#i just love the second chances dynamic between them and he can't do anything cause he's in his young body! ITS PERFECTTTT

[thecoolestfreakyouknow]

i am not immune to the will to rewatch the 18 again kdrama. its taking willpower to continue my workday

[maeve-is-annoying-about-books]

I didn't really wanna talk ahead of the Dungeon Meshi anime but I had this thought bugging me as I was skimming the manga. So, spoilers for what's to come.

I don't think it's any coincidence that Laios' party, out of a cast of infinitely more capable people, makes it to the final floor of the Dungeon. Why? Cause they aren't heroes.

Look at Kabru, he's the poster boy for anime protagonists. He has a tragic backstory, a personal beef with the dungeon, skills trained by a master of the crafts, and a large party who seems genuinely friendly together. He has everything going for him to one day dive to the bottom and gain closure for his story but he just can't. He never will, because the dungeon does not work on his logic. It turns out that there is no plot armor against hearing a siren sing for the first time.

What about Mithrun then? Personally wronged by the Demon, he's the paradigm of vengeance. A tragic hero who will do anything it takes to get to his goal and probably die achieving it. He has a party full of dark history and interesting dynamics, really laden with moral greyness. Not Berserk but a step closer to it than Kabru's story. But he is, unfortunately, also a classic hero archetype, and although his skills are impressive they aren't fit for the ecosystem around him, singleminded vengeance will see you killed by changelings, the cold, or starvation.

Shuro, it's gotta be Shuro right? A man from a distant land but a familiar one to the primary readerbase. He goes back to train, hone his mind, collect a party, and save the love interest from a cruel fate. Perhaps he will learn there is no saving her, and tragically be forced to slay the monster she's become. His journey ends the second Faligon dies, so he has no chance, ever, of becoming the Dungeon Lord. There doesn't need to be any extra traps to deter him, he'll get what he wants at the fourth level and be gone, his desire simply isn't pointed that way.

Laios, on the other hand. None of his party are heroes, they're all here for selfish reasons and have absolutely zero illusions about heroics and greater goods. Laios is here to save Falin, he only wants his sister to be safe. And to eat and document monsters. Marcille is here for forbidden magic and Falin, and her two desires coincide with her resurrection. Chilchuck is here because he got paid up front and can't leave without rumors spreading. Senshi was always here and he just wants to live in peace with nature. None of them have heroic intent, broadly. But it also means they don't have heroic conceit either.

Laios' party will eat anything. They'll run from battle, take shortcuts. They treat monsters not as grand challenges to overcome but something to fight for their lives with. With their teeth if need be. There is no honor here there is only living. Honor gets you strangled by treasure bugs. Revenge will see you abandon your party to giant spiders for the mere shot at your target. Duty sees you skipping meals because your goal is so important. It is striking how different the dungeon is between Laios and the others. They all treat the dungeon as their personal hell to be striven against and conquered, only Laios sees it as an extension of the living world and understands his place in it. And I think that is so fucking cool, it's so multifaceted. Like, their exact skill set is perfect for getting through the dungeon because of how they all treat it. But also because the dungeon wants them there, because they have very personal, strong desires. Desires that shape their skills, and desires shaped by their skills in a kind of Ouroboros.

And it's an interesting question of how much of both factors into their progress in the story.

[lucianalight]

Odin's Family Dynamic - Part 7

It's been days and I still can't stop thinking about What If 2x07. So I decided to write my thoughts down. While I did mention Hela in previous parts of this series, there wasn't enough material to do a complete analysis of her role in the family. But with this episode we have a more complete picture. Reading Parts 1, 2 and 5 might be necessary for a better understanding of this analysis.

Part 1- Odin: The Narcissistic Parent

Part 2- Thor and Loki: Golden Child and Scapegoat

Part 3- Frigga: The Enabling Parent

Part 4 - Can Loki Trust Thor?

Part 5 - Did Odin Love Loki?

Part 6 - Is Loki a Narcissist?

Hela: Golden Child Turned Invisible

In a relation to this series, I was asked what would happen to the golden child without a scapegoat. The answer is the dynamics of a dysfunctional family with a narcissistic parent are not set in stone. The roles the narcissist assign to members of their family can change based on the needs and desires of the narcissist parent. And sometimes a person can have multiple roles or change roles. Usually the only child of a narcissistic parent is given the role of the golden child by default, but they're also prone to having multiple roles.

We see Hela as a happy kid who loves her pet wolf and can't even stand seeing him chained. It is interesting that her first reaction is protesting his imprisonment not that Odin stopped her playing with Fenrir. The scene shows that she cares about others and doesn't want to harm anyone. But Odin seeks to control and tame anything that might be a threat to him, and as he chains Fenrir, he chains Hela too. He grooms her to be a fighter, to never pass on a chance to end a life, to be his executioner and consider that a great honor. He couldn't do that if Hela remained as sweet and caring as she was when she was a kid. And Hela reveling in the love and attention stayed his golden child.

Until Odin decided to stop at the nine realms. Now it's never mentioned why Odin suddenly made that decision. It definitely wasn't because of the goodness of his heart. He still sought powers he deemed others unworthy of with the excuse of "protecting peace". But what caused him to stop his conquests? The answer might be his "new girlfriend who is a dreadful woman" according to Hela and one of the people Hela has a quarrel with.

But why Hela doesn't like Frigga? They have two different personalities for start. While Frigga is a fierce warrior, she doesn't enjoy fighting or war. Definitely not the way Odin, Hela and Thor do(one of many similarities Loki has with Frigga). Also from TR we know Hela was aware of having a sibling but never met them. So her banishment happened when Frigga was pregnant. Stopping the wars and protecting peace might have been Frigga's condition for marrying Odin. It is also possible that Odin pitted Hela and Frigga against each other through triangulation, a manipulation method to provide him narcissistic supply.

"Basically, the game involves two or more people who get pitted against each other and usually they don’t even realize what’s happening. They’re just aware of the conflict between each other and there’s always this conflict. Maybe they can’t figure out what’s going on or where the conflict is coming from. Or maybe it’s very clearly this parent or this other person. Essentially the narcissist does this because they want you to turn on each other while having the loyalty of you both."[1]

The prospect of having another child could be the reason why Odin banished Hela without a second thought. But that's not all. Narcissists don't see their children as people with their own thoughts, feelings and needs but rather as an extension of themselves. The golden child is the positive extension of narcissist but only until they act exactly as their parent wants.

"Narcissists will turn on the golden child when the golden child stops being a source of validation, admiration, and reassurance. Even though narcissists give the golden child many opportunities, privileges, and resources that the other family members don’t get, they still view the golden child as expendable."[2]

That's because the "love" the narcissist parent has for their child is conditional. And if the golden child do anything that contradicts the narcissist's sense of self, they become the negative extension of narcissist and therefore will be treated as a scapegoat. Which happened to Hela. She was banished and imprisoned and forgotten for more than a millennium. Odin turned her literally and figuratively invisible to the world, because she was a reminder of his shameful past and his failures. No surprise that she went mad. She was treated like a tool and discarded as soon as her usefulness ran out. She didn't have any place in Odin's new future.

WI Hela on the other hand got the chance to know herself and choose her own path when she realized what she wanted all along was freedom from Odin's control. Which is a theme that repeats both with Thor's arc in TDW and Loki's arc. Because what Odin did to his children for all their lives and every punishment he sentenced them to, was ultimately for controlling them.

Sources:

[1]Scapegoat & Golden Child | How and why narcissists assign these roles (and not just in the family!) 

