#especially when things are Different now and he's his own person who doesn't really mesh into a closed loop with them; instead of the baby

[thatgirlwithasquid]

QPR Boblena Headcanons : Little Annoyances

Not everything is sunshine and rainbows with the two of them, because people have their moments. So here's a couple of things I think drive one another up the wall, just a smidge....

Snoring : Yelena snores. It's not usually too loud unless she has a cold and then it gets a lot worse. It's something Bob can usually ignore when they sleep together, but sometimes his mind is being loud and the depression is coming back with a vengeance and he can't seem to fall asleep especially with Yelena's constant snoring... and then it becomes the spark that initiates one of their arguments. Usually there will be no bed sharing for up to a week after one of these squabbles, and Yelena and Bob don't talk around the tower even if they still inevitably end up hanging around each other.

Emptying The Bins : Neither of them do it. Both of them claims to be the only person who ever does it but neither of them do it. Eventually the rest of the Thunderbolts get so tired of their passive aggression about it that they force one of them to take out their overfull bins. Or, if Bucky is really tired of them and can't be bothered with that then he will just go and empty their bins himself, muttering about 'kids these days' the whole time.

Laundry Duty : Both of them do it, but they do it differently and it doesn't mesh well. They each have their own system and know what to do for specific clothes they have, and just when they think 'oh, it's laundry day' they turn around and the other is already doing it and doing it wrong. This isn't a big problem, they are just both trying to be helpful. They'll figure out a joint system that works for both of them eventually, but as of right now there's a lot of biting their lips and internal screaming.

Excuses : You'd think that since they live together and have basically synced schedules they would be useful for getting each other out of things they don't want to do. They're not though! They can both be a bit dense when someone asks about some excuse the other made about already having plans. Which means that often they end up having to make excuses for the mix-up and do the thing they were trying to get out of. Yelena has been forced to go to more New Avengers events for the team's public image than she is happy with, and one of these day's she's going to throttle Bob for not going along with things and covering for her. But, hey, Bob's also going to give Yelena the silent treatment for not rescuing him from being stuck between an arguing Ava and Walker.

-

see also for qpr!boblena: pysical touch, close proximity, domesticity, queer identity

[sir-phineas-lost]

MAWS S2 finale

The good:

The final fight

Showing Clark's dedication to non-violence. That sequence of him very calmly assessing the situation and doing really cool super-feats just to pull Kara into a hug is fantastic.

Staying true to keeping Lois and Jimmy involved

Finally bringing in the Sun-powered thing

Leaning into Clark and Kara bonding as kryptonians. This show is very good at developing releationships and showing why different character work together. Even if they never do the reconnecting with his heritage-bit having someone in his life that he can be fully himself with, including not worrying about breaking them because he didn't keep himself in perfect check, is interesting.

Speaking of different characters working together, I really do like how Clark and Lois resolve all their relationship issues. I love how pragmatic Clark is about the fact that he can fly to Gotham in a microsecond to be with Lois if need be and Lois still turns down Vicki Vale not only to stay with her friends and boyfriend but for her own reasons.

The Bad:

Brainiac just, doesn't work for me. At all. His design is really boring (when he isn't possessing Clark) and his personality is all over the place in a way that just doesn't make any sense. He is a complete drama-queen which doesn't mesh at all with his "I am following my prime directive of restoring the Kryptonian empire" schtick and his few bits of nuance (like his supposed fatherly feelings for Kara) go nowhere.

I really hate the revelation that he blew up Krypton. For a myriad of reasons, including several plot-holes.

It's unnecessary. There is already plenty of reason to fight Brainiac and it robs whatever this other civilization is of the responsibility for destroying Krypton. I know the general position on Krypton being destroyed has been "meh" so far but facing off against the people who annihilated their birthplace would at least be a somewhat interesting development for Clark and Kara in the future. Facing off against the people who fought a war but were about to announce a ceasefire, not so much.

If Krypton blew up because of Brainiac, why did Jor-El say it was because the empire finally picked a fight it couldn't win? Brainiac explicitly states that Jor-El knew what he was about to do so why would he program his holo-self to share false information?

If Krypton was on the verge of a ceasefire then why the fuck were those warrior-guys on Zero Day all geared up to fight and conquer Earth? It couldn't be Brainiac because he wouldn't have interupted his own invasion by blowing up the planet.

They somehow made Livewire's armor even more bulky and ugly. That is such an impressive feat I almost want to put it in the "good" list.

Speaking of which, all the villains from last season showing up to help should feel like a really cool and rewarding moment, except it isn't. Since there is absolutely no work done to develop them as characters it means nothing. Especially when they try to have playful banter about being friends now.

I know I keep harping on this, but all of the supervillains have really boring and ugly costumes and it is really noticeable when they are all in a shot together. Why are they all beige? Don't any of them have enough individual personality to at least accessorize?

