#like yes give me a character who is in fact willing to sacrifice the lives of a few for the many

[dreadpirateella]

I promise we will get back to our regularly scheduled turtle posting soon but guys I have to yell about Sonic 3 bc ohhhh my gosh

Sonic 3 spoilers below!!!

this movie, y'all. I should preface this with the fact that I know next to nothing about Sonic outside of the live action universe, so a lot of my excitement comes from my limited knowledge of this franchise

Shadow is so much different than I thought he would be! Keanu did a phenomenal job voicing him imo. He made him seem a lot more like a person with actual feelings than I thought he was before I watched this. I kinda had an idea in my head that Shadow was this emo angry kid and didn't know why but this was an incredible subversion of those expectations and I'm so glad his character is the way he is!! He's so interesting to watch. His realization at the end that this definitely isn't what Maria wanted (or what he wants) was just so incredible. I loved his team up with Sonic!

Honestly the entire story of Shadow and Maria was just so devastating to watch. It's so important for how the audience views Shadow for us to see that past and how happy he was so that we can understand why he wants revenge so bad. It's so so so good and his sacrifice at the end of the movie was incredible. The fact that he was willing to give up his life to fix his mistake just says so much about who he is.

and Maria's line of how the light still shines even after the star has died was beautiful. That sentiment is just so heartwarming <3

Also I'm an "always watches the credits" girlie so YES I SAW THAT SCENE AT THE VERY END MY BOY IS ALIVEEEEEEE

and SPEAKING of credits scenes, THEY'RE MAKING ANOTHER MOVIE???? WITH AMY???? HELLO????? let's freaking go I'm so pumped

Knuckles and Tails were more of sidekicks in this movie than in the ones before, which was a tad bit disappointing. I know that with as many characters that are in this universe it can be hard to balance screen time between them all, but still. I think watching an entire show focused on Knuckles skewed my view a bit too, so that could just be my like weird warped perception throwing me off idk (and my love for Knuckles is definitely throwing me off haha)

I loooove the way Robotnik's story ended!!! He died doing something good, and I just rly like that. The closure of the plot line between him and Agent Stone was wonderful too!!

Maddie and Tom were (as always) absolute MVP's here! I love that they give the boys freedom to go do what needs to be done, but they're also always willing to get involved and help. It's wonderful I love them a lot <333

SPEAKING OF TOM????? dude I was PANICKED OHHH MY GOSH and Shadow's immediate regret at seeing how upset Sonic was GAHHHHH :(((((( SO glad Tom's okay bc omg I woulda lost it. I loved how Sonic was fueled by his grief and OH the part where Knuckles was gonna fight him over the master emerald but backed down bc he wanted to keep his oath???? that stabbed me in the heart I love him

Ok I'm done yapping thanks for reading my nonsense <3333 I actually can't express my excitement over these goobers I just love them so so so much

[cosmicjoke]

I'm really sick of seeing posts from a certain subset of people in the Levi fandom "pushing back" on the fact that Levi is a good person. What exactly is the point of it? Just to be contrary? Just to seem like one of the "cool kids" who can be objective about Levi? As if acknowledging that Levi is a good person means you're biased about him? What a joke.

Him being a good person isn't an interpretation about his character, it's a fact.

I'd really love to know what apparently impossible standards one would have to meet in order to qualify as a good person, according to these people?

Because in my book, being a good person comes down to one very basic and straightforward quality.

Do you genuinely care about other people and living beings and want to help them in whatever ways you can?

If the answer is yes, then you're a good person.

Of course there can then be varying degrees of goodness. How much do you care, i.e. how much are you willing to personally sacrifice for the benefit of others? How far does your care go?

I call Levi exceptionally good all the time because not only does he care more about other people than any other character in the series, showing immense and deep compassion toward basically everyone, but he's completely selfless. He never takes anything for himself, but only constantly, consistently gives to others, often at the expense of his own comfort and well-being.

These fans that want to question Levi's goodness because he engages in quote on quote "morally dubious" actions like killing or other acts of violence, absolutely send me with their moronically childish view of the world, and also with how completely they miss the entire point of AoT and its themes. Judging one for their actions without consideration for context or mitigating circumstances is one of the main things AoT warns against, and yet these clowns go right ahead and proudly declare how they're doing just that with regards to Levi, acting as if that somehow makes them superior fans because they can be "objective" about him.

That's not being objective about Levi's character. That's being unfairly judgmental and prejudiced based on your simplistic, black and white view of morality. Similar to how Eren was unfairly judgmental toward Reiner and Bertolt, or how Jean and Mikasa were unfairly judgmental toward Levi, or how Gabi was unfairly judgmental toward everyone on Paradis.

You aren't a better or more objective fan of Levi's because you go around claiming he's a "morally grey" character or not "wholly good". You just don't understand what makes someone a good person at all. Levi isn't "morally grey". A morally grey character would be someone who's intentions are morally questionable, or who's morals are unstable and easily compromised or changed. That's not Levi. Levi remains consistent from beginning to end in his morality and intentions. All Levi does and tries to do is help others, in whatever ways he can. That's the only intent behind any of his actions. All of his actions are rooted in the fact that he genuinely cares about others.

If that doesn't define Levi as a good person, than nothing would.

[moirindeclermont]

Pen's arch this season is not about sacrifice, it about thriving.

I've saw someone criticizing this season because Pen doesn't sacrifice everything (including Whistledown) for Colin. Now, an opinion is an opinion and every opinion is valid, but allow me a counterpoint at that.

I've said it before that I love this very point. I love that Pen gets to have Colin and Whistledown. It's not bad per se to sacrifice something in the name of something better. And if Pen would want to say goodbye to Whistledown, I'd be okay with it. Fact is, she doesn't want to.

Too many women, to this day, have to choose between love and family or career. The fact that Pen doesn't have to choose at all is incredibly empowering. And if you think for a second that show!Colin would want her to choose, you're severely misjudged his character. He is the first that once he has accepted her, also wants her to be Lady Whistledown.

I also was a teenager in love, and I thought that sacrificing all of me for a person would be the greatest thing I could ever do for love. 20 years apart taught me that while sacrifice are part of what makes relationship works, my financial independence is not a part of those sacrifice I'm willing to make. And surely someone who loves me can understand that and it is willing to work with me to find ways to make it work.

Pen having her cake and get to eat it it's not something that finish her character. It's the opposite. Otherwise we go back to the world Portia was living in in which women's dream come true through there husband, sometimes. Pen has her dreams, her ambitions, her stuff to do that has nothing to do with Colin.

It also strengthen their relationship as a couple. Imagine how bitter and awful would feel Pen after a few years having to give up on her own creation. Why would you do that for her character? I want her to thrive as a wife, a mother and as Lady Whistledown. She is with Colin not because she needs a husband, but because she wants to. And the freedom that allows her this choice is the fact she has money on her own.

Erase that and yes, she will stay with Colin because they love each other, but women are so much more than just love (and when I use women I intended all women who feels women, you don't need a vag to be a woman). We, like Pen, deserve to have our cake and eat it. To have love and children (if we want to) and to be our own person beside those things.

One more point. The choice that Pen is making will impact other lives, like her nieces and other women who will feel inspired by it. Criticizing that point is failing to understand the change they made with Pen since season 1. That was the only possible conclusion for her character that made sense. If you prefer the book version, you do you, but personally I'm very glad they have made this change.

[fullmetal-scar-simping]

Thank you sooo much for your lovely response to my long ask a couple of days ago!!! I really do agree with you wholeheartedly (especially about Scar's post-Briggs characterisation), and something that irritates me about my fellow mangahood fans is that they love the complications in the plot introduced by the reveal that Scar killed Winry's parents (immediately after his own family died in an alchemical explosion + experiencing the world's most traumatic arm replacement).

I get that the point of having Winry confront Scar and point the gun at him is to make Scar reflect on their shared wrath...but I don't it's remotely comparable fhsjfjdj

Like yes it's tragic that the Rockbells died, but unless I am hallucinating they were fairly confident that the military wouldn't have actually killed them because they were Amestrians and thus why they continued to treat Ishvalans in their field hospital even after they had been warned. Now I think it would have actually been interesting if they were then later killed by the military that they trusted to spare them because of their Amestrian blood!

