#like yeah looking at the characters on their own terms but also for this kinda thing man o need some comparison points for inspiration

[beatcroc]

what kind of frivolity would you engage in, mecha?

<

---

[zerguette]

Carol and Rupert designs! :D

Gosh, i love this woman a lot, AND BABY PRICE, i actually went with playing with military uniform/gear designs, and decided that his is modified (by himself with the permission of Galeforce).

Still, next ones should be Dave and Jhonny and Henry/or Charles. Also idk if it would be better to make a side blog for this, debating it(and yeah if you got asks abt their designs and some lore, feel free to ask :D)

And, some doodles

[pikkish]

idk if this is a good prompt but put doomguy in myhouse.wad I think he would find it enriching

Right, so I've been mulling on this one for a little bit now, n I'm not opposed to writing something for you, I'm just not... entirely sure what to write? Because the thing is, myhouse.wad doesn't actually really have anything to do with Doom as a story. Sure, Doom is important in that it's the vessel through which the story is told and one of the connections between the narrator and his dead companion. But as far as Doom itself goes, and the story about a man who was too angry/stupid to die, fighting demons and saving earth, none of that is at all relevant to myhouse.wad and its story. For all intents and purposes, Doomguy isn't actually a character in myhouse.wad. So I'm not really sure how exactly to fit him in there.

[waywardsalt]

not sure if pointing out that the two ships that most influence bellum x linebeck for me are meruem x komugi and benrey x gordon makes it easier or harder to understand

[popatochisssp]

So, for Mal. I know, it would probably take ages to be on friendly let alone romantic terms with him if you only knew him but how would knowing Rus first effect everything? Would Rus kinda sorta try to get Mal and I to hangout and maybe get to know each other better because "i know they'd be good together but mal is so stubborn and prickly."

I'd actually say you have a better shot meeting Mal (Swapfell Sans) first!

He's paranoid and keeps his walls up pretty high, but he's also charming and tends to put forth a very social, gregarious front. He likes people to like him, or at least to not have a problem with him.

If someone starts shit first, of course, all bets are off.

He tends to be more wary and closed off than normal when he meets people through his brother--Rus (Swapfell Papyrus) is a great many things, but as a judge of character...? Not always, and Mal can never trust Rus' assessment at face-value, not until he's done his own digging and come to his own judgment. 😒

Mostly, though, he tries to make a good impression on people, and if he can get someone on friendly terms, he'd prefer it, so being friendly with Mal is easier than it seems.

Getting to the point where Mal will admit that you're friends (or on the way to more), to himself, and to fully trust you as a safe person to let deeper into his life, someone who's allowed to see the less flattering, maybe even ugly parts of him... yeah, that's the uphill battle.

That's where Rus can come in for you, as the clincher!

See, if you've got some kind of relationship with Mal, and it's good, and it seems like it could be more, but you're not quite there yet, Rus will totally be your wingman. His brother likes you, you like him back...what's the problem? Mal being stupid and blind to his own emotions, like usual? No problem, he'll handle it. 😎

He's dropping hints, making 'innocent' comments, anything he can do to nudge you two closer to each other--emotionally or physically, subtly or not-so-subtly.

...Though in the end, the most important part is just that Rus likes you. When Mal does finally start thinking about what his future is going to look like with someone new in it, his first thought is of how they'll slot into the (very small) family he's made.

If you've already gotten Rus' blessing... the only thing left for Mal to consider is how he's going to ask you to be his.

[heroicn0nsense]

I guess I'm about to get real vulnerable on main here, but I saw some kinda "BookTok" disk horse cross my BlueSky feed, and it's got me thinking in a way I really can only discuss without a character limit. But it feels kind of relative to an over all trans creative experience. Maybe more specifically for us masc people, but. You know. Maybe the threads are different but the weave a similar picture. Anyway, this is kinda what my tumblr blog has become, and so here goes. Please note I also use 'queer' as an all encompassing term, as to me it is the most inclusive word I can use despite its dubious origins and history. Sorry if that upsets anyone.

The funniest thing about this whole conversation popping up was the fact that I had just been lamenting about finding the concept of 'romantasy' fun but what I'd give to find or read something with a transmasc protagonist paired with an opposite partner of any gender. Something my masc bisexual ass would love to see. Mostly because I see and support so many ones that are sapphic in nature, but hardly see any masculine. Maybe I'm not looking in the right places but Anyway. Just so happened that in the next hour I saw what I was looking for cross my Bsky feed, but with the author show casing the really nasty and negative comments he received on his concept. things like but not limited to:

"of course the transmasc character is a twink bottom" "just a girl who got a mastectomy" And other just Internalized Misogyny and Heteronormative things that affect a good portion of us transmasculine guys.

And idk, man it really struck a nerve with me.

If only because first and foremost, the author is writing something he wanted to see. Filling a niche and void he wanted to see realized, and like so many other authors' works, in a way that feels personal to him. And to attack it in such a way was pretty vile.

Queer stories and creations in of themselves are personal stories, because we write from our own experiences, and put them in our original works whether subtly or not so subtly. It's there, and you can't separate the queer experience from a queer work because by its very nature its queer. But also like, that experience isn't the same for everyone. And we shouldn't expect it to be. So, no, not every work is going to be what you want or associate with. But we should be uplifting all of it so that someone with an idea or concept that does speak to you will have the confidence to bring it to the table. And yeah. Unfortunately, that sometimes means that cliches are gonna happen. That twink ass transmasc might end up being a bottom 75% of the time.

But it also like, led me to associate my own struggle of accepting my own body and transness and some of my own preferences in the bedroom.

I'm not saying that all writers, artists, or creators are using their method of making art to explore their own hang ups with their gender and bodies, navigating this absolutely messy and strange world of norms and expectations while simultaneously seeming to want to turn them on their head. Gender is complex. Being trans is complex. And it gets weird, and sometimes we need outlets to work our way through it.

But also, most of us transmasc people have vaginas. It's just a fact of life. We've got a big ol' gaping axe wound of an organ sitting between our legs and for a lot of us, it still feels good to stick something in it, and we shouldn't be ashamed of that at all. And hell, a lot of us are short, considering our genetics are wired that way and no amount of HRT is going to change the fact some of us aren't going to get past 5'5". But sometimes, especially with what is expected to be masculine by gender norms, and the physical form of a cis male body, it can sometimes be really hard to reconcile that.

I know it was for me. To the point where I often struggled with my sexuality and my relationship with intimacy about it for a long time.

I made my character Akihiro while I was, and still am parsing through a lot of my own dysphoric issues, and paving my own way to acceptance. And that's made him a deeply personal character to me. And he has grown and changed as I project a lot of those issues on to him and his development. Akihiro has been an exploration of myself as much as he is an an original character that I role play. But not so much in the ways of personality, but more in the ways of the challenges with which he is presented and has to navigate himself.

Akihiro is a trans man in a world that is accepting of it. Society has progressed past these petty and arbitrary standards. But he becomes a cyborg at a time where the question is instead what it means to be human, and so...The aspect of depersonalization, dysphoria, and depersonalization he experiences at the hands of transhumanism is not so different than what I have and do experience in my own transition.

Akihiro wasn't always trans. That was honestly a pretty recent development and one that I did struggle with making. And I realized I was struggling with it because of those same dysphoric issues. And I just needed to let them go.

It was reflected in another recent development; the way that I had Akihiro handle his genitals when he was presented with the option to upgrade from none to a functioning set. And he chose to go with what he had been born with, the genitals he had when his body was mangled. He went with a vagina. Because he wanted to embrace the body he had taken for granted before he lost it, and not some idealized version of himself he could have obtained at any point prior.

And yeah. He 'bottoms' the majority of the time for his boyfriend because he enjoys it. But it doesn't stop him from topping him either, nor enjoying that. Nor had it stopped him previously from being intimate with other men and women. And that's his preference as a character.

And who are we to say it wasn't the same for this author? Where he is putting his feelings and acceptance of his own body and desires onto paper? And that is being met with such vitriol because it's not someone else's idea of what is masculine, or whatever. I don't know. Maybe they weren't. Maybe they did just wanna write some twink ass boy getting dicked down and like, that's fine too. Why do we have to be so mad about that?

