#but then they do nothing to actually show this theme or conflict of explore it though the plot or character actions lmao

[fulcrums501st]

how is hallucination Silco more sympathetic to Vi’s prison trauma than the writers lmao

[princessgarnetxvi]

Everything Johan did was For Anna/Nina

Everything Johan did was for Anna. 

                      A “Monster” capable of love.

“What I’m most afraid of is…forgetting Anna. The strange lessons we have everyday… are making my memories fade. Please, don’t make me forget Anna. It’s only Anna and me in this whole world. Just give me that - please. Please.”  – Johan Liebert”

I was very confused about the complexities of Johan's character up until the last handful of episodes. After rewatching the series for a 3rd time and exploring how Johan is portrayed in the manga, it became very clear to me that my initial opinions about Johan were basic and devalued the intricacies of Naoki's writing. From the beginning we are only TOLD by conflicting views, who Johan was. His character, in the fictional world as well as our own, is simply defined by an individual's perception of him and the story presented. However, if we dissect ALL of the themes and even the undertones Naoki presented to us through the world of characters; I think it would be evident that Johan was not committing heinous acts for superficial reasons such as simply being evil to be evil.

So what was the method to his madness? 

I believe... Everything he did was for Anna.

(Yes this includes erasing himself from existence too )

Author's Note: I want to preface before you read on that although these essays are written in a sympathizing light that Johan has done PLENTY of wrong. This is not written in an attempt to dismiss his heinous acts lightly, but to simply understand the "Monster" of the series by tackling Johan's crimes deeper than the surface. I tried to make sense of Johan's every action in regards to his OVERALL PLAN and why Naoki presented them to us as viewers. For those who will nitpick the term "everything" quite literally, I want to make it clear that not E V E R Y S I N G L E A C T I O N Johan has taken coincides with his love for his sister; his actions towards the children specifically - because there are some things that had nothing to do with his "perfect plan" but more to do with attempting to build Johan's character and his view of the world us as viewers. Justifying ones actions vs. rationalizing ones actions are completely different. I am in no way attempting to discard the accountabilities that Johan should face for his actions, but instead trying to make sense of it all. I've analyzed Johan's crimes against children here: https://xprincessgarnetxvi.tumblr.com/post/691678531250487296/i-really-love-reading-your-essays-i-can However, this will explain the root of Johan's character and the core of his overall plan(s) that was committed for the sake of his sister from the very beginning to the end. The overarching theme and message of Monster is that there are no such thing as Monsters, only broken human beings capable of great evil; so we will humanize this great Monster in order to understand not only Johan Liebert, but the hows/whys Tenma/Nina was able to forgive him and ultimately find value in saving the life of this supposed Monster.

Before we begin, I'd like to take the time to thank you for reading! I can't wait to review your comments and further discuss this magnificent series of Monster!

-

Anna was set up from the beginning to become The “Monster” given she was the one who actually endured the experiments. Her tendencies are shown in glimmers throughout the show. The heartbreaking twist to it though... is that the only reason why she DID not become the beast, was because SHE ( unlike Johan ) HAD KNOWN REAL UNCONDITIONAL LOVE.

-Johan’s love and sacrifice is what kept her safe from the darkness he knew very well. He got his hands dirty to shield her. He chose to leave her behind in the care of her foster parents, knowing she would forget him, in order to heal.

He chose her than himself over and over; becoming her shadow; choosing to lose his only attachment to his already weakened identity in order for her to heal.

His love for her is why she never became a monster...and tragically, why Johan had.

Which reflects exactly what Mikhail Petrov (whose real name is Reinhart Biermann) said about his "PROFOUND DISCOVERY" concerning his current experiment on the children he had in his home; he said the children did not become animals because he gave them LOVE.

(Mikhail Petrov telling Grimmer how the children in his current experiment did not become Monster - it was because they had LOVE.)

In his own twisted way and view on things, he was protecting her. He killed every "parental" figure they had because he was betrayed by every adult figure in his life so far. People who mentioned calling the police, ended up finding out about their past - anything that could lead the man, who Johan referred to as “The Monster” into finding them, he disposed of.

The adults in their lives thus far would betray them, torture them, hurt them, throw them away- and forcefully separate them. In his severely abused mental state, any adult figure was a potential threat to his and Anna’s safety. So he’d kill in order to runaway from "the monster" and protect Anna. Then when Anna found out about the blood on his hands that fateful night the Monster paid them a visit, he realized that now he had become someone Anna feared - a different kind of Monster but all the similar to the one they were running from.

So he rationalized that now he needed to die.

In that moment, I think we should focus on his body language and expressions. Johan faced the ground. hardly picking up his eyes. His shoulders were sunken and he did not have that menacing little smile he usually had. Johan has killed in secret various times with Anna and back at Kinderheim.

So why was he so messy with the Lieberts?

Because he did not want to kill them - he said HE HAD TO.

It was not a calculated murder, because he was not truly calm and collected; He was afraid.

Lets not forget who Johan was up until that moment: the infamous little boy who provoked an entire riot and massacre by simply opening his mouth. With mere words he was able to sway the adults and children into doing what he wanted. BUT IN THAT MOMENT when Anna caught him red handed, he could not, or rather, would not - try and manipulate Anna.

(He has never once been shown trying to manipulate or abuse her throughout the entire series as he has done intentionally with the rest of the world.)

Instead, he asked her to shoot him and run - in an attempt to finally liberate her from the horrific life they had to lead up until now - blaming his existence for the constant chase their predator (Bonaparte) gave way to them as prey because in that moment, his memories were distorted and he believed he was the one who went to the Red Rose Mansion. **** (X) (this theory is challenged referenced below)

To Johan, him living was a danger to Anna and that night made it evident to him.

But when he was brought back to life and realized the gravity behind his methods, seeing how terrified Anna was of him - he started to cry. Because despite his initial feelings of finding his death absolutely necessary for her to be safe, he still wanted what he had with her; the only bond of love he ever knew.

What set his entire ADULT plan into motion (wiping out everyone who ever hurt Anna and created HIM) was Anna's rejection at the hospital. That was when he realized internally, he was beyond forgiveness and that he was nothing more than a monster. A Nameless monster in her reflection that needed to die in order for her to live in peace. (Referencing the God of Peace storybook. )

Johan was the one who gifted the God (Anna) her hat and then she saw herself as the Monster she was supposed to be due to the Red Rose Mansion experiments. This would NOT have happened if Johan did not give her the hat (the red hat which can symbolize the blood he spilled for her. ) so in this instance, Johan is also the reflection (you are me and I am you. They are both nameless monsters)

From that moment on, he wanted to wipe out his entire existence, and that meant those who ALSO "created" him so that Anna could heal as Nina.

I believe this is what is depicted in the Nameless Monster storybook. 

Initially, we are made to believe Johan wanted to “consume everyone” so he would be the last one standing. The Monster known as Johan in the book also devours his counterpart, the Monster who went West and then there is no one left to call him by his name. But clearly, Johan never does this, because Johan never attempts to kill/devour Anna/Nina - because what it symbolizes is entirely different in nature regarding Johan’s intention. 

A quick reminder that both Johan and Anna were considered Nameless Monsters. HOWEVER - by Johan’s hands, Anna does not remain “Nameless” nor does she ever become a “monster” the moment Johan decided to not only leave her behind in the hands of a loving family, but by her changing her name and her identity to Nina. The Fortners never made any implication that they knew of Nina’s past concerning the Lieberts murder and I believe this is because Johan introduced her as Nina to the Fortners and never allowed them to see the trail behind her identity as Anna Liebert. 

Symbolically, Johan, as the Nameless Monster, consumed the Monster inside of Anna and became the only Monster left. This is what is mirrored in Johan’s intentions and the Nameless Monster storybook. 

With Anna forgetting him and Johan leaving her behind thus losing his only connection to someone who truly knew him, now all that is left is Johan, without absolutely anyone to call him by his name - the one and only Nameless Monster.

And this is heavily referenced in Another Monster:

(This reinforces that Johan was trying to make Nina forget her past as Anna)

There wasn’t some sick satisfaction from any of his killings done when he was a child. To him, it was needed for the sake of her safety. This was Johan’s initial “plan.” set in motion. He wanted to be the only one left in the world with his sister - so that they wouldn’t have to be afraid anymore. 

(I also believe at that point when they were kids, Johan's very first plan he referred to when telling Anna "Remember, I have a plan." was to run to another country with her so that the Monster will never find them. It is the only logical idea of a plan that a child could conjure following what he actually leads them to do, which was cross the border. Simply destroying the world is unreachable in his current state and Johan is smart enough to not be delusional in his endeavors. With that being said, he had to kill that old couple to erase any trail they may have left of "two beautiful blonde twins." But this plan fails because they nearly die at the Czech Border and was discovered. )

(Johan telling Anna he has a plan.)

RUHENHEIM:

One of the biggest moments in Ruhenheim has been misinterpreted and lost due to the mistranslations in both the English Dub and the Japanese subtitles. 

I clarify and mend this by breaking down what Nina unraveled in Boneparte’s house when she looked at the portraits by correctly translating the Japanese script/text in depth here on this post:

 But to summarize it for the purpose of this essay, it was revealed to us as viewers that Johan apologized to Anna when she returned from the Red Rose Mansion, revealing the overwhelming weight of guilt he carried when Anna had been taken that day. 

(That day depicts the moment their mother made the terrible 'Choice')

and then Johan accepts his mother will never return to them (assuming she abandoned them) and goes on to tell Anna this:

Johan is the one crying because soon after, Nina tells us that Johan was in that room crying.

This information provides clarity as to why Nina was finally able to understand Johan, empathize with him enough to be able to forgive him. She remembered he was a boy who felt guilty over what happened to her; a boy who cried when he realized they were now all alone in the world.  She understood that Johan desperately did anything and everything to ensure he and Anna survived despite it all.

