#her character development is also really good

[extremely-judgemental]

Long Post (From the Drafts)

I hate Feysand. But it’s just me hating on Feyre, really.

I struggled for so long to put this into words as I couldn’t pinpoint the exact the reason to hate this ship until recently. It isn’t because Rhysand is manipulative or Feyre turned into his trophy wife. Aside from the reenactment of the SA as the stepping stone in their relationship, my problem is solely with Feyre.

To preface this, I don’t care about romances, only the character growth resulting from it. So I don’t care whether Feyre ends up with Rhysand or Tamlin or alone, as long as she evolves.

Warnings. This is completely based on my memory of how the two relationships progressed. Because otherwise I’d have to go through the books to cite and I really, really don’t want to. As it’s hard to explain this objectively without talking about the author’s influence in the narrative, this could be also taken as more of a writing critique on how to NOT write characters falling in and out of love. Basically, it’s a jumbled mess and it took turns on its own and there will be lots of psychology talk. Also, THIS IS NOT AN INVITATION FOR SHIP WARS. Don’t bring that shit here.

The common assumption is that Feyre and Tamlin weren’t good for each other from the start, which is only partly true. The first book had just a spark of potential since more were lined up in the series exploring their relationship. Feylin falling apart was not inevitable. They definitely had strong bones to build upon.

Their relationship starts out almost whimsical, a necessary reprieve from their lives for both Tamlin and Feyre. The two come together under the worst of circumstances and grow to understand each other.

Feyre is a mortal who sees Tamlin with fresh eyes, without the stain of his reputation. And Tamlin gets to see a side of her in return, one even her family didn’t or wouldn’t acknowledge. He experiences her as a person instead of her burdens or responsibilities.

Feyre finds a kindness that she was never offered with a beast. Tamlin learns that a huntress can have a heart after all.

Their relationship was built on shared values and beliefs like compassion for other lives, intolerance towards injustices, the youngest sibling forced to take on mantles they didn’t choose for themselves. They accepted each other despite their flaws and cruel choices. They fought for each other. They endured so much for each other.

Despite all this, the romantic notes were quite lacking and physical attraction was thrown in too soon to compensate for it. This undermined the bond the two had which is often considered the proof that their relationship wasn’t real or ideal. Whereas there clearly was a beautiful connection between them, one that neither had in their lives until they found each other. Even Lucien’s friendship doesn’t compare to this as Tamlin is still his saviour which forged an unwavering trust and loyalty.

To have developed such deep bond with someone for the first time in her life, Feyre is quick to move on. She states that she fell in love with the first person who offered her kindness and presents herself as a misguided being preyed upon by someone. But in truth, none of Tamlin’s love or kindness was fake.

Feyre wasn’t safe with Tamlin, I agree. It isn’t her choice of leaving that bothers me as much as her responses. The kind of resentment Feyre harbours towards Tamlin usually comes from prolonged trauma which completely replaces every good memory in the mind. Or if the relationship was built under false pretences and the victim is forced to accept their reality. Neither is the case here.

At best, all of this—leaving UtM, the almost wedding, leaving Spring for good—happens in less than a year. And given the list of trials Feyre lived through until then, what happened in Spring was only a blip. Trauma is unpredictable and so is the response. None of Feyre’s reactions are impossible given her circumstances, but they are so inconsistent that it feels forced.

Victims tend to have some sort of attachment with their abusers and fond memories even when they understand the gravity of their situation. Feyre had core moments that made her fall in love with her time in Spring—trapping Tamlin in the forest, swimming in the stardust lake, dancing for him and with him, her bond with Alis, the teasing with Lucien who was her first ever friend. All of it is instead treated as an illusion that Feyre wakes up from when her initial feelings were clear. She was finally, truly free and experienced genuine happiness with them but she remembers none of it again. She readily demonises everyone and hates them without hesitation. Not once does she reminisce her past, or mourn the life she left behind.

Feyre forces herself to relive the traumatic moments over and over again until the image of Tamlin as her villain is cemented in her mind. While she feels no need to do the same around Rhysand when she knows he can’t be trusted. Granted she doesn’t remember the SA itself, she however remembers the head mounted on a spike, her mind being violated, her arm being broken, being tricked and coerced, being stripped naked and paraded, being forced upon twice, and yet, she has no reaction towards him.

There are two other key moments which stand out. Feyre tried to escape Tamlin’s mansion after agreeing to go with him, but she doesn’t attempt anything similar in Night during the initial stays in Moonstone Palace. Of course, later she is homeless and alone in a strange world, but she has always been an advocate for freedom and she should have at least resisted the idea of living in a secret city no one knows about (basically a high class prison), which she doesn’t. Though this could very well be exhaustion from living in survival for long, it is also an attempt to drive the idea that Feyre feels safer with her supposed tormentor than the partner she chose.

The other is her hatred for Spring when she returns from Hybern. She despises everything, she can’t stand the mansion, the gardens, the people. But she had none of this anger or loathing for CoN, which mirrors UtM, when she plays Rhysand’s whore again.

Besides Feyre has a lot of issues on her end which is completely ignored. She is very controlling and she loses a part of it when she is expected to play her role in Spring. For someone as reckless as her, she couldn’t speak the way she wanted. She couldn’t act the way she wanted. And she definitely couldn’t lord her importance over Tamlin to have her way, like she is used to with her family in the past.

Despite being so perceptive, she doesn’t grasp the idea that she can’t and won’t be everyone’s priority. Feyre wants to be doted on. As a result of childhood neglect, she convinces herself that she is above it. The narrative wouldn’t let Feyre acknowledge this either since she is a feminist hero and she can’t have girly needs like love. She can’t be like other women.

But it is obvious with how her relationship with Tamlin cracks. During her first stay in Spring, Feyre had the undivided attention of Tamlin and Lucien alike. She wasn’t exposed to the court matters as most of his subjects were cloaked.

After UtM, Feyre sees Tamlin, the High Lord of Spring. She resents everything about him when he tends to his court—rehabilitating his subjects through the social events, entertaining priestesses in his court, even a basic tax collection.

Tamlin’s attention is now shared between Feyre and his duty. When she feared his devotion for her was slipping away, she began resenting him. She turned Tamlin into the scapegoat for every pain she was ever dealt. This is contrasted with Rhysand who is overly zealous about her (and literally doesn’t do anything court related ever). Feyre doesn’t have to want attention with him, she just gets it in abundance.

The more we look into these contrasts, it feels like Feyre forced herself into falling out of love rather than it being a direct consequence of Tamlin’s actions. Ignoring the bond and its influence, the switch from one man to another so lightly, to me, it doesn’t even feel like she fell out of love. Instead, what she had for Tamlin was trust. She had learnt to rely on someone for the first time in her life and she felt abandoned again.

And most of her feelings after leaving him is guilt that revolved around pursuing a new romance too soon. The first instance I remember clearly is right before she goes into the Weaver’s cottage. That happens weeks within of leaving Spring permanently. That’s how long it took to move on from a man she died for only months ago to flirting with the man who sexually abused. (I am a liar, I remember the others too. Rubbing the tattooed hand on herself comment, teasing Rhysand after stealing from Summer. Yeah, they are despicable and I hate the pair.)

Feyre essentially cheated on Tamlin emotionally long before she ended the relationship or decided to do so. This is not a judgement given the complicated situation but combining it with everything else, her guilt is again just a forced narrative so she can retain the saintly status.

The note she sent to Tamlin is a character armour as none of her actions so far imply Feyre believes her old relationship deserves a proper closure. It comes off like an afterthought that Feyre is only acting out of societal customs. But you can also tell it is the author trying so hard for the readers to not blame Feyre for enjoying the sexual act in CoN. Even without the note, Lucien could’ve come looking for her in Night and it wouldn’t affect the plot differently. The only purpose of the note is to protect Feyre from scrutiny and eliminate any grace for Tamlin.

Instead of disrespecting the sacrifices the two made for each other and ridiculing their struggles for a dramatic yet effortless partner swap, I’d have preferred if they had come to realise they weren’t right for each other, that the three months broke something in them, that Amarantha succeeded in tearing them apart, and moving on amicably.

But now, as a result, her relationship with Rhysand comes off as coping—to some extent, denial even—instead of genuine. The biggest flaw in this narrative is again not Feyre’s choice but the lack of emotional substance in her.

Her intense monologues and outbursts at times are often mistaken for emotional depth. But since moving to Night, Feyre becomes a mouthpiece for Rhysand’s state of mind and a device to endlessly justify him rather than processing her own feelings about him or her new life. There is no organic growth in their relationship as she is quick to agree with what’s fed to her without questioning anything.

While it’s a common notion that Rhysand manipulated Feyre, it is true only to a degree. In order to turn someone as stubborn as her, Rhysand will have to hit every one of her vulnerabilities and make her doubt every belief she ever had. But he doesn’t have to try so hard. At best, he gives her a slight explanation and Feyre takes it as gospel.

The only time she truly hesitates is when she learns of Velaris. It’s because she is supposed to. Because she is a strong female lead who can’t be gullible and believe her tormentor. Although phrased as such, she doesn’t really question it out of curiosity or because of her morals. She doesn’t pause to wonder if these ideals are something she agrees with, if it goes against her values. If the latter were the case, she’d question if the Illyrians, a race she knows nothing about, are really all brutes. She’d question if the people of Hewn City, again a bunch she’s never met, are all evil especially if Rhysand and Morrigan turned out alright.

