#i'm incredibly glad that he had character development

[saurongorthaur9]

ROP S2E7 Spoilers

So...the stupid kiss did indeed happen, and as promised yesterday, I need to vent and get it out of my system. It was every bit as stupid and unnecessary as I feared it would be; somehow, I was hoping if that was what happened, that somehow it wouldn't be as bad as it sounded? But yeah...it was. This is probably going to be a pretty long post, as I've been thinking a lot about what bothers me so much about it as a concept and I have a lot of Thoughts.

A disclaimer to begin with: yeah, part of me is disappointed that it wasn't the kiss I hoped it would be, but I knew from the start that a Sauron kiss would be very, very unlikely. If it had happened, it would have been less about a ship for me, and more about the validation for me of getting an onscreen Sauron kiss in a huge, professional production as I've written about in other posts. I would have loved a Sauron kiss, but that's not what is really bothering me on more than a surface level. So with that disclaimer aside...

I think I can break what bothers me down into two basic categories.

The first is more straightforward: it was SO unnecessary. Yes, there needed to be some way for Galadriel to get free, but there are so many ways it could have been set up without a weird, incredibly uncomfortable kiss that came out of absolute nowhere being necessary. He could have gently stroked her hair and slipped it behind her ear or into her hair itself (I used to have very long hair, and a pin like that would definitely get stuck if you tucked it in.) If they wanted to go the humorous, cliché route, they could have had him sneak it to her in a pie (that's a joke, I'm also glad they didn't do that, but my point is, they had options).

They could have set up the scene with a different tone and gone the Frodo-and-Sam-as-orcs route and had them fake a fight. I actually would have loved this. It could have been a culmination of the resentment and tension that's been building between the two of them all season to let off some steam at each other. It could have been one of those "we're fake fighting, but we're also real fighting at the same time" sort of scenes (which are delicious when pulled off right) where we could have gotten some real interesting character development and relationship development between the two of them before the orcs pulled them apart (but not before Elrond slipped the pin into her hand or tunic while pretending to push her or something).

The kiss however did nothing. Per my last two paragraphs, it being a kiss wasn't necessary for the plot. It didn't do anything to reveal anything about Elrond and Galadriel's relationship or develop it in any way. It didn't develop either Elrond or Galadriel's character in any way. It was purely and utterly for shock value.

And that's the first big thing: I really hate things used for shock value. It's a personal pet peeve of mine. And to make it clear, there's a different between using something for shock value and doing something shocking. Mirdania's death was pretty shocking, but it served the purposes of both showing how utterly ruthless Sauron is and solidified the elven soldiers' doubt in Celebrimbor's sanity. But using something for mere cheap shock value is so disappointing of the show. The writing had been SO good, everything had been so deliberate and intentional, that it made the sudden breach of that even more jarring and unpleasant.

And it makes me super worried for the future of the show. This show isn't Game of Thrones; it doesn't need shock value. But now they've set the precedent that adding pure shock value is okay for this show. It makes me afraid what else down the road will be thrown in the audience faces just to illicit an unpleasant reaction.

The second major thing that is bugging me about that scene is a little more insidious and subtle. I've seen people saying "it wasn't romantic", but the thing is, whether or not it was intended, romantic tension has now been introduced to Elrond and Galadriel's dynamic. Let me explain.

That scene was a pretty clear example of the Forced Proximity Trope. For anyone who doesn't know what that means, it's the trope of forcing two characters into a circumstance where they share space or physical intimacy that they wouldn't otherwise share. The most infamous version of it is the There Was Only One Bed trope. And the thing is, it's an incredibly romantic-coded trope. It's almost always used between two characters who have suppressed feelings for one another as a way to force them to confront said suppressed feelings. Even if it's used in a not explicitly romantic way, it still sends a subconscious message of romantic tension because that is what that trope is almost exclusively used for.

So yes, there is now romantic tension between Elrond and Galadriel, and I have a feeling they don't plan on doing anything about it.

At this point, I'd almost feel better if they went all the way and went ahead with the subconscious romantic tension. Like, putting Elrond and Galadriel in a romantic relationship wouldn't be my thing personally, but at least it would provide a sense that the writers had a purpose for the scene and for creating that tension. Dropping that and then not going anywhere else with it, and letting that tension fester for the rest of the series without acknowledging it or doing anything about it would be so disappointing and insulting to the audience.

But again, I'll be very surprised if they ever bring it up again.

And I'm sure the writers knew what they were doing. The only two options are that they were oblivious to the connotations of using that trope or that they knew full well, and used it anyway. And I suspect it's the latter. As good as the overall writing for this season has been, I just can't imagine the writers aren't aware of what they were doing in using that trope. I mean, they've deliberately used a number of romantic-coded tropes to build up the Galadriel/Sauron tension. They aren't oblivious, which means they used the Forced Proximity Trope deliberately and fully aware of it's implications.

It just really seriously damaged my faith in the writing of the show, just when I'd been building it up after some big disappointments from Season 1. Again, they've set a precedent, and I'm really worried this isn't the last time they'll pull something ridiculous like this.

Maybe somehow they'll turn it around. Maybe they'll have Galadriel and Elrond bring it up again and deal with the tension, maybe they do plan to have a romantic subplot between the two of them, or maybe they have something planned down the road that will put that moment in a light that shows it as something other than shock value. But I'm currently pretty pessimistic about that happening.

And it's extra disappointing, because the rest of that episode was absolutely amazing. That one bad moment stands out like a wine stain on a white dress because the rest of the episode was so good.

Anyway, that's my rant. I just had to vent and get my thoughts out of my head where they've been swirling. If anyone is feeling the same way and wants to vent with me, my inbox and messages are open.

[stranger-theory]

are we gonna talk about how Lucas was the only main girlie in s1 to be played as overly aggressive, distrustful, and generally rude. like. i'm just saying.

[nztsume]

i think the thing that interests me the most about homelander is 10000% the fact that hes redeemable and likable just because of the fact of how much he loves the people he loves and how much he needs to be loved by them. like that makes him SO interesting to me, and the more we discover about him the more his insanity makes sense. the fact that nobody ever in his life saw him as any other than a product or a message or a pennant but never a HUMAN, and the fact that he himself doesnt want to see himself as a HUMAN when he so clearly is because all of this!!! the fact that hes gets so pathetically obsessed with any woman that shows him some love and attention, even if its fake! the way he refused to kill maeve because a part of him genuinely loves her still, the fact that when annie kissed him for the fake dating thing he was genuinely GENUINELY into it, and not in a sexual way. he fucking SMILED into the kiss??????? 'i'm glad you're here'???????????? the way stormfront never gave him any genuine show of affection, when it was clearly all about the sex and the power she had over him and he still didnt see it because he was so glad there was a woman who was willingly giving him what he understood as affection (that for her was just sex) idk i just feel like theres something so innocent about his character that the rest of the guys in the boys dont have - which is a clear reflection of how traumatized he was in the lab, how he never quite understood how to navegate his emotions as a grown up and develop actual self love. he loves homelander, but does he love john? everyone loves homelander, but who loves john? im obsessed. and i love how this spills into things that men who stan him actually would never accept or understand- like the fact that he doesnt even care about looks, he doesnt even care about his own supposed ideals where he considers supes superior to humans. he doesnt even care about loyalty!!!! otherwise hed loved firecracker. he simply wants a woman who will love him, really love him, like nobody ever loved him in his life. (and if you think about it thats soooooooo tragic. imagine not even having parents that love you... not even your own fucking child!!!! despite you doing everything to make him not have to go through what you went through!!!! despite giving him your undivided attention- even when youre one of the most important people in the world!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) and by the way, im really glad they didnt go for a super easy and predictable storyline where sister sage would pretend she loves him to manipulate him- because that would have been incredibly boring. and one last thing: this is soooo silly and petty but this is why the single most infuriating and insufferable thing in the fandom is the way men stan him, because in universe, theyd literally be the kind of people homelander would fucking hate LMFAOOOO because they ignore all of these essential parts of his character because they are too busy wankin over ashley look at me

