#character backstory for the sake of character backstory without considering how it affects the goals and themes of a work
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I'm a character backstory hater ok. a hater. of backstories. people are always wishing they had more backstory for their blorbo well I DON'T. I don't care. I don't give a shit about blorbo's past ok. I get it I used to be in the camp of "you need to know how a character grew up and what their past was like to Really understand them" but that is WRONG. A character is not a real person. they are a piece in a story and to understand them you need to know the role they play in the story way more than you need some nebulous "past". yes, it is true that many ways people tell stories involve a character's past influencing their motivation for their present, and their role in the story. BUT THAT'S NOT ALWAYS THE CASE! sometimes a character as presented on the page or screen as they are in the present moment is all that needs to exist for them to perfectly fill their role in the story! The way they grew up doesn't matter! Their childhood trauma doesn't matter! I don't want to know more! I want the character to be engaging HERE and NOW! How much I like any given backstory is entirely dependent on how much it helps a character to be engaging in the story being told! I don't care about character pasts for their own sake! NOT EVERY CHARACTER NEEDS THEIR PAST TO BE SPELLED OUT FOR THE AUDIENCE
#suchobabbles#i love many stories that give characters deep and personal and winding pasts and make them three dimensional people#but those stories are built around that!#character backstory for the sake of character backstory without considering how it affects the goals and themes of a work#can just make a work straight up worse#so every time i see fans like 'i wish we knew more about xyz's past' my instinctual response is WELL I DONT!#this post was prompted by a tweet i saw about someone wanting more backstory for characters in a gag comedy series btw.#a series in which. when it revealed one of the other characters pasts#(which was prompted by an antagonistic audience insert character insisting he *must* have some sort of unique trauma to be the way he is)#literally had a joke about how he just grew up with a normal mildly shitty childhood#and that sometimes backstories really dont make the person!#so like. backstory reveal for the sake of it is antithetical to the work's text!#in asking for backstory you ARE ACTING LIKE THE ANTAGONIST OF THE STORY#WHICH IS WHY HE'S AN AUDIENCE INSERT JOKE. THE TEXT IS MAKING FUN OF YOU.
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This plot point annoyed me so much! I thought she was finally going to open up to Persephone about the reasons why she hated Hades so much, about what he did to her, but no! They just introduced a new yet unnecessary character to the story 🤦🏼♀️
What are your thoughts about it?
oh yeah it annoyed the piss out of me too and for one very big reason that is CHRONIC in LO:
It's a solution to a problem Demeter didn't have.
This happens to a lot of characters throughout the comic. They'll have some kind of plot-driven conflict or character-driven flaw, and then it will be solved by something else entirely that had nothing to do with their original problem or doesn't line up with the theme of their storytelling. Minthe had insecurity issues and a toxic relationship with Hades? Just give her a classroom full of children to babysit! Hades had infertility issues? That's fine, Persephone somehow fixes those issues because at the end of the comic they have babies and Hades has his happy ending so it's fine! Hera was in an unhappy relationship with Zeus and had trauma from her past as a victim of Kronos? No problem, just make her an all powerful fertility goddess! Persephone accidentally causes winter which kills possibly thousands of people? Gaia is here to save the day, and also she's the one who makes Persephone return to the Mortal Realm for a couple months with full visitation rights. Apollo is a serial rapist who's attempted murder on several occasions, even against his own father in an attempt to take the throne? Community service, that'll solve it.
Demeter is one of the biggest examples of Rachel's inability of writing an actual cohesive plotline. She writes like the only goal is to come up with new twists to keep people reading each week without ever considering what themes or questions she should be answering throughout. So when she does pose questions, the answers often wind up being severely disconnected because she can't be bothered to actually plan out a plotline with narrative structure, she just needs 'things' to happen. To put it bluntly and simply, she writes like how a 13 year old on Wattpad would write, no actual thinking about the material she's presenting, no consideration for the curtains and what color they are, just "make the things happen so that people will keep reading because that's what writing is!"
Demeter's problem wasn't her failing to understand Persephone. It was people failing to understand her when she had reasonable cause to both be wary of Persephone moving to Olympus as well as Hades and his intentions with her daughter. But because Rachel needs to have the perfect happy ending for her self-insert power fantasy couple, she resorts to gaslighting both Demeter as well as the audience by extension into believing that the solution to Demeter's character arc... is understanding Persephone more.
Like first of all, the moral "people just want to be understood" is way, WAY too "baby's first storyline" at this point in the story especially when we've tried to tackle much bigger topics like sexual assault, and when we know how complex Demeter's backstory is. There's no way she needs to be told by Hebe that people just want to be "understood". She absolutely knows this already, and has been fighting to be understood by her siblings and peers and family for centuries, but of course, everyone sees her as just "the contrarian".
But then the final solution is... the sudden appearance of Demophoon as her long-lost child, and Hades giving her the volcanoes. That's it. She doesn't get to actually become Queen of the Mortal Realm, she never really gets closure over the past 2000 years of abuse from everyone around her, Hades just - like with everyone - buys her affection and she gets a new baby to pour her attention into instead of Persephone and we're all just forced to go along with it for the sake of Rachel's fantasy.
Rachel can't write (¬_¬;)
#ask me anything#ama#anon ama#anon ask me anything#lore olympus critical#anti lore olympus#lo critical
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What are your thoughts on Ibrahim? For me it went from indifference and dislike in season 1 to liking in season 2 and becoming my favorite male character in season 3 tbh. Actually the only good male character by season 3 (season 4 has many other options too). He is probably the most complex and well written character and I really sympathise with him. His arrogance was his downfall but if Suleyman wasn't such a bitch it wouldn't have been lol. He wasn't wrong in that imo. He was a slave, a fisherman's son but his intelligence and skill took him farther than anyone else and it's not wrong to be proud of such a feat. He deserved the pride more than just about anyone, even Suleyman. What I dislike the most about him is his treatment of Nigar after their relationship ended. She's my favorite character and although their relationship itself was my favorite in the whole show (other than Nurbanu and Selim) it ended really badly
Ibrahim is one of my most conflicting characters on the series: one time I feel like I don't get the appeal, especially not the stans in one Bulgarian forum, he doesn't elicit such a strong emotional reaction in me as he does in others, but then once he hits an incredibly strong arc and I begin to analyze his character and all its dimensions, I come to love him for what he is and realize how much effort has gone in conceiving and developing him. He's certainly the most well-written male character that isn't a sultan or a prince in the entire franchise. (the sultans aren't the brightest, but the bar is so high when it comes to their writing. There isn't any of them that is badly written. The princes are also well developed, but now that I think about it, Ibrahim surpasses some of them as well!) He's delightfully fleshed out with every detail; his actions, while morally ambiguous at times, are very understandable and you can clearly see the deeper, nuanced reasons why he does what he does. His arc was a sight to see from beginning to end and watching it reach its inevitable tragic conclusion was heartwrenching. At a point he became so important to the narrative, whether it was intentional or not, that the show (or actually, S03B in particular, because S04 was absolutely fantastic!) began to lowkey miss something without him. He had such a strong presence that couldn't be matched by anyone else after him.
[To be brutally honest though, I find his dynamic with Hürrem in terms of screentime to be kinda overrated. Not that it's bad or anything, quite the contrary - their chemistry was great, they were consistent and fun to watch, they had quite a few great scenes that were definetly more than Hürrem and Mahidevran's, I dare even say this is one of the most solid antagonistic dynamics of Hürrem's writing-wise, but I just find it sometimes gets way too much credit? It's weird, I know.]
The most interesting thing about him is, without a doubt, his fatal flaw that I... actually don't think is arrogance. It's not up for argument that Ibrahim can definetly come off as arrogant, but the arrogance is rather a manifestation of his fatal flaw, not his fatal flaw itself. I believe that it's precisely his inferiority complex that is the root of his vulnerabilities: as you said, he's been only a fisherman in Parga, and his background is both a source of memories where he can recall his more "innocent" days with his family and a tough spot for him where he is consistently reminded of something that is already in the past after all he has achieved. He did want to return to Parga, to see who he used to be one more time, but after that it's as if he never gets a chance to forget, to put it behind him. He pretends he has forgotten, but that consistent reminder of how he has started seems to be constantly haunting him to the point he begins to remind himself of it. It's not only people like Figani, Iskender Çelebi or the other members of the divan in early S01 that don't let him forget, it's as if he himself doesn't want to forget. It's undeniable that he had climbed up to heights he wouldn't dream of and the role of a grand vezier needed getting used to and to be dealt with with care. On one hand, we could argue that he reminds himself of Parga as a way to preserve his moral compass, in a way, to realize when and how he has screwed up or remind himself of the limitations of how far can he go, for Süleiman is his friend and companion who he wouldn't want to disappoint. But on the other hand, the more he rose in the hierarchy, the stronger became a wish for him to exceed these limitations placed upon him by everyone around. Süleiman is able to give him everything if he wishes, so why not let it happen? Then he's going to prove to everyone, prove to his inner demons, this sense of inferiority that he, in fact, can not only become the most politically adept grand vezier there is, but a person who has his own country within the country and can rule it with ease. The political arena ultimately becomes a target of his inner conflict where he projects more power than anyone else, is most influential and does the best in order to gain the goal, not only to gain SS's approval, but show that, yeah, he can do his best for the role he's put in, fixating on the Ottoman country he claims to be a ruler of and his apparently endless rights. It turns into a coping mechanism where he can escape his past and background and he gets so sucked in it that his self awareness becomes less and less. That's where his arrogance comes from and I feel that if he didn't possess that complex of his, he would've managed things way better and had more self control, as a result. He was a very good politician in the show, setting in motion many good strategies (his strategy gave them the Mohacs victory after all), having a strong, pragmatic mind and many innovative ideas and if he didn't try his hardest to convince himself he's worth something that isn't just the story of the fisherman in Parga, Hürrem wouldn't stand a chance against him.
This inferiority complex is the reason for his infidelity, too. He loves Hatice dearly and he never expected that she of all people would do the very thing he dreads the most. Her pulling rank on him came as such a shock for him that it seemed he would never forget or forgive. It put infinetly more salt to the wound, deeply hurting his ego and the self-esteem he was just beginning to gain. That's why he let himself in Nigar's hands for so long, for she would only want to please him, for that relationship would have no limitations whatsoever and wouldn't restrict Ibrahim in any way. It was something that was his, something the dynasty would never touch or learn about. I love Nigar and Ibrahim's relationship, too. Principally, I'm not a fan of love triangles at all, but that one is a notable exception for how wonderfully, but crushingly psychological it is. It wasn't added in only for the sake of the drama, it was set up for very long and it was like the characters actually got there through their own actions and they had to truly face that struggle to flesh out and evolve. But there wasn't genuine love there, not in Ibrahim's part. That was his biggest weakness speaking, causing the illusion of love, not the real feeling of it. He wanted to preserve this relationship as the fisherman in Parga, but to me, it felt like he showed something more similar to his own confident assertions of the power of a grand vezier than actual regard for Nigar's feelings. It all was a lie he wanted to believe, because of his ego's denial, and he believed it so much he told Nico that Nigar was the person he truly loved in E51. And when he did get out of the lie (the monologue in E57), see how he reacts differently in front of her now - he turns off every single try of hers to give him affection, he reacted very badly when he learned she was pregnant, it was as if he wanted her to wake up from the dream and move on, too? And due to his inner conflict that perpetuates his arrogance grew even more in S03, he got over Nigar, but not over her child. Esmanur's birth made him return to and enforced his old habits that made him consider that child as another piece of solace, something out of the dynasty, also only his, trying so desperately to have her live with him and Hatice. The infidelity and the way he treated Nigar after he realized the error of his ways are ones of the worst things Ibrahim did, along with Leo (now, I get he wanted to knock Hürrem down a peg, but that was admittedly much for me.) and while I understand why these events and interactions came to fruition, I can't justify him for them.
