#or doesn't rely on the canon storyline much

[sapphic-agent]

Thank you for the invitation! I've read your posts on Bakuguo's relationship with Izuku, and I agree with almost all of them, but this most recent post is the first time I saw you suggest that it's not just a mistake in writing on the creator's part but *deliberate* writing on the creator's part (forgive me if you've written about the subject before). The only way I could appreciate Izuku's relationship with Bakuguo was as an unfortunate side effect of Izuku's immature ideas of what it means to be a hero, and that as he experienced more of the world and grew into being his own hero, that he would eventually reject this need to tolerate Bakuguo's ... Bakuguo-ness. I also was informed that Bakuguo's behavior is a trope of manga characterization that the audience would expect from this type of writing, so I should just accept it.

But now, from what you've written, this might not be true. I've always suspected that some creators would have preferred to write about characters who couldn't actually carry a story *without* changing, but they didn't want them to change. (For example, Sukuna in Jujutsu Kansen is obviously the creator's favorite, but a story about Sukuna would require change, and the creator likes that monster just the way he is.). Are there clues that Izuku's creator is just using Izuku as a "Caretaker" character to enable the characters he does like to behave terribly and get away with it? (I hope this makes sense.)

I suppose the answer to this relies on how we look at "deliberate."

Do I think Horikoshi is intentionally undercutting Izuku's character to make Bakugou seem better? No. I don't think he has the foresight, skill, or self-awareness to even go about writing like that. I'm sure in his mind he thinks that by giving Bakugou more spotlight, he's making Izuku better written by extension.

And a lot of that has to do with the fandom. Horikoshi is an author whose decisions are very driven by popular opinion, it's why so many of his storylines and characters are all over the place. For example, almost as soon as Bakugou began to become popular (around the Sports Festival), Horikoshi started to give him more exposure. If you pay attention, you'll even notice how characters like Iida and Uraraka begin to fade into the background. This is even supported by the two of them not being very popular (especially Iida) in comparison.

And obviously, BakuDeku is very popular, the most popular ship in the fandom. Horikoshi would never make it canon, but that isn't to say he won't milk that fact for all its worth. By pushing Izuku and Bakugou together, he's feeding into that. Every time they so much as share a panel about it, BakuDeku shippers go crazy here and on Twitter. It keeps attention on MHA, and keeps revenue up.

Horikoshi knows that a large majority of the fandom will consistently read anything he releases as long as he keeps Bakugou and Izuku connected. Both Bakugou and BakuDeku as a relationship are essentially a cash cow that he can exploit.

But for Bakugou to actually improve and become a better person and for Izuku to come into his own as a hero, they need to be separated. They are both detrimental to one another's development, which is why Bakugou's character development sucks and Izuku's character seems so stagnant. They should have had to grow and learn away from each other before reconciliation was ever even thought about.

Does Horikoshi know this? Probably not. I don't think he even has the capacity to think this way. But it doesn't change the fact that he will gladly shove Izuku- and everyone else- to the side if it means Bakugou's stans keep reading

[moonspirit]

The possibilities of certain story elements of AOT going differently if Annie never crystalised herself? Of course, it would still lead her to be arrested and questioned, making Armin worried (etc.) Though, what about other storyline segments? Like, what if she was there when Reiner & Bert revealed themselves? Helping to stop Rod Reiss with Eren? Or fighting Reiner along with Eren again, while taking back Sina? ..To also witness Armin's burnt body. Man, that'd be tragic, huh?

But - hey! At least Armin's and Annie's relationship could grow with them together! Plus, gives him a reason to be held by Annie, in her Titan Form. All of this sparked out of.. nowhere, really... I just really like Aruani. Have a wonderful day, Moon!

Hiii anon!!!! I'm sorry this took so long to respond (in case you thought I ignored you, that's totally not it T^T) - I just needed some time to process this!

