#i don't think any of my headcanons or analysis are good compared to what others have put out there that i like so much better ahaha ;;

[mossy123302]

I am not exactly entirely good with character or relationship analysis (A reason why my dumb fox head is aroace because I am not good w/ navigating romantic relationships)

So this is just my best effort writing the dynamic Q! Philza and Q! Missa have.

I do like to headcanon, like others, that Philza is indeed aroace, but not in a way, that like he doesn't understand what platonic or romantic means. Sure, it's funny to tease Philza about it, but it's also true that close friends could very much do so. I think Philza is quite aware of what is romantic and platonic, he knows the boundaries of it. I mean Philza is literally married to the Goddess of Death (implied) Kristin. It's more or less that Philza doesn't simply care for such labels. (I very much hc that Philza could probably be genderfluid, like me- Peeposmile)

It's something Philza even mentioned in the live stream when talking about the deities in hardcore world. It's something they don't care about and just vibe with whatever they're vibing with. They don't care and I think Philza is the same in that mindset. He just doesn't care, and will be blunt about it, if he needs to actually talk about it.

Philza seems to deeply cherish those that are ... similar to himself from what I can tell. I don't fully watch Fit or other POV to get a clear understanding of Phil's relationship w/ others so I'm sorry if I don't include them, same with Technoblade. I've recently started watching mcyt again and I don't want to talk about something I don't have a full understanding of.

Anyways, Phil deeply connects with those that share similar traits to him in some regard. Techno whose the Blood God, who clearly has an understanding of death, war and loyalty and this clearly shows via Missa too. Missa, while not a fighter, does understand death and how important it is... He literally is a gentle grim reaper. He understands death much clearly, because his mother is also a Goddess tied to Death as well. Missa is also fiercely loyal to Phil and his children, because honestly, he was so busy! He didn't have to return to Quesadilla Island but he did because he cares about Phil and his children, quickly adopted Tallulah and he hadn't even seen her yet.

Whoever Phil trusted and guards with his life, Missa will guard that person with his life as well. Of course, unless, we talk about BadboyHalo then that's another discussion LOL. Such a mess between the demon (?) and grim reaper.

Anyways, we know how much Phil values such loyalty that, I cannot remember what Tubbo said, but he immediately locked Tubbo out of his own home because of what he said about someone and while despite implied flings with others. Philza never spoke about others the way he speaks about Missa.

Their relationship definitely...crosses the line of platonic and romantic. I can see why it would be considered queer platonic relationship, but also at the same time, it's like there is some line being breached which makes everyone raise an eyebrow cause sir, what do you mean platonic-

Philza is clearly...possessive over Missa, because the way he got so defensive when Bagi mentions Antoine (right?) and Missa should date. Philza didn't have to get so defensive, because Missa already immediately denied. Philza could have kissed anyone else, like Fit, but chose Missa instead. He even demanded Tall Missa to the admins, got jealous over any shipping fanart and acts like he's fine and doesn't miss Missa at all. *Coughs in* "I'm going to f*cking off myself. Did Missa log on again?!" (Side eye Philza)

Like he's done lots of things that makes everyone just raise an eyebrow- Philza is fooling no one but himself (& Missa)

I also enjoy the lore Missa has going on with accepting that he is indeed a part of the family and isn't alone. Missa had just lost Spreen, and suddenly, he had no one but the Angel of Death as his assigned partner. Missa must have felt so unmatched compared to Philza because what could he even offer to the family? He had nothing but his music and kind words, which is everyone that Death Family wanted. Missa brought a different change to the family that makes them be vulnerable, to not be so serious all the time and to actually just relax and be like a family that's just on vacation.

I mean, and just talking about loyalty and kindness. Missa never gave up... He fought his way back, despite getting taken away by wolves and suddenly Badboyhalo being so cruel. He always made sure his family was safe and always brought something for them.

Didn't Missa say he got lost because he tried to find a gift for Philza?! Like...the commitment to find a perfect gift for Philza, and still returning (sure, without the gift). While it's hilarious, Missa doesn't run away because of his wet cat behavior. He runs away because he doesn't want to put his family in danger, he cannot fight as well as others can. He relies on others to fight for him and then he jumps in to help, but because the time zone doesn't allow such things. Missa is forced to run.

And Missa is good at it. He will run as far as he can, if it means his family will be safe. He isn't running away from his family, but the danger because at the end of it all, he will return back to his family, no matter how long it takes.

And Missa casually admitted to Chayanne that he needs Philza more than he realized, the same way Philza realizes he needed Missa but didn't dare admit, whether it is out of fear or something else that he couldn't voice it. But Philza clearly showed it through his actions, that he brought/dragged Missa to Rose's Sanctuary before they went to sleep forever. He didn't have to do so, but he did... indicating their bond is much deeper because Rose's Sanctuary is literally a pocket dimension that no one cannot access.

Missa has access. Now he sleeps eternally with his family...

Also their whole dynamic just being Sun/Moon. Fated to never see each other at times, until an eclipse and yet...they still leave signs to let the other know that they're still remembered. This also brought to my attention how Missa is afraid of the sky, while Philza yearns for the sky/to fly.

You think The Sun (Philza) misses the Moon (Missa) so much, because of how far they are, instead of just not seeing each other. The Moon clings to Earth, because they're afraid to go beyond...to something unknown while the Sun cannot stay still, and yearns to burn and be free.

Deathduo/Pissa has me on chokehold.

I do hope this was an interesting analysis, I'm not very good at this..honestly it's probably just me rambling if anything.

[durarara-brain-rot]

i saw your analysis video about shizuo (great video btw!) and now i'm curious... what ARE your opinions on each shizuo ship? because to be honest i don't care for any shizuo ship either LOLOLOL

Oh my gosh I’m so glad you liked the video! And I can talk about it for way too long but I will try to summarize my feelings about each ship that I’ve seen around! Also this is not me saying anyone shouldn’t ship these characters this is just my opinion on why I think they don’t work and why I think Shizuo needs a therapist and then a lover interest that is removed from all of the chaos of the plots!

Tom and Shizuo; while they make good friends I can’t see them as a romantic couple because there is that power dynamic of Tom being his boss and the fact that Shizuo can’t keep any other job. This will quite literally be a power dynamic they could never get over as long as they are both working.

Izaya and Shizuo; they try to kill each other on a daily basis and in my opinion they both give each other so much anxiety it could never be a productive relationship. Both Izaya and Shizuo are mentally ill men who have a lot of internalized issues that lead to them lashing out. Izaya views Shizuo as a monster because he can’t predict what Shizuo will do and can’t understand his motivation. Izaya even says in the sunset of Izaya orihara that he “neglected to take in account the human side of Shizuo” he viewed him as lesser and any relationship born out of that dynamic inherently is toxic and will lead to abuse. I also feel that this ship breeds a lot of peoples internalized misogyny by perpetuating the idea that men can’t feel anything but anger and sex.

Celty and Shizuo; my sister ships this one and there isn’t much wrong with it compared to some of the canon relationships and ships I’ve seen in this fandom but in my opinion they work better as friends. Shizuo has very little close friends and even less friends that he doesn’t have to worry as much about hurting. Simon and Shizuo can go toe to toe but they aren’t really close from what we’ve seen, more friendly acquaintances. Celty is on an equal playing field and can more easily communicate with him since he quite literally has to calm down enough to focus on what she is writing. (I also headcanon that Shizuo has dyslexia considering he has trouble reading all of the things on the dollar message board and gets pissed off by how many words and how fast the posts were going. I may be projecting with this though) I feel that a romance between Celty and Shizuo would further separate him from others due to the fact that people would more likely associate him to the supernatural even more than they already do.

Shinra and Shizuo; Shinra doesn’t see Shizuo someone interesting, even the friendship stemmed from Shinra finding Shizuo’s powers intriguing on a scientific standpoint. Shinra should also get therapy cause boy oh boy that man needs it before getting into a relationship. Shinra as we’ve seen with Celty is a bit of a push over and is secretive because he is overly possessive. I think he has a major fear of abandonment too. Shizuo needs someone who will call him out and calm him down. He also seems to like solitude and Shinra would drive him up a wall.

Vorona and Shizuo; she literally tries to kill him and only got close to him to learn how to kill him. Yes she grows fond of him and he grows fond of her but they end up having a mentor/student dynamic creating an unhealthy dynamic if they were to get together. Plus the age gap is a bit much especially considering vorona is mentally stunted from her upbringing. Vorona is barely 20 and Shizuo is pushing 26-27 depending on what source you look at for the final season. While 6-7 years older for someone over the age of 25 isn’t that bad when it comes to someone like vorona who is barely 20 and who has had no healthy relationship with anyone let alone herself it can create an extremely unhealthy dynamic. Vorona needs time to explore her life and emotions that she just hasn’t had the years todo. Shizuo by the end of the first season (not talking about the manga because I’m not caught up) he is fully developed and actualized as a person. He has over come a lot of different internal battles and struggles and got more control over his strength. Vorona is not at that level of maturity nor is she someone that should be. She needs the time to develop and a relationship with anyone would stunt her growth in my opinion.

If you guys ship any of these characters obviously this is no hate to you guys but these are my thoughts and opinions as someone’s who’s spent way to much time breaking down the show and each of the characters. I’ve been obsessed with this show for going on ten years and could talk about my feelings and observations about it for ages.

I ship Shizuo with therapy!

Please no one kill me for my opinions!

[sweetmariihs2]

Cedric and Wormwood's childhood together

In the "Substitute Cedric", at the end of the episode, Cedric talks about teaching the royal prep students a spell that can turn rocks into ravens. The fandom also noticed this, because somehow it may be implying that Wormwood was a rock before. And I also believe that this is true, or else they wouldn't have put that in the episode because it would cause misinterpretation of their characters- there's a huge chance of this being true.

Cedric knows the spell, which means that he did it before. The only raven we have in the show is Wormwood, who happens to be his familiar. So like. Okay.

CEDRIC DID THE SPELL AND MADE WORMWOOD. It's not like my first headcanon: that they met when Cedric was young and still at Hexley Hall, and someone in the school staff (because it's an advenced spell, Cedric can't cast it) did a spell who would guarantee Wormy's life while Cedric is still alive (or else he would already be dead by now, he's a bird, there needs to have a spell somewhere) because he's his familiar now. I believe that everyone needed to find a creature to be their familiar at some point at Hexley Hall, in the first years (because having an animal assistant is necessary). But at first I was thinking like "no, okay, Cedric found Wormwood somewhere and brought him home, they did the spell and now he's his familiar" but some days later I watched that episode and found out about the "turning rocks into ravens spell"

You know what this means? Cedric literally made Wormwood. He gave him life after a rock. So his betrayal gets more painful and has a whole different meaning.

I guess we can compare this situation to a son turning against his father, somehow. I don't believe that Wormwood sees him as a father, actually very from that. He just thinks that he was a middle schooler who cast a spell on a rock and since then Wormwood is his familiar, that's all. They grew up together, more like brothers or "best (worst) friends" I would say. @shychick-52 has a good character analysis of him in her fic "The Master Wand", that explains that Wormwood's anger comes from the fact that he was just as miserable as Cedric, but Cedric got help. He got out of the dark, but he didn't held Wormwoods hand (wing) to pull him from there too. While he was getting better and being influenced by Sofia to be a good person, the same didn't happened to Wormwood, who was so deep in his hatred, insecurity (not getting other people's approval and believing that just being nice wasn't enough), revenge that he didn't change his mind. While Cedric had Sofia to help him, Wormwood had no one. It was assumed that just because Cedric got better, his raven would get better too, because of couse, a familiar obeys and thinks the same way as his master, right? He could have been saved by Cedric or Clover. But that didn't happened. And I still think he deserves a redemption arc btw, or at least an episode.

But yes, the thought about Wormwood being created after a rock by Cedric it's implied in stf and it makes the whole situation more tense. Imagine how Wormwood was feeling, imagine how Cedric was feeling. Wormwood's reasons are understandable but it's a little weird the fact that he choose to betray Cedric so fast with someone who he doesn't even know yet (Prisma). It was REALLY FAST. He didn't think twice. And it confuses me why he choose to be so many years by Cedric's side, when he could have just ran away like that at any moment. If he always thought that Cedric was an idiot then he should have ran to another master years ago, because as we can see, he doesn't even think twice before leaving him.

When Cedric says something like "what about all those years of friendship" it's not just about their friendship. (Headcanon part) It's about when the whole class needed to turn a rock into an animal to make that animal their familiar, for each animal there was a different spell and all his classmates got the best ones first: owls, cats. He got one of the last ones, a raven, the one no one wanted, just like him.

And he was the only one who repeatedly was making feathers, vegetables, while everyone was laughing, making fun of him and whispering about "him being him" again, looking at him with disgust, asking why he was still trying- and the situation was starting to get humiliating. Everyone had already finished. And after so many tries, everyone looking at him with a judgemental look like he was in the middle of the room (just like how happened at the incident, he remembers that really well), Cedric gave up.

Maybe he watched while his teacher did the "familiar will live until their master is alive" spell in each one of the students, making sure that they all were now officially connected. But Cedric didn't had one, so he was the only one who just watched in silence. His teacher went to him, and as always he told Cedric to keep trying later, which made him feel a little better, but not a lot.