And maybe this was just a lot of words to say that I think we get so wrapped up in words and labels for things that it completely erases the nuances of our own experiences and it turns right back around to being so queerphobic and limiting. And we don't give ourselves, much less other people, the grace to create the things they want to, and from a place of their own experience and desire. It's harmful.

[orengejoshi]

I can not believe im asking you this but I saw a post about flug having eggs or something? Is that like mpreg? I kinda know what it means bc I've seen sans au x sans au before. But whats with the eggs? Im not offending you its just idk that much in mpreg and i also don't draw any of it. (This is not to offend anyone im just curious.)(also love how you draw flug Hes my favorite character.)

Haha yeah it kinda is! I made a few arts this year where Flug takes care of eggs.

Don't worry you're just curious, that's cool💛 I don't feel offended

there's no other thing I get as many requests for as for mpreg with Flug so I feel like it's a good time to say:

I know it's called mpreg in fandom terms, but I for one don't even think of it as that inherently suggestive trope; I genuinely just think it's cute and silly. pregnancy is a beautiful thing in my eyes, and not a kink for me personally. there's no issue with it, but I'm saying that's just not my motivation. I headcanon Flug is a transman who still wishes for an own baby, like me. it's kinda coping for me to draw Flug going thru smth I wish for irl as well. I relate to him bc he's taken on such a good parent role for 505

this reasoning is gonna be super rare, most people who enjoy/draw this explicitly do NOT want children irl. idk why others draw it tbh... but this is just me.

so the reason I usually always choose eggs is bc I mostly draw the paperhat ship... and since Black Hat seems to have more reptile or insect features I figured his offspring would probably grow in eggs instead of live. he's basically an alien, right

you can canonly have Black Hat's offspring! in the old orientation video on youtube "Los casos perdidos del futuro" exactly at minute 7, Demencia hints to the fact that by drinking his saliva you can have his spawn.

they never actually showed anyone doing that but I'm just assuming they'll come in eggs.

his spawn does not look like this^, Alan has drawn it in a livestream; it's just an eldritch clump of eyes, teeth and tentacles on the floor. in reality Black Hat is the only one of his species and he's unable to create another independent sentient creature like him.

so I drew what I imagine them looking like if he could (a lot of people asked for that anyway)

Thank you for loving my art💜

[apolloarting]

Alright i finished hans, I like the way he turned out much better the Henry so bow i really gotta re-draw Henry, but only after the others 👹

Ok favorite part, headcanons ✨

Hans has a pony tail. The demons told me to so, so i did. I almost gave henry one but i decided nah, but yeah he looks pretty with one.

Also Hans has pierced ears. In my opinion he is absolutely the type of person to have small gold earrings. Maybe he doesn't get them until after the divorce arc or after he goes to the devils den. Actually that would be cute. I might have been on something but i got that idea from referencing his character model and what i think i saw were earring holes. It might have just been me.

He likes to sing, particularly sea shanties. I have been listening to shanties, shanties and more shanties for the past 4 days so he can too. Also the bird symbolism <3

When out on the open waters he tends to spend half of his time in the crows nest. He also hates being below deck after a certain naval battle (Maleshov). Even if he has some small quarters, he prefers sleeping up in the crows nest.

Instead of Poaching he got arrested for Piracy. So after 'the divorce' 💀 he found himself a ship to sail with, and didn't realise until it was way to late that it was pirating. Nothing too extreme, and they never murdered anyone, but just stealing from small merchant ships etc.

Henry does eventually find him, trying to catch those who are or are suspended of piracy. Hans tries to make it better than it seems by saying it's privateering but henry doesn't buy it lmao.

Hans had this ugly, big ass hat. He left it behind when the pirates raided his and Henry's ship. Henry is happy about this.

Though obviously completely different, he also shares some minor similarities to Elizabeth Swan in my opinion. Especially with the rich upbringing, witty, impulsive and of course the relationship with a blacksmith.

If there was a pirate court I would think it would be kinda cool if he became pirate king. Either him or ziska.

Also a bit more Hansry because fuck yeah. This AU i am absolutely pairing them together, it's my duty to myself and the fandom. Kathrine is with Ziska. While researching for a school project i found a cool bit of information, same-sex unions between two pirates are called a matelotage, which is the base for the now common pirate term, "matey". They might not be the type to go through with it, but i think the prospect of matelotage with a man he truly loves is way better than an arranged marriage to some girl for hans.

Also for marriage, he has to get married back in Europe.

Also i have no clue if they are going to be English or apart from the Habsburg dynasty. Because on one hand the majority of the voice actors are from the UK but on the other, the actual characters would be in the central european part of the habsburg dynasty. The habsburgs did have lots of territory in the Caribbean, but it was Spanish and did not have much to do with Bohemia. If anyone has opinions on this please do share

I do take your own suggestions btw :D I like working together with other people on things like these

[gothiethefairy]

so, i've been thinking about laios's relationship with his mother. we all know about his daddy issues by now, but no one thinks about his mother. i mean, he disowned her as well. he hardly talks about her. he has a lot to say about his dad but when it comes to his mother, the most he'll say is "idk, she was kinda sick a lot."

and i think it was because he did hold her on a high pedestal. she's his mother, his protector. i know for sure she babied him a lot. mothers who's first-born is a son mostly do.

she was the one who even gifted him his precious monster manual!

so, what happened? why did he also lump her with his father and decided "i'm never speaking to them ever again." ?

to put it in simple terms, it was falin. laios was so upset about how his parents treated the situation about the villagers' abuse to falin. both of them didn't know how to handle it, but they both failed at protecting her. the best their father can come up with is sending falin away to the magic school. (without explaining why bc their dad sucked at communicating with his family.)

their village was also very conservative, especially towards magic-users. i always found it to be odd since magic does seem to be the norm in the "dungeon meshi" world, however evidence shows it's not all well-known all around the world. i mean, rin's parents were burnt to death for using magic that was thought to be "black magic".

and falin's natural magical talent being "talking to the dead" would make anyone nervous bc that could be linked to black magic.

their mother is always described to be "frail", and i bet it's mostly because she's very superstitious. gotta be honest here as well, she maybe wasn't mentally healthy. this is just an assumption but their mom comes off as paranoid and anxious, and then does these made-up rituals to try to "heal" her daughter.

hurting falin like this was the final nail in the coffin for laios, because maybe he thought he could rely on her? "hey mom, can you tell dad not to send falin away? please?"

yeah, she had "good intentions", but she still abused her daughter? because she made the situation about herself and went "oh god, it's my fault my daughter is a freak. i have to fix this."

also, laios looking so stressed and haggard here makes me so sad. like, what if their mother did something similar to him when he was younger? he wouldn't care about himself getting hurt, but seeing his own mother doing it to falin is nerve-wrecking.

the way both siblings are portrayed as autistic in different ways is important to their characters. just because falin understood why their parents did what they did, doesn't make it okay. they still hurt her, and laios knows that. and in a way, they hurt him too.

if their parents couldn't protect them from awful, nasty people and expected their children to just bare it, how can laios trust them?

this is scary to see for a child.

after that, he pretty much gave up on his parents and never looked back. but i also think, if he misses them, it's more his mother than his father.

afterall, he did his best to keep his monster manual safe.

[hauntingofhouses]

Thinking about the crazy love triangle situation in Blue Eye Samurai and debating heavily with myself on how I'd like to see it conclude. And yeah this discussion can be thought of purely as shipping, headcanons, and fandom fun. But when analysing the show and engaging with it in a more in-depth, almost-literary level, it's impossible to dismiss who Mizu's potential love interests are and how different endgame romances would affect her character arc and the overall story and themes.

So in this post I'd like to look at the love triangle a bit more closely, and speculate on where the story will take this.

DISCLAIMER: It is my personal interpretation of the text that Mizu is non-binary—I use this as an umbrella term denoting any gender that does not adhere to the binary restrictions, norms, and expectations of what it means to be either a man or woman in a particular society; it's not just an androgynous "third gender" that exclusively uses they/them pronouns. Thus, while I personally believe Mizu is not strictly a cis woman, she does still identify with womanhood, despite definitely feeling a level of detachment from it due to living as a man for so long. With that being said, I will be using she/her pronouns for Mizu in this post, but please note that this is purely personal preference. Everyone is free to interpret the text the way they like. That's the fun of fiction. Now, without further ado, let's proceed.

