#it’s just something about a character that has suffering pushed violently on them

[grape-v1nes]

I LOVE JESUS CODED CHARACTERS

[sage-nebula]

re: "why is Zaun associating Jinx with Vander and not Silco?!" / "why is Zaun associating Vander with Jinx and not Vi or Ekko?!"

These questions come from a misunderstanding, I believe, of WHO the Vander in the mural is. The Vander in the mural is NOT the Vander we (the audience) got to know; he is not the man who raised Vi and Powder.

The Vander in the mural is the original Hound of the Undercity; he is the man the citizens of the Lanes looked to when they needed someone to beat the enforcers back with fists and fury when necessary. He is the man who worked with Silco (a man he called brother) to plan a revolution against Piltover, the man who Sevika once willingly followed because she believed that he had a plan to bring topside to its knees and finally free Zaun from the oppression they'd been suffering under. He is the man who led an army across the Bridge of Progress, who fought with ragged breath as that army—an army that included Vi and Powder's parents—was slaughtered by the enforcers. Put simply:

The Vander in the mural is the man who led a direct violent act of revolution against Piltover, something that to date only one other named character has ever done—Jinx.

That is why Vander and Jinx are tied together on the mural. It doesn't matter that Vander gave up on a revolution after the massacre at the bridge and made a deal with the enforcers under the table (while they continued to oppress Zaun), because just about no one knows about that. It doesn't matter that Jinx fired the rocket at the council in a culmination of all the loss she has suffered in her life (her birth parents, her adoptive family, Silco, Vi), because no one knows about that, either. They don't need to know, because symbols aren't people. Symbols are actions. Symbols are statues and murals. And when they need to be, symbols are martyrs.

Think about who is pushing Jinx to be a symbol. It's Sevika. Sevika, who used to follow Vander when she believed he was fighting for revolution. Sevika, who betrayed Vander for Silco when she realized Vander would cow to enforcers to protect his children. Do you think it's an accident Vander is on the mural? Sevika knows that most of Zaun still remembers Vander as the Hound of the Underground, the last one who made a real stand against Piltover on the bridge all those years ago. And he picked Jinx up off the bridge that night! And now she's making a stand, too! That's a powerful, emotional story. That will get at people's hearts and rally them. That is on purpose, because Sevika is fucking smart.

That is why they are in the mural together. Because they have both tried—and Jinx has succeeded—to commit the base violence against Piltover necessary for change. Silco's method of building the Nation of Zaun was far more subtle and covert, focusing on shimmer production and being a Zaun crimelord (and he worked with enforcers too). Ekko's Firelights didn't bring the fight to the enforcers because they were too busy trying to organize and actually help their community there on ground level. Vi spent most of her time in Stillwater, and when she was out she spent the rest of it trying to find her sister with her enforcer flirtationship and then busting up a shimmer factory with a Piltie councilman. But Vander led a brutal, bloody fight against enforcers on the bridge, and Jinx blew up the council and then set off even more colorful bombs in the city.

That's why it's the two of them on the mural.

[tossawary]

Sasuke not wanting to be a warrior and giving up on his revenge against Itachi is wildly OOC without some really strong push for this change, which is why I lean towards an SI-OC for a House Husband Sasuke AU, because the amount of trauma and pressure that canon Sasuke is suffering from all angles is intense. But the way that I could MAYBE see canon Sasuke giving up on recklessly focusing on revenge against Itachi is if there had been other survivors of the Uchiha massacre.

Like, okay, I understand that the Uchiha massacre was the plan of a couple different puppet masters, so it's not going to make sense. (Massacres do not, as a rule, ever "make sense". They are bad full-stop.) Part of the goal here is obviously to just get rid of the Uchiha clan and the potential threat that they pose to future plans.

But Sasuke could have just died on some random mission as a genin and then what? What if Madara and Obito lose? This is an incredibly violent world filled with incredibly clever ninja, it's unreasonable not to be concerned about any of them being offed randomly by accident. People like Danzo and Zetsu then have no more new Uchiha children to use and to harvest if anything goes to shit. And their stupid plans are often so overcomplicated that there should be a high chance of things going to shit!

They have cloning, of course, but secret cloning operations are probably expensive and presumably have a relatively high failure rate, and require the cooperation of people like Orochimaru and Kabuto. What if you just don't have the material left for a good cloning process?

Itachi is in a really weird position here and I do not well remember all of the different puppet strings that are being pulled here. I assume that Madara and Obito wanted all Uchiha dead for some reason? But I would have assumed that people like Danzo and the Third Hokage would have preferred to leave most of the children alive to mold into a new generation of Uchiha soldiers. I vaguely remember something about Danzo maybe being prejudiced against the Uchiha? (EDIT: Yeah, Danzo probably doesn't want any kind of law enforcement looking into his shit and the Uchiha are the cops, but that doesn't fully explain why he would want to get rid of all of the Uchiha children too.) So maybe Danzo wants them all gone too, and everyone is just forced to leave Sasuke alive because they know Itachi WILL go more insane than he already is if Sasuke bites it in an "accident".

"The Uchiha were planning a coup" is such an unsatisfactory explanation for the actions of a lot of these characters. It is IMPOSSIBLE for every Uchiha to have been 1) an adult, 2) a ninja, and 3) someone who voted for a coup and participated in it. We know ninja like Itachi and Shisui felt more loyal to the village itself and they couldn't have been the only ones. Uchiha have been defecting from their clan in order to join the village instead since Uchiha Hikaku abandoning Madara for Senju Hashirama after Izuna's death and before the creation of the village.

And we know that this is a sexist, patriarchal world! There would have been some men who would have decided the course of action FOR their spouses and their children, if the spouses and children were aware of this ninja operation at all. EVERY single disabled and elderly person in the clan was in on it too? EVERY civilian? Since Hashirama, NO Uchiha has ever married outside of their clan? Okay, I can buy that the Uchiha clan would be incredibly controlling regarding their bloodlines, yes, and I know that they were being isolated and that the more "progressive" Uchiha with outside lovers were probably being killed off by their enemies. Fine. Maybe all of the other adult Uchiha were cooperating and had impossibly good information security, let's pretend that's true.

But that still leaves the issue of the children! Would an isolated Uchiha clan trying to orchestrate a coup not be super controlling about encouraging their members to get into "good, traditional families" and make more "loyal Uchiha soldiers"? Fascist states often get really weird about that kind of thing. Sasuke cannot have been the only young Uchiha child at this point in time! It would be... REALLY weird if he was.

