#but like. a lot of potential in a foil always and that did not see it through to the sequel

[allegoryofthebeast]

I am obsessed that Jedi: Survivor explores Cal more or less slipping into the dark side/dark behaviors and patterns and how leaning into emotion as a Jedi can make you significantly more powerful though also extremely reckless and aggressive - however a balance could perhaps be reached by Jedi with the patience and support to understand their darker emotions and how it could be beneficial or harmful given the situation. But they fr don’t. Every time something within that vein happens to Cal everyone is like damn… crazy. Anyway

[spotaus]

Late Night quick thing (New Age Sillies)

Bad news: That joke post about including Reset + Orchid is definitely not canon. (I legit got sad thinking about Reset being in a universe where Orchid isn't- because their stories are so so intertwined- but Nightmare 100% would NOT risk the whole twins exploding Error's soul thing.)

Good news: This means I COULD include Kane (Reset's older brother who usually dies in timelines where Reset is born) and use it to develope his character a bit more! Also! Perhaps a Blue × Dream kiddo is finally in the stars for me to design?

[ofbreathandflame-archive]

stans are actually very funny bc they often time talk themselves into the weirdest corners.

the whole point of criticizing acosf and its handling of nesta's character is to prove the point that sjm...doesn't like nesta as a character. that's is literally THE point - that sjm often abandons her moral themes (abuse, trauma, assault, etc.,) for character's deemed as undesirable or villainous to a capacity - and its through the handling of those 'vilified' (i.e. main character opposed - not even villianous) that we can gauge the extent to which sjm actually believes the ideals of her story. like - it is alarming that the only tolerable, empathetic parts of the a court of silver flames were the moments you could tell where ripped straight from sjm's own life (the hiking, training, mind-stilling etc.,). any actual characteristics about nesta weren't explored...like at all. her relationship with feyre and elain, with her mother, her trauma from her sexual assault, her conflicted relationship with her grandmother, her life before the cabin, her life during the cabin. in 800 pages - i still don't know mama archeron's name. what was life like in the cabin? what did nesta do all day? what was the dynamic? what was going on between elain and nesta?i don't know anything about her and nesta, we don't know anything about nesta's human life, her conversation with clare bedor, her relationship with clare beddor, moments with her dad - not even touching moments with him (and part of this story is her finding love for her dad). mind you we read 800+ pages and we learned absolutely nothing about her.

we essentially read sjm's emotional journey in one part, and a taming of the shrew narrative in another. i think the only way sjm had genuine interest in exploring nesta's story is through essentially self-inserting herself and avoiding the actual plot-points she set up in the first three books. like did nesta have childhood friends? if losing the wealth so drastically affected her life wouldn't she reminisce about it a lot? would she yearn for her mother? who were her childhood friends, how did she function at court?

and the whole point of saying alll of that is to argue the misuse of these topics - serious discussions abuse are only reserved for certain situation, and others its completely undermined in a way that only reinforces the negative ideals to begin with. (i.e. nesta needs to abused bc..." "the intervention was harsh but" - pair that with discussion around what feyre needed in acomaf - and it makes much more sense).

nesta antis often jump between the fact that nesta is so favored that sjm nerfed feysand to 'redeem her' and arguing that sjm secretly does everything in her power to embarrass and secretly laugh at people who like nesta's character. (1) we've gotta pick one or the other (2) in my humble opinion - sjm would have always given feyre a pregnancy plot like this regardless of whether this was nesta's book or elain. its literally so sjm. im shocked people are surprised she pulled the pregnancy as she did.

as with the tamlin discussion we had under this post - i think the story undermines its discussion of abuse with feyre/tam by essentially insinuating that tamlin (when placed in the same victimized position as feyre) should have sucked it up and braved out his abuse with amarantha (and the same with rhysand as well - esp with the deliberate foil of rhysand's 'willingness' v. tamlin's unwillingness). and when we start to have a real conversation ultilizing our own irl analysis and standards we really see how harmful and rather sisyphean the conversation becomes. instead of engaging with these topics earnestly, they only engage in them to prove a point - which is how the issue began in the first place. the whole issue with rhysand isn't the fact that he engages with harmful, potentially villainous positions. no - its that the book wants to prove that tamlin is wrong by justifying rhysand's actions. so even though rhysand and tamlin almost always have the same written and expressed intentions in their abuse of feyre, the book flocks to justify one, and eschews the other. and thats why we get so much reactionary critcism of rhys that is surface: people only admit the problems because they know antis will, not because they actually believe their are issues in the story.

and perhaps im still speaking into a void here but i can tell there's tension between pro stans wanting to have these serious conversations but understanding they can only really introspect so far until the conversation begin to prod at the validity of the topics being brought forth. so stans have to jump between invalidating the romantasy genre ("its just faeries") and treating this book as a serious topic (cue: "sjm put a hotline in the back of the book"). this is also the exact reason why the racism conversations stall (i.e. why inherent superiority is always passively emphasized - despite cc1 + 2 centering human oppresion there is no human in the ensemble cast. despite the fact that illyrian women are the most oppressed - rhys has no illyrian women - or reg illyrians (not his brothers) in his inner circle. aelin 'sacrificing' her human body).

[ariainstars]

Why Is Star Wars No Longer About Heroism?

Ever since the prequels, the Star Wars franchise has emphasized over and over that the Jedi were everything but all-wise, flawless heroes. That needed to be said, and the fan’s vicious reaction to that was and is often disgraceful.

However, thinking back now: I guess most fans could accept the way the Jedi are portrayed as being flawed as long as someone else was the hero in their stead.

A story’s protagonist must not always be and look cool (I already wrote at length about this), and they do not necessarily need a villain as a foil just to point out “this is the hero because the villain is his opponent”. But in some way or another, they must be heroic; it must be clear enough to see why their story is worth being told. As viewers, we want someone we can identify with, in a way we can understand and cheer for.

The Saga: Prequels

Revenge of the Sith is a very dramatic story about a damnation, and for one movie, that’s perfectly fine. But if the franchise keeps telling stories where someone fails and dies, becomes a worse version of themselves or doesn’t mature at all, why should the fans still want to watch them?

The Saga: Classics

Luke Skywalker was a fantastic hero because he chose forgiveness instead of revenge; an unusual turn of events for an action movie, but something almost every viewer understands. While the saga has a lot to do with fatalism, Luke set his own will and choice against the terrible fate of being the biological son of his and his friend’s greatest enemy, and he was proven right. Even Darth Vader was a hero in the end, because by saving his son, he overcame his hatred (the way Luke had implored him to). Return of the Jedi ended with a huge celebration and a family reunited.

The Saga: Sequels

One of the things I loved most about The Last Jedi was the promise of a better future for the characters and for the entire franchise. By denying its narrative threads, ignoring it, even trying to “patch it up” with the subsequent movie, the entire trilogy lost its sense. No one became a hero in the end, overcoming themselves. (Luke overcame himself once more, but he already was a hero.) And it’s not like there wasn’t the potential for the other characters, on the contrary.

Finn and Poe both learned important lessons, but it’s made clear from the start that they are good guys; they do not change considerably like Kylo Ren who redeems himself or like Luke who from a simple farmboy matured into a powerful Jedi.

Kylo Ren alias Ben Solo is the most tragic hero of the saga because not only did he die young and healthy and without ever having been a hero (unlike Anakin, whose heroics we can admire on and on in The Clone Wars), but because he disappears into nothing. He could have saved the Canto Bight children undoing Anakin’s curse at the Jedi temple; he could have found what Balance in the Force means and left the legacy to Rey; she could have fallen to the Dark Side and he could have redeemed himself to get her out. (To an extent, he does, but that is not clear enough since we never see her actually doing evil.)

Ben doesn’t even leave a charred helmet behind. If Rey, who grew up in the middle of nowhere, knew that Vader had redeemed himself, then this was a galaxy-known fact; and the same young woman ran from the place where her soulmate had died into the arms of her best friends and told no one of what he had done to save her, so that in the end, the last Skywalker scion did not even die with honour. Not only does that taint the Skywalker family legacy, it also deprives the sequels of their only character who really could have been interesting by becoming heroic against all odds, and the only relationship (Dark / Light / Balance) that was really new and groundbreaking.

In-Between

The Mandalorian was immediately beloved because it tells of a man who gives up his cruel profession to take care of a child, although it belongs of a species he has never heard of and has powers which he doesn’t understand.

Rogue One and Andor were the stories of people who become heroic despite the adversities even if it costs them their lives.

The Bad Batch was generally well received because it tells of these five guys who all stick together to protect their little sister. One of them even goes from belonging to them to betraying them and then going back again.

The Clone Wars and Rebels are about people being or becoming heroic, not simply by killing the bad guys but by facing their own weaknesses.

I didn’t hate the prequels, Solo, The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, Obi-Wan Kenobi or The Acolyte (although I heard of many fans who do). I find these stories mediocre. But again: please tell me what is heroic about what these characters do. They go through some crisis, but they don’t emerge as heroes because they already were; except for Boba who remains stuck between being villain and hero. Qui-Gon frees little Anakin from slavery, Han Solo gets his freedom and his ship, Mando gets Grogu back, Obi-Wan saves Leia etc. They don’t learn and become better people from what they went through. Hardly anyone will watch these stories staying glued to the screen, with baited breath, eager to learn what will happen next. Why should we?