Okay so, thinking about the pairings on a purely surface level, and even before i got into the show, I was pinning my hopes on some lesbianism going on between Mizu and Akemi, and the show does hint at this; in Ep1, during their first encounter in Kyoto, there is the famous slow-mo shot of their eyes meeting, Mizu's lips slightly parted as she is unable to tear her gaze away from Akemi, while sweet string music plays in the background. This is clear romantic framing, and a marker of attraction. If Mizu was a cishet man, there would be no question that this is a potential love interest.

But then, in the same episode, we meet Taigen, who is introduced to us firstly from hearing Akemi's father describe him as "a fierce and undefeated young samurai", the "best swordsman in the best school" and "a fisherman's son from Kohama [...] whose rise reminds [him] of [his] own."

In the next scene, we meet him in person as Akemi's fiance, and he seems sweet enough. He even gives her sweets! In exchange, Akemi gives him gold, and he feels a bit ashamed that he doesn't have anything better to offer her. But Akemi accepts him and his gift wholeheartedly and flirts with him a little, which makes him smile kinda shyly.

When Akemi confirms their engagement, Taigen is in disbelief because he has no status or noble background, but Akemi reassures him.

So from these first few scenes, we're introduced to Taigen as an honourable and strong samurai, but also as a man who is sweet and gentle with the woman he is about to marry, as well as aware of his own inferiority when compared to Akemi's high station.

Our view of him then changes as his true self is revealed: he is an arrogant and smug bastard among his peers, but more importantly, he is the terrible bully from Mizu's childhood.

And it is this side of Taigen--pompous jerk and unrepentant xenophobic bully--that we continue to see as the show goes on, and it's safe to say that this is his real self, sans any pretense of humility and modesty. Around anyone who isn't an outright superior in terms of class and power (ie. Akemi's father, the shogun), Taigen never hesitates to assert his own authority and "greatness."

But as the show goes on, he gets caught by Heiji Shindo's men, and then tortured. And that's when we see, okay, turns out he's not that bad. He's honourable; "honour" is not just meaningless and superficial pedantry for him, but an internalised, guiding principle.

He was a cruel asshat throughout Mizu's childhood, but in a prejudiced and xenophobic society, he was just playing by the rules. As a child, he knew he was at the bottom of society, but when met with someone even lower ranked than him (Mizu), he can project all those prejudices and insecurities onto someone else. This way of thinking--"if you can't beat 'em, join em"--is what allowed him to climb up the ranks despite being some dirt poor kid from an abusive household*.

*Well, that combined with his cismale privilege of course, because this would not be an option for a woman in similar circumstances.

Thus, his upholding of honour also exemplifies how Taigen embodies the ideals and rules of his society. His insistence on duelling Mizu is another more blatant example of this. He doesn't want revenge like Mizu does. He wants to be accepted by society, within the bounds that society has placed, and that means that his only two options following his defeat at the Shindo dojo were to either chase Mizu down and get his damn duel, or kill himself for his humiliating defeat.

Now! Moving on from Taigen, let's go back to the other end of this little love triangle: Akemi.

Mizu and Akemi only properly meet in Ep4. During their first meeting, when Akemi tries to poison Mizu in Madame Kaji's brothel, she compliments Mizu's eyes, calling them "beautiful."

This seems to genuinely take mizu off-guard for a second before she coolly plays along. We know that Mizu recognises Akemi from the get-go, and thus sees through Akemi's ploy from a mile away. It's also safe to assume she'd expected false flattery, because Mizu understands full well that this tactic is how women get what they want: by using their 'feminine wiles' and playing up their naivety and innocence. But even so, it's interesting that Mizu actually seems surprised by Akemi's compliment.

Then, after Mizu subtly taunts Akemi by lying about Taigen's death, she and Akemi have a bit of a scuffle, and then we get to Mizu saying this:

"Women in our world don't have a single good option. Except you, like some magical forest creature. You could have anything you want, but then you beg to eat trash."

(no screenshot because it's quite a long line but you get it)

Here we see Mizu's opinions on the marginalisation of (mostly poor and under-privileged) women stated outright, and underlying her words is also resentment. Because even though she and Akemi have shared experiences of female oppression, Mizu, unlike Akemi, was also poor, from a rural village, and is a racial minority. Mizu is triply oppressed, while Akemi only faces one primary form of oppression, and to someone as embittered by the world as Mizu is, to see Akemi "beg to eat trash" is a slap in the face, practically tone-deaf to the other injustices around her--injustices which Akemi has not shown much, or any, acknowledgement for at this point.

Then, after this scene, Mizu kills Kinuyo, and this unsettles her to a degree we've never seen from her before. She is visibly distraught, and the entire sequence hammers the theme of this episode (and arguably, a large portion of the show) into our heads: women in this world suffer. And even though Mizu is well aware of this fact, to commit this act is so visceral that is shakes her to her core, and it's what ultimately leads to the ambush of the Thousand Fangs.

But before the ambush, Mizu and Akemi talk a little again, and during this time Akemi taunts Mizu some more.

Right now, Mizu is exhausted to the point where (I believe) she even downs some sake, despite not usually drinking. Thus, worn down, she cuts Akemi's ropes and tells her, "Just go." Akemi recovers from her initial fear of Mizu's blade and taunts her some more, accurately seeing through Mizu's facade of coldness, recognising the raw anger there, and says this:

"I thought you had to be something special. Your face isn't even so scary. You're just... angry."

At this, Mizu is amused and compares Akemi to Taigen ("I see why he likes you. You're just like Taigen when we were children. A fucking brat.")

The reveal that Mizu and Taigen knew each other in childhood surprises Akemi, but before either of them can say more, everything goes to shit.

That's when we get to Ep5. This episode focuses primarily on Mizu, the central piece of this love triangle, and does the most out of all the episodes to shed some light on her character and goals, fleshing her out to be more than just the vengeful, highly proficient samurai we've seen thus far (symbolised by The Ronin), but also a person who is capable of love, domesticity and gentleness (symbolised by The Bride). But in the end, Mizu rejects both these ideals, instead becoming an Onryo, who is neither guided by pride/honour, nor love.

By 'reincarnating' into an Onryo, Mizu is able to win the day and save the women in the brothel. However, as she has now fully embraced her status as an Onryo, and is exhausted physically, mentally, and emotionally, she lets the Tokunobu clansmen take Akemi away while Akemi's screams echo in her ear.

Mizu says this choice is for Akemi's own good, that Akemi's better off; because Mizu is jaded and weary, and cannot afford the luxury of idealism, and thus must always be strictly practical and realistic. So of course that's why, in her view, yes, Akemi should not be wasting her time in a brothel where women are exploited and abused, nor should Akemi be so naive to think that her marriage with Taigen is even still possible. However, regardless of Mizu's views, it is not for her to decide, because though Akemi is privileged in some sense, she is still trapped and voiceless, and deserves the right to choose her own destiny.

But as it happens, in the end, though Akemi did not choose who she gets to marry, she DOES get to choose her next move when Edo burns down.

"I want to be great."

This one line is the key to her entire arc, which is only just beginning. We see she quickly has acquired the affection and good graces of the shogun's son after their wedding night and consummation, and with Madame Kaji and the girls now serving her, Akemi will only grow to become a prominent political player.

NOW, only after analysing the characters as they are within this season, only can we speculate how their arcs will continue as the show progresses.

First and foremost, I will reassert the popular opinion that Mizu and Akemi are foils. The climax (pun intended) of Ep7 illustrates this as it parallels the turning points in both Mizu's and Akemi's arcs:

Mizu melts the steel of all her loves and shames, the people she's collected: the broken blade wielded by both Chiaki and Taigen, Akemi's knife, Ringo's bell, Master Eiji's tongs - this symbolises her beginning to accept herself, and in doing so, also accepting the help of others;

Akemi consummates her marriage with Takayoshi Itoh, gains his affection, and cements her position as a woman in the shogun's palace - this symbolises her taking charge of her situation, no longer playing the damsel, but using her position to her advantage, empowering both herself and the underprivileged women around her.

