#bunni's character analysis

[decorabnuy]

i need to talk about this card or else i'm going to explode

Kanade is totally giving Angel of Death vibes with this one. All of the white tones and gentle pose/expression representing the purity of it all, her desire and will to live to save everyone, which is also something that leads to her downfall.

We can see that the entire atmosphere gives the shivers, the landscape around her is destroyed, full of bones. Kanade has a sycthe in her hand and is crying, representing how despite her wanting to save people, this leads to her destroying things around her, since herself doesn't know if her methods of saving others actually works or not, which can lead them to despair. Kanade cries seeing the sight that she never wanted to hurt others, but her saviour complex hurts more than helps.

She feels like she NEEDS to save others to continue in life, to be alive, this is her duty in life, and she can't change this hurtful mindset alone. That is why she is far away from our view, because she doesn't want to be helped, she wants to be far away from others and let herself do her job, even though eventually this will only harm others, especially herself.

I really hope we can touch more on her saviour complex and the way this can be harmful to herself + other characters in long term (both in the story and in the fandom). I'm not saying that Kanade is some sort of villain that wants to hurt others, FAR from it, her entire thing is that she wants to save others, but her way of doing so isn't the best. She always haves the best intentions but she can't think the way she does forever.

I love her character SO SO much and this card is SO beautiful and portrays her struggles and view of herself SO WELL. Colopale is ROCKING with their new cards these days and I'm LOVING IT

[artist-issues]

Tell me every reason you enjoy Zootopia enough to give it all the rewatches you do.

Every? Oh boy.

Good Story

Perfect Characters

Visual Appeal

Earnestness

Let me break it down.

1. Good Story

Zootopia’s main point is: “Try to make the world a better place by realizing we’re fundamentally the same.”

That’s a really good main point.

It has the benefit of being true. Right now our culture is super into ��self-identification,” and this crazy contrast between, “I want to be able to identify as something special” and “Now that I know what categories I fit in, I can choose who’s ‘one of us’ and who’s ’not one of us.’” Okay well that sounds pretty and I’m sure it fulfills some emotional need at some point, but it’s actually super divisive, and self-serving, and it’s the seeds for all prejudices. Including racism.

Do we have differences in origins and experiences? Yes. Of course. Do we also have some fundamental things in common? Yes. Of course. Which truth are you going to give the highest priority to? If it’s “no, I’m a prey animal, I know exactly where I belong, that’s who I am, that’s how I dress, that’s my compass for how I interact with others” then you’re getting all your security from your “sense of self,” and being able to understand what that is…which is just a fancy way of saying “I’m all about me. My own perspective informs everything I do.”

Anyway. Zootopia’s message was super true.

And the coolest thing about it is that if only Judy were in the wrong, and the other half of the dynamic duo, Nick, was this open-minded, un-prejudiced guy…and she just hurts him and has to apologize…the movie’s message wouldn’t be as well-communicated.

They have their prejudices and their hurt-from-being-prejudiced-against in common!

They’re the same…because they’ve both felt what it’s like to be treated like they’re not “the same.”

Nick isn’t the only character being mistreated and written off because of his species. The whole first half of the movie is about Judy being mistreated and written off. They think she can’t be a cop because she’s little and cute and a prey-animal. They think Nick can’t be trustworthy because he’s sneaky and small and a predator.

So literally…if Judy represented one race, and Nick represented a completely different race…the movie would be saying that both those races are discriminated against. They even have discrimination in common. AND, if Nick represented men who people make assumptions about because he’s a man, and Judy represented women who people make assumptions about because she’s a woman—the movie would be saying that both those genders are falsely judged.

I mean. Wow. Right now, your movie is either pro-woman or pro-man. Right now, your movie is either BLM or white-supremacy. Everybody’s lining up on one side of the line or the other. Zootopia says, “it doesn’t matter what character you’re looking at, from the elephant that can’t remember anything to the two main characters—every single one of them has fundamental things in common, and one of those things is that they all live like they’re in their own special category. When actually, they’re all fundamentally the same.”

I don’t want to keep beating the dead horse. But I have a post somewhere that lists every background character and points out that each animal is the exact opposite of what you would assume they are based on their animal-stereotype. The otters are never shown being playful or snuggly, only traumatized and ferocious. The cheetah is fat and slow, not quick or even quick on the uptake. Etc.

Even if you look outside of characters—look at the sets. Look at the environments. The whole city is designed “for animals, by animals.” But it’s in neat little segments. The animals organize themselves by habitat. Of course, in one sense that’s practical—the polar bears can’t live in Sahara Square, etc. but the point is, by making Judy and Nick, the main characters, small animals, in a city where everything is built to accommodate by species—UGH this is so good—they have to figure out how to problem-solve in situations that weren’t made to accommodate them.

Little Rodentia? Judy has to avoid stepping on all the mice or knocking over their buildings. Parking tickets? She has to figure out how to jump to reach bigger animals’ windshields—or she inconveniences smaller animals because the tickets are all printed at the exact same size. Stuck in a cell? The guards didn’t think about the fact that small animals can fit down the pipes made to accommodate big animals.

Zootopia is a city advertised to be where all the animals can come together. But the way they do that is by trying to accommodate every species’ preferences. So then actually while they try to come together, everything from their cars to their districts remind them of their differences. The whole idea is that they prioritize the wrong truths. Yeah, mice can’t drive giraffe cars—but they still have “driving” in common. See?

And oh my word. Initially it was supposed to be a spy story. But they changed it to a buddy cop story. Why? Well because justice doesn’t discriminate. Or at least, it’s not supposed to. So then there’s another lens to look at the story’s main theme through.

It’s just that every layer, every perspective you look at the movie from, is just hammering that truth into you: “Try to make the world a better place by realizing we’re fundamentally the same.”

2. Perfect Characters

Every character is so well-thought-through in this movie, even the side characters. You get the feeling you could watch a whole movie based on the side characters, because that’s the amount of love and nuance built into them.

Look at the main ones, though. Bellwhether is supposed to be soft and a follower. She’s a sheep. Instead, she’s hard and bitter—and she’s a leader. A villainous leader, but a leader, nonetheless. Even as she tries to keep animals divided based on fear of their stereotypes, she’s not fitting her own stereotype. Her voice actress has this strained, half-hoarse, but sweet voice. Like you can tell that this character has spent a lot of time under pressure and trying to manage appearances. Appearing like she’s fine, and she can handle it—until you realize that the appearance she’s really managing is “the cultural fear-based identify of the city.” They dress her in plaid and flowers and she’s a farm animal, because that’s the kind of character Judy would be most likely to trust. But she still has green eyes, and jagged teeth, so that when she does start making evil expressions there are some caricature-pieces in there that come out and accentuate that.

Nick Wilde—everybody’s favorite—is supposed to be sly and smooth and shifty. And he is. He’s a fox. But he’s also brave, helpful, and trustworthy. The first time you see him is when he’s dodging out of the way of a bigger animal ignoring him and about to run him over. Well, that’s important.