And then the Elrics + Winry having to deal with the fact that the institution they respect/work for/interact with is the same institution that killed the Rockbells - something mangahood treats like an unforgivable sin when Roy "War Criminal Extraordinaire" Mustang and Kimblee™️ are right there😭😭😭 They even show us the military scheming to kill the Rockbells, and then Arakawa has Scar do it at his most unstable to make a point about The Cycle of Hatred from a man whose pain is the most justified😭

And not to be petty but Ed's line about how Winry's hands were made for saving lives and the fact that her parents are doctors - Scar was a warrior monk whose hands also saved lives because he defended his people; and in fact that scene in the manga when he said he had nothing left to protect so he will instead live for vengeance went hard and is soooo indicative of his character😩

Unlike the war criminals and their accomplices, Scar's primary motivation throughout the genocide was to protect his people! And when they were slaughtered and their homes destroyed, that motivation developed into vengeance for his people! And I actually think it's quite powerful that Scar is willing to sacrifice his own peace of mind and the integrity of his soul by using alchemy - it's the fact that he is willing to kill the living to prove that the dead did not deserve it!

He is in fact the consequences of the rotten core that is the foundation of Amestris! So why do brohood fans insist on acting like it's his responsibility to end the cycle of hatred when the Amestrians were the first to pull the trigger? What's he supposed to do? How is he meant to continue living when everything was taken from him?

If we had even just a couple of scenes showing more of the Ishvalan perspective; like tell me more about the Ishvalan who refused treatment from Uriy Rockbell because Amestrians killed his father or the Ishvalan man in the desert mutilated by Roy's flames - there should be more angry Ishvalans in the series, and I think the Elric brothers (and fuck it Miles also - we saw an Ishvalan slum in North City) interact with them and deal with the horror that their nation inflicted upon the Ishvalans for no reason other than to serve the rotten core of the nation - Father & co.

But nooooo let's act like Scar killing the Rockbells is comparable and actually worse than the Ishvalan genocide🙄

(I am SO SORRY I just had to rant because I saw an annoying mangahood fan praise Scar's "redemption" arc when he doesn't need one😭 I even like that he got to return to his homeland and even reclaim his pre-genocide identity, but it should have been achieved through actual mutual understanding instead of my babygirl giving in to Arakawa's politics🗿 I know he's depressed and unhappy but to make his sudden cooperation realistic Arakawa should have has characters like Elric brothers and Miles should have done more reflecting on their complicity with the institution instead of bailing out of a difficult plotline)

Haha, no need to apologize for the rant! I'm right there with ya. The way Winry and the Rockbells get inserted into Scar's story feels so precisely calculated in order to both equivocate the violence of genociders with the violence of the oppressed, as well as (more directly) knocking Scar down himself.

[Long analysis after the readmore]

It's a perfect example of this method of narrative framing:

All anyone can focus on is Scar and the Rockbells, and that's by design, particularly with the 2009 anime adaptation.

For anyone paying attention to Scar's backstory with an anti-imperialist lens, it's clear he has correctly assessed who his enemies are and what to do about them. He's right to despise and destroy state alchemists and soldiers. And in order to "muddy" his position, Arakawa threw the Rockbells into the mix.

Again, with an anti-colonial, anti-imperialist framework this wrinkle to his backstory doesn't change shit. He is in the right to kill members of the militia. An accident doesn't erase the system of power that enacts imperial aggression. An accident doesn't negate a need for direct violence against a genocidal entity. Unfortunately Arakawa, the team at Studio Bones behind the Brotherhood anime, and the majority of people who watch Broho or read the manga don't see things this way.

Now I haven't read the manga myself, but as you've mentioned the Rockbells did seem to acknowledge the very real risk of death that can befall them while working in a war zone. Correct me if I'm wrong (and I may very well be) but don't they leave a letter behind in the manga, imploring that no one blame any Ishvalans who may instead harm them? Take this with a grain of salt, as I'm working off of a recollection of a post from someone who did read the source material. If I'm in the right ball park here, then Brotherhood cutting this from the story is an even more blatant attempt to tar Scar with a level of villainy (a trite description for the topic of genocide, even a fictional one) as the Amestrian war criminals.

Except the Amestrian war criminals are not seen as villains. The only ones characterized as villains for committing this (and other) genocide(s) are the homunculi, Bradley's council, and Kimblee. Following orders apparently is wholly excusable, even for a voluntary military. Both the "pain" and "anguish" of these 'do-gooder' genocidaires and Winry herself are elevated to near-martyrdom status in Brotherhood. Winry's parents especially so, and thus Winry's loss is seen as so poignant, so heartbreaking, that the audience (and Ed) are moved to an almost smug derision of Scar. See? It's the ~cycle of violence~. That's why his actions are ~wrong~. He doesn't parade around an idealism as a form of penance that makes him inspiring like Mustang (I have to laugh), he doesn't bat big doe eyes while looking so mournful like Riza (I have to yawn), he didn't have a lovely cis heterosexual family unit to create or protect like Hughes (please don't acknowledge Scar's family or community, in fact don't inquire about them at all) (also mangahood Hughes. Oh god, mangahood Hughes 😬). No, Scar is a violent man, an 'awful hypocrite", he harbours none of these 'heroic' qualities that everyone defends in the military characters, so therefore stopping him and bringing him to an Amestrian standard of justice is paramount.

The way this scene is constructed, in both the manga and the show is so blatant in its weepy-moralizing. Scar is contrasted as brutish, towering against a white teenage girl's trembling, collapsed position before him. His race cannot be ignored from the composition of this moment. The racism that under-girds the real life bogeymen of the "wanton violence of SWANA men" and the "foreign savage threatening our pure, fair, delicate women and children" is manifested in fma mangahood.

We're supposed to see these young (white) Amestrians as the hope for a reformed nation. (Abolition and decolonization are not vocabulary in the fma ethos. This isn't a unique lack for fma, most media can't be bothered to contend with truly ending a system or a nation that serves as its own sort of protagonist.) The end of ~the cycle~ will be because these golden-hearted white kids will choose pacifism (a useless paradigm when dealing with an aggressive entity). Ed assesses that his military superiors should not be held responsible for the mass destruction and slaughter they rendered with marvellous aplomb, Winry is too good to sully her hands, and Scar is a monster who's hand(s) are, it seems, meant to kill.

This is how we're guided to view things: The soldiers and generals are proud idealists to be respected and aided. Ed is a spunky genius who gets to use the coffers of the state's ill-gotten wealth for himself and his brother, and Winry is a saint who truly lost the most from the Ishval War. The Ishvalans shouldn't have fought the Amestrians, the Ishvalans shouldn't have resisted occupation, the Ishvalans shouldn't have retaliated for the murder of an Ishvalan child, the Ishvalans shouldn't have been where the military took aim. Scar shouldn't have been so human as to be loved, to be saved, to be physically and mentally harmed, to be so thoroughly concussed and delirious (neurologically and psychologically), and he shouldn't have ever hated Amestrians. Then the Rockbells could have returned home to Winry.

(If we throw in the ridiculous speech from Miles, Scar should have also, somehow, joined the military simultaneous to being in their crosshairs as Ishval was torn asunder.)

And that's what the framing, the script, the animation, everything in Brotherhood bellows: Winry is the truest, most blameless victim of the Ishvalan genocide. The death of two white, blond, blue-eyed humanitarian doctors is worth hundreds of thousands of Ishvalans. Where Father and Wrath both see each life worth only that life as a means of efficient resource extraction, and where the philosophy of One is All, All is One is meant to unify the value of each life, we get a much different, more bleak weighing scale from Ed, Scar's arc, and from the in-built bias of the audience: Scar's brother, his neighbours, the web of individuals, communities, and every generation of Ishvalan is worth markedly little in the holy light of the Rockbells and Winry's suffering. Scar's past and present are mere excuses; Winry's past and present are his sins.

This moment is also a tacit ploy to make people think of the families and loved ones of the fascist pigs Scar has already murdered by this point. The implication of those people as a trail of Winrys left in his wake also equivocates the pain of the imperial citizenry and the lives they enjoy thanks to ceaseless land, resource, and human acquisition, with that of the endlessly angry, 'dangerous' Ethnic Other. Surprisingly, given how little tact Brotherhood has as a visual narrative, the anime (thankfully) never outright shows these bereft loved ones from the murdered war criminals. However, it hangs invisibly in this scene with Winry as well as the one in the abandoned mining town in Briggs.

And to make a quick aside: I find it to be in very poor taste that the tragedy of Scar's life is being used to further the romance between Ed and Winry. Just. Please. Who the fuck asked for a brown man's oppression to be the backdrop for the growing passion between white teens??? What in the goddamn, man.

