#i love it when characters are suffering and being tragic but PLEASE give him a little break

[hyomaslut]

──★ ˙🍓 ̟ !! what is this? boyfriend material.

☆⌒(ゝ。∂).ᐟ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ᴀʀᴇ ʙʟʟᴋ ʙᴏʏs ʟɪᴋᴇ ɪɴ ᴀ ʀᴇʟᴀᴛɪᴏɴsʜɪᴘ ᴘᴛ. 𝟷

✿ ─ characters: isagi yoichi, chigiri hyoma, reo mikage, nagi seishiro ✿ ─ cw: fluff, gn!reader, no pronouns but there are a few 'fem coded' things referenced like make up or skirts, aged-up!characters, established relationships, pet names, kissing, groping, pda, use of foul language, suggestive themes, proofread so many times so if there’s a typo ill cry ✿ ─ notes: this is my first post ♪(´▽｀) i haven't written stuff like this in a pretty long time so bear with me ‹𝟹 this is some hybrid of headcanon and drabble idk

ISAGI YOICHI is a full-fledged bonafide simp...

he suffers from tragic a condition. when he’s not trying? flirting supreme panty dropper. however, when he tries to flirt with someone he likes? bro is fumbling. at first he seems like such an instant charmer. hes a classic gentleman, great listener, and super attractive. but the second he gets an inkling of a crush, he ruins it for himself. stuttering and getting his words mixed up, saying the most embarrassing jumbled combination of what he actually meant to.

follows you around to all your tasks because how else would he spend his free time except hanging with his baby. to sephora, to the grocery store, to the salon, the the ends of the earth if that's where you're heading that day. more than happy to hold onto your hand as you go about your business, rambling about global soccer statistics and looking at you like you hold the world. yoichi is a prideful purse holder too, his arms and pockets and car being full of your belongings makes him insanely happy for some reason he can’t put his finger on. always ready to press the lip gloss you’re patting yourself down for into the palm your hand, taking a kiss as payment.

he’s bad at planning dates, so don’t put him in charge unless you want to be late to a reservation at a restaurant 2 hours away with mediocre food. he’s good at paying for them though!! the dates he does get to plan are usually to the mall. what can i say, man likes to spoil you.

at the mall isagi can kind of trick you. because typically if he were to offer to buy you a couple hundred dollars worth of things, you would absolutely refuse. buttt if its just one thing from this store and one thing from another, and maybe its the fact that you dont feel the weight of all the items as your boyfriend carries it all, but it flies under your radar. and at some point you look at yoichi… and he has a lot of shopping bags. surely some of those were his right? the little pleased love sick smile on his face says otherwise.

its so worth it to isagi tho. he gets to spend time with you, make you happy, be a doting bf. but it also means that he can pick out clothes for you. as generous as he was, he could be a bit of a greedy gifter - never leaving the mall without a new skirt of his choosing. will personally pick out a pile of things he wants you to try on just for him.

once youre with isagi for a few months, he reveals his true colors. man is a serial PDA offender. he just thinks you’re so pretty, and it gives him such an ego boost to be the guy by your side. better hold his hand or its going in your back pocket. leans in under the guise of giving you a quick, generally acceptable peck on the lips… but all of a sudden he wants another before you even fully pull away from the first and its all downhill from there. sits on your side of the table at restaurants instead of across from you so he can rest his hand on your thigh and sneak in small squeezes when he thinks youre not paying attention. and be careful about walking in front of him, he’s not strong enough to resist the urge to smack your ass.

if the PDA thing wasnt a dead give away, isagi is just very affectionate in general, honestly has a hard time leaving you alone when you’re in the same room as him. he just gravitates towards you no matter what he was previously doing. very easily distracted, very easy to bribe. he’s the type of guy where when he goes to get out of bed in the morning to go to practice, and you cling to him and ask him for just 5 more minutes, theres nothing that could stop him from sinking right back into your arms. his attendance record has definitely suffered because he is unable to deny you a single thing you ask for, especially if that thing is him.

CHIGIRI HYOMA is taken and makes sure everyone knows it…

hyoma’s partner very quickly becomes his best friend if they weren’t before they started dating. it’s not even intentional, but he gets very quickly attached to you. sure, he has a decent amount of friends, but none of them know him like you do. he loves to hear you talk about your life, invested in your daily drama and indulging you with all of his. he likes to hear your input and insights on situations. he takes notes in his phone when he sees things he thinks you would like, or conversations he had that he wants to tell you about. forever surprised by how much he misses you when you’re apart, chigiri is used to not needing anyone the way he needs you. is so much grumpier at matches that have him go abroad without you, texting you often throughout the day, whenever he can get his hands on his phone.

because you’re now his best friend and partner, chigiri’s a bit tied to you at the hip, but he would never admit to being clingy. not that you mind, hanging out with him is fun and surprisingly intimate. he never fails to hold your hand wherever you go or throw an arm around your shoulder. on dates he’ll lean in close to your ear to whisper little observations and jokes about the people around, the two of you sharing witty comments and secretive snickers behind your hands. when hanging out with mutual friends, the way yours eyes meet his wordlessly, both holding the same micro expression, indistinguishable to other people, that says “we are so talking about that later”.

speaking of clinging to your side, hyoma can have a bit of a possessive streak at times. i feel like it’s something you don’t really expect of him until there’s a guy flirting with you in a store. the way your boyfriend is at your side before you can even answer, standing at his full height, squaring his shoulders with a sour look on his face, not at all shy about the way his arm snakes around your waist. “they’re not interested.” he states plainly, as if it were obvious, but if you payed close attention to him (which you always did), you would notice the distasteful curl of his lip or the venom seeping into his tone or the way his usually gentle fingers hold onto your side with a firm grip.

he doesn’t meet your eyes after, already sensing the knowing smirk on your lips. his ears turn red when you break the silence to tell him that green was a good color on him. but, your ever clever boyfriend is quick to reply, “that’s cute baby, but i’m not jealous. you haven’t seen me when i’m jealous.” the mischievous glimmer in his eye and the smug smile he wears reminds you to not test him.

king of matching outfits with you. not in the novelty shirts cheesy way, but he always asks for a fit check before he picks you up on dates. chigiri is outside your apartment within the hour, wearing a jacket that matches the color of your shoes and a sly grin. generally starts to shift his style to be a bit more cohesive with yours, he loves going out and looking like you belong together.

not to mention, matching outfits give him more excuses to take pictures with you. photos of you and him are plastered all over his instagram, your handle in his bio and everything. he’s no amateur either, always able to catch your best side, in perfect lighting. really makes you feel as pretty as he seems to think you are. hyoma is a bit of a show off too, so he gets a bit of an ego boost getting to let everyone know how cute you are, and that you’re all his.

hyoma greatly values the alone time he gets to spend with you. the best part of his week is sitting on the couch as you help him with his hair care routine. you running a mix of the comb and your fingers through his hair as the two of you catch up on the k-drama you started together. your touch and your attention and your warm presence enough to make the stress of a pro soccer career melt off his shoulders. makes you teach him how to do your nails and learns your skin care routine so that he can return the favor, although he’s much better at the latter.

MIKAGE REO is ungodly whipped and more than a little dramatic…

if we’re talking about social media boyfriends, reo is near insufferable. let’s be real, reo was already flexing on the gram before you got with him. constantly posting pictures of his car and expensive watches and exclusive clubs. he just becomes worse when you agree to go out with him. his story is full of aesthetically blurry shots of you, sometimes featuring him, anywhere and everywhere. in his car, on dates, cooking in his kitchen. he even found the audacity to post a picture of you in his bed, your bare back in full frame, the sheets pooled around your waist. “i’m so lucky” was the caption and the only context provided. unsurprisingly the lifespan of that post was quite short once you caught wind of it, with the assurance that he wouldn’t be getting so lucky in the near future.

i totally think reo is the type of guy that tries to act like a fuckboy but is secretly a hopeless romantic. in other words, reo is a huge sap™. has a picture of you in his wallet. you’re his screen saver and all his passwords feature your name. nagi is the last person left that will still listen to reo ramble on about you, all of his other friends having gotten tired of it.

we already know that reo is taking you to fancy dinners on the regular, but more unexpectedly i think he is a big fan of outdoorsy dates. previously mentioned hopeless romantic tendencies means reo loves a picnic way more than he lets on. his favorite is when the summer comes around and he gets to take you to the beach. if reo dies and goes to heaven and it's not you rubbing sunscreen into his warm back in a skimpy swimsuit he picked out for you himself, he's not interested. a close second favorite of his is late night drives with you. all the windows of his luxury sports car down, blasting a playlist the two of you made together, singing loud and ugly down the empty freeway. in these moments you make him feel weightless and he swears it’s addicting.

king of clingy. every time that you feel your phone vibrate, there's a good chance that it's your boyfriend. never with anything important either, asking where you are, how was your day, sending you pics of whatever he is doing, even resorting to imessage games when he runs out of things to talk about. he just always finds himself itching to open your contact. if mikage reo could eat up all of your attention, he would not hesitate to do so.

reo is usually the caretaker. when he obtained status of boyfriend, you automatically went on his list of special people in his life, only really consisting of you and nagi, and this granted you the exclusive privilege of walking all over him if you so please. truly a pushover and weak to your pouts. while we’re on the subject of ways to get him to fold, reo is surprisingly easy to flatter. your compliments are honey to his ears, no matter how many people have said the same to him before. his heart thumps loud in his chest whenever you do any act of service or labor of love for him. just wait for the day you buy this man some flowers. got his hand splayed over his red face, his palm not wide enough to cover his infatuated grin. "they're really for me, babe? god i knew i picked you for a reason.”

reo's feelings for you run extremely deep. scary deep. you make him feel stupid and irrational. he can't think straight, he's impulsive. you have to keep a close eye on him because give reo enough time alone and he'll convince himself that getting your name tattooed across his chest is an amazing idea, a grandiose display of his affection and devotion to you - sick as hell too. god forbid you go on a trip by yourself, there's honestly a decent chance you'll come home to a marriage proposal and explanations on how "no no, don't worry babe, i know its sooner than you expected but i've got it all planned out.” just be glad that up until this point he has resisted the strong urge to drop a fourth of his trust fund on a ring, a price he's more than willing to pay to make you all his.

NAGI SEISHIRO is greedy and will readily take a mile if given an inch…

nagi is… new to the whole boyfriend thing to say the least. not to say he’s bad at it or anything, but i imagine that in the beginning of your relationship, things are a bit, for a lack of better words, lukewarm. he struggles a bit with recognizing that the switch from friends to more than friends is more than just the title, letting you completely take the wheel. but his passiveness doesn’t last long. not when he can’t escape the way you are constantly on his mind. he thought it was overwhelming enough having a crush on you, but now that he’s falling for you it’s on another level. he thinks of you when he first opens his eyes, facing the obnoxious blue light of his phone to send you your daily goodmorning :x . he thinks of you at night, when he’s restlessly fighting to fall asleep before he ultimately caves and facetimes you so that he can drift off to your tired mumbles and even breaths. he thinks of you when practice drags on, the anticipation of seeing you after the only thing keeping him from giving into his exhaustion.

nagi can’t get you out of his head for the life of him, but to be fair he doesn’t put up much of a fight. seishiro is used to getting what he wants, so what does he do when his desire for you becomes a hassle? he makes it your problem. constantly calling you and asking you to pick him up from social functions because he misses you. insisting that he stays the night at your place or that you come to his because he needs his daily dose of you. and he doesn’t have the shame to be shy of telling you everything on his mind either. he unintentionally says very flustering things, unabashedly demanding your touch and your company, no matter who is listening. it’s your fault he’s like this after all, you might as well take responsibility and give him what he wants.

and what he wants is affection from you, as much as he can get. serishiro is mesmerized by your reactions. being in love with you is uncharted territory that he maps out with piqued curiosity and newfound greed. especially kissing. once nagi gets his first taste of kissing you for real, messy and needy and drawn out, he never wants to go back. not after seeing your red face, eyes lidded and lips parted so cutely he just has to steal one more. now his day dreams revolve around you, what flavor of chapstick you’re wearing, what perfume do you have on, are you thinking of him as much as he does you? thats one thing he never really finds the courage to ask, but that he secretly hopes is true.

he loves to find things you can work on together, even if you always end up being the one putting in more effort. nagi will insist on cooking dinner together, and maybe you get his help for a good 10 minutes before he’s slumped in a seat at the counter eating the ingredients. buys tons of lego sets for the two of you to put together and while you’re following the instructions, he’s stealing pieces you need so he can build a little car to push around the table while he watches you figure it out. he’ll even settle for a puzzle and a movie, but your out of luck if you expect him to do anything but the edges.

the lazy genius only really has the time and energy to have a couple of important people in his life, but once you make it into that inner circle, that shit is permanent as far as he’s concerned. it begins with him telling you that it only makes sense to leave some clothes at his apartment, you’re at his place half the week anyway. and then its him smuggling over your favorite pillows and stuffed animals to his bed instead of yours. then he’s asking you to go grocery shopping with him every week. the jokes he makes about the fact that, “you keep all your stuff here anyway. just move in with me already,” are far too frequent to be subtle. but when he hits you with the puppy eyes, which are annoyingly effective, how could you say no?

you’ve put yourself in his orbit after all and now the solar system that is nagi seishiro will use his gravity to pull you inevitably closer. it’s doomed.

is my bias obvious?? cuz i feel like it might be… lmk which one was your favorite!!

© 2023 hyomaslut. please do not copy, translate, or repost any of my content onto any other sites.

[messy-crisantemo]

Since last week, I wanted to make a

🎴 GenTan fic recommendation list Part 2! 🍉

Don’t forget to check out Part 1 too!

As the last time, this list is based on my personal likes and, ofc, on the fics I’ve read. I tried to include all GenTan flavors ❤️💜 They’re not put in any particular order and most of them are completed fics. I’m adding some of the tags, but not all of them since I don’t want to make this post extra long, so please read them again once you go to the Ao3 link. Anime-onlies, beware of spoilers. Please enjoy!

sliding across the clouded sky by mimimimi (reiiiiii), 179k, WIP

(Figure skating AU, Modern Setting, Fluff and Angst, Slow Burn, Aged-Up Character(s), Friends to Lovers, Mutual Pining)

The life of a figure skater is short. People expect you to retire at a young age and the moment you have an injury and take a break to recover, you're done for.

Shinazugawa Genya had to deal with it now that he's gotten the biggest injury on his skating career. And the press isn't helping at all, either.