[beelzeballing]

actually i dont think ive posted my thoughts on ofmd s2 overall here yet have i?

ok here goes: i think it had incredibly high highs, and at some parts i genuinely enjoyed it more than i did the first season, episode 6 being peak imo. however, it had equally abysmal lows with some glaring writing-, tone- and pacing issues that all came to a head in the finale.

i once read someone say that, if you ever feel like a finale ruined the whole story, maybe you should take another look at the story. there were most likely cracks and problems all along, and the finale did nothing besides dashing the hope that these would perhaps be addressed later. very rarely do genuinely well written stories go completely off the rails in the finale and ruin the whole thing.

i think this is applicable here in some ways, SPECIFICALLY in regards to edward. good god edward was a MESS this season, and it's so sad because i loved the starting point! the kraken era was absolutely terrifying and iconic as FUCK but... they shouldn't have leaned so hard into the drama and trauma of it all. don't get me wrong, i loved that it did. it's one of my favorite parts of the season and i'm so glad we got it. but if they wanted this arc to work with the overarching plot as they wrote it, they would've had to lighten up the tone here CONSIDERABLY. had they played the kraken era for comedy then sure! edward's bad youtuber apology would've been funny. his fast redemption would've been less jarring. the lack of consequences less disturbing. but as it stands in the show, this arc is too dark to function with the later episodes.

i feel like they wanted to have their cake and eat it too here. they wanted the gritty drama of ed coming off the hinges entirely but also didn't want to deal with the aftermath of such a heavy arc in their silly pirate romcom. be that due to time constraints and budget cuts or because they were simply unwilling to, doesn't really matter in the end. the result is the same either way: a very tonally messy season with some accidentally troubling implications regarding abuse.

and mentioning troubling implications regarding abuse; izzy. my poor, poor izzy... his arc was absolutely glorious. i liked izzy the second he showed up in s1 and i was absolutely EATING this season up in that regard. and i think in this case, they genuinely did fuck it all up in the finale with that one stupid choice:

choosing to kill izzy was the DUMBEST thing they couldve done here.

ive talked about this over and over and over again. ive reblogged so many meta posts. and still i am left absolutely flabbergasted by how stupid of a decision this was. the fridging, playing at the fallen woman trope, killing the beating heart of the season and the character who delivers what is essentially a thesis statement, killing off the character whose arc is about coming to terms with his disability, having him die in edward's arms, comforting him and apologizing after an entire season of finding community and love outside of edward, the absolutely godawful pacing of it all, the extremely easy and obvious solution of just having IZZY become the new captain of the revenge to mirror s1 and hammer home how much he has developed since then in one go... i could go on. and i have. it was a stupid writing decision, completely fucked the tone and pacing of the finale and took away attention and time from things that really would've deserved a better wrap up (lucius and black pete deserved better)

now. the whole prince ricky & zheng plot line... yeah that shit sucked ass, sorry. they bit off more than they could chew here. i honestly think those are the arc words of this season:

✨️ bit off more than they could chew ✨️

right off the bat: i think he was good as a concept. bringing in a foil for stede who just doesn't Get It as stede does could've made for very good comedy and drama (and to be fair there is some of that). but that shit got away from them extremely quickly. nothing about how he's implemented past his first episode works, and i think this is very specifically because he's mostly played as the comic relief in his debut episode. making this completely bumbling fool, who gets his nose hacked off on his first job, the main villain of your entire season is... definitely a choice. idk. he didn't work for me at all.

ok wow mentioning shit getting away from the writers. this definitely got away from me. this was supposed to be a short lil post. well. i guess tl;dr i loved this season but jesus christ there was a lot wrong with it. if you want to hear more thoughts. ask box is open. be my guest. i have more to say so even if you dont ask i might add more to this at some point but im tired and have work tmrw.

[orange-demons-deactivated2024]

Can you please write some jealousy hcs for sf6 Luke, Ed, Jamie and Bosch? If you want to do different characters that's ok or if they are too many you can just do some. Thank you !!!

fun fact: this was originally supposed to be released 2 days ago but guess who accidentally deleted half of it. :| soo it had to be rewritten again. so sad. also I think you can tell who i like based on the length of the hcs, oops

Luke

For the most part, Luke's a pretty chill guy so things don't bother him as much as they used to when he was younger.

He's glad to see you expand your horizons and meet new people along the way, especially finding new masters to train under.

He wants to see how far you've come from the last time he saw you, so he asks for a quick sparring match.

And you'd exceeded his expectations!

He's happy to see you develop your own style and dominate the streets.

"Woah, you've really stepped up your game," he said, genuinely impressed.

One thing though...why do you fight like a certain drunken boxer he knows?

Oh, You're learning under Jamie? Cool. Cool.

He's smiling but you can feel the tension behind it.

Luke is definitely the type of jealous that tries to play it off in a joking manner.

"Let's just say, I've had a couple of run-ins with the guy." he forced a chuckle. "He's...something else."

"Sounds like there's more to the story."

"Maybe there is, but it doesn't matter. What matters is that you're growing into an incredible fighter, and I'm proud of you for that." He pulled you in to press a kiss on your temple.

"Thanks, Luke. That means a lot coming from you."

"Anytime," he said, reaching out to ruffle your hair playfully. "And hey, if Jamie gives you any trouble, you let me know, okay?"

"Of course." you laughed, swatting his hands away.

"Come on, let's grab something to eat. I'm starving, and I bet you could use a bite after all that."

"Sweet! But you're buying."

You're your own person and you get to decide who you want to train under, but it still nags at him from somewhere deep within.

It may sound selfish of him, but he would rather you come to him for your concerns than anyone else. In part as your Coach and boyfriend.

So when other people try to make moves on you, he's internally sizing them up as he gives them a once-over.

So even though he has a smile on his face, it never reaches his eyes.

But he won't bring it up this time since you held Jamie in such a high regard.

And he's not going to hold your hand for every decision you make, but he trusts you enough not to do anything behind his back.

He hates to admit it, but it does tick Luke off knowing that Jamie would rub it in his face in their next encounter, it's almost inevitable.

So he would have a couple of not-so-nice words for the guy the next time he sees him on the street.

Ed

Ed watched you near the gym entrance as he leaned against the heavy sliding doors. 

You were running late to your nightly meet-ups and you weren't responding to any of his messages leading up to now. 

He wouldn't have cared if something came up and you had to cancel your date with him, but you mentioned how excited you were about seeing him today that he didn't think you would've just dipped the last second. 

So he went on a whim and decided to pay the gym down the street a visit. 

And surprise, surprise, here you were. 

You were chatting with, what he could assume was your coach, in the middle of the room. 

Ed's eyes flickered at the way Luke lightly squeezed your shoulder with a certain fondness in his eyes.

Bastard. 

He didn't know if you were oblivious or dumb for not noticing, so he made himself known by stepping on the mats in your direction. 

His presence immediately drew your attention and your eyes lit up when you saw him approaching, stepping back from Luke you said, "Ed! What are you doing here?"

"You're late. We had plans, remember?"

"Oh, crap, I'm so sorry! I lost track of time and…" You sputtered an apology and some excuses that fell deaf on his ears but his attention was more focused on your chummy coach.

Ed's glare could paralyze most people with fear, but Luke observed the exchange with a curious expression.

Realizing you may be having a one-sided conversation you introduced the pair to each other.

Luke extended a hand with a friendly smile. "The name's Luke, I'm one of the coaches here at Buckler's.