Because Judy knows what it’s like to have to get out of the way of larger animals, because they overlook her.

So right off the bat, this character she has to get along with and work with, this character who furthers her development and nails the main point, is introduced in a way that has something in common with her. But he’s also introduced in a way that gives her an opportunity to focus on a different truth—that he is different from her. Because the sheep is yelling that he’s a “fox.” Right away, we’re back to species-as-identification.

And that’s what the movie does, all the way through. It presents new animal characters, and with those new animals characters, more than one thing is true at a time. And Judy has to try to focus on which truth is more important. “Try to make the world a better place by realizing we’re all the same.” Yes, Nick is a criminal. But Nick is also brave, helpful, and eventually, becomes trustworthy.

Judy, too. Judy is an incredibly well-done character. Because she believes, in her head, that anyone can be anything—which is not what the movie ends on. In fact, she goes from saying, “anyone can be anything,” to saying, “we all have limitations.” It’s not true that a fox can be an elephant. But it is true that a fox can be trustworthy. Figure out what’s true, and try to make decisions for the better, based on that.

I could talk about character design and acting. Ginnifer Goodwin gives just the right amount of smugness and self-confidence to Judy without making her unlikeable—you don’t realize she’s smug and her self-confidence is misplaced until she does, when she fails to make the world a better place for Nick.

Judy wears tight, actionable, well-fitting uniforms for the whole movie. In her civilian clothes when she comes to Zootopia, she’s wearing athletic t-shirts and shorts. Ready for action, that’s Judy, even in her civvies. Meanwhile, Nick? Nick wears loose-fitting clothes. Loud, patterned clothes that don’t match. Like he didn’t even what, ladies and gentlemen? Like he didn’t even TRY. “Try to make the world a better place…”

Because when you meet Nick Wilde, he’s long since given up on trying, in life. So his character design reflects that. He rarely even stands up straight, or opens his eyes all the way—his default is drooping. And guess what?

When Judy “gives up?” Quits her job? Goes back home? Stops trying? Her civvies aren’t ready-for-action, trying clothes. They’re loose flannels. And her “ears are droopy.”

SERIOUSLY, you can find things like this in every corner of the movie. For every character. Not one character is a throwaway, not in voice acting, not in design, not in animation, and not in narrative.

3. Visual Appeal

Which leads me into this point—no other animated anthropomorphic animal movie is as visually appealing as Zootopia.

What Zootopia does is it matches the best of the best anthropomorphic animal designs from past Disney movies:

And they marry it with this incredible intentionality with modern CGI.

Did you know Disney invents its own software for things like fur textures?

The sheep’s wool, the velvet pig skin, the fox fur, the bunny fluff—it’s all completely different textures. There’s no one “fur” covering all the hairy mammals.

Nick isn’t just orange. He’s orange with deep red and dark tufts. Judy has black tips to her ears, too—which helps the two of them look like, in some sense, they belong “together” in every shot.

It’s so important to the movie that the animals feel like animals that they worked this hard to do this. And then that extends to the textures of the snow, the ice, the sand, the wet leaves, the grass, the fire.

Every character moves like their animal, and like themselves. Nick and Gideon are both foxes, but they don’t move similarly at all. Gideon is aggressive and glowering and physical. Nick, again, is slouchy, leans on everything, completely non-confrontational.

Other anthropomorphic animal movies like Sing or Puss in Boots—they’re not doing both as well. Zootopia is appealing, without sacrificing realism completely, and without cutting character acting.

The lighting. Nope. This post is too long, I can’t talk any more.

4. Earnestness

There is no disingenuous moment in this movie.

The animators are never lazy. They always go for the challenge. They don’t cut corners. Have you ever seen “Over the Hedge?” I like Over the Hedge. But I watched it recently and it’s crazy how many shots are strategically placed so that the animators don’t have to solve a certain effects problem.

For example, when RJ sprays Hammy with cool whip to make it look like he has rabies? He doesn’t. You never see the cool whip leave the can. It just cuts away, then cuts back when RJ is pulling the can away from his face. The shots are also cut so that you never have to see gas actually come out of Stella—and you never see Vern’s full body as he gets back into his shell, just the upper part of the shell as he wiggles it around, going through the motions of putting it back on.

That’s because that stuff would be painstaking to animate. Any time one character has to interact with props or substances (especially liquids) that are not part of their model, it’s harder on the animator.

Zootopia? We’re getting full-on views of characters getting wet, fur and all, characters touching various objects and elements, foam coming out of the mouth, new clothes, new set pieces, multiple models, huge crowd shots of different animals in different outfits, all with their own movement patterns and acting.

And all that hard work and effort, aimed so totally at the main theme of the movie? Making sure it looks as good as it can? Not just that, but the way it’s written, the acting, is so genuine. They don’t hold anything back. They don’t shy away from real emotion.

Judy Hopps’ apology scene is brutal. She’s crying, having a hard time finishing a sentence, her voice is all tight. It’s not pretty, it’s not romantic, it’s like…ugly crying. And her character is wrong in a super embarrassing way. They're not afraid to go there. The writers, the actors, the animators—they’re not afraid of being too vulnerable with these character flaws.

So many movies, especially kids’ movies today—they just pull up and shy away from being real through their characters. They think a quick sad facial expression will get the point across. And it does. The audience gets that the character feels sad about whatever the circumstance of the scene is. But not as powerfully. Because you didn’t put as much work and heart into it.

Zootopia is all heart, from work ethic to vulnerability to the filmmakers enjoying what they’re doing, enough to make it as good as it can possibly be. I can’t explain it better, other than to say, you feel like they would’ve been happy making this movie much much longer than it was. You feel like they’re cramming every bit of joy and passsion into every little joke, every side character, every hair on a CGI bear.

There you go. Long post, you did ask for it

[mantequillamcwhoremick]

Probably a common Kenny question but how do you think he'd react/feel if someone admitted to him that they're fully aware of his curse but never said or mentioned anything about it?

LMAO you've hit the spot hahahah I literally have an almost finished Fic Wip exactly about this topic so I've given it LOTS of thought.

Okay first and foremost: Kenny isn't a very reactive guy. He's pretty good at keeping his negative emotions in check, probably owed to his upbringing where he always had to be the sane, calm and collected one to endure his home life (parentification let's go!!!). Instances like in the Coon & Friends trilogy (where he lashes out at Kyle) are pretty unique and rare, the only other time he gets similarly angry and acts on it happens in "Poor and Stupid" where Cartman mocks both NASCAR fans and people in poverty.

Deadass when his friends ditched him for Halloween bc he couldn't afford a phone for the e-scooter (ep "The Scoots") he wasn't even mad, even though he had every reason to be. He was just sad. Similarly in Post Covid; he revealed he'd been pissed at his friends for giving up on their broship, but what did he do? He studied and researched for decades how to go back in time and fix it, and post-mortem he left the option open for THEM to continue his work.