Oh, and it turns out another downside to giving everyone the same "Kryptonian tech" explanation for their powers is that they all get the same weakness. Because why would we want our characters to be different from one another?

Sam Lane coming back to help goes nowhere. Him leaving again was a big deal for Lois but she doesn't interact with him at all. This wouldn't bother me so much (it could make for a good subplot in S3) if he wasn't right there at the celebratory BBQ chatting it up like he isn't a compulsive hardass and loner.

I sound more negative than I really am though. The good parts of MAWS are really good and they carry the show just fine. I just wish it was better than "just fine".

[variousqueerthings]

also, to be that guy who's obsessed with the mythologisation of dr james barry for a second (it's been awhile on this blog I feel), I was interested in how casanova the tv show felt like a deliberate play with myth through the framing and the anachronisms and the lighting and the blocking and and and -- and how casanova himself is a heavily mythologised person, to the point that my partner asked me if he was real before we started

I feel like there's a similarity in ideas in dr james barry and casanova -- they were both adored and reviled, talked up and talked down depending on the agendas of whoever was spreading their tale, both with larger-than-life personas and adventures that seemed to teeter out in the later years as the traits that served them in youth (brashness, stubbornness, laissez-faire attitude around money, very specific ideas around how to live that didn't mesh with the laws and morals of society around them, a genius that in youth is considered prodigy-like... etcetc) (the details, of course, are different) became something that others were embarrassed about/didn't respond to as they aged and lost their connections

(also this is tv-show, so I don't know until I read the diaries, but they both seemingly had a manservant with whom they were very close/came with them on their various journeys)

casanova has the distinction of having a set of diaries that allow one to peruse primary material at ones leisure, so despite being someone whom one might only know from a particular re-telling or history book or even just as an idea, there is some power in being the main teller of his own story

which dr james barry of course doesn't really have. I feel like I read somewhere that he had more private letters that were lost at sea (which whenever I have that memory of having read that, I squint and wonder if I'm not participating in the mythologisation myself), but certainly the majority of what we think we know about him is either from others' opinions of him or just plain wrong/written after his death

in my head though, I think out of the many many biography-type movies and tv shows I've seen, the casanova show might be the closest to something I'd imagine for barry -- not for the same story, of course (the years of their lives also barely overlapped, but my special interest brain did note that early napoleonic and post-napoleonic era), but for the presentation. the idea of indulging in the fantasy, of the playing with anachronism, of an interaction with present (our present) and past. and mostly of fun

I think in a lot of the narratives around barry, it's often hard for me to see someone I think would live the life that he lived -- who had fun, who made deliberate, conscious choices that he enjoyed making, who was very passionate about his ideals and medicine and who -- like casanova -- was very much his own man. they're so often so preoccupied with ideas of deception and being found out and imagined projected cisgender anxieties. they often lack fun, and when they do insert their modern lens (in whatever time whatever thing about him was created), it's not to bridge the gap between us and him, to imagine who he'd potentially be if he lived now, it's to inject their personal ideas about what is morally correct to them onto a symbol

and yeah, at this point dr barry is more figure than man, as happens generally to historical people, especially those we remember for Highly Specific Things (like casanova, like barry), and I think it'd be interesting to really engage with that, to go deep into the world barry lived in, and to make him a figure who was cognizant of that world and the structures he was defying, who felt good about the choices he made

there's a certain idk... thematic overlap between the two figures. and that was something I really really enjoyed while watching this

[knavestrolls]

ROUND 2 LET'S GO. Warning that the first one is LONG, PERSONAL, and INVOLVES RELIGION. so skip if you're not up to that! Also, please don't take offense if yours isn't as long- it doesn't mean I don't love your characters it just means my brain rambled less getting to the point!

Mondes- @/byrdstrolls Starting here because this is one is going to be really personal. So, I used to have a different favorite troll in the Robinverse and it was absolutely Hikaru. Even did that speedpaint and everything but. When I was working at my last job, I was the only non-christian sect in the dunkin I was at. The ONLY one. Now, I am not religiously Jewish. But I grew up half that way. My dad's side family who lives here is kosher jew (i do not talk to them). My only good stepmother I ever had (who proceeded to traumatize me) is jewish- ethnically and religiously, and she was in my life through 2 other step mothers before her. I grew up in a weird mix of half mexican christianity and half jewish because of where I grew up and because of her. Another friend who has a direct blood jewish mother to inherit it from- she called us "culturally jewish" to describe it. I had like two more paragraphs typed before I realized it's just rambling but to shorten it as much as I can- Mondes was a fellow jew in a time where I needed one. He felt like one of my stepbrothers. That's the best I can describe it. [CORRECTED. not Armenian, she wasn't Armenian! fucking hell tired dave is meshing everything together safe me. She was IRANIAN. IRANIAN. can't be typing this without sleep rip]

