#just go in as a self destructive and self sacrificing hero who is willing to save everyone but themselves

[daisybell-on-a-carousel]

Something about deeply suicidal character Jason Todd who usually tries going out fighting or in the self sacrificing hero way + Jason's magic swords tied to his soul where he has to cut himself with them to power them up

[childrenofthesun77]

Assuming that the whole 'mahiru is the vessel needed to bring back the count and the 9th servamp will be the servamp of vainglory' theory will be correct, it's interesting how both mahiru and touma can be accused of this sin even if the way it applies to them is opposed.

What touma wants is to be acknowledged and to that end he was willing to become the villain who destroyed the world before mahiru and tsurugi managed to change his mind:

Mahiru's way of being vainglorious seems a lot more positive at first because he wants to be a hero who saves others, but it's self-destructive and encourages laziness in others:

But thankfully we see mahiru starting to let go of the need to make other people proud of him and to prioritize making himself proud in his conversation with tsurugi:

and later when mahiru has a meltdown because he fears his uncle might be dead and suggests sacrificing his life to save the world kuro rightfully yells at mahiru for acting hypocritical and not listening to his own advice:

(I want to mention here that I really love how horrified kuro looks as he realizes that mahiru's reckless hero behaviour comes from a very self-destructing place:

because not a lot of manga I know really acknowledge that maybe the way a lot of their protagonists try to be heroic is actually pretty unhealthy and shouldn't be encouraged? Like Sigurd pointed out at the C3 meeting, it's kind of shameful that the children have to save the day)

Which is why I love that mahiru decided to trust kuro to handle tsubaki without him going with him:

He decides to stay back with everyone else, showing that he has learned that he doesn't need to be the one to do everything and can stay back with the others to buy kuro time.

Interestingly we see touma doing something similar. Opposed to his old need to have the whole world acknowledge him he now wishes for everyone to believe he's dead and he's helping to protect the city by creating a huge barrier without making it known that's he the one doing this:

He's helping the protagonists seemingly with no intention of earning acknowledgement for it.

I think in a way it could be cool of servamp to subvert the shouned trope that for the finale battle the only one able to defeat the big bad is the protagonist while everyone else just watches on from the sidelines, not allowed to do anything because this is the protagonist's moment of glory.

What if lily's plan when he put kuro in mahiru's path was that if kuro tried to stop tsubaki at the gate surely his eve would need to be there with him, right? Because of course he needs his eve to fight and then there's also the distance limit. So why not make the vessel you need at that gate for the ritual to work kuro's eve? Then the vessel would be at the place where you need them without you even needing to do something because naturally they would be thinking they are doing the right thing by going with kuro to fight tsubaki together. And surely someone as vainglorious as mahiru would never pass up the opportunity to be the hero who stops tsubaki. It's foolproof!

Unless of course before the ritual the vessel learned to let go of their vainglorious nature, accepted that it's okay to take a step into the background and trust in others. And additionally also found a way to break through the whole forced proximity thing that the servamp and eves had going on.

I don't know, I feel like it would be a neat bow on mahiru's character arc and a unique way to thawrt the antagonists' plans if the creation of the servamp of vainglory failed because the 'it has to be me' guy they wanted to use as the vessel decided against glory and stayed back to let his partner handle things with tsubaki alone because he trusts him. Kuro on the other hand wants to make up for his past regrets and resolve the conflict through communication this time. Learning to trust in himself again by managing to talk tsubaki out of going through with the ritual on his own would be a logical conclusion to kuro's arc.

[mysticstarlightduck]

For an OC of your choice:

How far is your OC willing to go to get what they want?

How does your OC want to be seen by other characters?

Thank you so much for the ask, @dreaminggoblin-yells!

How far is your OC willing to go to get what they want?

Jack: It depends. He's pretty reckless with his own safety when it comes to achieving his goals, but he would never do anything that could potentially endanger his sister or his friends. He also would never hurt innocent people and generally tries to minimize all chances of there being collateral damage. He's willing to go to insane lengths to keep his loved ones safe, even at a cost to himself - he's too kind for their world and dangerously selfless.

Vesper: She's willing to pretty much do anything. Ever since she embarked on her quest for revenge, she has become an infamously merciless and pragmatic killer, the most feared cyborg in the galaxies. There's little she would consider too far in her path to avenge the deaths of her older brother and their mother - she's feared by the government and the criminal underworld alike for a reason. She is willing to make tough, heartwrenching decisions in the blink of an eye and never look back. However, she tries her best to not hurt/involve innocents in her path of destruction and maintains a strong moral compass and humanity.

Gabi: She's pretty rebellious and strong-willed, and tends to do things despite what authority figures command her to. In fact, she often disobeys authority (especially the government) on purpose. She also isn't the kind of person to shy away from a fight - be it an argument or an actual brawl - and due to having been raised by an ex-assassin, she knows how to win said fights with ease and is pretty damn devastating to those who pose a threat to her ideals or her loved ones. Her adoptive father raised her to never back down and never let others insult her, and she takes that advice to heart.

Kye: Anything. At the start of the story, Kye is as morally grey as one can possibly get - and in fact, isn't afraid of being downright evil or deceitful to get what he wants. Because of his brutal past, Kye believes the world is made of two kinds of people, those who are used and those who use others - and he's tired of being the former. He does undergo a 'redemption arc' of sorts after meeting the main cast but remains the most dangerous/destructive member of the crew, but this time for good reasons/a better cause. There's a saying that goes "A hero would sacrifice you for the world. A villain would sacrifice the world for you" - and Kye is 100% the kind of person who would break their world in a heartbeat to save his newfound friends. He has a good heart, a horrifyingly bloody past, the moral backbone of a jellyfish (at first), and dangerously undying loyalty. A pretty explosive mix.

How does your OC want to be seen by other characters?

Cassiopeia: Cassie wants to generally be a good friend and a fun person to be around. All her life, she's always been the one who lifted up the mood and tried to see the fun even in dire situations, a role she has had for pretty much forever. She is not naive but rather prefers to see the good in the world because she knows life can get pretty depressing otherwise, so it's best to just enjoy it as it is. She also wants to make her older brother (Jack) proud of her - firstly, he's been one of the only family she's ever had since she was a little kid and she knows how much he secretly sacrificed to take care of her, so she doesn't want to disappoint him, secondly, she also wants to prove that she's not a little kid anymore and that she can be his equal in their team (thus that she doesn't need to be protected all the time and that she can keep him safe too).

Aleks: Aleks suffers from severe social anxiety + Impostor's Syndrome and low self-esteem issues. He masks those struggles expertly and has adopted a kind of a 'chameleon's' personality. He is fluid, ever-changing, unpredictable - he can be anyone, and that's precisely what he wants. The sad truth is that he wants to be anyone but himself. He's a prankster, always making jokes and rarely taking things seriously - because he wants a distraction, be it through the thrill that the adrenaline of a heist brings him, or simply spending a night partying at a club. He is extremely extroverted and panics whenever he is completely isolated and without a source of distraction because that means he is alone with himself and his thoughts. He takes that "chameleon" aspect quite literally with the fact that - with his high-tech mask which he calls the 'Face-Changer' - he LITERALLY can be anyone, a perfect doppelganger and master at stealing secret information from the government.

Deimos: He wants to be the best at everything he does, and he wants to be seen as flawless. Deimos is terrified of judgment, shame, and humiliation and believes he can avoid those feelings he dreads by being a ruthless perfectionist and being the center of attention. At times, he can be an "all eyes on me" kind of guy and is quite flashy, but he is still painfully introverted and despises overwhelming social interaction - he wants to be admired but from a distance.

Artemis: Artemis wants to be seen as unflappable and unfazed by peril. One day, in the past, he wanted to be a bounty hunter like his dad - but that dream died with him. Now, Artemis has quite taken a liking to the lifestyle of an outlaw and loves to find new ways to defy authority. He doesn't mind being seen as a troublemaker - and in fact, he actually quite likes that reputation. He doesn't want his feelings to be exploited by his enemies, so he usually hides his true emotions behind a fiery, explosive personality, much akin to that of an angry hound. He is pretty defensive of those he cares about, does not trust strangers easily, and doesn't care if others think he is overly brash.

Supernova Initiative Taglist (-/+): @ray-writes-n-shit, @sarandipitywrites, @lassiesandiego, @smol-feralgremlin

[tiredassmage]

*slaps on table* 6, 16, 18 for best agent boy Tyr

(Aaaannnd 21 for your GW2 necromancer 👀 pleaaaase)

I want you to know that every time we trade agent asks I feel like that cat slamming the like and reblog buttons while making laser eyes. xD

As always, rambling under a cut involved, lol xD

best boy best boy best boy best b-

6. Their vices (physical or emotional)

Probably impressively given everything that happens, Tyr manages to dodge any physical addictions. He's far more of a social drinker than one likely to turn to a bottle for his solutions.

But also I have been thinking so intently even before this ask set about how I really don't think Tyr recognizes his own brand of self-sacrificing. He has the potential to be incredibly self-destructive about it, but almost by my sheer spite on the matter, he hasn't. Yet. If this game gives him so much as half an excuse to act on half the shit he thinks and says about taking down the Empire swinging, I'm going to stab this man myself so he can't do it.

I don't even think he'd call it self-sacrifice. He would low-key cringe at the idea of anyone thinking him a hero. Yeah, sure, yada yada, Immortal Sith Emperor is dead, whatever. He's just a lucky bastard with a blaster. All the real work was everyone else's. And watch - he wouldn't let you call him humble about it, either. While he's not particularly forceful or upfront about it, Tyr does have some strong ideas about how, exactly, people should remember him. There's still a part of him that is like (softly) "don't." This wasn't part of his briefing when he agreed to join Intelligence, damn it.

But, yeah, I'd say his biggest vice is that almost resignation to what he was/is as Cipher Nine, double agent to the Republic. He's not going to be ridiculously reckless and take unnecessary risks, but if you handed him a critical mission with a slim chance of a working exit strategy that would put a huge dent in the Empire?

Equally part of his problem is that he recognizes wars of attrition are not sustainable nor have they resulted in lasting peace, but find someone who gives a damn. If he could use a blaster against the Immortal damn Emperor, what is stopping him from taking on the rest of the Sith Empire? (Logic. Logic is what. He's not an idiot. He's just. Opinionated.)

He wouldn't tell Theron. Theron would try to stop him. Theron can know like. Right before he leaves. Maybe. That's maybe not the kind of message he'd like to leave with Jonas alone, after all. (Yes, Tyr and I have thought about this too much. It's such a problem. That's why he's not allowed to do this shit!!!!! Tyr!!!! PLeaSE!!!)

16. Dark Secrets/Skeletons in the Closet.

Hmmm.... hmm, hmm, hmmm.... Ohhh, the things spies don't tell other people. This one's tough. There's plenty of things he won't tell someone. Bastard still hasn't exactly clarified what his relationship with Shara was to Theron, for one. Half of his Intelligence career is still 'whatever you found in the records or think you know probably wasn't the half of it.'

Okay, so, his biggest one he won't probably ever been keen to spell out is that he probably wouldn't even bat an eye at a scenario like our theoretical occasion from the last question. At the end of the day, Tyr is still willing to push his own limits and cross some of his own boundaries to achieve an objective. And he knows there's shit like that that Theron would never agree to. And he would, knowing this, choose to omit details, if it came to this.

Throws my papers up in the air. And Theron was all in knots after Nathema, and Tyr is still willing to pull this shit. What am I gonna do with these two????

Anyway. I think also, in a way, there is a very, very tiny part of him that might, might accuse him of being a coward if it ever managed to wriggle out of the recesses of his mind because I do not believe Tyr would have ever asked Shara to leave the Empire. Part of it would be not thinking, even before he knew about her own programming, that it's what she wanted - and a backhanded accusation at himself from that would be that's not for him to determine to begin with. But I also think part of it is that he loved her, he trusted her to guide him as Cipher Nine, yes - all of that is true.

But I don't think he trusted anyone to understand why he would defect. That's one thing I don't think he would have trusted to her, given an opportunity.

Of course, none of this exactly strikes him as problems to deal with because they're not causing problems right now. He can't change the past and he certainly can't predict the future. So he'll just have to make do with what he's got and what comes at him whenever it gets here.

Oh, I got ahead of myself, didn't I, considering 18...

18. Things they'll never admit.

Okay, well, the last part of the last question is probably his biggest one. He's going to take that with him to the grave. One day he might explain a bit more of who Shara was to him to Theron, but will he ever admit that particular nuance? Absolutely not. Not relevant, unchangeable, nope. Nope nope nope.

There's probably a part of Tyr that could really benefit or feel something from someone giving him a pat on the shoulder and telling him, "you did alright, kid." (A), He, once again, doesn't actively realize this and, (B), BioWare where is Ardun Kothe? I increasingly need to know because I am increasingly having thoughts about him unexpectedly showing up on the Alliance base and it just being a Quiet Thing they acknowledge in private that Tyr would be... so relieved to see that man again. Bastard. He cares about you. They never officially call adoption, but like, Tyr was adopted. (This is even more hilarious to read back knowing like yEAH you're not wrong, but like, different context alkfnsaldkfd). Anyway, bold of anyone to assume Tyr actually had the courage to ask anyone. Did he look into this himself for answers? Who can say????? He sure won't.

