#on some level it's Just How They Are and it's a genuinely really cool trait for an alien culture to have

[thegreatyin]

It really makes me wonder how many Curators have been outcast for "charity" considering just how loose their definition of it is. Like, anything that could be misconstrued as kindness is a crime. It's Fucked.

curator OC concept: a space bat that specifically hoards acts of charity/kindness. thus being the most weird little antithetical creature of all time

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Hiii I’ve been following the Malleus talk for some time now and wanted to ask what things you do like about him or good traits you think he has. I ask because when you explained that why you don’t like Vil you also said what you liked about him. That he works hard and is confident. So I’m wondering if you have some of those for Malleus!

[Referencing this post and this post!]

Aaaaaah, I tried my best to come up with things I like about Malleus but fair warning that it’s not a lot and I had to pick really specific instances rather than general characteristics 💦 I hope that’s okay!!

His mom is hot--

There are times when he acts appropriately neutral, wise, and dignified, as a crown prince and future king should be. I like these moments and want more of them over him being pouty or lashing out. A few examples of this include Fairy Gala (he knows there are tensions between nocturnal and diurnal fae and rightfully stays out of it), Ghost Marriage (he cannot thoughtlessly propose to Eliza but does support Riddle and Lilia in their preparations), and Vargas Camp (when he instructs Sebek to apologize to Leona, who still counts as a fellow prince).

His patience with Sebek. Early on in the fandom I think there was this expectation that Malleus would find Sebek annoying? But it’s refreshing to see that he isn’t usually bothered by Sebek’s presence and handles interactions in a level-headed and blunt manner. He doesn’t discourage Sebek and his special interests either; Malleus tends to entertain them (like the time he sat still and had the royal painter do a portrait of Malleus for Sebek’s birthday gift) or is otherwise pretty indifferent about it, though of course he still corrects Sebek when he steps out of line or intrudes on others. For example, Malleus still speaks up when Sebek is rude to other nobles or is disturbing the peace with his loudness.

Malleus’s love and care for the gargoyles of the City of Flowers/Fleur City. His friendship with that one gargoyle was just so adorable!! Short it may have been, but it was still very genuine.

His parallels with Leona. A crown prince with few close friends or family… versus a prince who will never have the crown but is surrounded by loving people… They want what the other has so badly, and I think there’s such a tragic irony about that.

The one time Malleus truly felt fear (thanks to Rollo). Listen, LISTEN 😭 This was legitimately so cool????? To think that it would be Rollo lighting a fire under Malleus’s tail, forcing this overpowered fairy to experience that same feeling others may have when he unleashes his power on them… Oh, how the tables turn. It’s interesting that Malleus reacts as if he’s amused by the sensation of fear and welcomes the challenge; it sort of implies he was growing bored of the same old routine and is actually showing some strange respect to Rollo by deeming him a worthy opponent. This being one of the few times Malleus shows vulnerability instead of dominating the battle, of course I’d love it 😂

But most importantly…. Malleus’s best trait is—

***Late book 7 spoilers below the cut!!!***

He was once a cute lil’ baby dragon that makes silly lizard sounds 🐉 (alas, he is no longer one… 😔) And again, he has a hot mom—

[adrianasunderworld]

​Housewardens X Chubby!reader

This has been sitting in the drafts for ages. But for all my fellow Plus size Twst fans out there. 

This isn’t light hearted in tone like the Obey Me one, but even so, I hope you enjoy.

Just like with the Obey Me one, I do mention body insecurities concerning weight. 

Riddle

Riddle is the one who has a lot to unpack. With his moms obsessive calorie counting and portion sizing, I wouldn’t be surprised if she had instilled in Riddle the idea the being over the average weight=the worst thing you can be. Riddle may not be rude to your face about it. But you can feel the judgment.

After his Overblot and realizing he was wrong and needing to mellow out a bit, is when he realized how horribly he had misjudged you. If you had been purposefully avoiding him so as not to deal with his bullshit, Riddle will apologize with you the first chance he gets, because who knows when the next chance will be? 

Over all Riddle has come a long way since coming to NRC, and he is your #1 defender. He will not hear any rudeness towards you. It is off with the heads of anyone that wants to make a comment about your weight or anyone else who is also plus size for that matter. 

Leona

In his homeland it’s actually viewed as a good thing to have extra weight. A bit of a hold over from the olden days of famine when people still lived off the land. Caring more weight meant you were taken care of and nowadays it’s a cute trait. So Leona does not mind at all, and has no qualms telling you he likes it.

You will be a pillow for this asshole. If you find him napping somewhere, you will be dragged down and have him lay on your stomach. 

Pretty much all of the guys from the Sunset Savanna are in the same boat as Leona for the as mentioned above reason. So they’re all cool, and if anyone ever bullies you for being plus size, you can call up one of them. 

Azul

Azul is the one that well and truly gets it. When you vent or recount a story about how the store carried nothing in your size. The times you felt the judgmental eyes of others. Or when you had to get off a ride because the seatbelt was a touch too small to buckle. It’s been a few years since Azul had been in your position, but that fat kid he was never truly left him in the back of his mind. Sure some of the other housewardens may be sympathetic, but Azul is the one that really understands how horrible it can all feel.

It’s one of two things with Azul. Either you are someone like him, who is self conscious and wants to loose weight, he’ll help and share tips on what helped him. (For a modest fee of course) On other hand, if you are comfortable and confident in your skin, Azul has a level of respect for you, and even a bit jealous. Your prior surroundings had not been cruel enough to you where you had endure the mockery he did. And if you were bullied for your weight, you didn’t allow it to break you. That quality alone is something Azul admires in you. In a way it makes him wonder how he would have been if his environment had been kinder to him.

Azul will not tolerate anyone who is rude to you for your weight. Even if it doesn't matter to you, it does to him. He’s not projecting, what? You’ll find minor annoyances like that start go away after awhile. If you ever comment on it he’ll simply go, “Oh really? I hadn’t noticed. But it so much nicer without people like that yapping away when they're not wanted?”

Kalim

It has genuinely never occurred to Kalim. Well, not occurred but rather it’s not something he thinks about. Like he knows you're chubby, but he doesn't pay it much mind. If you’re some who is on the shy side, he has a knack for making you comfortable. If you’re more extroverted, you’ll get along with him phenomenally.

Kalim unabashedly adores you. He gives his affection you, whether that be platonic or romantically, without any thought. You’re one of his favorite people. 

If Kalim did have comment about your chubbyness, it is always positive. Boy loves to hug and cuddle you, he loves it. Give him all the snuggles.

Vil

Despite how Vil will diet at at the slightest sign of weight gain, he doesn’t expect that of you, that is just what he puts on himself. Unless you are part of something liek the VDC training camp, Vil will never impose his strict diet or routines onto you if that is not what you want, and you will never hear him comment on it either.

Vil doesn’t really care about you being on the plump side, what he does care about is whether or not you are making any effort. You know he doesn’t take sloppiness. If you tell him you have trouble shopping for your size, Vil will find something. 

Overall, despite being in a very vain industry and the rigid beauty standards he hold himself to, Vil has met many talented and gorgeous people of all shapes and sizes. So he views you in that same regard: Someone wonderful that he cares about dearly.

Idia

Let’s be honest, Idia does not care. If anything you guys are on opposite ends of the spectrum, you’re chubby (and if you’re short too like me, welcome to the club) and then you have this tall lanky mf. If anything Idia wishes he could gain a little weight so he can stop being called a radish sprout. 

 If you and Idia are romantically involved in some way, expect your thighs to be his new obsession. Even if you are not together and it’s just a crush on his part, he’s going to be thinking about it. He would like very much to have to have his head in your lap please. 

Unironically calls you “Thicc AF”. I will let you decide for yourself if that is an endearing quality or not.

Malleus

Like Kalim, Malleus Doesn’t really care nor think about it. Fae don’t really have the same concept of fatphobia or body image issues like humans do. Plus a some very famous fairies are also on the more plump side. Malleus doesn’t really care. If you are self conscious about being chubby or tell him that other people are, this is all news to him. 

But it’s one of those things that, once you bring it to his attention, Malleus finds he likes those qualities about you. Whether that is in general or jsut because they are your traits remains to be seen. But Malleus finds he enjoys holding you, or laying on your stomach, lap, or chest if you will allow it. (Romantically or if you guys are just close like that.) 

If people gave you crap about your weight, you will find that is no longer a  problem, because no one wants the ire of a dragon for bullying his child of man.

[wakeupthemembersofbylernation]

It is not even that Mlvns are homophobic. I mean, many of the toxic ones are. We’ve all seen them and interacted with them and received hate anons from them. When Noah’s article officially confirming Will’s sexuality dropped during the summer, people were literally tweeting slurs and fantasizing about him being hate-crimed or dying from AIDS. (It’s probably unfair to group Mlvns in with these people, as lots of them weren’t even Mlvns, just bigoted GA members and trolls). But still. It was bleak. There’s a deep darkness within the ST fandom undeniably.

But I’m sure many Mlvns/Byler-antis are the types of people who genuinely have no problem with queer people in real life. When we call them out on their bigotry and homophobia, they get confused and say, “But I have gay friends! How am I homophobic for not liking Byler?” And they mean it 100%. They really do have gay friends. They probably consider themselves allies and yada yada.

The issue is that A) they are deeply heteronormative without realizing it, and B) they simply aren’t the target audience for the show, and as such, they don’t really understand or connect to the themes of the show. The thing is, lots of people, many Milkvans included, are simply normies. Now I love Steve as a character, so this is literally no hate to Steve, but lots of people are Steves. And people who are like Steve: popular, straight, attractive, used to dating the types of people they want, into ‘normal’ interests like sports (not that Steve is hyper into sports, but you know what I mean), likely to go down ‘normal’ paths and live fairly conventional lives like their parents, etc. are simply not the target audience for the show.

