#i love how her arc ends because its just so obvious that post canon she goes home and rebuilds the swt and

[asteria-edalyn]

The Story of Kunning Palace 命转皇后/宁安如梦

Started watching the canto dub with eng subs when it came on tvb!! I’ve wanted to watch it for a while but I didn’t want to get another streaming service to watch it. On episode 17 now and I couldn’t resist making a post about what happened so far lol. Please don’t give me spoilers!

I love Ning Er so much. She’s clever, and she’s trying her best to change things, but she doesn’t know everything from her past life and things have changed so she’s having to act on the fly! And I love seeing how she uses her wits in these moments! And how she outsmarts her opponents!

I love the dynamic between her and Xie Wei. The brat and teacher power dynamic? But she’s just as clever as he is? And he’s constantly like, how/why do you keep showing up when shit goes down?? She infuriates him but he’s also sooooo fascinated and charmed by her and he wants to protect her.

So this probs real obvious but I’m gonna put it down here anyway. Xie Wei is the missing Xue Ding-fei and he and the current Xue Ding-fei swapped identities so that he could be sneaky and undercover.

I… don’t think the male cast is very good-looking tbh :”) Zhang Zhe’s probably the most attractive to me. I guess Xie Wei is hot when he’s being all smug and domineering and shit. Also I love how Zhang Zhe (and Ning Er, but more so Zhang Zhe) had been going “You’re working for him too??” like, constantly and getting more and more incredulous but he can’t react cuz he’s undercover lmao.

I feel like this is the start of the second arc, like we’re leaving the palace, the stakes are higher, but maybe I’m wrong. More hilarious moments: when Zhou Yin-zhi tells Xie Wei Ning Er has been kidnapped and internally he’s like: What?? Why??? How??? WHY like girl is gonna make him go grey. And also when she tells Zhang Zhe she told the rebels they’re cousins but they’re in love so they ran away to elope is HILARIOUS. He’s like, why would you tell them that?? But tbh it was a good plan to get them to stop questioning her. And then the rebels acting increasingly awkward around them. Love that the auntie ships them. She’s like, ah young love.

It definitely appeals to me that Xie Wei is so clever but also fucked up. Like not necessarily in a bad way, but man has been through A LOT, since he was like 6. And he’s been plotting and scheming and deceiving for so long, that’s gotta have an impact on his personality.

I have so many fav moments when Ning Er out-smarts her enemies or comes out with the upper hand. A cute recent one is basically the whole “getting the second half of the letter” plot, but specifically when the bank notes reveal her little turtle drawing. So cute!! It’s like she’s saying, hi 👋🏻😙 and then when he shows it to the others and they are just so confused because they don’t have context for the turtle??

Okay wait wait before I end this post I wanna talk about what intrigued me so much about this show in the first place. I’ve always loved reading time travel fix-its, seeing how things change or stay the same, what characters do with what they know and i thought it'd be so interesting for a story to start like a time travel fix it fic, but because the audience doesn't have the established "canon", it's revealed slowly through the story. And then this show showed up on my tumblr and I was like ??? wth this is exactly what I was looking for

Anyway that's it for now!!

[bragganhyl]

Can you do kana for the character thing please? And Eder if you want 😘

I sure could, thank you :D

How I feel about this character: Sweet angel boy, too good for the world, I learned so much about different chanter builds just so I can keep him around along with my chanter Watcher lmao but also his arc hits harder with every replay

All the people I ship romantically with this character: As I recall, he only ever shows interest in Maneha and well she's obviously not interested. So... idk at most the Watcher, I bet a romance would have been very cute and very - for the lack of better word - romantic with him.

My non-romantic OTP for this character: Hiravias, I'm probably repeating myself but I do very much like how Kana brings out his more scholarly side. Hell, I'm pretty sure Kana is one of the very few people if not the only one (aside from the Watcher potentially I mean) who sees and treats him as an intellectual. So yeah I like their nerd dynamic a lot.

But also Maia, ofc, just... give me all the Rua family interactions, it's fun, it's tense but the love between them is undeniable still.

My unpopular opinion about this character: I feel very ambivalent about his post-Crookspur cameo in Deafire, because on the one hand I'm always very happy about more Kana but why did he have to join the navy 😭😭😭 That's not what I meant when I told him that Rauatai should seek common cultural links with other nations, babyboy nooo 😭😭😭

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: This might be obvious but he should've been in Deadfire more. Tbh I think the faction companions could've worked better if we had 2/faction and we could see their different attitudes and maybe see them play off one another but that may be just me I definitely would have liked if I had both the Rua siblings on board and see their friction more. And ofc see how the last 5 years changed Kana - aside from him joining the navy I mean

I'm putting Edér under the cut bc it's getting long

How I feel about this character: Do you need to ask, Anon? I love himst, I love him so much it's not even funny at this point 😭

All the people I ship romantically with this character: The Watcher, like... a lot. His devotion for them is through the roof, the Watcher is in some ways the light of his life who pulls him out of the dark and apathetic mental space where the Saint's War and its aftermath placed him. Like how am I supposed to be normal about them? Especially if you throw in lines like "I wish [the gods] knew you like I did" or the personal +5 to deflection line seriously who's idea was that and why does it sound like that

also if you've been around this household then you might know that I also like the Team Gilded Vale throuple but like a) i'm not ready to submit that 5 page long essay rn and b) I kinda can't separate the dynamic from my Watcher in specific rn so yeah ask me about that some other time I'm very sorry my brain is a mush

My non-romantic OTP for this character: Tbh he's got good chemistry with like most of the companions in either games, but ngl I do like the idea of him befriending Grieving Mother a lot. They only interact once but even then Edér calls her a "nice, stranger lady" - despite GM's aura of unpleasantness - and GM seems really heartbroken over being unable to help him during his personal quest. And they both end up in Dyrford potentially, I'd like to think they end up bonding between games.

My unpopular opinion about this character: He's not a himbo, he's not dumb enough for that tho deadfire does dumb him down ngl and he can be very mean at times too so... yeah.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: Elafa should not have died. It does her dirty because obviously. It does Edér dirty because he ends his story still holding onto a version of Elafa that hasn't existed since the Saint's War. In some ways it even does Bearn dirty because the only way to establish a substantial link between him and Edér is to navigate the boat scenario in a very specific way that most players won't even think to aim for (you need to run out of convo options with Bearn while he's still undecided to push Edér to talk him down himself)

[pinewoodpipit]

Something About Us - Chapters 6-10 Fic Meta

Chapter 10 is out, and another arc of the story is done! I thought I'd release my thoughts on this section of the story, covering their progression from friendship to love, and the inevitable fallout of Fade not being ready for more.

Like last time, this is quite a long post, so I’ll include it under a cut.

Chapter by Chapter Thoughts

Chapter 6

Harbor is here! I love him. I was excited to bring him in, not only because he's a friend to Fade, but also because I'm excited for some of the little background moments he'll get in upcoming chapters, along with what little he's had so far. I want to showcase him and Astra growing closer and eventually getting together, but I want to do so subtly and in the background. It's been fun to work on!

I made Harbor cheer in relief when they saved him instead of doing his cool catchphrase while he stared into the camera. I just thought it fit the scene better.

Neon, nosy and gay, looked into Fade's room to try and learn more about her, but she just ended up being horrified by the miserable state of Fade's poor mistreated cactus. I've talked about my headcanon for Neon's childhood before a lot - growing up with her lola while her parents worked, kept away from society since she couldn't control her Radiance, and needing to be entertained through learning hobbies she could do without interacting with the outside world, like gardening, cooking, interior design, and music. She knows more about taking care of plants than she realises.

The homoerotic guitar playing tag comes into full force! Neon finds out Fade's trans and is entirely awkward about it because she doesn't know the respectful way to respond! She realises she has a crush and freaks the hell out about it! Yippee! Lots of fun stuff in this chapter.

-

Chapter 7

Fade had an inkling that Neon could potentially become dangerous if she let their flirting go too far. She's an arrogant ass, though, and she thought she could handle it without getting in over her head (she was wrong).

Neon, convincing herself there's nothing between them and she's wrong to jerk off to the idea of Fade... while Fade simultaneously jerks off to the idea of Neon in the next room. They're disasters.

Nanobomb becoming canon and the anti-fraternisation rule being lifted was an important development for Fade and Neon here, too. It meant that technically there was nothing stopping them anymore. Neon found this exciting, if not a little frightening. Fade purely found it terrifying, since there was real risk now of things going too far if she wasn't careful.

I wanted to focus on Fade's mental spiral from Neon's POV a fair bit during this chapter. It was obvious that people noticed she was doing badly, since we got voicemails from Cypher and Omen checking in on her and talking to Brimstone about her wellbeing, and I thought it would be interesting to cover it from Neon's perspective. They were close enough to hug in Vietnam, and her spiral was directly before, so they must have been pretty close before she left - how must Neon have felt about her friend doing so badly without knowing what to do to help? It was fun to explore, especially with how helpless Neon felt since she wasn't sure what she could even do in this situation other than worry herself sick.

Fade got Neon the tulips purely because they're pretty. She didn't realise the romantic implications of them. She just saw them, thought about Neon who she knew liked plants, thought they were pretty like her, and couldn't help herself. She's gay.

As serious as the final scene in this fic is, Fade conking out in her soup is objectively funny. I'm sorry. I promise I take her breakdown seriously but I can't not laugh when I imagine her stupid head banging into the table and spilling soup everywhere. dumbass, I love her.

-

Chapter 8

Every chapter in this fic is named after a lyric from its own song, but chapters 8 and 9 are two halves of one long storyline, so they got one song between them. The lyric is meaningful - "to show my true colours, I must first be exposed to the light" - and is meant to be about how the events of Vietnam prove to be a turning point that hugely change their relationship and forces Fade to make some damn emotional progress for once. (I promise, it'll get better <3)

Fade's nightmare was a lot of fun. I have a fic planned that I've talked about before that will be a oneshot about Fade growing up and meeting Aykut (in this planned fic, she calls him her brother but he's more of a mentor figure that she met as a teenager, and he helped her understand her powers and learn to control them). I plan on elaborating on the violent end to their relationship that Fade hinted at in this nightmare, where she was shot in a train station on a mission gone bad, and upon seeing her wounded after coming home, Aykut lost his patience and they argued. Fade didn't have the chance to apologise for what she said to him before he vanished, and it's just more guilt to add to the neverending pile that's constantly weighing on her shoulders.

Jett is one hell of a wingman, wonderfully supportive, and a total ride-or-die friend, but that doesn't mean that she won't tease the hell out of Neon for her choice in love interest. She does not like Fade and she isn't gonna sugarcoat that for Neon's sake, as much as she supports Neon chasing her happiness with her if that's what she wants to do.

Sage was very easy to convince to sneak away for extra vacation days. She's a professional, but she's also human, and a liiiittle bit of rebel if you get her to open up far enough. In this fic, she and Jett are very good friends, and Jett knows how to nudge her towards loosening up when she needs to.

The Fadeshock hug :) unlike in freckle fic, Neon didn't crack Fade's head open like an egg on a rock in this one, even though she really deserves it for what she ends up doing later on.