He kept trying, trying and trying after school, maybe at night (Hexley Hall boarding school headcanon time). And when he finally did it, the rock turned into a baby bird, and Cedric started crying out of happiness. He was able to make a real crow- and the baby was just in the palm of his hand making little noises and looking at him with a confused look, with not even a thought going through his mind. The baby raven didn't knew a thing but Cedric loved him already, just like the feeling of getting your first dog but this time with the whole stituation of the spell, Cedric being pressured and judged, and now he finally did it.

He immediately knew that this bird would be his best friend. He was a little weird looking, just like a little fluff ball, but Cedric was a little weird too, that was one more thing that they had in common. And he was so proud and loved his new bird so much that he wouldn't mind even if he didn't had feathers. What happened was that in the next day everyone went to class with their new familiars and Cedric was there with his baby bird, all proud of himself. Everyone saw this and some even thought that he got the bird somewhere, that he was pretending the spell worked just so that he wouldn't make a fool out of himself in today's class. But somehow they proved it was true, or the teacher just simply believed in him, the thing was that he finally had his familiar and the spell was casted on him to make his familiar permanently. And since then he carried the bird everywhere.

He gave him the name Wormwood after the herb. Maybe there was a funny situation with a wormwood and the baby bird involved, and that's when Cedric decided his name. But the thing is: they were always together since their childhood. I'm not really giving a deep dive into their relationship right now, so there's no conclusion to this post, but I wanted to share my headcanon. I made a drawing yesterday and their childhood together is in my mind ever since.

That's what I made (visual representation of the scenes):

I think I'm gonna make more but idk. Hexley Hall Cedric is my roman empire

[tokiro07]

Undead Unluck ch.202 thoughts

[Wake-Up Call]

(Contents: battle analysis - Language/Ichico/Nico, speculation - Feng)

NO! DIGNITY! FOR! FENG!!!

I don't care what happens in the rest of this fight, Feng getting dragged in half-naked, unconscious and drooling is the funniest thing that could have possibly happened in this moment, and I love it. Keep pushin' this man down the stairs, Tozuka, you'll only make me love him more

As much as I want to go on a tirade about how endearing L101 Feng is compared to the psychopath from L100, there's a good handful of details in this chapter that I want to focus on

For me, the detail that stuck out the most in my mind is the fact that Lan created a loophole to circumvent the "N" rule in Shiritori. So long as the Japanese word doesn't end in "N," it's fair game, and I'm willing to bet that even if she does end with the Japanese "N," she'll say that she still has a valid move with the other language word, so it's valid. With this knowledge, the already unbalanced game has tipped even further in Lan's favor, which rang a very familiar bell for me: "You're a UMA and you can't even follow the rules?" Nico once praised UMA conceptually for their adherence to rules, that they must abide by the changes to science that they embody, and yet both Ghost and Language have demonstrated that they aren't above cheating, both in regards to Nico specifically

Lan's ability to conjure things that don't exist with properties that they otherwise shouldn't have (Shenlong is a storm dragon, and yet she made it breathe fire 🙄) pretty squarely lands her among the category of "unscientific Rules," which L100 Nico bluntly declared were "an enemy to science and to [him]." Basically, Lan can just make up whatever she wants; things don't have to be accurate so long as she can imagine them working in her favor. Sure, it's better if she can justify a thought, like creating the Lance of Longinus rather than just a regular lance, but even then, the Lance of Longinus is really just a regular lance that was used in an important moment. I guess maybe it's an Artifact with special properties, but it's noticeably lacking the stylized Fu (不) kanji that is typically indicative of Artifacts, so I think she's deliberately basing it off the legend and attributing special abilities to it because of its notoriety

In short, Lan can just headcanon whatever she wants into existence as long as she can justify it contextually. She mentions the Shinto concept of "kotodama," the idea that words have power in and of themselves, and is using it to enhance her concepts. In the first round, she created a meteor and specified that it was made of iron so that it would have maximum offensive output...for a normal meteor. If, however, she had the opportunity to say a word like, oh, I don't know...Chicxulub Impactor? She would still be summoning a meteor, but she'd also be summoning the meteor. The prototypical idea of how dangerous meteors can be, the accepted cause of the extinction of the dinosaurs! Now, maybe she wouldn't have been able to summon a meteor with quite that much destructive power, or she'd be worried about getting caught in the blast, but theoretically that would have been pretty much a game-ender

Picking a word with a clear definition is one thing, but picking one with a specific connotation? In a fight between imaginations, word association is a powerful tool, which I think is why Ichico's Umibozu ended up being such a weak defense against Shenlong. She was just scrambling for any mythological creature, but she doesn't seem to have any idea what an Umibozu is or what it's capable of. Dragons are associated with destruction and fire and invulnerability, and just about anyone can tell you that, but Umibozu are pretty specific; they sink ships. Ichico doesn't seem to know that, and in fact didn't even imagine the generally accepted shape of an Umibozu, instead making something that looks more akin to an oni or maybe a namahage. Some fans have speculated that Ichico, living in Britain, may be a diaspora and unfamiliar with her Japanese heritage, but regardless, she's definitely unfamiliar with her peoples' mythology. If she had been, not only could she have at least made an Umibozu that was the right shape and size, she might even have chosen something more appropriate for fighting a dragon - from Shen Long's [G], Ichico would have been better served summoning [G]rass Cutter, or Kusanagi no Tsurugi, a weapon associated with the slaying of Yamata no Orochi and which was said to have been used to control wind in order to divert flames, giving it a clear advantage against both Shenlong's scales and fire breath

Buuut that's not what happened, and Ichico's inability to think of a proper word had the narrative utility of A) showing that she could participate too, B) showing how souls can be damaged during this game of Shiritori, and C) giving Nico a bit of a push towards being able to perceive souls. The idea that the imaginary can be made manifest in this game is clearly starting to have something of an effect on Nico's perceptions, and Ichico summoning a knock-off Umibozu without his being aware of it is the most concrete evidence he's gotten so far that Ichico is present at all (aside from moving the Psycho Pods last week). The more evidence he has of her presence, the more willing he'll be to believe in souls, and eventually he'll just accept them and be able to interact with them normally

Once Nico fully accepts souls, he'll have a much easier time damaging Lan; we've already established that hitting her with lightning won't cut it, so nearly any other physical attack is going to similarly fail. However, damaging her soul will be much more effective, since that's a more direct source of her life and power. In fact, she practically told us that her soul is her weakness: "kotodama," the soul of words. The words she summons with her imagination carry her soul in them. Beast summoned, controlled, and assimilated beasts by extending his soul to them and devouring parts of theirs, so it would make sense if Lan's words aren't just summons, but constructs made of her very soul. I'm sure it's a bit more complex than that, since none of Nico's words hurt himself and the meteor's destruction didn't hurt Lan, but at the very least, things that don't already exist seem to tie directly to the user's soul. Feng defeating Shenlong will likely prove this hypothesis next week

Speaking of Feng! While I'm sure many people are upset that Tella didn't end up teaming up with Nico, there really isn't anyone more perfect for this fight now that we understand the mechanics of it

Sure, Feng doesn't really seem to be the imaginative type, nor does he have literally any linguistic capabilities beyond Mandarin, but A) he's the best hand-to-hand fighter in the entire series, making him excellent for both offense and defense against whatever Lan is liable to throw at the team, and B) he's the only other character outside of the current arc to ever acknowledge souls. If the main goal of this fight is to further the collective understanding of souls, then giving Nico access to both of the L101 Negators with explicit understanding of their souls is absolutely the ideal path. Not only will Feng likely give Nico a method of actually communicating with Ichico, but we're also most likely finally going to understand what L100 Feng meant by "I've got the hang of this soul thing." Even if the current Feng hasn't actually learned it though and his line about "having a firm grasp on [his] soul" was unrelated, this is still a fantastic opportunity for him to retroactively learn that lesson

Also! Going back to the idea of kotodama, one common application of the concept that you're all likely familiar with is the kiai, the spirited shout that martial artists perform during strikes. As near as I can find, Chinese martial arts don't have a term for it, but the custom is still practiced, the idea being that the shout invigorates the attacker and intimidates the defender, increasing the power behind the attack. Stating attack names also fulfills this purpose, so even if Feng doesn't understand the core concept of kotodama, merely giving his strikes a name should exponentially increase their effectiveness against Lan, as their identification should give Feng a clearer image of their intended outcome. A Zessho Hohou should be able to pierce right through her body no problem, and a Hakkai Zanko would probably send her to meet Luna

Again though, this is just speculation, and things will likely end up going much differently. Still, if I've illustrated anything here, I hope it's that Feng's presence has a lot more potential beyond "strongest fighter defends physically weakest fighters." Honestly, the thing I'm most excited about beyond the power development is seeing how Feng interacts with Nico specifically, cus that's a duo I never expected to see and I have zero clue how it's going to go down

Until next time, let's enjoy life!

[itooaminthisepisode]

Hi, me again (sorry if this is annoying), but I was wondering if you had any advice on writing fanfics. Cuz i just started, and im having a hard time properly expressing the characters' head space. Or writing dialogues that i feel like the characters would actually say. Again, feel free to ignore this if it's annoying.

not annoying at all don't worry abt it!! glad to help out an aspiring writer!!

and honestly it might sound cliche but my best advice is to read!! see what your favourite fic authors are doing and take note of what you really like about their fics. is it the way they describe emotions? is it their sense of humour? i find that reading a fic with this in mind helps me understand what i want to see in my own fics!!

also, it might sound a little odd but find out what tense you best like to write in. i always used to write in past tense because it's what i was taught, but when i started writing for the house fandom i switched to present tense and it feels SO much easier for me - it feels like i'm actually there, so i can better describe the scene. it might not be the same for you, but i would recommend trying to write a few snippets in different tenses to see what works best!

another thing i would recommend is reading meta posts about your fandoms, specifically character analysis. that certainly helped me when i was stuck with characterisation! alternatively, you could watch an episode or two (or read it or whatever other media your fandoms are) with the express goal of noting down their motivations for doing things. getting to the fundamentals of why a character reacted a certain way, or what made them say a certain thing, is immensely useful.

and one of the best pieces of advice i can give: write what YOU love. don't write something because you think it'll be popular, or because other people like it - write for yourself and yourself alone!! i cannot stress enough how much this mindset helped me. a few years ago i used to get so burned out whenever i tried to write, because i was trying to appeal to the masses with my ideas. all that ended up happening was me getting stressed as hell and never publishing any of it. but now that i'm writing things that i'm interested in and that i enjoy, the process is much easier because i'm genuinely having fun :D

also: don't worry if you think it's 'bad.' it doesn't have to be perfect - it's fanfiction! you're putting it out on the internet for free, and that's incredible in its own right!! plus, i guarantee you that someone out there is going to love it no matter what. try not to compare yourself to other authors either, even if you have an idea similar to someone else - i know it's easier said than done, but comparison is the mind killer. this comic genuinely helped me so much with this:

people will be delighted to see your work!! and don't be afraid to write things that are weird or freaky or a bit out of the box. there's an audience for everything - write for yourself first and foremost, but oftentimes you'll be able to find other people who love the same tropes and ideas and headcanons that you do, and it's great to find a little community where everyone can uplift and support each other :)

hope this wasn't too rambly and i hope it helps!! good luck in your writing endeavours!! <3

[otaku-tactician]

if you reblogged the character ask post, can you do 6 (something you have in common with the character), 12 (a headcanon you have about the character), and 24 (what character from another fandom reminds you of them) for a cu chulainn of your choice?

Hello, thank you for the ask ^^ I appreciate it a lot. Sure, I'll go for Lancer Cu then.

OOF I WROTE SO MUCH AS ALWAYS XDD

6. What's something you have in common with this character?

Depression This is a really good question, to be honest. I've looked up to Lancer Cu for a long time, and never used to think he and I could possibly share anything in common- but as an adult, I'm starting to realise maybe we do.

Let me think... Firstly, maybe in enjoying the small things? Lancer Cu does a way better job of that than me, though. But yeah, sometimes the small things bring the most joy. I can't compare our lives though as Lancer's had it very rough.

I guess he and I also share saying things that can cross the line in common as well. Though it seems like he does it more to tease, I tend to accidentally just let things slip TT-TT and regret it immediately after. We can both be very impulsive and stubborn.

What else... Maybe we also share the goal of personality development in common, as well? In fate, it seems like Lancer has changed a little from who he used to be, and is working pretty hard in various senses. I also am trying to become a better person because holy moly, I was a even more wild mess back in my past, as well. So I guess he and I got that in common LOL

Do Lancer and I share much in common? Technically, he is my blind spot in terms of character analysis, so he and I may share more or less in common than I can consciously recognise.

12. What's a headcanon you have for this character?

This is less a headcanon but more something that's been hinted at in canon, too- that Lancer Cu may very well also be the guy who also helps from the background. Yeah I get he says a lot about how heroes have to be flashy and stand out- or there's no point in heroism, but some of that does also read as a cover, for other aspects of him that can sincerely assist others without any prompting or praise. Maybe that is why FGO calls him 'aniki', because he does help out the same way a reliable sibling does.

Like when he ignores Bazett's order to kill the watcher from the church, instead settling for scaring them off. Or how he seems to often watch the events of Hollow Ataraxia from a distance. There's a side to him that feels very private and more clandestine in his feelings and activities. Maybe he's a softie deep down or something XD I'm embarrassed talking about this lol.

I am not sure, but he is a very multifaceted guy; but seems to have a really warm and soft side that watches out for others; on top of the sides that are a bold hero, sides that are ruthless, and sides that sometimes get way too swept up in his urges, too. That's just my take on him, though!