Feyre always had a skewed sense of morality but it takes a much clearer form after she moves to Night. Her disdain towards her sisters and opinion about the townspeople represent her narcissism and shallowness. She also has a superiority complex, in my opinion, which actually drives her to oppose Tamlin during the tithe and offer charity to the water sprites.

Her kindness and compassion is very selective and circumstantial, and this is easily directed towards the people of Velaris. Not to mention the community that affected her the most was the artisans’. Because Feyre saw herself in them, saw them as vulnerable and the ones deserving of protection. And this belief is extended to the rest of the city.

I digress. Rhysand strokes this side of her. He feeds her ego by making her believe she has power through a sex show. In Illyria, he goads her into believing she is a match to the Generals (who knows how old they are) who have been trained to war all their lives.

The longer this dynamic is explored, there is one conclusion for me. Feyre doesn’t love Rhysand either as much as she loves the sense of power and importance she has with him. Feyre is basically a parasite and will latch onto anyone who benefits her. At the moment, Rhysand does, by validating her in ways no one else does. As long as he offers her a modicum of control over her life or others, and reveres as someone who can do no wrong, she will be by his side.

[uneducated-author]

I'm a strong believer in 'Midnight should have never been revisited' because we're always going to be way more scared of something that we never got the chance to understand, but as a continuation, this episode was great at making me terrified. Like, it was really well written, edited, scored. Genuine shivers when the doctor figures out where he is and what he's up against, and I haven't gotten that in a WHILE. The details around how accessibility and disability might look like 500,000 years in the future is really interestingly done as well, from the projected words to the little details of 'signing still scares people' and the Doctor being called out with 'I can still lip read'. I would have liked something from Aliss's side, like a pair of gloves that brought text to her own signing, similar to what's in development now.

As an episode, some parts were great and others slipped. I don't feel less scared of the Midnight entity, which is good, but having Aliss somewhat able to communicate without the entity controlling her I feel kind of broke it a little for me. The Doctor at his core wants to communicate with the universe, and the horror of the midnight entity was that he couldn't communicate with it without making it stronger, and it couldn't communicate without consuming someone. The best part of Midnight for me was the mystery. We still don't know whether Sky Silvestry had some history with the Midnight entity, or whether it consumed her completely, just hunting from her fear. It would have been great if Aliss was just the ultimate form of the entities forgery of humanity, or if that was at least an option. Giving it a physical form immediately felt a bit dull, and I never like being able to see a monster, and I also didn't like how it was actively murdering or hunting people down.

In Midnight, it was careful. Unexposed to humanity, but aware that more were coming, and it did everything with the intention of leaving the star to find more humans. Having it seemingly wreak havoc and kill as many humans available to it feels very juvenile in comparison. It could have been interesting if it showed knowledge of military protocol. For instance if it damaged Aliss's body, knowing that she would be evacuated for treatment rather than interrogated. Like, it's learned more and more and can use human tactics to counter them.

Speaking of, don't like them being a mission crew. It gives a casual level of competence which diminishes the danger. If they went the route of 'this thing dismantled a crew of prepared soldiers' that could have been great but instead, the mutiny has no real emotional impact and everyone comes off as very cold and disconnected. None of the losses feel personal. We don't really get many humanising moments across them and honestly, it's way too many characters. I literally only remember Mo's name and I JUST finished the episode. They literally refer to each other as numbers, and that's never even seen as tragic.

Back to the Doctor, we're getting some repeat issues with characterisation where the Doctor is becoming very comfortable with letting people die for him. Like Ko Sharmus on Gallifrey, where she literally hands him her self destruct button, it feels like he'll sacrifice his own life, only until someone else volunteers. And the definite promises feel a little toooo Time Lord Victorious vibes, he doesn't trust the universe that much.

Setting up the 'something happened to Earth in May 2025' is great, and I love it. Having Bel actively discover stuff really works to build her character. Also love that her willingness to sacrifice herself is being a recurring detail, it's nice that she has these values of utilitarianism as a consistent trait and isn't just as nice as the script wants her to be.

Belinda is lovely in this episode! Right level of dissent to not be annoying while still getting across how scared she is, but a clear and nice interest in the reality of travelling through space and time. I've become quite fond of her.

Shouldn't have given the Midnight Entity a body, I'm pretty certain on that. I don't like that they gave it a voice of it's own either. When it was a possessing shadow, it was alike to the Vashta Nerada, and the fear of 'you can't kill a shadow'. If it's physical, it can be destroyed. And it's boring, having it be countered by it's own reflection.

All things aside, it's not a bad episode at all! Ncuti Gatwa's acting is great, and there are some tricky moments that I can just imagine look very awkward on the script. Really happy with how the new season is shaping up.

[kathrahender]

Trollhunters Ships Analysis

Jlaire ❁ The first thing we know about Claire is not that he's a punk/gothic girl, a girl with good grades, something about her family, or something interesting about her. The first thing we know about her is this: she's the crush of Jim. And although in the novels it is shown the reason why Jim has a crush on Claire, in the show it doesn't. And not showing why Jim likes her makes you think that reason is very shallow. You could think "maybe he likes her because she's popular" or "maybe she's attractive for him". And the truth is he doesn't know anything about her at the beginning, so he's just in love with an idea of her. Later in the show, they start talking more and become friends, they decide to go together to a ball, and in season 2, they kiss. My question is the following: Why did they go to the ball together or kissed if Claire didn't show she liked Jim in season 1? Yeah, they talked, and Claire told him they were going to get out Enrique from the Darklands together, but when did Claire show she liked Jim too? Last time I checked, during the whole season, Claire was more interested in the safety of Enrique than in dating Jim. And suddenly, she's in love with him. Damn, I know the show didn't have many episodes to develop the realtionship, but at least they could have worked a little more in them (or at least make them take longer in deciding to date). I've seen other movies where a character had a crush in another character, and those writers handled better that relationship with even less time.

Stricklake ❁ At first, Strickler just wants to talk to Barbara because Jim was the trollhunter, without meaning to really fall in love with her (something he eventually did). But in the second part of season 1, he uses her to manipulate Jim into not hurting him (entwining his fate with Barbara's, which is not okay even if he doubts doing that to her). Later, when Vendel is breaking their bond, Strickler says "Forgive me, Barbara", which, fair, can be Strickler's way of saying "I'm sorry", but it would have been better to directly say "I'm sorry". In the final episode of season 2, he came back to Arcadia (after leaving at the end of season 1) and in season 3 we see them going to talk to Barbara. And he could have made it about her, he could have acted as if he cared about her and her feelings, but I got the feeling that talking to her again was something he did to feel better with himself rather than really apologizing to Barbara for "leaving without telling her" (we all know that wasn't the reason why he neeeded to apologize, but that's what Barbara believed at that moment). Their development during season 3 after that was "okay", but I don't like how they got there. Strickler hurt her and her son, even if he wasn't good at apologies, and even if he wanted to show he was sorry instead of directly saying it, sometimes you need people to tell you they're sorry for hurting you. And Barbara deserved that apology. (Strickler might not be a person who directly says "I'm sorry", but other character I've seen are the same, and some of them did apologize even if it "wasn't in their blood")

Darby ❁ The main problem with this ship is how many times Darci appeared. She wasn't one of the main characters, and she wasn't present in every episode (or almost every episode) like Toby, Jim or Claire. She didn't even have a proper development as a character: everything "important" about her was her relationship with Toby, as if she was there just to date him. Besides, their development is almost null. For example, why did Darci like Toby? She said, while taking of her mole mask, that she wanted him to invite just her to the ball and not other girls (what puts Toby in a bad position because he asked all the girls from the high school to go with him to the ball), but why? Why did she want him to invite her? What did she saw in him, when at the beginning of the show she didn't even pay attention to him? Also, why did Toby like Darci? It's the same problem Jlaire has. Toby didn't know her, and for some reason he fell in love with her. And for what? Because of how she acted being the mole mascot? Sorry, but that isn't believable. And they weren't even friends like Jlaire did! Darby went straight from “students who barely knew each other” to “couple". This ship is more like a way to give Toby a happy ending (to imitate Jlaire and Stricklake) than a naturally relationship. You could blame the number of episodes again for that, okay— but there are plenty of other shows and movies with less screen time that handled romantic arcs so much better.

Staja ❁ This ship at first seems like something interesting: a human ex-bully dating an alien princess, but when you look deeper into it, you see there's a lack of good writing there. Mostly because of Steve (not because of Aja). In Trollhunters, he was a bully who changed and started to be better in season 3, but in 3 Below, the writers just threw away that sub-plot as if it meant nothing and wasn't important. Instead of making Steve try to be better, and keep working in his redemption, the writers decided to make him stupid again, reversing all the progress he did in earlier episodes. They made him a flat character, without giving him the complexity they gave him in Trollhunters, and he went from being "the bully who tries to be better" to "the stupid boy who dates Aja, a princess from another world". The writers decided to make Aja a strong independent woman, and that's okay, but they also should have given Steve a good characterization. And they decided to disrespect him and disrespect what he was trying to be in Trollhunters: a better person. I'm not criticizing the writers for giving Aja a feminist writing, I'm criticizing the writers for being biased towards her and making the Steve (the boy of the relationshi) weaker and more stupid to highlight Aja's character. As I mentioned in another post, writers don't need to make the male character in a straight relationship weaker, more stupid, or useless in order to make the female character stronger, more intelligent, or more useful.

Ps: This is my opinion, and while I accept to have a discussion about what I said, I don't accept people forcing me to change my mind or saying "you're wrong because [X] 😡😡!"