Obviously, the show centers on outcasts, nerds, queer characters, characters with disabilities, black characters, etc. Most people recognize this on some level, but they recognize it in more of a general sense like, “Of course the protagonists are nerds/outcasts, just like all the classic 80s teen protagonists. I just love how nostalgic ST is!” And they leave it at that. Because they are normies, they don’t really connect to the themes of the show other than a surface-level, power of friendship sense. They don’t see how Byler is more aligned with the show’s message than Milkvan at this point. They don’t see that the outcast status of most of the characters is more than just a throwaway personality trait… its deeply integral to the point of the show itself and closely connected to the supernatural storyline.

This is because nerd culture is somewhat mainstream now, and lots of “normies” like it too. Star Wars, Marvel, LOTR, Harry Potter, etc. These are all major parts of society and billion dollar franchises, even more so than they were in the 80s. Because of this, people don’t realize that in the context of the world of the show, they wouldn’t have been friends with the Party most likely. It is far more statistically likely that they would’ve rolled with Angela’s friend group or joined Jason’s human hunting squad. Or even if they weren’t outright bullies, it’s far more likely that they would’ve been one of the nameless background characters in Hawkins High, just kind of floating by in a conventionally comfortable existence, entirely oblivious to government lab conspiracies and alternate dimensions. The characters in ST are outcasts in a deeper, existential sense. Society is against them.

And so many people can’t relate, especially to the queer themes. They can’t even see the queer themes. Because the show is not for them. That’s why you see so many baffling takes on the show:

“Will is so whiny all the time, and I don’t like him!”

“Mike was right in the rain fight! S3 is about growing up, and Will was acting like a baby.”

“Tbh I don’t care that much about the Party dynamics. My favorite part of the show is Steve and Dustin being funny together. And my second favorite part is Hopper being a cool action hero.”

“B*lly is overhated! I mean, he’s so hot and misunderstood! He could’ve redeemed himself.”

“I don’t get Byler. It barely seems like Mike and Will are even friends.”

To be clear, it doesn’t mean they don’t enjoy the genre of the show. Being horror/sci-fi, its core fans are a smaller pool of people than, say, fans of The Office or Friends or other popular sitcoms. So the Mlvns who watched it since the beginning probably do have some avant-garde tastes in terms of genre-preferences, since lots of people wouldn’t touch horror with a ten-foot pole. But it does mean they don’t pick up on the themes of the show and the arc of the characters.

(Of course, many newer fans now are just watching it cause it’s popular, regardless of which genres they typically prefer. This opens the show up to lots of people who don’t connect to anything about the show, not just its themes but also its darker content. A lot of newer fans sound like this: “Like, I just love that Mike was in love with El from the day he found her in the woods, and it’s so cute that El is Mike’s superhero, and Eddie is so cool and badass; I wish he could’ve told Chrissy how he felt, and I’m anxiously awaiting S5 to see who Nancy chooses but I hope she chooses Steve… Stancy 4ever!” This is because Stancy is like every other conventionally attractive couple in media).

I’m rambling, but a lot of people are into Milkvan because of their expectations that “pretty boy and pretty girl go together,” and that’s all there is to it. Finn is attractive and Millie is attractive, and they play the protagonists, so of course Mike and El are endgame. Why wouldn’t they be? This is true for the girls who project themselves onto Millie and see Finn/Mike as a dream boyfriend, and it’s true for the guys who project themselves onto Finn and who would want nothing more than to have a cool, superpowered girlfriend.

This is the way of nature. In a normie worldview, there’s no deviation from this path. A lot of fans basically take The Kissing Booth/To All the Boys I Loved Before and slap a sci-fi/horror filter on it, and they think that’s what Stranger Things is. It’s a cool show where kids fight monsters, and there are normal, heterosexual romances like Mlvn to root for, and there’s a badass superhero main character at the center.

Oh, there’s a gay character too? Well, that’s weird. I mean, y’all already have Robin, but whatever. I’m not homophobic! I’m cool with Will being gay… as long as he stays over there. Oh, he’s in love with Mike? Well, that’s even weirder. Why would the writers do that? I suppose that’s fine, as long as it’s just a little crush, and as long as it doesn’t get in the way of “the main storyline” and my OTP. I’m not homophobic, I swear! I have gay friends!

And they do. And they might not actively be against LGBTQ+ people in real life. They may really be telling the truth. But because they are Steves, this is where heteronormativity comes into play and blinds them. Main couples in shows are always straight, so the cool sci-fi, monster show they love must also be. They’re fine with Kevin Kellers, but queer Mike doesn’t fit the box that they allot to gay characters. So Mike must be the straightest character of all time to fight back against “weird delusional Byler theories” that would “come out of nowhere.” It’s not that they’re actively anti-gay; it’s that they are profoundly closed-minded and have a very myopic view of sexuality/storytelling/their favorite characters/their favorite shows. This is very similar to the XO, Kitty situation and people who were upset that Kitty was ‘suddenly’ bi and had a crush on Yuri.

WHAT?! Where did this come from? I thought I was watching a normal rom-com! I was fine with the gay characters on it who were clearly televised from the beginning! But Kitty? No! Kitty’s my self-insert. How can she like girls too? It must be a phase and be “less real” than her male love interests. This isn’t Heartstopper. The same weird energy is present in the ST fandom.

Byler being semi-canon isn’t seen as confirmation of a love triangle; it’s seen as a disruption to the norm and the foregone conclusion that Mike and El will be together forever and get married and have telekinetic children because the show owes that to them for all they’ve been through. “But why is Will inserted into their scenes?” we ask them, begging them to see reason. “Idk, but he should know his place and stop being a homewrecker and go find a new boy to like. Just leave the soulmates alone. Mike has already made clear he’s straight and that Will is nothing more than a friend. He said it in the roller rink!” This is how heteronormativity works.

That’s why Byler endgame will be so important because it will shatter preconceived notions and open people’s eyes to the beautiful tapestry of humanity. And they will see that this powerful, queer, coming-of-age, love story was right there, under their noses, in their “fun sci-fi monster show” this whole time. *Mind Blown*

[alltheboysandgirlsiloved]

Chaos Theory review (characters' oriented review)

Since everyone is doing this, I thought I'd share my thoughts too because, to some extent, I feel like I'm in a minority here. In this post I'm going to focus mostly on the characters because there's a lot to say about the show in general and I don't have patience to write everything in one post.

spoilers under the cut

I said it yesterday and I will say it again: I absolutely loved Chaos Theory. It was action-packed, well-paced, dramatic and funny. It was everything I loved in Camp Cretaceous.

I'm especially grateful that they gave us a whole variety of emotions coming from all of characters.

I loved yasammy's conflict because it felt real and natural. Yas' PTSD being openly addressed was everything I hoped for (all of them have PTSD in some capacity but when it comes to Yas the execution was on the next level). And Sammy being fiercely overprotective over her girlfriend to the point it became too much?? That made so much sense because she had always been always protective but after the experiences in camp cretaceous, it is no wonder that this trait started to get out of her control. I don't know, it just made sense. I hope that in season 2 they go in detail about Sammy's family situation, I want her to talk about it with Yas. I'm really curious how it will play out and I can't wait to see Yas being super awesome supportive girlfriend.

I also really liked Darius and Kenji's relationship - I know, I know but hear me out. I actually enjoyed how the conflict(s) in their case seemed to keep piling up; they were growing like a fungus. I adored that little bit when Kenji mentioned that he stayed in touch with Darius' mother, while Darius didn't call her. I think it was incredible; such a small detail but tells you a lot about the years in their life that we didn't get to see.

While we are at it, I have to address the whole Darius and Brooklyn thing which I actually... didn't mind. I really didn't? And I don't mind that it was one-sided either. Maybe because it is the first (*cough*) openly addressed one-sided love story between the campers. I've always loved Darius and Brooklyn friendship, I genuinely believe that it was one of the strongest relationships in CC. It would be cool if they stayed platonic but really, I truly don't mind that one-sided love plotline. I wouldn't even call it a love triangle because to me it seems that Darius, to some extent, always knew that it was an unrequited crush, and I don't feel a sense of a privatization (between Kenji and Darius) either. You know what I actually liked about this situation? The fact that Darius didn't go to meet with Brooklyn because he was basically ashamed, embarrassed, and a little scared of his own feelings, of getting hurt. I feel like, in the long run, this is going to be incredible for his character development. Darius trying to run away from his own feelings to the point where he abandoned someone, where he tried hiding something from others? I genuinely think it added to his character and gave him additional depth. That's just my opinion though. I also think that even without that romantic plotline he would still call Brooklin after her "death". So to me, this really didn't change much other than adding more awkwardness and I had no trouble handling that (I always really liked visually the scene where Kenji and Darius were sitting in the bathtub. There was something pleasing about this)

Moving on to Kenji... Killing Daniel Kon so fast was certainly... a choice but. Kenji's reaction to his death was so well-done. It really highlighted the complex relationship that Kenji had with his father - someone he hated but who he also considered kind of a indestructible. His reaction was so heartbreaking and I was there for it.

And then there's also Ben. I'm gonna be honest - I am biased. I loved him before, I love him still so it feels unfair to write about him from my very biased perspective. Still - they could never make me hate him. I like how his character changed in so many ways but also stayed true to his core – he is adventurous and a little reckless (like a Jungle Boy that he was), and he is also soft and sensitive (that scene when he was crying when he was hiding under the truck broke me). I'm extremely curious about his background story that we barely touched upon - it is obvious that he had been living in that van for a while, which is interesting considering how he used to live on the campus and (let me remind you that) he has a loving mother that would surely support him if he decided to take a break just because he needs a break. From the looks of it, Ben seemed to be living on his own for a while – was his obsession with "being hunted" the only reason? or was there more? many questions. I am also a bit... sceptial about his girlfriend. The first time he mentioned her was not convincing to say at least, not to mention that apparently he had been living without his phone for a while now - were they talking online all this time or what? Idk, if he really has a girlfriend then first of all - the screenwriters are cowards, second of all - the relationship doesn't seem super-convincing for now.