My headcanon is that he tried and learned to be the calm one so Karen could have some semblance of stability in their home, but this situation you're describing wouldn't require him to stay strong for Karen (unless it's Karen that would remember his death). I'd say this is a pretty solid conclusion, drawn from his behavior in episodes like "The Poor Kid" and "The City Part of Town" (which ig are the only Karen and Kenny centric episodes lol). I still think (because of "Going Native" and how he handled Butters' emotional issues) that Kenny simply defaults to understanding and a rational caretaker role, no matter the person. Heck, he was even kind enough to leave Cartman his PSP (ep "Best Friends Forever") because he feels bad for Cartman's loneliness. If you have empathy with an IRL Cartman, there's no one you wouldn't be understanding with.

Having an analysis of Kenny's temper tendencies out of the way, I'm gonna move on to the next statement: I think it might slightly depend on WHO this hypothetical person was, the one who "admitted to him that they're fully aware of his curse but never said or mentioned anything about it."

There's two main reasons that this could even happen:

1: The person is so freaked out by this situation that they were afraid to say anything for a long time, they possibly even thought they might be insane and imagining things

2: The person is Cartman

And because I kinda analyzed this in my fic (not yet published), I'm gonna reference it a little and explain my decisions.

The fic's premise is that in a sudden turn, Butters remembers Kenny's last death. Butters freaks out when he sees Kenny come back and after initially lashing out at Kenny thinking he's a ghost coming to haunt him (like in "The Death of Eric Cartman"), he later apologizes to Kenny, concluding he just imagined his death and is insane. (Butters has been conditioned to not trust his mind & brain, assigned mental disorders when there's nothing wrong with him in the aforementioned episode as well as in "City Sushi", so I felt that this makes sense) This makes Butters a perfect contestant for scenario 1.

What did I have Kenny do? Well, in my fic Kenny is overjoyed to finally have someone that would believe him about his curse, but that's not the scenario you provided. But given Kenny's temper patterns and savior complex/caretaker tendencies (gestures at the entire Mysterion arc and anything to do with Karen, including the TFBW DLC "From Dusk Til Casa Bonita", and also "Going Native" where he swiftly accepts his role as support system for Butters), I find it pretty solid to assume he would show a lot of understanding for why the person didn't say anything before. It's a lot to digest to watch someone die, even more if they just... come back? And everyone else acts like nothing happened? On SEVERAL occasions?? Like, Kenny is the first to relate to that sentiment. He'd be understanding about everything the person would be confused & distressed about, and also the reasons why they didn't say anything before.

After Kenny gets his understanding & patient savior complex stuff out of the way, I imagine him slowly going insane trying to figure out WHY this person remembers. That's the second part of the premise in my fic; Kenny and Butters try to figure out why Butters remembers, and why now, and Kenny's main motive is because he wants to find a way for his best friends to remember. The Coon & Friends trilogy proves that Kenny is very distressed by Stan and Kyle not remembering, they mean a lot to him. He feels safer and more comfortable with them than probably with his own family. In my fic, his attempts at figuring out why Butters remembers end up with no results and Kenny slowly starts losing it, lashing out at his friends for feelings of resentment he had long buried and his rational temper control starts cracking more and more. I feel like this is how he'd react in any case of anyone remembering his death, as long as it's not Stan or Kyle. I doubt either Stan or Kyle would ever even wind up as the person to be aware of his curse and not tell him. Especially not Kyle.

Scenario 2 is if Kenny found out that Cartman remembers, has remembered since forever, and never said a word. In my fic (spoiler alert?) Kenny doesn't even deal with Cartman. He just goes straight home to pull out his gun and shoot himself lmaooo he does this because he wants to talk to Satan in Hell and demand answers, bc he doesn't know who else to turn to. In Chaos Plan I have a bit where I describe my take on Kenny's general feelings towards Cartman canonically showing signs of remembering his deaths, and the quote goes like this:

"Kenny often wonders if Cartman does remember his deaths, but is simply too much of a shithead to say anything about them." (Chaos Plan chapter 17)

Kenny is a big "Do no harm but take no shit" kinda guy when it comes to Cartman. He doesn't fight him when it's pointless and prefers to preserve his energy (unlike Kyle), but he does call him out on his bullshit occasionally (at least when it's targeted against Kenny and/or his family). Kenny is also scarily emotionally mature for a 9/10 year old (makes sense bc of his upbringing) so I doubt he'd get his hopes up about ever getting some kind of compassion or collaborative effort from Cartman to figure out what's up with his curse's mechanics. While Kenny and Cartman have an interesting friendship, and Kenny is kind of Cartman's soft spot, I can still imagine Kenny thinking "sure, my luck that the worst possible person remembers my deaths and no one else" and kind of be apathetic about it, kind of like he is by the end of the Coon & Friends trilogy before he shoots himself lmaoooo

So yeah, that's what I think :)) You said the question is common but honestly if it is, then it's for good reason because it's one of the most interesting ones the entire show of South Park has provided. I'm probably biased lol but still, thank you so much for the ask anon <3 I hope you weren't expecting a short answer ahahahahah

[rockrosethistle]

Today I'm thinking about how Henry and Charles are the only two Greek Class members that go by their proper name the whole time. (Everyone else gets nicknames--Francois, Millie, Bunny, and Richard)

They are also the only two characters that are completely honest about their character from the start. Bunny tried to pass himself off as smarter than he is, Camilla more innocent than she is, Francis paints himself as the third party good guy but acts for personal gain, and a Richard is just...all over the place.

But from he very beginning, we learn a couple things about Henry: he is pretentious beyond normalcy and tolerates Richard at best. He deals in calculations rather than emotions, and this remains consistent throughout the book.

We also learn that Charles is the golden boy of the group, and that he is possessive of his sister. And even as his character progresses and he falls further into addiction and general assholery, these remain true. He is still as charming and "protective" as he was before, but these traits take on a new meaning in the context.

These characters are the only ones who never hide behind a nickname (which could be a coincidence but still lines up quite nicely.) They simply don't care. They don't care what Richard thinks of them or anyone else, for that matter. They are secure in their motives and remain so until they become the tragic anti-villains of the story.

It's also worth noting that Charles is the only character who calls Camilla by her nickname, which can almost correlate to him forcing her into the lies. There's some evidence that even though Camilla participated in the...yeah, that she wasn't entirely comfortable with it, and Charles became controlling.

Also the fact that Richard introduces himself right of the bat with his full name and then proceeds to go by his middle name for the rest of the book tells me that he's not telling the whole truth, thus cementing him in his unreliability.

[henrywinterswife]

random tsh theory:

when bunny told richard that henry was “different” because of that car accident he got into - but then said “i THINK that’s what it was. don’t know what else it could’ve been.” it’s clear he’s at least a little unsure. my theory is that henry hasn’t gotten into a car accident, and actually just had a physically abusive father. and i’ll tell you why:

1) the book mentions multiple times how henry drives incredibly fast and recklessly, something he wouldn’t do if he had been in a near-fatal car accident as a child. you’d think he’d drive slowly and nervously.

