#do his motivation/actions/reasoning make sense for his character? yeah!

[thousandyearphantombunker]

https://dailycollegian.com/2023/12/there-is-no-bad-person-disease/#:~:text=There's%20no%20health%20condition%20that,do%20with%20your%20overall%20morality (not sure the links I've given are functional but y'all can copy them into your search bar anyway)

People with NPD are capable of apologizing for past behavior, admitting to weakness, sacrificing themselves, showing others respect and decency, they can have morals and some of them (not all) are capable of empathy which btw is not required in order to do something heroic- also it's possible to act heroic for selfish reasons. they have fragile egos and often can have complexes (like ya know a guilt complex that makes them an overly self sacrificing martyrs) I'm sorry tony being a good person/attempting to be better doesn't negate him from having the 'evil' cluster B personality disorder. Tony's self importance doesn't manifest as being cruel or outwardly selfish it manifests in his guilt complex and playing hero. His belief that he is special fuels his guilt further. He's a perfectionist.

"I expect more of myself than everyone else. I have to be perfect or I'm useless." - a diagnosed narcissist

He is cold and dismissive and he can brag a lot. He's a functional narcissist so he's not gonna freak out when criticized. It's almost like narcissistic people are people and are complex and aren't so solely just a bunch of negative symptoms and traits of their disorder. He's also got several disorders that are comorbid with NPD such as substance abuse disorder and he has an avoidant attachment style- perhaps to protect his own ego and cope with childhood trauma. He used to exploit others heavily and is kind of a toxic boss. He was rejected, and neglected by his father and praised for intelligence so much as a child and had to deal with a lot trauma before getting kidnapped by terrorists. All of the traumas he faced are common in people with npd

tony displays: arrogance, haughty behaviors, and attitudes. a grandiose sense of self-importance. a lack of empathy or an unwillingness to identify with the needs of others and behavior that is exploitative and takes advantage of others to achieve their own ends. It doesn't manifest as outright cruelty like I said his grandiose sense of importance actually motivates him as a hero and makes his ego weaker though he's functioning so he can still take a blow

I am mainly going based off the comics and I'm aware that the MCU tones him down quite a bit but he still displays some of these traits.

I remember back then when autism was also just a lost of negative traits/symptoms a school counselor would point to 'an autistic person have no empathy and are completely rigid and black and white in their worldview, they will break down over dumb things are violent etc' being autistic when I was kid didn't mean you were a kid with a disability it meant you were a brat and a burnout. It meant you were unhygienic and aggressive and RIGID- which according to way too many people meant robot control freak rather than seeking comfort in things like routine and lacking the skills/intellectual capacity needed to function outside of them or they have panic attacks when taken out their routine and ya know aren't being manipulative and are having involuntary emotional responses- and I would hear autism parents complain about their kids and i would hear adults raised by autistic people talk about the scars they had been left with and they deserved to vent because yeah it can be traumatic and stressful and they are victims but it became something ugly toward me. People with cluster B personality disorders have it way worse than I ever did (dear god they get criminalized) but I relate for a reason. I like characters like Tony because they have traits associated with stigmatized disorders and shows those traits in action vs how we envision them when hear about the disorder- when you hear self important you automatically assume it means selfish and don't realize how complex and different that trait can look across the board and we get to see that they are complex and capable and even good people. I know not everyone has to agree with the headcanon and I understand why many of Tony's fans get mad at this headcanon but you don't have the best knowledge of NPD I'm guessing. People hear traits like entitled and interested in success and power and automatically think of the worst case scenario- megalomania and taking whatever they want no matter the cost and don't see how those traits can manifest in a variety of ways and not all them are destructive. Your statement apply to some not all narcissists. I don't know if you have trauma and if you do I'm sorry if this reads as cold or mean but I really hate when people talk about personality disorders like this. Npd can manifest in a variety of ways

"everyone is different" yeah including freaking narcissists that wasn't a gotcha. Your statement was legitimately ableist

everyone who says that tony is a narcissist has probably never met a narcissist but as someone who lived with one for Fifteen Fucking Years I can tell u that he isn't even close to one

[dungeons-and-dragon-age]

When June confronts Solas please imagine it like that one scene in KH1 where Riku does his little "im evil now" speech and Sora goes "youre stupid!" at him

[mekatrio]

hate these kind of posts sm

[mgwbanmott]

I've never understood the constant hate that Wilhelm receives. I don't know if it's a matter of people relating more to Simon or what but I feel like in terms of what they have done wrong, they're pretty on par, at least to me.

Take the part where Wilhelm denies it's him in the sex tape. Yeah, that was wrong of him. And we have to think about how specifically it was wrong of him in Simon's eyes. It was wrong of him because he left Simon all alone. But at the same time, Simon is leaving Wilhelm all alone by breaking up with him. And I understand that it's not the same, Wilhelms actions are worse. But I feel like people willingly forget that simon has a support system of people he can trust completely. He has a supportive family and supportive friends outside of Wilhelm. For Wilhelm, he only had felice, and even then they weren't so close when the breakup happened.

Additionally to this, we learn about how Wilhelm is very susceptible to pressure from his family in s3 e5 when he mentions how he wanted to remain silent in terms of the video, but he was pressured into making a statement. And I get that he made a promise and he did have a choice, but he is also 16 and WAS heavily pressured. Like, the camera crew was hired before Wilhelm even spoke to his mother about the situation.

The argument scene in s3 e5 in general was amazing and really told you about Wilhelms character motivations and helps you understand, but I feel like many people didn't take it as that. They took it in the sense that simon was afraid and that's why he broke it off with Wilhelm again. But I feel like that's fundamentally misunderstanding the point. I feel like the point is that simon is really understanding the position that Wilhelm is in and how he slots into it and how he is now in a similar spot because he's with Wilhelm. It's him defining the relationship, not him realizing that Wilhelm is bad for him. it's not Wilhelm who's bad for him, it's the position that's bad for him. In addition, Simon has probably gained many self esteem issues from the media.

But overall, W and S's problem isn't that they are bad for each other, their problem is that they have barriers in place which prevent them from talking about certain issues which need to be talked about.

This is not really me posting about how Wilhelm was in the right, because he's not always in the right. It's more of me saying that people need to realize that he has understandable reasons for most of his actions and it's not like simon is an angel. They BOTH constantly make bad decisions (as do all other characters in this series) which is why I think they're so interesting.

The point I'm trying to make is don't let your like/dislike of a character warp their actions. This is how we get statements like "Wilhelm and Simon aren't compatible" like, YES THEY ARE. you're just too busy demonizing Wilhelm to see it.

[animentality]

How do I write good morally grey characters? (Genuine question)

you give a character a morality that makes sense, and could be understood by most rational human beings on this earth, but then have it also be harmful to others, whether that's intensely or mildly.

most people in this world are morally gray, you know?

selfish and self centered, and likely to do bad things in their own self interest, if they think they won't get caught...but you know. most people are not raging psychopaths who will go out of their way to harm others....nor will they make much of an effort to help others who are not their friends or family.

gray morality is sort of hard to pin down, but it always comes back to...

black morality is This Bitch enjoys killing, and does it for funsies. they cause suffering to others just because they want to, and can, and this is morally wrong, because...uh, well. the basics of human interactions suggest hurting other people without any cause at all is the lowest of the low.

white morality is This Guy is a hero, who saves kittens and little old ladies and refuses to harm others (intentionally or unintentionally). most people can agree, someone who saves other people from death or injury is good.

gray morality, though, is that guy is a selfish piece of shit, but sometimes, occasionally, he does good things. only for his own self interests, of course, but it's a net positive for the world.

he threw a bunch of people down river, when it suited him, but was there when it counted, or maybe, accidentally does help the good guys with his selfish actions.

let me give you an example... Jack Sparrow.

Pirate. Thief. Murderer.

Not a hero. Will sell out other people to save his own skin. Kills wantonly, drinks too much, steals anything that isn't nailed down.

Doesn't really go out of his way to save people...except occasionally, he does.

Except in the end, he does save his friend, and he does save his fellow pirates...who are.

you know. pirates.

bad people.

he's an agent of chaos. he's whimsical, lawless, lives as he likes, and causes all kinds of trouble.

and that's a good morally gray character.

someone who both helps and harms.

and that's something to keep in mind, when you write your morally gray character, btw, whether you want them to be more helpful to your heroes, or more of a hindrance.

either one works for the morally gray.

and then we have a character like say, Dexter.