Bonus: Mateo is one of the best characters introduced in the show, for me, he beats even Mae. He was perfect, actually perfect, I loved him. I really hope we will see him again in season 2 (above taking care of Bumpy) because I really liked his agency and his character arc.

Overall: I feel like your final review of CT depends heavily on what you tend to focus on while watching the show, and what you like in shows in general. I don't mind drama as long as it doesn't interfere with characters' personality. And I feel like a lot of choices they made in CT actually makes sense for these characters. I think it is also important to remember that this was - from what I understand - planned as a two-seasons long shows from the beginning which means that a lot of loose ends and decisions may not make sense yet but they will eventually be developed in season 2 (which would be awesome, we love consistent writing)

anyway, I only watched CT once for now, so don't quote me. I'm sure that I will have more thoughts later

[nekropsii]

Atomic Ask Bomb 3!!

We got a shorter one this time around! I hope everyone's evening is going well!

Content Warning: Long-ish, Discussions of Ableism + Queerphobia, Weird Cronus Moment™.

Same. I'd read a fanventure about that, I think.

Like, I don't personally believe WV would be allergic to being a mentor or something of a father figure, but I do have to wonder the level to which he was wigged out by the way that Dave and Karkat treat him, because Dave in particular imprints on him in a way that is... Kind of strange.

The later portions of Homestuck really baby WV. It's upsetting.

------

Easy. The actual things wrong with them.

A lot of the discourse surrounding them is fabricated, or has such poor priorities it might as well be fabricated. Most critical conversations about them surrounds things people just made up over the course of years of mythologizing their #Problematicness.

For Example: Most of the discourse surrounding why Horuss had problematic writing had to do with how he was "Bad Otherkin Representation", when the real issue was the fact that Hussie was conflating Being Otherkin with having a Dissociative Disorder, and in turn saying both of them are the exact same level of Fake And Gay for the exact same reason, because to Hussie they were the same thing. To this day, people get startled every time I point out that Horuss is canonically a System despite him bringing it up just as regularly as he does being Therian. Those are totally wack priorities.

------

...That's scary... I don't even have words...

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LOL. The Lost Weeaboos was a Grade A bit. Thank you Aranea, very cool.

Honestly, I don't even count Cronus as a "facade character", because it's not like he's making any efforts to hide jack shit. It's been... Interesting, watching several people refer to "his facade" lately, when, like... What are they talking about, honestly? He's pretty bold-faced about his whole deal. This isn't really a Dave situation where you could be capable of falling for it when you're younger, because Cronus couldn't be doing a worse job at "hiding" how awful he is. He's not even trying, because he knows he can get away with it. What are the other Alphas gonna do? Leave?

Hope you're having a good time!! The Alpha Trolls may be a Trash Heap, but they are my Trash Heap.

------

There comes a point where it's almost comedic how unaware people are of it... Like, what do you mean you know he's a Horse Therian but not that he's a System? He literally calls himself the Host of a System and talks about Switching. IN THOSE TERMS. He's not even obfuscating it by using some esoteric Troll terminology, he is LITERALLY using the words "Host", "System", and "Switching".

It's painful. I know this is a moment befitting of an XKCD comic, but... Jeez. You'd think these things would both be on the same level of common knowledge, considering how they're traits that are directly related to each other and given equal amounts of screen time, but nope!

Unfortunately, it is a situation where this is relevant. Sad!

------

All characters will become AroSpec and/or ASpec with the help of my Beam Attack.

... Except for Cronus. It's just not funny when it's him. Due to The Themes. It's not fun to headcanon a character as any minority when a huge part of their character is that they pretend to be minorities for Pity Points to eventually cash in for Sex. Ew. Making him literally anything other than Just Cronus plays directly into so many vile Queer stereotypes it's insane. Those are stereotypes that have gotten people actually genuinely killed. Just... Ew. Gross.

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[jq37]

FH Junior Year Post-Season Thoughts

With another season of Fantasy High in the books and my recaps all finished, I wanted to do an overview of my thoughts on the season as a whole. Even though I feel generally positive about my experience with the season, there are a few things I think maybe could have been done differently narratively or mechanically. This isn't to criticize the way the season went down or to backseat DM/Play. More my combined ten years of college for textual analysis and storytelling bleeding through, haha. 

I first want to start with the things I thought worked really well.

Fantasy High has "High" right in its title but, in past seasons (and especially Sophomore Year), not as much time as you'd think was spent actually at school and even if it was spent at school, there wasn't much time spent in class or engaging with the realities of being a student. This season really dug into the academic consequences of skipping your classes all the time and the realities of needing to do a ton of extra stuff to try for a scholarship and I think that was a refreshing thing to highlight for a change. Being more scared at flunking out than the dragon that's trying to eat you feels very emotionally resonant. Real "High School Is Killing Me" vibes for anyone who's a fan of NPMD. 

Even though Fantasy High is a show that has some deep emotional beats and strong character arcs, it's first and foremost a comedy show. From the jump, everyone was generating bit after bit that had me cracking up as usual. "Little girly dog collar" is one of the funniest combinations of words I can think of. I think it was Siobhan who said that this was the goofy season and, having seen it, I'd have to agree with her. It never failed to make me laugh and it was always a highlight of my week.  The cast just has great table chemistry that I love to watch no matter what they're doing. 

Watching some of these high level combat encounters is as close as I'll get to understanding people watching sports. Even though combat is generally my least fave part of D&D, I think the cast really killed it this season with how cleverly they played and Brennan came up with some really great combat encounters. Special shout outs to Baron's Game and The Last Stand for their unique mechanics.  

This is going to be one that's on the other list as well because my feelings are mixed, but I genuinely do like the downtime mechanic and how it forces hard choices. I think it's an interesting way to connect a mechanic to the story and cultivate stressful atmosphere for the season.

I have problems with the execution but I love the Rat Grinders in concept. I think as early as season 1 I was hoping that we'd meet a party that was like the Bizarro Bad Kids and the idea of a party that's farming XP instead of going on crazy adventures is a strong concept. Likewise, I think a character that's jealous because of your "cool" (read: tragic) backstory is also a fun trait for an unhinged antagonist in this kind of setting.

This is me absolutely showing my bias but I adored the Abernant Sisters content this season. I dunno if Siobhan specifically asked Brennan to not put her on a bus with the other beloved NPCs or what but I'm so glad she stuck around and we got the development we did. It was almost entirely ancillary to the plot but there was this clear pattern of Aelwyn getting softer and sweeter towards Adaine over the course of the season, from the guarded, "Enjoy the nemesis ward," to, full I love you's and, "I'd take them to get you." It was way more focus than I expected considering that Aelwyn completed the bulk of her arc last season and a lot of the time, a redemption arc basically ends after the big gesture (in this case, Aelwyn taking a magic blast for Adaine in Sophomore Year). So the fact that we got to see all of these sweet moments of them reestablishing their relationship outside of do or die moments was such a pleasant surprise. Again, I fully admit I am extremely biased, but this was my top wishlist item and the season overdelivered so there's a baseline happy I'm always gonna be with Junior Year. 

OK, so moving on to things I things I think could have been tweaked.

Even though I liked the downtime system and the pressures it created, it also squeezed out the chance for more casual PC to NPC interactions that would usually be more common because they were semi-locked behind the relationship track and there wasn't an obvious benefit to roll for Relationships (as opposed to something like Academics which was crucial for not flunking out). Making the mechanical benefit more clear would have helped that (even if it meant Brennan didn't get his reveal--which he ended up just telling them anyway so might as well do it early). The other thing is that the consequence of a rage token was so bad that of course they spent all season avoiding getting one. Things might have gone differently if the consequences had been a bit more obscured, like in Neverafter. And it could have been a nice parallel to the Rat Grinders to take this unknown resource that makes things easier for you but is also having this negative effect. Then it could be like dang we did the same thing they did unknowingly. 

I mentioned this in my recap but I'll talk about it again. It is a little confusing to me that we did the Ankarna subplot right after we did the very similar Cassandra subplot. It took up so much time this season which I don't think is an issue in and of itself, it's just that we literally just went through some extremely similar beats last season. Why double up on this same storyline when there's so much new ground to cover? Or if we're going to raise a god, why not make it a different kind of god? One theory I had early on was that the Rat Grinders were trying to raise their own god to one-up the Bad Kids but instead of raising a chill, misunderstood Cass type, they accidentally raised a god who was erased for a good reason and got in over their heads. 

It's fun for there to be connections between seasons but sometimes it's like, OK that's a *lot* of coincidences. Like the god who your rivals is trying to raise *happens* to be the wife of your cleric's god and also *happens* to be the god of the fiend trapped in your friend's mom's chest and that fiend *happens* to be the relative on your bard's dad's side which is *also* the reason she is randomly cursed? That's a LOT of red string connecting plot points. As unhinged as Kipperlilly is about coveting Riz's backstory if I saw that go down I'd be like you have *got* to be kidding me.  

The mystery elements didn't feel like they clicked as well as they did in other seasons. I think that's partially because Porter's plan was so convoluted (seriously, I made another post about how haphazard his plan was) and had all these moving parts and we didn't get clear answers for a lot of mechanical things like how the rage crystals actually work and when they were implanted and stuff. You had stuff like Devil's Honey which I think is super cool as a thing that exists in the world but ended up being an element that just led the players down the wrong path and had a relatively small payoff (that Porter was using it to lie to Ankarna). I think it's plausible that a forgotten god would be willing to listen to anyone saying the right things without introducing this element. (As opposed to, for instance, Ambrosia which has a very clear connection to what's going on and is a solid clue that someone is flirting with aspirations of godhood.) 