(Itachi is not heroic for this. It is a TRAGEDY. It is horrifying. There are no heroes in this part of the story and the best that I can say for Itachi is that he was another victim of really weird and twisted circumstances.)

Anyway, I think it would be fun to have an AU where Sasuke is left as the clan head of a bunch of children, at least 10 of them or so. He's the oldest among them at 8-9 years old. (I'm pretty sure that other fanfictions have done this before. Someone must have done this concept before.) Everyone expects Sasuke to just dump the children on some village caretakers so he can pursue his ninja career, in order to become the new powerful protector of his clan and murder his brother, but MAYBE this situation is something that would make canon Sasuke decide against all manipulation that he can't actually afford to chase Itachi.

He still wants to be super powerful, of course, so that he can murder Itachi if his brother ever comes back, but otherwise? Rebuilding the clan is more important. He's staying at home for his training and accepting parentification with wide open arms and a deep scowl.

(There is the danger of ROOT making off with Uchiha children, which is also unpleasant to think about.)

I think it would be funny for Naruto to deal with the fact that his rival has been a dad since the age of 8-9 years old. (Sakura: "IDIOT. How did you not KNOW that??? EVERYONE knows that!")

I also think it would be funny if Sasuke, when he was annoyed with Kakashi's bullshit, unconsciously pulled out a squeaky tweenage Disappointed Dad Voice to express his frustration with his teacher. (Sasuke: "Do you think that it helps anyone for you to behave this way???" Kakashi: "Hm, there are many things that I don't like about this.")

[mrhaitch]

hi mr. haitch!

i was wondering if you could do a character analysis on suguru geto? i have a hard time understanding how his ideology changed, specifically when he takes it to the extreme and wants to eliminate ALL non-sorcerers. i’d also like to hear your thoughts on the dynamic between gojo and geto… their conflicts and how they drifted apart but never permanently resented the other. lastly, if possible, could you touch on how loneliness affected the two and if it had any impact in their actions, both after riko’s death and after their argument when they split paths

thank you so much,

a curious anon

My knowledge of the series is pretty limited so I can only answer with what I've seen and understood, but Geto and Gojo can be looked at as two different reactions to the same trauma: one blames himself and the other blames everyone else.

That's the core to the changes both of them underwent after Riko's death. Gojo was recognised and elevated as the strongest from birth - the linchpin that holds his society together. Despite the swagger and the ego, beneath is a powerful loneliness and detachment. He has been reduced to a function, with no choice other than to fulfill it, and there's a lot of resentment towards Jujutsu society as a result - they took his childhood, his humanity. His whole identity is based on being the strongest, and yet when he found something he wanted to protect - he failed. Since Riko's death we see evidence of constant effort to master his abilities, to better fulfill his role but at the cost of sinking deeper into the expectations of others. Even so, Gojo comes away with a greater appreciation for the vulnerable, especially children.

Geto, however, did not suffer the same societal pressure - everything about him, his place in the story, is a result of choice and agency. He wants to be a sorcerer, wants to get stronger to protect the weak, he wants to work with Gojo to better the world. When we first meet him, he views his abilities as a means to realise his desires, his ambitions, and - fundamentally - his values.

Riko's death, and everything that followed, robbed him of that ability to choose. Her death meant nothing, a new vessel was found, the world didn't end, everyone moved on. Gojo internalised his feelings of failure and forged on - seemingly unmoved. Geto threw everything he had at saving and avenging her and it changed nothing.

I'll pause here and say that I think Geto and Gojo saw different things in Riko: Gojo saw someone weaker than himself forced into fulfilling a role, Geto saw someone exemplary and unique murdered by the powerless. Perhaps (and remember I'm not an expert here) she came to stand for all of Jujutsu society in his mind - someone with an inherent greatness or importance sacrificed for the sake of people who lack the strength to protect themselves. She was the ultimate realisation of his early beliefs (the strong serving the weak) and it proved to be horrible, far removed from what he envisaged.

But let's focus on their reactions: Gojo went further into himself, into his role, aspiring to realise his full strength to protect others. Geto stopped growing - became bitter, twisted, blaming everyone but himself. He thinks himself a liberator, but in truth he is motivated by an endless appetite for revenge - to take his pain and inflict it on everyone else. It's a response common among men who struggle to regulate and manage their anger and personal set-backs, looking to displace their own negative emotions and push them onto someone else: believing it'll lessen their own pain.

All of this is just supposition, though. Fundamentally Geto is a violent racist, with a fascistic worldview built around strength as some kind of valorous ideal - gleefully inflicting pain and suffering on others. We can empathise with his journey, but we don't have to forgive his actions.

[writerswhy]

What I most dislike about the writing for Alicent is that her reaction to the abuse she suffers is vilified. 

Both onscreen and behind the scenes parrot this hysterical, bitter, servant of men narrative they’ve been spouting since episode 1. 

Neither Rhaenyra’s nor Viserys’s failings are acknowledged. After Laenor’s “death” Rhaneyra and Daemon state the realm will “fear what we’ve become” yet we never really see this fear and so Alicent’s paranoia is unfounded. She’s hysterical. 

Rhaenyra has the lawful, dedicated support of noble characters like Harold Westerling (in contrast to the “thug” that is Criston and I hate that Criston, a minority, is described as a thug in contrast to his white counterpart(s)) and Beesbury, who was comically murdered by Alicent’s faction - a frail old man murdered by a thug.

In contrast, Alicent is supported by her “violent sons”, (per Cooke) a violent, toxic man she’s supposed to be afraid of (per Cooke, though we never see this onscreen), Larys who uses her for his sexual-power gratification, and Otto, the only character to be condemned by the writing twice (by Viserys lol, and Alicent). 

Because she chose to align herself with these men. Because there’s something inherently wrong with her. (Because she wasn’t “chosen” like Rhaenyra. Not by the king, or the White Hart, or the prophecy that should’ve never been apart of this show because, looking at all of ASOIAF, it just doesn’t make sense. Especially post GOT.)

Because Alicent reacts like a lady and mother and woman of her time, bound by her social and political constraints, in a narrative that outright condemns these “oppressors” as part of a progressive “feminist retelling”.

Furthermore, Rhaenyra is never pushed to make decisions. She reacts to perceived injustices:

Jace and Luke were a consequence of Laenor’s and Rhaenyra’s inability to produce an heir despite doing their duty (as if they’re the only ones, in contrast to Alicent who allowed herself to be used by her father and Viserys). What is she supposed to do, rape her husband?