I also think for like. At least half a hot minute Tyr kinda crushed on Vector. I've been slowly rotating this in the back of the mind since Tyr met Vector and was like "oh I like them" like, so fast. Tyr trusts him so fast - maybe too fast for being a Cipher, honestly. But also like, the whole complicated thing with feelings for Shara, later he falls absolutely in love with Theron, so... yeah, they ended up just being friends and Tyr never acted on this and, to this day, this is unacknowledged by both parties. And Tyr is, of course, happily married to Theron now.

Okay!!! Guild Wars mY WIFE time!!!! I'm love her...

21. Turning points in their life.

Okay, Letallia is still sort of coming together because I haven't finished everything yet, but what I do know came together surprisingly quickly! So, most of these events are primarily related to the first 30ish levels of personal quests.

Letallia is the oldest of twin siblings adopted by nobility and raised in Divinity's Reach; her and her brother never knew much about their birth parents and, of the two of them, Letallia was more okay with that. Her brother always wanted to unveil the mystery and find them, if they could, and this was something she never exactly discouraged, but she felt more close to the lives they were currently leaving and was relatively content to let the past be the past.

So, while they had their differences, they were overall thick as thieves (badumtss here bc her brother I have on theif, lol). Letallia primarily focused on the public appearances of the family - high society gatherings and dealings with the fellow nobility while her brother focused more on the common folk that served them, often to be found helping them with loose odds and ends.

So far, their two main galvanizing events have been discovering the history of their parents & joining the Orders of Tyria. Letallia chose the Vigil while her brother, always favoring the cloak and dagger type, joined the Order of Whispers. While they've had individual focuses before, separating paths to join the Orders is probably their first long-term departure from each others' sides. Letallia still collaborated with him where she could, though they each respected their allegiance to their Order and their secrets.

But! Igniting them onto such a path was the discovery that their parents spied for Queen Jennah's father. For Letallia, this reforged her desire to see, explore, and protect Tyria as a whole. She wishes to honor that legacy by striving for the unity she believes her parents fought and died for. Her brother took their deaths a bit harder, driven to stronger loyalty first and foremost to Kryta and their Queen. Ultimately, their motives may differ, but they strive for the same ultimate goal, which makes her relationship to her brother quite important to her.

This legacy also sort of solidifies her relationship with being a necromancer. The art can be unsettling, especially with the Risen so close at hand, but understanding is power and she believes all must live and serve in their own way. Meeting and befriending Trahearne also proves quite beneficial to this confidence. She quite enjoys working with him!

(Bonus fun fact, my google doc with all of this, inspired by that first post I think I did is called 'please don't store ur gw2 lore in tumblr tags' since it grew to be... more than I had anticipated when I started, lol)

[sl-walker]

First one's after Doomsday slams his head in a car door. Second one is where he gets his arm sliced off.

-dryly- Lo and behold, DC's most shallow showboat.

Above is from Countdown to Infinite Crisis. The man's literally homeless (no shit!) and drops the sponsorship deal he was gonna try to get in order to come back to Ted.

Only to get blown up and need CPR on Ted's front lawn.

Which doesn't stop him from trying to get up to go with Ted anyway.

Seriously, tho. Is actually homeless, straight up listed as vagrant. Holy shit. I think I've seen two other people even acknowledge that since 2005 when this issue came out.

Perfectly ready to sacrifice himself here, fighting these things. Then has to live with it when Dmitri does instead. (So-- cw suicide there)

He spends the whole first part of 52 self-destructing. Which takes place starting only weeks after his best friend is murdered. Despite all of the above, when it looks like he's succeeded in self-destructing in spectacular fashion, no one who mighta given a shit but Clark comes to his funeral. Out of all his surviving teammates, never mind the rest of the hero community.

Mind, no one knows he didn't actually off himself via detonating nuclear submarine here. Still, the man goes on to save the entire multiverse at the end of 52.

Trying to save Barbara Gordon from being paralyzed because he was told that was the only way to save Ted, only to get tortured repeatedly. Very repeatedly. Because Rip was teaching him a lesson. Then there's the fact he does save Ted, only to lose him again:

Like-- if I actually sat down and catalogued every fucked up thing that happens to him in his second solo, we'd be here all night. It's a lot. And this is while getting treated like crud by everyone in the broader hero community. And he's not exactly getting great treatment at home, either.

Since we don't have all night, we'll just skip up to the era of Generation Lost, where he gets treated like crud (go figure):

I mean, mind, this is again after he's saved the multiverse and sacrificed a hell of a lot repeatedly. Whew. But then again, no one listened to Ted, either. And we know where that led.

So if the emotional devastation's not enough for you, you get Max beating him to death with a chunk of concrete and acting very, very creepy towards him, too. And then Max erases everyone's memory in the ENTIRE WORLD but for like-- four of them, to include Booster.

I mean, if this is how your friends treat you, who needs enemies? (And I dunno where you've been the past like six years, Karen, but Booster hasn't openly had a good belly-laugh since a fair bit before Ted even died.)

The entirety of Generation Lost should have the tagline -- no joke -- How many ways can we re-traumatize Booster in one miniseries? He leads his former teammates, tries desperately to stop a world-wide threat in Max Lord, sees Jaime shot in the head--

I mean, ouch????

But by the end of it, he is absolutely ready and willing to die -- AGAIN -- if it'll end Max's threat.

Legit, freefalling with Max at terminal velocity with no guarantee (or seemingly even a thought) that there's any other answer but dying and making sure Max goes out with him.

--though, like. What a badass. Damn. Unfortunately, he's a little too good a hero, so when Max repowers his suit (and presumably flight ring), he pulls out of that dive with feet to spare. And Max escapes. Which is like-- yeowch.

Anyway, after this is Flashpoint. And there are other things that happen in all those intervening years. And we're not even getting into his backstory, where he was blackmailed by organized crime as a teenager, all in a bid to save his mother because he grew up in deep poverty.

But even just this base compilation is a pretty good start on how DC's alleged gloryhound really is way more tragedy than comedy.

Why do they deserve to win?

Booster Gold

Firestorm (TW abuse)

[stories-me]

Potential Character for Mrs. Kelsey and Tumblr 7/3/2023:

Nimona, Misunderstood “Monster”:

Appearance (usually): (See above).

What she’s from: “Nimona”.

Background:

Once upon a time, 1000 years ago, a girl named Nimona made a wish at a wishing well. She wanted more friends, and gained the ability to shapeshift. One day, she befriended a young girl named Gloreth, but when Gloreth’s parents and village saw Nimona shapeshifting, they assumed she was a monster. The fact that she accidentally set the village on fire certainly didn’t help. Gloreth ultimately drove off Nimona, who watched over the years as the story became a distorted version of itself, where she was a terrible monster that was driven off by Gloreth, a “great hero”. Begrudgingly, Nimona began to embrace the monstrous part she was forced into, seeking to cause chaos and destruction.

1000 years later, she found out about Ballister Boldheart, who had falsely been accused of murdering the Queen. Deciding to become Ballister’s sidekick, she quickly found out Ballister really wasn’t interested in villainy. When Ballister was arrested, Nimona revealed to him her ability to shapeshift, and the two became involved in Ballister’s quest to clear his name.

Ultimately, the Director of the Institute was revealed to be responsible for the Queen’s death. But the Director twisted the truth, and after an argument with Ballister, Nimona ultimately turned into a giant, kaiju-esque monster. Despairing over her lot in life, Nimona contemplated committing suicide on a statue of Gloreth… only for Ballister to calm her down.

She ultimately seemingly sacrificed herself to stop the Director from destroying the city. But, to Ballister’s joy, Nimona survived.

How she is like me:

Sometimes, we both feel awful and like we’re bad people (especially after a “five”… or a meltdown). Still, with others’ help, we might be able to avoid such things. In addition, we both care about those close to us (like she cares about Bal, and I care about my family, friends, and support network).

Kelsey Notes:

This story sounds like it deals “assumptions”.

The director of the institute has bad intentions against Bal but believes she is in the right and is protecting the kingdom and protecting them from what is beyond the wall (kind of like The Village)

            Out of fear the director believes she is protecting the greater good but ultimately it is causing her to place blame on people aren’t villians

Nimona sees the good in people, though she feels that she isn’t good at first

            Like being self-conscious, self-doubting weaknesses

For her- she knows shes not an evil person and her intentions are good, but the directors protective nature causes her to think less of herself

Sometimes it’s important to prevent the mean things you might say when you hit a five because you have to be confident in your ability to calm yourself down independently.

            Not that your support systems aren’t willing to help you calm down, but we know how guilty you feel after you say hurtful things to others and regret it.  This is why taking time away from others and learning to deal with yourself is more important than ever.

            **more important than ever just means that you’ve progressed greatly in handling your emotions and we want that momentum to keep going so you continue to progress towards independently handling your emotions when needed

It took a lot of courage for Nimona to go against the possibility of death to save her friend (Bal)

She gained the courage to do so despite the negative thoughts she had about not wanting to be around anymore

Maybe rephrase the harming self to not wanting to adult today- part of adulting is standing up, dealing with your fears and not letting them get the best of you (like fear is causing the director to misjudge others)

[wonda-cat]

Misconceptions About Tommyinnit’s Character That Genuinely INFURIATE Me

Since the recent events following the second L’Manburg Festival and subsequent war, I’ve seen many, many hot takes surrounding the nature of Tommyinnit’s character on the SMP. Some of which annoyed me to the point where I felt compelled to sit down and actually write this. I’m going to only be highlighting the most common complaints or questions I’ve seen, one by one, in hopes of providing a better understanding of Tommy’s character for anyone interested. (I also briefly discuss Techno and Tubbo’s characters as well.)

If you’ve said similar things to what I’m going to be discussing below, please know that it’s perfectly understandable how you’d come to these conclusions. Some of these aspects of Tommy’s character are not always obvious; especially if being watched from another streamer’s POV. This may become quite lengthy, so bear with me for now.

“Tommy’s motives are all over the place. He can’t decide whether he wants the discs back or not.”

Tommy is actually one of the most motivationally consistent characters on the entire Dream SMP. Even Techno, someone completely confident in their ideals, does more motivational flipping than Tommy. From the very start of the story, Tommy has always cared for three things; L’Manburg, Tubbo, and his music discs. However, him caring for something is not itself a motivation. 

Surprisingly enough, his motivation isn’t even just, ‘Get my discs back,’ like many assume it is. Tommy’s one true motivation, since the end of the Independence War, has always been, ‘Keep things the way they are now.’ 

Tommy’s one fatal flaw is that he is resistant to change and refuses to let go of the past. This is seen through all of his actions and words; in all conflicts involving him. This flaw is the drive to all of Tommy’s mistakes. Burning down George’s house, an action which resulted in him getting exiled, was done out of a desire to pull pranks the way he used to before the first war. His friendship with Ranboo started because Tommy said he reminded him of Tubbo, back before he was President. 

Tommy still talks highly of Wilbur because he chooses to remember him as the wise, kind mentor who cared for him. This motive is the reason he defends L’Manburg so fiercely; it’s his memory of a better past. This is why he holds grudges more often than any other character; especially refusing to forgive Techno after he killed Tubbo during the Manburg Massacre.

It’s why Tommy falls under extreme distress whenever Tubbo or Quackity tell him that something will never be the same again. This motivation is entirely formed from an underlying desire for peace and comfort, something Tommy has been denied since being forced into a life wrought with war and death. To accept change, to Tommy, is painful and terrifying. But he will only ever truly be happy when he finally learns to let go.

“Why do the discs matter so much to Tommy? They’re not actually worth anything.”

Tommy’s discs are much more than just any ordinary pair of music discs. They were never important for their material worth, but for what Tommy was willing to sacrifice in order to keep them. Tommy is entirely what gives the discs their value. 

Tommy also commonly operates under the Sunk-Cost Fallacy, wherein he’s invested too much of himself into something to just abandon it, even if it’s causing him problems. This mentality is a huge piece of what keeps him tied to both L’Manburg and to his discs. He’s sacrificed too much at this point to simply let them go. If he admits the discs are worthless, then he’s admitting that he wasted all this time and effort, just to keep them.

The discs also act as a constant source of hope for Tommy because they are directly tied with his motivations as a character. They’re something he’s had since the very beginning. They’re something he used to listen to with Tubbo on their shared bench. 

To Tommy, they symbolize a life before war, filled with comfort and peace. They are a love letter to his country and his late mentor Wilbur. They are a physical representation of Tubbo’s companionship. They are the only thing, besides L’Manburg and his best friend, that gives him the hope that he can one day return things to the way they used to be. 

This ideal, paired with Tommy’s refusal to let go, has left him ruthlessly pursuing the things he’s lost. Not his music discs, but his peace and comfort, his friendship, his country, his mentor Wilbur, and his life before war.

In his desperation to hold onto his prized possession, it has only hurt and pushed away the people that love him. If Tommy continues to ignore this reality, while still refusing to resolve his major flaw entwined with it, he will lose all that the discs had once stood for. He will lose his country, then his friend Tubbo, and then he will lose himself.

“Tommy never grows or learns from his mistakes. This makes him a badly written character.”

Characters do not have to constantly learn from their actions to be well-written. Tommy is one of the best examples of this. The fact that his growth is infrequent is the entire point of his character; it’s completely stemmed from his fatal flaw. 