Ps 2: I tagged this as anti Jlaire, anti Stricklake, anti Darby and anti Staja, but to be honest I'm not an anti of any of these ships. I don't hate them, I just don't like how they were handled in the show. I can perfectly read a fic of them because the only media I don't like of them is the canon. Honestly, fic writers are definitely better at writing them than the canon writers were.

[smoulderingocean]

After the confession that Nick told her in 6x03, knowing that it's the last season, I'm disappointed for Osblaine. I mean, with June saying: "He waited for me." I want to tell her: "Is this enough for you? Staying with a guy because he waited for you." So it's true that he cheated on Annie and there's no indication that he did it with June. I thought Gilead had changed her outlook on men. On what she wanted in life. That she had understood certain things, apparently not.

Hey! While I get being disappointed that the love triangle is being dragged out and we're not getting as much Osblaine as we should, the season is still only halfway through at this point and so it's too early to make a full judgement on the season. We don't know yet just how much Osblaine we're going to get or what that content will entail. Good things and harder things seem to be ahead for us.

Alas with how S5 ended (honestly with the entirety of that terrible season), the love triangle being drawn out was inevitable and it really does do a disservice to June as a character. I hate it, I truly do. I too find it sad that June seems to be staying with Luke out of guilt, obligation, and because she doesn't want to be alone. I think that that's deliberate, they're def not clueless to this relationship being less than loving, I just wish they'd show that June wants more out of life and to be with Nick, but can't and so she settles. They hint at it and at the slow march to the end of June and Luke's marriage, but it doesn't feel like enough. The lack of the big convo about Nick is a factor in this and it's pretty frustrating at this point that it hasn't happened. I do love that Nick is able to bring up Luke and that in contrast Luke can't do the same, but I wish June would do so! It contradicts her character development when it comes to her empowerment and how she sees men to see her still remain so meek and submissive around Luke, even when considering the extreme guilt she feels about not "waiting" herself and falling in love with someone in Gilead.

I personally don't find it realistic that Luke was celibate. There's no way that a man that cheated on his wife for being infertile would not "cheat" on his captured wife, especially as the years passed and her return seemed less and less likely. The scripts had a couple cut scenes indicating that Luke had something going on with a woman and OT himself mentioned he had his own view that Luke also did, but that when the scene was dropped, he returned to Luke's monkish ways. I think it was a big, big mistake to cut this. Bruce Miller is responsible for a lot of the cut scenes and he ends up making the show weaker as a result.

With all that said, I actually think that this season is going to be really important in establishing Osblaine as a true, full relationship and not just something good to hold into in fleeting moments or as something that exists to just get things done. June needs to actively choose to be with Nick because she loves him and not just because she can use him as he can do things for her that Luke can't or that she doesn't want to be alone; that she is with him purely because she wants to be and because she loves him. And for Nick it's important for him to know that June loves all of him, good, bad, and ugly, which will allow him to open up more. Right now Nick loves all of June, but currently June can't as she wears rose coloured glasses and doesn't know about his past or much of his life in Gilead because he keeps that hidden from her because he's scared that it will destroy things (and because he also doesn't want to burden her). Once she fully sees him and the patina wears off, accepting those parts and seeing him as a full person that she truly knows and loves completely, he will feel secure for the first time ever. Once this is all established, June choosing to be with Nick will be all the more meaningful because it will be a deeper, more complete love. It will be a love that they both feel secure and safe in and will be a strong, powerful relationship as it will embody the totality of the 1 Corinthians 13 bible verse that Nick read back in 2x05. It will destroy the notion that Osblaine is a trauma bond, coping mechanism, or tool. And I truly can't wait for that. I think we're really in for something good here, it'll just take a while to get there and that's the struggle as a fan- we want it now!

[shadowqueenjude]

You know what I think we give Suzanne Collins too much credit in general. According to descriptions in the book Katniss Everdeen is supposed to be POC but Suzanne Collins had a notable role in the casting of Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss, who is not only very much white, but we now know is a Zionist. I’m sure she also played a role in the rest of the casting too, meaning Gale Hawthorne and Haymitch Abernathy, ALSO labeled as POC in the books, were played by white men and she was chill with that. Now in SOTR, casting doubled down on white Haymitch and once again cast a POC in the dead character trope in Lenore Dove. The only POC who was allowed to develop as a character was Lucy Gray, and even she ultimately disappeared in the end. So does Suzanne Collins really practice what she preaches or does she just like the vibes of a POC-led rebellion and doesn’t actually give a shit?

Matter of fact, has Collins spoken out about recent political issues? Has she supported any good causes with her money? Has she done anything to prove whatever point she was trying to make in her books? Or is she just another hypocrite?

[linkspooky]

CHIHIRO IS NOT A HERO

So once again it's time to make a post where it seems like I'm hating on everyone's favorite character. Chihiro is a pretty unique main character, and unlike the main characters of most revenge centered storylines a lot of time goes to developing Chihiro's soft side. He spends the first arc trying to protect a child, in the auction arc he gives up the tool of his revenge to protect Hakuri and even goes out of his way to lecture Hakuri's father for abusing his son. There is a lot of humanity and depth to Chihiro's character and a lot of people use that to ignore the darker parts of his character.

At the same time Chihiro is a mass murderer with a body count in the hundreds at this point. One redditor has the count at about 203 people and it's probably only grown since then.

Chihiro slaughters people en masse without the slightest hint of hesitation or remorse. They're all crimminals yes, low level mooks for the Samura organization or servants of the Sazanami family or whoever Chihiro is fighting this week but that's still 200 human lives. And I'm pretty sure not every single one of the people Chihiro killed kicked puppies every single morning, drank, then went home to beat their wives and children.

Over two hundred people who could have turned a new leaf and done some good for the world if they had lived, who probably had family members or loved ones are all dead and the only reason that we don't really feel this number is the story never really stops to dwell on them. Imagine if Chihiro beheaded one of these guys and then it launched into a five chapter flashback about how this man was just hard on money because he went through so much misfortune in life and he needed money to pay for his wife's cancer treatments, and then in the last chapter of the flashback as the man dies it cuts to the doctor pulling the plug and letting the man's wife die because he wasn't there to make the payment.

If we got to see the story from any of the hundreds of faceless people that Chihiro killed, then Chihiro would kind of come off looking like an asshole but we don't really see that because the story is mostly centered on Chihiro. This is what I mean when I use the term "Protagonist-centered Morality", it's always good to try to pay attention to the way that the story uses framing to support or question the protagonist's actions.

One of the first secnes in Kill Bill is the Bride killing a little girl's mother in front of her, as revenge for what the mother Copperhead did to her years ago. If the story were told from the point of view of the little girl rather than the Bride, the daughter wouldn't care about the Bride's motivation she'd only be focused on avenging the death of her mother. The same way that the Bride can't see that she is actively creating a new victim by depriving a child of a mother, to pursue her own path of revenge.

"Protagonist-Centered Morality" is a term I use when a story wants us not to question the morals of a protagonist, so they tend to cheat using perspective or framing to make it so the protagonist is always in the right. In the example above, you don't really question the Bride's action of killing Coppheread because her daughter never shows up again.

However, I think Kagurabachi is aware of protagonist centered morality and has been trying to subvert it from the get go. The narrative is just attempting to use subtler methods to call out the fact that Chihiro's revenge is not moral or just, and also is incredibly short sighted.

This begins even in the first arc of the story, where Chihiro is forced to acknowledge that while he believed his father created the enchanted blades as tools used to protect others, someone else could interpret those swords as just tools for death and destruction.

The fight ends with Chihiro being forced to agree with the remorseless killer that yes, these swords which Chihiro had always told himself his father created to protect others and defeat evil are ultimately just killing tools.

Chihiro has to accept a point of view that is contrary to his own, and has to conclude that their point of view is equally as valid because despite the fact that Chihiro personally knew his father and knew his father's intentions in creating the swords what he created were nonetheless weapons of mass destruction and it's easy to see how a complete outsider can only see these weapons as what they were created to be... you know... weapons.

Chihiro until this point didn't want to deal with the morality that if you are going to make a weapon, you usually intend for that weapon to be used to kill someone else. Which is something his father even tried to stress upon him up until he died.

The story doesn't have a problem with protagonist centered morality, in fact as I'm highlighting above the very first arc the story is asking the question "How are you any different from this remorseless mass murderer, huh Chihiro?" However, Chihiro himself suffers from a case of protagonist centered morality. Or you could call it egocentrism. Or just plain old fashioned self-righteousness.

Regardless, Chihiro despite being a character who exists in a morally gray place, killing hundreds of people to get his hands on the magical swords so they won't be used to hurt even more people - Chihiro himself has a very black and white sense of morality. In spite of the fact Chihiro is using these powerful swords to rip hundreds of people limb from limb in the most brutal fashion possible, he answers with a simple "These swords exist to defeat evil and protect the weak."

I will give credit never does Chihiro see himself as aligned on the side of good. From the first chapter onward he aligns himself on the side of the monsters, he is an insane person, he is an evil fighting a greater evil.

At no point does Chihiro ever claim that his actions are good, but he does think they are justified. Which are two different things. Chihiro is never on the side of angels, he says multiple times he believes he will be going to hell after all of this is done, however despite knowing what he is doing is wrong he can willfully justify all the people he has killed to himself. He believes deep down that his actions still fall in line with defeating evil, and protecting the weak.

The moments that Chihiro hesitates are when he is not able to see his enemies as an absolute evil to be slaughtered. Chihiro chides himself for feeling empathy for the other members of the Sazanami family and hesitating because he could understand how much they desired to live up to the expectations of their father.

