#but also it was longer iirc so it had more time to develop the characters and their arcs

[jonny-b-meowborn]

Just read Dead Inside by Chandler Morrison, absolutely wild book, honestly loved it, surprisingly funny for what it's about. It's pretty short, I read it in one sitting in just a couple hours, and there's a lot put into it. I really liked how the author characterized the main duo, they're really just wild asshole people. I loved how much of a dick the narrator is, genuinely awful person, but still very entertaining with his annoying observations. Also the cover art is really beautiful, I love it. Generally great book, wouldn't recommend

[karothefool]

as much as i enjoyed jentry chau vs the underworld, i really wish this first season was longer

the recent trend of seasons being 12-13 episodes gives very little time for character development imo, especially past that of the main plot line

spoilers below the cut, it’s just me ranting about things i would’ve liked to see

i really wish we’d gotten to see more of jentry exploring her powers outside of battle, and not just the portals (which was a fun development!)

one thing i really wanted to see explored more was michael’s powers, and why his parents knew about it? he learns about them one episode, and then the next we’re told he’d been practicing, but we didn’t really get to see that at all

the final two episodes with jentry’s mom and the mogui felt rushed too, with a 24 episode season we could’ve gotten way more exploration of moonie and her relationship with gugu

speaking of gugu, i really think her characterization would’ve been much better if it had more time to develop. i personally just. didn’t really care much when she faded in the last episode. we didn’t see her work to redeem herself after lying to jentry for years, and after HITTING jentry! we were supposed to see her as jentry’s kinda mom when her parents were gone but she just felt manipulative and overall mean :/

also, kit and jentry’s relationship took a sharp turn after kit’s reveal, and i can see the reasoning behind it but, again, it felt rushed

all in all, it’s a super fun show, and i especially loved episode 6 with the reveal of kit as a skin painter and jentry unleashing her powers on big tex! i loved the incorporation of chinese mythology, it was so much fun to learn about it while watching

the character design is so so fun - i really liked the ghost guy, iirc his name is zhongkui? and i loved when ed fought, he was a fun character

i just really really wish they had been given more episodes to work with

(also i was so mad when kit died WHY)

[cloudyskydreams]

Yooo I really like that pregnancy ask and I wanted to suggest a what if! Pure angst and drama if you're up to it.

What if the pregnancy didn't go well near the end because S/O's magic is not very high (to begin with! monsters need both parents iirc to have a health about of magic to make a monster.) A couple of days after the baby bone is born, child protective services (the Canadian version of it.) have to take them to their father stating that the mother is in a coma and is unlikely to recover.

((What a way to start the day. Getting a knock on the door only to find a stranger hold a baby that they were so sure it wasn't theirs. AND their s/o is probably going to die because their SOUL magic was sucked up dry to make the baby. Said baby bones looks a bit unhealthy too because they developed without their pappa's magic and is weakly crying.))

((You can decide of s/o recovers or not.))

hhhhhh you guys need to be movie directors or something because the pure plot and drama being thrown at me recently.

S/O recovers because I like that route better having a free reign relationship with your child only to have the possibility of that taken away when your comatosed ex wakes up.

Holy fuck these turned out longer than I expected so I'm just doing 3 if you wanted a different character feel free to request again! Also the holidays are NOT being kind to me so my updates are probably gonna be wack as I deal with the shitshow I call a family hope you guys enjoy and happy holidays!

Undertale:

Sans: Sees the baby bones and kind of zones out as shock runs through his body. Then he hears the word coma and zones back in. "what?" he has them repeat their entire spiel and his soul stops for a second when he hears what happened. He hesitantly accepts the babybones and cradles him to his chest gently.He's not ready for any of this and his world is collapsing around him as he finishes the conversation with CPS. Once they're gone he takes the babybones inside and simply stares at him for a bit as he rocks him back in forth Infront of the door he hasn't moved two steps from. The baby is whining and looking at him is like looking at an exact replica of himself as a babybones. He takes a few deep breaths and chuckles which turn into a full body laugh which turn into sobs as he cradles the baby to his chest. Why didnt he trust you? He still loved you even though he was convinced you had cheated a part of him desperately hoping he was wrong but now that he knows he was it's devastating. He looks for monster food that would be suitable for a babybones hoping to soothe his cry's and get his bones looking healthier. The entire time he's shaking as he rummages through the cabinets. Finds something akin to applesauce and spoonfeeds the little guy. Goes out and picks up a bunch of stuff (good, toys,clothes ect.)when Papyrus gets home. The first night he can't sleep and simply stays awake watching the babybones all night. He vows he's going to be the best dad ever while staring at his baby boys sleeping face a rush of paternal protectiveness rushing over him. He does a good job at taking care of the baby as he has experience since he had to basically raise Papyrus. He visits you once and the guilt destroys him so badly he can't visit you again. It had been a few months when he received a call. Surprise surprise it's you on the other end having just woken up and wanting to see your child immediately. Sans is more than happy to comply and gets to the hospital as soon as he can with the baby who's looking much healthier. Hesitates outside the doorway as he cradles your guys son to his chest. Possibilities and what ifs running through his head as anxiety starts to simmer. When he enters the room you look so relieved and happy to see him which happily surprises him till he realizes you're probably excited to see your baby. He hands the child over and suddenly your crying, the baby's crying, he's crying, all of y'all crying. He apologizes profusely before you can say anything and says he should have believed you how wrong he was and how sorry he is you had to go through everything alone and his grateful he is to see you again. He understands if you don't forgive him but don't expect to be rid of him because he's absolutely sticking around in his son's life.

Edge:Honestly when he sees the child and hears what CPS has to say he thinks he's having a nightmare. He's dreamt of similar situations where your baby actually turned out to be his nothing quiet like this but it's similar enough he's really thinking he's still asleep. Takes the child and thanks the CPS people for their time before going back inside. Trys to soothe the baby's cry's and rocks him gently in his arms. Checks the clock to make sure he has enough time to get to his next appointment in the day and yeah he's got a good bit, wait.... you can't read time in your dreams. He looks back at the clock and gently sets the baby down on the couch as he does the equivalent of pinching himself. Fuck fuck wait he's not dreaming. A flood of cold numbers rushes over him as he remembers what CPS said... He gently scoops the baby back up and shelves his oncoming mental breakdown as he stares down at his son. When Red gets home Edge recruits him as a babysitter (his thought process being he raised me he can watch a baby for an hour or so (red was absolutely stressed tf out))as he runs out to grab supplies and sort himself out. By sort himself out I mean destroying a chunk of a forest with his magic to workout all his anger and devastation. He trys his best to take care of the babybones his brother surprisingly giving good advice every now and then while he figures out how to be a dad. He's extremely gentle with the child and speaks on the most soothing fatherly tone to the little baby. He visits you in the hospitals bi weekly leaving little messages of memorable moments with the baby and some pictures. A few months goes by and one day he receives a call. It's a very frantic you on the other end and he can't help the immense amount of relief he feels as he hears your voice begging him to see your child. He brings the babybones to the hospital and stays quiet as he watches you two cuddling. He doesn't speak up until you thank him for watching the babybones. Tells you there's nothing to thank him for he was doing his job as a father and then it's quiet for a bit more before he hesitantly approaches and bows his head. He apologizes for his actions, for not trusting you, for everything you had to deal with alone. He's not expecting you to forgive him he wouldn't forgive himself but he does want to be apart of the child's life and immediately says so making sure you're aware of his intentions. Most likely to take you to court for custody of you refuse to let him father his child.