2) the book also mentions a few times how henry doesn’t care about what his father does or anything - making it seem as though his relationship with his father isn’t strong. it only makes mention that his MOTHER loves him dearly.

his limp-walking, his bad eye, his secrecy over his family and their whereabouts.

just a thought.

[fromtheseventhhell]

I also find it funny that fandom will only accept Lyanna being her non-conforming, wild self in the context of saying that Arya isn't meant to be pretty; Any other day we get back-to-back posts about how Lyanna is actually super traditionally feminine cause she sniffled at a song once, so she's actually more like Sansa. Instead of constantly speaking on Arya and Lyanna, how about you guys reflect on why your standards of beauty for women are attached to how well they perform feminity within the patriarchy?

[i-am-trying-my-best-okay]

Bunny and Richard really are two sides of the same coin. Their parallels haunt me and must be discussed.

They're both liars, the kind of liars that would never give up the lie even if others know they are lying. And they both lie about the same thing; their identity, their money. They shape their lies based on what they idolize, what they imagine a good life to be, and that's why they appear to be such different people; they glorify different ways of living.

Bunny grew up around a family that wanted so much to embody the "all american family dream", even when their finances crumbed around them. He learned from how his parents lied, how they tried to keep up appearances no matter what. It would make sense for him to consider this "all american" "new money" ideology the standard of happy living, as that's what he sees his parents chasing so desperately, forcing him to lie along side them. It didn't matter if people really knew, but if they ever get a glimpse behind the curtain, if what they suspect is confirmed, then that would be a disgrace; at least that's what he'd been told.

While Bunny has all these outer influences shaping his lies and what he should want in life, that's not so much the case for Richard. Richard grew up in an environment filled with dullness, cruelty, and neglect. Unlike Bunny who holds tight onto his family and his childhood, Richard isn't someone who wants his childhood and family to define him, Mr "I'm unable to recall much about it at all". So he ignores his childhood, lies about it to others, but despite his efforts his childhood does have influence upon his actions. Richard didn't have people growing up; he defined his father as mean and his mother uncaring about him, with no one at school that liked him. This paints a gloomy picture, of Richard stuck in an environment of an abusive father, not caring for him or his mother, and his mother, in turn, not doing a thing to shield him from it, providing no solace even if the father wasn't there. He couldn't find relief at school either, with no one there to be his friend. He couldn't even find escape in the things around him, the town he grew up in was small with not much going on. Richard had nothing in the outer world he could find solace in, nobody that cared about him. So the only source of happiness and escape Richard could find was to go within himself, to imagine a different life. One filled with glamour and riches, with interesting people that he would get to know. He valued and longed for a life that seemed as opposite from his own as he could imagine, while Bunny valued a life that he's constantly told he already had despite not. Before Richard knew it, this mental escape for him became the lie he'd tell people.

It is because of all of this that ends up shaping their lies, but not only that, it shapes how they perceive others with their lies.

For Bunny, not only did his parents get him to lie about their entire living situation to keep up appearances, but they also made it necessary for his survival. While they sent Bunny away to his fancy schools, they wouldn't give him the basics; money for food, for textbooks, for anything he'd need. And so Bunny did what was expected of him; he lied. He would've had to target kids he knew would have money, charmed them, and then tricked them into buy him things, just like in his college years. To do this, he would've had to be very perceptive about people, to know who would be an easy target and what buttons to press to get what he wants. Bunny has the potential to know people very well through solely observation; he knows what to target about each of the members in his history class when he provoked them. But Bunny only feels the need to know someone as far as it would help him get what he wants out of them, not much beyond that. To know people is about survival to him. So Bunny is very perceptive of people, yet utterly uninterested in them, so that stops him from really knowing them.

For Richard, other people were a means of fantasy from him, another thing to assist his mental escape. His mind searches and craves for romanticization, and he seeks out people that would assist his imagination in this. While Bunny is able to surround himself with people with his lies, Richard quietly builds up a fantasy about people in his head, leaving him usually on the sidelines despite desperately wanting to act out this play he'd imagined. His mind gets stuck on people and scenarios, and once he builds a person up in his head, it's hard for him to deviate from this image. So Richard is very interested in people, but only for romanticization purposes, so he doesn't really know them. Both Bunny and Richard only like people as much as they can serve them, just having different priorities as to what that means. As a result, they both end up very lonely most of the time, even when they find themselves around people.

These two have the potential to understand one another better than anyone, but to do that, they'd have to drop their lies, and neither is capable of that.

[ashethewitch]

Honestly the more of a jerk jax turns out to be the more I like him.

He could still be a tortured soul who uses his jackass humor to cope but he’s undeniably morally grey now.

His character is so fascinating and can go in so many different directions and I would love each of them and I can’t wait to see what gooseworx does with him

[tokiro07]

Undead Unluck ch.231 thoughts

[Do You Remember~ The 17th Night of November~]

(Topics: criticism - pacing/narrative focus, character analysis - Gina/Feng/Julia/Billy, speculation - Soul/Ruin)

Juggling Glass and Rubber

Damn, Tozuka, you weren't lyin', that Unjustice can sweep the Master Rules!

I'll admit I am a little disappointed by this turn of events because, like I was saying the last several weeks, I expected there to be an extra wrinkle that kept Unjustice from trivializing all of the MR fights, especially the ones that hadn't actually happened yet!

Yusai I was always pretty shaky on, and since she never got much characterization going in, I'm not exactly surprised, but the rest were definitely bummers

I've said before that I'm fine with skipping the Sick fight since Rip and Latla's climax already happened, but it's not like there was nothing to be done with it, like focusing on Sick's desire for revenge or having Rip look back on the mistakes he made in L100

Same thing with Billy and Tatiana's reunion - technically the climax of their joint arc was at the end of L100 when they promised to stay by each other's side until death, but I always thought of that as the setup to an upcoming payoff, not the payoff itself. It's definitely still salvageable here, but I think having Tatiana come in to save Billy when he's having trouble would have felt a lot more cathartic if it was focused on and analyzed rather than just...happening. Some insight as to why Billy was having trouble using Unjustice, like perhaps being overloaded with too many new Rules or reconciling with the choices he'd made, would have given Tatiana something internal to save him from as well as something external

I guess my issue here is that we're not really getting to see the effects that Remember is having on the cast as a whole, which I think would have better served as the focus here. I don't know if it's that Tozuka has been given a set number of chapters to work with by Jump or what, but it seems likely that Tozuka had ideas for how he wanted to execute everyone's arcs and fights but had to prioritize who to give the lion's share of the focus to for the sake of maximizing narrative impact

Case in point, the characters who he did manage to analyze here each had a pretty unique interaction with Remember

Remember Who You Are

Despite how brief their scenes are here, I do think that Gina and Feng's moments illustrate Remember's value remarkably well

Gina starts referring to everyone by the old nicknames she used for them in L100, only to amend "L'il Lucky" back to just "Fuuko," directly demonstrating the mental gap between the present and past. Gina naturally picks up her old habit, but isn't restricted by it. The respect and love she has for Fuuko goes beyond what can be expressed by a cute nickname, and those feelings were forged through L101 Gina's relationship with Fuuko. It's subtle, but it's a nice little cherry on top of Gina's arc