That Rainy Night:

I want to GREATLY EMPHASIZE the important factor I missed my first time watching the scenes with Johan/Anna - the scenes shown to us were ONLY through her recollection as fragments due to her memory loss. They were told from what she COULD remember, so her take on what really happened that rainy night the first few times the events are unfolded before us should not be taken as absolute. At least...up until it is revealed in the final episodes that Anna realized that on that night instead of seeming like an empty shell of a person asking for death, Johan was crying and crying before she shot him.

The scene where Anna finds the portraits reveals what truly happened between them and its so important. She said “Johan was crying “here” just like before.” She was mimicking a memory she had just recalled in its entirety. “Why are you crying, why are you crying?” She sounded in distress. Directly after she reveals that she remembers him crying, it shows the image of him pointing at his head that rainy night.

Even though Johan told her to shoot him, it is IMPORTANT that he was crying and the author highlights this for a reason.

I believe that, finally being able to vividly remember that day finally revealed to her that Johan wasn’t the “face of absolute evil” she initially dismissed him to be; he was a boy/man who could cry and mourn - he was human. He was a terrified boy protecting Anna and himself the only way he knew how. and instead of showing him forgiveness/love - she added on to his collection of wounds scarred upon his soul from everyone else who chose to harm him.

Tenma...was ultimately the ONLY one in his life who showed him kindness.

Johan's intentions and reasons behind many crimes: Essay II.

( I will summarize it here as the extension essay was far too long to put on this post)

**** (☓) I want to ask, did Johan truly believe he was the one who went to the Red Rose Mansion or was that simply a masquerade he performed to make sure Anna did not remember?

(I wrote an essay on this being a possibility here: PART 2 OF THIS ESSAY. This will explain Johan's intentions in depth)

(this is a theory I FIRMLY believe and have completely adopted. But for the sake of argument, I will entertain both concepts behind Johan's memory in this essay.)

If we entertain the idea that Johan never misconstrued his memories about the Red Rose and pretended he did, I can dissect Johan’s intentions a bit more intricately.

Throughout the series you see that he is trying to wipe everyone who knew of what happened to Anna off the face of the earth, that included himself. He did not want Anna to remember. So when it was revealed she did remember, he mourned. It was subtle but evident in the anime when she reveals “you are wrong.” something in him shifted - for once he was reacting to the words of another.

She said "he had a smile but seemed like he was crying. I never seen such an expression on his face before." That entire scene, Johan’s eyes expressed something we’ve never seen from him throughout the series - a sense of mourning or longing?

Johan in front of Anna always appeared the most human and I feel Naoki did this with purpose.

(Naoki specifically told the directors/animators of the anime series to never stray from how he expressed Johan's eyes for a very important reason. )

Johan's expression finally meeting Anna after 13 years apart.

-

If, however, Johan DID truly think he was the one who suffered at the red rose mansion, his “perfect suicide” plan still relates to his twisted-selfless feelings for Anna.

Johan learns it was not him that suffered at the Red Rose Mansion...but Anna instead. and then Johan goes on to commit the "perfect suicide." In his plan to die, he wanted to take The Monster with him, forcing Bonaparte to endure the same exact hell he forced Anna to suffer as a child.

Call it an act of revenge. Some may think Johan is incapable of being vengeful but I cannot see this cruel and calculated act as anything other than malice. After Bonaparte was finally dead, the monster disposed of - Johan was ready to die.

But you can see his conviction began to slip away when Anna forgave him. What made it worse was realizing he was wrong about Tenma because even now, Tenma was still hesitating on killing him ruthlessly like he always presumed would happen. Johan thought he had humans all figured out - after all, all Johan has EVER known was the darkness in people’s hearts. That is why he was so confused/moved by Tenma and wanted so desperately to prove him wrong.

The manga portrays Johan’s expressions 1000X BETTER THAN THE ANIME. As soon as Anna arrives, Johan is just staring at the floor, unable to look at her - Repeating everything from that fateful rainy night when they were kids. But this time, Anna doesn’t kill him, she chooses love and compassion. and when she says she forgives him - his reaction is something the anime does not do justice

(The subtle shift the artist expressed in his eyes from her words is so significant but missed in the anime; but he reacts rather deeply, moved and shocked by her words.)

Because "Forgiveness is the remission of sins. For it is by this that what has been lost, and was found, is saved from being lost again."

In the manga he isn’t quick to reply. He ponders over her words carefully and I think this is when his mind starts panicking.

Anna realized that forgiveness was the one thing he wanted that night she shot him, despite him also thinking his death was needed. His value depended on her view of him; and what she once robbed from him was now returned - a human being worthy of forgiveness instead of a monster.

He is telling her the evident truth that he cannot turn back because he TRULY believes Tenma is going to kill him any moment.

Johan refuses her forgiveness not because he resents her or thinks its too late for her to redeem herself - but because he doesn’t think he deserves it. “There are somethings that cannot be undone.” Because it is too late, Johan is going to die - he WANTS to die. Then you see the fear and helplessness in his eyes after getting the one thing he always wanted [ Anna’s forgiveness] because he desperately wanted to die as the only thing he knew himself to be: the nameless, nonexistent monster. But both Anna and Tenma rob him of that by bestowing upon him the gift of compassion, mercy and empathy; for the first time treating and valuing him like a human being instead of a monster,god,experiment, devil etc., as everyone around him has his entire life.

(The Monster inside of Johan begins to crumble.)

Johan in his final moments was cracking and finally falling apart. You see it in the final expression he makes: the distraught, confusion and sadness. Because he realized, he was wrong about people, he was wrong about the world. But how can we blame him for his view on humanity when all he has ever been shown since birth was how ugly, selfish, cruel and inhumane people can be?

How can we expect someone who has only seen darkness to be able to find the light?

I want to clarify one thing I noticed: Johan has never shown to take any kind of sick satisfaction from killing unlike all the other serial killers being interviewed in the series. (aside from Richard) Specifically, Johan is without "the lust for murder" as Lunge explains in Another Monster - which is why Johan hired other people to kill for him instead. Especially contrasting Johan with Roberto, specifically, when Roberto tries to kill Anna.

(that is until Richard, which makes Johan's dealings with him stand out for a reason. He doesn't even take pleasure in killing the Red Hiddenburg, he leaves before witnessing her death instead of reveling in his 'checkmate' coming to fruition.)

Despite his callousness and his lack of care for life - Johan, despite how much of a "monster" he was, very clearly had humanity and had love....for his sister most of all. Johan saw when his mother choose, how little their lives meant to her and this instilled his nihilism at such a young age. He watched Anna get tossed to the wolves like nothing and in that moment, he probably thought his mother chose Anna over him for a reason. (even though the question on her intention would haunt him for the rest of his life) But her being able to choose is what hurt him the most and it's probably what instilled his self sacrificing mentality to care for Anna above the world in order to never make the same mistake his mother had.

That is why after she got back from the Red Rose Mansion, he cried for her story and apologized as if it was his responsibility to feel guilty over what happened to her. It should have been him that suffered. Then after, he treats her with the upmost care, telling her everything is hers, no matter what she will win everything because he would deem it so. He is kind to her, never letting go of her hand even when she is dragging behind - he sacrificed all of himself for her...

Because she deserved everything in the world to contrast their mother throwing her away.

(it should be noted that the Lieberts did not want Anna either but only adopted her because Johan refused to leave the orphanage without her. Which is also why I believe he killed them when Bonaparta came because he thought the Lieberts were conspiring with Bonaparta to get Anna)

🌰 (The ‘Acorn game’ represents their Mother's choice, a child in each hand. But in this version, Johan would ensure that no matter what hand Anna chooses, she will NEVER choose wrong. He manipulates the fate behind her choices by holding two acorns instead of one; never letting her make the same mistake as her mother.)

He wanted her to know above all else, she was loved.

A clear indication of this adoration/attachment he has for her is the fact that he DOES NOT forget her even after enduring the hellish experiments in Kinderheim that aimed at wiping out / messing around with his memories.

-

I wrote this because I was astounded to see various posts/Wiki pages implying that Johan’s intentions were to torture Anna and make her kill herself. Telling her to shoot him was his first attempt to drive her insane? They twisted a lot of things Johan did to try and make this statement true. But I cannot comprehend how they drew this conclusion? The series has characters mentioning on more than a few occasions that Anna is dear to Johan. "He is lost with you."

Everyone knew Anna was important to Johan, Professor Geidlitz was the first to mention this besides the old blind man. Roberto was aware of this which is why he tried to kill her as mentioned in Another Monster. Which is ALSO why Peter Capek tried to hold her hostage to prevent Johan from killing him.

and for the first time, Johan DOESN'T kill him.

Johan cried when he awoke at the hospital after he reached for his sister and she screamed in fear of him. His face full of tears - his heart completely broken. If his intention was to drive Anna insane, he would have triumphed in that moment she screamed and fell to the ground after he reached out to her. But instead he mourned.

Anna has mentioned several times that Johan has cried for her, like when he was in the room full of their happy portraits, he was crying. He never once tried to bring harm to Anna - not intentionally towards her person. Explaining the Fortners murder - either he killed the Fortners after they decided to keep lying to her, thus keeping him in the shadows when he wanted to return. OR he killed them because they were going to tell her the truth about her identity, which was something Johan worked to conceal. (this theory is explained thoroughly in essay #2 )

Regardless, if he wanted to torment her, he would not have tried to lure her away to the castle when he set up the Fortners to be killed.

They imply that Johan wanted to torture her and then kill her at the end. But that makes absolutely no sense. Where in the storyline does Johan give off this tendency towards her? Even at the end he told her where to meet him in Ruhenheim and not once did he try to shoot her or Tenma. Honestly, if he really wanted to provoke Tenma to shoot him, he would have held the gun to Anna instead of a random child. But even though being shot by Tenma was his greatest endeavor, he refused to point the gun at someone who was important to Tenma...because Anna, is important to Johan too.