Stretch:Was woken up by the knock and answered the door still half asleep. Hears the story, takes the kid, thanks them and closes the door. It takes him like five whole minutes until he's like wait what the fuck. Holds the baby Infront of him by the armpits and looks at his mini lookalike with horror. Holy fucking shit he was wrong? He's a dad?? YOU'RE IN A COMA?? He gets lightheaded for a second and sits down on the couch with the crying baby in his arms. He hesitantly rocks the babybones not really sure what he's doing and immediately calls Blue. He's shaking as he's on the phone with his brother who says he's on the way. When Blue gets there he shows Stretch which foods the baby can eat and how to care for it. Stretch appreciates the help and kind of throws himself into caring for the child instead of thinking about the fact you're in a coma. He's sleeping on a beanbag chair in the nursery and wakes up as soon as the baby starts crying. Every waking moment is spent caring and playing with the babybones. Sometimes late at night he thinks about you and everything he's lost and missed out on but you've given him the best gift he could have ever asked for, a son. He visits you in the hospital occasionally leaving your favorite flower and pictures of the baby he's taken. Surprise surprise a month later when he gets a call and you're alive desperate to see you're baby. He brings the child and is grateful to see you awake when he hands him over. He immediately apologizes he tells you how wonderful his son is and how much he loves him and begs you to let him be apart of the child's life. He understands if you don't want him back as much as he misses you he fucked up he wasn't there and you almost died because he wasn't. He just loves his kid man he will be there for him and you if you let him.

[transhoverfish]

OK SO IM LATE BUT. MORE SUB3 NEWS!!!

so a few days ago, krafton (their publisher), apparently had this like presentation of their plans over the next like 2 years. and during that they talked a bit about sub 3!

and this obviously creates a LOT of questions. not to worry, though, because unknown worlds added on to this:

im honestly not surprised by this. iirc, when below zero released they said it would be a WHILE before the next game, and they only announced this back in like... january? now, the first game's release was in january, and bz was in may, so it's definitely possible early access with be in spring of 2025. those games did not have multiplayer aspections tho! its possible we'll wait until mid 2025, and full release will likely not be until 2026. but who knows? the first game took like ten to be fully finished!!

and honestly. THANK GOD. i can't imagine any subnautica game having BATTLE PASSES or LOOT BOXES. i would have just straight up ignored this game 😭

i do wonder what these updates will entail! "many years to come" is definitely something interesting to me, because other than bug fixes... i dont remember sub or bz getting many updates post full release. is this referring to bug fixes, or is it implying that it will be in a state of early access for much longer? are they going to just keep adding new things (like the building update for sub1) and taking fandom suggestions? very interested!!

maybe this is an unpopular opinion, but i actually,,,, dont want multiplayer. now i do like bz, and these games arent really intended to be horror games, but also bz is very noticeablely less scary than sub1. and some of it i think definitely has to do with all the extra characters and dialogue. its hard to feel isolated when you know al-an and marg are nearby. so im very happy that it's optional, bc i know i will probably enjoy single player a lot more enjoyable!!

so now... SPECULATION.

so the first thing im curious about that the development team didnt mention:

"uncover the mysteries on an entirely new alien planet"

apprently we are NOT returning to 4546b. which im kind of sad about!! ik the story is very obviously done there, but it feels weird that its going to be some other planet this time around. THERE WONT BE PEEPERS!!!! (well there could be but it would be weird if some other random planet had the exact same lifeforms)

now my next immediate thought is: is this a direct continuation of below zero? my opinion is: no. probably not.

mostly because it mentions up to four players, and robin and alan are, if you look very closely, only two people. now they COULD just create two new characters to go alongside them (my fanfic brain loves the au idea of marg and ryley 🥺) but im just going to assume that with the addition of a new planet, we're going to drop the old storylines. which means no more degasi, sunbeam, aurora, or ayou sisters. we might move away from architects/precursors altogether! (my basis on this is absolutely nothing and i could be wrong, this is 100% just theorizing)

also, i imagine that it would be difficult to keep the plot the exact same with two established characters and then two new ones, depending on how this multiplayer aspect works. if its another crash, it would be a lot easier to just have the extra players die/survive, then try to work in a balancing act of one guy playing al-an.

(also i like keeping the ending of bz vauge. if they show up again, they would have to mention what happened to the rest of the architects, and i think it's much more fun if thats a mystery!)

((also also, im gonna drop a bomb on u all for a second. i actually,,, dont like al-an. i have a deeper connection to probably every single other character in bz. i think they really fumbled al's character and story and he is so incredibly bland to me. it feels like they go nowhere with how he was responsible for the kharra outbreak because the game ends immediately after he confesses! it would be nice to give him another chance, sure, but i personally dread the idea of even more al-an. sorry everyone for this horrible news))

HERE'S A CONCEPT IMAGE

i hope they bring back some cut content creatures for this!! i noticed this new area looks VERY similar to the safe shallows, and several of the fish seem to be variations of ones we've already seen (im already seeing bladderfish and hoopfish color pallettes, and the shark resmbles some early concept art for the shadow leviathan, but with the ice worm's colors...)

will there be more land areas?? is it going to entirely underwater?? more kharra?? NO DISEASE AT ALL?? AAAAAA!!!!

[tobiasdrake]

love your db analysis posts! i'd love to hear your thoughts on ultimate gohan, if you have any. between him having little to no reaction to finding out everyone on earth is dead, and randomly letting gotenks fight buu instead of himself, he did not seem to be the same character at all to me, and iirc even piccolo says so, i just... find it hard to believe a non-rage-triggered power-up would do that to him.

Much like Android 16, I do wonder if there were more plans for Ultimate Gohan that wound up being scrapped by the shift in narrative direction.

We're first introduced to the concept of Ultimate Gohan as the Elder Kaioshin is explaining his abilities.

Gohan's dormant power has long been a recurring attribute of his character. In fact, this isn't the first time he's had an elderly sage draw out his dormant power.

Teaching him to draw out and control his dormant abilities was (stealthily) part of Goku's training with him. That Gohan was finally starting to make it his own and tap into his true ki is the reason for why he was repeatedly unimpressed by Goku's abilities.

Gohan didn't even realize it, but through his mastery of the Super Saiyan, he'd also begun to take control of and internalize the tremendous ki he'd always had stored away in him. And as he came into his own ki, what he could sense of Goku's ki proportional to his own didn't make sense to him.

Super Saiyan 2 was, then, the culmination of Gohan's development. His full power, channeled through the Super Saiyan and its amplifying effects - both for better and, uh, for worse.

But it's been seven years and Gohan's been indulging in his true love of academia, in accordance with the agreement Goku and Chi-Chi made about his future.

Goku may have successfully escaped having to get a job by conveniently dying at the last possible second, but Gohan's future is set on a course. He's going to be an academic. It's what Chi-Chi wants for him, and it's what Gohan wants for himself; Even Goku acknowledges that.

Seven years of rigorous study and zero martial arts practice later, Gohan isn't the guy anymore. In fact, examining just how much Gohan isn't the guy anymore is the whole point of his fight with Dabra.

Goku eyeballs Dabra as being roughly around Cell's power. This allows Dabra to serve as a yardstick for Gohan, so we understand what it means for him when he fails to measure up.

Gohan that was a Zanzoken/Afterimage. Nobody even does those anymore. They became obsolete after ki-sensing was normalized, because everyone can now easily sense which "image" is the real one. The one other time we saw a Zanzoken return post-23rd Tenkaichi Budokai, it was against Frieza, who can't sense ki.