Huge thank you to my friend Rac for his help with the Tagalog translations. I really enjoy including snippets of their languages in my fics - it's canon to how they talk in lore and in their voicelines, and I also codeswitch/slip between languages myself when speaking fairly often, for emphasis's sake and if I'm less sure about a word or phrase (in the case of a second language). It's common, and yet I've seen people claim that real bilingual people don't codeswitch, so it's especially important for me to write it. Similar to Rac, thank you to Uni as well for help with Turkish when I need it, as well as working on this fic with me to begin with!

Fade wasn't meaning to lead Neon on by almost kissing her. She's in an extremely fragile mental state, directly after a complete mental breakdown, and while she can't quite admit it yet, she loves Neon. She wants her badly, and she's in such a bad place that her restraint is pretty much gone. Almost kissing her wasn't malicious, but she does feel bad about it, as shown by her guilt throughout chapter 9.

-

Chapter 9

Fade is struggling hard, harder than even she realises. Neon coming to ambush her honestly didn't help her mental state when a big part of what she's dealing with is survivor's guilt, made worse by how badly Fade's yearning for Neon. She wants to be happy with her, and that feels like something she should be horrifically guilty for when he still needs her to focus. It's not a healthy mindset, but Fade isn't in a healthy place yet. She'll get there, trust me, but they're both going to have to struggle first.

Neon making a sand bunny is inspired by that one official art of her making a lion sculpture in the sand with that group of kids. She was good at it! Also bunnies are such a strong motif with her, particularly in this lunar new year series (the carrot shirt, the rabbit hoodie, the bunny keychain on her phone, her pigtails, her movement literally being called "bunnyhopping", etc...)

Fade, tasting coffee she didn't like and immediately giving it to Neon without a second thought: I'm not pining what are you talking about

The water gun fight was purely funny and gave us a chance to make Neon take her shirt off. As always, I write Fade as somewhere on the ace spectrum and she isn't really into what people look like physically (at least until she knows them very well and has a close bond with them) but Neon is the woman she loves, covered in water, has a sexy scar, and she's shredded. It was funny to make her squirm at the sight of her, especially since it's so rare for her to feel like that about how someone looks.

Fade, ordering a bunch of food without hesitation and claiming it was for her because Neon was hungry but too shy to say so: stop saying I'm pining I'm NOT

It was massively meaningful that Fade slept with Neon and wasn't afraid of her. She looked honestly at her lightning and found a way they could deal with it, without making a fuss or showing any fear of her. Neon has lived her entire life feeling dangerous and othered for it, but Fade stroked the scars on her back, turned her over so she couldn't hurt her, and she called her beautiful. Neon was lucky she didn't burst into tears over how beautifully kind that felt.

-

Chapter 10

Fade regrets sleeping with Neon only because it now means she needs to hurt her. If she'd cut things off earlier, they could have parted ways before too much emotional connection was formed, but now they're both in love, and separating is going to hurt. Fade doesn't care if she hurts - she thinks she deserves it, for daring to think she had the right to fall for someone like Neon - but she'd rather walk through a bed of broken glass than willingly hurt Neon. It's stupid and misguided, but she genuinely believes that turning her away now will be safer in the long run than letting what they have blossom. They'd be happy at the start, but Fade has a lot of trauma about loving people only for that love to end in horrific disaster and the other person's disappearance or death, and she is terrified of that happening again with Neon.

Fade's nightmare is a manifestation of this fear. Now they've taken this step, Fade's filled with the uncontrollable fear that it's already too late, and Neon's fate is already sealed one way or another. She's terrified of once again living through the trauma she barely survived the first time. Her actions are driven by fear, not malice, but it doesn't make her behaviour acceptable.

Neon, on the other hand, got a little overexcited about what them sleeping together meant. Instead of being more reasonable and talking it through with Fade first, she tumbled headfirst into romantic daydreams. She would have been hurting less if she hadn't immediately jumped to the assumption that they'd get together after they slept together, but she's a romantic and she's in love, and her hopeful heart got the better of her. She's not at fault for Fade's issues and what she puts her through, but she should really have talked it through with Fade before she jumped to conclusions, and she shouldn't have waited so damn long to confront Fade's cowardly ass.

Neon knows Fade pretty damn well. They're similar people, both pretty isolated and a little socially awkward because of their powers, and Neon can see that Fade feels horrific for sending her away. She can clearly see that she doesn't want to be doing this, but Neon isn't going to stay in a bad situation just for the potential of it improving. Fade isn't going to be a good partner to her now, and without any promise of when she'll get through this struggle,e Neon won't wait around for her. She has the self-respect to put herself first and stop breaking her heart over Fade. She'll leave and sever all expectations, either until Fade is ready to apologise and do better by her, or until she finds someone else.

-

Other notes

Music

I’ve posted it alone and also shared it in the last fic meta, but for anyone who still hasn’t seen it, here’s the playlist for this fic! It's arranged in chronological order according to the story.

-

Thank you so much for reading! I'm having so, so much fun working on this fic and I'm honoured people are reading it. I love writing more than I can say and I don't think I'll ever get used to how kind people have been about it.

It means a lot to me, more than you can know. Thank you <3

[moondane-lovers]

✍️🤪🥰😡🌦️🏷️❤️💞☕️🛌🪐💘🙈💌👀 4 the canonical ask game since u said you wanted it ~ ⋆⁺｡˚⋆Generous Anon⋆˚｡⁺⋆

youre a madman. you are. everything i have ever wanted. i'm doing this for both my s/i's because i just. i can. you are my hero.

SPANDAM

✍️: Overall, how does the fandom trait you? Are you a beloved character, or hated? Are you popular, or a minor side character? Anything in between?

Definitely more of a side character. There's a lot of uh. weird dudebros in the fandom that despise LQBTQIA+ characters so I feel like that group would hate them, while the fellow queers would probably find them pretty neat. Definitely more of a side character, all things considered.

🤪: What is your trait that fanon would exaggerate?

The autism. DEFINITELY the autism. Also, Pluto is genuinely devoted to her work as a cleaner, but I imagine that would be misinterpreted as “i love to clean!” Instead of “this is what I do, i’m just good at it.” If glossed over.

🥰: How would someone who loved you portray you?

I don't really know. People in the fandom use a lot of words for their faves. Great autistic rep? They/She icon? Tough ass underdog who deserves the world? I just... don't know. Very positively I imagine, with heavy emphasis on the less obvious bits of symbolism and story hints that are present? Probably loved by the over analyzers.

😡: How would someone who hated you portray you?

Annoying, failed tradwife material that was turned into a “stupid gay" who got written in to make Spandam less hateable, or getting in the way of other ships (this is incorrect)

🌦️: Would you be accompanied by mostly fluff or angst fanfics? Both? Explain why.

I feel like a mix of both? There's a lot of brutality and pain that can be grabbed from their backstory and youth, so it could go a number of ways depending on what's focused on.

🏷️: What is you and your f/o’s ship name?

I haven’t thought of this, myself! Pluspan? Spando? Coffeemops? Who knows. I imagine there would be a bunch.

❤️: How popular is you x your f/o? Are you a rarepair?

Considering Spandam isn’t a very popular character and there is already at least one minor fandom ship with him, not a rarepair since canon but probably not like, popular. A niche ship. Definitely a few specific superfans who churn out fanworks.

💞: Aside from with your f/o, who else would you commonly be shipped with? Why?

Probably Jabra, Kumadori or Fukurou, since there would be canonical flashbacks of them interacting with the three during her time in Enies Lobby, and she was friendly with them and able to handle their antics. Especially among the “they deserve better!” crowd.

☕️: What are the most common plots of shipping fics between you and your f/o?

I imagine a lot of fics would involve their time at Enies lobby and the happenings then. That and timeskips/post-ending fics, since there’s not a lot to work with between what would be given.

🛌: What tropes show up in fics involving your ship?

Definitely forbidden love, one sided pining and a lot of slow burn. I haven’t thought about this one much. OH, hurt-comfort and whump.

🪐: What would be your most popular AU and why?

Hear me out. Arranged marriage or royalty aus. I just feel it. I don’t know why, but it feels like those would be all over the place. Also! Aus where they stayed at Enies lobby during the actual arc and buster call, for maximum angst.

💘: Why would people love your ship? Why would people dislike your ship? How might it start debates?

People would love it for its nuance and deeper story that is hidden in the “show don’t tell” sort of presentation, as well as it being an unexpectedly healthy outcome. People would hate it because 1: spandam, 2: you gave the queer rep to spandam? 3: They deserve better

Debate wise oh my GOD I feel like somehow discourse would start from some dumb reason to call it problematic or the really weird new “two grown adults have an age gap” argument. (And no, I’m not referring to the very much questionable the middle aged man/woman creeping on a freshly 18 year old thing, that weird me out too.)

I think overall, they would have an older fanbase.

🙈: Why would your ship be thought of as cute/fluffy? Why would your ship be considered problematic?

I mean, this is Spandam. There will be people who will automatically see it as “he doesn’t deserve them” or with critically low media literacy, “him having a love interest is problematic”. Outside of that, I feel like the people who like it would see it as pretty wholesome and hopeful with the dynamics.

💌: How would your dynamic be portrayed? What might people focus on most? Any misconceptions?

I feel like the dynamics would be very easily misconstrued due to how... you know, shitty Spandam is in canon. Their relationship is strange and complex but healthy and structured, just contains a long winding road to get there. Mischaracterization of either would definitely lead to assumptions about the relationship. As for focuses, I feel like power dynamics would hold a big part.

👀: How does your ship with your f/o influence both of your characterisations and the world? Would there be any interesting metas written about your dynamic?

Spandam would definitely have more apologists thanks to their interactions, his overall characterization is definitely less brutal as his actions would have some more lore behind them and be less harsh due to the positive influence of Pluto, but he's still a huge shit. Meta wise, I feel like people would absolutely tear into Pluto's willingness to accommodate him and how that changes him as time goes on. On pluto's side, autism in relationships would be a big thing to analyze with the way they act.

OUGHHHH ITS DONE I'LL DO GULDO LATER

[nedjsmlfavs]

So my suggestion on Derision? Ignore it. Declare it bullshit in author notes. Openly mock it and declare it non-canon. It conflicts with or ruins so many episodes (rewatch animaestro) it is the obvious weak link. It was written from a place of hate and anger at some members of the audience, not one of love for the characters and the show. And so: excise it and retain your love.

It trashes so many more prople than just marinette too.

Like her parents for ignoring multiple years of bullying so bad she made up fake excuses to avoid school? This is the same Tom who went akuma because a boy broke her heart. This is the same caring and wonderful Sabine saying 'its only three more weeks then *maybe* it will be okay*

The hand of the author is just so blatant too. Your example with Mylene is one I hate on a different level, because this *is* a kids show and Mylene just told kids 'every situation is the same. Its your fault if you react differently. André the power-abusing, neglectful, pushover is *exactly* the same as Mylene's supportive, involved, father. If you as a child end up differently in these environments, you are the problem.

Ugh, yeah. So just nuke Derision and don't apologize. It doesn't respect canon, so why should your canon respect it?

Oh, yeah, Derision ruins pretty much every character who has lines in it. It's also hardly the first episode to introduce a poorly thought-out plot point or characterization. I'm normally very happy to take the Nick Fury approach to canon where I recognize the show's decision and then elect to ignore it.