By addressing himself, he would be accepting change, something that terrifies him; something he stubbornly resists until he is absolutely forced to confront it. Contrary to popular belief, Tommy knows when he makes mistakes, but he pretends to be ignorant as to avoid facing reality. He digs his head in the sand despite knowing better, puppeteering the person he used to be during happier times, now gone.

In spite of his infrequent growth, the idea that Tommy still hasn’t learned anything isn’t quite correct either. Tommy, as of the last three plot streams, has shown incredible character development. By giving up his discs again, he had finally demonstrated that Tubbo is more important to him than his possessions. Speaking as a makeshift leader, he put aside his issues with others to rally them together against a common threat, something which Tommy had never been able to do before. He owned up to all of his mistakes openly, apologizing to everyone he’s ever hurt in one place. 

He apologized to Tubbo after they were reunited and came to terms with the fact that Tubbo was forced to exile him without choice, finally forgiving him. He was kind to Sapnap and learned how to be his friend after months of bitter rivalry. And these are only a few examples. This isn’t to say Tommy has overcome/fixed everything because he clearly hasn’t. There are still major things Tommy needs to work through that remain unaddressed, the biggest being his complicated relationship with Technoblade.

“Tommy only cares about himself. He does everything in his power to be the hero, always putting himself in the center of attention, especially during Doomsday.”

Tommy, since the start of the L’Manburg War for Independence, has never set out to be a hero. Not once. He may fall into the role of the protagonist, but his identity as a hero was pushed onto him by others. Giving up the discs was his only option during the Independence War. 

So when Wilbur called him a hero for it, Tommy said he didn’t feel like he was. During the November 16th War, Tommy again said he didn’t feel like a hero because he had lost what he thought was everything at the time. During exile, Tommy certainly knew he was no hero. And upon reuniting with Tubbo, he admitted to feeling like the farthest thing from it. That he’d hurt everyone and all he wanted to do now was fix it. 

The day before Doomsday, Tommy only took a leadership position because no one else was willing to, filling the role for Tubbo, who was crumbling under pressure. He had no choice but to try to bring everyone together, or fight alone. Most viewers never saw this during Doomsday, but before the battle, almost everyone who had vowed to fight alongside L’Manburg had abandoned them the very next day. They were convinced it was going to be destroyed either way, no matter what they did, so they chose not to see it through to the end; ultimately leaving Tommy and those who remained to fight a losing battle, alone. 

After about a third of the way through the battle, it became clear to everyone that they could do nothing to win. One by one, everyone stopped fighting and stood by to watch their country go up in smoke. Tommy was the only person on the battlefield who refused to stand down and give up. And so he took over the role as leader again, trying his best to keep them alive, to keep Tubbo hopeful; to keep fighting, no matter what. 

However, what most people don’t realize, is that this isn’t Tommy trying to be a hero or force himself into the spotlight. This is Tommy trying to convince himself to keep going. Because whenever things start to look hopeless, Tommy simply chooses to ignore them. He puts on a happy face and soldiers through it because that’s all he knows how to do. Tommy, at his core, is someone who wants peace through stagnation. He doesn’t want to fight, although causing the occasional friendly conflict is how he finds fun. He doesn’t set out to purposely hurt others. 

Tommy may come across as self-centered, but this is because he is an extremely extroverted character. He finds energy and joy in the attention of others, both good and bad. It’s why he’s always seeking the approval of others and, oftentimes, will destructively insert himself into another person’s life in order to find it. 

Out of every character in the story, Tommy is the most drawn to praise and positive reinforcement. He is constantly seeking out mentors and friends because Tommy needs someone else to help him feel confident in his own identity and abilities. It’s why Wilbur was such a positive influence on him. His boisterous confidence has always been a front because if anyone were to actually hurt him, he knows it will make his self-esteem crumble instantly. 

This is part of why Dream’s manipulation was so effective against him. By isolating him, he’s left without energy and looking to another person’s guidance. Tommy outwardly may seem independent and rude, but just under the skin, he’s unconfident and lost when he’s by himself. Tommy will only grow from this flaw when he finds his own identity and inner confidence; when he finally learns to be okay with being alone.

“Tommy goes to the festival solely to get his disc back and then tells Tubbo to give it away immediately after. That doesn’t make any sense.”

Before the screaming match between the two friends during the second L’Manburg Festival, Tommy had been in exile, manipulated by Dream for long enough to lose his will to carry on. It is because of him that Tommy’s reality becomes distorted, long after fleeing from his abuser. This mangling of ideals leads Tommy to subconsciously believe that L’Manburg and Tubbo are unsalvageable. 

Therefore, the only thing he has hopes of retrieving are his discs, which are easier to manage than the latter two things. And so Tommy does reprehensible things at the behest of Techno in a vain hope of getting them back, going so far as to kidnap and torture for them. This ultimately culminates in a confrontation between the ex-friends, quickly turning violent. It is in this violence that we see Tommy has sunk to his absolute lowest point in his journey. 

Swinging his axe, he nearly kills his friend as he delivers a string of words that cause the room to silence instantly. He says the discs were always worth more than his friend. Within the quiet of the room, Tommy is forced to reflect on everything he’s done. How he kidnapped and tortured Connor. How he accidentally drowned Fundy. How he traumatized Ranboo. 

And now he’s hurt Tubbo, the one person he has always sought to protect; someone he vowed to never hurt. This realization causes Tommy to break. He’s so ashamed of himself that he can’t look at anyone. Tommy knows now that he is worse than anyone he’s ever hated. 

With pain in his voice, he tries and fails to apologize to Tubbo in the moment. The only way he knows to redeem himself now is to prove to Tubbo, after everything, that he can still put the discs aside. And so he does.

“The fact that Tommy is still trying to get his discs back after L’Manburg was destroyed is unreasonable and ridiculous.”

Tommy deals with grief in an interesting way, doing something very similar to Techno. His grief almost instantly becomes anger and a drive to prove himself. It morphs into a need for vengeance in response to injustice, always. 

After the destruction of L’Manburg, Tommy saying he wants the discs back is a double-sided motivator. The obvious side being: Tommy still needs them to feel comfort. The subtle side beneath it: Tommy is using them as an excuse to find Dream and kill him. To make him pay for helping destroy their home, hurting his friends, and abusing him in exile. 

Upon the loss of his home, I’d also argue the discs have only grown more important to Tommy in the aftermath. Typically, in grief, people hold onto things that survive devastation far more than if the tragic event never occurred. If your eldest child dies, one may hold their surviving children tighter. If your house burns down, one may deeply treasure a box of items that survived the flames. Tommy’s desperation after losing so much is entirely understandable.

On top of this, the discs are still the core to Tommy’s fatal flaw. They are what keeps him from achieving total happiness, so him getting over this intrinsic part of himself so easily would make for an unsatisfying character arc. He still has to work for his happiness in order to change for the better. 

To add, I’ve seen a lot of people complaining that Tommy is still prioritizing the discs over Tubbo, especially in that moment. And while I mostly agree, there are some interactions that stand out to me as being different between the pair that may imply otherwise. Tommy says a few times that despite L’Manburg being destroyed, he still has something left to lose; each time, turning to look at Tubbo. 

This subtly implies that losing Tubbo would be as devastating as losing his home. Tubbo also never voices disagreement over Tommy’s continued pursuit of the item. However, Tubbo frequently does what he thinks will make others happy, so this doesn’t implicitly mean support for Tommy either. Besides these two things, this is still Tommy’s fatal flaw shining through, continuing to hurt others around him. 

I only hope Tubbo can learn to stand up for himself and voice his real thoughts to Tommy now, after everything. It would provide at least some desperately-needed closure for Tubbo’s character.

“How could Tommy betray Techno like that? Techno told him upfront what he was going to do.”

While it’s true that Techno was obvious about his plans, Tommy was also just as upfront with Techno about what he thought of it. In fact, maybe even more so, considering Techno attempted to hide them from Tommy for a good portion of their partnership. Whenever Techno brought up the idea of destroying L’Manburg or hurting Tubbo, Tommy would always remind Techno that he didn’t want to hurt anyone. And that if Techno ever did, Tommy would be there to stand in his way. He never once stopped saying this. 

Tommy’s two major positive character traits have always been his undying loyalty and his strength to never give up, even in the face of death. Two classically heroic qualities, both of which, ironically, reinforce his fatal flaw. His refusal to change makes him stubborn; stubbornness being the only quality that makes unwavering loyalty and extreme persistence feasible. 

Because of these two traits, it was impossible from the start for Dream to completely break Tommy’s spirit and for Techno to get him to agree to anything too extreme. Despite this, Techno already had no hope of keeping Tommy on his side after the events of the day before the Festival. During it, Tommy had asked multiple times for Techno to give his word not to hurt anyone. That they’d only threaten to spawn a wither, get Techno’s remaining weapons in exchange, then leave. That’s it.

Techno avoided directly promising Tommy but still agreed not to regardless. So when Techno chose to spawn the wither anyway, despite Tommy urging them to leave multiple times, whatever trust Tommy had with him went completely out the window. Thus, when the threat was finally real, that Techno would make due on his promise to burn his home country to the ground and slaughter his friends, Tommy intervened. It would be unreasonable to expect Tommy not to stand against him in that moment, especially after his mental breakdown which ensued as a result of him nearly killing his best friend. 

Adding salt to the wound on Tommy’s end, Techno decided to also align himself with Dream, someone Techno knew Tommy was afraid of. This might have been a way to purposely hurt Tommy. More likely, it was because Dream and him shared a common goal in the moment and Techno desperately needed allies.

However, the implication of Techno siding with Tommy’s abuser most certainly hurt him, regardless of its original intentions. This is possibly why Tommy kept insisting through Doomsday that Techno betrayed him, avoiding actually telling anyone the reason as to why. If he couldn’t find the words to describe what Dream did to him, even to Tubbo, he certainly wouldn’t be able to tell Techno either.

“Techno gave Tommy everything, only to be repaid with betrayal.”

This statement regarding Tommy is the one I see most often. (It is also the one I get the most heated about.)

Dream’s character is well known for his manipulation tactics against other characters; pitting them against each other, crushing them under his heel, bending their will to conform to his own. It’s what makes him an interesting villain. It’s something fun to discuss. 

But is it still fun to discuss manipulation tactics if they’re so subtle, almost no one notices them? This is the paradigm Technoblade’s character falls into. While people know Techno for his laid-back personality, dry humor, and complex motivations, many fail to recognize him as a manipulator. The reason why this is so hard to spot is because it is mostly unintentional on behalf of the character. Dream performs his craft with intention, Techno does it without realizing. 

As well as this being unwitting, it is sandwiched between Techno’s actual attempts to connect with Tommy and care for him. Thus, making the manipulation feel less damaging. The only problem is, this still hurts Tommy just as much, regardless of the intentions behind it. Especially after just escaping Dream, Tommy’s reality and sense of identity are horribly distorted. In this vulnerable state, he desperately needs healing and someone to help ground him. This is what makes him even more susceptible to Techno’s influence. 

And because it is much subtler, it is harder to notice, and much harder to break free from. Despite Tommy claiming to hate Techno for what he did on November 16th, he still chose to flee to his house because it was the only place he could think of going, as well as being the safest area possible. After the failed execution, Techno mentioned potentially hurting Tubbo through a vengeance plot. Tommy voiced extreme distress over this, to which Techno threatened to kick him out of his house. 

Tommy then says he’s fine being homeless because he doesn’t want anything to do with someone who would hurt his friend. This is when Techno decides to weaponize Tommy’s own trauma against him. To be fair to Techno again, Tommy never told him the extent of the abuse he suffered in exile. But Techno isn’t stupid. He knows Tommy is extremely afraid of Dream, and for good reason. 

So he tells Tommy that if he were kicked out, he’d be defenseless. That if he were out there all alone, Dream would find him very easily. That Dream would drag him right back to Logstedshire in an instant. He notices the way Tommy reacts to this, how quickly he changes his mind about being kicked out. He continues to use this trauma repeatedly in order to keep Tommy under his roof, no matter how disagreeable he gets about Techno’s plans. He knows he can’t retrieve his weapons alone because he has no leverage. 

Therefore, using Tommy like a wild card was a major side strategy. Techno knows it will hurt Tubbo by doing this and may make the President more willing to compromise. In addition to this, many of the strategies Techno utilizes are Narcissistic manipulation tactics, categorized by their intent to keep the victim in a position below the abuser in terms of worth. This includes Techno using the silent treatment as a punishment, something which hurts Tommy since he craves affection from others. 

He also attempts to isolate Tommy by telling him he doesn’t need anyone else; that everyone abandoned him during exile (something which Dream has also said.) He tells Tommy that he’s only alive because Techno is there to defend him and supply for him, as well as constantly reminding Tommy to not let any compliments he receives get to his head. These are both meant to make Tommy depend more on Techno and doubt his own abilities. Techno also occasionally engages in subtle gaslighting, attempting to sow doubt in Tommy’s mind about his relationships with Tubbo, Quackity, Ranboo, and Fundy. 

It’s also vital to keep in mind what exactly separates Dream and Techno in this regard. The most important thing being that Techno actually does care about Tommy. He trusts him and wants to earnestly help him. He knows Tommy has been traumatized and abused in some way, but he doesn’t know how to help because he’s not that great with people. It also doesn’t help that Tommy is unable to tell anyone what happened. 