A serial killer who kills serial killers, right?

Yeah, killing is bad, especially serial killing, but if it's other serial killers...fun, right?

Weird.

Interesting to think of.

So.

To come back to it.

My advice for morally gray characters is to sit down and think of a character who has good traits and bad traits.

Mix them together, according to how you want this character to affect, say, our villains or our heroes.

Then decide, well, are they more inclined towards helping the evil side, the good side, or is it more pure chaos they exude?

I myself tend to write a lot of morally gray characters.

But that's only because I love writing murderous MCs, and most people do see murder as amoral, for some reason.

Anyway.

That's my advice on the morally gray.

Give them rules. Give them motives. Let them have good traits and bad traits.

Let them be rude to old women, but have a soft spot for kids...and also do awful things that affect both negatively.

the most important thing to avoid, as that post indicates, is just making a grumpy hero who just seems kinda mean sometimes.

that's not morally gray.

morally gray, to me at least, implies that that character does actual harm.

if they're only mean to bad people, only negatively affect the bad people, then newsflash, they're just heroes. they're white morality, just not disneyfied into sterility.

make sure your morally gray characters do harm!!!

[not-wholly-unheroic]

I remember seeing a bunch of these “what if Hook was the actual hero? The reason he hates Peter Pan? Here are theories that Hook was a Lost Boy?”, when I was younger and it didn’t really make sense.

Okay? Cool? I’m fine with villains having a sympathetic backstory, but not every villain is meant to be some sort of tragic hero.

I may not have read “Peter and Wendy”, but I’m very familiar with most Peter Pan media aside from the Disney originals and Hook doesn’t really need any special reason to hate Peter Pan other than the obvious “That scurvy brat cut off my hand!” I don’t know about everyone else, but I’d certainly hate someone enough to see them as a rival to kill on the spot for something like that.

But overall, Hook is a pirate. Have people conveniently forgotten that pirates would gore, maim, mutilate, and kill people for the fun of it during their whole pillage and ransacking of other ships? If it wasn’t Peter, then it totally would’ve been someone else.

Heck, Smee called Pan’s actions as a “childish prank” and Hook agreed “Aye, but throwing it to the crocodile! That wretched beast liked the taste of me so well, it’s been following me ever since, licking his chops for the rest of me!”

So, it’s not just the hand…although apparently Hook’s gotten used to it. Again, he’s a pirate captain, however and whenever the crew had gotten into Neverland, there’d bound to have been other pirates that they encountered before Peter Pan. It’s the fact that Tic Toc Croc never leaves Hook alone. Now Tic Toc clearly would eat anyone else, but Hook is the main snack of his attention.

It reminds me of that story about a tigress where she literally tracked and stalked a specific hunter.

So yeah, understandably, Hook has a right to be angry. He doesn’t really need any more motivation than that to hate Peter Pan.

I am curious in how and why, cuz I highly doubt Peter’s dagger would be able to chop off a hand in one blow. And I doubt Hook would’ve just been standing around to let someone, let alone a child, do that to him. “Peter Pan” (2003) does a good job in showing the mutilated stump of such an injury.

But I wonder what exactly led up to that point.

I agree with you on the “Hook was a Lost Boy and Peter is actually evil and Hook is trying to save them” trope. It’s been done so many times now and I’m just…very over it. Besides, while it is, I suppose, technically possible Hook could have been a Lost Boy AND an Etonian…it just…doesn’t seem likely to me that he would be both. And most of those retellings just end up leaving Eton out entirely…which…bothers me because it’s a big part of his character. Even if he wasn’t there for long, it clearly left its mark on him with his obsession with “good form.” Also…I like Hook in part BECAUSE he is a villain. I find him fascinating because he is a sympathetic villain with a great deal of potential for redemption. I don’t WANT him to be the hero from the get-go. That fundamentally changes his character and means we don’t get to see the complexities of his emotions and trauma play out as he struggles to BECOME a hero in his own right. Making him the hero from the start just skips over all that and totally ignores canon for both him and Peter. Peter may be a selfish, cocky kid who can be cruel at times…but he’s not some demon child and people need to stop pretending that he is. Like Hook, Peter is a fun character specifically because he is complicated. Don’t turn him into some straight-up villain who is flat and boring and totally unlikable. Barrie pretty clearly meant for us to like both Peter and Hook and have mixed feelings about them. It’s who they are and it’s why his story has stood the test of time—because well-written characters aren’t one-dimensional.

Also…making Hook the hero and Peter the villain completely misses the point… Frankly, the whole issue Peter and Hook have with each other is (ironically) that they BOTH need to do some growing up. In Peter’s case, it’s pretty obvious. He has physically and emotionally stopped aging. Hook may be a grown man, but (and I say this as someone who loves Hook) he is emotionally very immature. He loses his temper easily, holds a grudge against a kid rather than taking responsibility for his part in things as the adult, and generally just doesn’t behave the way a grown-up should. Peter is stunted in his growth, holding on too tightly to his childhood, and Hook grew up too quickly and never really matured as a result. Wendy sees this pretty clearly and finds the balance between maintaining childlike wonder and growing into a respectable, responsible adult. If you make Peter into an often literal inhuman monster and Hook into the perfect hero, then Peter becomes totally incapable of ever choosing to grow up (even just emotionally, if not physically) and Hook doesn’t need to grow anymore because he’s already reached the end goal.

As for how/why things started between them…personally, I think Hook started it. As you said, he IS a pirate, after all. My guess is that he wanted something from the Lost Boys and/or Tink…information about a treasure, perhaps, or even just information about how to get off the island, as in some versions it seems he is trapped there…and Peter saw Hook threatening them and wasn’t having it. The only way I can figure that Peter managed to actually cut the hand off entirely is if Hook had fallen flat on some hard surface (rock?) that had very little to no give and Peter just…dropped like a stone from a great height, letting gravity really do its work and putting all his weight into it. And the only situation where I can see this happening is if Hook had a weapon in his hand that perhaps Peter was trying to knock back. I honestly don’t think it was intentional to cut the hand off. I suspect, knowing Peter’s tendency to make up stories about himself to make him sound more courageous and tough than he actually is, taking the hand clean off was an accident and when he went to pick up the discarded weapon, it was really only then he realized the hand was still attached. He flung it away in disgust and the crocodile just happened to be nearby. When Peter tells the story, though, he changes things up a bit. And Hook is too out of it from the blood loss and pain to really remember all the details so he believes Peter’s version of events that it was an intentional “prank” to cut off the hand and throw it to the crocodile.

[musette22]

I wonder if Steve has a significant amount of imposter syndrome, especially when he came out of the ice. People had solidified this idea of him and expected him to excel and be that, hell even his teammates were just like oh I know all about you. (Expect maybe Thor, who I think was one of Steve’s closest friends in the beginning)

He can’t escape these expectations and if he goes against it, he’s berated for it. It’s made even worse with the serum, but at least with that he had the howling commandos to ground him and encouraged him. In the 21st Century there was no one to bounce of and the fact it would have been made worse by his survivors guilt.

Idk Steve is a character that has so many layers but gets over looked because he isnt allowed to fall into a vulnerable headspace. I kinda wished we saw more of that in his character, not in like a reflective sort of way but a kinda overwhelmed by everything portrayal. I’m sorry if this doesn’t make any sense.

