#narratively there is so much i think it needed to do differently or even should've cut Tumblr posts

[aleenya]

trying to explain the plot of steins;gate zero makes me feel fucking insane bc im ngl what the actual fuck happens in that game. im convinced i look like this when i talk abt it

"so u see this is where russia uses the time machine to change the world line and literally prevent the dismantling of the ussr but bc of the nature of time travel they don't even realize they succeeded and everyone seemingly puts it together bc of this weird encephalitis case going around where ppl remember like an alternate reality when putin was president and the authorities are just like damn wtf it must be time travel and somehow simply by having amadeus the american government figures out how to undo all the changes that russia made EXCEPT for the fact that no one knows what was actually done and oh yeah there's this commonly held theory that russia, not knowing that they were the ones to change the world line, use a time machine to accidentally undo the changes they had made resulting in everything going back to normal and meanwhile okabe just witnesses all this happen in the span of a month like 🧍"

and thats only a minor part of the overall plot. like ... that could be a fucking movie

[moongothic]

Seen quite a few people comment how they believe it's more likely the Dragodile Divorce happened due to ideological differences rather than because Dragon was too straight to stay with Crocodile, and. Like I did suggest that (or at least tried to) in my Crocodad Giga Thesis (really I should've been more clear about it in my essay so I wouldn't be writing this now lol), but like yes, Dragon and Crocodile absolutely have drastically different beliefs on How One Overthrows The World Government. And that absolutely could have contributed to the two separating and/or Crocodile deciding to go his own way instead of becoming a proper Revolutionary

Because like, as I tried to imply in the essay (but failed to deliver); if Crocodile's goal had always been to get Pluton so he could just nuke Marijoa off the face of the earth by himself and end it all in one go, then Crocodile and his way of thinking could work as this, like... contrasting opposite to how Dragon believes things should be done. Some fans (unfairly imo) call Dragon a "fraud" because over the past 20+ years he has only attacked Marijoa and the WG directly just once, and even when he did, instead of doing something to stop their corrupt reign for good... the Revs destroyed... the Tenryuubito's... food storage..? Like. Sure, that'll bother them for a little while, get their panties in a good twist etc, but in the end they're just going to demand more tributes and more free food. The Revolutionary Army may be successfully inspiring more people and more countries to rebel against the World Government's corrupt rule, but the Tenryuubito are still in power and will continue to be in power for a long time. And that's kind of how Crocodile would greatly complement Dragon within the narrative. Dragon being arguably "too soft" with his slow, methodical way of overthrowing the WG, while Crocodile would just kill them all without mercy, even if it meant hurting innocent people in the process. The two would act as the opposite sides of the same coin, the different extremes of the same spectrum. Crocodile would become like a response to the complaints people have against Dragon.

And yeah, the two having such wildly different ideological views could VERY EASILY contribute to a divorce, for sure.

My thing is that... If (and this is an if) Crocodile is meant to go a character arc and grow as a person, if we're meant to see him as a sympathetic character at all and maybe even feel bad for him... It'll be much harder to write that if the Dragodile Divorce happened only because of the two having ideological differences. Like who's going to feel bad for Crocodile if the two got divorced because Crocodile wanted to mass murder people and Dragon wasn't okay with it? That's not a tragedy, that's not a situation where we as the readers would feel for Crocodile and want to root for him. That's not something that would give a character unprocessed emotional trauma to heal from and overcome. He'd just be a villian who'd need to have his beliefs changed.

Where as, if The Divorce was caused by Dragon and Crocodile no longer being compatible due to Dragon being straight while Crocodile transed his gender... Even in the most respectful of scenarios that is a heartbreaking situation, a painful thing to go through. That is a tragedy without bad guys, a story where you could feel bad for Crocodile and want to root for him. That is a situation that would give him trauma to heal from.

And that's kind of why I so strongly believe in Crocodile's transition being a more important, contributing factor in The Divorce. Again, this does absolutely depend on what Crocodile's actual role in the story is going to be and whether or not he's even meant to go through a character arc at all. Like if he's not going to be that important and if he isn't meant to go through an arc then sure, Crocodile's transition doesn't have to matter one fucking bit. But if he is meant to go through an arc, if we are meant to feel bad for him and find outselves rooting for him eventually... From a writing perspective, that'll be far easier to do if we can find ourselves sympathizing with him even just a little bit.

Also like. Yes, you can have queer characters who are just queer for the sake of being queer, their queerness does not have to be an important aspect in them or a huge plotpoint in their story at all. Crocodile could be queer just for the sake of being queer. Because that's what it's like being queer, you just are what you are. At the same time, from a writing perspective. What would even be the point of making him queer if it didn't matter to his character at all and have an impact on his character?

Also while Crocodile and Dragon clearly have very different beliefs on how the WG should be dealt with right now, we don't really know when Crocodile came to his beliefs. Like for all we know Crocodile could've formed his worldview years after the divorce. Hell, based on the way he spoke to Vivi about her ideals, and how we know he spent over a decade in utter emotional solitude, his current worldview could have been partially born from resentment towards Dragon (and his ideals) that's been simmering away over the years.

All of this to say; yes I think the two's beliefs could have been a contributing factor in The Divorce, but from a writing perspective (and based on the direction I personally want to see the story go), I find it far more likely if Crocodile's transition was the main cause, one way or another.

[annemariearcher]

Initial thoughts on BSD 114

Boy, that leak pretty much gave the whole chapter away.

This chapter was rather disappointingly short, I must say. I'm not mad or anything, but I think this should've been labeled 113.5 TBH.

We did learn one valuable piece of information though: when Fyodor dies and resurrects, it does affect a different person.

Presumably, it swaps out Fyodor's death for the other person's death, but...*

Is the substitute the person who technically killed him? If so, who's supposed to die in the case of the helicopter crash?**

Obviously, it's not Dazai; he didn't cause the helicopter to crash, and he's still been alive and well for sometime after Fyodor's fake-out death, and, oh yeah...No Longer Human.

So does that mean the substitute for Fyodor's death is...Bram, for controlling the vampire that crashed the helicopter? Seems like that would be a bit of a waste of Bram's character, but maybe not, since the vampire epidemic story line is wrapping up.

Maybe this is Fyodor's revenge against Bram, for, you know, executing him in the past.

Then again, the substitute could be Ranpo, as horrifying as that thought is, since Ranpo negotiated for Bram's help. But we still need Ranpo for the plot, so probably not.

**ALTERNATIVELY, the substitute could be whoever touches his body/blood after his death. And there's only one person (other than Dazai, who can't be affected by Abilities) who touched the body after Fyodor's fake-out death: Nikolai.

Nikolai, who is coincidentally not present at Meursault anymore...

Now THAT would be some bitter irony for Nikolai, wouldn't it?

*As for the mechanism to make the swap, maybe Fyodor's soul/mind inhabits someone else's body and transforms them into his appearance, which is actually kinda horrifying, so I almost hope that's the case???

That would maybe mean, when his current body dies, it reverts to whoever it looked like before. Which is why it appears to be some rando in the helicopter.

If that IS true, does that mean a known character, the one technically responsible for Fyodor's death, is about to fucking morph into Fyodor? Because that would be freaky as fuck and also really throw a wrench into the whole conclusion of the airport fight. Imagine if Fyodor just pops the fuck up at the airport right as everybody thinks it's over...

(Possibly even better: Imagine Fyodor wearing Nikolai's clothes!!!)

I have a feeling we'll be jumping back to the airport next time (AT LAST). It makes narrative sense to jump back over there after Fyodor's revelation to see what the fallout of the twist is on everybody else.

Also, there's really nothing left for Chuuya and Dazai to do at Meursault, except leave. It wouldn't really make much sense is Fyodor reappeared at the prison.

Anyway...speculation is fun. I hope we get a longer chapter in May. I NEED ANSWERS.

[secret-aleciosun]

Tw// sa, mouthwashing spoilers

Love the different interpretations of mouthwashing. It's nice how so much people understand the game in different ways.