She’s forced out of Kingslanding because Alicent bullies her privately and publicly (and this is one of many reasons the “now they see you as you are” line falls flat. People did see her. Isn’t that what episode 6 was all about?). 

Vaemond is executed on her behalf because he called her a whore. :/ 

She’s forced into war because she’s usurped. The show never acknowledges the political arguments for Aegon’s claim, instead bets everything on a misinterpretation of a prophecy.

She’ll be forced into brutal violence because her son is dead and her daughter is dead and that’s what mothers are supposed to do (unless you’re Alicent).

Meanwhile Alicent chooses (is forced) to make decisions that ruin the lives of herself and her children. Most of these choices are the same ones that Rhaenyra perceives as injustices, and that’s fine, but the framing should be able to critique the deliberate moral choices of a character while acknowledging the trauma that has been inflicted upon them and condemn their abusers. 

[homestuckreplay]

miscellaneous thoughts!

No update today :( but I have some miscellaneous thoughts bouncing around in my head, so here they are.

I rewatched the end of act 1 flash animation (p.246) and was hit for the first time with how terrifying this must be for John. I think on first watch I was scared from an external perspective (is he gonna be ok?) but wasn't in his head. This time I was in his head. John's life isn't good or happy right now but there's no indication that he's suffered violent or sudden trauma before. This is probably the single scariest event that's happened to John. His whole life was destroyed in less than five minutes. When I look at this with analytical brain it's so easy to forget that but... no wonder he hesitated. No wonder he was paralyzed with fear for a few seconds before taking that bite. It's such a trial by fire and so much responsibility to just throw at somebody who's been pretty sheltered and not at all prepared for this by their upbringing. I want to highlight this because I want to keep it in mind to understand his character going forward.

Back with the recent Rose update. I think the plastic letters on Rose's fridge are the secret to her modus. The command 'Captchalogue W' for an alphabetical modus really hit me, and the way everything auto-balanced could definitely be utilized, potentially even weaponized, by simply grabbing the right letters to push the necessary card to the root. This would be perfect for someone as wordy as she is, and it's a fun contrast to Dave - her alphabetical modus vs his numerical one.

'But it's hard to resist getting a little silly sometimes. Especially when you are absolutely positive no one is watching.'

With Rose's writing journals (p.220) she seemed to have some awareness of the Homestuck player watching her. Now that's gone, with no difference in command style, and I'm kind of mystified. Is it an occasional prickle at the back of her head that happens randomly? Is she more ashamed of her creative writing than of her silly behavior, and will we understand why if we ever get to peek in those journals? Is this location based - Rose is aware of being watched in her room but by leaving it, the threat of her mom looms so large in her mind that she forgets about the player?

Finally, something more serious. There have been a few instances of the r-slur in this comic already. Everyone gets one - John (p.154), Rose (p.249), Dave (p.333) and the narrator (p.387). I think this is realistic dialog for all these characters (but fwiw I do not think GG would say it). I also think that just because something is realistic doesn't make it ok to uncritically write. Anyone could be reading this who has had this word used against them, and could get hurt again by its being casually tossed around by characters who otherwise mean something to them.

Homestuck is a fairly popular webcomic, and making something on the internet - especially as a full time job - is kind of a legacy. People could read this thing 10 or 50 or 100 years in the future, and using language that, while normalized, is known to be offensive, could keep it in the lexicon and continue to normalize it in future. Maybe this is harsh. But it's everyone's responsibility to be a little kinder in how we talk about vulnerable people. And this is an example of somebody not doing that for the sake of teh jokez. I'm not gonna laugh at that or let it slide without saying something.

[typellblog]

Nadeko Snake - An Analysis

This arc in the novel opens with Araragi meditating on how people change over time. This is not a surprising topic for Nisio to address here. What is surprising is that this opening sequence focuses on Sengoku Nadeko.

Sengoku Nadeko. A character who, in this arc, doesn’t seem to have changed in the six years since Araragi last saw her.

I mentioned last time that one of the cool things about Monogatari is how all of the characters have two sides (more, occasionally). Nadeko, in this arc, barely shows us her first side, let alone a second. It is tempting to skip over this and focus on the incredible character development she gets later. 

We could instead read this arc as largely about Araragi, and the choices that he is confronted with. His new friendship with Kanbaru raises questions about his commitment to Senjougahara. He’s a weak-willed person, Hanekawa says - not just in the sense that he’s easily seduced by a pretty girl, though. We are to understand this as commenting on his willingness to care about a person, to help them out even when it hurts him. Even with strangers. Even with people he’s never met before. 

Oshino questions him on much the same grounds. How are you going to deal with things when I’m gone? Araragi doesn’t just get involved in oddity incidents because he knows a specialist that can help out, he does so regardless. He doesn’t just put himself in danger because his vampire blood allows him to recover from injuries more easily, he would do that anyway. 

Even his nature as part-oddity that keeps him within the world of the supernatural and continues to expose him to dangerous events - that too is optional. He could simply stop caring for Shinobu.

But he can’t. He can’t ignore someone right in front of him that needs help. He’s not that type of person. 

This arc, then, is about asking him what person he would save, if he had to make a choice. In the climax, left with no other option, he physically rips the jagirinawa from Nadeko’s body. The snake spirit attacks him instead - and he can’t beat it. He continues to confront it despite taking heavy injuries, and Kanbaru has to intervene, saving his life by pushing him away and keeping him still. 

The reason why Araragi was so desperate to intervene was because if the snake left, it would return to the person that cursed Nadeko, likely causing their eventual death. It starts to become clear what Oshino meant by oddities being natural processes that shouldn’t be interfered with. Araragi’s attempts to save everyone involved will only backfire on him in the long run. Oshino’s role as a specialist is to balance things out, to address an oddity’s root causes rather than violently destroy them.

It’s why he hates treating those afflicted by an oddity as victims. It’s the reason for his catchphrase, “did something good happen?” He questions the idea that oddity-related incidents are misfortunate for those affected. In reality, oddities operate on a clear logic, they appear for a reason - often as a result of the secret desires or wishes of the affected person. This is why they are so effective as a storytelling tool. They are visual metaphors that are physically present within the story.

So, all that being said . . . what do the snakes reveal about Nadeko’s traumas, her secret desires, her internal world? In this arc, at least, the answer is very little.

We can talk about what is there. She finds the bruises from the snakes entwined around her to be shameful, causing her to cover up more when she dresses. They are, in fact, invisible - others wouldn’t be able to see the marks, let alone the snakes themselves, but there’s clearly more going on with Nadeko’s self-image than the snakes alone. We will not learn about it in this arc.