This is a good thing, it's Chihiro's empathy that leads him to occasionally put his revenge aside to help people like the little girl in the first arc and Hakuri. It's this humanity that the story stresses over and over again that makes him a likable character, but for Chihiro seeing any humanity in his enemies is a problem because he needs to be able to do whatever is necessary in order to destroy evil.

Which means Chihiro can't fight unless he sees his enemy as an absolute evil that needs to be exterminated.

This is of course something which the story the story challenges Chihiro on in every successive arc, but it is also his central and most damning flaw. Chihiro narratives his pain in order to cope. He grew up on hearing the story of his father and the men who fought the war wielding the enchanted blades as heroes. He immortalizes his dead father in those stories.

This has led Chihiro to construct a story where he is the protagonist, fighting evil. He may not be the good guy, but the guys he is fighting are still an unquestionable evil that needs to be exterminated for the good of everyone. In spite of the fact that Chihiro is one mass murderer, hunting down other mass murderers Chihiro still tries to divide the world into good and evil, the innocent and the guilty. If he can justify what he's doing as fighting evil then he doesn't have to stop and question his own actions and keep following his revenge story right to the end.

There's a scene in the new Daredevil show where the Punisher, famed revenge based Marvel anti-hero is surprised that the cops are a huge fan of him and have started shooting performing executions of criminals in his name. Despite the fact that the Punisher's entire character and motive revolves around him dubbing himself judge, jury and executioner of whatever criminal he has decided to kill he is surprised that the cops would take after his example. That's basically Chihiro's entire character in a nut shell.

Chihiro does step by step accept other people's points of view even when they contradict with his own all the way from the first arc, but it also always ends with: "Yeah, but I'm gonna kill you anyway."

Even when Chihiro acknowledges the humanity of the people he's fighting against, the only way he knows how to deal with the situation is to cut them down with thicker bloodlust. There's no peaceful resolution or de-escalation in Chihiro's world, he is trying to break the cycle of violence with even more violence.

It reminds me of one of my quotes from Critical Role.

My friends, I have just taken an audience with the Raven Queen who has snuffed any hope of my redemption, for which I am truly grateful. With new clarity, I can finally see my life as a series of compounding, poor choices. There was nothing I could've done to save my family, yet I still sold my soul in search of vengeance. Later I allowed Ripley to leave, knowing full well she was a greater threat to the world than the Briarwoods would ever be. I traded the world's safety for the belief that I could murder my way to peace; that if I could be a greater horror, it would bring my family back. Once this lie was shattered I scrambled to find a solution, to make a deal, to undo my mistakes and balance the scales. I now understand that there are no scales, there is no redemption, and no ledger that judges me good or evil. I am free to simply be myself and live with the terrible mistakes I've made.

Chihiro believes the lie that he can murder his way to peace and mind, that if he can be a greater horror than the horror he's experienced then he can somehow right the wrong of his father's death.

Chihiro does entertain the idea that he is not much different than the enemies he's fighting over and over again, but he always falls back on a similiar justification.

Hiruhiko is the opposite of Chihiro in a way. Chihiro was raised by a loving father with stories of his father's heroism in order to give him ideals to aspire to. Hiruhiko is a child assassin, who committed his first murder at a young age raised with absolutely nothing else, just a tool who sees no meaning in life or death.

Yet, at the same time they are both children who's childhoods were taken away from them. They are children who were once innocent but have been now groomed into murderers. They are children who experienced a horrific violence at a young age that make it impossible for them to go back to a normal life. They are children who don't even know what it means to go to school, or to hang out with friends.

Hiruhiko can see this similarity between them while Chihiro doesn't, because again of the way they are inversions of one another. Hiruhiko has nothing, no ideals, no close friends, so he seeks them out. He wants friendship because he's never experienced that before in his life. He seeks out something other than death and destruction, connection with a human being even if he can only understand it through the lens of death because that's all he knows.

On the other hand Chihiro is someone how has friendship, and connections to other people, he has love in his life that he deliberately chooses to ignore in his pursuit of revenge. Chihiro has that love and throws it away because it makes him a better killer, and that is why they are opposites. We all make fun of the "every day I wake up with fresh hatred" quote, but that is literally what he is doing. Chihiro is deliberately stamping out any empathy he might feel for his enemies at every opportunity so he can continue cutting them up into hundreds of pieces.

It's all the more alarming because Chihiro is willing to amend his viewpoints. He is starting to question on some level that maybe the people he thought were heroes weren't heroes after all, and he is listening to Samura who says that no matter what his actions are he's going to hell because killing is an absolute wrong. In fact what he respects about Samura is that he was willing to go to hell in order to do the right thing and protect other people.

However, the point remains that Chihiro doesn't really know any way to peace other than slaughtering his enemies. The thought of de-escalation, or healing never even occurs to him. Even Chihiro's respect for Samura's resolve to go to hell for his sins ignores the fact that maybe Samura can be forgiven. Maybe he can turn over another leaf and work to right his wrongs rather than just going to hell forever and being tortured for his sins. Chihiro is so wrapped up in this narrative of justice and punishment for both himself and others he's completely forgotten that forgiveness and healing exists.

Even Chihiro's current stance that he knows that he is a bad guy and will be going to hell for his murders but he intends to take the rest of the bad guy's with him is incredibly toxic and paralleled by Samura himself.

Chihiro's morality is probably the closest to Samura's right now, the man willing to sacrifice both himself and the other sword wielders for the greater good of preventing another nuke from dropping. However, as righteous as Samura is he is also literally blind.

Samura's belief that if he kills all of the sword wielders and then dies himself, going to hell with the Hishaku will be the utlimate good he can achieve with his life ignores the feelings of his daughter. Samura walked all over his daughter's desire to stay with him, deliberately abandoning her and then erasing all memory that he ever existed from her.

It underlines what I'm trying to get at, there may be a certain amount of selflessness in Chihiro and Samura choosing to walk to hell in order to punish the evil of the world but there's no love or empathy on that path. If you choose the path of revenge, then there's no redemption for you or your enemy.

While Chihiro's line of thinking has progressed to Samura's thinking, that he is not a hero, that murder is evil and what he's ultimately doing is evil to serve a perceived greater good he still does not see any alternative pathway he could take besides walking the road to hell.

However, even if Chihiro and Samura were able to accomplish their goals and the only people they sacrificed in the end were themselves that still wouldn't be a good thing because you can't end the cycle of revenge with more revenge. That cycle is just going to keep cycling. You can't murder your way to peace.

This is shown to us in the horrible secret of the war that Samura was made aware of but Chihiro has not yet.

The the people who invaded japan weren't actually monsters to be eliminated but a nation full of people who surrendered, and who were then mass murdered after signing a peace treaty.

This is the extreme to where Samura and Chihiro's logic of becoming evil to fight evil leads. If there's no surrender no chance for a peaceful reconcilitation or an understanding of both sides, then the conflict is just going to keep escalating until one side completely wipes out the other.

And this is where I'm going to use my famous powers of clairyvoyance for a prediction.

This kid right here who's shown cowering in his mother's arms right before the peace treaties were signed. I am goign to bet that this kid is still alive and that he's actually Yura. The big twist we're going to build up to during the confrontation between Yura and Chihiro is that Yura is the last surviving member of that island nation that was wiped out, and his current plans are revenge for what happened to his people.

At that point whose revenge is right? Or maybe, just maybe... the point is revenge is never right.

[kidspawn]

Thoughts on Zutara?

Ah. Zutara.

I have to be honest, I need to tread on careful ground here because the last time I spoke on Katara shipping wars I got, essentially, drawn and quartered on live TV. In fact, I think the person who went after me wanted to send me into the 50th Quarter Quell Hunger Games to watch me die slowly, brutally, and in 4k.

Yeah, so I ship Zutara! I actually quite enjoy it thematically, and I can't put my finger on what draws me to it. In terms of just... chemistry onscreen - there's a genuine draw those two characters have to each other, and much like every other ship in the fandom it has an appeal to me when written well.

What made you ship it?

I think there was a buildup to it I always found very appealing? I can't think of a major "clicking" moment, because I made a very notable effort to stay out of ATLA ship wars so I just never engaged in Zutara content? Then, once again, 2020 I rewatched it and I went... "Oh. I get it now." And I think the biggest moment for me is in "The Southern Raiders." I find them most interesting when they bring good things out in each other - Zuko, for instance, really recognizing what Katara needed in that moment and how to give that to her, was what really sold it to me? I'm not too into the "oh my god he's like with the fire nation and she's water tribe oooooooooooh" but I do enjoy it for when they make an effort to connect due to their similar past experiences with the Fire Nation. I think, at its base, I really enjoy it from a thematic and a technical standpoint - it's a well-contructed and logical ship, and I think from a storytelling perspective its the most interesting and fitting for the story's themes.

(Also the Netflix adaptation marketing and the actors have fantastic chemistry.)

What are your favorite things about the ship?

I mean, I am confident enough to admit it's got an edge to it I adore in the early seasons? I love ships with nuance and intrigue, and I'll be the first to admit that scenes like the necklace scene in book one is... wow. Yeah. I didn't even know drawings could have that much chemistry. What the hell. It's interesting to me. I like that it works alongside Zuko's conflict to become good? Like, a majority of the Book Two ending angst involved him rejecting the lifeline Katara was giving him, creating a sense of betrayal and hurt.