In the end, Techno really does want to be a shield for Tommy. Despite debating handing Tommy over to Dream, it’s more likely Techno was using this as bait for Dream to waste his favor on something useless. After all, he could always save Tommy, should he ask for him to. Techno’s warnings about Tubbo and L’Manburg also come from a place of love, as Techno was personally hurt by them and wants to protect Tommy by telling him to leave it behind. However, just because something is done out of love, doesn’t mean it’s automatically helpful or good for someone. 

There’s no better example of this than in Techno’s most damaging and frequently used tactic: ‘Buy Their Love,’ a technique commonly used on children by narcissistic parents. At first glance, nothing seems wrong. Techno gives Tommy most things he asks for; providing him with food, gifts, protection, and a place to sleep. The manipulation within this arises when the act of kindness is counted as a debt against the person who receives it. That by receiving so many good things, they would be ungrateful to go against their abuser. Doesn’t matter if they emotionally or physically hurt you, they gave you gifts, so you should shut your mouth and allow the abuse to continue. 

Whenever Tommy speaks out against Techno’s violent actions or his plans to hurt his friends, Techno would frequently bring up all his ‘good deeds.’ He consistently reminds Tommy that he could’ve just thrown him back to Dream, but he was too kind. That he went out of his way to give him gear, food, and a roof over his head. That he was kind so Tommy should be quiet and let Techno plot to hurt the people he loves. Or else he’s selfish and ungrateful. Or else Techno will take all of his gifts back and leave him with nothing.

Knowing this, it is horrifying seeing people justifying this behavior by mocking Tommy’s character and calling him ungrateful using this very same fallacy. (Especially for those who grew up being controlled by this very tactic.) 

It is through knowing Techno’s use of the ‘Buy Their Love,’ method that makes Tommy’s, ‘I am worthy,’ response, not one of betrayal, but one of triumph. This moment is a major positive character change for Tommy for many reasons. When Tommy decides to stand against Techno, this causes him to fall back on his most reliable tactic. He insults Tommy and then asks for the Axe of Peace back. Instead of caving, Tommy refuses. 

By keeping the Axe of Peace, Techno’s final gift to him, he is not only rejecting the destruction of all he loves, but he is breaking free from Techno’s manipulation. He says, ‘I am worthy,’ because now he knows his own self-worth. He doesn’t need Techno or Dream to decide it for him. This moment is Tommy finally breaking free from not just Techno, but Dream as well. He is finally free.

“Tommy was only using Techno and never thought of him as a friend.”

Tommy and Techno’s relationship is complicated, which is why pretending only one side was in the wrong isn’t entirely accurate. Their friendship, in summary, is tragic when fully examined; being doomed from the start. Techno and Tommy are brought into conflict often because they are simultaneously so similar and so different. Techno and Tommy both deal with grief in the same way. They both long for a life of peace and comfort. They each long for companionship, hold their ideals in kind, and are both naturally resilient in the face of adversity. 

Yet, their personalities and courses of action are polar opposites. What makes this friendship one of tragedy is the fact that not just Techno, not just Tommy, but both of them, actually thought the other was their friend. They had each wanted to be the other’s friend since the day they’d met. Tommy never stopped wanting to impress Techno and get on his good side, even if his methods annoyed the target of his affections. Him calling Techno ‘The Blade’ was never meant to dehumanize him; it was a title of adoration. 

Along the same spectrum, Techno is a character who generally longs for friendship, but pretends not to after a lifetime of hurt. He’s been burned too many times, and so he chooses to stay alone. Techno is generally very reclusive and awkward around others, so when he likes someone or cares for them, it’s noticeable from a mile away. Their friendship has a very brotherly dynamic, and the fact that Techno allowed him to stay in his house, implies Tommy is a step above pretty much everyone else but Phil. Putting up with Tommy’s shenanigans is itself a sign of affection. 

However, when their goals come into conflict and the two start to drift apart, they deal with this in massively different ways. With Tommy devastated and enraged, and with Techno withdrawn and hurt, once more burned by someone he slowly learned to trust. They were once both friends, neither one was pretending. Yet, both of them thought their companionship was unreciprocated. 

On top of this, both Techno and Tommy were using each other. Techno used Tommy to get his weapons back by manipulating and lying to him. Tommy used Techno to protect him from Dream and get his discs back. They each hurt the other and refused to listen, both shouting valid complaints at the other that they refused to hear. 

Their relationship is also deeply affected by the themes of vengeance in the current arc, which is something I haven’t seen many people talk about. Most of the current conflicts this past month have resulted from characters being unable to forgive, resorting to revenge as a way to cope with loss. L’Manburg was the first to initiate this, through the influence of Quackity. The Butcher Army was formed to punish Techno for a war crime he committed. And while this is perfectly reasonable, what isn’t is the way the incident was orchestrated. It was an unchecked abuse of power to execute someone without a fair trial, as well as punishing Phil, who was not involved whatsoever. 

This was also particularly unfair to Techno, as many projected their anger at Wilbur onto him. Even Tommy did this, finding himself unable to blame his late mentor, so Techno was the next best option for him. However, it was Techno’s response to this that was interesting. He chose a path of vengeance, the same way L’Manburg did, after vowing to live his life as a pacifist. By doing this and following through, he hurt everyone, not just the people he claimed needed to pay for their actions. 

Instead of just picking the weed in the garden, he set the entire flower bed on fire. Through L’Manburg’s destruction, he gets what he wants. He destroys their government, but he also scars the earth and shatters the sky. He leaves uninvolved people homeless, deeply hurting Ranboo, Eret, and especially Ghostbur. Philza turns to vengeance as well, taking his anger at the death of his son out on people who do not deserve it. 

Tubbo, a day before the second Festival, was given another chance to seek revenge when Techno had spawned a wither on their land. Instead, all Tubbo could say was, ‘We do nothing … It’s pointless, vengeance. It’s poisonous.’ By doing this, he has managed to be a bigger person than even Techno was, with the strength and maturity to turn the other cheek. And now with Tommy’s plan to kill Dream, the conflict continues to escalate; only ending where forgiveness begins. 

It’s sad to think, if Techno didn’t choose a path of vengeance and Tommy was strong enough to tell Techno how he really felt, the two might have remained friends. Who knows? Maybe they still can.

“Tommy was the one in the wrong. Techno was right to destroy L’Manburg.”

Techno is a lovely character. He’s well-written, engaging, funny. He has many values and quirks that are generally relatable and interesting. His motives are deeply understandable and sympathetic. And yet, he is perfectly capable of being evil, in just the same way that Tommy can be deeply flawed despite being the protagonist. 

I’m sure most people already know that Technoblade is a villain. Or more accurately, a tragic antagonist. Techno (the streamer) knows he is and he’s having fun playing that part. Just because a character is morally in the wrong doesn’t mean their values and ideology don’t have merit. The best character I could compare Techno to is Thanos. 

They have completely valid concerns and points, but it is the way in which they go about achieving their goals that makes them into evil people. And despite this, many will still agree with them, even after they do something reprehensible. Contrary to popular belief, Technoblade’s tendency towards violence isn’t a good thing, no matter how you look at it. Even Techno himself knows this, that’s why he decided to reform and become a pacifist with Phil. He was not a good influence on Tommy, on top of also manipulating him. 

Techno caving to hatred and vengeance makes him no different to the resolve of the Butcher Army that pursued him. It is precisely the fact that he went on to destroy the home of not just Tommy, but also Ranboo and Ghostbur, that puts him in the wrong. He is allowed to despise all government and remove himself from it, but the moment he decided to insert himself into someone else’s country and take their home from them in order to destroy it, he abandoned an integral principle to his own values. 

This principle being: ‘Choice.’ The act of letting others be free to decide what they want for themselves. It is a huge component to the concept of anarchy, the freedom to choose. And yet Techno robbed this from, not just the ruling powers that hurt him, but individuals who were not even involved in the first place. He justifies this by saying it’s for their own good, that he’s helping; while acting in a self-serving manner. 

In his anger, he became the punisher, stooping lower than L’Manburg has ever gone. There is also the issue of Dream weaponizing Techno to destroy the one thing that has been a thorn in his side since the very start, manipulating Techno’s grief to achieve his goals. Tommy’s biggest sin in the Doomsday War was standing up to Techno and getting in the way of him hurting his friends and destroying his home. 

This isn’t to say Tommy is perfect, because he still hurt everyone he ever loved. But the only way he knew to redeem himself was to fight for what he knew was right. And so he chose to fight alongside his best friend, Tubbo. However, just because Techno is in the wrong doesn’t mean others are wrong for wanting to side with him, or by finding joy in his ruthlessness. The biggest appeal of Techno is the fact that he opposes people like Tommy. 

He knows how to put people in their place and it’s satisfying to watch. Some people love rooting for villains and it’s entertaining to see a being with so much power crush everyone else down so effortlessly. Especially because it’s so easy to sympathize with Technoblade. Sympathetic villains are the best kind; where they have understandable motivations, relatable flaws, people they love, and something they can lose. Dream is a villain you love to hate. Technoblade is a villain you hate to love. Simple as. 

Despite the destruction of L’Manburg being either devastating or fantastic depending on who you are, there is one major good it has done. It has pushed Tommy more towards the completion of his character arc. By losing one of the three things he loves, it will be impossible for him to pretend any longer. He will be forced to confront reality very soon. It all depends on whether Tubbo will have to die first for him to finally see it.

[makeste]

I like Bakuguo but his attitude is starting to really piss me off. He's talking about Daku as if he's just ~crazy~ and as if he isn't partly to blame for Deku's toxic self-worth issues. It's infuriating to watch. If Bakuguo doesn’t admit out loud and in front of his friends that his bullying of Deku played a part in Deku's current destructive state and if he doesn’t verbally apologize and reaffirm Deku's worth then I can no longer like Bakuguo's character or Hori's writing.

tbh I don't really know why this is the discourse of choice for people all of a sudden, but this is already the second ask I've gotten about it, so I might as well address it lol.

I think fandom is conflating fanon!Deku and canon!Deku here again. fanon Deku is of course much more sensitive and woobified and has much shakier self-esteem. fanon Deku is the one that turns evil in so many AUs because of Kacchan's bullying. fanon Deku is the one that actually jumps off the roof in so many fics, as opposed to fishing his notebook back out of the pond a few minutes later grumbling about how Kacchan needs to think before he speaks or else he could land himself in serious shit one day if god forbid anyone actually does take his cruel words to heart.

and just to clarify before I get any further, I am not saying this to excuse Kacchan's actions in any way, because what he did was still completely terrible and unacceptable and WAY over the line, and what's more he knew it, too. the bullying was still shitty and horrible and awful, and definitely impacted Deku and made him miserable. I fully acknowledge that, and that Kacchan has a lot of atoning to do for it. this is not a "Kacchan did nothing wrong" post.

but that being said, I don't think canon Deku's reckless self-sacrificing nature actually has anything to do with the bullying. I think they're two completely separate things. canon Deku actually has pretty decent self-esteem in spite of everything Kacchan did to him. canon Deku doesn't think he is useless. canon Deku had a wholeass fight with Kacchan less than 10 chapters into the series in which he explicitly spelled it out for Kacchan that he had a lot of worth, and was going to prove it to him. canon Deku was persistent in wanting to become a hero and hoping and believing that he could find some way in spite of being quirkless. canon Deku never let go of that dream even when no one else supported it. I don't think he would have even given up on it after being told no by All Might, tbh -- we just never got to see how it would have played out because of everything that happened with the sludge monster shortly afterward. but he's not the type to ever give up on something that easily, and we've seen that. canon Deku never thought he was useless, but rather wanted to prove to everyone else that he wasn't.

the drive that Deku has to save and protect others even at the expense of his own safety is something entirely separate from that. he doesn't break his body for others simply because he has no self-esteem and thinks that his own life isn't important. he does it because he can't stand the thought of someone else getting hurt, and knowing that he could have done something to prevent it. it's as simple as that. like, Spider-Man has the whole "with great power comes great responsibility" thing, right? and he doesn't have low self-esteem; he simply believes that if he has the ability to help someone else, then he has a responsibility to help them. it's a personal creed. and Deku is based on Spider-Man. his philosophy is based on that philosophy, which was one of Horikoshi's core influences and is one of the core creeds in superhero fiction.

Deku is self-destructive not because he doesn't value himself, but because he is literally physically incapable of standing back and doing nothing if he knows that he can do something. he's the type of person who sees a car speeding towards someone and leaps in to push them out of the way. NOT because he wants to get himself fucking pancaked by a speeding car, but simply because he can't sit back and watch the other person get hurt without taking action. his body moves before he can think. and that's where the whole "doesn't take himself into account" thing comes in -- the fact that his thought process simply stops at "get them out of the way of the car", and never extends beyond that to "hey, and maybe I should try to find a way to do this that doesn't involve me getting hit in their place." to him, that's simply less important than the first priority, which is getting the other person out of the way.

and regarding that last part, while that may seem like a self-worth issue if he's prioritizing everyone else above himself, I think what it actually is just selflessness taken to extremes. like for instance, when a parent sacrifices themselves to save their child, them placing the child's life above their own isn't necessarily because they don't see themselves as having value. rather, it's that they love the child so much that they place their well-being even above their own. and that's what Deku is like as well. except that in his case he cares about EVERYONE, and so is willing to sacrifice himself for anyone. and that selflessness is his defining character trait, and simultaneously the most admirable and the most terrifying thing about him. it's both his greatest strength and his greatest weakness, which I think is fascinating to explore.

but anyway, so that's also why we never really see anyone thoroughly chewing him out for this behavior either. because the thing is, it is admirable how selfless he is. it's just that there's also a reason why most people are at least a little bit selfish. and that's because too much selflessness will ultimately and inevitably wind up getting you killed. at some point you either have to learn when to put the oxygen mask on yourself first, or else find yourself a loyal group of friends (or classmates) to watch your back, and make sure that mask gets on you when you need it. and maybe help you land the plane too while they're at it.

anyway so that was a lot of rambling, but basically it all boils down to three things:

when Deku berates himself for being useless (for instance at the end of the War arc), he's doing it out of frustration for not being able to push the others out of the way of the metaphorical car. that's the kind of uselessness he can't stand. the sitting-back-and-doing-nothing uselessness.