But the "Curly did everything in his power to stop Jimmy and keep Anya safe, he just had very limited options" is not something I really accept narratively wise.

If it was truly about Curly doing everything in his power to help, then the pool of blood scene makes no sense. Then the "dead pixel" metaphor makes no sense. Then the "take responsibility" flashes we see throughout the whole game is way less meaningful and less impactful.

Curly is a grey individual, morally speaking, and that's what makes that character so appealing to me. I really really love how he is written. But I genuinely don't like to take away his agency from the bad actions he committed.

That's why I don't understand the "Curly needed time to process" or "Curly didn't want Jimmy to react even worse" and "Curly needed a co-pilot" because

1- Curly was the captain. Him "needing time to process" in detriment of Anya's well-being is still completely irresponsible and shitty. Maybe the story would've been different if Curly wasn't the one responsible for Anya's safety... but he was.

2- If Curly knew Jimmy would react violently and possibly endanger the crew, then he should have put Jimmy in the cryo chamber. If he knew Jimmy would've gone ballistic, then he should've taken extreme measures to immobilize him.

3- Having no co-pilot is better than having an unstable, dangerous mothefucker piloting a ship. Look how well that ended for them.

I do think Curly truly did care for his crew, that he was truly a good person, and that he was truly trying. But the road to hell is also paved with good intentions.

[thief-of-eggs]

HELLO LOVE <3

Brainworms have been worming extra hard since I stumbled upon your Bruce and Jay post (plus the doomed narratives one,, BELOVED), honestly those two make me so fucking ill oh my god. The tags on ur post? So true. Kith ur tags on the head. LO VE LOVE <3333 adding a little to the discussion since I am ill (and if you don't mind!!)

LOVE THE DOOMED NARRATIVE because their reconciliation is never possible imo. Grief is a wretched force that has twisted Jason's memory from the image of his beloved son into a detached, reckless amalgamation. Bruce compartmentalises to such a degree that if he has to keep functioning (both as Batman and as Bruce Wayne) that he can't possibly face the fact that his actions killed his son. His mission born out of the death of his parents couldn't have killed that bright child who was albeit a little angry at times but so full of compassion and life, right? Right?

But he has to continue. And because he does, he has to, on an internal level, make himself believe that Jason was doomed from the start. That he was too reckless. That he was too much of a mess. That he should've never been Robin (which is true in a different sense, but this line of reasoning is not it) and was destined to die. Bruce's messy cycle of grief has concluded. Acceptance comes in the form of his cherished son now being seen as 'his greatest failure, a reckless Robin, a good soldier.'

And unfortunately, the whole thing about Jason is that he is continually trying to communicate with the Bruce he remembers before he died. They're both on completely different pages in this conversation, and Jason is so mentally ill—oh my god, PTSD?—and he's trying to communicate with someone who doesn't remember him as he was. Plus, Gotham is such an intrinsic part of him that he can never pull away from it. He just gets stuck in a cycle, continually pulling away and then reaching out, and then pulling away—essentially in Limbo.

SJSJOSAOSKSOS I DO LOVE THE BRUCE AND JAY RECONCILE NARRATIVE 😭😭 THEY'RE BOTH NUANCED CHARACTERS, I BELIEVE IN THEM BUT GOD... the amount of growth they'd have to show from both their sides for that to ever happen??? YEAH. NO. 😭😭 AaaaaAAAA

ANYHOW. RANDOM WORDDUMP. U HAVE COOL AF POSTS !!!!! much love !!!!! Thank u for appearing on my tl :D !!!!!

HELLO HELLO!!! WELCOME !!

PLZ add on omg RAHHHHHH !!! Nothing makes me feel more loved as a writer and poster than seeing people get inspired by my silly little words and seeing them expand on !!!!

Also yes yes YES Jason Todd is one of my favorite muses for doomed narratives!! Every single goddamn relationship that kid attempts to have is destined to fail. From his mom to his short-lived time as Bruce’s apprentice/son, to his fragile and tense relationships with his almost-but-not-quite siblings.

Jaw on the floor, first off. Do you write??? Please do you write???? I need to read more of your words if so bc you understand these characters on SUCH a deep level UGH

“-he can’t possibly face the fact that his actions killed his son” - THIS THIS THIS !!!! Bruce is an immovable wall with Jason because he CANNOT accept the accountability. It’s like Jason is having a completely different battle with him, because Jason sees things for as they are, if not a little tainted by his own begrudged feelings, but meanwhile Bruce is seeing things through a clouded lens of denial. Bruce doesn’t understand the pain he caused Jason because he cannot even see it. It does not exist in his mind. Because to accept the pain is to accept WHY the pain is there, which in turn would just spiral out of control and Bruce is forced to accept that his no-kill ideal ended up digging his son’s own grave.

Ugh LOVE the idea of Bruce gaslighting himself into thinking this was how it was always fated to be. Putting the blame not on himself or Jason or the Joker, but on some higher being that he doesn’t even believe in. It’s such a Bruce coping mechanism. Sweeping everything under the rug bc now he can’t see it. IM UNWELL

YES YES THEY ARE ON SUCH DIFFERENT PAGES!!! YOU GET IT!!! They literally are having two separate conversations and neither understands why their words aren’t sinking in to the other. They may as well be talking to their own hallucinations at this point- Jason at the memory of his father and Bruce at the doomed ghost of a boy who once was.

And YUP that’s why I write little “good dad bruce” fics and read so many too, because I WANT them to reconcile but… in the actual real world reality? I think the best they could do is an uncomfortable middle ground. Where Jason is no longer antagonized, but not exactly welcomed either. He’d have an expected seat at the table, but he’d never come. He’d be on every place card, every invite, but he’d never show up. He’d be included, but would choose to stay away. And that breaks my heart but also I truly don’t think either of them can go beyond that. In an effort to cling to familiarity and sanity and a guilt free life, Bruce pushed his biggest regret away. He could have had his son back, but instead he chose to believe it couldn’t be true. And like the greatest self fulfilled prophecy, he made it true.

ANYWAY THANK YOU FOR STOPPING BY AND BLESSING MY INBOX !!! seeing so many words made my itty bitty heart so happy. biggest MWAH to you <33

[cosmics-beings]

Can I ask your opinion on what you personally think a good redemption arc for Megatron would be? I agree with your opinion of IDW/ES’s attempts because it really feels like something is…missing.

this is kinda critical, and it may be strange coming from me because over the past year I've tended to be soft on megatron but I've also been looking at characters with a more critical lens....so if hardcore megatron critique offends you then just look over. also...these are MY opinions.

What is missing is actual accountability, because in none of Megatrons redemption arcs does he ever actually take accountability, at least not in a way, IMO, that does anything for the narrative or holds him accountable.

There’s a lot of things that could’ve been done different. while I don’t really agree with how things are going in ES in regards to his character, what I do like is that Megatron’s past actions are finally coming back to get him. And by that, I mean that all the Decepticons have practically turned their back on him, which I love. And it also shows the organization can and in some cases should exist without him. I think what I didn’t like about ES, is that his redemption fell flat because he didn’t really understand a lot of what he did wrong. Meaning that, yes he was very sympathetic about being a warlord, and causing war and stuff. we even saw how much he cared about the deceptions and how angry he’d get when he thought that Optimus was working with GHOST to subdue the cons.

However, Megatron’s care for the Decepticons in ES is very very conditional. Meaning that if any Con had an issue with I’m, or literally wasn’t worshipping his feet or seeing him as a leader, he was prone to violence. This was shown with the Seekers AND Soundwave especially Soundwave — whom his peaceful facade broke the minute Soundwave held him accountable.

So I can’t say I completely hate ES, because it shows the flaws in taking a war lord and trying to make him a family grandpa, when he hasn’t really, truly been held accountable. But that’s also the thing that kinda makes me not like his redemption arc in ES. He is free, with the Autobots, with the Maltos, while his people are not. AND YES, for whatever reason, Megatron betrayed them. Maybe Megaton thought he was doing the right thing, maybe he thought it was saving the Decepticons, regardless it was still a bad look imo.