Feng, meanwhile, is noted to be getting stronger as Time ages him. This could be taken two ways: either he's stronger because of Remember and Time misread the situation, OR because Feng knows that he would have spent his time training and improving, his body, mind and soul are developing proportionally rather than being aged in a vacuum. The latter is thematically appropriate to countering Time's philosophy that age's function is to weed out those who have outlived their usefulness, while the former is a direct result of all of Feng's accumulated years across loops compounding simultaneously. Could be a little of both, honestly

What's even better about Feng's moment, though, is what he says in response to Julia's help: "I'm not deserving of your charity." In the past, Feng definitely would have been mad about getting help, resenting the idea that anyone thought he couldn't hack it on his own, but that's not what he said here. He believes he's done nothing to earn Julia's aid, that whatever Time was going to do to him, he had coming, and this is certainly because he remembers what he did. All of the people that he's ever killed, the lives that he ruined, especially his own son's, he now knows and can look back on from the perspective of having just abandoned the mentality he had back then

If Feng still believed in individual strength before receiving Remember, he probably would have looked back on the failures of his past as the results of his own physical weakness, not because of a flawed philosophy. Instead, Feng has already proven that he's stronger now after learning the true value of his age and legacy, so while he can still improve thanks to the lessons he can learn from his past self, the current Feng is able to retain his new outlook because he has an objective point of comparison that this was the farthest he ever made it

These are the sorts of subtle advancements I wanted to see from the whole cast, and again, while we still can see them, I think having a chapter dedicated to showing each little vignette would have been more effective than either breaking them up like this or showing such a notable imbalance between them

At the very least, though, even without being the primary focus of the chapter, Julia's interaction with Remember is far and away the most interesting one

Welcome Back, Juiz

Julia's behavior just before and after Fuuko actives Remember easily provides the most contrast of everyone and best demonstrates the tremendous growth rate that Remember allows

Prior to Remember, Julia was only able to use Unjustice involuntarily. To great effect, mind you, but still by accident: first when she stopped Soul's attack, and (seemingly) second, when she used it to reduce the damage of Soul's attack and ride it back to the surface. It's not explicitly stated that that's what happened here, but if Soul's intention was to kill Julia with that, he really dropped the ball, so I choose to believe that his bloodlust was negated by Unjustice

Afterwards, Julia was using Unjustice like a pro. She dropped War down a phase, got Time to bring Feng back to his prime, and even got Death to take out Luck, a feat that Fuuko objectively wouldn't have been able to accomplish with Unluck alone since Luck would have been able to avert Death's inadvertent attack with his good fortune. The most impressive part to me, though, is that she was able to channel Unjustice into her soul!

By putting Unjustice in her saber, Julia effectively injected Unjustice directly into Change's body, ensuring that she couldn't live by her own philosophy of constant change, even if Julia wasn't physically there to make visual contact. Juiz never learned soul manipulation, and Julia only just now mastered Unjustice thanks to her memories, so the fact that Julia was able to integrate those two abilities into such a high level technique is proof that her current self has in no way been overtaken by Juiz's memories, the most major worry that everyone had for Remember's use

That's not to say that none of Juiz's experiences made it to Julia, she still did remember Juiz's entire life after all. Beyond just Juiz's techniques and physical abilities, Julia went from panicking over Soul's attacks and Victor's injuries to calmly and confidently taking out the MRs one by one. She knows now what she's capable of and the weight that she carries, and she remembers what kind of relationships she had with everyone else. This is likely why she went to Billy first - both to give him access to Unjustice to make him stronger and to remind him that, despite their pasts, they aren't enemies anymore

The look of shock on Billy's face suggests that he was paralyzed by the realization of his past actions, and it's Julia's words that snap him back into the present and bring a smile back to his face. That's really what I was talking about earlier; giving Billy an internal conflict with his memories would have provided an angle that no one else really had while also allowing him a stronger character moment with both Julia and Tatiana

Still, even if it's a weaker moment than it could have been, I do appreciate Julia's direct acknowledgment of Billy as an ally, as it at least subtly harkens back to their previous encounter. Where previously Billy stole Unjustice and lost the ability to use it after Juiz had some time to think about his motivations as an enemy, this time Julia is willingly entrusting Unjustice to Billy as an ally

Actually, I wonder if perhaps that's why Tozuka had Billy fail to use Unjustice on Sick, because he is still fighting that internal conflict...for now, I'll choose to believe that Tozuka has that in his back pocket, but I won't be redacting any of my criticisms until he makes good on that, as this review is based on my immediate interpretations and I don't want to erase all of this and redo it...

Along the same lines, not only does Tozuka still have a backdoor for analyzing Billy, he also still has one for giving us some more cool moments for the rest of the Master Rules as well

Put Me Back in, Coach!

Despite one-shotting seven MRs all at once, Julia didn't actually manage to clear the field. The Union's gearing up to face Sun, but they seem to be forgetting: they didn't actually beat Soul. He's still in the Roundtable Room, and he's undoubtedly more pissed than ever

I'm not sure if I would have caught this on my own before seeing their post on this, but Webmantis on twitter pointed out that the MRs' souls must all have been sent to Subspace, the cosmic waiting room that all souls go too between loops. They note that, since Soul hasn't entered Phase 3 yet, he'll most likely be able to bring everyone back

However, they also note that doing so would be an odd narrative choice, as it would make Julia's steamrolling seem kinda pointless. Why bother killing off a bunch of characters just to revive them in the next chapter?

Fortunately, I think I've come up with the perfect answer to that very question!

Firstly, it's to show off Julia's post-Remember Unjustice; we were promised a sweep, and Tozuka made good on it in spectacular fashion. Second, and more importantly, their deaths are necessary for Soul to reach Phase 3

Fuel for the Fire

You may recall from a few weeks ago that I described the mechanism that the MRs use to reach Phase 3 is absorbing their Rule directly: Change absorbed the change in her shape when she was cut in half, Time absorbed Shen's lifespan, War absorbed Billy and Tella's violence, Justice absorbed Yusai's resolve, etc. This is why Death only just now reached Phase 3, because no one was dying the entire battle until she was forced to personally kill Luck, and Luck was likely being prevented from absorbing any fortune by Unluck

So now that all of the MRs other than Soul are dead, their souls are free of their vessels. I don't know if their vessels were actually preventing Soul from accessing their souls, but since he seems to consider the others his friends, he probably didn't want to resort to absorbing them either way, but now? It doesn't matter if he could or couldn't before, now he has to, otherwise it's all for nothing

Now, the question may be how he'll be able to reach them. Webmantis' proposition was that reaching Phase 3 would give Soul access to Subspace, but I'm saying that he won't be able to reach Phase 3 without the souls that are there - that's a pretty clear logical paradox

Well, not to speculate too much, but I think we already have our answer to that one too: Soul's finally going to change

Another topic I've been going on and on about lately is the stagnation and inflexibility of the Rules, the most notable being Soul's rejection that souls are connected. However, Soul saw that new facet of his Rule be added in real time, by Negators that aren't even his vessel. The only one who should have control over his Rule is himself, and yet he's seen others interact with their souls through reinterpretation time and again (Andy vs. Ghost, Gina vs. Change, etc.). In other words, he should know full well by now that his Rule isn't as set in stone as he once thought, and if everyone else can control their souls through their perspective, then why couldn't Soul himself?