AND THEN the journey to healing that is so beautifully crafted, oh my god. Much like I enjoy Sokka not really handling Zuko with kiddie gloves and joking around with him, I love Katara calling him out and countering him every step of the way. I find it fascinating, because Katara is so fiercely loyal and devoted to the people she loves of course it'd take a lot to heal that hurt. So, Zuko really had to do something valuable and noteworthy to regain her trust - and that arc is literal perfection, in my opinion. When she hugs him at the end of "The Southern Raiders" I genuinely get chills. They manage to go from "I hate you you are everything I have been told to hate and/or fear and you are the representation of all my past traumas" to standing side by side in a fight against the person who has the deepest hurt aimed at Zuko? Like, they work alongside one another to heal and fight their deepest childhood hurts? Like...? Damn?

(I am also perfectly content with them remaining platonic, and I see a lot of value in their platonic relationship. Because that's usually where the appeal of Avatar lies to me - in the found family dynamic. But I enjoy this ship for its narrative relevance.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

I enjoy it more in-universe than I do outside. Because thematically its beautifully written. I don't dabble much in alternate universe writing, but the canon development is the most appealing aspect of it for me. God I cannot stress how, from a storytelling perspective, it is fundamentally gorgeous. The dynamics of it are built from the original cartoon's story beats, and I just think it adds that extra oomph. That KAPOW. That WHAM.

send me a ship

[sappho-ilmarinen]

So... There's a hungarian X-Men parody comic series and it's as crazy as it sounds

There are currently five issues, two short tie-ins, one comic about the past and the first comic of the new five part line. Or so I'm aware. Alright, let's get into it because this shit is crazy.

-The title, X-Embörök means "X-Men" but in a very specific hungarian dialect, tied to the city of Szeged most famously. Which is where the story takes place.

-Everybody has hungarian names which range from weird to absolutly henious, in a good way, because it's a parody. It's meant to be like that. Most names are direct translations of the english ones, like how Nightcrawler is called Éjmászó.

-The civillian names are also gunny as shit. We have Xavér Károly (Charles Xavier), Zsoldos Emil (Erik Lehnsherr, the name is not TOO similar but it FITS) and Szürke Janka (Jean Grey, szürke means grey. Also yeah, in hungarian the family name comes first.)

-One very glaring difference from the original comics is that everybody's poor as shit. It's Hungary, after all. Prof X runs a shitty mutant diner and stay in hotel (I guess) where the X-Men live. Magneto was an underpaid physics and chemistry teacher. Until he decides to take over the world again. (That's how the story begins.)

-They swear a lot, because, again, this is Hungary. Prof X routinly says stuff like "Well kids, this was shit."

-Both the good guys and bad guys have been retired since the fall of the socialist era, it's only now (2003 in the story) when they start working again.

-The good guys and bad guys are actually friends, because there are so few mutants that only they understand each other truly. Prof X and Magneto meet every sunday at the market and have sausages and talk about their ideas or play checkers.

-The idea of a mutant soceity is actually fairly developed, because it's said that most people don't notice them, but there are communities that are hostile, and it doesn't shy away from showing how a characters got lynched by angry mobs led by a priest for example.

-There's a slur to mutants, "mutkó" (it's kinda like mutie I think from canon) but it's also explored that mutants refer to themselves as such in a way of reclaiming it.

-It's also explored how mutants and humans can be jealous of each other, because humans want powers, but they don't recognise the downside of said powers and mutations, and that some mutants envy humans because they'd rather be "normal."

-There's a lot of lore detailed in each comic in the form of essays at the end and it's great, it really fleshes out the world. There's the first mutant group of the socialist era, great battles, having kids and not knowing about it, the usual.

Now, the characters:

-Dr. Prof. Xavér Károly (Charles Xavier): He is the prof all right. Has a strong Szegedi accent, wheelchair-bound, grumpy. Is a psychologist because he wanted a job where he doesn't have to work. Runs the shitty mutant diner. Honestly might be too tired for everything ever.

Egyszemű Óriás/Egyszi (Cyclops): It’s said he is a comic book nerd but there's not much going for him tbh. Lives with the Prof.

-Torkosborz (Wolverine): Raging alcoholic and massive loser. He cannot fight and he constantly sobers up because of his healing mutation. He hates that. Wears a cowboy hat for some reason? Lives with the Prof.

-Jégkocka (Iceman): Aaaand this is where I'm having problems. (What, you thought this hungarian comic series from 2013 was unproblematic?) So this guy is the youngest, and his main thing is that he thinks he's black. He’s not, he's a white dude. And he constantly goes on about how he is the "king of the ghetto" and shit. Everybody in the story finds him annoying and NOBODY humors him. He lives with the Prof, he’s the new guy.

-Szürke Janka (Jean Grey): She left the group and currently works at a hair saloon. The only X-Men with a working brain and both she and the Prof are wildly aware of that. She likes her civillian life and didn't really want to go back.

-Éjmászó (Nightcrawler): German accent, but hungarian name, so I assume he has austrian heritage. Currently homeless and cons people for money, so he doesn't have much of an issue of going back to the Prof.

-Zsoldos Emil/Mágnesvas (Magneto): Was in the original X-Men group, but slowly his and the Prof's ideas started diverging and he ended up being evil. He wanted to turn humans into mutants. But he retired, and works as a teacher, as written above. He has no money, burnt out as shit, so he just snaps one day and now he is evil again. He starts collecting his band of evil mutants.

-Titokzat (Mystique): Worked in the same hair saloon as Jean/Janka, but she decided to go back to being evil. Has a very skimpy evil dress but I think it's there because it's a trope and it's funny. Probably has the most braincells in the group. Does all the work, while Magneto is being lazy.

-Békaember (Toad): He has a sad backstory of being lynched a lot in his village. Now he has a wife (Margit) and they love each other very much. He works and stuff, but goes back because world domination is fun I guess.

-Gyújtogató (Pyro): The other character I don't like. They had to bust him out of a mental institute. He’s just weird and crazy, I don’t like it.

-Fűrészfog (Sabertooth): Was also in the og X-Men group, but he left. He is a vegetarian living in a forest, trying to make the animals eat corn. He initially doesn't want to go back but he does anyway.

Closing thoughts

Honestly this series is a wild ride. It's absurd, it's hungarian, it's weird. But there's obviously a lot of care put into it, and the creators obviously love it. One essay at the end of one explains that to create a parody you both have to know the source intimatly and love it dearly. I think these guys get it. Despite its flaws, I love this series because it knows what it is and doesn't try to be something it isn't. Give it a read if you can.

[ecargmura]

Wind Breaker Episode 17 Review - Visiting The Sick

After all the action, this is mainly a respite episode. I’ve seen some comments on forums that state that this is a ‘bad’ episode because of the lack of action. Um, excuse me? Wind Breaker is more than just the action. It’s a very character-driven story as Sakura learns how to heal from his emotional scars and develop into the leader he will become one day.

Sakura unusually develops a cold, subverting the saying that ‘idiots don’t develop colds’. He may not be super intelligent, but he’s still human enough to get sick. Perhaps, all the emotional turmoil he’s been having had been causing his body to break down. His living situation is revealed and it’s revealed that he lives alone despite only being 15 years old and his apartment is extremely worn down and ragged. With no adults in sight, it only makes one wonder how he came to Makochi and who’s providing his apartment bills. 

Sakura is also very inexperienced with the whole friendship thing due to his past; he also never had someone to rely on as he doesn’t know how to cook or use a smart phone, as mentioned by Kotoha, Suo and Nirei. He was someone who believed having friends and caring for others was a sign of weakness, but it was thanks to Suo, Nirei and Kotoha that he fully learns that depending on others is a good thing.

I really liked the private conversation Suo and Nirei had after leaving Sakura’s house. Suo knows that it will take time for Sakura to fully adjust to having people around him because he’s not used to him. Like what Suo said, Sakura being alone in a city where no one knows him is him being stuck on a deserted island and is equipped with a tool he doesn’t know how to use. Man, the metaphors for this story are immaculate…

Kotoha is still her blunt self in that she flat out says to Sakura’s face to man up and accept the love his friends are giving him. With how she tells him that since he can’t make the egg congee, he needs someone to make it for him and asking for help is okay. Kotoha is really an underrated character. She pulls no punches when it comes to brutal honesty, but also knows how to give wisdom. I’d like to learn her story of how she became so mature. All we know is that she’s an orphan like Umemiya and they were raised in the same shelter.

I do like that he goes to Kaji for advice. Let’s think of Sakura’s development as a long train ride. Small stops that the train takes is Sakura’s time for him to get off the train and take in the scenery. Each arc he’s in is like a town or a village that he stumbles upon and when the arc is done, he goes back onto the train to reach his ultimate destination However, he has two major cities to reach before he gets to his overall location. The first is the Kaji city. I consider Kaji to be Sakura with development. Let’s say that if Sakura were a Pokemon, he needs to evolve into Kaji before evolving into Umemiya. I think going to Kaji was the best choice because he’s been in Sakura’s shoes and is also still growing alongside him. I do like his metaphor of the coffee and the green tea. What Kaji was going for with that metaphor is that even if the label, or what’s on the outside changes, what’s inside doesn’t. It means that even if Sakura looks unusual, what’s inside matters most and his class understands that. Kaji wants him to understand that the best.

Okay, the highlight of the episode is definitely Kaji punching Umemiya square in the face out of embarrassment. They made it much more hilarious than in the manga. Like, I don’t know if replaying it three times and showing it from three different angles was necessary but it was a welcomed addition. My favorite part was Hiiragi’s expression when Umemiya got punched. The apathetic look was the selling point. He’s been through so much shit thanks to Umemiya, so he’s not even fazed at all.