Dabra is mocking you right now. He legit thinks you're so shitty at martial arts that you'll fall for this amateur-hour guff. And he's right.

I kinda feel Geets here. If I had to watch my last chance to ever fight my rival get wasted on this, I'd be losing my mind too. He fucking fell for a Zanzoken; Can I just take over already?

So. Yeah. Full Power Gohan isn't a thing anymore. He can still tap into the form - and for some inexplicable reason so can Goku and Vegeta - but this is no longer Peak Potential. Which is where the Elder Kaioshin comes in.

This is a classic formula of Dragon Ball. We've seen it in the RRA, Piccolo, Saiyan, Namek (twice!), and Android arcs. First, Goku gets the shit kicked out of him - sometimes even to the point of being presumed dead.

While the surviving cast members scurry about trying to find a way to face the bad guy, Goku - sometimes unbeknownst to them, sometimes not - is recovering and preparing to come back stronger than ever. This typically takes the form of some sort of godly trial or ordeal guaranteed to make him stronger than ever.

Then, at the 11th hour when all else has failed and all hope is lost, Goku makes his return to have one last epic battle for the fate of the world/universe/cosmos.

This is the Dragon Ball formula. Has been since the day the Four-Star Dragon Ball saved Goku's life from a lethal Dodonpa. Of course, getting Gohan back up to speed isn't going to be enough, since Majin Buu in his weakest form was able to do this to our Cell-adjacent yardstick.

I wonder what Dabra Cookie tastes like? I imagine it's like the wafer part of a Keebler cookie. Sugary and nice on its own but better with fudge.

So. Yeah. If Gohan's going to throw hands with Buu, he's going to need more than the power he fought Cell with. Fortunately, that's the Elder's specialty, and what makes this different than that other time Gohan had his dormant power drawn out.

That's right, we're limit-breaking again. Not the limits of human ability, the limits of Saiyan ability, or even the limits of Super Saiyan ability; We're limit-breaking Gohan specifically. Elder Kaioshin's abilities can not only draw out Gohan's full dormant ability but push it beyond Gohan's natural limits.

Full Power Gohan? Nah. This is Limit-Breaker Gohan. Not his full potential; Beyond his potential. Something entirely different from the Super Saiyan, but similar enough that he doesn't require much alternative instruction.

Kinda feels like a thing that shouldn't be able to exist, to be honest. After all the time that's been put into things like the strain of the Kaio-ken on a body, the effects of Frieza having power beyond his limits, or even what trying to use Super Saiyan 3 in a mortal body does to Goku in this very arc.

The idea of Gohan channeling ki beyond his limits seems like it should have some drawbacks, doesn't it? We do get some hints that something's weird about Gohan's new power. Piccolo can't even recognize his ki signature in this state.

This form is doing some weird shit to his ki. And, as Piccolo notes, Gohan's harder now. Gohan is here to take care of business, and nothing is going to get in his way.

But. Then. The switch happens. Suddenly, Gohan is no longer the protagonist and we need a way for Majin Buu to suddenly be too much for Gohan to handle. So we go from this:

To this:

In the span of two chapters. All so that Buu can ass-pull a brand new ability that's never once been mentioned before even though Kaioshin will later cop to having seen him do it twice, that will instantly make Ultimate Gohan stop being a solution to this problem two chapters after his debut.

A plan that, in fact, he began putting into place one chapter after Ultimate Gohan's debut. Never in the history of Dragon Ball has a brand new form or ability been obsoleted this quickly.

And then Gohan was basically thrown in the dumpster and this was never spoken of again, with Ultimate Gohan just becoming his new Strongest Transformation in follow-up products. You can feel the climactic final act being aggressively aborted around him, in favor of Goku and Vegeta's third act.

Hell, at one point, Goku even suggests bringing in Gohan to fight Pure Buu. Y'know. Since Ultimate Gohan is the strongest in the universe and all that. But Vegeta nopes it.

No explanation offered. He's just like, "That's not the plot anymore; Try to keep up, Kakarot." To be fair, Goku had a chance to bring Gohan into this too. They're both aggressively elbowing Gohan out of the spotlight here.

Mad disrespect.

[stillness-in-green]

Saw your latest ask answer and the idea the author really wanted destruction to be all shigaraki was meant for reminded me of Loki from the mcu. Spoilers if you haven’t seen the show but in the first episode a Loki from before all his character development is shown his entire life in the mcu and during that there’s a monologue from mobius about how Loki exists only to cause death destruction and suffering but he services of other people so they can become the best versions of themselves. Just was curious if you had any thoughts on how his portrayal and handling compares with shigaraki since horikoshi is such a fan of western media especially comics.

I’m afraid I can’t really weigh in on TV Loki’s presentation because I haven’t watched any of the MCU shows since the Netflix ones.  MCU Loki’s also one of those characters I resent just slightly because their runaway popularity negatively impacted the story of other characters.  (MCU Tony is the far, far worse version of this, but I remember reading that Malekith in Thor 2 had his scenes reduced to make more room for Loki.)

My impression is that their superhero intake is more DC-centric, but I wonder if @linkspooky might have any insight?

That said, I do think, “You only exist for the betterment of other people, none of whom have the slightest chance of improving you in turn,” is a pretty loathsome sentiment.  Like, there’s some leeway there when you’re talking about the narrative role of a villain in the story they occupy, and it does sound like that was meant to be a fourth-wall breaking moment that acknowledges Loki as that villain.  But it’s a vile thing to tell a real person, and therefore a vile thing to tell a character in-story, regardless of how fourth-wall breaking its intention.

It’s also a particularly odd thing to say about Loki, who I understand to be a much more sympathetic figure in the MCU than he is in the comics![1]  Like, the guy who whose father lied to him and weaponized against his original people for centuries?  The guy who was hugely traumatized by the time he spent with Thanos?  The guy who fought on Thor’s side to save Asgard from Hela, who fully supported Thor from then up until being killed by Thanos?  That Loki exists only to cause death, destruction and suffering?  #Yikes

1: This is not to say Loki is totally without redeeming value in the comics!  I haven’t read anything like enough Thor or Avengers comics to say that, and obviously the more recent Young Loki iteration (though himself influenced by the MCU, iirc?) is intended to be sympathetic.  But the baseline Marvel comic Loki I know of is the grinning dude in the bodysuit with the horned helmet and cowl that means you never see his hair, a grown man who delights in causing problems on purpose.  Not nearly as soulful as Tom Hiddleston’s version!

I guess in that sense, it does remind me somewhat of Horikoshi’s treatment of Shigaraki, in that no matter how sympathetic his backstory or what connections he’s made with others or what good he might be capable of doing in the world, he has to be treated as an existence that in the long run can only cause harm, that must only ever be opposed, because to do otherwise would be to upend the entire framework (both in-universe and meta-narrative) in which he exists.

It’s just a really cynical way of looking at a character—that they’re only there for protagonists to level grind against until they’re sufficiently heroic that the antagonist is no longer useful to that purpose, at which point they can be killed or put back away in a box until the story needs them again.  Again, that is what antagonists do in a story, ultimately—serve as a contrast/warning/foil/motivator/whatever all else for the protagonists—but (Marge voice) that doesn’t mean they have to say it.  And also too, it’s hardly the only purpose an antagonist can serve!  What about the ones who are ultimately saved/won over by the protagonist?  What about expanding on the worldbuilding in ways the protagonist might not be able to?  What about calling attention to some problem in the world that the protagonist might not otherwise have noticed?  What about propelling the plot in the traditional “villains act” fashion?  What about getting the best song numbers?