The reason I'm able to do that so easily is that the writing choices I don't agree with usually just disappoint me. They don't bother me on an emotional level. And, sure, I could do deep explanations of why certain plot/character choices are terrible and should never have been made, but I prefer to express my disappointment by just writing fanfiction that does the thing that I wish that the show would've done. It's actually part of why I have so many fics featuring Nino and Alya being great friends to Adrien and Marinette. Because I don't like how the show has treated those relationship so I just say "Fine, I'll write the version that I want." The opposite of a salt fic, if you will? A writing salt, character sugar fic?

Derision hit different. It upset me on an emotional level, which is why I actually wrote up an analysis of what was bad with just one element the episode and tossed it into the ether. Doing that actually did help as have all of the responses to that post. Knowing that I'm not alone in finding this episode upsetting and poorly thought out is helping me move past it. So thank you for this message and for all the replies to that post. I'm starting to turn my emotions from sadness to drive to get back to my reverse crush canon rewrite, which was the whole reason I made the post in the first place! I want to finish that and give the characters the arcs I wish that we'd gotten in the show.

As for posts that go over why certain episodes or characterizations are bad, well, you're always welcome to ask me for my thoughts on stuff and I'll write it up, but unless something about canon deeply bothers me, I'll mostly keep my thoughts to myself and continue to channel them into fanfiction fuel.

[darkryt]

Hopes and Fears for Arcane Season 2

So we're getting teasers for the best show adapted from a MOBA that you can watch on Netflix getting its second season and a release date of November 24. Just today we got a little teaser clip so here's my hopes and dreams and fears for Arcane Season 2.

HOPES

Vander being Warwick. Caitlyn and Vi relationship A logical progression for how Vi turns from where she was at the start of Arcane into how she is in League in a way that's missing from her compared to most of the other characters. You can watch Arcane and imagine how Jinx in Arcane changes into Jinx in League of Legends, or how Caitlyn does or Viktor does - you might have to make some inference and assumptions, but the arc is trackable in way that is just … not with Vi. How does someone hurt by Piltover's systems so much became a person who works for those systems? Someone who fights because she has to into someone who revels in violence and power? From a loving sister whose every motivation is reuniting with her sister to an Enforcer who just beats people up? The flashback they've mentioned in interviews of Ekko trying to rescue Powder from Silco because that seems like a formative experience for how their relationship is in the modern day. My girls Renata Glasc and Seraphine, even if it justs cameos. OPTIONAL: Vi and Jinx teaming up to fight or subdue Warwick and this allowing them to heal their trauma by proxy (but propbably too optimistic for this series). Exploration of Vi and Caitlyn's relationship. Ideally with kissing and or even sex. Just something that makes it unambigously clear they are gay in a way that bigots can't point to and say "It's ambigious!!!!" More story with Sevika. I saw a theory floated online that Sevika was concieved of as way to give Vi a big fight at the end without her fighting Jinx because the writers decided their relationship wasn't quite at the point where she and Jinx would have this all-out, dragout, knock-down brawl, and I'd be really sad if they spent as much time allowing Sevika to exist and to serve as a rival to Vi only for them to dump her in a closet or kill her off cheaply as the story zeros in on how Vi and Jinx become mortal enemies. Jinx hallucinating Silco the way she does Mylo and Claggor.

FEARS

Timebomb or Ekko becoming Jinx's boyfriend, and espcially not any sort of arc where Ekko's love redeems or reforms Jinx in any way Orianna being Singed's daughter. At first I liked this idea by after a blog-post by Orianna super-fan (here) I'm off it. Jinx getting a boyfriend at all, really. Her story has enough drama without a shoe-horned romance plot! Caitlyn and Vi being queer-baited and doing lots of yearning looks that look good in an AMV but not actually progressing their relationship in any meaningful way. Vi getting amnesia. In at least some versions of League story (and League of Legends has a … let's say loose relationship with things like canon and continuity), Vi's League story involves her losing her memories before mysteriously re-appearing as a Piltover Enforcer. This is an example of a broader trend of League of Legends' approach to storytelling that makes a lot of things ambigious or mysterious (cough, so they can make it up later or change their minds). But Vi losing her memories in Arcane would be such a lazy cheap way to effectively give her an identity death in order to force her to fit into the contour of League Vi without doing any of the character building or dramatic work to explore or explain how someone goes from poor orphan to collared criminal to an Enforcer and I just really hope they don't do it! Skye taunting Viktor in the form of hallucinations that egg him on towards his eventually fall and turn to robotic villainy. Not that it wouldn't be in-keeping with the series as it stands (both Vi and Jinx see people who aren't there), but Skye being oblierated was such an obvious fridging-manpain moment that I don't want to be reminded about it, and I've never really watched the reboot of Battlestar Galactica until it was doing re-runs on streaming but there's a character in there whose whole thing is being a hot sexy succubus projected into someone's mind (and remember that's a sci-fi story) and it was so stupid and tropey that I just don't want to see anything similiar. This may not be Arcane's fault but man. I don't want them to go there! Likewise on the note of Sevika, I don't want to see her just unceremoniously killed off in the first three episodes just to make room for the Jinx/Vi rivalry. Some sort of redemption for Jinx that involves her dying or sacrificing herself. It's 2023! 2024 when this comes out! Support women's wrongs! If you ARE going to let her have a redemption, don't take the coward's way out!

AMBIVALENT Viktor completing his transformation from sickly man seeking cure for his ilnness to a robotic terrorist who thinks everybody should become a robot. Shimmer being linked to the Void. This is a theory I've see floated around due to some visuals in the scene where Viktor introduces Shimmer to the Hexcore. I don't really care if this pans out or not. Some people might want to Whether Cassandra dies. It'd be strange for her to die but Jayce and Viktor to survive (and you know those two will because they are Named Characters) but for Cassandra to die in the same room. It'd provive angst and tension between Caitlyn, Jinx and Vi, sure, but Caitlyn already has reason enough to want to arrest Jinx even if her own mother doesn't die directly from the missile. Whether Camille shows up. Given the focus on conflict between Piltover and Zaun, it's a logical step to have the walking embodiment of Piltover's oppression show up, but I don't feel like she needs to be present.

[davyjoneslockr]

IDK IF ITS TOO LATE FOR THE CHARACTER ASK GAME buuut trish if ur still doing it!

(For this ask game)

First impression: I guess I didn’t really think much about her at first? I loved her intro and her almost breaking Narancia’s wrist + dunking on Fugo for no discernible reason was so awesome of her. But she unfortunately kinda took a back seat for the beginning parts of Vento Aureo, and I just found myself wishing there was more of her, and that she was granted more agency by the narrative.

Impression now: LOVE HER SO MUCH. After like the halfway point of VA she very quickly became a highlight of the part for me. The way she doesn’t hesitate to question what’s happening around her, chooses to become an active player instead of letting her (very justified) fear consume her, and when she not only gets a stand, but one that presents her softness as a strength and demonstrates the incredible resolve she has? So so good. I also really really love her in the Purple Haze Feedback bonus chapter, where she meets Bucciarati’s mom and ponders whether he was a good person after all, and I think she was a great perspective to frame the Giorno vs Mista fight in the flashback. I only wish she had more time in the spotlight, and that she had a more active role in the final fight (which. Sorta ties in to other criticisms I have of the part as a whole).

Favorite moment: Obvious answer, but the Notorious BIG fight. Like I said before, I think Spice Girl is a perfect stand for her, and I like that she’s sentient, which allows her to basically interact with her own conscience while she’s suddenly thrust into a life-or-death situation only she can handle. And we finally have a fight where it’s not Giorno stepping in to save everyone – because without Trish, Giorno would’ve been out of commission for good. I also just found the way she struggles, has to think on her toes, and ultimately perseveres very refreshing and human in a way that reminds me of what I loved about Jonathan in Phantom Blood. And her “arrivederci” at the end is so awesome I clap and cheer every time I see it. Again it makes me wish we had more Trish-centric arcs, because Notorious BIG was so so good and she was what made it such a highlight for me.

Idea for a story: Post-canon Trish aughhh I love you. Whether it’s immediately after Vento Aureo where Giorno isolates her from her only living friends, and she has to navigate life on her own after her world was shattered over the course of a week, or years down the road where (I think) she eventually reunites with them, has to confront Fugo now that’s he’s back, interacts with Sheila E. (so much tragic toxic foil relationship potential), and balances her stardom with her ties to the criminal underworld. I need to write more about her there’s so much to talk about with her.

Unpopular opinion: As much as I love AUs where she joins Passione in some capacity, I don’t think that would be a good or satisfying ending for her. I think she retains those relationships eventually, and she definitely wont ever be able to live a “normal” life after everything she witnessed, but the fact that she ultimately leaves Passione and does something else with her life is good, actually. It builds on her contrasts with Narancia (where he didn’t take the chance to lead a better life, and she did), and, frankly, I don’t think she deserves to have to do horrible things and fight to survive for the rest of her life.

Favorite relationship: Her and Narancia!! The parallels between them are so awesome, and I like how Narancia projects onto her at first, but eventually gets to actually know her as a person – and while they’re different in many ways, they’re still similar, and Trish grows to trust him, too (love that one of the first things she does after the body swap is to run to “Narancia” for comfort). And her friendship with Mista by the end is so fun and silly too, and quickly turns tragic with the PHF bonus chapter stuff. Let them go to the mall together please I’m begging no more horrors </3

Favorite headcanon: When she’s older and far into her music career, rumors start spreading around that she’s involved with the mafia. They’re generally treated with the same level of seriousness as the “Paul McCartney/Avril Lavigne died and was replaced with a lookalike” conspiracies. Eventually, she puts out a rock opera concept album based on a “fictional mafia story,” with a couple strangely-dressed musicians nobody can place a name to – a guitarist and a pianist – joining her usual lineup. Everyone praises her for being a meme savvy queen.

[wprowers]

i want to talk about sonic boom characters.

Long post warning.

First of all i would like to say that i really enjoy sonic boom !! I think it has a really healthy and silly humor that for me it's always welcome, so i like this show and its characters. But don't take my opinion as something biased bc i don't really think it is, i can't be biased towards a piece of media that holds little to no value to the true canon mainline games.

I have seen people dragging this show to hell, and at the time it came out it recieved a LOT of criticism for VALID reasons, valid when it comes to comparing them to the actual canon personalities of these characters (which varies from media to media but its mostly the same concept, but you can't say they haven't fucked up in the characterization of certain characters in mainline games but thats for another day).

But neither sonic or amy or tails or whoever in boom actually have any meaning at all, do they have a backstory? a purpose? any serious fight? is eggman even their enemy? Absolutely not!!

BECAUSE THIS SHOW IS NOT MEANT TO TAKEN SERIOUSLY !!

If we are talking about knuckles, he is not smart !! he doesn't have a life mission to protect the emerald !! There's nothing going on for him !! he doesn't even remember anything, in one episode he suddenly realized he didn't have a family and started to look for one, getting manipulated into an "evil" complot and that's he most arc he has ever gotten in boom (found family trope at the end of the ep, rlly cute)

And i did see some worries about the franchise being influenced by the boom! characterization. Mostly for knuckles and amy.