Oh absolutely, yes! I think you're completely right. I also think Steve struggles hugely with the expectations people have of him, the dichotomy between the persona & legend of Cap versus the real Steve Rogers. He had to get used to a whole new body first, and then on top of that, he also had to learn to deal with all those expectations and the idea(l) people have of him which he doesn't even recognise himself in, half the time. He doesn't feel worthy of all the attention and hero worship, constantly thinking that if only people knew the real him, they'd be sorely disappointed. At the same time though, I think he feels like the whole celebrity aspect of being Cap is empty and meaningless anyway, most of the time (except for when he can use his fame to do something good, of course, which he tries to do as much as he can because otherwise, what's the point?), so in a way I think he doesn't even want to live up to people's expectations of him. He is also known for his stubbornness and righteousness, after all 😉

And yeah, in the 21st century, there isn't anyone left who knows the real him, who can grab his shoulders and shake them and tell him that it's the real Steve Rogers, that little guy from Brooklyn who was too dumb to run away from a fight, who makes Cap great, that he is worth knowing and loving. That his ideas may be reckless and harebrained more often than not, but that he does what he does for the right reasons, because he is a good man first and foremost, even if others can only see a perfect soldier. He must've felt so enormously alienated and lost, those first few years 😔

While I love the idea that (most of) the Avengers would've ultimately come to understand and appreciate Steve for Steve too, the way things stood at the beginning of TWS, they definitely weren't there yet (thank god for Sam, who at least tried). Which is why I adore the kind of fics in which Bucky, after he comes back, is not only cared for and helped to get back to himself by Steve, but in which he also gets to care for and help Steve to get back to himself in return ❤️ Mutual healing, that's my jam 💫

And yes, Steve Rogers is actually a huuuugely layered and complex and interesting and underrated character, and I will die on that hill!!! The MCU unfortunately did not explore any of this nearly enough (in fact, they cut some of the scenes that would've been the most telling when it came to the state of mind he was in) and they massively oversimplified his character development for the sake of action/tony/heteronormativity/etc. I'll always wish we'd have gotten to see more of Steve's motivations and character in the movies, but I'll also always be grateful that fanfiction has given us what the MCU didn't dare, and a thousand times over too! ❤️

[kyojurismo]

Can you do how the Hashira treat you as a younger sibling figure(if that makes sense) If so than tysm!!<3

characters : hashira

tags : gn!reader, fluff, funny, not proofread.

notes : k this has been sitting in my drafts for literally months and i’m deeply sorry. i found some motivation to finish it so here we are. i hope it is good enough. enjoy <3

GIYU TOMIOKA

ptsd ( even if he was the younger sibling )

protective as fuck

he’s like a shadow

don’t be too surprised if he asks you to eat together

asks you > sends you glances

giyu will ask the master to send you on missions together

asked you to leave the corps once

if you’re not on missions together he goes full panicking

he’s not one to send letters but he gladly exchange them with you ^_^

if someone mess with you, he would take care of it ( a deep stare is enough )

GYOMEI HIMEJIMA

gyomei would always recommend to be careful and mindful of your actions while on missions

he does his best to take care of you

has you training with him so he’s sure you’re in good shape and all

he too tried to ask you to leave the corps but hearing your reason behind joining in he gave up

has deep respect for you

enjoys sharing meals with you

KYOJURO RENGOKU

loves training with you

super supportive of whatever you do

& keeps his eyes on you ofc

eating meals together is a must

he often asks to be sent on missions together

praises your hard work all the time

a comfortable shoulder to cry on >_<

MITSURI KANROJI

the very protective older sister who’s all sweet and lovely but doesn’t let it slide if someone is treating you bad

always keeps her eyes on you

loves going on mission together !!

be ready to cook with her

she likes styling your hair

she sometimes jokes about you joining the corps to find a lover too, but deep down she would prefer you staying away from all that ):

when mitsuri has nothing to do she’s always by your side

MUICHIRO TOKITO

you’re the only one he remembers

always checking on you

invites you to cloudgazing together

always going on mission together

he has to make sure you are alright

you’re becoming the younger sibling who has to pack the lunch for everyone (;

OBANAI IGURO

man,

he’s your shadow from now on

always, ALWAYS, coming on missions with you

supervises your training and all

makes sure no one is disturbing you or bullying you or anything

he cares deeply about you and would do everything for you

tried to convince you to leave the corps multiple times

he lets kaburamaru spend time with you when he’s busy

SANEMI SHINAZUGAWA

okay, don’t judge on this…

he basically started threatening you to leave the corps

he’s hard at first, as a way to discourage you or sum

but in the end he accepted you weren’t leaving

so now he has to watch over you too

training together, going on the same missions, making sure the other members are respectful, etc

he might be harsh most of the time, but he truly cares about you

lets you hug him from time to time ( when no one is around ofc )

SHINOBU KOCHO

another younger person to look after to !!!!!

jokes aside, she’s very attentive when it comes to you

makes sure you’re healthy, sleeping enough, eating & training like you’re supposed to do

she offers to accompany you on missions

but respects your decision if you decline

she likes preparing you meals, as a way to show you how much she cares for you

of course she gifted you a butterfly pin

TENGEN UZUI

oh man, he would stand there showing you off

doesn’t care if he’s not your real brother

he treats you like family

basically spoils you

would let you stay at his estate 24/7 without you going out there fighting demons

he helps you with training and offers to go with you when the master assigns you to a mission

ruffles your hair

his wives decided to start cooking for you too so yeah

i believe he would ask you if you’re sure you want to continue be part of the corps and fight demons, like trying to convince you that you could leave and live a normal life

but he doesn’t do that because he thinks you’re weak, but because he’s scared of you dying

would take you to the hashira meetings if he could >_<

reblogs & comments are super appreciated! thank you for taking your time reading it, i hope you enjoyed it. have a good day / night <3

[hauntingofhouses]

BRB thinking thoughts about Taigen's character, the TaiMizu ship, and a big chunk of fandom's perceptions regarding both those things.

(Inspired by @farintonorth's post related to this topic that just got my brain going brrrrr)

OK so let me just... start off by saying that I think that reducing stories to their tropes is seriously detrimental to the way some people are interacting with fiction, and while that honestly warrants its own post about the subject, I wanna talk specifically about how this affects the way some people in the fandom talk about Taigen and TaiMizu.

Because yeah, tropes are useful shorthand to refer to certain dynamics or archetypes etc, and they are indeed the building blocks to any story. But in a well-written story, characters and their relationships, actions, and motivations, are much more complex than just tropes. Because in a story that has characters who are more than just cardboard cutouts, their behaviours, backgrounds, motivations and all of that, are inseparable from the context of the overall story they exist in.

So like, sure, you can say Mizu and Taigen have an enemies-to-lovers or rivals-to-lovers dynamic. I also use those terms because it's easier. But I also think this is where things start to get a bit twisted, especially from an intertextual sense. Because "enemies-to-lovers" is also commonly used to refer to other ships in other media, whereby it tends to be rooted in an imbalanced power dynamic, such as oppressor-oppressed and bully-victim.

And while that's a whole can of worms that I won't be getting into because it can quickly derail into a whole separate sort of fandom discourse, I'd just like to make it clear that Mizu and Taigen, in particular, do not have an imbalanced power dynamic. They are not bully-victim or oppressor-oppressed. The only understandable reason why someone might actually think their relationship is imbalanced is if

A) they only watched the first episode, or

B) they cannot grasp the slightest bit of nuance in a character, or

C) they're being obtuse on purpose simply because the Mizu/Taigen relationship, or Taigen's character in general, just doesn't suit their tastes.

While yes, Taigen, along with his whole gang, had bullied Mizu when they were children, that dynamic does not exist between them whatsoever in adulthood. Whatever imbalanced bully-victim power dynamic that had once existed between them was decisively ripped apart the moment Mizu beat him in that duel in the dojo, and then completely obliterated by the end of the season.

Mizu is not a defenseless victim at Taigen's mercy. Mizu can beat Taigen's ass any time she wants (and she DOES, repeatedly in fact), and could even kill him if she felt like it. She taunts him openly and without fear ("I like your hair"; "I can beat you with any weapon you choose") and all he does is bark back, because that's pretty much all Taigen ever does. Time and time again, he yaps about how much he wants to kill her, but time and time again, his actions prove that all of it is just an empty threat. Because though his words say "I hate you", his actions demonstrate the complete opposite. He's shown how protective he is of Mizu, how unhesitatingly he sacrifices himself up for her, how loyal he is in enduring days-long torture to not give up information about her, how even when near-death and in pain, he's still willing to keep standing back up so he can fight by her side and help her win against her enemies.

And Mizu is not an idiot! She sees that too. She does not see him as a threat, an enemy, or even a bully. Especially not by the end of Episode 3, and definitely not by the end of the season. When she finds him in the dungeon in Episode 6, she smiles from relief, and doesn't think twice to take him with her. Mizu finds him, at best, an annoyance, or at worst, an infuriating hindrance on her quest for vengeance. Which is why, when Taigen is about to say, "It's a shame our duel's set for tomorrow; I have to kill you before you get your revenge," Mizu whacks him on the head without a second thought before he can even finish his sentence, and leaves him lying unconscious, face-down, in the snow.

And this further emphasises how he does not hold any power over her. There is no abusive power dynamic between them. She is more powerful than him, he knows this, and all he's ever done after they've met up again in adulthood is get his ass whooped by her, get mad about it and pester her and follow her around, get his ass whooped by her some more, and put his life on the line to protect her.