These are thus two directly contrasting, diverging journeys:

Mizu's arc moves inward (yin). It is an internal path of self-love and self-discovery, focused on finding peace and tranquility inside herself, and this involves allowing herself to let others into her life, opening herself up to friendship and empathy once more.

Akemi's arc moves outward (yang), it is an external path of growth, transforming from a naive, caged princess to a powerful woman and a force to be reckoned with.

Akemi is always dressed in red, even her eyes are a bit of a reddish-brown rather than brown-black like most other characters, and in her penultimate scene she stands against a backdrop of flames. She is fire: quick-tempered, passionate, full of energy. Red is powerful, authoritative, and in eastern cultures, it is associated with prosperity.

Mizu is blue: her eyes, her sword, her clothes. She is also named after water; it's where she goes to recover, reflect and meditate. Water is fluid like a brook weaving around a stone in its path, always changing and adapting, it is graceful, it is beautiful and ruthless, tranquil yet swift.

Thus, in the future, I expect we will see plenty of political manoeuvring and intrigue in Akemi's plotline, where she fully embraces control of her life, and begins to take action to help others as well, realising that her own oppression is just one piece in a much larger picture. Her main conflict is with society.

In direct contrast, Mizu's main conflict is with herself. She must realise that her desire for vengeance is a projection of her own deep-rooted self-hatred. Her arc must move towards unpacking her feelings and trauma so she can be at peace with herself and allow space for love in her heart. Because as we saw in Ep5, Mizu had come extremely close to achieving peace and joy, as she had not only loved Mikio, but also had briefly believed that Mikio had loved her (and accepted her for who she is) as well.

Thus, assuming the story is not planned as a tragedy, Mizu will likely end up getting her vengeance, but it will not satisfy her, because it is not what she needs. What she needs is to let go of the Onryo within her and to reconcile both The Ronin and The Bride within herself, as she is both a fighter and a lover, but not a monster.

(Edit: I recommend checking out this post by @stylographic-blue-rhapsody for a much clearer analysis about Mizu'a symbolism as Ronin, Bride and Onryo!)

And now that we've mostly covered each of the characters individually, we can finally get to the main point of this post: the love triangle.

--

Let's talk about Option A: Akemi.

As I covered extensively earlier, Mizu and Akemi are foils, a yin-yang pair. But while they play off each other very well in a thematic sense, I personally believe that a serious romance between them will be more complicated if they become endgame. This is because Akemi's natural resolution is to embrace a position of power and influence, where she has both freedom and control over herself and to make much-needed changes in a prejudiced society. Meanwhile, Mizu's natural resolution is the opposite; her happy ending would to find a peaceful life where she is safe and free from prying eyes, and able to be her true self.

Thus, it would make very little sense for Akemi to forfeit power and run away with Mizu and start a humble life together. Akemi wants to be great, and that is absolutely what she deserves. On the other end of the spectrum, it would also make little sense for Mizu to dedicate her life in service of Akemi, such as acting as a bodyguard or something similar, because a life in a palace full of court intrigue and conspiracies is far from what Mizu needs to be happy.

With that being said, if Mizu/Akemi is endgame, and assuming their overarching character arcs do not shift directions, their love story would likely be either tragic, doomed, or bittersweet. I do absolutely love this type of story because personally I'm a sucker for catharsis, so it would be very interesting if the writers do decide to take this route.

Also, as a note, please do not take this as me dunking on this pairing. This is just my personal opinion and analysis and I completely understand if you disagree!

--

Then, of course, we have Option B: Taigen.

Between Akemi and Mizu, Taigen is a bit of a free-floater here, because Season 1 leaves off at a point where his arc is very ambiguous as to where it's headed. While Akemi climbs for greatness and Mizu goes on a journey across the ocean to (presumably) discover more about her heritage, we have little clues about where Taigen is headed. And if I'm being honest, I'm sure he has no idea either! He still hasn't reclaimed his honour, so he would be unable to rejoin the Shindo Dojo; he's been rejected by Akemi; and while he showed loyalty to the shogun, the shogun is now dead, and all the shogun's men who had witnessed his "humiliating" death were left to die by Lady Itoh, who is now pulling the strings within the palace.

Therefore, Taigen has very few options here.

And when considering his role in the story is as Mizu's begrudging ally, his arc will undoubtedly be focused on unlearning his xenophobia and misogyny, the latter of which we have not seen yet, but is surely present. Now, whether he will do this in Mizu's presence or absence will be unknown until we see Season 2. Following the Season 1 finale, he might return to Kohama and wait for Mizu there as he learns humility and remorse over his past cruelty; or maybe he will follow Mizu to London, and the two of them will continue to butt heads until he finally admits to himself that he cares for Mizu more than he would like to admit. There is no room for doubt that his growing feelings for Mizu are more-than-platonic, because we all saw him get turned on by sparring with her in Ep7 lol. Thus, regardless of the exact choice he makes, I am sure that his overall arc will be focused on redeeming his character.

Now, when it comes go redeeming him, I know there are many who simply don't want him redeemed because he was such a jerk to Mizu, and while yes I agree he was awful, I do believe there is also nuance to his character.

Previously I've discussed in great detail the colour and elemental symbolism with Mizu and Akemi, but have yet to touch on how they relate to Taigen. So, let's talk about that for a second.

While Akemi is red and Mizu is blue, Taigen is green.

Green is a complementary colour to Akemi's red. Complementary colours are directly opposite each other in the colour wheel; when mixed, they neutralise each other, but when put side-by-side, they form a pleasing and impactful contrast that boosts the brightness and prominence of both colours. This mirrors Taigen and Akemi's relationship. They are an "ideal" pair because they complement each other very well, and bring out each other's most prominent traits. Mizu's comment about their similar "brattiness" comes to mind here.

Green is also an analogous colour with Mizu's blue. These colours are sitting right next to each other on the colour wheel; their natural similarity makes it easy for them to form a cohesive overall appearance, but using both in equal amounts will make a design overwhelming and too busy. Thus, the best way to use analogous colours is to make one the dominant colour, while the other will serve as an accent. I feel this also speaks to the dynamic in Taigen and Mizu's relationship. They came from the space place, both from nothing; they're both strong fighters who love the sport, and work well together when fighting side-by-side; however, they butt heads too easily, mirroring how analogous colours can be too overwhelming when used in equal amounts. Thus, to work together in harmony, one has to be the dominant colour, while the other serves as the accent. In this case, the dominant force would be Mizu, as she is the protagonist of the story, while the accent would be Taigen.

By fulfilling this role as an "accent" to Mizu, Taigen's character would easily be slotted in as a the love interest. This is in contrast with a Mizu/Akemi relationship, whereby Akemi is Mizu's foil before she is Mizu's love interest. This is because, by being a love interest, a character usually takes a backseat in the story, serving the plot and the themes by playing a purely supportive role, and this is not possible in Akemi's case because her character exists to parallel and contrast Mizu (red and blue), and not to support her.

It is possible to serve as a supporting love interest in Taigen's case however. And this is because he, unlike the other characters, does not currently have a definitive place within the story. He initially served the plot as an antagonistic force, but now as he is slowly unlearning his prejudices and becoming a better person, he can no longer serve the story by acting purely as a rival.

Instead, he will serve the story by literally supporting Mizu. And this relates to Taigen being earth, which is steady, firm and reliable, unwavering in loyalty and principles, hardworking and rooted in stability, which is seen in Taigen's staunch and inflexible obedience to the traditions and rules of society. These traits are what make him a perfect samurai, but not a good man. However, unlike most people in their world, Taigen is still capable of change and redemption, which is why Mizu says that he has the potential to be great. Not great by way of power or glory, but great in character. Already, he is honourable to a fault, and does not betray Mizu even after she technically robbed him of everything he was striving towards. And when he was shot by an arrow in the chasm, he did not hesitate a second to tell Mizu to use him as a human shield and save herself.

The trigger for his redemption is Mizu. If she had never beat him in that duel, Taigen would live on to become a man like Akemi's father. Cruel, power-hungry, controlling, conservative. But through Mizu, Taigen's sharp edges are ground down, much like water that wears down the stones in a river.