I hope ES points that out, how hypocritical he is, how the Deceptions don’t really want him as a leader because of that. 

IDW/Lost Light...

I love the Lost light, and i have a soft spot for LL Megs, but I really don't think Megatron deserved a lot of the nuance and care he got, when other characters had to suffer and didn't really get that. LIKE soundwave and other cons/ex-cons also deserved that nuance and love he got.

I think what i really hated however is how Megatron's presence on the Lost Light overshined a lot of the other characters. There was this need to push an unneeded redemption to the point that other people's narratives were overlooked. Rodimus suffered MASSIVELY for this, and he became an addition to Megatron' s arc, wherein he still had so much more growing to do. Now his character is solely tied to megatron and to me at least, it's kinda annoying. He deserves to exist outside of megatron but because there was a need for redemption for Megatron, he doesn't get that.

The relationship between Magnus and Rodimus, which needed to be highlighted, was HEAVILY destroyed because the narrative wanted Megatron to be the main character. And Roddy's trauma with being a prime was essentially downplayed.

I think that Megatron probably should've fought Unicron with the others in the end. And similar to starscream and soundwave, i think death, certain death would've been a great redemption for him. I'm not saying he can't be on the lost light for a while but essentially he wasn't held accountable for anything he did. he got therapy, he got a family, and he also got to leave to go to the functions universe and live a life he wanted.

and yeah maybe he gets executed, but there is also another megatron who was created with another LL, who doesn't get that, and he gets to be free and happy, while trillions are still dead because of him.

I don't think he actually got a redemption arc in the LL simply because he wasn't held accountable for anything. He got a very compelling, sympathetic story that i guess worked...

but i never saw it as redemption because he never was truly truly held accountable for what he did.

that's just my opinion. all of this is just my opinion so you don't have to agree with my takes!

[cerastes]

Okay, I DO agree that people like Kal'tsit and W have the right to still hate what Doctor did in the past, but the fact that they continue to hold it over their head and not so subtly guilt them over shit they literally have no idea bout in practically every single interaction with them is still pretty shitty. Like, Doctor is Literally Just Sitting Here.

I have to disagree. Kal'tsit and W are very much entitled their bitterness and hatred.

Amnesiac narratives are not particularly mainstream, but neither are they a new thing, and one particular trench they all seem to trip on, even the really good ones, is what I like to call the Point Of View Bias. I define "Point Of View Bias" as the natural bias that we, as readers, players or otherwise members of the audience taking the work in, have in favor of our amnesiac protagonist. The first thing we know about Doctor is that they woke up in a 'sarcophagus' in the middle of a riot and was taken in by people that claim to know them real well and then was immediately thrust, with no memories, into a small case series of skirmishes resulting in a small shadow war against a reactionary movement that, by all means, ideologically speaking, should've been their allies. Then we have all the goofy, endearing aspects of Doctor showcased through other cutscenes, base dialogue, Reels, you name it, such as Vanilla fearing for the life of her metal crab and originium slug pets because there is a very real chance that Doctor might eat them, or even Kal'tsit herself thinking about that time she caught them boiling instant noodles in their mouth. We know of Doctor as the academic that volunteered to teach the younger Operators, like Ifrit and Projekt Red, even giving them homework. This, and much more, constitutes our view of Doctor.

But that's the thing: That's the first thing WE know of. That's the experience WE have had with Doctor, as our partial self-insert vessel, partial character in the setting. We know what's going on with Doctor, in their heart of hearts. We know their thoughts and what dialogue options they can pick, and that feeds into our bias, because we have, simultaneously, more information than the characters (because we know what Doctor thinks and feels) and less information than the characters.

Less? Yes, less, because we started seeing our amnesiac character from the point of their amnesia and on. Kal'tsit and W, the former more so than the latter, know more about the Doctor overall than we do. I want to focus on Kal'tsit here, so I'll immediately address W: I don't think it's shitty of W in the slightest to harbor hatred for Doctor. She survived Doctor. She survived the tactics and strategies that got countless of her kin killed, at the discretion and decision of Doctor. I seriously don't think I need to explain further than that, it's not just an ideological difference, W legit had to survive working under Doctor for what seemed to be a pretty scary period of her life, and had to do so knowing that a lot of her Sarkazian buds would die in each deployment. Keep in mind, if you check W's Files, you'll see how important it is for her that Kazdelian Sarkaz are given their freedom and can abandon the roving mercenary lifestyle. W was sucking up working with the exact antithesis of her ideals because she believed that, ironically, was the quickest, most realistic way to achieve her and Theresa's wishes. I do not think it's shitty at ALL of W to hate Doctor. She is entitled her hatred.

Now, Kal'tsit.

Kal'tsit knows Doctor best. She knows exactly how intelligent and cunning Doctor is. She voices several times that she isn't fully convinced that they aren't lying about the amnesia. At face value, this might seem like a statement made in bad faith. It isn't. She is being fair. She knows Doctor, as a whole, better than the player. The player knows (so far) that Doctor is saying the truth. Kal'tsit knows that the possibility of Doctor acting this well, if they aren't amnesiac at all, is high. It's not that Kal'tsit hates Doctor for no reason and just gives them shit for nothing, that isn't the kind of person that Kal'tsit is, Kal'tsit saw this goofball funny endearing Doctor, in the past, become a well-oiled, invincible war machine, a chess supercomputer that sees not human beings, but pieces. Understand this: Kal'tsit agonizes whenever she sees Doctor being well loved among the Operators not because "grrrr I hate them I must antagonize for no reason", she hates it because this is deja vu. Scout and Ace had nothing but praise for the Doctor, they loved the Doctor, they considered Doctor their biggest weapon in achieving the goals of Babel and Rhodes Island, and yet, especially in Scout's case, they agonized over what had become of this lovable, loving academic, how their metamorphosis into a war machine replaced this person almost entirely.

What's to say Kal'tsit doesn't feel the same, just with far more justified hatred? It's telling, you know, how in the last few chapters of the Reunion Arc, when Kal'tsit and Doctor deploy together, Kal'tsit even jokes around with Doctor for a few seconds before catching herself talking with an old friend and realizing that, no, she can't risk this, she can't risk it again. Kal'tsit makes something clear: Even if Doctor’s memories reawakened, even if Doctor was presented with the chance to reassess their choices, even if they repented, or looking at it the other way, even if Doctor truly forgot everything forever, you cannot change how Kal’tsit sees Doctor. She made clear she won’t let the hate buried deep inside of her bloom, but she has the right to keep it. She has the right to remain angry forever.

And I agree with it. Her emotions matter. Her opinions matter. She knows less than us, but she knows more than us. And regardless of what the truth of the present is, it doesn't erase the past. It doesn't erase her emotions. Kal'tsit has every right to remain skeptical. Kal'tsit has every right to remain hateful and resentful. I do not think it's shitty of Kal'tsit in the slightest to hate Doctor.

That bridge was burned. Again, Kal'tsit is a naturally very loving, very nurturing person. She goes the hell out of her way for others. For Folinic. For the Abyssal Hunters. For Suzuran. For the Sarkaz. For orphans she has absolutely no connection to. Kal'tsit sticks her neck out for everyone she can, whenever she can.

So, let's change our perspective a little: If someone as loving, as truthfully good, as immensely caring and warm as Kal'tsit is, cannot find it within herself to forgive Doctor... Does that say something about Kal'tsit, or does that say something about the old Doctor?

Arknights does a good job at avoiding the Point Of View Bias, and that makes you, the reader, uncomfortable, because the Doctor -- you, to some degree -- are being blamed for things they didn't do. That's good. That's immersive. It's making you feel something. It's that palpable greyness midst black and white, where the most succulent emotions flourish and you can bite into them like a juicy apple. Kal'tsit is a brilliantly written character, and this is no small part of that.