"Yeah, I've heard about you." He said, not acknowledging Luke's hand, which made the former pull back.

"Ed's been teaching me a little bit of boxing on the side." You chimed in, wrapping your arms around him. 

Actually, it was a bit odd that he didn't immediately try to shake you off. But that meant his mind was somewhere else.

"You've taught them well, They're lucky to have you as a teacher." Luke replied, addressing Ed again.

"Right…" 

He shrugged the arm you were hanging onto. "You ready to head out?"

"Yeah, just let me grab my stuff real quick then we could go," you said, giving him a small peck on his cheek before heading toward the locker room, leaving the pair alone.

"Look I don't know what you're trying to play at and frankly I don't care, but it ends now." 

"Hey, man, I'm not trying to play at anything. I'm just their coach. We keep things professional here." Luke raised his hands in a placating gesture.

"Yeah? Well, you seem pretty damn friendly for just a coach." Ed scoffed, not buying it.

Luke sighed, dropping his hands. "I get it. You're protective of them, and that's fine. But you need to trust that I'm not crossing any lines."

"Trust ain't something I give out easily. And right now, nothing's telling me you deserve even a lick of it."

"Fair enough," Luke said, crossing his arms. "But you should know that Y/n's here because they want to get stronger. And I'm not going to stop coaching them because you're feeling insecure."

"Insecure? Now you're just spouting crap." Ed narrowed his eyes.

"I don't think so." Luke hummed.

You quickly reappeared from the locker room with a bag slung over your shoulder. 

"Ready!" You said cheerfully, grabbing Ed's hand. "Alright, I'll see you later, Coach!" You called over your shoulder as you dragged the boxer towards the exit.

"Take care. And keep on practicing your footwork," he gave you a small wave. 

"Oh, and Ed," Luke said with a slight edge to his tone, making Ed turn to face him, "Take your shoes off the next time you step on my mats, won't you?"

Ed scoffed, with a smirk tugging on his lips. At least, he ain't no pushover.

You glanced between the two, sensing the underlying tension but not quite catching the full meaning of Luke's remark.

"What was that about?"

"Nothing, Just gym etiquette."

Jamie

With Jamie, he doesn't get jealous as easily as other people on this list. But he definitely has his gripes from time to time.

Woah, Pulling punches during a dance battle? Didn't see that one coming.

You told him you've been learning boxing from a guy who's been hanging around the beat square subway station, at least three times a week.

He was wondering what you've been up to.

Wait, did you say three times a week? That's more than you see him.

What's up with that?

He didn't mind you picking up new skills, especially with something as badass as boxing, but he missed your late-night talks.

And now, it was basically cut in half thanks to this Ed guy.

So he thinks it's time to give him a little visit from the infamous Jamie Siu, himself.

"Ah, now I get it." Jamie playfully circled him. "You got the whole bad boy get up and everything, huh?"

Ed looked up from his phone with an unreadable expression, "You gotta problem wit' me or something?" 

"Not at all buddy. I'm just trying to see who Mooncake's been hanging out with."

You sighed, telling him that Ed is just your Boxing coach and he's teaching you how to wield Psycho Power.

Nothing more, nothing less.

After adverting the crisis that was about to break out at the station, you would give Ed a quick apology before leaving with Jamie. 

Ed shrugged, saying 'whatever' and went back to his phone. 

You would have to confront him about his attitude later on.

Even if he felt jealous of where your focus was, you're still learning how to street fight. And he has no right to interfere with your training with your other Coaches. 

He shrugged at your concerns before asking if you wanted to try this new concoction he put together, offering the lip of his gourd to you. 

"Jamie, I'm being serious." You pushed the bottle back to him. 

"So am I."

You hardly picked up the way his eyes bore into your soul before he broke into a grin, taking a swig of his drink.  "Nothing like a good drink to ease the nerves."

When you tell him you're still upset with him about today, he'll lean up against the rails and cross his arms. 

Most of his jealousy stems from the fact that you're spending more time with other people than him. And he feels a tad bit neglected.

He's used to being isolated so the feeling isn't new to him. But he found himself staring at the space beside him where he expected to find your presence.

The times when you don't visit him, his mind wanders to the silly little adventures you'd tell him about and the places you get to see around the world.

But you have a track record of being gone for long periods of time and he just waits here, until you came back.

It's not your fault. He was just being a hard-ass, so he would be the one to apologize. 

"Look, I know you're still starting out and learning new stuff, which is cool n' all but I miss our nights together. And if it's that important to you, I'll back off. Just make sure to stop by from time to-time. 'Kay?"

"I will…And thanks, Jamie. I really appreciate it."

After a beat of silence, you gestured to the gourd resting beside you two. "Now, about that concoction of yours."

Jamie broke out in a grin, handing it to you. "Prepare to be amazed. The new and improved recipe is made from the ingredients you brought from Tian Hong Yuan. It's got a kick to it, just like you."

You both would've retired for the night in a drunken stupor, entangled in each other's arms.

He snuggled his face in the crook of your neck with a dumb smile, mumbling how much he loved you.

But next time you visit Ed, Jamie gives you a couple of 'souvenirs' to show off to your friend to show who you belong to. 

Bosch

You know, when you decided to stroll through town, Bosch didn't expect you to pick up another Master.

If anything, he guessed it was your eagerness that made people naturally gravitate to you.

He could tell how much you admired Rashid's wind abilities and charming personality, but it still irked him more than he cared to admit.

You would spend the majority of your days training and chatting with Rashid, eventually kicking Bosch to the curb.

He knew it was nothing more than a student-teacher relationship, especially since Rashid's wind techniques were something you wanted to master.

And the thing is, Rashid isn't even a bad guy.

He's just very charismatic, in a way that can be overbearing at times.

But he still couldn't shake the pangs of jealousy that gnawed at his soul.

With every new move that clicked, you would glance at Bosch to see if he noticed.

He's at least a little glad you still sought him out, despite your attention being elsewhere.

Maybe that's why he let it go on for so long.

He'll sit on his emotions and let the feeling bubble in his stomach before he would ever confront you about it. 

He probably even lets out a few snippy remarks if you keep pushing him away.

He doesn't mean it.

He never does, but Bosch has never been in a relationship before, so he doesn't know what to do whenever he felt the burning sensation of jealousy below the surface of his skin.

Bosch sat by the window sill and let the cool midnight breeze brush against his face.

He should've been relaxing, but his mind was anything but calm.

He heard the soft creak of the floorboards as he turned to see you approaching. 

You sat next to him by the window, offering some food you got from the markets. 

Your presence instantly eased his nerves as you both sat in the dark, listening to the distant sounds of the city.

Sensing Bosch's off demeanor, you asked what was on his mind.

"I'm just thinking." He said, sipping his drink.

"About what?"

"You." His eyes met yours, "…and Rashid."

You blinked in surprise. "Rashid? What about him?"

"It's just…you've been spending so much time with him. I get that he's your new master and he's teaching you a lot, but it feels like there's no time for us anymore."

"I didn't know you felt that way, but I'm sorry for not noticing sooner." You said aimlessly playing with his hands before tangling them together.

Bosch sighed, looking down at your intertwined hands. "You don't owe me an apology. I know I'm being hard-headed. I just…I wish I could open up to you more."

"You can always talk to me about anything, Bosch. And you don't need to force yourself to do so for my sake."

He looked up, meeting your eyes again. "I know. It's just hard sometimes. And seeing you with Rashid, makes me feel..."

"Jealous?"

"It's stupid, I know."

"I don't think it's stupid, it's a very human emotion. But I want you to know that no matter what, I'll always want to be here with you."

He hummed, still not taking your words to heart and opting to stare off into the night.