Getting back on track: Brotherhood wants us to see Ishval and Amestris as two equal parties foolishly destroying one another. It's the fallacy of both-sideism and we see the very real deployment of this propaganda every time an imperial power wages its (nowadays proxy) wars. But like real world targets of imperialism, Ishval has every right to fight back. Scar, even with the deaths of these doctors thrown at his feet in an attempt to manufacture a toothless, sanctimonious tale of "two wrongs don't make a right," is still fully in the right to have sought and destroyed the fascist boots that trampled him and his people.

The Rockbells assumed they would be safe from their own nation, and as you said we do get confirmation that the military was going to send someone in to assassinate them for their treachery. Kimblee (because we could never make any of the ""Good guy"" soldiers do this, only the strawman fascist) was given the task. In a twist of fate, Kimblee's assault on Scar indirectly gets that particular job done. I, for one, hate this writing decision. I've talked about it before, but fma 03's choice of making Mustang and Marco the Rockbells' killers is a far better choice for the broader anti-imperialist theme 03 focused so heavily upon. Hell, any serving soldier would have been a better, less nakedly military apologia than Scar. It would better reflect the real world strategies deployed by imperial armies: decimate medical facilities, staff, and humanitarians (including those who are citizens of their own nation state). Arakawa choosing a roundabout path to this outcome, one that vilifies Scar while sparing the ""Good"" reformable soldiers, because it's actually all Kimblee's actions anyway, is a cheap trick.

It drives me nuts that the Elrics and Winry are never truly confronted with the horrors of their nation and its governing institutions. Anytime they get a taste of what makes the military so vile it's coated in a million red herrings about who is "actually" responsible for this wretched state of affairs. It's not that militaries are the violent arm of the state meant to slaughter people and capture/maintain land as property of the state, no! That's the fucked up thinking of Bradley, his council, Father, and Kimblee! Look, our ""Good"" war criminals and soldiers actually ~understands~ that the military exists to protect people! (Which people? And from whom? Shut up, don't ask questions, you're ruining the wholesome idealism here!) With them in charge post-coup, everything will be better! Any harm Amestrians have faced from their own military's invasions is actually the fault of the military's targets: Resembool received collateral damage because Ishvalans fought back! So obviously this is akin to Ishvalan imperialism, right? Both sides? We shouldn't see race? Reverse racism is real? But look, Winry is suffering because Scar is a reverse racist! So it is real!

Everything you said about Scar is 100% on point. It's so good that I'm gonna highlight it here again:

Scar was a warrior monk whose hands also saved lives because he defended his people; and in fact that scene in the manga when he said he had nothing left to protect so he will instead live for vengeance went hard and is soooo indicative of his character Unlike the war criminals and their accomplices, Scar's primary motivation throughout the genocide was to protect his people! And when they were slaughtered and their homes destroyed, that motivation developed into vengeance for his people! And I actually think it's quite powerful that Scar is willing to sacrifice his own peace of mind and the integrity of his soul by using alchemy - it's the fact that he is willing to kill the living to prove that the dead did not deserve it!

What more can I say? This illustrates perfectly what a lot of fans seem to entirely miss or dismiss. And listen, I'll give Arakawa some credit, because she wrote this into his character! She wrote Scar to be more than just Big Bad Hypocrite, and Ed's view of him is in fact wrong. I appreciate that Scar doesn't fall over himself to explain to these Amestrians what happened on his end. But all the same, with other Ishvalans being used to essentially rat Scar out (the ones taking refuge in the ruins of Xerxes), and that there was no sympathy or solidarity given to him by his own people who were there in that makeshift hospital still shows what the primary perspective on Scar should be.

To Arakawa, he is wrong.

The Amestrians rebuke him, his own people (the refugees in Xerxes, his own Master and the refugees within Amestris) rebuke him. Miles rebukes him. Ed, Al, and Winry rebuke him. The Ishvalans rebuke his one-man insurrection on his and their behalf to instead stoke the flames of Ed's righteous animosity towards Scar. Why? Because not all Amestrians. But certainly all Ishvalan rebels. It doesn't matter to Arakawa and Studio Bones' Broho team that Scar's hands were already fighting to save lives; he has to be beaten down and cowed to agree to save Amestrian lives, reformed for Amestris' betterment. This is how he will pay for his "cruelty". Meanwhile the war criminals, sans the leader of the nation and Kimblee, get off scott-free.

A core problem with the ~cycle of violence~ rhetoric is that the buck is almost always passed to the latest victim of violence, particularly if that victim entertains the path of self-defense or retaliation. If you initiate, or are a major player, in that violence then you are practically absolved of your actions and intentions once you create a chain effect of harm. This, in my opinuon, is partly why fans see the responsibility of ending violence to be on Scar's shoulders. Combined with what I discussed regarding the "positive" qualities of our protag war criminals winning the hearts of audiences; that they are written to be as charming, inspiring, and pitiable as possible, with a sufficient lack of melanin to align with the colourism and racism imbedded in most societies and cultures irl, we end up here. With Scar seen by many as a villain/former villain.

Remember, don't argue against pacifism. And don't bother questioning what other routes he could have reasonably taken, because the manga and Brotherhood answers that question!

He should have been living "peacefully" with other Ishvalan refugees in their nice little "peaceful" (slums) settlements. After all, they had no real qualms with their "peaceful" new lives. We're hit over the head time and again by how "content" these refugees are, in spite of the ethnic cleansing and marginalized, hidden existences they suffer. And I scare-quote peaceful because this isn't peace. This is the hegemony of Amestrian "peace" forcing a people it wants fully eradicated to hide and remain quiet for their own safety. So peaceful. But that's what Scar should have done instead! (Or become a fascist to solve fascism, ala Miles' stunning advice.) Brotherhood keeping the majority of Ishvalans as an amorphous monolith, without identities or perspectives, who make do with the hand that's been dealt (it seems like all "violent Ishvalans" were slaughtered in Ishval during the war, since only Scar continues to fight afterwards) means we can digest the Amestrian perspective and internalize it without issue. It's an intentional choice.

Even the manga at least shows Ishvalan dissent a bit better, but it seems to lose any interest in pursuing the perspective of refugees as the plot progresses. A lot of entertainment media can only garner sympathy for victims of genocide so long as they have an innate "pacifism" to their people (this too is racist framing). You can only feel bad if the Indigenous and the racialized are simply too kind hearted and pure to ever raise their hand against the gunmen who fire at them. The narrative can only imagine Scar having the potential to reform into the acquiescent, useful native if we see that most of his people are horrified by any violence against their colonizers. If they're horrified of him, then they and Scar can be forgiven (for being what they are, for being victims whose victimization harmed the soldiers, the Rockbells, and Winry). So what more could the Ishvalan perspective hold in Brotherhood, when that's all that's needed of them to begin with?

I sorely wish we weren't fed such an awful concoction of racist, military-absolving story telling. All major fma media isn't necessarily perfect about consistently handing the mic to different Ishbalans/Ishvalans, but Brotherhood is the absolute worst of the three in this regard. The manga at least has Ishvalans who openly reject Amestris and Amestrians for the atrocities they suffered at their hands, as included in your ask. Brotherhood doesn't even bother with any of that. It's just a spotlight on Scar, and he made Winry an orphan. Not Amestris, not its military, not Father, not Kimblee, but Scar. And to Broho fans, that is the ultimate sin anyone in this series could ever commit.

I'm glad mangahood Scar gets to return to Ishval and rebuild. I'm glad this version of him gets to live, because this continuity has nothing of value to say had it killed him off or prevented him from reconnecting with Ishval. Of course Scar didn't need the "reformed" military to grant him that permission. And he abso-fucking-lutely did not need to earn it via "redemption". Such a crock of shit. To have to earn your homeland by joining the very forces that ruined thousands/millions of lives is one of the most disgusting outcomes of this story. People love his "redemption" because it makes them comfortable about real, heavy matters. It tells them "Their nation, their nationalism, their militarism can be good and healing after all." Fuck off.

Scar deserved infinitely better. Every Ishvalan deserved better than to be a morality lesson about what the oppressed ought to do instead of having a spine. And Winry shouldn't have been a pawn for distracting us from the evils of the military.

--

See, this is why no one should apologize to me about sending me a ranting ask. 😅 I'll take any opportunity to rant x10. And hey, you're always welcome to send long asks! I hope the long reply isn't too frustrating to read through, and I hope I didn't miss any of the great points you made.

Once again, I fully agree with you. Our babygirl being tied up with the Rockbells is straight-up poor storytelling. Mangahood had the potential to not be racist and pro-military about these storybeats, but instead chose to make an example out of the primary brown character.

Any Broho fan who can't handle this critique is weak. Period. But I'm always grateful that there are those like yourself who can handle it AND make that critique themselves!