Kacchan's bullying was terrible, and it might have indeed played a part in Deku's choice of the word "useless" as a way of berating himself in these instances, but he is not the one who gave Deku this mindset of taking himself out of the equation. that's something that was already inherent to Deku from day one. (but that said, Kacchan has a lot of things to apologize to Deku for anyway, so if he wants to add this to the list I certainly won't stop him. he gets mad about Deku's suicidal attitude because it worries him, but that doesn't necessarily mean that he doesn't feel responsible for it. people underestimated his feelings of atonement before 284/285, and I think they're still underestimating him now.)

and lastly, one last important note, which is that Deku's current "saving" mindset isn't wrong, just as Kacchan's "winning" mindset was not wrong either. the lesson to be learned here is NOT that being selfless and wanting to save other people is bad. rather, it's the fact that he's trying to do it alone that's got him all fucked up right now. basically when you think about it, selflessness is really just selfishness on someone else's behalf. which means that in order for Deku to be saved, it isn't necessary for him to change his outlook or his selfless attitude, even if it is pretty crazy lol. rather, all he really needs is a good group of friends who are willing to act selfishly on his behalf in return. protecting each other through mutual selflessness lol. teamwork as self-preservation. hence why the U.A. kids are here now.

anyway so yeah, I think that's everything. sorry this got so long and out of control lol. this is just a very specific nuanced thing that's hard for me to express, but which I feel is very important when it comes to Deku's character. Kacchan didn't unleash Depressed Nomad Deku on the world (or at least not in this respect). but that being said, he and the others will hopefully be the ones to nudge him back on the right course again.

[linkspooky]

THE TOP THREE HEROES ARE ALL FAILURES

In the sense that Enjdeavor, Hawks, and Jeanist all embody the failures of the hero system. The first clear sign that all three people who were set to inherit All Might’s Legacy would fail in doing so, is that none of them really understood what kind of hero was in the first place. 

Endeavor only ever saw All Might’s Strength, and thought All Might’s genuine desire to save people was just him playing to the crowd. Hawks thought Endeavor’s desire to surpass All Might was heroic, and what made him a better hero because he didn’t give up when everybody else said it was hopeless, but we the audience know Endeavor gave up early and took it out on his family instead. Best Jeanist thinks what’s most important of all isn’t saving people but rather “The Image” of Heroes to the public. Except, the only reason All Might was a hero obsessed with image is because he wanted even those he could not reach to be able to live in peace and save themselves. 

The top three heroes are all lacking in what All Might had, in that none of them actually believe that Heroes should save people. Enji believes in strength above all else, Hawks in sacrificing one’s self for the faceless masses, and Best Jeanist in the image of heroes to the public. 

It’s really showing that the option of “Saving Dabi” did not even occur to them once, despite the fact that they are completely willing to give a helping hand to the man who made Dabi.

The current number one, two and three heroes are all obsessed with All Might’s Legacy, however all of them are failures to All Might’s Legacy as well because they don’t understand the underlying ideal of heroes saving people. All three of them represent the failures of hero society, which is why they aren’t shown being overly concerned at hero society’s victims. Even when it’s revealed that one of hero society’s greatest villains Dabi, was actually one of hero society’s greatest victims too, created by one of their own, their beliefs barely change.

1. Enji Todoroki 

Enji was never concerned with saving others being the job of a hero. His one and only focus was just to be the strongest. He even has a shallow view of All Might’s ideals and goals because of this. He thinks the reason that All Might won number one was because 1) his all powerful strength and 2) his popularity with people. 

Enji never once mentions that All Might became the hero he was, because his number one priority in every situation was to save as many people as he could. Because, Enji doesn’t view it as the job of heroes to save others. 

Toshinori worked so hard because he genuinely wanted to be the shining light for others. He didn’t become the number one hero because it was his own personal dream, but rather because it was others needed of him. All Might isn’t a perfect hero either, but there’s still a difference between someone who wanted the number one spot because he genuinely thought it would save the most people, and someone who wanted the number one spot because he wanted to be the strongest.

Even after Endeavor’s supposed revelation where he saw Shoto being gentle with flames, rather than forceful and violence, Enji became the exact same kind of hero he was before. 

Think of the way Enji fought Shigaraki, burning him alive. He made several attempts to kill him during their fight, even though the rule is heroes absolutely must not kill, that’s what makes them different from villains. Heroes prioritize the safety of people, and saving civilians, except for Endeavor apparently. Endeavor as a hero is the exact same kind of hero he was before, and the flaw with that is if he had fought Dabi the same way he had fought Shigaraki.

He would have burned his own son alive. Enji isn’t even concerned in the least with saving people, even when the person most in need of saving is his own son. He sees villains as an absolute evil for him to punch and beat up in order to prove his own strength. The only way Enji knows how to be a hero is violently taking down crime and no one has ever challenged this, even though it’s the exact attitude that led Toya to his death.

Enji, only ever taught Dabi how to turn up the heat, because Enji wasn’t actually that concerned with his son’s well being. Toya was only worth something to him when he was strong, so Enji only ever taught Toya how to be the strongest hero and nothing else that a father should teach his son. Even now, Enji doesn’t let go of this idea of his that he has to be the number one hero, and being the strongest hero will solve all of his problems. 

Endeavor has used playing hero again and again as an excuse to run away. Now that Hawks is giving him another chance to be hero, he’s enabling him to run away again. 

It’s incredible how still even after the reveal, it’s always Toya who has to pay for the consequences of Endeavor’s mistakes. Toya is left alone to burn to death and spends the rest of his life covered in burns forgotten by his father, and it’s Endeavor who gets the unconditional support and love Toya needed as a child offered to him, just because he happened to be a hero. If he was a villain he would have just been locked up.

Endeavor is framed as the hero who does not give up, and yet, he very easily runs away and lets Toya take the blame for the majority of his actions. If Toya had been able to carry his dream he would not have abused Shoto. If Toya had not died that day he would not have doubled down even harder on Shoto. Toya’s the reason they could not come together as a family. It’s never Endeavor’s actions, it’s always, somehow, Toya who is blamed, and Toya who is burned as the consequence of Endeavor’s actions. Now, Toya is the one who needs to be stopped when Enji is just as guilty. 

I’m not saying that Enji should not be given a chance to get better, but why is the good side of Enji’s actions expressed over and over again and not Toya’s? Toya is trying to reform all of society. Toya is trying to hold his dad accountable for abusing him and neglecting him to the point that he died. That’s murder. Someone who lets their children die because they couldn’t be bothered to supervise them can be charged with involuntary manslaughter in a court of law. Enji has killed too, but rather than admit to his own flaws it’s must easier to cast Toya s the villain that needs to be stopped and himself as the hero that needs everyone’s support. 

Toya deserves the same chance that Enji got. 

2. Hawks

Hawks only saw self sacrifice in All Might’s actions. He saw someone harming himself over and over again for the sake of others, and that’s probably why he admired Enji’s pursuit of strength more because it was the opposite of him. 

If Enji is the extreme result of the attitude that villains can’t be saved, only stopped by putting themselves down with violence, then Hawks is the extreme result of self sacrifice. Hawks seems like the ideal hero on paper, he would do anything, and give up any part of himself to save a faceless stranger just like All Might. However, Hawks also has decided that he has the right to sacrifice others as well.

Hawks is self-destructive. That’s the extreme end of self sacrifice. However, unlike All Might who took the burden entirely on himself, Hawks will choose others to sacrifice as well. If Hawks sees himself as a tool for the greater good he will extend that to others as well. If Hawks sees himself as a bad victim who turned his back on their parents, he extends that to others as well. 

So basically, Hawks’ number one problem is with himself. He can’t reconcile his past. He feels guilty for being abused by his parents. He feels guilty for not forgiving the same abusive parents. He puts everything he has into being a hero, and yet, he doesn’t feel like he himself is a hero. Hawks’ only way he knows to feel good about himself is to continuously sacrifice himself for the sake of others. 

Because he learned when he was young the only way to be good was by sacrificing himself to protect others. He only received the help he needs because he showed he was “one of the good victims” but deep down internally he feels like he’s the bad one, for not being able to do anything for his mother, for not reaching out to her. 

Hawks can’t see himself as a victim and it messes with the way he sees other victims as well. He divides them into good and bad, and then tells himself that he’ll offer to help the good ones, the ones willing to improve. Hawks’ represents Hero Society’s own willingness to throw the bad victims to the dogs. 

It’s specifically Hawks who Twice calls this out on. So we have a number one hero who thinks the only way to deal with villains is to violently suppress them, and the number two hero that thinks the only people who deserve to be saved is the ones he deems as “Good” or “Trying to be better.” 

It’s all because Hawks has this really self destructive idea of what kindness is. That kindness is somehow destroying yourself for the sake of others, that it’s being overly forgiving and not holding any resentment at all. 

It’s like how Deku acts like forgiving his father is a kind act. However, at the same time implying that holding onto resentment would be an unkind one.

Even though the reason Natsuo won’t forgive is because Toya is dead, and Enji never showed any apparent remorse for it, and didn’t try to fix anything. Even though one son died because of Enji’s training, and then Enji just decided to train the one remaining son he had left a thousand times harder. Natsuo is attempting to hold his father accountable for his actions, but Deku acts like blanket forgiveness would be the kind thing to do.

Even though Deku himself is willing to overlook all of Enji’s past abuse of Shoto, and his murder of Toya, but at the same time stresses how unforgivable Toya and Shigaraki are. 

Deku just saves people in a self destructive way. He breaks his bones to save others, thus mirroring Hawks who just saves people without genuinely thinking through who needs to be saved. They save people, because that’s the way they hurt themselves to prove how useful they are. However, neither of them actually goes through the trouble of thinking who genuinely needs saving, and that’s why they’re able to carry such a false double standard. Enji needs help because he’s trying to be better, whereas Toya’s not trying to be better. Ignoring the fact that you know, Enji tries to be better by just, forgetting everything he did in the past and sweeping his past actions under the rug, whereas Toya is still suffering from the scars of Enji’s abuse, permanently on his body. 

However, between Twice a person willing to die to protect his friends and act of complete selflessness, and Enji who can’t even bring himself to think that maybe he should try to save the son he let burn to death on a mountain peak which one do you think was trying to be better? Enji who spent ten years, even after Toya had already died to his training, training up Shoto instead even harsher. Enji who referred to Toya as “a failure” and “almost perfect” when talking to Shoto about his death. 

“I’m going to help anyone trying to be better” is just an arbitrary line that Hawks draws.

That’s even the critique that Twice levelled at Hawks. Hawks doesn’t care because he never actually tried to see the good sides of the other people, but Toga was someone who comfotred Twice and understood him. Toga was someone who made the league feel like home. Hawks labels Twice as the only good one, because he just didn’t bother to see what was good about the other villains. Yet, at the same time he strains himself to see the good in Endeavor, to the point where he constantly apologizes for Endeavor’s actions and sweeps them under the rug. Endeavor is a good man who is just misunderstood in Hawks’ eyes, who just went wrong somewhere, but Hawks can’t ever offer up the same sympathy to the worst victims of society. Who lash out and hurt other people in the same way that Endeavor did, except Endeavor’s is excusable and there’s isn’t because...??? 

 Hawks is in denial, because he refuses to look at the good sides of the villains. Twice didn’t choose to accept his offer of help, so obviously he didn’t want to be better, therefore Hawks is perfectly justified in putting him down. Notice though how Hawks mentioned prison time for Jin, but not for Enji (neglecting a child to the point where they burn to death is... still a crime). 

Hawks is still in denial about himself. He thinks he’s offering people a helping hand. However, from Jin’s perspective we see how manipulative he is. Hawks didn’t offer Jin a hand, he held him at gunpoint and told him to surrender and betray his friends. Hawks is just lying to himself, because he didn’t go out of his way to save Jin, he ruthlessly manipulated him, and then betrayed him. He’s not framed as a hero trying desperately to save a villain, but rather a friend betraying another friend who trusted him. Because, Hawks does not just sacrifice himself. He’s the extreme result of self sacrifice. Self sacrifice turns into self destruction. Self denial. Hawks sacrifices other people. He forces himself to dirty his hands, because he believes this is the only way he can be a hero. He’s too weak individually, so he has to manipulate, pull strings, and even kill in order to achieve the results he thinks will save the most people. However, by doing that he ignores the suffering of the victims right in front of them.