Women in Star Wars

Rey was criticized more than enough by the fans for being all too perfect, and with good reason; but let’s face it, it’s a typical Star Wars mistake. Unless they are villains like Morgan Elsbeth or Asajj Ventress, females in Star Wars are always heroic from the start. Maybe they mature somewhat, but they have no major flaws and weaknesses they need to overcome like the male characters. That is also why I believe fans tend to viciously attack the Star Wars heroines: not because they hate women in general or female heroes.

If you want to create interesting new Star Wars content, among other things you need the guts to portray females as doing wrong. At best, they’re ambiguous like Holdo or Master Vernestra. The first shows that she’s a heroine after all, the second doesn’t, but neither undergoes a major change. If the sequels had ended with Rey being the villain, that would have spared the studios a lot of criticism against the “all too flawless heroine” and set up the next trilogy with a powerful, already defined female villain.

Osha from The Acolyte is a weird mixture - she does kill Master Sol in revenge and her light sabre bleeds red, but does that mean that she is a villain now? She was understandably very angry with the man who had lied to her and destroyed her home, but that she went as far as actually killing him was uncalled for: it was a spontaneous choice sprung from anger about something that had happened years earlier. Anakin’s dark deeds were a conscious decision made from despair, made in hope of saving the future. His fate felt tragic. Osha does not feel tragic: in the end she is neither a fallen hero we can mourn nor a heroine we can root and feel happy for.

Where’s the Bottom Line?

Most viewers can’t identify with characters who are perpetually down on their luck, who they already know will end badly, or who never really get anywhere. If characters don’t always look aloof and roguish, even fail sometimes, that’s good: it makes them more human than the campy protagonists of older stories. But as a viewer, you want to take something home. Stories that don’t go anywhere leave you feeling high and dry. I accepted that The Last Jedi left so much unsaid and undone because I was willing to wait the two years to see how the story would be wrapped up: to say that I was disappointed would be a huge understatement. And the elements of that storyline weren’t picked up and continued even to this day.

Children and young people in particular want to take examples and role models from stories. Conflicted and human characters are acceptable as long as their conflict is clearly defined and, in the end, they overcome it.

When characters lose all the time or their experiences don’t lead them anywhere, we’re just frustrated. It must not necessarily be in the context of a war: consider simple, early Disney movies where Snow White finds a place to stay doing hard work after she was almost murdered, or where Cinderella is kind to the animals in her house although she’s reduced to the status of a servant. A hero must not necessarily have a weapon in their hand. They must undergo a trial, be in danger from the outside and or run the risk of becoming bitter and aggressive, but emerge as better than they were in one way or another.

Stories about losers and victims, or even about flawless heroes, can be interesting up to a certain point. But they’re not satisfying. The Star Wars classics are still unmatched because over six years, they told a story that is nuanced and multilayered yet entertaining, and that leaves the viewers with a sense of happiness and fulfilment, and even excitement about possible future developments. If the franchise doesn’t pick up this kind of storytelling again, I’m afraid it’s destined to die, because no one will know what the point in watching it is any more.

[angelflms]

oh boy. guess i have something to say about CK after all. get ready. it's gonna be a fucking doozy because ima bout to piss off so many people.

yall cared wayyyy too much about robby (this is coming from a robby lover).

for a cheesy, straightforward show, some of y'all didn't understand its tropes at all. or at least what it was trying to tell you, especially when it comes to the roles miguel and robby are supposed to be in.

miguel has been and always will be the show's karate kid. he was supposed to be the daniel of the story, hell even GQ just said it in an article about the show recently. robby was always supposed to be a johnny-like foil to miguel. the thing is that the show tries to bamboozle you into thinking otherwise because of who's training them, how they're trained, and how they act because of the type of training they're initially recieved.

yes, miguel acts very similar to johnny in the show. yes most of the og TKK call backs they make with him are in relation to johnny, but he is the underdog character. you know how everyone expected johnny to win in TKK because he was a fucking champ and such. it's almost like how we as an audience for awhile assume that robby is gonna be the final end all champ of the series. but just like with johnny, we're proven wrong. it's just that the bullet was in a different gun this time. it's the one in the ck gi who won this time.

idk why people get so mad over miguel's victories when it was always supposed to be him that was gonna win. the show is called cobra kai for a reason, therefore, the final winner of the show is gonna be someone from that dojo. it only makes sense. and since the main karate kid that started off the show was a ck member originally, surprise! he's gonna be the final victor of the show.

---

now im seeing a lot of hatred towards johnny's character, again because of robby. now yes, johnny was a fucking horrible dad. and as a girl who's bio dad is a piece of shit like johnny was and has never been in my life (even started a business similar in the world as johnny's), i understand robby's dad pain a lot, even more so than miguel's.

but what you don't understand is that cobra kai is a show about generational pain. generational trauma. generational grief. generational hurt. the whole story revolves around pain that started 30 years prior (even further if you bring up kreese). the show also is about breaking the cycle once brought upon you to better the future for those who look up to you.

johnny is close to miguel because he was his second chance at being a better father figure to him. he didn't expect that he would get robby back in his life the way he did (robby literally told him to rightfully stay away) so he focused heavily on miguel and his family. now once he and robby reconciled, it was a huge breaking the circle moment because johnny lawrence is a victim of physical and verbal child abuse from both his step-dad, sid and his father figure, kreese. kreese was to johnny what he is to robby, but less abusive. and robby was to kenny what johnny was to him, but robby eventually broke the cycle, something that johnny was able to eventually do himself.

that emotional scene between johnny and kreese wasn't just emotional but kreese's final moment of realization that he was a horrible man and father figure to johnny. he hurt him so bad that he couldn't be a normal human being, which in turn caused him to be an absentee parent to robby. not saying that it's okay but it's understandable. not getting that johnny is a broken person just ruins the whole point of the show's point of generational pain, something the show is nearly spoon feeding the audience to.

yes johnny is horrible as a father, but damn it the man didn't have a father figure as a model. all of his figures were abusive, absentee drunks who never saw his potential. that was a norm for him.

---

ive said many times that y'all talk wayyyyy too much shit about miguel for no reason. and the way this season ended and how much y'all are upset, im starting to look at a lot of you in a side-eyed way. like his character arc is poorly written but that's not his fault. the writers hate him i feel. look i love robby and i hated the way he went out but at the end of the day, you need to understand that he wasn't gonna be the final guy. maybe i think too much in terms of the nuances of shows but i'd like to think this was the most straightforward show about fighting out there. like there wasn't much of a hidden message as they told you what they were. maybe yall are too lost in the fact that y'all care so much about robby that you don't care. maybe im missing something as i have only been in the fandom for over a year. or maybe y'all just subconsciously racist atp because the hatred miguel and xolo get for no reason is beyond me.

but i will give everyone this: the show's writing sucks.

they didn't know how to write certain characters and i feel like it was due to wanting to please everyone because i remember the death threats this fandom threw towards so many people during the lockdown days. but the show genuinely can go past surface level shit and it sucks. i wrote a whole thing dedicated to how miguel's storyline should've went post-coma because honestly they fucked his character up BIG time. but at the end of the day, i do think, even with good writing, he deserved that ending. i just wished everyone else agreed.

[emelinstriker]

{Triad AU} Wukong ♡ Crafty Love

This is my own lil take/idea on the Triad AU by @skittlescripts​ - Basically you don't have a double life in my version but are the reincarnation of his love. Just cuz I can only write what my interest chooses to sit on, and it apparently didn't sit well with the by day/nightlife concept hfdngfhdngfd- So it ended up with picking a different path in my head. :'D

Smol doodle drawn by me with my persona cuz it fits more than a random Wukong screenshot. c:

♡ ~ Fluff ~ ♡

Today was a pretty chill day for your workplace. You did have customers come in, but it wasn't as many as usual. Assuming people were simply busy themselves today, you didn't think much of it. Well, that was until one of your co-workers told you about how your boss seemed to have gotten into some trouble with a member of the local triad. Something along the lines of her having gotten into an argument over keeping the restaurant on their king's turf. But apparently it was a lower member, so he ended up threatening to get a higher-up. And customers who received the news were wary about eating there for a while.

Nothing happened however, so it seemed more like an empty threat from your boss's point of view.

And yet due to what you heard, you were a little bit on edge yourself. Mainly about the potential shut down of the restaurant, making you essentially jobless once more. And you actually did enjoy your job here.

You were the one who designed the restaurant aesthetically, making it feel more welcoming for those afraid of the organization lurking everywhere. And since the restaurant was in a rather shady part of Megapolis, it stood out quite a long. You were also in charge of making to-go packages look nicely. Aluminum animals were littered around the windows for show of your abilities in the crafts of origami and general design.

And it did garner a lot of attention because most passerby found it really cute. Even customers' children sometimes asked if they could make their own little animals with your assistance. But your skills did not make you famous or really be seen. You were quite invisible to the public eye, always sitting quietly in a corner or in the back of the restaurant. In fact, you were so invisible that the two powerful demons that came in later that day didn't notice you folding up another delivery for someone who ordered for pick-up. The customer specifically asked for a fox as a little gift for one of his family members. You yourself were so occupied by your artistic piece and playlist's music that you didn't notice them coming in either.

The demons were talking to your co-worker and were 'kindly' asking for your boss. And of course, your co-worker, terrified as she was, jogged towards the back to get your boss.