To say Johan, despite being hailed as the Monster of the series, had no love or humanity in him and was merely the Devil himself...completely missed the point of the story...

I’d like to point out the constant mentioning of Hitler in this story and draw another important factor...Hitler brainwashed people to commit mass genocide. Under his rule, millions perished in horrific ways. But despite that...Hitler was capable of loving others. Hitler was also loved by others. The terrifying truth about people who commit atrocities...is that they are not monsters or demons or devils...

they are merely human.

-

Here’s two passages from ANOTHER MONSTER [novel post Monster written by Naoki] that really drives this point:

- PSA: My twin brother FINALLY finished his 2 HOUR Johan Analysis Essay, that dives deeper into Johan's character. This essay and essay #2 will be included in this analysis video as we both worked on it together. However, this lays out the details visually and with beautiful music. Please watch!

[gold-rhine]

like its literally insane how beat for beat this lantern rite goes into the same notes as natlan final act, but just does it well. the contrast is crazy-making. SPOILERS 2025 LANTERN RITE i guess

like. oh its a story about pyro girlie who had to lose her family very early and tragically, and then she came under huge amount of dire responsibility, but she didn't let it break her and she stayed positive and bright. she is now confronted with a critical situation where she has to do hard decision and be ready to die to save her country. she says goodbyes to her friends, trying to not let them know she's going to sacrifice herself, but they realise it and do everything to save her. in the end, she realizes her life isn't over, its too early for her to go, has heartfelt reunion with ghosts of her family and is saved by unified efforts of her friends, showing how much she's loved and wanted in the world of the living. (im joking, last part didnt happen to mavuika lol, i'll get to it)

but like you can actually see how liyue kids are ACTUALLY friends and how they like each other, they have palpable chemistry that is shown, instead of just like. flatly declared in natlan. hu tao pestering embarrassed yun jin into performing her silly cringe hilichurl song in operatic style has more character than mavuika had in all acts of natlan and her story quest COMBINED. and hu tao visiting friends to give them goodbye gifts under the guise of holiday tradition with half-jokey heartfelt well wishings is what i think natlan tried to do with ancient name thing, where characters like say why they like traveler. except in lantern rite it works because its personal and meaningful, and in natlan its just flashy anime poses and random cliches. "i love being traveler's friend!", "surely she comes from a good home!" like??? its fucking nothings that coworkers awkwardly say at the birthday party because they don't know you.

and suddenly in liyue they know that characters can have differences and STILL be respectful and well-intended, with hu tao and baizhu exchanging jabs about being archenemies, instead of entire cast being blandly okay yay all the time in natlan. hu tao's conversation with zhongli exploring her mental state before going into danger, bittersweet, but finally honest, just straight up doesnt have a parallel in natlan because they never give mavuika any fucking way to express herself. not to mention that hu tao has more conflict and complicated feelings about her lost family and grief than mavuika ever has with her sister where they talk about fucking nothing and just like politely nod at each other.

and the theme of unity actually works in liyue because it does have all other characters uniting to share hu tao's burden and save her, instead of capitano ex machina just showing up and solo taking her place bc he's here to hijack the narrative and make it about khaenriah instead of natlan. so natlan's theme about unity just never goes anywhere except of characters standing in the circle and yelling "for natlan!!", there is no tangible effort for this unity, nothing they have to overcome together. they just wait for everyone to awaken their ancient names, stand in a circle to power up mavuika, and then she solo finishes everything with carpet bombing. and then she solo beats up abyss boss. and then capitano makes it all about himself. like. much unity.

and even traveler being a descender isn't really used in natlan despite making a big deal out of it, her ability to challenge fate or whatever literally never actually comes up. meanwhile in liyue it is used within established lore reasons - not being connected to irminsul, BUT, very importantly, just being special descender would not be enough to save hu tao, its the fact that they are friends, they share a bond and care about each other, i.e. only by using the plum's branch traveler is able to connect and find hu tao.

[aerithisms]

i think my problem with this dw season arc accusing the audience of fanbrain for theorising about ruby is that it both feels deceitful and isn't actually that compelling from a character perspective. the season goes out of its way to build up supernatural mystery around ruby and even invokes susan more heavily than ever before in a way that is deliberately trying to get the audience to make those connections. and then it turns around and says you stupid idiot why would you ever try to connect these dots i have deliberately tried to get you to connect.

building up a mystery only for the character to be ordinary is an impossible girl arc redux only this time accusing the viewer of failing to see the humanity of the companion, whereas the impossible girl arc was turning that accusation on the doctor. 7b didn't really blame the audience for viewing clara as a puzzle and in fact several times spells out the fact that clara is perfectly ordinary before the big reveal to give the audience a chance to catch on. as 7b goes on, instead of laying the mystery on thicker, the audience just gets more and more affirmations that clara is a normal human being (rings of akhaten, journey to the centre of the tardis, hide). i found this approach compelling because it was rooted in character, focusing on the doctor's disconnection from humanity/the gendered dynamic of a man treating a woman as his manic pixie mystery to pull him out of grief. s14's meta approach of accusing the viewer feels both unfair, given it has deliberately led the viewer towards theorising, and personally less compelling to me because it wasn't tied into character in any way.

the thing about rey's parentage in tlj is that the reason rian johnson chose to go for that reveal was that it was the only answer that was interesting. none of the theories - rey is a skywalker, rey is a kenobi, and even the eventually canonical rey is a palpatine - were interesting or satisfying because they brought nothing compelling to the table for the story being told. the only satisfaction to be gained from those answers was a fanbrained "omg rey is important because she's related to that guy from the other movie." on top of that, rey desperately wants her parents to have been important, to give her life and her abandonment some kind of significance. so them being ordinary provided the most compelling trajectory for her character because it was the thing she least wanted to hear. it forced her to do the most introspection and growth, as well as tying into the film's themes about the capacity of ordinary people to be special. it wasn't just a choice made to "gotcha" the viewer, it was rooted in character.

i don't think ruby's mother being ordinary accomplishes the same thing. by invoking susan, s14 is engaging with the most egregious example of the doctor's streak of abandonment, which has potential to be very compelling in relation to ruby (and now also the doctor's) own abandonment issues. theories that ruby might be susan, or be somehow related to susan, or somehow related to the doctor, weren't just fanbrained "omg she's related to that guy i know from the classic series." they were theories genuinely rooted in character and the potential to explore both the doctor and ruby's issues with abandonment. and this is something the show willingly led fans towards by invoking susan so much in the first place. so for the show to turn around and act like they were shallow out of nowhere ideas when they were not shallow and were based on potential character conflicts the show itself deliberately invoked, feels misguided.

as well as that, ruby's mother being ordinary does not require that same growth from ruby as it did for rey because it is exactly what ruby wanted to hear. she never wanted her mother to be important, she just wanted to know who her mother was and have a connection with her. so finding out she was a normal woman who still loves her and wants to be a part of her life is everything she's ever wanted. it doesn't introduce interesting conflict for her the way rey's parents being ordinary did for her, because they were written as different characters with different hangups over their abandonment.

tl;dr i don't necessarily dislike ruby's mother being ordinary as an idea but compared to the things it was inspired by - 7b and star wars - it is not nearly as compelling in terms of how it relates to the characters or themes. and the meta angle, while conceptually interesting, doesn't quite work for me because it feels a little manipulative of the audience.

[bluedandylyon]

I think I took for granted how good She-Ra is. Like it is a MIRACLE that a show like this exists, you know?

Idk, watching the Arcane finale and seeing it fumble the things it set up for itself in season 1, ditching complex and complete set-ups and pay-offs for cheap parallels that don’t always make sense; it made me realize how fucking lucky we got with spop.

There are a lot of incredible things about the show, about how pretty much every character in the show is queer, how trauma is represented, complex themes interweaved beautifully in a TV-7 rating show.

BUT

I feel like we as a ~ society don’t talk enough about the set-ups and pay-offs in the show. The fact that nothing in the show comes out of left field and how every piece of dialogue serves a function and sets the characters up. The characters in spop will never act out of character for a line, or to further the plot. Their consistency is incredible.

Let’s take Jinx and Catra for example. Jinx has complex mental health issues that were at the center of everything in szn 1, so she had a lot of symptoms and she was able to be messy and frustrating and realistic in her disorder. Then szn 2 came around and somehow her symptoms are mostly cured - which ok, we can chalk that up to Isha’s presence in her life, which yeah, her hallucinatory symptoms partly come back when Isha goes missing. Although, this would mean that they’re setting up that if Isha is not in Jinx’s life, then her symptoms would come back full force no?

Isha dies and there is absolutely nothing that pays off in terms of this little set up they did. Jinx becomes suicidal, but her other, more complex, more “able to ruin plot plans” symptoms disappear in its entirety. This is a character whose complexity is determined by what the plot needs to do.

Catra also has complex mental issues, and those NEVER go away for the sake of plot expediency, in fact, the plot baked Adora and Catra’s conflict in the center of it all from the very beginning. This means that Catra gets to act realistically all throughout the show and that furthers the plot. Catra doesn’t get rescued and all of a sudden her trauma goes away for the sake of redeeming her faster. Catra has not been healed at the end of the show, she is beginning to heal. She is allowed to explore the depths of her trauma and symptoms and instead of speeding through it, the show says - here, go down to rock bottom, get rescued and be unable to say thank you, get re-triggered by your abuser and run away at the very end of the show. And also, here are some characters that will call you out on your behavior, here is an emotional support animal, here, the person you love and have pushed away from, never hated you!! Her healing always feels like it’s a deliberate choice from Catra bc of what tools the show is giving her, not bc the plot needs to move forward now.