As for knuckles i think that some of you watched the scu shortfilm and immediately thought that they were bringing boom!knux into the mix, i disagree wholeheartedly with this (if s3 comes out and it is like that well then...) i think that scu!knux is just someone who gets represented by his pure heart (as every good representation of knuckles) and lack of knowledge of his surroundings and the people who came into his life. He gets easily manipulated and doesn't know what icecream is, bc he has been a loner for so long !! and he does not know earth, that does not mean he's stupid in any way, and i dont think that's what they would go for in s3.

And for Amy I've seen the discourse that boom! generated around her, some claiming that it was the best amy, for her not overly girly attitude maybe or for the fact that her affection towards sonic was hidden and she didn't show it at all, even though it was stated that she liked him.

So I've seen people saying that due to this amy being well received, it has influenced on how they made her in modern media, which i don't think is that much of a true tbh??? Like besides twitter takeovers, i haven't seen much of boom!amy influence in any other thing, perhaps yes they took a different take for her in frontiers or other modern games, but she has always been true to what really her character is, sonic or not Amy is Amy. Its not about how they made boom! canon suddenly but what is the path they want her character to take while she is still connected to her emotions and love for sonic and everyone.

And no i don't think boom!amy is the best version of amy, i don't think any boom! character is the best version of themselves and they will never be, because there is nothing that conveys their true selves in this interpretation, so it's impossible for these characters to be that.

LETS NOT EVEN TALK ABOUT BOOM!SHADOW because that boy is not shadow at all, then again this is a character that suffered a lot of misinterpretations from his own creators so,,,

So im not making really any point in here?

just simply stating the obvious !! sonic boom is a show that you watch to have fun ! it does not have any action or true emotional moments, never has the team gone through a serious situation. You watch it because it's silly and you don't expect much else from it! Everyone is loveable in their own way if you look at them with the right eyes, so maybe you could enjoy this show without thinking about how out of character most things are.

love you sonic boom i will always defend you

[creamsickle-writes]

for the ask meme: one piece, zosan and sanji!

This ended up being really long but here we go:

001 | Send me a fandom and I will tell you my:

Favorite character: Zoro or Ace! It’s really hard to pick which one is my all time favorite.

Least Favorite character: Tashigi really grinds my gears. She is just so annoying to me. Like, she is always involved in shit she doesn't need to be involved in and she has this audacity like- But for my obvious dislike, I hate Akainu because of what he did to my husband (and he just seems like a jerk)

5 Favorite ships (canon or non-canon): Okay so I really like ZoSan and that was one of the first ships I had for the series. I recently started liking LawLu; their dynamic is just really cute and I love the way Law is rapidly aging just by being near him lmao. Usopp and Kaya is very cute and hopefully endgame! Franky and Robin are always great but I've recently come across Robin and Jinbe and honestly I love both so much (I'll just count those two ships as one because Robin literally has infinite hands to hold). And I guess for my last ship: Zoro and Nami. While I don't ship it as much as I used to when I first started watching, I love that Zoro allows himself to be bossed around by her. Something about him being whipped and submissive towards her is so appealing

Character I find most attractive: Ace is without a doubt the most attractive character to me. Like his longer hair, long nose, and muscular build is just ughhhh <3

Character I would marry: Okay, this is hard but Law is probably the guy I would realistically go for. He's super handsome and I love how grumpy and dorky he is. Like yes darling, tell me about your superhero hyperfixation and lift my arm while explaining to me where every muscle and tendon is located.

Character I would be best friends with: Nami, Usopp, and Robin. We have weekly tea spilling sessions and pick out each other's outfits.

a random thought: I really need to get caught up

An unpopular opinion: I feel like the pacing in the anime can be really bad. I remember watching Fishman Island and wanting to pull my hair out. Why did we need a flashback that lasted like three episodes??? I read the manga for one arc and the pacing was MUCH better.

my canon OTP: I don't think there are any ships that are canon that I particularly enjoy (at least not where I am right now)

Non-canon OTP: ZoSan obvs

most badass character: It's really hard to pick just one but the first character that came to mind was Robin. I remember before I first saw her, my ex asked me if I could have a devil fruit, what would its ability be, and I was explaining what was essentially her power haha I think her devil fruit is really cool and allows for some amazing attacks and moments. Also, she's so strong having dealt with everything that has happened to her. She's complex and mysterious but still a kind-hearted character and for that reason I think she's so badass.

pairing I am not a fan of: Tashigi and Zoro. God, I cannot stand that ship and every day I hope and pray it never becomes canon.

character I feel the writers screwed up (in one way or another): Sanji. I lament what he used to be so bad. I was rewatching One Piece with someone else and when they first introduced Sanji he actually seemed like he was pulling women. Of course, I love that it was revealed he's actually a pathetic loser boy but I don't like how they handled that aspect of him post-timeskip. Before it was like, "Oh, he's so pathetic, I love him so much" and now it's like "Ugh, he's such a creep, this is not the man I fell in love with"

favourite friendship: Usopp and Nami for sure. I want to be their third bestie so badddd

character I want to adopt or be adopted by: Chopper!!! He's so sweet I want nothing more than to take care of him.

002 | send me a ship and I will tell you:

when of if I started shipping it: I really don't remember when exactly I started shipping Zosan? BUT I remember when they started fighting with each other about the dinosaurs they caught for dinner and kinda staring at them like "y'all are having a literal dick measuring contest rn like-" And I think that interaction sort of got the gears turning

my thoughts: I love the "I hate you but not really" dynamic between them. It's obvious they care about each other so much but are both too tough to really say it outright.

What makes me happy about them: Okay I saw this online from another source but their connection to the number three. Zoro's three swords, his earrings, and Sanji's name, and the fact that he's associated with three as well. It's like a weird thread of destiny sort of thing that I love.

What makes me sad about them: That they both throw themselves in harm's way so often.

things done in fanfic that annoys me: I think people being very strict about one or the other being the top/bottom. I feel like they switch things around pretty often tbh

things I look for in fanfic: Internalized homophobia Sanji with openly queer Zoro lmao Like, Zoro who is out and has been out since they met and Sanji being weird about it. But as he starts falling for Zoro, he tries so hard to push it down before finally accepting that being attracted to men doesn't make him any less manly.

My kinks: I love Zoro breaking Sanji. It kinda goes hand in hand with the internalized homophobia but Sanji thinking that sex with a man will never be as good as sex with a woman but when he finally does it, it blows his mind. Zoro gives the best blowjobs and his jaw never gets tired because of all his sword training so when he sucks the soul out of Sanji and doesn't stop even after he cums, Sanji's like "yeah, okay, this is fucking amazing" Same with him taking things up his ass or letting Zoro eat him out. He thinks it's disgusting or unsanitary but when Zoro's tongue gets to work and he finds his prostate, he changes his tune very quickly. The next time Zoro goes to eat his ass, he teases Sanji, saying that it's awfully interesting that he's not protesting this time (which Sanji responds with "shut up before I kick you in the face"). Uh, okay, that's not really a kink but more of a dynamic I guess? Okay, kink: Sanji locks his thighs around Zoro's head one of the first times he goes down on him. The time after that, he asks Sanji to do it again. I also love the idea of Zoro lowkey being a masochist and wanting Sanji to choke him while he rides ughhh

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other: Man, idk if there's anyone else I'd want for Sanji BUT with Zoro, I really like that girl from Wano: Kiku? I've seen so much fanart of them and they seem really cute.

My happily ever after for them: Them getting married with Zoro giving Sanji one of his earrings to use as a ring (I saw fanart of this once and my heart couldn't take it). Sanji owns a restaurant and Zoro never stops training but definitely stops in the restaurant for lunch (and when he doesn't, Sanji nags him when he brings his lunch out to the training grounds nearby for him)

003 | Give me a character & I will tell you

How I feel about this character: I always say to my friends: I love him but I hate him. Like, he is so amazing but sometimes he does shit and I want to strangle him so bad.

All the people I ship romantically with this character: Zoro I think is the only person I really ship Sanji with

My non-romantic OTP for this character: Either Luffy and Sanji or Robin and Sanji. These are mostly due to spoilers I've seen online but Luffy calling to him in Whole Cake Island and him calling out to Robin for help both really caught my attention and made me enjoy their relationships more.

My unpopular opinion about this character: Idk if this is unpopular but I really don't think the post-timeskip art style (at least in the anime?) is really doing him any favors. Why they make his neck so fucking thick lmao???

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: I wish we addressed his crossdressing era more post-timeskip. Like you mean to tell me we saw him enjoy crossdressing and then as soon as he left the island it's as though it never happened? Nuh uh, put that man in a dress, have him crossdress for an infiltration mission and have him make a comment to himself about how he lowkey misses it.

my het ship: Ummmm idk if I really have a het ship for Sanji now that I think about it? In my heart he just never stops striking out with women.

my fem/slash ship: ZoSan all the way babey

my OTP: ZoSan yet again haha

my OT3: Hrm, I love the dynamic of Zoro/Sanji/Nami. Like, Sanji being there to cater to all of Nami's needs as she milks him of his money while she goes to Zoro for her sexual needs. Something, something, making Sanji a cuck again.

my cross over ship: I don't really think about crossovers

my kink: Long time readers will know I love Sanji getting cucked; it's one of my favorite situations to write him in. I also just love writing him as a sobbing, whimpering mess but that doesn't stop me from also writing him as a dom who lowkey has a daddy kink and loves spoiling his little prince/princess.

a head cannon fact: I feel like Sanji loves to sing while he cooks whether its humming a little tune or full on singing when nobody's around.

my gender bend: Okay I have a very specific image in mind @ thechrissymourns on TikTok does female cosplays of so many One Piece characters and I really like her Sanji (though her Zoro where she wears his hair as a bob is my favorite interpretation of them all) I think she's changed up some of her cosplays, but I love the idea of fem!Sanji with long hair. And my idea of fem!Sanji definitely wears that harness that the cosplayer I mention wears. Plus, my fem!Sanji most definitely wears a pencil skirt (made with a stretchy material of course so she can still kick), thigh highs with garters, and black heels. Yeah, she definitely can run in heels and will stab you with them

[youngpettyqueen]

@variousqueerthings​ has these great MASH questions and I felt like giving ‘em a go myself!

Whose overall narrative feels the most satisfying to you?

Margaret’s! Her character arc is so compelling from beginning right through to the end. It’s even more incredible to see on a rewatch where I can pick apart where things start to get rolling, what moments stand out as core moments for her development, etc. 

Whose finale narrative feels the most satisfying to you?

Oof that’s a tough one. I think I gotta go with Hawkeye’s. For one thing, the obvious thing, seeing him lose a core essence of his character- being a surgeon, a healer- and have to claw his way back to it? Brilliant. The scene where he hesitates outside the bus is just so real. Hawkeye as a doctor and as a healer is so essential to his character that seeing him torn away from it hurts, and seeing him fight his way back to it is just... can’t describe the way it makes me feel. 

For another thing it’s his thing with kids. Hawkeye loves kids, he’s great with kids, and seeing him struggle with even looking at kids just absolutely guts me. I have a lot of feelings about that for post-canon headcanons.