"Ugh, why does everyone keep on picking this part of the city for their business?" The monkey with an eye patch questioned while scrolling through his phone, thoroughly bored. He knew this 'talk' wouldn't take long, so why was he demanded to join in the first place?

The other simian leaning against the counter huffed, "Well, they simply don't learn this area is off-limits. I don't even see any reason to keep this restaurant here anyway. We can just scare off every customer if we go the non-violent route." He quickly flipped through the menu, or rather looked at solely the pictures. "Even the food here looks mediocre at best. Killing the people here plus the business would actually be a blessing."

"At least the decoration's nice. I mean, look at this cat!" The black-furred one commented, holding up a miniature kitten made out of aluminum foil he found by the counter.

"Hm, true", the other one admitted. His eyes then glanced around the room's decor... until his eyes landed on you.

You, who made The Great Sage instantly freeze in shock.

You, who was sitting lonely in the corner of the empty restaurant.

You... who looked like an exact replica of his long lost lover, just with different clothing.

His one and only beloved, who managed to tame this beast of a feral demon... until they died to another demon's talons. It caused the Monkey King to snap and make sure this demon would no longer serve as a reminder of what happened. The environment wasn't safe from the encounter either. Unfortunately, he was unable to bring you back, and he had no way of knowing if you would ever be able to reincarnate. But it seems he finally had found you after so many years. And you were the one behind the creation of the only good thing about this restaurant.

The monkey stared at you for so long that his eyes started to dilate and his tail started to slowly swish from side to side. His lips curled into a soft smile as he witnessed your happiness with your work. His friend seemed to notice and followed his gaze.

Ah. Now he understood.

He smirked at his superior's lovestruck expression. Until your co-worker returned, trailing behind your boss, who suddenly seemed a lot more anxious than ever before. The two monkeys gazes snapped back at the two women behind the counter. One monkey seemed amused while the other seemed to have been caught off-guard.

"Yeah, so, we came here because one of my men noticed your restaurant and you were not willing to leave our turf. And we came to settle what he didn't manage to do", the black-furred one stated nonchalantly, his gaze lingering back onto his phone, seemingly searching for something specific.

"Oh Great Sage Equal To Heaven! I beg of you! Please don't kill us!" Your boss pleaded, lowering her head and putting her hands together.

The Great Sage's eyes then glanced back over to you, still vibing to your music and smiling at your crafty little work. You just finished another smaller fox as extra, and he couldn't help but find it absolutely adorable. He then looked back at your boss with a smirk. "You know what? Nevermind, you get to keep your lives and your business."

Confused, yet still frightened, your boss asked him what made him change his mind.

"Simple. You got one amazing and absolutely stunning crafty person working here. Would be a shame if anything happened to your or this business while they still work here~", he answered as his eyes traveled back over to your corner. Your boss glanced between him and you repeatedly before laughing in what one could only describe as a mix of relief and confusion... or concern.

"W-Well, they are a great person, indeed! I assigned them to this task specifically because they don't want to be seen or have to talk to customers. So we- ...huh?" Your boss stopped, watching helplessly as The Great Sage Equal To Heaven approached your seat with his hands in his pockets. Both her and your co-worker were silently praying for your life.

You were still busy with another aluminum animal, when you suddenly felt someone's presence drawing closer. You finally looked up when the person was hovering over you. "Um... may I help you, sir?" You asked as you took off your headphones. What you didn't expect was that the person was a monkey with fancy-looking clothing. He was blushing a little but you were too confused to notice. Apparently you didn't recognize him. He saw it as mostly a blessing because he didn't want the reincarnation of his beloved to fear him. The way you were so casual towards him was what drew him into your past life's relationship in the first place.

"Oh, I just saw your fascinating little crafts and wanted to say you- I-I mean, they look lovely!" He stammered out nervously. You blinked at him before leaning over the table to grab a little aluminum monkey you made before. It wasn't quite as accurate as the birds you've created, but it was still recognizable. You then held up the mini monkey in front of him with a smile.

"Would you like to have this one? It's not great by any means, I'm... still practicing monkeys. I-I hope it doesn't look offensive, otherwise I could-" "It's perfect..." He cut you off, gently taking the animal made out of foil. He would hate himself if he accidentally damaged it in any way with his strength. His claws barely brushed over the softness of your hands, but it was enough to make him feel the tingling sensation you imprinted on him. The Great Sage then gave you a loving smile and a nod in appreciation, "Thank you..."

While the two of you were chatting away about your masterpieces, laughing when certain jokes were made, your boss and co-worker were baffled. They wouldn't have believed it if the scene wasn't playing out right in front of their eyes. The Sun Wukong, Great Sage Equal To Haven, leader of the most feared triad, and immortal Monkey King... was casually talking to a practically invisible stranger without threatening them even once. Or even making them feel uncomfortable.

Were you so oblivious to the fact that you were speaking to a man who could not only kill you, but also destroy everything around you without even trying?

Well, it wasn't so much about being oblivious than it was just about being a decent person. You've heard of the triad, and you've heard rumors of the infamous Monkey King. However, that doesn't mean you would necessarily have to treat him any different to any other customer since you didn't know him personally. You've never even seen the guy until now. And by his looks, you could easily assume it was him.

Meanwhile Macaque seemed amused by the situation. Something only he seemed to have noticed was Wukong's tail wagging happily. Its movement wasn't fast, but it still reminded him of a dog who found its long missing owner. So he couldn't help but take a picture of the scene. It wouldn't serve so much as blackmail, but it would be enough to calm him down with a picture of you if the other simian started to go off again.

And if that wasn't enough, he took some extra pictures of specifically you being happy with Wukong.

"So what you're saying is that if I order food for pick-up or delivery, you would be the one packing it up?" The orange monkey asked, purposefully playing dumb.

"Yeah, unless I'm sick or have a day off. Then one of my co-workers does the packing instead", you responded, pointing in the counters' general direction. Your co-worker let out a nervous squeak before hiding behind your boss.

"Great, so I'll get to see your pretty face a lot more often!" Your face turned a light shade of red at his comment. Too shocked that someone, anyone, let alone The Great Sage would compliment you past your work. He gave you a grin, "It's decided. You can expect me to order food at least once a day."

You blinked in absolute confusion, meanwhile your co-workers were dumbfounded. "Eh?"

"Well, it was nice talking to a stunning and demon-friendly person such as yourself, peaches. But I believe my visitation time's up for today. I hope you're back here tomorrow though." He winked at you at the end, making your blush darken just a bit that he could still notice.

"And don't worry about your business, boss lady", he added as he turned towards the counter with a smirk. "So long as your amazing artist's working here, this restaurant is under the triad's protection. Anyone who tries to get rid of it will have to get through me and my men first." His eyes seemed to darken just a little as his smirk grew into something a bit more sinister. The Monkey King let out a laugh at your co-workers' scared expressions. The dark-furred simian on the other hand huffed in amusement, showing his own fanged grin to the two women. This seemed to scare them a few steps further away from the counter he was now sitting on.

The orange-furred monkey then pulled out a pen and used a piece of unused foil before writing something down on it. He then slid it over the table towards you, placing his other hand on his hips. "Here, feel free to text or call me anytime. And by anytime, I do mean anytime. Feel free to also contact me when you feel unsafe or just want company! I really wouldn't mind showing up in person!"

To be honest, it was actually strange for Macaque to see his old friend act this weirdly. He could tell Wukong was trying to sway and seduce you. But due to how he wasn't trying to do it to manipulate you, and him haven't genuinely done this in hundreds of years, he kind of lost his touch. The shadow monkey could see him struggling as he was a nervous mess on the inside.

His tail gave away his nervous vibes the most. It kept on moving around, curling in on itself, as well as seemingly trying to hold itself back from just wrapping around you for much needed comfort. You glanced at the info written down on the piece of aluminum before gently smiling at him with a nod. "Will do, thanks! It was nice chatting with you too, Mr. Monkey King."

"Please, just call me Wukong. 'Mister' just makes me feel an extra millennium older."

"But you are old, grandpa!" Macaque exclaimed from across the room, earning him a death glare from his ticked off boss.

"You're one to talk, emo dinosaur!" The King snapped back. You couldn't help but let out a small laugh at their childish insults, making the orange-furred monkey slowly turn towards you, his heartbeat seemingly increasing at the sound. He needed to hear your laugh more.

"Anyway, I'll take this with me," he stated as he picked up one the menus from the table, "and we'll be on our way now. See you tomorrow, peaches~" The Great Sage then rather aggressively grabbed the other amused demon by the back of his coat, casually picking him up and carrying him towards the exit, the aluminum monkey still being gently held by his other hand. "Move along Macaque, we don't have all day."

"Until next time, (Y/N)!" Macaque called out as he waved at you as best as he could, still being carried away like a kitten.

...How did he know your name? You only told Wukong during your conversation... 'Man, those rumors about the Six-Eared Macaque having incredible hearing must be true if he was able to hear that', you thought. Little did you know that he already knew your name despite his hearing.

However, from that day on your life's daily routine changed. Wukong would ask for a different order everyday, testing out everything from the menu to see if it was even worth buying more than one specific order everytime. And any food he didn't like he would give to MK to try out. His adoptive son was actually pretty fond of the restaurant's food, to the point where he would either go eat there by himself, with friends or come eat with his dad. Most of the time the triad would only ask to grab pick-up food, but there were days where members would actually eat by the tables. You weren't sure if they only asked for pick-up as to not scare away any non-triad customers, but it did seem to invite in more people each day.