And in terms of set-ups and pay-offs. I mean…. It’s actually nuts. Characters’ dialogues literally bake themselves into other characters. Shadow Weaver tells Adora “Catra distracts you, confuses you” and Adora later tells Bow and Glimmer (after calling SW out btw) “I am distracted and confused and I cant be any of those things if this is going to work” which creates the final moments of the show.

Angella tells Adora “take care of each other” and Adora internalizes it as “I have to take care of Glimmer” bc of her trauma, and that leads her to be very controlling with Glimmer, which creates conflict in their relationship, which creates the heart of Etheria situation, which creates the Horde Prime situation.

SW tells Catra that she abused her bc Catra reminded her of herself. In that same episode, where SW’s past is explored, they both say “it doesn’t matter what I do, my authority figure doesn’t trust me”, we can see how Catra begins to emulate SW’s authority style throughout the show.

The show starts with SW telling Adora “isn’t this what you’ve wanted since you were old enough to want anything?” and it ends with Catra asking her “what do you want, Adora?” which sets up the conclusion of Adora’s entire arc.

Even little things, like Entrapta telling Wrong Hordak it’s ok to make facial expressions and Wrong Hordak being animated copying character’s facial expressions for practice after that.

ITS JUST SO GOOD THE WRITING IN THIS SHOW IS RIDICULOUS.

[sokkastyles]

Hi,

Hope you are doing well.

I have come across the reblogs of The Reckoning of Roku and three things hit me.

The fact that the Air Nomads believe that the world would be better if everyone was a pacifist like them feels a bit like Sozin's thought process. This one is a reach, but I feel there is a small similarity.

I didn't understand the shot at the Fire Lady thing, because we are not shown anything about the Air Nuns mentioned in this novel. Is it a shot at fans? Because if so, this is a stupid attempt.

The novel feels like a deifying of the Air Nomads. That they were these pacifist people, but come to think of it, till book 3, I doubt it was implied that the Air Nomads were pacifist, to my recollection at least. And I doubt Aang's word can be taken into account, because no twelve year old will have an understanding of his culture.

I would like your thoughts on this.

The main problem with the "the world would be better if everyone were pacifists like us" thing is that it isn't inherently wrong. The world WOULD be better if everyone worked to end violence. The problem is that the novel and the series as a whole have a very shallow view of what pacifism actually is. They seem to think it means not eating meat and having a hands off approach to violent conflicts, while what Roku calls for is actual activism and bringing peace through justice. Gyatso declaring that wars would not exist if everyone were like the Air Nomads, while simultaneously advocating for not getting involved, does reek of the same logic Sozin used when he said that the world would be better off if the Fire Nation were to spread its greatness. Neither view is actually doing anything to promote peace.

And of course that doesn't mean Gyatso is just like Sozin, and it certainly doesn't mean that what happened to the Air Nomads was justified (a view I have seen expressed by no one except Aang stans accusing Zutara shippers of saying so in entirely bad faith). But a central theme of atla is that the Fire Nation thought they were the good guys. Their entire ideology was about the belief that they were making the world a better place, and any ideology that assumes the world would be better off if these other people were more like us, while not actually addressing conflicts, is an inherently flawed ideology.

Which would be great if, as I have seen some Aang stans say, also in bad faith arguments to hate on zutara shippers for pointing out bad writing, any of this were actually intentional. But the series is not actually interested in making Gyatso or any of the Air Nomads actual human beings. We're supposed to believe Gyatso is right simply because the Air Nomads are the good guys. And that's why what he says is dangerous. Nobody is saying the Air Nomads are not the good guys here. But it is glaring that the show put these words in the mouth of a character we are supposed to idealize, when the original show explored the dangers of that idealization as one of its main themes. It's because Gyatso is a good guy and a victim of genocide that the writers making him say this is so offensive.

The fire lady mention is absolutely a dig at zutara shippers, who invented the term because of the original show's deficit in depicting the lives of women. It feels like the creators are trying to dodge any accountability for their own sexism, something they have a history of doing. And yeah, it's telling that we still know nothing about Air nuns except that, according to Gyatso, there are "good reasons" for gender segregation. It reeks of "our sacred traditions vs their backwards sexism" as well as the creators once again trying to make excuses for their own sexism.

Which doesn't make any sense from a cultural perspective, but again, the franchise is not interested in depicting the Air Nomads as real people beyond the Shangri-La stereotype they've been running with. They don't even do a good job of trying to be progressive, because that line about how Air Nomads can move temples if their understanding of their gender shifts actually raises more questions than it answers, and just gives a gender essentialist and heteronormative view on lgbtq issues.

[ratatattouille]

just finished the dragon prince season 7 and that was one of the worst times i've ever endured watching an animated show. i don't know what is UP with writers not giving a shit about their characters, worldbuilding or themes in the finale. idk why tf creators just don't give a shit anymore towards the end of their shows. why have creators STOPPED FOLLOWING THROUGH ON THEIR INITIAL PROMISES IN SO MANY SHOWS??!!!

ADDITIONALLY, I AM SO FUCKING SICK OF WHITE MEN LIBERAL POLITICAL BULLSHIT LIKE GENUINELY FUCK OFF WITH YOUR THEY DID IT FOR LOVE, BOTH-SIDES, FORGIVENESS BREAKS THE CYCLE BULLSHIT AND SHOOT YOURSELF IN THE FOOT YOU FUCKASS COLONIZERS!!!

i can't get into how season 7 just doesn't give a shit about literally every single character that were previously so thoughtfully crafted. but my main gripe, as always, has to do with the fact that The Dragon Prince from SEASON ONE, established an interesting conversation on colonialism and self-actualization. the human kingdoms are shown to have a history of stealing magic from xadian kingdoms, killing their people and appropriating their culture for their own survival/self-actualization, more or less treating the fauna, flora and citizens of xadia as collectibles or obstacles in the way of their ambitions. and then guess what? nothing. literally nothing. let's just fight a giant elf and give 20,000 speeches on the "cycle of violence."

literally everything I DESPISE about arcane season 2 rears it's ugly bastard head in The Dragon Prince.

foolishly, FOOLISHLY!!! i thought that they were setting up an interesting conversation on whether or not the humans were justified in stealing/appropriating magic or if the xadians were wrong to horde their aide or resources. we explored multiple kingdoms in conflict over this very question, whether they were ruled by dragons, elves or kings. Claudia and Callum were literally two sides of the same question: is dark (human) magic evil and exploitative or should humans stick to the parameters set by xadians? Who has the right to self-actualization, and to what extent?

but season 7 just sincerely doesn't give a single fuck. literally, every character's motivations are boiled down to "LOVE OMG IT WAS ALWAYS BECAUSE OF LOVE" and then cue being lectured by Ezran about forgiveness stopping the cycle of violence, like genuinely that's it. the final battle was so shit, so lackluster, so full of unfunny quips and contrived emotional scenes and unjustified character choices and stupid decisions and wastes of runtime and romantic fanservice . . .

this is so fucking bizarre to me (and it's clear there's a strong anti liberationist push in liberal media) coming from men who literally created Avatar: The Last Airbender and Legends of Korra. how tf did they manage such an abysmal downgrade on literally every front?

like i actually don't want to hear it anymore. i don't give a shit anymore they can keep their shitty animated shows. all of them.

[redfountainpostin]

thoughts on riven (fate)?

I hate him.

(Disclaimer, I'll be answering this with consideration for the source material, not my own headcanons about Riven)

The thing is with a different direction he might have done wellish. For the aesthetic part of it he does have that angular, somewhat foxy face that I think fits Riven well. But getting rid of his haircolor is a crime. Also his hair should be messier. I don't think his cartoon style would work in live action and I also don't think simple spikes would work, that's very hedgehog vibe and his cartoon vibe is not that. His hair should have just been dyed and made voluminous and messy or he should have gotten the appropriate wig.

Now the writing. First of all, without Brandon and Tommy the whole balance is off. Combining Riven and Brandon in a Substance like monstrosity (RIP ElisaSue) and dousing it in homophobia and making it an apprentice sex predator is not it.

But let's go bit by bit, first: the brandon/riven combo. It doesn't work. Riven and Sky were barely friends in season 1. Riven had huge beef with him and Sky gave back in kind. In Fate Riven acts like an insecure younger brother mad that Sky is better than him in a really whiny way. Riven hated that Sky is better than him (or considered better) in OG and he was ANGRY about it. He met that guy and for some reason got competitive real quick. Instead of exploring why that is, they just made them close as brothers, and then Riven has his meltdown (was it even a meltdown? The conflicts in Fate are so weak (unless, ofc, we're directing a white actress to call a black girl a rat in disgust, THAT got to be intense) like Sky bitches to him about Beatrix (my blood pressure rises just thinking about it) Riven goes "whaaah, I'm just a guy you look down on!" and then they're cool next season as if nothing happened.

Now there's also a badassery level missing. Now in the show boys very rarely get to actually be badass bc the girls outshine them, yes. However, one thing about Riven is that the motherfucker is durable. Cartoon Riven would NEVER fold just bc Flora mildly plant choked him and he would rather eat glass than run away with his tail between his legs.

Now to the homophobia/sex predator part. 1) The way he cornered Dane at first was creepy as fuck. The way Dane then reached out none the less is not that unrealistic sadly, but wasn't addressed at all. Riven's lack of boundaries itself was not only not addressed at all later on but it also disappeared. It's inconsistent writing. Now I don't mind Riven being biphobic even though he is clearly bi himself. Like sure a self hating queer isn't an original trope but meh you could shoehorn it ig (the self hate part, not the queer part, I'm not annoyed at that). BUT my problem isn't a homophobic character, it's homophobic writing. I have a separate post for that ( https://www.tumblr.com/redfountainpostin/763521760187580416/beyond-racism-one-of-my-most-hated-aspects-of?source=share) but short version is that making villains (sorry excuse for villains, what did Bea even do? BLOOM released the big bad) the sexually "lascivious" ones is TIRED and I'm TIRED of softcore preporn of characters that are 16 and 17.

