

Tetsurou walks into their apartment, aware of his feelings for the first time. It’s a weird sensation, like remodeling a house, and finding out there was a hidden door to an extra room behind the old yellowed wallpaper in the hallway. Now that he knows it’s there, he wonders how he ever missed it – wonders when the wallpaper went up in the first place, when it started keeping him out.

(OR Tetsurou's adventures in pining)

even if you're ahead for a bit, i will catch up

Kuroo first confesses when they're sticky-fingered, wide-eyed kids, and subsequently every day after that. Kenma takes a while to come around.

The Ghost Of The Future Is Awake In The Attic

Sika stags have a whole repertoire of courting behaviour that does not overlap with a human’s flirting one bit.

This, perhaps, should not come as a surprise to Tetsurou.

Or: The one where Kenma is a sika deer shifter, Kuroo isn’t, and Kuroo decides the logical thing to do is to court Kenma. The deer way. Despite the fact that he has no idea how deer shifter courting works.

When the Stars Threw Down Their Spears

"It’s hard to understand the hierarchy when a school like Nekoma exists, putting them all together like they belong, but by the time Kenma enters high school he understands the difference. Kuroo is a black panther, rare and precious; a large predator stronger than most any other foe.

Kenma is a calico housecat. His coloring is uncommon, but he is not special."

Shapeshifter!AU. Kenma struggles with a culture and the rules of courtship.

Ad Astra Per Aspera

The important parts of his life aren’t stored in the cement where he bled out, or among the familiar backdrops of his hometown. Home is curled up on a secondhand couch a few cities away, probably bitterly cursing his guts but still waiting for him to walk through the door.

The city has long since forgotten what happened to Kuroo Tetsurou.

…But Kenma didn’t. Kenma never would.

Kenma’s soul recognizes Kuroo Tetusrou even when his eye does not.

He’s been waiting an eternity for him, after all.

route 51 to your heart has been delayed by 20 minutes

The hottest man Kenma has ever seen shares the bus with him regularly. Under no circumstance is he ever going to do anything about it.

Not intentionally, at least.

Speak Easy, Lie Gently

Kenma’s invited back home to celebrate Christmas. Unbeknownst to him, his parents had invited a guest: his ex-boyfriend.

[dunmeshistash]

Any thoughts on Mickbell and/or Kuro? They're honestly some of my faves and it's hard to find stuff on them T_T

Many thoughts!

They both have had rough backgrounds and suffered a lot so they have this co-depedant relationship that while they pretend like its "Boss and Bodyguard" they cleary care deeply about it each other.

I love how responsible and down to earth Kuro is compared to how we see him in the series. As someone whose first language isn't english I can relate to sounding way less smart when speaking in your second language lmao. Now I'm much better but when I just started I sounded really silly, and even today some people have the "are you stupid" reaction when I don't know a word that should be obvious or misspell things, I understand you Kuro 😔

Honestly a nice reminder that language proficiency is not an indicator for intelligence, wish it was more obvious in the anime/story itself since every time Kuro speaks to Kabru in Kobold is in an extra.

Oh yeah also fun fact Milsiril was the one to teach Kabru how to speak Kobold. Its implied in an extra. While they come from the same continent I doubt Kabru would know kobold just for that.

About Mickbell its very interesting how he's the complete opposite of chilchuck, he LOVES being treated as a kid and doesn't seem to have much of a pride

It's hard to remember how old he is because he's so childish, it's a great choice for a half-foot after we had only met Chilchuck if you ask me. Cause even adults in real life can be childish sometimes, the fact he also LOOKS like a child to us makes it even harder to see him as the adult he is, you can't keep getting away with things by being cute Mickbell <3 (he can).

Also his dream is to buy a house for him and Kuro, I don't think there's any doubt their relationship is based in mutual affection, even if Mickbell pretends he's Kuro's boss (and that he should be more respectfull), they're both the only one the other has when it comes to family.My thoughts

[muffinrecord]

To clarify some continuity stuff between perspectives and stuff, are the events of the Record game essentially the same as what happened in the anime?

Mm, no.

For example: Momoko, Kaede, and Rena never joined the Magius in the anime. Doppel syndrome doesn't exist, which is a big deal because in the anime it implies that the Magius' proposed doppel solution wouldn't have actually worked in the long run. Holy Mami is saved by Yachiyo, not the pmmm girls. Nemu doesn't remember Ui either in the game. Kanagi isn't very present in the anime. Mitama is changed as a character as well. Alina comes across more 2-dimensional and less interesting but some of that is because only the main story was adapted, and content like her two magical girl stories were left out. The ending is obviously very very different.

There are a ton of similarities too, especially in the first season, but the anime and game start to divulge pretty hard in the second.

One of the things that makes the game story so special is the sheer amount of content you get for the characters. For example, Mikazuki Villa become a team and then the next episode they get split up-- you never really have that important "family" aspect that you get in the game. A lot of that is because the anime was only adapting the main story-- which is fair enough, there's a ton of content to get through so adapting the main story and nothing else was already a huge task. But it means you don't see all the downtime of the girls interacting, learning about each other, being there for each other, helping each other. You miss the closeness of the characters.

Doppel Syndrome makes the Magius much more tragic and sympathetic imo. In the game there are very few downsides to using a doppel often-- only a small number of characters have a listed negative at all. In the anime this is a huge deal and it makes the setting all the more bleak. The weaker magical girls are still going to suffer here. They want to join the Magius to be saved, but they're not going to be strong enough to resist doppel syndrome. Become a witch or become a glass ornament... what terrible choices. But people are still trying to save each other, even when the situation looks dire. It's depressing but oddly poignant.

Overall honestly, there are a number of actual differences but I think the biggest one is tone and atmosphere. The anime feels bleak and depressing. It's melancholy. Characters like Kuroe aren't saved. There might be love in there but there's a lot of loneliness and bitterness that you don't quite get in the game.

The game is the opposite. It has its edgy moments, sure, but it's full of light and laughter. A huge deal is made out of the connections between community and how friendship and love save one another. It's very classical magical girl imo.

Like, to me a big one is just how lonely Iroha feels in the game versus the anime. In the game she's always in contact with people-- Kaede, Momoko, Little Kyubey, eventually Yachiyo. This makes sense because the game wants you to care for and eventually roll for these girls. However you also always have new characters to care for who don't show up in the main plot until the very end, who still seem to matter just by virtue of existing and having their stories told.

Meanwhile in the anime we can have large swaths of the story where Iroha is alone, walking slowly in an incomprehensible city. The times that she does reach other and interact with others still manages to come across as closed off.

I'm just rambling at this point akfsjsalkfsa. Sorry.

But yeah, the two are very different and not just be comparing the scenes or facts, but by tone.