[2]Does the Narcissist Ever Turn on the Golden Child?

[athousandbyeol]

discussion #13 (only friends): 'fire' as a prominent and reflective symbol of topmew's relationship

this is so random, but i just realised that topmew's relationship has a lot to do with fire.

top's trauma, mew burning the drawing (we can really see how top flinches when the paper is caught on fire), another fire alarm set off (?) in the final ep, and their relationship (also their personality) in general.

it's like their relationship (or mainly top's story arc) centres around the fire. the fire—in this context—varies. passion. fear. pain. love. sacrifice. i love how there's a connection between top's trauma and the nature/dynamic of their relationship. because even though top is afraid of fire—a traumatising turning point in his life—liking mew is like playing with fire, too. but he shows resilience, perseverance, and effort to make it work. although i do believe he's afraid of this new journey—he even said he couldn't bear the idea of not holding mew again one day—the feelings he has for mew surpass everything.

additionally, liking mew also gives top purpose. i think this is a recurring theme in some dramas i'm watching right now. kanghan from dangerous romance, for example, is becoming a better person after he meets sailom. because sailom has expectations on him—sailom believes in him. and it's similar to top. we know top dates for a maximum of three months (but one thing i realise is topmew have dated for four months because the drama starts in august, and since in the previous episode, mew helped his mothers hang the christmas ornaments, it's literally four months! mew is indeed special, and top is definitely serious in this relationship).

ok. i regress.

what i'm trying to say is, after meeting mew, knowing mew, falling in love with mew and losing mew, top finally found his purpose—he wants to make mew happy. it's the only thing he wants to do. and in episode 11, top said he wanted mew to believe he wouldn't take this second chance for granted. he would be better, for mew, for this relationship. why? because he loves mew. he loves mew. that's all there ever is.

(side note: this is the most heartbreaking thing about top, in my opinion. he just looks so peaceful and happy when he's with mew. it's really devastating. he can do anything to make mew happy—even if it causes him pain—and i somehow believe it's the humblest and most selfless definition of love: when we put someone's needs higher than ours. and top is doing just that and so much more for mew. so if i see anyone says top doesn't genuinely love mew, i'm going to fcuking cry tears of blood... t_t)

so ironically, top has been living 'with' the fire—mew—all this time. but he isn't running away. mew isn't something traumatising but life-changing. he's the 'fire' that top needs to realise and understand that love is real when it's with the right person. and mew is the right person for top. and vice versa; only top can put out the fire in mew.

mew is like the oil to top's fire. the more he pours himself on top, the brighter he burns. even though it's painful, it's still oddly beautiful. they're like the fire—destructive and dangerous. but they just can't walk away from each other's life. because the fire connecting them is none other than love.

[1 | 2 | 3 | 4 (i) | 4 (ii) | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13]

[bluegekk0]

I hope you feel better soon!

Just wanted to share a few words of encouragement. I really love your AU. I’ve been following it for some time now and it’s just gotten better and better. I love popping online and seeing the latest asks and the lore behind these sillies. Your art is incredible too. This AU is truly a labor of love and it’s great that you’ve taken as much comfort in it as I have. I love seeing AUs that take a different sort of route than canon while staying true to their source material, and I feel like yours does just that. It’s very emotionally balanced, too, with pretty equal amounts of angst and wholesome, which I feel like is a hard thing to achieve in AUs. All in all I’ve really enjoyed keeping up to date with this AU and I can’t wait to see what happens next.

It’s that time again! What’s something you want to infodump about but haven’t gotten the chance? Anything at all. I am READY!

awh thank you so much ❤

this means a lot, really. it's something i worry about all the time, i know it's my au and i can do what i want with it, but i still overthink it way more often than i'd like. i try my best to find a balance between something i personally enjoy and something that doesn't stray too far from the canon, so hearing this is very reassuring. so thank you, i really appreciate your words, and i'm glad you enjoy the au 💖

as for the infodump... hm. well, a topic came up on my friends discord server about fpk's sense of humor, so perhaps i'll take this as an opportunity to talk about what each of the main characters finds funny? that could be quite a fun ramble. i'll put it under a read more thingy cause it'll probably be very long

i guess i'll start with fpk. he's a bit slow when it comes to humor, he's always had trouble catching irony and double-meanings, but after the hibernation he's even slower at getting more nuanced jokes. he'll understand them eventually, but it might take him a few seconds to even process what was said, let alone decide that it was a joke. it doesn't help that he's a serial overthinker, so his first instinct is to take things literally, and that means that in some cases the joke might go completely over his head, especially if it's a topic he's particularly sensitive about. it also carries over to his ability to tell jokes - let's just say he's not very good at it. there aren't many things that he finds funny, most of the time it's something related to his hobby, which unfortunately means most people won't really understand the joke. in other cases, he'll unintentionally say something that's actually really funny, and then get a bit confused when he hears a laugh in response. aside from that, he gravitates towards self-deprecating, dry humor, which can be quite amusing if you contrast it with the more outright funny jokes told by others

grimm, on the other hand, is much more well-versed in comedy. though, probably quite unexpectedly, his humor can be quite immature. he loves jokes that are flirty and filled to the brim with innuendos, which he most often targets at fpk (who needs a second or two to realize what grimm means, before his face turns all red haha). in general his sense of humor can be quite... off putting, let's say. he's the type to make the kind of jokes where you can't exactly tell if he's being serious or not. sometimes you can catch him staring at your neck and commenting on your blood type in a humorous tone, which to him is very funny, but to others might be a bit too ominous. on top of that, he very much enjoys irritating or intimidating others, he finds their reactions very amusing. particularly with hornet, they engage in banter almost constantly - he'll get on her nerves to cause a reaction, and she'll fire back with a mean comeback. to them it's all in a good fun, but to an outsider it would be quite a strange dynamic to witness. of course, he's not all immature, he knows when to stop, and whenever he's away from his family, his demeanor changes and he becomes a lot more serious. it's clear that he's more comfortable and approachable whenever he's around his loved ones, as he basically turns into a completely different person the moment he returns to dirtmouth

hornet has a very mean type of humor. she has a lot of built-up anger, and mean jokes are a way for her to release it. it most certainly borders on being rude and cruel, though she tones it down whenever she's around her family. you have to know her well enough to realize that she's just joking, otherwise her attempts at humor might come off as genuinely insulting. it's certainly something she works on throughout the events of the au, there were a few instances of her saying something mean as a joke towards fpk or holly which was severely misinterpreted, and she wants to avoid repeating that mistake. most of the time, she doesn't actually mean what she says, but unfortunately not everyone sees it that way. i mentioned that she engages in banter with grimm all the time, but even then she tries to control her words. grimm wouldn't get offended, he doesn't take himself that seriously, but it's still something that she pays attention to. of course, if he annoys her, she'll fire at him with a mean joke, which he then laughs off. there's clearly a degree of understanding between them, and it's one of the reasons why they're actually a lot closer than you'd expect. but it's just them, she has to be a lot more careful with her humor around the other members of the family, particularly fpk, who she knows is especially paranoid about upsetting her - she wouldn't want to make him think that she's actually angry at him, so she makes sure to tone down her nasty humor in his presence