[Sorry it took some time to reply. I briefly lost this ask after saving my first draft, since apparently tumblr hides ask drafts not at the top of the draft pile, but somewhere in the middle (???)]

[theactualsunshinechild]

Fontaine archon storyline still has the opportunity to do the funniest thing ever and try to make Mr. "Genocide on a Whim" Childe a Christ figure by somehow trying to sacrifice him to the primordial sea for the sins of all of Fontaine

That's definitely not the plan, but it would be very funny. I love the concept of making completely un-christ-like characters into christ stand-ins.

I just keep thinking about how much opportunity they have to pull off something very biblical here with the whole "born with sin" "flood to cleanse sins" "literally building Noah's ark" "statue of the seven technically holding a cross" "passing final judgment only belongs to one entity" shit they have going on.

The entirety of Fontaine so far is so full of Christian references, whether intentional or not, that they could absolutely Christ-ify Childe if they wanted to! They're like, halfway there, they just need to sacrifice his ass and bring him back to life and they'll check off bingo.

I would be so grateful if they literally killed and revived him. can you imagine how much extra MC level Angst TM they could stuff into this man?

I love giving my most pathetic meow meows the hardest battles.

plus the added moral quandry of "is it right it to kill one guy to save our whole country even though he is not Fontanian and is blessed(???) by the primordial sea whale thing (pure of their inherent fontanian sin, kind of a son of god equivalent moment)? Is it right to do even if he isn't exactly a good person?"

And then of course the fact that the vast majority of the people affected by this decision would probably say yes, hesitantly or not. Like, if it were a guaranteed fix to the prophecy, there is no doubt in my mind that Arlecchino would be willing to nail Childe to the metaphorical cross herself AND cover it up to his family.

Neuvillette would probably consider it unjust, but could maybe potentially be swayed by the weight of just how many lives would be saved vs One Dangerous Criminal argument. (A Christ and Pontius Pilate reference? Childe WAS arrested and tried and found guilty for a crime he didn't commit by a guy who was unwilling, but forced to pronounce him guilty).

Wriothesley would be against the idea of sacrificing someone legally under his care, but if it's that vs everyone else in the fortress??? He would rather it was himself, as hell bent on fixing issues thrown his way as he is, but the man doesn't even know if he's Fontanian or not, he doesn't have the same circumstances surrounding him as Childe does to even offer to stand in his place.

Basically, if it is a guarantee, sacrificing him is simply the most practical choice that most people would make. In fact, out of all the characters we have in Fontaine, I think only the traveler might even bother truly standing up for him to the very end, because everyone else is very Personally affected, since it's their own lives on the line as well.

And that would be heartbreaking

The ANGST of Childe looking around him and seeing no one in his side in the face of impending sacrificial execution would shatter me into pieces.

Oh god, can you IMAGINE a cut scene of Childe being the first person to be sentenced to death in Fontaine in over a century and desperately looking around and meeting the traveller's eyes and we fucking grit our teeth and look away? Can you IMAGINE?!

That would break me.

Anyway, I don't think they'll do it since that's just not how Genshin writes, but it sure would be a missed opportunity.

[extraordinarilyextreme]

today, i wanna talk about this point that i've referenced a couple times across my yrzx fics:

For the fate of the world, Wang Ye relinquished his days of peace and tranquility. To save Zhuge Qing’s life, Wang Ye could sacrifice everything beneath the heavens. (from 岁月不待人 | the moon and the tides, you and i)

i'll start during Beijing arc, when ZCL asks why WY doesn't just give up Feng-hou Qimen to the ppl who want it.

in the manhua (ch. 185) & donghua (s3, ep. 3), WY's response is vague: "for various reasons, i can't give out [that power]."

(note that the dialogue differs slightly btwn these two adaptations, but the meaning is the same)

but in the live-action (s1, ep. 22), WY clearly explains that "it would throw the ways of this world into greater disorder. this calamitous fate must be shouldered by me alone."

these lines perfectly demonstrate one of WY's most defining traits: 心怀天下 / a heart that cradles everything beneath the heavens.

we see it first during the tournament arc, when WY admits to ZCL that he didn't need to get involved in this mess—but did so anyway because the fate of the world was implicated.

WY: Actually, whatever happens to you all has nothing to do with me. No matter how terrible the world ends up, I can still protect myself and my family and keep us unscathed. So, actually, I shouldn't have come here. [...] ZCL: What you mean is that if I continue my investigation, the future of this world may very likely develop in a bad direction. Daozhang, who this "bad future" impacts isn't limited to only me, right? The two of us are neither kin nor kith; you wouldn't have come to get caught up in these troubled waters because of me, right? WY: This, involves another concept. I call it the weight of fate. [...] And you, Zhang Chulan, you hold a high ratio of that weight. Your choice will change the fates of many, many people. (LA s1, ep. 14; see also manhua chs. 121-122 & donghua s2, ep. 12)

this is the extent of WY's selflessness. and as his conversation w ZCL continues, something else is revealed to us.

ZCL: The you who could have stayed out of this matter entirely chose instead to come here and persuade me. Did you also not choose the future that would have been best for you? (LA s1, ep. 14)

that 'something' is none other than WY's conduct: 明知山有虎，偏向虎山行 / knowing full well the mountains harbor tigers, yet insisting on traveling deep into the mountains anyway. or, in other words, the practice of forging on into promised danger.

which, coincidentally, is exactly how WY praised Zhuge Liang's character during his match against ZGQ.

可他却放弃了作为一个修者该坚守的一切。就算逆大势而行，也要投身到乱世当中，只为了去救那个明知已无可救药的天下。/ But he chose to give up everything that a cultivator should uphold and protect. Even if it meant opposing the momentum of the times, he threw himself utterly into chaos of the mortals—all to save a world he knew full well was beyond redemption. 为了那个天下情愿去和天理和大势对抗 / For that world, he was willing to hold off divine order and destiny itself. 明知不可为而为，这就是他那个级别的术士作为。/ To do something knowing full well of its impossible nature—this was the practice of a sorcerer of his caliber. (LA s1, ep. 13; see also manhua ch. 110 & donghua s2, ep. 10)

with such a heart of compassion (怜悯之心, HMH's words) and sense of responsibility, WY is unlike anyone else in his generation. instead, it can be argued that the character most similar to WY is in fact one of his seniors, lao-Tianshi.

they are, at least in the LA, the only two 麒麟 in the story after all (s1, eps. 8 & 20):

and just like lao-Tianshi, it's easy to think of WY as a saint (圣人) or a god—something "above" mortal humans. he's operating on a scale (格局) far greater than anyone else in our main cast; WY is always taking the whole world into consideration, even if that's the choice least favorable to him.

(LA s1, ep. 23)

and then Beijing arc happens. and by the end of it, WY has an epiphany:

“The me who has always avoided involvement with worldly affairs has no right to speak of leaving them behind.” (manhua ch. 196; see also LA s1, ep. 23 & donghua s3, ep. 7)

he's begun to have a reckoning with his own human-ness. he's starting to realize that he's fallible, that he's ordinary and secular, that he has attachments—and, importantly, that he wants attachments. that he desires companionship (just as humans are wont to do).

and it's with that moment of enlightenment that we dive into Biyou Village arc.

because, overall, WY has not actually changed that much. he still feels responsible for the peace and safety of the world; he still wants to figure out how ZCL and FBB are related to the Jiashen Calamity. he still remembers clearly what Hong-ye said: "you are the chosen one." (LA s1, ep. 4)

and even ZGQ himself remarks (manhua ch. 228; see also donghua s4, ep. 5):

yet when ZGQ's safety is at stake, WY doesn't hesitate for even a moment:

(donghua s4, ep. 5; see also manhua ch. 228)

that is not the conduct of someone who always thinks about the bigger scheme of things. that's the conduct of someone making a choice for himself, an arguably selfish choice, to save his friend and doom everyone else.

WY would sooner give up his Feng-hou Qimen and restart the Jiashen Calamity than see ZGQ in danger. that is how important ZGQ is to WY.

在王也的心中，诸葛青的命比天下苍生还重要。/ in Wang Ye's heart, Zhuge Qing's life is more important than everyone in beneath the heavens.

and that's because ZGQ is the first of his generation to approach him. to make an effort to befriend him. to look beyond the power he possesses and also see him.

(LA s1, ep. 15; see also manhua ch. 131 & donghua s2, ep. 14)

in other words, it was ZGQ who made WY's godlike love for the world human. WY is no longer an outside viewer looking down on the plane he feels beholden to; WY is a part of this secular world, and that is why he should want to protect it.

because the red dust realm is where ZGQ exists. here is where their bond exists.