THAT brings me to my next point: Riven is made to look like he's a girl crazy sex crazed teen. He's not. I know several fanfiction authors gave him and Darcy a sexual relationship that's very intense and I respect that- just like I hope to do with my own headcanons, they work off of canon, exaggate themes, push them in desired directions and they make it WORK. However none of them make sex the ONLY think Darven has and Fate makes that mistake. Canon Riven is not girl crazy and no matter the dub you never get the idea he's thirsty for Darcy. He's in LOVE. Puppy love, if you will. Could sex be added in the live action version? Sure! But OVERDO it and fail on the love part and you ruined Darven. Speaking of which, are Riven and Bea even together in season 2? I swear to God I don't remember scenes of them together?

One thing I disliked as well was how crude and vulgar he was. However, that's something that could have been a plot point. I recently made a post about Riven's drinking habits (https://www.tumblr.com/redfountainpostin/766437598221697024/riven-actually-drank-quite-a-lot-for-awhile-im?source=share) and was considering merits of him having had a nasty vocal when he first came to Red Fountain. Why? Bc one of the more popular theories about Riven was that he spent his childhood on his own, homeless, on the streets. That IS breeding ground for bad habits. And those are ugly. From that environment you don't just get a tragic backstory, you get some UGLY traits that make people in general want to avoid you. Riven having those and slowly healing out of them would be GREAT. (having Brandon and some others, even Sky, be there for him and offer him friendship before he's officially "deserving" or even ready to fully accept it would also be lovely and speak loads about their own character) But we never really see that. He's a bit less of a prick by the end of season 2 I think (I never finished it) but not bc of any on screen growth.

Overall, Fate Riven is a sad, sad disappointment. He should have been the CARRIER of angst and edgy there. When Straffi promised us darker and grittier Winx, I was like FUCK YES, Riven angst here we go. And what did I get? Fuck all. Mellow not villain just ass, and fuck all of it.

The least problem is limited Rivusa time but honestly even that is fucked by the fact she got a nice boyfriend already. Let Musa pine, damn it. She needs heartbreak for her art.

[allykatsart]

I like how the fallen Emily comic addresses the 'divorce arc' differently and doesn't pin all the blame onto Vaggie

Cause lets be honest, that women gives off "army women who fought in a war, has killed people, and has ptsd" energy, and her backstory is very clearly a whole bucket of trauma that Vaggie shouldn't have been forced to share.

Charlie is allowed to feel what she feels she is 100% valid, but im glad that, unlike canon, she didn't take it out on Vaggie and is instead just venting it all out onto a third party

Like Charlie, i love you, but how are you gonna questions you're partners loyalty who has done nothing but help you for 3 years, while trusting a serial killer cannibal whose made it clear he's only here for the entertainment and trying to redeem people who have killed other people....and then not say sorry for doing so

I wouldn't hate the scene if she had just said sorry about what she said to Vaggie and explained everything she told Rosie TO Vaggie, but she didn't, and all the blame is pinned onto Vaggie because of it

It is by far one of my biggest pet peeves in the Hazbin Hotel show, so I like how you kinda just, cut it all out and rewrite it so it actually shows both of their POVs and faults

Also- so sorry for the rant, I meant for this to be a compliment about how much I liek the litter rewrite eif the arc- but clearly it spiraled lol

Fallen Emily AU

I really like this rant LMAO it's got a lot of thoughts that I agree with when it comes to the Divorce Arc of episode 7!

I feel like if Hazbin Hotel was given more episodes to expand and explore the conflict between Vaggie and Charlie, it would have ended up more satisfying. Because, yeah, like you said, Vaggie's got baggage and she shouldn't be forced to share it (But Adam is Adam so it came out in the worst way possible.) But Charlie getting angry is absolutely understandable.

But, like Rosie said, people are messy and they aren't always going to do the 'right' thing in a tense situation. Thankfully, I think Charlie and Vaggie's relationship isn't so strained that it will break. They seem to have a mostly healthy relationship and I adore them!

One of the things I realized when I was deciding on what the plot should be was that I could explore this angle! Moreover, I could tie it into the major themes of the Fallen Emily AU. After all, Charlie and Vaggie can get over this and repair the damage done...

Can Sera and Emily do the same?

[tobiasdrake]

So, what is your take on the human fighters relevancy in the latter half of the story? I’m mainly speaking of Krillin, Tenshinhan and Yamcha - in my experience, most are largely fine with Chaozu fading into the background (he was always more of an accessory to Tenshinhan, in the same way Puar is to Yamcha), but I’m curious if you think the three main earthling fighters still had potential and/or unfinished business narratively speaking?

Additionally, do you believe Dragonball should ultimately always be “The Goku Show” or rather be produced as somewhat of an ensemble?

It depends on the story being told. Dragon Ball was created as the story of Son Goku's pursuit of self-improvement and personal growth. It's an individualist story about a protagonist pushing himself to new horizons and developing himself both as a martial artist and as a person. With that in mind, it makes sense to keep the story centered on Goku.

A good story should be about what it's about. It should focus on the things that are important for conveying its central ideas and philosophies.

I don't think there was any unfinished business for Krillin, Yamcha, or Ten. Krillin and Yamcha never had a big arc to begin with; They were supporting characters whose main role was to flesh out the cast. Tenshinhan did have an arc, but it concluded at the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai when he faced down Taopaipai, his former role model and the embodiment of his past, in the tournament arena.

None of these characters had anything they had to do, going untold. That's exactly what made it so easy for them to fall into the background and be replaced by characters who did still have stories to tell. Notably, Piccolo also slides out of focus following the Cell arc, after his story concludes with his reunification with God. Like Yamcha, Ten, and Krillin before him, Piccolo had nothing left to tell and so he became a warm body filling space in other people's stories.

This, I think, is preferable to characters continuing to hang around and try to stay in focus long after they've run out of anything to actually do. This is the main problem afflicting Goku and Vegeta in Dragon Ball Super, whose stories already reached satisfactory conclusions during the Cell Games and Majin Buu arc respectively. Neither Goku nor Vegeta have stories left to tell, but Super keeps them in focus and keeps trying to wring blood out of a stone.

Other shonens are able to get more mileage out of their supporting casts because they're exploring different ideas and different themes. They're written with the idea that these characters will be a team surrounding the protagonist in mind, while the cast of Dragon Ball are written to be rivals for Goku to overcome in his journey of self-improvement.

Again, neither of these approaches are wrong. There is no universally correct way to tell a story.

I've said it before but if you want to know what cost the humans their time in the sun, blame the death of the Tenkaichi Budokai. These tournament arcs were a great opportunity for characters not directly involved with the ultimate conflict to strut their stuff, contribute narratively, and get spotlight time to look cool - whether they win or lose a given match.

With that in mind, if I could change anything about Dragon Ball's approach to these characters, it would be to put a new Tenkaichi Budokai between Namek and the Android arc. This would give Yamcha, Tenshinhan, and Chiaotzu opportunities to demonstrate the new skills they've cultivated during their training with Kaio, and to help rebalance the power-scale between the characters who went to Namek and the ones who missed out.

[sapphic-agent]

Sorry in advance for how long and wordy this gets.

My Hero Academia is squandered by the less than mediocre writing of Horikoshi. I will give him credit only on his ideas and concepts as the premise of the series and the setting are likely the only reason any of us are still tuning in, that and spite.

The show is too quickly paced and surprisingly for a complaint about a shonen, it's too action packed it doesn't offer much up in the way of quiet moments allowing characters to breath properly outside of conflicts and so I don't really care much about the conflicts they are involved in, especially when the thematic relevance of said conflict got spoon fed to me moments before it started in a shoehorned scene or a flashback.

Hori introduces themes of Heroic corruption regularly but never actually shows any corrupt hero's, and those that are said to be corrupt show very quickly that they aren't, usually at the detriment of others.

A complete reboot is necessary, slowing down the pacing immensely to the point where this war arc we are on will take place once they have all left UA. Have major events of the story take place staggered across the three years of UA, include "filler" with dedicated episodes to every student of 1A with mini arcs exploring the more important side characters such as Todoroki, Tenya, Uraraka, Tsuyu and maybe even Momo.

Completely redo Aizawa to actually perform to his own standards, he should teach the students to work on their fundamental "quirkless" capabilities as he more than anyone should know how easy it is to beat someone who has had their quirk countered to make sure they won't die in a situation where their quirk is useless, instead of threatening to expell them for having a weak quirk or non versatile quirk.

This can be done easily by just inverting his test. Have elementary/middle schools let kids use their quirks in gym and PE to help them understand their quirks and use them safely and give genuine context for why teenagers are expected to be skilled with their quirks when public quirk use is illegal. And have his starting test be about who is the most capable without them, showing him to be an unorthodox instructor and less of a hypocrite as that genuinely ties into his fighting style.

Have Izuku be quirkless for either half or all of his first year at UA. Have All Might take notice of him but still teach at UA to scout out a proper successor. Have Izuku manage to get into UA and do well in it's entrance exam as someone quirkless.

Make quirkless people exist and actually matter. 20% of the human race are quirkless, that is a much larger number than people realise coming in at a wopping 1.6 billion would be quirkless out of 8.1 billion. That cannot just be the elderly like fannon suggests.

Have Izuku go from the quirkless wonder to user of OFA actually matter, have him being conflicted about it, have other quirkless people actually have opinions on it, have people discredit him for being Quirked all along, only pretending to be quirkless. If you have him inherit the quirk at all.

Have stain be quirkless and have that revelation chill the world, have him being rejected from heroics for being quirkless have Stain parallel Izuku in many ways.