[fennelrabbit]

Now that people have had time to watch and think about the miniseries, can we agree that Fionna and Cake was really bad, or at least disappointing?

I'm very happy to hear some different opinions if anyone wants to try and change my mind, but now I've had some time to digest what I watched, I can still say my bad feelings on the episodes are exactly the same.

I haven't been able to mention Fionna and Cake's characterisation much, so I'll try and make a bulleted list (read more)

° Cake didn't grow or have to change at all during the miniseries. She was selfish and never had to face any consequences for her choices. Her relationship with Fionna is not wholesome and friendly like Jake is to Finn, but more parasitic. Fionna does things for Cake, and in return Cake doesn't abandon her. Cake still helps Fionna in fights and doesn't want her to get hurt, however Cake doesn't really appreciate Fionna and all that she does for her.

It's particularly bad that Cake isn't very bothered by the fact that the trade-in for a magical world is Simon's sanity, which is another moment of selfishness. This scene is never addressed later, which unintentionally implies that if someone isn't benefitting Cake, she doesn't want to care about them anymore.

° Fionna was also poorly handled. Although the show tries to say that it won't treat Fionna in a sexist way by swapping her skirt for shorts, a large part of Fionna's story still revolves around romance and her relationships with men (platonic or romantic). In fact, there's a pretty substantial lack of female characters (barring Fionna) that have any stage presence or do anything meaningful in the story. The episode with apocalypse PB and Marcy was a refreshing addition, with an interesting conflict between the two women, but it's a shame that they couldn't be included in the larger conflict, as characters can jump across the universe and the story would've really benefitted from their inclusion.

Fionna's character started pretty strongly, introducing her boredom and apathy towards her life (that being a capitalist nightmare of endless job hunting just to pay for rent), but didn't do enough to develop this plotline. It's true that having Fionna stay in Ooo wouldn't push her to grow as a person - Fionna needs to find a way to find happiness in the life that she's given.

However, much like Simon was sent back to his shitty life and basically ordered by the narrative to 'get over it' and 'stop being sad', nothing changes in Fionna's original world. Fionna is sent back to the same old world, with the same old problems, and nothing is really resolved. No solutions are presented to Fionna inside of FionnaWorld, even though her situation is very difficult and not something that can just be fixed with 'life's not so bad'. Fionna should've found a way to experience the thrill of adventure in her world, in a way that wouldn't endanger everyone around her.

° Bringing the farmworld characters to FionnaWorld in the end was a total cop-out, and should've resulted in damaging the multiverse. They did not need to be there.

° Fionna and Cake causing things to glitch around them (damaging the multiverse???) was never resolved or followed up on after Act 1. It's like the story forgot that plot point, which really lowered the stakes.

° Scarab was a weak villain. Though his first episode had a strong introduction, he was very undeveloped, and came across as more of a comedic pest than an actual threat. The final fight between Fionna and Scarab were laughably boring, and I never felt like the characters were in danger at all. One of the weakest finales the show's ever done.

° Rip to Betty, folks. You'd think we'd finally get some backstory on her character beyond being "Simon's gf/love interest", but no. We know she has a mum, I guess? And that she's impulsive. Betty has officially been fridged by the narrative THREE TIMES, and will now forever remain as Simon's dead/absent girlfriend. This is very sad, and not to mention, very anti feminist. We will never know who Betty is outside of Simon.

(She doesn't even get to have a real conversation with Simon as Golbetty. She has a couple of sentences, and then gets on the stupid bus. Betty literally has no voice in the story).

°The dialogue was very weak. I don't have much to say here really, the dialogue was just very basic and badly paced. Subtext doesn't exist in this story. At some point, one of Finn's children literally blurts out that their dead mum made their soup. Very subtle exposition, guys.

° I don't like how Fionna and Cake treated Simon at all. The entire time they were both self centered and very annoying, and their relationship with Simon wasn't developed that much. When Simon described Fionna and Cake as his "friends", it wasn't believable in the slightest. They have no chemistry or real connection as a group.

Well, that's all I could remember for now.

Anyway, feel happy to share your thoughts Adventure Time fans, I'd be happy to hear it!

[meyerlansky]

i think the thing that bugs me most about The Clevencourse, which mostly only exists in my mind when i'm trying to write shit, is... he should be my favorite. stoic, snarky under the stoicism, has a violent streak he keeps very tightly under control because he's terrified of what it would make him, ridiculously repressed romantically/sexually, COMPLETE control freak, sharp as a tack and in a Numbers way specifically, not great with people on a one-to-one basis but understands how groups work and that it's important to know the people you interact with, shorter/smaller than the guy he doms the fuck out of. i should be ALL OVER HIM.

but the narrative doesn't actually give him opportunities to let out that violent streak, it doesn't put his internal tension on display, everyone around him fawns over him CONSTANTLY and he never seems uncomfortable with it but doesn't really do anything with it either. and then the fan reaction to him [on here, i'm not gonna get into the reddit crowd's Wrong Takes because they're just as annoying to me but in a different direction] is either "perfect woobie who can do no wrong and needs to be protected" or "complete and utter freak who outpaces everyone ever for kink and violence and callousness"

and like. neither of those move me. neither of those feel true to me. i am absolutely fucking CAPTIVATED by bucky, who is not at ALL my usual type, but like i've said in other posts, there's a fundamental tension in him between his EXTREME self-centeredness—he doesn't care that curt doesn't want to hit him, he doesn't care that crank is making valid points about the cathedral, he doesn't want to sit on the ground safe while everyone else is fighting—and the fact that he is STILL, EVEN SO, a fundamentally decent dude who cares about keeping people safe, who signed up for a dangerous job to help right nazi germany's wrongs BEFORE pearl harbor, who's the one to say "we SHOULD fold them in" about the tuskegee airmen when gale is like "i don't think anything about them," who rerouted the whole group—at least a dozen crews, 120 men—to keep one fort [piloted by someone he Really Really Likes, at MINIMUM] from going down over trondheim, who very obviously cares about people In The Abstract AND in the directly personal. it's that tension that makes him FASCINATING to me.

and it's not that gale DOESN'T have that tension! he has just as much of it IF NOT MORE, centered aroundthe fact that he Wants and categorically Will Not Allow Himself To Have. he WANTS to beat the shit out of the RAF guys, but lets curt talk him down because he Shouldn't Want To. he snaps at friedkin that they're gonna take the FW gunfire, and then right away is like "you all did such a good job" over the radio so he doesn't look like an asshole to the rest of the crew. he was GOING TO SHOOT THAT KID, and he SHOULD'VE, because it would have been WAY more interesting for him to have a single moment of rage-fueled vengeance that then haunted him for the rest of his fucking life, but he doesn't, because he has to Look Good In The Narrative.

like, curt and friedkin have like the ONLY interesting not-bucky interactions with gale BECAUSE they see that ugly side of him—curt zeroes in on his violent streak and encourages it in the pre-regensburg convo with the "we could do some real damage" as opposed to something more palatable like "we could make a big difference" or something else less aggressive. friedkin is like a kicked dog for the entire rest of the episode after gale gets in his face and won't look at him head on again. everyone else just sees Perfect Major Cleven, including gale, who never really seems to or deal with or even be angsted by his own tension, just sort of goes on acting like he doesn't have some nasty shit in him, and it's so. boring.

[offshore-brinicle]

That was one hell of a part 2 good lordy. I have SO many thoughts but I cannot put all into words for now, here's some though.

Dante is being real quiet [sus especially after how much they talked in canto 5, plus how they seemed seemed realise that they need to actually take part in helping the sinners proper] and they are [seemingly] the only sinner one could connect to Carmen [literally all of the chirstian symbolism, the way the static on her appearances was similar to the static Dante has seen on AFD and their overheating, the fact she seemed to speak through them at that point]. I am probably just reading into things but after the whiplash of how much they usually talk - internally and externally - I am very much getting a sinking feeling something's wrong.