The reductive absolutism of the claim reminds me that, some years ago, I got really into Captain Marvel (the Shazam! version, not the Marvel one, no offense to Carol), but it was frustrating because the whole concept of him seemed so rich in potential stories but so limited by the needs of a serialized medium.  The stories I imagined you could tell with Captain Marvel/Billy Batson were so interesting in part because of where those stories would end, but in a medium like American cape comics, they can’t end, they’re never allowed to, not permanently.

That problem carries over to comic book villains—they’re virtually never allowed to really and truly change, nor can they ever count on being really and truly dead, and that means they do only ever serve to make other characters the best versions of themselves,[2] and the best they can hope for is spates of antihero/reformed villain happiness in between writers.

2: “Best versions of themselves” here meaning, of course, “best suited to the needs of the story”.  Do not ask yourself if e.g. Batman might better like the person he would be if the Joker were ever allowed to make a complete and total permanent recovery.

That’s not the case in manga, of course, where stories end and characters die, and the finality makes for a profoundly different medium.  The difference does not help BNHA’s case, however, because that means there’s no cynical marketing or medium-based explanation for why Shigaraki and the other Villains don’t get a more hopeful ending—only the cynical ideological one.  That is, Horikoshi is either too unimaginative to rewrite his setting’s status quo, too afraid of the reader response to try, or he honestly believes that the Villains deserve the endings they got.

The last one is the most harrowing, because it would mean he was willing to actively sabotage the development and conclusions of his story’s protagonists because punishing the antagonists was more important to him.  That is, the Heroes are forced to end up distinctly less than the best possible versions of themselves because if they weren't—if they were allowed to be the idealists their world needed them to be in order for it to truly change—then the Villains might have gotten anything less than the fullest, heaviest extent of retribution their author believed had to be levied against them.

Thanks for the ask, @9trixieturner6!

[fancyfade]

Ah thank you for answering my questions actually I am the same anon of a blended family that pointed out the reason why Damian consider Bruce “only” son because a lot of people at dc views the batkids as Bruce’s students or soldiers. Iirc there was a deleted thread of a editor that confirms that.

Not saying there isn’t official lore of the robins acknowledged each other as brothers. Isn’t just me or is their dynamics mainly just

1. The boring Batfamily events Dc love to do. Seriously anyone excited for them anymore

2. Or around Bruce

Not to say they deep bonds, is it just me off dc often make the Batfamily…idk extremely antagonistic to each other to the point their characters are better fleshed out away from the family vs together?

Maybe because how Bruce is written recently but man it’s rough.

I definitely do think that writers flip flop a lot on how they consider Bruce's kids, or they want to treat them as mostly soldiers for the angsty Bruce thing and to explain why they don't have to show Bruce being a dad on panel. Or more of different writers have different opinions, rather than flip-flopping.

WRT bonds... I think that they have some that are well-developed on page, and some that are just not. Most of the characters' dynamic with Bruce has gotten panel time, though inconsistently, so we know pretty much what it should be. We also have seen Dick with Tim and Dick with Damian. There are characters who are not antagonistic, but just don't have a ton of panel time devoted to them (Dick and Cass pre-the dark cass era). And Damian and Tim are no longer antagonistic to each other for the most part but also just. don't have any panel time showing them actually becoming close.

rather than being antagonistic to each other being the reason main batfam events are boring, I think it's b/c they honestly all fill pretty similar niches.

like think about No Man's Land. That was a pretty big batfam event, but we almost never have all of them on panel at once. When we see them in big groups, its often just when in Oracle's clock tower between missions, like saying hi to Cass when she just became Batgirl.

But like. We see Dick go off and do a mission alone in the jail. Some Babs and Dick defending base stuff. Dick and Tim work together in the tunnels for ratcatcher. Cass and Tim when Tim has to be evacuated out of Gotham. Cass and Jean Paul infiltrating that one manipulative guy's camp. In general the missions are pretty small in terms of actually number of people actively on them.

Ok so going back to:

trying to have every single batfam member in a mission just makes them boringer. You have "so and so is the smart one" "so and so is the angry one" "so and so is the nice one" etc... but like. They're all smart. They can all be angry. They can all be nice. they all fill the niche of "generally competent fighter with stealth skills and usually above-average computer and detective skills". IDK its like having a party of 6 rogues.

So in general what you have is you have to diminish characters in one way to make the other stand out more. Like Gates of Gotham, which has stuff I really do like, also had stuff I really don't like like Tim being the only one having ideas. Because Tim had to be "the smart one". And this isn't unique to Batfam! It happens in many team stuff. 1960s Teen Titans diminished everyone's brains to make Dick stand out more, JLA does the same for Bruce. Writing complex dynamics is hard so it's easy to just find 1 or 2 character traits and exaggerate those.

I think that's why Batfam members are better fleshed out in their solo titles - they get to be full characters. I think they may also get to be better fleshed out in team comics, but normally because they get the narrative focus instead of other characters and are treated as the "batman" of the team. Like I love NTT, but Dick is clearly Marv's writer's pet and he gets so much narrative focus.

... I am not sure if I actually answered your question, but those are my thoughts in general.

[pttucker]

Okay so it seems to me like the Fourth Wall (AKA “the largest Fragment of the Last Wall”) is becoming more and more present in the story. And by that I do mean more sentient but also just more there. In the world that Dokja is living in. It’s almost like it’s being pulled into the story more and more, or maybe like the barrier between the it and the world is getting thinner?

It’s gone from being a passive skill that only Dokja could see with very general [The Fourth Wall is strongly activated] type of messages to being something that seems alive when it eats Nirvana (which was outside the physical world, actually, because Dokja and Nirvana were both in soul form inside of Joonghyuk iirc) and then it fully becomes sentient and can directly talk to Dokja after it eats Devourer of Dreams, but more importantly, after Dokja turns it off for the first time and looks at his Attributes Window. And then it’s only after Dokja turns it off a second time (and looks at his Attributes Window again) that Secretive Plotter can not only see it, but identifies it as Fragment of the Last Wall, as does the sentient portal door.

Not to mention it can act independently of his will to show 1863rd Joonghyuk Dokja’s story (…the story that mirrors the actual opening of ORV itself…) whereas before it only acted independently to activate. And when he gets back to Earth, for the first time ever it’s “shimmering faintly” and now Metatron and Briareus can see it too. I won’t be at all surprised if it starts to shimmer more than “faintly” in the future and more and more beings of lower power levels begin to see it.

And now Dokja has turned it off only a tiny bit and TWSA comes flowing out of it.

I think that the Fourth Wall is the novel itself, or perhaps the concept of everything being a novel, which I’ve sort of talked about before and which ORV has kind of shown us because we saw way back with Nirvana that it contained the text of TWSA and Dokja has long since realized that it’s protecting him from being too immersed in the story. A weird theory I’m starting to develop that kind of goes off an old theory that I had is that it might actually literally be TWSA in the form of a "character" and the real “novel” in ORV is…ORV itself. (I just can’t get over the fact that it start showing 1863rd Joonghyuk the literal opening of ORV…)

More than that, though, I think that every time Dokja either turns it off or looks at his Attributes Window, I’m not certain which maybe both, he makes it (and thus TWSA) more “real.” Possibly by losing his protection long enough for doubt to begin to creep into his subconscious? Or maybe just for TWSA/the Fourth Wall itself to creep more into “reality?” Or something like that. It’s worth noting that after Dokja turned it off the second time is also the first time Dokja saw a message stating he was a “character.” I'm thinking that if Dokja keeps messing with it, he may end up fully immersed and at that point idk if he'll even be able to read TWSA anymore? Because he no longer sees it as a novel?