Where Mizu and Akemi's possible love story would be a clash of wills, full of passion and even heartbreak, a possible love story between Mizu and Taigen would be the wearing down of souls. Mizu would make Taigen a better person, and in turn Taigen would dedicate his full respect and support to Mizu as his equal, thus getting her to slowly open up and love herself. Already, Taigen has grown enough to admit (begrudgingly, and in his own Taigen way) that Mizu is better than him; though, clearly, he still has a long way to go, as he still calls Mizu a demon shortly after that.

But basically, Taigen is a very simple man (his main goal now is "to be happy"), and Mizu has great depths that he cannot yet fathom. For this love story to work, it has to begin with Taigen changing for the better. If he succeeds in that, and is able to accept Mizu for all her complexities, I believe that they will make a formidable pair. And though he'd likely still throw a jab or snarky remark at Mizu every now and then, I think he'd come tl wholeheartedly admire Mizu as a brilliant swordsman and a kind soul. Thus, should things work out and this be endgame, Taigen would be able to provide Mizu with what Mikio could not: an idyllic life that is not built on a lie, but mutual trust, respect, admiration, and equality.

Or hey, maybe they could both make their own dojo together! I don't know.

(Edit: This post by @rinandsketches does a great job at delving into Taigen's character and a potential Mizu/Taigen relationship if you'd like to read more about this angle!)

--

Now, as I move on from Taigen, there are a couple more options on how to resolve this love triangle and that includes Option C: Ringo.

In this option, Mizu does not have an endgame romance with either Akemi or Taigen. In this route, she finds peace and love through friendship, solidarity, and a found family between herself, Ringo and Master Eiji—a bunch of outcasts in society who make a strong trifecta of sword-makers.

Also, as an aside while I'm talking about Ringo, I'd like to point out that I believe his element is air and his colour is a neutral grey; he is talkative, easy-going, wise, curious, light on his feet (stealthy) and free-spirited, which are all traits linked to air, and traits that complement Mizu nicely, as he is capable of getting Mizu to open up and trust others again, while Mizu helps him reach his true potential for greatness.

--

And finally, there's Option D: Polyamory.

This is basically an "all of the above" option, in which everyone wins and it's a super duper happy ending. It would also be awesome to get some polyamorous representation, and seeing the dynamic between Akemi/Mizu/Taigen play out would be very entertaining and refreshing. So, you never know, this just might be the true endgame!

--

AAAAND with that, I close my extremely long analysis of what is essentially Mizu's love life. Whatever the final outcome of this love triangle though, I just hope it will be well-written and satisfying to all the characters' respective arcs. (Also I just want Mizu to be HAPPY goddamn it because she deserves the world and her coochie eaten out)

Now, I highly doubt anyone will read any of this (especially not until the end!) but that's fine. I just have so many thoughts and feelings about this show and I just needed to get this out of my system lol! But if by some miracle you did read this far, I wholeheartedly welcome any sharing of thoughts and ideas because man am I obsessed with this show! But of course, if we have an opposing opinions, please be respectful when letting me know; I am very open to friendly discussions.

[apollosgiftofprophecy]

crawling into your asks to whine about percy being a mary sue

I maaaaay have to disagree with you here 😅(but also not? hear me out.)

Percy is absolutely one of those characters that you look at and go "isn't he a mary sue?" (especially when you're a fan of an equally-powerful girl who gets called a mary sue by the wider fandom. meg haters i am looking in your direction.)

According to Wikipedia, a Mary Sue is "a type of fictional character, usually a young woman, who is portrayed as free of weaknesses or character flaws." TV Tropes expands on this by saying it "differs wildly from circle to circle, and often from person to person.

"These traits usually reference the character's perceived importance in the story, their physical design and an irrelevantly over-skilled or over-idealized nature."

This is where I would question if Percy is really a Mary Sue - the first series is, after all, his story, so he will of course be important to it. His physical design isn't anything new, either, since attractive black-haired, green-eyed boy has been used before in other media. Now is he overly-skill?

*steeples fingers* Yes and no. Let me explain.

No, because he is, after all, a child of one of the elder gods. It's a given that he'd be much more powerful than other demigods.

Yes, however, because Percy absolutely serves as a power-fantasy for readers. He does have a leg-up on other demigods of the elder gods in comparison, like Thalia, Jason, Hazel, and even Nico.

But what I would argue separates him from being a Mary Sue is that he does struggle (losing control of his powers, for once, becoming fearful of them even), and he does have flaws (obvs his fatal one is the most prevalent, and yeah you can argue since it's a "good natured" one it doesn't count, but I'd point out that even good things can become bad if not used in moderation - which is something Percy eventually learns and overcomes in TLO by handing the knife to Luke, and ergo defeating his desire to be the one to save his friends and letting Luke fulfill his own destiny) - and he's not universally loved by everyone in-story, either (eventually...yes, but really that's kinda understandable, considering he's saved the world twice by then). He was after all ostracized TWICE in the first two books by CHB, and CJ wasn't all the welcoming to him either - some even said "another loser for the Fifth" when the Fifth took him in, DESPITE the fact that he's obviously a powerful demigod and was JUST given Juno's blessing to boot.

But but but...I can definitely see why he could be argued to be a Mary Sue.

Especially when we think about Meg McCaffrey and how some people in the wider fandom call her a Mary Sue.

Mad she's just as powerful as Percy? That she has the potential to be even more so? Too bad. Meg rules. This blog loves Meg McCaffrey send tweet.

Notice how I didn't mention her with the other children of the elder gods before? That was on purpose.

Because Meg is allowed to BE powerful. She gets to flex her skills and practice her abilities! That sets her apart from the other elder god kids, who, besides Nico, really don't get much time to shine in the Power department. Like yeah, we KNOW they're powerful, but...we don't really see it?

Thalia, for one. The most powerful thing she does in-series is a lightningstorm in TLO. And it's not described in any detail. Jason? Capturing the wind spirits, likely. Hazel? Defeating Scyron with the Mist.

Nico also has different treatment when it comes to power compared to the other three, though he does have a handicap for shadow travel.

All's this to say, I guess, is that I can see the argument for Percy being a Mary Sue, but also I can't because there is nuances to consider, and Meg absolutely matches him and she is NOT a Mary Sue (fight me haters).

Also, "Mary Sue" has become a rather...hmm...sexist term, in my opinion? Particularly towards women, ofc, but also I think it's damaging to how men are written too.

Plus, Mary Sues and their male counterparts aren't always bad characters. Going back to wikipedia for a hot second; "In a 2011 interview, Smith cited James Bond and Superman as examples of male Mary Sues, arguing that such characters benefit the male audience's coming of age." Kirk from Star Trek has also been debated over of being a Mary Sue, and yet he, Bond, and Superman are all popular characters.

...I suppose this is where the part on the perception of female vs male characters kicks in - AKA, the "sexism in fandoms" talk and OH BOY DOES THE RRVERSE FANDOM HAVE THAT PROBLEM

#HOTTAKEALERT (not for the toa fandom tho. we know what we're on about :3)

Case in Point: the above talk about Meg. god forbid a girl be skilled or powerful at anything.

"but she's twelve she's not supposed to be able to fight good-!" SHE'S BEEN ABUSED AND VIGOROUSLY TRAINED SINCE SHE WAS 6 AND PERCY WAS ABLE TO DEFEAT THE GOD OF WAR AT 12 AFTER A FEW WEEKS OF TRAINING + WATER

"she's annoying!!" bro have you NEVER met a twelve year old?? were YOU a twelve year old?? because I sure was and man i was annoying. also, Percy & co don't come off as annoying because we are IN THEIR PERSPECTIVE, and twelve year olds are not as visibly annoying to other twelve year olds - MEANWHILE we're seeing Meg through the eyes of a 4,000+ year old god.

also, her "annoying" qualities are endearing. Rick has correctly written a likable 12 year old y'all just hate girls that don't fit your stereotypical vision. traffic light outfits FTW i want to be as unapologetically myself as Meg is unapologetically Meg.

a 12 year old is inspiring to ME, and ADULT. so yeah.

hot take of the day is Meg is/will be more powerful than Percy. Haters just refuse to accept she's anything but a "mArY sUe!" because they hate the thought of any woman being able to match up to Percy.