The Porter reveal came so late in the season that even though it was a fun/challenging fight, there wasn't a lot of emotional weight behind killing him. It was basically just dunking on a teacher Fig has always hated who was also mean to Gorgug so screw him. Which, valid of course. But the Bad Kids were never going to react as strongly to Porter as they were to the Rat Grinders so putting Porter in the prime villain spot isn't necessarily what I would have done if I wanted the fight to be more than just a brawl--especially since we've done "School admin with student minions" already in S1. I don't mind the full circle callback but it would have been nice to pick something else for the sake of variety. We haven't had a child mastermind yet and I think Kipperlilly could have been a great candidate for that. My friend suggested that it would have been fun if Kipperlilly was trying to become a god instead of just being Porter's underling and I agree. "I'm not anyone's chosen one so I'll choose myself," is still within her established jealousy and Type A tendencies. If we want to keep Porter involved since that was Brennan's gift to Emily, maybe have it be that instead of Kipperlilly working for him, he's working for her. Like Artemis Fowl vibes! And the Rat Grinders can be varying levels of on board--from true believe to redeemable. I don't think Brennan planned for the Bad Kids to ever redeem her so might as well go full megalomaniacal mastermind with her and make her The Villain if she's not gonna be nuanced anyway. If My Little Pony can do it and send a literal child to Tartarus for pony treason (or whatever Cozy Glow did), Fantasy High can too. 

Continuing from the above, if we have the Porter fight in place of the Grix fight (a la Daybreak) and don't use Ankarna, that gives way more time for the Bad Kids to investigate the Rat Grinders throughout the season and it would mean that they would have their personalities developed a lot more. With the limited downtime, they Bad Kids didn't have a lot of time to spend on these kids who were just hating on them for no good reason (valid). But if you cleared their plate of the god hunt stuff, they'd have more time for this. And if they weren't all rage zombies to varying degrees, it would be easier to see them as characters. Besides Kipperlilly (and, funnily enough, Mary Ann) we don't really have a good read on what these kids are actually like. The little time we spent with them all season was kind of a wash if them breaking out of rage means their personalities got laundered too. Anyway, regardless of how their loyalties ended up shaking out, it would have been fun for them to be more than the minions that they were in canon. As funny as it is for them to just kinda be XP farming losers, they did have the potential to be more interesting in their own right if they weren't just Porter's minions. And again, we've done adults forcing or coercing children into being minions in Freshman and Sophomore Year already. Lemme see some self-created child maniacs! (Or, peer pressured child maniacs. That's cool too. The Lucy/Kipperlilly dynamic is way more interesting to me if it's like girl, I would take a bullet for you but I CANNOT walk this path with you any further in response to *I* will be a god and you can be *MY* champion.)

Anyway, those are my thoughts! Like I said, I have my points that I think could have been tightened, but overall an enjoyable season and I will be glued to my screen if they decide to close out with Senior Year! 

[theplatypusblue]

Idk if this is a sentiment that’s already been expressed, but one thing I really like about ninjago is the show’s ability to just… “recontextualise” certain things? Not really “foreshadowing” — that would imply a level of preplanning that just isn’t possible with the way the show is produced. I also don’t think it really fits into “retconning” either — I feel like a retcon completely changes established events/lore, and this isn’t quite that. Like, it specifically happens after the fact: something will happen in one of the earlier seasons, and then later, the writers will retroactively give that event more context. Not changing the event itself, but rather changing its meaning or how we’re supposed to interpret it.

The example that immediately comes to my mind is Cole’s flashback sequence from season 8. That flashback is taken all the way back from the pilots, and (from what I remember lol) it mostly existed just to establish some basic character traits: Cole climbs a mountain to test his own strength, cuz he’s the buff earth ninja. But then in season 8, this event is recontextualised as one of the ways Cole dealt with the grief over his mother. The writers took a scene that was originally kinda bare bones and basic, and then they refreshed it in a way that gave us new insights on Cole’s mental state. (Btw I love you season 8 you did so much for Cole’s character mwah I give season 8 a lil kiss <3)

I think it speaks a bit to the resourcefulness of the writing team; they could’ve made up an entirely different flashback and touched on the same topics, but instead they chose to use a scene that was already there. And even though there’s definitely instances of this happening where you could it’s lazy or making an unnecessary change (I’m NOT saying ninjago never retcons anything lol), it’s also led to some genuinely interesting bits of characterization and lore. It’s one of the few things I can unironically say is pretty cool about this show, writing wise.

[cravingpepsimax]

hs reference like a flashbang aside, choosing a dave and rose excerpt activated something in my brain. (stan voice) it’s just like them. in a way

one is a certified journal writer mastering the arts of the horrors and homosexuality, while the other’s a comic drawing “”cool”” twin with a touch of big brother worship. ford a constant knowledge (light) seeker. stan and the motif of fire. the similarities obviously stop at the surface level traits but thats actually so funny

actually, i wouldn’t say the similarities are surface-level at all!

both ford and rose deal with the Horrors, yes, but there’s more to that. the reason they deal with them is for the same endgoal — obtaining knowledge. this even results in them both being taken advantage of a nigh-omniscient, devil figure (doc scratch vs bill). like you mentioned, she journals, but i’d also like to point out her walkthrough. kanaya reads her walkthrough, not knowing the identity of rose, creating an idea of her in her head, using it as a reference for her own journey… hey, doesn’t that sound familiar?

also, like, horrorterrors aside, you’re out of your mind if you don’t think ford would have a book called “grimoire for summoning the zoologically dubious”. like, title alone, that’s a ford thing.

like ford, rose thinks of herself as a character in a story, rather than just… a person (light player moment). she’s surprisingly calm about sacrificing herself to create the Green Sun, like how ford had resigned himself to being trapped in various hell dimensions, as long as that meant his dimension being safe from bill. also, they’re both nerds that are terrifyingly good at combat.

the rose-ford parallels aren’t shit compared to the dave-stan parallels, though.

they’ve both got a father that isn’t easily impressed, that pushes them to learn how to fight and how to fight well, who wears sunglasses 24/7. they both seem to have complicated feelings about their father, despite their father being shitty & abusive.

despite their detached appearances, both stan and save genuinely care for those close to them, and will do drastic things to protect them. becoming davesprite, dying for jade, actually just dying a lot in general (time player moment), and sacrificing himself for the Green Sun are just a few examples of this.

neither of them really want to do what they’re doing, either. dave doesn’t like time travel. it’s complicated. it’s scary. he’s afraid of his own mortality, and time travel involves a LOT of death. not just his own, either — if he fucks it up, he could end up killing literally everyone. but he does it anyways, because he has to.

stan hates science and math. growing up, he struggled in school, even with the smartest kid in school being his brother. but he still taught himself everything he needed to know to get the portal up and running — with only a third of the instructions. he did shit he hated, complicated shit he hated, for 30 years, because he had to. despite ford criticizing his recklessness, there’s not a single timeline where ford gets sucked into the portal and stan DOESN’T try to save him. and, just like how dave sacrifices himself for the Green Sun, stan’s willing to have his memory wiped for the sake of beating bill. sure, the Green Sun might’ve led to dave god tiering, but dave didn’t know that — just like how stan didn’t know his memory would come back.

they’ve also got the whole “i’m not a hero” thing, despite regularly doing heroic things.

(also, couldn’t find a gif of it, but ford calling stanley a hero both in the show after his sacrifice & in the journal)

also, just… read the aspect descriptions for light and time and tell me that isn’t ford and stan. especially time for stan.

…also, erm, fitting the themes of this blog, dave has… some stuff going on

also apparently davesprite and his rose may have gotten together according to the hs book commentary but i don’t own those and i can’t find an actual like. image or anything so don’t quote me on that lmao

[enden-k]

I think Kaveh deserves to be admired more in Sumeru in a way that becomes more and more noticable. As a treat. Starry eyed students and collegues, former classmates, debate rivals, groupmates, etc. Everyone who has met him loved him, hates him, admires him or all of the above for his passion and kindness and stubbornness and beauty. People sabotage each other when they notice someone else is trying to make a move on Kaveh cause they want him for themselves. In the desert AND the rainforest, Kaveh is much desired by people far and wide.

Only too bad for them because Al-Haitham stole his heart when they were students and has held it even when they were seperate and before they even were a couple and tho their relationship now is private its also like an open secret for those who see them frequently and Al-Haitham is so fucking smug about it. He's amused by Kaveh's little admirers amongst the student body, knowing they stand no chance. He's a little annoyed but also amused by the staff and Kaveh's collegues, because he knows Kaveh is already in the palm of his hands (sometimes literally, squeezes Kaveh's butt).

He finds it hilarious tho that Kaveh is slowely starting to realise that people are utterly infatuated with him, maybe after the competition when he decides to let himself heal from his farhers death and gains just enough self love to notice peoples advances on him.

Also there is a "secret" off-the-books gossip publication that existed even before the downfall of the Akasha system with relationship speculations and the amount of thirsting over Kaveh in both an academic, romantic and physical sense is both increadible and hilarious and Al-Haitham definately has access to it.