Basements are evil. Hong Lu is rich enough to have a basement in his houses. He will probably have an evil basement. I would bet money on this, especially if its a sort of 'other world' as alluded to in his book (that I have not read. It does mention a Land of Illusion if i recall, however, so possibly a door to that). Bonus points if it ends up being upside down or smth.

Would the 'chaotic' part of the golden bough ( of 'em at least) have any sorta relation to why we Heath's E.G.O seemed unstable? I know most of the other distortions/E.G.O awakenings happened near boughs - which connects to the theory that they are directly related to Carmen and thus allow her to talk to people more easily like with the monolith - either Dante's fragment or a full one, but the specific mention of a chaotic one could mean it's responsible for Bodysack seeming to have corroded, as one can see the warning labels typical of a corroding E.G.O.

Given Faust's change in behaviour - namely stuttering for what I believe to be the first time - regarding the conversations around the 'creation of humans' I do believe this was how she was made. Yi Sang did say he made the tech used within the pods in that very basement, and the fact that he was the first recruit could mean that the Faust who approached him is not the same Faust on the bus. The idea of her being a metric fucktonna ID's layered on top of each other firstly explains the Council of Fausts theory, wherein she is able to talk to other versions of herself, in this case because that's what she is, as well as what Dante says about her looking somewhere else before answering. Mirrors alter perception, so her looking at a different Faust for answers could explain that as well. Work's too with her base E.G.O, wherein three shadows seem to point out an answer on her wall of notes. She has all the knowledge, she just needs her other selves to point it out when needed - thus her evasive attitude when it comes to answers, she needs time to get it pointed out.

On that note, do you think her attitude in Selva Obscura is a reflection of og!Faust, but she drops the act later on once Dante has fully forgotten their past? She doesn't really get that jokey after that.

Like how the middle seemed to be the antithesis of Ishmael in C5 part 2, the ring seems to be Heath's. The middle represented how Ishy as a person was mostly incompatibility with 'the bit', in the form of a situation that is remarkably silly on paper but ended up in near total annihilation of the group. The ring may represent how some may look for deeper meanings in all things from arts to people, which clashes wickedly against Heathcliff's more straightforward approach when it comes to handling situations. The dredges of the ring are those parts of him that overthink and he solves the problem as simply as he's been solving many others.

Cathy in a Coffin reminds me of when Carmen was content enough to haunt the narrative from her Bucket. Nothing else to say here except for the fact it's funny.

But back to Carmen, and more particularly 'fate' regarding distortions. The theme of denying of what 'should've happened' is a decently big theme of limbus - from the rewinding death to even subverting what happens from any literary source material - so if they end up going 'Carmen no Carming' to her later on, defying someone who seems to be as much of a god-like entity as the Head in some ways, I would not be surprised if we either get a visit from Iori, one of Demian's lot or another Lo9 member - x or current. Additionally, defying fate may just be what brings back Heathcliff from the edge, keeping Cathy alive in this mirror world but presumably in a weird weirdass way. My guess is that she distorts and gets nabbed by LCD - but I also just wanna see Moses so.

Also hey what happened to the seven strikes of lightning. Are they gonna be in Heath's distortion dungeon or something? No clue.

And I think that's it. Gonna stare at a wall for a while now methinks

OK SO FIRST UP THERE ARE A LOT OF THINGS HERE SO I'LL TRY TO ANSWER TO THESE CONCISELY

Now that you mentioned it, it was always very strange how Faust is Number 2 despite being there first and her mugshot having already been in uniform, so now that you mention her different attitude in the Prologue I honestly see a lot to what you are bringing up here. It was always a personal theory of mine that Faust's real "Mephistopheles" was Sang Yi or Yi Sang somehow, since Sang Yi still to seems to be a rather...odd entity that doesn't correspond to any particular mirror world and is implied by Yi Sang to have some degree of omniscience (and there's also that marked part in the dungeon where he "mysteriously dissapeared" for some time with no explanation), so she might have gotten Yi Sang to do the procedure that would give her this infinite knowledge, specially since even Yi Sang himself emphasizes on her having been "gifted" with omniscience, I Highly doubt he's being figurative here, even more with her EGO's background being the shadows of multiple people.

In regards to Dante not speaking I think it's simply because of the difference in situation, unlike Ishmael who was very clearly out of control due to her own mindset, Heathcliff is being driven over the edge by circumstance -- and some quite insane circumstances at that, so it might be why they could not intervene, but hopefully they'll step up when we get to the next part, specially since we'll be dealing with Distorted Heathcliff....and also, it's very interesting that we actually got Heathcliff's POV on how it felt to Distort. It might be Dante's connection to Carmen and The Sinners aligning at once.

And also, Catherine is def a Carmen expy (I actually did my own analysis some time ago in similarities Kromer, Ahab and Dongbaek had with Carmen too but this one is the most. Insanely explicit similarity) and the fact that she speaks to "Welcome Heathcliff home" at the very end in her own voice alongside Carmen...I can't help but feel she might have been planning to get Heathcliff to Distort all along as part of her personal plan that they can be together happy in Hell. The Overclocking symptoms seem to have been an indicator of Heathcliff approaching Distortion, I really like how...drastically different it feels from the awakened Crow's Eye View and Snagharpoon, and just in general how they completely threw the formula that had been built up until now out of the window (heh)

Either way, thanks for shooting me a message! It's always fun to get to hear other people's observations and theories and share my own two cents along the way

Edit: I forgor but frankly if Hong Lu has yet another Creepy Rich Person basement I think I'll bash my head against the wall. The real moral of Limbus is that basements are bad and evil. Sorry there are just So many good observations here and I'm a bit scatterbrained at times shfhh

In regards to the "fate" thing, I feel like that will be a big part of dealing with Heathcliff next part, Limbus Company as a game and story is built on the reimaginings or "what ifs" or classics, and we've seen it with Yi Sang that his ending was changed in the end; the original Yi Sang died and the protagonist of The Wings commits suicide, but he rejected all of that, while Ishmael was on her path to repeat the cycle of the story of Moby Dick but thanks to Dante and Heathcliff she rejected that as well. And the title of "Clear All Cathy" really establishes from the first moment the goal this time. We'll have to wait another week to see how it rolls.

[boy-kings-court]

thoughts on spn s8

ahh... good old s8

though it's been a while since I've watched it all the way through (currently in s6 with my friend) s8 without a doubt brings out the most mixed feelings for me compared to any other season

fair warning this got kinda long

let's start with the good:

1 ) the sam and dean drama

if you can look at it objectively, shutting out the narrative's dean bias and the general fandom reaction, it's just delicious. I've seen it referred to as the samndean dual cheating arc, which I love rather you consider that romantic or just in the weird brothers way lmao.

I'm a big fan of benny and unlike most of the fandom don't mind the sam/amelia plot. I like it what it represents for sam's character, showing just how mismatched sam and dean's priorities are in the beginning of the season. and even though sam would cop shit from dean, the narrative, and the fandom at large, those rare moments where he stands up to dean feel like mana from heaven

2 ) TRIALS TRIALS TRIALS

this is the most important aspect of s8 for me and maybe what I should have led with, but I'm sure it's not surprising coming from a sam stan or just if you're at all familiar with my blog (hopefully you are <3)

the trials arc is one of my all-time favorite sam arcs. it has unique whump, deep and meaningful revelations for his character, and ends with one of spn's greatest season finales (to me, and I'm always right)

it also spawned one of the scenes of ALL TIME, 8x21's "I'm not clean" iconic 10/10

the trials arc is of course absolutely heartbreaking from a sam perspective, especially when thinking about s8 collectively. sam going from defending himself and his choices against dean's unfair criticism -> choosing to leave his life with amelia behind -> bravely undertaking the trials but wanting to come out on the other side alive -> not caring if it kills him in the end because of his feelings of unworthiness, guilt over his past mistakes, and (chiefly) dean's infantilization and constant reminders of all that sam has done "wrong" is one of the most sickening (affectionate) journeys I've seen a character go on. even if most of the fandom doesn't recognize it for what it is, at least the dedicated sam corner of the fandom does, and I will never tire of reading trials-related meta