"OOoooOOoooH b-but he called her a demon at the end of Episode 7 and threatened to kill her again!!!" Oh my god. He called her that because he's calling her out on her selfishness to stay silent about her knowledge of Fowler's plans to attack Edo. Because to him, loyalty and honour as a samurai is more important than anything. So in his own brash-and-immature Taigen way, he felt betrayed that Mizu did not hold the same principles. That's why he got angry. He wasn't even that mad about letting Akemi get dragged off by the Tokunobu guards. It was about saving the Shogun and the Shogunate as a whole. That's why the first thing he does in Edo is not find Akemi, but try to warn the Shogun about Fowler's attack.

Look, I'm not defending his stupid ass, of course. Because calling her a demon especially after their cute little wrestling time was obviously rude and inappropriate, especially since words like "demon", "monster" and "Onryo" have had such a deep effect on Mizu throughout her life, and continue to contribute to her self-hatred. But like? That's the fun of realistic and flawed characters, and realistic and flawed relationships. They're not perfect, and it's why we as an audience root for them, wanting to see them work through their shit and find a way to prevail despite it all.

Also, him saying that was in the heat of the moment. He was angry, he felt like his initial belief of who Mizu was—a strong and loyal samurai, just like him—was shattered, and so he lashed out. Was it rude? Definitely. Was it immature of him? Yes, incredibly. But it's also very much in line with his character, because even though he's grown a lot over the course of the season, the show isn't over yet, so obviously his character arc is just beginning, as that is also the case for the other three main characters: Mizu is beginning to accept herself, Akemi is beginning to grow into her position of power, Ringo beginning to train under Master Eiji, while Taigen is beginning to simply be a better person.

On that note, when speaking of Taigen's immaturity, I think that's also one of the main things that people tend to gloss over when it comes to his character. Because when you boil everything down to its bare essentials, Taigen is, essentially, a boy. I've talked about this before, but to reiterate, Taigen very much behaves like an unhealed child. Even as an adult, he is insecure, prone to throwing tantrums, and is desperate to latch onto some material goal in hopes that it will make him feel better—initially he was chasing status/glory/greatness, and then when Mizu tells him that "Nothing comes from being a samurai but death," he immediately decides he wants to run away with Akemi in hopes that he will be happy.

And it's a big step, acknowledging that he doesn't truly want greatness, but had always just assumed it was his only path to a good life. But it's clear he still hasn't really figured it out. Because if he did run off with Akemi to get married and live in the countryside, he still wouldn't be happy. Because he still doesn't know who he really is, or what it is he really wants. Marriage at this moment is the last thing he needs, and as he is now, he would be a pretty awful husband. A simple life would be good for him, but would he be good at a simple life, when he still has so much he needs to work through?

So anyway, what I'm getting at here, is that he's trying and he is learning and growing. So yeah, he is flawed, but honestly? So is Mizu. And the funny thing is that they're flawed in very similar ways.

Because Mizu is also an unhealed child. That's why she's so angry all the time. That's why she pushes people away. That's why she, just like Taigen, is so happy when given the chance to playfully wrestle in the forge, laughing and rolling around like children without shame or pretense.

Again, this shows there is no imbalance between them. They had grown up together as peers from the same town. And while Taigen had had the upper hand back then, because he'd had a gang of other kids with him, that is definitely not the case anymore. Today, they are equally flawed, equally strong, equally skilled swordsmen, and equally bull-headed.

However, yes, Mizu is definitely leagues more mature than Taigen. But she still holds a lot of childhood wounds that mirror Taigen's own. And we see this especially in relation to her mother. Similar to Taigen who had an abusive and alcoholic father, Mizu's Mama was an opium addict and had hit her, berated her, had shaved her head without her consent as a child, and as an adult, had constantly emotionally manipulated and guilt-tripped her. Mizu's love for her Mama was what had driven her to a path of vengeance in the very beginning. And when she'd found out Mama was still alive, she had wanted nothing more than her Mama's love, and it was this alone that pushed her to agree to the marriage with Mikio in the first place. And now, knowing from Fowler that her birth mother is someone else entirely, is what makes her agree to keep him alive and haul his ass to London to seek answers.

Thus, integral to Mizu's self-hatred is also Mizu's intense longing for love and family. Just like Taigen, whose pompousness comes from his insecurity about being the son of a poor fisherman, Mizu's goals are also shaped by who her parents are. Remember, her vengeance is not against just anyone who's corrupt or evil, but specifically against the men who she believes had assaulted her mother, the men she believes had made her a monster, the men she believes had abandoned her to die and continue to try to kill her. Her vengeance is against a father, on behalf of a mother. In The Tale of the Ronin and the Bride, Mizu is not merely the Ronin, the Bride, or the Onryo, but also the Child.

This is also why Ringo is so good, not only for Mizu, but for Taigen as well. Ringo is wise and caring and considerate, but above all, he is in tune with his inner child in ways that Mizu and Taigen are not. He is always earnest and positive, he sees the world with childlike wonder, but is not naive or blind to its ugliness. His whole life has been a battle. Ringo brings out the best in Mizu, consistently acting as her moral compass and conscience, and Mizu's choice to save Akemi in the final episode is only because she promised Ringo that she would. Because it's the right thing to do. Ringo inspires her to be a better person, and to think outside of her narrow-minded goal of revenge. At the same time, Ringo also brings out the best in Taigen. While at first Taigen had looked down on both Mizu and Ringo ("Half-limb to a half-wit"), by the end of the season, he's proud to have Ringo as a friend and ally, he listens to Ringo's advice ("What would Master do?"), and asserts to the fucking Shogun that Ringo is a worthy warrior to have by his side.

Okay, I've gone on a bit of a tangent here, but my main point is that Mizu and Taigen are incredibly similar. They are equals. They are both flawed, unhealed children who are chasing some impossible outlandish goal in hopes that it will fill the void in their hearts. They also both have a long way to go in terms of character development if they were to ever build a healthy romantic relationship (either with each other, or even with anyone else). So while I believe things will be rocky (because duh, it's a story, we all live for the drama, etc), I think with Ringo's help, they'll get there eventually.

[linkspooky]

Hi there, I was rereading your Maki Zenin fanfic (Tyler Durden and the Culling Game piece). I must say when I read it the first time reading it, the way you depict her mentality, emotion, and actions. It was so emotionally draining and at the same time cathartic as it reminded me of myself back then and now still (well minus mass murdering all lotta people). But also surprised me, cause I have never this depiction of her after Shibuya Incident. But over time as I look at your analysis on various characters and paid attention to her upbringing by rereading the manga chapters focused on her, I realized the way she behaves in the Culling Games after what happen to her throughout her life. She is kind of stable??? Regardless, even though she is already my all-time favorite character. Your depictions of her makes me love her character even more as I actually relate to her more and felt those similar feelings. But I'm glad she is alive and is doing ok near the end of the manga, so I wanna ask. What do you think about her character now since JJK is VERY close to its end? And how do you feel about where she is right now as of Chapter 269. Sorry for the long ramble, I might ask more lol.

Thank you so much for your ask! That reminds me I need to start updating my culling games fic again sometime soon. For anyone curious the ask is about THIS YUTAMAKI FIC HERE.

Maki's kind of a hard character to talk about because even though Maki is clearly one of my favorite characters to explore in fic, and I love to dive deep into her motivations and inner struggles in the fanfics I write every time I criticize her writing in canon a little bit her fans jump me.

So instead I'm going to share one recent Maki scene I really liked, and one little tweak I think would have made both Yuta and Maki's character endings perfect.

You're right, for a lifelong abuse victim who just murdered her family Maki seems oddly stable all throughout the culling games. I no longer think this is a Maki specific problem, but rather a Jujutsu Kaisen problem. Basically, post Shibuya most of the character conflicts in between characters are dropped so everyone can work seamlessly together as a part of one big team.

This is a storytelling choice on Gege's so he could eventually set up for the Shinjuku Showdown fight, it'd be impossible for everyone to keep jumping in and out of the fight if people kept stopping to argue and have interpersonal conflicts in the middle of it.

If your name wasn't Megumi or Yuji, then basically all your personal hangups, your self-reflection, all got dropped. Which now it kind of makes sense why the audience was yelling at Megumi for not being able to immediately get over his sister's death, like in comparison none of the other characters spend any time at all dwelling on personal issues because Gege needs them to move to the next fight.