Anyway I guess this was all to say that I don't personally consider Percy a Mary Sue, because he's a good comparison to use for other characters to determine just how shafted by the narrative they were.

Cheers to Meg and Nico for measuring up well, and pour one out for Thalia, Jason, and Hazel who are victims of "tell and not show".

[elementroar]

Question about Paracelsus, does he actually like aba? I’m guessing in the older game, he mostly tolerated her because she can fight (except for the fact he deliberately chooses not to control her) but in the new one, I’m pretty much confused. When he ends his transformation, He says “That’s my answer, ABA, As your partner.” Problem is that I have no idea which meaning of “partner” he meant. It could be just fighting partners but him having a whole emotional speech and transformation for a “business partner.” If I try to look at the view of actually going for ABA’s dreams for marriage, it feels incomplete and odd because she is slowly transforming him into what she sees fit. Please I really want to know what he meant!

Side note: ABA’s feelings of jealousy and abandonment are completely valid as Paracelsus has done that! To her face! WITH A RANDOM STRANGER TO HER!!! In night of knives volume 2.

Life partner, since Paracelsus no longer really wants to fight on principle, so 'fighting partner' like he used to regard A.B.A as and originally hoped she would regard him as, that's out of the window. So if he's still resolving to stay with her, it's as a life partner. The extent of what that means to him is prolly different from A.B.A, but that can evolve over time.

Because Paracelsus, as he has stated, is an axe. He understands relationships in axe terms, which is he acknowledges his wielder (which he did acknowledge A.B.A as at the end of Night of Knives) and he kills other people that threaten them. His whole situation-ship with A.B.A has forced him to be involved in roles he was never equipped to deal with and was forced to adapt to - being an emotional support, being an actual object of attraction, having to constantly protect his wielder from herself, having to be a counsel on social norms that he shouldn't know all that well to begin with as an axe but he's expected to, having to communicate on behalf of his wielder to navigate social situations and dispel conflict - quite literally none of these are on the checklist of 'being an axe that kills people real good.

Yeah he wanted to leave A.B.A in NoK, and honestly who wouldn't? From his perspective, she was hellbent on not treating him as the weapon he wanted her to treat him as. She was figuratively and literally emotion dumping on him constantly, what with the empathetic bond prolly not helping matters. And he kept trying to dispel every delusion and assumption she had about their relationship constantly. As he was being sexually harassed despite his protests and mid-battle, constantly.

But even back then, Slayer implied that Paracelsus never hated A.B.A personally, but her constant advances, the situations they got into, it was all frustrating to him when he really wanted to be 'just a weapon' back then.

We kinda skipped Paracelsus character development up till STRIVE but IMO, I think he figured out he had to be proactive with A.B.A, cause sticking with his "I'm a weapon, and only a weapon" principles wasn't helping. He accepted that he needed to be the responsible one of the two, that he had to kick his blood habit because it made him lose control and also got them into fights etc. He accepted that he had to change for the sake of A.B.A.

Thinking about marriage for them is kinda falling into the trap that A.B.A fell into IMO. Her theme hints that being bound by specific definitions of words or expectations may have prevented her and them from organically growing their relationship, whatever it can or would be.

Part of her major development is that she acknowledges she's been obsessed with the idea of love, but not actually truly understanding what it is. Her obsession with Paracelsus is more of her playing the part rather than understanding the feeling. Part of her growth was choosing to let go of Paracelsus for his own good, and in fact it was an expression of true love, even though she didn't realize it. Paracelsus is also learning about love and Elphelt suggested that looking out for someone is in fact a form of love, and that surprised him. He didn't seem to realize that the steps he's taken to take care of A.B.A are expressions of love themselves either.

As Paracelsus explained to A.B.A, he's not sure where their relationship will go or what the future holds for them. How their feelings will develop is still up in the air, but he tries to show A.B.A that if he could change so much, then she can too. The idea is that they're finally free to be whatever they're going to be, and they're choosing to stick together to that end, and that's the most important thing.

[k8-marsh]

songs that sound like chloe price sung them

okay so (naturally) i have playlists for most life is strange characters and i found a bunch of songs that sound like chloe sung them! :) it sounds more like her voice in 'before the storm' (rhianna devries) if anyone is interested. so yeah! i just thought it was cool! a lot of the songs also really suit chloe in their lyrics/genre too ^^

also i added photos to help you. visualise. hope you enjoy.

Sorority Girls - Mommy Long Legs

this one is so very chloe, especially with her hate for the vortex club (more specifically, victoria and nathan)

Hey, hey, hey, boys, let's go to the frat party The theme's white people, get your roofies ready Shoot their parent's money away And act like assholes every day!!!

I Threw Glass at My Friend's Eyes and Now I'm on Probation - Destroy Boys

honestly, for all of these songs the entire song sounds like her! this whole album in particular 'Sorry, Mom' is very chloe.

anyway i think this song could kinda be about chloe and frank ;

'Cause you're scary as shit, dude! Like I don't know really know what I can tell you You kinda freak me out, but we can be friends

Never invite me over ever again Just kidding, please do! I really wanna hangout with you

obviously NOT in a relationship way but frank was definitely a bad influence on chloe and someone she kinda looked up to. so i think it kinda fits!

Duck Eat Duck World - Destroy Boys (again)

okay... i'm about to put the whole album at this point, the singer's old voice really sounds like chloe!!!

this song seems like other people's criticisms of chloe;

Ever since you cut your hair You're so different, you don't seem to care Staying out late, X's on hands Since when do you like punk rock bands?

then this verse kinda seems like chloe talking about max leaving her -

I liked the girl with the long locks What's her name? I forgot Ten years and we haven't talked Well, there's a new girl on the block

and the 'new girl' is rachel!

Green eyes leaning in on me Green eyes, am I what you wanna see?

guess who has green eyes... that's right guys. rachel amber. are you seeing these links or what.

this analysis isn't, like, that i think that the artists wrote these songs about chloe, i just love thinking about songs in terms of chloe. as you can tell.

A few other songs from the same album that match chloe with their lyrics:

No Respect - chloe criticizing david!

You don't own everything I've been here for years Stop meddling in my affairs and I'll stop middling yours Get out of my face Such a typical dude Thinking that every tiny little thing is just about you

Goldilocks Spot

This one is kinda sad/subdued. I think this suits Before the Storm Chloe too, i mean she went through a LOT of shit.

My handwriting kind of looks like my dad's Tell me your story, it won't make me sad

...

I don't wanna talk about it anymore I don't wanna talk about it anymore I don't wanna talk about it anymore I don't wanna talk about it anymore So I won't

Junk

The title just gives me junkyard vibes, which is totally relevant to chloe :)

My car exhaust clinging to the base Shiny and lost with onion ring remains Precious flowers lost within the hour I guess you can say they were written to decay

Long and gone Long and gone, long and gone, long and gone Lost my junk again Lost my junk again

B.F.F (Actually from a later album!)

This reminds me of Chloe's breakdown in the junkyard. you know when she just started smashing everything. you can draw a correlation (fancy) between the title and max...

Nails through my baseball bat I'm telling you to step back girl, step back You're dead, you're dust, you're sewage now (< william!!!) You dug your grave and then you asked me how

edit: you thought i was done? absolutely not. i completely forgot about ashly burch's songs!!!!!!!!! MUAHAHAa.... okay. these are usually covers/parts of a show or play so they don't have as deep meaning. but obviously i'll find a way to relate it to chloe.

(Cover) Black Sheep by Metric

I love the second video so much, it's animated by this totally awesome dude on reddit (https://www.reddit.com/r/lifeisstrange/comments/3nzxhc/animation_of_chloe_price_ashly_burch_singing/) but the video is private so I attached a different youtube link in case anyone wants to watch it.

Who's The Princess Now? (from Muzzled: The Musical)

The scream of 'who's the princess now, BITCHES??" is... very chloe to me. a little context, this song is from a very peculiar youtube musical episode series thing that ashly burch stars in, i watched it a few years ago and it's definitely something. it's actually got a bunch of popular youtube-musical people (like Joey Richter from Starkid) if anyone's interested. you can watch it here!