All in all, Sakura’s journey to becoming the top is to take in the friends he made along the way. This episode was a respite from all the action, but it was a good one as it gave an introspection to Sakura’s character and how he still has a long way to go before his reaches his end goal. As a manga reader, I can say that there won’t be action for a few episodes but I do like that this type of story has slower, wholesome moments to show that it’s not an action slop story. Let me know your thoughts on this episode!

[genoskissors]

The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy - First Ending Thoughts

I won’t be saying my thoughts on each ending, but since the first ending is the same, I might as well. I also want to talk a lot, specifically about the characters, because they are what make the story for me.

Major Spoilers for the first 100 days!!!

I've already seen some criticism for characters, but I am filled with love and joy, so the majority of my commentary will be positive. I will say that overall, this game was insanely fun. Each battle had a different aspect to it and there were so many twists and turns. Didn’t proof read, so sorry for any mistakes.

Darumi Amemiya (飴宮 怠美)

I really liked her at the beginning and was sad when she became so depressed later in the story. She seems a bit too attached to the killing game idea but I was kinda hoping she’d develop a different idea. I also wish she had more serious moments, like Genocide Jack did, but that’s okay. Even if the fighting was for fun in her case, it still made her feel like a reliable person in my eyes.

Great for battle and has both fun animations and combat voice lines. I’ve said this before, but she also looks a million times better in her battle armor rather than her regular outfit. It just looks so much better with her hair colors.

Eito Aotsuki (蒼月 衛人)

I’m pretty observant, I could tell he was going to have some sort of twist, yet still found myself surprised at his weapon hitting the capsule. I did really enjoy his innocent facade and am kinda sad his true nature is so twisted. I thought it was interesting how they’ve never heard of the moon, but “tsuki” means moon. I’ve seen people compare him to Nagito but I honestly see them as complete opposites. Also, he looked good with his hair back.

He’s decently fun to play and does good damage. Even though he loses energy after one turn like everyone else, save Tsubasa, I often used him repeatedly for nearby enemies. He gets the job done quick and easy.

Gaku Maruko (丸子 楽)

I really ended up liking him. I had my doubts due to his personality, but as he was more fleshed out, he grew on me. Especially with the backstory, the idea of loving people even when you feel like they don’t care about you is so sad. Having to work every day and never reap any benefit sounds miserable, I can’t even hate him. I still wouldn’t exactly call him a “mood maker” though. He has his moments.

Very good for when there are a ton of enemies, because then he can deal with the 1 HP ones easily. I didn’t use him as much as I think I could have, looking back, he’s a great character.

Hiruko Shizuhara (雫原 比留子)

Ugh, I am so sad our time with her was so short. I really thought she’d be leading us to the end. When the group discovered her corpse, I genuinely had to put my switch down and just sigh. They didn’t even need to say anything, just seeing the glasses made me realize. She was cold and ruthless, but I could see a side of her warming up to the others, I do think she would’ve been a good leader after some more time.

In the little time we got with her, she was my favorite. Her damage is great, and I know that’s the whole point, but still. The only downside was she could only attack one at a time, but I understand everyone needs some limits on their abilities.

Ima Tsukumo (九十九 今馬)

Absolutely love his character development. I never disliked him from the start, but he grew to be one of my favorites. The implications at his past are also heart breaking. Kako is all he has and he’ll do anything to protect her. I was so happy when they joined battle together. He went through a lot, straight up getting a new body Nekomaru style. When he still ended up dying I knew Kako was going to go crazy. Also how did he drive the bus as Sirei?

He was fun to play but unfortunately did not get much time with him as he joined late and when he came back he couldn’t even fight. Still was good in that little bit of time he had.

Kako Tsukumo (九十九 過子)

If you asked me who would be my favorite before I played the game, never in a million years would I guess Kako. But, here we are. Her development is amazing and I really felt her pain. When she said her and Ima had promised to die together, but then they promised to keep living without each other, my heart broke. Kodaka said they’d be even more controversial after release, so I thought it might get very incestuous, but that was not the case. At least in the first route, the twins relationship progression was very wholesome yet sad. I love how Ima means present, Kako means past, and she can see the future.

She was good it battle, especially the hellfire move. Some enemies reflect damage if you are nearby, so long distance characters are very useful. I would not say she’s a need in battle, but fun to have nevertheless.

Kurara Oosuzuki (大鈴木 くらら)

She came on very strong at the beginning and I was worried that I would find her annoying, but I did not! I really enjoyed her character and her soft spot for Nozomi. Her real face is cute too, but I honestly like the tomato mask. Perhaps I’ve just grown use to it. I did enjoy her dynamic with Kyoshika, it reminds me of Hiyoko and Mikan but if Mikan was more assertive. I also love how the tomato changes with her expressions.

I’ll be completely honest, I did not care for her combat. She is useful in building barriers, but it kinda loses meaning when everyone can build when and Shouma can straight up be one. I did like how she repairs the barrier if attacking an enemy nearby.

Kyoshika Magadori (凶鳥 狂死香)

I love her! She’s stupid and funny and great. I really enjoyed her voice actor as well. I love how she just. Cannot read the room. I really would like to learn more about why her name is so violent, but perhaps I must wait a while longer. Also her voice lines during combat are stuck in my head and have been all day. “This is my true power!” “Nin nin!” “You’ve left yourself open!” “I’m burnt out!” Great stuff.

Without a doubt, my favorite in terms of combat. She is such a fun character to use and does great damage. I often took her out on explorations because of that. I already knew I was going to like her but her attack really sealed the deal.

Moko Mojiro (喪白 もこ)

Okay so… I don’t really have anything to say here. We barely saw the real her and couldn’t even fight with her. I do like her based on Nozomi’s word, but when it comes to forming my own opinion, there’s not much to work with. I didn’t really find her wrestling stories in the cafeteria engaging. Idk, sorry Moko fans.

Nozomi Kirifuji (霧藤 希)

THE BABYYYY. It’s common for characters that are liked by everyone to be hated, but I genuinely just could not imagine hating her. Even Kurara loves her. It’s well deserved, she’s wonderful. The twist made me so sad, I didn’t want to make her cry!!! Her death was awful and knowing it could’ve been stopped made it so much worse. I will save you in my next route, I promise!

Next to Kyoshika in favorite for combat. I pretty much never used her for direct combat, but her healing is a lifesaver. When she died I thought I was screwed for upcoming battles. I really like hearing everyone’s thanks after being healed, it’s sweet.

Shouma Ginzaki (銀崎 晶馬)

Shouma, I am sorry for doubting you. He was annoying at first, constantly being a pessimist in ways that didn’t even lighten the mood. When he finally agreed to battle, he grew on me so much more. He maintained his low self esteem but still became a part of the team and used his weakness of being bad with fighting as a strength, being a shield. His stupid hat has also grown on me as well.

Not much to say in terms of combat, he kinda just stands there, but was definitely useful when a lot of enemies are nearby and you need to keep someone with low health alive. His voice lines are also great during battle, even if they are sometimes sad.

Takemaru Yakushiji (厄師寺 猛丸)

Another character I must apologize to for doubting. He had that whole dynamic with Hiruko going but later in the story he shows he misses her and that was a really strong moment for him. Again, when Takumi brought up going back in time, I thought I would dislike Takemaru for being so aggressive, but he ended up accepting it. His “punishments” for Ima and Kako were also a good moment. I do like him.

This is the kind of character I’m looking for. Attacking all around is great, despite the low amount of damage, it’s still good when the enemies have low health. I do wish he kept the shades on when he was on his motorcycle.

Takumi Sumino (澄野 拓海)

Incredible strong protagonist in terms of character. Like he might actually be one of my favorite Kodaka protagonists. I love how he didn’t follow the usual “I’m just a normal guy” trope and actually saw his own strengths and used them. His loyalty to Karua is also very strong. He isn’t outright about his feelings until later, but even if they never were romantic, they were still incredibly powerful. He’s a great character.

He looks cool in every combat scene. I really loved when his sword turned blue because it still matched his color palette, at least his eyes. Very helpful in defeating groups since he can just go row by row. Even though it’s nothing crazy, he’s still fun.

Tsubasa Kawana (川奈 つばさ)

I love her very much. A total cutie patootie. I really enjoy the moments when she gets really excited. I was very happy at how Takumi accommodated her issue with throwing up. She helped the team a lot with everything mechanical, a lot of things would have been impossible with out her. She didn’t end up being my favorite like I thought, but is still very high on my list.

Even though she doesn’t do much damage, the fact she can do continuous attacks without loosing any distance is great, even if i do end up spending a lot of AP on it. Either way, I really enjoyed having her in battle, her voice lines were cute as well.

Yugamu Omokage (面影 歪)

One of my favorites but I fear I projected Genocide Jack onto him a lot. I just really like her, sorry not sorry. Either way I still ended up liking him, despite his oddities. He also came in clutch multiple times, so I think he needs more love for that. Love his voice actor, especially during combat, he sounded great. I thought it was funny how Takemaru called him pretty boy, because this boy is ugly, sorry. Still like him.

Despite my love for him, I didn’t really get much out of using him in battle. Yes, he makes the enemies bleed, but I’m a bit busy to keep track of that, sorry Yugamu.

Sirei and Nigou (ＳＩＲＥＩ) & (ＮＩＧＯＵ)

Can’t say much for these two as neither got much screen time, like surprisingly low. Due to the announcements it felt like Sirei was there every step of the way. Still, I can’t say much on them, but I definitely did not hate them.

This will likely be my last THL post for a while, I want to get back to Danganronpa and also get through more endings. I might do a similar style post with Danganronpa characters, but I’m not sure yet.