I'm not complaining, I'm just saying this is how Gege chose to write his characters post Shibuya, most personal conflicts got dropped for story reasons.

However, there was one moment that made me really get on board with Maki's writing again, and it was a... you guessed it moment of personal conflict.

This moment where Yuta is bringing up the idea of body swapping with Gojo before the group, and Maki despite being firmly against it is unable to do or say anything substantive to stop Yuta.

It's the first time I've seen that yeah, Maki is still in fact reeling from the loss of Mai. It doesn't really show most of the time on the surface, but Maki's always been like that - like an island able to stand strong without the support of anyone else. It is her strength, and also her greatest weakness.

Remember, the last time someone she loved walked away from her and decided to sacrifice their body and autonomy so they could become a weapon for the greater good Maki wasn't able to say or do anything to convince Mai to stay with her and stay by her side too.

There's the parallel with Maki and Sukuna, that Sukuna chose to devour his own twin in the womb in order to survive and therefore gained a body perfect for sorcerery. When Mai died, Maki gained a body just like Toji's.

Maki carved everything away in order to become a true void, but unlike Sukuna she didn't do it by choice.

We know she wouldn't willingly sacrifice Mai. She begged Mai to stay. Yet, she kind of did choose to sacrifice Mai with every choice she made before that. Maki chose being a Jujutsu Sorcerer over Mai every single time, to the point where when it counted she couldn't do anything to convince Mai to stay.

Maki consumed her twin and became a monster like Sukuna, a true void. She didn't choose to do it per se, but every choice she made leading up to that point indicated to Mai that Maki would rather be strong on her own then weak together with Mai. That Maki is someone like Gojo, and like Sukuna meant to stand strong all alone. Maki is an island and that is her greatest strength and her greatest flaw.

As when it happens again and someone she loves is about to become a monster, she can't find the words to convince Yuta to stay with her on the beach instead of walking into the ocean the same way she couldn't find the words to stop Mai. After all, Maki is someone who chose to become a monster like Toji after losing everything else, what right does she have to stop Yuta from becoming a monster too?

How could she possibly stop him from walking the path she walked? I think it's telling to thde depths of her love that Maki who values being a sorcerer above everything else, would have rather had both Mai and Yuta stay human and stay with her, but also telling of her complete inability to express that love.

It's "You're too important to us" because the words "You're too important to me," doesn't occur to Maki in both cases with Yuta and Mai, because Maki is an island. She can keep going on even after Mai and Yuta are gone even if she doesn't want to.

So here is the one change I would make the Maki's endgame to make her and Yuta's character arcs perfect. I would just have Yuta not be able to come back from Gojo's body. Otherwise, Yuta being magically fixed after the fact makes that whole plot twist kind of inconsequential and as much as I love Yuta in Gojo's body it kind of just seems to exist for shock-value now considering how easily it was resolved.

Yuta not coming back would provide a consequence for Yuta defiling Gojo's body, and also in general give the perfect bittersweet ending to both him and Maki's arcs. They both chose to become monsters in the end to defeat Sukuna, and as a result Maki is standing alone at the strongest. It would also provide the perfect parallel to this scene with Geto and Gojo. You could even have Maki musing on how she was left behind again. There's a pretty big parallel to Maki and Gojo both being people who seemingly don't need anyone because they're so strong and self-sufficient and yet they crumble at the idea of the one person they've always been relying on walking away from them.

It would also parallel Megumi and Itadori as well, because the reason that itadori is eventually able to reach Megumi is specifically because unlike everyone else he refused to give up his humanity to defeat Sukuna.

You could have a really heartbreaking parallel of three generations of friendships broken apart by the Jujutsu World. Satosugu, and YutaMaki aren't able to reach each other and stay together, but finally by never giving up on reaching out towards one another Megumi and Itadori are both able to find each other again after the world and Sukuna pulled them apart.

I do enjoy this scene a lot - especially the parts where Maki seems borderline arrogant by insisting she could have done things all on her own and if they went with her plan instead of Yuta's then they would have suffered far less losses. Especially since Maki's not genuinely trying to chew Yuta out here, she just knows no other way to express her worry over him besides being hyper aggressive and confrontational.

It still shows that Maki's personality problems are all still there, she loves people a lot but she loves people from afar and can't admit to needing them but like I'm just saying we could have had THE UTLIMATE DOOMED LOVERS ending for YutaMaki.

[shydroid3000]

OOO for the death note ask game, turning this back on you. 4, 7, and 23, again though you can pick a current favorite moment (lolol. indecision makers 😔😔) or just gimme some general misa thoughts if you’ve got em 👀

4. who’s your favorite underrated or obscure character? Okay, I'm gonna do my best to pick one that isn't too obvious, so: Sidoh! Haha. He's a weird little loser guy of a Shinigami and I love that. When he takes the notebook and touches it to the head of the one mafia guy while saying, "tag, you're it!"... or when he gets freaked out by Mello even though he himself is a literal god of death... I just find it very delightful. He's silly and pathetic in a way that really tickles my fancy lol. (The anime is much fresher in my mind so most of what I refer to will be anime-focussed; can't remember how manga version compares to anime with him). 7. was misa just as guilty as light? Ooh, guilt in relation to Misa and Light is interesting to think about. On the one hand, I do think that they're both culpable for their actions at the end of the day. I have maybe some more grace to extend Misa in terms of her having an understandable reason to go down that path, what with her parents being murdered (and almost being murdered herself). Like, that's a level of trauma that makes you go, 'yeah, I can understand why she was all-in on killing criminals with the death note, even if I don't agree.' Light, on the other hand, had this good, stable, pretty privileged home life, in addition to him being a top student, talented, handsome, etc. He's got less of an excuse, you know? The fact that Misa's drawn to Kira's ideals out of lived trauma, whereas Light is drawn to those ideals largely out of ego is sort of a meaningful distinction. (By ego I don't just mean the belief that he's exceptional, but I mean -- the way he is so desperately driven to protect his conception of himself as a Good Person. That's a tragic and heart-rending manifestation of ego, but it's still about protecting his ego). But I also think there's 'guilt' on the level of the actions and choices you make regardless of motivations, and I'd see them as more equal on that front. Misa was an enthusiastic DN user and participant in Kira's plans/ideology. She's motivated by different things than he is, but she makes her choices knowingly. I think it would be diminishing of her agency and complexity to say that she's less responsible for her actions than Light is, if that makes sense. (Also, there are things Misa is guilty of that Light isn't, and vice versa. E.g., Misa pushes Light's boundaries in a way that can be very uncomfortable; Light uses Misa/others without real regard for them).

Now, beyond all that... the question is obviously about their culpability for their use of the DN. But it also makes me think about each of their *experiences* of guilt internally, and that might be even more interesting to me. I think that their relationship to guilt is one of the things that makes them so divergent from one another. Because... running away from guilt is such a huge part of what propels Light to go all out with the Kira thing. So much of his psyche is shaped around that black pit of guilt where whispers of "I did a bad thing. If I did a bad thing I'm not a good person" come from. He diligently tries to cover over that and barricade it off. He crafts an ideology that makes his murders righteous, and commits to making a New World(tm) where the meaning of 'good/right' is reshaped around that. He makes himself a God so that his actions are beyond judgment, or at least he is, because his murders are divine - they're acts of creation, even of love and self-sacrifice. And then Misa... well, guilt doesn't seem to be as obvious a factor for her, whether as motivation or reaction. I mean, I could imagine a reading where there's some well of underlying guilt about the death of her parents and her survival -- I think that would make sense given the circumstances. But... we never actually see that kind of Bruce Wayne -esque psychology peeking through, so that feels more like headcanon territory than direct analysis. Obviously she has deep feelings about the murder of her parents, but she has a very different relationship to guilt than Light. She usually comes across as very free from guilt. She knows what she wants and what her priorities are, and she pursues those without shame. She's impressed by Kira so she becomes the second Kira; she decides she loves Light and wants to be with him regardless of whether he even likes her, so she pursues that undeterred by his response to her. It feels like Misa is always calmly pushing forward toward what she wants, whereas Light's sprint forward towards his New World is really a running-away-from. But at the same time... what kind of underlying emptiness would make someone so completely devotional in the way Misa is, wanting to devote themselves to someone who mostly loathes them, to the point of not even seeming to be hurt by that person's disdain for them as long as they can still have that person in their life? I think there's definitely beneath-the-surface stuff with Misa, but it comes across like guilt is a colour that just doesn't exist in her world. Whereas with Light, every shadow in his world is the colour of guilt. If goodness or righteousness are the rays of the sun, Light Yagami is the moon that reflects the sunlight while trying to create a reality in which those rays are his -- are him -- a reality in which he becomes the sun. And yet he's a moon, and the dark side of it that he disavows is guilt, is 'I did a bad thing', is 'what if I'm not a good boy?' (Wow, went overboard with the metaphors there but too lazy to edit lol). 23. what was your favorite moment and why? Ah, this is hard (guess it's my fault for asking you this one first haha). I'll try to pick 1 or 2 more serious moments and 1 or 2 silly ones lol. So, serious ones:

The warehouse/Light's downfall. Specifically the laughter, if I had to pick a moment. Excellent scene in both the manga and anime, but MY GOD I will never get over the sound of his laugh in the anime. I think about it every day. (Also looove the lip-twitching as he barely contains his deranged glee leading up to his "I win"). I also really like his death in both; his fear, being reduced back down to his humanity, in the most pathetic way. But the laugh moment wins out for me; the way everything that has been pent up, repressed, held back, filtered, pruned is just... unleashed. He's finally showing his real human emotion to other people in this unrestrained way, but it's so twisted as to be monstrous.

Also, the moment when L says Light is his first real friend. I know that Ohba said L is lying in that moment, but my own analytical framework doesn't prioritize authorial intention above all else. And I think there is so much complexity and richness in that moment. I don't think L is lying, but he is manipulating. And obviously even the truth within the statement is a complicated one. But I can't help but see a genuine sort of sweetness in there in that moment, amidst the mind games and adversarial context. Light and Ryuk's reactions in that moment are so excellent too. It feels like a moment where the world stops spinning, just for a microsecond. A moment where some alternate reality almost touches this one.

Silly ones (time for my sweet Matsuda to shine lol):

When L and Light are fighting during the 'date' with Misa and Matsuda calls the room to break it up, telling L some news about Misa's popularity. Then after L hangs up he's like, "Matsuda's acting stupid again." And Light is like, "well, that is his speciality." (The fact that belittling Matsuda actually does diffuse their fight LOL). And Matsuda is on the other end, his face dropping, like, "do they know we can hear them..?" haha. Just a perfect Matsuda/Light/L moment.

OBVIOUSLY the whole mattress gambit too lol

In the anime, when L reveals to the task force that he's actually all three of the world's top detectives, he says something like, "here, I'll give you this strawberry for keeping my secret." And then he holds out the strawberry he plucked from his cake and Mogi kind of vacantly takes it and puts it in his pocket LOL

Thank you for the ask!!! Sorry it took me ages to respond. It was half-done for a while but I wanted to add more thoughts to the second section and just got around to that lol.

ask game

[scoobydoodean]

I think people tend to view Dean as more unhinged about Sam because Sam seems to be the one shown consistently "fine" living without Dean. Like S8 Sam and series finale Sam. Like not trying to get Dean back. Whereas in S6 Dean said he tried to get Sam out of the Cage but kept hitting dead ends. But he didn't just let Sam go like he said he would. Sam seems to be less hesitant to just let Sam go and more able to live on without Dean. Idk what are your thoughts on this?

Context

The thing is is that I don't feel the need to respond to the notion that being willing to sacrifice yourself for your brother is more unhinged than killing people to keep him alive or get him back or get revenge on his behalf. Because I don't think that's true at all. All that difference reflects is Sam's willingness to go to morally questionable lengths beyond where Dean will go. Dean's moral compass will cause him to hit a point where his only option is self-sacrifice long before Sam ever hits that wall.

That said... some of what you've said is extremely misleading.

Between season 3 and 4, Sam ignored Bobby's calls and spent months in a bottle stumbling drunk, drinking hard liquor straight from a bottle. He captured a crossroad's demon and tried to trade his life for Dean's (Gifset), and tried to open The Devil's gate (Gifset). He at one point planned to charge into battle against Lilith knowing he would lose and die—it's an intentional suicide mission (4.09). He also readily rejects Dean's dying wishes by working with Ruby for revenge against Lilith (Gifset).

Contrast this with season 6: Dean researched how to get Sam out of The Cage—in books--on the side while living with Lisa and Ben, without risking his own life or anyone else's, and without trying to make any demon deals or do anything else reckless, and while managing PTSD.

Which of these people actually sounds more "fine"? Because there's an objectively correct answer here and it's not Sam.

Season 8 Sam is an exception—not the rule. What we're looking at is not character growth (we need no more proof of that than season 10 and The Book of the Damned). The Reason Sam Is Like That™️ is because he's experiencing a break from reality.

As for 15.20 Sam, we have no idea if Sam tried to find a way to bring Dean back. SPNWin might actually suggest Sam has been trying to get Dean back the entire time Dean's been dead (depending on whether you think "Clarence" is an obvious Cas reference, whether the brother relationship makes it clear he's Sam, or whether he's both). Regardless, at that point we are dealing with a Sam who has maxxed out his knowledge about the pitfalls encountered when you try to bring back your family (this includes Jack). This makes him generally less reckless because he vividly understands the consequences. We see the same thing with Dean as early as season 6, and again in 13.21, when he thinks Sam has been torn apart and is convinced to leave Sam behind and prioritize the safety of the people around him instead.

Additionally, a lot of the less versus more reckless plays the brothers make with their own lives have to do with how badly they might be struggling with suicidal ideation at one point or another. This is a massive motivator for Dean's deal in 2.22 for example. His actions aren't just about Sam—they're also about his belief that he "came back wrong" and shouldn't be alive, and that dying will set the universe right. Literally the entire season he is struggling with the intense guilt and a sense of wrongness over being alive.

So yeah. One time, Sam abandoned Dean to die. At other times, he came up with plans that involved sacrificing himself, or other people, or dedicated himself to revenge to the exclusion of all else.

[finchxs-revenge]

I've been having some Oh No Will Izzy Actually Die thoughts that I'd like to stab on the right side so let's get into it.

I don't think Izzy will actually die. He might seem to be dead for a minute for some other plot point to work, or do the whole die then come back to life thing, ala indestructible little fucker. (Though, considering both of these have already been done in the plot, I find it unlikely, unless it comes about as a meaningful parallel, but I won't speculate much on that.) However, permanent, canon character death doesn't seem plausible from the vibe I get off the writing so far in S2 (For context, this post is being made before episodes 6 & 7 have aired). Hopefully not being tainted by the fact Izzy is my favorite character, here is my reasoning.

Of course the writers want us to feel something, so stakes are going to be high and the waves are going to be big. But the writing so far has delivered the emotional impact by catching the audience after the big waves. Stuff this season just lands, and it is sooo good. It wouldn't make any sense to swell up Izzy's plot line/character in so many different ways only to dash him against the rocks at the end. To have him die, even in a way that is symbolically important or for a reason that lines up with his character motivations would just be garish compared to how every single other conflict or plot point has been handled this season. 

Yes, some stories do just use the emotional impact of destruction instead of a proper landing. The writer can't or won't do the heavy lifting of actually showing a character work through their shit, opting instead to kill the character with some symbolically emotional fireworks thrown in. It leaves the audience with this ache like, oh, ahh, they were so close to being able to fix their problem or get out of the situation, but at least we get some action and another character will stare whimsically into the flames so their death wasn't in vain.

Yeah, that's not this show. 

If Izzy were still yelling at his reflection about "Who are you even" we would at least have a set up for the answer being, "No one" and the only way for him to get out of that situation is to die. It's been done in other stories and it's honestly boring and not what OFMD is even about. 

OFMD is about change and being brave enough to confront our own broken and scary parts, and to carve out safe space ships regardless of what society expects of us or even what we expect of ourselves. It's about showing that this work is worth it and life is better on the other side of it.

I don't think this show would have a character begin to find who he is, become a part of the ship (literally), and start mending relationships with all the characters only to choose the destructive-symbolic-fireworks-death ending for that character.

Regardless of Jenkins comments about how the opening scene will be "satisfying" after we have seen the finale, the fact that everything about that scene is the opposite of what actually happens is, I think, a gesture the writers have put in so we might trust them when the wave gets big. We're going to get in over our heads, crew, but at least we know, even subconsciously, that Stede doesn't have a beard and Izzy doesn't die.