This is actually very interesting to think about, especially since we often acknowledge the magnitude of the impact Aruani's Female Titan arc had on the story as a whole. There's many posts about that, about how the rest of AoT literally wouldn't have existed if not for Stohess. It was Armin's cornering of Annie and her crystallization that set everything in motion.

Now, let's get to your questions! (tho I'm very bad at AU and canon-divergence stuff so I'm sorry in advance and bear with me 🥲)

Considering that for the most part we are given the impression that Annie was the only one in RBA actually doing any serious work in ref to their mission (ie she wasn't losing herself in living a false reality like Reiner nor hesitating to act like Bertholdt), it kind strikes me that she would NOT have been impressed when Reiner and Bertholdt... revealed their identities. As aloof and disliking of her companions as she may have seemed, Annie's loyalty to them and the secrets they were keeping cannot be ignored - the whole reason she crystallized was so nobody would get a word out of her and that those two would remain safe. So imagine her horror when those two just waltz up to Eren and go "Heyyyy we're the chunky titan and the big titan, what's good?" 🙃

Tho before all this, we have to step back a bit and wonder - how much would she have given away while being questioned? Not much of her volition imo, but perhaps someone smart (say Armin, Hange, etc) would piece together little bits of info she lets slip, or her interrogation is purposely set up to exhaust and drive her to the point of near-madness until she gives up. Perhaps a combination of the two too.

It's also pertinent to note that tho loyal, Annie's also selfishly driven to her own cause - that of returning to her father, so we should also probably underline the possibility that she co-operates with the enemy (in this case Paradis) if it means she can find an escape back home along the way. It cannot be stressed enough that doing this is not too out of line for Annie's character, but it will load her with a massive tonne of guilt she'll never talk to anyone about, especially if it means leaving Reiner and Bertholdt's fate in their own hands. Annie was taught by her father to rely on herself and trust nobody else. There's only so much of leeway she can allow her emotions to have before she steels herself again.

Back to your questions! Assuming a scenario exists where Annie doesn't give away Rei-Bert's identities, instead striking a deal with Erwin, let's say, to keep some of her secrets while co-operating with the Scouts (this is a ticking time-bomb Erwin's planning to take control of, but mind you, Annie wants to escape before it comes to that). Rei-bert expose themselves on the wall and take off with Eren.

What will Annie do? Will she stay with the Scouts to get Eren back, or follow those two hoping they'll somehow make it past Shiganshina where the others can't follow? A chance to return home?

It's hard to say, given she's still loyal to her cause and Reibert, and coldly realistic in her approach that just because she's cooperating with the Scouts doesn't mean she switches sides - acting is only a temporary gig to get what she wants and to where she wants. If she stays with the Scouts, it's probably only to hit a milestone of an escape plan she's got; but if she goes off with Reibert, then it's because she sees her chance and takes it.

What then? We again have two possibilities forking out of this one scenario alone. Will she escape successfully with Reiner, Bert and Ymir? Or will she be caught by the Scouts and stay in Paradis; what becomes of her trustworthiness then? (nothing good. For aruani, add more angst)

With Rod Reiss, you know I honestly think it'd be REALLY interesting for Annie to meet with Kenny again xD I honestly love how every single one of the three Ackermans managed to get Annie at one point in time or the other (it's funny lmao) - it would be SO intriguing to see her come face to face with him. I'm not sure what thematic/symbolic significance this could have (I'm typing this out while sleepy xD), but I think something about Kenny being a slave to his ideals and desires could lead Annie to question her own beliefs or rather, mirror hers albeit in a different light. Kenny's "love" is shown to us in a very twisted shape - ie his relationship with Kuchel, his "raising" of Levi (with violence and purpose. reminds you of another father, maybe?), his pursuit of impossible dreams vis a vis Annie's very simple ones. I don't really know what I'm trying to say here except that I'm now picturing Annie being in the frame (perhaps hidden or not) when Levi finds out that the dying Kenny is his uncle - it seems important in a way I can't quite put to words xD?