I could go on and on and on and on about a million and one ideas that would make the show/manga better but I feel like I've made my point well enough that there is so much here untapped that Horikoshi has, but rushed his way past for the next action scene and ultimately squandered.

Agree that MHA does need a major rewrite. It had such great potential and introduced a lot of intricate concepts for an average shonen, only to squander it at every turn. Like someone super smart in one of my reblogs said, "the story has a lot of interesting ideas, the author just has nothing interesting to say about them." A series that was built upon discrimination, inequality, and prejudice has done nothing more in the end than prop up the privileged, bigoted kid over the MC he abused.

Talk a about disappointing

[teaandtoastandthyme]

Lockwood & Co - Books vs. show preferences

First, things about Lockwood & Co that I like better in the books. (Book and show spoilers abound in both these lists.)

The timeline. I'm actually very confused about what the timeline in the show is supposed to be. I could see a somewhat condensed timeline making sense for screen adaptation, but I felt like the show didn't give the characters enough time to know each other as well as they supposedly did.

Which boy drew his rapier first in the Archives. In the show, Lockwood draws his rapier first to defend both Lucy and himself against Kipps' nastiness. In the books, Lockwood draws his rapier in quick defense against Kipps' rapier, having used his words rather than his sword to provoke Kipps. I just like that bit of character portrayal better.

The scene at the Combe Carey well. I think Lockwood's "No, Lucy. That's not the way it's going to be." is such a powerful foreshadowing line about how they help pull each other away from the call of death. And it would have fit so well with some of the other scenes they added for the show.

The Skull's dialogue. Certainly most of his best sarcastic lines are in later books, but they didn't set his character up well to make those remarks. While the tone of the show is a bit different than the books, it seems they could have kept at least a little of his ridiculous nature.

The plan (or lack-thereof) for infiltrating the relic auction. While certainly the trio (plus Flo) are plenty chaotic in this part of the books, they DO have a pretty well-thought-out plan to get into the auction and get the bone glass. They're not just winging it. There are several minor plot holes and/or convenient plot devices in the show that wouldn't have had to happen if they had kept the Winkman auction scene a little closer to the books. And it would have highlighted that these kids actually are smart. (And that Lockwood is actually good a making plans sometimes.)

And now, things I like more about the show adaptation:

George's physical characterization. The books' use of Lucy's voice to disparage George's appearance can be overwhelming to the point of distracting sometimes. I appreciate that the show allowed Lucy and George to have some conflict without it involving making fun of physicality in any way. There's enough of that already in the world. That is literally my least favorite part of the books. (Though at least Lucy does mature a bit over the series in this respect.) [Edited to clarify: I have nothing against George in the books or the way he looks, just the way the others talk about it!]

The expansion of Norrie's role. I think this was a brilliant move to highlight the trauma Lucy experienced and heighten the stakes a bit. And it was also the perfect device for explaining parts of the world in narrative form.

A deeper exploration into mental health and suicidality. The books contain these themes, but I love the way the show brought these characters' experiences of trauma and mental illness more fully into conversation with each other and with the story. It was masterfully done, without romanticizing or preaching or toning down.

Lockwood giving Lucy the diamond necklace before the party. When I first watched this scene in its entirety, I let out a breath I didn't know I had been holding. I am so used to male characters telling the dressed-up scrappy female character how stunningly beautiful she is, and I hate it. I hate the way it shifts the agency and purpose of the woman's appearance. I've said before in other posts how much I appreciate that Lockwood just lets Lucy be in this scene. She doesn't need him to compliment her appearance because her appearance is not for him. And then, of course, the necklace can be more about connection and relationally rather than approval or beauty.

Clues about Lockwood's parents and the nature of the Problem a little earlier. It ties the stories together into one larger mystery a bit sooner and quite effectively, I think.

What about you? What are your favorite changes in the show, and what do you like better in the books?

[lilbagdermole]

Toph's Characterization, ATLA Comics - A Dissertation

Chapter Three - The Rift (Part Three)

Welcome back! So happy to have you here once again to critic and analyze the depressing characterization that Bryke bestowed upon our favorite Earthbending Master throughout the ATLA Comic Series. I recommend you give my other two parts a read before jumping into this one as I go into depth into certain topics and themes that'll be brought up in this Chapter!

Chapter One - The Rift (Part One)

Chapter Two - The Rift (Part Two)

Let's begin! So Issue 3 starts off where we left off in Issue 2 - Toph single-handedly holding up an underground mine with her metalbending - thus protecting Katara, her father, Satoru and multiple mine workers that are stuck underneath the mine with her.

It's a life or death situation with everyone's lives dependent on Toph and it's a race against the clock as their anxiously waiting for Toph's metalbending students to arrive and help out. Unlike the previous Chapter we actually get a small glimpse of concern out of Aang for Toph.

Everybody, give Aang a round of applause for doing the bare minimum. But in all seriousness, I'll take the scraps I can get given Bryke are choosing to continuously portray Aang in a way that makes it seem that he cares solely for Katara's well-being (and, I'll soon get into one of the most infuriating panels related to this topic).

But hey, atleast we got some acknowledgment from Aang.

Moving forward we get Satoru and Toph interacting and to be honest I truthfully do not care for Satoru, but later into the analysis I will briefly dive into their relationship and why I don't care for it. Once Satoru is done lamenting his life to Toph (who is trying to concentrate to protect everyone in the collapsed mine, and it's hilarious that this dude that right then is the moment to retell his entire life story), Lao enters the scene.

Boring... Yawning... Sloppy... LAZY!

This. This is how we're going to resolve Toph and Lao's conflict? THIS?

Remember when I started off my analysis with specifying that Toph's trauma was very poorly handled and used as a means to advance the plot? Yah, this right here is why I stated that very opinion.

In the first part of 'The Rift' we're first introduced to Toph's traumatic circumstances growing up with her controlling and overprotective parents; neglected and isolated from the world. It's a plot point that the original animated series didn't delve into and the prospect of being able to analyze and understand Toph's more vulnerable and frail side was beyond intriguing.

However, as we got further into the central conflict between Aang and Toph it was proven to us that Toph's trauma was not going to be explored further than a means to justify her stance against Aang. She becomes, uncharacteristically, rude, bashful and disrespectful to most (if not all) her friends and the only person she seems to lighten up to is Satoru becomes he represents the The Future - something that she spontaneously advocates for (as she resents anything and everything that represents the Past).

In Chapter Two we get introduced to Lao and I've already covered why I abhorred his depiction and treatment for his daughter - and as I had predicted their conflict was nothing more than to (once again) legitimize Toph's clash with Aang. It's nothing more than horrendous, stereotypical, lazy and worse than fanfiction-level writing that goes against both characters' portrayals in the original show.

And this here proves it. We left off Lao and Toph's conflict with Lao not only verbally harassing his daughter but also denouncing her as his own kin. What he said was harsh, brutal and down-right traumatic things that would (and should) break the trust that Toph held for her parental figure.

To resolve this conflict in a satisfying manner, it'd logically require time and effort to adequately mend their severed relationship. We'd need a few pages of Lao coming to terms and accepting his daughter's independence and personality, see him struggling between the idealized version of Toph he's always wanted to enforce and his desire to not lose his daughter again (and permanently). Seeing remorse, regret and genuine guilt from Lao is crucial to make his redemption believable.

And yet, here, Lao is incapable of muttering a simple apology (it's hinted at, but he never get the words out). He begins to spill the beans on his supposed divorce with Poppy - and remember Toph needs to be firm and concentrated to focus on the metal that is near crushing them to death and this could potentially be quite ground-breaking and emotional news (what I'm getting is Toph is unironically every character's physiologist with the way they trauma dump on her) - and sobs about the hardships he's faced since Toph has left. He says he loves Toph and that's it. Previous conflict? Resolved! Disgusting insults and treatment? Forgiven!

Why does the resolution to this arc infuriate me so much?

We never see Lao feel remorseful (or at the very least apologetic) for his words and actions;

We never get a panel where we see Lao comprehend and understand why his daughter did what she did when she was twelve; And on that note - we never see him acknowledge her as a Master (something he had once aspired for her to become but thought impossible due to her disability) nor do we see him show an ounce of pride for his own kin despite all her insane accomplishments;

We never get a panel where we see Toph express her own feelings or her perspective on his behavior and how it affected her - she's been reduced to a badass with quick jests, not allowed to be emotional;

We don't get a conclusive and satisfying resolution - it's rushed and lazy so we can conclude the comic without leaving any open strings - but that only resulted in diminishing Toph's pain and trauma as well as regressing her character growth;

It's infuriating because a lot of children go through this type of environment throughout their childhood - and it'd be so much more impactful for such a strong character to break down her barriers and express how her suffocating that type of upbringing damaged her and affected her, how she grew from it and overcame her difficulties; there was also missed potential to show Lao grow and not be immediately forgiven for plot's sake - realistically, children aren't immediately forgiving and given what Lao said and did, he didn't deserve to be forgiven so quickly.

I can go on with my disappointment but this part is long enough.

So, Toph's students arrive and extract the metal that was collapsing the mine and everyone is rescued - Toph falls unconscious from the exertion she had just put her body through to save everyone from being crushed to death...

And you'd think people would care right? Maybe be grateful to her??

Give me a moment whilst I go scream into the void.

Not a single person besides her students and father care about the fact that Toph is unconscious. Not a single person is thinking about checking on the person who has been single-handedly holding up an unfathomable amount of weight with her bare hands for a prolongated period and saved countless people in the process? No one... not even her best friends. Best friends mind you that are too preoccupied with their own affection to pay a single thought for Toph.