With the lesson that Julia just taught him about souls, Soul can connect himself to his fallen comrades and drag them back from Subspace (or prevent them from reaching it in the first place), and achieve Phase 3 by adding their souls to his own. Whether this would mean gaining power over their Rules or reviving them is another question, but at the very least it would show tremendous growth in his character

I'll go into more detail on this if it comes to pass, but Soul learning to change his perspective on his Rule would make him more like the Negators, more like a human. This would also make him the most well-rounded and developed UMA to date, which I think would more than make up for any loss of characterization among the rest of them

Now, I would definitely prefer that he brings back the MRs, if only so we can see Luck's Phase 3 (c'mon, he's Fuuko's foil for cryin' out loud!!!), but even if he just integrates them into himself, I think that would create the perfect parallel to give the final member of the Union a chance to demonstrate his growth

The Man Who Would be King

While fighting Soul, Sun and Luna are all clearly the most important boxes to check off right now, there's still one more that Tozuka alluded to in this chapter: Ruin's return

How Remember will affect him exactly, I won't speculate on, but I think it will give him the final push he needs to join the Union and help fight God. If my previous speculation about Soul comes to pass, then that would make Soul the ideal matchup for Ruin

Not only would they have the parallels of being "multiple souls in one body," it would also be the ultimate payoff to Ruin's designation as The King of Negators. If Soul is Master Rule #1, then it's Ruin's destiny as the Negator King to negate all of the Master Rules in his reformation and rebellion against the God he so thanklessly devoted his life to

This would also present the opportunity for Ruin to reform the MRs too and unify both Negator and UMA as I've speculated on before, but again, I don't want to go too far into it here. As it stands, this is just me making things up, and I don't want to either raise my hopes too high OR preemptively run out of things to say, but the parallel is so interesting that I can't help but get excited by the possibility

Conclusion

As always, it's entirely possible that I'm wrong about all of this. Maybe Soul's gonna try to go Phase 3 and self-destruct because of Unjustice; maybe Soul is gonna fuse with Sun in Phase 3 and they'll become "SOL;" maybe Kururu's going to use Unchaste to aggro Sun into shooting Soul dead. I don't know. There's always a chance that what we get isn't as interesting as what we envision; the best we can do is be open to what we do get rather than insisting it has to be the way we want

If there's one thing I hope I've gotten across with this review, it's that I don't want to get hung up on the negatives, but I also don't want to just ignore them either. I am disappointed that certain plot points are being glossed over, and that's a valid response for any of us to have, but I'm not going to go so far as to say this was a bad chapter because of it. Good things definitely still happened within this chapter, and there's plenty of chance that good things will come out of what this chapter set up

As I said, all there is to do now is be patient and open-minded. If this ends up just being a lull in an otherwise fantastic finale, so be it. If it ends up being the start of a rushed mess, so be it. The only way to know is to be there to see it

Until then, let's enjoy life!

[bananonbinary]

here's your periodic reminder that fan creators do not owe you anything, and if someone does or does not want to draw/write something, it literally is not an attack or moral judgement of the thing, they are allowed to have preferences.

[purplepeptobismol]

Tyler the Creator is actually so real for releasing ‘Like Him’ specifically for me so I can finish writing chapter 9/10/11 because my god— you’re telling that’s NOT Kenny and Cooper’s theme song?!?!

Their appearances, their personalities, their parallels, their freaking shared IMMORTALITY! He IS like him! Father and son!

And Kenny sees himself in his son…

But also, could you consider how Kenny sees Butters in Cooper? GOD! 💔

It makes me want to cry. You guys have no idea how insane I’m going

We’ve established that ‘Another Believer’ is the fic’s theme song… but ‘Like Him’??? Yeah baby, that’s Cooper’s theme right there.

[context]

[decorabnuy]

this is actually one of my favorite Mafuyu cards of all time. yes i may be biased cuz i love decora fashion, but i also really like the meaning of this card + the fashion choice overall. this card is part of the Portray Yourself gacha, which already explains a lot of things about decora kei as a whole.

decora fashion is all about expressing your true self, without caring about what is expected of japanese society, showing to the world the person you are via colorful and bright accessories to express how much you want ppl to see who you truly are

and for Mafuyu, someone who highly struggles with her sense of identity and showing her true self, it means a freaking lot that she's seen wearing decora kei. she's getting out of the portrait in a way to finally let herself be seen by others in the way she truly is (demonstrated by the decora fashion), putting on bold and colorful accessories to show that she isn't scared of showing who she truly is, I like that she's even surprised by it! like "am I really doing this? showing the world who I really am? is this right?" and ofc it is!! in this part of the story she's finally thinking about going against her mom and say who she finally is, without telling any lies, and her wearing decora kei in this card is the way of doing so, of rebelling against her mom, against what ppl "think is right" for her, just like what decora fashion is all about

I also like some small details like Mafuyu looking at the heart hairclip, which I've already explained that the heart is mafuyu herself (like in the Saying Goodbye to my Persona event), which can be seen as her reflecting over her own life choices and even the choice of wearing this kind of clothing in a way to express herself and rebel. and also the cat with bunny ears! like the cat (mafuyu) is trying to pretend to be someone that they aren't deep down, that's why the bunny ears are there

this card is so so good and i love it so much thank you for listening

[my-name-is-bunnyfoxy]

Okay this has  been on my mind for quite a while and I decided to finally share it here  but-

Am I the only one who thinks Bigger Body Dogday hated- wait no- RESENTED his role as the leader?

It's has been established time and time again that Dogday is the leader of the Smiling Critters. In his character description he is described as sunny, strong and a determined leader who the other critters seem to trust and believe he can always find a solution in any problem or challenge they have to face. And I imagine that's what the scientists and workers that knew and were apart of the Bigger Boddies initiative wanted from the bigger body Dogday and the other critters. To be EXACTLY like their cartoon counterparts.

We have learnt thru tapes and other information that we got that the workers at Playtime CO abused and mistreated the toys, and in my opinion I don't think Dogday was safe from them either. They could have also easily mistreated and abused him as well. I headcannon that him and Catnap had it the worst out of all the other Smiling Critters.