Furthermore, due to the snakes’ invisibility, she suffers in silence, lying about the pain they were causing to Araragi and Kanbaru. Again, it is not just the snakes causing this - Nadeko is terminally incapable of speaking up about her own suffering, causing her to pointlessly apologize rather than actually tell the truth. Again, this is not touched on much in this arc. 

Her method of attempting to resolve the problem alone is interesting. She kills a lot of snakes for a solution that doesn’t actually do anything. What does that crime, the willingness to hurt other living beings for her own sake, say about her? We don’t find out. 

Nadeko is, according to Oshino, purely a victim. There was no particular reason why she was attacked by the snake. She simply got unlucky. 

(Oshino, of course, never saw Nadeko in person, relying entirely on Araragi’s reporting in order to prescribe a solution to this issue. I can’t help but wonder how differently things would have gone if he had actually met her. Although, he was already trying to cut ties with Araragi and co. at this point, so even if he did catch a whiff of the larger issues that might crop up with her he may have done a half-assed job anyway.)

Wrapping back around to the original point here, some may say that Nadeko was poorly written here. That this arc was just bad, or at least flawed due to its lack of focus on the titular character. 

But my mind keeps coming back to Araragi’s opening monologue in the novel. How he describes the Nadeko of 6 years ago as a “reserved girl of few words who constantly looked down at the floor.” How her behavior in the present is almost exactly the same, despite her being described as having become “a unique someone that I could never forget.” I think it’s clear that Nisio already had some idea about how her later arcs would go.

This arc doesn’t strike me as bad writing, it strikes me as deliberate. The way that people change over time isn’t an isolated theme in this arc, it’s present as Araragi muses on the future of every main character. Hanekawa isn’t going to university. He himself is trying to get into the same one as Senjougahara. Senjougahara herself is changing from what she once was, shedding the trappings of her oddity affliction. Kanbaru will too, in a few years. He, on the other hand - is presented with the choice left to him by Oshino, in that respect.

It’s notable that this conversation with Kanbaru, in the anime, takes place in a specific location on the way to the shrine - a weird little covered pathway. This gets a lot of emphasis in the anime despite not even being mentioned in the novel’s description of the trip. There are some interesting lighting effects, mostly in the sudden transition from darkness to sunshine as they exit the tunnel. The reason why I mention it is because of Araragi’s conversation with Nadeko that takes place in the same location in the next episode, and once again touches on the theme of change over time, but from a different angle. 

Nadeko asks how much he remembers from back when she used to come over to play, and when he says ‘not much’, she’s visibly disappointed, to the point of causing Araragi to break out into a sweat. She says that those days were precious memories to her, and as they exit the tunnel and emerge into the light, she mentions that she was jealous of her friend for having an older brother. It’s an oddly unsettling face she makes, isn’t it?

It’s not just that Nadeko hasn’t changed, it’s that she’s trapped in the past. She still calls him Koyomi-Oniichan, something that he’s clearly surprised by. She still calls his sister Rara-chan, and upon hearing it he thinks about how Tsukihi has changed since then, now being known as part of the Fire Sisters. 

When Nadeko is invited into Araragi’s room, she mentions that it’s a different one, almost surprised. As if he would still be sharing a room with his younger sisters. As if it’s even normal to remember which room your friend’s brother was in six years ago.

There is clearly something very strange going on with Nadeko! But we don’t get to see inside it at all. Nisio’s usual last minute revelations center on the fact that there were two snakes, that both the classmate that Nadeko rejected and the friend who was actually in love with him cursed her. We might wonder what this says about Nadeko, for her to spark such resentment. We will continue to wonder. Araragi is an imperceptive narrator at the best of times. He even jokes that the person Nadeko is already in love with, who she turned down a confession for, would probably be him, were he in a rom-com.

However, one element of this story’s presentation that the narrator’s perspective doesn’t seem to influence is the anime’s opening. The anime adaptation does more generally seem to be aware of future developments than the novels and foreshadows them accordingly (for example, Hanekawa’s circumstances). 

But Renai Circulation is especially impressive in this regard. For one thing, she’s depicted as drawing manga here - and this is well before Koimonogatari was released even in novel form.

The way the final frames end on Nadeko’s knowing smile towards the audience definitely indicate there’s something up here, but I find the first few images most interesting - the way they’re initially static shots of her looking cute and then undergo a sharp change. She turns around in the first, moves her head to directly look at the viewer in the second, and in the third she snaps her pocky. 

I won’t pretend to have completely deciphered the visual language here, but suffice to say that Nadeko is oddly aware of the viewer’s perspective as this opening plays out, her stereotypically moe poses in the last 15 seconds being aimed directly towards the camera.

And speaking of which. She shows a lot of facial expressions here that she'd be too embarrassed to ever display in real life. What’s with that? What’s with . . . the hair colour? This is clearly a stylized version of Nadeko, one that I would argue is deliberately created to give off a cuter impression of her by none other than . . . Nadeko herself. I mean, she’s the one singing the lyrics, right?

If you go to the Youtube comments of any upload of Renai Circulation, you’ll be able to find several comments talking about the clash between the tone of the opening and the show, usually from people who saw the opening first because it was popular and watched Monogatari subsequently.

They can be surprisingly insightful, actually, like this one that points out purely based on the opening you would assume this is from a slice of life show where Nadeko is the main character. Because really, that’s the sort of character that Nadeko would most like to be, the kind of thing that her self-image is focused around. 

However, in this opening you can see the cracks already emerging. Take for example the repeated visual motif of her body being outlined by coloured shadows - and the way those shadows start to drift away from her actual body over time. The disjunction between image and reality starts to creep in.

That’s really the lesson of this arc to me - how hard you have to try to not notice there’s something going on with Nadeko. Despite that, we will have to wait a while to see the full consequences of this unfold, but nonetheless I still find the way she’s portrayed here fascinating. 

And there we go, the length of these is ballooning already . . . might be a Nadeko-specific effect though. If you couldn't tell already, she's my fave and I'm very normal about her!

[amphiptere-art]

I haven't posed the question here and I'm still a little stuck on it. There's still some characters I haven't properly moved over. Some of them are a bit minor, or I didn't like as much so I'm leaving them there. But there's others that I'm really interested in moving.

One of these others is empty cup. I believe empty cup was one of the best worlds I ever made. As much as the ask blog has basically been abandoned. There are still some people that pop on there just to give a like for the pictures and a couple of posts. People seem to enjoy that world and I enjoyed it too. The endless desperation for anything, mixed with the depression of having nothing. Along with the character that pushes to speak or go back to some madness despite the person who could do that being mentally gone. It's an interesting world. Only compounded by the information of Apple's existence.