holly... well, it's quite difficult to be a jokester if you can't speak. they do understand humor, perhaps not as well as they'd hope, but they're not oblivious to it. unfortunately, they can't really practice it too well - sure, they can attempt to make humorous sketches in their notebook, but the time consuming nature of it means that they're not able to actively participate in comedic banter. though their inability to respond does still lead to humorous moments occasionally. for example, they'd be the "stares into the camera like they're starring in the office" type. their seemingly confused, blank expression happens to make some people laugh, and i think they would quickly catch onto that and embrace it rather than feel embarrassed about it. they also play the straight man whenever they're around more comedic personalities like grimm, or people whose whole presence causes others to laugh, such as zote. of course, it didn't start as something they did entirely by choice, but they would naturally excel at it. and i don't think they mind that, at the end of the day they just want to make others laugh, and if that's what works best, then they're happy

and of course zote is zote. he doesn't really make jokes, but his tendency to blurt things out without thinking and over-confidence lead to many comedic situations. you can't find a funnier guy than him, and he does it completely unintentionally. grimm finds him extremely entertaining, so he'll often say things that will specifically get zote to say dumb things. for example, whenever zote starts one of his rambles about all the places he's allegedly been to, grimm will start asking questions that will get zote to say more made up things, to the point where he completely stops making sense. it's quite mean when you think about it, but that's just how grimm operates (he does actually care for zote in his own strange way). but back to the funny man himself - most of the humor comes from all the wacky situations he gets himself into. that being said, he doesn't like being laughed at, it's a very unpleasant childhood memory that unfortunately makes him react in anger, and that often causes even more people to laugh. i think the rest of the family would catch on, though, and avoid laughing at him, even if they do find his antics very funny. i think this is why he's kind of a honorary family member - he may act all confident and cocky, but deep down he really just wants to be a part of a family, and it just so happens that this bunch of weirdos accept him as one of their own. i imagine he's dealt with a lot of bullying in his childhood, he's got a lot of issues which he weaponizes into all of his nonsense, but that's a topic for another day. as for things he'd laugh at, i do think he would find the misfortune of others amusing. in some ways, he shares hornet's mean sense of humor, though he's not as quick-witted as her haha

as for lewk, he's still a child, so his sense of humor isn't particularly elaborate. he laughs at the things you'd expect a child to laugh at, it doesn't really get much deeper than that. though growing up around grimm and hornet, i could absolutely see him absorbing all of the banter he witnesses and developing a similar type of humor as he ages. he's a lot more sensitive, though, so i don't think he'd ever reach the same levels of mean humor as hornet, or find much amusement in intimidating others like grimm. after all, he does also spend a lot of time around fpk, so perhaps he'd learn some of his "nerd" humor? he's still young, so we'll have to wait and see, i'm constantly thinking of his personality so it's something i can't say for sure just yet

[insecuritybreach]

Headcannons pt 2: A random assortment of GL Freddy headcannons simply because I can

Always knows what time it is down to ten-second intervals because he's built like that so if you ask for the time, you're actually going to get it from him in a format more like XX:XX.X and it confuses the person he's talking to, causing him to also be confused. A weirdly specific situation that happens quite a bit

Has a strange assortment of definition knowledge

He know what purpose things serve, and know a lot about how things work

That said, he's awful at social cues, body language, and anything that is supposed to be implied (including sarcasm, he doesn't get why people say the opposite of what they mean for any reason, it's weird)

So busy during the day, there is always a crowd everywhere he goes, but can and will make space at his side if he wants to have someone specific with him

Usually he'd be concerned about how he is seen by the kids he's a role model for but Gregory is HIS kid so it doesn't matter who's watching he has the boy with him all the time and there's nothing anyone can do about it at this point

The higher-ups were like 'Whatever keeps him happy, we can't really afford to build another one like we keep threatening' at first. . . Then Gregory became part of marketing

Look at our marvel of engineering! He's not only capable of interacting with children: he HAS a child! And they are so cute on this poster- here we are now selling this poster and oh wow, look, the kid is on the ad now

Gregory lives for it, and though Freddy is wary of how child protective services might get involved what with this being a pretty abnormal home dynamic

That aside, he does have other hobbies

He likes to golf with Monty, and, strange enough, he usually wins

No sweat from Monty, they're just bros being bros so it doesn't much matter who wins and who doesn't

Monty usually beats him at Fazerblast so it's pretty evened out between them

He'll also go race with Roxy and Chica

This is NOT a bros being bros situation

This is a 'ill actually run you over if given the chance' situation and it's kind of terrifying but they keep convincing him to race

He'll throw the race just so he isn't the reason for anyone giving anyone else the cold shoulder because both the girls are so competitive it's probably unhealthy

He wants to learn to cook but there's really no way for him to learn so that's kind of out of the question besides pizza and pizza is super easy. Still fun, but easy

When he makes a friend he is so loyal

They're immediately integrated into the friend group, everyone accepts it, if Freddy says they're good then they're good

Might not stop Roxy from being passive agressive, but she, too, will warm up to any new additions to the fam squad

Loves to stargaze when given the chance to sneak up to the roof, even if it's the one thing he's never supposed to do

It's just so beautiful up there, and it gives his mind a chance to rest. Not the overwhelming decorative sticker stars from the walls and ceiling or the excessive neon lights he never seems to get away from, it's just simple, distant starlight that puts him at some much needed ease

His life isn't particularly stressful, it's just chaotic, and he likes the times he can get away for some time to just him

Doesn't need very long, he does love his home and friends, but everyone needs a break every now and then and he's no exception to that

He does go through some pretty heavy bouts of grief for Bonnie

You'll know he's really going through it when you find him perched on the side of the old stage in Bonnie bowl, talking into the empty room without looking over

He's pretending Bonny is still there, that they're talking like they used to. Maybe it works for a few seconds, maybe a few seconds is all it takes to make him feel better about it in some way

After all, who's better at bringing him out of his moods than Bonnie? Freddy finds it ironic in hindsight that it feels like Bonnie's still there, helping Freddy through the loss of himself

He doubts he'll ever fully recover, bit he doesn't need to be 100% back to normal to be functional, so he sees it as okay

All this said, he's very good with comfort

Grief, depression, anxiety, even panic attacks- he has it covered and he will absolutely jump right in to help

Not shy about telling his own story and intent to hear yours if you're willing to share

Accepting help is a bit harder, but he's more than willing to give it if he can

Wow these got a little serious but I'm not taking them back, they are now here

Side note: I take requests, so if you wanted any specific headcannons/one shots im game

[organic-guacamole]

I've got a lot of thoughts on this finale.

starting with the length.

27 minutes? really?

I'm not asking for a 2 hour episode but cmon, at least give us something closer to 40 minutes.

next, the characters

the characters just didn't feel like themselves, especially portwell.

all season long we saw how much potential they had, how well communicated they were, how good they were at being a proper, healthy couple, and now they just can't talk to each other?

it doesn't feel like them.

portwell had arguably the best set up of all the other ships, they showed us how good they had the potential to be only to throw in a cheap plot to wrap it up? I would understand that they want some angst to make the ending all the more satisfying, but this was pathetic.

there I said it.

of all the ways to add drama in a ship, don't use the one that completely contradicts their entire development.

paired with the length of the episode, it seemed even more poorly written.

here I made a lovely, handy dandy homemade graph to represent how I see portwell's storyline:

as i said before, we saw the build up being nearly perfect. they peaked during episodes 9-11 because they just had the chemistry, the communication, and the most potential to be the endgame couple.

they just got eachother.

then we get Jamie popping in for 10 seconds and erasing a lot of that, only for mediator Ashlyn to jump in and solve their problems.

then there's the "kiss".