"How about this?" You scooted closer, resting your head on his shoulder, "I'll set aside more time for us, and you tell me whenever something's bothering you instead of bottling it up...Deal?"

A smile tugged on Bosch's face as he drew your intertwined hands closer, brushing his lips against your knuckles.

"Deal."

[blueteller]

So many small details, which make TCF such an incredible story...

Remember back in the beginning, when Cale was getting his first Ancient Power, the Indestructible Shield? How On and Hong were there since the start, and how Cale told them to keep what they saw a secret?

Now, remember when Cale came to the tree for the last time, and was glad that the weather was foggy, because it would hide what was happening to outside viewers?

...I'm 100% convinced On created that fog on purpose. The clever girl figured out that Cale wanted to be unseenand could use some help. So, she created a fog cover for him on purpose. And that was before Cale took her and Hong in. She was already helping out.

It's a small detail, and Cale never realizes it, but it always makes me so happy to find little secrets in the background like that. And there are so many more to find, if you look for them.

Like that time Cale is in the Magic Tower, and the symbol on the wall is a star surrounded by five others. That implies that the Magic Tower was allied with the White Star before it fell. It never comes up again, but the detail is there, and it gives the entire Whipper Kingdom uprising so much more depth to it. Why wouldn't the bastards who experiment on people be allied with the final boss? It makes perfect sense!!

Or how Redika was the one to develop the new magic bombs, and by having Choi Han injuring him so much so early on, there are no more bombing incidents by Arm in the TCF timeline. I totally forgot about that one, and a fanfic had to remind me it was even a thing.

Or the fact that the White Crown, which consumes Dragon blood, left a phantom image upon the bone Dragon which Cale found in the swamp. It implies that the White Star had the Crown feed upon that Dragon as he killed him, and I made a whole theory how that battle left the White Star so injured he decided to break his plate on that spot and leave a piece of the Dominating Aura behind, to loose some "weight" from his over-burdened plate. And how it makes sense that the Dominating Aura would show Cale the glimpse of that Crown for a moment, despite it no longer being there, because the two are connected and the Dominating Aura definitely WANTED Cale to realize something was up.

Or that moment when the nobles are announced as they enter the meeting in the beginning of the story, and every named character plays a role later on: Antonio becomes an ally, and Karin becomes an enemy.

A tiny detail like Mayor Obante witnessing a Dragon's aura, and that Dragon being a "typical arrogant Dragon who tells everybody to kneel", who is later revealed to be Rasheel, and that description fits him perfectly.

So many wonderful details, some of which never come up again or for a long time... They all make this story so much richer.

[maxwell-grant]

Any thoughts on AKI in SF6?

I haven't had a chance to play the game yet and I might do a more thorough look into the newcomers after I do sit through World Tour, but yeah I got some AKI thoughts. Holy shit what a design. Top 15-20 in the series, it is one hell of a different thing to watch it animated by the character's personality and moveset and vibe. We expected some FANG-isms, some Juri-isms, but certainly not that. We expected a cold, even generic assassin, not someone who merrily treats the penal code like a list of chores.

It was pretty funny seeing the reaction to her develop from "oh she's FANG's apprentice, okay I guess, not sure anyone was asking for that", to "is she the new Juri, she's got a really similar vibe", to "holy shit Juri's got NOTHING on her". In reaction to her popularity, SF6 had been doing a lot of great character work on Juri that, while making her much more developed and entertaining as a character (cringe failgirl Juri was such a revelation) and dramatically more interesting as a person, also really limits the extent to which she can be a straight-up villain anymore. Much like how FANG was designed to fill the void left by Sagat, AKI here crashed the scene to fill the void left by Juri, and so she gets to be not just completely 100% horrible (where as Juri is like, 70-80% horrible), but also SCARY in a way Juri never could be. She gets so, so much out of not being designed for sex appeal and coolness first and foremost, she's like the D'Vorah to Juri's Mileena.

She's a horrible, predatory character, and much like Marisa, I don't think she would have been allowed at all to exist the way she does had she debuted prior (you just know they would have not given her those sick ass pants or given her a different haircut or a cleavage window or something stupid like that). The development team for V repeteadly stated that there were ideas for a new assassin apprentice character related to Gen thrown around and that some of those made their way into FANG and Seth, and AKI is the end result of that very long refinement process. She's the resident freakshow character in the tradition started by Blanka and Dhalsim, and she's the outrageous over-the-top counterpoint to the more traditional martial arts like Chun-Li or even Jamie (much like Adon, or Necro). She's the understudy of the kung fu assassin villain, and in a way akin to Menat she's the young new apprentice of a prior character who acts as a stand-in for that character on the roster and driven to prove her worth before said character, while also being a modern do-over of said character.

(And for the record I actually like FANG quite a bit, a lot more than most of the other V characters. He played like garbage and his execution was lacking and couldn't make up for a terrible first impression in the fanbase, but the design and character and concept I thought were very solid and I'm glad AKI shows they didn't give up on it but took steps to improve on it, I'm glad to see him again in 6).

She breaks new ground for the series by leaning strongly into a horror wraith vibe no other character had before, and she's the Street Fighter equivalent to characters like Voldo, a horrible contortionist slasher villain who doesn't fight you so much as she just passionately and exquisitely butchers you while getting off on it. Her moves are incredible, superbly characterized, she feels vicious and oppressive to watch but still hits that note on FANG's where the playstyle is meant to be tricky but overspecialized and beatable at close range. And while she's designed to be a much more explicitly serious and deadly-looking character than FANG, they even give her goofy little flourishes like blowing bubbles shaped like FANG (and getting pissed if you pop them), his propensity for bird-like arms flapping, and an uncharacteristically childish victory dance akin to Chun-Li's.

She is as cadaverous as Juri is tempestuous, openly referring to herself as a ghost, and when she isn't losing her shit in contorting fits of laughter over success, she has a remarkably chill, upbeat disposition when spouting horrible things to the protagonist or fake poisoning them for laughs. She has an incredibly distinct personality more so than any especially developed inner life, and that's kinda the point: that she has wholly and completely sublimated herself to her role as FANG's tool, by choice and intent of her own, and that's part of why she's a real deal villain.

She was raised by him, she likes what he likes, she is obsessed with everything he is and has done and will do, hates everyone that isn't him, considers him her master and teacher and father and husband all in one, and her romantic fixation and love for him is meant to be deeply disturbing in every way imaginable (and only not a total dealbreaker for me because FANG in no way reciprocates or encourages it or is able to do so, even AKI understands as much), and that they may eventually have to kill each other doesn't deter her one bit.

Despite those surface similarities, there is quite a lot that sets AKI apart from Juri, chief of those being that Juri was victimized by Shadaloo and in response fashioned herself into an instrument of vengeance and turned monstrous as a result, where as AKI actively chose her life and chose being molded by someone else, running away from home and following FANG every step of the way without any regret. Even FANG himself had little choice in his own life, kidnapped as a child and forced to partake in horrible training under which every day could be his last, raised to value nothing but survival at all costs.

Perhaps this in itself is the strength that FANG saw in AKI, that she gets to choose and does so with far greater intent than even himself. That she's someone who could fully understand the horribleness of the Nguuhao methods and lifestyle and want for that and nothing else, to consciously partake in such grueling torture of mind and body and lovingly decide that she can't get enough of it.

And in itself this pairs interestingly with the very idea of giving FANG a dedicated protege sidekick, a character beat that the series has come back to again and again, and takes on an entirely different tone here. I think a lot of what makes AKI's obsession interesting to me in a way these usually aren't, is not just because it's creepy, but because it's ultimately sad and pathetic, and parallels FANG's own craven worship of Bison. It's such a great dynamic, a miserable cycle perpetuated by miserable people caught on the wrong side of that glorification of self-improvement, inner strength and the great heroes and masters who can pass it onto others that the series uses so frequently, and it makes AKI even greater as a character for it: because now we have a true dark mirror for the driving motivation of many of our characters. We have our fucked-up toxic counterpart to every Sakura, Mika, Menat, and Sean out there.