I agree that had Süleiman not given him as much power, his inferiority complex would be highly downplayed, at the very least. He underestimated the possible consequences of Ibrahim's rise and it really doesn't look like he knows him as much as he thinks he does. Whether he did it to test him (SS's lasting reminders that Ibrahim gets closer to death) or because he loves him dearly and wants to embrace his potential ("I want you to use that mind only for me!") or both, it's like he gave him both too much freedom and too many boundaries at once. I mean, I understand why SS executed Ibrahim: his affirmations, no matter their backstory and how metaphorical they are, pose a definite threat for a padişah and along with his growing paranoia of betrayal, he couldn't be sure how far he was going to go anymore. It's as if Ibrahim crossed every line, openly acting like he controls the padişah and his state in front of the fellow pashas, efendis and ambassadors and that couldn't be controlled anymore. It's as if he had done his best efforts to bring him down to earth, but since none of it was working, he decided to act accordingly. The many "failures" of Ibrahim have been piling up in the narrative in the span of 81 episodes and I get why SS would finally snap for what was the final straw. However, doing so much unprecedented stuff for a grand vezier was bound to bring disasters for the padişah due to the chance in his mind that he would try to question or prevail over him, hence Süleiman should've realized that it was only natural one would want more and more. And that happened with S03 Ibrahim - he fought more and more with his inner demons, hence wanting to have more and more to be validated by the others and by his own ego that perhaps wouldn't feel satisfied regardless.
While his fatal flaw underlines his complexity, it also gets complimented by his many positive qualities: his love for Hatice was very sweet in the beggining and after the Nigar plot, it turned out to be really genuine - their reconciliation was very telling in that aspect; his relationship and loyalty to Süleiman deserves respect, even though his inferiority complex came in the way, he still would never give him up and never once lost hope in his recovery when he was in his deathbed and while that may become up for debate in S03, he would never openly stand against him and would gladly try his best to please him; his bond with Mustafa is amazing, too - I love how he practically raised that kid and gave him sound advice as well as his mother; that said, his relationship with Mahidevran deserves more appreciation and it is one of the most reciprocal and understanding, soft and "carefee" dynamics of the show; I love his dedication to his family and how he loves them as much and remembers them with the same fondness as ever before. In short, when going in depth, this multifaceted character has so much to offer, like, wow!
Okay, when I first watched the show, there was that point where I felt Ibrahim overstayed his welcome and I even wanted for Hürrem to finish him already (heh, those were the days! 😅) but now when I've rewatched and reexamined MC many times, I see that despite of his few negative traits, everything about this character flows so well and so organically and it's one of the characters in the series that have aged really well with time in my eyes. And I respect him so much for that.
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hbo spn storylines, drabbles, ideas, thoughts, wishlist, whatever you may call it. it’s messy, nothing makes sense and pretty sure a lot of these contradict each other
more of sam at stanford with jessica/flashbacks. jessica potentially lives but is revealed to be a demon (but she developed actual feelings for sam and really did come to care for him because a demon falling in love with a human would be SO interesting) OR she lives but her memory gets wiped like dean did to lisa OR she dies like she did but she is a ghost that haunts sam (he welcomes it but eventually he lets her go -> character arc). he still dreams about her though and he has her keepsakes with him wherever he goes, her rings, her favourite book, anything that was left of her from the fire
you have to be extremely careful when making deals with demons because they are cunning and evil creatures. they will follow the rules of the deal but will find loopholes to put some sadistic twist on the terms. you want money? of course, too bad you’ll be arrested for fraud before you can use any of it and spend the next ten years in jail before i drag you to hell. you want a perfect husband? sure he’ll love you. in fact, he’ll love you so much he’ll keep you locked up in the basement to keep you safe etc etc. saving a person often becomes the person that causes or leads to your death.
the creation of jack: after s5, when lucifer is trapped in the cage again lucifer fuses his own soul with a human soul to create jack, who escapes to earth to find sam and castiel. i have a longer post about this saved in my drafts
lucifer is trapped for good in the cage after s5 but if he was to return again, dean would kill him while sam would kill michael - this would be nice parallels and a sort of fulfillment of the “one brother must kill the other” prophecy because one brother DO kill another brother, just not their own
more azazel and how he came to the plan of how to free lucifer; opening a hell gate earlier, more experimentations with the demon blood etc
mary was infected with the blood when she was a baby, sam is the first and only second generation special child (longer post about that here)
personally, i want to see more and know more about john and mary’s relationship. when mary died, john and mary had fulfilled their destiny (having sam and dean) so does that mean that his love and dedication to mary post her death was falsely fabricated by the angels to ensure sam and dean would grow up in ideal conditions to become hunters? or maybe, after mary’s death, john wakes up from the spell with two kids he doesn’t recognize and a wife he thinks he loved, but the memories of the past years of his life are like a fever dream; he never wanted to live in a town like this nor was he interested in having kids? but here the house is, and here are his kids, but now he’s alone and empty and with no answers. (idk i just find john and mary and their relationship very fascinating) if the latter, if john and mary see each other again it’s like the spell activates again and they become blindly in love with each other, but once gone, they return to their confused and hazey state of mind, like just woken up from a coma
i do like mary coming back but i love how in s5 when she wasn’t found in heaven it was hinted that she was just discarded because she had fulfilled her “purpose” and i think this adds to the whole notion of how heaven and angels can be really cruel AND how mary is this mythical, religious figure to both sam and dean and we only get to know her through their lenses, like religion and faith
ruby is present for a longer amount of time to make the reveal even more shocking. at one point or another, dean does actually trust her and they all work together on cases for a while. ruby’s backstory as a witch is more explored. i like her death in s4 because she’s in this total state of euphoria and has achieved a goal only she was entrusted with, and she is so convinced sam will understand, until sam holds her down while dean carves her heart out. so we either keep that or she serves lucifer for a while (until he kills her which she is happy about because of her blind loyalty to him, could again mirror dean and john/castiel and heaven) or she serves lucifer and like crowley she realizes lucifer will kill demons after humans (redemption arc, but i don’t really like that, let her be evil!!)
dean and sam helps bela out of her deal and she becomes their go-to person when they need a magic item or book. she doesn’t like it but she owes them. regularly hooks up with jo.
angels are really hollow soldiers - they only follow orders and don’t understand the concept free will or choice or individuality at all. they are extremely righteous and strike without warning often on a whim, often very bloody (explosions a la castiel in swan song). if something fall into what they consider justice they will kill it. no concept of love, attraction or gender. real form can’t be perceived by humans unless they want them to, which leads to eyes melting (pamela) or breaking a person’s mind (in 5.16 zachariah actually says that sam and dean sees him in his vessel bc they’re ‘limited’. so.)
castiel, anna, maybe uriel and some others are exceptions to this, but only becomes so after longer exposure to human’s world. even then, they don’t change their violent whims, just the reasoning and where their loyalty lies
hbo spn is s1-5 stretched out for 8-10 seasons with the aesthetics of s1-2. i’m cutting out demon dean, purgatory, the mark of cain, the men of letters, the alphas, leviathatan, god being the real villain all along and the other worlds because it was just too much and far remived from the roadtrip aesthetic. keeping kevin, charlie (she is introduced via ash bc they’re hacker friends), the trials, rowena, uuuh the angels falling is such an interesting concept but idk if it would fit. maybe metatron? but his motivations are different. soullessness + the concept of souls might be kept if it’s explained better. i’m torn on whether or not to include the campbells
hell, heaven and purgatory are explained but only seen in glimpses, keep these ideas ambiguous and up to interpretation outside of what we hear. remember the line ‘hell is...well, it’s like hell. even for demons’? leave it at that. the exception is 5.16 bc that episode fucks so hard
if we end on swan song and let the show be the tragedy it is, i want to keep the ambiguous ending. is that sam or lucifer? if it’s sam, will he contact dean or walk away? we will never know! there is also no ‘the world is ending’ more than once, it really lost its impact after the second or third time.
idk how i feel about the men of letters - it is logical that there would be organized hunting and an established network and system on how to do things, but for the sake of keeping it hbo-style and grounded, there are no networks beyond the roadhouse and singer’s salvage yard.
i want sam and dean not have a permanent home except the impala, motels and impala ONLY. the bunker had potential but it was just for the sake of convenience it was there with all the lore and answers they needed when it was necessary. maybe eventually they do stop travelling so much when it becomes more about the Big Stuff instead of the episodic cases that requires driving all the time but it will be like an abandoned house in the middle of nowhere. i want sam and dean to never have a physical house as a home but they scrape together whatever they have make something similar to a show
as the show progresses, sam and dean become pretty hated by other hunters because they’ve started apocalypse and have an increasingly shitty reputation. and john was an infamous good hunter but also a dick. everybody knows that people who work with the winchesters often end up dead, that one brother will sacrifice anything and anyone to save the other and that they frequently work alongside demons. even the ones they DO work with (jo, ellen, bobby, rufus, bela) are hesitant to be involved with them
sam’s powers are strong but after killing lilith and the truth revealed to him, he represses the powers in shock and fear of how blinded he was by them and the rush of power they gave him. a little more about how sam fears what the lust for power and strength did to him. he continues to repress his powers, often to a dangerous point where he will be on death’s door as a result of not using them. when meeting jack and mentoring him in using his powers, jack asks him about sam’s powers after sensing them. sam eventually decides to lead by example and embraces his powers again, but remains extremely careful about using them (this also fulfills dean’s arc of having to let go of the holy-innocent-pure-ideal-not a person but an idealized version of sam-little brother sam he has put on a pedestal for so long)
bobby is viewed as a father figure by sam and dean but bobby makes it clear he doesn’t want that burden or relationship in his life after his wife died. he makes this clear to them too, but sam and dean have fucked up perceptions of parental figures so they don’t think bobby means it (they just latch on to whatever parental figures they can find)
we see more of sam’s relationship with the side characters; sam and jo hunt together on occasion, he hangs out with ash and talks hacking when visiting the roadhouse. he and ellen loves playing poker together. if anything, dean is the one who’s isolated - he only ever really cared about mary, john, sam and cassie, and never really had any friends. sam is way more well adjusted and sociable after spending time at stanford where he’s had conversations that didn’t only revolve around dead bodies and lore.