3 ) very distinct arcs

this probably seems trivial in relation to the other two but I like how s8 feels like two or three different seasons mashed into one

now let's talk about the bad:

1 ) wasted potential

you could say this about a lot of spn seasons/plotlines, especially the later ones, so of course it applies here too. as much as I like benny, I think there's more they could have done with him, mainly giving him more interactions with sam! I feel the same about henry winchester too. I didn't need peepaw to stick around forever, but without a doubt they should've given him more than one measly episode. he and sam had serious potential to bond and grow close, making his death (ideally later in the season) much more impactful

2 ) too much angel crap

I really can't tell you how sick I got of angel politics, and s8 only gives us a taste of many more boring conflicts to come. the angel "trials" do nothing for me, I hardly remember anything that's going on with c*s once he comes back from purgatory minus that cringe ass swan song imitation they give him and dean (and it's memorable for the wrong reasons), and the angels falling, which seems to be a big deal at first, is extremely underwhelming once s9 rolls around (maybe it's not fair to pin that on s8 but whatever)

3 ) narrative bias towards dean/fandom reaction to sam

maybe this is also not fair to pin entirely on s8, but these things are unfortunately forever intertwined in my mind and color my view of the season as a whole. s8 sam is arguably the most misunderstood and slandered sam of the whole series. you could certainly make that argument for s4 sam, s9 sam, even s5 sam, but I'm sure you will agree s8 sam is up there no matter which sam wins that crown for you

the significance of the trials and what they reveal about sam's character is entirely lost on most of the audience. all we seem to hear about instead is how stupid and pointless they find the amelia plotline, how jealous and unreasonable sam is regarding benny, and (you already know it!) endless endless ENDLESS "waaaaaahhhh sam didn't look for dean!!" just one of the three of those is enough to drive me insane, and we are instead treated to all three and more!

couple this with the narrative's dean bias (and s8 just happens to be the moment where, in my opinion, this bias becomes fixed and permanent) you are left with some of the worst takes and most fuck ass sam meta you can imagine, some of it being so bad I've heard of many instances of sam stans taking a break from spn or just checking out entirely around this time

s8 my beloved and s8 my beloathed

although maybe this is all entirely too serious and I should instead just thank s8 for its greatest gifts: estrogen!jared sam with his beautiful tan and glorious long glossy chestnut hair AND sickly trials era bella swan sam, both of whom I want to abandon the silverware for and eat with my bare hands

thanks so much for this ask, and if you were expecting a succinct response instead, I sincerely apologize

[bthump]

Thank you for responding to my ask. I fear I didn’t explain myself very well… when I say that it’s not addressed in the manga, I didn’t mean plot wise, bc ofc it is an important moment in the chain of events, I meant solely from guts pov. After the murder, he reflects on it, but that’s all. It is never brought up to his mind again after that night. But I feel like guts is exactly and precisely the type of guy to be haunted by the fact he killed a kid, even if he didn’t want it and that it was accidental, so that is why I’m kinda surprised he never looks back on what he did, especially post eclipse, when the fears of becoming a monster just like Griffith are present. Could be trauma, like his brain absolutely refusing to be reminisced about that event, but that is a big big reach on my part

Oh I see, thanks for clarifying! Sorry I kind of read your ask with the wrong emphasis.

Yeah I get what you mean, it is a significant enough event that it could work if Guts reflected on it again afterwards in certain moments. I think it especially could've been poignant if it was brought up again in eg the Lost Children arc, or when he was training Isidro maybe.

But idk, I don't feel like it really needed to be brought up again.

Maybe we see Guts a little differently, because it doesn't really feel out of place to me that he doesn't think about it much later on, at least not enough to get narrative significance. Guts does draw a moral line at killing kids, which is why the Lost Children arc was significant as an exploration of his dark side and the way he'll push past his moral limits for the sake of revenge, becoming more monstrous in the process. Buuut he does kind of move on pretty easily from killing as a rule. The only kill that's really haunted him was Gambino.

And killing Adonis messed him up because it reminded him of Gambino, his childhood trauma, and all the self esteem issues that go along with it (being told he's cursed, bad luck, killing Gambino after Gambino accused him of killing Shizu, etc) rather than because of the act of killing a kid itself, imo. He was primed to project on Adonis after watching Julius train him and being reminded of his own childhood. If he hadn't watched that, I think killing Adonis might not have even impacted him all that much. It'd probably make him feel guilty, because again he does sort of draw a line at killing kids, but not plunge him back into trauma flashbacks and immense self loathing and make him need to seek out Griffith for reassurance.

So I guess I'd say that narratively Adonis' death isn't important by itself, it's Guts' childhood trauma that's important and Adonis was significant mainly because his death was a big reminder of it.

But that said, one of my major pet peeves of the manga is the way Guts' childhood trauma feels like it's been basically dropped as a theme and swapped with Eclipse rage after the Golden Age, so I do agree with you that Guts should've been more haunted by his past in general, and that could include Adonis.

So like, if eg after the Rosine fight the ghosts taunted him about Adonis while comparing him to a monster and Guts thought about Donovan and/or Gambino again, I think that could've worked pretty well.

Idk, maybe I don't appreciate subtlety enough lol, but it'd be nice to have some reminders that Guts' trauma still impacts him in general.

Lastly - just as a fun fact because this isn't really the kind of reflection you're referring to probably, but it's still a decent little nod - there's at least one reminder of Adonis from Guts' pov afterwards, when Guts is poetically reflecting on how his sword is a part of him and remembering a bunch of significant figures in his life:

And yk, I feel like this is actually kind of a good illustration of why Guts might not reflect on Adonis much afterwards, from a more watsonian perspective: because he prioritizes his sword above just about everything else. If Adonis was more important to him, he might have to consider putting down the sword because of its negative impacts. But Guts is pretty solidly focused on how it's a part of him, how he's inseparable from it, how it's the focal point of his life and his only companion, etc. So Adonis has to be handwaved away as a significant event in his sword-focused life but something he's squared with himself so he can keep swinging his sword guilt-free, in full belief that it's his true calling.

As Godo has said, Guts is the kind of guy who focuses on one thing and ignores everything outside of or contradictory to it, and gets fucked over by his single-mindedness. It's admittedly not particularly likely after all this time, but maybe Adonis will come up again when/if he has to really reckon with his obsession with his sword.

So yeah, to sum up because I feel like I'm kind of all over the place with this answer lol: I don't think Adonis necessarily needed to be brought up again because I feel like the true significance of killing him was the reminder of Guts' childhood trauma, but there are definitely ways it would make sense for Adonis to come back to haunt Guts, in combination with his trauma and as a reason Guts should be less obsessed with his sword.

[dragonsarecats]

To be fair CF is just as much about found family than VW

Hi anon! I'm gonna link the post I talked about the Golden Deer here for clarity's sake lol.

I think when discussing themes of found family in different three houses routes, it's important to talk about Byleth. In a game where the single, main variable between possible futures is Byleth's interference, it means the story has to be written in a particular way--I mentioned this before when talking about character supports and endings; each character needs to be able to have a romantic ending with Byleth, which affects how their supports are written. In the case of the Lord's, this means you're given tangible reasons why you should've chosen them.

I mean. Let's be real here. Claude has the highest survivability rate of any character in the base game. He can't die if you're completing Verdant Wind (for obvious reasons), or Blue Lions. He's heavily implied to live to see another day in Silver Snow, and you can spare him in Crimson Flower! Edelgard and Dimitri die without the professor's stabilizing influence--but Claude? What does he lose without the professor.

That's sort of how I determine subtler themes of each route in a way--by comparing what you get with and without Byleth.

So when I argue that Verdant Wind is the most about found family, I mean it thematically; the other routes don't have tangible less found family, but without Byleth members of the Golden Deer just blatantly disappear unrecruited post time skip in several routes!