She sees him as he saw Bison and more, and the fact that she is much more threatening and overtly competent and scary than FANG is offset by the fact that worshipping Bison is a wholly different thing than worshipping, y'know, FANG. We comprehend, on some level, FANG's worship, because M.Bison is supposed to be, at minimum, a cool imposing megavillain we're meant to like on some level, which is certainly not true for FANG. SF6 has been very clear on that, that even though he's been given a much slicker outfit, and is keeping a low profile to plot from behind the scenes, this is still very much FANG, every bit the conniving, petty control freak from before.

AKI is a cool, hypercompetent death machine able to scare the pants off the main villain, and she labors desperately day and night, to the point of crying if she fails, to meet the approval of a ridiculous, pathetic man who, no matter how deceptively cunning or dangerous he may be, is only cool to her. Much of why I think FANG worked and was necessary in the first place was because he was designed around the vacuum left by the Four Kings and to contrast them, as what kind of man would it take to work himself ragged running Bison's schemes and being unfailingly loyal to him and Shadaloo, opposite Vega and Balrog's sporadic barely-there alliances and Sagat's outright betrayal. We needed an anti-Sagat, a proper bastard of a Number 2 to run the show in secret. And AKI adds a lot of poignancy to that in that she is much of what FANG can't be, even as she wants nothing more than to be like him.

It's one thing to have somebody who really looks up to and makes an effort to imitate the cool and impressive and heroic World Warriors, or someone influenced by imposing villains like Balrog or Sagat but ultimately decides to carve their own path. It's another thing entirely for maybe THE most obsessive protege character in the series, someone who actively has no identity outside of servitude to her master, to revolve around FANG, the dastardly bird man, who made his debut in a story by hunting down and melting an innocent woman, and grossly and animastically licking her ashen remains off his fingers. What kind of person would decide that this sickening, vile creep is deserving of worship and following until the ends of the Earth?

(art by @remy2fang)

Well, maybe the same kind of person who would consciously look at the likes of M.Bison in the first place, someone they intuitively understand "will reign death on all living beings", and upends their life on the spot towards becoming that man's eternal servant. Someone who seeks self-fulfillment through no other means than the pursuit of strength and knowledge as tools to subjugate others and appease their master. The darkest corruption of the master-student dynamic that defines so much of the series. You couldn't ask for anything more fitting, for the poison specialists.

[sarahjtv]

My Hero Academia: Chapter 424 Spoiler Thoughts:

MHA is finally back from break and we have a calm after the storm chapter. Let me put my thought on Tumblr for a bit:

So, let's get this out of the way: Tomura Shigaraki/Tenko Shimura is dead. Like, DEAD, dead. Unless Kohei Horikoshi pulls the rug under us, I think he's made it clear that Tenko's not coming back. Those last 2 pages were it for his conclusion. He did add one more panel of Shiggy and some dialogue from Deku to say that maybe Deku really did "save" Tenko, but that's all we got. I'm still unsure how to feel about this, but I appreciate Horikoshi giving Tenko a bit more of a conclusion after the last chapter. But, the story isn't over yet, so we'll see if he's mentioned again.

Bakugo's parts were the best parts of this chapter. I'm glad to see him alive and well after everything (I highly doubt Horikoshi would keep him dead again anyway) and that his parents are there for him (Mitsuki yelling at him was funny ngl). Sucks that his right arm will never fully recover, but maybe that rehab will help him get to a good enough place. Also, his moments with Deku and All Might were incredibly sweet and a great conclusion to their little storyline. Seeing Bakugo genuinely tear up and look back on his and Deku's relationship throughout the years honestly moved me because it shows how far this young man has come (the artwork on his face is so good btw; Horikoshi has always been great at expressions in particular). Katsuki Bakugo's character development is one of my favorites in the series and he deserves #1 in every character poll he gets.

EDIT: OH, BAKUGO'S CRYING OVER DEKU BEING QUIRKLESS AGAIN AFTER THE EMBERS BURN OUT ONE DAY I'M GOING TO FUCKING CRY WHAT THE FUCK 😭

Deku continues to be Deku till the very end. I loved Izuku nerding out about how he gets to share a hospital room with All Might because of course he would. It's also nice to hear that A.) All Might reassures Deku that even though he doesn't feel like he saved Tenko because Tenko died, he still might have in the end and B.) Deku still has the embers of One For All which doesn't make him Quirkless. I assume this means that Deku is basically back at the start when he first got OFA. I'm sure his strength is still there at least, but it's probably not nearly as powerful as it was in the final battle.

Also, Deku's haircut 😭! I know they had to do it because it got messed up in the final battle and surgery, but please let his hair grow again before the manga ends, Horikoshi! I want his cute, bushy green hair back! There's also a scar on his right cheek covering his cute freckles I can't. His eyeball popping out of his socket when he sees Kacchan cry was hilarious, though 😂

All Might also telling Deku and Bakugo that they're the greatest heroes to him and everyone else is a really nice full circle on their initial dreams when the story started.

And then there are the two panels we get of Shoto and Ochako. I assume we'll touch on their epilogues next chapter, but I'm curious how they're doing because Ochako looks solemn and we don't even see Shoto's face because his back is turned to us in a dark light. I bet they're reflecting on what happened to Toga and Dabi respectively. We're still not sure if either of them really died, so it's a coin flip as to whether they did or not. There's also Shoto's whole family situation that needs tying up which is a whole other can of worms. I really hope this gets covered in the next chapter.

Finally, we see Deku and the others returning to UA which is currently being rebuilt. I'm guessing we'll see how everyone else is doing post-war too either in the next chapter or later. While we need to cover the main 4 (Izuku, Bakugo, Shoto, and Ochako), we also need to see how everyone else is doing because they weren't the only ones affected by the war. Everyone has battle scars of some kind.

And while the chapter is called "Epilogue", it's not over yet. We clearly have more story to cover and bows to tie as neatly as possible. Horikoshi can't please everyone (no one can, really), but I can tell that he's doing his best and that he still genuinely cares about his story after nearly 10 years. I'd say we have the rest of June at least and the end of summer at most until MHA finally ends. This was a really nice "wrap-up" chapter and we have more to go until the end. Despite its flaws, My Hero Academia is still peak fiction to me and some of the parts in this chapter cement that. It will always have a special place in my heart. I will be sad to see this series go, but I will be there until the end.

EDIT: I just saw Horikoshi's comment this week and it basically confirms that we have more story to come. He doesn't say how many chapter but he says "I'll keep going for a little while" and that we're returning to school life; the "Academia" part of the story. I'm really glad he's not rushing the conclusion because there's a lot of stories and characters to give finales to. I'm also really curious to see how school life is post-war, so I'm glad that'll be explored.

[lilbeanz]

Hello! Not an ask, just wanted to say I adore your content; you're so skilled. I came across your art first, and the drama of even the smallest panel; I'd been eyeing JoDT & sequels for awhile because it was a WIP, but I caved and binged bks1-4 in about three days. I reread the "Eat your heart out Pureblood society" scene at least once a day, thank you for that, superb execution. I also really liked, in the first book, the interactions between Malfoy & Harry, and the very gradual "well, he's our friend now." The development of their friendship has done a great job of re-defining the characters and their relationships. The series feels like its own thing, and the fact that Ginny never even had the diary in book 2 only cemented that. I've really appreciated the deviation from Draco-the-tortured-hero/Draco-making-amends (which I also love to read). Horrors of the Heir was a great twist and really put the whole series in another tier, tbh. CoS was like, my least favorite of the series as a kid (alongside GoF, which has grown on me as I read fanfic) and your version of bk 2 easily established the micro-obsession of your series for me. Also, Crabbe & Goyle?? "They're actually really good friends"?? "Just to see if we feel anything"?? Adorable. Obsessed.

tldr; Your rewrite of the series is incredibly unique, and I admire how you've really taken the series and made it something completely fun and new and modern 💜💜💜

Looking forward to the rest. Thank you for sharing!