Not only that, but he ignores what contradicts his simple black and white narrative. Enji was trying to be better so he deserves help and support, Twice didn’t want to be better so Hawks revoked his offer of support away. 

He’s willing to give support to a man who abused his family for no good reason, and who continues to evade any consequences or legal punishment for his actions, but then insists that Jin who was pushed to his actions by poverty and not wanting to starve to death just did not want to be better. He’s like, so unaware of what the problem actually is with society, he can’t possibly think why Enji leaving his own son to burn to death might have left his son a bit miffed. Enji is just a person who made a few missteps along the way but genuinely wants to be good, Dabi is just a selfish person who doesn’t want to be better, so says Hawks. 

Nevermind how hard Toya tried to be a hero, and how he never gave up on earning his father’s love. Nevermind how hard Twice tried to be helpful to other, and how much he loved the people around him he was willing to sacrifice his life. Twice’s last action was to save his two closest friends. Enji’s actions are always just to beat up villains to prove how strong he is. Enji is never concerned with anyone. Hawks does want to save people, but he never thinks about the people who need to be saved.

Therefore, heroes are always good. Even when heroes do bad things, Hawks contrives some way to not hold them responsible for it ever. Well, Enji isn’t like that now. Well, we don’t need to announce that Enji was an abuser, because that will just upset the public. 

The actions of Enji are apologized for over and over again. Because rather than holding him accountable for his actions. Instead of pushing him to actually fix his mistakes, it’s better to keep sweeping the problem under the rug. Because, as is repeated again and again heroes don’t save people. When a hero fails to save someone, rather than trying to fix that mistake it’s easier to blame the person who didn’t get saved. 

Even if it was your own son that you left to burn to death. That is somehow miraculously alive.  That has given you a second chance to save the person you should have saved that day by just, showing up, and actually acting like a father for once. 

Enji will just choose his job over and over again. Because heroes don’t actually have a responsibility to save people. Being hero is just a job. Enji, Hawks, Jeanist they consider it a profession, not a responsibility. Which is why all three of them are willing to blame Dabi for his own actions, but not Endeavor for his. Which, just proves Dabi right. 

Heroes aren’t actually concerned with saving people. Heroes don’t think about who is most in need of saving, and who the real victims are. Heroes just protect their own. 

Enji, Hawks and Dabi are all murderers. They have all killed someone in pursuit of their goal. Not only did Enji murder a child by neglect, he also tried to kill Shigaraki several times over, and even tried to murder Pop Step in vigilantes. Hawks killed Twice in pursuit of a goal. 

However, Hawks and Enji need to be supported, whereas Toya needs to be stopped. Because they are heroes, and Dabi is a villain. But sure, watch Dabi continually burn his own body over and over again and push himself to the very limit so he can achieve a society where another hero will never get away with abusing his family like Enji did his, and say that he doesn’t want to be good. Watch Toya burn himself over and over again as a child just trying to be a hero because he thinks it’s the only way to earn his father’s love, because he genuinely looked up to his father and wanted to be just like him, and insist that Toya just stopped trying to be better, that he was just a jealous child, that he was never good. 

Jeanist isn’t a fully developed character so I’m not going to talk about him as much, but he represents the attitude that heroes “only pretend to save people” because they fuss ove image, rather than doing the actual work of helping victims.

The thing is someone who is genuinely trying to be better would listen to Dabi’s words, to Shigaraki’s words. However, Jeanist, Hawks, Enji all think of themselves as the hero, therefore they assume they are good and that their actions are good. 

Whenever someone contradicts this, they just flat out ignore any criticism. Heroes don’t save people. Heroes just protect their own image as heroes, because they assume that’s what is necessary for peace. Even now, Hawks and Jeanist aren’t focused on the innocent people suffering from the victim break outs, but rather taking down the man out to ruin their reputations. 

They pretend to see those they haven’t protected. Even when that person is Endeavor’s own son, his pain gets swept under the rug, because the image of Endeavor as a shining hero is far more important than the responsibility he has to help his own son, that’s in pain and need to saving. 

[soren-apologist]

enough edelgard discourse, time for ashnard discussion

it’s really too bad that people don’t talk about ashnard very much, considering he’s actually a really fascinating character. he starts off as generic evil king, but as the story develops, it shows how he’s sociopathic and macchiavellian, yet he still has cohesive thought behind his actions that parallel the mercenaries in a really interesting way.

ok, i’m not gonna sit here and attempt to argue that assnards is a good person— he’s an absolutely massive douche. part of what separates discussion of him from ones about edelgard, despite them having similar “the ends justify the means” plans, is that a. the game never tries to convince you he’s a good person, and b. ashnard doesn’t try to convince you he’s a good person. one of the things he says to ike is essentially, “i’m going to let history decide whether or not i’m justified.” i find that really interesting, considering that, despite the fact he’s attempting to conquer tellius for what he believes is a good reason, he has enough self-awareness to realize that this doesn’t inherently protect him from criticism. in contrast, one of the major themes behind edelgard is that she’s deluded to the point where she thinks she’s completely in the right with what she’s doing, despite, y’know, the fact she’s sacrificing countless lives of her countrymen and the rest of fódlan for her own ambitions. but this is about ashnard, so i digress. the fact that he doesn’t view himself as some “hero of the people” despite his actions potentially helping in the long run (giving the poor an opportunity to rise in the ranks by becoming knights, attempting to change the world so that the strong are the ones in control, etc.) is just something you tend not to see that frequently. i’m not saying his plans are necessarily foolproof— historically, meritocracies don’t do very sexily due to how they basically just end up being a situation of “the rich succeed, the poor fail.” that’s actually what i find beautifully ironic about the ending to cf, edelgard believes that she has found a way to fix fódlan but just puts them back at square one (instead of crests determining power, it will ultimately lead to the wealthy becoming powerful, since they can, y’know, afford shit). i bring this up because it’s pretty similar to how daein was run, though instead of it being run by nobles that would eventually become corrupt, it was run by soldiers who, more often than not, were bloodthirsty, cruel bastards willing to sacrifice their men if it meant a chance at more power to them. i really like how the two situations relate to each other, as in their leader’s well-intentioned quest to improve the lives of the people, they end up not really doing a whole lot.

for the record, i actually happen to like edelgard as a character, this isn’t a bash session that’s thinly-veiled as a character analysis. the difference between me and most of her fans, though, is that i like her because she’s kind of an ass, which is more or less the same reason i like ashnard. despite what i may have implied earlier, ashnard is a really, really horrible person. as some examples, he:

•forces powerful soldiers to fight to the death for his entertainment

•abandoned his infant son when he didn’t have any wacky and uncharacteristic dragon powers

•used said son to bait rajaion and drive him insane to use as a mount

•fully supported the use of feral drugs on laguz

•made no attempt to end the widespread laguz hatred of daein despite him boning one

and so on. but you know what? i like the fact that he’s such an unabashed asshole, and he doesn’t pretend like he’s the good guy in the situation, which is why i prefer him to edelgard, who always has to try and justify her actions. he’s absolutely relishing in just how terrible of a person he is, and it makes him really entertaining to watch. it makes for a really interesting contrast with the greil mercenaries, who also have a main purpose behind fighting and warfare, but have completely different intentions behind it. the mercs are good at heart, at times taking hard jobs for lackluster pay simply because it’s the right thing to do. ashnard does what he does because he thinks it’s the right thing, but in the process cares little for just how much bloodshed and destruction he causes. i just think the parallels are neat.

anyway, to sum up the point of this discussion, i think we should embrace the shitty behavior of morally gray characters like this instead of trying to find ways to justify them.

reject justification, embrace assholery

[mcmusing]

And now, for a rant years in the making....

The longest thing I've ever written began because X-Men First Class was such a well-acted breath of fresh air. The dynamic between Charles, Raven, and Erik really captivated and inspired me. Enough to create an ongoing series that has had more good years than bad.

Unfortunately, starting with Days of Future Past, FC's legacy was sacrificed to the creatively bankrupt egos of the very production team that ruined the X-Men film series in the first place. This, along with the misandry/racism disguised as empowerment/diversity plaguing modern media, torpedoed what could have been an amazing series. James McAvoy pulled off the impossible by cementing himself as an iconic Charles Xavier on par with Patrick Stewart. After years of Ian McKellen's hammy one-dimensional villainy, the God's gift to acting that is Michael Fassbender emerged as the definitive Erik Lehnsherr. In Jennifer Lawrence's casting as Raven, the producers took an asinine, fanfic-esque concept like making Mystique Charles' adopted little sister and pulled it off so unbelievably beautifully. Despite their limited screentime, Alex, Hank, and Sean displayed more personality and likeability than any depiction of Jean and Storm across multiple films. However, moronic Brian Singer and Simon Kinberg could not wait to destroy all of FC's good will for their own agendas.

James McAvoy portrayed Charles as spirited and slightly mischievous yet highly intelligent, altruistic, nurturing, and self-sacrificing. Then the sequels tried in forced desperation to paint him as an overbearing, elitist misogynist and the one responsible for Raven and Jean's destructive abuse of power. Even though all he did was give them a home, make difficult choices in order to protect them and others, and brought both of them onto his team due to his personal relationships and trust in them. Because women are so strong and capable except when it comes to taking responsibility for their horrible choices. No, human flaws are strictly of the Y chromosome. Charles has been abandoned his entire life, received no real support, had his body and mind mangled because of his 'best friend', yet puts everyone before himself and always forgives the undeserving. Still, the producers and equally idiotic fandom reduces him to a spoiled white male with no concept of pain or hardship.

Through extensive research and dedication, Michael Fassbender put more into portraying Erik than, quite possibly, any actor taking on a comic book role. Erik is so worldly intelligent, handsome, sauve, and masculine to alpha levels, but with a pained vulnerability about him. FC is the ONLY film to paint him in this light. According to the sequels, Erik completely abandoned the friend/brother he crippled, couldn't hold his own team together for even a year, got captured by regular humans- the strategic nazi hunter got captured by REGULAR humans for ten years, betrayed his friends who freed him at the first opportunity, took no responsibility for the unforgivable things he did to Charles, abandoned his pregnant lover, almost ruined the lives of mutants everywhere by attempting a terrorist attack on TV, then ran off with his tail between his legs once thwarted. And that was only DoFP. In the next movies, he gave up his mutant identity completely, married a regular woman two seconds after declaring war on regular humans, was a pitiful excuse for a father who couldn't train his ONE mutant child to control her powers, got his family killed by his own past actions, then went on a murder spree with a lunatic that resulted in Charles' torture, Alex's death, and the destruction of the school- with the students being saved only by Peter's coincidental presence. I'm not even going to talk about that stupid phoenix movie. My blood pressure is already to the ceiling. No wonder Michael Fassbender grew to hate his character.

Speaking of hating their own character, even Jennifer Lawrence doesn't like how the warm, familial relationship between Raven and Charles deteriorated into something so cold and bitter. Raven abandoning her devoted brother is not only never properly addressed but the sequels want to pretend like it's Charles' fault they're estranged. Raven spends their every scene being a hostile, rude ingrate towards him right up until she's killed by that monotone wet rag they call Jean. Charles is willing to sacrifice his own life multiple times for Raven but she shows more regard for her attempted murderer Erik. So, I suppose the feminist message is that a protective, peace seeking, reasonable man is too controlling and toxic but a violent, unhinged, homicidal man is worthy to be praised. That phoenix movie sure thought so, considering they completely demolished Hank McCoy.

These movies also have no care or concern for life itself. The hellfire club slaughtered an entire facility full of people and killed Darwin yet Erik and Raven jumped to join them. Then, we're supposed to care that those monsters are dead by DoFP. Meanwhile, Sean and Alex's deaths are glossed over but Raven's is supposed to be tragic and meaningful.

That brings up yet another problem with this cursed series. Mutation is supposed to be an allegory for various prosecuted groups. The producers really wanted the live action mutants to be lgbt stand-ins. I can't even begin with how insulting that is. So, Magneto's the face of the gays, huh? Meaning if other people do anything but pledge absolute loyalty to that  lifestyle, gays will react with violence and destruction, willing to kill anyone- even their own-, who gets in their way. Also, those who believe the lgbt lifestyle will lead to inevitable chaos are proven right by X-Men execs. Mutants have caused massacres of government officials, killed their own family members during uncontrolled rages, and nearly doomed the planet too many times to count. This is what gays relate to? This?! This infantilized depiction as sadistic megalomaniacs?!

Overall, FC- as engaging as it was- is a mere anomaly in the grand scheme of the X-Movies. A dour, joyless, soulless catastrophe of unforgivable discontinuity, underdeveloped characters, multiple horrid actors, outrageous missed opportunities, and nonexistence ethics with a transparent, hypocritical agenda.

I started my fic in 2011 as a way of addressing the growing racial upheaval going on in the US at the time. Ten years later and things are infinitely worse than anything I could have predicted back then. There are no intelligent conversations to be had nor heroes to look up to. The entire entertainment industry has become a battleground for the war of identity politics. Not even just fandoms arguing amongst themselves but also Hollywood creators taking the time to be aggressively insulting and dismissive of their own fans. The flames of hatred are being fanned and everyone seems so blind to it.

[whitefantasy21-blog]

Greatly inspired by the many isekai manhwa i have read and is still on the reading list

This is pretty much a self-indulgent fic.