this could also feed into dean’s extreme abandonment issues and isolation he feels and how this would affect his psyche
sam and dean are both unknowingly prepared to become the perfect vessels; sam loses his humanity by becoming more and more like lucifer (defying his father and his will) while dean becomes prepared by doing what michael did; casting his brother away in his time of need (blindly following his father and his will). very much like in s4 but even more intense and brutal (i love angst :))
we see different hybrids; demon/human (antichrist), human/(arch)angel (nephilim) and demon/angel (???), but none of them are all powerful bc narratively that’s really boring. they’re strong but have very specific powers that affects them and/or their surroundings in catastrophic ways (but no other worlds bs, we stick to the road trip aesthetic, keep it grounded). i want the only all powerful character to be god but he doesn’t show up at all, he’s the ultimate absent father. is it chuck? we never find out!
powers would for example include giving people diseases, force anyone close to them to tell the truth (not consciously, it’s just the air around them), read minds, create storms, light things on fire when they’re angry, make people hallucinate etc. like fucked up shit but not things that are too grande because again - that’s really boring
abbadon, the princes of hell and the four horsemen are more fleshed out villains instead of the one season reign the each had.
being a prince of hell is a title that is inherited - after azazel dies, sam gets the title because he is the one with azazel’s blood in him OR meg does, but idk if that would be as interesting (if she actually was his daughter)
it remains a horror show throughout, lots of gore and blood
the moral code and ethics of the brothers are the opposite of the beginning; dean thinks in black and white, sam sees shades of grey and individuals instead of what they are. however, as the show progresses, their train of thought becomes opposites; dean becomes more open to how people are true evil and how monsters are often victims of their circumstance while sam becomes harsher and less forgiving after ruby’s betrayal along with finding out the truth of his existence and how there’s been demons around his entire life. eventually they’re on the same page and they see the circumstances.
on the other hand; i also really fuck with the idea of dean maintaining his black and white morals on that all monsters=inherently evil, humans=inherently pure and good, but he is the only human on team free will. sam is half demon, castiel is an angel, jack is a nephilim, rowena is a witch, garth is a werewolf, mary is a zombie etc
demons become demons in hell by agreeing to become the torturer and thus giving up their humanity to be free of pain, does that mean they could become humans again by regaining some humanity? by doing good deeds? (potentially this is confirmed with jessica and how she came to love sam; genuine love and care for a human could reverse the demon process?) this also means dean was a demon in hell but was purified/turned back again when castiel raised him. this also plays into dean becoming like michael; in trying to absolve himself from what he did in hell he becomes ruthless, unforgiving and righteous to evil, much like the angels, regardless of his personal connection to a person and what he would consider “evil”
dean and pacifisim: after dean is cured from being a demon/the mark of cain/is made aware of his blind righteousness that he used as an excuse to kill, he becomes firmly determined to reign in his anger and violent tendencies by becoming a pacifist (like sam in s11) as a way to redeem all the blood he’s spilled. of course in his profession and true dean fashion he won’t be able to do it 100% so he decides to only act in self defense, and he only goes batshit violent on the offense when it’s about protecting sam
OR. dean’s self righteousness becomes his own downfall; the belief that all evil must be eradicated, refusal to see the circumstances and the shades of grey is what pushes him to lose his humanity and become a demon and therefore, in a potential ending the ruler of hell, because i think it would such an interesting journey from a to b, that dean starts out human, revels in his holiness, executes and kills in the name of his own holiness in the belief that he’s becoming the ultimate angel, the ultimate hero when it’s doing the opposite. if this happened then sam would take the opposite route; starts as a human, becomes more and more demonic, stops himself and returns to his hopeful and optimistic self, has faith and humility and that is what makes him ascend from abomination to purified and holy (trials).
this could be a perfect 10 season structure as well: s1-5 are when sam and dean start off humans; dean becomes holy and as close to an angel a human can be, while sam drinks the demon blood and almost becomes one to gain the freedom and power he wants, but begins to turn it around to send lucifer back to hell. s6-10 is when dean becomes the unholy and sam becomes the holy even though neither realize because now there’s no grand master plan - this is who they are, who they choose themselves. don’t know how this ould end though; either as normal humans again (but there wouldn’t really be a ”normal” after everything) or they really go off the rails with sam like ruling heaven (not as god though, just as a good and just man) and dean ruling hell. castiel is human and stays on earth with jack.
the gothic americana aesthetic is kept throughout the entire show and is only shot on film
after s5 castiel returns to heaven to help restore order, and he takes charge for a little while, but eventually returns to earth after trying to introduce democracy to angels who didn’t get it. in his place, anna takes over and she rules heaven well (after trying to kill mary when going back in time she isn’t killed by michael, but narrowly escapes and remains in hiding to heal until castiel reaches out and finds her)
when finding out they are The Vessels and will be brought back regardless of what they try, sam and dean explore what this means more. dean throws himself into dangers and to protect others. he is burned, blown up, stabbed, electrocuted, beheaded and eaten, but wakes up the next morning in his bed without a scratch, without any pain and memories of his deaths. he revels in this untouchability. sam kills himself over and over only to be resurrected again and again by lucifer. he remembers the pain and blood.
that being said, while dean is like angel royalty, sam is demon royalty. the demons don’t go after him, they don’t hurt him. some even offer up themselves to be drained of blood, even after lilith’s death. it makes it really difficult to stay clean but he pulls through with dean and castiel actually supporting him. to help sam get through his addiction, dean stops drinking alcohol and they go through their withdrawal together
the angels almost worship dean as the michael sword and have an open disgust towards sam for being lucifer’s vessel - they always answer dean’s prayers and calls for help, they follow his orders if need be and don’t hesitate to heal him if he needs it. sam could pray until his vocal chords bleed or call out for help while holding his guts in his hands; none of the angels would come to his aid. the only one who answers sam’s prayers is lucifer as a voice in sam’s head or a hallucination. sam could call demons to help him out but he refuses
sam isn’t the first hunter to drink demon blood, to try to enhance his own abilities using the supernatural as a means to get there - there are hunters who have altered themselves with parts from werewolves and vampires to become better hunters, like the styne family (the guys from s10), blurring the lines again of what’s good and human vs what is evil and inhumane
if angels can’t find a vessel to volunteer, they will force them to say yes - the how is not important, only that the ‘yes’ is said, whether its meant or not, any verbal yes will do. the angels never sleep and they never eat, which is disturbing to sam and dean who are exhausted all the time and eat scraps whenever they can
castiel, like all other angels, is taught to despise and not care about sam winchester at all, but the more castiel gets to know sam, he becomes fascinated with him, how lucifer’s ultimate vessel, starter of the apocalypse and destroyer of god’s creation can be so kind and gentle, so full of faith, acceptance, optimism and hope. in dean castiel sees a good man, yes, but also a man who’s bloodthirsty, rages, revels in war, resorts all problems with violence, loves conditionally and expects unquestioned loyalty. sam too, has a darkness and bloodthirst in him, but it only comes out in glimpses. castiel thinks it’s funny, how sam turns out to be the opposite of lucifer while dean is so alike michael
#hbo spn#supernatural#sam winchester#dean winchester#iben spoke#girl help this makes no sense#these are just things i want to see plot-wise and character arc-wise
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long headcanon about the duality of love and the mahjarrat condition pertaining to it from his point of view. if you read all this babble i swear to god, i love you, i hope you have a good day. cw: sex addiction, child neglect, unhealthy coping, unrequited pains. reason for writing: hi i want to die bc of angst.
i think we all know even without playing medieval xp grind lore game, runescape, that sliske is old. very old. he tells us in endgame there's not much he hasn’t done with his life over thousands of years, even traveling to other planets and realms to just see what was out there and how far he could get. i’ve always projected his age as somewhere between more than 8,000 or even more than 10,000. we’re never given a timeline to how long the children of mah have lived. sliske has done a lot with his time; he’s killed a god, had quite a few elder relics in his grasp, SPOKEN to a elder god and managed not to die, mastered shadow magicks, has an excellent grasp on the shadow realm. he’s good with biology, chemistry, has a fair understanding of soul magic which is kind of a rare brand of knowledge, he’s tricked probably thousands into bad contracts to become wights in his army, understands the psychology and bad morals of people. he was a playwright, a high ranking officer, a spymaster. dude is just a determined polymath. you know what he hasn’t done? love. he’s never got to play with love.
mahjarrat are explained as having emotions, but dulled ones. they feel rage and pride apparently better than others. kharshai said after years of really believing he was a human, that when he came back to his true form he states “i feel raw power coursing through my veins. i don't feel pain like i used to, and i'm sure my intellect has increased. but somehow there is something missing. a capacity for emotion that i can't quite put my finger on.” they aren’t equipped for the same range of positive emotions as others are. they feel it, but they don’t understand it fully, it has been said by developers. this whole bit is sadly funny considering in canon, sliske catches feelings. he doesn’t realize he’s attracted to the player character. it’s stated many times, in his journals, in dialogue, etc. he believes their fates are tangled no matter what. and the saddest bit is he probably doesn’t understand these feelings and it confuses him to the point of anger. “ love! a mahjarrat in love? ... i almost wish that were true. it would certainly make the universe a more interesting place. ” “ so perhaps i have loved you. but that doesn’t mean i have to like you.” sliske’s main goal started off as to take the players immortal, unable to be crushed by the divine, soul and give it to himself so he could live forever, as mahjarrats do not have afterlives, once they die they are done, evaporated into energy. but in endgame we learn something from him hidden in masks that refutes that;
“I love you for more than your soul.”
you STUPID fucker, you’re in love.
the remainder of this is a lot of NON-CANON, personal headcanon interpretation that pretty much only works on this blog. as a rough summary: sliske’s ol’ mum was not fond of her kids, half-brother wahisietel or sliske since she did not see them as powerful as herself and was disappointed that's what her legacy came out to. a short, beefy, average at magic son, she had another go and was still disappointed with this spidery, scrawny, gifted but absolutely annoying stick underweight child. his father, saw him once or twice in his life and that was it. dyeosuthua wanted nothing more than to make them disappear and try again until she got offspring she didn’t want to throw into a lava pit in secrecy, infanticide was against tribal law due to population issues. sliske’s mother’s neglect was so severe, ( by the absolute boundless joys of rp development and mutual heacanons ♥ ) that wahi and nabor had an attempt at raising him and keeping him from freezing to death. why is all this jargon important? because while all mahjarrats are raised by tough love, sliske’s attention deprivation from his mother was so severe, he grew up and still has a slew of reactive attachment, psychological, and social issues he still carries as an adult. several times she threatened to kill him and almost made good on it more than twice. when wahisietel had proven he was a survivor of the first ritual of rejuvenation, sliske became dyeosuthua’s main target for abuse despite his gift for magic at a young age. nothing he did could impress her enough. and it left him constantly seeking approval and validation to an insecure mind.