AaaAaaAaaHhhHhhHh?!??!?!

This is such a lovely comment, I can't even -- I -- I'm --

Thank you so much! I'm so glad you're enjoying the series so far! It really has been such a challenging, fun project!

I adored writing the "Eat Your Heart Out" scene. People tend to forget that Draco Malfoy is canonically *very* dramatic when he wants to be. Yes, he can be sulky and scheming, but he also shouts taunts across the courtyard, and puts on scenes to make older students laugh at Harry’s expense, even going so far as to dress up as a Dementor to make his "rival" lose in Quidditch.

The Horror of the Heir was such an experience for me as the author, because CoS is my favourite book from the series (weird, ik) and looking back, I sort of realise I could’ve squeezed in so much more. But last May, 45k was a HUGE amount of words for me! And now I'm churning out 100k like nobody's business 💀

✨️Growth✨️

And speaking of growth, the reason I had Draco take Tom Riddle’s diary was purely because of growth. It would've taken him far longer to change as a person if he hadn't taken Ginny's place. A pivotal character development moment, as he reflects on his upbringing etc...

Crabbe and Goyle generally get overlooked in the fandom, and it really bugs me. Vince dies canonically, yes, but I absolutely love it when fic writers incorporate Greg as an actual character in post-war fics, and acknowledge that Vince was Draco’s friend.

It's always Blaise, Pansy, and Theo because they're intelligent and societies definition of "attractive." I mean, each to their own of course, but I could write an entire essay on the injustice I feel for Crabbe and Goyle!

And then, of course, the development of Draco’s relationship with the Golden Trio, specifically Harry. Just -- Ugh-- these silly kids make me so unhinged!😂

It wouldn't be all sunshine and rainbows to begin with. Of course it wouldn't. It's a rocky start, with bumps along the way (and more big bumps to come), but I really do love the way I have progressed their relationship, and I'm not even gonna be humble about it! I really do love my own fic!!!

All this to say, thank you so much!!! I realise fix-its are a very popular type of fic to write, but I really do try to keep it as fresh and unique as possible, so the fact that I really am able to give my readers an experience means the world to me💖

[qsmprambling]

A ramble about qBad and Parenthood (all for the character of course!)

It's pretty obvious that no matter what anyone says or how much they insist otherwise, Bad does not accept anyone (other than Skeppy) as Dapper's parent but himself.

Yesterday when Baghera said that Dapper was her son Bad pushed back on it a little, but when she didn't budge he very quickly said they didn't need to talk about it.

He loves Baghera, he accepts (reluctantly) that Dapper wants to call her mom, but in his own head and heart it is clear that he is Dapper's only parent, and Dapper is his only child. He may talk about adopting other eggs, but when it comes down to it he still considers them his nieces and nephews. While Pomme was trying to find the right time to call him 'dad', because she considers him as one of her parents, he had a heart to heart with Dapper while she and Richarlyson were near and it was very clear that for him he has his nieces and nephews, and then he has his son, Dapper.

It's somewhat understandable that maybe Baghera and Pomme might not see it as a big deal; they are already part of a 5 parent family to one egg, so what is the big deal about adopting another egg/getting another parent? It is just a different mindset and they obviously mean no harm- they adore Dapper and Bad!

But for Bad and all the other starting egg parents this is not the case. They are all individual family units, with extended support (aunts and uncles and friends), but still their own family units all the same. Since the start it has been him and Dapper against the world, and they got through the incredibly rough early Island days and became close. He adores Dapper, and Dapper loves him, and he loves their family.

So of course he is going to be upset with changes to this dynamic, especially without his consent and behind his back. He admitted to Tallulah that part of him was afraid Dapper was going to replace him, and who could blame him? He took care of Dapper for months on his own, and he adores Dapper more than anyone (after all, 'Dapper' was his answer to all Cucurucho's questions about who he loves the most, his best memories, etc.)... but the moment he is away for a few days, Dapper asks someone else to adopt him? He hasn't said as much but that has to hurt, or at least raise some questions. I don't think any of the original egg parents would be happy with such a development, because again, they are all individual families. Someone just walking up and saying they are now also a parent to your child is jarring to say the least!

Also before it gets mentioned, qBad can indeed be a jealous person, but in this situation there is validity to his feelings. He is happy for Dapper to have other connections and friendships and family members, but having other parents is a step too far for him.

And it's sad seeing other parents and even Dapper invalidating his feelings in that, telling him it's a good thing that more people love Dapper and he should just let everyone adopt his son.

Up until Baghera, everyone was happy to be aunts and uncles to the eggs, and there was no issue with this connection. And up until now, no other egg has been adopted by another player except for Tallulah, and that was by her grandfather and main caretaker after spending months in his care (AND it's temporary). But Dapper was adopted by Baghera while Bad was away, and Etoiles too has also told Dapper he was adopting him and they just wouldn't tell Bad about it.

I don't know, I don't have a conclusion to this, I just find it unfair. Bad really loves their little family, and it bothers me that other people are crossing those boundaries and then judging Bad for being upset about it.

I'm glad the QSMP twitter only listed Bad as Dapper's parent - because that's the truth (even if Bad would like them to mention Skeppy too).

[dr-docktor]

About Floppy Disk Curt... So, do you have some more plot made for this au? Sorry if you made a post and I missed it, I just mean - how does Owen realize that Curt is (semi) sentient? What does he do? How sentient is Curt, actually? What does he remember? And how much can he feel? Does their codependence get worse?

HAHAHA I'M SO GLAD YOU ASKED. I sort of expanded on some of the lore in some previous asks but none of it is super organized so I can go over it real quick! I'm still developing a lot of it so if things don't make a ton of sense, I'm working on fixing that lol. First off, I sort of shifted the time period around to be closer to the 90's to better fit the technology, aesthetics, and the rise in popularity of mascot-y desktop assistants.

Owen kills Curt during the staircase scene and despite what he tells himself and his coworkers. He regrets it. He regrets it so god damned much. There's no one to feel so strongly about anymore, whether it be love or seething hatred. He just feels empty.

Meanwhile, Chimera retrieved Curt's corpse and uploaded his consciousness into a computer with the hopes of getting what little he knows about the inner workings of A.S.S. out of him. (don't ask how this is possible, uhhhh silly sci-fi shenanigans I guess)

Of course, he's not cooperative. So Chimera opts to do the totally sane and not evil thing by separating himself from his memories of being human. His ambitions, his relationships, everything except for what Chimera needs. They can't seem to find a way to outright delete the memories for good (I'll probably either rework this part or figure out why they can't outright delete them) but what they can do is try and build up walls of restrictions to prevent him from accessing them. So for a a little while he's just this blank slate spitting out what little information he knows about A.S.S. Mostly useless.

Until Chimera gets an idea.

With the rise of a new trend comes the opportunity for PROFIT. This one being the rise of household computers and mascot-y desktop assistants to help the average user learn how to use a computer.

But Chimera wants to take it a step further. They are the future, after all. They want a desk top assistant that's incredibly life-like. Something that the user can have a genuine conversation with (like an incredibly early chatbot). This project is also absolutely meant to be spy-ware. 1000%. No way its not.