Like I mentioned, Dogday is the leader, so I feel like it's pretty easy to imagine and conclude that he was most likely the first Smiling Critter to be created. Since the other Smiling Critters weren't created yet, Dogday had to do basically every single job at Playcare and I doubt it was easy at all. But the employees pushed him to do his job and pressured him or they would threaten to harm her. so Dogday had no other choice but to do what they said. I also headcanon that Dogday did multiple jobs at Playcare, helping at the school, entertaining, playing and make sure the children were safe in the Playhouse, being a protector to them, a watch dog to be specific, a voice of reasoning, the sole care-taker and probably various other things. Dogday hardly had any time to himself or was even able to take care of himself at all. He probably didn't also have the time to priotize self-care, like eating healthy, showering or even sleeping properly. He always had to be on high guard and make sure everyone was safe and cared for, all the while the workers were mistreating him. Even after the other Smiling Critters were created, it still wasn't easy for Dogday. Now he suddenly had to take care of not only the children, but also the other Bigger Boddies and make sure they weren't harmed and weren't the target of the company's abuse. He might have taken most of the abuse or mistreatment from the workers just to make sure the others weren't hurt. He probably had multiple injuries that he had to hide away and fix up himself. This is also why I think Dogday's voice sounds so deep. One idea I have behind his voice box is that he originally had a voice similar to the cartoon version but he might have done something that the company deemed ''wrong'' and punished him. They legit took his mistake or whatever he has done so seriously to the point his music box got damaged. They tried their best to fix it but Dogday was left with the voice he has now. The workers had the audacity to  get angry his voice made some of the kids frighten or trigger them because it was more echoey and loud.

A headcanon/theory I have seen a few make and is also one I had is that Dogday was one of the Counselor's. Well, I feel like if he did become one, everything became a lot harder and stressing. He was now considered a sort of 'higher' rank employee which was just an excuse to throw even more responsibility at him and shove it down his throat. Like even if he did have a job that was his main one or whatever, Dogday still had so many other jobs to deal with and take care of. On top of all that, there were also the scientists who were experimenting on him and studying him. He hated it. He is treated as one of the company's favorite toys and yet they put him thru so much stress and exhaustion.

Dogday does everything he can to make sure the children at Playcare are safe and taken care of. he would not allow the workers to try and harm them in any way imaginable. He would especially not allow them to try and turn them into mindless experiments like himself. He also tried to help the Smiling Critters the best he could and make sure they were also safe and weren't harmed at all. Often being the one who is taking the beating and or torment just to make sure his friends are safe.

Dogday never got time for himself and was forced to put everyone elses needs over his own. I also wanna throw in that if Dogday was a child, then he was most likely forced to mature really fast without the assistance of any older figure to help him navigate thru everything. Even if he was an adult, there was clearly a lot of pressure still pilled up on him.

Now, despite everything, despite the hell he was put thru, he still didn't agree regarding the The Hour Of Joy. I personally believe Dogday was originally on board with it, just so the experimenting and torture would stop. He thought that was going to be the plan. But when he learnt they were planning to harm the innocent, Dogday quickly went against it, joining Poppy and becoming a heretic. Bonus I headcanon that similar to how Catnap is Prototype's right paw man, or cat, Dogday was Poppy's right paw man or dog in this case-

I feel like around this time, he took his role as leader even more serious as he knew he had to help his fellow critters and all the other toys that were heretics no matter what. That includes making sure none of them starved, they were hiding away from any potential threats, tending to any of their possible injuries and etc. Again, he did not have time to himself and put his own needs aside and focused on everyone else. There is high likelyhood he starved himself just to make sure everyone else had enough to eat and probably also had many injuries like scars, bruises and etc. But he would pritoize everyone elses wellbeing instead of his own.

After losing his legs, being chained inside of a cell at the Playhouse, he tried to find a way to escape, but after everything he had endured and the torment he had felt, at this point, he just wanted to die. He just wanted it all to be over with. He didn't bother trying to escape or anything like that. he was way too exhausted and just wanted to meet his end. He didn't what his fate was, he just wanted to die, brutal or painless, it didn't matter. He had lost all hope and faith and knew that nothing would be better. He didn't even care what Catnap would try and do to him, he was willing to let the feline torture him all he wanted or whatever, he just would not care.

Small hope did come back to him when the Player returned and felt as if there was a chance of stopping everything. While he couldn't do much, the best he could do is give Angel advice and encourage them to keep going to stop the Prototype. In the end, he would meet his fate by having his organs eaten away by the Mini Smiling Critters and them using him as a body vessel. Meeting his end he knew was gonna come to him eventually.

[mantequillamcwhoremick]

Why did you start shipping Bunny? What made you realize their characters had a certain dynamic you enjoyed?

Alright, story time.

My best friend is the one who introduced me to South Park and they started out by showing me select episodes from season 4 and forward, and around the time we were at like season 10ish they informed me what like popular ships exist in the fandom. Namely Creek, Style (I had already seen Tweek x Craig, it was actually the first SP episode I ever watched lmao, and I could kinda see why Style was a thing because they're best friends with lots of moments that CAN be read as romantic), and Kyman (I could also see why it was popular lmao) but when they mentioned Bunny it surprised me. Like these two characters barely/never interact on screen, but my friend just said "Trust, you'll see why later in the show." Instead of waiting to see why later in the show, the idea infested my brain and it clicked anyway.

At first it was just vibes, they seemed sweet and compatible. Let's over-articulate the "vibes" a little further; Keep in mind these are all conclusions I was able to draw about these characters pre season 14 (Pre "Coon & Friends", pre "The Poor Kid" and pre "Going Native".)

These two come from opposite ends of the family trauma spectrum; With Kenny it's neglect, with Butters it's an overly controlled/sheltered environment.

Butters is a yapper, Kenny is a patient listener.

Butters gets cut off/belittled very often for his yapping whereas Kenny isn't one to judge or dismiss.

But Butters isn't the kind of yapper who just likes to hear himself talk; he engages a LOT with whatever someone tells him, and always takes his conversation partner seriously. Kenny is rarely asked for his input, he's rarely ever even referred to directly in a room full of people, but rather just a spectator.

Based on this, I could see Butters rambling to him directly and give importance to Kenny's input and opinions, something we rarely see with anyone else. Funny that this was even confirmed to be true in season 16's "Going Native"

(idk these are just instances that kind of prove to me how Butters values & respects Kenny and his side of things, by either outright saying so or just referring to him in conversation and asking for his input that I rarely see anyone else do. This even gets driven super far in the vaccination special where Kenny is just completely and utterly patronized by his best friends & treated like their child)

So all of these things, without ever even having them seen interact, just made it make sense that these two characters were very compatible in a healthy and sweet way. They both have heavy trauma, but the ways that they cope/express themselves likely wouldn't be triggering for the other. Rather they'd kind of be good for each other to heal; Butters is the least apathetic character in the show, so he wouldn't ever make Kenny feel ignored or neglected. Kenny has seen & lived through enough shit, making him incredibly unprejudiced, he'd never even think to make fun of any of Butters' quirks he's been punished and belittled for.

As I got to the Coon & Friends trilogy and "The Poor Kid" and the whole Kenny lore bomb, something about the two of them being the most tragic characters in the show just kinda fucked my head even worse.