the more he grew, the more confident he became mainly out of spite and to get attention. he’s loud, charming, makes you the only person in the room when he talks to you. he has an innate silver-tongued ability that persuades people to do just about anything. it was a front for his insecurities that he kept very very closed up. in the second age/senntisten capital, sliske had a pretty severe sex addiction as it was one of the few ways he felt validated and was able to get affection in a way he could digest. people with reactive attachment disorders often have sex addictions to fill the space of acceptance without having to commit.. easy, feel good intimacy without having to open up and let someone learn about your vulnerabilities and commit. it was pretty severe, considering mahjarrats find any kind of breeding or intimacies outside their ‘superior species’ as downright foul. sliske had always been the black sheep of the tribe and with his status as praefectus praetorio; head of secret police, really nothing put a damper on him trying to fill the void for affection he had. there wasn’t a species or individual he wouldn’t bed. he would easily take up propositions even for people who just wanted to fuck a mahjarrat because it was ‘exotic’ or because of his status as an officer, he now looks back on this and it bruises his insecurities even more that he allowed himself to do that. not out of pride for his species. but himself, being just a thing to be had because of rarity. azzanadra and his brother, wahisietel found out about it and while disgusted, partially understood what he was doing to negatively self soothe. at one point sliske and azzanadra, the champion of their god and head of the church, as well of one of the strongest living of their kin, had a lasting tryst for a few years and for awhile it made sliske feel very much self important in a way and alleviated his need to be needed so badly, this did not end well when sliske grew tired of their empire and wanted freedom. once childhood best friends and lovers had become absolute enemies once sliske became too unstable and azzanadra became too zealous.
sliske gave up his sexcapades for a long time, thousands of years, his libido dropped when he became interested in other projects and self healing when he was hit with the idea that he hasd essentially allowed himself to be an exotic fling and still burned over becoming his god, zaros, scapegoat after all he had done for him. love was a weird concept to him and still is. despite being adamant love doesn’t exist for his kind, and his belief that he is flawed, unstable, and embraced the idea of ‘you want a monster? fine! i’ll be the monster!’. he expects no pity, not be forgiven to things he has done and even in game when you sycophantically try to cozy to him, he straight up calls out your text choice was awful considering some of the shitty things he might have done to you. to sliske, all attention to him is attention, whether you’re praising or insulting him. he’s on your mind, he exists, that’s all he wants.
backstory aside the real part of this headcanon is that sliske actually wants love. it’s the only thing aside from an immortal soul he hasn’t had. sliske actually has an attraction to humans because they are empathetic, curious, passionate, and determined. he has an easier time assimilating and being around them since he has ALWAYS had a better sense of humor, socializing, and happiness than his kin. he feels emotions a lot stronger than his fellow mahjarrats. it allows him to talk to and connect to humans and humanlike species better. others of his kind have told him there’s “something wrong” with him for that. he’s actually a romantic, even if he’s just mimicking romance stories, movies, and actions from others. he thinks the idea of settling with one person and loving them is both mortifying and interesting. opening yourself up to someone and giving them the hammer to smash your cherry-red painted porcelain heart and seeing if they do, to him might be the ultimate form of trust and biggest gamble of russian roulette. the stakes are so heavy he’s high on the idea. but it’s also horrifying. mahjarrat are prolific for not opening up, not allowing others in, vulnerability out in the open is a death sentence. they live in a kratocracy/meritocracy where they kill off the weakest link. it’s not pretty. being soft is a useless, unnecessary, weak gene to them. it dampers survival.
but yet sliske keeps reading romance novels, writing his own confused poetry, and getting into unrequited one sided loves but practicing a backstabbing betrayal when one gets too close. i have to hurt them before they hurt me, betray and cut them down before they can do it to me. i think he wants to be loved. i think he kinda wants to be taught to love, for the emotions and the sake of knowledge. ( brb james newton howard’s ‘true love’s kiss’ from maleficent just came on spotify and i think i’m going to die bc i did not ask for background music thanks!!! ) he wouldn’t be the best at it, maybe a little too possessive with you, codependent, but very nurturing and fun loving. will sepnd a whole week spooning you.. people who hurt you past, present, and future may end up dead in mysterious ways or turned into a wight for you to beat the shit out of. but he’d try. he’s still got a broken child sitting behind his third rib. i think he would snarl the first few times someone genuinely got close to him, it would terrify him, being known on such a skinned, raw level. having gentle touches that are real and not a come hither to the bedroom. being known for something other than the confident, ego he has is death. he could be taught to be gentle for a crumb of consistent attention. might even cut down the murders and god killing down by 15%. love is not going to fix him, it’s not going to forgive the actual shitty things he’s done. it should never do that. but it will turn the lights on in a dark house.
love could really break him. i think so. i’d type more but this has gone on too long and i feel sad-happies.
#me @ me: die bitch#yell at me in an ask if i roasted both you and i at 450 deg f and basted you with butter and rosemary with a good wine too#// long post#✦ │ 𝙷𝙴𝙰𝙳𝙲𝙰𝙽𝙾𝙽𝚂 & 𝚃𝙷𝙴𝙾𝚁𝙸𝙴𝚂 ––– i do hate parting with information.
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Wanted to hear you go on about child yandere. more types of love than romantic. the your my friend or your going to take care of me and me you is scary in a different way. smart kids can more easily manipulate the victim and others emotionally.
Child yanderes huh? Admittedly, that’s a topic I never really think about a lot. The wording here was a little strange, but I’m taking this as pretty much a “free rein” question.
Quick thoughts here before the read more section:
Can a child be a yandere? – Absolutely
My feelings towards child yanderes (where the cast is roughly the same age) – Same as a normal yandere
My feelings towards child yanderes (where the yandere’s S/O is much older) – Frustrating to okay
To be perfectly upfront here, I don’t focus on child yanderes a lot with the media I consume. That doesn’t mean I don’t come across any. In fact, in may just be a case where I’m not even considering “this is a child yandere” when technically yes they are. I guess it depends on what age range you think of when you hear the word “child” to begin with. For me, that makes me think elementary school and maybe even middle school. High school I would rather say “kids” if that’s a step up in anyway?
If you consider anyone who is a minor (under the age of 18) a child, then yeah there’s a lot of child yanderes I’ve seen. Lots of media I’ve read or watched focus on a cast of characters in high school for instance, or sometime middle school age. I don’t think I’ve read or watched something with a yandere where the cast is strictly elementary school age. Would I even really enjoy that? To be honest, elementary school (and sometimes even middle school) romances for me might sound cute, but I hardly take them seriously. There’s a lot of yanderes who met their S/O in elementary school in the story I’m sure, but that’s usually a past element and the story is focusing on the characters when they’re older.
For the sake of this post, I’ll just assume anyone who is under the age of 18 may count as a child yandere.
Can a child be a yandere? Of course they can. They just have to have intense feelings of love that are overwhelming towards another individual, often leading to obsessive and/or possessive behavior.
If you’re the type that believes in “platonic yanderes,” the most common obsessions here would be like the best friend kind (like you stated anon), sibling or parental figure. In cases like these, I know for a fact I’ve seen some stories where the character is just severely deprived of safe and affectionate love in general. Their relationships at home either aren’t stellar, or the character doesn’t have anyone period. They child may have faced abuse or neglect, or they may simply be an orphan. There’s no desire for sexual or romantic connection here. The character rather just wants companionship and sometimes a caretaker. Depending on the backstory given, you can feel kind of sad for these characters since they just don’t want to be alone. They may also have a tendency to latch onto someone who fits an “ideal” of theirs. Like the other person seems like the best role model for a friend/sibling/parental figure they always wanted.
If you’re like me though and are more focused on straight up “romantic yanderes,” yes a child can still develop these intense feelings. In fact, it’s very common for a person in their younger years to grow easily infatuated with someone else, obsess over having a relationship and fumble with healthy dating behavior. Pretty understandable because when you’re young, you’re just figuring things out. Lots of people have getting married as a main goal in life, so figuring out relationships early on is a benefit sometimes. You’ve got other things affecting your goal like your social environment and puberty (you know what I mean). I just stated the obvious here but oh well. So yeah, a child yandere could fall in love with someone around their age, but they could also develop feelings for someone older. Usually with the latter, it’s just innocent crushes that blossom from getting attention from someone they view as much more mature than their peers. Plenty of people will probably say, “I had the biggest crush on my third grade teacher” for instance or something like that. They’re mostly harmless and will fade away in normal cases. By the way, just because a kid CAN develop a crush on an older individual, that is NOT permission to pursue a relationship with them -_-. Sorry for that interruption, but I don’t want people to misinterpret what I’m saying here.
Now if the child yandere in question is part of a cast that’s around the same age as them, including their S/O…I just kind of treat them like any other yandere. No special feelings really towards the character more of less because the setting allows me to just focus on the relationships and not really the ages. Especially with anime and manga where like, character appearances will hardly match their age sometimes, so I halfway give up even worrying about how old these characters are to begin with.
Currently the most recent child yandere I could think of observing was Norman in the Promised Neverland parody manga, The Parodied Jokerland. He’s very enjoyable in that and incredibly yandere. He’s the cute kind of creepy obsessive, if that makes any sense. In that scenario, his S/O Emma is the same age as him, and the majority of the cast are also kids.
If you have a child yandere who’s focused on an OLDER S/O though…that’s kind of difficult to ignore.
I had this very funny and sad realization: Most of the media I’ve viewed where a child yandere is in love with an older S/O is via Lifetime movies.
Yeah…
So that gives me a more narrow view here of child yanderes if their S/O is older than them 0.o. Lifetime is basically my junk food. It’s bad for me, but I’ll watch it occasionally when I have cable access. Not stellar entertainment, but my god they love to run the obsessive love trope over and over again. Believe it or not, I know I’ve seen a few variations of cases where they have a younger character desperately trying to get together with an older character. They probably have all combinations, but for some reason the one that pops into my head first is, “teenage girl wants to marry this older man who’s already married/in a relationship.”
The way most of these plots play out is something like:
1) Kid tries to find a way to get access to S/O (ex. Class, lessons, be a friend of S/O’s kid)
2) Kid tries to get the S/O to support them with a sad backstory and/or tries to be the “perfect helper” for the S/O
3) Kid tries to bump off the S/O’s partner at some point (may or may not succeed)
4) Someone dies (because it’s Lifetime and someone you honestly don’t care about has to get killed at some point just to up the ante- I have literally only ever cared about 1 person that died when watching Lifetime and I don’t think it was even an official Lifetime movie)
5) Kid confesses their love for their S/O and claims they’re the best match for them
6) S/O (unsurprisingly) shuts them down with a “No”
7) Kid snaps and depending on how much time is left in the movie, usually a fight culminates between individuals or there’s a kidnapping or blackmailing (you get the idea)
8) Ends with kid either getting killed or arrested (Wait do they kill the child yanderes in these movies? I haven’t watched them all so maybe they live, I’m not sure).
So yeah that’s what this ask made me think of first, haha. Obviously with Lifetime, pretty much all their yanderes (as low-brow as some of them are) are the antagonistic/villain kind with Yandere vs. S/O stories. It’s no different if the yandere in the film is a child. It’s a guaranteed that the child yandere is going to lose in these films. But quite frankly…I know a lot of people actually want the S/O to reciprocate and work with the yandere, but I think we can all agree that this particular scenario should be fine staying Yandere vs. S/O. Because if it wasn’t, that means you’d be making…an OLDER S/O…attempt a relationship…with a minor….yeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaahhhhh I don’t recommend going that route for obvious reasons.