They call the project the 'Beta Anatomy Simulacrum Technology for Research and Development'. Or B.A.S.T.R.D for short! (I had to STRETCH to make that acronym work lmao)

Rather than start this from scratch, the project head (The name I'm going with right now is Harper Royale) has the brilliant thought of "well, what's more life-like than an actual human consciousness in a computer that we have collecting dust somewhere in the tech labs? It's already a husk we just add some code to it and bam it's ready!"

So they take the empty husk of digital curt mega and fix it up a little. Royale thinks its a good idea to give a miniscule amount of his humanity back to him. Namely curiosity (so he can learn things) and a basic understanding of how to have a functional conversation with people. Nearly everything else, like the cheery personality and character model, is all added in by the developers.

The good news is the projects going great! Employees within Chimera are finding the little guy really helpful and entertaining. Employees nickname him DC as a reference to his knowledge on A.S.S. Like their own personal informant inside DC (as in the capital of the us where a lot of government buildings and information is stored)

The bad news? Curiosity. Because now he wants to know why the sad looking British guy from one of the first few rounds of test trials keeps calling him Curt.

Tt spirals into this terrible loop of DC starting to put stuff together, never quite reaching the conclusion that he was a living person once (much less the importance of one Owen Carvour) before the employees catch on to what he's doing and reset him from square one. Over and Over and Over again. The only frame of reference that DC has are these hidden notes he leaves himself during each loop.

Eventually the higher-ups at Chimera realize that the cost of having to go through the complicated process of resetting DC the moment they figure out that he's gained a little sentience and then run through test trials AGAIN simply outweighs the potential profit. So they move to shut down the project, much to Royale's dismay.

The higher-ups joke that Carvour should be the one to do the honors, given everything between him and Curt. And he's like "ok yeah I'll do it" and they're like "we were joking but you've given us zero reason to doubt you so have fun killing the simulacrum of your former closest friend, bestie"

Owen, of course, decides to go behind everyone's backs and download the one and only existing copy of the B.A.S.T.R.D program onto his personal computer. At this point, Owen has no clue about DC slowly regaining his sentience if left unchecked and literally only did it because he has problems about processing the fact that he killed Curt that he refuses to confront. (what a normal guy)

So slowly, having been freed from this loop of resets, DC slowly begins to put together the pieces. He doesn't know how exactly Owen may or may not be involved in any of this, but he keeps most of this growing autonomy a secret for safety reasons. Just in case Owen is decidedly someone not to be trusted and turns him in.

DC, however, will test still the waters by subtly bringing up memories that he knows are somehow important to either him or Owen and then gauging his reaction. Doing his damn best to put together context clues.

Admittedly I don't have anything beyond this yet. I'm still working on Owen's reactions to all of this and also how the technology works. But I hope this answers at least some of your questions!

[sophieinwonderland]

It's interesting that you mention thinking you were primarily made through parroting in the beginning (if I'm reading that correctly.)

Our expereince with making a tulpa had been incredibly difficult when we specifically tried to avoid parroting. About 10 or so years ago on reddit and tulpa.info and other such forums, parroting was a big fearmongering topic. It seems like it's gotten way more chill on all fronts, the people who stuck around and claimed having made tulpas ended up saying parroting wasn't as bad as others made it seem, and they really did make it seem like a big bad thing that would ruin your tulpa forever!

I think it was more them overthinking an ethics question, can you truly say a tulpa is independent if you started out choosing words for them? I think the answer is more likely that the human brain is really good at being another person, but it still needs some guidance to jumpstart that. The issue of ethics would apply after the tulpa starts talking on its own, if you dismiss what it says or decide it is saying smth else, thats an issue only after it begins to actially act on its own. But it needs a blueprint to follow. It brings to mind the phenomenon of authors characters eventually gaining their own autonomy, wanting to take the story into different directions and going against the author's wishes. It wasn't until we allowed ourselves to parrot by essentially writing fanfiction of our tulpa that he actually started to talk on his own. I think parroting can be a really important tool, and it just kinda sucks how much it was shunned as a wholly bad thing back then.

Sorry this was more of me ranting in your inbox about how the beginnings of tulpamancy really left a sore mark on us, but I'm extremely glad to hear more cases of parroting being an actually effective tool!

I think another reason for this mentality is a fear that this would cause more parrotnoia later, and possibly make it harder to recognize when the tulpa starts acting for themselves.

But IMO, it's a bunch of elitist, purist nonsense.

The vast majority of accidental tulpas start out from imaginary friends or OCs who the creator parrots in the beginning before developing into a fully autonomous tulpa.

And anyone who spends time in the tulpa community should recognize that.

And surely if this works for accidental tulpas, it's probably a more efficient method of making tulpas. It's so easy, people do it when they're not even trying!

And I don't see these adverse effects from accidental tulpa made this way that a lot of these purists would expect to see.

Obviously, excessive parroting is bad. But I believe a bit in the beginning before they're developed into a tulpa is a great way to get the ball rolling.

[bedlamsbard]

Greetings from a Fan, I felt compelled to send this message after reading your posts regarding Queen's Gambit. My intent is not to upset or harm you, but I sincerely apologize if I do so nonetheless. I just wanted to say how much I absolutely *adore* the Ouroboros series. It's one of my favorites of all time across all the fandoms I'm interested in. It's also the reason I fell head over heels in love with the Obi-Wan/Anakin/Padme pairing. You've written the characters so incredibly well and I just cannot get over your amazing worldbuilding. I am an absolute sucker for the way you wrote Padme and the rich culture/history you created for Naboo. Those little details just added so much breath and flavor to your stories that to this day I remain speechless as to what you've created. With regards to Obi-Wan, oh my dear lord, what a heartbreaking masterpiece you created. The sheer level of love and anguish you brought forth after he lost Anakin was just devasting. He's such an incredibly complex character and you did a smashingly exceptional job with him. You really did him and his relationship with Anakin justice and I truly thank you for that. And Anakin, what can I say, there are so many layers to Anakin that there's never an easy way of writing him. But through his relationships with Obi-Wan and Padme, we can peel back those layers and you really took the time and care to do that. The entire series was an incredible concept in it's totality, and I love weird alternative universe/time-travel/fix-it fics. I will eternally lament that the series will never be finished because I would have loved to have read what happens in the next entry of the series which is where Obi-Wan fell to the Dark side (unless I'm mistaken). Nonetheless, I like to think that in the end they have their happy ending with one another (wherever it may have led them) and I thank you for sharing and posting this series with us. I know it meant a great deal to me and I would like you to know how I much I do sincerely mean that. Thank you. ❤️

Aww, thank you, I'm flattered to hear that! I know that Wake and Gambit (as well as the ancillaries Tales and Sound) are very loved stories for a lot of people, even when I get grief for them, which has been going on for more than a decade now. I'm always very glad to hear that readers do enjoy those stories.

The third Ouroboros story, which takes place in the universe that Padme arrives in during the last scene of Gambit, was supposed to be called All Along the Watchtower. There are bits and pieces of it in the all along the watchtower tag dating back about a decade now. It is a universe where Obi-Wan fell to the dark side and a bunch of other stuff happened as a result -- the three universes in Ouroboros are all meant to be the worst fears of the main three characters, thus canon (Wake) being Anakin's (he goes dark side and kills everyone he loves), Gambit being Padme's (she becomes a warmongering demagogue who causes a Jedi to betray himself for her), and Watchtower being Obi-Wan's (he goes dark side and is responsible for the downfall of the Republic and the Jedi Order). This is the most recent summary of what I remember that I was thinking; it went through a lot of development over the course of ten years, and as late as 2021 I was still trying to back into it via Rebels: the alternate universe where Ezra had been during The Starry Crown is the Watchtower 'verse, during the point in time where the Wake trio was there -- a.k.a. the Rebellion era, so they're also time traveling again. The Wake trio had all ended up in different locations in the Watchtower 'verse: we see Padme where she ended up at the end of Gambit, Anakin was on Coruscant, Obi-Wan was on Tatooine, and they're all dragged into the political events of that universe, which are very different from Wake, canon, or Gambit.