Song Battle (...also from Muzzled: The Musical)

okay. so for some reason i really love imagining chloe having a rap battle against victoria for this. someone please make it into an animatic. maybe i will.

How Do I Look? (you'll never guess where this one is from...)

i can also imagine chloe having a sick makeover and like chloe and rachel helping her. or something like that... anyways. rad.

Anyways. That's it for now, i hope anyone who remotely wanted this enjoyed it!!! i hope it helped if you wanted to create a playlist or animatic or anything or just have a little chuckle.... um. please let me know if you have any more ideas because my chloe playlist can never be long enough.

[liedownquisition]

I genuinely believe DickRoy would be terrible for Roy. I meant there is decent evidence for it, New Titans Vol 1 #101 where Dick throws Roy's addiction in his face and physically attacks him because Roy is selected to take over the Titans or Titans Vol 2 23 which is a tough read of Dick reacting to Roy's addiction (if I am remembering right). (Honestly kinda weird when they try to retcon in Dick helping Roy with his addiction when I don't think any decent help is in character for Dick). Roy is capable of being a good boyfriend to Dick, he is very understanding but the same cannot be said about Dick to Roy (in my opinion).

You are so incredibly correct, anon and this is really foundational in why I kind of made the switch from being a DR shipper to JR. Now,

DISCLAIMER: I wasn't active in DC fanon anywhere that can still be found until like 2011-ish and by the time I was engaging with DC stuff it was around when the YJ show rekindled my interest and I was mostly yj-verse birdflash and some more niche ships largely driven by rp. I didn't really write fic in my older LJ DR days and just read the stuff I could find then.

Additional Disclaimer: This post is not intended as ship bashing, yes I'm getting a little bitchy excuse me if I'm a little pissy with how toxic the other side tends to get. I've said it once and I'll say it again: The appeal of DR to a lot of people is it being a somewhat toxic ship, but that's not how a lot of people are trying to sell it when they bash on JR.

Lemme just, let's look at some panels from your examples (Uh, TW for... I'm so hopping mad rn I can't remember the proper terms. just, being shitty about past addiction, incredibly shitty depictions of addiction, abusive language):

New Titans vol 1 (1988) #101

This particular incident is made worse by, well, all of Roy defending Dick prior to this in the very same issue:

Roy says that Dick's always been a bit standoffish with him (again, same issue), Wally even somewhat agrees and attributes it to "that Batman thing." And the entire reason they're removing Dick from leadership is FOR HIS OWN GOOD?

God, Titans Vol 2 (2008) #23 is an EXTREMELY hard read, it's at about the time of Cry for Justice and DickBats, and they really fuck up revisiting Roy's addiction so hard in here, and make a point to isolate Roy to really set him up for the clusterfuck that is Rise of Arsenal.

But yeah, Jason's the reason Roy's characterization fell into the shitter? (Also, "get help or I'll get help for you" is not... great. That's not help. Not when it's presented like this)

... Sure. Like the majority of this issue is really just about how awful the Titans were (with an emphasis on Wally being shit tbh) to Roy EXCEPT Donna (and Garth tbh, but Roy gets really defensive around him and is a total ass too. I'm not saying he's perfect by any means but...)

Like, hell, who needs enemies when you have friends like these, am I right? and a LOT of Titans/Teen Titans runs play up the teen drama and strife between Dick and Roy or Roy and literally all the other guys! It Always Has!

Allow me to also add in Titans Vol 3 (2016) #21

It's important to note that, once again, Roy isn't above also doing some shitty stuff to them, and does, but let's put some of these scenes into a bit more context:

The first one is literally Roy doing everything he can to save the Titans and prevent the government from signing bills that would affect a lot of people EVEN BEYOND the Titans themselves! Yes, Dick is in a bad space, it's still fucked! It doesn't excuse him! A reason is not an excuse! And clearly he's been sitting on that knife about Roy's addiction to pull out whenever he feels like it and has a bad enough day.

The second one... these are flashbacks happening while they're on their way to visit Roy after his arm's been ripped off by Prometheus and he's still in a coma and his daughter is fucking dead. The WHOLE time is still Donna acting as this buffer of trying to protect Roy from Wally and Dick's criticisms. (Especially Wally tbh. Dick does treat him with some modicum of acknowledgement/respect in the "current" scenes.) Could be argued to be a product of the era bcs once again this is explicitly the leadup to Rise of Arsenal.

Roy is like.... 100% correct here. Not on like a metaphoric "bitching them out" thing I mean on the literal front of he was exposed to the drug that was the method by which the Big Bad was starting to control people and was trying to get people to believe him. Dick says he's not, Batman says he's not, Donna isn't sure but ultimately proves herself as an actually good friend by busting out to help him herself and they all show up in the end to save the day. This is his last run before HIC.

These aren't even the only scenes I could pull out my hat for this. Look, as far as I'm concerned the toxicity is the APPEAL of the DR ship! But as I've gotten older and in the current climate of the world being as terrifying and cruel as it is, I just want something softer than I can picture these two having (Yes there's plenty of good things about them you can cherrypick out of their history too, but even THE DR comic run Outs.iders is filled with "mommy & daddy are fighting again" divorce energy ect ect ect. I can't tolerate most of the "wholesome" fic bcs it also completely defangs them or has the standard "uwu sad batboy x their personal love interest therapist with no other personality" Yeah, it happens in JR too, I generally don't READ THOSE either!).

I want Good Things for Roy! Something that I can see a happy end without compromising everyone's characters!

I know all the haters don't agree with me on that second point because they can't wrap their head around the idea of a) multiple interpretations of a character THAT CAN STILL BE CONSIDERED IN-CHARACTER and b) the fact that "hating Jason" isn't a CANON personality trait in literally any of Roy's runs! He was even getting between Dick and Jason fighting because he could respect that Jason had valuable intel and was willing to work with him even if he's a bitch!

And most of his major ships either don't give us that happy end potential to me (Ro.yJa.de, Di.ckRoy, Wa.llyRo.y) or have certain things I can't get past (Don.naRo.y "I was only dating you again so as to sully everyone's image of me as a good girl and you shouldn't let your daughter get so attached to me so it doesn't hurt her when we break up" - not if, WHEN. There's also a lot of offhand comments in that run from the other Titans that are very cruel to Roy too actually lol)

Despite what people keep trying to say, Roy is not Dick's best friend. Donna is. And then Wally, And probably Babs, and then maybe Roy somewhere underneath there. Is it possible that Dick is ROY'S best friend? Eh, I'm going to be honest I think Donna is his too lol. Then maybe Dick, but actually I'd bet Kyle got up there pretty far too? Jason does not have to do much to rank lbr. Even at his worst towards Roy he was kinder than the average amongst the older Titans.

And that's! largely where I'm coming from here tbh. I also Like Royfire, yeah. Don't try to argue with me that it's only bcs of RHATO bcs he also hit on her really early on and they have a solid friendship that make for a perfectly good relationship. ("Except for Kori who I'd have to shoot twice." "Nice." always fucking gets me). But lbr I'd get just as much hate and less engagement for writing it so sue me for focusing on the route where fun number goes up and serotonin hits the brain.