I know that Sofia is underage and that even if she/her legal guardians consent to the kiss, the writers can still decide not to show it, but still. In my opinion, if you're not going to show the kiss, then don't bother.

there are other ways to establish a relationship that would work better in this situation. Of course if they get together they'll have to kiss sometime, but one way they could postpone it is by having Gina be a bit more reluctant to give away her first kiss like that. it could also show how accomodating EJ is.

I like to think that Gina is very meticulous when making decisions so she'll probably want to be very sure of the relationship before giving him her first kiss. perhaps she'd stick to cheek kisses until she's ready, and then she kisses him and he's surprised.

that would've been, in my opinion, a sufficient way to hold off the kiss while still wrapping up portwell until season 3 when Sofia would be 18 (assuming they get picked up for S3 this summer then start filming fall-winter. Sofia will be 18 in January).

as my friend @rtcosley (idk why it's not letting me tag them, so their page is linked) said,

"They created like 10 plots

And instead of wrapping it up

They added 4 more"

there's just so much more they could've done...it's the season finale for crying out loud.

I get that seblos already had (what I assume is) their storyline for the season, the fight and resolution. Ignoring the fact that that only lasted for 2 episodes and didn't have anything to do with what we were expecting, (i.e.the financial differences between their families, as mentioned in episode 1, the fact that everyone treats seb like he's stupid, this being carlos' first show and the drama that the stress of that caused, etc.), seblos had to purpose this episode than to stand next to eachother and be gay.

I get that they're not part of the core four or anything, but the poster for season 2 has all of them, as opposed to season 1 just being the core four.

They deserved better, just like redlyn and kowie.

redlyn's arc was pretty early in the season compared to the other ships. they had Ashlyn confessing her insecurities in episode 3, antoine stirring the pot of confusion and causing a bit of distance between them briefly, and then big red confessing his goals and plans for the future in episode 8 and for the rest of it, we just see them getting closer and more comfortable with each other and caring about each other more and more.

they had a good arc together.

but that's just it. I wanted to see them have their own arcs. but then again, this show can't seem to balance multiple storylines. I think it is possible, but not when they keep adding new characters that don't contribute anything much to the story(more on that later).

kowie's storyline is... confusing.

I really like their dynamic, how carefree and happy Kourtney gets around him, how she's remaining true to herself and managing a million and one things, plus a relationship in her own without losing herself to it all.

but the main issue I have is that the entire development was never shown.

we went from strangers, to coworkers, to friends that flirt, to lovers that text constantly and went on numerous dates (and Howie met her mother at some point). but all of that, was off screen.

it's like the writers made every episode with them in it kind of thrown in at a new stage of relationship progression and said "here, accept this, no questions asked because we don't have answers"

I just wish we could've seen more of howie trying to get in her good side again after episode 7 because it seems like that's when a lot of it happened.

I appreciate the Rini scene in this episode, seems to be the very end of them, for good this time.

i'm happy about that.

Ricky especially deserves to be free for a while to focus on his development, and Nini has the chance now to really shine through her talents and make a name for herself.

The Rini storyline is the only one I'm fully satisfied with.

now, that being said;

what the heck are they trying to pull with Lily and Ricky rn???

just like that.

after lily being the villain this whole season, they're just gonna not redeem her and then have her confess her feelings to Ricky, a guy she barely knows and only talked to to harass and intimidate, and for him to reject her publicly then call her afterwards?

please I hope it's just to say "you dropped something, here it is and never contact me again, thanks." /hj

speaking of the villains, this season was promoted as the season of rivalry between North and East High right? so why did that plot idea only progress in about 3 out if 12 episodes?

we got Zackey Roy in there for a few episodes then he disappeared, Lily just caused Gina to stay true to her friends in episode 2 and 7 and then basically did nothing else?

this is what I mean by the new characters providing nothing to the show.

the writers can't manage having so many characters and plots at once so they start so many promising arcs, only to kick them aside later on.

we already know that the first half of the season felt like filler episodes, so I think they could've cut those down to leave room for the more important plots to take root, rather than have them pop up and get rushed at the end of the season.

all that, and they just add 4 more plots at the end of the season.

this post sounds very negative looking back...but if I'm being honest with myself, I'm just very very disappointed.

I love this show so much and I really expected better for the season finale, especially if they don't know if it's getting renewed or not.

given the IMDB ratings of this episode so far, I don't have very high expectations for the renewal, but I'm still hopeful because this show is a great thing, one of the best things that happened to me over the course of this quarantine. I've become so attached to this show, the cast and the friends I made through it, that I don't know what I would do if it just ends like this. writing these reviews and posts about this season has been so fun for me to do and thinking that this may be the very last one is a painful thought.

I'm sorry if you were expecting this post to be as light-hearted as my other posts about the episodes, I just had a lot to say about this episode in particular.

all my episode posts are tagged with "#guac's episode text blocks :)" in case you wanna read through and reminisce the simpler times🥲

[bbq-hawks-wings]

The narrative is not saying Hawks should feel guilty for his parents not wanting a relationship with him.

A concern that started back in 299 but really came to light in 303 is that the story may be trying to infer Hawks should feel bad for not pursuing a relationship with his parents. I completely understand where this concern comes from, but I also don't think that's what's happening here; and once again, I have the perfect disaster that is the Todoroki family to help me explain it.

Horikoshi's writing has been praised for the Todoroki plotline in particular for its portrayals of abuse, neglect, trauma, and broken family dynamics - and in particular how each member of the family has a different response to the traumatic events in their history. May I posit the idea that Hawks and his family is just an extension of that same concept?

While the Todoroki Family is able on some level to put itself back together, even if not completely, and move on in a positive direction. The Takami family is one that didn't mend, didn't heal, will never come back together.

Where Enji, even if decades later, is able to face what his self-centered behavior has done to his family; Thief Takami met the end of his relevance to the story as he tried to run away for good.

Rei owns her responsibility for the nightmare of the household and the scars she inflicted on her children without hesitation - giving validation to the feelings of her children and credit to them for being the ones who allow her to remain in their lives; Tomie was never able to own up to her actions and how she abandoned her son - even refusing to look him in the eye and literally ran away rather than face anything he might have to say about the way she treated him and how she was absent.

Each of the Todoroki children get to choose their response to a parent who's repentant of their behavior and allows them to be in control of the relationship moving forward - Dabi seeks to hurt them back, Fuyumi seeks to forgive and forget, Natsuo wants nothing to do with his father and put the past behind him, and Shouto won't let his father forget what he's done but will let him start over and prove himself with time. Hawks doesn't get parents that want a relationship with him, and he just has to accept that he won't ever get that healthy family dynamic from them, even if he wanted it, and move on with his life.

Natsuo is the important linchpin in this reasoning for me, because if there's one person who is single-handedly proving Endeavor's redemption is about atonement and not forgiveness - it's Natsuo.

Not every panel and stylistic imagery choice in the manga is meant to be taken as objective reality. We saw this in the confrontation between Hawks and Twice. The scary, shadowy way that Hawks was drawn was not objective reality but the way Twice was seeing him.

Some imagery and themes surrounding Natuso and Endeavor have been consistent, no matter who's perspective we're seeing.

In order, these depictions of Endeavor's abuse are from Rei's perspective, the entire Family's perspective, and finally his own as he recounts what he did. Absolutely nothing about what he did is meant to be taken as subjective. Horikoshi will not let us get away with thinking what he did was anything less that the horror that is was.

Which is why as everyone recounts their memories in that hospital room in chapter 302, Natsuo's is the only one not accompanied by supplemental imagery when even Fuyumi has some in her panel. Natsuo's statement doesn't need expounding; he's just right.