The only light keeping him connected to the figure skating world? Kamado Tanjirou.

Starting with a classic! This beautiful slow burn explores the nature of their relationship as something that makes grow both Genya and Tanjirou. It has lots of funny and tender moments.

Life in plastic, it’s fantastic! by Side_Ponytail, 4k

(Modern Setting, Meet-Cute, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Getting Together, First Kiss, POV Alternating, Fluff and Humor, Scheming)

Tanjiro takes his siblings to see the Barbie movie, Genya’s siblings drag him along, and Parent Trap levels of shenanigans ensue.

No Barbie Movies were spoiled in the making of this fic.

One of the funniest and most adorable fics I’ve ever read. If you need a boost of sugar, this is it.

June Bridegroom by 125389, 2k

(Canon Compliant, Post-Canon, Fluff and Angst, Established Relationship, Kamado Tanjirou-centric, Horror, Manga Spoilers)

Upon concluding an important day, the boundary between dreams and reality blurs as Tanjirou reveals the true nature of his feelings and whom he's really marrying.

A fic for those who love to suffer and don’t fear to embrace the tragic nature of GenTan.

a checkered haori by DragonsAndCryptids, 2k

(Post-Swordsmith Village Arc, Hurt/Comfort, Scents & Smells, Pre-Relationship, Fluff)

After the confrontation with Sanemi, Genya steals Tanjiro's haori because he likes the way it smells and it helps calm him down.

He doesn't want to address why that is, but when Tanjiro finds out, he doesn't give him much of a choice.

Tanjirou being Genya’s weak point, we all love it.

All Bark, No Bite by Rigmaroler, 92k

(Witch Tanjiro, Werewolf Genya, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Hurt/Comfort, Falling in Love, Worldbuilding, Fluff, Action/Adventure, Sharing a Bed)

When Tanjirou first sees the wolf, he only has one thought in his head. He sees it under the light of the moon, just bright enough for the wet blood in its dark gray pelt to shine. Its teeth are bared, white, sharp and long as each of Tanjirou’s fingers. Its growl is a low bass rumble that Tanjirou can practically feel in his bones, rattling his spine. Its muzzle is stained red with blood, and marred with a jagged scar that cuts through its dense fur.

Or: Tanjirou is a witch's apprentice with a bad habit of bringing home strays. Genya is a young man who's been called a monster so many times, he's started to believe it.

Genya letting himself to be loved, Tanjirou learning that he can also want things for himself. Just beautiful.

The hidden stairs (Red velvet flicker) by Wild_Quetzal, 4k

(Alternate Universe - Vampire, Horror, Romance, Hurt/Comfort, vampire!Shinazugawa Genya, Dubious Morality, Enemies to Lovers)

A couple of minutes later, Tanjirou is left in his chambers. The place is big and empty. Despite the cold temperature, Tanjirou pays it no mind. He presses his ear against the heavy wooden door, then he sniffs it. Nothing seems out of place. He’s truly alone.

What the old lady who gave him instructions told him echoes in his mind: “That man is no Count. He’s a thief.”

Tanjirou arrives at the castle looking for answers. His host will only give him more questions. What is Genya hiding?

Yes, it’s the self-promo part. We had werewolf Genya and now we have vampire Genya in some very gothic and dramatic romance.

[burnt-by-marigolds]

Astarion’s first bite: Vampirism in a nutshell

As a person who's spent the better part of their life consuming and analyzing various vampire media, I'd like to stop and appreciate the first time Astarion feeds from Tav. The scene, however brief, is simply delicious.

(I know it's probably already been written a thousand times all over the Internet, but I'm playing the game for the first time, let me have my fun.)

Vampire bite has been portrayed in a million different ways in popular culture. As an avid TTRPG player, I am probably the most used to the idea of Vampire the Masquerade’s ‘Kiss’: there, the act is generally intensely pleasurable for mortals, putting them in a state of daze that some even liken to orgasm, but victims retain hazy memories of it at best. It’s not unheard of for people to get addicted to the feeling and become so-called blood dolls, purposefully seeking out vampires just to experience the high again. Oh, and the bitemarks? No worries! All it takes is for the vampire to lick the wound after they're done feeding and the skin instantly heals.

I love VtM, but I'm glad this is not the case with Astarion.

The game makes a clear statement: being fed on by a vampire isn't a sexy or pleasurable thing. Even if Astarion tries to be civil about it, and Tav gives consent, this is still very much a predatory act, a physical intrusion. It's painful – like a shard of ice into your neck – and leaves the character weakened.

And Tav stays conscious for the entire time, gritting their teeth, trying to look at Astarion and figure out what exactly is happening to their neck. No haze to dull the memories, no painkillers or sedatives, no nothing. Sorry, Tav; you have to go through this acutely aware of every single sensation.

This contrasts profoundly with what the ‘pale elf’ is experiencing. While Tav feels pain and gets a very telling, brand new ugly wound, the vampire pulls away, clearly intoxicated and even incredulous. That was amazing. (...) I feel… happy! 

This opposition is further emphasized by the game systems, namely the conditions the two characters receive. Tav becomes Bloodless, suffering a penalty to rolls etc. A classic victim of vampire bite: sluggish, strangely pale, with mysterious punctures on their neck… It's almost a pity we can't choose to decorate Tav’s tent with a garlic wreath.

Astarion, on the other hand, doesn't become, I don't know, Invigorated, or Sated, or Bloated As a Tick. No, the focus is again on him being… Happy. Not empowered (although he clearly is), but simply happy for the first time in gods know how long, as opposed to him being constantly on edge, on the run, and fighting for survival. He experiences a moment of bliss. This is a gift.

Thus the scene presents various facets of the vampire myth in a nutshell. Because what is a vampire? It's an animalistic monster who preys on humanity (cut to the painful wound on the neck and gritted teeth). It's a deceptively civil and charming individual, often tragic and very self aware (cut to Astarion asking for permission, saying how he's only ever fed on vermin or stating he won't forget the kindness). It's a blood junkie (cut to Astarion experiencing the rush of excitement and ‘happiness’). It's a parasite, because even if the feeding is consensual, we can clearly see which side reaps the benefits, and which is left weakened with nothing in exchange. 

Oh, the complexity of the vampiric condition.

(The fact that vampiric bite is often a metaphor for sexual act isn't lost here, even if it's not the focus; it becomes more pronounced later, when Astarion reluctantly admits You were my first. Which, depending on the angle, may render the whole thing an even darker shade.)

And let me say again, all of this is packed neatly into a single, pretty brief scene. I love this game already.

PS The screenshots feature Yae, my half-elven goolock/bladelock. Say hello to him!

Thanks for reaching the end of the note! Please bear in mind I'm playing Baldur's Gate 3 for the first time and I haven't played any of the origin stories yet. Feel free to let me know if you think some things can be viewed differently in the context of the full game, but please avoid spoilers while doing so.

[spinji]

Do you have any idea why Nana continued to dehumanize Shigaraki after learning that her murderer groomed him to be evil?

I think what a lot of people don't get with the whole "you might have to kill Shigaraki" thing is that Nana (and Torino by extension) aren't removing his autonomy when they say that.

At a certain point, it doesn't matter who's fault it is for turning someone into a villian. The entire purpose of Deku's rematch with Muscular is to make it clear that some people aren't going to stop destroying things and hurting people by talking about their abusive dad or their dead mom or whatever tragic circumstances led them here.

Tomura has also reached a similar point, refusing to compromise on his goal to destroy the causes of his suffering. That includes both All for One and the society that left him to rot. AFO meticulously planned a lot of Tenko’s misfortune but he didn't manipulate the strangers that passed him on the street. He didn't create that feeling of abandonment, only pointed it in the wrong direction. Tomura not making this choice for himself because he was groomed genuinely doesn't matter anymore because these are his choices now. He's shown multiple times to understand that AFO is using him against All Might and for his own ends, but he doesn't try to get away and turn to the heroes; he tries to get away so he can be a villian on his own terms.

It's easy to forget, since he's the protagonist, but Izuku's optimism about saving the crying boy at the core of who Tomura is, is a massive outlier and his leaps in logic aren't always solid. Nana is very callous when she talks about it, my personal guess is it's because she's still not fully willing to face her sense of guilt that her attempt to save her son from AFO led to the creation and abuse of Tomura. But she is still correct, regardless of what pain lingers inside Tomura, it is too late to help him.

Even when Izuku reaches his hand to Tenko when he is at his absolute most vulnerable, he maintains his loyalty to the league. He's been cast from society for so long that there's nothing that can convince him to stop. He would rather die destorying than live in a world he couldn't change.

In fact most of the major deaths in the league maintain this theme. Twice would rather die fighting than let his friends get screwed over by his own shortcomings again. Toga would rather die a free girl that lived as she pleased than fall in line with society. The heroes didn't choose to kill any of them from the outset, they could have gone quietly at any time to save their own skin, but their cause was more important.

This is what Nana means when she maintains that Shigaraki dying is a possiblity that needs to stay on the table, because he won't allow anything that isn't victory or death. It's tragic but I think it helps convey the message that the ending wants to, that change in how we treat the strange and disparaged doesn't just need to happen, but it needs to happen sooner. You can't just wait until a villian tries to blow up the country to try and help them, you need to give that kindness to everyone before those villians can even exist.

Sorry this got off topic because I really hate how people simplify the ending as bad writing when to me it seems really obvious that Horikoshi was going for a bittersweet ending with the league. They did destroy society but didn't live long enough to see what it rebuit into because even trust in one person trying to save them isn't enough when you're this far gone.

Either way, Horikoshi's writing style leads to a lot of necessary intuiting about the characters to actually understand the motivations for how they act. I think Nana ends up being a particularly rough victim of this because her stoicism and blunt attitude is very obviously supposed to be a front.

She opened herself up to others and All for One killed her loved ones, so she guards her heart the best she can to avoid showing more weaknesses. She does feel like a failure to her legacy; she never fully believes she made the right choices regarding Kotaro or Tomura. But if she cracks then not only is she done but AFO will make it his duty to twist the knife and hurt the people she cried for too.

She's a contrast to Izuku serving as a cautionary what-if scenario if Izuku's big open heart just makes more people targets by association (which it does!). She's not entirely right when she calls Tomura a monster but she isn't being entirely honest with herself either.

[pluckyredhead]

It's time for more Fourth World thoughts! Previously I've covered the comics of the 70s, 80s, and 90s. Now let's talk about the 2000s.

Orion (2000): AHHHHHHH. If you read no other Fourth World book (besides Kirby ofc), please read this one. It is so good and it is so epic and Orion makes so many well intentioned bad decisions and suffers so much. I devoured all 25 issues in 2 days and immediately wanted to reread it. Writing and art are both Walt Simonson and he gives this book such tragic grandeur. He also does my favorite thing which is multiple slow-burning subplots, some of which lasted so long that I was afraid they wouldn't be resolved, but no, every loose end is wrapped up in a satisfying (ish) way by the last issue and I love everyone in this bar. And the art! THE ART!!!

So basically, Orion kills Darkseid (again lol) and becomes the new ruler of Apokolips, and decides he is going to drag this planet over to the side of good kicking and screaming, which...doesn't work out so well for him. Ultimately he winds up semi-accidentally in possession of the Anti-Life Equation, which allows him to completely control people, so he uses it to force people to be good, which...baby, no. This series is like 40% Orion whump, 35% Orion being a badass, 5% Lightray and Orion being blatantly in love, 5% Scott and Orion making dramatic gestures of brotherly devotion, and 5% Orion wearing a stupid hat that I unironically wish I could buy and wear.

It looks like his helmet! I NEED IT.

Also, during his Stupid Hat Era, Orion briefly acquires an orphan girl sidekick, and like...look at my icon. This is my GREATEST WEAKNESS. Simonson, why did you come for me like that???

I have only two quibbles with this series:

1. It's the early 2000s so the only female characters of any significance (besides the aforementioned orphan girl sidekick) are femme fatales who are drawn in ludicrously skimpy outfits and sex inch heels. Now to be fair, Darkseid wears a miniskirt, but the degree of cheesecake of these two characters was ridiculous.

2. The last issue reveals that Scott possesses the Anti-Life Equation naturally, and he once accidentally killed dozens of people with it, and he's tormented by both of these things. Which...the actual issue this story is told in is really good, and I think it's a really interesting idea to have Scott possess the Equation, but I don't love the idea of weighing down this optimistic character who values freedom above all with such a traumatic history of, uh, accidental mass murder. He already grew up in a torture orphanage! Hasn't he suffered enough?!

But honestly, the overall series is so good that I'll let it slide. PLEASE READ ORION (2000). THANK YOU.

Seven Soldiers: Mister Miracle (2005): This is part of a set of miniseries Grant Morrison did: there was Seven Soldiers #0, and then 7 4-issue minis, one for each of the Soldiers, and then the whole story concluded in Seven Soldiers #1. I only read Seven Soldiers and the Mister Miracle miniseries because I'm a ridiculous person when it comes to reading comics, but I'm not going to read 24 issues that have nothing to do with the Fourth World.

Anyway, the Mister Miracle mini is actually about Shilo Norman, not Scott, and it's pretty good, even if Shilo should know perfectly well who Darkseid and his entourage are. The surrounding issues were incomprehensible, but maybe they would have made more sense if I had read all the other minis. On the other hand, maybe not...this is Morrison we're talking about, after all. Anyway talk about making comics as inaccessible as possible. Great job, everyone.

Death of the New Gods (2007): I knew right away this comic was going to be dogshit because of a) the title and b) the fact that it's a tie-in to the worst event DC has ever published, Countdown to Final Crisis, but hoo boy, it is DOGSHIT.

Basically, some mysterious being starts murdering New Gods, starting with Lightray and Barda, the latter of whom is murdered in the kitchen - you know, where women belong. Scott then dons a truly idiotic goth version of his costume and the rest of the book is mainly Scott, Orion, and Superman flailing around aimlessly and failing to figure out who the killer is while everyone from New Genesis and Apokolips is slaughtered. It's a truly godawful murder mystery in which implausible suspects are accused at absolute random (the Forever People, the pacifist hippies! Orion, the least sneaky being in existence!) even though Superman deduces the killer (sort of) in #5 and tells the other characters, so there's no reason for them to still be trying to solve it.