Now are child yanderes ever really a threat? Actually yes, they can be quite dangerous. Sure, they’re not like a high political figure or CEO like in the stories I like to read that can use their power and wealth to push the S/O into a corner or anything. But child yanderes can become surprisingly selfish and underhanded with their tactics. One thing I notice is that they’re incredibly observant, so they know where to find items they need to use (like weapons or drugs) for a wicked task or they know what kind of people to talk to and manipulate for their own needs. While child yanderes lack a higher social and economic standing, they have their “innocence” that can often help avoid detection from the authorities when trouble arises. The most dangerous weapon I’d say a child yandere has at their disposable would be the ability to slander someone without repercussions. Especially if they’re claiming someone else was violent with them or sexually abused them. Why? Because let’s be honest, lots of people would be deathly afraid of doubting a child making such accusations. And in turn, their feelings would rise quickly and they’d turn against the accused.
Another fun Lifetime fact: Depending on the film, they always purposefully make it frustrating for the viewer when it comes to false accusations vs. real accusations. If it’s a film where they have an actual victim speak out against their perpetrator, the circumstances will usually be set up so that most of the film cast won’t believe the victim. On the other side, if it’s a character making a false accusation against another character, most of the film cast will side with the liar over the accused. Because I guess Lifetime just likes to say that life is infuriating like that 0.o
Getting back on topic though, so why did I say that child yanderes can range from “frustrating to okay” for me? Well, like I said earlier, I don’t really take a lot of young romance that seriously. Kids can also be very volatile and irrational, so you know in ADDITION to this character being a yandere, it’s going to be nearly impossible to try to talk some sense into the character that they cannot be with the S/O they desire. It’s a doomed relationship, so I find myself either rolling my eyes at or pitying the yandere in this case. The child yandere could be “okay” though if, well…I like their yandere actions honestly. I AM still a sucker for yanderes in general, so I’m not gonna mind if I get a nice fix of crazy in there.
This probably isn’t a stellar answer, but like I said this isn’t really a topic I think about a lot. Hope it was interesting?
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Part 2: Axel
Saïx: You have changed…Something at Castle Oblivion changed you. Does the past mean nothing to you now?
Unlike Isa’s scar, Axel’s tear mark tattoos disappeared when Lea was recompleted. It implies that he got them after he became a Nobody, while Isa received his scar as a human. In the concept art, Lea was shown with tear mark tattoos and without them. Isa was shown with green and gold Norted eyes. It suggests that there was backstory that was going to show these characters before and after.
A teenage Axel probably gave himself the tattoos. KH3′s explanation for the teardrops was lame and I doubt that was always the story behind them. Saïx told him they’d stop him from crying? Well, Nobodies don’t cry. So are we supposed to believe that Isa was mocking Lea for crying before they became Nobodies? Why on earth would he do that? And why is Lea crying all the time, anyways? I thought they were apprentices, not test subjects? It’s pretty dumb.
Hearing his old name, Axel glanced up to see Saïx watching him intently. He remembered being human. Memories surged inside him, crowding the space in his chest. For Nobodies, memory had all the weight of a heart.
I remember. I won’t forget. But those sunsets with Roxas and Xion were part of his memory.
KH3 apparently forgot, but Axel was an assassin. And since he wasn’t trained to kill the apprentices, I highly doubt that was a profession he chose for himself, lol. The teardrops were almost certainly associated with that history. Axel had them before the idea that he was old friends with Saïx even existed. The teardrop tattoo can mean that the wearer has committed murder. It can also mean that one of the wearer’s friends was murdered and that they are seeking revenge. In Axel’s case, both are probably true.
In order for Sora—no, for Roxas to live, and also for us to accomplish our own goal, Zexion is in the way. And, if it’s for the sake of our own goal, we already decided what to do, that time.
Since Axel’s tattoos are upside-down, I’d say they represent fact that Axel couldn’t cry anymore even if he wanted to. And since that ability was taken away from him after he lost his heart, the tattoos symbolize him embracing his lack of emotion. When he gets his revenge, he will show no mercy and have no remorse. I think Axel gave them to himself not long after losing his heart. They symbolize that he will never forget what happened to him, Isa and all the other innocent victims lost during the experiments.
Zero Gear: “A powerful weapon that draws forth its wielder’s true worth.”
Lea was able to create a Corridor of Darkness even as a human. The apprentices couldn’t even do this, nor Riku after “Ansem” left him.
Nomura: While only those known as beings of darkness and beings of between are able to create entries and exits, in rare cases even other kinds of beings such as the Beast and DiZ, who held strong sentiment or hatred in their hearts, have been able to open a path themselves. However, this means being near the darkness.
It’s rare to be able to do this and requires strong feelings like hatred in the person’s heart. I think because of their differing personalities, Lea was thought to be more capable of destruction, while Isa was seen as more submissive.
And so, Axel appeared in front of Sora. He threw a chakram at Vexen right then. It wasn’t that powerful, but it could kill in one hit if it got a vital point.
Lea seemed to be molded for his skills related to being an assassin, while they tried to turn Isa into an obedient robot with no ability to think for himself.
The members of the Organization each had their own distinctive weapons that didn’t exactly cooperate if someone else tried to use them, but Keyblades were even more particular. If someone else so much as tried to pick it up, a Keyblade would simply return to its wielder’s hand. Or so Xion had heard.
There’s a few interesting bits of info about Organization XIII’s weapons and abilities in the novels. This scene happens while Xion was trying to use Roxas’ Keyblade. First of all, the weapons of the Organization are formed by their memories. Second of all, the weapons cannot be used by just anybody.
Nobodies derived their personalities and abilities from memories of their human lives. But what exactly were those abilities? What gave rise to them?
The answer that came to mind was the presence of memory itself. They were chained by their memory, and in those bonds was power. So it was probably fair to say that Roxas and Xion were bound by the same memory.
And thirdly, Axel doesn’t even understand how he got his abilities. Just that they are related to “memory”.
There are also many things regarding Castle Oblivion that remain mysterious. Did Organisation XIII build that castle themselves, with Naminé the original subject of the experiments they conducted there? Please tell us the details of the experiments the Organization were carrying out. Also, was that pod that Sora entered something the Organisation built in relation to those experiments? Are they the same pods in Twilight Town?
The ultimate goal of the Organisation was to obtain a Kingdom Hearts of the hearts of people and become complete beings, and because Nobodies were a new kind of being beyond all expectations, said to be ‘nonexistent beings’, the lack of background knowledge made it necessary for them to collect information relating to their own condition. One major feature of the Nobodies is that they form personalities and feelings through memories without hearts. This means that ‘memory’ is a very important element to them. The creation of Castle Oblivion itself is still a mystery, but, as you can guess from the cutscenes added to this title, you may consider that the Organisation discovered the castle, which was there since before the Organisation was created, at quite an early stage.
And also, around the same time that Roxas woke up in Twilight Town, Naminé woke up in Castle Oblivion. This means that she was found by the Organisation after that. Just as each Organisation member has an attribute ability, Naminé possesses the power to manipulate ‘memory’, and they thought that this ability was the key to illuminating the truths of the condition of the Nobodies. This means that in that place that affected the ‘memory’ of those who entered they carried out experiments relating to memory. Above all, Xemnas, the leader of the Organisation, seemed to be searching for something important related to ‘memory’. Some of their experiments involved the breaking and rebirth of memories, and those pods were for that purpose indeed created by the Organisation. The pod that Sora woke up in in Twilight Town was the same one from Castle Oblivion. DiZ had moved everything as it was in order to escape pursuit by the Organisation. Also, as Xigbar says in a cutscene added to this title: when the time comes to reveal the details of ‘the true purpose of Castle Oblivion’, all the mysteries regarding Castle Oblivion will be solved.
These details are given legitimacy in one of Nomura’s interviews. Organization XIII carried out experiments in Castle Oblivion to understand themselves and their own abilities. Keyblades come from a person’s heart. You need a strong heart to wield one. So, it appears the weapons of the Nobodies come from their mind. You need a strong mind to form a Nobody. And their weapons are similar to Keyblades. So, the story of how each member got their signature weapons was apparently something that was planned to be revealed, especially if they are specifically tied to their memories.
Many of the members had combat experience as humans which make it obvious how they got their abilities. Lea play fought with frisbees and his chakrams are based off of that. Others are not so obvious. Isa was not shown fighting, yet Saïx uses a berserker’s claymore. Berserkers fight in trance-like state with adrenaline coursing through them. Thus, I highly doubt this weapon had anything to do with Isa’s memories as a normal kid.
Mystery Gear: “A weapon that draws forth its wielder’s personality.”
In addition to their abilities, their personalities are said to be drawn from their memories. This is probably where the whole idea of the Mystery Gear came from. I was never really comfortable with Mystery Gear being labeled a “joke weapon” on the same level as the Casual Gear. Sure, some of the weapons seem silly, like Vexen’s Snowman or Xigbar’s Trumpet (and even those I believe are meaningful). But others are completely serious, like Xemnas’ Absolute or Roxas’s Aubade. So, my theory is that the Mystery Gear is the weapon that is created from the memories of the person the moment they lost their heart.
An aubade is a morning love song (as opposed to a serenade, which is in the evening), or a song or poem about lovers separating at dawn. It has also been defined as “a song or instrumental composition concerning, accompanying, or evoking daybreak”. In the strictest sense of the term, an aubade is a song from a door or window to a sleeping woman. Well, Sora chose to become a Heartless to awaken Kairi, who was sleeping. He did so out of love.
The Heartless come from people’s hearts, as does the darkness. Is the core of the world’s heart the world of the Heartless? I will pursue the answer there and become all knowing. My path is set. I shall seek out the wielder of the Keyblade, and the princesses. My body is too frail for such a journey, but I must do this. I will cast it off and plunge into the depths of darkness.
Apprentice Xehanort wanted to become all-knowing. Xemnas’s Mystery Gear is “Absolute”. And trumpeters are harbingers of the apocalypse in the Bible. And that’s exactly what Braig signed up to be when he gave up his heart to Xehanort. Axel’s is called “Fuma Shuriken”, or Wind Demon Shuriken. It also has a Recusant’s Sigil on it. In the warring states period, the Fuma Clan were a group of outlaw ninjas, especially skilled at night raids and other sorts of sneaky surprise attacks. They were extremely strong, extremely deadly, and had a reputation for pretty much having no morals whatsoever. They would slash enemies in the back, set entire villages on fire, and resort to all sorts of violent and non-violent trickery. They were also said to be experts at the use of fire and smoke – including the smoke-shield practice known as Enton-no-jutsu.
“That Genie we met seemed really worried about his friend Al,” Xion remarked eventually. “But then he said he’d respect his friend’s wishes. I guess you can’t just jump in and do everything for them, even if you want to.” Xion bit her ice cream, swinging her feet.