Now, regarding the comment Jenkins made about Ed, Izzy, and Stede's fates being intertwined, I think it would be completely unsatisfying, as well as just bad writing, to throw all three of them up in the air only to catch two. Honestly, we've already gotten some solid emotional landings from Izzy's plot (when he shoots the torch out of Ed's hand and when he reads the unicorn note the second time at the front of the ship to name only two), so I feel inclined to believe the emotional landing around whatever happens to Izzy will indeed fall on Ed or Stede. But I have enough faith in the writers and the story that it will not entail dealing with Izzy's death. That he doesn't have to die in order to contribute to their growth and understanding of themselves and the relationships they are in, with each other and with the crew. It's going to be something big, but not death.

I have absolutely no fucking idea what that something big might be, but honestly that just makes me trust the show and writers even more. 

At least. That's what I'm telling myself to survive these next two weeks 🦄🦄🦄

[zvezdacito]

Me and my friends were talking about some Glorious Masquerade Plot + Rollo character writing tweaks the other day and I decided to share what we came up with her 💃 So yeah💥

• Instead of wanting to exterminate all magic, Rollo instead wants to control what types of magic exists and that only who he perceives worthy to have it. This is because he sees himself as the only one righteous enough to deem what and how magic should be.

• He targets the NRC students, seeing them as wicked and unfit to wield magic because of all the times they've overblotted, and thinks Malleus especially should be stripped of his magic before he inevitably goes next to OB due to the pattern of events or does something like Halloween 2 again (Masquerade has no reason to be set on Halloween tbh it could be like summer in the timeline and virutally nothing would change. So Halloween 1 and 2 still happens here because it doesn't happen in Halloween anymore.)

Maybe just NRC specifically is who he targets to depower in this rewrite, but the other invited schools got dragged into it by being there when the flowers sprung, like how Frollo was only after esmeralda and the romani at first but his obsessive wrath ended up dragging all of Paris into it

• This is because he harbors an anger that he was the only one trying to warn his brother to not misuse his magic, and how he was inspired by the misuse of magic by other mages to die in his Overblot accident.

• He partially realizes this was his fault as his controlling 'holier-than-thou' behavior and manipulation (motivated by wanting to make him "see" the right way like Frollo to Jehan in the musical) is what fueled the negative overblot feelings of his brother, but he can't deal with the guilt and the fact that he might've been wrong, so he remains in denial.

• His controlling and manipulative behavior motivated by the belief his way is superior to others continues in the current time, as here he also manipulates Yuu to make them believe what he believes.

• He appeals to them by pointing out how the NRC students have done nothing but endanger them with reckless magic so far, and how they're all too selfish and probably aren't even using it to find them a way home. (More things to fuck up Malle+Yuu and challenge their friendship as well as make them both more paranoid and desperate in time for their drama in Book 7)

Yuu either purposefully helps him betray the others because of this or they were simply tricked into leading them to a trap. Either way it really looks like to the others that Yuu has turned on them because they lacked faith in them, which would sting more because of how excited they were to have Yuu being on this trip with them at the start of the event.

• This would also make Idia's confrontation and parallels with him make more sense, because like Idia he in a way was indirectly responsible for the death of his younger brother, instead of Rollo's brother just happening to perish in front of him.

• Maybe instead of letting him go completely scot free (they said the real punishment was having to live with his guilt but let's be real he felt no remorse by the end of it, he even said he'd try again☠️) Rollo's punishment when he reveals himself is like some kind of house arrest, confining him to not be able to move around without supervision or leave the grounds of NBC to do sneaky stuff again. Kinda ironic, since supervising and policing actions is literally what we wanted to do to the NRC mages and the entire world, but all it resulted in was it being enforced on him.

This penalty could be like a parallel to Esmeralda being confined to sanctuary in Notre Dame and Quasimodo also not being allowed to leave because he is a "monster" (in this case Rollo is a moral monster)

• Also, I think this would really kind of done a better job being a prelude arc taunting the audience and the characters for what's gonna happen to them in Book 7, and challenging how strong their newly formed bonds really are, as well as their resolve to not make these foreshadowed mistakes are. (We know they WILL make these mistakes, so oof lmao. It will make us and them confront whether Rollo was right or not that everything eould be better off if they had been defeated there and then)

Overall, I think this would make Rollo's whole character feel more connected and not just different random aspects the writer thought of at the last minute. His canon plan and reasoning is, for a lack of a better term, so corny and over the top, not in a "this character is meant to be crazy" kind of way but in a "the authors thought this would be more epic than it actually was" kind of way.

-> What was Rollo going to do if he was the only mage left, how was the City fo Flowers meant to deal with the diplomatic implications of harm befalling Malleus, how are in-universe essentials that run on magic supposed to go on if there is no more magic left.

-> The story never tried to point out the practical disastrous consequences of Rollo's plan on the structure of the world if it succeeded, so now it looks like it wasn't meant to be dumb on purpose and the writers themselves just never thought of it.

From what I remember the most they do is give Malleus a line worrying about what would happen to the Briar Valley if this comes to pass, and how Rollo is a misguided hypocrite for his plan. But that's kinda it😭

-> And why did him seeing his brother die from OB lead him to dislike magic in general and give him a superiority complex that he's the only one deserving of it? The reason they give in canon is because he feels weak for failing to save his brother. And through becoming the only mage ever, he will feel powerful enough to compensate for his failure I guess😭

This motive of wanting to be better than everyone can still co-exist with the rewrite motive but it's kind of weak and lame on its own, especially for a character who's meant to be based off one of the greatest Disney villains of all time😭

Plus no matter what the narrative tries to frame it with I feel like getting "I need to become better than everyone" from the experience of your brother dying kinda came out of nowhere, and isn't as connected to each other as it could be😭

So that's why I think giving him:

a) an issue of being manipulative in forcing rigid standards he believes to be "superior" on the people he wanted to "save"

b) wanting to blame the use of magic that these standards of his did not approve of for his brother's death, because he couldn't stomach the fact that the way he enforced these standards was also to blame

c) and his motive being more specific than eradication all magic

makes what they were trying to do more fleshed out and connect to each other better, as well as making more out of having Claude Frollo as his character's inspiration.

I get he's an event-only character so they probably didn't think too hard about it, but if you're gonna go out of your way to include a character based off Claude Frollo in the story at least go crazy and make the most out of it💃

Other than tweaks to Rollo's motivations and the scope of his plans, if I could edit something else about the event it would be the worldbuilding😭 I just put a screenshot from my Instagram story back when the event was ongoing because it pretty much sums up everything I would like to change about it

I still liked the event overall. I was so happy that Malleus finally got an event ssr and more story spotlight, but yeah I think they could've done more with the ideas it proposes

Maybe this post would be more relevant if I made it right after the event ended and not many months later when there's already a new event grabbing everyone's attention, but I'm cursed to never be on time to trends and etc so everyone is only getting this now💔

Ty for reading🫡

[dinums]

Secrets and Broken Hearts

-----------------------------

Chapter 4

Thomas Shelby x (Writer) Reader

"I am a woman in love, I wear my heart on my sleeve and smile with not a single thought. I am a woman in love, happily content to where I shall be and where I shall go, as long as I am with him."

Authors Note: I made this story with not much thought, but I wanted to portray the reader and Tommy living their separate lives to have you, readers, have a gist on what its like, to make the character, Ms. Bennett feels real. I don't really know if that makes sense or if I'm doing it correctly, but please enjoy :)))

Two days and six hours, it's been exactly two days and six hours since I've started this investigation that I burdened myself with. All I've been getting are bits of information from the men and women. Women loved to gossip, so much so that they became one of the sources of said information. These missing wives, they had nothing in common with one another. They were just normal working women before they got married and settled down. What would society even do with them? I feel like a jester, juggling my social life together with this secret double life. I never really got used to such taxing activities mentally. This whole investigation, could it be some murderer? Human Traffickers? Surely, this culprit had a motive, a reason, something these women had that they wanted, something these women can give, choice or not.

"Why does everyone call you by your last name?" Andrew suddenly asked, which made me look over at the small child playing by the racks of clothes in William's shop.

Tilting my head, I seem to not know the reason behind it either. Andrew is the son of the man I visited to get close to have more information about the missing wives rather than relying on gossip alone. The child himself was quite entertaining to be around. He spoke so freely about his mother, telling stories of how loving the woman can be.