Wukong would sometimes also stay at the restaurant, specifically eating at the same table as you while you were packing up other peoples' orders. He started off pretty nervous during your first conversations, but he quickly became a lot more casual with you. Even his flirting attempts became a lot smoother and would easily catch you off-guard, leaving you a blushing mess everytime. Meanwhile you decided to show him how to create his own little army of aluminum animals.

It might take a while to get you to fully fall for him again, but he would do anything to be with you forever. Even if simple little animal crafts would bring you two closer step by step. Reincarnation or not, he loved you until the day he dies...

Which is saying a lot in his case.

> Masterlist <

[dust-jacket-analysis]

It's thinking about Drake and Halia parallels time. Because they literally consume my entire thoughts.

They're both a singer x person who they used to be friends with turned bully ship. Accept Drew was always a bully, and is now just also bullying Jake.

Also breaking down parallels between each individual character in this foursome.

Hailey and Jake

Both were singers who were bullied for their passion. Both are terrible at communication (though Hailey is much better at it than Jake). And then they foil each other becasue while Hailey stayed stedfast in her beliefs and didn't let the bullying change her, Jake did. He choose to become a bully to be accepted and to make the bullying stop. A survival tactic.

Which brings me to the next parallels:

Jake and Lia

Both characters were people who were bullied and then changed themselves as a result. They weren't able to stay true to themseleves and their passions. They wanted to be accepted, adn wanted the bullying to stop. So they did just about anything to make it stop. Lia and Drew

They have the most parallels lowkey in my opinion.

Both had friends who they really cared about (beyond platonic feelings, I'd argue), but ended up betraying in the end. Both characters were Jealous of the Music Club and how clsoe Jake was to them + missed Jake hanging out with them all the time and hurt him as a result. Lia with the leaking of the audio to the club and Drew during the whole Drake up debacle. Both deal with Zoey, and have a relationship with her in some capacity. And Both ended up leaving her because of her actions. Drew and Jake

Both have terrible communication skills. Obviously. But they way they're bad at communication is the same too. They both don't speak up about how they're feeling. With Drew I just think he's emotionally constipated. And wouldn't know how to express his feelings if his life depended on it. And with Jake I think he's just used to hiding himself for group acceptance. So it's partly people pleasing, and partly force of habit. But by hiding how they're feeling and not talking about it, they both let those feelings simmer. And eventually they get angrier and angrier at each other, over things the other had no idea about, and explode. Ta da! Drakeup.

Drew and Hailey

Both are stubborn, and surprisingly "Loyal." Like say what you will about Drew (There's a lot too say) but he cares about his friends.

They both are also wildly insecure. Obviously with Hailey we see that presented in her stage fright as a result of years of bullying. And while we don't have a reason for Drew yet, it's obvious he is insecure. Hailey clocked it so fast.

Also their own anger issues (not issues, but they're both hot heads). We don't see that in Hailey's characterization as much in later episodes, but in the early days she's a loveable hot head. Drew is a (not so loveable) hot head to. We see that when he snaps at everyone throughout the series, and also during his and Jake's fight. Lia and Hailey

Both Hailey and Lia were bullied. But while Lia decided to change herself to be more liked and to stop the bullying, Hailey remained how she was in spite of it. Halia is honestly just basically Sapphic Jailey. I will NOT take criticisms. All four of them parallel each other a lot. And that's what makes every possible dynamic in this foursome so appealing and interesting. They play off of each other really well, and the writing potential is INSANE.

[inbarfink]

The thing that I’ve been thinking of is… so one of Dib’s most defining traits and flaws is supposed to be his desire for fame and emotional validation. You know he is fighting to protect the earth, but he’s also fighting for the sake of his own ego

It’s got a lot of fun potential because it’s both extremely understandable - he’s been bullied and emotionally neglected for his entire life, it’s no wonder his biggest fantasy is just to be loved - but it can also motivate some really selfish acts. Not to mention how much it acts as a mirror to Zim’s own desire for respect and prestige among his own people.

And because of that, I guess it actually kinda surprises me that they never tried to have Dib pull a… reverse Planet Jackers moment? Like, just as Zim will protect the Earth from outside threats because he wants the credit for destroying it - will Dib help Zim if his ability to get credit for defeating him is threatened?

Like, I imagine a story where maybe Dib meets a rival paranormal investigator, and the guy’s like a Super Mega Asshole to Dib and also thinks he’s crazy. And then this guy manages to capture Zim and it seems like he’s going to be the one to expose him to the world and get all the credit for foiling his infiltration scheme. The credit that Dib feels he rightly deserves. Or he simply get a chance to defeat Zim, but there are no witnesses and no evidence and no chance anyone will ever believe him. 

For Dib, stopping Zim and proving to the world that he’s been right all along have always been interwoven goals. He has always taken it for granted that doing the former will naturally lead to the latter… So how will he deal with a situation where Zim can be stopped for good, but his situation will not change. No one will know or believe what he just did, he would just be the same ridiculed social pariah - the only thing he actually accomplished is that he has gotten rid of his best chance to change that permanently.

And you know, he doesn’t necessarily have to take that chance to help Zim or let him go - even just having Dib struggle with the idea momentarily could be a very strong character moment for him. I think it’s a shamefully underutilized aspect of his canon characterization and I do hope we’d get to see it played with more one of these days. 

But you know which piece of canon really came closest to tackling this aspect?

Dib’s little plan for Zim in ETF is not quite exactly what I was talking about above - but there are some similarities.

I’ve seen some people talk about Dib’s ETF plan like it was meant to be a favor to Zim or some sort of attempt at redemption for him or like… a thing that Zim benefit from in any sort of way? Like, I've seen some people describe the plot of ETF like Zim's manipulation of Dib’s plan was him using Dib’s kindness and empathy against him? And that’s not exactly what’s happening here.

To recap, Dib tries to stage yet another confrontation between himself and Zim (to let off steam from his Daddy Issues) only to find Zim a total emotional wreck, depressed to the point of total apathy. His first instinct is to drag him away to ‘lock him up’ but... he’s not really feeling it.

Something’s not quite right about winning like this. And then, he shifts to empathy 

But then, he shifts again, when he realizes the ‘real’ thing he’s been missing - a crowd.

The real reason this victory was feeling hollow is because he hasn’t made it public enough! If he's going to use Zim's emotional rock-bottom as a way to finally defeat him and condemn him into a life of painful experiments.... he wants to do it in front of a cheering crowd!

And while Zim’s scheme seems to have started once he first laid eyes on the Membracelet 

That plan couldn’t have worked without Dib’s own scheme to exploit Zim’s suicidal depression to get him in front as many people as possible so that Dib can get worldwide fame and Daddy’s approval and Zim can get... experimented on for the rest of his life. 

There was no kindness here to exploit, only a desperate desire for emotional validation.

The big mistake Dib did that allowed Zim the window of opportunity he needed to take over Membrane Labs was not doing the Kind Thing when he should’ve done the Practical Thing - and it was not doing the Cruel Thing when he should’ve done the Kind Thing. Dib had his chance to do the Practical Thing right there and then - kill or capture Zim while he’s not fighting back. He considered doing the Kind Thing (empathizing with Zim) and he decided to abandon both of them in favor of… the thing that will get him the most fame and attention.

And that’s the weakness of Dib that Zim exploited in his scheme. And that’s the thing that almost doomed planet Earth. Quite ironically, it’s literally a flaw Zim himself possesses quite strongly.

If Dib was willing to think purely in terms of what’s safest for Earth he would’ve taken out Zim right there and then and Earth would be safe forever - but for the sake of his own ego he took a risk that the planet almost paid very dearly for. 

(And if he was willing to resist the temptation of fame and continue with the thread of empathy he showed Zim? Well, we can only speculate of what would've happened then...)

It’s not quite what I was talking about above; Dib would’ve probably gotten some of the fame and validation he wanted if he just stomped Zim’s head right there and dragged his corpse out - he just wanted as much attention as possible. And he didn’t knowingly help Zim or even seriously considered it as much as he was just tricked into a situation of Mutually Assured Bastardness. But I think it is the closest we’ve come so far, and I think it’s interesting.

[deafchild2000]

Updates for my H2O: Just Add Water AU starring the OG trio's character foils (for those who actually are interested in this fic ideas):

First order of business: I'm pushing beyond the PG rating of the original show. I'm going for obvious nostalgia but I also prefer my common sense and realism - so expect a lot of call outs!

I'm bringing the parents in. Like, me and the fans get why they were on the outside of things , but as I get older (even in my mid 20s), I find myself thinking there should have been more moments with the adults being adults & parents.

I'm definitely expanding, or in some cases CRAFTING, better background stories for Charlotte, Miriam, and the Benjamin siblings. (I said this once and I'll say it again) Charlotte had the perfect potential for characterization if she'd been in S1, Miriam Kent is iconic in her own right and deserved more screentime for me, and the Benjamin siblings are a combination of good potential and messy execution that I'm fixing so hard without making them unrecognizable. The OG girls not being mermaids is me experimenting on how their road to friendship would go, with others butting in. (Full disclosure: I'm not a fan of Rikki, so it might show!)