Makona-@/the-rainbow-overflow It is no secret how much I love Makona. I could listen to you tell me all the little details of her for HOURS. The teeth??? The in depth snake based TEETH?! The locks?! Her romance with Ptillo?! UGH She makes me SO gay I just. I fucking LOVE Makona

Circin-@/stuckstucktrolls It is, or it should be at this point, a well known fact that I have diagnosed BPD. Circin is like looking into a fucking mirror sometimes. The abandonment anxiety especially you write it so well that I once actually broke my pencil reading I believe one of your replies about it because it triggered my own. It was wonderful- not the abandonment anxiety- but feelings being triggered and getting to flip like that just. Circin and his relationships and how he interacts with the world just. He brings me joy. With or without the label on him.

Shafan-@/hareofhrair Shafan brings me gender euphoria, gender envy, and somehow causes me to be sex repulsed all at once. I ADORE the design. The character is fucking FANTASTIC. The maulmart outfit lives in my head RENT FREE (which I mean, if they're wearing that they ain't paying rent). Shafan brings me such genuine delight- especially their STOMACH!!!

Bellau-@/celestialtrolls Gold's characters are so fucking fun. The alternate palette thing? fucking gorgeous. Bellau is one of the ones on the list where their design stuck with me. I don't have thoughts behind it.

Chimor- @/ask-deepdarksea A dad! A dad who uses a crutch because he bad at walking on land! A giant! A dork! While I tend not to end up interacting just because I get a lil overwhelmed with the nsfw content/suggestive content, I genuinely enjoy your trolls and was so happy you came back.

The Wanderer- @/muteddrifter Just. Oh my god that design fucks so severely. A LOT of your designs do! If it weren't for my lack of money and pile of comms I need to buy, that alcremie would be mine. <3

Maylon-@/damistrolls Maylon and Juniee! I literally just had the thing up to double check how to spell their names and I've already forgotten if it was right. Anyways. The fucking Re-educators? Their Siblingness? Their Jesse-James-esque pose?? Maylon's fucking HAT SHADOW?! Both of their smiles?! OUGH I am GAY. GAY GAY GAY

Atreus- @/cybernatedbeholder Tits- I mean tits- I mean-tits- I MEAN. The design (yes even the tits) is SO fun. It's looming, even sitting down. The eyes stay with me. AND THE HAIR OH MY GOD THE HAIR. Now, I used to have a favorite but they don't really exist anymore but Atreus took that spot SO quick when I saw,,,

Zedaya-@/a-gaggle-of-colors Okay. Bare with me, this one is mostly old memory. I remember that he's an heir, and that he's got a cute lil bow tie. And that he's SHORT and APPLE SHAPED!!! Which is SO IMPORTANT TO ME. His design is so cute and the cape!! I think I drew him once, though I don't think I liked how I did the hair in the end.. felt too straight?

Apollo- @/one-twisted-sister My favorite to see dressed up. So good in SO many outfits. Her design is so fun that I love to see every single iteration she could be in I just, OUGH. You are another one too where all your designs fuck so hard it's so hard to pick!

Metier-@/ketchfantrolls THE INTRIGUE. THE MYSTERIOUS (TALL) LIL GUY. The fucking FINS. I die for those fins every time. And the sprite's pose is so fun and ough. I know y'all's main group moved on, and you guys seem happier there and it makes me genuinely happy to know y'all are doing better there, but I'm keeping all your trolls, son-in-law. Mi mijo's too. all mine now.

Okay that is all I have steam for. Again, this is by no means an exhaustive list. The FTC is full of amazing creators with trolls I stare at or read about endlessly because I am an insane lurker and love to know about OCs.

Do you remember your favorite fan troll you’ve ever seen that wasn’t one of yours?

Okay so this is such a loaded question but not in a BAD way. I hope y'all are ready for some dropped names. I'm not going to ping anyone, I don't want to step on toes! LONG ASS POST. I AM NOT KIDDING.

Sid Cada @/lordtonic - I may be yellow colorblind but god damn I love sid. Enough that it makes me angry I know I can't see that damn suit right sometimes. I picked Sid as my favorite one day and my brain stuck to it so hard that while I do legitimately love every other troll there, Sid makes me light up like I've just see a lizard [which with Sid, sometimes those things both happen]

Thread @/sasster My favorite chase troll changes a LOT. Chase has INSANELY GOOD TROLLS AND FUN CHARACTERIZATION. Stryx was actually my first favorite troll of Chase's and how I found the sasster blog BUT. Thread is SO good. She's so fun and oh my god. Snakes,,, [WOMAN. also her one romance with the uhhh commander I think? The white suit with both arms on one side in her sprites.. sleepless brain is killing me rn- but oh my god it's SO fun to see them flirt.]