Also, on a totally different note, I see that Dokja’s “new” Scenario Interpreter skill (who knows if it’s actually new or if it’s been there the whole time but he had to know about it to be able to use it since it appeared after he looked at his Attributes Window the second time) is actually giving Dokja information that he didn’t even know but which could have technically been “canon” to TWSA in between the lines. It was kind of glossed over when it allowed him to know exactly where to stab Surya in the previous scenario but it’s now outright showing him the memories of the giants.

I’m not quite certain how this is possibly related to the Fourth Wall becoming more sentient or Dokja being a character or anything like that. Maybe it’s not really related at all because technically interpreting a scene in a novel and thinking up what might be going on in the background is something a reader would do.

[art-donaldson]

when kaz goes up to inej on the boat after the ice court and tells her to stay in ketterdam, do you think he went up to her with the intention of telling her that? or did it just slip out in that moment?

you know i had never really thought about this until you asked and so i went back and re-read the scene so i can try to give a good answer (which will be under the cut just in case i start to get wordy again)

tl;dr: kaz may have had the intention to tell inej to stay & that he wants her, but it also very much could have been a "now or never" situation for him because he seemed surprise when she tells him she's going to leave.

so, yes and no? yes because he clearly wanted to say it and tell her because she wants to leave, but also no because he's surprised that she is leaving and has to make a quick decision in that moment (a now or never type of decision)

okay so there are a couple of things we need to keep in mind before we talk about the scene: inej has had her character development (the incinerator) and so has kaz (swimming in the ice court and can't think of anything but inej). they're different people than they were at the beginning of the story when this scene happens and i think we should keep that in mind

the other thing it keep in mind: nina has just taken the jurda parem and her powers are still amplified because of it. this is important because before kaz asks inej to stay, nina tells inej this:

"i can hear the change in kaz's breathing when he looks at you." "you... you can?" "it catches every time, like he's never seen you before."

now aside from the fact that that part makes me ABSOLUTELY FERAL, it's important to know that cause this is like the first time inej is getting hard confirmation of the fact that kaz thinks of her as something more than a friend. like kaz, the only person who isn't surprised by inej's presence and the only person who can sense her, still feels like he's never seen her before when he looks at her,,,

okay so after their conversation, nina says she's going to go check on matthias but kaz stops her and gives her a task to do (he's probably telling her she needs to tailor wylan to look like kuwei because iirc, i don't think that's happened by this point)

and then, it's actually inej that goes up to kaz, not the other way around. so she's seeking him out, not him seeking her out. inej tells him that she's going to learn to sail so that she can hunt slavers and that she also plans to seek out her family. then, she asks

"was there no one but your brother, kaz? where are your mother and father?" "barrel boys don't have parents. we're born in the harbor and crawl out of the canals."

inej is kind of just . done with kaz at this point she's questioning what he needs because he's about to be rich and seemingly have almost everything he wants so she's just kind of.... done with him and she asks him "was there never another dream?" after asking him what he'll do when there no more blood to shed or vengeance to take

and that's when kaz takes her hand and tells her stay in ketterdam to stay with him and that he wants her

obviously a big turning point for their relationship going forward cause now kaz is trying to vocalize what he feels and wants and he's trying to be that semblance of a man for her. and while inej wants to say yes, she knows her worth and won't settle for so little, which prompts to say the "without armor or not at all" line

NOW, all of this in mind: do i think kaz had the intention of telling her to stay and that he wants her? maybe. in the scene, he seems surprised that she's going to leave and hunt slavers, so i think it may have been a "now or never" situation for him. maybe if she was going to stay, he would have never said that or would have taken much longer to say that.

it's significant he does say it for multiple reasons like it's a big scene for them, but one of the big reasons it's significant is because it's the first time kaz is able to say what he wants to inej and open up even if it's just like . the slightest bit and it shows that he's starting to change and develop as a character.

and inej wants a reason to stay. she wants him to give her a reason to stay, but he doesn't. and she's not going to settle for so little (which she shouldn't!!!!) and so they both leave that scene hurt.

OKAY SORRY this took way too long to answer your question but i love analyzing six of crows

[sapphire-weapon]

I hope this new year grants you more strength because after reading your metas on these characters, I got addicted, i have never seen anyone put this much actual thought on the nuance of this franchise, hope that makes sense.

Anyhow, what I'm trying to say is that I'm kinda curious to know what you think the devs will do with Ada and Leon's relationship especially if they remake 6, alot of people cannot seem to grasp the fact that they are literally no longer it, an end game or whatever, and realistically would have never worked out. Plus the original re6 had a writer that wrote damnation and some others too, which just seems like a completely different direction the new writers are going with since re4r with their relationship. This is precisely why i wanna see what they'd do with them in 6 remake. And also let Ada be her own fucking character for goodness sake.

Nick also iirc commented how there was a lack of "romance" and chemistry between Ada and Leon in 4, and dude would know cuz he seemed to like the pair initially, idk about now though.

So if all this is on point, then Ada and Leon are no longer what fandom thought they'd be. Who knows, can't wait to see

Thank u friend.

So I've given myself a big break from answering questions on Ada and Aeon, but like

I need to stress how impossible it is to predict RE6make.

It is IMPOSSIBLE. Not even Division 1 can predict it right now.

If The Evil Within and Assassin's Creed taught me anything, it's that you can have a story all worked out -- to the point of actual devs telling you you're right -- but it doesn't fucking matter because game development doesn't follow the direction of the story. Game development follows what investors and publishers want.

So, even if I or anyone makes an accurate prediction for the story direction based on foreshadowing and character development, the next game that comes out might have a completely different story from what was worked out, because the publisher wanted to go in a different direction, or maybe the actual development itself was mismanaged and things had to get changed or cut because of money and time, or whatever else.

There's also the possible monkey wrench of RE5make unkilling Wesker. And in that case, RE6make changes in a HUGE way.

I'm thinking about adding this to my pinned post, because I get asked this probably more than anything else, and I just don't know. No one knows. Capcom doesn't even know.

[no1ryomafan]

SKL started rotating in my head again over a unrelated 2000s song that just reminded me of Kaido and Magami-not even joking lol-but upon reflecting on its plot I sometimes wonder if it would’ve been better off if like- they didn’t make new characters and just recycled the base cast just characterization them in a different way ala how Getter does it.

Cause I’ve thought about while I’m generally more biased I think Shin vs Neo feels significantly less flawed compared to SKL despite its episode length for not only having the advantage of “it has a lighter plot where as SKL desperately felt like it needed a longer run time” but because it used all the existing characters before and the characterization isn’t even TOO off, they’re all just kinda water downed versions of themselves. (Neo!Ryoma is a really interesting case out of the whole cast though in terms of characterization compared to his go manga self but I’ll save that for another post)

SKL has the issue of it’s introducing NEW characters we never seen to mazinger but we don’t have a justifiable runtime to get to know most of them, Yuki I feel is the only character who is decently developed due to the focus put on her which is why I consider her the MC over the boys even if there can be more fleshed out about her. Kaido and Magami do have a dynamic that bounces off of each other which is why I like them despite not being super deep but its still not fully developed, kinda worst by the fact we don’t get to know ANYTHING about Kaido and Magami’s origins aren’t entirely explain either- and honestly only feel there for the plot rather than expanding his character even if it HAS the potential to expand upon who he is.