idk i feel like we have really different ideas and headcanons and interpretations of kaveh and haitham. its cool if thats how you like to think of them tho, not saying that your characterization is wrong bc mine is different

i think its good the way it is. kaveh is a well respected senior and got a big name in everything related to architecture. the way i like to imagine is, that kaveh was this kind of popular student that was admired and loved by many bc of this radiance. he enters a room, he smiles at someone, and you feel how its gets 10x brighter. he is incredibly kind and considerate and passionate and always ready to help, a trait most admire and some may use. hes beautiful and his sense of aesthetics and his works are equally beautiful. he jsut seems so perfect and elegant and bc of people imagining how his life must be, he starts to pretend to be this person they think he is. he doesnt want people to see the cracks. haitham though, he sees them. sees right through him

i think kaveh is not dense or "cutely unaware that everyone wants him" or what tf ever. hes a genius on the same level as haitham after all. i think he is well aware what kind of effect he has on other people. its just that he doubts if ppl are genuine bc they admire a kaveh they fabricated. its just that hes bad at turning people down. you can see him get crowded by some kshahrewar students swooning over him and his works and while he is laughing and smiling and thanking them, you can see the discomfort in his shoulders when it gets too much. its that deep down he doesnt understand their admiration for him as a person bc the person they admire is a person they fabricated based on his achievements and their ideas. he sees his own imperfection and faults and failures and shame, knows that they have a false idea of him since he masquerades to save face. he thinks he is undeserving of the attention or affections. he doesnt let it show, he pretends and pretends and pretends

i like to think, since he is so passionate and pours his everything into his works, that as soon as the attention on his work shifts to him as a person, his smile gets wobbly. he cares about the arts and not much about the titles. he is troubled, always. he feels acknowledged but also shackled. acknowledged for his works and talents, shackled by the idea, the public image of the talented, renowned architect ppl have of him. i like to think this goes for many things

im starting to ramble so back to the topic, i think kaveh is well aware of the admiration ppl have for him, both for his arts and his person. some other ppl he cant read tho so thats where he gets all like "no way!" when haitham bluntly tells him they had ulterior motives based on their body language or phrasing

for haitham, i completely disagree with your idea. again, not saying youre wrong or whatever, everyone is free to imagine or interpret how they want ig

im a sucker for pining and yearning. if we talk about pre dating, young akademiya students kavetham, i like to think haitham always keeps an eye on kaveh. he might feel a little irritated by the amount of fellow students flocking around kaveh like moths to a flame but the moment he sees the slight discomfort and strain in kavehs smile after a while, its gone. he soon learns that kaveh is too kind, too considerate so in order to help him out a little - and also bc it rlly is starting to annoy him as well, all that noise - he gives kaveh an out to escape. as soon as they start to hang out so often, ppl think twice about pestering kaveh bc haitham doesnt hesitate to tell ppl to calm down and shut up when theyre annoying. simply bc he doesnt care what ppl think of him, unlike kaveh

haithams main belief is that not everyone can be saved, thus people should prioritize themselves first - like this theres much less problems or trouble for others. its why he focuses on himself and cares for himself sm but seeing how kaveh does the exact opposite (the reason for their arguments and falling out), i like to think he cares for kaveh too bc who else does if kaveh doesnt

a troubled kaveh is a troubled haitham

he fell first and he is content with being in kavehs presence. he is fine with never making the first move bc he rather wants to keep their relationship as it is instead of bringing change that could very much end in them distancing. if anything, if kaveh ever felt the same as he does, hed rather wait for kaveh to do it, be silent and give him the chance. he regularly has the trouble of ppl approaching him like this, haitham has no interest in being one of those

ofc hes not aware that kaveh develops feelings for him after time but never approached him bc haitham is as indifferent and cool as ever. thinking that its unrequited and not wanting to make a fool of himself

later, in the present time when theyre in their 30s and together, i still dont think haitham would be smug about dating kaveh, the architect desired and admired by many. or annoyed or amused by ppl still trying their luck. bc haitham wouldnt even bother looking. he is confident and sure in his feelings for kaveh, in kavehs feelings for him; in their love. theres no reason for him to care or to bother with other ppl. tho i do like to think he might get pissed if ppl are really bold with kaveh. but if anything, i imagine kaveh is more of the jealous possessive type simply bc despite everything, theres still some fear in him that he might lose haitham and be all alone again. not bc he doubts haithams feelings but bc sometimes the fear, his anxieties, the thought hes still unworthy pops up

sorry for the word vomit, i just wanted to type out how i think of them and my thoughts jumped

[plantify]

Toontown Corporate Clash: Grunt Cogs

Intro

This is an except from the Clash Crew's latest QNA session. This doesn't outright state too much about Grunt Cogs, but I do not like the implications of them not having "fully developed personality chips". This could be taken in many ways which I think would only serve to weaken Clash's writing, as well as cause minor to major contradictions to things already shown in-game. Corporate Clash is pretty defined by giving Cogs more of a personality. They already had some semblance of this in TTO, but they are closer to humans in Clash. Every single Suit has their own complex personality and life story. Sure, it may be infeasible to actually show this for Grunt Cogs in normal gameplay, but it's important. Even if Cogs Inc is objectively in the wrong, you still have to think about all the lives of Suits who work for the company. If the Grunt Cogs are "less human" than more important Manager Cogs, then a lot of that element is stripped away. I will quickly analyze some specific in-game examples of this.

Rainmaker:

Misty explains that she has been hurt by her own kind in ways that Toons would not understand. We can infer that her personality traits make her a poor fit among colleagues, which leads to poor treatment towards her as a result. This is something that often happens in real life, so we don't need the perpetrators to be robots that only act mean because it's all their programming tells them to do. Real people already act this way. Assuming that Grunt Cogs are the main perpetrators against Misty, this situation would lose some nuance under the implications that they aren't as human as Managers. Why would Misty care about what someone tells her if they aren't on the same level of sentience she is? It would be akin to having AI Chatbots insulting you; there isn't any actual person telling you how much they hate you, so it loses all meaning.

Witch Hunter:

Prester's fight revolves around him using his voice and words to empower Grunt Cogs to fight for a common cause. Sure, this may just be yet another battle against Toons, but he wants to go greater than just that, talking of Cog Communities, using fear tactics, and more. If we are under the assumption that the minds of Suits are just as complex as those of humans, than this notion becomes really cool; he's convincing others to fight for him, and all these Cogs that join him must have their own personal reasons for listening to Prester. It makes Prester himself also seem like he's great at uniting others for a common cause. HOWEVER, under the assumption that Grunt Cogs just have really basic personality traits, and not much going on in their mind aside from what they were programmed for, there is no variation whatsoever in the reasoning for listening to him. It becomes a lot more like just telling a bunch of programs to do something, and they all obey, with no nuance whatsoever. There are also two Cogs during his ending cutscene which resist his words, explaining that many employees have complained about Prester. These two are already showing individuality just by doing this, as well as explaining that other Suits genuinely do not like Prester in the workforce. If they were all practically the same, these two should not be able to resist his words, and there also likely wouldn't be as many complaints regarding Prester.

Major Player:

Dave's fight already shows some variation between Grunt Cogs. Some of them are eager to get on stage and perform with Dave, whilst others are more timid, confused, or unbothered by being called onto the stage. This could be seen as a minor retcon under the assumption of Grunt Cogs having less personality. Adding onto this, why would he perform to a group of Suits that are less likely to feel heartfelt emotion or interest in what he's doing? At that rate, he should simply just perform to Manager Cogs and whatnot.

Chainsaw Consultant:

While the focus of Chip's fight is the override itself, bringing in the fact that Grunt Cogs have less developed personality chips brings in interesting implications. Why does Chip even have the override installed? It is a experimental, untested feature, and they're testing it on Chip. Yknow, one of the guys with a fully developed personality. Someone who's much more likely to suffer from having it installed. Someone who's much more likely to try and resist it BECAUSE he has a life of his own, and is his own person. If the company has countless non-important workers with no personality, why wouldn't you just test the override on one of them? If they don't really have a life of their own, or are otherwise devoid of a real personality, wouldn't it make more sense for the override to work more flawlessly on the Grunts? Of course this wouldn't be an issue under the assumption that Grunt Cogs are just as well-developed as Manager Cogs. They would face the same issues that Chip does under the effects of the override. Also, unrelated to the override, but this also makes the fact that Chip uses the Grunt Cogs as weapons hit less hard. He shoots them out of cannons at the Toons, against their will. He fires them en-masse to use as cannon fodder. Obviously, under the context that they don't matter nearly as much, this makes it harder to care about them and weakens that aspect of the narrative.

Conclusion

This was a quick look at some of the in-game examples of things that could be put into question under the assumption that Grunt Cogs aren't as fully developed as other Suits. There are absolutely more examples in-game, as well as more narrative factors that could be discussed and delved into concerning this topic.

[soupsandwich64]

THE GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY AND THEIR LOVE LANGUAGES.

Forgive me for any mistakes of lore, names or character traits etc.. I am bad at remembering things.

Not proof read.

ALSO NOTE THAT THIS DOESN'T MEAN "THESE ARE THE ONLY LANGUAGES THAT WORK ON THEM" IT MEANS "THESE ARE THE ONES THAT WORK BEST OUT OF ALL OF THEM"

And theres things like least favorite, too.

--------------------------------------------------------

ROCKET RACCOON

RECEIVING -

(What is most effective towards him)

GIFT GIVING.

(Particularly prosthetic limbs)

QUALITY TIME.

Think like co-playing. Both in the same room doing different things. Sometimes talking

WORDS OF AFFIRMATION.

This one is probably pretty intense for him, so he only lets it actually sink in if it's a short sentiment from someone he truly cares about. Like, a friend being like "wow you're so cool!" Would definitely make him feel good, and probably inflate his ego/self esteem, but wouldn't really set in. But if like, Peter or Mantis etc. said something like "I appreciate everything you do for this team, we love you" that might actually hit hard. That's what I mean when I put words of affirmation here

---

GIVING

(What he would give you or others)

WORDS OF AFFIRMATION.

QUALITY TIME.

These two are his most standard forms of affection. He also gives them like he receives them. So, if someone he's friends with is a silent type, comfortable silence in the same room. If they're talkative, some light chatting is ok, and so on. Words of affirmation from him would most likely just be surface level stuff like "Good job" "You're not as dumb as I thought" "that's a neat trick" etc. sort of a friendly bullying. How people respond to that bullying tells him a lot about someone, usually. Just like with himself, if he's particularly close to someone, he may let out the occasional genuine praise without a layer of sarcasm.

LEAST FAVORITE

Physical touch.

Yeah, ouch, I know.

Not only is he smaller than everyone, which might make physical touch overwhelming, but he also has the situation on his back. But deep down, I think he's a bit touch starved (Everyone in the dang MCU is at this point) and secretly enjoys it. You just can't be heavy handed, and he really has to trust you. And too much too frequently may make him feel like a pet. So be careful.