He also seems a bit nihilistic inside... That's just my read. He looks tired. Yet he's still going. That's pretty impressive to me.

And maybe he does have many regrets, maybe Lancer is just trying to seem as if he's got everything covered- when deep down he may be feeling a lot of mixed emotions about many things.

I understand if these points may be seen as disagreeable, but I can't help but feel like Lancer is keeping a very tight lid upon his innermost heart. Don't get me wrong, he's very familiar and intimate with others, but there just feels like there's something he's guarding with his life.

Could it be his ideals? Like as you said with Cu Alter defending his honor at all costs, could Lancer Cu very well be the same? Are they defending their wish with all they've got?

24. What other character from another fandom of yours that reminds you of them?

Thanks! This is a really good ask, as well. I often watch a lot of things and go 'this guy reminds me a little of cu!' And then I forget LOL. Overall, Cu feels pretty unique; however he does share numerous aspects in common with other characters, in my opinion.

One example I think of is Luka from Tokimemo Girls' Side 3, but not as in that they're very similar (they're pretty different personality wise); but they share shallow traits in common such as- a love for nature-related activities, need to chill on their own sometimes, and seem very light-hearted on the surface; only then for that to eventually give way to all the suffering and difficulties they are truly feeling inside.

He does also remind me a little bit of Kamina from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagaan. That kind of character with an incredible self-drive and bombastic personality- that is concealing a lot of pain and fear inside reminds me a little bit of Lancer Cu, for some reason.

And he reminds me of the dog named the Irish Wolfhound. I think because these dogs make for impeccable hunters and have a lot of energy, but are also the kinds of pets that can also be pretty gentle, kind, friendly and calm. That juxtaposition in nature reminds me of Lancer a lot.

Sorry, I am not too sure. There's loads of guys who may love a good battle, are very bold on the surface, be a funny flirt, act lighthearted whilst concealing a darker side, can toy with opponents during battle, and those who serve loyally to their cause. They remind me a little bit of Cu Chulainn, but not many characters really strongly remind me of him.

Thank you! ^^

[cuntylouis]

I blocked this anon but i wanted to use it as an example of a few things i feel it embodies very well:

1) The treatment of abuse and sa victims in this fandom is absolute garbage. People i follow are generally lovely but outside of them there are so many fans who have fucked up ideas of how abuse works and don't have any genuine sympathy for victims. I already noticed it when the show was airing and some fans mocked others who dared to have a strong reaction to hyperrealistic domestic abuse depicted in the show, like what did you expect from a show about blood-drinking monsters you're so fragile etc., as if fantasy violence that is distinctly imaginary and dv that is a very real existing destructive thing were in any way comparable. It shows as constant excusing and erasing of Lestat's actions and victim blaming against Louis and Claudia because people think only if you're perfect you can be a real victim when in reality anyone can be abused and it doesn't have anything to do with their moral character. I feel the way this fandom treats abuse victims is regularly rude and dismissive. If this anon is an abuse victim themselves like they claim it just makes it sadder because i would never talk another victim in this way and i did nothing to warrant a response like this

2) As this anon makes abudantly clear, the earlier Jonah discourse didn't really have much to do with Jonah or his relationship with Louis or any genuine analysis about the show, but some fans' enthusiastic desire to find more flaws in Louis to bring him down a peg and make him appear more evil so that other characters' actions would appear less awful. By 'other characters' i mean mainly Lestat because lets be real it's almost always the Lestat fans, and usually (white) book fans, doing that because they can't accept that the show unlike books doesn't act like the sun shines out Lestat's ass, so they need to find ways to make Lestat and Louis more equal in their shittiness so that Louis would be less of a victim in their relationship (because again, they imagine person's innocence and goodness define how much they're a victim). It's so stupid for many reasons but especially because Louis is already a very flawed character in canon! And Louis fans are usually the first ones to acknowledge this like i've seen close to zero Louis fans acting like he's a saint, his flawedness is a part of why we find him so interesting. He was a pimp exploiting women and in the present day he lives obscenely rich in a city built on slavery paying poor migrant workers to drink from them. You don't need to make up additional theories of him being a sexual predator to validate yourself. And you definitely don't need to insist a headcanon you made up based on one ambiguous line is actually irrefutable canon and other fans are abuse apologists when not agreeing with you. Good lord

3) Last but not least, going back to the first two; some people in this fandom have some very weird and harmful ideas about sexual abuse and are not taking it seriously enough. It left a bad taste in my mouth how many people acted like the whole Louis/Jonah thing was some smug "gotcha" moment and talking about in humorous or performative "oh i'm so shocked" way. I also found out there are alarmingly many people in this fandom who think someone in their late 20s having sex with a 16 year isn't sexual abuse. I'm asking everyone who thinks that to unfollow and block me. I guess that line of thinking is predictable considering how deeply the books are entreched in pedophilia and rape apologia so that many people who are big fans of them are going share Rice's deranged opinions. This is one of the fandoms where i'm happy that it's going to expand and have more and more non book readers who are capable of taking their lestat and rice goggles off, and the shitty section of old fandom will get more and more inconsequential

[ofmiceandpeace]

Heyo! I have come with the ASP question ask. Feel free to answer in however many or little words you want for any of then🫡

0. What were the opinions of those around you to the book compared to yours and what's your opinion/any comments on those opinions?

1. did you read asp for school? if not, why/when?

2. what were your first impressions of the book? did they change?

3. favorite character and why?

4. favorite part and why?

5. favorite quote and why? (Or just a quote you like)

6. what’s the tea on brinker? (love or hate?)

7. why do YOU think gene jounced the limb?

8. was gene and finny’s relationship strictly platonic or was there other stuff going on? pls explain any relevant headcanons<- hcs optional

15. Did asp affect you personally at all? how so?

HI YES.

0. People around me like the book like I do and it's some people's favorite book (which, same). We all think it's very moving. How would you not think that after those last few pages in the last chapter where Gene is recounting his memories with Finny???? It makes me so sad.

Yes I did.

I honestly can't remember well. I think that I thought it was boring / going to be boring on my first read. I'm not good at analysis so I only really got the meaning after listening to analyses on the book's themes and plot points and character traits and things like that. Like on the first read, I binged most of it on a weekend so I just read the butt paragraph and didn't think anything of it..???

I love Gene!! He reminded me so much of myself. Okay wait I didn't mean for that to sound narcissistic but it's just so cool to relate to a character so heavily. He's so complex and tragic.

Let me think... all of the scenes are good but something I thought was really cute was the one right before the trial. Like you know when Gene and Finny are studying and Finny admits that he always 'knew' the war was real. The best part is after that, where they're kind of laughing about it and Gene's like "I liked your idea a lot better." So basically the interaction I will put here since it's really cute:

LIKE AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW then brinker saunters in and ruins everything.

5. A quote I like, perhaps my favorite? is a small part in the last chapter. It goes: "Nothing as he was growing up at home, nothing at Devon, nothing even about the war had broken his harmonious and natural unity. So at last I had." URGHHHHHH "SO AT LAST I HAD" OK THIS QUOTE IS SO SO SO SAD!!!! So I guess that's why I like it...

6. I HATE Brinker. I'm sorry if this opinion is shallow but bro couldn't have minded his own business??? He wanted to seem more mature and conduct a whole ass trial by himself and it caused Finny to break his leg AGAIN. Then he freaking died??? Like nah. At least in the 2004 he gets a small redemption at the end, kind of.

7. I think Gene jounced the limb (obviously subconsciously, not purposefully) kind of out of spite. Like he realized that he and Finny were not rivals, and that Finny was on another, higher level than he could ever be. So now that Gene realized he was wrong, he was kind of mad at himself and at Finny (at the fact that Finny was so good). So because he was mad at Finny subconsciously in that moment, his knees bent and the whole thing happened.

8. Please. If there wasn't an official relationship there was obviously some pining happening, from the way Gene described him that one time, and the way Finny acts towards him.

9. ASP definitely affected me personally. Like I said before, I related heavily to Gene; his whole psychology and character traits, being jealous and insecure and paranoid, is so me. He's also introspective and I think about my psychology a lot which is kind of annoying and strange. But moreover, the ending lesson being that people mistaken others as enemies because of their insecurity resonated with me and I kind of realized I'm a negative person on the inside. I don't know if that sounds whimsical that I took that lesson to heart, but I think about it all the time. Also A Separate Peace literally takes up a lot of my time 😭 that and Peace Breaks Out. John Knowles was really on something with all these boys' prep school novels.

Thank you for the ask 😁😁😁😁😁 I think this is all I'll answer lmao

[actualbird]

Oh god!

I really love the poly headcanons they are so sweet.... (or don't but that's part of it and i think the tot boys+MC deserve all the love the world has to give).

But, liking it or not, our 4 beloved boys are kinda complicated (that's what makes them perfect). Plus I never thought about how people get in poly relationships. So i was thinking, how do you think they all get into a polyrelationship together?

(I really have no idea of how that would happen)

hi, two anons!! im glad you guys liked my nxx team polycule stuff!! i'll answer these in one go, my "headcanon" (in quotes because i think this kinda turned into a character analysis/minific of sorts HAHA) being what first anon asked, How They Get Together.

heads up, wc of this is 1.9k words long so buckle up for a bit of a read jfsjdfkjbf

because first anon, youre right!!! the boys are stupendously complicated which i love so so much but canon has also shown us clearly that each of the boys' quirks and habits and tendencies causes a lot of (mostly played for laughs) friction. the bickering, the backhanded insults, the "im the best one here" preening contests. theyre all SOOOO RIDICULOUS and it is hilarious but yep! the boys r complex!! and that means this beautiful ship, imo, has a lot of phases to get to the actual romantic relationship bit.

how they get together, in my opinion, starts because of mc.

not in the sense that she matchmakes them all, but like.

phase 1 of the nxx team polycule is this:

through being in love with her (which we all know the boys 100% are), each of the boys come to terms with their own flaws and weaknesses. it's very apparent to me in all the story thus far that these boys are flawed as hell, it's very compelling but even more compelling to me is how all of them also do intense mental gymnastics to Not Confront Those Flaws. like, marius is a dickbag always teasing and toeing the line of insincerity, vyn is a controlling mf who always tries to sway situations to his benefit, artem is so repressed to the point that he has genuine trouble with emotions, luke is a self sacrificial bastard and also a huge hypocrite about how no, actually, hes the only one that should be hiding his pain and being dishonest, no dishonesty from other people!! in the beginning of the story, all the boys have their flaws and seem to have just kinda...not addressed how those flaws are harming them and the people around them.

and then mc rolls around and they all fall in love with her. and she sees those flaws and she doesnt let them slide. she challenges the boys in her own ways to see another side of the situation, to acknowledge what theyre doing. she doesnt want to get rid of flaws, thats impossible and also not cool. she just has this beautiful hope for like, all of humanity, that goodness can prevail with the right work. so when she sees her beloved nxx boys, she believes that for them as well.

which leads to phase 2 of the nxx team polycule:

the boys, more aware of themselves, become more aware of each other.

they werent Unaware of the others of course. it's just that they didnt like...truly connect on a personal level just yet. they saw the other teammembers with their emotional armor and flaws and saw a wall that wasnt worth looking past.

but after mc makes them realize that hey, flaws arent the end of the world actually, it's alright and the person behind them may just be worth it, the boys like. end up understanding the others. A LOT OF THIS BIT IS UNINTENTIONAL, ON THEIR PARTS KJDSBFS. like they stumble into understanding each other by accident, they didnt plan it, but over the course of nxx investigations, it's inevitable that they end up seeing the depths of the others. i delve into this a little bit in my fanfic "filler eps of the lost gold" where the boys are just going thru their actions and then trip over another boy's fears or desires and through that, gain a deeper understanding mutually.

and with understanding, sometimes, comes trust.

phase 3 of the nxx team polycule goes like this:

everybody in this team, whether they like it or not, whether they know it or not, has a heart that wants to give love so desperately.

marius lives in a world full of snakes so he cant have his heart on his sleeve for his own protection. vyn wants to be seen as perfect and the heart is inherently messy so he holds it back. artem for a very very long time was focused on work and success and achievement that he neglected his heart. and luke has been giving love all his life in a sense but in a way thats hidden.

all these tendencies that are brought upon their life circumstances results in this: they want to love honestly but they havent been able to do this

until mc. and all of them want to push back whatever fears or patterns their life has instilled in them because they see her and see somebody so unwaveringly good that all their hearts begin giving love to her to make her happy and to make themselves happy as well.

but heres the thing. the boys dont just see mc. by this point, they have connected and understood and come to trust each other as well, and the consequence of that is that They Can See Each Other Now Too, Truly.

and heres the thing. all of the boys are unwaveringly good as well.

one by one, each of the boys realize that what they feel for the other boys in the team starts to...change. yeah theyre all friends, they pick on each other a lot of the time, but the bedrock of the relationship is solid and strong now. but when marius is with luke, marius sees a light inside of luke so bright that he seems unaware that he gives off. when artem is with vyn, artem sees a goodness inside of vyn that hesitates to make itself obvious and known because vyn is scared of getting hurt thanks to it. all of them see the other and their goodness and, unbidden, their hearts want to give love to each other as well.

and because theyre all a bit stupid in their own way theyre like, huh, weird! wonder why this feeling is so familiar! and yet i cant seem to name it...and then they all independently compare these feeling with the feelings they have for mc, a feeling they do know the name of, and theyre like.

WAIT.