Remember what I said earlier that I was about to go off on a particularly aggravating panel, it's this one. Because I cannot fathom, in any universe, in any circumstances, where Katara wouldn't immediately jump to Toph's aid and help her out (and would rather cuddle up and kiss her boyfriend instead of helping the injured people). I cannot fathom, in any universe, in any circumstances, where Sokka, the proclaimed leader of group, the man who put his own life on the line for Toph's own well-being during Sozin's Comet, being this nonchalant about his friend bein passed out, possibly dehydrated and hurt.

I would say I wouldn't expect this behavior from Aang, but, this comic has done nothing but showcase that Aang's mind is centered around Katara and his air acolytes with no room for his Earthbending Master and best friend. We had a small glimpse of hope at the start of the chapter only for it to be crumbled and shattered with this moment.

I don't even know what to say anymore, I'm just- I understand that Bryke need to feed us the Kata@ng agenda (because for some reason, despite it being canon, they shove down our throats almost every issue of every chapter, to make sure we know that they love eachother) I get it I do, but at what cost. You just made the majority of the cast seem selfish and inconsiderate.

Let's progress before I start seeing red. Aang needs to go destroy the Refinery and Toph wakes up - Lao asks for her help to stop the Avatar as the Refinery is his future (and apparently the future of the nations) and you know our girl is all about the future now, and so off she goes to stop Aang.

I mean- If they had developed the Lao and Toph arc with any depth or any sort of care for these characters (or at least Toph) so that this moment felt earnt in any way, shape or form, I would understand the emotional impact that would come along with Lao asking for Toph's assistance and calling her the Greatest Earthbender of All Time. But, there was no development, no growth, no struggles, no understanding, no nothing - it was water downed drama for the sake of drama. And emotional moments like these just don't provoke anything in me, other than pure, unadulterated rage because of the lack of care and attention Toph receives (in her own comic, mind you).

And we've reached the big conflict between our main protagonists:

I can't completely say I despise the idea of Toph and Aang having disagreements and opposing opinions - it's only natural due to their elements being one-another's opposite and their differing personalities. It's one of the reasons why I adore their platonic (and romantic) relationship - because they have a push and pull connection, harmonic and balanced; neither is afraid of speaking their truth at the cost of hurting the other (unlike a certain canon couple); Aang is Aang in Toph's perspective, not the Avatar, not the child who stopped the one-hundred year war, nor the master airbender. He is just Aang. Her equal. And similarly, Aang sees Toph, not for her disability or her smaller appearance, Toph is Toph. His equal.

Push and pull.

Air and Earth.

Aang and Toph.

I would have loved to see an actually interesting conflict between the two and not this nonsensical garbage. Mostly because this whole debate of The Past vs. The Future is something that came out of nowhere and it's an odd set-up for either of these characters because:

While Aang does have a need to carry out his traditions, culture and, consequentially bring his past into the future, so he can restore and preserve the Air Nomad culture. It never came at the cost of the future - we saw this in Episode "The Northern Air Temple" where he learns to accept that life evolves and we'll have to conform to his history evolving alongside it; The very concept of Yu Dao is reflective of Aang's desire and dream of uniting the four nations, progression and evolution, the future.

Toph, on the other hand, never eluded her rancor towards her past. And, her contrived favor for the future stemmed from her parental issues that were poorly explored and thus, we don't really get a logical nor believable understanding of Toph's stance. It's forced and doesn't suit her nature as well as it ends up harming her growth and character.

So now Aang remembers their friends?

If this were the first time I consumed any 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' media and 'The Rift' trilogy was my first introduction to their friendship - I would have honestly doubted they were close at all. I mean throughout the three issues what we get from them is: unresolved discord; Aang continuously ignoring her feelings and moody disposition whilst more interested in his Air Acolytes and girlfriend; Aang defending a Rough Rhino that had just tried to slash Toph and scold her for protecting herself; Aang ignoring her very existence when she had just passed out unconscious... etc.

Yah, Bryke, you really nailed their friendship.

If you can't tell that's sarcasm, it is. Because this doesn't come close to touching the deep connection between these two - one built from mutual respect and trust; A bond so strong that Aang guaranteed Toph that it would transcend lifetimes - a prospect that gave Toph a certain relief and comfort. They trusted one another with their lives, fought together and understood each other without speaking a single word. They balanced one another - Aang learnt to become stronger, self-assured and resilient whilst Toph learnt to trust and depend on others. Fate brought them together - Toph was what Aang needed and Aang was what Toph needed.

Aang represented freedom. Toph represented security and strength.

Push and pull.

Air and Earth.

Aang and Toph.

Anyway, things do start to get much better in the final of the trilogy, starting off with these panels:

FINALLY SOME GOOD CHARACTERIZATION!

IT ONLY TOOK THREE ISSUES BUT WE FINALLY GET SOME DECENT CHARACTERIZATION!

AND AANG PROTECTS TOPH? PUTS HIS OWN MORALS ON THE LINE TO PROTECT HER???

YES!!!!!

A round of applause for Bryke - they failed 90% of their characterization but they outdid themselves with the remaining 10%! It's like what I said earlier - Toph and Aang are capable of putting their squabbles and altercations aside because, at the end of the day, their friendship is far too important to one another. They can fight, scream, shout, lose themselves in battle but when time need be, they always protect one another, they always have each other's back.

Push and pull.

Air and Earth.

Aang and Toph.

I'll just leave this page here. I want to glue this page into my brain and just think that this was the entire comic - just Taang hugging it out with the sunshine illuminating them, watching over the sea because they are in love and live happily ever after together. That is the plot of 'The Rift' from now on.

Before I end - I would like to briefly touch on Toph and Satoru's relationship and why I genuinely dislike them as potential love interests.

It starts by the obvious. Their is an inequality in their feelings for one another. On one hand, we can ponder whether Toph grew to view Satoru romantically (though, in this comic it was never eluded to on her end - it was, again, very forcibly introduced with her lying for him but then never mentioned and we never got many romantic coded scenes between). On the other hand, Satoru seems to worship the very ground that Toph walks on - he adores her, confides his past with her and obviously has very intense emotions regarding Toph. It's imbalanced and I just don't see the appeal.

One of the central themes of ATLA is balance and harmony, the push and pull - it's one of the reasons why Zutara (and Taang) would have been narratively more cohesive with the themes present in the show than the canon couples (with the exception of Sukka), because both these ships have an unspoken equilibrium and respect that isn't present in the aforementioned canon couples.

Another note is, I don't really understand the point of Satoru's character in this comic. He really didn't have that much to work it and his personality lacked nuances, humanity. It was very animated and boring. He didn't play off of Toph's playfulness, their dialogue was odd (cringey at times), they had no chemistry, it was very one-sided with Satoru confiding his past and hardships whilst he never once got any fragility from Toph.

It also felt as though they shoe-horned him into the comic just so people would get off their backs about Lin and Suyin's biological father - with Kanto being the confirmed father to Lin, they potentially wanted to introduce Satoru so we, as the fans, could speculate that Suyin's was his daughter. It's just a thought - but it is interesting that they made Satoru share similar physical traits with Suyin (such as: hair texture and skin tone).

And thus, I conclude the analysis of 'The Rift' what an infuriating journey this one was. I hope you enjoyed, the next comic I'll dissect will possibly be 'North and South' as Toph does play a big role in that comic (and I remember also not being too overjoyed with her characterization there).

Until next time, take care and please let me know what you thought of this analysis!!

[jarenka]

I finally watched the whole first season of Ahsoka. I enjoyed some scenes but overall it did nothing to me. Initially I wanted to reblog this post by @gffa with some of my thoughts because I am very much agree with her "so much less than it could be" point of view. But. I was thinking about anything that Filoni could show us and I think I found a pattern.

I am writing fics for 15+ years, and back in my teens/early 20s I had a huge problem with writing conflicts in fics. I still suck at it, but back in the days I just completely avoided any serious conflicts both between characters and in narrative. Characters are deeply angry at each other in canon? They will speak for a half of the page and now they are best friends! X deeply hurts Y? They will speak half of the page and it will have no impact on their relationship! X suffers from trauma that can't be completely ignored in the fic? Well, I will do anything to talk about it as little as possible. X did a bad thing that will impact other characters' lifes? Either I won't show any consequences of his actions to the reader, or there will be no consequences because of some deus ex machina final.

Ahsoka show seem to have the exact same problem. It tries to have serious tone but runs away from any serious conflict. Sabine lost her family but it only briefly mentioned, she is traumatised, but never acts like a traumatised grown up woman, only like a moody teenager. Ahsoka is afraid to become just like Anakin, but it is super vague, he is just big bad and she kinda afraid to become big bad (or unintentionally turn Sabine into a big bad?.. ugh), we never seen her failing on screen, and after Anakin and Ahsoka talked for a bit she is fine again, uwu! Ahsoka's and Sabine's past is never properly explored on screen. Sabine and Ezra never had a proper conversation about what she did. Thrawn is another vague big bad who wants to make big bad things, so we never see any character reflecting their grievances against Empire or Thrawn himself. There is a lot of space in different episodes to remind what kind of horror Empire brings to the Galaxy, but all we see is some abstract phrases about "doing what right". Also, there is nothing to show that there is a full conspiracy going on, not just a blue dude with tattered remnants of his crew and couple of fanatics waiting for him to return.

As the result everything seem superficial, stakes are artificially lowered, because if Filoni digged deeper into any character ot theme, he wouldn't be able to glaze over conflicts and serious topics.

Overall I have an impression that the show hints some dramatic events and new facinating lore, but it never actually leads anywhere. Filoni just relies on fans to overanalyze everything and find a Deep Meaning.