But then I thought how this OVA could’ve been if it was like: Kaido=Koji, Magami=Tetsuya, Yuki=Sayaka. (Jun could be Scarlet ig and the villains could be whoever as followed from base show but they could also still get away with the new villains with this tbh) You could keep everything the same, even to the point of having this be a canon where Koji and Tetsuya aren’t related-IIRC they aren’t even related in the Mazinkasier OVA and Tetsuya explicitly calls him Kabuto which would be weird to call your brother/nephew, which would be funny if in this hypothetical SKL scenario they are more referred to as their last names then first-since even if the SKL trio more obviously took more inspo from the devilman trio they match the archetypes these three from OG mazinger canon had.

I’m sure SKL would still be consider a “not really mazinger” series if all other elements were kept the same given Armageddon still is regarded as “not really getter” in terms of source material accuracy but I do wonder if it’s three episode formate could’ve worked better if it it as another au. That said I still like the SKL boys so I’m not saying this should’ve been it over “GIVING IT 13 PROPER EPISODES FFS” and I do wish they could just be reused in a different mazinger iteration whenever we get one-grendizer getting something so hey, there’s hope and it’s slightly more likely than a new getter show-since it be cool if Mazinkaiser had a pilot over just being Koji again but alas my boys are stuck in the void with the Shin Jeeg cast to definitely never to be seen again.

[mousegard]

As one fic writer to another: what's your approach to revising/editing previous chapters?

Once I'm finished with my current fic, I'm planning on absolutely churning through the first half of it to better match how my style evolved over previous portions (paragraph blocking, dialogue clarity, characterization, character thoughts vs. third-person limited narrative, splitting up longer chapters, etc. etc.). When you edit, do you go for a hammer when revising to "published" chapters, or for a scalpel? Do you ever feel like an "original" version of the work should be left as it is as if it's a physically published bit of fiction, or could/should/can it be modified with impunity by an author given that it's a digital work?

when it comes to revising things, i prefer not to change things up too much. but that's because the fics i write are so goddamn long that even if i wanted to go back and totally rewrite the beginning parts my stamina would give out. the biggest after-the-fact edit i made to an eagle among lions was in changing edelgard's nickname for dimitri from the fandom-created "dima" to the canonical "dee" after the latter was revealed in a datamine leak of three hopes prior to its release. other edits included updating the names of minor characters who weren't named until three hopes came out, such as count bergliez and count varley. i also completely rewrote all of monica's dialogue to better match her characterization in three hopes, but given that she had like less than half a dozen lines across two scenes in the entire fic that was very easy (sorry monica). a few chapters also got renamed here and there, and a handful of continuity errors got fixed and minor plot holes got plugged

i don't think it's useful to get hung up on comparing digital media to physical media when it comes to whether a work "should" be edited because physically published media gets modified after the fact too. anime tv series get touch-ups for the blu-ray release, as will serially published manga chapters when they're collected into tankobon volumes. novels get touched up between editions as well; jrr tolkein went back and revised the part of the hobbit where bilbo meets gollum well after its initial publication to make it fit into the continuity of the lord of the rings. so physical works can be and are modified by their authors with impunity after publication, it's just not as easy as updating a webpage XP

if you have the stomach for it, i think it's a great idea to go back to earlier chapters and edit them to be more consistent with how your writing style has evolved since then. however personally i don't mind seeing somebody's style evolve throughout the story they're telling. for example in jojo's bizarre adventure araki's artstyle shifts midway through part four; in the middle of a chapter even iirc, and it's a little jarring when it happens but being able to see araki's development as an artist as he refines his style adds to the overall charm. and there are plenty of webcomics where you can see the artist's style evolve over time in a similar manner, such as, um, pretty much all of them

[carmenpeach]

this was part of a longer comic idea i ended up deciding not to do (or at least not for a while) and thought id share my thoughts on this scene

the story would follow shadow as he develops schizophrenia, and a major challenge i found was finding ways to depict psychosis without it being a mirror of my own psychotic episodes. ultimately i couldnt find a way to do this, every time i wrote out a scene it would either shift into just a recreation of my own episodes, or was based on episodes id had, and neither were things i wanted to share this way, i think. scenes i wrote that didnt tie back to myself felt like they were lacking something, and i became worried that depicting the deeper struggles of schizophrenia would open me to some invisible danger. it also became more serious and darker than what i was wanting to subject sonic the hedgehog characters to.

that aside, this would be a scene where sonic somehow gets a piercing gun (planned for it to be from amy somehow, i like the idea of her being a very "my aunt does ear piercings so i basically know what im doing" type of girl). unknown to sonic at the moment would be that shadow is experiencing a strange delusions he wont disclose, iirc here he was to be experiencing an idea of "am i real? am i a machine built to the core to look like a person(hedgehog?)?" and becoming frightened at the idea of how he would get this answer for certain. hes convinced he has some strange metal interior beneath the skin, and that his ear would jam the piercing gun, revealing him to be what he suspects (machine/ false/ nonhuman etc). in the end, the piercing gun does jam, but only because it was broken anyways, so he doesnt get a clean answer on this idea. sonic is unaware of this and thinks hes just getting shy lately for some reason.

they found an ear piercing gun!

[mekatrio]

to add on to these two posts; basically mca's "good ending" is more of a pseudo "good" ending bc theres just too many character arcs that it either entirely omits (seto and kido) or does not resolve with appropriate emotional depth (hibihiyo, ene, etc), so for my self reference, this is a list of what i believe every character arc needs to 'achieve' in order to be considered "resolved", and how 'resolved' they are in different endings (and sometimes ill explain how the resolution of these character arcs lends itself to the overall resolution of achieving STR):

kido -> she needs to stop using concealing eyes on her traumatic memories so she will be able to remember that mary is capable of summoning the kagerou daze at will, which is crucial in achieving STR (bc mca showed us that STR is achieved by mary swallowing her surviving friends into the kagerou daze). this is 'resolved' in the novel route (meaning her character arc is fully resolved in the novels, but only the 'telling mary she can summon the kagerou daze' part and not the 'summoning kagerou daze to achieve STR part'), but is entirely omitted in other routes (since its a rather late development, novel 7 was released in 2016)

SETO -> the resolution of his character arc is never touched on or explored in ANY media routes so i rly dont have anything to base his resolved character arc off, but i would imagine that itll have to do with seto telling his friends what he had known about for a long time, and also seto using his powers to their greatest capacity, both of which are things we never see him doing in any media routes.

kano -> his character arc is resolved when he no longer submits to the abuse being afflicted onto him by saeru via kenjirou, and he trusts others with the truths that he had been abused into covering up with lies. sounds familiar? basically kano's arc is resolved by doing what he couldnt bring himself to do back when he lived with his abusive birth mom, which is asking other people to save him from abuse. his arc is entirely resolved in the novels, and partially resolved in mca (seto 'learns the truth' from kano in novels and mca, but other members learning abt it is kinda glossed over in mca iirc)

mary -> mary's arc is resolved by her becoming at peace with the part of her that is a 'monster', and realizing that rather than this monstrous side of her being what inevitably dooms all her friends to their deaths, is instead what is capable of saving all of her friends from a destiny of bloodshed. and this is achieved when she successfully attains STR ending! (song route and anime) and of course, she is only capable of attaining STR when all of her friends resolve their own arcs, and more specifically, when she works with them and believes in them in order to keep herself from resetting time once again.