THESE FEELINGS ARE...VERY BASICALLY EXACTLY WHAT I FEEL FOR MC.

which only means one thing: theyve fallen in love with everybody else

marius: //goes to his studio to Think and sees that a bunch of his recent art actually had little crumbs of these feelings already, etched into the brushstrokes and scenes. has an emotional crisis about it

vyn: //records a 1 hour long entry in his audio diary to examine and gain control of his feelings but by the end of the hour all he knows is that he wants to hold these people and be held by them

artem: //quite literally just bluescreens, artem.exe has stopped working, sits at his study and slowly, slowly, thunks his head down onto his desk, valiantly trying to ignore the fast pulse of his heart

luke: //manically vents about it to peanut who, by virtue of being a bird, doesnt get it. just keeps talking at peanut to get a grasp of it all and then lies down on the floor, overwhelmed

mc, sitting in her apartment watching some netflix: ...why do i inexplicably feel as if something very, very important has just happened?

phase 4 of the nxx team polycule is basically:

pining: extreme difficulty level

because pining is already hard when ur pining for one person. what more for an additional 3 more people. and those additional 3 more people are pining back.

and all these boys are SOOOO OBVIOUS with their romantic feelings, in their own special way. the way they show their affection to mc starts to bleed into their interactions with the others and everybody can CLEARLY SEE WHAT IS GOING ON, LOL, but also all the boys are too chickenshit to confront it, because if they confront it, what will even happen??? being in love with each other, all of them, thats going to be such a complicated fucking relationship, holy shit. it's 2030, yeah, being a polyamorous group relationship isnt completely unheard of, but sue them, theyre scared.

but mc (who i forgot to mention already knows of the boys' romantic feelings for her, shes just hasnt made a move yet on any of them because SHES IN LOVE WITH ALL OF THEM AS WELL and shes been trying to figure out how the hell to make that work, she cant bear to choose just one of them, she'd be heartbroken over leaving the rest of them behind) sees that the nxx investigation team is now all pining for each other FULLY and she kinda wants to laugh when she realizes whats going on because like, what are the chances? that this would happen? that they all found each other and their feelings fell into just the right place for nobody to be left behind?

theyre all scared, she can tell. and she is as well, she wont lie.

but shes always had a belief that goodness can prevail with the right work.

and love is one of the greatest goods out there.

phase 5 of the nxx team polycule:

It's Time For Communication, Baby!!!!!

the exact scenes of how this happens is a bit vague to me. it could go two ways: mc going to each of the boys independently to talk about feelings, hers about everybodys and his about everybodys as well. OR they have a fucking meeting about it all together and artem literally schedules it in his google calendar, or something.

either way, they like, actually talk about this. starts casual, maybe over a chill date, maybe over dinner at a nice restaurant, maybe over a walk in the park as the sun is starting to set. but where ever it happens, the end result is the same: a heart is laid out bare and it is taken in gentle, grateful hands.

marius: OKAY, NOW THAT THE FEELINGS ARE OUT OF THE WAY, CAN I PLEASE KISS ONE OR ALL OF YOU, PLEASE, IVE BEEN WANTING TO KISS U GUYS FOR FOREVER

vyn, laughing fondly: has anybody ever told you patience is a virtue? we quite literally just talked it all out.

marius: //needy whining noises

artem, embarrassed: ive...never kissed anybody before

luke, embarrassed but trying to play it Cool: ....same here

mc: kissing is great, you two will love it!

marius: awesome, awesome, so is ANYBODY going to give me a go ahead or WHAT????

phase 6 of the nxx team polycule:

i dont want to say it's happily ever after, once they all get together. thats not really realistic.

they all have their quirks and tendencies and habits. and those will inevitable clash against each other. theyll have their arguments, theyll get upset, theyll sulk and be angry, sometimes. but also...

theyll see each other smile and feel like their love shining so brightly. theyll reach out for another's hand and be held in such a way that makes them think that their heart is in a safe place. theyll love each other and theyll put in the work to continue loving each other. because goodness will prevail.

and they all see each other as the most good people in the world.

so whatever happens, theyll get through it together.

[tropiyas]

(my longest analysis post so far, get ready)

I don't know how to write about this in a way that's not too weird, but recently, Dungeon Meshi has been good at making you feel uncomfortable. I really appreciate Kui for challenging the reader like that - it shakes you out of auto-pilot and is a sort of "speed bump" for the story beats if you're reading too fast, and makes you appreciate the manga as a whole:

The main villains of the story are established to be the Demons (in DM's fantasy setting, they are an eldritch entity a class above regular sentient species/monsters that the main characters deal with). Rather than eating other creatures or people, their main food is desire - they come from an alternate dimension of infinite mana where desire doesn't exist, so they set up in the titular dungeons to cultivate+feed on adventurer's desires (for gold/fame/immortality/etc).

This is all very abstract, of course, compared to eating fantasy creatures based on IRL organisms - how would you "eat" someone's desire? A standard approach would be a creature sucking on/eating someone's brain, which is the typical organ you'd think of with regards to a person's desire. But that's too realistic and rooted in biology, so Kui decided to make it much more physically disconcerting.

So far, we've seen two demons feast on a persons desire, and each time it was very disturbing - the demon pins down the victim, phases into the victim's abdomen, and starts eating away at the desire. The act itself is depicted very physically, but the victims don't experience any bodily harm, they're just screaming at the demon because they know they're losing part of themselves and can't resist (one of the first things a demon eats is a victim's desire to resist). To me, it 100% reads as an allusion to sexual assault and definitely made me shift uncomfortably as I read and digested what the author's showing me.

Okay, so with these moments, Kui definitely wants to tell the reader "Demons are definitely the bad guys in this story, they should not coexist with our main dimension if their entire diet relies on cruelty to sentient peoples." But how do exactly do you stop demons? The Elves, being a long lived race, seem to have decent experience with dealing with dungeons and defeating demons before they become too strong.

In DM Chapter 74, Kui hits us with ANOTHER set of uncomfortable moments since our protagonists are dealing with a demon that is about to become too strong (it just ate a ton of desire and is about to be unsealed from its tome, two events which we've never seen before). Mithrun, the captain of the Canaries (a demon-hunting party of elves), is the victim pictured above, who somehow managed to survive his encounter because the goat left him with a desire for revenge against demons. So, Mithrun is unhinged and wants to stop the current dungeon's demon by any means, and when he finds out that our main half-elf protagonist Marcille is in possession of the tomes containing the demon, he's ignoring all boundaries.

Mithrun is a victim of a demon, and wants to stop Marcille from being another victim, but his mix of desperation and trauma (I headcanon he's lost the desire to be sensitive/kinder to other people which ends up w/ shit like this) has resulted in even more unsettling behavior that STILL makes the reader go "woah, shit dude" even though we're on his side! Kui's basically reaffirming "the demons are a severe enough threat that someone with personal experience with one is going this far to stop another."

Mithrun's party members end up pulling him away (which makes sense, none of them even know if Marcille has the tomes on her person, and they want to defuse the situation). This gives Marcille just enough time to release the demon, and I'll let these last few panels circle back to what I meant at the beginning of this post.

This new tone is a far cry from the beginning of the manga, which was 90% whimsical adventures about eating fantasy foods. BUT, the best part of Kui's storytelling is that she's still keeping to the theme of eating (this yoked up motherfucker is just trying to devour his next meal even if it is Bad), so the progression between the light/dark moments of Dungeon Meshi is totally natural as the conflict revolves around who eats whom.

[lamelinam]

The maid and the Cat, Ren and Akira: some musings

What gloomy love brightened the half-lives of the Sohmas’ most Cursed ones?

I often wonder what the relationship between the former Cat and his attendant would have looked like, twisted and sad as it must have been. Precious little is shown about those two, and only through Kazuma’s pov. We know she took care of and pitied the Cat, to the point that she even slept with him and bore his child. This is not unlike Kureno’s relationship with Akito. She might have treated him with the same kindness and devotion, distant, perhaps harmful, yet selfless.

Selfless? I think another way to extrapolate on the story of Kazuma’s grandparents is with Ren and Akira’s relationship.

Many great meta writers have already pointed out that those who fill in the positions at the extremes of the Sohma hierarchy, the Cat and God, or in this case the Cat and the idolized, deified family head, are foils to each other and are the ones that are dehumanized and isolated the most.

But now I think that you can also compare the way the previous Cat and Akira both chose ("chose" being a relative term in the case of the Cat) a romantic partner.

(Akira wasn’t God, but as the family head, he was worshipped just like Akito. His sickness also contributed to making him stand apart. Not only was he kept inside the compound because of his frailty, the hold that death had on him blessed him with this ephemeral, divine aura. “Was it the sorrow that befell him at such a young age that gave him that otherworldly beauty?»)

Both Kazuma’s grandfather and Akito’s father were doomed, Akira to die an early death, Kazuma’s grandfather to live the life of a living dead. Both were buried alive in the Sohma estate, either at the outskirts or at the center of it.

Both reached out to their progeny. (But Kazuma rejected the offered cake, and will endeavour to atone and honour his grandfather’s memory. Akito clung to every memento she had of her father and will need to learn to let go of him.)

And both the previous Cat and Akira found some measure of comfort in the affections and arms of their female caretakers, Sohma servants who saw their loneliness and expressed their compassion, though not in a particularly healthy way: Kazuma’s grandmother acting out of pity, Ren out of obsessive love.

It’s interesting to me how their respective position was reflected in their partners’ feelings : the imprisoned, despised Cat, Kazuma’s grandmother looked down on. The respected, otherworldly beautiful Akira was adored by Ren.

Kazuma sums up his grandparents’ relationship thusly:

Those correspond to the main "duties" that a wife is traditionally supposed to provide her husband.

The day-to-day caring.

Childbearing.

Attending their husband’s deathbed.

Obviously Ren wished she could have skipped the second one and be there for the last one. (I headcanon that she had prepared her last words years in advance, finding small pleasures and comfort, on the back of the wave of despair anticipating Akira’s death, in rehearsing the declarations of passionate love she would address to the dying man.)

The Cat’s companion attended her partner’s deathbed, seemingly very composed, even cold, as seen in Kazuma’s memories, while Ren, deprived of her husband’s last moments, that she felt were “stolen” from her by Akito (in reality by the maids :@), was mad with grief.

"The only one who can save him"

Those parallels make me wonder whether or not the Cat’s companion might not have developed a saviour complex, like Ren, both believing that they were the only one able to save this lonely, condemned person they were taking care of, and relishing it.

“I love you” vs "I pity you"

On Ren’s side though, it seems that she believes she truly saw Akira, as the person hiding behind that otherworldly aura, filled with sadness and fearful of death. Seeing that Akira agrees with her ("Ren noticed I was lonely"), fought against the Sohma leaders and regretted on his deathbed that he and Ren couldn’t reconcile, I believe this is not a delusion of hers. Her love was genuine and passionate, and she and Akira were happy. Unfortunately, that happiness didn’t survive her pregnancy, for she was also jealous and obsessed.

Kazuma supposes that his grandmother believed that she was doing something good. I wonder at her expression. It is shadowed, enigmatic. Is it a smirk or not, is she sad or not? i wonder whether she was selfless in her pity, like Kureno, or selfish like Kagura, perhaps feeling better by «sacrificing» herself in associating with the Cat for the sake of a miserable soul.

(Whatever you can say or imagine about her, Kazuma doesn’t seem to suffer from the stigma of being the Cat’s grandson, nor does he bear any trace of an abusive upbringing - in fact, he was among those doing the abusing - or even the echoes of the previous generation’s, so my guess is that she was an okay mother and grandmother... which would have made Kazuma’s disappointment and hurt at her words all the sharper... Like Tohru thinking of the zodiacs members she finds so kind and adorable secretly looking down on someone else she realizes she cares about more than she thought.)

There is no way to know how the Cat reacted to a pity-love. But considering Kureno and Akito’s relationship, this might also have been but a superficial balm, and potentially just as hurtful. Then it depends on the interpretation. Kureno’s pity cocooned Akito and kept her from moving forward, but the Cat was condemned anyway to an eternity of imprisonment. Moving forward was forbidden to him. And if his self-worth was already completely destroyed as his role and his treatment are meant to do, he might have just felt grateful towards the attendant. There’s no way to say for sure whether he would have been hurt or not by the truth, and I don’t know which option is the saddest!

... but I know what could be sadder. Because is the maid entirely to blame? We know that in Fruits Basket, love requires a measure of selfishness. The one cursed with the Cat has no self, no existence, no wants and no future, and they accept this fate. They believe they deserve it. (Which is why the Cat's Room doesn't need bars in the manga, nor locks. Rin was under lock and keys because either Akito didn't completely trust her to keep her word or she didn't want someone to discover her.)

It would be very difficult for someone to fall in love with a person who has renounced to everything, perhaps including love. Because who's to say that the Cat loved the maid too?

Recognition vs indifference

How depressingly fitting that we don't even learn the Cat's name, while Akira’s is remembered by all and echoes back and forth in the later part of the story.

Ren marrying the Sohma family head was such a big political deal it provoked a family schism. The Cat’s story with the maid gets completely ignored. It is probably known, just not "officially recognized", says Kazuma. Like everything related to the Cat, it was relegated to the back of the minds, in the dusty closet of the things that are uncomfortable to think about but that you tolerate if it doesn’t upend your little world-view. Ugh, some maid is being inappropriate with that monster! Well, as long as she doesn’t free the loathsome creature, who cares. (And she wouldn’t, because she’s no Tohru.)