Axel leaned his head to one side. “Your friend’s wishes, huh…” It feels like I have heard that before, a long time ago, when I was human.
“Inseparable” is the day Xion needs to rely on Roxas. Friends lean on each other. Axel says best friends can be together when they’re apart as long as they feel close. But he sadly said he didn’t have one. The description of this day says that Roxas learns about a friend’s resolve.
“He worries too much. Thinks he has to help Sora do everything…” Axel grimaced in irritation.
“But, Axel, aren’t you the one worrying about Riku and Sora?” Naminé giggled softly.
Axel said he’d heard that back when he was a human. Axel worries a lot about his friends, like Riku does.
“You have your own mission, Roxas,” Saïx told him before Xion could answer.
“I can’t trade with Xigbar or something?”
“What an extraordinarily childish notion. Do you need Axel to walk you everywhere now?”
Roxas bit his lip and looked at the floor. “That’s not it…”
Day 353 is called “Resolve”. Axel was worrying about how to save everyone and also respect their wishes. This is the day Xion left to sacrifice herself. Saïx said this on Day 353. He’s projecting. Lea probably always worried over Isa and tried to care of him, like Riku does with Sora. Saïx still has Isa’s “personality”---his memories, that is. He knows that he was clingy and dependent on Lea. And he can’t STAND it. It’s humiliating to him. He thinks Isa was a childish baby who needed Lea to coddle him.
“It’s the best thing for everyone,” said Xion.
Everyone? Everyone, who? For us? Or…for someone else?
“How do you know that?” Axel demanded. “Everyone thinks they’re right…”
“This is right,” Xion said firmly. “It’s better this way.” Axel hated that argument. Nothing was better any which way. All it came down to was what you wanted to do and what you didn’t. He’d learned that lesson back when he had a heart.
It’s heavily implied that Isa’s thoughts at the moment he lost his heart were related to love. In the story of the Moon Rabbit, the hare was a bodhisattva. The bodhisattva vow is the commitment to put others before oneself. It is a statement of willingness to give up one’s own well-being, even one’s own enlightenment, for the sake of others.
“Me, worry? You think I need to be worried about those two?” He stretched backward and rocked the chair back and forth, like a restless child.
Naminé returned to her sketchbook.
“Say, Naminé… Are you still going to try to meet Kairi?”
Her head snapped up at the unexpected question. Across from her, Axel met her gaze, grave and earnest.
“I have to help her,” she said with a sad smile.
He scowled. “Is that really the best thing?”
“The best thing…?” Naminé set her crayons down on the table, her gaze dropping as she thought for a moment, and then she smiled at him again. “It’s the right thing.”
In response, Axel only leaned back and rocked in the chair again. She took up her crayons.
No one could know what was right or wrong.
I think Lea’s last thoughts as a human were related to rage. The hare decided to offer himself up as food to a hungry stranger even though other food was available. It can be seen as foolish. And I think that’s how Lea felt when he realized Isa wanted to sacrifice himself for him. He was furious, like he was with Xion. He was mad at Isa for trying to destroy himself, when there HAD to be another way. He was mad at himself for being powerless to save Isa. And he was furious at the apprentices most of all for causing everything.
He was probably waiting for me. Standing there against the wall with his arms folded was once my best friend—Saïx didn’t take his eyes off the ground to look at Axel.
“…You’re sure this is for the best?”
He HATES the idea that there is a set way that is “best”. And because of what happened, he’s perpetually stuck at the age of 15, unable to move on from his trauma. He’s actually compared to a child in the novels. He can’t control his anxiety and rocks back and forth like a child. He has severe abandonment issues.
“Everything is back to normal. Of course this is for the best, isn’t it?”
The reason I’m unable to answer Saïx is probably because I depend on him, thought Axel.
I enjoy seeing both the official localization and the fan translation translation of the novels. The fan translation can sound a little awkward sometimes, but it’s usually more literal which I appreciate. In the localized version, it says that Axel doesn’t want to alienate Saïx anymore. In the fan translation, it carries a heaver connotation and says that Axel depends on Saïx. And I think hearing him say that things were “for the best” is the exactly reason why. He remembers Isa as a selfless person. So even though Saïx is abusive to him, they are codependent. Axel totally relies on him to connect him to his past and we all saw how poorly Saïx handled Axel leaving him, even though he constantly pushed him away.
“Huh? Why am I a slap on the wrist?” Roxas asked.
“Well, they know how much I hate babysitting.” Axel let out an exaggerated sigh.
“Gee, thanks,” huffed Roxas.
Unlike Zexion, Axel had a very happy life as Lea. Then it was all taken from him relatively quickly. In the novels, the chapter titled “Inseparable” shows Axel’s playful and childish side. It gives you a better glimpse of what he was like as a teen and why he always longed to go back to the past.
“Watch this!” Axel threw a dart at the board.
“Hey! We have to investigate.”
“C’mon, it’s just a couple darts.”
Axel tossed one more, which neatly struck the bull’s-eye.
He hated babysitting because he would rather still be a kid. He had the most fun when he could act like a teenager.
“But what is all that stuff?” Axel leaned closer, examining the map.
“I guess we can’t just ask the one who hid it here… Pence, I think his name was,” said Roxas.
Axel shrugged. “As if. It’s probably the easiest way to find out.”
“As if. We still have to find him first.” Roxas imitated the gesture, albeit with considerably more drama.
“Ugh, okay, no more Xigbar impressions,” Axel said, cracking up.
“You started it!”
Roxas lost it, too, and it took a few minutes for them to recover from their fit of giggling.
He wanted to play darts and do Xigbar impressions.
“What should we do now, Naminé?” Riku asked as he reached for the little freezer under the computer. He removed a bar of ice cream and took a bite.
“…Aw, is it good?” Axel teased. “Seriously, you’re like a little kid. Even though you look like a mean old man.”
Riku made no response, keeping his gaze fixed on the computer screen. The comment did rub him the wrong way. But mentally, Axel was definitely older than him by at least a little. Not that you could tell from looking.
Riku said that Axel is mentally older…but only by a little.
As Riku sighed, Axel stole the ice cream out of his hand.
“There’s plenty in there. Just get your own. And you call me a little kid,” Riku grumbled.
At his irritation, Axel only shrugged and chuckled to himself.
Axel was definitely a case of arrested development. Socially and emotionally he was still stuck at the age of 15. It’s why he eats so much sea-salt ice cream.
Axel’s eyes crinkled as he remembered his own best friend—the only friend he’d ever had, in fact.
“If your best friend goes away, you’re sad, and if you get to be with them, you’re happy,” Naminé added. “Isn’t that how it is, Axel?”
“…That’s about the size of it.” Axel nodded and sat down on the remaining empty sofa, staring at the sea-salt ice cream he held.
“So you are capable of sincerity,” said Riku.
Axel only shrugged at the jab and finished his ice cream pop.
Axel took a particular liking to Sora and Riku, but became depressed by them, too. He acted like a kid, denying that Isa was ever his friend and eating tons of ice cream to make himself feel better.
In that world, Roxas was laughing.
Like he was having fun.
Like he’d always lived in that place.
It’s a place of lies Naminé made from his own memories, but, maybe, that’s the real Roxas. Not clad in a black coat, but playing with friends his own age, laughing, eating ice-cream, wandering around—like Sora.
He was jealous of Hayner, Pence, and Olette, especially when Roxas called their names when time froze during the Struggle.
“Then what did you wanna come with me for?” Axel flung his arms out angrily.
“Because… Because you seemed lonely.”
“What?” The irritated furrow between his brows deepened.
“You seemed lonely,” Naminé repeated, raising her eyes.
“Lonely? Me, a Nobody, lonely? That doesn’t even make sense!”
“You know, Axel… I wonder if we really do have hearts after all.”
“Yeah, well… That’s impossible.” He turned away from her.
I like that he wasn’t completely healed of all his issues as soon as he was recompleted. He still HATES showing vulnerability around people. And since he had lost the ability to cry for so many years, he cannot stand letting people see him cry. He formed his identity around being strong. He turned away from Roxas when he started tearing up and he ran away and dropped his ice cream when he cried in front of Kairi. He trusted her, but still wouldn’t talk about his past or why he still wore his black cloak with her.
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Mk, I feel like I need to just get this off my chest so I can stop thinking about it. XD
So. The Reunion short. Short answer: It’s ok.
(Too Damn) Long Answer:
Well – the primary feeling I’m experiencing is disappointment. :/ See though, I don’t want to let it ruin my weekend. So I figure, I’ll break down my feelings about it and then that’ll make it easier to just focus on what I DID like. Because a lot of things in life I have no control over how shit it’s going to make my day, but I do here. I don’t HAVE to be sour, it was not THAT bad and I have expenses and work and life to deal with, I can manage to hold THIS of all things at a distance from my mental stability.
SO. What I did like. The animation is gorgeous, as usual. I love all the little nuances, McCree’s movements and reloads, and the fight scene overall was really cool. The beginning was slick and I liked his reveal. It was a good demonstration of McCree’s personality: he’s casual, charming, prefers not to fight if he doesn’t have to, clever/quick thinking even in a gunfight, has a distinctly different flavor of charming cowboy he takes on when he’s dealing with friends vs enemies.
That’s what all makes it overall an ok short for me. Problem is, put up against literally every other short, it is sorely lacking. Which is moderately unfair, comparing them, but when you do so much solid work so consistently, the ‘just ok’ one really sticks out. Reunion’s greatest crime for me was its disappointing lack of story/character development. Yes, yes, I know, everybody’s mad about McCree’s skin tone, yes I think it was a bit too far on the lighter side, considering what his game model looks like, but that one doesn’t hit as hard for me. Of course it would have been nice to have him a few shades darker (at least for consistency’s sake) but that doesn’t make him any less of whatever race anybody head canons him as. My brother has the same half hispanic blood that I do, but he looks like your standard issue White Boy™. BUT WHAT ABOUT THE NO HOMO?? Well, I’m not struck too much by that one either? McCree’s a tiny bit flirty with Ashe, if only for that wink, but that’s like a trope kinda thing. He’s the dashing rogue, distracting people with his charms as he goes about his agenda. Also, even with Echo at the end – I don’t really read any of that as “McCree is clearly romantically invested in this female shaped creature.” And maybe it’s just a personal thing, I tend to always read relationship cues as platonic unless something more blatant happens. Also, I don’t care if he’s canon into the ladies. Maybe he likes both! Either way, when has canon ever stopped fans from shipping a thing? XD Honestly, I don’t think for one second Blizz would make McHanzo canon, the most I’m legitimately hoping for is that they can at least be best bros. I will be pleasantly surprised if they somehow become an item™ but I feel like friends is the best I can realistically hope for.