momo -> momo has 2 main arcs in need of resolution; the first one being her mastering her powers in the form of 'attaining meaningful attention she has long coveted for', aka making good friends (and this is resolved in the opening of every single media route). and her second arc is using these cherished bonds she just forged to help someone else (hibiya) to master their own powers, aka her otsukimi recital arc. this arc is resolved in the novels and anime, but not the manga. momo's mastery of captivating eyes + her fostering the mastery of focusing eyes plays a big role in achieving STR, bc captivating eyes is used as a diversion (as seen in the novels and the anime), and focusing eyes plays a major role in banishing clearing eyes into the kagerou daze (as seen in mr2, novel route, and the anime)

ene -> takane's character is very similar to shintaro's, in which they are both characters who would rather turn away from the heart-wrenching truth (that they lost friends who were very dear to them) than face their reality. we see her turning away in the song route (artificial enemy lyrics are crazy) and we see traces of this in mr2, where she states that she didnt want to get involved with the unfolding present day plot. takane meets her downfall in these two routes where she turns away from the truth. for her arc to be resolved, she has to stop being this person who turns away from the truth, and instead proactively go after it. she does so in the novels (and mca i think), which leads to kano returning her back to her body, and this control over her physical body + virtual body is what materially helps the mkd to defeat clearing eyes. (also, what sets her arc apart from shintaro is that ene is not just wary of the truth bc of the emotional anguish it gives her, but also bc the circumstances of her existence as ene has made her doubt the reality of the overall world. and so the resolution of her character arc does not just symbolize her moving on from her grief, but also finding security in the reality of the world.)

shintaro -> like ive said in ene's section, shintaro is a character who would rather turn away from truth than face it, and his character grows past from being this type of person every time he decides to face the truth of his reality instead of drowning in his regrets. bc of the unique nature of retaining eyes, shintaro's arc is 'being resolved' with every subsequent route, with every action in which he doesnt turn away from the truth being a culmination of many routes in the making. nevertheless, his arc is fully resolved when he realizes that he has the power of retaining eyes, and uses retaining eyes with ayano's favoring eyes to make mary remember the previous routes, which then achieves STR.

hibihiyo -> hibihiyo's arcs are resolved by 1.) mastering their powers, and 2.) reuniting with one another. hibiya masters his powers with the aid of momo in the novels, songs, and anime, while hiyori is implied to have mastered her powers with ayano's aid in the manga. their powers are attained thru the wish of wanting to see one another again, and so their character arcs are resolved when they achieve an STR where they are both together (mca ending). and like ive stated in momo's section, them mastering focusing eyes is crucial in attaining an STR ending.

konoha -> konoha's arc is resolved by granting haruka's wish to spend more time with his friends (which results in konoha disappearing), and by saving either hibiya or hiyori from the kagerou daze (which also. results in konoha disappearing. basically konoha will never ever survive STR </3) konoha's arc of granting haruka's wish is resolved in the songs and anime, but only the anime resolves his arc of wanting to save hibihiyo.

ayano -> ayano's arc is resolved when she stops trying to do everything on her own and lets herself rely on others. her resolution comes in the form of her using favoring eye in conjunction with shintaro's retaining eyes, and together they are able to make mary remember the former timelines, which is The Thing that achieves STR. this is obviously achieved in the anime. and of course her arc is also not just about her trying to save everyone at the expense of herself, but letting herself be saved as well.

[rubylarkspur22]

Kochou-Kamado Swap AU(🦋) Explanation

So! This AU has two versions. I will go over both variations. This one is gonna have a lot more spoilers for the story in general, compared to Ship Swap(💕), so be ready for that.

So! Let's start with characters!

Kanae

Kanae, similarly to canon, still lives with her parents and sister and a pretty well-off life. However, here, they live quite a bit longer. Kanae is 15(as opposed to the 7 years old she was in canon, iirc) when she comes home from spending the night at a friend's house, finding her parents dead and her little sister gravely injured. She rushed to get Shinobu to a doctor, but shortly discovered her sister had become a demon. After calming Shinobu down, Kanae comes face-to-face with a Demon Slayer(though, not Tomioka Giyuu, funnily enough). After convincing the Slayer to spare her sister, she is sent off to train to become a Demon Slayer so that she may find a way to cure her sister.

Kanae still maintains her canon attitude of demons being tragic creatures, and hoping to become friends with some. Part of that may be so Shinobu doesn't get lonely, but she will neither confirm nor deny that statement.

And during her training, Kanae is surprised to come across someone with a kind smile and an offer to help her perfect her forms.

Something I did is give Kanae the ability to see auras, something she hones as she trains. It's actually how she noticed that the swords Demon Slayers wield are not the same as your average blade.

Shinobu

Shinobu is 12 when a demon(one very familiar to her in canon), invades her home, killing her parents and forcing his blood into her veins. When she woke up, it was with hunger in her stomach and what seemed like food surrounding her. Thankfully, her mind cleared up before she hurt her big sister, driving her to protect Kanae by any means necessary when faced with the mysterious figure who was so determined to cut Shinobu's head off.

Unlike Nezuko in canon, Shinobu becomes verbal not long after her two-year slumber. It's limited, but she has help in the form of her sister and those around Kanae. Since the Kochou girls have no connection to Sun Breathing or Yoriichi, Shinobu had no reason to hold off on her mental development.

Shinobu is also quite a bit more aggressive towards demons she fights. Without use of hypnosis. Many a demon, assuming they survive the little butterfly's wrath or her sister's blade, leave the conflict looking like a cat went at them. Bite marks, claw marks, Kochou Shinobu had no mercy.

Before we get to Tanjirou and Nezuko, I want to go over my two different versions of this AU, as these two variations determine their exact backstories and who's with them as well as the Kochou sisters when the time comes.

Variation 1: Tanjirou and Nezuko are still the only survivors of the massacre. However, it's all been moved back in time, and the two eldest children are 10 and 11 when the Demon King kills their parents and siblings. The two are rescued by Himejima, and sent to Urokodaki after they recuperate from the shock and trauma of losing their family. They meet Makomo(who is a Slayer already, having barely escaped the Hand Demon with her life), Sabito and Giyuu, and become good friends with them as they train. Then they go to Final Selection, and Sabito lives thanks to having two extra friends backing him up!

Tanjirou and Nezuko rediscover Sun Breathing during their training, but continue learning Water Breathing since it's easier on their bodies than the Hinokami Kagura. But, as time goes on and they become stronger, it becomes easier to use the original Breathing Style. And thus, two years after passing the Final Selection, Kamado Tanjirou becomes the Demon Slayer Corps first Sun Hashira in centuries(assuming the first Breath Users were Hashira, Yoriichi would be the Sun Hashira, but *shrug*)

Variation 2: The Kamado family, like the Rengoku family, is a long line of Sun Hashira. I actually made the two families related by making Ruka Rengoku into Tanjurou's sister, making Kyojurou and Senjurou the Kamado kids' cousins! The whole family lives, with Tanjirou, Nezuko, and Takeo having passed the Final Selection and doing missions, Hanako passing but choosing to become a medic after a scare on her first mission, and Shigeru in training. Rokuta hasn't found a Breath Style yet.