Close second is Mulcahy’s finale narrative. My god did I cry my eyes out for him.

What’s a post-canon headcanon that you have (about anything or anyone)?

Radar visits Henry’s family a couple times a year and Henry’s children call him Uncle Radar. He also visits Potter- I like to believe that he’s there when Potter passes, same as the rest of the 4077- and I like to think him and Hawkeye visit each other.

What’s a pre-canon headcanon that you have (about anything or anyone)?

Hawkeye and Trapper were fucking wrecks the first month of the war and they were the only thing holding each other together.

Who’s a secondary/tertiary character you wish you could have seen more of?

KELLYE. I love that she got her own episode but I would’ve loved some more development for her, especially because she’s on the show for so long. I didn’t realize till I started my re-watch but she’s there almost from the beginning.

also, OLIVER. I wish we got more time with him, his dynamic with Hawkeye and Trapper was so good and we barely got to see it before he was gone :( they did him so dirty.

What’s a headcanon you have about a non-main character?

This technically includes a main character shhhhh but Kellye stays friends with Hawkeye after the war and they can’t meet up often but they treat it as a date every time.

Who’s your single-episode MVP?

Potter in “Pressure Points”. MASH’s emphasis on mental health is so groundbreaking and progressive, I’ll get that statement out of the way, because I really wanna just focus on Potter in this episode. Him grappling with getting older, the feeling of losing who he is? And calling Sidney in for help? The song and dance they have in that episode is beautiful and I really can’t commend this episode enough for its portrayal of Potter’s struggle in wanting help but not wanting to admit to it. 

Share a headcanon about anything that you don’t get the chance to talk about enough

Trapper and Charles meet back home as coworkers and they can’t fucking stand each other. It’s several months into their knowing each other when Charles makes a comment about Trapper reminding him of someone he knew in Korea. They connect the dots from there.

What’s one of your favourite non-romantic dynamics on the show?

Hawkeye and Margaret’s friendship is my favourite relationship in the entire show, there’s no competition.

What’s an underrated dynamic overall on the show?

Charles and Klinger. Charles being the one who pretty consistently refers to him as Max tenderizes me. 

What’s a moment that was shocking to you?

The entire episode “Guerrilla my Dreams” that one fucked me up. Especially at the end when she rants at them and says how she wanted to kill them, and ultimately she’s taken away and you know she’s going to be killed. It’s such an intense episode where I really felt nothing but sympathy for that woman, but I also felt sympathy for Hawkeye because all he wanted was to save her. The episode ending with all his efforts being for nothing, knowing she would’ve killed him given the chance... haunting. 

What’s a moment that you could analyse forever?

“When the doctors cut into a patient and it's cold, you know the way it is now, today- steam rises from the body and the doctor will warm himself over the open wound. Could anyone look on that and not feel changed?" 

Also, Trapper leaving Hawkeye with nothing but a kiss. WHAT WAS THE FUCKING REASON.

What’s a moment that you want to watch over and over?

Everyone singing in “Move Tonight”. It’s my favourite moment in the entire series, and probably my favourite episode.

[gontagokuhara]

2019 vs. 2024 hot takes exactly 0 people asked for (now with opinions on the dr3 characters!)

and because im mentally ill im elaborating below the cut because at least i’m cognizant of how few people share this illness with me ❤️

first of all. some categories were edited (+added). we shall address them all in due time 🫶 but just for posterity before we begin: top of the category is the one that best exemplifies the category title and it moves in descending order; so as gonta is my #1 my GOAT, pedo udg guy is the one i want to kill himself most. understandable? ok 🫶

2019 top 5-tier is slightly unfortunately named but other than that changes in 2024 are somewhat minimal. as is perhaps obvious if you have seen even one (1) danganronpa post from me: gonta is My character hes mine spike chunsoft dont get him like i do. AND i love sdr2. nagito is my very very close second i am so incredibly mentally ill about him Oh if you all could see the hundreds of thousands of words ive written about that fucking guy. also true of hajime. still true of sonia (<3 i love u girlie) and fuyuhiko but to a lesser extent (i have written so much sdr2. its a problem. we persist). they are characters we see a lot of and in that same vein give SO much to build upon in further character exploration. and boy do i do that. holds the five of them In my arms i love you babygirls

S tier excellents again prove i am an sdr2 enjoyer. i think it also showcases how much i REALLY love the v3 characters while absolutely hating the plot they were stuck in. kaede and shuuichi are SOOOO special 2 me u dont understand…….im going to have so many thoughts and be So mad when i replay v3. kokichi is VERY interesting and my thoughts on him are endless (hi evan) and there is soooo much there even if i also have to fundamentally hate him somewhat because of 3-4. also a wide array of sdr2 characters are here of course……on my most recent replay i have come to really appreciate imposter (better sexier byakuya ❤️) and ibuki . and i was kind of surprised how high some of the dr1 characters are (besides chihiro who has consistently been my dr1 #1) but sorry dr3 made me love the makoto/kyouko/aoi trio sooooo bad.

lots of variety in the A tier which are all characters i enjoy, they just arent my Favorite barbie dolls to mash around u know. so many very unique personalities like mahiru, angie, tenko, and ryoma that weren’t explored as well as possible in canon, so its harder for me to personally invest in them. junko is iconic and she gets worse as the games go on but god. dr1 was craaaaaazy so she and mukuro have to be given props for that. im ignoring e-girl junko and v3 entirely <3 also again in watching dr3 while replaying sdr2 i really came to appreciate natsumi and her dynamic with hajime :[ rip girl i miss u. also also i liked koichi way more than expected LOL it must just be cuz hes hot but his death was sick as fuck and i liked his thruline with jin (the weird flirting with kyouko aside……)

B tier! bit of a mixed bag, from characters i like very begrudgingly (byakuya, sorry, i latched onto him as my rich terrible boyfriend when first playing years ago and the fondness kinda stuck 💔) to ones i do genuinely like, but they were not given much to do in canon (ryota) or their arcs fell flat (kirumi). also here are dr3 + udg characters i didnt mind or were just somewhat nice to makoto (also chisa, who is very interesting but i very much disliked how her character ended off) so shout out them (they are all dead) (or orphaned like monaca and kotoko).

C tier is basically my ‘i barely remember’ tier sry……i did not finish udg so i have so very few opinions on most of the characters. chihiro aoi and yasuhiro’s parents are chill tho shout out. not much to say tho

and now we enter the hater zone with D tier……look. some of these are hot takes and some arent. as much as i love sdr2 i just cannot ever make myself like hiyoko and teruteru. theyre kinda fucked from the getgo theyre never treated as especially serious characters but their glaring flaws are so bad i cant bring myself to care when the rest of the cast is SO GOOD. i also do not like kazuichi LMFAO as a sonia ride or die just as i cannot look past teruteru’s sexual harassment NEITHER CAN I LOOK PAST KAZUICHI’S ‼️‼️ yes i think he can be fixed but sonia needs a restraining order + when she was hoping he was the ch4 killer i was cheering. everyone else this category are just mid ass dr1 characters and the dr3 characters i found actively annoying. also monokuma. hes cringe but iconic and doesnt fit anywhere else

not much to be said about F tier. i did not finish udg but i know enough that i need haiji towa to die. i need the asshole who beat up hajime to die. i need the asshole who tried to kill makoto to die. i need that stupid old fuck heading the future foundation to die. the monokubs are fucking annoying. the only like Real characters here are 1) miu because she is written terribly and her cool talent is wasted, treats gonta like shit, isnt funny, is just nasty perv bait and her most meaningful contribution is to be fodder for the 2nd worse written case in the game. and as for NUMBER ONE WORST: tsumugi mostly just symbolizes my hatred for v3’s ending because outside of her role in 3-6 she has very little impact on the story before her reveal. also got my girlies kaede and rantarou killed God i hate the end of thisgame

and finally: oh my poor sweet bastards. why would they do this to you. these characters are either underutilized in a way that is DEVASTATING (izuru 💔) treated like shit as joke characters their potential is totally squandered by dogshit writing (everyone else — sdr2 you could have been so much better WHY!!!!!!). mikan and korekiyo’s motives are dogshit and make the ch3 double murder so much weaker. nekomaru and akane are played as jokes essentially their entire screentime and akane is especially egregious because shes a survivor among characters like FUYUHIKO!!! like SONIA!!! like HAJIME!!!!!!!!! AND YOU SQUANDER HER LIKE THIS!!!!!!!!!!! kaito suffers from really flip-floppy writing and he sucks a lot of the time Especially pre-localization but ive adopted him a little bit in writing him and i love my construction of him in my brain.

ok thats it. im so mentally ill. give me ur thoughts or do the tierlist urself. now pointy objects lockdown time 👍

[stonerz4sokka]

a point i see being made when analyzing aang's decision to energybend ozai instead of killing him is that it's his assertion of his role as the last airbender and that the air nomad's beliefs and practices still had significance in a world that had largely forgotten about them. this is very true, and we also see this in the final agni kai when katara and azula face off. katara, like aang, is the last surviving part of her people's culture. she has grown up in a world where her bending, a core aspect of who she is, was viewed as either inherently inferior to fire or useless in everyday life. for her to master her bending through sheer determination and end up defeating a racist princess who viewed katara as inferior to her was an amazing culmination of katara's arc. katara won by outsmarting and outbending(?) someone with years of formal training in their element. her triumph was proof that she is the most capable of carrying her people's legacy both as a skilled waterbender but also as an intelligent, brave and resilient young girl.

[honeyscapes]

re ur last post: i was so hyped for tw movie initially. i was firmly in the why r ppl hating camp n then all this info abt production decisions (e.g. arden) n the worst marketing ever came abt n i saw how this has just ruined whatever legacy tw had left. wish they had just let it be instead of using it as an obvious cash grab to promote jeff davis' other paramount+ shit. idk how it got approved without a cast or script - their awareness of what can actually sell is so minimal its insane. rip tw

EXACTLY EXACTLY

I'm gonna use this as a place to rant okay here we go

The whole arden thing has put a bad taste in my mouth about the movie, but i was still sort of rooting for it simply for the sake of my favs and not wanting them to get their canon absolute shit all over, but it seems like that's inevitable because I have no faith in Jeff. Literally last week he posted that he's still writing the damn movie and they're weeks into filming so that says a lot about the quality we're gonna get.

specifically what I'm skeptical about:

allison - how are they gonna spin her being back? like my feelings aside because I love her but, if they try to make it seem like she faked her death and has just been hiding away this whole time, that really diminishes her character's arc. They did this really beautiful heartbreaking thing of her dying to save her friends and her sacrifice changed the tone of the show, and we've all mourned her, so pulling some kinda resurrection card really cheapens it all. Plus, it goes against her character that she would’ve left/let her friends believe she’s dead.