Man, i want to be the child of this rich scammy tsundere daddy that has no self-preservation, pretty sure many wants to be too

MC who is a massive fan of The Trash of the Count's Family had gotten that wish, one day she woke up in a baby body!

She was reborn as Cale Henituse's daughter and cue squealing like a true fan, thank you whatever God that granted me this wish!

however pretty soon she realized that not everything is rainbow and sunshine.

Her father, Cale wasn't Kim Rok Soo but rather the first Cale Henituse, the true trashy young Master of the Count

This, this raised a lot of red flags. Curse you God!

MC was named after her grandparents Jour Thames and Deruth Henituse, therefore getting the name Drew Henituse (I'm terrible at naming so bare with me)

Drew felt a bit embarrassed as Cale stared her adoringly, and made a promise to her that he would be the best father for her

with a smile that melted all her doubts away, she made a resolve to protect this new family of hers, he may not have been the father she initially wanted but he was still a tsundere daddy with self-destructive ways that needed her help... what is with this standards??

Drew Henituse, the secret child of the Trash from the Henituse household is kept hidden even from his own family. If people found out about her, it may bring trouble to his family and he was this close to getting Basen to accept becoming the true heir of the Henituse Family

He continued his trashy ways while secretly raising his baby in the sidelines, ever heard of a shapeshifter? yeah he hired one to pretend to be him whenever he wanted to go under the radar, the shapeshifter is also a nanny whenever he has to come back to his father's home, as far as he could tell it was a two in one situation, a win-win for him.

Everything was fine.

However it all changed when his beloved daughter had brought home a disgusting mutt. It was hate at first sight.

Choi han: . . . Is this yours? I saw her wondering around the street, its dangerous to leave children unattended

Cale's interpretation: What kind of parent are you?? leaving your child to wander about, how negligent.

Cale: . . .

The Shape shifter: Master I am so sorry!

Drew: Daddy can we keep him?

Internally: Yes! let's keep the original hero to protect us!

Cale: . . . Tsk.

Internally: My daughter is already getting seduced by this bastard!

The two kittens that Drew had randomly brought home one day, watched from the sidelines while Drew is already planning on how to rescue the black dragon

Basically, Drew just keep bringing random people (from the tcf cast) home until the Count family finally noticed her existence

Then they started trying to win her over, competing to be her favorite family member however that place will always be reserved for Cale.

Drew's mission is to help mend the bond that was broken in Cale's attempt in protecting his family.

Secretly, she's preparing herself for the day that Cale would switch with Kim Rok Soo, it scares her and breaks her heart when she thought of her Daddy disappearing

But that day will never come to pass as she stumble upon the newly transmigrated Soo Trio

Cale wonders why his daughter is infatuated with Kim Rok Soo, while said person just wishes for someone to take the hyper child away, Choi Jung Soo and Lee Soo Hyuk, the traitors were laughing at him and taking pictures of this adorable sight

2nd take of an isekai fic.

SOME SPOILER AND TRIGGER WARNINGS.

Drew opens her eyes with a gasp, cold sweat dripping as she try to clutch something that was now out of her reach

She looked down at her soft hands, still untainted by scars that will never fade from her heart

She hurried to look for a mirror, a face that she hadn't seen for a long time was staring back at her. . .

They had done it, they went back in time.

a smile blossom on her face but it felt awkward so she just dropped it

Drew hurried to make plans and went look for her father. Face hidden underneath her hood, she watched a young red hair man walks by her.

Drew instantly knew that man wasn't her father, it was a different person living in his body.

It seems she was the only one that went back, however she would still do everything to protect this stranger because he was now Cale Henituse and therefore family

It was everything they fight for, everything they hoped, wished, dreamed for... but why had she been the only one

Sir, (She calls him, she would never call him Father or Cale because it felt like betraying-) she'll soon learn is every bit of stupid and self sacrificing as his namesake

She was too, she would be willing to give her life up to protect this new makeshift family

KRS now known as Cale, looked at the small child with shock, she was filthy and much too thin to be healthy but the face was staring back at him was undeniably, the same face he saw in the mirror just much younger

The guilt of accidentally stealing someone else body crawled back up from where he locked it

Silently he promised the original that he would take care of his daughter in his stead, and he could have imagined but he swore he heard a soft 'thank you'

This MC went through life where the White Star won, the Roan Kingdom was wiped out, Choi han had went insane after losing all of his party members and died, the few survivors were all living in poverty some giving up while others did their best to survive

Drew has a eating disorder, paranoia, and suicidal tendency

It was better to die than to get caught.

It has to be noted, that Drew had never met the Henituse Family before their death and only heard about them

She had met Hong before she regressed, (On had died in their childhood on the streets, after attempting to steal food for them and got caught) the two had a sibling relationship before his untimely death (it was a morbid to think that he died the same way his sister died), that's the reason why she felt closer to him than the other childrens, Raon and On just wanted to be closer to their new little sister

OG!Cale Henituse had died wishing for his daughter to have a better childhood than the one he had provided for her

Drew had found a letter addressed to her from her father, of apologies, broken promises illneverleaveyoubehindipromise, and wishes for her to grow up healthy and happy.

[I'll try to become the best father for you]

Drew lets her tears fall,

"You silly man, you already were"

[ignitification]

really loving your bnha meta, esp. your “what the future holds” post - if you have time, could you give your take on how has hero society failed deku and how that distorted his worldview?

Hi there stranger! I am glad you are enjoying them (here it is the post anon is talking about) and thank you for taking the time to read at all!

As for my take on how society has failed Izuku and how that changed his worldview - let’s start off with stating two things: Izuku has been just discarded from society, and been acknowledged a status of ‘person’, while not on par with people who potentially might be heroes (and therefore, a B-rate citizen); and while that notion has definitely shaped the way Izuku behaves (explaining his self sacrificing tendencies and his considering himself as always having to work harder than the others to catch up), it also helped him to ‘forge’ an identity, without which today Izuku would have not made the progress he did so far (in particular, the way Izuku behaves towards Shigaraki, especially in the last chapter of the War Arc and the new Arc has roots in the fact, that he sees himself, a rejected and crying kid, alone - without no one to rely on and no one willing to help, different from everyone else around, in Tomura). 

The thing about hero society is that it has basic standards: if a person does not fit in the criteria of them, then they are bound to end up ‘excluded’, discriminated, and just left to themselves if there is no one to stand up for them (which in theory heroes should do, but this notion is very far from the reality of heroes). It also has the tendency to favour comparison. Now, since Izuku’s childhood, Izuku has been inherently compared to Bakugou, and the other kids around him - and when that comparison failed (he was diagnosed as Quirkless, which is not only rare - but also looked down upon), Izuku had to deal with the damage that in the end shaped his hero personality. The bullying Izuku went through these years, is a byproduct of the views society passed onto the kids - and when it did happen, exactly like happened with the villains, society just turned his head away, pretending it could not see. Society has failed Izuku in two ways, in my opinion: it failed to transfer him the value that every life is worth saving and caring about, his included and it failed to acknowledge that people have dreams, regardless of who they are, and they are allowed to look forward it. Society failed Izuku by denying him, reducing him to a label, which he so hard tried to fight, and which has still stuck onto him (clearly from the behaviour which Bakugou has reserved towards him) and in the end has been entirely cancelled out only because he suddenly manifested a Quirk, and made ‘equal’.

It kind of comes back to the ‘I deserve it’ rhetoric: what Izuku fails to understand, and which also causes him to dissociate, and to put on his shoulder a burden bigger than needed - is that Izuku, while not satisfying the incredibly stupid hero society standard, has not less or does not mean less and does not have to word too hard for his objective in order to satisfy those same standards. Izuku is still bound by the thought that everything that came his way was not his merit and he did not deserve, because society told him, early on, that he didn’t. The worst thing about it, is that Izuku, still nowadays, feels a pressure out of the fact that he feels that he never does enough in order to be considered on par, or that he should be careful for what has received that it made him put on his shoulder on a burden which should not have been his, nor should have existed at all (but this is for another time). While this is just a way in which society hasn’t directly failed Izuku, it still represents the entire failure of society to provide justice. It also clearly affects Izuku, as he tries to take on the Symbol of Hope not because he feels ready to, but because he feels like he needs to: if it is not him, there is no one else. It is him, or total destruction - and Izuku feels the burden of the society which still has trouble accepting him on his shoulder, because that is what Izuku is: a hero. Heroes, however, are highly misunderstood and made into something they are not, and this is why the prototype of hero which Izuku is and represents, is just not recognised as such. This gives space for a sense of inadequacy which I am not entirely sure will ever be addressed.The thing about this, is that feeling different and underestimated in a society, shapes your worldview in a way where you are the problem and it is up to you to solve it, because you are the one creating it in the first place. Izuku feels responsible for society (and Shigaraki as well) exactly because he feels like he needs to show them that he is worth being responsible for that society: by doing what he is doing, he is showing that he deserves doing so. It is a circular argument but I think it fully express the vicious circle Izuku is and is in. Izuku feels a cog in a world where he thinks he needs to carry on the whole world to deserve being a functioning cog (and not a broken one). 

While I do not think that this is the entirety of it, this is mainly my thought and I do not want to go eternally long about it. I hope it became pretty clear - but I think Izuku is stuck in a bad coping mechanism and a self-destructing prophecy because he thinks that this is what society wants from him, as it was the value that it has imparted him with and labelled him with (exactly like a product at the supermarket). 

[softer-ua]

i can't be the only one who wants izuku to get fucking pissed at his situation, at all might, start questioning what the fuck is going on with OFA.

because if you're going to trust a fifteen year old with something like OFA and bind them to the life of a symbol, you do not get to withhold information. deku was not told he'd be dealing with an enemy like AFO when he got the quirk, nor was he told that basically its whole point was not fighting some vague concept of evil, but fighting a very tangible very dangerous villain. he wasn't told that up until all might, inheriting this power was guaranteed suicide, and even after all might you only have a vague chance of survival. to be offered such a life altering "gift", Izuku should have been warned of everything. from the start. and if not then then from the very moment izuku started seeing vestiges, or at least when AFO resurfaced. WHY IN GOD'S NAME WOULD YOU HIDE ANY, ANY BIT OF INFORMATION ON A QUIRK THAT IMPORTANT?????

no because, if you look at it cynically, All Might took this kid who had nothing and who looked up to him as effective god. He took this kid who he knew had no sense of no self-care or self-preservation. This extremely reckless kid who he saw putting his life at risk three times (sludge v1, hanging on to AM as he jumped, sludge v Katsuki) within 24 hours. He picked this kid who he knew would give everything (because Izuku had "nothing", and therefore nothing to lose) and "gifted" him with a ticking time bomb. Of course Izuku is willing to break himself if it means using OFA to max potential. So much of his self-worth is based on OFA. He's said time and time again he isn't sure if he deserves it, that it's a borrowed power. If you've taken this kid and given him everything practically overnight, of course he'll go to self-destructive lengths to prove himself worthy of it. Who'd want to go back to being nothing after all?

And this is a logical conclusion. Someone like Izuku, someone like All Might probably used to be in his youth and still kind of is, they're perfect to be put on this kind suicide mission. They're a perfect vessel. Sure they're heroic and brave and selfless, but most importantly they're willing to die for the cause. OFA the quirk knows this. Literally two seconds after Katsuki sacrifices himself telling Deku not to do shit alone, Deku renders said sacrifice useless by doing exactly what Katsuki warned him not to😭 And the quirk and vestiges encourage him. They don't give a shit about repercussions and Deku's chronic pain or possible arm paralysis. They just want to beat AFO. You go son you break those arms 🤠

Doesn't it all feel a little bit exploitative?

Look at it like this. A kid is born with no power. This kid wants to be great, but the world says he can't. He meets his hero, and the hero says he can't either. Then the kid acts heroic, but reckless. The hero sees an opening. This kid is good and doesn't care one bit about his well-being? Jackpot! He offers the kid a deal. Great power, an extraordinary gift at surface layer. But one with so many more hidden strings attached that hurt and break and haunt the kid, that he was never warned about or taught how to deal with. But he can always give it to someone else! Can he, really? Can he go back to being nothing? With a personality like his, well nope. And that's why you pick the overly selfless reckless ones. The ones that will feel indebted to you to a ridiculous degree.

Isn't it like dare I say... like a deal with the devil?

As we progress more and more into the lore of AFO and OFA, I can really see why Katsuki's started to view it as a cursed power. And with how wildly different from expectations (at least mine) + far more nuanced the Todofam drama has revealed itself to be compared to what it seemed upon first intro, I'm inclined to believe there's more to the OFA story than clean cut, young bro good guy vs mean big bro oppression.

TL;DR - All Might is the metaphorical devil jr who gave Izuku a passed down deal, and neither he nor broccoli boy read the fine print.

Bakugo’s ghost sent me this ask 💀

Lol but seriously, these are all excellent points and I’ve been sitting on this ask until I had time to answer it because you’re absolutely goddamn right

This shit is explotive af, and I’ve got a suspicion as to why

I don’t think Deku was a random choice, there’s a layer of fate/mystic woven into the bnha world that gets over looked.

Sir had insane fortune telling abilities that were never once wrong about anything except when it came to the 2 OFA users fates. Deku even specifically says he’ll smash any fate in his way, and I think on some level he knows he can because he has a different destiny.