[kijosakka]

i have so many hypotheticals for dramaturgy u dont even KNOW (i am going to sit here and go through them though)

so this is all coming up because i was considering a tiny detail about the initial cast relations on island (then turning into this whole. mess.) and wanted to do a little thing where i explore hypotheticals to this au that aren't necessarily 'canon' to it,,

CAST RELATIONS: in my rehash post of island and covering the casts' reactions to noah acting Like That, i say the feeling of uncanny detachedness was immediate. but it could also? not be?

maybe he just comes off as shy at first, or especially standoffish -- perhaps the sense of detachedness is a mounting realization that 'oh this guy is kindof Weird As Hell' instead of an immediate bad sense,, this effectively would not change the cast relations or dynamics at this point, but it would provide more exposition opportunities for cast members to try striking up anything at all with him and getting shut down immediately as opposed to (unintentional) ostracization from the beginning.

^ and also, conflict exploration. not during island, but during his shift in WT, there could be the issue of noah knowing these people already tried and he shut them down each and every time, so what reason do they have to give him yet another chance? (is it worth the emotional risks and potential hurt and no gains, etc etc)

PHOBIA FACTOR: as it is, 'canon' to the AU noah gets eliminated during dodgebrawl (which is necessary for his general character), but phobia factor is a lovely little 'consequences of forgetting about the cameras' if on a much smaller scale.

now,, im ngl this sounded a lot more fun than it is actually going to be. because the simple answer is just that noah lies. put in this position -- if his onscreen character is forced to have depth, then it will be fake for his own peace of mind.

^ the only thing that would potentially happen is that it would, in a way, isolate him from his castmates further, simply because his reaction,,, Isn't. the fear among the cast as they face their greatest fears is shared -- except for noah. because its not genuine. his reaction comes off as flat (and even then the response that he is showing is further, repeated theme, uncanny valley. to have never seen this guy fearful performing some facsimile of it? Weird.)

SIERRA / WT PAN-OUT: ok,, sierras role here is very closely connected to the other idea mentioned here -- a wt hypothetical season play-out,, thing. while not 'canon' to the au for the simple fact that noah has Little to No development in this and thats the point, im spilling all my 'what-ifs' and might as well include this one.

theres actually,, a shocking number of moving parts to this. to summarize: tyler is eliminated in noahs place in london (mostly to keep numbers even), and thus takes his place witnessing the Kiss.

^ im not sure why tyler would be eliminated honestly. havent thought that through. however i do have something mapped out (kinda) for the trajectory of the love triangle,, being that noah doesnt do Anything. it boils over eventually, obviously, since duncan and gwen both know that he knows, im thinking around picnic at hanging dork? (elimination-wise, between london and picnic [*greece & area 51] cody is eliminated, sierra is Struggling but i do need her here for future plot purposes)

[*greece; noah volunteers before duncan in the scavenger hunt and along the way kiiinda talks with gwen?? just a little, just kinda nudging her in a direction away from any Dramatic, Exploitable behaviors]

^ so noah says nothing, right? he doesnt want to get involved in this Plotline, but he can get duncan to spill. so he does that -- talks to others, sometimes points over at him, and through the two challenges and the time between ends up freaking duncan out enough that he confronts noah post-picnic (theyre just outside the plane getting uhhh idk drinks. its Hot.) while the cameras arent rolling. the cast is around though.

duncan spills it all by himself, noah has a little moment of 'i didnt tell anyone, but you just did' -- courtney is pissed, but duncan is downright furious and gets all in noahs face, to which he responds much like he did at the very beginning of island: he doesnt.

he says something to the effect of 'if youre looking for a reaction, im the wrong person to look for it in' (or he doesnt say anything -- this is a work in progress) and Leaves. i also do like the mental image of noah spilling whatever drink he has down duncans shirt to force him away in a manner that doesnt make noah reveal any (perceived sense of) vulnerability via stepping back himself.

not much else on that -- just that post-challenge i also like the idea of noah being physically close to owen after. idk to what ends,, owen just wants to Comfort (< see also, noah can have a little breakdown in the showers or smth. a tiny one. its been far too long having to keep this all up and being close and not even properly involved in some of the drama of the show is making him crack whether he shows it or not)

^ and (im ngl i do imagine gwen being eliminated here? again, semantics r lost on me in favor of the Numbers) now,, sweden comes: duncan definitely believes anything with noah is nuked, so sucks up to owen and alejandro both in similar ways. basically like how canon went, etc etc noah is back to fading into the background.

however post-sweden offers up duncan&noah interactions. say duncan has had time to cool off and now wants to know why noah didnt say anything; noah deflects, bc of course he does, but does talk duncan into a kindof realization of just how much the show itself impacted his relationship with courtney -- not at the moment, but later it would serve to duncan to characterize noah a little better (and by a little i mean a lot); being, he's keenly aware of the cameras and the audience.

niagra brawls,, everything most goes, save the pairing are changed a bit: heather and alejandro, owen and blaineley, duncan and sierra, and courtney and noah. < courtney and noah win immunity (note: courtney definitely carries him across). post-challenge, noah point-blank tells courtney that hes sorry and that he shouldve come to her immediately.

^ courtney,, appreciates the genuine apology. she asks him why he didnt -- noah is, for once, honest, saying it was mostly a selfish reason and he didnt want the fallout. (smth smth he can truly hold sympathy abt the situation, knowing just how badly the presence of cameras can Fuck Things Up)

now. i swear ill circle around to sierra eventually but i need to talk about blaineley really quickly. so dramaturgy right?? noah is In The Business. i had it in the very original post of this (rb, covering cast dynamics) that noah did not like blainely. i renege. bffs. absolute shit-talkers together.

^ the point of that is that noah talks her out of the alliance with chef. im not actually sure what that does bc i still intend for blaineley to be eliminated post-china (aswell as courtney probably idk?? could be switched with duncan) but maybe she also has smth to say about how detached noah acts?? (see also the little scene concept thing of chris pointing out just how unnerving it was seeing noah act so lifeless)

also: noah wins. the china challenge. master of keeping a Flat Face. (note: he definitely does vomit immediately after. sick for Hours)

the semantics kinda fizzle out from here, but in essence noah floats his way to the final three à la cody style (does not want to be there also) and on the way kinda bonds with sierra? < that brings up another little correction ill rb onto another post at some point; sierra, while initially holding the intrigue as opposed to dislike of noahs detachedness, does in fact grow to find it unnerving. seeing him through a screen? really fun! being around him? ...not so much.

^ sierra, through noahs Magical Advice Powers That He Has In This Pan-Out For Some Reason, does earn herself advice from him about her obsessiveness or whatever. havent thought about it too much and actually propped sierra up as me having way more to say about her than i actually do,, but they do bond. they get a little bonding.

also: plane explosion. theres a little scene here that lives in my head wherein heather, frazzled from the explosion and having voted against alejandro, kinda blows up at noah? lashing out at him etc etc,, noah, par for the course, doesnt react -- mostly. he does just get up and leave, and both heather and alejandro get to hear one tiny little intake of breath that sounds vaguely like he might be crying. but he is Gone. (he breaks down around the interns instead, and fully resolves to himself that this is the final three and he was definitely making third place)

anyway beyond that i think it would be funny if the tiebreaker was actually heather and alejandro and noah some how finagles his way out of being tied up to be the first person to hit the water. thus taking himself out of the game and promising a 'dramatic finale between rivals' like hes very aware chris was gunning for.

^ this is,, tbh idk how 'canon' any of this will be?? if ill keep this as a loose outline and just change noahs character and dynamics,, idk idk. its getting late i cant really think and my god this is so so so much longer than i intended.

[honouredsnakeprincess]

against my better judgement, i followed arcane season 2. because people will jump down my throat if i spoil things, i will keep my descriptions light and put them under a cut, but needless to say i was disappointed though not terribly surprised.

I went into this with reservations. I watched the first season around when it came out, and my takeaway was that it was pretty-looking, but not particularly impressive in terms of actual writing.

Initially, however, season 2 seemed to be taking things in an interesting new direction, exploring Jinx's role as a Zaunite political figure (and her reservations in that role) and Caitlyn's appointment as a sort of Caesar-type of figure (this is a way i saw it described elsewhere on this site and felt it was apt, initially). I assumed, wrongly, that the show was going to deal more directly with its larger political themes, especially with regards to the oppression of Zaun.

For the first couple of episodes, they were clearly doing this. Then they stopped to do the Viktor transhumanism thing, almost entirely abandoning Jinx's political symbol stuff in favour of her trying to save Vander and restore her bonds with her sister, and moved Caitlyn's whole deal into the background somewhat. This was questionable, but we'd had a couple reasonably strong moments so it seemed plausible they were introducing additional elements that the writers planned to tie in somehow in the third act. Fine.

Caitlyn had led a series of unethical raids into Zaun searching for Jinx, and I assumed we were watching a story about how Caitlyn-as-dictator willingly damns herself, in part from the whispering of her nefarious advisor and in part from her own desperation and desires. Viktor has constructed his utopian commune among the poor and sick, and these things seem driven to come into conflict with each other.

Then the child that's been following Jinx around the whole season dies (and gets like a minute in the first episode of the third act, and nothing thereafter), Caitlyn and Viktor switch their respective sides as Viktor attempts to ally with the Noxians in order to pursue forceful transhumanism before being dissuaded by Jace telepathically telling him that Viktor's future self said this was a bad goal, several of the protagonists die in explosions, including Jinx who effectively kills herself after having been just recently talked down from suicide by Ekko.

Nothing is resolved, and the status quo is largely maintained in its broad layout, except now Zaun has a single representative in government, and they fought robots together, so the ending narration just has to say something to the effect of there probably being more conflicts in the future to hedge off criticisms that nothing has really been resolved.

Also, they did the thing with Ekko again where he's not really in most of the show, except for one episode where he gets a pretty substantial chunk of the screentime, a sort of Ekkosode. The writers don't seem to know if he's meant to be a major character (in which case he should probably appear more throughout the season, not just his dedicated episode) or not (in which he probably should not have a dedicated episode). I don't remember for sure, but I'm pretty sure they did this in the first season too.