[maoam]

I love how sakura and hinata fans say sns shippers are misogynists for not liking those girls and the ships when really I think me being a man-hating-radical-feminist is what makes me not like them lol. Like I have self respect which is why I don't like someone who's entire purpose is to be a man worshipping housewife from the 1950s with no backbone and doesn't stand up for herself at all (hinata) or someone who's pretty much a male in female form who mimics real creepy male behaviour to a T like constantly harassing someone and trying to force them to like you back despite constant rejects, treating them like a sexual object only, centering yourself around their life and not even actually caring about someone they claim to love (sakura). Also if you take it a step further, I can even say the reason sasuke's my favourite character is bc he's female-coded. Like almost every way he gets treated both by the narrative and by real fans is how a lot of ppl treat real women. (think they know better for him, hating him for being attractive and able to get anyone's attention, hating him for having agency and not caring what ppl think, not caring to follow paths others want him to follow, etc) these are all things that most women get hated on for irl. It also says a lot that most of his haters are male lol, while other male characters with the "coolness" factor like sasuke are still worshipped (like his own brother, kakashi, even naruto). Also gaara getting more popular after he started worshipping naruto and leaving his cool backstory and interesting character behind also proves my point. If sasuke just became a naruto fanboy halfway thru and didn't bother with his revenge and only started loving naruto (not romantically tho, ofc, bc that's gay and we're alpha males who fuck bitches only 😤) he prolly wouldn't be as hated. Just like if sakura switched her affections from sasuke to naruto halfway thru, the dudebros would stop hating her. It's all about naruto worship, and the characters who end up doing that always end up being the shell of the interesting characters they once were (like gaara, hinata was never an interesting character, she's the only one who was meant to be his cock worshipper since the beginning) and that's what makes me hate all dudebros and some female fans who think this too. Like sometimes I start hating naruto myself bc some of the sasuke only stans on tumblr make really good points about how naruto's basically a male power fantasy series. Almost everyone ends up worshipping him, and even sasuke (if you wanna see it that way) ends up doing that. I personally like equal power in relationships so I like to see them as equal in the end, but some ppl who only wanna see their self insert incel mc be worshipped, they can see it that way. Sometimes I only like naruto in sns and sasuke individually, and hate everything else about this series. Anyway that got kinda off topic but yeah.

Sakura also does not stand up for herself when it comes to Sasuke.

Hinata's body language is always timid, but Sakura's becomes one too in the presence of Sasuke. Because she tries to make Sasuke like her, but since she doesn't understand Sasuke she also doesn't understand this is not what Sasuke wants nor needs. Sasuke wouldn't like it either if Naruto acted this pathetic.

Hinata is literally a tradwife dream, she is docile, submissive, doting and her only goal in life is to support Naruto and become Naruto's girlfriend/wife and have his kids. She has no thoughts about anything else. This is what many men want from a woman. It's really pitiful to read/watch people try to come up with something in order to make Hinata look like a decent character. It all comes down to "she liked Naruto since the beginning", "she sacrificed herself for Naruto", "she has had more kids than the other female characters".

I don't know about the use of "female-coded" as a term (I talked about it at one point), I think it's the homoeroticism that largely contributes to this (especially how Sasuke is made to be desirable to both men and women). But I do see where you're coming from. Sasuke does piss off many men but a lot of it is due to incel mentality. Some of it is due to main character entitlement, as in Sasuke takes too big of a chunk out of the manga when it comes to screentime. Ironically, there are many of them who think Sasuke should have been a female character so Naruto's obsession with him wouldn't make them so uncomfortable.

I also find it annoying when so many Sakura videos I watch have men ranting about how Sakura still likes Sasuke despite the fact Naruto saved her. Like you can tell they think a man should be able to buy woman's sexual interest by making her owe them. But thankfully, I have come across also videos that make very good points about her character.

Naruto and Sasuke's fight (or more like the aftermath) annoyed some men because it was physically basically a draw and Naruto even said to Sasuke "this isn't about winning or losing". Sasuke lost to his feelings, basically him admitting defeat was him accepting to be loved by Naruto LMAO no wonder dudebros were mad. Many of them whined because they hated how Kishi had to make it so gay.

Shonen tends to be a male power fantasy. Luffy also gets everyone to fanboy/fangirl him. And shonen mcs usually have one of the worst stans for this reason. It's funny (or not) how the same pattern can be seen in every shonen fandom when it comes to the main character. There are men who self insert into them and act like everything needs to be about them, and bash other characters especially if they take even a little from their mc. Meanwhile there is a subset of women who create this yaoi harem shit around the mc, him as feminine uke bottom that every other guy just wants to rail. And they also might wrote posts on how other characters are irrelevant and boring compared to their beloved mc. It always happens. If it makes you feel better, Naruto always saw Sasuke and Iruka as different from the rest, because he didn't need to prove anything to them, they just cared for him even when he was a loser. And to Naruto, Sasuke is the best in the world. Even to Sarada he started ranting how Sasuke is hot and cool and the best shinobi in the world lol. But yes, I think Gaara and Neji lost some edge of their characters after they were saved by Naruto.

[smolstarthief]

I gotta be frank, I think both interpretations of Hexcore!Sky are interesting in their own right ("official" statement from the crew aside but at this point, with how many times the apparent official statements from CL or anyone else has caused me to raise eyebrows (I don't mind the cast inputs since they're usually pretty respectful in tone as far as I know), I feel like we shouldn't fully rely on those in terms of what's considered canon at this point due to the occasional contradictions the show presented but don't take my word for it really. Up to you on that one).

Like the idea that it actually was the real her just adds more layers of tragedy since 1) It definitely showcases what could have been with her and Viktor's dynamic had she not died and 2) Her symbolizing his remaining humanity just makes her essentially dying a second time a bigger gut punch. It's just sad all around for both parties as well as Viktor being unable to let her go and even properly move on or even grieve her death and when he does... It's not for the better due to him proceeding to throw his humanity, morals, and emotions away in favor of evolving into the Machine Herald to continue his "Glorious Evolution." So her saying "No... You won't (miss our talks)" can be read as possible sadness and disappointment with the path he's now taking and he's not the same Viktor she admired and even had romantic feelings for anymore. Obviously, from Viktor's side of it, he was no doubt sincere in his goodbye and even sounded like he was about to cry but... Well you know the rest with that overall tragedy with him and his character (not trying to paint him in a bad light btw since I fully understand his position there).

Meanwhile the idea that it wasn't really her but the Hexcore using her image to isolate him and guide/push him to his "Evolution" path is also interesting but also paints a very messed up picture of the situation (basing more on my experiences with toxic people and yes some those people have been labeled as being, "too nice to be terrible" before so yeah take it with a pinch of salt if you wish but that is an actual thing with some manipulative folks. And this is NOT towards Sky herself but the Hexcore just to make it clear). That would basically be like, a hypothetical example in another piece of media (P5R), Azathoth conjuring up an image of Rumi for Maruki to keep him from straying from his goal of "saving" people even though that (like Viktor) his methods are considered questionable/wrong (again, hypothetical since it thankfully doesn't happen in the game but imagine if it did though). Especially if it's done at the expense of free will and thinking. Even before then in S1 where it seems to showcase signs of sentience over time. Most notably when it seems to lash out in response to Viktor trying to destroy it himself after Sky's death (NSFW jokes aside, it clearly caused quite a pained reaction from him and even has the implication (someone on Twitter pointed it out) that it took away the mobility it gave to his leg in response to his action there. I could be wrong though) which yeah... Not a good sign at the start.

Back to what I was talking about initially, the idea of it never being her but the Hexcore itself is just kinda scary and messed up and it does have decent evidence and occasional red flags to back it up a bit (ex: Her appearance looking a little different, even a couple of her lines can seem off and even out of character for her). Again, primarily based on my own experiences which is no doubt different from everyone else's so make what you will. So with that in mind, it can definitely have "her" final words take a different and even darker direction with Viktor showing a small bit of vulnerability and the response saying he won't miss their talks together can give the feeling of almost mocking or twisting the knife further with his already messed up state of mind. Especially with how cold the tone of voice can come off as. I guess the only issue would be that it kinda takes away some form of responsibility in regards to Viktor's decisions and actions (especially when the show keeps beating that over the head a bit) but I guess at the same time with all the discussions I've seen regarding how he's had own autonomy taken away more than once and it adds to the tragedy of him as a whole I think it can still work since the most the Hexcore did was give him nudges at best but still showcase that he was capable of making decisions. The nudges are subtle enough to be messed up but still have Viktor have some form of responsibility for his own choices (crossing The Line of you will... I'm so sorry for that I'll see myself out. The song does also hint at his thought processes though to be fair so chances are he does have some level of awareness of his decision).

But yeah, I think both ideas are super interesting and can maybe co-exist a bit? Or not and it's just wishful thinking. Eh, you get what I mean. I love Sky to bits along with the overall tragedy her death brought on Viktor's end (despite the flaws of the execution but then again I do sense a small bit of nuance with it but idk for sure) so these discussions intrigue me a bit!