Anyway at the risk of ruining this comic for you (impossible, it comes pre-ruined), the killer turns out to be the Infinity Man, but he's actually being piloted by the Source, which is eradicating the New Gods and harvesting their energy in order to create a Fifth World. In #7, a horrified Scott is like "But I've worshiped you all my life! Don't you care about any of us?" and the Source is like, "Eh." The most spiritual and reverent aspect of the Fourth World, and Jim Starlin came along and just dropped a little turd right on top of it (after, of course, blatantly copying Darkseid when he created Thanos).

The art (also by Starlin) is hideous, and the plotting is atrocious, as he desperately tries to stretch six issues of story at best into eight, plus dragging each issue out over 30 pages instead of the normal 22. Everyone is wildly out of character. The only vaguely good thing about the book is that Scott and Orion finally get to spend a significant amount of time together, but given the context, I really don't think it's worth it.

In conclusion: "rocks fall, everyone dies" turns out to not be a good idea for a story! Who knew!

Final Crisis (2008): Well, after 16 years of successfully avoiding this story, I finally read it. You win this one, Morrison.

I have avoided Final Crisis since it came out because it felt so emblematic to me of the worst of late 2000s DC: literally constant crossovers with histrionic stakes, characters being slaughtered left and right, whatever the fuck they did to Mary Marvel in this story. I know it has a good reputation, and if I'm being honest, I do think the first 5 1/2 issues of it are pretty good. On the other hand, if I wasn't very familiar with 2000s DC, I think this would be a very confusing book to read, the final 1 1/2 issues dissolve into incomprehensible, self-indulgent nonsense full of obscure characters and OCs randomly dropped in just to make it all harder for the reader. I'm sorry, I know many people consider Morrison's habit of writing comics that you need a companion volume, twenty Wikipedia tabs, and a Reddit forum to understand to be a feature, not a bug, but it infuriates me. It's like the structure of the Seven Soldiers series(es) up above. Aren't comics impenetrable enough? Must we gatekeep with every page?

Anyway the New Gods stuff: they're all dead, but all the evil ones managed to land on Earth as disembodied souls, and are possessing various humans. The only good one is Orion, who dies at the very beginning when he is shot by Darkseid in the future shooting him with a bullet that travels back in time. I love goofy comics shit but for some reason this one strikes me as real dumb. Also Orion literally died twice in the comic that was about all the New Gods dying, so...hm.

Anyway the evil New Gods take over the planet with the Anti-Life Equation, and again, the pacing and storytelling are actually really good for most of this. But there's also all the worst the late 2000s had to offer, like Mary Marvel in the WORST costume of all time and Supergirl flashing panty shots at the reader while they beat each other up and call each other sluts, or Tawky Tawny being beaten to a pulp before ripping out Kalibak's entrails. Tawky fucking Tawny. SIGH. Also they keep miscoloring Shilo as white. NOT GREAT.

Honestly at this point I'm like begging for the New 52 to happen and put me out of my misery, so...good job, DC? I want to go back to Orion (2000), that was great.

Next up: the 2010s! Which is all the New Gods books, they haven't had a series yet this decade. We're almost done, gang.

[writers-wrongs]

I'm begging please yandere gotham oswald cobblepot with a male readers hc

For a queer character there is surprising lack of male reader stuff with him

i think thats bc you can just pretend youre eddie for the experience lmao. but yeah, we need more ozzie content. btw, this is only gonna cover season oneish, mostly bc this man goes through so much and i cant possibly cover it all in one post

yandere!gotham!penguin x male!reader

-you work at fish's club as a waiter, so hes known you for a while. youre one of the only people who treats him with any kindness, the only others being his mother and (sometimes) fish, so he spends most of his free time with you

-he falls for you hard and fast, but he takes a while to recognize it as love. hes been bullied all his life, so he assumes that his feelings for you are just friendship. of course, his mother recognizes her son is in love and gives him a little talk (she assumes its a woman, but her hearts in the right place). once he knows hes in love, he does absolutely nothing with that knowledge

-dont get me wrong, he utterly adores you. youre on his mind constantly. he just doesnt feel like hes important enough to have you yet. why would you ever want a pathetic little umbrella boy? so he stays friends with you, and he starts planning. if he doesnt deserve you now, he'll have to work to earn you

-then the whole "fish tries to have him killed for betraying her" thing happens. and up until he takes over her club, theres not much he can do about you. hes moreso focused on survival at the moment. but when he takes the club, he keeps you around and promotes you to co-owner

-this man spoils you constantly. you want a new suit? he gets you a personal tailor. you say you like a color? the club is covered in it within the week. you say you dont like someone? theyre found dead the next day, and zsasz has a new tally on his arm. anything you want, he takes to the extreme

-aaand now hes fighting for his life again. my poor boy, hes suffered more than jesus and weve only just finished season one. hes now the self-proclaimed king of gotham, and his ego is through the roof. his first act as king? shows up at your doorstep with a bouquet of purple roses and begs you to be his

-if you accept his love, you rule gotham by his side. directly by his side. you two share the throne in the most physical interpretation of the phrase, this man is so clingy. youre never out of his sight for more than an hour, and if you are, all of his men start searching the city for you. oswald practically worships you. to the gotham underworld, youre known as his better half. if someone can convince you to let them live, oswald will listen because thats what his lovebird wants, and what his lovebird wants, he gets

-if you dont, he does his best not to cry. in front of you, that is. he rushes to his mom and sobs for hours. once he calms down, gotham becomes a dark place. no mercy is shown to anyone who messes up, infighting is almost encouraged, and the only rule of the penguin is that youre not to be hurt. people are allowed to affect your life, though. any partners of yours tragically die, youre constantly put into (controlled) danger, your apartment even gets broken into so you dont feel safe at home. if youre not going to embrace oswald willingly, he'll just frighten you into running into his arms

[oddberryshortcake]

Jamil and Kalim have an inherently tragic relationship

Twst is full of a lot of unique relationships and interactions. A lot of the characters aren't friends in the traditional sense. What was the most compelling to me was the story of two boys tied together and torn apart by the society they live in. 

Jamil's family are servants to Kalim's family. Jamil was born a servant and expected to remain a servant. He was tasked with taking care of Kalim when he was a child himself.

I see a lot of people misinterpreting the reason behind Jamil's overblot, both not having sympathy for his past or not liking him because he's mean and Kalim is nice. It's not that Jamil necessarily wants to be mean; he's an entirely different person when he's allowed to enjoy himself or engaging in something he loves- 

But 99% of the time, he's trapped, and he knows he's trapped. 

He's been in servitude since he was born. His own parents command that he always let Kalim win in everything they do- competitions, grades, everything. They ask their own child, who is incredibly talented and brilliant, to purposefully fail. They drill into him that Kalim is more important than him, and he gets punished for even daring to ask Kalim to play something else while they're literally children. 

All the adults around him echo the same sentiments. They know Jamil is talented and smart, but he isn't important. He should be giving Kalim every victory that belongs to him; he should put his line on the line for Kalim constantly. 

He almost died for Kalim's sake, and with the constant assassination attempts, it's likely that one of them might just be enough to do him in. 

The main point of conflict for him is not only is he meant to suffer in silence, unable to communicate with anyone how he feels because no one cares. He's not able to do what he wants to do or be what he wants to be…and Kalim unfortunately didn't see this until it was too late. 

Jamil has tried to communicate with Kalim subtly or even telling him up front "Please don't do this" "Ask me first before you do something like this" and it always falls on deaf ears. Not because Kalim doesn't care, but he doesn't notice, and his upbringing has shielded him from noticing stuff like that. 

Jamil resents Kalim for him, albeit unintentionally, being a big part of the reason why he isn't free. Jamil's one shot of getting to be himself by going to school overseas was diminished as soon as Kalim followed him, and so his job continued and never ends. 

With Kalim, it's an entirely different story that's just as sad. Kalim definitely has more power in the relationship, but he's just as powerless in the life he lives up to this point. 

Kalim suffers from multiple kidnappings and multiple assassination attempts. He's been poisoned as a child repeatedly, even poisoned by family members that want him dead just to get closer to his father's wealth. 

He didn't do anything except be born as the eldest son and heir to a fortune. 

If he can't even trust his own family members not to kill him in painful and violent ways, then who can he trust? 

Jamil was all he had. He was the only person who never attempted to poison him, who always did everyone with him (He was forced to.) Jamil always takes care of him, and always helps him (he was forced to.) Despite everything that happens to him, it is Jamil's near-death experience on his behalf that he takes to heart. 

How is a child supposed to grapple with the fact that people want him dead? Some of his family wants him dead. Jamil was probably the only person he could trust unconditionally (and even that wasn't true) 

When Jamil left for school, he likely had no one. He was left with his family members, some of whom he couldn't fully trust, even with his optimism and desire for happiness. He wanted to be with his best friend (who was forced to be his best friend and didn't want him there)

Even when Jamil betrayed him, Kalim was willing to just take his word for it and let it go because he would've believed him regardless if he knew he used him. Because Jamil wouldn't do that. 

Kalim was kept in the dark about so much. There's a chance he doesn't know who's been trying to kill him; he wasn't told that Jamil was forced to give him his accomplishments, and he didn't know his position of housewarden was bought for him. All he knew was that Jamil was his friend and that he loved him.

They're stuck together, Jamil wants to have freedom, and Kalim doesn't want to let go. It's neither of their fault their lives turned out this way. Their home has strict hierarchies. 

I'm sure when they were young, very young before Jamil's parents and other adults started enforcing certain rules, these two could play as normal. Their positions as rich heir and servant wouldn't have mattered until it did. 

Kalim can treat Jamil as a friend, he can love him with all of his big heart, but Jamil still has an obligation to take care of him. They aren't equal as they are, so Kalim isn't the same as a friend in Jamil's eyes, and that's so sad. 

I always hope, if twst as a story gets to this point, that Kalim will set Jamil free like Aladdin freeing the genie, so that Jamil can experience a life owned by only himself. 

Maybe someday he'll come back, and what kept them apart as children won't be there anymore, Kalim can have a friend, and Jamil can live his life, and they can both get past their trauma. I have so many thoughts about them, this is too long. Just manifesting any development (because Chapter 5 did have some and I love it but I needed MORE)

[silviakundera]

Love for Love's Sake (2024)

Extremely Spoilery Meta about the Finale

A drama that really REALLY worked for me. Just like "A Journey to Love" is my exception to a hate for tragic ending romances, "Love for Love's Sake" is an exception to my burning hatred to unclear endings.

In this case, I think the ambiguity is fine for me because it's not "open" and unsettled. The ending is definite. It's how the viewer personally interprets the ending that is open. And the director/screenwriter earned the multiple interpretations every step of the way. I felt satisfied with my own answer (and the protagonist's peace at demanding no answers), which is all that matters for my enjoyment.

The whole drama is set up to reward a rewatch and it's intended to be enjoyed more the 2nd time around. There are subtle clues from the start that the protagonist has died & it's an AU "adaption" of his own backstory that he's been dropped into. (for example, not just the mirrored history he has with Cha Yeowoon, but also multiple settings we see from the flashes of his Real Life show up in the Game World. The world is being populated with places from his repressed memory. omggggg guys when the game is 'glitching' and he appears damp [SCREAMS] )

"He suffers so much from beginning to end. ..The perfect happy ending you're talking about might just be an inescapable tragedy for others."

"It can't be helped that some people's lives are like that."

This could be referring to Cha Yeowoon, from the storyline The Senior has introduced. But more I think it's directly referencing Tae Myungha and the tragedy of his short life. Even with altered memories of a truth he isn't ready to face, he feels an injustice. In the liminal space between life and death, with a blurred recollection of what came to pass, he faces the author.

The whole opening has an unreality feel as they discuss death and how some people get left behind from others' happy endings. How dark and unfocused the background is just emphasizes that this conversation is occurring in no place & time.

Then he drops into The Game, unsettled and unmoored.

The sense of urgency they give the character is interesting. It plays 2 ways. The drive to save your favorite character from his doomed narrative. And the secret, hidden drive behind the wall holding back his memories. That last second desire not to be extinguished.

So what do I ultimately think is the meaning of what Tae Myungha experienced and of the ending? 🤔 I think there's no 1 truth. The drama's narrative is intentionally ambiguous. And so I don't want to tell anyone what their interpretation should be.

But what I ended up believing is that this is Tae Myungha's journey to make peace with his regrets, forgive himself, and find love & happiness like he failed to do in his life. He is given an opportunity to seize these things (by death, by buddha, by some god-like author idk) but he has to go through a journey to solidify his place in this next life. An afterlife of sorts - call it The Good Place. ;) Many different theologies have the concept of a mid-place waiting area and it's not guaranteed that you will cross over to what comes next.

"Please carry out the missions and build the world."

Cha Yeowoon starts out as his mirror but Cha Yeowoon isn't a version of Tae Myungha. I might say he's the RPF AU version of Tae Myungha lmao. [my meta on this topic here] Once the world begins to take shape, the core people our protagonist interacts with become real and gain autonomy. Tae Myungha's actions could stabilize & help build out this new world he's entered. But he couldn't make Cha Yeowoon act as he wished or be happy exactly when & how Tae Myungha wanted & expected it. Myungha can't predict him.

What does it mean to be 'real'? If the core people who are built out in this world develop their own feelings and thoughts, can hurt & care, then they're real enough to love and be loved back. Cha Yeowoon picked up the pen himself at the end and decided not to accept Tae Myungha's erasure. Ultimately, they were both able to wield the pen. It was by both of them joining hands that Tae Myungha got to stay.

In the end he is in a warm & bright room, almost hazy with light. His grandmother is there with him, looking healthy & happy. His friends and the boy he loves are waiting for him. They're going to the beach, young and careless. It looks like an endless summer day. The game is over, a reward offered: the happy ending.

Episode 1: "So is this reality or not?"

"This place is better than the real world. Should I just stay here?"

Finale: "In the daily life that is too ordinary to be called destiny but too beautiful to be called a coincidence, I finally realized I have all the answers I want. Our days are filled with unquestionable happiness."

[kinofthetrees]

Ok so I have a lot of thoughts I want to write down about c.4 of Scarlet Hollow because my god. my god. (i love this game)

Primarily I will be focusing on humanity’s relationship with the Other in this as well as in some of Abby Howard’s other work (The Last Halloween, The Door in the Kitchen, and The Crossroads at Midnight) and how that ties in to the end of the chapter.

There will be HEAVY spoilers, so please feel free to skip over this if you think you might want to play Scarlet Hollow at some point. This is a game where it's really fun to experience the plot organically, at least to me!