(unrelated pic from manhua ch. 196; see also donghua s3, ep. 7)

tldr: Wang Ye places the world before himself, and Zhuge Qing before the world.

— all this to say, i really am excited for s2 of the live-action, even though the casting rumors have been disheartening. Biyou Village arc is a climactic chapter for YeQing, so i hope the adaptation does it justice.

(LA s1, ep. 27)

[fullmetalfears]

Hoenheim is one of my favorite characters in the OG FMA manga and Brotherhood. He made me love the sad immortal that hates themself trope, and in general I find the combination of failed father figure, gentle kind person, and the violence he accidently did to his people make for a dynamic character.

But I do 100% think FMA made the other characters far too quick to forgive Hoenheim for leaving the boys.

In the manga, it was directly said that Hoenheim wrote back home but in the anime you get NOTHING. Either way, the man left for a decade, during the most important period of his children's lives as children... because he felt like a monster. Not because he was actually doing things to his kids, but HE wanted to live like a human.

It's shitty. It's awful. One of the people that Ed and Al were supposed to rely on most left because he couldn't get over his own misery. Instead of waiting even a few years to make sure they could even take care of themselves better before leaving, he left before they could even really remember him at all.

I say this not because I don't think it was a good character decision. In fact I think it's tragic in a way that the series needs. The lack of clear lines between monsters and people, where one of Hoenheim's worst decisions is leaving his wife and kids, something that any person can do.

Hoenheim's real flaw when it comes to his family is not valuing that people want him to be there.

Which makes his final offer to Ed to sacrifice himself take on a different light.

In canon, the manga/anime make it clear that Ed calling Hoenheim a shitty father was meant to be as much Ed chastising Hoenheim for not understanding they won't use philosopher stones as it is an acknowledge that Ed accepts him as his father.

But to me, it shows that Hoenheim still hasn't learned why leaving was such an awful blow to the family. Yes, Trisha died because he wasn't there but even if he came back ten years later, did he still expect it to be from a loving family? Did Hoenheim expect the world to stand still while he left?

Hoenheim is still sacrificing himself after all this damn time. He still doesn't see that being there for his kids could invaluable. Maybe they grew up without him, and hell, maybe he doesn't deserve a second chance after so long, but for the boys, making sure you live to the next day is their entire philosophy. And Hoenheim, is willing to give that next day up.

In context, he's giving himself up for his boys after all this time of putting his own feelings first, but he would still be gone. What's worse, in Ed's perspective it's an impossible choice. If Ed couldn't have thought of another way to get Al back, Hoenheim basically offered Ed a chance to kill him in exchange for his brother.

You know. Killing. The one thing that Ed will not fucking do.

Hoenheim doesn't understand Ed. He also even after all this time doesn't get that living for them and to move forward would be the best thing he could do.

So yeah. I adore Hoenheim but the manga/anime kinda does a clumsy job with him. It does such a good job of setting Hoenheim up as looming negative premise in the beginning and then the story overcorrects in trying to make you like him that it forgets that, yeah, leaving your wife and kids for a decade is kinda bad actually!!!

It doesn't help that no one else is angry at Hoenheim. Izumi knew the boys as small children, presumably orphans and yet greets Hoenheim warmly. In the manga the people of Risembol are baffled on his arrival but otherwise move on. Pinako WHO BASICALLY HELPED RAISED THEM is just sorta neutral towards him. Even Al isn't angry. He just wants his dad back which is fine, but it leaves Ed's anger as an outlier, like it's childish of him not to understand.

By the time of his death, Hoenheim doesn't really learn anything. He's forgiven because he really was a good dude and he felt really bad about leaving for a decade so he can totally be forgiven by everyone right?

Right.

So yeah. Hoenheim? Great character, but awful dad which is part of why he's a good character but the story really pulls its punches about him.

~Luna

[bohemian-nights]

Rant ahead: it seems like certain fans are trying to give Rhaenyra certain characterization out of spite and/or to slight Nettles.

What characterization you may ask? Well, things like claiming Rhaenyra is the youngest dragonrider, to counter the claim that Nettles is seemingly the only non-Valyrian dragonrider, when there is no evidence to support the former:

(Me literally typing the words into my e-copies of Fire & Blood, The Rise of the Dragon, and The World of Ice & Fire and getting, surprise surprise, 0 results).

This is what the actual text says about Rhaenyra(first highlighted passage) vs Nettles becoming a dragonrider(second highlighted passage):

Nettles is the only seemingly non-Valyrian dragonrider(there are 36 dragonriders in total, and all at least have evident Valyrian heritage) that we know of in the entire ASOIAF universe:

(*Aurion was a dragonlord and rider from Valyria who was last seen in 102 BC. Jaenera was also another Valyrian dragonrider from before the Doom).

Keep in mind that Nettles was not born into a royal dragonriding family, the sole surviving Valyrian dragonriding family, where it was expected that she’d eventually claim or hatch a dragon. She was not born with a dragon egg. She tames a wild dragon who even the likes of Alyn Velaryon, who has obvious Valyrian heritage, could not tame. She’s an “unlikely dragonrider.” Certain characters, cough cough Rhaenyra, have a hard time believing that she could even tame a dragon unaided in the first place due to her dubious heritage.

Now, let’s get into how certain fans like to claim that Rhaenyra is oppressed when she is in fact the most privileged woman* in Westeros at the time(see the first highlighted section of the prior text and these passages):

(*Yes Rhaenyra experiences misogyny, but most certainly not in the way that Nettles does. She is very privileged being a highborn Valyrian royal woman in comparison to Nettles who is a lowborn non-Valyrian bastard woman. If you want a real life comparison, think of the misogyny Black women deal with as opposed to white women).

She actually uses her privilege as queen and as a Valyrian to try and murder Nettles:

Who is spared mainly because people feared what Daemon would do to them if they hurt her(first highlighted passage):

Even among Nettles' defenders, she is not thought highly of. I.e. Corlys Velaryon referring to her as “dirty and ill-favored,” while trying to save her life(second highlighted passage above).

Those more ambivalent towards her certainly do not have many kind words to say about her. Archmaester Gyldayn tries to insinuate that she is “lifting her skirts for some shepherd�� in order to bind Sheepstealer to her. (In all likelihood, Nettles chose to live on the streets instead of following in her mother’s footsteps). The Archmaester also mentions how she might have been too ugly (while referencing her skin tone) for Daemon to be attracted to her(third passage).

Whether by Andal or Valyrian standards, Nettles is actually someone who is looked down upon due to the circumstances of her birth, breeding, and complexion. She’s a Black brown-skinned bastard girl born to a whore who grew up on the streets and can barely get a kind word to be said about her.

Rhaenyra on the other hand is a white blonde haired high-born woman who is recognized as queen by many in spite of the fact that she has younger legitimate brothers whose claim to the throne is greater than her own(by the laws of the land). She’s beloved by the realm for much of her life and only becomes genuinely unpopular after the standard of living lessens under her reign.

Moving on, how can we forget the claim that Daemon would die for Rhaenyra. In actuality, he was willing to give his own life to save Nettles when he most certainly did not have to, but love often includes sacrifice:

Daemon left Rhaenyra out to dry and never looked back, but saying that is the eighth deadly sin according to a particular segment of this fandom. Keep in mind, the text clearly states his “final act” was an act of betrayal:

(Before anybody tries to use this as “evidence” for Daemon offing himself cause he couldn’t handle Nyra not loving him no more, which is another lie, Rhaenyra doesn’t think Daemon has betrayed her until she learns that Nettles got away. Up until then, she thought Daemon was under Nettles' “spell,” see the passage on Rhaenyra ordering her death, and that he’d be “freed” once she was dead. She lets it be known that she wants him alive and back with her, but Daemon himself did not want that after she tried to murder the woman he loved).

Lastly, even the nickname Nyra which is a fandom invention seems to be a play on Netty which is as canon as canon gets:

(I’m bringing the nickname up because I don’t even see people refer to any other character in HOTD by a fanon nickname at near the frequency that I see people refer to Rhaenyra as Nyra. Someone, please correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m not seeing it).

Obviously, I’m not saying that people are trying to copy Nettles' story word for word. Still, there are some headcanons that are being peddled for Rhaenyra that line up with Nettles' characterization. Enough to make one pause and ask what’s really going on here.

[robotsdeservebetter]

Накипело и терпеть я больше не хочу.