eli - skeptical about what they're gonna do with this hidden young werewolf child of derek's, because I swear we're gonna have to pry the trope of "young werewolf's inner conflict journey to accepting himself and using his power for good" out of Jeff Davis' cold dead hands. Like I get it, it's cute, but they did it with Scott in the earlier seasons, they did it with Liam, they tried to set it up with Alec, they even gave us flashbacks of it with young Derek, like WE GET IT okay. I hope they do something different with Eli but it's Jeff and he's literally scribbling out the script with chewed up crayons right now so my expectations are actually in hell

the characters they brought back - Jackson and Parrish, literally who asked, but whatever that's just me. Point is, there were some characters left out that actually could've had interesting narrative arcs given how open ended theirs was (i'm not even gonna get into who because yall already KNOW). This movie could have been something that played well with a mix between nostalgia of the og series and also doing something new and different with the characters that actually furthers their development. Now I fear it’s all gonna get lost in Jeff trying to appeal to a newer younger audience. And yes I know it’s Teen wolf but the marketing is literally just to the existing teen wolf audience which they know we’ve all grown up, so we’re just being used to boost whatever they wanna slap the Teen Wolf logo onto. 

ruining teen wolf's legacy/did we even need this story - Teen wolf movie, also literally who asked. Dylan was right not to be apart of it, his character left off in a good place, and the show left off in a good place for what it was. It was Teen Wolf, centered around how they all struggled to protect everyone from supernatural threats as young people dealing with school and other teenage angst. Did we really need to know what they're doing 8 years from now? There was open endedness for some characters and for the plot because it's just, teens go on to live the rest of their lives and we didn't need exact answers from there. Maybe if they took a different tone with the movie and completely went away with the whole teen aspect of it and went into something more gritty and angsty and played into the adults they are now, THAT would be something I wanted to see because it would be DIFFERENT and INTERESTING that ADDS to the story and the characters already there that we know and love. Instead we're probs gonna get the young werewolf angst again with the addition of some of our favs probably dying for something stupid and having their development reduced/backtracked. Sigh.

money grab - the way they're force feeding us Eli on the teen wolf insta feels very much like they're trying to rebrand with his face and it really just pushes this feeling of Jeff using the original fan's nostalgia of the show to boost him to getting more movies with Eli at the center (yes they're all pushing 40 but look look look we're still TEEN Wolf) and launch his new Paramount werewolf show, so yeah a big cheap clout grab money grab. It's sad because there could really be something there if he went with a more adult tone, but no we're gonna get the same played out narrative we've gotten ten times over. 

All that being said, we don't know much and a lot of what I'm saying is just speculating based on the info we do know and how Jeff typically operates so no one come for me, and I AM still hoping it's not a complete shit show. Not bashing any of the cast who decided to come back, I just think personally with how it's looking so far from a creative standpoint, that we didn't need this movie.

[pale-silver-comb]

So I know absolutely nothing about Leverage except what I've been seeing you post lately and I have to admit you're making it look tempting to watch! Can I ask what are some of your favorite things about the show/reasons you would suggest people watch it? And is there really a poly relationship that is canon?

Okay. Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. I am going to do my best not to just “asdfghkjl” at you and answer coherently.

In a nutshell, Leverage is about 5 people. 4 are criminals (Parker, Hardison, Eliot and Sophie) with different and unique skill-sets and 1 is an ex-insurance investigator (Nate) who, at one point or another in his career, has tracked down (or at least attempted to) the other 4. The whole show is essentially: man reluctantly reforms 4 criminals to use their criminal powers for good and 4 criminals move into man’s life and stubbornly refuse to leave because, goddammit, now they have morals. 

I’ve got a lot of favourite things about the show but the main ones are as follows:

1. Found family. And I’m not talking about loners who come together to fight crime and happen to co-exist to the point where they realise they happen to have found themselves a family. I mean, Nate and Sophie are the Drunk Uncle and Wine Aunt who somehow become Mom and Dad to 3 beautiful criminal children. Mom and Dad love their criminal babies and the kids love them (as well as each other, but we’ll come to that in a moment). You get amazing family moments such as: Mom and Dad packing the kids lunch before sending them out to kick corporate greed’s ass; Mom and Dad giving the kids ridiculously expensive and personal Christmas presents causing their most Grumpy Kid to go very very quiet and soft as he runs off to gleefully play with his new murder toy; the kids interrupting Mom and Dad’s big Movie Style Kiss to ask if they can please keep their new underground layer and huffing and puffing when Dad tells them no.

2. Found family: the OT3 edition. To answer your question, the OT3 is indeed canon, confirmed by the creator. Now, usually, “confirmed by the creator” infuriates me because most of the time it’s a way for a creator to be seen as “progressive” without doing anything to actually be progressive. That isn’t the case here. The OT3 are built up carefully and while it is obvious the creators didn’t originally intend for all 3 of them to become a relationship in the romantic sense, by mid-season 5 we are given a very clear picture of where Parker, Hardison and Eliot are heading in their relationship. There aren’t any kisses at the end to signal this but there are solid marriage vows in not only one but two episodes. (And by marriage vows I mean literal equivalents of marriage vows: “for better or worse” and “’til death do us part”. I’m not even exaggerating). The OT3 also doesn’t need explicit romantic narratives to convey how much they love each other. Their love is laced through the whole show, from the way they teach each other things to the way they respond to each other and work as a unit. The way they fiercely protect and admire each other. Like someone once said, if you need characters to kiss or say I love you to let the audience know they love each other, you are writing them wrong. 

Aside from that, each of the parings in the OT3 are just. Gah. They are so well done, with friendship being the solid basis for them all. The creators never expect the audience to assume anything about them or fill in the gaps. They give us their relationships on screen and reference many things off-screen to show us how these relationships continue to build in between episodes.

Hardison and Parker are a canon couple and date in the show: it’s approached slowly and they are so goddamned sweet. They are basically every fluffy slow-burn trope with a healthy dash of mutual pining in the mix. They are basically that quote “love is patient, love is kind”. (I would like to add their romance never becomes the focus of the show or overrides the importance of any other relationship they have with the other characters, especially Eliot.)

Hardison and Eliot are the Old Married Couple and from day one are already bickering and looking at each other/making comments that are found in every UST fic ever (not to mention Hardison has a very good knack for making Eliot grin like a little kid, when usually he’s basically an Angry Little Chef Man). They argue, they play, and love each other plain as day. 

Parker and Eliot are more subtle but every bit as wonderful. They have an unspoken connection and understand each other on a level no-one else can. Parker and Eliot are not good with giving themselves over to affection for different reasons (and Hardison plays a central role in helping them realise it’s okay to want it and have it- that boy has endless patience) but there is something so beautiful in the way the two of them come together on their own and develop their own special bond that works for them. Parker and Eliot are that trope where the characters don’t need to speak to understand each other perfectly. They just do. Their love language is a lot of the time non-verbal but speaks volumes. (Parker also likes to annoy the hell out of Eliot and Eliot....just.....lets...her. Because he’s soft. The softest, grumpiest boy.) 

I could go into so much depth for each pairing and their dynamics as a 3 but that's for another post.

3. Subverting stereotypes. There is the occasional hiccup in the show regarding stereotypes but ultimately, Leverage gets an A+ when it comes to writing characters and making them 3 dimensional people who are not defined by certain characteristics or events. Nate could so easily fall into the White Man Pain trope where he uses the trauma of losing his kid as a reason as to why he is entitled to act like a dick. Nate is a dick but he doesn’t use his pain to excuse it and I appreciate that. Hardison is a black man who is soft and nurturing. Easily the most empathetic and patient of the group. He’s nerdy, an actual genius, and has the biggest heart of all the characters. Nate is maybe the glue but Hardison is definitely the heart. Media’s usual aggressive, amongst other, racist stereotypes can fuck right off. Parker is canonically autistic (I am sure this was confirmed by one of the creators) and she is not defined by it. It’s not written as some kind of singular personality trait. It’s part of what makes up Parker but it’s only one facet of who she is and not once is her actions, thoughts or feelings treated like a joke. Sometimes people don’t understand why she does and says the things she does but it’s met with patience and fondness over the course of the show. Equally, it’s not met with over-caution. Parker is just Parker. No-one tries to change her. The other nice thing is Hardison, who always makes sure Parker knows she’s amazing because of who she is and not in spite of it. Finally, Sophie is in her 40s. She’s not treated like she’s past her prime. Ever. She’s sexy, smart and never is she pitted against or compared to Parker (who is younger) for anything. Sophie is amazing and there’s never even a conversation of “I may be older but I am still *insert adjective typically associated with younger women here*”. Sophie is possibly the first female character I’ve ever seen who isn’t just unapologetic about her age but has never had to apologise for her age. It’s a non-issue and that’s that. The women on the show are written so well, right down to secondary characters and it’s beyond refreshing.  

4.) It’s just fun. The show has a “monster of the week” type format. Except instead of a ghoul or a ghost, the monster is some corrupt wealthy and powerful individual or organisation. The show draws on real-life individuals to do this and therefore closely parallels real-life people and events. It addresses important political, economical, social and environmental issues while at the same time remaining fun and light-hearted. The characters constantly get the chance to play dress up and by GOD do they have fun with it. You get to watch Eliot beat up bad guys in the most delightful of ways, usually after a witty non-sequitur and with a weapon you’d never think could be a weapon. The dialogue and back and forth between the characters is everything. And finally - my favourite thing- the team can never resist striking a dramatic pose after they’ve taken down the bad guy, making sure the bad guy sees them. I mean, they COULD just walk away, satisfied they’ve taken the person down, but nope. They gotta be dramatic bitches 24/7 and pose like they are models for every single month of this year’s Criminal Calendar.  

5.) Competence Porn. So. Much. Competence Porn.  

Honestly, I could list a thousand reasons for why Leverage is amazing but to list them would to be spoiling so many amazing moments you’d get to discover for the first time on your own if you do choose to watch it. It’s the kind of show you can watch with an eagle-eye and sink your teeth into. But it’s also the kind of show if, you would prefer, put on in the background for something entertaining while you do something else. Each episode is about the job at hand but it’s made up of so many moments between the characters that show how much the creators and writers care about them. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll do whatever it is you do when something Soft and Wonderful happens that makes your heart melt. I am so beyond grateful for Leverage. It’s everything I always wanted in a show. Nearly every show I’ve watched in the past 10 years has disappointed me in some way, usually either because the writers run out of steam or characters who I love are treated poorly or given some kind of unnecessary “shock value” arc. Leverage doesn’t do that. Leverage is what it says on the bottle. Fandom isn’t something I joined because I needed canon fix-its. Fandom only enhances and celebrates an already excellent canon. 

[hamliet]

What Does It Mean to Save?

I keep seeing it said that Deku, Ochaco, and Shouto will “save” Shigaraki, Himiko, and Dabi, but that there will be no redemption and/or no survival for them. I’m truly not trying to vague these posts and everyone is entitled to their opinion, but literary criticism is fundamentally responsive so I’m writing this anyways.

I personally think that’s not BNHA’s definition of saving nor of redemption. So here, have a deep dive into literary tropes related to redemption, genre, and character arcs as they pertain to BNHA and the question of: what does it mean to save Shigaraki, Touya, and Himiko?

Before we begin, let me say that while we might be personally uncomfortable with redemption (there’s a redemption arc in BNHA I am personally quite uncomfortable with), that doesn’t inherently mean the narrative won’t go there. The key principle I’m operating on here is BNHA’s message that heroes save people. It’s held up as the highest ideal. 