Mallum @/roetrolls Okay so. I know everyone would think I'd put Remora and they're NOT WRONG I STILL ADORE REMORA. But through the storylines I just fell HARD for Mallum. The redemption? The struggle? I literally can't hear "Main Character" by Wil Wood without imagining a whole animatic of Mallum to it! The only thing that stops me (besides time) from making it is I know I do NOT know enough to make it any form of accurate. [after coming back to proofread: also the fact that Roe is an amazing animator and my brain struggles with the 'well x could just do it'. Not the point brain!]

ALLMAH @/ase-trollplays Listen. Here on the knavestrolls we are villain enjoyers. And we are WOMEN enjoyers. And WE SUPPORT WOMEN'S WRONGS. WE WANT THEM TO DO MORE IN FACT. Allmah my beloved. Free her. She did all of it I just think she should be free to do more. [doubling down. Let Allmah commit new warcrimes. Let her invent them]

Veketi @/windy-trickster Mi mijo has so many good trolls that it's always hard to pick. But Veketi gets a soft spot for me because we made Veketi and Liegia together. Because I made Veketi's sprites and I want to remake them because I think they look god awful now but they still get USED when he's around. They still read like they're fun! Becase Star has an amazing way of making the sprites WORK with what the character is saying too. <33

Melanc @/ask-melanc-vivura I.. don't actually have a long explanation for this one. This is another BPD brain pick that's really silly. I drew her with her boobs mostly out and have just loved her ever since. I am weak to women I can pin up. [PIN UP ART. PIN UP ART.]

Galeia- @/videcoeur This is another one I don't have a good long explanation for just.. pretty fish. I'm love pretty robit fish. Plus, science and REALLY FUCKED UP science,, my beloved [Fun fact i am weak to every single Videcoeur character, OC or otherwise. And the moment she arts? I'm dead. One day I'll be able to afford sprites]

Arceel- @/memurfevur I'm pretty sure I spelt his name wrong and I do not care, he can fist fight me. Not the author, the troll. Papa Arceel! One of my favorite troll to interact with because I can go to that troll with some of the stupidest questions and get a legitimate answer. Sometimes, one I didn't even know I needed [Also I am SO sad upon realizing I don't have the stupid meme image of his head over Beast now.]

Rynthu- @/lashysdomain Again, pretty sure I spelt it wrong but she'll forgive me I think (the troll). Just all around a fun character. Has so many fun plots in so many fun ways/worlds! Her romance with Watch'r is adorable as hell, but I'm not obsessed with the Watch'r side, it's her side I follow. As if it's one of the many romance webtoon I cling to and she's the FL.

PELEXI- @/mageofspacemultiverse DRAGON. WOMAN. WE SUPPORT DRAGON WOMEN'S WRONGS. Especially when they're funny. Plus like listen. Listen. Have they actually dated? No. Have they even gotten past a SINGLE conversation? NO. But that's Esstoc's wife and I don't take excuses

Charon - @/asks-n-trolls If I could romance 1 old troll............also honestly I love a LOT of Dan's trolls. Each one has such a fun personality, cute quirks- and FLAWS!!! I LOVE FLAWS!!

Alacar- @/alacarhelsng I can type freely here, because I *know* that he will never read this so. Alacar is genuinely one of my favorite characters my husband has ever made. He's so genuinely fun to play off of as a character, to build around! His design is SO freaky and silly and fun! I forget his damn scar EVERY TIME! He's getting surprise gift sprites done and I had to go back and rewrite the notes to please include the scar and add more references because I had forgotten AGAIN. He's SO ODY coded but he's also so Achilles coded. He didn't want to fight in this damn war. He wanted to spend his days with his Patroclus (AND HIS PENELOPE). He wanted to laugh and joy! And now look what this journey has turned him into! What losing those people has turned him into! Ugh I could go on forever- and I will, if ever given the chance, because I know that my husband isn't around on here as often and isn't very known but god DAMN I need y'all to appreciate the fun builds he makes. (also Qimzal is my second favorite and depending on what song wins you might get some insight on why)

Chrona- @/8bit-mau5 Okay. So. This one is REALLY hard to narrow to one because I also adore Malice and Opal. Crow's getting it for the STUPIDEST of reasons though. I'm weak to pinstripe. All three characters are a genuine joy to have on my dash any time they appear I am over the moon! I want all three of them worse and better all at once!! Also I would not trust Crow to actually help me in a court of law. Should I? Maybe.