So here's the issue. Arcade as it is. With its magic. Doesn't have a similar build to support something like Apple. I have mentioned on multiple occasions that dimensional travel between arcade dimensions is strictly prohibited. And I will not be breaking those rules. Arcade also it doesn't have some sort of... World ending super magic. Sure I could stretch the rules here and there. But it's not really a thing. The closest an entity could get to Apple is a guardian soul. And while they can control entire regions. Destroying the world is not on the menu. That is something only a God can do. And none of them are violent.

So I'm stuck in this weird predicament. In arcade there is no real way to replicate empty cups world. I could somewhat replicated on a very small scale. But it doesn't quite get the same feeling. And it definitely wouldn't look like there are world anymore. I do have a particular like for the floating islands in an abyss. And that's simply not applicable.

So here's the question. I have been moving all my Tsams AUs into arcade to keep them connected in the same way. There are plenty of my AUs that crossed over and met with each other. That's why I'm moving them into arcade. So they can still be connected without the issues of dimensional travel. But with empty cup having so many issues. I might not be able to put them into the continuity of arcade.

There is one option that I've enjoyed that could work in arcade. Somebody suggested that I do an arcade cabinet world. Pocket dimensions do exist. They can be accessed. And essentially they suggested that I have Apple be the controller of a pocket dimension. That this malicious Soul trapped honey and Cider inside of a program and made a world for them to suffer in. Essentially keeping the world and its look, But allowing it to stay in arcade and for them to escape at some point.

Of course there's still the option where I separate them from arcade. Apple becomes a generic Cthulhu-esk thing. The world has always looked like that. It has always been some sort of gases planet with floating pieces of rock. The only difference is that there was once people, before apples evilness spread and started eating everyone. Leaving only cider and honey behind. But this will separate them from arcade. And it will definitely trap them. They would become a world like rusted wheels. With less defined rules but not as much crossover ability.

[isagrimorie]

I've been rewatching The Inside -- I think people who like Criminal Minds would also like The Inside and would offer some insight into why Rachel Nichols was hired to (briefly) replace AJ Cook in season 6.

(Criminal Minds season 6 was a mess with all the network interference. It sucked what Les Moonves/CBS did to Paget Brewster, AJ Cook, and Rachel Nichols.)

The Inside premiered during the same time as Criminal Minds but since it was airing on FOX -- it was canceled after only airing 7 out of 13 episodes. I honestly don't get it but FOX was known for canceling shows out of nowhere, just because.

The writer's room comprises mostly Whedon alums - Tim Minear, Jane Espenson, David Fury, and Ben Edlund, with Howard Gordon. The writing is pretty deft in combining character stories with cases of the week. It's the number one frustration I have with Criminal Minds.

The thing that Criminal Minds has over The Inside though -- is the compassion it has for the victims -- in that, the victims sometimes have more of a fighting chance of surviving or getting justice.

Also, 100% the Criminal Minds team is the more mentally healthy team than the VCU team.

The main reason why the BAU Team is a lot more better off -- despite how grueling things have become is because of the people who lead them.

The VCU Team, however, has Virgil Webster.

"Officially, we're part of the Bureau's Violent Crimes Section - in reality, we work for Web. While we have the full resources of the L.A. field office, we're semi-autonomous, by which I mean completely independent. We take the cases Web chooses, and we pursue them to his satisfaction, which may or may not be completion. He gets bored sometimes . . . Web picks people for one reason: they have something he needs." - Special Agent Paul Ryan

The Inside ostensibly has six members but the most important in terms of narrative is limited to three.

Web, Paul, and Rebecca Lock (Rachel Nichols).

And Web is the man who pulls all the strings -- unlike the BAU where they have a roundtable and a case is already chosen, Web 'encourages' the VCU to convince him about the cases they will pursue.

Web is like a more diabolical Dr Gregory House. Web only cares for a case if it interests him. If it doesn't he moves on.

It's highly implied in the show that Web is a Villain Protagonist -- that the only reason why he's not a serial killer himself is because he's decided to become someone who hunts serial killers.

There was an entire episode where the Team could have gotten out from under Web's shadow but Paul actively maneuvers a way to get Web back into the fold.

Melanie and Danny asked why he did that and Paul and Rebecca basically say:

Paul would rather suffer mental anxiety of being under Web’s thumb than let Web wander around, “loose”.

It's absolutely Buck. Wild. the VCU team accepts their boss would be a serial killer if he wasn't in the FBI hunting other psychopaths.

And, of course, there's Rebecca Lock, the lever that forms the messed up triangle that is the VCU power structure.

Web wants to mold her into his own idea of a perfect crimefighter -- Dexter but in reverse.

The premise of the Pilot, the former profiler of the VCU team was pushed too hard and took her own life, and Web immediately pounced on bringing Rebecca into the team.

Paul is the Hotch of the VCU team.

Paul attempts to be the 'good' guiding force-- the angel on Rebecca’s shoulder. Except he is also young. And self-righteous, for his own good but most of the time not wrong.

Rebecca Lock is... the JJ/Emily of the VCU team... so much so that Criminal Minds hired Rachel Nichols in season 6 to literally replace JJ. (Because of network interference).

But Rebecca Lock is not Ashley Seaver. Lock has a harder edge than Seaver. She's a survivor but she has (unaddressed) complex PTSD.

Rebecca has visible cracks in the foundation Web can see and willing to push to break.

He fully believes in the quote: “Beautiful in the broken places.”

Because to him- he would be the one to mold Rebecca. Or think he does.

Paul thinks he’s helping. But they’re both wrong.

My hope, if the show had continued on Rebecca would tell both Web and Paul to fuck off because she doesn't need nor want to be molded into their idea of a Perfect Agent.

There's also Melody Sim who does Forensic work, Danny Love who does most of the tactical stuff, and Carter, their Technical Analyst.

Unfortunately, we don’t get to know more about them.

This is a fascinating show with a fantastic writer’s room— a veritable who’s who of a Whedon show: Tim Minear, Jane Espenson, David Fury, ans Ben Edlund.

But it was on Fox and went against, of all things— Dancing with the Stars, and within 7 episodes, Fox canceled the show. The rest were aired in the UK.

All 13 episodes are on YouTube

[marciabrady]

Perhaps you give us your thoughts about Snow White? (I'm not quite sure if you ever gave your full thoughts on her at length)

Hi there- thank you for the question! I've answered it here before and touched on her in my appreciation/defense (so sad you have to defend the original princesses if you like them lol) posts here, here, here, and here.