So let’s talk redemption in BNHA-verse. With this guy, whose redemption arc I dislike in principle but accept as part of the story so don’t come for me stans and/or antis. I’m analyzing because it shows us what redemption means in BNHA-verse, whether or not that is satisfying to you personally as it fits/does not fit with your own morality/philosophy.

If Endeavor can be redeemed and live, and he’s Bakugou’s negative foil, I highly doubt Shigaraki and Deku as well as Touya and Shouto and Ochaco and Himiko will be any different. Why? Because Enji is an adult character. The others--well, Himiko’s age we don’t know, but we do know that Shigaraki and Dabi are technically adults. But does the story consider them adults?

(It doesn’t.)

Child-coded characters are generally more likely to survive a redemption, which I’ll explain more later. First I have to define what I mean by child-coding, because I DO NOT mean this in the way it’s often (mis)used in fandom wank. Child-coding is a real thing, but it is not done to infantilize and it has nothing to do with shipping.

Child coding frames the character as a child for a few narrative purposes to convey a story’s theme or purpose. For example, if it’s a coming of age story coding a character as a child even if they legally are not emphasizes their journey to an understanding of self-actualization, or a true understanding of self with self-awareness and an understanding of self-value. An example of an adult coded as a child is The Kite Runner, wherein Amir is a legal adult for half the story, even married for fifteen years so we’re talking 30s-40s, but he does not truly become an adult until he returns to his homeland and takes responsibility for a childhood sin. In Attack on Titan, the main characters are now nineteen, but are still struggling to take responsibility as adults and have only started doing so now that their mentors/parental figures have started dying.

Along those lines, in any kind of story, you can code a character as a child of someone, regardless of biological relationship, to convey the type of relationship they have (usually a mentor one). For an example of this, see Bungo Stray Dogs’ Dazai and Akutagawa. Despite their two year age difference, Dazai recruited him to the mafia, abandoned him, and Akutagawa desperately seeks his approval. Usually in these stories a character will “overcome” their parental figure. This can be done through overcoming their need for the parental figure’s approval in stories where the parental figure is kindly (such as in Harry Potter, when in the final book Harry, Ron, and Hermione leave the Weasleys to find the Horcruxes despite Mrs. Weasley’s please) or through like, killing/stopping/leaving the parental figure when they are abusive (see fairy tales like Rapunzel and Cinderella). The parental link to self-actualization is because it is childlike (and a part of actual psychology that is reflected in literature) to see yourself as a part of your parent; self-actualized person would see yourself as a distinct person from your parent, but also acknowledge the ways in which they’ve shaped you.

So, how do you code a character as a child? BNHA isn’t subtle about it, because Horikoshi seldom is subtle about anything. The villain trio are all coded as children.

Shigaraki Tomura:

Who cannot achieve self-actualization so long as AFO has access to his body, as he’s literally trying to possess him. He’s trying, but it’s not gonna work because Shigaraki can’t keep AFO and become an adult at the same time. It’s a choice the narrative is setting up: your dream of destroying, or your freedom? (To get the latter, he’ll probably have to destroy AFO).

Todoroki Touya, who is repeatedly emphasized as a small child when compared to his siblings, and yes, I know he’s now tall. Specifically he’s spotlighted as the child of Endeavor:

And he’s the least self-actualized one in a lot of ways, contradicting himself constantly. I’m not Endeavor, DUH! But these are Endeavor’s flames! He’s gonna have to choose one or the other, because the tragic irony is that the more he takes out his rage on those around him, the more like Endeavor he becomes.

And Toga Himiko (who might well literally be a legal child), who is actually the most self-actualized one thus far, because she rejects Curious’s child insistence (Curious holds her in a Pieta pose, based on Michelangelo’s statue wherein Mary holds a deceased Christ):

She’s still got, like, a way to go though:

Because Himiko also wants to be like the people she loves to the point where she loses her own identity in them, which is er, not self-actualization. So she’ll have to choose whether or not she really wants to be like the people she loves or whether she wants to live her own way, which she herself tells us how that would end (death):

Deku said it himself: it’s good to focus on what someone is doing now. And look, I have issues with this statement and how it’s framed. I’ve talked about it at length and it was doomed to fail because Shouto himself told us long ago that it was annoying to hear a righteous speech by a stranger when you hadn’t gone through the same, plus Endeavor kinda failed by choosing being a hero over a dad here. But, the principle is that if the past doesn’t preclude Endeavor from seeking a better self, why would it preclude three characters coded as children, one of whom is literally somewhat the product of Endeavor’s sins? BNHA doesn’t think the past keeps someone from a better future. 

So what about Dabi’s counterpoint, which is indeed valid? Well, redemption doesn’t mean the past forgets, either. It’s complicated and nuanced, and we can debate how well Horikoshi strikes this nuance (it’s got its flaws), and admittedly I don’t know how this will go down in the future. But it is asking Endeavor: how do you redeem yourself to the people you’ve hurt? And we have Endeavor asking this question to Touya’s shrine. I mean, the foreshadowing is obvious. Endeavor has to redeem himself by trying to save Touya. However, it will still probably come down to Shouto to save Touya.

For our three villains, it’s a little harder to predict... well, sort of. For Shigaraki it’s extremely obvious: he has to help take down AFO. Dabi probably has to do something to help his family (siblings probably), but it’s vague. Toga needs help and not condemnation, but presumably she’ll help Ochaco with something.

So, is this redemption? I’d define it as redemption in the eyes of the narrative. To address what makes a redemption is another essay unto itself, but if we bring in the oft-compared Star Wars example: did Darth Vader get a redemption? Did Ben Solo? Everyone says yes to both. However, only Luke witnesses Vader’s redemption, and only Rey Ben Solo’s. So the rest of the galaxy? Doesn’t think so. When I say they’ll be redeemed, I’m defining it as their role in the eyes of the narrative, not whether or not society will accept them or even whether their victims will forgive them (of note, in canonical novels, Leia never forgave Darth Vader despite learning he was her father and obviously knowing Luke’s account of his redemption was true).

So, redemption in a narrative doesn’t mean all of society has to forgive and accept them. Dabi has still like, murdered 30 people--many of whom were thugs, but he himself acknowledges they didn’t deserve to die. Additionally, he himself also acknowledges that the families left behind--their feelings matter:

But why does that mean they have to die? Why even does it mean they have to languish in prison forever? (If there’s even a safe prison at the end of BNHA which I kinda have doubts about.) Heroes have also killed: see Hawks as Exhibit A. In fact, some people want revenge on the heroes precisely because they arrested or killed their loved ones (jail isn’t held up as a rehabilitative place in BNHA’s world. In most countries it isn’t in real life, either, but again that’s for another essay). So why don’t the League’s feelings on Twice’s death matter just as much as the feelings of unnamed and unseen (and thereby less important narratively) characters?

Additionally, regarding death... the villains routinely get called on their death wishes. Himiko’s determination to decide how/when she dies is called out because this is right  before Twice overcomes his trauma to save her, and the next arc they appear in is when Twice dies trying to save her again. Dabi’s suicide wish keeps him from getting close to others, and it keeps getting thwarted. Shigaraki’s obsession with destruction and death is clearly not a good thing, and his rejection of his family’s desire for them to join him in death this past arc is growth.

In other words: what Dabi said and what Snatch said about families and how they feel matter for the villains too. The villains are their own weird found family (Dabi as the deadbeat prodigal brother of both his families). Their deaths--Magne’s and Twice’s thus far, and I’m not ruling out further deaths in the future--affect the others. People’s feelings on losing loved ones matter. The villains are people, as Himiko said herself this arc:

Their feelings about each other matter:

How would Touya dying affect the Todorokis? At least they saved him spiritually, I guess, but that’s absolutely lame narratively, and if you have Enji eventually do a sacrifice to save Dabi (pretty likely, even if I personally think Enji will survive said sacrifice) then what’s the point of Dabi dying? How would Himiko dying affect society? As a martyr like Curious wanted her to be, even a redeemed one? A tragic warning story? What even is the point of Ochaco saving her if that’s the case? If Shigaraki dies, well, who would mourn besides Deku? How would Shigaraki dying affect the surviving members of the league? He just couldn’t be saved physically? 

It’s not impossible some of this happens, but it doesn’t seem like great writing, especially with panels like, oh, these that show us BNHA’s perspective on death:

Sacrificing something is a type of death that occurs in stories; this should happen in a redemption arc, which is why I’ve been saying Enji needs to sacrifice his hero reputation to help save Touya and even then it’ll still be Shouto imo who does the saving. But physical death?

If you want further analysis of the latter two panels and how they relate to the ending, see here.

We already have another villain who will definitely die redemptively (Kurogiri--an adult coded character--because he’s already, like, dead), and Spinner and Mr. Compress aren’t coded as kids so I hold them with anxiety towards the end. But again, this isn’t me being ageist or saying this is the way things ought to be in fiction or real life: it’s me looking at writing tropes and saying that child-coded characters tend to survive their redemptions. See: Zuko. Why? Because the death of children or child-coded characters is a tragedy. When a child-coded character dies redemptively it doesn’t feel like a happy ending and if framed as such, it’s often criticized for bad writing (see: Ben Solo). Curious even called this out in her fight with Himiko. I would hope Horikoshi doesn’t end the story being like yeah Curious was right that’s the best use of Himiko’s/Dabi’s/Shigaraki’s arcs:

Additionally, as for the believability of a character getting a new chance after so much destruction and murder... well, it’s kinda a thing in shonen and even in seinen? For better or for worse, it’s a thing. We have Vegeta in Dragon Ball Z and Kaneki Ken in Tokyo Ghoul (Kaneki, by the way, is absolutely an inspiration for Shigaraki). We can debate how well-written these redemptions are (I personally have been quite critical of Kaneki’s despite wanting it to happen narratively), but it can be done. BNHA’s Japan especially isn’t as harsh a world as Tokyo Ghoul’s Japan, so it would make even more sense for something like Kaneki’s ending.

The reality is that the cycle of revenge via hurting people and then leaving hurting families and loved ones has to stop somewhere. Someone has to be the bigger person and step up and be like “naw.” That’s heroic. That’s brave. That’s sacrificial itself. Justice itself doesn’t really exist in its purest form without mercy.

There’s another genre-reason I don’t see death or jail as likely (I could see, like, maybe a mental health ward like Rei’s? But it’s too soon to speculate).

If saving is considered a good thing for the story, if it’s truly the highest ideal, then saving someone should be rewarded by the narrative. The characters who save should have a positive result to show us this a good thing.

This is why it doesn’t work for the heroes’ end journey to be accepting that some people cannot be saved. The notion of just accepting that you cannot do something, you cannot save everyone, you cannot, cannot, cannot, is called out as a flaw of society. Determination, on the other hand, is rewarded.

We see it with Deku as well as with Mirio.

So, what if they save them and the redeemed characters then go on to sacrifice themselves in their redemption and die (come to the same end)? If saving changes absolutely nothing for the saved person, if it’s too late for the saved from themselves to change and/or do anything that matters besides die, then the narrative theme of saving as important is left unemphasized at best and undermined at worst. Simple intrinsic knowledge that the kids “did the right thing” doesn’t cut it for a story with so much focus on physical saving when the kids are already doing the right thing; moral struggles about whether to choose to be good aren’t really Deku, Ochaco, or Shouto’s arcs. It works for Aizawa’s arc with Kurogiri, but not for the kiddos. If BNHA was more of a philosophical/spiritual text, that would indeed make sense, but it is not. Genre-wise, BNHA is a fantastical superhero optimistic story, not a gritty real-world set drama.