Nereus- @/nethertrolls The design? KILLER. The stories? Absolutely enthralled me. Also, Nereus just reminds me of the Outsider from Dishonored sometimes and I ADORE The Outsider. To the point where I do actually plan on getting his mark tattooed eventually! So just.. Genuine attachment regardless of any story changes I'm dedicated to Nereus

@/goddesstrolls For religious reasons, I can't post her name. Starts with an H. She's Bast's very buff beautiful rust woman. A huntress. A legend. An icon. I ADORE her. It KILLS ME that I can't interact with her because I can't say her name!! Plus I just get nervous because,, womyn,,

 Ailaxi- @/tempi-fantrolls Okay, so this is going to be very shameful of me and we're all just going to ignore it for a moment okay? I struggle to keep up with the dash, even when I had the free time and the mental health but the #1 troll I always managed to catch on my dash was Ailaxi from them. And oh my GOD I ADORE lil grouches! Especially SOFTIE GROUCHES. It has been a while since I've been able to keep up at any level so this is VERY much just vague memory but I see that gray man and I'm like yes. my boy he has returned.

Daiona- @/norts-trolls Nort is another person I struggle to pick favorites with but right now it is STRONGLY Daiona. This I don't have words for in the same way I don't have words for the profound loneliness that sneaks up on me that I can only explain via sending my husband pictures of abandoned, overgrown, half destroyed houses that look like no one's even urban explored them in at least a decade. Daiona fills that same feeling to me, I hope someone makes sense of that.

Voghel- @/happyhappyfantrolls I have said it once, I will say it again, we are VILLAIN LOVERS here at Knavestroll! Voghel was one I locked onto early and have not let go! I try to go keep up with events and comics on this blog when possible because so many characters have fun interactions, deep relationships, and there's familial bonds that get to me...but also I want to see Voghel.

Babble- @/wandering-trolls I NEVER leave behind an EDM girlie. Just look at her. Look at her and tell me you can't love her I'll fist fight you

Mikael - @/mik-mania I just think Mikael is neat. That's it. thats the whole thought

Rhulan- @/morgombie It was love at first sight. If I remember right, I think I even got to draw her once! Not 100% on that thought, please remember I do have memory problems. but anyways! THE DESIGN FUCKS SEVERELY. SO GOD DAMN STRONGLY.

Malara- @/ask-swagger-dagger-trolls I was blessed with getting to know the story behind Malara's design and it stuck with me. Some days I think about doing something similar but honestly, Malara fills that need for me. She's like a silent presence with me sometimes. Filling in where that friend would have. Now, Tam has some amazing other trolls I love for lots of insanely silly reasons but..Malara stuck with me the most, for that reason.

Wicata- @/goldenguillotines So. I have to be honest, GG has a lot of trolls and I love so many of them that with my memory issues some of them bleed together. I did have to go look up her name, but this is a design that sticks with me. When I think of GG, this is the design that comes to mind because to me. I would see her on my dash endlessly and every time I saw her I'd stop scrolling because I had discovered another neat little detail in her sprites, in the art of her, in her design! GG has so many amazing designs and characters so please don't take this as a 'this is all there is' it's just what stuck with my broken brain.

HeeHoo - @/trollbreak JONAH. One of the platonic loves of my life is literally all of Jonah's clowns, and I am the EXTREMELY proud owner of a clown designed by Jonah! (As well as a mimic dragon amongst other designs) But I can firmly say my Jonah-clown obsession started with Heehoo. He's just a little guy! He would never do a murder, it'd dirty his pom poms! Just a lil guy who does a lil dance and stands in your hands and when he leaves and you look down there's rainbow footprints on your palm! Just OUGH Peak Clown for me. Peak clown design for me too. The mustache fucking kills me

Now, this is not NEARLY all of them. I could go on for ages but I've been told by three separate people to go try sleep again because I've hit the 27 hour mark but. Here is a small handfull of favorite trolls and thoughts about them!

[lafiametta]

Is there any theory about the show that you dislike? Personally, I don't like the idea that Daniel is part of the simulation and doesn't exist. I found him so charming in how desperate and how much of a mess he was that I would love to have him in the later seasons (same for Elliot!). Now, one theory I have is that the show would jump from past (1899) to future (2099) to present (1999?), such as to follow the meaning that Cerberus the three-headed dog is meant to represent. Would also explain the vintage TV displays we see in Henry's "office" and the one where Ciaran sent Maura his welcome message being vintage.

And for curiosity's sake, are there common tropes about shipping that you dislike? I hate emotionally constipated couples that never talk about their feelings openly. It just creates the most ridiculous of dramas, and I'm too old to sit through that! And because of that, here's a question: how do Olek and Ling Yi open up about their feelings? Both in the modern and the 1899 the New York AUs!