In contrast, the maids of the main family thought that Ren was stealing Akira from their grasp. Ren didn’t seem to care for the family, and in a way, her love allowed Akira to also escape from them, "snatched away" by "that woman”, for the old attendant. Unlike the Cat’s attendant, Ren felt like a threat to the Sohma strict hierarchical system. (Fortunately, God will be born to bring back the right order of things, phew! Certainly she he will accomplish what Akira-san was momentarily too misguided to do and rid us of that woman!)

Inheritance.

Both women's profession of their true feelings deeply marked their progeny and the way they view relationship, whether personal or not, romantic or filial.

While her mother affirmed that "a woman only needs one man", Akito leaned on the love of the zodiacs ; Kazuma viewed and loved Kyo as a human and dreaded that his son would find himself in the same situation as his grandfather but also with the same kind of companionship. (His reaction to Kagura speaks of a long-held anxiety). But Ren's hatred for Akito coloured the way Akito interpreted her words, while Kazuma’s grandmother’s declaration shook Kazuma, his personal relationship with his grandmother notwithstanding.

This comparison isn't about good or evil, neither to judge those characters. Furuba isn’t about that. Obviously, they are not blameless. But it is very difficult to say whether or not Kazuma’s grandmother was wrong to act out of pity if it provided a bit of comfort to a prisoner. And is it surprising that Ren developed this saviour’s complex when it seems she was the only one willing to breach Akira’s isolation bubble?

Anyway, Takaya-sensei is really good at making foils. Either because she does it on purpose or because her characters are so deeply intertwined with the themes of the series the parallels appear on their own. But in this case, I don’t think it’s for nothing that the chapters recounting Ren and the Cat’s attendant stories follow each other (chapters 114 and 115).

Of course, this meta is less an analysis and more suppositions and conjectures (frankly, I wonder if I might not as well have written a fanfic). From the little we see, the Cat’s companion and Ren work as distorted yin-yang mirrors, their differences highlighting the similarities of their situations, from the ugly effects of the inner workings of the Sohma cult to the messed up inner workings of the heart. Genuine but obsessed, jealous love... Pity, perhaps self-serving, in the guise of martyred love.... One thing I can say for sure is that these two both gave me chills in their own way.

[aroclawthornes]

Blooming Brilliant, an Aroace Willow Park Manifesto

[id: a gif of a heart locket opening. One half of the locket displays a picture of Willow Park from The Owl House, winking and making peace signs with her fingers. Blue and yellow stars surround her. The other half reads "willow park my beloved." /end id.]

Greetings! It’s me, User Aroclawthornes, and instead of working on all the time-sensitive homework I have I sat down and wrote an essay explaining why I think Willow Park OwlHouse could plausibly be read as aroace, and why it would be a thematically enriching interpretation. I’ve never written anything like this before, so it’s oddly formal, a little pretentious, and contains a lot of qualifying language, but I'm confident that it gets my point across. I’m not intending to speak over other interpretations of Willow or assert that it's the only true way to read her, but it's a headcanon I find interesting, and I think there’s a lot of evidence to back it up, between certain elements that Willow’s arc employs to some good old overanalysed symbolism. If you're aspec, I hope this is validating; if you're not, I hope it's interesting; if you don't care, scrolling past it is quick, free, and easy.

Some disclaimers on terminology: I’m speaking from an aroace perspective, and so when I say “aspec coding” I’m generally referring to both orientations as a catch-all - a lot of the coding surrounding Willow could go either way. I’m also going to be talking about commonly accepted “aspec” narratives, but I’m aware of the limitations of this insofar as my experiences are only a single facet of the diverse range of aspec people in this world, so anyone who wants to add or argue anything - respectfully - is encouraged to.

Analysis below the cut!

The Thing About Plants

I’m not going to pretend that an association with plants is historically indicative of aspec coding, because, frankly, there haven’t been enough aspec characters to establish it as a convention, and it’s also a fairly wide-reaching branch of symbolism. However, I am going to propose that lighthearted comparisons between asexual people and plants (however misguided on functions of plant reproduction they are) are fairly common elements of budding ace teenage humour, as are related quips about photosynthesis.

[id: a screenshot of Willow from "I Was A Teenage Abomination", depicting her sitting on the ground while casting a spell over a small, pink flower. /end id.]

I’m also not going to claim that the colour green Belongs To Aromantics, and therefore that All Plants Are Belong To Us, but in tandem with everything else I’m about to cover, the connection between Willow and plants seems like a fairly plausible nudge to a relatively common element of aspec humour.

“Half-a-witch” Willow and the Late Bloomer Experience

[id: a screenshot of Willow with glowing green eyes, from "I Was A Teenage Abomination", depicting her summoning a mess of thorned vines. /end id]

Willow is literally nicknamed “half-a-witch”, in reference to her supposedly incomplete state - this is a sentiment eerily reminiscent of the pressure to find one’s “other half”, which affects aspec - especially aromantic - people particularly profoundly. She’s considered a late bloomer, someone who hasn’t reached the societal milestones of growth at the expected age, and who is derided and considered immature as a result of this perceived failure. However, we quickly discover that Willow is, in fact, an exceptionally competent and powerful witch - taken out of the restricting frame of the Abominations track, she’s able to grow into her own, “complete” person, therefore proving that she was never really lacking in anything in the first place. Like real-life aroace people, she was perceived as limited and immature based on the expectations and judgements of other people, but Willow was never deficient in anything, least of all herself.

[id: a screenshot of Willow and Luz from "I Was A Teenage Abomination". They are holding hands - the former is laughing with her eyes closed, and the latter is grinning, while covered in abomination goop. /end id]

As far as symbolism goes...the track Willow is initially put in literally requires her to conjure up another humanoid entity, with the expectation that she will therefore prove herself to be a whole and mature person. Only with this ability, she’s told, will she be successful and happy as an adult. The shapelessness of her attempts at conjuring an abomination reinforces this connection in my mind - if I may reference this quote from Ducktales 2017‘s (absolutely stellar) A Nightmare On Killmotor Hill, in which the protagonists explore their own subconscious fears via. the dream realm, for a second:

“I think that’s supposed to be my romantic interest, but I’m too threatened by the concept, so it never takes shape.”

A lot of young aroace people find themselves in situations where they attempt to convince themself of their interest in someone in an attempt to be “normal,” or end up lying in response to family members or friends’ questions about crushes. While Willow’s abominations, first and foremost, represent the expectations from her school, classmates, and family to be a successful, “complete” witch with a profitable future, I think that with an aroace interpretation of Willow they could also very easily be read as representing some latent insecurities over a lack of attraction, or pressure to find a significant other.

(I’m not condemning Willow’s dads, by the way - they seem like perfectly lovely fellas, and I’m confident that they were doing what they thought was best for her. They’re certainly very quick to drop everything to assure her future in Escaping Expulsion, so obviously they care about their daughter very much.)

Greens, Blues, and Yellows: Colour-Coding Willow Park

A while back, I made this post comparing Willow’s palette to the aromantic and aroace flags:

[id: a screenshot of a post depicting the aromantic and aromantic asexual flags, colour-picked from images of Willow in her Hexside uniform and casual dress respectively - these are overlaid on top of the flags. The caption reads "observations on willow park". /end id.]

The grey-and-green aromantic flag has long been the accepted mainstream symbol of aromanticism, and, as the above post - and many others - demonstrate, Willow’s palette reflects it near-perfectly. This could easily be a coincidence, owing to the palette of the standard Hexside Plant Track uniform, as well as her hair and eye colours - which are obviously supposed to be reflective of her plant-related abilities. However, given how fond of employing hidden meanings The Owl House has shown itself to be, I don’t think it’s far-fetched to claim that there’s at least a chance that her palette was constructed with the flag in mind.

The latter is...a bit more problematic for me, although it’s fun to joke about. The blue-and-yellow aroace flag was only created in December 2018, relatively late into The Owl House’s initial production, and it’s still relatively obscure, although on the rise in popularity as the accepted aroace flag (I only recently started using it myself), so I don’t know if Willow’s casual wear is enough to verify the presence of any deliberate subtext. I think it’s a fun coincidence, however, and (as was pointed out in this post) it’s cool that these blue and yellow stars surrounding Willow occur in the same frame as Luz’s bisexual decor:

[id: a photograph of Luz, Gus, and Willow, all surrounding a disgruntled-looking Principal Bump. Luz has flowers in the colours of the bisexual flag decorating her hair, while Willow is surrounded by bright blue and yellow stars. /end id.]

also seen above: powerful bi/aspec solidarity

Conclusion:

Do I genuinely believe that Willow is being deliberately written this way? If you’d asked me, say, two months ago, I’d have said probably not - as far as queer representation in kids’ cartoons has come, it has a ways to go, and focusing on transgender characters seems like a more obvious (and equally invaluable) route to go down. I can name maybe five explicitly aspec characters off the top of my head, two of whom have been written as alloromantic and/or sexual in adaptations or continuations of the source material (I have...some grievances with 2005 Doctor Who). But the emergence of Raine, an explicitly nonbinary character on Disney Channel, has given me a little spark of hope, and so, even if it’s never confirmed, it’s comforting to be able to see a character with such strong elements of aspec coding and think to myself, just maybe, that there might be some intent behind it.

I also...really want to see interesting things done with Willow. We’re halfway through Season 2, and despite some promising setup for her arc in the Season 1 finale, she’s sort of been left by the wayside lately in favour of developing the more “plot-relevant” characters, such as Luz, Amity, Eda, and Hunter. Frankly, I think it’s a disservice to her Season 1 development, despite how much I adore all the characters I just listed - beyond any personal motivation, the prospect that Willow could be aroace adds a lot of sorely-sought depth to her, and, as detailed, a lot of this has already been set up in her earlier episodes. I just...I think it’d be neat. Rarely do you get a kids’ show so brazenly queer in its themes as Owl House, and aspec people deserve to be included in that.

Willow would also be great aroace representation because, well - those five or so aspec characters I mentioned being aware of are all white or “raceless” (...also written as white, basically), and so an aspec Asian character would be a really lovely step forward in this area. Additionally, all the characters I referred to are also conventionally skinny, and Willow is not only fat, but written in a way that doesn’t treat this feature as a caricature. People who are more knowledgeable on these topics than I are absolutely free to make additions, as is anyone who feels like I’ve left certain details out.

tl;dr: Willow’s association with plants could be read as a cool nod to aspec humour, her “late bloomer” narrative is eerily reminiscent of some common aspec experiences, her palette speaks for itself, and it’d be really cool if we could diversify the so-far fairly bland sphere of aspec representation.

I’m going to conclude this by linking Rose by The Oh Hellos, because they’re my favourite band, they share The Owl House’s initials, and I also think it’s a good Willow song. Peace out.

[killthebxy]

I apologize in this seems abrasive, I just noticed how vehemently you're against the show canon. I don't blame you one bit. But wouldn't Dany being Nissa Nissa just be another way of making her a plot device for a man? Just in a more socially acceptable way than D&D did? It has the same outcome and it's still her dying by the hands of the man she loves.

          thank you for your question, friend! before i answer, let me make a disclaimer: 1) i am writing this as someone who loves Jon Snow, and therefore someone who’s biased in his favor, and 2) i am writing this as a man talking about a man. so, while i like to believe i was raised well and i can do a rational and mostly objective analysis, i am still grounded in my own experiences and my own perspectives. and nothing of what i’ll say is “the truth” or “what’s right” — simply, my own personal opinion.

          with this said… i have to start by saying that we can look at this, as we can look at most things in life, from two perspectives: we look only at the outcome, or we look at the process and at everything that led to a certain outcome. and i think this is a case where this distinction is essencial. because if you look at the outcome only — yes, the end result is exactly the same; Dany dies at the hand of Jon, a woman dies at the hand of a man. but this would be like me looking at the season finale and thinking: well, Jon got exactly the endgame i always wanted for him, so i have nothing to complain about — i can’t do this. i can’t ignore everything that brought him to this outcome, i.e., the process. i can’t ignore that his essence as George’s character was completely destroyed to lead to this apparently perfect outcome.

          so, if we look at Dany dying in the show, what do we see? i, at least, see a narrative written for the sole purpose of stating: this woman is mad, she needs to be removed and we’ll make her be removed by the hand of the man she loves for bonus shock points. this is literally all i see. i know some people defend there was already signs of Dany going mad, how for example the throne room covered in ash like it happened in her vision in the House of the Undying in s02. and to this i ask two questions: 1) as someone who knows what D&D have been doing to this series, do you guys seriously believe they, back in like 2012 or whenever s02 happened, had the capacity to plan this far ahead for the sake of a plot that has continuity?; 2) as someone who is a researcher and a science nerd — if we look at data in retrospective, we can make this data give us literally any outcome we want, provided we apply the suitable statistical analysis. in this case, if we look back through the seasons, yes, we can definitely find arguments that Dany was going mad, if we want. BUT. we can also look back through the seasons and find arguments that Dany was someone with a good heart, who made mistakes and bad decisions but who wanted to be a kind and just ruler for her people. so, whatever we extract from this series in retrospective is whatever we want to find. this much is on us, not on D&D’s capacity to build a continuous and coherent plot because this much we all agree is non-existent.