And his feelings have been acknowledged and validated in being that the only reason Natsuo even comes to these family meetings is to support his family. His father is the bad guy - the villain - in his story, but he's willing to acknowledge that he isn't the bad guy in everyone's story. For this he's praised as being selfless and kind - not to Endeavor, but to his loved ones. This happens not once:

But twice! Natsuo is acknowledged in the narrative as having major objections to having anything to do with his old man, but is also acknowledged that in choosing enduring it even in the face of the anger and distress it causes him makes him selfless and caring of his his loved ones who have chosen to stand by Endeavor - and even in this second instance it's acknowledged that he's supporting his dad only because people need the Hero Endeavor and his family behind him.

While the issue was still just their family, Natsuo's boundaries were respected by Endeavor, the rest of the family, and ultimately the narrative; and these boundaries will once again be reinforced when the situation blows over.

So riddle me this: if Natsuo is allowed to hate and abandon his father who is repentant and does want a relationship with him, I don't understand how the same story is turning around and condemning Hawks for simply letting them go when he acknowledges he didn't even get the same opportunity?

I really think the order of his thoughts matter.

"I didn't get to confront my parents. They're gone."

"So I left them there behind me and moved on."

More than likely Hawks has some choice words for his genetic donors if he got the chance considering he praises Shouto for taking steps that are tremendously difficult for a child in those circumstances to do - especially towards his father who Hawks now knows is guilty of some major sins of which his family has zero obligation to forgive. He recognizes that Shouto's parents placed the power to redeem or destroy their relationships with him into his hands, and instead of cutting them off as was his right, he reached back out and met them halfway.

Yeah, man, that makes you a pretty cool dude.

In conclusion: I think Hawks is just another example of how this kind of family dynamic could go wrong and how sometimes the child just has accept what they can't control and move on, even if he wishes he could get closure. We can't always get that, and so in another way he's painted as being strong for doing that emotional heavy lifting alone without the promise of closure and not let it consume his life.

[mc-critical]

Hellooo 🤗 First, I have been following your blog for a while and I love your blog so much! I hope you are doing well :) And my ask to you can be a little bit complex. I have been thinking about why Hatice chose not to kill Hurrem when she kidnapped her for 2 years. I know hurrem obviously can't die for the history :) and they had to change the scenario for Meryem's absence but I want to think this in the my universe, some suggest that her whole purpose was to revenge suleyman, more than hurrem. Because in ep 85, she said to him that she wanted to kill hurrem just because she wanted suleyman to suffer and feel the same pain as her. And some people say that it's because she just couldn't do this because she is still so...merciful. In short, I sometimes have troubles to understand the dynamics and the bond between hurrem and hatice. They are both very complex characters and there is so many hatice hate in this fandom and I am saying this as an hurrem fan :) So I would be very happy if you can answer my question and this complex dynamics between them 😊💕

Hey there! 🤗 Thank you for your words and yes, I'm fine. :)

I agree that the whole abduction plot was clearly done in order to excuse Meryem's departure in-universe in some way. And Hürrem couldn't be killed because of historical accuracy and the whole lot of stuff she had to do in the script afterwards. She couldn't just die like that, they had to wrap her arc up in some way and both the consequences of the abduction and S04 itself were very important for Hürrem's character.

That aside, I don't think the writers gave us a clear cut reason as to why Hatice didn't kill Hürrem. I always considered the way Hürrem survived to be a plot hole for the sake of the plot and time constraints the team faced by the end of the season. There were many cases the show abused the attacks of Hürrem done by her enemies, they sometimes turned out to be so miscalculated and so absurd that Hürrem would always survive. They became so much, we have seen such scenarios so many times now that Hürrem surviving is something I would take for granted by now and wouldn't question for that and that alone. The survival, in practice, is as contrived as it can be and knowing the difficulties behind the scenes, I refused to think of the how and the why of the fact alone.

However, yes, the abduction was not only a way to cover up for Meryem's departure, it ultimately became the conclusion of Hatice's whole character arc, culminating in one last move against Hürrem.

After she forgave Ibrahim about the infidelity, their wounds started to heal and they finally had the chance to start over. And it seemed to pay off... until he died. Ibrahim's death was a new low in Hatice's arc which caused her to lose hope in her own life. She was ready to end it... but not before she got rid of the object of her rage. Thing is, even though Hatice acted against Hürrem before and fully stood against her by S03 for multiple reasons (I elaborated on all that and the many nuances of Hatice's character here), we could say that her wanting to kill Hürrem was the turning point of her storyline and arc in the second half of the season. Before that Hatice's actions against Hürrem were primarily motivated by her threatening everything Hatice cared about at once - both dynasty and family and Hürrem taking Valide's chambers was the last nail of the coffin, which is why her first true move against Hürrem was done through methods the tradition and the harem stood by. (Firuze) I doubt she wanted to kill her then, it was all about the protection of Hatice's personal attachments. She wanted to put her in line, to make her stop, to defeat her for everyone to return to their peaceful lives. What she wanted most of all was a stable family with Ibrahim. And after Ibrahim died, the chance for one was gone. Hatice knew well of Hürrem's enmity with Ibrahim and didn't know of Ibrahim's speeches, hence she didn't have anyone else to blame other than Hürrem and Süleyman. After everything began to go well, Ibrahim's death once again destroyed her "perfect picture", she lost the person that became the bounder of dynasty and family after she forgave him, her everything, a loss for the state, as well. (she praised all his achievements during campaigns after he died) The needs of the dynasty fully became her own personal motives by the time Ibrahim was dead. She already had enough rage against Hürrem at this point, but now that rage increased all the more. That rage, close to hatred, became directed at Süleiman, as well, for taking such a devastating decision, disregarding Hatice's own values and life in her eyes and reminding her of all the death and trauma she had experienced, so the only thing she would do, is move against them both. Yes, Süleiman took away a piece of Hatice's life, now it is her turn to take away a piece of his life. Her enmity against Hürrem took a wholly different turn. Now she truly is the object of all her misery and pain, to the point she thought that her coming in the harem to begin with caused destruction everywhere around - it destroyed everything, according to Hatice, including Süleiman, as she told him in her last scene.

There's also another thing we should look at- all of Hatice's actions in E83, which I feel are very detrimental for her S03B arc. It almost feels like Hatice is in a conflicted state of mind - she lost a lot from Ibrahim's death, she no longer had a point of existing and yet, she wants those who caused her pain to suffer, she wants to end them. She feels that Ibrahim's death is a gross injustice that has to be avenged and yet, she wants to suffer alone with herself, alone with her own pain. Her suicide attempt in the same episode "marries" these two states of mind and puts Hatice's later actions into context - Şah saving her and her promise to end Hürrem is a major reason why Hatice kept going, because it's a modicum of support she hasn't gotten from this person for a long time. It's a promise to fix what has passed. Hürrem's elimination would "fix" what has passed in Hatice's eyes, it would be a natural right, to say the least. Şah saving Hatice gave her the only motivation to live and that's one reason why Hatice fixated so much in it. And if we put her growing depression in the mix, we see that she didn't really get the chance to heal from such big loss. No one truly managed to alleviate her pain or to understand her, everyone was only expecting her to move on, to get over it, without actually doing anything helpful, because "time heals", now doesn't it? In a point Hatice begins to view any action that appear to try "alleviating her pain" as a forced interference in her own life by creating various situations (like Şah redecorating her castle, the exile in Manisa, the marriage with Hüsrev Pasha etc.) for her to adapt in without really considering how she actually felt. She couldn't cope with Ibrahim's death in a healthy way, so the only thing left of her was this wound that kept growing, instead of healing. She was fueled by promises of an end to her misery and will for revenge, but when these promises weren't being fulfilled, she fell even further into despair and acting against the ones who caused her suffering became her only coping mechanism. Which culminated in the abduction.