There aren't any theories that I dislike per se, although, yeah, the one where Daniel is actually dead didn't seem to make much sense to me. (I wonder if some of the theorizing was based a little too much on whether people shipped Maura with Daniel or Eyk, and if certain characters were evil or dead, it meant that a particular ship would win out. I mean, whatever... ship what you like, and you can just as easily ignore the bits of canon you don't care for.) But almost all the theories about the show were so interesting — Were the characters on a long space voyage, with the simulation as a way to keep their brains occupied? Were they prisoners being transported, with the simulation as their punishment? Was Henry Singleton just an AI within the simulation or was he "real"? Was Ciaran ever an actual person or was he an AI gone rogue? — and it seemed very foolish to discount any of them when we didn't really have enough to prove any of them true or false. (I'm using the past tense, but I really hope that we all continue to post meta and analysis, offering more theories about the simulation and the spaceship "reality'" at the end.) And seriously, I like your idea a lot — it would make sense that there would be a middle stage between the historical past of 1899 and the spaceship future of 2099. If the whole thing is actually happening in a present-day 1999 (with some of the 70s and 80s-era furniture now only looking a little dated), it would add a whole new dimension to things and make them more familiar to our own experiences. (And, yes, the three-headed Cerberus! Such awesome symbolism, which also meshes well with the three points of the earth sign triangle!)

As for common tropes in shipping, like you, I'm generally not a fan of miscommunication as a vehicle for drama. (Like people overhearing things they're not supposed to hear, and then acting out based on it, without telling the other person what they overheard or giving them a chance to clear it up.) And while I'm such a fan of domestic fluff, I don't like surprise pregnancies, especially if they're used just to introduce more drama. Ironically, given that they're such a big part of 1899, I'm also not a big fan of love triangles. (But maybe it explains why I started shipping the one couple who aren't part of a triangle!)

I think that in the both the modern AU and the 1899 New York AU, Ling Yi tends to be the more emotionally expressive one. She definitely says what she thinks and even when she doesn't say it, most of the time it's clear how she's feeling. (In the 1899 New York AU, Olek does have to do a bit more to pick up on things, just because she can't verbalize it to him as easily. But even in the show, they seemed to understand each other fairly well, even when conversing simultaneously in two different languages, so it's not as difficult for him as it might seem.) Olek is more reserved and finds it harder to fully express how he feels, although he finds it much easier to do so in a physical than a verbal way. There are definitely times, though, when Ling Yi has to drag things out of him and get him to use his words! But ultimately he feels things really deeply (still waters run deep!), so part of their growth together as a couple is Olek learning how to become more open and expressive.

[oblivious-aro]

Wow! What a delicious essay!

Yeah I feel like with jerk characters the writers just want to have someone who makes snarky characters, and don’t really consider how said character meshes with the rest of the cast. Going back to the Jax example, he feels like he should get more push back from the others, but the writers use him as more of a one-liner dispenser than a character.

The point of Thief’s characterization is so that Lady Luck can bounce her quips off of him and tear him down like she does the other contestants. His jerky characterization is used as a tool for the story and characters, not just a tool for the writer's benefit.

“Do you remember when Rick and Morty was a thing?”

I try not to let fandom views sway my views too too much, but honestly with the disproportionate way fandom tends to jump on those kinds of characters, I can’t really blame anyone who’s sick of them because of that alone. Especially since writers themselves seem to respond to the popularity.

Ugh, reddit really does suck for media analysis. I made the mistake of looking up people’s opinions of Nya and Franziska von Karma there. That website's definitely better for stuff like cooking questions than opinions on characters.

“Throw in the way it only ever seems to apply to men…” Ha ha wow, isn't that a weird coincidence…

“It's not so much a twist as the objectively correct take on this trope, but it's still unique and genuinely insightful in a way I haven't seen since.” Oh my gosh someone put the feeling into words! Sometimes a character isn't “subversive”, they're just well written and happen to be adjacent to a known trope/archetype.

Yes! I love how in Reunion you can see how teaming up to beat Lady Luck to escape the dungeon formed a bond between the contestants. Theif's still his greedy self, but he's learned the importance of teamwork and stuff. Yay!

Yeah, a lot of Nya's writing decisions kind of send sketchy messages, but they also happen to make her really cool.

“You get attached to your best skill, because that's how you prove yourself as a person. It comes easily to you and you never really work on anything else, and when you're pushed to do it, you hate that it doesn't come easily to you.”

You get it. You've said it all here (and I think I posted about it a while back), but season 5 Nya was so freaking real for this. I will always have a soft spot for season 5 because of how much I saw myself in Nya's struggle, and I was an adult when I watched it.

“I didn't consider myself an artist or writer or programmer for years because I thought the stuff I made was ugly and awkward”

I know imposter syndrome is extremely common, and I deal it myself, but it still really catches me off guard when some people struggle to feel confident in their work. I'm sure your stuff was a bit rougher back then than it was now, but still…

“I'm reminded of Wu telling Nya that while earth is strong and air is fluid, water can be both. I thought it was just a thing they wrote in to sound wise back then, but on reflection, it's some really kind encouragement for her to branch out.” Ooh, good catch

I'm sure my feelings on Skybound are well known at this point, so I'll just say Ninjago can managed to put some really compelling into Nya, despite the misogyny.