(theres no way he would admit though, If asked about it he would simply say "Cause I don't want you gross sweaty skin bags all over me", referring to most peoples lack of fur)

-------------

PETER QUILL

(Theres like only 4 gifs of him. Why does my boy not deserve tasty gifs)

RECEIVING

-----------

With Peter it heavily depends on where you are in his timeline. The "golden age" Peter, where Gamora is alive and in love, and its good times for everyone, is probably not focused on relationships outside of the team (which might be part of his issues that were addressed in Vol 3.) The "everyone I love is dead" peter is in an extreme depressive state and obviously isn't going to be making new friends or even be responsive to his current friends (for the most part). The post Vol3 "Reconciled with my dad and stopped hopping on lily pads" Peter is new man! But also the same, being like a rebuilt version of himself. He would now, in my opinion, value every relationship he has. Every opportunity he has to be with other people becomes valuable, and everything he does is to honor the people who loved him when no one else did (Mama Quill, Yondu, Gamora etc.) and serve the people who love him now and kept loving him even through hard times. (Rocket, Mantis, Drax, Groot etc.).

With that said,

ACTS OF SERVICE

GIFT GIVING

I see Peter feeling loved more through actions and physical items because of what he's been through, making him crave things that are solid and real. Also Yondu was a lil trinket collector so that may turn up in Peter too. But, I also think Peter may feel a little guilty when receiving gifts. Very grateful, though.

I will also add

WORDS OF AFFIRMATION

QUALITY TIME

Because even despite what I just said, I think a solid "You're so strong, I look up to you" every now then would make him giggle and kick his feet a little internally.

And listening to music together or sharing music is also particularly special

At the end of the day, he's just happy to be around loved ones.

GIVING

Just as you may be doing right now, he would probably try and figure out what the specific person likes. So his giving just depends on the person.

LEAST FAVORITE.

He doesn't really have one. He just wants to be loved.

--------

DRAX

(The destroyer (and protector))

Drax is probably receptive to most forms of affection, but it has to be obvious and clearcut.

Like, doing subtle things in the background might not get his attention, but hugging him directly and saying something like "I appreciate you as a person and for everything you do for the team" would be a lot better, and mean a lot more to him, even though its a very bold/blunt move. Theres probably a balance between blunt and subtle, but it would be pretty easy to strike. You also don't want to leave room for interpretation if you're afraid of him misinterpreting the difference between platonic and romantic affection. Its a slippery slope, but as long as you avoid using the word 'love' without platonic clarification too many times, you'll be good.

Also Drax does does not make friends in the traditional sense, he simply decides who is and who is not his friend. Whether they know about it or not. Not even in a way thats like cold and calculated or something, he just thinks it in his own head and decides it, expecting the others to simply Know.

With that said,

RECEIVING

PHYSICAL TOUCH.

I say this is probably both receiving and giving, but he's probably less likely to give and more open to receive. I feel like he would just kinda stand there the first few times someone hugged him, but if it became a routine thing, he would become more reciprocal. That might sound like he doesn't like physical touch, but I think its rather the fact that along with his other social skills, physical affection just turns out.. different.. for him. Like when he pet Rocket. I think he's a physical person, it just comes out weird. I want to hug him. If you touch his muscles too much he may get weirded out, or think you like him.

GIVING GIFTS

If you give him something he likes, like zarg-nuts, oh boy. He will DEFINITELY like you. Thats all to be said.

GIVING

WORDS OF AFFIRMATION.

Things like "You're ugly, but thats good because then you know who really loves you", y'know.

GIFT GIVING

Will offer you zarg-nuts. Thats a big deal.

LEAST FAVORITE

Probably Quality Time, but only if its boring. I think he actually sees things like fighting alongside the team as quality time, so it might just be different than how we would interpret quality time.

Again, he probably is just generally receptive to each language so you can't really go wrong, as long as you come across right.

-------------------

GAMORA (pre and post)

(There's also not a lot of gifs of her at all)

So, much like quill, she has three versions. During Thanos, Golden Age, and Multiverse. I'll do Golden Age and Multiverse because I don't think During Thanos is interesting, at least not for this specific post.

Also golden age and multiverse are technically two different people.

GOLDEN AGE GAMORA

Golden age Gamora is, in my opinion, a very deeply feeling woman. She can be stone cold when she needs to, but I feel like she is very emotionally intelligent especially as she gets closer with the team. She is also very loving, and is often 'the rock' of a friendship. Or just generally the level headed, down to earth one.

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RECEIVING

QUALITY TIME

Definitely finds spending time together and talking valuable. Even listening to music together is special.

WORDS OF AFFIRMATION

As long as the words are honest and not trying to just flatter her or try and get in good with her, she appreciates it. Honest praise goes a long way. Too much too often may make her embarrassed.

GIVING

Since she *is* rather emotionally intelligent, I imagine she would figure out what that person is most receptive to, and display that. But if it's someone she likes, like Peter, she may get bashful and have a hard time acting natural with it and would probably revert to her own preferred language.

LEAST FAVORITE

GIFT GIVING.

I imagine her upbringing caused her to not be a materialistic person. That said, gifts can be extremely special to her, but its just rare. So giving her flowers doesn't do anything but like if Peter gave her a mixtape, thats different.

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MULTIVERSE GAMORA

A more hot headed, less sensitive version of golden age. Meaning she's probably more standoffish and less emotionally intelligent, but not by a lot, just sort of by the trimmings and details of her personality. Being with the ravagers probably does that to most anyone. Golden age has more motherly vibes, while multiverse has more protective older sister vibes.

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RECEIVING

PHYSICAL TOUCH.

In the form of rough housing and play fighting with her ravager friends. Not exactly in a tender way, although I do see sort of the "let me patch you up" angst. One of the differences between the two is that multiverse is more afraid to be vulnerable.

GIFT GIVING

Surprisingly. I think the ravager life style may make her a little more appreciative of having her own things. I imagine theres a lot of competitiveness for special food and special items, even if its playful. Even though something unnecessary like flowers may not excite her, things like a newer, stronger weapon could mean a lot. Golden Age may not feel the exact same only because it's probably more accessible. But lets say if its something Rocket made her, then it would be inherently valuable because its from her friend. With multiverse, things gain inherent value when they're useful.

LEAST FAVORITE

WORDS OF AFFIRMATION.

She doesn't need you to tell her she's doing a good job, she already knows. Compliments are only effective from people she respects above peer-level, which is rare. Joking around with her friends (loving insults, etc) is different though.

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GROOT (multiple ages)

(I couldn't find gifs of young adult groot, only many of baby groot and a few of groot senior. Sad)

Baby Groot, Teen Groot, Young Adult Groot, Adult Groot, Groot Senior. So many choices. I'll do them ALL. (Except adult groot cause we just saw him for a few minutes so like- yknow)

GROOT SENIOR

Since Groot sr. was treated "more as animal" than a person, I imagine he doesn't have a concept of love language at all. Therefor, I will say that anything he perceives as loving, caring and protective action is his love language both giving and receiving. R.I.P. legend you will not be forgotten 🪽🕊️🕊️ 🙏 💯

The original baby boy. I'm still sad.

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BABY GROOT

He's a baby, so in theme for babies, attention, physical affection, and quality time are pretty much his main priorities. He ain't got much going on. Older baby groot, like toddler groot, is more active and perceptive, so I'd say his main receiving language is words of affirmation, and his main giving language is acts of service.

TEEN GROOT

Teen groot is broody and angsty, and he's definitely not thinking about other's feelings. So I'm gonna say while it's rare, when he does show affection, it's act of service. Receiving is pretty much anything, he doesn't really care right now.

At least not about the specifics.

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YOUNG ADULT GROOT

Now, groot is much more loving and affectionate. He is receptive to all love languages, and gives them all too. Except, theres not much use in words of affirmation for him unless he really loves the person.

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MANTIS

RECEIVING

Anything. As long as she can clearly tell it's love/affection, it's effective. Like Peter, she just wants to be loved.

GIVING

WORDS OF AFFIRMATION.

Being able to verbally explain how she feels to someone, and how she may appreciate that person, is the most confident option for her. She thinks that it's pretty effective, and is the safest option. She probably also never got a lot of affection at all before the Guardians, but I think she appreciates mental and social affection more than physical.

LEAST FAVORITE

Doesn't have one.

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NEBULA

(Last one I'm doing this post then I'll do a few more in a second post)

RECEIVING

QUALITY TIME.

Like board games and stuff, or at least thats what I think she wants, deep down. I feel like maybe she doesn't realize this is one of her love languages. Like it's subconscious.

GIFT GIVING.

With her upbringing, she only had things taken away. Giving her something of importance may mean a lot to her. Like her new arm in Vol3. Again since shes still a little emotionally constipated, she may not really realize this.

GIVING.

She doesn't really understand how to sort of actively pursue a friendship or how to read someones love language, so her giving language is probably just existing in the same space as someone without criticizing them. Because she doesn't quite know how to do more than that, or at least isn't comfortable right now. But she wants to and deep down she's trying.

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THANK YOU FOR READING!!!!!

I'll do like Adam Warlock and stuff next.

[senka-mesecine]

Not to be overly angsty, but could you write headcanons for trying to break up with the various platoon characters? And maybeee if you want (and since it’s been previously discussed they’re all a *little* obsessive) some of their reactions could be on the darker side? Thank you.

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― I imagine everyone would think that a break up with Chris Taylor would be a normal affair; you think so, everyone who knows him thinks so and even Chris himself thinks so about himself --- fact is, he doesn't envision himself as the type to flip out, have a dark side or a messed up reaction where the prospect of you actually leaving rears its ugly head or really, Taylor doesn't think he'd have a nasty reaction regardless of the situation and the context --- he'd ironically be convinced with his whole entire being that's the domain of men like Barnes or Bunny, not him. See, he thinks he's above these day-to-day suburban notions too, dating, break ups and make ups --- all that everyday jazz. If he wanted all of that he would've stayed in college. He's a nice guy regardless. Cool. Righteous. Level headed. He can handle a rejection no problem. He knows right from wrong. He can move on. And all of these traits are genuine in him except when they're not anymore, though. When the break up ceases being a theory just hanging in the great ether without actually happening and becomes a reality now that's when everything dormant inside of Chris begins flooding out and he starts being scary. He'd be so shocked you're actually serious about this he might go the route of smashing things up, getting in your face, arguing with you and even attempting to restrain you from physically leaving. It's not that Taylor's a bad person. Not that he'd do this with malicious intent. He didn't plan on this...at least not unfolding the way it ended up unfolding. It's just that when he's impassioned about something or someone he can end up seeming over zealous and even over-attached to the degree he starts becoming everything he'd never in a million years describe himself as.