I know that the writers tried their best to weave a mystery out of this whole plot line, but Hatice being the one behind the abduction wasn't surprising in the slightest - I always saw it as a desparate move of hers to get rid of Hürrem, in a way Süleiman would never predict she would be capable of in her right mind, in a way no one could stop her from doing what she must. Hatice admitted that this was done in order for Süleiman to feel what she felt, to fuel him with false promises the way they all fueled her (see the last Hatice and SS scene before her death) and finish it all by herself, by finally, finally doing what should havе done long ago. The fact that no one knew what happened exactly is something I think Hatice would definetly pull in her most broken state, aside from the sloppy writing, because when everything is kept under wraps, the fate of Hürrem is all in her hands and she would deal with her successfully and effortlessly, without anyone managing to prove anything. This was her revenge, this was the way she would finish it. 

I honestly don't understand her not killing her, aside from the plot convenience, because at this point.. oh yes, Hatice would absolutely kill her and as I mentioned before, she already wanted to kill her, to eliminate what has become the root of all the problems in the family and in the harem and again, take a piece of Süleiman's life as he did with her. Simply putting Hürrem in her place as she wanted in some moments of S02 and on a stronger level in all of S03A wouldn't cut it anymore. But then again, Hatice did tell Hürrem many times throughout S03B that she can make her suffer in a way she would beg for her death, as shown with her doing the whole thing with the herbs. She probably wanted to do this first and then kill her and Hürrem just... succeeded to escape in the meantime? I would've totally believed this was the case if we didn't get these little hints from Hatice in Bali Bey's interrogation in E102: there she said that she wanted to avenge Ibrahim's death so much, but she couldn't do it. She couldn't succeed. That could mean so many things. It sure didn't mean Hürrem's escape, because she escaped a year later (confirmed by E103), so there must be another thing that stopped her. While Hatice is an overally ethical character, she wouldn't be all that merciful at this point of the show, because of all the reasons I stated above and the fact that she has ordered an execution before. (Nigar) Maybe Hürrem showed or told her something that stopped Hatice from doing it? Maybe Hatice found out that that this whole thing made her more miserable? The most probable reason for me is what she hinted at in her last scene which indeed has more to do with Süleiman than with Hürrem: maybe she saw all the unsuccessful attempts to kill Hürrem and wanted to put her in a place they could never find her in instead and take her away from SS and everyone else, to hit him where it hurt. To let him live with her unsure fate. For him to burn inside everyday, without the person he would do everything for, without knowing whether she lived or died, just like Hatice never got to know where Ibrahim's grave was and never got the chance to get over her pain. She didn't succeed to get rid of Hürrem, so she might as well do that instead. That might have been her last resort.

Because throughout all of S03B, Hatice was empty inside. She had one driving feeling that probably got bruised quite a bit after she abducted Hürrem. Complete hopelessness might have gotten over her and she may have wanted to give up the fight altogether. Killing Hürrem was apparently a hopeless cause. Happiness and piece once more were apparently a hopeless cause. She couldn't avenge Ibrahim and the only thing left was say one last goodbye with her sister, calling back on her wish for a calm family, and then confront the other member of the family left, who seemingly screwed everything up. I would say that Hatice realized that it was SS who was the decider of everyone's fates in the end and that he made so many problematic decisions that only made everyone around him suffer and that is connected with the impact Hürrem had in their lives.

[I agree that Hatice and Hürrem had a very complex dynamic that went through detailed development throughout three seasons and both of them had complex reasons to do what they did. Believe me, I never got this striking amount of Hatice hate I encounter in the fandom either, especially because these haters do so little effort to understand her character.]

[ma-gic-gay]

"I'm sorry, what the hell is that supposed to mean?" Carly asks and he nods his agreement with the question, confused as well.

"His first allegiance has been you for the entire time I've known him! You call, the second he registers it's you he answers it. No matter what. We could be in a fight and he'd still pause it to answer that call from you. I don't know why, maybe there's something going on there I don't know about, but still. At least now I'm not competing for attention," Sam sadly smiles.

"Redo on the question: what the hell is that supposed to mean?" The blonde asks again, laughing when she figures out what it is she means. "Oh my god, you think we're having an affair! Oh my god! That's- oh my god."

Both of them burst into laughter at the thought of that. "You thought- us?" Jason asks, laughing still in a rare showing of emotion for him.

Confused, Sam takes that as a sign to say that. "Yeah, actually. I don't know, it just seemed like something that would happen between you two. Or that it was happening."

That stops their laughter promptly. "You do know we used to do that, right?" Jason asks her calmly. "Before Michael."

"And then I was in love with him for several years," Carly smiles at him, "and he wouldn't tell me his feelings until after Sonny and I had gotten together the first time. Stubborn goat. I practically told him everytime I saw him but he just smiled and gave me taxi money. Cruel, truly."

"Most of this took place when she was married to AJ," he finishes the version of the story Sam gets today, even though he could've sworn he'd told her before, "with a minor amount of her begging me to flee the country with her and Michael while she was married to Sonny the first time. But since I came back from my great world exploration, we've simply been friends."

"So you two were going to leave the country together, and you used to hook up, and you were in love at one point, and I never learned any of this?" Sam exclaims, angry and kinda hurt as well.

"I just assumed you knew. Honestly, Sam, I'm kinda surprised you didn't. Everyone knows it; we don't try to hide it or act like we weren't. People haven't just brought it up in... God it'd be years by now, but a long time. When you came to town, though, people were still talking about it pretty regularly. No clue why, maybe they found us fascinating or something, but how didn't you know?" A surprised Carly asks her former fellow mob wife.

"No one ever thought to tell me that his best friend was also someone he was in love with! Someone he considered not only leaving the business for, but someone he considered leaving everyone he cared about to protect," Sam exclaims.

"A million years ago," Carly defends him, "and besides, I doubt that ever would've actually happened."

"Mainly because I refused to let it happen," Jason smiles at her. "You were ready to leave the country on the next flight out and never look back, not for anyone or anything."

"Yeah, I guess I should've thought that out, but in my defense, we would've been happy in, say, Switzerland with Michael and very far away from Sonny," she quickly returns his smile, quipping back immediately.

"Switzerland has an extradition treaty," he reminds her. "Vietnam, on the other hand, does not."

"You were prepared to let me just take off to a country with an extradition treaty with my son and you?" Carly asks, mock offended. "That's just mean."

"Never. I would've made sure we went somewhere without one if we went, which we already established wasn't gonna happen," he smiles again, this time noticed by Sam exclusively, as Carly was busy fake pouting and he was trying to hold back a laugh. "Not once have I willingly gone along with a Carly plan and I plan on dying with that."

"Lies. My fake marriage to AJ so that Michael, me, and you could be a family again, legally," the blonde reminds him, smirking. "You went along with that one pretty easily. Granted, it was because you'd get everything back to how it'd been, your comfortable, no changing life."

"So you act like this, reminiscing about a past I found out about five minutes ago, and I'm expected to believe you truly, truly, aren't still feeling feelings for each other?" Sam asks, incredulous.