There will also be spoilers for the other works I mentioned, especially Crossroads.

I have a lot of feelings about Reese and his plotline, and I so desperately want him to be happy and saved, but based on how it’s written and on the other Abby Howard stories I’ve read I don’t think that’s going to happen, not fully at any rate.

The Crossroads at Midnight is described as a collection of stories about what happens when “one is desperate enough to seek solace in the unnatural” so I’ll start there. 

Of the 5 stories in it, most of the monster/human relationships go badly - 3 end in death (or something close to it) and 1 ends in a fate worse than death. The girl in the lake monster story is the most fervent about her connection to the monster; even though it ate a human boy, even though it bit her brother in half, she still insists that she has a connection to it, that it isn’t truly bad - it’s her friend, it will recognize her, she can tame it. It ends up devouring her and her entire family. 

The girl in the ocean monster story likewise believes in her friendship with the strange boy - she’s weird and lonely, the odd one out in her family, and she wants so badly for magic to be real, for her to be special for once, that she ignores her sisters warnings and love until it’s too late. Even the student in the mattress story repeatedly ignores warning signs (the yucky stain on the mattress, the horrifying dream and subsequent loss of her skin) and ends up destroyed by her desire for rest and comfort. 

In contrast, the old lady in the story at the end went to her “death” willingly and with full knowledge; she had no close connections among the living and she knew death would come sooner or later anyway, so she chose her end to be among friends instead of alone. It’s a release from loneliness and suffering… or maybe not. Maybe she could have made more friends after spotting the bog women, maybe she could have had several more years with some happiness and contentment left. She gave up on any kind of a future, but she and the bog women seemed at peace, giving her one of the best endings of the collection.

Lastly, there’s the teenager and the ghost at the beginning, another one with a happy ending. But I did wonder what would happen after the story’s end - would the ghost be able to move on? Or would she stay trapped at the farm? Would they be able to stay in touch and stay friends if that were the case? The teenager would grow up and change, live her life. She would have to leave the ghost behind for long stretches of time, maybe forever. Would the ghost be ok with that? Maybe in time she would grow resentful over being alone. Even though they’re friends, would it be kinder long-term for the dead girl to pass on and escape the fate the old lady from the other story was so afraid of?

Each story, tragic or not, still involves choice and some form of separation.

This brings me to The Last Halloween. It offers a variety of ways for humans and monsters to interact: they can be enemies, friends, lovers, allies, anything humans can be to other humans. BUT, crucially, every human has a monster paired with and drawn to them - though there’s a chance the two can have a good relationship at first, eventually it will go bad, and one of them will have to die. There are several sympathetic monster characters, and some are actively helping their humans… But there’s the knowledge that they either already killed their human, horribly, or will likely try to kill their human later.

The Thing behind the kitchen door (from The Door in the Kitchen) was also a problem. The main character did try several ways to deal with it, but ultimately wasn’t sure how to handle the situation and kept procrastinating on finding a solution. The Thing was creepy, sure, but it seemed harmless, and so she got used to living with it… until it got out. And the worst thing is we’re left with no clue as to what it’s going to do now that it’s free.

So in the case of Reese, it’s genuinely horrifying what his mom was doing to him. When we meet him, he’s intimately familiar with death and resigned to being miserable and sick for the rest of his life. His mother hides information from him, isolates him from his friends and the rest of the world, and directly discounts the things he says even when they’re true. She never told him about his true nature and instead chose to convince him he hallucinated all his attempted transformations. She’s lied to him, manipulated him, and made him question his own sanity ever since he was 12 - and has been feeding him poison since he was 15. He has no income, no transportation of his own, and has never even finished high school, so he’s utterly dependent on his mother. And since he’s being poisoned, he can’t even walk down the street without paying for it.

But… then he transforms, and becomes considerably more violent, aggressive, and paranoid. If you let him, he not only kills his mother but rips her into pieces and eats her. He says he’s not dangerous, that he only wanted to hurt his mom (which… I can’t entirely blame him for, though when he was human he just wanted to get away from the Doc, not tear her limb from limb). But, looking at the paintings in his room, several depict a bestial shape devouring people. At first I thought it represented the sickness consuming Reese, but we know from Mystical playthroughs that there’s something supernatural about his paintings, a way for him to literally purge his anguish and dark thoughts and seal them behind the canvas. 

Maybe at least some of his art is still a safe way for him to process being chronically ill and isolated (and personally I see his interest in horror and his taste in music as that!) but the disgust he shows towards some of his art, the fact that he doesn’t revisit his paintings and actively avoids looking at some of them, makes me think that they largely do come from the Beast. And it's hard to say how much of the art is about the Beast wanting to eat his mom or about the Beast wanting to eat people in general.

It’s possible that if Reese came to after his transformation, he’d be horrified by his actions. He certainly seemed to find some of the Beast-inspired art unpleasant. But he also enjoyed being the Beast; he said he felt better than he ever had before. And the more he gets a taste of monstrousness the harder it is for him to leave it.

The only way to talk him down from his rampage is to be Hot, and this is presented as a magical anomaly, something no one else in town would be able to do, not even his best friends. And that… does not bode well.

Abby Howard described Reese as being similar to Kylo Ren, which initially put me off (though I know that for some folks that could also be a draw). But then I met him in game, and he was sweet and kinda shy, a talented artist and horror geek. I would love to watch Shi no Chi with him, honestly - I like hearing people talk about horror (especially when they get deep into themes and symbolism like he did) and I enjoy chatting during movies, as long as I can also hear what the characters are saying. I want to be his friend, I want him to get to experience more of the outside world, and make more friends, and look forward to being alive and human again. 

On the other hand, Kylo Ren is introduced as a villain - angry, erratic, violent, entitled, and willing to break others and invade their minds to get what he wants. And… he never really changes much, nor does he seem to feel much remorse for his actions.

It makes all the difference that I got to see Reese as a person first, rather than a monster. I got to hope he would get out and go to live with the main character while he was getting on his feet. And crucially, he got to hope too. He got to think about the future as maybe something good for the first time in a very long time. He was so close to being saved.

But there is still the Beast. 

There is no exorcism, no curse to be broken, no cure. It’s just him, it will always be him, but now it’s no longer in control. 

His mother still loves him. Despite everything, she wants to keep him safe from the world and the world safe from him. But keeping him locked away made his life a misery. He was alive and protected, yes, but at a great cost.

It’s possible we may be able to talk him around, but now that he’s realized what his “medicine” is, it seems unlikely he’d submit himself back to his mother’s care. Yes, it kept the Beast at bay, but it’s poison, and given his worsening condition before everything went to hell, he could have either died soon or built up a tolerance to it anyway. He would just, once again, be trapped and miserable for the rest of his maybe-long, maybe-short life, with even less freedom than before.

On the other hand, his prospects if he runs away aren’t much better. He doesn’t see himself as a monster, doesn’t want to be a monster, but he looks like a monster, and the town is already on edge. What if someone shoots him? What if he runs into Wayne again, or the dog militia?

Or what if his mom is right, and he ends up killing or maiming someone? 

There’s a chance she really is the only target of his anger. (Her and Wayne, at least - I’d be fascinated to know what those paintings of the eyes surrounded by a yellow web of electricity are all about. They definitely seem tied to Wayne, but what does that mean??) 

The doctor is much more sympathetic after we get her side of the story, but she still made some questionable parenting decisions. In all the years she’d been treating him there were only 3-4 flare ups, and only around her. But after the conversation in the safe room, I do think she wouldn’t have gone to such extreme lengths to control him if she wasn’t convinced he was dangerous. And it does bring back that comparison to Kylo Ren - he had a connection with Ray, but was still murderous otherwise. As nice as it would be to be able to tame a beast in a story, in real life you cannot simply love a violent, threatening person into being good again. There is no guarantee that anyone else in town would be safe from Reese. Is that something I as the player am willing to risk?

Granted, this is not real life. This is a video game. There certainly seems to be the option to have the monsterfucker romance of your dreams. (And will I explore that route when it comes out? Hell yeah.) Hell, even Wayne seems like he might be romanceable. But the game also has characters that live or die based on your choices, and that makes me want to minimize harm as much as possible. What happens if the main character isn’t Hot? Is letting Reese have his revenge worth leaving this small town on the brink of chaos without their only doctor? Are good intentions enough to justify imprisoning Reese for the rest of his live? Is it possible for him and the protagonist to maintain their budding friendship - or even attraction - through the bars of a cell they helped trap him in?

Before I continue with Reese, I want to take a detour back through the concept of the Other, which I find interesting to explore. Specifically I’m thinking about counterpoints to the Kylo Ren model, and Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water is a beautiful example. There, the callous entitlement of the American Dream is the real evil, while those excluded from it (racial minorities, immigrants and foreigners, queer people, disabled people) band together to save a more literal Creature. The fish man is still a monster in his own way (he eats a cat, after all), but he isn’t cruel in the way the guy trying to imprison and kill him is. The Othered characters recognize and find solidarity in his strangeness.

And the desire to see ourselves in the Other is in Abby’s Crossroads too: there, we seek out monsters to escape the mundane, everyday horror of our lives. We want to be seen and loved when we feel that no one else will understand us. We want to be special. We cling to the hope that friendships can go back to the way they once were, that we haven’t both changed and grown too far apart. We want to be safe, and just don’t know where else to seek comfort from. We are desperate and alone and afraid.

However, the stories differ in how they end. The Shape of Water tells us, you are not a monster for being what you are; rather, the society slowly and brutally smothering you is. The Creature gets the girl, the bad guy dies, and they live happily ever after.

Conversely, in Abby’s stories, monstrous Creatures are monstrous because in most cases they legitimately are a danger to those around them. There are definitely times when humans have friendly relationships with monsters, and not all monsters are evil, but in almost every instance there’s either a distinct sense of threat or looming tragedy, OR the happy ending involves leaving regular human society behind.

Sometimes there’s a dark joy in tragedy, in becoming the monster you were made to be or watching everything already broken end in a splatter of blood. And sometimes, people just like to see someone who’s terrifying to everyone except them, who will do the most fucked up shit imaginable to keep them safe, because it would be nice to be so cherished and protected.

Scarlet Hollow offers choices for just about everything! There are silly choices and choices that are great wish fulfillment and choices that feel like things someone might say in real life (and sometimes they’re multiple of these at once). But I feel that it still has us think about the consequences of our choices, because they will have an effect on what happens going forward.

And what makes this choice in particular so difficult for me is there is no guaranteed way to save Reese.

Our options are to a) trap him just as he was before and hope that he understands your decision - or if he hates you for it, hope that he never gets free, b) let him kill his mom (or if you’re Hot, don’t) and run out into the world where he may kill again, or c) kill him. 

I want to play through every option just to see what happens, but no matter what, I won't be able to go back to the easy friendship my character and Reese had before. And even though I wrote this whole essay to try and convince myself that calling Tabitha in and letting her make the call was the best thing for me to do, it's still difficult to fully accept that.

(That doesn't have to universally be the Right Thing btw, everyone playing the game will have their own approach to this! This is purely me trying to reason out my own feelings.)

Reese is lonely and sad almost all the time, he’s incredibly nihilistic, he sleeps in the morgue because he finds it comforting. His life is one big cosmic horror, shaped by forces beyond his control that he can barely understand. As the Beast, he was ready to kill his mother to escape being imprisoned again. His mother was ready to do monstrous things to keep him alive, but even she didn't stop Tabitha when she had the chance.

I am not immune to Reese and his hipbones and his cadaverous basement boy charms. I want his rabbit heart to run. I want to chase it.

But I also kinda want him to die.

...I can't tell if that makes me a monster too.

[merchantarthurn]

I love the Big Choices in baldur's gate because of how many of them have parallels and yet are different in such specific ways (both the choice itself, the character making it, and the context) that you can make the entirely opposite choice from one angle, but the simultaneously be making the same choice from another (spoilers for Act 3 companion quests - Wyll and Shadowheart in particular)

Like, I just got to the end of Shadowheart's personal quest and have progressed Wyll's past his decision re: Saving His Dad with Mizora's help (I've not gone into the Wyrmway yet, so no spoilers for that please!) And the ways the choices for both of them overlap and differ, and the way I chose to act during those decisions, they're both so interesting to me so I wanna pick it apart!!

For reference here's how both played out:

I convinced Shadowheart to free Dame Aylin in Act 2, thus betraying Shar, then in Act 3 at the House of Grief I essentially let her do all the talking/decision making whenever applicable, outside of backing her up or being supportive. I let her chose between curing her curse and saving her parents (and she saves her parents).

For Wyll, we'd got Mizora out of her pod in Act 2 and his contract was on that "over in sixth months" wait (which Symon - my Tav - was openly pissed about but not much he could do about the T&Cs). When it came it Mizora's offer about re-instating his contract to save his father, it was clear that he would pick to do so without intervention. So I convinced him not to do it. (I ended up saving his father despite this choice which was a relief).

Now when letting Shadowheart choose for herself I did have this moment of "wait... even if the choice with Wyll worked out, I had no way of knowing it would so why did I assert my own opinion on him and not Shadowheart" which I think was a good question to ask myself. I was looking at it from the angle of "saving their parents" - I let one choose to save her parents (despite their protests) and live with the physical and mental torment of Shar for the rest of her days, but the other I'd pressed into not saving his father (& gaining the positive outcomes from that) at the cost of his immortal soul.

But then I was thinking further and I realised that's entirely the wrong way to frame it. It's not just who they're saving and what they're giving up, it's what their choice ultimately is. The choice I made with Wyll wasn't to not save his father, but to not accept the conditions and desires of the demon that groomed him - which is the same choice Shadowheart was making on her own re: the goddess that groomed her (Shar wanted her to end her parents lives - uh, fuck that! Fuck you, Shar!!).