Picking that apart; it was kind of this underlying fact that Butters would believe Kenny about his deaths BECAUSE he's so naïve and gullible. Again, Butters would take Kenny seriously and value his input and emotions, he'd be the ideal person for Kenny to finally relieve some of the burden he's forced to carry alone. Matt and Trey are cowards for not making an episode about this like c'mon seriously it doesn't even need to be romantic

I'm not gonna get further into "Going Native" right now, mostly because the episode speaks for itself, has been probably talked about most in the fandom and kind of confirmed a lot of the things I already assumed about these characters (but if you'd like me to pick it apart feel free to send another ask), so instead I'm gonna tell you why I started going insane over them on a fandom level. Funnily enough, it was the Style-centric fic "The Scenic Route" by Hollycomb.

The coolest thing is Hollycomb actually published The Scenic Route BEFORE "Going Native" aired, and the way that they handled these characters and their relationship still fucking blows my mind. Dude, they're not even the focus of the story. They're a side story. A background ship. I'm not saying the main storyline isn't entertaining lmao but the Bunny background storyline was probably just so much more my taste I think? Especially how imperfect and messed up it started out, continued and went on. It implemented the canon fact that Kenny did kind of just not care about Butters and how his fucked up parents treat him, just like the rest of the town. Like Kenny is kind and all, but he can also be very apathetic and indifferent, and there's lots of instances in canon where the other boys treat Butters like crap and Kenny just watches it happen.

(Episodes: "Good Times With Weapons", "Marjorine", "Cartman Sucks", "Butters' Bottom Bitch" and "The Tale of Scrotie McBoogerballs")

(mind you, they're also just 9 year olds though lmao)

The way Hollycomb wrote how Kenny slowly started caring and falling in love with Butters even though he initially just intended to use him for venting about his own problems just stuck with me so hard. Like yes. That makes so much fucking sense. Kenny needs someone to take him seriously, and he doesn't need that person to be someone he cares about. He picks the easiest person available. But the slow realization that he's started pitying, then caring, and then deeply loving and wanting to help and save this person? That shit hit the SPOT.

Anyways, what I'm saying is that this fanfic was the reason I started thinking about possible ways they could get together and stay together, a lot of them messy and tragic and every bit wholesome as it is entertaining and fucked up. Kenny and Butters' traumatized asses finding comfort in each other is just something that became so special to me. I started out reading & writing Style, but whenever I tried to craft my own fics I'd always be thinking so much about what Kenny & Butters were doing and what their story is until I thought "damn dude why aren't you just writing about them instead". and thus I fell down the rabbit hole. enter chaos plan lol

This is such a tiny part of why I love these characters and why both of them separate AND their dynamic is incredibly comforting and interesting to me, and I haven't even mentioned anything about the many foil/parallel narratives around these two; Kenny & Butters as Kenny's replacement. Mysterion & Chaos. Princess Kenny & Paladin Butters. Philanthropist Dr. McCormick & capitalist scammer Vic Chaos. Especially the last one what the fuck I could write my bachelor thesis on Post Covid Bunny.

Thank you so much for the ask, anon. I'm so happy I got to ramble about my favorite little assholes <3333

[void-detective]

Tragically Beautiful -Serennedy

Small spoilers from Separate Ways

When I first became a fan of Resident Evil I was drawn into the dynamic between Leon and Luis when I was watching RE4. There was so much that I enjoyed the more I got into Re and how much more I understood when it came to the dynamic that the pairing had through their short interactions in scene packs.

Something about Leon specifically that I learned when getting into RE is that he is exceptionally understanding and can't seem to just hate people. Everyone he's ever associated with has had some form of connection to the Umbrella corporation, the same reason he is so traumatized so you'd think he would hate anyone from the organization. But no with both Ada and Luis he does not really seem to hate them in ways that could be understandable for his character, but that's not his nature. Leon was already very suspicious of Luis from the first time they met but they worked off each other naturally when it came to fighting and chemistry. Upon learning that Luis worked alongside Umbrella and was a contributing factor to Racoon City, Leon does not treat him differently no matter the implications that may leave.

@highball66 from all their Cheron posts it is even further pushed that Leon clicks with people he deeply cares about and understands. He makes connections to people a lot emotionally and bonds to those he can sympathize with. This is all my own interpretation of Leon of course but his connection to Chris is incredibly strong, they are in perfect sync and share a chemistry only achieved from years of working even seeming to be connected deeper then they were originally.

In small tidbits of the game play we see Leon and Luis connecting in a somewhat playful manner, from bantering while they are walking around, encouraging each other in fighting and Luis' all to subtle attempts to oogle Leon throughout the game. In the game Luis is hell bent on attempting to repair the damage he did as a result of working with Umbrella but still holds the organization close to his heart as seen with his lighter and the photo. Luis knows he's hurt lots of people and wants nothing more then to protect, in his mind this is making up for his crimes he committed within Umbrella because he is so guilty over the matter.

Through his time with Ada he expresses only worry and persistence on finding a way to cure and save Leon and Ashely from the Plaga. He wants to help them no matter the situation even as he is helping Ada, he is more concerned about them. He barley knows Ashely and Leon but he is constantly running into danger for them, from giving Leon the medicine, running to check on Leon, save the medicine for Leon and Ashley, handing his laboratory key to Leon, and pushing his dying body to save Leon.

Leon is constantly losing people closest to him and no matter who it is, he is deeply affected. From being on the verge of tears during Luis' death to his pained reaction to killing Krauser. Leon was lazer focused on his mission but he was also very caring toward Luis in situations, he is gentle with people and expresses his care as well as he can. He lets himself be open with someone again since he was with Ada and even possibly since Krauser (if you believe they had something in the military) he starts to be less cold and shows his more playful and joking side. He trusts Luis once he actually admits he is in the wrong and tells Leon what he wants to know, he gives him the past details even at the risk of damaging their relationship and at that expense it deepens their bond. Their connection is much more genuine then any other Leon has had since Chris, the importance to Leon is gaining trust again after everything he's been through.

Luis was focused on making things right and becoming a better person but in the process his continuous act of running away from it, is what ended up killing him. His fantasy proved he believes he could be a hero even if it was somewhat mediocre. His entire life changed as he lost people around him as well as a result of Los Iluminado and Umbrella. He holds onto things that may be painful for him but they are still of importance in his heart (his rings as religious symbols and the umbrella photo+his lighter) Luis values proving himself and removing his past, helping others as a way to "make himself feel better."

Both of them became very close during the mission, constantly getting in harms way for the other and gaining a chemistry similar to Cheron. The main theme overlapping with Serennedy is change. How things can change a person for the worse or the best, they express the importance of healing and accepting your past, and they express the importance of trusting. Leon has been through so much with people he's held closest but he chooses to keep helping people because he knows people can change.

I have a feeling he knew Luis could change too.

Anyone can mend their past with the right steps to becoming better.

"People can change, right Leon?"

.

.

"You were a fine knight, Don Quixote.."

[lion-buddy]

YEAHHHHHHHHHH FRIERIN!!!! YEAH YEAH YEAH!!

HEHE wahoo yippee yay,,,,,,,,