I'm gonna expand the mermaid lore and abilities. Not only is there room for that in 2024/2025, I studied the H2O wiki to find there's opening for it such as physical strength, I may be borrowing from H2O RP Tumblrs because fans can always be trusted to be better content creators.

Because I'm rewatching H2O for ideas, one thing I knew I was getting rid of, under TV Tropes, Louise Chatham's "cloudcuckoolander" trait. I'm not sorry, it was fun to see as a child, but after watching Lilia Calderu in AAA, I'm 90% sure Louise would've dropped the act as Charlotte, Miriam, and Sophie are a different group and would want full disclosure or they won't trust her. Thus, Louise has to see beyond the rose tinted glasses the OG trio let her get away with and help these girls in need of guidance. Plus, she's meeting Gracie's surviving family - which means I definitely can see her take an active role in knowing Charlotte and Annette.

(FOLLOWING ABOVE) Imma explore the 50s mermaids because not only did they deserve it, I hated that Louise and Max had control of Gracie and Julia's narrative in OG. I'm definitely exploring Gracie Watsford because this girl gave up her tail and yet is the only one of her group to have a family - there's so much in that to Louise (a lonely widow) and Max (a hermit) worth talking about as well as the fact she left paintings of Mako Island and the moon pool for Charlotte to have and ended up using in Canon. Julia is gonna be a doozy because she's compared to Rikki but not a lot after that, nor did we find out anymore about her beyond her death in the show. I reiterate again, I have to expand the 50s mermaids because letting two lonely old people tell the group story isn't great.

Surprisingly or not, I'm expanding background characters and adding new ones because it's definitely needed. Charlotte moved a year early, so her mom's restaurant and employees need proper acknowledgement. Miriam is definitely high class like Zane and Emma, so her world is coded for new people. And Sophie is the only one in the group that an adult and active mermaid - she clearly needs some friends outside Will.

Speaking of Will... I'm gonna do my best to make him tolerable since he's physically around the same as Byron, getting more time with Lewis and Zane. Not gonna lie, he's gonna need guy friends and ALSO not gonna lie, we both knew his character existed to make Zane insecure and I'm living for it! Watching him easily become popular because he's him and forging friendship with the other characters (some he never met) is gonna be fun while distressing for Zane.

I'm keeping Lisa Denman along for the ride (and extending it) because I don't think anyone appreciates just how well-written her character was - and just how useful she could be in the narrative. Like if you wanted to combine Lewis and Emma, make her someone important and well-established that people PAY her to go study marine biology anywhere in the world and easy to get along with, then Dr. Lisa Denman is definitely worthy of a threat - but in a way that she sneaks up on you and is worth more than three episodes. And I'm definitely not making light of underestimating her intelligence like canon did.

Two sides of one coin, Mother-Daughter edition. I'm surprised no one realized that if Charlotte was the new girl in town, the same could be said about her mom, Annette. Because of this, in expanding their relationship (and their lives before Gracie died), I'm building potential relationships - especially Annette, dealing with the Sertoris, Gilberts, Bennetts, and Kents (whose friendship goes back years) - just as Charlotte is dealing with Cleo, Emma, Zane and Miriam. A family duo who are outsiders with fresh perspectives. Though I will spoil the idea that the Watsford Women constantly beef with the Harrison Men (a lot of context in bad first impressions and generally unimpressed).

Another thing is the acknowledgement of time, events, and media because S1 of H2O happened in a duration of 8 months since the OG trio became mermaids on Valentine's Day. I'm definitely all for making shout outs for known mermaid media at the time, but definitely holidays and birthdays as well.

In place of episodes that can't happen in this AU, I'm either rewriting or creating original "episodes" as if the show would do. I'm also not shying away from important and serious topics, some not child friendly but definitely issues that could happen in the world.

Small bit: I'm never not using Kim Sertori and Elliot Gilbert. I think there are still fun uses in the narrative for them, but I'm not having Kim entirely intolerable as the fans see her. There's plenty of room for her to grow imo, and I don't believe in underestimating her either.

[raayllum]

THE WAY THE FROZEN SHIP IS CALLED THE "RAY OF ILLUMINATION" + RAYLLUM LIGHT MOTIF... (also how the ship is consumed by light in the form of flame – rayla/callum's love for her is going to be what (temporarily) sinks due to callum's posession... CHET...)

ALSO CALLUM FOLLOWING IN VIREN'S FOOTSTEPS AND VIREN DYING THIS SEASON (for real this time) SO THERE'S SOMEHOW EVEN MORE EVIDENCE FOR CALLUM DYING A METAPHORICAL DEATH AKA POSESSION, BY DOING DARK MAGIC AS SOME SORT OF SACRIFICE I'M NORMAL-

(sorry for flooding your notes and this but aa i love your metas so much, i'd NEVER think of the show in the same way had i not read them and there would be so many details i missed (eg both things above) – thank you so much for every one!)

(aah i always appreciate seeing you in my notes, no apologies ever needed!! that's so sweet and i'm so happy it makes you appreciate our amazing show even more!)

And honestly I think a lot about how the boat only starts breaking after Rayla says "Make the sacrifice," and then Callum ("every step forward is a choice") stumbles backwards. And then he makes her promise to sacrifice him as they watch it burn and sink? Which is what'll happen if they don't choose each other over everything? Yeah.

The boat name being a way to spell Rayllum but also continuing with the ever present light connotations, Lux Aurea's great light falling to dark magic sickness, and Katolis being burned to the ground, and the boat's destruction bringing these two things together in some ways.

The Viren-Callum dying parallel — one literal as you pointed out, and one less literal is also one I've mulled over a lot since s6's release. Callum and Viren's mirrored arcs in S6 are largely resolved in 6x06, with both of them facing/finding their truth, which allows Callum to repair a relationship (embracing his light) and causes Viren to realize it's better to leave it as is (burning the letter, returning to that emphasis on fire his character often has, which honestly might be worth a meta someday).

Like... Viren swore off dark magic, and then did it to save everyone (at Soren's request) and Soren himself (despite his willingness to lay himself down), and it was the Right Thing To Do, even if that meant sacrificing his Human!! heart and his life. And the potential parallels of Callum having sworn off dark magic again (2x08 / 6x06) and then doing it again to save his heart because he refuses to sacrifice Rayla, even if that means sacrificing himself (to dark magic corruption / Aaravos' control as a metaphorical death, or desired death at her swords in a more literal sense) because it's the Right Thing To Do ("do the right thing. make the sacrifice" can be subjective as hell, after all). And of course he'll get saved afterwards and end up not dead but like... it'd really bring their foils relationship full circle I think in all the best ways (Viren hesitating and then giving up his life; Callum never hesitating but being saved, etc etc.) and I'm really hoping that's the path we're on tbh

[bibibbon]

It's just infuriating seeing media after media doing the same mistake! All because the folks in charge of creating these medias keep favoring these horrible characters so much, that they rather make EVERYBODY suffer than to hold them accountable! It's turning into propaganda at this point! Enable the abusers/jerk*sses/monsters, but condemn/lash out/hate the victims, kind people, and people who fight back! Ps, Transformers Earthspark had a MHA Easter egg in one of the human kid's room, making how the show handle abuse and racism/immigration themes feel like they took a book from MHA but watered it down. 5/5

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 part 4 part 5

There are many shows and pieces of media that handle and present the topic of abuse differently.

Abuse comes in many forms and can effect others in different ways meaning that there are a lot of different ways it can be explored in shows.

A lot of the shows can ineffectively explore abuse in a horrible way and make their shows messaging sound awful and while ONE of the reasons is character favouritism there are many other reasons like simply not giving the issue enough screentime to develop or not narratively highlighting the issue of abuse and more

I think a great example of a show that has some trouble dealing effectively with abuse (but it's not because the author favours the abuser character) is tokyo revengers

The way tokyo revengers handles abuse is well interesting (I do have some critiques that are mainly surrounding the akashi family and Shiba family)

I understand that due to the manga publishers cancelling the manga and making Ken wakui wrap it up at chapter 278 combined with wakui's own health issues that he wasn't able to delve deeper into the unhealthy and dysfunctional dynamic of the akashi family. The unequal treatment of sanzu and senju by takemoi or the neglect that they all went through or the straight up hate that sanzu has for senju and takemoi ETC ETC. However, I still feel like it's important to bring this up since it seemed like there was potential for them to be developed and portrayed in an interesting light.

Moving on to the Shiba family. I think that the Shiba family and their arc was written well! My problem lies with the friendship that mitusya and taiju fromed and more specifically the lack of screentime when it came to the aftermath of the black dragon for the Shiba family. We are told that taiju changes his ways but it's not shown specifically with the way he Interacts with his siblings. I also have a problem with how yuhza an important character in all of this isn't actively present here at all especially when it comes to her brothers 'change'.

Now the Shiba family dynamic is interesting to me. You have taiju the older brother who is viewed and introduced as the primary caregiver of yuhza and hakai since neither their mother or father is in the picture. We never learn much about their parents since the story is told from hakai and yuhza's prespectives. It can be argued that the eldest sibling taiju maybe aware of what happend to his parents and that they may have influenced his behaviour well we know that their absence within the family definitely did since there was no one to correct taiju's aggressive behaviour and it maybe from the absence of his parents within his life that he started to develop such a twisted idea of family and using it to manipulate his siblings.