Ultimately, I think she's the most dynamic, fascinating, and important female character of all time. The original four, generally, are my favorites and I never choose between them because there's something that I connect to about each of them- but facts are facts. Without Snow White, none of the other Princesses would exist, the genre of animation wouldn't exist as we know it, the Disney parks would never exist- Disney itself probably wouldn't exist. Pop culture probably wouldn't, we'd go a completely different way about merchandising and publishing soundtracks, about the princess archetype and there wouldn't even be a basis through which to satirize the fairytales, as has become so common (Shrek, Frozen, Enchanted, Disenchanted, Moana, etc). But enough about her inestimable impact on so many industries- how do I feel about her?

Simply put, I love her. She reminds me of my Grandmother in the most beautiful way. My Grandmother loves to cook and clean, yes, and they're from the same era so there are parallels that seem obvious and they were both viewed as the most beautiful women...but they're the most vibrant and enchanting people. They're so funny and good natured that it's hard for anyone to be cross or have a long face about them. They're such a bright light that you almost assume they're simple minded, because surely no one who's ever lived with all their senses about them would be able to be so...kind and unhardened? But they are far from being simple-minded- they're so sharp and mix beautifully with others and have had such heartbreaking pasts, survivors through and through, but they've been so resilient in surviving their pasts and not allowing it to shape them or the way they see others, that people frequently forget their journey and view them as shallow. You know how the Genie says, "you'll never find another girl like that in a million years" about Jasmine? That's the way I feel about them- that rarity of spirit and joy and voice and beauty. The best friend you'll ever have, being selfless and overly empathetic, yes to a fault, but in a way that puts into perspective once more what living is all about and awakens you to how jaded and cynical everyone around you is and how numb you, yourself, might even be to human suffering? It reinstates the importance of a simple act of kindness and how much of a difference that can make to someone. In a world where women need to be superheros to be taken seriously or have to know martial arts or have to be violent or possess magical powers, I love how human Snow White is allowed to be. Her personality and fullness of life is enough to ensure her place in the stable of Hollywood's stars. It also makes me laugh because it's shown me how insincere people are? I grew up with seeing people say Snow White's short hair is unattractive or that she is unattractive, body shaming her and saying she has a double chin or full arms, or hating her voice. And it's so funny now that everyone seems to want different design types for the princesses, more body inclusivity, that they're touting to not be so harsh about female appearances. But everything people are asking for now are qualities Snow White has always possessed in spades! "Girl boss" Snow White literally bartered her marketable skills she learned as a slave in order to get room and board "no push over" she literally shoved back on the Dwarfs when they tried to disregard her instructions. Even all of the "why didn't Cinderella just leave her household!" people are blind the to the fact that Snow White did run away from home and had to start all over again from scratch, essentially a homeless person in the woods without any resources. No, Snow White is the most unique- the most different in every way possible and the strongest because she is a complete and total individual. To quote Elizabeth Taylor in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, she is the earth mother and we're all flops lol there will never be another Snow White.

[lemonhemlock]

I think part of the reason aemond getting violent with helaena doesn’t work in terms of communicating what it needs to is we never see their relationship beforehand. logistically, yes, i can understand we should view that scene as a snapping moment for aemond, who is so scared of what’s going to happen he’s getting aggressive with someone he previously treated fine enough. but we don’t get that “fine enough” lol. you can extrapolate hints of that dynamic, but much like helaena/aegon, the show doesn’t care to explore it or helaena as a character at all. even her relationship with alicent isn’t given much depth; she exists to make alicent guilty, and then to make alicent feel better, and then to make alicent return to rhaenyra and forsake her sons. but if the show doesn’t care about these relationships, why should i, as the audience?

it’s extra funny that we had geeta/ryan/both ewan and phia coming out and talking about how helaena and aemond actually were close before. now if we’d seen that, surely him hurting her would have hit harder? or at least communicated something more about aemond beyond “violent guy who hates his family.” ah, well.

not to yap at you more (i say while yapping!) but alys suffers from a similar thing. i loved harrenhal and i loved that she’s this very normal woman who also seemingly has mystical power/connection to this place— but what does she actually want in the end? just for rhaenyra to be queen? i assumed she had her own agenda here, whether it’s just looking out for the riverlands/the smallfolk, but the fact that her main purpose is to get us to game of thrones on hbo in the year 2010 😭 now come on!! gayle talked about alys being 400 years old, her acting as some guardian of harrenhal really would have made sense, and it even would have let her still push daemon to his divine purpose here (l m a o). but instead she has to remind us they still haven’t found a decent way to cgi the white walkers

Very much agree on both!

I also like the idea of Alys' agenda being more selfless, in that she is looking out for the people of Harrenhal ultimately. I think there are so many ways you could go with her. But her being instrumentalized to show us how Rhaenyra and her party are on the righteous path and somehow the survival of the world depends on their victory is goofy af.

They really are going to use as many characters as possible to double down on the point that Daemon and Rhaenyra can do whatever they want and they'll still be "on the right side of history" just by virtue of being them. It's just a weaker story overall.

[dotssu3]

How would you rewrite Honest Hearts?

ive actually thought about this more after my last post on this!! even though i did say it's not worth rewriting or fixing or whatever.

feel free to critique. i used this as a brainstorming exercise for a rough outline so not everything is fleshed out. i tried to focus on the story rather than the characters.

caesar has just found out that joshua graham is still alive and the legion is in the process of destroying/taking over new canaan.

the new canaanites and white legs have a history of conflict before the start of honest hearts. the two tribes are constantly at each other’s throats. the new canaanites are known instigators of violence but maintain an ‘innocent’ image and good relations with other traders and settlements, allowing them get away with a lot. they’ve also painted a very negative image of the white legs, labeling them as murderers and criminals.

though, the new canaanites have bit of a reputation - they are an armed militia. no one wants to mess with them. new canaan received a g.e.c.k. and they're more advanced than the settlements around them. (inb4 but how does legion takes over - vulpes and other legion spies found their weak spots or something idk, also they didnt find it viable to go after graham right away since they were still recovering from their loss at hoover dam).

honest hearts takes place four years after the first battle of hoover dam. joshua is in his redemption era. he preaches about his change but you can still see that he craves violence and revegeance. the new canaanites are pushing him towards the violent option, while daniel, the contrarian, wants to protect their ‘innocence’. choosing daniel's path means the new canaanites permanently leave new canaan.