          now, if we look at the idea of Jon being Azor Ahai reborn, and Dany being Nissa Nissa reborn… first of all, this is as much based on personal headcanons as the previous point is built on what the show gives us. i cannot judge this idea based on facts, because this never happened in the show neither in the books — everything i put together for this idea is based on my own creativity, like for example in the background i wrote for my mad king verse, or on everything i have discussed with @zcldrizes. in the first case, my verse, it is actually interesting you brought up this question because i have wondered about it myself. am i doing this in a sensible way? am i not using Dany (and everyone else included in that background) just for my own purpose? and, in a way, i am — i admit that i am, because my outcome was that Jon is crowned and slowly loses himself, and to reach this outcome i needed to build a background that supports it in a logical way. i dislike the idea that being Targaryen = inexorably being mad, therefore i tried to put together a storyline where trauma and grief bring him to this — for which i needed vital characters to die, as they are the ones he loves the most. this is why i tried to give them a purpose in that verse, and not just state that they died because they had to, so to speak. this is also why that verse is very flexible and can accommodate many different possibilities, because i wanted everyone who’s possibly interested in writing that idea with me to be able to fit their muse in, and not just be excluded because “sorry but your muse needs to die so that Jon can go mad”. which, in turn, this is why this verse in particular only works with extensive plotting with my roleplay partners.

          and now let me quickly apologize, because i know i am digressing a lot! but i need all this foundation to ultimately answer your question with the depth it requires, so please bear with me. because this is bringing me close to the core of the question — if Dany is Nissa Nissa, doesn’t this make her a plot device for Jon? for this, i have to state my perspective on what a plot device is: a character whose only (or limited) purpose in a narrative is to provoke something else of note for another character. three blatant examples when it comes to Jon: Rickon Stark, whose only purpose to be brought back was to be killed in front of Jon, for the sake of triggering Jon into that mad rage that would have resulted in losing the battle against Ramsay if it wasn’t for Sansa’s intervention; Benjen Stark, whose only purpose to be brought back was to provide a semi-rational justification for Jon to be able to return to Eastwatch; Grey Worm, who was made to attack the unarmed Golden Company after they yielded just for the sake of making Agony Targaryen look like this honorable man who’d never put up with this. and now a blatant example when it comes to Daenerys: Missandei, who had to be beheaded whilst back in chains for the sake of being the ultimate trigger for Dany going mad. arguably, Missandei and Grey Worm had a much broader purpose than Benjen and Rickon, but the logic is the same. all of them, in the end, became plot devices that had their own story and identity erased for the sake of fueling another “superior” character.

          and this is why i personally don’t see Dany = Nissa Nissa as being at the same level, or as a plot device. a plot turning point? yes, definitely. a plot device, no, because i personally don’t think this erases her story and identity and purpose. again, let me reiterate that this is based on what Artie and i have plotted — i cannot talk for what might have happened in the show, or what may happen in the books — because it will depend on the process they follow to lead to this potential outcome. Artie and i have a very long, very complex plot when it comes to shipping Jon and Dany. we consider every single detail, and we’re always mindful of not erasing anything from the other’s muse. and, in our case, Dany would be a sacrifice, yes, but never a plot device. she would give her life for the purpose of forging the only weapon able to destroy the Night King and ending the Long Night — NEVER for the purpose of glorifying Jon and make him emerge from this tale as the hero who saved us all. if anything, i think no one will disagree if i say that staying alive after killing your lover by your own hand is far from being a happier ending when compared to said lover who died. it is a sacrifice for Dany, who loses her life, and it is a sacrifice for Jon, who stays alive but loses literally everything else that gave meaning to his life. and this is why i love the prophecy/legend of Lightbringer, actually, because it is based on a meaningful tragedy. it’s mutual sacrifice, it’s having a bond so strong that it is the catalyst to save this world.

          just to conclude now, if you ask me: are more female characters, compared to male characters, used as plot devices? i have no doubt of this. are more female characters used with the single purpose of fueling male characters’ pain? i have no doubt of this. are more female characters erased and belittled for the sake of glorifying male characters and put them under a positive light? i have no doubt of this. trust me, nonnie, no one in this world hates Agony Targaryen more than i do. no one in this world hates more the way in which my favorite character was portrayed as someone who’s only good and honorable when a character like Daenerys has to be ruined and removed. and i will say this to my dying breath: this thing is NOT Jon Snow and it makes me genuinely sad that people may for even a second believe this thing is anything resembling Jon Snow. i am the first one being here to vehemently (to use your word) criticize all of this, which is exactly why i have gone majorly show divergent — even during s07 i was already stating i would never acknowledge the annulment, exactly because i would never want Elia Martell to be a plot device in this regard. and please note: i’m not saying any of this to make myself look good — look at me i’m such a great guy i respect women! — i respect women, and female characters, because they DESERVE to be respected. and everything i have ditched from show!canon, i did because these amazing characters deserve so much better, and my amazing roleplay buddies who write these amazing characters deserve so much better, AND Jon Snow, my favorite character whom i love dearly, deserves so much better than to be turned into D&D’s sad puppet.

          i really hope i answered your question, friend? tl;dr — i am vehemently against Agony killing Dany in the show the way it was done, because it reduces Daenerys to a plot device and reduces Jon to someone who can only have merit if other characters become plot devices in his favor. on the other hand, in the scenario where Jon is Azor Ahai reborn and Dany is Nissa Nissa reborn, i personally see it at a completely different level, even if the outcome is technically the same — because it is a scenario highly plotted and developed by myself and Artie, and because exactly we are always very mindful to never do this to these characters whom we both love. obviously she loves Dany more and understands her better, and i love Jon more and i understand him better, but this is why we team up to salvage this ship we love and that was utterly ruined by the show. and this is why the only context where we accept Jon killing Daenerys is for the ultimate purpose of tempering Lightbringer — where Dany chooses her fate, and Jon endures the consequences of his actions.

BONUS POINTS:

          so, because we are a partnership, i shared this ask and my own response with Artie — to get her opinion as someone who writes Daenerys and understands her better than i do, as i mentioned above, and also to have her perspective as a woman. the next points, therefore, are credited to @zcldrizes to complement my own:

          Firstly, on being a plot device. I think the important thing about this is that we as the viewers are wired to look through the lense of Dany to see her as a hero, with an ultimate purpose. We have the entirety of her journey, with a backstory about her struggle for home, the fact she has suffered hardship after hardship. In my opinion, she was born “meant for something more” - and the very existence of her dragons, the fact she’s somewhat fire insensitive, all proves that she is not quite normal, compared to everyone around her. Her own journey and arc have been not just about finding home, but restoring and living up to her family’s name, and making a difference in the world through whatever ways she chooses, whether that be liberation, or saving innocent people. Her death in Season 8 served no purpose for her arc, other than to neatly line up what they needed for Jon’s storyline. Her madness in Season 8 served no purpose, other than allowing a mostly male council to choose their new male overlord, after condemning her as mad when overrun with grief. But if she was Nissa Nissa, and sacrificed her life not for Jon’s manpain, but to save the entire world, and in a way that leaves her the true hero of the story, then I think that means she’s not just a plot device. She’s a hero. And no, I don’t think she’s just driving that plot; I think the point is she made a difference to the world.

          Secondly, and the more important part of this - show canon removes her female autonomy, assuming she’s not in a rational state of mind, and then villainises her for emotion and grief. For it then to have her killed in a moment where she so very clearly places her trust in the man kissing her, a man she clearly loves, removes all autonomy because she didn’t consent to what was coming, and didn’t know it would happen. All of her ability to predict that behaviour is gone, which means she had no knowledge of her death, and thus, the scene occurs in a way that leaves those rules particularly unbalanced. A Nissa Nissa scenario is something she consents to; something she wants because it’s right, and it’ll save the world, and this is the most important thing. Daenerys gets to choose to die saving the world she wanted to build. 

          Finally, on the outcome and whether or not this is just to be more feminist friendly and socially acceptable. The first thing to note is that the outcome isn’t the same. In one, she dies after going mad because her male counterpart has deemed her unsafe to live with how insane she is. In the other, she dies to save the world - and importantly, consents to doing so. And depending on the way the rest of the thread runs, I suspect it would be very well known what she gave up in order to keep the people of the Seven Kingdoms safe. So rather than this being to get the traction of anyone saying this isn’t a sexist ending, consider: yes, it’s a socially acceptable ending, but only because it acknowledges the strength of women in whatever they do to contribute to the world. Daenerys deserved better than to die as a rabid dog for the slaughter; but in saying that, an extraordinary woman deserved an extraordinary death, and what better way than dying saving the world?

          Finally, feminism celebrates choice in all forms - Dany would have chosen to die as Nissa Nissa, and if that empowered her, we shouldn’t condemn that.

[mythril-mine]

001- Bungou Stray Dogs | 002- Soukoku | 003- Chuuya ( and Dazai? ) I want to know your answers to both | 004- BSD + Your choice

Ah, thank you for sending an ask, Haru~! Sorry it took me a couple days to answer everything!! I also got a little wordy where perhaps I had no business being on an ask meme, but I have So Many Feelings about Bungou Stray Dogs!! In fact, it’s under a cut because it got SO LONG. ;; So please pardon that~ Hopefully my rambling makes some modicum of sense. Here we go!!

001 | Bungou Stray Dogs

Favorite character: Chuuya! (And it’s going to show in these answers, so get ready!)

Least Favorite character: Le…mons?

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): Soukoku, Shin-Soukoku, AtsuLucy, DazAtsu (sometimes), RamPoe (it was hard to narrow it down to five, I’m very much a multi-shipper for this fandom > ~

Character I find most attractive: ???? Chuuya is the most beautiful character second only to Kouyou, if I saw Kouyou in person I would tear up and be compelled to give her nine dollars.

Character I would marry: ………………? OdaSaku, I guess….?

Character I would be best friends with: I’d have a lot to bond with Poe and Alcott over hahah (I also want to be friends with Chuuya though I’m not even going to lie. I talk about this with friends a lot when the subject of ‘anime husband’ comes up. I don’t want to date Chuuya, I want to be his wingman and give him a high-five when things go well. I’d also want to be friends with Atsushi, Lucy, and Tanizaki~ and Gin!)

A random thought: I really want to talk about Fyodor but none of these questions really apply to him… ;; Second Random Thought: I think Kunikida/Atsushi would be surprisingly pure…?

An unpopular opinion: I’m not sure what’s considered ‘unpopular’ in this fandom anymore but I think Chuuya deserves some of the page time he’s started to get. ;; There’s a lot that can be done with his character with what’s been laid out so far, and if they’re choosing to make use of that as a reaction to his popularity, that’s okay! I’m sure they’ll do a good job with it! (Again is this unpopular? I don’t know because Chuuya seems to be slaughtering popularity polls lately, but I’ve seen him getting some flack on tumblr as well. Similarly I don’t think it’s so much that people dislike KunikiDazai so much as Chuuya is … disproportionately popular and the time people can contribute to fan works is limited.)

My canon OTP: There are no actual ‘canon’ pairings in BSD so far (I mean, if we don’t count Chuuya/Wine, Chuuya/His Hat, and Fitzgerald/Money, as you can see I take things Very Seriously). The ones I think are most heavily implied are Higuchi/Akutagawa (which I wouldn’t call my ‘canon OTP’ by any means because although I love both Higuchi and Akutagawa and want them to be happy he’s… not good for her currently), Mitchell/Hawthorne, and then Lucy —> Atsushi and Kyouka —> Atsushi. And… honestly Poe —> Rampo!? (While I highly doubt that was Asagiri’s intention, he has the same kind of fixation on Rampo that the girls do on Atsushi, pfft.) Of these RamPoe is clearly the Best but I’m very partial to AtsuLucy~

Non-canon OTP: soukokusoukokusoukokusoukokusoukokusoukoku

Most badass character: 560% Chuuya. (Do I need to explain why? I mean… look at him. /Jazz Hands)

Pairing I am not a fan of: Okay, I lied, there is one canon pairing and it’s Tanizaki/Naomi and I Am Not A Fan (I actually really like both of these characters in their own right and I’m even a fan of ships centered around devotion just please put them Very Ver Far Away from each other, they are siblings.)

Character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): I always really hesitated to say ‘screw up’ with a series that’s ongoing — I think it’s unfair to the creators to call that when perhaps they’ve treated a character a certain way or put them in a certain scenario towards an end that would be compelling and make sense that we just haven’t seen yet. That said, of course I can’t pick just one, so here we go. 

Per Chuuya being my favorite character, I’m not 110% satisfied with how they’re handling him so far? I feel his character’s been shown to be a little inconsistent with regard to his abilities (both his actual Ability and also his faculties re: instincts, intelligence, and so on — even a bit of his personality when it gets boiled down to nothing but ‘Damn You Dazai!’ for comedic effect when he’s been hinted at being a much more complex person, as most people are). In part I think this also has to do with the fact that… Chuuya’s not… really a main character in anyway. They’re probably beginning to give him more of the spotlight simply because he’s such a fan-favorite, but — story wise, it doesn’t necessarily make sense to be their priority. (Even though /I/ want to see him treated consistently and given more on-screen depth and back story, and perhaps we’ll get that now that he’s featuring more!)

I think covering Dazai’s suicide-mania is important and I don’t even necessarily hate the light-hearted tone its given (I, myself, often cope with very self-deprecating humor), but I do dislike how often it’s treated completely flippantly. I could write a dissertation about why but… perhaps I shouldn’t have to.