We actively see the consequences of taiju's actions whether that be hakkai and yuhaza growing afraid and distant towards taiju because of his manipulative and abusive behaviour or hakkai developing a twisted idea of love and saying that he always though that "love was supposed to be painful" until he met mitsuya. We even see a young hakkai start to mimic taiju's aggressive behaviour in beating kids up but all of that changed when hakkai met mitsuya.

The narrative goes out of its way to clearly contrast mitsuya and taiju. They are direct foils to each other and show two vastly different ideas. This is best shown during their fight when we see their beliefs clash with mitsuya making a grand entrance and saying that to be a big brother you need to forgive and be kind to your family whereas in taiju's case we see him try to murder and belittle his siblings.

The narrative (thankfully) frames mitsuya in the right. Going on a tangent, but the way mitsuya and taiju are framed is interesting to me. We clearly see that taiju is depicted as the much more muscular and stronger looking one whereas mitsuya is the shorter and less muscular character. I think its interesting that this view can be framed in a way where we see that mitsuya is the little tiny sliver of hope within the black dragon arc and this specific fight.

Mitsuya represents both his belief of family and becomes the embodiment of hope and courage for hakkai, taking hits and matching taiju's strength punch for punch (kind of reminds me of the interpretation of hope. Hope isn't some strong dude or girl but just an incredibly resilient being whose covered in mud and blood and would still get up and shine because that's them:hope).

Mitsuya influences hakkai and both him and takemichi end up influencing him to stand up for himself and him sister. Mitsuya influences hakkai to stand up and tell the truth while takemichi and his actions help hakkai come to an understanding that even with his fear and cowardice towards his older brother he needs to and will stand up to taiju. The fight ultimately ends with taiju defeated by Mikey and the siblings leaving taiju behind.

Now I do like this ending of the fight as I think it showed:

Hakkai and yuhaza are no longer connected or associate with taiju

They have both developed and managed to overcome taiju (their abuser)

Hakkai has overcome his cowardice and his inferiority of not being able to be a man and be the one to take the hits for yuhaza

Yuhaza finally receives acknowledgement for what she sacrificed and is no longer bound to be taiju's punching bag, neither is she bound to protect hakkai from taiju

Taiju is the one that loses everything that ranges from his family, to his gang, power and even money (that he used koko to gain)

There's a hint of hypocrisy and irony in Taiju's arc here as he is a religious Christian who went to pray in a church during Christmas eve. Taiju went to pray which is seen as a form if religious practice yet he doesn't follow his religion properly, I am not Christian but iam pretty sure that abusing, manipulating and beating your siblings is a sin. Ultimately, taiju ends up losing everything and his family on Christmas eve which in Japan is am incredibly important day as its spent with your loved ones to share and spread joy yet the complete opposite occurs.

My main problem with taiju's arc is how wakui involves him in the story later on. We see fromba tiny flashback that mitsuya and taiju are in contact and they seem to be friendly. We also are shown and somewhat told that taiju has changed but the thing that annoys me is that we don't see that change, we don't see or get to know why and how it happend. Finally, we don't even get to truly see hakkai's and yuhaza's reactions to all of this (at least with hakkai we got to see a shocked face but even that is too little and they robbed yuhaza of screentime)

The fascinating thing is that while abusive, unhealthy and toxic family dynamics within tokyo revengers play a big role in the story, there is also focus on individual characters who have been abused.

What I mean is that tokyo revengers also focuses on characters personal abuse without the families of those characters being active fleshed our characters. The two primary characters of this are takemichi and kazutora.

Takemichi's experience from the first timeline specifically his life experience between middle school to his adult life are what shaped him as a character. The reason why takemichi is so weak willed and such a bad fighter in the beginning of the manga all adds up to what happend to him with kiyomasa and him running away. Takemichi is in a sense a haunted character because even after creating and altering the timelines so much that they aren't recognisable he still is very much effected by kiyomasa and the manga takes it time dealing with the effects of that (while kiyomasa's name is never directly stated to be the cause its kind of obvious it is) however, more focus on kiyomasa and takemichi specifically would of been interesting and needed in my opinion. While kiyomasa and takemichi do interact and takemichi does try and fight against kiyomasa just to fail and return to square one remembering just how much kiyomasa and his abuse truly effected and haunted him. Overall, I do think that later on in the series we should of gotten a chapter where takemichi meets kiyomasa again and contrast chapter 1 takemichi with the now developed, stronger and currently healing takemichi.

During his time under kiyomasa takemichi was used as a tool. He and his friends had to become perfect bidding tools using their bodies fighting, winning and losing to entertain a crowd all while getting beat by kiyomasa if they didn't achieve the desired goal or effect. This continued on for approximately 3 years of takemichi's life being physically and emotionally beaten by kiyomasa to such a degree that the second he graduated from middle school he ran and never looked back. Kiyomasa's mistreatment was so bad and horrendous that takemichi thought his only escape was to move far away even if it meant sacrificing everything else like his friends, girlfriend, education and home. Ultimately, even though takemichi ran foolishly trying to achieve a sense of autonomy and agency he ends up having it robbed again by another thing: capitalism.

Due to the lack of education takemichi receives and the direction his life choices took him in, he ends up being a slave to the modern cooperate system (japan is also known for their work culture). In the end, takemichi can only bow down to others and ask for forgiveness if he ever did anything wrong. Due to the damage kiyomasa's abuse caused and the slowly pileling reasons of him accidently doing something wrong and peoples reactions start to all eat at him and effect him. Being told that you're incompetent and useless so many times that you also start to think so and become the embodiment of that as well. Takemichi's life was never free and so he couldn't run away from a job meaning that all he could do is apologise and mentally try and escape his miserable life devoid of loved ones.

In all of this running and avoidance takemichi forgets who he really is and forgets himself. This is exactly why we see him shocked to hear his ex girlfriends name or how he believed that middle school was his peak but when he sees himself he realises that he is wrong. This can also explain why takemichi physically forgot how he acted at that age or how he forgot how to fight. Takemichi was trained and toughened (forced to for survival) during the 3 years kiyomasa made him fight like a lab rat. In all of those years michi would of learnt the basics and even more so it makes sense he would of left that all behind and tired to forget everything in the end.

Even through out the series Takemichi's behaviour reflects this. He is always effected by that incident and it haunts him. Takemichi feels, acknowledges and even sobs that he is inferior that if he was a bit more like Mikey in terms of strength or a bit more like draken in terms of kindness or a bit more like baji in terms of courage he would of already solved everything, he would of already saved everyone and had the perfect life. Whenever anything goes wrong he blames himself and his flaws. This is mainly seen in chapter 134 and 135 when takemichi contemplates if he should just die since he believes that it was due to his incompetence that naoto died.

Evidently, through his own experiences loneliness and fear takemichi is able to understand and help other characters like hakkai and mikey even if it cost his life because takemichi has experienced loneliness, how painful it is, how haunting and scaring it is and he wouldn't wish it on anyone else especially people he cares about.

As the series progresses takemichi comes to terms with these aspects of himself and even if he beats himself up for it he comes to the understanding that these things are apart of him and that he can live surrounded with loved ones. He would do anything to achieve that goal even if it meant sacrificing his original ideal world the bonten arc because he understood and hated what mikey was going through.

In the end I definitely enjoy the way tokyo revengers handles abuse however, some of the cases wakui tries to tackle like the akashi family and South end up falling apart due to the lack of focus and development. There are good cases of how the story handles abuse like the Shiba family, takemichi and kazutora but they do end up being quite flawed and in my opinion need more development

[bluecheeseinmyoffwhites]

Very late, but, https://www.tumblr.com/blue-cheeseinmyoffwhites/756639587329277952/rwby-asks-are-open-im-bored?source=share

Who's you're favorite character?

Quick shoutout to the lovely @tumblingxelian for their amazing RWBY content check them out on YT

Let’s do Top 5

Mercury Black

This is solely because of his fighting style. If I could fuck up some stuff with my legs I’d probably be a dick about it too. I started RWBY during V2 & he was one of the first faces I met. I remember LOVING his design & liking his cool laid-back attitude. He started gaining my attention in Volume 3 after his fight with Coco & Yatsu, then won me over after his fight with Yang. I remember being baffled after his prosthetic reveal, & after learning about his allusion it all came together. For the longest time I was trying to decode his semblance (I thought it was something to do with wind manipulation) then V6 came around & shut all that down. I understand he hasn’t been very popular as of late, but I think he has so much potential & they just need to give him more screentime in V10+

Sun Wukong

I appreciate an unconditionally positive character. Sun & Mercury have always just been so cool to me. His design is great too, I like his monkey traits & how he shows his abs. His weapon is genuinely top 5 in the series, & his semblance matches his bright personality. One of my favorite fight scenes is Blake & Sun vs Sea Feilong & his contribution played a big part of that. I did like his appearance in V4-V5 & I was excited to see his gun-chucks return against Ilia. I think he is a great foil to Blake & serves her character arc really well.