meanwhile, the white legs’ leader sees flaws in caesar’s plans and is wary of their allegiance. but, they want the new canaanites gone, and view the legion as their only hope. the new canaanites have caused trouble for the white legs for almost 100 years, and they will continue to do so.

this gives agency to both the white legs and the new canaanites, preventing joshua graham and daniel from playing the white savior. the white legs are no longer ‘lol violent!!!’, unless you buy into the new canaanites stories. the legion are just kinda chillin.

the story would end in one of three ways: hunt down and kill joshua graham, kill the leader of the new canaanites, or take the pacifist option. killing the leaders would destroy morale. this avoids having to kill all faction members, preventing your computer or xbox 360 from stuttering at 10fps. also, less faction members to kill = you can give the characters their accurate races and givd them voice lines since that was an issue during development.

obviously, you would have to change joshua graham and ulysses’ stories a bit for this to work. i like that joshua graham’s faith strengthens through his suffering. i want to keep that aspect since it's very important to his character. but there should be a point in the story where you can convince him of how his flawed his logic is and how purposely cherrypicking and twisting God's words for his own benefit. or maybe he realizes it on his own. either way, he still sides with the new canaanites because that's his family. he will not betray them.

then, there is also the issue that by doing whatever I just typed out, you remove joshua graham's status as a mythological being, which is another important aspect of his character. i wouldn't want to get rid of that but i havent thought that out yet. so. anyways.

pairing up with the new canaanites would be the least favorable option. it doesn’t lead to the best outcome. maybe you cement joshua graham's status as a mythological figure if you chose this route. same with the pacifist route. next time, the new canaanites will not run away.

i imagine if you help the new canaanites, it would have a huge, negative impact on your reputation with the legion. likewise, if you side with the white legs, it would have a huge, negative impact on your reputation with the ncr.

i would remove the sorrows and dead horses to focus on one group, the white legs. legion has extra content. everyone is happy....? wait. no. i forgot about randall clark!!! never mind.

[bomberblondie]

Hi bomberblondie. I haven't read the manga in a while but do you think Bakugou would have changed his superiority complex without Deku? I know he was paired with Endeavor because of their similarities. Bakugou grew a lot in that time frame. He's one of my favorite characters but I want another perspective.

Hi anon! Me neither tbh lmao, but I will do my best to answer either way. :)

First off, do you mean the big three internship at Endeavor's with the "time frame"? Because if so, then I don't see how that would pair them up. In fact, I think Bakugou's similarities to Endeavor are shallow at best, because at their core, they are entirely different people. Bakugou does not respect Endeavor at all and only goes to the internship because he admits that he can still learn from him, only in regards to fighting techniques though.

I'd say Endeavor doesn't have a superiority complex at all, instead he was weighed down by his own inferiority complex to an extent that he believed he himself could never surpass All Might and had to have his child do it. His aggression turns violent so incredibly easily when he fears he can't reach his goals and he takes it out on others.

Bakugou himself is a classic case of gifted child syndrome and I'd say his aggression stems equally from his feelings of inferiority that he tries to hide but also his violent upbringing. I really don't like how Mitsuki raised him, she made everything worse for him even though she does love her son. Ugh but I digress. I would definitely say that Bakugou is so much less violent than Endeavor, yes he does hurt some kids in the first chapter and has his fights with Deku, but that's on a completely different level. Also, Bakugou has the tendency to shove everything down inside first and suffers greatly from it, something I don't see in Endeavor at all.

So basically, while they do seem similar at first glance, I think Bakugou and Endeavor have different problems and in my opinion, Endeavor played no role in Bakugou's development.

Onto the actual question! Yes, I 100% believe that Bakugou would have come around without Deku as well. To be honest, I actually believe that Deku's existence was detrimental to Bakugou's development because he pushed into Bakugou's insecurities and made him pull up his walls even higher. All of Bakugou's bullying and shouting is just a defense mechanism so he can push his fears away.

It's not his true personality though. At his core, Bakugou is a boy who wholeheartedly wants to be good. It shows again and again when he doesn't even think about the LOV's offer to join them after they kidnap him, when he helps his friends with homework for nothing in return, when he gives Kirishima his money back and makes a Kaminari joke to lighten the mood etc etc.

Also, despite calling all the other people "extras", Bakugou doesn't actually look down on them, as is shown when he is the ONLY person (besides Aizawa) who actually takes Uraraka in their school tournament fight seriously. One of my fav moments btw, feminist icon Bakugou is real fr fr

What defines Bakugou is that he wants to become the top hero with his own power, legally, according to the rules and without cheating. He hates lying and wants to do everything right. His aggressive personality and superiority complex stand in the way of that, as people apparently don't believe he can be a hero like that, so I think that no matter what happened, Bakugou would have worked on those flaws so that he can make his dream come true.

Bakugou got humbled when he failed the Hero License Exam, and in the remedial course, he showed development when he said that you can't see your own weaknesses when all you do is look down on people. Deku had nothing to do with that, but his own reflection and maybe Todoroki did. In general, I think Todoroki and Bakugou's relationship is one of the healthiest in the entire manga, but that's a topic for a different day. What's also noteworthy is that the remedial course is the first time Bakugou's upbringing was actually addressed. Violence proved not to be the right way to help them overcome the challenge.

During class 1a vs 1b, Bakugou put all this to action. He wanted to win with top marks, and he learned through everything he experienced, which wasn't really with Deku all that much, that he had to work in a team to achieve that, so he did. When I saw that scene, I wasn't surprised in the slightest, I always knew he had it in him.

Yes, there are scenes where it seems like Deku is a huge factor in Bakugou's development, but I think it's difficult to estimate their actual worth in it, because most of the problems Deku "helps" solving, he had a part in causing.

All Deku does is make Bakugou feel bad, and then later feel bad about himself. Yes, Bakugou has reason to feel bad, but ehh, as I described in my other post, their relationship is very complicated and Deku is not the only victim there.

Phew, talked a long time about this, I hope you enjoyed it! So yes, I do believe that through his own desire to become a good hero and with the help of his other classmates, Bakugou would have been able to overcome his superiority complex and aggressiveness just as well.

[azulaang-chakras]

There’s this one quote in Red Dead Redemption 2, where Sadie and John are talking about Dutch. When Sadie says that the Dutch who saved her and the one who ended up abandoning his sons weren’t the same man, John responds with this:

“You see a man whose character changed. I see a man who got found out for who he truly was.”

Rains Fall has a similar quote in a conversation with Arthur, also about Dutch:

“It took a long time for me… to learn that you can never change a person. We only become more who we really are. Perhaps you see that with him, just as I see it with my son.”