So the actual source of my disappointment. The story. I have a massive craving for story any given day of the week, and I fell in love with these characters. That’s why Overwatch is the first major fan fic binge I’ve ever experienced in life, I love these characters and I have such a NEED for story. That and character development are my most favorite things. The shorts have always been really good for both of these, a compelling narrative and/or a satisfying exploration of a character. Plus they always look amazing. Selling us on the world and the characters has always been what the shorts were for. But this one – this one was to introduce new characters. And not like – in a good way, cause that’s technically what they were for when the very first ones came out before the game launched. I think the fatal flaw of Reunion, in terms of story, was that it wanted me to be equally invested in McCree and Ashe. McCree has had a ton of backstory nuggets, character interactions, and 2 years to develop knowledge and affection for his character. Ashe is brand, shiny, new and you can’t stick McCree in there with a badass intro and expect me to be as interested in her as I am in him. And in this short, I know more about HER motivations that I do HIS. I don’t know why that crate is important, I don’t know what he wants to do with it, I don’t even know what his present day goals are at all. But I know Ashe is there for money. My investment in McCree is wholly based on things I already knew going in, I don’t know what the stakes are outside that Ashe clearly wants to kill him. Is there a world ending weapon in that crate? Is that why I should care if he gets it or not? No idea. And I know that’s the point, kinda, but it feels like a miscalculation. All because Ashe is supposed to have equal footing with McCree. And she can’t, because all I know about her is that she wants money and doesn’t like McCree. Well, yeah, if she’s Deadlock, they want money and don’t like McCree, we knew that already. And then he wakes Echo up and I’m hit with another character I can’t care about because I have been given no reason to other than McCree is her friend. But I have no frame of reference for this friendship so I can’t attach any investment to it. I want to know who and what she is, not because I’m excited about her, but because I want to know why I should care in relation to the character I came here for. And of course the whole thing ends without us learning anything about what McCree’s end goal currently is, why it’s more important than answering Winston, or even fun flash backs to any relevant event like maybe the Blackwatch raid he got caught in or how he lost his arm.
So that’s my big long ass dissertation on why I think I was disappointed with the short. I wanted to get some world building or character development, that’s what I was super excited for. But I didn’t learn anything I didn’t already know, and what WAS new was confusing or I didn’t understand why I should care. Because they had to take time to try to introduce Ashe and establish her place in the world, her personality, her motivations, there wasn’t any left over to move McCree’s development any further, or even the world itself. I think there were ways they could have introduced her in a McCree centric story that didn’t sacrifice all that – but to do so, she couldn’t have had equal focus. Cause you can’t stand any new character next to McCree and have me instantly care about them equally, when I know a lot about him and nothing about them.
#text walls for days#now that I got that out of my system#I can just enjoy it for what it is#and go read fan fic or something cause I'm a fuggin nerd
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Sometimes, the best thing you can say to a child is: “I love you.”
Back in the middle of my college years, I took an entire summer to go out to Denver, Colorado to serve on a 4-person team that traveled around the area putting on what was not exactly, but can be approximated as a week-long vacation Bible school program. There were a lot of good things that happened that summer (I fell in love and was rejected, made a lifelong friend, grew a lot as a person, etc.), but among the most unexpected benefits was the surprisingly valuable experience of spending the vast majority of my time surrounded by children between the ages of 6 and 12.
It’s probably true that there are few things in life that can test your patience as an adult as a fourth grader with an attitude or a second grader who just won’t sit down. But the other side of the coin is that these children, even the brattiest of them, are capable of some of the most uninhibited, generous kinds of affection. The emotional whiplash of dealing with kids is worse than the kind you get from watching airing anime go down the tubes, and yet the rewards—if you’re patient enough to receive them—are superb.
All this is to say that children are a very inconvenient, gratuitous kind of existence. There are very few things in this world less utilitarian than a child. I was listening to a podcast recently that described beautiful things as those things without usefulness, and while I don’t think such a description fully encapsulates the beauty, value, and importance of a child, I do think it serves as a useful point with which to begin considering Alice and Zoroku.
While there have been some recent anime with memorable child characters (Non Non Biyori, Barakamon, and sweetness & lightning come to mind), I would contend that the none of these truly make the child the center of their stories. While Tsumugi is a key element in the overall dynamic of sweetness & lightning, I think it’s fair to say that she is often decentered from the show’s focus for other characters. Likewise, Barakamon‘s Naru, while key to the show’s workings, is more important as an influence on protagonist Handa than she is as her own character.
Non Non Biyori actually probably comes the closest to really making its own child character, Ren-chon, the most important part of its story. The show often focuses specifically on Renge’s particular experiences and feelings, holding them up as valid and important. However, it’s ultimately the iyashikei mood and rural atmosphere that dominate Non Non Biyori – and Ren-chon’s perspective is just one method by which this larger goal is achieved.
That’s not to say these shows portray their child characters badly, it’s just that they all do something with them that Alizou does not: Make them useful.
For clarity’s sake I feel it’s important that I note that, yes, in some sense the children of Alice and Zoroku are useful to the anime as a whole; that is, it would not exist without them. In reverse, though, we might say that the show exists for them. It exists to tell their stories, to explore their needs, and to portray their growth as themselves. In essence, as a production—as a story—it values its child characters implicitly by elevating them over any other characters and never using them as useful devices to illuminate things about other, non-child characters. They remain at the center.
When I wrote about the nature of family in Alizou, The Eccentric Family, and Sukasuka, I called what Alizou depicts “the gravitational pull of a child.” And, really, that’s an accurate description of what Alizou as a show does – not only Sana, but also with its other child characters: Hatori, Ayumu, Yonaga, and Asahi. Like the sun to the earth, these children constantly pull the show’s story into orbit around them. Whatever else happens, the narrative is always about them – and, importantly, the attentions of all the important side characters almost as consistently are drawn toward them.
The first arc of Alice and Zoroku has taken some heat for being less enjoyable and less heartwarming the the much cozier second half, but I think the discomfort that exists there is absolutely critical to framing of Alizou‘s themes. Although we see Minnie C’s tragic backstory, her actions are inexcusable. Even as Alizou takes great care to provide nuance to Minnie C’s character by showing us her motivations (and thus avoid making her into a purely evil, villainous character), it also refuses to use her past as a justification for her present actions. Sad as it is, her selfish desires are cannot be given higher priority than the protection and care of Sana. Why? Because Sana’s a child, not an object Minnie C can use to achieve her goals.
Throughout the show, treating the children like tools is rather unambiguously portrayed as wrong, with even the more-or-less genial research facility being taken down because (in a thematic sense) it existed to use the children, not be of use to them. This stands in sharp contrast to the way Naito’s organization is validated in its concern for those with the Dreams of Alice (the choice that is narratively rewarded in its political triumph over its rival), but the foil winds up being more powerful because the research facility is never evil, per se – it just has the wrong priorities. The resultant rebuke is gentle, but firm – and there’s no need for a caricatured villain for the point to be effective.
This relative dismissal of the adult is paralleled in Alizou‘s second arc. In story terms, Hatori’s parents’ marital issues are very clearly shown as secondary to Hatori’s needs. Structurally, although Zoroku and Ichijou set out to help Sana and Hatori in Wonderland, the problem is almost entirely solved by Sana, Hatori, and Ayumu on their own initiative and by their own efforts. They are the stars; they, their interior lives, and the ways they attempt to figure out their lives are most important. All that’s left is for the adults to come in and shout away the clouds.
As I said before, the beauty of a child is not merely in their un-usefulness. It is not that children are valuable in an aesthetic sense because they lack value in a utilitarian one. It was never enough for Alizou to merely allow Sana, Hatori, and the others to lack in-universe and narrative utility. And so it takes great pains to validate their existence as children apart from any external scale, instead diving into their experiences. We see Sana’s talent for math balanced against her struggle with more qualitative subjects. We see the twins adjusting to life as schoolgirls, and the way that experience influences Sana. We see Hatori’s guilt and Ayumu’s love for her friend. In short, we see these children as the people they are – in the midst of growing, but with their own preoccupations, cares, and needs.
In the concluding episode’s final minutes, Naito makes an extremely important statement that both retroactively frames his actions within the story and makes concrete the thematic subtext the entire show has been pushing:
My jaw dropped at this line. Plenty of anime focus on characters in their teens and younger—an age range that could certainly be encompassed by the definition of “children”—but I had never seen an anime so explicitly cast children as the ultimate barometer of societal and narrative good. And by waiting until the end of the show, until Alizou had proven in execution its commitment to establishing this value system on all levels, made it all the more effective. It showed us what it means to make a good world, and then told us at the very end what it had done so we couldn’t miss it.
It’s all child-like, but the growth all of them display—particularly Sana—hints at one of the greatest, most astounding realities of children: Their capacity to grow. For what is a child but a ball of potential humanness? And who can say where the limits of that potential are? I’m certain a parent could speak more eloquently on this than me, but I think I apprehend at least a small part of the terrific wonder a child’s existence represents every time I hold a friend’s baby in my arms. Or, to return to my introduction to this piece, I may have seen some of that as I was teaching those kids out in Colorado. Somewhere amidst those times I was tired, annoyed, and fed-up, I simply just understood: These children are amazing existences. They are beautiful.
Alice and Zoroku, I am convinced, understands this too. And, further, it wants its watchers to understand it. Naito’s concluding thought isn’t just a nice sentiment. It’s an arresting challenge to anyone who finishes this show and witnesses the final frame of Sana, Hatori, and Ayumu heading off to school. Do we agree with Naito? Is a good world a place where children are happy and healthy? Is that the kind of world we want to create? For my part, I’d like to be part of making that sort of world. How about you?
Sometimes, the best thing you can say to a child is: "I love you." Sometimes, the best thing you can say to a child is: "I love you."
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Creating and Developing Characters
Over the course of my time among fellow writerblrs, I've found a lot of handy guides and forms to help with character creation. But I haven't seen a ton of people talk about the development of those characters outside of the story. It may be that I'm not frequenting the right areas, but I thought I'd throw my hat into the right with what I've learned over the past 4+ years of writing original content.
Characters change over the course of the story being written, not just over the course of the story. We might begin the creation of our characters very early on in the writing process, but we get to know them better as we actually write them and determine their backstories, their goals, their aspirations for the future. All of these things can slightly alter how they're written until you wind up with a different character by the end of the story. On one hand, that's sort of the goal, since we're supposed to have dynamic characters that change over the story, but on the other hand, they may read completely different across the story. They're supposed to be more developed and well-rounded by the end, but they shouldn’t read like completely different person.
That's one of the problems with working straight from character reference forms. You may know what their moon sign is, or their favorite color, or the name of their first pet, but you don't really know how to write them until you start doing it. One of my workarounds for this sort of thing is to roleplay, but not everyone is comfortable with that. Another of my personal favorites is to take writing prompts and build your characters partially outside of the story. I've not gotten to mess around with my newer characters from SD much since I'm hard at work on BL, but using writing prompts, I've gotten to showcase some of them and figure out their personal voices within this story that I've constructed.
Every character develops differently, and your personal experiences will certainly change things. You’ll need to keep a close eye on your story to catch when your character goes off-course, or just go back and fix/change them after the fact. Having other people take a look at your manuscript will help you with this tremendously.