"Of course we have feelings! Joy, and anger, and fear and sadness and nostalgia all wrapped into one cozy blanket. But that doesn't mean we're cheaters in relationships, doesn't mean that he would cheat on you, that I'd do that to Sonny," Carly exclaims. "Jason is the most loyal man I have ever met. He's broken zero promises to me and believe me I've given him more than enough reason to. But still, he keeps his word. He would never, in a million years, cheat on you."

"Back the hell up, did you just say you've got feelings for him?" Sam asks, angry but unsurprised.

"We're friends, just friends!" Carly fights her.

"Tell me you're not still attracted to him, then, and I'll believe you!" Sam fires back. "Honestly, can you tell me that you have no feelings for him? Can you?'

There's a poignant pause and a shifted dynamic between the three when suddenly, everyone's eyes are on Carly. "I knew it," Sam scoffs. "I knew you were still in love with him, you slut! You say I'm bad, you've been friends with him for longer than I've known he existed and yet you love him, when you're married to someone else!"

Anger and confusion clouds his blue eyes before he says, "Sam! That is completely out of line! Don't you dare accuse her of this when you don't even know what she means yet, or start fighting with her in her restaurant!"

"So that's it? You're mad at me for getting upset with her for having feelings for you all this time? God, you're in love with her too, aren't you? Somewhere, some part of you is still in love with your best friend's wife. This is rich, maybe I should go tell Sonny about this, let him know his wife's a whore and her and you are in love," Sam angrily shouts. "After all, I'm just the baby mama now. Right?"

"Don't say that," he says softly. "I loved you, Sam, with every piece of me and you told me that we were over. That there was no chance of us reuniting. I love you and it kills me, to know you don't feel the same way back."

"You used the past tense. Loved. You corrected it when you noticed. If you're not in love with me, you're in love with her." Sam says calmly, disguising her anger.

"That's not how life works," Carly argues, interrupting whatever Sam's trying to say. "It's not black and white like that, it's covered in shades of grey as well. You, of all people, should know that. Love's complicated. Life's complicated. Don't expect me to be able to answer a question like that easily."

"If some part of your heart didn't belong to him-"

"Some part of it always will. He was my first love, and he's my best friend. He was the first person to show me unconditional love. The very first person to put up with me and treat me the way I never thought I deserved until I met him. So yes, of course I love him. Happy? Satisfied that now you can run back to Sonny and you two can try for baby number two?" Carly asks, the last part coming out as a sarcastic joke.

Jason stands there, stunned but processing it. She's in love with him? That's a shock. Definitely wasn't expecting that when he woke up today.

By the look on her face, Sam wasn't planning on hearing it either. "So you admit you're a whore who used Sonny because you couldn't be with Jason? Is that it? Or is it that you're somehow just coming to this realization now?"

"That's enough!" He says, pulling out of his thoughts. "Where the hell do you get off acting like this? You dumped me, and you're here now it pick a fight with a woman who's my best friend."

"A woman who's in love with you!" Sam says, hurt he's protecting her. "You protect her with everything in you and I can't even get half of your attention. God, I hope you two are happy together. I'm leaving."

No one tries to stop her as she storms off to the elevators.

A slightly embarrassed Carly looks at him. "Look, if I made this weird or anything, I'm sorry. I just- she asked for the truth and I think I needed to get it off my chest. I was planning on taking this to the grave, I swear. You and her are great together, truly, and so I don't want you to feel like you've got any burden to act on what I've told you. We can just forget this ever happened if you want."

"Can we?" He asks, contemplating. "I mean, yeah, I guess we could, but I know you and I know you don't ever give up or hide things. Once your feelings are out in the open, you leave it like that. You are incapable of hiding them."

"I have for this long," she smiles. "So, no pressure, but whatever we do with this knowledge is up to you."

"No pressure? What the hell has happened to you? Are you feeling alright?" He teases, a smirk playing on his lips despite his best attempts to hide it. "I, uh, I guess you're waiting on me to say something?"

"Kinda."

"You... It's complicated."

"No shit."

"Do I love you? Yes, of course I do. We're friends and you've been my family for a long time. When I woke up from the accident, you didn't know about it, didn't feel the need to be careful with me or treat me like I was marked fragile. Granted, we were just having no name sex, but still. And when you found out, you didn't care much. You had Michael, and remember how scared you were? That's why I agreed to take you both in, and it turned out to be both one of the best and worst things to happen to me. We fell into a solid friendship and eventually in love. You word blurted every feeling you had and I just didn't tell you how I felt. When I did, you fucked Sonny because of a misunderstanding. That hurt. But I survived. Came back to town and we were best friends again. The feelings never fully died, but I definitely loved Sam too, still love her to an extent. I just, I don't know anymore what to do to cause the least amount of pain."

"That was emotional, Mr. Morgan," the blonde smiles at his friend. "Maybe you're not stone cold anymore."

He just rolls his eyes and smiles at his friend who's distracting herself. "If you can hide a feeling, anything's possible."

"That felt personal," she jokes. "But where does this leave us? I mean, we both have feelings for each other, but I just so happen to be married to your boss and second closest friend. And you just got out of a long term relationship."

"Absolutely no clue. You're with Sonny, I'm single, and Sam's definitely about to tell him what happened here," Jason sighs. "God, our lives are complicated."

"Seems like my sneaking around plan won't work. Damn. How about my better plan, one where we figure out what we are to each other first," she smiles at him.

"That's somehow even more complicated," he sighs.

"Do you want to explain it to Sonny that we're unlabeled or something?" Carly raises an eyebrow at the man she knows so well. "Exactly. You don't. I don't either but I guess we've got to go with my plan."

"The plan that also involved Sam, the scorned woman, not telling him? Good luck with that," he chuckles, thinking deeply.

The only thing that pulls him out of his thoughts is the sudden feeling of her lips on his. They pull away when he registers what's happening and he looks at her, confused. "What the hell just happened?"

"I kissed you, genius," she smiles at him. "And you didn't kiss back."

"I was thinking," he defends himself. She cocks an eyebrow and he rolls his eyes. "Do you want me to kiss you?"

"No need to be so formal," she smirks and they kiss.

Conveniently, Sonny shows up right then.

To be continued

.-. whY-

[adazieht]

Initially, I wrote an article for a Russian-speaking audience. I TRANSLATED WITH THE HELP OF AN ONLINE TRANSLATOR. WITHIN A FEW MONTHS I WILL TRANSLATE MYSELF, BUT MOST LIKELY TO THE GERMAN LANGUAGE.

Attention: I love the world of "Harry Potter," but I think the main character is antihero.

The system of roles that I have described for the story's characters is based on the Writer's Way (the old edition was called the Hero's Way), a classic Hollywood typology. Briefly about the typology Of " the way of the Writer/Hero's» The author believes that by giving a group of first-and second-plan characters clear roles that affect the plot and the Main Character, it is possible to create a strong story. Its typology was at first critically accepted, as proponents of chaotic plot creation thought that it would kill the individual. But in the end, everything turned out exactly the opposite and indeed the best pictures of American and European cinema were created using this typology. Proving once again that random writing can't create a clear and understandable story for female viewers.

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

In my opinion the path of the Writer/This is a very strong system, which has been present in the stories of Pixar, Disney, paramount, especially 20th century Fox and others for twenty years (or even more, it should be clarified). However, it creates at first glance clear restrictions that the authors first see and therefore decide to work within the framework, although the typology is intended to adapt to the authors, their mentality, mentality and territoriality (for example: the plot in Germany from an Irish immigrant will not be similar to the plot of an American, although they strictly followed the system of the role of heroes in the plot).