Rewriting Kidnapping of Persephone into a romantic/melodramatic story with consensual love is one of the most disgusting and disrespectful things I’ve seen.

I’ve been there too. You and I live in modern world and in modern world edgelords, goths, emos, etc have been trendy for a while. Liking them is cool. Hades, the god of the dead, is close to those things and he has a cool dog, so liking him will make you “not like other mythology fans” (we ended up being the same, what an irony). Despite that, we, idiots, wish for romantic love and project that on Hades. Who’s he with canonically? Persephone? She MUST be so happy to have him uwu 🥰

Do you not understand that if today life gives you extra kicks for being a woman, then 2000 years ago it was ultimately worse? How low must you think of victims of kidnappings, if you see actual fcking love in that? How little must you think of family bonds that you put it below yet another abusive romance? Why are willing to sacrifice a mother character in favour of a kidnapper?

It’s a love story, but not about a romantic one. Demeter, a woman in Ancient Greece, managed to stand up to the Zues, king of gods, and his older brother, and return Persephone at least half of her freedom. Yes, freedom, not a demand to be near mommy, they are that kind of parent and child who love each other. A funny gig about marriage between kidnapper and kidnapped: the latter might never see her family again, she now belongs to the groom and it’s Antient times so guess which “might” is more likely to happen.

Zeus GAVE Persephone to Hades. Like a trophy. A lot of people desire to justify Hades (the dude never even was an outcast, you just Americanised him into a high school antisocial goth. I don’t see that much people making up same stories about Poseidon, who spends most of his time in the sea — his domain. Underworld is Hades’ domain, he’s not unhappy nor judged by other gods, ok? And trust me, an immortal being wouldn’t give a sh*t about us fearing and railing death) and overlook harmful antiquities. Whether the number is small or big, the fact they exist is terrifying.

That myth was above its time and, as we can see, above out time as well. Stories like Lore Olympus and Punderworld, that claim to be feminist rewriting, belittle, demonise Demeter, the only person who truly cares about Persephone’s well-being.

A feminist rewriting demonises a woman who left everything and everyone to save a woman from a kidnapper. If you don’t understand this whole concept is dumb sh*t, I’m not gonna explain why.

Kidnapping of Persephone, much like Hunters of Arthemis, was told to soothe and encourage women, let them know that despite being lower than men, they still have each other, they still can protect each other. Kidnapping of Persephone is a love story, love between mother and daughter. Please, don’t try convincing people it needs to be rewritten, it’s perfect as it is.

And for all what’s holy, don’t demonise Demeter, the exact person who truly loved Persephone, who saved Persephone, who wished her happiness.

[pinkfoxsodas]

Warning Saw X Spoilers of John Kramer Take

I will admit I am bias because I’m still angry about what happened to my fave character Adam, but I can’t help point out the flaws of Jigsaw’s own hypocrisy. However, just because I’m going explain why I think John is kind of a hypocrite, doesn’t mean I hate the character; in fact I think he’s the most interesting villain of the series. I just can’t stop thinking about this because I’ve had this opinion on John Kramer for a long time. I think John is a selfish and bitter person because of his situation that he even convinced himself that his actions are justified.

In Saw X, when John was tricked into thinking his cancer was gone, he was drawing one of his latest traps in his sketchbook. But decided to throw it away in the trash because he no longer wants to continue his work. If John truly believed he was doing the right thing, why not continue setting traps now that he no longer has to worry about dying? It proved that John was bitter of his own situation that he was going to die and all these people he believed that were wasting their lives, will never have to experience limited life. It made me think of the timer he gives his victims, like 3 minutes to live and he has 3 months.

And what about the people who have no choice but to be props for someone else’s test? John specifically targets people to test and is willing to sacrifice others for that one specific person. Test subjects like Lawrence, Jeff, William etc. A person’s life hangs on balance of someone’s else’s choice. Amanda had to kill a guy to get the key out to save herself, while he didn’t get the chance to fight for his own life. William had to choose which of his employees he had to spare while killing the others. Lawrence had to kill Adam a stranger to save his family who by the way were also props to Zepp’s test. I’ll come back to Diana later. And the people used as props for Jeff’s test were people that Jeff felt were responsible for the death of his son or let his son’s killer walk free. It was like John never saw them as people. He’s always on about respecting life, but how can he when he uses people as objects for another person’s test? And some of those people didn’t do anything wrong but be related or work for the person that John is testing. Like Joyce Dangen, she didn’t know that Bobby lied and yet when he loses his game she’s the one who has to suffer and die. And John can argue all he wants that the reason those people died was because of the subject failed their test, but that’s not true. John was the one who put them in those traps and kept them immobilized. He used them as tools for that one specific person he was testing. People he believed that deserved to be tested or to be turned into one of his followers. John wanted Lawrence to survive, because he needed someone like Lawrence skills for his tests.

John also has a black and white view of the world. He does not see grey, meaning he doesn’t really try to understand why a person makes the wrong choices in life. But he’s very quick to judge a person’s character just from first impressions, like Adam for example who he deemed angry and pathetic. The whole game was made for Lawrence and Adam was just added there and we don’t have much information on him like Lawrence. And he has a bias on people who have drug addictions. When Amanda tried to reason why Gabriela did what she did because of addiction, Jigsaw immediately shut her down. Yes what Gabriela did was wrong, but she wasn’t as messed up as Cecilia who did it for money and has no problem killing people.John had just said that everyone has free will, but how would he know if he never experienced addiction? Amanda understood because she was just like Gabriela. But it could also be because he still held a grudge against Cecil who was responsible for his wife’s miscarriage because he wanted to steal drugs.

Now the subject to children. I was glad to see that John had humanity to see that Carlos was just an innocent child who didn’t deserve to be put in a life and death situation. But it brings back the hypocrisy when we see Diana, Daniel and Corbett who again are used as props for their parent’s test. Yes they were saved, but they were traumatized through their ordeals and will mostly suffer from ptsd. And Daniel lost his dad and Corbett is now an orphan. And Diana only survived because Allison was able to get out of their restraints and Detective Tapp was able to rescue them on time. If none of that happened, Zepp most likely would have killed them because John told him if he did, Zepp would be given an antidote to survive his poisoning. John I don’t know if he would have given Zepp the antidote if he had killed the Gordon family, because he might have been disgusted by the death of a child. But Zepp followed the rules of his game and John would have just blamed Lawrence for their deaths instead or wouldn’t have cared because again they were just props. Never accepting that he was responsible for kid a dying and would have blamed either Zepp or Lawrence.

I would have said more but this rant is too long and I just wanted to get this off my chest. I do love Saw and I enjoy the characters, but I will bring up their flaws when I’m talking to friends about Jigsaw! And since Saw X made me sympathetic towards John it also reminded how unfair he was towards his victims.

[boonsmoon]

Hey I wanted to ask if you could write character x reader with Crimson from Ragna Crimson? I don't have any request regarding the setting or anything else in that matter. You have a free hand on that part :3 And sorry if I sound stiff but english isn't my first language

i love you /platonic Crimson is my favorite character like <3 thanking Miku that Ragna Crimson simps exist on this site LMAO spoilers/references to chapter 50+

Request Chungus ML Ragna Crimson ML Series ML Crimson x f!reader Genres: Oneshot|Fluff|Romantic

Traitors Love

You two were close. Not close as in being linked through Crimson's powers. It was more of a mutual liking you took towards each other. Of course, it's not hard when you both are considered traitors to your kin.

Despite sharing the status of traitor, you both differed in various ways. While both superior dragons, neither of you came from the same bloodline. You are one of the rare Claw Brethren. There is also the act of betrayal. You've never held a monarch role like Crimson, so you simply left your previous ways of genocide on humans.

However, you both share a common goal, to take down the Dragon God. Except you didn't foresee that after working together for years, you would start to fall for the heartless mastermind.

But he wasn't truly heartless, you know this. No one got close to Crimson like you. In fact, you are the only living dragon other than Borgius to have seen Crimson in his monarch days. And you must say, it was quite the look.

All that being said, you have finally wiped out a bloodline, the Winged one at that! And you couldn't be happier to have done that, especially with Crimson at your side. Though you suppose the human deserves some credit.

"What we'll do is stay with the Sun Cult and follow their plans. Of course, this is subject to change, as you can't blindly follow homicidal cultists," Crimson was setting up the team's new plan since y'all don't really have one beyond killing dragons.

The team, of course, listened to the brains. Plus, you can't really put your trust in an organization willing to sacrifice their own people... With the end of the talk, each member dispersed to do as they pleased with their new free time. That left you to spend your time with Crimson...