There are essays I could write about RDR and what this sentiment means in the series, but I’m just focusing on this quote and how it relates to Miles and Aaron.

The first time we meet Aaron, it's when Miles goes behind his parents' back to visit him and tell him that he got into Brooklyn Academy. Aaron assures Miles when he voices his doubts and encourages him to study so that he can have a better life than what he and Jeff had as kids.

That all changes when a confrontation with Tinkerer makes Aaron realize that his nephew is the new Spider-Man. Reeling from his humiliating arrest in Mexico and coming up short in his fight with Scorpion, Aaron is determined to become the new Big Man of New York, persuading and then blackmailing Miles into helping him, all with the hollow promises of helping Miles become a superhero.

Aaron is obsessed with control, and in his mind, controlling Miles is the best way to move on from Jeff cutting him out.

There’s an aspect to Jeff’s avoidance of Aaron that speaks to Jeff’s desire for a better life and a rejection of the man he used to be, both of which are tied in his mind to his younger brother. Jeff is so determined to preserve his new family life that, naturally, he becomes enraged to find out Miles is seeing Aaron behind his back.

During their last fight, Aaron angrily compares Miles to Jeff; his old, unhealed bitterness at his brother exploding outwards in a violent attack towards the latest family member to cut him out. He says, “I know you, I made you, I own you!” and none of that is true. Aaron refuses to see Miles as anything more than something he can control, a version of his estranged brother that he can hold on to and shape into something that better suits him. Aaron can’t handle the idea of being rejected by family again, so he does the only thing he can that gives him any form of control over the situation: attack.

Miles' takedown of Prowler is a classic Spidey move: mess with a piece of the enemy's equipment and let them defeat themselves. Aaron knew his Shocker gauntlet was damaged from earlier in the fight and what Miles' Venom Strike could do to whatever it hit. That doesn't stop him from arrogantly and angrily trying to flatten Miles with it, causing it to explode. Had he not pushed his weapon, it probably wouldn't have exploded the way it did.

With his dying words, Aaron tells Miles that he's just like him.

But this is just salt in the wound, thrown by a petty, narcissistic man who wants his noble nephew to suffer. Aaron, like us and his film counterpart, knows the truth: Miles is the best out of all of us.

Miles Morales is a hero. Miles Morales is more of a man at 13 than most will ever be in their lives, and more than Aaron ever was.

He's the best out of all of us. He's on his way.

[cartoonrival]

Giving you. Pass to rant about any secondary/background character in bmha. Any adults in the cast you like?

YAAAAAAAY i really like twice. hes my fave in the league after toga bc i think hes a silly cutie and also because the narrative position he serves as like the heart and soul of the league is really powerful. cuz at its core, esp once you start seeing how much the ppl in the league care about each other (reactions to magne's death for example) while its obviously a criminal organization it serves simultaneously as a support group for the people most pushed to the fringes of society, particularly imperfect victims-- people who are ugly and disfigured, who responded to their trauma with violence or with hate or seclusion, whose abilities are scary and dangerous and instead of hiding them away to appease polite society they turned over to them completely in an attempt to feel like they were living.

twice is part of the league because his quirk drove him mad-- there isn't support for freaks like him who aren't even sure who they are, who've gone through something as violent and harrowing as he has at the hands of their own quirk. he mentions joining the league for community with people like him. people suffering only get help if they're the right type of victim-- this is the clear line drawn between eri and toga, for example. eri reacted to her abuse with fear, but toga reacted with indulgence in what she didn't have a choice in.

he adds a very interesting dynamic to the league imo. it'd be really easy for the face of misdirected hatred resulting in violence and crime to be someone young and cute like toga for example, but instead the person who is shown to pull the league together, whose death sends everyone into a frenzy and further solidifies the "never going back" rift between them and hawks, is a middle aged smoker who dresses like a shitty marvel superhero and feels like he's losing his mind if he doesn't have his mask on.

for hawks to meet twice, to spend time with him and the rest of the league (im assuming you arent familar w bnha idk if ive been explaining this whole time like you are. i think i was sorry. hawks is a hero infiltrating the league as a spy), and to come out of that with zero change in heart, is horrifying to everyone who loved twice. because they did! they loved him! his reconnecting with his own sense of self, out of love for his team, is what saved them during the arc with the meta liberation army.

idkkkkkk i like twice a lot i think hes just a really fun character to have on screen and his banter with the league who thinks hes annoying but also really cares about him is sooo fun to watch and the narrative role he plays is vital to my understanding of the story and i think its really unique that He was the one this role was given to. toga has her sympathetic moments (DUH) but like. twice is the leagues dead girl

[m0onbunnie]

Ok so lets talk about the gang because i have no energy to re-write their toyhouse profiles

Nyla: she has a lot of trouble making actual friends since she came back to earth, developing anxiety and major depression during her first years. Nyla fears being pushed aside and being alone again so she usually goes back and forth between a angry gremlin that makes jokes all the time and a quiet loner who just wants to talk about space and stars.

Umi: basically she has been everyone's mother since the beggining, taking care of her sister and two younger siblings while also being depressed that she has no longer contact with her parents. She's doing better now, still has mixed feelings about her current life and wishes something was different but can't actually point what bothers her.

Marmelade: your typical happy go lucky character who's actually incredibly sad inside. Doesn't like to talk about her past or other relationships before the prism family because she either doesn't remember or had really bad experiences with it. She's friends with everyone (Including you reading this) because she needs to make everyone happy in order to don't feel like trash. So yeah... she's the class clown.

Hazel: anxiety 24/7, that fox can't take a break. Despise being a god suffers from inferiority complex so if you compliment him you will hear "im not that good... but thank you", the only thing that actually makes him proud is his knowledge about magic and stuff. So he pushes himself to the maximum to feel that he isn't actually a mistake like all the other gods claim that he is.

Hideki: Always covered in dirt due to being a florist, Hideki after all the events that happened during his teenage years does everything in his power to be less atractive, mostly changing his personality to this cold, distant and emotionless person, he isn't a dick just really distant most of the time. He cares for his friends and sister so he tries to be at least a little bit happier around them.

Jasmine: an overly violent kid who also hangs around with violent kids. She's the muscles to Cream's brain. The reason she's so violent for a child is due to her mother putting her into combat against her other family members from a young age, so she definitely will break your bones and feed to the dog. Nonetheless, Jasmine's still a kid who likes to play with her friends and needs an adult to look for her, that's why the prisms (notably Hideki, her older brother) take care of her.

Thats all for the prism gang