Another big point I want to hit on is that character creation isn't an exact science. Characters need to be created, for sure, but they don't always need the fine, minor details until much later. I couldn't even begin to tell you the exact birthdays and astrology signs of my characters, but I have a general understanding of their ages, at least. For some, I have an idea of the season their birthday falls in, as is the case with Kaetren. His is somewhere in late winter/early spring, but I don't have a day or anything. I don't know favorite colors, but some of my characters have color affiliations. It's quite often related to their eye colors, actually. Why? Because I put a lot of focus on eyes when I'm writing.
When I started on my characters and worldbuilding for ToR, that was one of the few things that mattered a lot to me, since I knew I would focus on it later. I created a hierarchy inside Aëlin society that based itself on eye color, for Colleta's sake! I was still trying to figure out exactly how some plot elements work, but I built that particular piece into the story because I knew it would be relevant to some degree. Why was Andy kicked out of society? Because of her eye color! If I had only followed a guide, I might not have come up with this sort of thing as quickly as I did, or even at all!
In order to make character creation work better for you, focus on things that you already know you're going to write about. If you mention eyes a lot, then make sure you know their eye color. If their birthday is approaching, and is probably going to be significant to the plot, then you should know the day. It's not going to be the same focuses for you as for someone else, or even between your stories. There will be similarities, of course, but it's never going to be exactly the same.
Every character is the main character of their own personal story, just like in real life. In our world, we are often told that we're our own main characters. The same is true for your characters, but there's a twist: most of them won't be the main subject of the story. They probably have the same moments that we do, when we go through our day pretending we're in a movie about our lives, or a book where the words flow just right. We don't get to read about it, but that doesn't mean that it doesn’t happen. Instead, they get to be a side or background character that doesn't always do much.
Every character has moments outside of the story that we don't see. After all, when was the last time you used a scene break that fast forwarded a few hours or a couple of days? Or the last time you showed your character going through the tedious minutiae of life? When was the last time you read about a character when they went to the bathroom? Just because you're not seeing it, doesn't mean it's not happening. Just because it's not going to be brought up in the story, doesn't mean it's not important.
Experiences change people into who they are. Even if you're not going to mention something about a character's life, you may still want to know it. That way, you can make sure that they're consistent throughout the story. Two of my characters, Kalya and Arik, are in a relationship. In the current draft of BL, it doesn't come up at all, and it probably won't really be mentioned in later drafts, either. That said, it's still important, because their bond drives them to do certain things that they probably wouldn't otherwise. Some of their actions hint at their romance, but there's nothing concrete. Without getting into the mindset that these minor characters are the main characters of their own lives, I probably wouldn't have put them together at all, and they'd be flatter than the sheet of paper you’re writing on (assuming you still use paper).
Really, there's a lot of things about characters that I don't see said a lot. We tend to get so caught up in the checklist of character traits and fun facts that we forget the actually important details that we're going to focus on. I'm not saying I'm perfect, either. I still make things up about characters as I go, because sometimes the plot drags me in directions that I wasn't intending to go. Checklists and character forms are fine. I love them, and they make me consider things that I might not have thought of otherwise. But you have to ask yourself if knowing your characters' favorite foods and their spirit animals are actually going to affect your stories in any way. If they do, fantastic! If not, it's still fun to know, but you have to make sure that you prioritize what you need to know from what you want to know.
#<3#saturday wisdom#writeradvice#writerthoughts#writerblr#developing#creating#characters#character creation#advice#writing
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Accepted Character Profile
To the stars we fly with Scotland/ Dr. Alastair E.Lachlan
OOC:
Name/ Nickname: Tobias
Age: 20
Pronouns: He/Him
》》》》Campus Staff 《《《《
IC:
Character Applying for: Scotland
Character Full Name: Dr. Alastair Erskine Lachlan
Age: 36
Birthday: November 30th
Staff Position: Professor
Courses: Linguistics, but due to low student populations in the field he flexes between Psychology (especially with a Cognitive and Developmental focus, and research methods), Computing Science (introductory courses) and Philosophy (focus on Epistemology, Logic and Critical Thinking, Language)
Sponsors: N/A
Pet: a Scottish Fold named Rory
Housing Arrangements: Lives on campus
Appearance: Standing at 182 cm (5’ 9"), Alastair is a man that generally should not be fucked with. With a usually messy blazing fiery red hair and piercing green (sometimes a small tinge of blue within the emerald), he is the standard Scot that many would assume. He has an iron ear cuff on his left ear, a way to ward off the faeries – though he doesn’t quite explain why to people – and always wearing a pair of black or brown gloves. His outfit colours consist of the colours blue and white, with exception of his brown boots. Although Alastair isn’t too bulky, his frame is ottermode - skinny, muscular and very low body fat. People would describe him as dangerous, a charming and alluring man who asserts his own dominance yet holds a beauty of a rose – one that is temperamental with thorns.
Personality: Alastair to say the least, can be describe as a spiteful man. He is short tempered, stubborn, and quite egoistic in his own right. But he is also strong in determination and will-power, often striving to be the best – either for himself or his students. He is some sort of a perfectionist, harsh and cold to ensure the best of standards are meet. Despite his rather cynical personality, he can be quite loving and caring for certain situations, always there for those who need him to be. His years of being the eldest have never left him, instead persisted, making it a habit sometimes for him when he sees younger students struggling in achieving his goals. He likes demonstrating his affections in forms of teasing, rough housing and general jack-assery. But he can offer a hug or a small pat on the shoulder – though he usually tries not to, as he enjoys his personal space.
Headcanons (4 min):
- Alastair is a heavy/chronic smoker, often found with a cigarette within his hands or mouth. He can’t go about a day without nicotine, or else he becomes moody, aggressive than normal.
- The reason why Alastair smokes so much is because he suffers headaches from the stress of his younger years (the pressure of school work and life), but now, it is more of the emotional pain of dealing with troublesome students.
- He is never seen barehanded, always wearing a glove. A habit he had developed but he never quite understood where or why.
- He usually teaches in an American accent (mostly because he doesn’t want to go through the pain of re-explaining himself), but he still retains his original Scottish accent. The Scottish accent slips out when he’s drunk, angry, tired or his doesn’t give a shit mood. He is a master of accents, something he also research deeply about for his masters.
- He is fluent in English, Gaelic (both Irish and Scottish), Welsh, French, German, Greek and Latin.
- His Ph.D. Dissertation is ‘Inverted Snobbery: The debasing of Received Pronunciation and ‘Posh Talk’- A Case Study’.
- For a man with a doctorate degree and a master degree, he curses frequently, often in his own mother tongue or various languages. But he tries to put on a professional mask for the sake of his job, often times failing because he just can’t handle some of the stupidity that is his students.
- Despite his harsh and perfectionist personality, he is quite caring and is always ready to help students if they are troubled with school works or questions. He stays late at the school, almost living and sleeping in his office at time (especially during test/exams and essay periods).
- His coffee is basically coffee with Scottish whiskey, he goes through almost 7 cups a day because he can’t mentally deal with the students.
- When Alastair smokes, he does it far away from the students. Though he could somewhat survive with nicotine patches, gums and coffee if he can’t find time to have a smoke.
- His office, bag, pockets and even desk are filled with gum, air freshener and cologne. Mostly used to get rid of the smell of smoke for students.
- Alastair does boxing as a hobby and a secondary way to vent out stress or anger.
Brief Character Backstory: Alastair’s familial relationships were messy at best, his mother was too soft, too weak to fight against his father. His father on the other hand played around, having flings here and there during his travels and work. And soon enough, the red headed scot became the eldest of five siblings, with heavy responsibilities on his shoulders. At first Alastair didn’t mind much of his situation, instead he had dedicated himself to be the responsible loving brother he could be for his siblings. But things got out of hand at home. His mother was different on the perspective of his siblings, angry at the bastard children whom his father had brought back home one day. She held obvious disdain towards them, venting out the failure of her marriage on towards them. His father, obviously upset about the treatment of his other children, decided to favour less of Alastair in spite towards his wife, and instead showed more love to the other four. In the chaotic, passive aggressive and spiteful fight between the two adults, the bonds of the siblings became tense and strained. And soon enough the family started to crack and fall apart.
As Alastair grow up, his father gave him a cold attitude, always favouring the others more than himself. Soon enough, his love for his siblings became complicated at best, especially with the youngest one of all. Soon, his anger showed in a more of physical action, he became harsher, more cynical and impatient with everyone around him. His words held no love, and his actions became punches instead of hugs. It was simply matter of time before the Scot feel limited and dragged by his family – in particularly, his siblings. Instead of a loving brother who once whispered soft caring words, or gave the warmest hugs to sooth the nightmares and monsters; Alastair grew to be a man of spite and anger. His hate towards his siblings, his father and the situation only continue to grow out of control and he decided to rebel and leave the family to pursue a life without them. Filled with nothing but spite, at the tender age of 19, he left the family to go aboard and changed his last name. Instead of Kirkland, he became Alastair Erskine Lachlan.
It was then that life would only get harder. For Alastair, everything was bleak, as if life just felt like dealing him a bad hand. He struggled for a while, running around, working multiple jobs and trying to sustain himself in another country with no finical support of his family. But with strong determination and will power – though mainly powered through his spite to show that he can be better than his siblings and that he didn’t need his father – he manages to settle by enough to attend school at the same time. At the time, he had no real goal, just this burning anger and energy to do something, to prove something to his father and his siblings. He took random courses, stumbling in and out, hoping for something to strike out to him. And one day it came to him, though just like his entire life, it was from a petty comment and his (once again) spiteful need to prove them wrong.
During a first-year course in linguistic, a fellow classmate made a snarky comment about his nationality, about how it would only hinder his ability to grow in the academia world. Being a stubborn and short temper man that he is, Alastair decided to pursue into Linguistic, shifting his anger and spite towards in bettering himself. During his years of pursuing the study, he slowly felt himself happier as a person, though still spiteful and cynical, he felt more understanding of himself and the situation. Determine to be even better, he decided to challenge himself and pursues a dual major between Linguistic and Cognitive Science. It took 2 months of angry arguing and yelling for the school advisors to allow him to pursue his dual major – mostly because they couldn’t understand him through his accent. Annoyed at the obstacle of his accent, once more - with so much spite that it would be consider inhumane – Alastiar turn to learning accents.
As years roll by, Alastair became a different man than he was younger. Brilliant in his own way, the Scot had established an own name for himself. After much of his hard work, years spent into researching and field work, the man is now a fully fledge Doctor in Linguistics with a major in Cognitive Science. His anger and spite towards his family and simmer down, occasionally phoning back home for holidays and what not. But what changed was when he was offered a job recommendation to Astrum Academia. At first, acceptance wasn’t in Alastair’s mind, for he was comfortable in Europe, travelling around and doing research. But once more all it took was a snide comment - the irony of it all – from a colleague of him commenting, how a temperamental Scot such as Alastair would be a horrible addition to a prestigious environment like Astrum. Just like the young man he was a few years ago, Alastair accepts the job recommendation, only to prove that he, would be the best god damn professor in the world. And Lord can do nothing to stop him now.
Sample RP Para (2 min); [waived]
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