"Tell me, do you really believe that boy will follow any plans the cult gives him?" You personally thought this human would ignore the Sun Cult as a whole, which ya know, makes a lot of sense.

Crimson smirked, but you could feel a mix of disappointment and anger coming off him, "I expect him to, but of course an ignorant brat who only cares about getting rid of bloodlines as soon as possible could derail my entire plan..."

You stared off into nothing, knowing there's not much comfort you can provide. You both sat on the loveseat, planning to have some productive conversation. Or at least you thought so.

Crimson broke the silence, surprisingly getting a bit emotional. Obviously, you couldn't tell from a glance at his face though. "Why are you so stupid as to stay around and follow my plans?"

You were stunned, Crimson is always so proud of his plans, shouldn't he be glad you follow without question?

"You have the strength to destroy a superior dragon, to fight one until daylight and watch it burn. So why don't you?" Crimson is praising you; something isn't right here.

You, getting caught in your feelings after so many centuries, thought saying the first thing that came to mind was absolutely genius, "have you ever considered it's because I love you?" NO- GO BACK GO BACK GO BACK.

No, you cannot go back. Now deal with the consequences of your actions. The consequences aren't that bad actually, it's just a reply, "wow, you're dumber than I thought."

Are you dumb? Sorta. You did fall for quite possibly the biggest asshole to walk this earth.

Now it'd be smart to shut up, yes? No, you will continue, but this time make it cringe, "I'm an idiot, but I can be your idiot."

With a look of shock to a sly smirk, Crimson says, "always have been." You are hiding in your hands, you foolish fool, how did you not see it?

Crimson moves your hands and slowly kisses you. Yeah, you definitely wanna kill the entire dragon species with this person. <3

i wrote this listening to International Love 👍

kinda cringe but gotta embrace it

[mudinyourshoes]

Novoland update as of ep 11:

-the music and camera work when they are setting off to war gave me LOTR flashbacks, which, thank you, is partly why i'm here

-Asule teasing Ji Ye about Yu Ran! And Ji Ye being uncertain and hesitant about it! Awwww! Babies!

-Asule's visions give me chills

-this drama is going to spend some time digging into the horrors of war, which is hard to watch but i'm glad they are doing it. Asule's shtick from day 1 has been that he want to learn how to fight and to go onto the battlefield to "protect people". Shows will often create in-universe logic that supports a character in this kind of idealism, but it looks like Novoland isn't going to do that and Asule is going to have to grapple with the realities of war.

Asule's struggle with war and violence is fascinating. His desire to go to war to "protect people" is not merely youth and naivety speaking - it's because he's been on battlefields before but always in the company of non-combatants. Of course he thinks about combat in terms of protecting people.

Now he has to deal with being a soldier and a commander in a war on foreign soil, being fought because of some kings' overblown ego. He still says he want to protect people, but it's no longer simple. Who is he protecting? Foreign civilians who the army might kill if they reach the capital city? Foreign nobility? The soldiers on the battlefield?! But how do you protect soldiers, except by killing soldiers... And the situation is complicated by the fact that he's in the privileged position of commanding troupes - i.e. ordering people to their deaths - while being forbidden from entering the fray himself. There's an argument to be made that by commanding well you can "save" lives by winning with a minimum loss of life, but I doubt that kind of logic is going to appeal to Asule.

In the end, the only point of clarity he has is that he wants to protect Ji Ye (which omg their friendship is so sweet in the midst of all this bloodshed), but in doing so he first orders his own men to their deaths and then endangers himself, apparently without considering that endangering himself means endangering other people because he's the crown prince and people will die (or surrender) to protect him!

There's also a fascinating conversation happening between Ji Ye and Asule's actions and their commentary on the Princess Silver legend. When they talk about Princess Silver, Ji Ye isn't sure he'd be willing to sacrifice thousands of soldiers to save one person, but is sure that fighting and sacrificing to gain power and fame is worthwhile, even if you end up dead or alone. He stays true to this ideal on the battlefield, hunting down the enemy commander (the king?), even though he must know his actions will lead to his death, because he knows that killing this particular man will bring him fame.

When talking about Princess Silver, Asule, on the other hand, is sure that sacrificing many lives to save one is not worth it and he has no interest in power and fame. But once the fighting starts he makes a choice to lead his men into the battle and death...to save one person (Ji Ye).

I think Asule is going to come out of this experience with a changed understanding of the ethics of war. I hope so. I want to see him struggle with these kinds of choices in the future.

[cosmicjoke]

Hi, what made you focus so much on Levi’s disabilities post-war in your story? I like it. Most post-war stories ignore them. English is not my first language so sorry if the question sounds rude. I don’t know how to word it better.

Hi there,

you aren't being rude at all! Thank you for the question!

Well, in general with my writing, I tend to want to focus on more dramatic situations rooted in realism, and given we see Levi still using a wheelchair three years after the final battle, then it seems to me to be a permanent condition for him. People definitely tend to sweep Levi's post-canon disabilities under the rug, generally depicting him as able to overcome them with a little physical therapy and hard work, which is pretty awful, I think, given the way it both ignores the weight of Levi's sacrifice, the way he literally sacrificed his body to save lives, and also for the way it denies representation for disabled people in a mainstream and extremely popular character like Levi. It was pretty amazing for Isayama to take the recognized strongest and most popular character from AoT and make him visibly disabled by the end. I'm sure that meant a lot to AoT's disabled readers. So it's something I think should be acknowledged and recognized more overall, that yes, Levi is disabled by the end of the story, and that's okay. It doesn't make him any less of a hero or less cool or less interesting. It doesn't have any bearing on the things that make Levi so amazing to begin with. He's still Levi, and really, I view his disability as a physical manifestation of his heroism. Like I said before, he sacrificed his body to save lives, and that really encapsulates who Levi is and has always been. Someone totally selfless and willing to give everything of himself if it means helping others.

On top of all that, I just find it interesting to explore this idea of Levi having lost so much of the physical ability he once relied so heavily on and which so much of his sense of purpose was wrapped up in. Levi's always treated himself as a weapon, and has largely been treated as a weapon by those around him, too, but post-canon, he's lost that defining trait. This extraordinary physical strength that he felt such an overwhelming obligation to use for the benefit of others. So I think Levi probably struggles post-canon to find a purpose for himself outside of that strength, and that's what a lot of my story focuses on. He still has the desire to help people, but no longer has the ability to do so in the way he did before. So I find exploring that struggle interesting. Realistically, I think it probably took Levi a while to come to terms with being disabled and no longer being able to protect people the way he once did, with having to find new ways to help them, outside of that physical strength he had. I wouldn't be surprised if Levi felt, for a long time, like he had no place in the world anymore, with the loss of his physical abilities, since again, so much of his identity was wrapped up in that. It's sort of similar to how Levi lost so much certainty after the story's first time skip, after he lost Erwin, because he no longer really knew what use he could be without Erwin's guiding hand making use of his strength. Post-canon, he no longer even has that strength, and so those feelings were likely exacerbated, even.

So yeah, that's why I focus so much on Levi's disabilities post-canon, along with the fact it just makes for some good angst, lol.

Hope that answers your question, and thank you again for asking!

[chidoroki]

182 Days of TPN - Day 13

Chapter 13: “Traitor, Part 3”

Yes yes, bravo Norman. Very clever plan that would’ve fooled me as well, though I’m surprised Ray didn’t at least go check the first two locations, but I suppose he was just feeling that confident.

Of course it’s an unfair advantage to the anime for how it handled Ray’s laugh, since we can actually hear him (& i very much prefer said laugh in dub), but also because it’s just a better shot of his madness. The panel doesn’t show us much.

I know I always give credit to Isabella for raising such high grade merchandise (& yes i still hate how that sounds too) but is it fair for me to praise Ray as well? Surely he helped behind the scenes (if only just a tiny bit) in very casual and unsuspecting ways to both mom and the children, and I mean that like not only helping Emma & Norman slowly realize the secrets of the farm but perhaps assist with the other kids by improving their scores and their daily lives.

Sure he put all his efforts to just help Emma & Norman but we now know from ch181.5 that his initial plan was to save everyone. And granted, he’s the reason for some shipments due to tests involving breaking trackers, but he’s doing his best okay?

You dunno how badly I wished they would’ve had Ray just say “Yeah” again. I know it wouldn’t be true if he answered that way, but it would be funny. To me.