Wyll is so deeply, heart-achingly tragic to me because ultimately he's aware of the pain and manipulation that Mizora brings to the table but on his own he would choose to suffer her for the good of others. He's a hero in the truest sense of the word. But he was caught in this contract when he was a boy, he's been cast out by his father for seven years because as a child he took on the responsibility of an impossibly restrictive and complicated contract to save a city. And the choice he's faced with is to do the same again, with the added personal stakes of losing his father too. Or that's what Mizora tells him! And Wyll is, and I say this with love and respect for him maintaining this world view after all he's seen and been through, far too brave and kind for his own good!! In that moment he needed an external voice to say "no, Wyll, this is asking too much of you. There are other ways to solve this problem that don't involve you sacrificing something this enormous". He needs external reassurance that setting a boundary, a single boundary that his immortal soul is his and no one else's, doesn't contradict his morals, doesn't make him a bad person. (Side note: this is also why I was furious at Gale for the post-decision commentary he gives if you choose this and I wish there was a way to respond to what he says-- but I digress). And beyond that the terms of her "help" are so sneaky and I truly felt like a third-party without the emotional investment in the choice was the only way to pick up on it. Idk how it plays out mechanically the other way but... keeping Wyll's dad safe from everyone but "our allies"? Oh like how I just allied with Gortash, the man holding him prisoner and about to kill him? Which essentially boils down to Mizora's help being info on how to find him. Which is not worth Wyll's immortal soul even if you see it as morally right to pick the "dad & city" option because that guarantees absolutely nothing!! (Plus the "city" thing is... tenuous at best. Baldur's Gate will surely persist if his dad dies of natural causes, after all. In terms of the city's future the Duke is just a man).

Shadowheart conversely is openly set on a choice that rejects her abusive goddess' desires, no matter the long-term consequence for her, so letting that decision play out felt correct. Especially since it's not an "eternal contract" sort of deal - it's a pain she's been managing for a while, will have support in coping with ("you're not a burden. you're my strength" made me weep in addition to everything else she said about her family). It's a rejection of Shar's doctrine of Loss and thus it feels like the truest path for her healing.

And... basically it is super interesting how these choices have that similarity re: parents but are so different in terms of how the choice relates to escaping abuse. And also how much it shows where the characters heads are at! And the sorts of support they both need in their journeys. It doesn't surprise me that Astarion and Karlach are most unambiguously supportive of Wyll's choice if he breaks his contract - Karlach knows that you never ever trust a devil and will not see Wyll fall for Mizora's trap again, not end up eternally tethered in the Hell's like she feared, rejecting that fate no matter the personal cost; and Astarion on the surface is approving because he sees the potential for Wyll to seize power and relates that to his own situation with Cazador & Ascending (implicitly anyway) but there's no way he actually thinks that's Wyll's angle. Ultimately, he's just witnessed something similar to what Tav presumably did for him in Act 2 - assert that Wyll has a right to boundaries, that he doesn't have to use his body/soul for other's no matter the benefits it could bring others, and stand up to someone pressuring him into the opposite.

(Although it does pain me to put Shadowheart and Wyll's reactions to each other's choices next to each other because like. Shadowheart hasn't saved her parents yet so is understandably a little taken aback, but ultimately isn't judgemental in the way a certain wizard is. But Wyll basically just... oh it hurt me when he says that Shadowheart showed herself to be a "true hero" for saving her parents despite the cost to herself. I dunno if I was reading into the delivery but he sounded... pained. Yes his dad was standing right behind me when he said it but I know in my heart he wouldn't just move on from his choice and not feel guilt even after rescuing his father because what if-- hhhehhrhghgrh Wyll Ravenguard you need to be Worse for your own good, sweetheart--)

Anyway fun ending thought - do you think Wyll developed his almost neurotic selflessness to cope with the fact that as a 17 yr old he was basically tricked into losing everything because like... "it was worth it, because of who it saved" feels like something you'd need to repeat a LOT after the shit he went through right.

[team-frightfur]

Imo, Shark vs IV round 1 (where Tron eggs IV on into throwing so he can brainwash Shark) is the peak of Zexal. Great duel, great animation, great characters, great buildup. It also establishes IV as a wet, beat-up, yet rabid and feral kitten. Just the sight of their raggedy fur and watery eyes makes you want to reach out and pet them but, the instant you get close enough, they latch onto your fingers with their teeth and try to kill you.

Shark vs IV round 2, otoh, is pretty bad. It's good in theory, but lacking in execution. Basically, Shark is having an identity crisis over being Nasch vs being Shark, so IV duels him to try and 'bring him back'.

This is actually really good because it makes the duel a redemptive foil to R1. IV was abused but, as Tron's son, was simultaneously deeply dedicated to his abuser. As a result, he was forced to bend himself painfully out of shape to (try and) please Tron. In reality, though, his efforts to please Tron were bad for everyone involved. III, IV, V, and Tron ALL suffered for not standing up to their abuser.

Shark isn't abused, but he IS loyal to his past life's soldiers, kingdom, and the Barian world. OTOH, he also clearly hates the thought of hurting his friends, including IV. As a result, he, too, is bending himself out of shape (and into Nasch). Thus, IV trying to 'bend him back' is his way of thanking Shark.

I love this! In theory! Just a few issues.

First off, IV keeps on talking about friendship. He and Shark are, like, barely friends. They've duelled together Once.

Secondly, it seems like IV lost all his personality traits along with his villainy. This is fair IF you consider his sadism as a coping mechanism (he was lashing out from his father's abuse and trying to feel powerful/in control/ worthwhile) since it would frame his new niceness as healing. Thing is, even if that WAS the case, having IV recover offscreen is extremely underwhelming. Have that shit happen onscreen! Show him struggling with his sadism! Don't Yuri him!

Thirdly, having IV die after failing to reach Shark comes off as more meanspirited than tragic because it wastes IV as a character. This guy had the best duel in all of Zexal, dropped off the face of the earth for 50 eps, came back for (1) tag duel against a Jellyfish Man, and then got killed by Shark. III and V don't even grieve him too heavily, they just pretend to mourn so they can give Yuma a pep talk!

Anyway, Here's Stuff We Needed in Zexal: I Can't Believe They Did IV Like That Edition

1. Shark having his own weird barian flashback dreams of his past as early as Zexal I. This not only matches Rio and foreshadows his past life as Nasch, but also allows the writers to develop his relationship with Dumon, his men, and his kingdom.

2. Rio should have been conscious during her first coma (the one IV caused), causing her to develop an emotional dependence on Shark. Since their parents are dead, Shark is her lifeline. Once he gives up on her, she's finished. This explains why she switches to being Merag so easily. For years, 'I go where Shark goes' has been her reality and she needs to unlearn that.

(I know that Rio is implied to switch to being Merag first but, in canon, she has, like, no reason to do that. Which is weak.)

(If you want to make things even rougher, make Shark's chronic class skipping a result of his trying to support Rio. This makes her feel guilty for 'ruining his high school life', further encouraging her to sacrifice her own 'life' as Rio for him.

3. A joke episode after Rio's second coma (from being possessed by Abyss) where IV turns out to be visiting Rio in secret (but only when Shark isn't around). Shark finds out about this 'mystery visitor' and stakes out Rio's room for three whole days. When the inevitable confrontation happens, IV swears to Shark that he'll protect Rio alongside him, causing the boys to form a Rio Protection Squad. This not only leads nicely into their duel with Jellyfish Man, but also provides an opportunity to develop IV, III and V in a 'normal' setting.

Example: Shark gets into a motorbike accident on the way to the hospital. While Shark is fine, his locket breaks in the crash. IV finds it and has it fixed, returning it to Shark shortly afterwards. Then, to pay IV back since "I hate owing favours" Shark offers to spot IV for something.

(Bonus: this makes Shark's act of throwing away his pendant even stronger as, rather than throwing away his past with his parents (who are dead) he's throwing away his past with a living friend.)

IV proceeds to stare blankly. Years of Middle Child Syndrome, Deranged Revenge Schemes, and Severe Parental Abuse have made a 'normal life' feel foreign to him. As a result, he has no hobbies or preferences (aside from the...sadomasochism).

Cue an annoyed, tired, and weary Shark watching IV wander around an amusement park. Somehow, they end up duelling a clown.

Unbeknownst to them, III and V are both stalking the pair . III is happy to see that IV and Shark made up, while V recognises that, in failing to stand up to Tron, he failed III and IV as a brother (and Tron as a son). You know, the big theme of his duel with Kaito in Zexal I (Where Kaito is like 'It's because I still love my Dad that I have to punch him out of all this villain bullshit' and V is like 'you have such wisdom. I wish it wasn't too late to sock my dad...').

Ultimately, IV reveals that he hates amusement parks, causing Shark to push him into oncoming traffic. As a fight breaks out, III admits to V that he wanted to try out the rides with IV. V smiles and says he'll take them both sometime.

The implication is that IV liked the park but wanted something to hold over Shark, nodding to his social awkwardness, communication issues, and lingering sadistic tendencies.

4. A scene where, after IV dies, we see III and V genuinely grieve.

Example: Recall that III and V spent ages separated from V. Recall that, once V and Tron got them back, they were stuck in an abusive situation. Recall that they only escaped that situation like, 3 months ago. One way to communicate the tragedy of this is to have them flashback to happy moments, but all those happy moments are either from when III and IV are VERY young + the last three months. This visually hammers in the tragedy of the situation. V, in his eyes, wasted his time with IV. III, in his eyes, will never get to have a future with IV. IV, in trying to save Shark from going through the same pain as he went through (being bent out of shape) sacrificed the future with his brothers he was fighting for.

As for time, idk. Just. Cut the Tomato guy or someshit. There's so much useless filler in Zexal. if Zexal had HALF the planning power of Arc V they could EASILY have built up this plot.

Sorry, I just. Needed to rant. IV is my favourite character but he got done SO dirty.

[khaleesiofalicante]

I don’t hate you,” Max said because he didn’t. “Bapak. Everyone…Everyone looks at you like you are some sort of God. But you are just a person. People fuck up. I know that better than anyone. So, I won’t hold it against you. I promise.”

“I’ve seen immortals who love each other grow to resent each other,” bapak said quietly. “I’ve been through it myself. I know it’s an inevitability in some relationships. But I don’t want that for us. I don’t want a future where there is hatred between us.”

“I won’t hate you,” Max whispered. “But what if you end up hating me?”

“Why would I hate you?” bapak raised an eyebrow.

“I like loving you too,” Max whispered, his eyes tearing up.

“So, don’t ever think I will hate you,” the man said seriously. “Because I don’t know how to do that. I don’t know how to look at you with anything but love.”

This is Magnus and Max LBAF 3. And until we get to LBAF 7, this is the only Magnus/Max relationship I will accept, thank you very much🙃

I mean, don't get me wrong, I love dark Magnus as much as anyone. But Magnus being corrupt to the point where he would hurt anyone? Tessa? Max? Hurting his Blueberry? Saying that everything Alec did for him was a mistake? That's a magically corrupted Magnus, and I don't like him. It is indeed against his nature.

And you are an evil genius. Older Max trying to fool time by time traveling, so the runes are killing him, "stealing" his time. Magnus changed the course of nature by changing a canon event, so the runes are changing his nature, turning him into something he'd never become. And the universe restores its balance. Even justice in a twisted turn of events. The time traveler that is running out of time (Max) and the hero that saved everyone but couldn't save himself (Magnus) .Girl, you are crazy and that's why we love you. (But these are tragic ends for Older Max and Other Magnus, they deserve better please give them better🥺)

That epilogue was insane and it reminds me of the Umbrella Academy. They kept trying to save the world but they only ended up making it worse every single time. They ended up saying they'll just let the universe get destroyed or reset it. I'm curious to see how they'll solve everything here.

This story was insane and you kept us on the edge of our sits until the last second, I can't wait to see how everything will come together! You are crazy and talented and crazy talented, never change!💛

Some questions for you: How was the process of writing this story for you? I kept thinking how everyone was at the start, LBAF 2 and 3, even LBAF 4. Did you make that comparison while you were writing? Were there some things you had to change from the initial draft? Were there some gaps in the plot that gave you trouble? Which ones were the first plots that came to your mind? What scenes were you most excited to write about?🌼

Every time one of you reminds me of baby lbaf gang and these precious scenes, I scream into a void in despair.

I am warning y'all now. Dark Magnus/Other Magnus is going to be more traumatizing than sexy. Don't come crying when it actually happens!

And thank you! I'm glad you caught it. Both Other Max and Other Magnus are suffering consequences very close to the dark magic they used. It also reminds me of Malcolm who used necromancy to bring back his girlfriend and then was killed by his girlfriend.

I love the Umbrella Academy! And that's exactly the vibe. Honestly, I agree with Hermes. They never should've invented Time Travel. Because now every action they do to fix it (whatever it is) will only make it worse.

Thank you for sticking with me and the story to the very end. I'm very grateful for your love and support 💛💛💛

This was definitely much different from the previous LBAFs for several reasons. Firstly, it's a new gang. So, I was learning more about these characters as I wrote them. Secondly, the plot was so much more complex. I love complex plots so it was fun to write - but also super stressful too hehe. Thirdly, this is the first time where I changed SO MUCH as I wrote. SO MUCH. The first draft I wrote was so different.

Some things that happened there (only sharing a few because so much changed lol):

Kyle and Madeleine were supposed to have an affair. I think I already spoke of why this plotline existed somewhere else.

Victoria was a bad mother. I'm glad this didn't stick because her relationship with Kincaid is one of my favourites in lbaf.

In the scene where Victoria/Kyle find out about Arcaid, they force Kincaid to break up with Arthur (And ask Kincaid to ask AJ to come to Idris and break up - and that's how AJ gets arrested) and this breakup scene is BRUTUAL. I'm glad it didn't make it either.

I originally wanted George Lovelace to be one of the Ressurected and then realized he is not a shadowhunter LMAO. (rip)

In the first draft, the dead people who came back were random (like I didn't have the whole canon death thing sorted out then) so like I was hoping to break back many people but then realized it would make no sense to do that and it will unnecessarily complicate the story.

Some of the main plots in the next season were originally part of LBAF 7 - but I decided to push it back because it felt too soon and too rushed.

Hermes didn't even exist in the first draft lmao. I only came up with that entire plotline when I wrote Iris' short story in LBAF 5 (you'll notice that we hardly see him before that)

All the bits in the Other Timeline? Like the characters? Literally made it up before I wrote the Interlude. I did not have it all figured out. I keep telling you guys, but writing is really about acting like you know what you're doing and making sense as you go.

There is so much more but this is all for now. I didn't particularly struggle with gaps in the plot (because there is still more to explore later) but I did feel that we didn't get to see a lot of characters like Atlas in this season (that's because a lot of his storyline got pushed to the next season). But then again LBAF is mainly about the LB family so I will not feel guilty!!

The first plots that came to mind include the conflict between Arthur/Kincaid/Lance. This is only the base that created this entire story so I assure you it will not resolved easily. The story about Other Max being a 'liar' was also one of the first ones. I laughed when everyone was like 'aw he waited for 700 years to see David again' and I was like 'sjdnjcnsdlk'. Cami rebelling against the Clave and 'betraying' Rafael was also one of the first ones. I struggled with her characterization, but once it clicked, she seemed so clear to me.