"Well, if you want, you can call me by my first name," I said with a smile. Walking over to crouch down to his eye level, I gave him a pat on the head, which earned me a smile in return

"Isn't this a sight, hm?" I heard the familiar voice of William from behind. He was at the back with Catherine earlier, presumably sorting out fabrics and dresses.

"C'mon, I've only offered to let this little guy stay here while his father worked, for the assurance that nothing will happen," I said softly though assuming from their reactions, it wasnt taken quite kindly. The statement itself was considered a lie. I lied. Lying straight to the face of the man I love, like how I would every day to everyone, including this child.

"So you don't want me here... Ms. (Y/N)?" Andrew asked me, his face looked sad, eyes like melting glaciers about to fall.

"Of course not, I just meant that I couldn't risk you being alone without your father, even though -"

"So you care for me.. right?" The little child said, hopeful, which made me think, how can he care about my feelings towards him in such a small amount of time we've been together? Children truly are innocent, things to be kept safe from the world we live in. Furthermore, care. To care is to help, a genuine action done out of the kindness of one's own heart. I do that, correct? I think for a moment, my actions, words, and emotions all contradict one another. Both men in the room seemed to take notice of my silence, which in turn made me aware. Aware that they can never know these thoughts, to Bury it, to hide. Breaking from my thoughts, I smiled at the child.

"Of course I do, but later your father will pick you up, I'll have William stay with you since I need to go for a bit, yeah?" Standing back up, I walked over to William. He then wrapped his arms around my waist, leaning against him while I looked back at Andrew. Understandingly, the child nodded, which made me smile.

"Eh? Where will my heart go? Guess she'll leave me alone once again..." William joked, kissing me on the cheek, which made me chuckle.

Seeing the display of affection, the child grimaced and then ran off to play somewhere else, which made me and William laugh.

"I promised you a date. Therefore, you must let me go for a while to prepare," I giggled. Going to dates on Friday was kind of like our tradition, a simple act to show love and to feel it radiate from each other. Feeling his lips on mine for a brief moment, I smiled.

"Alright, I'll pick you up at our place," William smiled. He's always such a loving man, doing more than beyond.

"See you later, love," I said, parting with a kiss before I headed out. Love was something I wasn't familiar with, which sometimes led me to be confused on how to act around William, though lucky enough that he guided me through it.

Walking down the street, I'm greeted with familiar faces. Some I can't remember the names. The smoke filled air, and the mud on my shoes did little to dampen my mood. Suddenly, people started to run about, screaming and shouting.

Confused, I slowed my footsteps. There, on a shop, a lifeless man was dead with Danny holding a bloody knife. My eyes widened, I tried to move, but nothing came out, I held my breath, and though I investigated crimes like this, I never saw a man dead right in front of me. From this day, I'm sure I'll never get used to this.

Someone passes by me, but it can be considered more like shoved. It was Thomas Shelby. He went over, took the knife from the man's hand, and calmed him down. The scene deescalated just as quickly as it happened. Once Thomas got Danny to go away, coming with some surge of confidence, I began to walk towards him with his hack turned to me.

"Mr. Shelby..?" I said softly as to not startle the man, whipping his head back, he looked at me without uttering a word, he simply raised a brow which I took as a cue to keep going.

"What will happen to Danny now..? He just -" stopping myself to look at the dead body in front of us, he followed my gaze and just shook his head. Taking a cigarette, he lit one up and placed it on his mouth, blowing the smoke in the corpses' direction. "Mr. Shelby, I worry for him and his family.."

"Don't stick your nose into others' business, saves you the trouble, eh?" He said, as he was about to walk past me. He took my hand and gave me a few quids, which caused me confusion. Was this for my silence? Though that seems rather odd since a quarter of the town already saw what happened, or was it so I'd stop with being so nosy?

"For the bread."

"Bread? What bread?" I asked, my brows furrowed as I looked up at the man. The more he acted, the more he perplexed me. Seeing his face, he tilted his head as if he should be confused

"You dont remember, again?" I shook my head, remembering what he gave me moments ago, i tried to have him take the money back, but he refused, saying he already gave them, so it'll be no use. In the end, he walked away and left me be, confused, I placed the coins inside my coat pocket before walking home. What did i forget again? No matter what I have other things to do at the moment, I need to get the memory of the dead body out my head.

After preparing for my date, at eight o'clock sharp there was a knock on the door, I smiled and opened it. William appeared with a bouquet and fresh smile, I'm taken back to memories when he was still courting me.

"Flowers for the beautiful lady?" He asked, which I gladly took. Holding up his hand, I held them. I locked the door, and we began to walk towards the pathway to a small restaurant.

"Thank you for this, for everything, Will," I said while we kept walking hand in hand.

"Then I should thank you too"

"For what?"

"For letting me love you"

"Then, you're welcome."

With that, we spent the rest of the day together, I told him about what happened earlier, and he's told me of stories he heard and so on. Everything feels nice. It feels like home as we both made it out to be.

...

That night, Ms. Bennett was content with her lover. Everything played out perfectly. She lived a good life and was happily in love. Maybe fate can say the same for the man she bumped into earlier as he's inside the Garrison, enthralled by the singing Barmaid before him. Surely both Ms. Bennett and Mr. Shelby will live their lives with love found in someone else's eyes.

[marvelousmagicalaura]

The Lord Ruler's portrayal worries me. I hope The Stormlight Archive doesn't do this. 

I'll preface this post by saying this is not out of dislike for the Mistborn trilogy. I'm not trying to impose my moral viewpoints onto fellow cosmerenauts. And it's not meant to dismiss that fantasy characters can have their own unique beliefs. This is simply a rant on a topic that's bugged me ever since finishing The Hero of Ages. It came back as I was contemplating Era 2's nuanced portrayal of Elendel’s problems, Harmony's plans, and Autonomy's mindset. And since I'm reading The Stormlight Archive after Warbreaker, this involves a hope of mine.

My journey throughout Scadrial created an increasing sense of concern and worry over the Lord Ruler's portrayal. In my eyes, book 3 fell into the trap of characters defending the Lord Ruler's actions. Simply because they were for the goal of preserving the world. To be clear, I understand what Sanderson was trying to do. He wanted to make a world where most characters, even when destroying the evil empire, ultimately wanted a stable world. And for that, I understand why Vin or Sazed would call Rashek a "good man with honorable intentions."

Vin always wanted a stable life. And when she thanked the Lord Ruler as Preservation, I bet her opinions of TLR were being slightly filtered by Preservation's Intent. Sazed Ascended with full access to how Ruin and Preservation connected back to Rashek. He knew Rashek in ways no one could imagine.

So while their claims were understandable, it felt extremely gross. My first issue is that I lack the same knowledge of Rashek as Vin or Sazed. I only know Rashek as a bitter, violent glory hound Terrisman who maybe had slivers of understandable motives before Ascending. Then I only know him as an evil emperor going insane for 1000 years. I don't know the "good man" Rashek. I know the asshole who did 5% good things and 95% ends justify the means.

My second issue is that the "suffered under Ruin's hand" removed accountability. Rashek didn't NEED to make slaves out of most remaining humans, turn his people into jellyfish, restrict Allomancy to the ruling class, sacrifice humans for koloss armies, or wipe out all religions and cultures. But that line pinned it on Ruin's influence, even though Rashek did horrible things and made horrible plans during the Ascension. Instead of holding Rashek himself accountable for his own actions.

And on that note, fuck Rashek for even mentioning Ruin's whispers in the Fadrex city plate. Yeah sure, centuries of Ruin's influence pushed him to make the Terris breeding program. But those reprehensible actions above were all Rashek's fault when he was a new conqueror.

My third issue is the erasure of potential depth behind Ruin and Preservation's conflict. It doesn't give Preservation something 100% despicable to actively do. It ignores the fact Ruin doesn't insert new personalities, but rather influences what is already there. Ruin was the method through which Rashek did things, but Preservation is the reason and goal. Rashek ruined to preserve.

Brandon should’ve settled for Sazed acknowledging the tragedy and genius behind Rashek’s efforts, while acknowledging they were reprehensible and weren’t solely orchestrated by Ruin. I don't know what The Stormlight Archive will hold. But if there are any characters who go "ends justify the means" or "it's not my fault it's the god," I sincerely hope Brandon calls out their rusting nonsense with a hammer. He did it with Kelsier (complicated feelings about that), he did not do it with Rashek. I hope he does it in Stormlight.