Yeah, you're pretty spot on with Edgeworth. Starts off as your seemingly typical anime rival type, but then you slowly discover someone very hurt and human and watch him change and slowly turn back to the light, in large part thanks to Phoenix's slightly ridiculous levels of faith and devotion (/pos).

His journey strongly ties into and supports Phoenix's character (being his inspiration stand up for those no one else with stand for and find the truth) while still very much being his own story. He's been hurt, but that just person Phoenix was inspired by so many years ago was still in there, even if getting him back out is a…messy process. In the end his philosophy and methods notably differ from Phoenix, but ultimately they both share the ultimate goal of finding the truth.

Yes, one Ace Attorney's greatest strengths is exploring its character's goals and arcs. That final case with Edgeworth is probably the best in the series because of all the buildup, how you got to know Edgeworth in court, how much he means to Phoenix, what he's been through, it all culminates in a kick-ass redemption where you get to save your friend and take down the ultimate bad guy! So hype!

Requesting Nya, Edgeworth, and Theif for the character bingo!

(It didn't surprise me that you have good taste in characters. Also, I should watch The Last Unicorn...)

(asks about my favourite fictional characters in 2024)

Oddly enough you got me kind of going on a theme with this one - they're all characters I expected to be tropey in a bad way, who all turn out way more interesting than I could've ever imagined. Huh.

A lot of words lie below about Dicey Dungeons (up to Reunion), the first two Ace Attorney games, and Ninjago (up to the end of season 6).

Spoilers for Dicey Dungeons (up to Reunion), the first two Ace Attorney games, and Ninjago up to the end of season 6. A warning for a mention of a suspected suicide in a backstory.

I'll start with Thief since I need a bit of warmup for the other ask you sent me:

Thief is the only time I've genuinely enjoyed a protagonist that… I'm not sure how to put it. Is shown to be a jerkass and a realist amongst a cast of otherwise very whimsical characters? Who's drawn to look roguish, sneaky, and clever, whether the writer backs that up or not. And for bonus points, is styled after D&D's aesthetics.

I usually hate characters like this. I think it's an oversaturation problem. Ronin's the closest example I have - a character that does nothing for his season's story and wins against the ninja purely out of plot necessity. Or consider Jax, who takes up a lot of screentime in TADC making the rest of the crew suffer, whose snarking really only makes the creators look insecure about the goofier elements of their own work.

And Jax has been confirmed to be a creator's favourite, which is… not concerning, but it's one of those things a creator can say to make you realise you see something very different in their work to them. Plus, a lot of people like him in the fandom. Which isn't technically part of the work. But it is annoying to see how so many people focus on this archetype even when it doesn't bring anything new to the table. This trope is always extremely obvious, and extremely obnoxious if you don't like it.

The worst thing is this isn't just relegated to the realm of fiction. Do you remember when Rick and Morty was a thing, and you had hordes of people looking up to Rick Sanchez as a role model because he was both smart and an asshole, and therefore the takeaway was that it was okay to be an asshole if you (thought you) were smart?

Maybe this is just because I made the mistake of using Reddit as a teenager, but I'm so sick of that attitude. Throw in the way it only ever seems to apply to men…

(as for the last point - I like the concept of magic and fantasy, but I'm not white and I'm fucking sick of how the genre is based in very strict archetypes when you could do anything with it. I won't elaborate on this or it'd be a whole 'nother essay; let's just say I dislike any aesthetic based off D&D.)

Thief is the only time I've seen a work dress this down: his whole arc is realising that he's been outclassed by somebody who knows the game much better than he does, and actually has the power to back it up (and is much funnier to watch too).

As Lady Luck so elegantly puts it:

"…Thief, who is so strangely proud of being clever and unpleasant! Do you think he minds that I'm so much cleverer, and so many times more unpleasant?"

You know that creeping feeling of dread you got playing the game? He's the character that embodies it best. I expected the game to play this completely straight like all those characters above, but it doesn't. It's not so much a twist as the objectively correct take on this trope, but it's still unique and genuinely insightful in a way I haven't seen since.

(Fun fact: it was actually seeing the episode 2 dialogue between Lady Luck and Thief that got me to stop playing the demo and get the full game! The streamer was fast-forwarding through all the text, but I paused and was like 'wait. this is good dialogue. I have to buy this.')

Reunion really drives this home. I love how he instead starts directing his snark outwards to keep his new friends safe. He actually does things now, as the tough negotiator of the group, rather than just claiming he's better than them. He's still kind of got his old greed in him with how he respects Lady Luck's plans to paint the moon as her face, and how he's here for profit first and foremost, but it's clear he's been forced to grow out of that previous obnoxiousness after being put through hell and back.

Dicey Dungeons has such good commentary on character tropes y'all. Seriously.