I was really really excited to write the scene where Other Max gets exposed. I was also excited to write about y'all discovering Arthur's powers. Also, the scene where Mavid fam finds out about Arcaid.

Once again, thank you for all the love you've shown this fic. It's truly been one hell of a ride 😎

PS - This season was originally not called Love Beckons All Fallen (I've shifted that name to the next one) because switching these two seemed more appropriate hehe.

[symphonyofsilence]

Hello, it's MXTX Ask Game :

1.) From the 3 works by MXTX, who is your favorite (canon) couple? Why?

2.) From the 3 works by MXTX, do you have any non canon fav ships? (FYI, I have at least 10 fav non canon ships from those 3 series, sorry)

3.) From the 3 works by MXTX, do you have any favorite quotes (from each series)?

4.) Who is your favorite love interest in MXTX three novels (luo binghe, lan wangji, mobei jun or hua cheng)? Why?

5.) Who is your favorite mc in MXTX three novels (shen qingqiu, wei wuxian, shang qinghua or xie lian)? Why?

6 a.) Which do you think is more tragic, Yi City arc or BeefLeaf arc or the Fallout between Shen Jiu - Yue Qi? Why?

b.) Can I ask your opinion on the comparison between bingqiu, wangxian, moshang, and hualian (their plus and minus sides, what do you love or not from each couple)?

Thanks ⭐

Hi! Oh, such difficult questions!

1) even though Hualian has a special place in my heart, (I mean, 800 years?! "Your Highness, I'll forever be your most devoted believer"? This much devotion? This much longing? A god and a demon? The bitchiest bitch and the nicest bitch? Such a healthy relationship? Just 🤌🏻) I gotta give this one to Wangxian.

The development in this one was chef's kiss. The way their characters played off of each other was beautiful.

They're highschool-not-sweethearts, they're soulmates. The hall monitor who's never heard of fun in his life meeting such a carefree fun- living ray of sunshine who never stops pestering him made for really fun, dynamic interactions full of chemistry. Them fighting side by side with each other and going through thick and thin while still clashing and bickering, Lan Wangji questioning his morals and slowly coming to change his world views, the whole last siege of the burial mounds incident, when after going through all those back and fourths and disagreements in one pivotal moment Lan Wangji finally chose the only thing that mattered to him, and tried to save WWX with everything he had. I loved that both of the characters went through very interesting arcs. LWJ yearning for WWX all those years and searching for him desperately, them having a second chance, LWJ getting back his "the one that got away" and living his "in another life I would make you stay" dream, him trying to do this right this time, him just being with WWX every step of the way and supporting him unconditionally, not even expecting him to accept his love, but only wanting to be there for him, (I'm a sucker for quiet, long-suffering, pure loves with no strings attached, with longing and devotion) it was all very beautiful. Full of engaging ups and downs and engaging, emotional moments. And done masterfully!

2) Oh, definitely! I like them more than the Canon ones! In fact, I completely forgot that they're not canon and I had to think for a moment before I remembered which ones aren't canon.

Xuexiao

3Zun but specially Xiyao

Fengqing

Beefleaf

Qijiu

Mingling

(If we take adaptations into consideration then Baoshan Sanren/Lan An and Wen Qing/Jiang Cheng are in there, too)

3) Oh, there are many!

Off the top of my head are:

"To me, the one basking in infinite glory is you; the one fallen from grace is also you. What matters is ‘you’ and not the state of you."

-tgcf-

“I, AM OVER EIGHT HUNDRED. OLDER THAN ALL OF YOU COMBINED. I’VE CROSSED MORE BRIDGES THAN ALL THE ROADS YOU’VE WALKED.

“I, POSSESS SHRINES AND TEMPLES ACROSS THIS LAND; MY DEVOTEES AND WORSHIPPERS ARE SPREAD TO ALL FOUR SEAS. IF YOU DON’T KNOW MY NAME, IT’S BECAUSE YOU ARE IGNORANT AND UNLEARNED OF THE WORLD! “I, DO NOT WORSHIP GODS. “I, AM GOD!”

Immediately followed by:

“Will everyone please forget everything I just said? I’m actually only just a scrap collector!

-tgcf-

“Lan XiChen! In this life, I've lied countless times, killed countless times. Like you said, I killed my father, my brother, my wife, my son, my teacher, my friend- Of all the evil in the world, what haven't I done? But I've never even thought of harming you."

-mdzs-

"Only, in this world, simply doing your best isn't good enough."

-tgcf-

"In this world, there is nothing intolerable to the heavens."

-SVSS-

“WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?!” Xie Lian spared the time to turn his head and shouted loudly, “EVERYTHING'S WRONG! I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY!” 

-TGCF-

It's been so long since anyone listened to me talk, won't you stay?

-tgcf-

Let the self judge the right and the wrong, let others decide to praise or to blame, let gains and losses remain uncommented on. I, too, know what i should and shouldn't do

-TGCF-

"After a while, San Lang said softly, “Something like saving the world, it really doesn’t matter how you do it. But, although brave, it’s foolish.” “Yeah,” Xie Lian agreed. Hua Cheng continued, “Although foolish, it’s brave."

-tgcf-

“Ling‌ ‌Wen,‌ ‌something’s‌ ‌happened!‌ ‌I...”‌ ‌Ling‌ ‌Wen:‌ ‌“...I‌ ‌know.”‌ ‌

Xie‌ ‌Lian:‌ ‌“...So‌ ‌sorry‌ ‌to‌ ‌bother‌ ‌you.”‌ ‌

-tgcf-

"This time, no matter where you want to go, this master will accompany you."

-SVSSS-

But like he’d said before, within this world, there had never been any such thing as “if only I had known.

-SVSSS-

Only after having met you did I rediscover that it's such a simple thing to be happy.

-tgcf-

He gazed at Xie Lian. "If your dream is to save the common people, then my dream is only you."

"..." Relying on his memory, Xie Lian asked with a trembling voice, "But... you won't... be able to rest in peace... like this...?"

Hua Cheng answered, "I pray to never rest in peace.

-tgcf-

But just like how the past Wei WuXian couldn't tell him the truth of giving him his golden core, the current Jiang Cheng wasn't able to say anything either.

-mdzs-

Nobody knew with more clarity than Wei WuXian that nobody would care and nobody would believe him. Anything related to Jin GuangYao would be given the most malicious conjectures and passed through the mouths of the crowd. Soon, this coffin would be sealed within a larger, firmer coffin. It'd be secured with seventy-two mahogany nails and buried deep underground, sealed under some mountain with stone tablets of warning.

And the things sealed inside would never see light again, under heavy barriers and endless scorn.

-MDZS-

“Dear‌ ‌fucking‌ ‌god,‌ ‌may‌ ‌all‌ ‌the‌ ‌gods‌ ‌and‌ ‌buddhas‌ ‌grant‌ ‌their‌ ‌blessings,‌ ‌that‌ ‌better‌ ‌absolutely‌ ‌be‌ ‌Crimson‌ ‌Rain‌ ‌Sought‌ ‌Flower,‌ ‌otherwise‌ ‌he’s‌ ‌gonna‌ ‌go‌ ‌mad!”‌ ‌ ‌“Stop‌ ‌your‌ ‌rubbish,”‌ ‌Mu‌ ‌Qing‌ ‌berated,‌ ‌“We’re‌ ‌all‌ ‌the‌ ‌gods‌ ‌and‌ ‌buddhas‌ ‌ourselves‌ ‌and‌ ‌we‌ ‌can’t‌ ‌grant‌ ‌shit,‌ ‌just‌ ‌keep‌ ‌up‌ ‌with‌ ‌him!‌ ‌Look‌ ‌at‌ ‌the‌ ‌stumbling‌ ‌way‌ ‌he’s‌ ‌running,‌ ‌he’s‌ ‌gonna‌ ‌trip‌ ‌and‌ ‌fall‌ ‌to‌ ‌his‌ ‌bloody‌ ‌death‌ ‌before‌ ‌he‌ ‌even‌ ‌sees‌ ‌the‌ ‌man!”‌ ‌ ‌

-TGCF-

To Ascend‌ ‌is‌ ‌Human, ‌to‌ ‌Fall‌ ‌is‌ ‌Also‌ ‌Human‌

-TGCF-

What’s wrong with you, you pieces of dog shit?! Attacking people while they’re down—so vile! Fuck your entire family!” “You sure you want to fuck their families if they all look like that?!” Xie Lian responded.

-tgcf-

JC's sassy lines all of them!

Ling Wen and Xie Lian's first conversion is hilarious.

And I quite like the lines that we later get back to. Like "Xie Lian always believed in forever. For examples, friends would always be friends forever." (And then they actually did start friends forever!), and the lines about FX & MQ being jewels among rocks to XL and "those who are destined to shine, I must let them shine."and lines that haunt the narrative like the Wei Wuxian's promise to JC. And if we're counting the adaptation "in our next life, let's be brothers again."

And when in the end JC said :"let's go back. Each to their own sect." It was so sad but also a closure because JC spend both the past and the present of the book chasing after WWX in one way or another and in the end, he jjst let go.

Also, the last words of every character is haunting me!

"I'm sorry, and thank you."

-MDZS-

"A-Xian, before, why did you run so fast? I didn't even get the chance to look at you. Or say something to you. I'm here to say...I'm here to say..."

-TGCF-

"A-Li is still waiting-...A-Li is still waiting for you at Golden Carp Tower."

-MDZS-

"Ming-Xiong! Ming-Xiong! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! [...]"

"You called the wrong name."

-TGCF-

4) Hua cheng. Such a bitch <3 so sassy, his BDE is unparalleled. His style is meticulous. His aura is immeasurable. Love the way he treats Xie Lian.

5) all of them have really special places in my heart. WWX is my sunshine boy. He's so sweet, funny, charming, intelligent and energetic and a breath of fresh air. I love love his deep relationship with his family and how they'd do everything for each other, love his dark era when he went completely batshit and insane, how far he went for the Wen singlings and their kin, how he brought his own demise, how he came back like his funny, old self but now with so much baggage, going back to Lotus Pier and all his other memories over and over in his head, his relationship with the kids but especially with JL. He's very precious to me. And SQQ is hilarious! Reading his POV was absolute gold! the way he bulshitted his way to being one of the most loved and respected masters of that world was absolutely iconic! He's got such a kind heart and he's so funny and so good with his students, he knows exactly what they need and how to treat them, and I adore his relationship with the other peak lords. it's my favorite part of the book! And I love SQH too.He's also very funny. It's really endearing how he can stand up for himself and his demon lord hobby when he wants to, he's so much more than what even he himself believes, and he's such a hard- working, determined person and he always does his best to get the best of every shitty thing that has been handed to him one way or another. And I love that SGH and SQQ kept calling each other with ridiculed innuendos of their usernames and never once asked each others actual names! Truly the best duo!

But I give this one to Xie Lian.

I think in order it would go Xie Lian-> WWX->SQQ->SQH.

Xie Lian is like...a really lovely person.

He's got a special charm. He's a very nice, gentle person and yet still he's so sassy and even bitchy occasionaly. He's very funny even though he's more subtle in showing his sense of humor compared to WWX & SQQ. He's very kind, patient and conflict- avoiding but still so badass, and firm and determined. He's very wise and calm and generous like you'd expect a god to be but also endearingly awkward occasionaly. Somewhat distant but always very polite and respectful. He's very easy to love.

Xie Lian is just really my type of person.

6) a) oh, this is the hardest one. All of them are devastating. And absolutely beautiful in their tragedy and ruin.

But hmmm...Qijiu just haunts me. Like... the way YQY worked so hard to get to keep his promise to SJ and save him and this very thing became the reason that he failed and qi- deviated and he went through all of that and yet SJ thought that YQY has forgotten him in his success and happiness, but still chose to stay loyal to YQY and then DIED never knowing the truth?! Absolutely devastating! The way YQY never found out that Xiao Jiu's dead and never got to mourn him? The way he didn't know that he never actually told SJ the truth? And don't even get me started about the PIDW version of their story! They had the worst fates! And nobody ever found out about who SJ truly was and he'll forever be remembered as a scum! And they didn't have a moment of happiness and relief in their whole story...ever!

(In the second place is Yi City Arc. One of my favorite stories ever. And thinking about XY dying with that candy in his hand, endangering himself to try to bring back XXC who himself had pushed to suicide while they were living their found family cottagecore fantasy is downright gut-wrenching. And the third goes to the Black Water arc. All absolutely gorgeous clusterfucks!)

b) hmmm... one thing I really don't like is too much age gap and the teacher/ student relationship.

I know Shen Yuan is not as much older as LBH as SJ was, and that when they got into a relationship LBH was in his mid-twenties. But still, when SY first saw LBH, Binghe was 14. And SY was in his early 20s. And they already shaped a teacher/ student relationship. I just really can't with such a relationship turning into a romantic one when the student gets older. It's not for me. (Except about Ranwan but Mo Ran is actually older than CWN when he goes back in time. And TBH being a teacher and a student is the least of their problems.)

(One of the things that makes me like Wangxian more is that they have no age gap.)

Bingqiu is really cute, though. Their relationship, with little cute puppy LBH following his majestic Shizun around is so adorable. Gotta give them that. SY's little crush on LBH when he first read the book, that he didn't even recognize for what it was until he was already two seconds away from marrying his fictional crush was so cute!

And I like that unlike WWX, SQQ always made sure that LBH is treating his Shishu LQG right, regardless of what problems they've got with each other.

But a part of me will always feel a bit sad beneath it all for Shen Jiu and YQY. SJ had to go because it was never his story. And the world was better for his passing. That boy who, unlike SY who was raised in a healthy, wealthy family and his kindness was not taken from him, was dealt bad hands in life and even now will always be remembered by the name he hated, Shen Jiu, because he has to be distinguished from Shen Yuan who is the main Shen QingQiu of the story. And YQY who doesn't know that Xiao-Jiu isn't there anymore. And didn't even get the chance to mourn him. And thinks that Shen Jiu doesn't remember him anymore. And he'll never get his Xiao Jiu back in this new SQQ. and if you see their relationship as romantic, he sees him running off into the sunset happily with LBH while "Yue Qingyuan said, “Go ahead.” He stood cheerfully and silently behind Shen Qingqiu. Just like the past, just like the future."