― King tells Rhah and Rhah tells Crawford and Crawford tells Big Harold and Big Harold tells Chris and Chris tells a bunch of other people within Elias' squad in the platoon, and regardless if they're still in the army or have already rotated back into the world somehow these boys all find enough mutual solidarity to meet up amongst themselves, communicate, correspond, make plans and discuss the matter of King's break up like it's a tactical issue of great importance (maybe have some weed to commemorate the good old times while they're at it too; swap tales and all that shit) and confront you about it at a later date as well. They function like a brotherhood. React to this like a brotherhood. You break one heart and you've broken everyone's because they possess enough innate togetherness to have each other's back, even if having each other's backs in this case means demanding closure from you or maybe even a one last ditch to try and persuade you to get back with their friend as an united front. All several of them at the same time, yes. Functions suspiciously like an ambush even though they swear, all smiles and jokey attitudes, that that's not what it is. In fact, it feels like breaking up with King you've invertedly ended a relationship with various other people too because it's admittedly a little startling to have a barrage of people, some of which you don't even know and perhaps only just met now, there wanting answers out of you, practically pestering you to give it another shot. They're not wholly unpleasant about it, but yeah, it's all maybe a tid bit obsessive when one really thinks about it; how you're cornered into this. Meanwhile, King himself could be there with the biggest shit eating grin ever like he knows exactly what he's doing.

― O'Neill is an occasional coward in his own right, sure, and as a result one might think he could be too much of a doormat to actually do anything necessarily too awful if he was ever broken up with, but see, I think that's astoundingly untrue because I feel it would be shocking how quickly he could technically go from someone willingly servile and deferential to you to someone downright mean. Making fun of you, being faux-threatening, being a little cruel, going from being your lover to being your very own personal bully, outright lying that he has someone else lined up somewhere waiting for him and that he's flying out to (throws dart) a base in Okinawa to meet up with someone special and have some fun and this is all your doing because you don't know what you're losing out on by being the way you are --- it's all part of the special O'Neill menu under which he covers up just how devasted and afraid of losing you he actually is --- which yes, he wants and needs to cover up to seem tough because if by chance he showed you how he truly felt, he could reveal himself as the losing side over here and that's just no good in his books. So, he overcompensates. There was never a leech so difficult to get rid of as getting rid of Red actually is. He stalks. He prods. He pokes. He taunts. Might give you puppy eyes the next minute. Could whine. Act sleazy. Act smarmy. Could revert to being mean again. But thing is, there's no getting rid of him. It's difficult to tell after a while if his efforts are pathetic, weirdly endearing or both but one almost feels sorry for him. Almost. Funny thing is, O'Neill might just win you back on account of how awfully persistent he is.

― Everyone would assume a break up with Bunny would be unhinged and that's because it would be unhinged; he doesn't accept this pussy shit, as he calls it, and as a result he might do anything from shooting your neighbor's dog, shooting your own, breaking your windows or attempting to personally set your house on fire as retaliation; to him, this is free reign to do just about anything he wants. Heck, Bunny thinks he can do whatever he wants anyway (a notion he developed in the war) but when you give him an excuse as strong as this, all bets are off --- it's like you've left the gates to Disneyland and the Hugh Heffner's Playboy mansion simultaneously wide open for Bunny boy to browse and peruse as he wishes with zero consequences. He doesn't care if you love him or hate him after all of this, so long as you pay attention, even if it's of the most negative variety, he'll be gleefully content because it means he's on your mind and you scarcely have time for anything else seeing as how you're constantly fending off the crazy things your sick ex is doing to mess up your life. He rather relishes this a lot. The role of a sick ex. It's quite funny to him, actually. Bunny might love being your sick ex just as well as he likes being your actual boyfriend. Not a grand difference for him. It's almost hotter this way in his eyes. He gets into it. One could even say he's happy about it because there's seldom been a time this kid hasn't been smiling from ear to ear ever since the titular break up. It is undeniable it turns him on and that he views this as a bizarre form of foreplay and in fact, he ignores the fact you're not together anymore altogether; he meets you at a public place and he might just grin and throw his arm around your shoulder because that's his piece of ass right there.

― You break up with Wolfe and after the initial shock of that wears off on his end he immediately turns it around on you and makes it seem like he's actually the one taking authority and initiative and breaking up with you after you've already done all the legwork of starting this difficult conversation and breaking the ice around it. He's like a General ready for combat after the battle's already been done and concluded. Naturally, this is a self defense mechanism on Mark's part; a slightly spineless one, admittedly. But, no, this was his idea all along, you see, and he doesn't care anymore. Actually, he's walking away from this conversation altogether, so watch him go. That's it, he's going, all exasperated and up in arms. Going before you can actually pitch in with a counter argument that this was actually your decision and he practically usurped it making it seem like he's come up with it and somehow, you're the one seemingly ending up dumped, having no clue how or why it happened. I mean, you did want a break up...and you could be initially relieved it happened so quickly and seamlessly but part of you might have a bruised ego. Perhaps part of you is surprised at this turn of events. Wolfe might've never vocalized this once and now somehow he's the aggrieved party in control. All of this could serve as a bit of clever reverse psychology on his part, see, because now you might actually be tempted to question him why he wanted the break up when he's been nothing but happy up until like...yesterday or confront him that he's being manipulative; but you so long as you're still pursuing him and actively interested in his train of thoughts and he has the upper hand over you. He weirdly enough has a teensy, tinsy hook you in you don't even realize is there. Ironically, he's keeping you around through pretenses. It's a little sleazy but it works.

― Rhah calls you a Jezebel, Desdemona, Eve Accompanied by the Serpent itself, a Siren, the Whore of Babylon, more deceitful than Delilah, Salome and her Seven Veils, a Maneater, a Witch, a filthy Red and any number of creative, poetic epithets you can only really imagine nonironically, in all seriousness coming out of Rhah Vermucci's mouth and nobody else's. In fact, the insults are so flowery and highly decorative at times (even seeming...oddly flattering if you squint) one almost spots the barely concealed twinge of admiration and attraction still very much present even as you attempt to break up with him because while technically offensive, the ways Rhah theatrically describes you to your face in a feverish, passionate heat almost come off like he's describing the most desirable, vicious, alluring person alive and the subject of all his yearnings, all of that being peppered with sexual tension galore. It's like you're standing on the precipice of trying to end things with him or being dragged along for a round of angry hatesex just about now; either outcome is possible, with things weighing closer to winding up with you two desperately heaving and griding up against each other seeing as how Rhah might just be inches from your face, hot breath in your nostrils as he rants and raves how foul you're doing him now. Things could really quickly escalate from a shouting match to a frenzy of hungry, needy kissing where you're practically wrestling against each other and still arguing in between smooches because Rhah might be still there accusing you of being the equivalent of a trickster minx harlot and you very well could be trying to defend yourself. In either case, it's possible this break up goes nowhere because somehow both of you wake up the next morning properly fucked dry, high, sore, groggy and exhausted.

― While Elias might be the one who'd handle the break up with most grace, understanding and even outright forgiveness he also just downright wouldn't move on, in fact, you guessed it --- drugs and narcotics are his prime comfort. He gets high and he decides not to come down because now that you're out of his life there's not much worth coming down for. Not that he's hopeless. Man's sad. Melancholic, is all. He just wants to preserve the sole semblance of all the good feelings he had while you were here replicated in the form of the consolations and the escapism opioids offer; heck, he might even affectionately name his favorite combination of hallucinogenic dry plants rolled into a blunt after you personally because it's that obvious that the only way wants to cope with your absence is by effectively being on some figurative cloud of smoke somewhere, pretending you're there, and if you ever got worried because you did part on relatively good terms, feeling it's only right to check up on him every once in a while for old times sake you might find him entirely buzzed, smiling at you blissed out and vaguely relaxed and happy seeming because he doesn't think you're real. Something a break up from him and King might have in common. In fact, Elias could be all tenderness and emotion seeing you, pulling you close like you could disappear in a whiff of smoke any minute now and say something genuinely tender about how there's so much good in there world and how much of it is contained in you. How long has he been like this exactly? He seems loosened up and generally content but has he simply been in this den all the while smoking? His eyes are glazed over, joyful and distant and he thinks you're a waking dream and there's something bittersweet but a little disturbing about that.

― If you ever wanted to break up with Barnes he might nonironically hand you a gun and say something of the likes 'Go ahead. Do it.' in regards to the fact that if you want to end things you might as well end him. Kill him. He is coldly daring you as well as wholly meaning it with every nonplussed, frighteningly calm bone in his body. Because that's the only way this will ever actually end is if you effectively murder your partner. Widow yourself --- and you either have the guts to do that or you don't and if you don't then go around starting shit you ain't capable of going through with in the first place. That's his whole stance on the matter. If you hesitate he might just grab and turn that very gun, knife, firearm, weapon of murder of any variety around on you and hold the prospect of doing to you dangerously close to completion so it has time to settle into your head. It's a bit like Russian Roulette. That's what a break up technically is in his eyes; it's either or. Total finality. He isn't some sort of snot nosed, green boy, breaking up. Heck, those two words alone sound funny and unnatural even when he says them outloud to the degree he'd much rather do something entirely bloody and murderous to either you, himself or both than ever actually let you go and continue living with that. If he had to live with that he'd much rather return to warfare as a career and keep killing until he's eventually killed or keep the corpses piled up so high he's no longer himself. Either way, leaving him isn't really an actual possibility. He's giving you a way out, but it involves being just as coldblooded, murderous and cruel as he himself tends to be at his worst along with embracing every bad instinct he has as your own. Effectively, to break up with Barnes you need to kill Barnes...and to kill Barnes you need to become like Barnes. He knows and understands it and is goading you into it like a trial of fire. If you're not capable of going down that extreme route you'll never be rid of him.