Nya's a character that had a personal impact on me growing up. I didn't notice it back then, but at least in the early seasons she's just. Objectively the coolest character in the cast. Albeit only because of misogyny reasons as you've noted, but a signifcant amount of Ninjago's appeal lies in its cool factor, so. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. I always thought she was going to be Green Ninja as a kid.

I had to go back and check this, but we get the Samurai X reveal just before season 1 gets onto the full potential episodes. There's something about having to build your own power in a way that one-ups all your peers while keeping it secret from them that's so cool to me. While I have mixed feelings on whether it's a good thing or not, it reminds me of how I studied a lot of maths in my own time in primary school and did better than everyone else by a long shot. Plus you don't usually see girls straight up build mechs, so this blew my fucking mind as a kid.

It was cool to see representation like that. I really like how that specialisation then leads into her potential in season 5 - when she finally begins to branch into learning something new that doesn't seem to be her thing. I've seen people doubt how realistic that is, and while you can debate how well it was paced or whether it's a good decision for the series, that's a real problem you can run into when you're AFAB (or in any other oppressed group) and talented at one thing.

You get attached to your best skill, because that's how you prove yourself as a person. It comes easily to you and you never really work on anything else, and when you're pushed to do it, you hate that it doesn't come easily to you. I didn't consider myself an artist or writer or programmer for years because I thought the stuff I made was ugly and awkward; I knew a trans guy in secondary who straight up told me that he liked his subjects because they came easily to him (which good for him, but it still proves my point that this is a real thing people go through).

I'm reminded of Wu telling Nya that while earth is strong and air is fluid, water can be both. I thought it was just a thing they wrote in to sound wise back then, but on reflection it's some really kind encouragement for her to branch out. And I like how she quits angrily in her training and tries to run for ages. How she doesn't figure it out until the end. I can see myself in that. It's very nice.

And while Skybound's very. Divisive. I think it's a good 60% of a season for her. Her story up to the ending of episode 8 has been compelling - she wants Jay to respect her boundaries, she struggles to make herself known as a new part of the team due to her status, maybe she doesn't mind being in a relationship, but she wants to at least choose for herself. And the sheer amount of optimism encouragement and energy she has throughout the season for everyone is just great.

Yeah. She's great. She kicks ass. She's unfortunately stuck in a show lead by Male WritersTM but we sometimes stumble into some decent characterisation for her despite that. She's unfortunately lowkey but that means there's less parts of her to mangle over time.

…Ninjago was such a great show. It's such a shame it was capped at 6 seasons, but at least that means they treated Nya with respect throughout her runtime except for that one time…

Also I don't know how to tie this neatly into the essay. But a while ago LEGO released a really funny Ninjago explained video done by the Honest Trailers guy, and I still fucking love how he goes off about how talented Nya is for ages instead of making fun of most of the other Ninjas' archetypes (sans Cole), and just ends it with:

'so naturally she was the last one picked for the team. Seriously, they picked [Jay] over her?'

Edgeworth I have the least to say about - it's been a hot while since I've touched AA (and only the first two games at that) and I don't want to risk misremembering fandom concepts as canon.

But the main impact he made on me was that he seems so tailor-made to be your frustrating, comically evil anime rival for the entire plot. Opposing colour scheme, stupid animations, and all. You go in thinking he's made to be a smug bastard you can knock down, and you come out recoiling from that as soon as possible in horror.

And you feel so powerful when you finally get to team up with him against someone.

Yes he does pull out absolute bullshit like the updated autopsy report, and he's still pretty insulting even in later installations. But when you're working your way throughout the first game, and you start to poke at his motivations a little further? He has an iron-clad reason to want to become a prosecutor, even as potentially corrupt as his methods may be. He seeks to help Wright if it truly brings someone to justice, which is a better portrayal of the legal system than I've seen than from many other places.

And in the end, after he saves you, you have to go back and do the same for him. And it's the best case of the game. You not only blow open a decades-old case that's been hinted towards throughout the entire game, but you also finally cut your friend loose from the ghost that he didn't even know was haunting him for years. It ties the overarching plot and the main characters' personal endeavours together so well, which is the series' greatest strength, despite what the memes going around about its wacky hijnks would have you believe.

Plus, while it's not Edgeworth's doing himself, the amount of dedication Phoenix has towards this guy is great. Whether you read their bond as romantic or platonic (or otherwise), you get the sense Edgeworth must've been someone really special to Phoenix for him to try and chase him down through years of law school and all the bullshit you're put through in the previous 3 chapters. That's devotion right there, and it catches you entirely off-guard with what you go in expecting.

He feels very human. You learn about things like his Steel Samurai collection, you give him advice on how to grow beyond the mess that is DL6. You see him take that in the worst way possible by running off to a foreign country and implying that he might've killed himself. You expect none of it. It's very touching.