Cinder Fall

Sorry but Cinder Fall is just that bitch. I hate everything she does & that’s why I love her. She knows what she wants & can easily get people on her side to do her bidding. She actually pushes the narrative & I consider her to be the main antagonist. The animators take real care when it comes to her battles. She has not missed a SINGLE fight she has been in. Seriously every one has been a hit: Glynda, Amber, Ozpin, Pyrrha, Raven, Neo, Winter, Penny, etc etc. Anytime there is a fight involving Cinder it’s going to be rememberable in some way, especially the Raven vs Cinder fight. I vividly remember my mind going numb watching it for the first time. I do feel they made her a little OP but it’s whatever. I really like her character arc & how she’s slowly turning into a Grimm. I loved her backstory, a lot of people didn’t because it’s just “Cinderella but dark” but like…..that’s kinda the entire point of this series, dark retellings of fairytales. She’s a great foil to Ruby & actually learns from her to gain victory in V8. I just want them to have a proper fight.

Qrow Branwen

Qrow Qrow Qrow. I love their man & want to give him hugs. If there’s one thing RWBY does amazingly, it is setup & payoff. I love his they slowly teased him in V1-V2 as a badass & then finally let us visualize it in V3. He doesn’t take crap from anyone & says what’s on his mind. Love Love LOVE his relationship with Ruby (forever holding onto my cracktheory that he’s her real dad). He acts as her mentor & influenced her fighting style. I like how he became the leader of the team for some time & how his laid-back attitude conflicts with him suddenly having to take care of 8 kids. But he does it anyway. His fight scenes are also amazing. He always looks so confident. His first appearance in V3 he had that super dynamic fight against Winter. In V4 he fought Tyrian & showed Team RNJR (& us) the difference between students & Huntsmen. V7 is where he really shined for me. He finally had a relationship that wasn’t affected by his semblance & can just chill for a while. I very much enjoyed his relationship with Clover & was heartbroken by what happened after. But those last 2 fights with them were pretty great. I hope his semblance evolves into Good Luck as well.

Yang Xiao Long

I like all members of Team RWBY but Yang stands out for obvious reasons. She had the best Trailer for one. Also her fighting style is the most different from her teammates. They’re all swing-swing-slash & she’s all punch-punch-kick. Like Cinder, Yang gets the best treatment when it comes to fight scenes. She’s been marketed as the strongest member & it shows over & over again. Her semblance is super cool & makes her look like a Goddess. I like how her character arc revolves around her fighting style & we can actually see her improvement throughout the volumes. I like how she is the most vocal about the whole trust situation in V5-V8. She lost her arm for this war, she of all people deserves some answers. I really adore her relationship with Blake & I think their story is perfect. She’s the heart of the team & it’s most present in V5 when she is the one reuniting the team.

[amoneki-ramblings]

this is a pass to do a couple things:

finish the manga!!! u can do it so u can follow all the other blogs without getting blindsided by a spoiler

do the ship ask thingy for amoneki :]

Gahh I'm trying !! I'm so busy with school and life stuff so it's hard to squeeze in time to read but I'm trying! I'm getting through volumes very slowly but hey, I'll get there ! Just. Well. There's 16 volumes so. Okay it might take a bit orz

For now I'll just be in my little fandom limbo corner I suppose orz, as for the ask thingy:

when I started shipping it if I did: Several months ago, probably a few months short of a year? It's a bit complicated, Basically I decided to rewatch the anime (because my original exposure to tg was. the anime :') ) and vaguely remembered that I really liked Amon (honestly the encounter at Kanou's Lab/Cochlea was one of the scenes I remembered the most), and after rewatching and seeing Amon and Kaneki's interactions they piqued my interest again. Then I got into the manga and. Yeah that interest turned into insanity and now i'm here

my thoughts: Well I have a 119-slide 15K+-word google slideshow for starters. But I'm taking that to my grave so I guess I gotta condense that somehow. On one hand I feel like everything needs to be said about these two to the point that there's too much to talk about but also nothing needs to be said at the same time. They parallel each other in just about every way possible, it's impossible to ignore the ways that they foil each other. They also have had irreversible effects on the others' character. Kaneki finds resolve in Amon's words ('the world is wrong'), and turns to them at pivotal moments (when he leaves Anteiku, Kaneki's own mantra is also basically a derivative of Amon's, wishing to take out the "bad/wrong" things in the world, and he basically takes them to his grave, "The world is wrong", Amon's own words, being his opening to his final dialogue in the last chapter of the original series)

Similarily Amon is just haunted by Kaneki. Like. In general. He thinks about him constantly (even under more mundane circumstances, in the novels he gets reminded of Kaneki just by staring out a window because it reminded him of the Aogiri raid. lmao). Kaneki is basically the catalyst to his character development, and Amon is constantly bothered by his presence/existence, and even comes to recognize how they always encounter each other at important moments. Amon is so haunted by This Guy (creature) it's both a little funny but also makes me very insane. He's basically being a failure of a ghoul investigator, and it's even more ironic, given his hatred of himself for being raised by and potentially caring about a ghoul (also he's catholic, something something religious guilt), yet he seems to have a lot of faith in Kaneki, even to a faulty degree (I'd daresay it's almost to the point where he puts Kaneki on a bit of a pedestal/idolizes him to an extent. I have a whole other ramble about Just that on the self-rb'ed half of this post. Like I'm sorry but Amon definitely fell hard for this guy I'll die on this hill and I'm going to poke fun at him endlessly for it, he could've done so much better, he starts off the manga hating ghouls with a passion and his mentor's disdain for ghouls runs ten times as deep but nope now he's chasing after the dangerous somewhat unhinged (/affectionate) half kakuja guy and it's not even to fight/kill him like okay, sure.) They have affected each other in irreversible ways. They reflect each other so much even if they don't know it. They just want to sit down and have a conversation. They didn't get to. And instead They Killed Each Other (okay not really but it was very close and they absolutely could, not that they want that) ((It's also partially Kaneki's fault for losing control of himself and he feels awful for that (sidenote but any scenario with Centineki and Amon make me lose my mind))). They're also married by first-encounter marriage bite, apparently. I think we should talk about that more that's kinda?? Donato approves btw

What makes me happy about them: Everything that makes me miserable about them makes me simultaneously happy about them because I am an Angst Guy but honestly just how much they clearly respect each other. While they're not allowed to understand each other because of their circumstances they still very much Want to. They recognize that they probably share a lot of views and could really have a meaningful conversation with each other, and it really shows, even if they're fighting. Amon again has a surprising amount of trust in Kaneki (not assuming he's fighting for Aogiri when he saw him during the ward 11 battle, having faith in Kaneki as a person even if he just saw him potentially killing his superior and being presented with the possibility that maybe he was just being fooled all along, when he's nearly dying at Kaneki's own hands but says he won't die because that would make Kaneki a murderer, having faith still that he hasn't turned into one). They recognize that they're equals (well technically they're not, obviously Kaneki is much stronger objectively, being a ghoul, and a kakuja at that), but they treat each other as equals and that's what really matters. I just think it's a very neat dynamic and their roundabout way of caring about each other despite their positions makes me happy :)

What makes me sad about them: I was gonna put images but then I quickly realized that I'd basically be pasting almost all of chapter 133-134 just uh. The fact that Kaneki really lost control of himself and the parallel with him biting Amon's shoulder escalates to him cutting off his entire fucking arm, the way that Amon's first thought in regards to that is simply that Kaneki is strong, how he doesn't reprimand him for it whatsoever (also Amon's blow pretty much takes out the entire area of where Kaneki's kakuhou should be, which is a detail I find Extremely Interesting and I think it should genuinely be talked about more). This fucking line that happened literally the panel before all of that despite their mutual wishes for the other to simply Not Die:

Amoneki divorce. Absolutely life ruining :thumbsup:

(Also just. Again Amon Please. This guy bit your shoulder (probably gave Amon rabies honestly) and almost ate one of your colleagues; when he loses control of himself for the second time you just tell him to take a break, and now he's cut off your whole damn arm and you're Still not complaining and are instead praising him by calling him strong. I just. Yeah that's Not Normal. It's kind of impressive, really /derogatory)

Oh yeah also the fight at Kanou's lab also kills me and takes over my brain constantly but I wouldn't classify that as making me sad I would classify that as making me lose my mind, laugh hysterically and start climbing up and clawing at the walls (like Centineki, actually)

things done in fanfic that annoys me: Maybe I'm just extremely picky but I feel like people tend to fumble Amon's characterization a lot. It's kind of a fine line, and Amon has a lot of conflicting feelings as is, so I get it, but I'm especially bothered when Amon is written as way too harsh. When he's first introduced he has a strong hatred for ghouls, and it's not like that just goes away, but when he's written as especially harsh or even cruel towards Kaneki, especially if it's just because for him being a ghoul it feels like it kind of defeats the point, as Kaneki is supposed to be the reason why Amon starts changing his mind. When Amon sees him for the second time he doesn't think about fighting him at all, even that early on he decides he wants to talk instead, 'cause He's Different. I don't see this kind of characterization too often but I don't really vibe with it at all when I do (Also this is definitely just a me-thing but I wish there was more angst in the tag. Which is ironic considering these guys are surprisingly normal most of the time and have so much potential to be actually Happy but uh *vague hand gestures*, hurt-comfort would also be a decent compromise)

things I look for in fanfic: I love pre-:re fics that explore the complicated-ness of their dynamic. I'm really fond of fics where they kind of dance around each other in a sense, they won't just straight up completely directly interact because that's Still a bit dangerous but they see each other in passing, maybe Kaneki watches over Amon sometimes, etc. Also you probably saw this coming a mile away but yeah religious references mean instant bonus points from me. I could go into some (too much) detail but. uh. stares down at my feet look I'm normal I swear