Alright, please have mercy on me Norman fans, but I think I finally realized the reason I’m not the biggest fan of your precious genius.. and that is because he was so ready to just use Ray and leave him behind. Ray. One of his very best friends. The boy who has been living in a hellish reality for the past six years, doing everything he possibly can in order to give Norman & Emma a chance to escape and survive at the cost of his own life. And Norman just decides.. nah, thanks but no thanks, traitor, we don’t actually need you.. like excuse me?

There’s many characters in this series who are ready to sacrifice everything (i.e. their own lives.. or memories) for the sake of others and then there’s Norman here who’s willing to sacrifice someone else (who he is very close to) for his own benefit. Yes I know Isabella basically does the same thing by raising the children to be essentially perfect meals in order protect her own life, but it just.. feels different to me. Probably because the latter is written as a fabulous villain who we’re supposed to dislike and the former is one of our main heroes we’re supposed to root for? But how can I cheer for him when said hero is trying to abandon another hero of the story? Granted, Norman didn’t know Ray was working as a double agent at first, but the fact he was so willing to ditch Ray at the drop of a hat just never sat well with me. But thank god for his chat with our literal sunshine child with a heart of gold before this scene even took place:

“I’d take that person with us. Because if we escape, that person’s life might not be guaranteed anymore. Also.. I want to believe in us. The thing with Gilda made me realize that. Ray told me to suspect everyone. And if he says that I couldn’t see through mom’s lies, I don’t have a comeback. But even if there is a traitor who is an agent of the demons, there’s no one among our siblings who is truly bad...(continued below)”

If it wasn’t for Emma and her optimism and devotion to her family, I firmly believe Norman would’ve kept quiet to use Ray and eventually abandon him, if given the chance. So thank you best girl for saving my boy’s life way before the escape even happened.

This cute flashback conflicts with the anime as ep1 did have Conny carry Little Bunny to the front door (it disappears after, somewhere), but the manga doesn’t show the stuffed animal in her hands at all, so this little memory makes sense in the manga’s case.

I believe this conversation happens somewhere during the events of chapters 10 & 11, between more tag practice and the library meetup with Don & Gilda, as we do see her carry a kid around in ep4 at least.

Favorite panel/moment:

He just looks so.. chill and unbothered, despite the situation. Ray’s just real intrigued that Norman figured him out so efficiently.

[legobiwan]

Alright, as should be obvious, I finished watching Andor during my insomnia session Number 3000 last night.

I can't praise this show enough.

One of the comments I've made about it in the past is that it does not fall into the Star Wars easy "good vs. evil" dichotomy. Now, let's be real here - the Empire, as an organization and a government, is really evil. And the Rebels are on the right side of history.

This doesn't necessarily mean they are good. It means they did what they had to do to win. And that's not always pretty. This is Luthen Rael's philosophy, this is the philosophy Mon Mothma comes to adopt when sacrifices her whole family for the greater good.

Who is Light Side and who is Dark Side? Impossible to know, in some cases.

And you have to juxtapose this with the Jedi and their failures during a galaxy-wide conflict. (And to be clear, I'm not one of those people who feel the Jedi are evil, but I do think they contributed to their own demise, even if it was with the best of intentions).

The Rebels, Luthen and Cassian and Cinta and Mon - they all know the price they must pay and willing to put everything on the line. The Jedi - began to do this in fits and starts but never could commit, for their fear of turning to the Dark Side.

It was never the Jedi who ultimately saved the galaxy from fascism, it was the people. Luke Skywalker needed Luther Rael, Mon Mothma, Cassian Andor, and all those who gave their lives so he could make that one-in-a-million shot. I could even argue that perhaps the downfall (although not the genocide) of the Jedi was necessary for the people to start taking power back into their hands. After all, it's easy to dodge responsibility when there is a Government-Sanctioned Protection Force of Monks people have been primed to accept as their saviors. (A harsh view? Yes. A theme that keeps emerging during the Clone Wars era - also yes.)

I love that this show indirectly tackles the shortcomings of the Jedi. (Shortcomings that Anakin and Dooku dealt with by going dark, shortcomings that Ahoksa (and Rael) dealt with by leaving the Order altogether, shortcomings that Obi-wan dealt with by trying to subvert the system from the inside, in his own way).

I love that this show shows us the true cost of war, of rebellion, of taking a stand, knowing that your actions may not solve anything today but will build a better tomorrow.

I love that this show highlights contemporary issues like prison slavery, the process of radicalisation, the role of local culture.

I love that so many of the characters know they are "dead already." That they knowingly sacrifice everything for a better tomorrow which they will never see.

Honestly, this show makes me want to go out on the streets and fascist ass, and that's really the best praise I can give it. That, and the fact that it is so incredibly well-written, my writer's brain leaps with joy with every other line.

I have no place to end this review, it is 100% stream of consciousness. But this show gets a solid 10/10, THANK YOU FOR THIS, STAR WARS.

[linaselandbasil]

Man Only now did I realize that because of Lance the crystal was not only one time in danger but two times!😭 If only he could have not destroyed the crystal 8 years before nothing of this would have happened. And we have to fix his bullshit those two times? By sacrificing ourselves??? 😂😭 I need to hit him even harder or make a petition to HH so he can be the new sacrifice 😈😈😈

Well, yes. A fair point. He can definitely be blamed. I'll not jump to his defense and tell you he isn't, even if I've always been on his side.

I don't think anyone should sacrifice anything. You know, we don't just harvest every healthy organ from fresh corpses if the person didn't give consent when they were alive. By pressuring them to give up their body and life, they granted Erika and Leiftan less bodily autonomy than what we give to a lifeless body. I'm not sure how it happened exactly, I didn't have it in me to finish the last episode, but I know that this is some serious monkey business.

Lance might be a nutcase sociopath with every last one of his screws lose, but he still has the right to decide if he wants that. Eldarya was never supposed to exist, it was born of hatred and cruelty and it was destined to fail right from the start, he knows that and he was trying to rip the bandaid off to get it over with.

The fae may claim whatever reason they want for why it was necessary, but that will never make it be worth it. It's not the aengels fault that their food is inedible, they had the right to not die. The fact that they were massacred by the fae is proof to me that humans were never the problem. These pieces of shit, entitled bastards doomed their descendants to a slow and painful extinction in a world that's botched beyond words. They teach it in schools that the humans were hateful and hostile, they say that's why they left, but who's really the problem if they're willing to do the exact same thing to the aengels? This is a clean cut textbook example of hypocrisy.

On a smaller scale, it's like having a drunk guy flirt with you and asking you to go home with him, but when you say no he assaults you. He took what he wanted anyway, even if you had the right to refuse.

Lance is not very nice, but he's definitely a good person. He does his thing and let's others do theirs unless it's his business to mind. He has some less than ideal methods but in the end he just wants to make everything right. What he thinks is right, at least.

Isn't that what everyone is doing? Well, some people want what's best for themselves and they step on others, but clearly our main characters are not like that. (some might be) Miiko did what she could to stop him because she sincerely believed that the crystal is their lifeline and she thinks that the best thing is to keep on living. They disagreed, they thought each other to be equally wrong, yet only one of them was condemned. She was unfit to lead, she should have gotten more help but for some reason she was the only person good enough. Apparently only rich people are allowed to lead the light guard. It's a wholesale size can of worms that I shouldn't open, let's talk about something else...

Erika us not that smart. She doesn't know how to read between the lines and doesn't see below the surface. She's attached to the guard because she doesn't know any better, she was never exposed to anything but the guidance of her inadequate leaders and of men who have no business getting into a relationship with their employee. They call her weak, they treat her like a child, they control her life completely, and yet she's equal enough to them to give consent? Weirdos. It's perverted, honestly.

They groomed her to think what they do is the only right thing and she gave up everything she had to please them. Somehow whenever she questioned them she could be coaxed back into their arms and made to forget it ever happened. She's a victim, and now that Lance works for the guard, he's just as gaslit as her.

The guard of El is a cult that manipulates it's members. They play with innocent lives like they have the right and they only allow people of high class to become their leaders.

Eldarya is unsustainable. Everything that's meant to be can sustain itself by nature, if this world is only kept alive artificially then it's time to take it off life support. It's not anyone's fault that it's dying, especially not Lance's.

If I may refer to Fullmetal alchemist, let me just say that this abomination of a world is like that thing Ed and Alf created when they tried to resurrect their mother.

It was never going to live, it's every moment is agony, let it die.

I know I said I won't jump to his defense, yet I did. Oops. He might seem like a vigilantee, but think about it. What makes him any less worthy to take action than the guard? Nothing. The guard is exactly like him and his army, but lead by leashes instead by good reason.

Anyway, moral of the story is: Don't complain when you get arrested after violating someone's consent. You're not the victim, you asshole.