[paracosmicparadox]

So I finished FFXV ages ago, but I've been thinking about it lately bc you know, I elaborated the chocobros' story far further than it was meant to go and got way more attached to them than I should have. So here're some things that the game did really well and some of the things it didn't. (you don't have to agree w anything here; I'm not trying to corrupt y'all w my opinions; I just feel like talking)

Let's start with the bad to get it out of the way:

CINDY. I swear to everything holy her character had the potential to be So Cool if she hadn't been so overtly over-sexualized. Like, I'm a woman-liker too and I get it, lady mechanics are hot af, but you know what else is attractive? Safety in the workplace. Cindy's outfit was not something any mechanic would be caught dead wearing. Yeah, it was designed to be sexy, but do you know how many burns she would've accumulated from the hot oil and metal she works with? There's a reason mechanics typically wear clothing zipped up when they're actually working on something. If anything, Cindy's character design just made me uncomfortable. Her character itself? Great. No qualms there. Her design? Please acquire more than two square feet of fabric I'm begging you. I just feel like Cindy deserved to be so much more than fan service.

Luna's brief time on-screen. Yet another potentially incredible and deep female protagonist who got short change from this game. People joke a lot that Luna wasn't at all an important character because the game never really treated her like one. She was MEANT to be important, clearly, but it felt like she existed just for her tearjerking death scene? Like there was SO MUCH overlooked potential to bring her into the storyline as more than Tragic Love Interest In White, and yet?? Idk it frustrated me.

The emotional aspect of the game felt rushed. There were a lot of emotional scenes covered throughout the plotline ranging from King Regis's death to the deal with Prompto at Zegnautus Keep. I feel like the game TRIED to cover them realistically and show the characters' grief, but it didn't quite get there. It was just sort of an "Oh, how sad. I'm so upset and angry. Hm, what's that? My friends believe in me without truly understanding and I can kill someone to ease my pain? Oh okay I'm better now." I get that realistic healing cycles are kinda hard to portray within a set timeframe, but having some lingering effects of the blatant trauma inflicted would've been nice. You don't recover from shit like that in a week's time.

Character personalities tended to be one-sided. Noctis was edgy, Prompto was happy-go-lucky, Gladio was tough-guy, and Ignis was... nevermind, Iggy was great--- HE had some on-screen depth. Personally, I've developed these characters myself far more than what the game gave us, but I wish we'd gotten more canon depth beyond their surface-level traits. I love them with my whole heart and they deserve genuine complexity.

Now the things I actually really enjoyed:

The graphics were on-point. The amount of detail put into character design and into monsters was insane. You could zoom in and see individual textures on skin and hair and feathers, bringing a level of realism to the game that I personally enjoyed.

All of the Latin and Norse mythological references!! As a Latin nerd, I found little gems everywhere in this game. Esp in the names--- (Noctis Lucis Caelum = Of-the-night Sky-of-light (the genitives in there make the literal translation kinda a mouthful ik) Gladiolus Amicitia = Sword-flower Friendship (the gladiolus is an actual flower that gets its name from the Latin word gladius, meaning sword, for its sword-like shape) Ignis Scientia = Fire Knowledge; Prompto Argentum = Ready Silver (the word prompto is actually in the dative (possibly ablative), making the literal translation nonsense, but if they'd made his name Promptus, it would've sounded awkward, so I can see why they picked the dative/ablative form of the adjective for stylistic reasons and I put the rough translation instead)) WOW THAT WAS A LOT OF PARENTHETICAL INFO WHOOPS

Ardyn's character. I'm not saying this bc I'm one of the fans who fawn over him---Ardyn is DEFINITELY NOT MY PREFERRED FLAVOR OF MAN, but character-wise, he made an excellent antagonist. He was witty, slick, and classy in an I'm-gonna-outstep-you-like-it's-hopscotch sorta way. He was a poetic villain done well, which made him an antagonist you could both sympathize for and absolutely detest given the situation. He was both the master manipulator and the pawn one space away from the edge of the board. He can sway a crowd, but you know deep in your gut just by the cunning greed in his eyes that You Cannot Trust The Man. He was definitely Not a good person (tragic backstory isn't an excuse), but he was a good villain.

I loved the bond between the chocobros?? This is probably bc I'm a sucker for the found family trope, but their interactions were so amazing to me?? Like, not even the cutscene stuff. Just their little sidebar conversations during fights or while you're walking around or driving the Regalia. They're Roadtrip Buddies™ and I think that's excellent.

THE FOOD. By god, the food in this game looked absolutely scrumptious and I would like to partake. The Daggerquill Soup? Give it to me I'll pay you. The Creamy Crustacean Omelet? Stop it right now I'll eat that so fast it'll be a criminal offense. Like I know I touched on the graphics earlier, but broski I was not kidding. I guess I know why the game took so long to make it to the market bc the detail that went into these recipes is absolutely mouthwatering.

[eeveeswordsman]

Don Quixote Limbus Company

I'm going insane here I started thinking about Don Quixote Limbus Company, my favorite sinner, and thought of something that has me so curious about her, something that doesn't make any sense to me.

So, Fixers, right? One of the major jobs we know in The City, and one of Don Quixote's major character traits. She's obsessed with them, and has merch of several fixers that she decorates her jacket with, and extensive autistic knowledge about them.

Additionally it's not just that she's a collector of merchandise, but actively idolizes them, taking every opportunity where they come up to gush about how she looks up to and idolizes and wants to be just like the Brave and Noble fixers of the city.

So why isn't she a fixer?

Obviously she can't be a fixer because she's a Sinner right now, but what about beforehand? What was keeping her from becoming a fixer before joining the company? Because if she was a fixer all her idolization wouldn't make sense, with how much she looks up to them and wants to be like them. If she "wants to be brave and noble like them" why would she not be one, when she's definitely old enough and fit enough to be one.

Surely if she was a fixer herself she'd talk about how cool it is to be one, or brag about being one, her office, her accomplishments, but nothing.

You might say oh she's just idolizing higher level fixers like colors, but she's been generally like this with like the concept of Fixers in general, not just higher levels like Colors and Grade 1s, and if she were a fixer, just a lower grade one, the way she talks about them still doesn't make sense, why would she sound so detached from being one if she were one? She acts the way she does to be like Fixers, not to be like any specific or high level fixers, but Like Fixers in a general sense, as if she's a fangirl looking on from a distance rather than participating.

I have two theories about what this could mean.

The first is that it's straightforward, something has prevented her from becoming a fixer in the past, though what could hold her back from such an apparently easy goal is a mystery.

The second, however is that she was in fact a fixer in the past, and something happened to her or her office that caused her to block that out, or try to act like it didn't happen, or even she just straight up forgot, and it's possible this "trauma" might relate to her "Windmill" (Which might be connected to the slight carnival carousel theming she kind of has in the background, but we'll have to wait and see)

The third option, of course, would be that the whole "fixer fangirl" behavior is part of her "brave and noble hero" persona she's putting on, but either she's really committed to the bit to go out of the way to amass the merchandise and knowledge about them that she has, or that part is at least on some level genuine.

Thinking about this makes me all the more excited for her eventual chapter, since I want to get into the odd layers her character seems to have. It's possible I'm completely missing or forgetting something, but it just strikes me as odd.

[enconfess]

as an adonisP, i have a lot of mixed feelings on adonis' representation in canon... on one hand i think that a lot of adonis' writing is genuinely terrible, not out of malice on the author's part but ignorance and playing into stereotypes.

but if the alternative is not having any brown characters at all (like a lot of gacha games), then i want to force companies to try writing a brown character. because yeah, adonis is deeply stereotyped, but there are also the occasional glowing moments where i see the writers genuinely trying to go out of their comfort zones and it moves me. the feature scout story where adonis talks about how no matter what he does and in spite of the fact that he has as much Japanese blood flowing through his veins as Arab, people in japan will only ever see him as a foreigner... as someone who's also biracial but looks desi and is only ever treated as such despite having a closer personal connection with my other culture, it hit me hard. and moon viewing was a story that really hit home in that same vein -- so many fans forget that adonis is japanese, and seeing him show off his knowledge of tea ceremonies was so cool! people say to "write what you know," but i think authors do need to be forced out of their comfort zones and forced to write what they don't know as well.

and part of me looks at the way people scrutinize every aspect of adonis' writing and like... i wish brown characters didnt always have to be subject to this level of scrutiny. i saw someone once complain that happyele "made their only brown character share a birthday" even though rei and izumi, both insanely popular characters, also share birthdays. the other characters can exist as they are, but adonis can only exist specifically as an arab character, and his stories can only be analyzed through this lens... and i understand why it's necessary to read his stories through the context of his race, but it also means that a lot of the time he's not allowed to just exist as a character. and i think that this furthers the idea that a character being of the dominant demographic (i.e. being japanese in franchises from japan) is "normal" or "default." he's not even an arab character. he's arab and japanese.

you should 100% be critical of adonis' stories and aware of racial stereotypes. a lot of adonis' writing is terrible; his insane level of internalized racism is awful, and a lot of his inherent character traits are built on stereotype. but some his writing isn't bad. non-adonisPs are quick to only focus on critiquing terrible !!-era stories when it comes to stories involving adonis, or only bring him up when complaining about how bad his writing is, so fans have a skewed image of his representation. but there are a lot of stories recently where adonis is opening up and rejecting the aspects of the "scary foreign guy" image he had at the start. i can't think of a single adonis card lately where, either in the unbloomed or the bloomed (or both!) he hasn't had the biggest smile on his face. rather than being a one-note character who likes meat, we now have stories of him talking about his culture and his home country, talking about his love for his family, exploring his love for cute things, joking with his friends, and coming to terms with what it means to be a foreigner in japan. that's not to say that it's perfect, but it's something.

.