Meanwhile the Kochou family has taken in Aoi, Kanao, Sumi, Kiyo, and Naho. And they are all home for the demon attack.

Now with that out of the way, it's time to get to the Sun Siblings!

Tanjirou

Tanjirou, two years after his passing of the Final Selection, was given the position of Sun Hashira. While a dutiful Slayer more determined than some to end Kibutsuji's reign of evil for good, Tanjirou's kindness towards the demons who regret their actions remains.

However, his rank painted a target on his back. And his use of Sun Breathing only made that target bigger. Two years after he became a Hashira, when he was 17, he and Nezuko were pitted against the second most powerful demon in Japan, second only to Kibutsuji himself. Upper Moon One, Kokushibou. It was a losing battle, and the siblings' only hope of survival was lasting until sunrise. Tanjirou begged for Nezuko to run so she could survive, taking on the Upper Moon alone. A fatal choice, but one he does not regret making. His little sister's life was spared, that's all that mattered to him.

After that fateful battle, Tanjirou's spirit remained in the Estate he called home. Watching over his family, and eventually meeting a pair of sisters. One, a demon who retained her humanity, and the other an aspiring Slayer hoping to find a cure for demons. And these sisters, as a favour to his own, Tanjirou helped to train from beyond the grave. Watching over them until they departed on their mission.

Nezuko

Nezuko, at age 16, was dubbed the Flower Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps. However, she doesn't use the same Flower Breathing we see in canon. Instead, she created her own version, based mostly on Water Breathing with hints of inspiration from the six core Breathing Styles derived directly from Sun Breathing(she found out about Moon Breathing from reading the Rengoku and Ubuyashiki family records). She also added poison to her arsenal, making her quite the force to be reckoned with.

Before the loss of Tanjirou, Nezuko was extremely energetic and exciteable. While she didn't possess the same kindness as her brother, she was hardly considered cruel towards demons. Aggressive at times, yes, but not cruel. Her rage was saved for Kibutsuji, for the monster who slaughtered her family. She did, however, threaten extreme bodily harm upon the Kakushi who made her initial uniform(the scummy tailor who made Mitsuri's uniform).

After Kokushibou killed her brother, however, there was a visible change. She became cold and resentful towards demons, and closed off from all but a select few of her fellow Demon Slayers(Giyuu, Sabito, Rengoku, Gyomei and Mitsuri were the only Hashira she said more than a few brief words to in a casual setting). The demons she hated most, of course, were the ones who took away her family, leaving her the last surviving member of her bloodline. She swore vengeance on both Kibutsuji Muzan and Kokushibou.

Nezuko has an extra trick up her sleeve aside from Flower Breathing and her poisons, but she's kept it a secret. Waiting until the right moment to reveal her extra trick, and destroy the demons who took so much from her once and for all.

[tsarinatorment]

i’m really really hoping that the solangelo book doesn’t actually happen in tartarus, that it’s a red herring and the actual plot will b more interesting. iirc i think glassamphibians did a post abt this, but yeah the tartarus concept just doesn’t make much sense thematically and feels kind of played out? especially when there r so many better premises to explore nico’s character and their relationship. that being said, do you have any ideas for what you want from the nico book, both in terms of narrative and like character developments and ideas? im hoping we get some kind of insight into nico and hades’s relationship, maybe some info about his life before the lotus casino, and altogether a hopeful trajectory for him and will bc they rlly do deserve a happy ending. btw i love ur fics and i think ur interpretations and analyses are super interesting, thank u for writing! <3

I'm actually working on a Tartarus quest fic that has a bit of a twist in it because I, too, don't want that happening so I figured I'd write what I want to see from that quest, but know will never happen (my personal aim is to get it finished and published before the book is released, but that's dependant on my muses getting themselves in gear and not getting distracted all the time...)

As for what I want from this book, in an ideal world and completely disregarding anything we've had hinted so far by Mark or Rick:

Will-centric. Nico is a great character and I do love him, but we've had a lot of Nico so far in terms in character exploration, even though he's never technically been a main character. We've had Nico's development from the happy, bubbly kid at Westover to the loss of Bianca and his subsequent grief-fuelled bad decisions/manipulation by Minos, to him coming back to help the camp despite not feeling welcome there, to coming to terms with his sexuality and being outed (then, presumably, coming out within camp on his own terms), to finally feeling like he belongs in camp, with actual friends and going through therapy. Like, Nico's character has been through a more major arc than most, if not arguably all of the other characters. Just let him rest and be happy now, please. Will, on the other hand is largely unknown, has buckets of trauma we've never seen addressed so we don't know how he's handling it (or if he's handling it), and has a lot of space for a visible character arc. At best, the next extension of Nico's character arc would be him learning to be the support for someone else, which would also tie in with a Will-centric arc.

Apollo making sure he's involved. Whatever the plot is, if Apollo doesn't hover around trying to protect as many demigods as he can get away with, we're looking at a major characterisation assassination here. Apollo has to stick his head in somehow or other, preferably being a good parent to Will. More Apollo&Will bonding time would certainly not go amiss. As I've also said in an earlier analysis, Apollo is an intrinsic part of the Solangelo relationship, and ignoring both that and him just doesn't make any sense at all.

Slice of life at camp. I want to see what camp is like when there isn't a disaster breathing down their necks. I want to see who else Nico and Will are friends with, I want to see them all ribbing each other and having a lot of fun in the camp activities. I want to see how the infirmary operates and what, exactly, Will does in there. I want to meet other campers and get to know them a little bit more!

More healthy Solangelo. I'm being a little petty here, but I want to see enough healthy Solangelo (just like in TOA, but an entire book of it rather than occasional scenes between side characters) until everyone who writes them as a toxic relationship (aka Will as Nico's Sunshine Therapist Boyfriend) can no longer claim they're writing a canon relationship, because I am incredibly sick and tired of seeing that take everywhere when TOA itself disputes it.

In terms of a plot, what I actually want is pre-TOA Solangelo. That's where I think it'd be most interesting - the development of their relationship and how it got from basically-strangers in BOO to boyfriends by THO. There's entire stories in there, and I want to know what happened. Obviously, however, that isn't happening, so I'm a little at a loss on what I want, beyond something that the two of them face together (and doesn't threaten to tear them apart/damage their relationship for the sake of ~drama~ because that is both the most common and most boring trope in romance stories ever). Preferably one that isn't suicidal like Tartarus.

And in terms of character development... again, I want a focus on Will because we've already had Nico's arc. Will having to face his fears, or his fatal flaw (or both) and being supported through it by Nico, learning that he doesn't have to do everything alone/doesn't have to always be in charge, while Nico gets even more used to the idea of helping someone else and improving his own self-worth.

For those points you brought up specifically - I feel like Nico&Hades we have a pretty decent handle on at this point, but I would not say no to more parent-child bonding in general. Nico's life pre-Lotus hotel is obliterated by the Lethe so while that could come back if they go near the Mnemosyne, I don't actually want that because, again, Nico's already had a lot of character arc time and I feel like focusing on him when we have a mostly-untapped side-character who's supposed to be of equal standing in this quest (or had better be, as he's his boyfriend) would be bad writing, quite frankly, and blatant favouritism from the authors. It would be interesting to give Nico a little more memory back, but I don't want it here. He can get that back when he dies, like Bianca did.

A hopeful trajectory for Solangelo at the end is a must, though. If it's anything other than the implication that these boys are going to be together forever, and not even death is gonna break them apart (implication, not both of them dying and the story ending with them both in Elysium!), then what's even the point?