[vidavalor]

Supreme Archangel

On the pun-loving, wordplay-happy Good Omens, what would it mean for someone to be supreme archangel? Forget that it's also a job title for a minute and just look at the words-- what is someone who is pretty supreme in their archangelness?

Supreme, meaning that which is the most extreme or greatest. Arch, meaning to be above... and, also, to tease in a knowing sort of way.

Supreme Archangel = person with a sense of humor who is just completely totally over the struggle of being an angel.

Gabriel and his arch sense of humor and his being absolutely beyond all of this stuff for literal eons is supreme archangel before you even consider his former job title. Supreme Archangel is really also just a description of his character, as is his other job title of assistant bookseller. Gabriel is still supreme archangel. He's not the only one, though...

Crowley is supreme archangel. Above being an angel because, like Gabriel, he embraces human living when an angel is not supposed to do that. He's supremely beyond all the drama of Heaven and its pious perfection.

Crowley and Gabriel share a very arch sense of humor. Humor is a signature trait of a supreme archangel because it is developed from having greater understanding and wider perspective that can only come from living a bit, which can only come from breaking free of your angelic angst and inner demons enough to allow yourself to grow.

The ability to recognize humor is the ability to recognize the experience of others and it can be intuitive or it can be a learned trait, as Shax is showing us with her quest to understand sarcasm. Everyone has the capability of getting better at it, just as they also have the capability of freeing themselves from being princes of darkness and from the pressures of the perfectionism of being an angel.

Who else is supreme archangel already? Lord Beelzebub is.

In their case, part of their being supreme archangel involved deciding that making a life together with the being who also had that as a literal job title eclipsed Heaven and Hell nonsense.

They know that not everyone else is there yet-- some even want to be what Beez also has been, which is The Grand Duke of Hell... which might be a job title but, as a description, is just the most supremely depressed of the princes of darkness.

Beez might be the only one with the job title so far of Grand Duke of Hell but they aren't the only one who is one.

Crowley is a prince of Hell in every meaning of it already-- in title and in description. I'd call him a grand duke of it, too. Anyone would take one look at Gabriel's depression and say that The Supreme Archangel has long also been a grand duke of Hell, right?

Not to mention that Beez is supreme archangel because they more than meet the other criteria of being very arch in humor.

Shax isn't there yet-- supreme archangel Crowley is still giving her sarcasm lessons-- so she doesn't see the humor in Beez's dry joke that, with them gone, all of this misery could soon be all Shax's because she could "be the next Grand Duke of Hell."

Shax gets excited about the literal job opening and doesn't see that Beez is really saying: all this misery could soon be yours, Shax, best of luck! 😂

Gabriel joining in to be an absolutely marvelous bitch in his expressions... he is, visually, the definition of arch in this scene, with that look that sarcastically says: omg, you hear that, Shax? Grand Duke of Hell! GO GIRL! 😂 These two can be such jerks lol but their humor does come from both of them being supreme archangel and so having an understandable frustration with their lives being impacted by people who are still caught up trying to play the rules of a system that doesn't value anybody.

So, if you're a grand duke of hell... if you're someone who is depressed, someone who is living with a lot of darkness and pain? Then you're also someone who has a soul and a conscience and a certain innate sensitivity that is causing you to feel these things, right? It takes someone who is an angel to bother to do their best to fight their inner demons.

A duke of Hell/prince of darkness is an angel.

And, conversely? If you're an angel who is just massively over all the hell of being an angel... so, if you're a supreme archangel?

By definition, an angel who is done with being an angel is a demon.

And they would be because a demon is also just a person who is passionately invested in or highly skilled in something. By definition, a demon is someone who is doing some living. Someone who is learning how to dance on the head of a pin.

Grand duke of Hell is the most angelic thing there is and supreme archangel is really the most demonic thing a being could ever be. Neither is good or bad; they're just par for the course for most people in different times in life.

Aziraphale doesn't actually need the job of Supreme Archangel and its title to parallel Gabriel's story. They've had the same plot already. They are the two foremost angels who have been supreme archangel all along and helping one another out with it.

They collectively built and secured the embassy bookshop-- Aziraphale designing and building it and Gabriel ensuring its existence and protecting it. They are both against the idea of angelic superiority and support the demons. They both mutinied-- Aziraphale actually did it first when he refused to fight in Armageddon in S1. They both also know what it is to be grand duke of Hell, too, as they both have plenty of inner demons that they are constantly battling.

I think that the point of the story is to make it so that as many of the characters as possible are lower case supreme archangel and none of them are uppercase Supreme Archangel. That position needs to go. The most supreme archangel thing Gabriel has ever done is to quit being The Supreme Archangel. Aziraphale wouldn't have gone anywhere near it if it weren't for his fears about Crowley's safety, which can be resolved in The Finale. There shouldn't be a Supreme Archangel. There should be a bunch of supreme archangels who freely elect willing people to roles like is the case with every other barely functioning but democratic system of government there is. 😂

The point is to break this system that doesn't recognize an individual's right to self-determine and make their own professions about who they are. The Big Bads are screwed, though, because whatever the plot in The Finale? Aziraphale, longtime grand duke of Hell, has really already been supremely archangel for a very, very long time.

[multi-yverse]

i finally finished DD:BA, I’ve been putting off the last episode for like two weeks?!

I was really holding out for them bringing back Foggy at the end but i SCREAMED when we got Karen again. omfg i missed her sm I didn’t even know.

Okay onto my opinions abt the show

I wish this season was longer & we got more development for the new characters. Cherry could’ve been so good but they tell us about who he is instead of showing us like a backstory or his connections and stuff. I like him as a character in the story but I feel like I don’t really know him. That goes for pretty much every new character. THOUGH I think BB’s character was done well, I genuinely REALLY like her and I feel like I know her. They were able to do that with ONE scene (her in the club with Fisks young lackey, sorry forgot his name).

Side Note: They changed Cole’s character to be on Fisks side. I REALLY thought he was gonna turn on him but NO they just reveal him to be Ayala’s murderer….uhm. Im aware and agree that stories can change when u adapt them from comic to TV, it’s fine really BUT it feels like a SLAP IN THE FACE to his character in the comics. He literally HATES Fisk and only targeted DareDevil first was because Fisk was the mayor i.e hard to touch and DD legit killed a guy around the time Cole came to Hells Kitchen. His name didn’t even need to be Cole North in the show because there’s no significance to his character anyway. Just a cheap reference that boils down to disrespect to the og.

Idk if it’s just me but I feel like some of the new actors can’t hold a candle to the og’s. It feels so jarring to see both actors on the same screen bcuz one is doing rlly good and the other is just BARELY doing okay. Like Ayala’s niece and Heather sometimes. I like Heather but I say this because when compared to Karen Page she just doesn’t measure up. This is what also made it hard to get used to the new lineup of characters. They don’t feel real or important, Karen comes back and the new characters IMMEDIATELY don’t matter to me anymore. Is it bcuz Karen’s actress is better than Heathers actress or is it because we KNOW Karen while Heather is a new character that we don’t get as much time with? Also, I wish we got more Frank? Idk, I kinda feel like he was thrown in. His character was done well the first time we see him but the second time feels weirdly jarring and wrong to me? I can’t really place why though.

Concluding Thoughts: I REALLY wish this season was longer. The short amount of time hurts the new characters the most and thus affects its story. It’s not bad that Matt has new people around him, what’s bad is that we never really get to know these people, they just get shoved into our faces. This series is good but I still like netflix’s DareDevil more. Though I haven’t rewatched it in a bit, it left a BIG impression on me. Said impression may be why I don’t like this new series that much. Maybe my expectations are too high. Maybe I’m biased against it even though I have enjoyed it. 🤷🏾 Just a rando on the internet so eh whatever

[hana-bobo-finch]

BUG FABLES HEADCANONS AAAAAAAAA🦅🦅🦅💥💥💥 (a LOT of Team Mothiva because if it wasn’t so painfully obvious by now I think they are very awesome)

• Leif’s always been rather inexpressive, but especially so after the whole. Dying thing. His shell was essentially frozen (so to speak) in place, so expressions are hard now if not downright painful to make

• Kabbu looks so incredibly goofy underneath his helmet. It was a common practice in the North to wear armor and such to make yourself look more Intimidating™️

• ascends from the clouds with the headcanon I can never and will never shut up about zzasp…….is trans. cue the round of applause. cue the screaming fans. People are marveling. People in the stands are pissing and shitting and passing out they’re cheering so hard. Because they know. They know that I’m right and—look alright I talk about this SO often but it’s the perfect storm of a headcanon. character I like? Character I like who is my favorite species of bug? character has the physical characteristics of a woman despite being referred to as a man? tailor made for a transmasc wasp lover

• Mothiva has been in many controversies. Zasp and his 70 alternative mothiva stan accounts on the termanet were always there to back her up

• Speaking of those two’s relationship: Zasp is the definition of “I can fix her” except he actually probably could fix her if he just was a bit more assertive with her. there’s a kind moth in there somewhere. deep down. very deep down.

• Elizant I wasn’t as perfect as everyone remembers!! She wasn’t BAD by any means but she’s definitely looked at with rose tinted glasses. She had no malicious intent but she would be rather careless with her search for the everlasting sapling (oh someone died when looking for it? that’s too bad. anyway)

• Leif was wayyy more weak after waking up in snakemouth than he’d let on. His body was pretty atrophied after being trapped in a web for so long and it took him a long time to regain his strength, even with his magic

• Zasp is either the worst singer imaginable or the best. There will never be an in between. I like both ideas, either he’s outperforming mothiva at her own shows or making a fool of himself

• a lot of our phrases carry over to bugnish that, to them, don’t really make logical sense. “like moths to a flame” “why would we run into a flame kabbu” “I. I actually don’t know, I heard someone say it one time. I don’t actually know what it means”

• Vi is SUCH a bad influence on Tod don’t let her around him. Leif tries to limit their direct interactions because how dare you promote violence to The Child.