Without Byleth, the option for found family is removed for Claude in a big way, I personally feel, and not just by full recruitment runs lol. Not completely, of course--even in Crimson Flower a recruited Lorenz laments having to face off against Claude and Hilda is willing to die in defense of him and the city--but enough that it was blatantly shocking to me that if you don't recruit Marianne, she does not appear at all post time skip, no exceptions.

In a narrative sense, perhaps slightly unshocking; but in a practical sense? This leaves Claude without a healer.

Claude can't hold onto all his Deer even if you don't recruit any of them in the Academy phase. Silver Snow, Azure Moon, Crimson Flower--Marianne will always be gone; consistent, non variable. Depending on the route other characters like Lorenz might disappear as well.

The themes of found family are prevalent in all the routes, but since each route is pretty much defined by the Lord who leads it, I feel as though their personal relationship with the found family is most defining, if that makes sense.

People stand by Edelgard, Dimitri, and even Rhea for better, or for worse. Even recruited, characters like Felix make it abundantly clear that switching sides doesn't change the immense emotional attachment they have to their original lord.

This just. Isn't true for Claude.

Without Byleth, he doesn't get to keep everyone together. Without Byleth Hilda is recruitable in two routes. The idea that you could ever do the same with Hubert or Dedue is blatantly laughable.

Byleth's presence is what enables Edelgard, Dimitri, and Rhea to remain the most of themselves, if that makes sense. Edelgard's war strategy in Crimson Flower is a lot less aggressive and scorched earth then it is in the other two routes because she's had the professor as an emotional rock. Similarly for Dimitri, he's able to recover because Byleth is there to keep him alive and safe. And then Rhea will blatantly die in the Verdant Wind route where she doesn't in Silver Snow. Byleth, in every sense of the word, keeps these three characters alive and well.

But without her? They still inspire loyalty and devotion--unquestionable, again, if no recruitment takes place. Dimitri, Edelgard, and Rhea can all face up against you as enemies with the full force of their houses/allies (save for, oddly, Annette).

Claude does not.

Claude's whole route is about learning to trust others in a way that allows them to trust him. The Deer are devoted to Claude in Verdant Wind in a way they just, textually aren't otherwise, and that's due to Byleth's influence, both as a Professor to these individual students, and to Claude.

When I say that Verdant Wind is the most found family thematically to me, I mean it at a very base level. Claude knows he doesn't have what Dimitri and Edelgard seem to take for granted. It seems almost effortless, in Verdant Wind, the loyalty and devotion he inspires in his friends despite how often you, as Byleth, are told that Claude appears to be an untrustworthy and sneaky individual.

But it's easy to see in routes where you don't chose him that without Byleth, that image mantains. Claude is an outsider. And maybe he doesn't need Byleth in the way the other lords do to survive or achieve his dream (after all, there's nothing saying he can't open diplomacy with his former classmates after he goes back to Almyra so long as he lives to do so), but just as Byleth is uniquely able to be a peer to the Golden Deer, so can Claude uniquely trust and gain the trust of his house in full.

It's not as dramatic as the other two houses, and I think it's the point. Edelgard and Dimitri have already built a solid foundation of devotion and loyalty. Ferdinand and Felix (your "rival" characters in those houses) are loyal without Byleth, even if Ferdinand claims it's to guide her or if Felix complains every step of the way. Lorenz isn't. In Verdant Wind, you sort of take it for granted that everyone will be there at the reunion if they survived the Academy phase. Of course they will--they promised, didn't they?

But outside Verdant Wind, it's clear to see that you as the player took it for granted. And that's why I think Verdant Wind is thematically the most found family. It's not because the other routes don't love each other as much or aren't as complex or there isn't devotion. It's because fundamentally Verdant Wind is about Claude, for the first time in his life, having a group of people he can rely on and who will rely on him without hesitation. It's about the formation of found family, and how Claude doesn't need it to achieve his dreams, but man, does it give him something to achieve those dreams for.

[fandomshatepeopleofcolor]

thinking about it now, Charles Melton should've been nominated for best supporting actor instead of Ryan Gosling as Ken

This might be a hot take here on tumblr dot com buuuuuuuuut

I think Ryan’s nomination is actually deserved.

If we accept the premise of the Oscars, and accept the existence of the Barbie movie, Ryan as Ken could have come off as ridiculous and try-hard but it didn't. My one quibble is that he is too old to play Ken opposite Margot as Barbie (there is ten years difference between them, and there's only so much that makeup and moisturizer can do) but other than that, Ryan Gosling absolutely has the comedy chops and by my count he delivered an adequately charming performance.

This is an aside but something that's getting lost in the hashtag white feminism conversation is that it is narratively absurd that the film industry has rewarded the less important guy but not the literal lead girl from the feminism 101 movie. It feels intellectually dishonest to not acknowledge how on the nose this is. We can talk more about this on @fandomshatewomen if people wanna get into it.

Back to your message though, if we’re exploring hypotheticals, how about we look at the rest of the list of noms:

Mark Ruffalo for Poor Things

Robert Downey Jr for Oppenheimer

Ryan Gosling for Barbie

Robert De Niro for Killers of the Flower Moon

Sterling K Brown for American Fiction

If we are swapping out someone on this list, my personal choice would be Robert De Niro, backup option Robert Downey Jr.

Both of these men are already household names, and this was not either of their best work or tbh even like among their better work. Also, neither of them “needs” this nomination, it does nothing for their careers.

But for an actor like Charles Melton who is good at his job but very much at the beginning of his career, it could mean a meaningful increase to the money his agents can negotiate for him on subsequent projects. Like yes, numbers vary, but the “awards bump” is a thing, and proportionally speaking it would mean WAY more for his career than one of the Roberts.

• mod dyr

[tbhimnoteasyonmyself]

📖💜 AO3 MASTERLIST 💜📖

Captain America

All Our Courage Was You (Stucky - Gen [Fluff]- 719 Words)

Steve and Bucky are friends. But when you're drunk and cold, all the warmth you have is well needed, even the one that is entirely in your heart. OR A very short one shot that came to my mind and I thought would be nice to share.

Kiseki: Dear to Me

The Blood On My Hands (Ai Di POV - Mature [Death/Trauma/Violence] - 1.746 Words)

You're 13. And you kill a person for the first time. This should scare you, make you want to cry. But you're not like everyone else, never have been. And what you find out instead is one of the secrets of the universe. OR Ai Di kills a person for the first time. This is what goes through his head at that moment.

Life, Death and the Abyss (Ai Di POV - Teen & Up [Trauma/Violence] - 4.746 Words)

For good or bad, childhood moulds people into the adults they become. To Zongyi, that means cherishing life. To Ai Di, that means disregarding death. OR An exploratory conversation on Zongyi’s and Ai Di’s different perspectives on life, death and what their respective places in the world are. All told with the delightful company of fluffy cats and a nice slice of strawberry layer cake!

Mr. Mitsuya's Planned Feeding

Sleep? X Slip! O (Ishida Tomoya X Mitsuya Ayumu - Teen & Up [Sex] - 7.231 Words)

The rush of the approaching Christmas season always gets the best of everyone. Ishida Tomoya was no different. And in between a manuscript and a conversation with his coworkers, sleep wins the battle and makes him slip up. But it’s okay, it’s not like no one knows he’s dating the most beloved chef in the whole country, right? RIGHT? OR In a world where people are still mostly heteronormative, even the most heartfelt confessions sometimes fail to convey the information they are meant to. Luckily, capitalism is here to provide sleep deprivation to young editor Ishida Tomoya and make him reveal to an office full of people that he’s very much in love with Mitsuya Ayumu.

Naruto

How It Should've Been (Narusasu/Sasunaru - Mature [Hate Speech/Mental Illness/Trauma/Violence] - 2.683 Words)

Naruto married Hinata in canon... But cannons are made to destroy our ships. So, obviously, that never happened. OR A collection of drabbles of Naruto and Sasuke that all happen in the same universe (but are all out of order because my creativity does not do logic) and which (hopefully) will be entertaining.