What's not to love about Moshang? My man SQH just wrote his own ideal man, bagged him, and made him a house husband. Absolutely iconic behavior!

Usually, I'd say I don't like relationships with imbalance of power but like, SQH is really the god and he made it known in the end? And MJ was the cutest especially towards the end! I need to know how MJ's noodles taste like!

Well, I sure would have liked if Wangxian's first kisses and bathtub incidents were... you know... consensual...

And it's very great that LWJ always has WWX's back unconditionally and without question through thick and thin, even if it's them against the world. God knows WWX needed it. And, it's great that WWX feels safe and happy and comfortable with him.

But on the other hand, these two both have some maturity problems. And instead of working through them, they just... somewhat enable them in each other.

WWX has this tendency to run away from his past, and from the problems he himself has caused. And he causes problems with everyone everywhere he goes. And LWJ has no tact and is rude and brash to everyone, has zero diplomacy, and puts silencing spell on kids in front of their guardians.

I absolutely despise their behavior towards JC and honestly, the way they treat their families in the end in general. But especially JC. Hate that LWJ allows himself to physically attack WWX's brother and WWX ALLOWS him to do that! I've explained my beaf with Wangxian and WWX regarding this matter in length here, here, and here.

Like this sort of "I found this new romantic partner so fuck my family and friends I guess" behavior is despicable even in the best of circumstances but WWX actually owes JC so much explanation?! He really did fuck up regarding him and his family?!

And I think, a more mature person, like say LXC, in LWJ's place would have just excused himself so the brothers could fight it out privately, or stay quietly to be an emotional support for WWX but not say anything. He also would have encouraged WWX to face his past and his family without putting pressure on him to do so and make him feel unsafe or rushed. (IIrc the scene where LWJ encourages WWX to talk to JC was only an Untamed! Thing. Right? Most of the characters were so much better in the show. Especially Wangxian) In WWX's place, he would have stopped LWJ from beating people up and acting so immature and inconsiderate.

I went on and on about what I love about Hualian and Wangxian earlier.

I love how HC always respects XL's decisions, and never questions them and is just there to support him for every decision he makes. Unless he wants to sacrifice himself in which case HC won't let him.

Hualian, for obvious reasons is more mythical, majestic, and poetic both in general and compared to the other two.

And in the case of the other two couples, we see all of them go through changes and developments, we practically see Wangxian growing up together, but because Hualian are both 800 years old and whatever changes and growth has happened to them, has happened way in the past, we only see Hua Cheng being there for Xie Lian as XL realizes and digests what's happened to him and comes to term with them and reconciles with his friends, his protégé and with himself.

I love how all of the characters are so good for each other and exactly what the other needs. Not just in personalities and how they're always unfailingly by the other's side in their worst moments when nobody else is. but also in the way that Hua Cheng in the worst of his days needed a reason to live, and Xie Lian gave him one. And Hua Cheng really took it seriously. Then Xie Lian needed a believer (just like how back in those days, the cursed, outcast Hong Hong-er did) and HC was his most devoted believer. XL has this tendency to self-sacrifice and HC won't let him.

SQQ is the answer to all of LBH's many issues and LBH is SQQ's fictional crush and makes him finally feel free enough to stop hiding himself under a persona and be himself.

And for WWX who always takes it upon himself to fix everything alone and fight all his battles alone, the protective and devoted LWJ who fights for him and side by side with him is the perfect partner. And for LWJ who has no idea how to live and sees everything in black and white, WWX who is so full of life and a chaotic good is the perfect partner.

And this one is very personal for me and probably most wouldn't agree with me but one thing that I've said before and really put me off was that Wangxian, right after JGY's painful demise left their grieving nephew, bleeding brother, and sui*cudal brother to go fuck in the bushes and while I was really grieving JGY and everyone else, chapters and chapters went on with Wangxian hitting it, at which point I had totally lost interest and only felt sad for JGY.

(The same thing to a lesser extent happened when Hualian were passionately kissing after the end of the Black Water Arc when I just wanted to know WHAT HAPPENED TO SQX!!)

And I've talked about this before but one thing I really don't like is the main couples running off into the sunset together. I know it's a popular trope, and again, this should be a very unpopular opinion but the main draw for me is the side characters. I also don't like it when the MC goes to live in his new husband's place like some old time bride. Personally, I feel attached to the place established as home. Like sure, LBH's crew are all lovely. But SQQ was a peak lord! What about his students and his relationships with the other peak lords that were truly peak?! the Lan Juniors are endearing, LQR is funny, and LXC is a lovely person, but there's a whole chapter where WWX talks about how boring the "parties" at the CR are, how awful the food is, and how he missed the lively home that was the LP. (but, narratively, I loved where the Yunmeng bros relationship was left off. It was the truly the perfect ending for it!), and the Ghost City is great and all, but srsly the gods in the heaven were all so charming!

Yeah, those were all the praises and grievances I could think of. And it got quite long!

My pleasure!

[annalyticall]

Saw your tags about MHA being a lesson in restraint when it comes to having different opinion than the fandom norm and please take this ask as an excuse to share your MHA thoughts <- I want to know them if you're willing to share

Oh ho ho I will gladly talk about how my MHA opinions differ from fandom thank you for the opportunity. That said I'm basing what 'fanon' is on what seems to be most popular in fan fics and popular posts I see on Twitter and Tumblr

Also I'm breaking this up into sections because I've noticed a lot of my fanon opinions tends to overlap

Fanon uses character interactions as proof of ships, cliques, or found families instead of considering each interaction as part of a narrative whole. Now, I know this isn't unique to MHA, every fandom does this to some extent, however with a cast as large as MHA's it's more prevalent when so many ships overlap. Each major or even minor interaction is "proof" of a ship being canon and is more or less valid than "proof" for other ships - meanwhile the narrative so rarely cares about romance (barring the Toga/Uraraka/Deku subplot) that arguing about any of that feels very pointless. Bakudeku shippers are the most guilty to me about this; for example, in a recent chapter when Deku thinks about how Iida held his hand and helped him feel calm (a moment that ties into the larger narrative theme of helping a lost child by taking their hand), I saw Bakudeku shippers try to pretend Deku was actually thinking about how much he wanted to hold Bakugo's hand since he never took it in their youth, despite that never being hinted at. I don't even dislike Bakugo or Bakudeku as a ship but it gets so grating when I see big moments for other characters get watered down because they don't fit a shipping lens, which goes doubly for MHA where the narrative supports the idea that everyone is important and everyone should help everyone no matter who they are to them.

While I'm beating the Bakudeku hornet's nest I might as well throw in my grievances with the Erasermic Family and its persistence in almost every. Single. Fic. Or at least the ones I read because Aizawa is one of my favorite characters, but so many Aizawa-related fics I've read seem intent on making Present Mic his husband and Shinsou his adopted son. Listen. Erasermic is fine. It's fine. I even like it from time to time. I just wish it wasn't a fanfic staple because I actually think their canon relationship of comfortable-yet-somewhat-strained old high school friends is much more interesting to explore, especially with the twist of Shirakumo's fate. It also cheapens Present Mic sometimes, because Present Mic is usually portrayed in these fics as... how should I say this... motherly? Wife-like. I don't like that. He's a silly goofy guy but he's also impulsive and angry and puts on a facade and that nuance almost never gets translated when he's transplanted into a domestic familial role with Aizawa. Shinsou being Aizawa's son also feels like it cheapens Shinsou's character arc in a way? I don't hate the son theory I guess but Aizawa clearly only trained him, not adopted him, and making Shinsou a "mini-me" of sorts tends to blur his actual character and motivations to be the same as Aizawa's when they're not. The only dynamic here that has any canon foothold is Aizawa being an adoptive father to Eri. I think Aizawa being a dad to most of the other kids is overblown sometimes but he will always be Eri's dad to me. Present Mic is like her goofy uncle.

Fanon loves making backstories too tragic. Two of the most popular fic tropes I see either makes Midoriya's mom abusive or gives Shinsou a muzzle and abusive foster family, which... okay, one thing I really love about MHA canon is that everyone has a good reason for what they do and everyone suffers a little hardship due to the way society is all in varied and relatable ways. Characters like Midoriya and Shinsou DO suffer in canon but not any more than being bullied in middle school for their quirk or lack of quirk, which I think works well enough for two boys who still aspire to be good and still have some faith in the system that hurt them like most people in this universe do. Characters like Toga, Twice, and Shigaraki already have plenty of tragedy to justify their villainy, as well as Hawks who also has a tragic backstory and serves as a hero counter for them, so it doesn't appeal to me to so often give that pain tenfold to characters who don't fit those roles beyond a what-if exercise.

Fanon takes things characters say at face value and accepts the most shallow interpretation of a character. This is especially true for liars like Dabi and Hawks, who often say one thing and mean another. It's not as much of a problem at current since both Hawks and Dabi are probably at their most authentic in canon right now, but it's still an issue in fics I read where Hawks is presented genuinely as a flirty and cocky hero and Dabi is presented genuinely as someone who doesn't care about anyone but himself. It's really frustrating when something I love about Hawks is his nuanced interactions with almost every other character, which are always glossed over in his discourse. I'll give two of the most glaring examples:

I've almost never seen a take about this scene that justifies why Hawks does this - I usually only see comments about how he's getting into Todoroki's space, isn't aware of personal boundaries, or is being too nosy in the family drama. To me, the answer to why he does this is clearly deeper: he's dropping his laid-back facade and asking a serious question all while putting himself in Todoroki's shoes and planting himself firmly on Todoroki's side. He wants an answer to the scar because the answer is important to him; if Endeavor was the one who inflicted it, it would have tarnished the view he had of his old hero because Hawks knows what it's like to have an abusive father. This is only further cemented when later on Hawks says Todoroki is better than he is because Todoroki is finding it within himself to help the parents who hurt him, unlike Hawks, who feels he abandoned his own.

There's also this and other panels during the fight with Twice ("I'll be sure to tell that to the league") where Hawks seems to be rubbing salt in the wound and overall being a dick about betraying Twice's trust, and I've seen the interpretation here that Hawks is simply being a dick because he is one. And, I mean, this isn't to say that Hawks can't be a dick sometimes, but in the moment it feels like a culmination of two things: 1. Half of this interaction is framed through Twice's POV, so of course we're seeing the worst of Hawks here, and 2. Hawks is intentionally distancing himself from the Hawks he knows would have gladly been Twice's friend, because he knows there's a chance he might have to kill him. Whenever we're in Hawks' head during this fight, it's always focusing on how much he doesn't want to fight Twice and how much hope he has for things to turn out for the better. When he finally makes up his mind that he can't turn it in his favor, he turns cold and harsh again, probably as a coping mechanism similar to Lady Nagant's. Also frustrating when people use this as an example of in-universe police brutality when in actuality Hawks is a groomed child soldier acting very hesitantly to fulfill government orders. Those two issues are not the same.

Oversimplification isn't contained to Dabi and Hawks, though. Kaminari flirts sometimes so all he is is a flirt, Midoriya cries sometimes so he's submissive and weak, Iida is bossy sometimes so he's a goody-two-shoes stick-in-the-mud. One-note fanon characterizations plague almost every character and that does almost none of the actual characters justice. Any character with more relevance than, say, Ojiro has more than one side to them in canon that doesn't get captured all that much in fanon.

Fanon overanalyzes things that are Shonen convention. It's funny, on one hand, I think fanon interprets characters too shallowly, and on the other, I think it reaches far too deep to draw conclusions where the actual answer is "because the author wanted it." Aizawa and All Might bear the brunt of this mischaracterization because they're the main adults in this series, so all of their missteps feel overanalyzed to prove an abuse of authority when actually it's just irrational decisions made to keep the story moving forward. "All Might was irresponsible for telling a quirkless kid he didn't have a chance at becoming a hero and leaving him alone on a roof" I guarantee you the implications of that was probably not even a thought when that scene was written, and if it was, All Might certainly wouldn't have assumed them or else he would have dealt with that differently. "Aizawa is a bad teacher for not expelling Bakugo after he almost killed Deku in their first test" if he expelled Bakugo or had properly dealt with their toxic relationship earlier we would not have a story. "Aizawa is a bad teacher for not expelling Mineta for being a creepy weirdo" if he expelled Mineta then Horikoshi wouldn't have his favorite comic relief pervert archetype. Sometimes we just have to say "Horikoshi wanted this to happen so that's why it happened that way" and move on.

Fanon has selective memory and short attention span. Maybe this is just because there seemed to be a falling off of fandom participation around the time of Season 5, but a lot of fanon I've seen seems stuck in pre-season 5 era characterizations, sometimes even pre-Season 3. Bakugo and Endeavor both have some of the best character developement in the series, and Aizawa also has a lot of subtle growth, but people tend to focus on how bad Bakugo and Endeavor were in Season 1-3 and how good Aizawa is in Season 4, even though Aizawa was also kind of an asshole Season 1-3. It tends to lead to some cartoonishly evil takes on Bakugo and Endeavor and overly-saccharine takes on "Dad"zawa. I say this also as someone who loves Aizawa and is fairly neutral on Bakugo and Endeavor, but I just don't think fanon takes in the whole picture of their character arc sometimes.

Those are my big umbrella opinions, I have more minute ones (especially regarding Iida, Aizawa, and Hawks) but I've already ranted long enough. I know a lot of this comes down to a young fanbase but to be honest the people I tend to disagree the most with are my age so I can't chalk it all up to that lol. Anyways thanks for the chance to rant!

[mysteriouspresence]

Madoka Magica and Evangelion: A Comparison of Themes

part 3/3, SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT

i’m assuming that anyone reading this post has either watched both shows or does not care for spoilers. this is your warning, if you don’t want to know what happens, turn back now before I start exposing the truth as the shows in question do, after the first few episodes.

again, this post got rather long, so please click on the expand button to read it all!

science fiction works with enemies disguised next to the protagonists

both the wish magic and EVA robots have alien origins — the former is granted through the Incubator’s technology, and the latter is cloned from the first Angel, Adam. later on, the protagonists will use this very technology to try and defeat the source, though it causes reality itself to reconstruct from how powerful the ability becomes, in their hands. however, in both cases, the power to defeat evil spawned from evil itself. the threads of fate that allowed Madoka to become a goddess (and later on, Homura to become a devil) and destroy all witches came from Homura’s attempts to save her while Shinji ended Instrumentality since Rei and Kaworu (Lilith and Adam) helped him find his will to live again, and respected his wish to rebuild the world. in both cases, it’s shown that the otherworldly powers are great enough to grant wishes to save or destroy humanity, based on the user’s desires.

also, the enemy that secretly controls the negative events impacting the protagonists is revealed to be the system they serve. still, said enemies also claim to be causing suffering for the greater good of humanity: Kyubey, who served as the magical girls’ guide turns out to be an Incubator. this advanced alien race uses magical girls’ despair (when their Soul Gems become so polluted with negativity that they burst and cause the girl to turn into a witch) to reverse entropy and stop the heat death of the universe. on the other hand, NERV, under the control of SEELE, had secretly planned for Instrumentality (the merging of all human souls) to happen, hoping that it would unite humankind to a higher plane of existence by removing the walls that people erect around their hearts. however, in both these cases, these benevolent plans require the suffering of children — to make wishes, to pilot the EVAs — to realize.