Atsushi, Atsushi, Atsushi. Good lord. Not only is this kid screwed up from a physically and mentally absuve, isolated past, but the way he’s treated in the story, is just… He’s supposed to be our main character, and he has a lot of moments where he truly shines!! Atsushi is a wonderful shounen-type protag, especially in the climax of the Fitzgerald arc with how he gets through to Akutagawa, but damn is he inconsistent? Just when we think he’s gotten some character growth he goes right back to being a coward — and not that anybody can change overnight but the way it’s handled with him I feel is just… so stilted? Same for how development of his abilities is treated. We’re told it’s because of Fukuzawa’s ability, but that’s off screen and confusing for a reader. I… have extremely mixed feelings about how the chapter with his headmaster was handled, and what that means for his character and development as well. And — as much as I love sweet, pure, cinnamon roll Atsushi… I find myself thinking consistently “this scene would be more compelling for me if Dazai were actually the main character.” And I have very complicated feelings about Dazai, so that says something.

Favourite Friendship: I don’t think I can pick just one, actually…! Atsushi and Lucy’s friendship means a lot to me but actually I am HERE for Yosano and Rampo as well as Yosano with Kunikida. As much as I’m a Port Mafioso for life I do hope we see more of their interactions in the future. Also, nobody in the PM are really…. ‘friends,’ that I can tell? Though I want to see more Black Lizard interactions and also them interacting with Chuuya. And also Kouyou interacting with Chuuya! (Atsushi and Akutagwa are NOT friends but I’d like to see that…)

Character I want to adopt or be adopted by: I’m older than almost all of these characters so I guess I want to adopt Akutagawa and give him actual love and support because goddamn buddy you had it rough with Dazai as your mentor… ;w; (I’d be okay being adopted by Fukuzawa too, though!!)

002 | Soukoku

When or if I started shipping it. Hmm… definitely by Chapter 31 but I was curious about it when Chuuya first showed up, I think. I was ready for KunikiDazai, who are currently partners, so the whole ‘old partners’ thing piqued my interest. Chuuya comes off so much at first as ‘jilted, abandoned lover’ that I immediately want to know why or at least explore it in fandom.

My thoughts: THIS QUESTION IS SO BROAD, I could write a whole dissertation about this! How it’s great and interesting and also terrible and vague, how do I do the CliffsNotes version… we know so so so little about what’s implied to have been a terrifying and powerful partnership between Dazai and Chuuya. There’s just so much /potential/ there for how and why they came to know each other so well, for how Chuuya came to trust Dazai with his life despite knowing what a terrible prankster and liar his ex-partner is and how they two came to hate each other and bicker (or were they always this way?), and there’s of course the question of what lies in store for them in the future that makes the idea of the two of them together so fascinating to me. It’s an interesting ship for me especially because prior to BSD I’d be extremely hard-pressed to come up with a “hate ship” that I actually enjoyed. I tend to be more drawn to ships that showcase a typical ‘healthy’ relationship or positive emotions, signs of devotion, and so on — life’s angsty enough as it is, I use fandom and media to get away from that. But somehow that potential and both the humor and sadness of how Dazai and Chuuya interact and think of each other, and if they could reconcile (or not!), has been so compelling for me as a fan who likes to analyze and read into things too deeply. Soukoku is honestly just a really fun sandbox!

What makes me happy about them: Canonically, the humor in how they bicker and how frankly badass they are when they work together. In fandom, all the potential I mentioned earlier for them to reconcile, and also the idea of stolen warm moments and shenanigans together training and growing up in the Mafia, pre-Dark Era.

What makes me sad about them: How on earth did you guys hurt each other so bad!? What did you do?

Things done in fanfic that annoys me: Hmm… it’s hard for me to think of anything? I haven’t read anything in a while but when I first got into BSD it kind of drove me crazy that the entire fandom just collectively… made Chuuya French? Or Half-French. It’s not even a head-canon I’d be against, necessarily, I just didn’t get it, even with the actual author being something of a Francophile. (I’d be more interested to see that detail worked into his character.)

Things I look for in fanfic: Adhering to how they are in canon, hate and all, but analyzing in what ways they navigate around that to both be beneficial to one another and eventually even enjoy each other’s company. And the hurt/comfort thing. Also, Chuuya being intelligent in his own right! I mentioned earlier that the manga is kind of inconstant about this but I like the idea that Chuuya is not just brawn and I like when fic explores that in how he handles Dazai. Also I approve strongly of people covering Dazai being TERRIBLE and how he makes up for that — or doesn’t, and why.

My kinks: what. ….them both being… happy… together??????

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: I think Dazai needs LESS VIOLENCE in his life but if Kunikida can set that aspect aside I think they’d be good together. (I also think Atsushi would be good for Dazai but it needs to be Just So… imbalance in power in a relationship that you sometimes see with mentors and mentees can not always be good for those involved /coughDaAkucough). For Chuuya I’m … not really sure. I think TaChuu is really cute and I’m on the fence about KouChuu? I see Kouyou as more an elder-sister or even Mother figure to Chuuya. based on how Mori was to Dazai since That One Chapter Cover is all we have to go on for Chuuya’s past and I am HERE for that type of interaction 560% and not really romantic-OTP about it. But to be fair she’s only four years his senior and they’d be quite the Power Couple, literally.

My happily ever after for them: They reconcile and talk out whatever it was they did to hurt each other, and recognize that they’re both hecked up but maybe they can be slightly less hecked up together if they try to understand one another instead of just insta-bickering. (They still bicker constantly, of course, but it’s a little more good natured, now.) Also, Chuuya joins Dazai at the ADA, where Fukuzawa can help him have better control of his power. His newfound lack of dependence on Dazai in that regard is one less thing for him to feel resentful over and can help him move past it. (That said I don’t think in any way this would be End Game for BSD and if you want to know my feelings on THAT I’d be happy to oblige — this is just what I think would be a sweet ‘happily ever after’ from where they’ve been.)

003 | Give me a character & I will tell you

Chuuya

How I feel about this character: I think about Chuuya every day and get emotional/angry about him almost as often, I Love Nakahara Chuuya a Lot. (Compared to Dazai’s analysis down below this probably seems really shallow but it’s more like I love Chuuya unconditionally? There’s nothing about his character I dislike.)

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Dazai. And, to much much lesser degrees: Tachihara. I’m not opposed to ChuuAku in any way I just… can’t think on my own what they can do for each other? and haven’t seen much fan work around it. I’m also here for ChuuAtsu but they’ve … never interacted, so.

My non-romantic OTP for this character: KouChuu!! I love Kouyou and I love the potential for family-style shenanigans with Chuuya!

My unpopular opinion about this character: Well, I guess I mentioned it above — I get why people don’t understand why he’s popular. /I/ don’t understand why he’s popular and I love him to hell and back, but — I think he deserves it. He’s spunky, sassy, badass as heck, incredibly well-dressed, appealing and compelling. And he has so much potential.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: I want Chuuya’s backstory so badly!

My het ship: I can’t think of one?

My fem/slash ship: Soukoku

My OTP: Still Soukoku!?

My OT3: I could get behind Chuuya/Dazai/Atsushi or Chuuya/Dazai/Akutagawa or honestly all four.

My cross over ship: I don’t really have any but I played with a Tatara from K recently and their interaction was cute…

My kink: ??????????? Chuuya… smiling and…. not getting into a drunken stupor over Dazai????

A head cannon fact: Chuuya is Always Ready to Fight but he actually also likes ‘softer’ things like music and poetry quite well (they pair well with a nice glass of wine, after all). When not on the clock he dabbles in poetry and writing his own song lyrics (that, of course, would come out something like Darkness My Sorrow) and will practice singing them softly to himself, but although he’s not the nervous type he is way too embarrassed for anyone to know about this. It doesn’t fit his Big Bad Mafia image. Dazai is the only one who knows about this even a little bit, as some of their strategies are based on poems he either showed him when they were younger or things they co-wrote together while bored. (Another head-canon, because I’m weak – Chuuya knows his way around make-up, thanks to Kouyou, and because he’s all about looking Great regardless of whether it’s something ‘traditionally’ girly like that flowery hat he saw in the window in BSD Wan! He doesn’t wear makeup much though because he doesn’t think it fits his Big Bad Mafia image either, nor does he think he needs it.)  

My Gender Bend: Again I’m not entirely sure what this question means in this context? Like… is it how I think he’d look if he identified/was assigned another gender? Because I think he’d look… pretty much the same… appearance doesn’t signify gender in most ways… If it’s like, gender bending head canons from what we’re given in the series though I like the nb/transboy head canon for Chuuya, I think that’s a fair analysis in a lot of ways and valuable to explore in fandom/fiction.

Dazai

How I feel about this character: One time @annalaflame made the horrible mistake while we were in the parking lot at the end of the night, about to go our separate ways, of asking me “gin, do you actually like Dazai?” and she got to spend the next forty-five minutes in the front seat of my car as I sat there and explained how I felt about him.

The thing with Dazai is… he’s an asshole. In so many ways. I often compare him to Izaya from Durarara!! — which Haru, I realize that won’t mean much to you, but Izaya is like … he’s irredeemable to me? As a villain I love to hate him, because he’s horrible and manipulative and always seems to get his way but it’s to no end other than his character alignment being Chaotic Asshole.  Dazai, on the other hand…

Dazai is … such a multifaceted character. He’s horrible to people (and animals!) and manipulative and always one step ahead and is honestly, kind of a sociopath. He has no qualms at the idea of horrible things happening to his enemies be it by his hand or that of another, and he doesn’t seem to mind how his awful actions can affect those closest to him and at times even finds it humorous. Notice I didn’t say he doesn’t care — because I think he does, and this is where Dazai is redeemable to me.

I think, for someone so hyper-intelligent, scheming, calculating — Dazai was, and perhaps still is, a little lost. We see this in his lack of self-preservation and suicide mania, both in Dark Era and present, but also in the front he puts on, his bravado. He was something of a loose canon in Dark Era, very dangerous, and OdaSaku (from what I understand, having read summaries and watched the anime but not read the book itself) acted as his conscious and, with his death, became a guiding light leading Dazai towards being a better person by the work he — through a veil of On Brand complaints — now willingly does with the Armed Detective Agency.

Additionally, after the Guild arc, Hirotsu asks Dazai how long he’d been planning for Shin-Soukoku to happen, and Dazai answers from the Very Moment he met Atsushi. How can that be, if Dazai wasn’t acutely aware of exactly how he mis-treated Akutagawa as his now abandoned mentee, if that wasn’t something rather always on his mind? Dazai may not ‘care’ about people in the sense of always wanting to be helpful to them especially if he doesn’t get anything out of it — and in some ways this may be a product of his (lack of) upbringing and environment. But I do think he cares in the sense of perhaps, even retroactively, wanting to do ‘right’ now — and he’s still figuring that out for himself and how he does that. And that’s one of the things I find so compelling about a character that rubbed me such the wrong way at first — he may not be doing a good job, but Dazai is trying, in his own way. This is reinforced by how he treats Atsushi during our protag’s lowest moments of self-loathing and uncertainty, how he speaks to Kyouka when she’s given up, how he confronts Fyodor and defies him even in the face of their maniacally evil similarities. He’s a man that’s been terrible all his life, but is trying to be perhaps not good, but better. [Insert gif of Mal Reynolds from Firefly saying “well, I’m alright.”]

Anyway that got super long because I could go on about him for days, but basically I think Dazai is incredibly fascinating and easily one of the most compelling characters in the series, if you can get past the humor given to his suicide mania. But — even that is something that’s relatable to a number of people, which makes his character that near always has the upper hand in a situation very interesting to watch as he too grows and learns (even if he can be annoying too~).

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Chuuya! Kunikida, Atsushi (sometimes), OdaZai (sometimes)

My non-romantic OTP for this character: DaAku!! (T_T) I want to see them work stuff out. DazAtsu, too, always. Atsushi’s been a good influence on him. Also, the Buraiha trio was so good. (Also… maybe it’s just that I want Yosano to get more development as I keep mentioning her, but… I want to see her interact with Dazai more?)

My unpopular opinion about this character: I think his suicide-mania is important to consider and explore (I want to clarify though that I do hate how flippantly the series treats it, which is probably actually a popular opinion.)

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: I Really Really Really want the ADA to comment on afore-mentioned suicide-mania in a way that’s actually positive!? Like give this guy a support group, god. Yes, he drives everyone away and they don’t really owe it to him, but come on…

My het ship: I don’t think I really have anyone for Dazai either, actually…

My fem/slash ship: Soukoku?

My OTP: Still Soukoku, to the surprise of absolutely no one.

My OT3: Buraiha trio~

My cross over ship: Jury’s out on this, Dazai’s a hard one.

My kink: ???????????????????????? Actually my one fantasy of fantasies for Dazai was that I wanted to SEE HIM GET TAKEN DOWN A PEG because he was too ‘always right’ but then the manga happened and I DIDN’T WANT TO SEE HIM FALL LIKE THAT…. (Yeah hi I don’t really have ‘kinks’ really just… things I’d derive satisfaction out of seeing in canon RIP)

A head cannon fact: Actually this is sort of more soukoku-related than anything, but when they were kids and Dazai was still trying to figure out what exactly he was missing in order to look for it in order to be interested in continuing to shuffle along this mortal coil, he kind of voiced some of that personal angst to Chuuya while they were hanging out all partnered-up and Chuuya just … didn’t get it. It was not really in Chuuya’s wheelhouse to even consider wanting to die and he didn’t exactly… mock Dazai about it but brushed it off rather rudely without trying to understand it because from his perspective it was ridiculous. Cue ‘bandage-freak’ and ‘suicide maniac!’ insults. And Dazai was, understandably, hurt and insulted. But of course, being who he is he couldn’t show that and laughed it off with bravado as well, but it caused him to sink lower at the time and while he doesn’t really care because his capacity to feel things like that is abnormal, it was the major thing that really sparked some of the visceral resentment for Chuuya he seems to have in canon.