Let The Writer/The hero does not give full will in what characters to use and how. Since it has a total of 7 types (Hero, Trickster, guardian of the Threshold, Mentor, Werewolf, Partners and Shadow). Around which is usually built a dynamic, but short story, which is not easy for everyone to work through and yet is mostly suitable for a movie in the last 1.5 hours.

But it really can be useful, it's just better to Supplement it with your own interpretation and other typologies. It should be clarified that I will not touch on the manner of writing a story using the writer's Path system, since I do not share the opinion about its convenience. Although it is definitely more convenient than the classical system, which is actively taught in Russian universities, where thank you that there are not 25 steps in the story, which are told to put in 40 minutes of narration.

I used The Writer's Path/the hero to quickly think through what classic conflict/action should occur in connection with one of the characters.

Mentor. The mentor was the same Yoda from Star Wars. That is, the character performing the function of a Mentor should teach something to the Main Character/Hero, perhaps even accompany the story, like Merlin. Or teach a lesson and die provoking the Heroine / Hero into action (Uncle Ben from Spider-Man).

False Mentor. Negative Mentor, so to speak. He is trusted by the main character, he even teaches him, but leads thereby to destruction because he is actually an insidious manipulator. Dumbledore from Harry Potter.

The topic of Harry Potter as a character will be touched upon later to demonstrate how we can be manipulated by writers and writers who keep in mind the ideal image of the Main Character-Hercules.

The trickster. Tricksters are the most independent characters. People like to say that Loki from marvel is a Trickster, but in fact he only has trickster elements in his system of action. Namely, to act not only during the main actions on the screen, but also before, between, and behind them. Tricksters don't care about the goals of the Main Character, the Villain, or anyone else. They have their own goals and want to achieve them. Tricksters are always active and do not stand still, so they are rarely in the focus of the cameras or suddenly appear on the scene and thank you if they decide to support Hero. We can say that Tricksters are one of the most powerful characters, both mentally and physically, some of them therefore decide not to go into the main plot especially (if they are not interested in the reward for help or the object of the Main Character's hunt), because why should they go into what they decide with one hand? This is boring, and boredom is not for them, and they like to pretend to be physically weak. As a result, I will write that Tricksters exist so that the world in which the actions take place is alive. So that the tower over there will explode and attract attention, so that at this moment the reader will be hooked by its mystery trickster. To create an active and complete world atmosphere.

Guardian of the threshold. Always on the side of the villain. In the story, it serves to become the last obstacle for the hero, after which he is convinced of his strength and that he definitely needs to defeat the Shadow (the main villain). Sometimes it can take the side of the Hero, since the main role of the Guardian is educational and inspiring during the contact between them. The guardian can decide that the Hero is perfect or that his strength has earned his loyalty, and the Shadow will lose. Usually in the arches of the confrontation between Batman( the Hero) and the Joker (the Shadow), the role of the Guardian is performed by Harley Quinn, who is not rarely disappointed in the Shadow and tries to start living again. But most often the Threshold Guard is killed.

Werewolf. An inferior type in this typology. The author is still not completely sure how much it has the place to be, as a separate type, and not a special quality of other types. For example, a False mentor can also be called a Werewolf who seemed to be one, but turned out to be another. But a Werewolf takes place when the differences from the original image are so strong that it seems that it is a completely different character. That is, There was little red riding Hood - cute, but it turned out to be a serial killer who kills grandmothers and blames the wolf.

The shadow is always the main villain of the story. The shadow has similar features to the main character, not rarely the same weaknesses, desires, but unlike him, the Shadow does not restrain anything and it creates hell that. At the same time, because of similarities, they may have mutual understanding and dialogues, but because of differences, they can not coexist.

Partners-partners and there is nothing to describe here. Just the Hero's partners. All.

And now about the Hero/Heroine and what does the deception I mentioned earlier in the story about Harry Potter have to do with it?

A hero in the classical sense is all good deeds in one person and the desire to do everything for the best. This is a great image of a person who overcomes difficulties and solves the problems of the plot. Their personal plot is easy to understand and always equals the plot of the story.

However, there is also a plot about an anti-Hero. An antihero is a hero who tends to self-flagellate, do stupid things and negatively tune in to the world around him, trying on the mask of an often beaten person who can justify his negative outbursts, bad treatment of his Partners (including sitting on their necks). Antiheroes usually arise from an attempt to make the Trickster the main character, or to arouse pity from readers, often ending with the death of this antihero in order to teach the audience something.

And this is a description of the main character of "Harry Potter", that is, Harry himself. And classics stories about anti-Heroes he was also dragged through the plot, through his "do not want", while its true purpose (which is at least not entirely overlap with the purpose of his environment and history) a large part of the plot was not formed, and after the trigger 4 in the book, he started to want revenge for parents who didn't idealiziruete the image of his cause (revenge for ideal people and for the lost perfect life in complete comfort, instead of to create comfort; despite the fact that he also, like a typical anti-hero, clung to those who would give him this comfort). Then he learns information that tells him that perfect people are not completely perfect. And it is during this period that he begins to physically threaten other people, even committing actions that can kill someone, giving in to anger. Around the characters begin to die, which of course puts pressure on the antihero, but emotionally he does not often remember the deaths, quickly moving away (if it is not the characters who gave him either hope for comfort, or already giving comfort).

Like all anti-heroes, he also exhales sharply, then flares up, then sees that darkness is happening around him. Dies for the sake of achieving a good future (because the decision of the plot is always either in the death of the anti-hero, or because he can do nothing else). Sometimes the authors at the same time give the antihero during or after death a chance to solve the main conflict of the story plot with their own hands, organizing their rebirth, as if they are Phoenixes and are born again bright and clean.

Where do the legs of a typical anti-Hero story grow from? From Greek myths, where heroes often performed "feats" in which they not infrequently killed those who did not harm them or creatures that logically ate those who wandered into the heart of their territories, or killed deservedly villains, but again in the name of Victory, Revenge, to Order, and not justice.

Greek mythology as a whole can be characterized as an anti-Hero cult, which serves to satisfy and encourage the fact that at that time Greece was a very negative country in terms of moral appearance. However, these feats of HEROES were presented to all of us as something beautiful and truly heroic. The same disney cartoon about Hercules could not become anything else either. At the same time, thanks to the development of critical thinking people, it was noticed that the only one who had motivation - was Hades, and the same Zeus asshole.

And if you superimpose Hercules from the beginning of the story and Harry Potter, will there be a special difference in functionality? There are great forces and all around say that he is special, the world around him does not understand, he wants more and feels that somewhere there is a true comfort for him. He wants justice for Himself, not for others. Then something happens that gets him involved in the story's plot. He is given the opportunity to enter the magical world, where he seems to be in the theme, allowed to practice their own powers. At the same time, he does not want to return to the old world, as he is inclined to devalue all the good that he received there. He wants to become a Hero, feeling that he is an inferior classic Hero and something is wrong with him ( he is an anti-hero). And a sense of inferiority develops. There is a trigger that causes him to have a clearly formulated goal, but his goal is not perfect in fact. He is disappointed, but decides to act like a Hero, without showing empathy for others, emotionally distancing himself (he does not understand someone's reasons why they do this, but sees how they do it). There is a dangerous situation for their lives with the deaths of other people (or near deaths). The final, where he is white and cleared of doubt.

Very often, the Shadow of the anti-Hero in the final finally goes mad, reflecting the anti-Hero's obsession with his own goal. Remember when Hades and Voldemort had their roofs blown off?

This is the end of the article. Good luck to all and enjoy writing any texts.