• Even with Leif’s attempts to be a good influence, Tod is still absolutely determined to become an explorer and has taken up the not so great habit of throwing his toy ball at people as his own little weapon

• Tod also DESPERATELY wants his own beemerang. ADBP. whatever. He calls it a beemerang. Hawk promised he’d get one for him when he was older and more able to handle one, but who knows if that’s true or not?

• Leif’s family (more specifically grandpa) are aware that Leif isn’t telling the full story but they just go along with it to not cause trouble. Like yeah there’s no way in hell you’re my brother but whatever man go ahead you’re a part of the family now I won’t ask questions

• And even if they did ask questions he would NOT answer because that is a one way ticket to getting quarantined for the rest of his life. At least he thinks that’s what happens. Treatments for cordyceps have been developed while he was in snakemouth, but he doesn’t know that and just assumes the fate is the same as when he was young (aka being shunned from the rest of society forever and ever)

• Zasp was from the north near the deadlands, but escaped to the wasp kingdom pretty early on for a better life. Turns out the wasp kingdom was just as bad, he can’t catch a break

• Queen Vanessa II was not at all respected before the whole wasp king debacle. It was the opposite case of Elizant II, instead of being more aggressive than the previous queen she was much more of a pacifist, which didn’t sit well with the people considering they were in the midst of a ton of wars that she was doing a terrible job at fixing. “Our queen your people are killing the other wasps, you need to do something, this is a full on genocide” “idk what to to do, I told them to stop but they didn’t listen :( “

• Many queens of different species share the same hives. How they decided on the official queen of the greater kingdom? Confidential information, but rumors have gone around saying it was via a game of rock paper scissors. There are also rumors that all of the queens are all secretly dating each other so who knows what’s true and what’s not

• speakin of gay queens. Elizant II is, alas, a lesbian. I say alas because it’s sorta her job as Queen to get knocked up and keep the population going so she doesn’t have much choice in the matter. Not all bad though because she gets to have a Secret Love Affair with Zaryant. The sole reason I have this headcanon is that a few weeks ago I snapped awake with the thought “they might be gay-ants” in my head and if I did not plan a plot around that immediately I wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep

• domestic silk moths are rare to the point of near extinction. Turns out that being a species reliant on and bred by the giants to the point of losing all survival instincts isn’t great when the giants disappear. Most of them died out even after the day of awakening due to that lingering lack of survival skills, but a few managed to survive with great difficulty

• Mothiva is one of the few domestic silk moths left, something which sounds depressing (and is) but she’s awfully good at spinning it into something enthralling. Oooh look at me look I’m one of the last of my kind, I’m a limited edition moth, come and get me while I’m still here teehee

• ^ SHE IS SERIOUSLY SO MESSED UP BECAUSE OF IT THOUGH. Since most bugs lost their flight after the day of awakening it no longer really matters that her kind can’t fly, but Oh Boy does centuries of domestication do something to you. She had a lot of trouble walking at first, and even once she managed to get that down it hurt like hell. How does she manage to twirl around on stage? with great difficulty. she would greatly benefit from Any sort of mobility aid but “nooo i can’t be seen as weak nooooo” (MOTHIVA STOOOOP PLEASE TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF)

• that is also a point of contention when it comes to her and Zasp’s relationship. You’re one of the only ones of your kind left and you’re just gonna run off with some random wasp? Unsurprisingly the public is Extremely parasocial when it comes to her, especially her relationships. and Zasp is just a neat little bundle of everything that the media thinks she should Not Be Dating. You’re dating your bodyguard? Who’s not even your own species? Who’s a wasp of all things? A dangerous creature with a dagger attached to his ass that can stab you at any moment? You sure about that?

• speaking of giving bugs chronic pain! Leif is Constantly in pain because fungi are weak against ice and. well. he is a fungus with ice powers so that goes about as well as one could expect. It does more than just make him in pain all the time but I won’t go into it all here because that is what my evil ao3 account is for

• Muse was a singer alongside being an explorer. Not pop idol singer like Mothiva, just doin it for fun. Although many of her songs became incredibly bleak after the whole. husband killed by spider thing.

• to his absolute horror, Leif is somewhat reminded of himself and Muse in Zasp and Mothiva. Awkward dude infatuated with a feisty moth who kicks things? been there done that. Not that he would ever admit to thinking that because he…maybe doesn’t hate, but certainly does not like Mothiva and is always praying for their breakup (not gonna happen Leif I’m sorry 😞)

• Vi’s repressed Fr*nch accent occasionally slips out. She is mocked relentlessly by Leif every time it happens

• Kina’s adopted. She is the only one unaware of this. I have no reason for this headcanon other than that I like the thought of her being like “ugh I can’t believe my bro took in some stray from the street 😒😒😒😒” girl you Are the stray from the street

that’s all I can remember off the top of my head but there are probably many more i am sooo normal about the bugs

NOPE NOPE NOPE I JUST REMEMBERED ONE MORE. there haven’t been many instances of bees doing the fabled Bee Ball (swarming an intruder and baking them alive) because they aren’t the specific species who do it, but wasp children are often told horror stories of the Bee Ball. it’s colloquially known as Bee Fever because of the whole baking alive thing and has become a bit of a folktale. Most wasps/hornets know they aren’t at much of a risk but many have nightmares of being the victim of a Bee Ball

[deadman-is-a-moron]

Ok two episodes into this season of Doctor Who and I can officially say I hate it. If you're liking it just ignore me I want to bitch.

Complaint #1: Why are we going so fast? First episode we didn't even get to spend 5 minutes alone with Belinda before the robots came. We learned that she had a boyfriend and that she's a nurse. That's it. No other status quo just immediately to the space stuff; don't get me wrong I love the space stuff but I also like to know who the hell I'm watching before the episode starts! And it's not like anything even happened in that episode. Belinda just stood there while people exposition dumped on her.

Second episode was also very rushed albeit less so. More in the middle when they got turned 2D. Again it was mostly just the doctor and Belinda being told things rather than them actually doing anything.

Complaint #2: Character development sucks here. Last season we got Ruby's explanation for going with the doctor; she wanted to know about her mother. Belinda's character is supposed to want to go home but my girl is not giving that impression. One Scooby-Doo reference and she folds immediately. I think they're trying to do something with the nurse thing but it's really only amounting to doctor jokes. I'd much rather see her care about actually helping people than just following the doctor around; in episode one we got a bit of that in the rebel shelter but then she left just as quickly. I want to see her help Mrs. Lowenstein out of a need to care for people; not because the doctor wants to explore an abandoned theater.

Also the emotional scenes they keep on trying to jam in are so bad! The "You're dangerous" scene would've actually meant something if Belinda didn't forgive him straight away. The little 2D confession scene about Gallifrey would've been cool if it weren't two seconds long (and if we hadn't heard this conversation with 20 other companions). The "we're not real" scene would've been sad if we had gotten to know these three characters for more that two seconds.

And for the love of Ncuti Gatwa's tear ducts can he not cry every episode? It is losing its emotional value quickly.

Complaint #3: I AM SICK AND TIRED OF THE GODS! It was cool during the Donna special but oh my lord last season 1/3 of the season was dedicated to the pantheon and it is getting old. This is a fun sci fi show! I don't want to see these mythological creatures! And the "alien made of light takes the form of a cartoon" concept is so cool WHY did they not just keep it that way?

This is like my 4th time saying something has lost its value but The Doctor beating an unbeatable god really loses its value after the 4th time in one run.

Honorable Mention: The shitty Supernaturalesque jab they took at the doctor who fan base. Maybe I'm one of the fans they're talking about! Doesn't excuse bad writing.

Conclusion: I don't know last season I had complaints but overall there were some banger episodes in there. This season has just lost me so quickly. And it is such a letdown after coming from that pretty good Christmas special.

Don't know if anyone will read all that. If you did tell me how you're liking the season!

[transmasccofee]

i think the thing that is interesting to me about teruhashi is how she not only doesnt hate the attention she gets, not only enjoys the attention she gets, but actively and punishingly chases it. While also simultaneously hating it.

She cant get any peace or quiet, she can’t express her real personality, yet she pushes herself to know everything about everyone so she doesnt have any flaws whatsoever, she can’t just be the sweet pretty girl, she has to effectively make it so everyone she meets forms a one sided relationship with her because it feels like she cares about them. not only that, She initially is totally friendless, because “girls are intimidated by perfection and anyway i dont have time” or something (i don’t remember what she actually says but it was along those lines)

in the beginning she isn’t standing up to anyone, even creepy guys who clearly dont have her best interests, who internally she hates. The only time she gets close is her brother because he not only disrespected her but publicly embarrassed her in front of someone she cared about.

Initially it seems like the only person who sees her as a human is saiki, to everyone else she’s practically an idol, or even a fictional character. Which is insane because she’s NOT. She’s a 16/17 year old girl in highschool.

And despite all of this, she pursues it. She needs everyone to admire her more than they admire anyone. She is willing to put herself through eating actual trash to achieve this. She lives her life like an idea rather than a real person, like she’s a writer except the character she’s writing is herself.

Someone please send her ass to therapy

[gunsatthaphan]

"let's go on a date."