My gender bend: Same confusion on the question as with Chuuya. That said, Emil’s Single Dad AU has SLAYED me and I like their interpretation of trans!Dazai. I’ve also thought about the possibility of perhaps nb Dazai in general, in part because of his personal pronoun? But I don’t have the knowledge of Japanese culture in regard to non-binary genders to really say if that’s a fair analysis, since ‘watashi’ can also just be used when speaking slightly more formally.

004 | BSD + Your Choice

BSD + Fandom of my choice, hmm? I don’t know if these are really ‘crossover OTPs’ so much as just Imagine, If You Will, Come With Me On this Journey…. Chris and Kunikida having to deal with Rayflo and Dazai.

[saint-starflicker]

I enjoy fanfiction and support it while at the same time I have and do (and will) read "real literature", but I probably have not read the specific takes that you have, that inspired this post. I've heard about those takes, and probably encountered those-iffy-takes-adjacent posts, but won't be addressing those specifically because I get the sense that the blanket disparagement put out there about fanfiction is...maybe not...what the people posting those takes might truly mean?

I mean that even if somebody that they were handwringing about truly does only read fanfictions...then, why handwring, though? How does somebody else enjoying transformative works alone—does that break the handwringer's bones or pick the handwringer's pockets?

I think transformative-works-only readers are weird because they're not who I write fanfiction for, and I don't mean that in a bad way. I expect readers familiar with the canon who will catch all the references, riffs, and twists on the source material. If I had known that there would be more transformative-works-only readers, then maybe I would write so that the story is more accessible to them...but I'm not handwringing about the lack of proper introduction, as though fanfiction hosting websites are a ballroom in Regency England. If any transformative-works-only readers ever think my stuff looks like a party worth crashing, then that's not a bad thing. It doesn't pick my pockets, it doesn't break my bones.

I just keep on getting the sense that transformative works snobbery is about something else.

Maybe there's some social capital that can be preserved by disparaging the peasantry, like bad parents in fantasy adventure movies and television shows worry about their kids getting too into fairy tales—there's a wealth of cultural analysis and psychological symbolism in fairy tales, but also it's consolidated from peasantry studies so it has icky peasant cooties.

More charitably, maybe the people posting those takes focus more on fanfictions that don't punctuate dialogue correctly, either because there's more of those in their fandoms' fic pool or it stands out more starkly if they're used to reading an industry-standard professionally-edited and published novel. Maybe it's having read fanfiction that gives them ideas about the source material that they don't want to still have—If the reader's relationship to an industry-standard professionally-edited and published novel is a passive consumption like Kathleen Stock (of Only Imagine fame) advocates for, then wrangling fanfictions can clash with the expected experience, because of the various unique headcanons and diverse perspectives.

Maybe that's closer to comparing some movie/television fans to some stage musical fans: movies and television cultivate more of a link between performer and character to the point that re-casting a character in the middle of a television show's run is kind of strange to watch; viewers know who was "the real one". While some stage musical fans might get stuck on the Original Broadway Cast only, the medium should lend more the mindset of so-and-so other actor would be perfect for playing this character, or that we don't mind watching shaky camera and fuzzy audio of some high school's production of this specific show—because we love this show and are interested in what different productions do with it, even if the budget isn't as high as it would be on Broadway, or the camerawork isn't usually as good as on promotional reels for the Broadway run of the same show. There's a more resilient idea of what the canon is, that I think mostly comes from the nature of the medium.

If it comes from the fan culture around it, and the fan culture changes so that the collective mindset is that there's objectively correct favorites and it's the Original Broadway Cast, and so we must snub something like fan casting because that snobbery is where the cultural capital is (the chance to maintain friendships with "the cool people", even if those aren't particularly pleasant people)...then that could happen too but I'd be disappointed. Also guilty, because I used to be an "OBC is the only cast for me" type of fan.

The examples that I think of when considering fanfiction as controversial or somehow simply inferior across the board, and why people would think that, is Miguel de Cervantes' sequel to Don Quixote. Somebody else wrote a fanfiction sequel to Cervantes' thing, and Cervantes didn't like it. It isn't that it's bad because of the process of somebody else adding to the canon, as you've pointed out that "fanficcy" elements such as fix-its or crossovers happened long before Mary Sue from the Star Trek fan zines* and yet now get lauded as classical works in literary canon, but Cervantes sold his own corrective sequel on how it was wrought by the same artist that made the first one that people enjoyed. I also think of another example, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle pressuring Maurice Leblanc to not put Sherlock Holmes in his Lupin series, I imagine Doyle was thinking something like, "Why can't you make your own detective, Maurice? You're doing mine so dirty. Leave him alone." (Asterisk footnote: Lancelot du Lac was probably the first Mary Sue in literary function, even though linguistically Mary Sue is the first Mary Sue. We should be calling Mary Sues "Lancelots".)

These don't mean that fanfiction in its entirety is always worse, but when there's friction then I think there's something to these cases to consider why that friction, tension, snobbery or what-have-you is there.

The main difference that I think of between original works and transformative works is the story structure of a contained central conflict in original works. If a bit of prose relies on referring to the central conflict of another work, or it doesn't have/develop/resolve a central conflict because canon (somewhere way over over there off in the distance) did that already, then I think of it as "fanficcy". If a fanfiction has a self-referential and contained central conflict, a genre AU setting, the characters are just out of character enough, and there are introductory paragraphs as though the reader can't or shouldn't fully rely on knowledge of the canon...then that's when I think, "Do a search and replace of names, and this is Original Fiction." I mean that neutrally. I remember back in like 2002 it was shade-throwing to say of fanfiction, "This could be original fiction if you replaced the names" because that meant you thought the characters were out of character. It would be a backhanded compliment too, like, "You wrote these characters so out of character that if you only replaced their names it would be original fiction. Congratulations, you're a real writer."

It wouldn't be true because the setting or the magic system would still be copyrighted, but it was fascinating layers of shade being thrown around, back in what is now the ruins of ancient LiveJournal. Not only the implication of, "You don't have a single independent thought to fuel your creative process, so you have to take somebody else's characters" said with the same vehemence levvied at AI art today except that AI art deserves it while Maurice Leblanc probably didn't (probably I mean...it was good for Doyle to take a stand for the integrity of his artistic vision, while Leblanc resolved that conflict between him and Doyle in a creative way too), but also: "You are already using somebody else's characters but you don't even understand characterization." The shade, the sheer shade.

All that said, I find it's more the social context around the ways to produce works, than it is traits of a work, that create these divisions.

It's still so weird when I see people hand wringing about comparisons of fanfiction to early modern literature, usually with the assumption that the people making the comparisons only read fanfic or they'd know that there's some special quality to early modern writers re-purposing pre-existing stories, themes, and characters that fanfic doesn't have.

But it's glaring that despite all the theatrics and how daaaaares and "read real literature" etc, it's not really possible to define what that quality is.

Early modern literature is not automatically good just because it's old. As in any era, plenty of it sucks! So it's not just "well, fanfic is bad/mediocre and early modern literature is definitionally brilliant and that's what makes them different." It's not that early modern literature comes from an era of unhindered artistry or some nonsense like that. At least for English writers, it was in fact an era of heavy censorship, and opportunities for writing the kind of literature under discussion were sharply restricted by who got access to education and patronage.

Now, those kinds of concerns do make the creative process for early modern English literature different from the far fewer restrictions on writing fanfic. The trends are (sometimes) different and the goals are often different. I don't think they're actually the same thing. But I do think fans are 100% right to point out that the modern obsession with originality, novelty, and copyright is not some absolute standard for all kinds of writing and can't even be consistently applied to works considered literary given how wildly ahistorical it is for things like early modern literature.

If you're going to argue that there is some intrinsic quality about fanfic that makes it Just Worse by definition—and especially if you're going to grandstand and sneer at people about it—then you should be able to define what that is. And it is fair to point out that this concept that originality of plot, theme, and character are intrinsically better, more creative, and even sometimes a defining quality of literature cannot account for things like early modern literature and don't make any sense in many contexts.

[peachymess]

I don't know about this, but I've noticed that Fanon Eremin is usually portrayed as Eren gushing about Armin's greatness. I love that so much and it's amazing. But, I just really want to see Armin gush about Eren in future fanworks in the Eremin Fandom. I mean, isn't Eremin about equality? (Also what are your opinions on this?)

Hello, anon! I really can’t answer for other people than myself, but I’ll tell you what I believe, since you are asking for my opinion. 

If I go by my own stance on this, and apply that logic to the (majority of) the rest of the eremin fandom, I think there’s a really easy explanation for this - however, like I said, this is not the “answer”, just my theory on the matter: the same way that people have favorite and secondary ships, they also have favorite and secondary headcanons for their ships. This is the case for eremin as well; the most popular eremin headcanon/dynamic, is that of dom!Eren/sub!Armin. And I call them that not in the seme/uke way, but rather in the personality dynamic sense. On the surface, you see, it’s not incorrect to say that Eren is the more self-assured of the two, while Armin appears to be insecure and in need of positive affirmations from outside sources. Of course, we can analyze the depth of their characters separately - as well was their bond - for ages (because we all know there’s more to them than this), but this is a generally accepted surface-value for these two and eremin. It’s not wrong, and it’s perfectly fine to enjoy this dynamic (although it’s enriching to explore them more, hence why you’d appreciate a shift in the default). However, it has raised concern that this is the sole perspective being represented; if you saw them portrayed at dom!Eren/Sub!Armin for the first time today, you wouldn’t react - but as soon as you notice a pattern, you might. - And you’re not alone in doing so! I’ve heard this complaint many, many times in the last year or so! And I definitely second the notion that different takes on eremin would be refreshing - however, I do not share the idea that an overrepresentation of D!E/S!A* is a sign of people not appreciating Eren or neglecting him in their minds. What I believe is instead the cause behind this symptom, is that people can only “art” so much; I’m using my self as example here: I produce perhaps seven pieces of art in a year. And ever piece costs me a lot of effort, time and stress. Not to mention I’m doing it for free. I think most fandoms’ artists consists mainly of young artists, insecure artists and other artists making fanart in their spare time for free. What I mean by bringing this up, is that for the majority of fandom artists, the situation is this: for every one piece they produce, there are at least five piece ideas they wish they could make but can’t (for one reason or another). In other words, only the tip of the ice berg ever gets made what art is concerned. And when people know that their quota is limited, they have to pick and choose which very, very few of the ideas they have, they’ll get to make. Bringing it back to me: when I know I can only make five pieces in a year, I want to spend those slots on my favorite dynamic (D!E/S!A). Not because I don’t like S!E/D!A, or that eremin is the only ship I want to draw for (oh, all the ships I want to draw for but never get the time to, sigh), but simply because it’s my favorite dynamic of my most OTP’d ship. There’s a reason there’s a lot more talk about wanting S!E/D!A art, than actual art of it; we all agree that it’s toptier (I’ve never ever seen anyone say they have anything against this dynamic, in fact), but many of us are not at a stage where art is easy to produce, and therefor we’re still working on our #1 dynamic for our #1 ship from our #1 series. While the fandom may be oversaturated with it, our individual art is not (I don’t feel like five pieces of D!E/S!A is an overbalance, for instance). Now, some admirable artists take it upon themselves to work on pieces that there is a demand for instead of what they’d perhaps personally prefer, but for most of us, I think there’s the idea that “I will definitely draw for that ship/dynamic/series/etc - I just have to get better/more practice/make this one idea first”. And that is perfectly ok! Nobody owes anyone any particular kind of art unless you’ve agreed to take payment for said art! And I actually think that while wanting more S!E/D!A is important, spreading the idea that the lack thereof is a symptom of lack of appreciation for Eren is toxic. It can make people feel awful for preferring it the other way around, or feel demotivating or anyone working on the “problematic dynamic”. 

My opinion of this is thus, simply put: I wholeheartedly agree that Eren is worth fawning over, and eremin is beautiful for its balanced dynamic, but I have a problem with the spreading consensus that the imbalance in representation means Eren is mistreated or not cared about. Because for most of us, I don’t believe that’s true at all. Because I doubt I’m the only one who’s sitting on a bunch of ideas they’ll never fulfill. And because I know it’s possible to care deeply about other things than just the #1 thing that you end up blogging about. 

That being said, I’d love to encourage people to explore the S!E/D!A dynamic more. Due to it being so unexplored (compared to the opposite), there’s a good chance any one of you could be the “first” what ideas is concerned. Make a list of popular AUs: more of them are untouched in connection to S!E/D!A than to D!E/S!A - in all departments (art/fic/other). So who knows, if you jump the chance, maybe you’ll even start a trend! And for anyone worried that the imbalance is a sign of uncaring fans: I’d like to encourage a more relaxed state of mind where you can entertain the possibility that what you see, is just face-value (like eremin), meaning there’s more to every blogger than what posts/art makes it onto their blog; there’s love for characters that aren’t mentioned as often, there are more hobbies than anime analysis, and there’s appreciation for more things than one.*In this case, D/S refers broadly to how much emotional support the character needs, with dominance meaning independency what others’ feedback is concerned, and submission meaning a dependancy on external support to remain assured.