The vestiges break him from Shinsos hold, meaning the can have some level of control over Dekus body. You think AM noticed every time something like that happened? AM didn’t even notice Bakugo internalizing all the blame for his retirement even after watching his mom force him to apologize for it??

“I keep forgetting that your still a child” AM, sir, this is the third time you’ve admitted out loud that you were just gonna let Bakugo suffer his own fate 💀 please stop indicting yourself and at least pretend you care about Bakugo outside his relationship to Deku jfc

Also what are the chances you get nine random holders and none of them turn out to be corrupt or at least too self serving to die for the cause??? Slimmer than the pages bnha is printed on.

There’s something pulling some strings here, and I think it’s the true power of First users quirk.

What would be the point of transferring a quirk if that’s it’s only power?

What would be the point of this quirk being essentially password locked?

What would be the point of this quirk being able to forced on to someone?

There’ wouldn’t be any.

But what if that’s not what the quirk is?

What if the quirk is actually passing something along, and that’s why it’s dna based, it’s the transfer of an integral part of them.

Something that would change a person if forced on them but would possibly eradicate someone if stolen. Something like a souls desire? That could be a dangerous thing to give to someone else especially if it’s something they didn’t want, now they suddenly have to?

Then you give this quirk a strength enhancing quirk?

Now it’s got some juice, how much stronger did it get? Can it sense others with a similar goal, can it make its host gravitate towards those people?

Is the firsts quirk purposely finding exploitable heros, like Nana AM and Deku. All people who were/are willing to give up everything for the cause. How much of the first is in there, how much sentient power does this quirk have?

We know that Nana gave up her family, her child, for the cause. AM never bothered cultivating a family and pushed away Sir and anyone else who is anti him dying, and now we’re seeing Deku do the same.

Deku who had no friends to begin with, a dad who’s out of the picture, and an already slightly strained relationship with his mom?

Is this quirk capable of learning? Does it know that having people you care about slows you down from sacrificing yourself?

Does this quirk compound with the other users goals make the drive stronger each time?

Idk but there’s a glimmer of hope that Deku isn’t doomed to be a glorified meat puppet, and it exists in the form of Kacchan.

No one else had someone so deeply rooted to them, who could fight right along side them. Bakugo is an outlier in this story, almost the exact opposite kind of hero OFA wants, his connection to Deku breaks the cycle.

Deku would never give up on Katsuki, and even if he tried Endeavor will start coughing up ice cubes before Bakugo lets him. He couldn’t leave Deku alone when he was convinced he hated him, there’s no way he’d do it now.

Dekus story will be different from the other users that’s for sure.

[crimeronan]

Can you explain the appeal of Julian Blackthorn? This is a genuine question because I read the books and came away utterly bored by him and unconvinced of his moral greyness as opposed to like, Adam Parrish’s. He seemed so one dimensional to me but I want to know if I’m Wrong TM considering I tend to be very very biased toward my favourite characters and bored by the rest, and my favourites were Mark and Kieran. So maybe I just didn’t pay him enough attention??

it’s been a while since i wrote any earnest tsc meta but cringe culture is dead and the chance to infodump about my julian thoughts has me vibrating where i’m sitting so.  yes okay.

technical stuff

(aka: things pertaining to How The Story Is Constructed)

cassandra clare’s characterization has become much stronger just in general since she first began writing the series like twenty years ago

perhaps most importantly: the more recent stuff i’ve read from her has involved characters who actually grow, change, and learn from their past mistakes 

rather than repeating the same stupid decisions over and over again

and over and over and over some more

seriously take a shot every time someone in tmi miscommunicates or self-destructs in ways They Have Learned Not To Do for no real reason. u will die of alcohol poisoning

in tda this shines ESPECIALLY with the evolution of mark, kieran, and cristina’s relationship, but that’s a separate post

clare’s trademark is also the angsty traumatized jerkass love interest with a secret heart of gold

the woman is almost singlehandedly responsible for draco in leather pants and the proliferation of this kind of character type in fandom and teen lit. this isn’t a criticism it’s me marveling at how if you commit hard enough to a single trope you truly can change the world.  follow your dreams

sad jackass with a heart of gold isn’t an Inherently Problematic Character Type

but poorly done it can lead to relationship dynamics in which one partner is constantly being hurt by and then forgiving the other despite them making no real effort to change, because they are narratively absolved due to being sad

(there’s a lot of this with earlier jace content.  in some ways i think will was later created specifically to be a same-archetype protagonist who actually does get called on his shit and grow. that’s also another post)

also if all of your sexy male love interests are tortured jackasses with a heart of gold then people start calling you a one-trick pony

enter julian blackthorn!

from the very start everything about him is designed to be the INVERSE of the heart of gold jackass.  which immediately makes him interesting just from a meta perspective

(mark and kieran are also both alternate angles on this time-honored archetype.  mark gets the heart of gold and kieran gets the jackass and then they’re both much more deeply messy than that.  yet another post)

julian is kind, self-sacrificing, empathetic, artistic, emotionally supportive, responsible, and favored by old grannies everywhere

so a completely nonthreatening milquetoast guy, right

immediately forgettable if you’re only here for the dramatic conflicts and shithead antics of clare’s other protags

except that he is A Mess

and that he has structured his priorities very carefully, and they are as selfless as you expect from The Hero (TM) but they are also Not Heroic (TM) and they do not align with the moral framework The Hero (TM) is supposed to use

moral ambiguity in characters always exists in relation to their narratives imo. you mention adam parrish - trc’s narrative already mucks around in different ethical shades of gray, and adam falls on the canon scale about where julian does on his canon scale.  both more willing than the average pov character to do the ruthless thing or make the fucked-up choice if the ends justify the means; both with an intensely strong sense of internal priorities that they adhere to at all costs, both so unbelievably fucking down for murder; etc

i do think there are ways julian’s choices could have been pushed even further, but considering the number of readers who hate his guts already, i can see why clare opted not to go for the most controversial possible conflicts

so we’re flipping the narrative

instead of seeing this angsty bad boy and peeling back the layers of his trauma to find his heart of gold, we’re seeing the put-together selfless family man and peeling back the layers of his Responsibility Mask to expose the rotting husk underneath

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

THAT IS FUN AS FUCK

then when julian DOES lash out in hurtful, uncontrolled ways, he has significantly more narrative justification for it than most of clare’s protagonists (will elaborate in characterization thoughts)

julian is also interesting as fuck because of how his struggles allow for a more in-depth look at the failings of shadowhunter society, something that’s also sorely lacking in clare’s earlier work

his apparent amorality is simply the result of him making pragmatic and impossible choices because he has been faced with fucked-up ethical dilemmas since age 12 Because Society Has Failed Him

which opens the door for narrative exploration of how and why he’s been failed so badly & what needs to change

i also love that he has such a coldly calculated way of analyzing situations and allowing harm to occur when need be, bc a lot of clare’s early protagonists have such a bad case of Rush In And Get Myself Killed Because I’ve Got Feelings About Impulsive Heroism syndrome that i wanna push them in front of a truck

probably there’s other meta narrative stuff i could say but i’m stopping myself and moving on to character analysis

characterization stuff

(aka: reasons why i’m also attached to him in a vacuum)

i don’t read him as one-dimensional at all tbh

u may feel the narrative pushes “ruthless julian blackthorn” too much without delivering enough actual ruthless julian But i don’t think that’s the same as having only one dimension

from the get-go, the big question centered on julian is always “how far are you willing to go?” and the narrative pushes the stakes slowly higher and higher to continuously test julian’s “the price is always justified” mindset

he has a far more layered and realistic response to trauma than clare’s early protagonists - trauma affects every single aspect of his personality and how he conducts himself, and the effects vary depending on the circumstances

his conviction that he has to be the perfect parent to his siblings because they will fall apart if they see him show weakness??  rooted in how he feels like he’s fallen apart since losing the stable adult support he once relied upon

his willingness to hurt semi-innocent people, commit coldblooded murder, manipulate people using political leverage, allow harm to befall any stranger if it protects his family??  rooted in how he has already had to ask himself how much he’s willing to sacrifice, and how his family is his only source of stability when the world has never done Shit for him

his conviction that he has a darker heart than anyone else because he killed his possessed father, even though intellectually he knows he was saving his brother’s life??  rooted in having no means of processing this trauma and being unable to voice his feelings for fear of backlash from a deeply non-understanding society

the way he represses every single negative emotion he ever has, to the point where emma - his actual literal magic soulmate who can feel his emotions - is startled to find him hurting or angry??  once again all about how he has to be the perfect father or he’s failed completely

the way his anger is so totally disproportionate to different situations and the way his negative emotions can only come out in completely uncontrolled breaks??  all that repression baybey.  this kid has not processed a single bad feeling in five years.  every single real grievance and petty annoyance has been festering indefinitely inside him like a slowly spreading infection

julian’s arc involves him needing to get thru being his worst self to actually start to heal

as in, he has to actually learn to acknowledge his feelings, take care of himself, lean on his family, and let other people take some responsibility

he also has to learn that in his quest to be the perfect emotionally controlled authority figure, he has not actually learned how to control or deal with his emotions. like. At Fucking All. good god

the narrative setup is also about asking “how far are you willing to go?” until the answer is finally “not this far.  not this far”

and once he reaches that point, he has to reevaluate everything about how he weighs his priorities and morals and plans, etc

(i also like that emma has a perpendicular arc in which she’s always the one tempering julian and telling him “no we can’t go that far” until she’s willing to do something horrific that he absolutely won’t and HE has to stop HER. very sexy)

it’s also just really nice to have a character who’s learned to relate so well to literally every single member of his family while still having a very detached ruthless interior consciousness. i have similar feelings about how adam teaches himself to love people, but with julian it’s spelled out more explicitly in canon & it’s a more central character theme

i’m sure i’m also forgetting stuff here but this post is long enough so i’m gonna say good enough

and like i said in the tags on my other post, there are things i’d personally write differently if it were my story - plot points i’d shift, character contrasts i’d up, themes i’d explore differently, pacing i’d adjust, etc.  i have plenty of ways i could be nitpicky and editorial about the effectiveness of julian’s arc.  but i also don’t feel like writing them out at the moment & none of my critiques on effectiveness have an impact on the core appeal of his character 2 me.  he’s so fucking good

[kitkatopinions]

It’s so infuriating that Ironwood losing his other arm is “losing his humanity” to the crew. Ableism aside, what is more human or humane than sacrificing oneself for the common good? We know that Ironwood was sensitive about his prostheses (covering them until his heel turn). HE saw it with that ableist view, but he still did it. Aside from pain, the willingness to sacrifice a part of his body and self image to save his people is incredible. It should have been the opposite of “losing” humanity

A lot of RWBY fans and the show itself truly seems like they just don’t want to admit that anything Ironwood did was ever good, and yet they still insist that he was a nuanced character.

“This character is ruthless and now that the chips are down, his ‘ends justify the means’ mentality really took over and - coupled with obvious exhaustion, mental trauma, and impossible no-win situations - drove him to commit cruel acts. But at the same time, he’s still, at heart, a selfless person, willing to sacrifice his own comfort and his reputation, and willing to go through severe pain and lose his arm to try and save millions upon millions of lives.” That sounds at least somewhat valid and believable.

I might still take issue with the characterization (Ironwood’s fall went from zero to a hundred and was done jerkily, with not enough set up, as well as that aforementioned mental trauma getting no sympathy) but it’s so annoying to have characters like Winter insist he sacrificed nothing, and to have the writers and the FNDM act like James losing his arm was a sign of his villainy. And you see this with the FNDM in literally everything about James. Fans look back on canon and try and twist literally anything into something bad, and I truly believe part of why they do that is because it doesn’t line up.

And honestly, some of the reasons people have in considering James losing his arm are just dumb. For instance, people are still saying the “It didn’t have to do with getting injured, James losing his humanity along with his arm was tied up in his impulsivity. If he’d just waited, he could’ve been healed!” And that’s so dumb. A. They don’t know about whether or not he could’ve been healed, because auras are so badly used, B. They don’t know this is what the creators meant at all, this is the way they interpreted what they said so they could feel less icky about worshiping them, and C. James didn’t have a script of the show he could read through to realize Salem wasn’t quite there yet, would wait a bit and send in the Hound before attacking, and would conveniently land her dumb whale on farmlands rather than directly in the city to make Ruby’s choices less destructive in a way that took her no effort for no good reason. For all Ironwood (or our heroes) knew, Salem would begin waging war directly against civilians within the next thirty minutes. Also D. Kinda victim blamey if you ask me. “Ironwood wouldn’t have lost his arm if he hadn’t tried to make himself as ready for the attack that would likely result in the deaths of millions and millions of people as he could,” is such a lousy take.

Ironwood wouldn’t have lost his arm if it wasn’t for Watts, who actually trapped and hurt James in the first place. Ironwood wouldn’t have lost his arm if it wasn’t for Salem, coming to attack them directly because she’s literally the most evil person. Ironwood wouldn’t have lost his arm if it wasn’t for Jacques, knowingly and willingly letting murderer’s run rampant because it makes his already incredibly cushy life that much cushier. People need to stop pretending like James sacrificing when the forces of Satan were more or less conspiring directly against him was an ‘act of villainy’ or him ‘losing his humanity.’

Like you said, it’s not only ableist, it’s also just plain stupid. There’s very little that’s more heroic than being willing to sacrifice yourself for the greater good.