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other:  Saying Amonhaise is definitely cheating but I'm not really invested in any other Amon ships. I'm not particularly against any I'm just neutral. As for Kaneki, like I mentioned in a previous post, I see potential with Etoken, and it's pretty hard to go wrong with Hidekane, though neither drive me to insanity like these two do at the moment

My happily ever after for them: Let them finally officiate their marriage ghsfdljbhf

who is the big spoon/little spoon: Well that's pretty easy huh. Kaneki small spoon he is a Little Guy just let him feel comfortable and secure y'know? Kaneki is probably someone who runs very cold and Amon is very warm so it works out :) If he's super tired he very carefully (and cautiously) wraps his kagune around Amon he will now be Trapped there until Kaneki wants to get out of bed (good luck)

what is their favorite non-sexual activity: Well I would say that Kaneki loves cooking for Amon probably. He makes food at home and tries to make new sweets following recipe books. It's a bit of a mess because y'know, he's a ghoul, and at first Amon tries to hide that, unfortunately, his previous experience with cooking does Not, in fact, hide the fact that he cannot taste or smell human food, but eventually Kaneki is able to get a hang of it (with Amon's help) and it's very nice :) That's what I would say but. well. Amon is Also a Ghoul now so that doesn't really work :')

[givemearmstopraywith]

As a lover of god, I’m curious. what are your thoughts on Satanists? 👀

they're cool! i am not a huge fan of anton lavey. this isn't true, i actively really dislike him the same way i dislike, for instance, martin luther, on both personal and "theological" levels, although laveyan satanism isn't theistic so i'm not sure you can call it a unified theology. in terms of lavey as the originator of satanism, i think his thought was unsound and more sensationalistic than genuine, more out of a desire to rile people and poke fun at major religions than any particular sense of moral or ethical reasoning. i see this in his exploitation of his daughter in particular. i empathize with zeena lavey, i feel for her, and have always been interested in the paralells between her relationship with her father and that between aleister crowley and his daughter lola.

i like that satanism acts as a foil to religion by calling attention to its hypocrisy and the overprivileging of christianity, especially evangelicalism/christian nationalism, over other faith practices. but i have the same criticism of satanism that i do of martin luther and christianity. if your ideology can be coopted by nazis, its bad ideology. of course this is a very generalized assessment since almost anything can be coopted by white supremacists and nazis for their own ends, but lavey was lenient on white supremacists who found empowerment in satansim, and i never liked that much. i mean, he did admit that satanism was just ayn rand philosophy with ceremony and ritual, so im not surprised.

i have less of a unified thought on theistic satanism because of how splintered it is- i don't really believe in the christian notion of satanism, or any particular notion of satan in general. i don't know enough about it to have any useful comments to make. i've met lots of satanists i like (one of my closest friends was a satanist when we met), and in terms of politics i think the satanic panic of the 80s never died and was a concerted effort to disguise much worse abuses within christian institutions and family units by playing off religious anxieties.

there is little comprehensive philosophical or theological thinking on satanism, but as much as i can venture it in a tumblr post all belief, in anything, even only the self, is still ultimately a belief in the same thing i believe in. the way i understand God he is as present in his absence as in his evidence: so in my mind, as long as we are all working towards ultimate good (even personal good) rather than purely self-service without due interest in goodness that transcends what is dictated by authority to be "good" in an attempt to be absolutely good, which i think many satanists ultimately do, we all believe the same intrinsic thing. God is matter, thinginess: the fact that God is matter sanctifies the world as part of him. but i also see God as absence. God's absence is also holy: what many christians might call profane is then also holy. if i love God, i love his absence too. satanism seems to me, an intentional manifestation of that absence: religion without God, or a very christian-style theism without the trinitarian godhead, and frankly both are a valid undertaking that i genuinely think should be considered as potentially fruitful by people in my own field (christianity desperately needs to get humble in how it deals with comparative theologies and interreligious dialogue).

[the-one-who-lambs]

For the character asks, how about 3, 4, and 8 for Thenana?

Hi! I'm sorry for answering this a week late I've been very busy and not online a lot GDJFKGJDF but I'm gonna answer this as my writing warmup today!

3. What was the first thing you decided on, the character's name, appearance, personality or their role in the story?

I decided on her name and appearance together, because I based her on a follower I actually had in my first playthrough of the game. I just borrowed her name and appearance from the original follower Thenana. c:

4. And reverse, which one of the four things did you struggle with the most?

Her personality. Her role in the story was pretty quick to decide initially, because I felt that Narinder needed to make a connection with a mortal follower to be able to show his character development and emotional progress through a lens other than just Lambert. This was a decision I made about a third of the way through writing the first Risen/Fallen, so I kind of figured out/developed her personality as the story progressed. (This was why making her character more consistent was one of my major goals for the rewrite.)

8. What is the origin of their personality? And let's be honest - how much of it is projecting?

I don't project a ton onto Thenana, actually, but I wanted her personality and lifestyle to foil Narinder's. Even though she is pretty quiet and keeps mostly to herself like he does, she's very cheerful by nature, and she constantly baffles him with her independence. The biggest part of Narinder's sense of self-worth rested in his godhood, but Thenana's not really too interested in that so it ends up making him consider who he is beyond the title he clung to. Moreover, she doesn't want to be revived after her death at all and is perfectly content with her quaint, mortal life, which Narinder does not understand at all-- she has the potential to benefit from this revolutionary idea of resurrection that he worked so hard to develop, that he bled for, an ideal he hurt his loved ones to defend, and Thenana simply thinks "nah, I'm not about that."

Thenana constantly thwarts Narinder's expectations and pushes back against his perspective when it is limited. So too did Narinder to his siblings, albeit with much higher stakes. When ideals clash and disagreements happen, Narinder is used to his relationship with the other party feeling more and more strained. But something's different this time, and he doesn't know why; even though they don't always see eye to eye, there is still an overarching sense of mutual respect. He maintains his friendship with her even when her personality/perspective frustrates him-- not only despite the fact that she challenges his worldview, but because it makes him consider someone other than himself.

Thenana's personality has to foil Narinder's, has to be cheerful and defiantly content, because Narinder's development towards being comfortable without his divinity is not something he can learn from Lambert. He has to learn this from a mortal.

[thestobingirlie]

I think Steve, Dustin, Lucas, and Max’s plotlines in S4 would’ve been a lot better if there was a focus on the relationships between the four of them.

For one, Lucas taking up basketball is an excellent opportunity for Steve-bonding and then Dustin getting jealous and latching onto not only the only other older dude in his life, but one interested in the same hobbies as him and therefore in no danger of ‘abandoning’ him. And if Dustin was just some kid in his club to Eddie before things went to shit? The drama. If Eddie was supposed to just be another version of Steve to Dustin they could’ve at least not been lazy about it.

For two, Dustin and Lucas were Max’s first friends in Hawkins and the love and support they give her should’ve been shown and explored just as much as her romantic one with Lucas.

As a side note, I think having Erica be noticeably upset when she learns about Max would’ve added a lot to both of their characters. Partially because the duffers don’t give Erica much of anything (as interesting as she is, she’s one of the worst written characters in my opinion) and partially because Max has been in Lucas’s life for almost two years by this point, which means Erica would have been somewhat close to her as well. Everyone got a reaction to Max being cursed except her. That’s her brother’s girlfriend on the chopping block! She’s going to care!

And finally, Billy was specifically written to be Steve’s foil so having Steve there successfully older brothering Max while she grapples with the grief of her actual brother’s death, what their relationship should have been vs what it actually was, would’ve and could’ve been an absolute sucker punch of emotional turmoil. Just the idea of Max feeling guilty over viewing Steve as more of a brother than Billy and wishing Billy could’ve been more like Steve when Billy did nothing to earn her care before dying in front of her is the kind of lost potential that keeps me up at night.

i will always fight for more time for my junkyard four, regardless of their arcs. but also, i totally agree, i think a lot of their plot lines were actually involved with each other, but for some reason we just didn’t get to actually see the relationships.

yeah, the whole jealousy thing is really underused and kinda weird, it would’ve been really cool if it went two ways! dustin jealous of lucas and steve’s bond, and then steve jealous of dustin and eddie, as both boys think the other two have more in common. and then the resolution. eddie telling steve that dustin worships him, and lucas telling dustin that steve talks about him all the time. and then we can get a conversation between dustin and steve where they hug and tell each other that they’re brothers and they love each other <3

dustin and max have really been forgotten about and it’s pretty sad. i get that dustin had a little crush on her, but he’s not the type to hold it against her. they’ve had so few scenes since s2, it’s tragic. just another example of the duffers prioritising romance over friendship.

i wish we’d gotten erica and max this season instead of nancy and robin. like, imagine that girl power team. it would’ve been fun to get any erica and max interaction, even maybe erica being a bit standoffish to max, because of all the lumax drama.

steve literally is max’s big brother, and the duffers don’t give him enough credit. like, max confiding in steve and opening up about her guilt, and steve reassuring her. ugh, that would’ve killed me.

it’s interesting because even though max has such a big role this season, i still feel like she got kinda tossed aside. i guess because we have such a huge cast now, it’s hard to focus on anyone. that’s why they need to start killing off characters. but not any of my favourites

but yeah, the junkyard four and erica, i would kill for them.