Character Arcs and Archetypes:

main character (Madoka/Homura, Shinji): they’re framed as weak and useless on the surface, often bursting into tears and wishing to run away, yet they face their fears and turn out to be the strongest ones of all, by sacrificing their own wishes to give humanity a chance to fight on, even if it means they must endure the pain of those around them. in Madoka’s case, she became a goddess who must take away the despair of all magical girls in all time and space, while Homura chose to become a devil to save the “human” portion of Madoka so she could have a normal childhood with her other friends. meanwhile, Shinji rejects Instrumentality despite knowing it means returning to a ruined world where humans will become individuals who can hurt him again. each of these characters takes responsibility for the fate of the world with their final wish because there were people (friends, family, and comrades) they loved that they wanted to see happy again.

(Left: Madoka crying over Mami's death by a witch. Right: Shinji runs away from home after his friends almost got killed in an Angel attack)

supporting tsundere (Kyoko, Asuka): both characters are portrayed as “tsundere”, but this stock character personality is broken down over time in both series to show that their pride is just a front for their internal helplessness, avoidant attachment, and lack of self-confidence — both girls are orphans who tragically lost their families (and in part due to acquiring their special abilities) at a young age and decided that the best way to avoid being hurt again would be to claim absolute independence because they learned that relying on other people means that this comfort may fly away at any time. as a result, they push away the people around them to assert themselves as an individual who “doesn’t need others”. in the end, both characters regain true confidence, only to sacrifice themselves in hopes of saving the very people they rejected at the beginning of their arc.

mysterious quiet one (Homura, Rei): both characters are portrayed as kuudere types who prefer to observe the other main characters except when making vague comments that make little sense to anyone but become painfully clear in retrospect, such as Homura’s warnings against becoming a magical girl (seeing how the girls must suffer until they become witches) or Rei’s declarations that she is easily replaceable (having hundreds of backup clones stored in the NERV headquarters). ultimately, the reason they know so much about the “truth” is revealed much later in the story, near the climax — Homura is a time-traveler who’s lived through the same month dozens of times, while Rei is a clone made from Lilith’s soul who has been killed at least twice throughout the series.

Thematic Ideas and Symbolism

in both franchises, despair brings great power but also great suffering. wishes and a mother’s love power magical girls and EVA units accordingly, but as a result, the abilities of the main characters to fight become impacted by their emotional state as well. soul gems are corrupted by despair and cause magical girls to turn into witches over time, while the EVAs will stop responding to a pilot who closes off their emotions. unfortunately, in both cases, the users are exposed to traumatizing situations that leave them emotionally exhausted and vulnerable to negativity, driving them toward doom and the inability to fight any longer. notably, Sayaka becomes a witch after falling into a destructive spiral, and Asuka loses control of her EVA following her mental breakdown. 

both series use allusions in their world-building. in Evangelion, the aliens are named Angels, while the progenitors of life are named Adam and Lilith, all obvious references to the Christian religion. in Madoka Magica, Madoka becomes a goddess to save magical girls. Madoka’s witch form is called Kriemhild Gretchen, a reference to Faust’s love interest, and other Faust quotes are featured in the witch runes scattered in labyrinths. what is most interesting is how the usage of Christian themes in a non-Christian predominant society (Japan) echoes Western works referencing Grecoroman pantheons, creating a sense of ancient power by tying a set of objects to some foreign, mystical force.

(Left: Madoka goddess from Madoka Magica episode 12. Right: Angel Areal from Evangelion episode 22)

Conclusion

Madoka Magica and Evangelion serve as deconstructions of conventional magical girl and mecha shows by showing how cartoon portrayals of war with otherworldly forces, normally targeted at children, paint over a grim reality with idealizations. these shows seem to ask, "isn't it ridiculous to think that kids can save us all when even the adults can't?" the shows challenge this mindset that we grew up with — hoping for a call to adventure, for a chance to prove ourselves in extraordinary circumstances — without truly considering the burden of responsibility that we will have to take on, while simultaneously exploring the nature of human relationships, something that everyone is inevitably familiar with — themes such as love, trust, and grief.

that's all I have for analysis for now, i hope this was an interesting read! please let me know if I missed anything major, and feel free to add to the discussion!

[gildedmuse]

[And with that single line, Kuina had more characterization than every other woman in her extended family combine.]

2. Let Me Guess, It Was Very Tragic & Character Defining

(aka Every-Mom Story)

Now, I know a lot of people are going to say, "To be fair, Mina/Muse, it makes SENSE that Zoro's parents were dead! Otherwise they would have to let their son walk around challenging dojos whenever he wanted, and no sane person let a child with Zoro's sense of direction just go town to town on his own like that! Plus, if you actually think about Zoro's whole -"

First off, love the engagement Fictional Tumblr Surfer. I also adore discussing media and hearing different perspectives but before you go any further: trust me, I have thought about Zoro. I have had all the thoughts about Zoro.

Also, this idea that Zoro's parents HAD to be dead seems to be based entirely on, "or else he wouldn't be wandering the countryside looking for dojos". The problem with that line of logic is, well, it doesn't make sense. Look what Luffy was getting up to, he'd got family. Hell, Franky had both his parents and you know what they did? Tossed him into the sea. Parents being alive is not a guarantee of anything. It says she died of an illness but for all we know, she passed away when Zoro was 15. All those Kuina scenes? His mom was just kicking back at the house, doing her own thing. "Oh, yeah, no worries, go hang in out with your little sword clubs. Just remember: what's the one rule when we go out?"

*sigh* "I'm allowed to take shortcuts or whatever pass I please as long as it doesn't involve getting on a boat." *Grumble* "I'm six years old, I know my shortcut through the mountains already! Geeze mom!"

"Yeah, well you just do what your old lady says, since she does feed you and everything. Take all the mountain shortcuts you want, kiddo. No boats."

"No boats."

"See ya in a few weeks honey. REMEMBER, BEATING BAD GUYS UP FOR FOOD DOESN'T COUNT."

"I know! You always say that! I know how bounties work!"

"Hey, I'm just trying to make sure you're staying healthy, Kiddo. And if they're criminals, the Marines can't arrest you for beating them up. Call the home den den mushi if you need anything. Love you!"

"Bye!"

(I understand exactly where Oda was going with giving his mom three traits: she was raised by criminals/thieves/bad guys, married a samurai and died from illness. I see the storyline being set. But, listen, I dare anyone to step and tell me there is absolutely no part of them - not even the smallest silver - that wouldn't rejoice at seeing THIS Zoro's relationship with his still living mom, rather than the inevitable build up to Corazon/Bellamere/Sora/Otohime/Toki & Oden/Yusie Part Du....Di-Diez)

Which brings me around to my point: why kill Zoro's mom!? What is the point other than ensuring you don't have to do the work of having to come up with a whole other character? How does the story benefit from murdering everyone's parents!? Is this a theme of the work or just a personal kink!?

Sorry, let me pull that back.

The thing about Zoro's parents is: no one cares. Don't get me, fans care very much about Zoro. Their curios what was going on, but we've been with this character for years at this point, he's never once brought them up. There aren't even shades of it.

Viewed through a certain lens, the fact they're both dead is somehow WORSE. Because you realize the number of situations the Strawhats have come into where a key component is Illness Related, Evil Pirates Murdering Folks, Parents Suffering/Dying For Their Children, and People Who Lost Parents Looking For Revenge and sometimes nearly all of those things at once! And yet Zoro has never once been emotional triggered by these situations the way Nami is with children in trouble or Sanji is with mistreated women or Chopper is when he is unable to help someone....

Or Zoro is. With Tashigi.

No one dare try and tell, "Zoro isn't the kind to react to someone just because their situation reminds him of something tragic in his own past" because that is LITERALLY his entire DEAL with Tashigi. She has a shallow, surface appearance that is similar to his best friend who died and so even just seeing her brings that up despite Tashigi being entirely unrelated and also, really only Zoro's approximation of what Kuina might have looked like a decade in the future.

So the idea that Zoro lost both his parents in tragic situations which left him homeless and with no one to take him in and his sole emotional response was apparently shrugging off and going to get his walking shoes, he got some dojos to find doesn't speak particularly well for those family dynamics.

And the thing is, this doesn't inform Zoro's character, it doesn't build or explain anything, it's just what Oda appears to do when he needs characters to have a connection to or a history with something. Fine a parental figure. Have them murdered. And with Zoro he could have done something new and different, because Zoro doesn't NEED this history in order to help establish his motivations or explain his thinking, he doesn't need this to be emotionally invested, it doesn't raise any stakes or change his path. Zoro doesn't need any of that; boy figured that all out himself before he was ten, and the parts he missed, Luffy brought with him! Anything that could be added through knowing more of Zoro's history, all it does is add another layer to something he'd already gone and established himself.

With that in mind, why NOT mix it up? Since we've been watching the crew for years and he hasn't spoken a single about his family, you could as easily pull an Ace situation. This is my family, that I have never mentioned before.

I mean have fun with it. Go wild! "Where was she? Why wasn't she looking after her kid? Who would let a child just go off for weeks like that."

"To be fair, Zoro had beaten all the local kids and was really bored. And she did pack him a few lunches. Hey, he's a kid, if he wants to go running off to find another dojo, let him! He's having fun, what's the big deal?" And obviously when he told her his plan to leave the island to hunt down bounties and eventually face off against a warlord, well he was 15, he was an adult and if that's what he wanted to do.

You could have just made her Silvers Rayleigh but a mom. It would have been amazing.

But, no... No, of COURSE she was ill.

And I'll bet she was an absolutely lovely woman too, so sweet, so caring, someone who worked hard doing housework for others in order to feed her family after her husband was tragically killed fending off pirates from raiding the island. Oh, but lately work has been harder to get because her sickness leaves her just so small and frail. I'll bet she often tried to hide just how bad it was by praising little Zoro whenever he carried the groceries or brought in the water or did some physical chore. Like, "look how strong you are, carrying that bag all by yourself. Are you sure you don't want me to help? Zozozo, I think you're just using it as an excuse to train and show off how big you're growing!" Bet he feels so proud of himself, and aren't they just the cutest little household?

I feel like I know her already. I get the sense Ter would be the kind of mother who would tease that it wasn't right how HE was always protecting HER when SHE was supposed to be the one looking out for HIM. Her fearless little tiger! (I mean, sure, she's physically killing herself working keeping food on his plate and a roof over his head, but there was that on time when she was so sick during that big storm that Zoro did all the chores and she hadn't even asked! And that other night walking back from the market when a wolf had come out at woods and starting to growl at them and she'd been terrified they would have to drop the grocery and run when she'd worked so, so hard to get money to buy enough food for the next few days but Zoro wouldn't let it get their food and eventually the thing ran off like a scared little puppy. Such a brave boy!)

Which is good because he'll need, I'm 90% sure she said, while on her death bed. She'd probably surprised to a single down tear running down his little cheeks because she doesn't remember Zoro crying, not even as a baby, and she'd hate that she would be the reason that her strong boy cried for the first time, and she'd end up telling him all about how she used to cry all the time when he was baby. She was all alone and she knew she didn't have long left and he looked so helpless in arm. She couldn't stop worrying about what could happen to him when she was no longer there to feed and protect and help him.

And Zoro would be upset he has made his mom cry so much and she'd just laugh - Zozozo - it's been years since she cried like that. She doesn't have to anymore, seeing what a strong and brave person Zoro has become over the years, she no longer worries. He is so fearless and determined and she knows he will be okay, she believes in him. And with that last breath she'll make him give her his word, promise her he'd always remember how strong he was, that he would never stop getting strong. That way, no matter what, she can rest knowing he will always.

Is that the goal? A cheap emotional underpunch that probably would make cry but also... kind of undermines a lot of Zoro's character. And also raises a lot of questions about some of the stories internal paradox but also it's just so conveniently, predictably heartbreaking that probably that no one will notice.

We've been here, we've done this!

It's just such a boring answer. It's a safety answer. I can promise you, this was not part of the plan when he first tied Zoro to a pole in a marine courtyard. This is very much after the fact, and that's FINE. There are very, very, VERY few writers creating and sort of weekly/monthly/continuous series media that go in there with a full plan, entirely story laid out in detail and every single one followed through to the letter. That is actually a scientifically accurate way to diagnose someone who has signed a contract with a demon lord. The ability to continue to build your story while maintaining a mostly accurate canon while also half making it up on the fly because, oh, wow you hadn't expected that thing to go that way. Wait, what even was your original plan? I mean it's an amazing skill¹ to be able to put out serialized content keeping the story on track, the lore mostly without contradiction, and most importantly, still having a clear way forward even though it almost definitely not the path you cleared originally. It's not easy to do and I applaud and recognize when they have that skill, I have no problem with the idea that Zoro's parents had not really been solidified as characters until relatively recently.

But seeing as there has been over a decade to think on that one, it's amazing it ended up being... Exactly what you have guessed based on every other set of parents in One Piece. But again, it's a safe answer.

Look, this way no one expects to make an appearance, he doesn't have to maybe possibly change anything he'd already decided.

Ah, they never came because they're dead and we're never going to flash back to then so.... Great. Finished with that, job done. And he didn't even have to think about Zoro's backstory and risk accidentally developing.

But! If he ever needs to shove something into Zoro's backstory with absolutely no foreshadowing, he has now created emergency backups.

He could just... Pull a Vinesmoke Sanji, or close enough. He's given a Wano connection, absolutely no characterization and luckily only introduced plot points that would be incredibly useful when attempting to emotionally manipulate the audience so they fail to notice the giant new "Well, THIS is brand new!" Product, and it has to be accepted as valid because it happened in the past. That means it helped define Zoro!