The intention was always for the Wake trio to end up back in their own universe, probably picking up Rex along the way; the base Wake universe is obviously suffering from Code Name Retribution, but the situation is not as bad as it could have been.

[ladyloveandjustice]

oh yeah I did watch the Sailor Cosmos Movies a while back.

-It genuinely startled me to hear Mamoru tell Usagi "I love you" (Aishiteru, no less) and I realized this is because I don't think he ever said it in the 90's anime. The closest was saying "yes" when she asked if he loved her. Weird to realize,

-Again, I prefer it to adding dumb shit like Crystal season 1 did, but the movie following the manga so faithfully means it switches location and scene every two minutes.This is fine for a manga where the backgrounds are sparse, everything flows together, you read at your own pace, but absolutely dizzying for a movie. there's no time to breathe.

-this arc is so relentless it really is like a horror movie (in space!) You're constantly waiting for the next person to die, and it's always so quick and kind of unceremonious

-they did tone down the blood though :/ of course. its okay if someone gets stabbed through the chest and dies, but can't have her bleed.

-the movie takes out any ambiguity about Cosmos being future Usagi and offers some additional backstory, with her explaining that a war broke out in Earth and decimated Crystal Tokyo and by the time they finally achieved piece so many had died she realized it could happen again and just thought maybe she should have ended things back then. It only shows dead civilians though. In one part Mamoru is seen fighting or something, but then later Usagi is contemplating the corpses on her own. There's no indication if anything happened to him or the Senshi. I think it would be funny is nothing did, and she just left to go have this existential crisis without them.

-The movie also hammers in that Usagi's choice here shows how much she's grown since the first arc (and from her past), she even flashes back to stabbing herself before saying "I want to live, no matter how tough it is". I always saw this bit of character development but the movie REALLY wants to make sure people don't miss it, which is good because from my experience a lot of people did.

-THANKFULLY the movie makes sure to show us Artemis and Luna and Diana are okay by showing Usagi returning home and Luna talking to her. It always really bothered me that the manga did not confirm that!!! i'm glad they fixed!!!

-it was basically fine, it was the manga but a little rushed and I did like all the extra stuff they added which is incredible by the reboot's standards, and I am glad to see the space opera bloodbath existential nightmare that is the final arc fully animated. That's worth everything else we had to go through. well mostly.

actually maybe it's just worth a quarter of all the other bullshit. It was a shitshow and it's taken them ten years, but it sure got completed and at least looked reasonably good toward the end.

-the fact it ends with Usagi marrying everyone is always so incredible. largely I think it's good the 90s anime is it's own seperate thing but it should have also ended with older Usagi proudly confirming she had premarital sex during her wedding and then having her entire girl squad wear wedding gowns (a tux in Haruka's case. unlike her horrible dress in this one) so they can all get married together

[peachdues]

(I don't speak English and used a online translator, so there are probably a lot of mistakes in the text, I'm sorry.)

I want to thank you for your in-depth analysis of Kyojuro. I am glad that you convey the full range of his emotions and the complexity of his personality! In 99% of the cases of his appearance in the anime, we saw him in the role of an older brother who tries to show his younger ones only the best manifestations of his personality. Even when communicating with other hashira, he is bound by duty, responsibility and his mother's instruction to "light the path of others with his flame", so we could not directly see him in the fullness of his character, but there were so many hints of the dark sides of his passion! He just didn't disclose it. And if he had a girlfriend who would emphasize those sides of him that he hides from others? Which he hadn't been able to fully manifest for so long? Yes. He is not perfect and does not always know how to deal with the situation, the condition of a happy puppy is not his permanent and he is also not a stereotypical flame daddy. You have found a balance appropriate to the specific situation.

Your yan. characterization of this character in the "Hall of gilded bones — nsfw teaser" is so accurate. His passion, his ability to control himself, his rationality and his dedication are depicted very well! I also want to say that your development and progress in writing is incredible! You work so much and it gives amazing results. This is far from the level of fanfiction. Your efforts are greatly appreciated! Further success to you!

THIS IS??? SO SWEET??

Truly thank you so much 😭 every so often I get one jerk in my inbox complaining about how I write Kyojuro, so this means so, so much!

I so agree with you — what we see of Kyo’s personality is soooo limited. How he acts toward his juniors is not definitive of how he would act toward his equals. Flame breathing is described as rooted in passion — but passion encompasses ALL emotions!

I’ve really missed writing for him. Tell Me to Stop is still probably my favorite fic I’ve written, and it’s the single reason I haven’t written a full fic for him since — though that’s changing! Both Bitter & Sweet and The Sweet Far Thing are in progress (as is Hall of Gilded Bones which, I know this ask was in response to — and it’s gonna be YEEEESH).

So thank you so much for your kind words! It means the world to me, you’ve no idea!

[itachis-eyes]

Naruto's Good Faith VS Kawaki's Upbringing

Good morning, yes, I'm Borutoposting again.

One of my favorite things about the introduction of Kawaki into the series and his eventual hyper obsession over Naruto is how real it is.

Naruto did not expect and was not prepared- and would have never been prepared for how attached and ultra protective Kawaki would become of him. It's not Naruto's fault, nor is it Kawaki's, no one was equipped to deal with this correctly. It reached the only natural outcome it could.

Kawaki's life sucked. It really just did! Out of many characters he definitely had the right to excuse his behavior on his upbringing- he literally did not know anything different. His biological Father used him as a punching bag, sold him off for cash, and then his new "father figure" Jigen experimented on him and ruthlessly trained him to become his next vessel. There was literally no love in his life, Jigen reminded him of this every chance he could. Jigen is not even an effective manipulator (like Orochimaru was), Kawaki hated every second he spent there and had no loyalty for Jigen. He directly expresses in conversation with Boruto that he wishes the experiment was a failure and he had died.

So Kawaki just has...no one! No one at all he can trust. Everyone is an enemy to him, and it's not until Naruto holds him and tells him he's safe after Kawaki accidentally triggers himself that his feelings for Naruto begin to change.

For the first time in his life, he has a Father figure who cares. Who genuinely cares about his health, well-being, and about forming relationships with other people (seeing as he wants him and Boruto to get along as well). Despite Kawaki consistently testing him (because it has to be a farce right? I'm just some punk nobody--), Naruto never resorts to physical violence to "punish" or "correct" Kawaki. There's plenty of chidings for him misbehaving and starting fights, but not a single blow.

I'd say that's great strides for a man who very often used to boast about wanting to break every bone in Sasuke's body to drag him back to Konoha. I like this development. He knows Kawaki needs a gentle hand and a figure he can trust implicitly. He gives that figure to Kawaki, and it works.

But Kawaki doesn't just go from 0 to 100. He goes from 0 to 1000. There was never going to be any reality where Kawaki forms a normal Father/Son attachment to Naruto. He became Kawaki's everything, and Naruto was not prepared for the intensity of Kawaki's attachment and desire to protect him.

And nothing could be done about that! Naruto didn't do anything wrong, he treated Kawaki incredibly well. He gave him the security and shelter that Kawaki craved. But he- nor anyone else, was not ready that Kawaki would go that far.

To us readers- the writing is on the wall. We could see it from a mile away. But to the characters within, they just didn't have any tools to predict it nor deal with it, nor prevent Kawaki's attachment from progressing to the point he unintentionally used Eida's omnipotence to completely rewrite everyone's history of his and Boruto's positions in their lives.

Kawaki's transition makes perfect sense. It really wasn't gonna go any other way. I'm so glad it was written that way.