[spockandawe]

Well, this is interesting! So, in that post yesterday, there was one line that really baffled me, a thing about people brushing off a character as an asshole “because he shows literally zero growth.” I kind of set that aside because it was such a weird non-sequitur, and guessed that it was just someone’s sentences not quite keeping up with their train of thought, which has happened to me many times. Apparently I was wrong! I already spent long enough on that one post, I’m tired of talking about that, but this is new and interesting. 

Okay. I kind of wanted to see if I could talk about this purely in terms of abstracts and not characters, but I don’t think it’ll work. It would be frustrating to write and confusing to read. It’s about Jiang Cheng. Right up front: This isn’t about whether or not he’s an abuser. Frankly, I don’t think it’s relevant. This also isn’t about telling people they should like him. I don't care whether anyone else likes him or not. But I do like him, and I am always fascinated by dissecting the reasons that people disagree with me. And the process of Telling Stories is my oldest hyperfixation I remember, which will become relevant in a minute.

I thought I had a good grasp on this one, you know? Jiang Cheng makes it pretty obvious why people would dislike Jiang Cheng. But then the posts I keep stumbling over were making weird points, culminating in that “literally zero growth” line.

So! What happened is that someone wrote up a post about how Jiang Cheng’s character arc isn’t an arc, it’s stagnation. It’s a pretty interesting read, and I broadly agree with the larger point! The points where I would quibble are like... the idea that it’s absolute stagnation, as opposed to very subtle shifts that still make a material difference. But still, cool! The post was also offered up as a reason why OP was uninterested in writing any more Jiang Cheng meta, which I totally get. I’m not tired of him yet, but I definitely understand why someone who isn’t a fan of his would get tired about writing about a character with a very static arc. Okay!

Now, internet forensics are hard. I desperately wish I had more information about this evolution, because I find this stuff fascinating, but I have no good way to find things said in untagged posts, reblogs, or private/external venues. But as far as I can tell, that “literally zero growth” wasn’t just a slip of the tongue, it’s become fashionable for people to say that Jiang Cheng is an abusive asshole (that it’s fucked up to like) because he doesn’t have a character arc.

Asshole? Yes. Abusive? This post still isn’t about that. This is about it being fucked up to like this character because he did bad things and had a static character arc.

At first, that point of view was still deeply confusing to me. But I think I figured out the idea at the core of it, and now I’m only baffled. I’m not super interested in confirming this directly, because the people making the most noise about this have not inspired confidence in their ability to hold a civil conversation and I’m a socially anxious binch, but I think the idea is: ‘This character did Bad Things, and then did not improve himself.’

Which is alarmingly adjacent to that old favorite standard of ‘This piece of fiction is glorifying Bad Thing.’ I haven’t seen anyone accusing mxtx of something something jiang cheng, only the people who read/watched/heard the story and became invested in the Jiang Cheng character, but things kind of add up, you know?

Like I said, I don’t want to arbitrate anyone’s right to like/dislike Jiang Cheng. That’s such a fucking waste of time. But this is fascinating to me, because it’s like..... so obviously new and sudden, with such a clear originating point. I can’t speak to the Chinese fans, obviously, but exiledrebels started translating in... what, 2017? And only now, in 2021, do people start putting forth Jiang Cheng’s flat character arc as a “reason” that he’s bad? I’m not going to argue if he pings you in the abuse place, I’m not a dick. I’m not going to argue if you just dislike his vibes. I’m just over here on my blog and in the tag enjoying myself, feel free to detour around me. But oh my god, it’s so silly to try to tell other people that they shouldn’t like him because he has a static character arc.

I want to talk about stories. I don’t know how much I’ll be able to say, because it’s impossible to make broad, sweeping statements, because there are stories about change, there are stories about lack of change, there are all kinds of media that can be used to tell stories, and standards for how stories are told and what they emphasize vary across cultures and over time. But I think that what I can say is that telling a story requires... compromise. It requires streamlining. Trying to capture all the detail of life would slow down most stories to an unbearable degree. Consider organically telling someone ‘I made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich’ versus the computer science exercise of having students describe, step by step, how to make one (spread peanut butter? but you never said you opened the lid)

Hell, I’ve got an example in mdzs itself. The largely-faceless masses of the common people. If someone asks you to think about it critically like, yes, obviously these are people, living their own lives, with their own desires, sometimes suffering and dying in the wake of the novel plot. But does the story give weight to those deaths? Or does it just gloss by? Yes, it references their suffering occasionally, but it is not the focus, and it would slow the story unbearably to give equal weight to each dead person mentioned. 

Does Wei Wuxian’s massacre get given the same slow, careful consideration as Su She’s, or Jin Guangyao’s? No, because taking the time to weigh our protagonist with ‘well, this one was a mother, and her youngest son had just started walking, but now he’s going to grow up without remembering her face. that one only became an adult a few months ago, he still hasn’t been on many night-hunts yet, but he finds it so rewarding to protect the common people. oh, and this one had just gotten engaged, but don’t worry, his fiancee won’t mourn him, because she died here as well.’ And continuing on that way to some large number under 3000? No! Unless your goal is to make the reader feel bad for cheering for a morally grey hero, that would be a bad authorial decision! The book doesn’t ignore the issue, it comes up, Wei Wuxian gets called out about all the deaths he’s responsible for, but that’s not the same as them being given equal emotional weight to one (1) secondary character, and I don’t love this new thing where people are pretending that’s equivalent.

When Wei Wuxian brutally kills every person at the Wen supervisory office, are you like ‘holy shit... so many grieving families D:’ or are you somewhere between vindicated satisfaction and an ‘ooh, yikes’ wince? Odds are good you’re somewhere in the satisfaction/wince camp, because that’s what the story sets you up to feel, because the story has to emphasize its priorities (priorities vary, but ‘plot’ and ‘protagonist’ are common ones, especially for a casual novel read like this)

Now, characters. If you want to write a story with a sweeping, epic scale, or if you want to tightly constrain the number of people your story is about, I guess it’s possible to give everyone involved a meaningful character arc. Now.... is it always necessary? Is it always possible? Does it always make sense? No, of course not. If you want to do that, you have to devote real estate to it, and depending on the story you want to tell, it could very possibly be a distraction from your main point, like the idea of mxtx tenderly eulogizing every single character who dies even incidentally. Lan Qiren doesn’t get a loving examination of his feelings re: his nephews and wei wuxian and political turnover in the cultivation world because it’s not relevant, and also, because his position is pretty static until right near the end of the story. Lan Xichen is arguably one of the most static characters within the book, he seems like the same nice young between Gusu and the present, right up until... just before the end of the story.

You may see where I’m heading with this.

Like, just imagine trying to demand that every important character needs to go through a major life change before the end of your book or else it didn’t count. This just in, Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg go through multiple novels without experiencing radical shifts in who they are, stop liking them immediately. I do get that the idea is that Jiang Cheng was a ~bad person~ who didn’t change, but asdgfsd I thought we were over the handwringing over people being allowed to like ““bad”” fictional characters. The man isn’t even a canonical serial killer, he’s not my most problematic fave even within this novel.

And here is where it’s a little more relevant that I would quibble with that original post about Jiang Cheng’s arc. He’s consistently a mean girl, but he goes from stressed, sharp-edged teenager, to grief-stricken, almost-destroyed teen, to grim, cold young adult (and then detours into grim, cold, and grief-stricken until grief dulls with time). He does become an attentive uncle tho. He..... doesn’t experience a radical change in his sense of self, which... it’s...... not all that strange for an adult. And bam, then he DOES experience a radical change, but the needs of the plot dictate that it’s right near the end. And he’s not the focus of the story, baby, wangxian is. He has the last few lines of the story, which nicely communicate his changes to me, but also asdfafas we’re out of story. He was never the main character, it’s not surprising we don’t linger! The extras aren’t beholden to the needs of plot, but they’re also about whatever mxtx wanted to write, and I guess she didn’t feel like writing about Jiang Cheng ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

But also. Taking a step backward. Stable characters can fill a perfectly logical place in a story. Like, look at Leia Organa. I’m not saying she has no arc, but I am saying that she’s a solid point of reference as Luke is becoming a jedi and Han is adjusting his perspective. I wouldn’t call her stagnant, the vibes are wrong, but she also isn’t miserable in her sadness swamp, the way Jiang Cheng is.

Or, hell, look at tgcf. The stagnant, frozen nature of the big bad is a central feature of the story. The bwx of now is the bwx of 800 years ago is the bwx of 1500+ years ago. This is not the place for a meta on how that was bad for those around him and for him himself, but I have Thoughts about how being defeated at the end is both a thing that hurts him and relieves him. Mei Nianqing is a sympathetic character who’s also pretty darn static. Does Ling Wen have a character arc, or do we just learn more about who she already is and what her priorities always were? I’m going to cut myself off here, but a character’s delta between the beginning of a story and the end of a story is a reasonable way to judge how interesting writing character meta is, and is a very silly metric to judge their worth, and even if I guessed at what the basic logic is, for this character, I am still baffled that it’s being put forth as a real talking point.

(also, has it jumped ship to any other characters yet? have people started applying it in other fandoms as well? please let me know if this is the case, I am wildly curious)

(no, but really, if anyone is arguing that bwx is gross specifically because he had centuries to self-reflect and didn’t fix himself, i am desperate to know)

And finally. The thing I thought was most self-evident. Did I post about this sometime recently? If a non-central character experiences a life-altering paradigm shift right near the end of the story (without it being lingered over, because non-central character), oh my god. As a fic writer? IT’S FREE REAL ESTATE. This is the most fertile possible ground. If I want to write post-canon canon-compliant material, adsgasfasd that’s where I’m going to be looking. Okay, yeah, the main couple is happy, that’s good. Who isn’t happy, and what can I do about that? Happy families are all alike, while every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way, etc.

It’s not everyone’s favorite playground, but come on, these are not uncommon feelings. And frankly, it’s starting to feel a little disingenuous when people act like fan authors pick out the most blameless angel from the cast and lavish good things upon them. I’m not the only one who goes looking for a good dumpster fire and says I Live Here Now. If I write post-canon tgcf fic, it’s very likely to focus on beef and/or leaf. I have written more than one au focusing on tianlang-jun.

And, hilariously. If the problem with Jiang Cheng. Is that he is a toxic man fictional character who failed to grow on his own, and is either unsafe or unhealthy to be around. If the problem is that he did not experience a character arc. If these people would be totally fine with other people liking him, if he improved himself as a person. And then, if authors want to put in the (free! time-consuming!) work of writing that character development themselves. You would think that they would be lauded for putting the character through healthier sorts of personal growth than he experienced in canon. Instead, I am still here writing this because first, I was bothered by these authors being named as “freaks” who are obsessed with their ‘uwu precious tsundere baby’ with a “love language of violence,” and then I was graciously informed that people hate Jiang Cheng because he experiences no character growth.