PitBabe

Icarus & the North Star (Northsonic - Teen & Up [Sex] - 2.733 Words)

North is a guiding direction. The North Star is a guiding light. And yet, North is just… Himself. Or, at least, that's how everyone sees him: a simple man with a simple mind. Everyone but Sonic, that is. Sonic would never dream to see him in that light. OR A stream of consciousness from Sonic’s perspective about who North is and what North means to him.

The Gifted

(Don't) Touch Me! (Pangwave/Wang - Teen & Up [Crime] - 14.472 Words)

5 times someone tried to hug Wave and failed miserably (some more than others) + 1 time someone (guess who) finally (somewhat) managed to OR The narrative of what happened with Wave when Pang couldn’t remember a single thing about the Gifted Program, told through his aversion to physical contact.

The Untamed

Desperate Pleasures (Chengsang/Sangcheng - Mature [Alcohol Abuse/Sex/Violence/Trauma] - 7.950 Words)

They don't really mean for it to start happening when it does. Yet what are one’s drunken actions if not the desires one did not have the courage to give into sober? It is better not to think about it, though. They are what they are and they do what they do. And that's good enough. No need for labels or reasonings or long conversations about indefinable concepts, no... None of that. Just them. As they are. Just them is good enough. OR How Jiang Cheng and Nie Huaisang find solace in each other through the years in ways that are probably too complex and nuanced to put into words outside people would understand but that make sense to them, nonetheless.

Fine Lines (Jiang Cheng POV - Teen & Up [Death/Trauma] - 3802 Words)

Sect Leader Jiang rarely has little to do. But when he does, he likes to take walks through Lotus Pier and return to the only place he thinks will not judge him for how his soul is still shattered: the past. OR Jiang Cheng takes a walk through Lotus Pier and observes the place through the lenses of someone who knows both the old and new walls. These are his thoughts.

[a-teacup-of-golden-cracks]

tw this is a trauma post but it's also a narrative I'm proud of. Suicide and self harm (mental and physical) will be mentioned.

To help those who aren't me understand, I think in part in references since it is both easier and more fun than creating original thoughts.

(1): reference to the videogame Omori

(2): reference to the movie The Dark Knight (take a guess as to why I like and relate to the joker)

(3): reference to a song I like (in order, HOPE by NF, Somewhere I Belong by Linkin Park, Love the Subhuman Self by AISHA, Arc System Works, and Jamison Boaz)

(4): a random saying I heard and enjoyed

“No one knows what it's like to be the bad man, to be the sad man behind blue eyes. No one knows what it's like to be hated, to be fated to telling only lies”

“Behind blue eyes” by The Who

Welcome to the nonsensical abyss of my mind, you've been here as long as you can remember (1). By reading this you're getting to see my thoughts without translation. Nothing here makes sense to anyone except me, I make references others rarely understand. But allow me to tell the story of how what you see now came to be. You wanna know how I got these scars (2)? “I spent years of my life holdin’ on to things I never should've kept, full of hatred, years of my life wishin I was someone different looking for some validation.” (3)

Middle school was a special sort of subtle hell for me, it stole things without me noticing. First it was my feeling of impervious safety when a kid laughed at a genuine heartfelt remark I made. Then it was my trust that friends would never betray me and always respect me when they wouldn't stop making jokes at my expense. Slowly, steadily I descended into paranoia and loneliness, and thus my contentedness with life was stolen. The ax forgets yet the tree never does(4).

A secret hidden issue that I only found out this year was that the ADHD meds I needed to take to function may have been causing the paranoia to start with. I still don't know how to feel about that, that all my issues and trauma might stem from something that's not even real.

Once I started high school it became more and more apparent that nobody liked me. At least not for very long. I never learned to function in middle school so I was still struggling with what everyone else already knew and mastered. Giving a compliment and sexual harassment, would you like to know the difference? I would've but nobody told me until after I'd been punished.

Intent vs impact, I never intended to hurt anyone yet my impact was that I did more often than not. So I cut off the things that hurt people, removed them from my mind. Who needs humor? Not me if I can't use it right. Who needs to give compliments? Not me if I can't say it right. Who needs to hug people to show affection because it's your primary love language and you want to show everyone how much you like and appreciate them? …… not me…. if I must…. to not hurt them…

You see where my inner pain starts now? Where the scars in my mind begin? There were two things I could never bear to cut and slice away, my name and my kindness. Most trans people change their names to align more with their gender but I decided no. I am done changing things for other people to accept me more, they never do. My name is Daniel and it's the sum of my entire being. If I am non-binary, or a woman, or some eldritch horror that everyone fears and that has lost every shred of humanity because of the things I've endured, then my name represents all of that. It's not my issue if people make a poor assumption about my name because of what they think it should be.

Maybe I don't even want to be human anymore if all that humans have shown me is hate. All throughout high school it was nothing but hate or dislike shown to me, barely any kindness outside of my family. So I isolated myself from everyone, to avoid those who hated and to not burden my family with my issues. I'd handle it by myself like I always had in the past and I'd be ok.

I was not ok.

I was rageful. I was tearing myself apart more and more and more internally, only my desire to never hurt anyone kept me from tearing the school down brick by brick with all the students inside it. But maybe… could it be I was the exception and the problem? Could it be I'm the one who deserves to hurt for the pain I've caused? Should I hurt myself? And so I tried once, a good solid punch to the forehead that didn't make me feel any better and never tried again.

The pain I deserved wasn't physical, it was mental and so I gave myself infinite mental pain. What an idiot I was for giving that compliment when clearly in retrospect it was sexual harassment, what a dumbass I was for saying that joke, looking back I deserve to lose my entire friend group over it. Maybe I'd be better off if I didn't exist anymore if I caused more harm than good and could never seem to learn or improve. The thoughts I had then… and sometimes still now… it's so hard to remember that looking into the past makes everything obvious in the worst ways possible…

But there was a light eventually, someone who told me all that was wrong. Someone I met online and will never see in person, someone I messed up horribly with and yet she still forgave me. Thank you infinitely June. You showed me that monsters can be good.

So I steeled my resolve and used my rage at myself to look inward and outward and found that I was being mistreated and misunderstood. I shouldn't kill myself to not exist or hurt people because I would improve and I could make others improve. So I stood at the very last meeting in front of the whole school and spoke the truth of my mind with as much respect and rage as I could muster. So much pain and anger and hate and sadness I'd endured and I showed all of it to the entire high school of 300 people.

I've never felt more satisfied in my life than when the headmaster of the school himself asked if there was anything he could do for me and I said no. I've never felt more proud when I met with him two days later and asked for a neurodivergent support group to be created for the middle and high school, and he said yes. Half a year later my brother told me that the headmaster stuck to his word and did more than I asked. I never felt more vindicated than when I was told by my only friend that he'd heard people making school shooter jokes after I stood up and told my story.

And so I started to heal. My humor, I did need that. How could I be happy if I could never make myself laugh? My desire to give joy and be kind, I needed that. How could I not fulfill the purpose in life I'd made for myself? My ability to hug and love and be happy with others, I needed that. Desperately. “I want to heal, I want to feel what I thought was never real, like there was somewhere I belong.”(3) I just needed to find better people who understood. I reconnected with my family and told my pain and tried in every possible way to show how sorry and sad I was for cutting them off. I couldn't stitch the old bits back onto me but maybe I could grow something new. Something I wanted and I loved, for me.

I can never fully heal, that's why you see the holes in my form, but I've incorporated them now, so that they help me as much as they hurt. I carry on and love my subhuman self, accept me for me and go back to being with humans (3). I give them the kindnesses I can but only after I do that for myself. This is the kindness and respect I give to me, the biggest change I made, because I deserve it as much as everyone else. Now close your eyes and you'll leave this dream (1).

“But my dreams, they aren't as empty as my conscience seems to be.”

Behind Blue Eyes by the Who