About Shiganshina... oh we can't talk about Shiganshina 🥲🥲🥲🥲 I only know for certain that Aruani's relationship would most likely have progressed into a solid relationship, maybe? by this point (or not, given the speed at which things were happening left and right...), so... I can't even begin to imagine the devastation that Armin's "death" and the subsequent Serum Debacle would wreak on Annie. Tho the latter is honestly a PRIME opportunity for her feelings to become obvious to everyone that was blind to it hehe xD

But the angst... not only will it be Annie's guilt about battling Rei-Bert again (whether or not she's still playing actor or has legimiately switched sides is irrelevant)........ but also.... what would a struggle among Ackerman and Leonhart vs Ackerman have come to? God. You know, I actually wanna see that T^T Levi's just gonna lie there and be like "I hate these 104th girls. Always whining about some idiot boy, fuck my life. Erwin, haul me up man."

God. We'd never run out of possibilities to talk about xD You could draw a flowchart or a scenario-tree and it'd just keep going.

Anyway, I'm sorry that this is ALL over the place, really, I couldn't find a way to logically talk about all these things without diving into pages and pages worth of hyper specific possibilities (and that will bore everybody to death) T___T all the same it's very messy and incoherent imo, so I apologise if this isn't what you wanted! We can talk about this more tho, send me your thoughts :3!

[wildissylupus]

My (hopefully) last complaint about Junkertown and the Junkers before my inevitable Re-write post

Junkers vs. MAD MAX

Alright I'm already on a roll with this and I've already committed myself to doing a rewrite of Junkertown and the Junkers, but I have one more thing to complain. That being the fact that they butcher the media they are referencing, that being Mad Max. For more context this is also coming form an Australian who has never watched these movies, this doesn't mean I didn't do my research, this is just to give context that I myself have never seen these movies.

If you don't know Mad Max is very much Australian media, written by, acted by, and taking place in Australia. Not only that but it very much relies on the world building of the fact that one, Australia is very isolated, and two, the rest of the world is like this. Something that Overwatch fails egregiously off the bat with considering that the rest of the world is not an apocalyptic wasteland and the fact that the thing that caused Junkertown and the radiation was an Omnium. You know, the thing that multiple countries had? There's also the fact that Junkrat and Roadhog are international criminals, how big Austraila is and the travel time between areas are never considered, it's exceedingly easy to leave the damn country (Junkrat and Roadhog again but also Hammond in his new short story). They want to be a Mad Max reference without actually considering the fact that the isolation inherent to Australia is important to Mad Max's setting.

There's also the fact that Mad Max relies heavily on visual story telling, Mad Max: Fury Road not even having a screenplay, it was fully laid out on storyboards. There's also the fact that Mad Max was not about the Australian experience but rather the human experience, this isn't a problem until you realize that every other characters references are very much biased off that characters origin. That or their place of origin is considered when writing them even if the reference for said character isn't from that country.

Another thing is that Mad Max communicates the brutality and disfunction of humanity, society has collapsed and we are left with the worst of it. The theming and messaging does not work with the rest of Overwatch's theming, it also doesn't make sense in universe considering that Overwatch was one, very environment focused, and two, was already sending forces to Australia to help with the consequences of radiation. Why did they let the Wasteland and Junkertown get so bad? Especially in the early Golden Age, and you can't say that it was because of the Junkers cause Overwatch have handled worse. Even before that point. We also have better examples of "the worst of humanity trope" with Talon, and they actually fit the story and world.

The theme they also completely miss in the soulless copy that is the Junkers is the individual connections and the theming or regaining humanity after great tragedy. In all honesty the best way they could have done this would have been to make Howl's rule itself the Mad Max Reference while Odessa's rule was the healing process from that, but no, they made her an overtaxing dictator instead. The gave the Junkers storyline the theme of desperation but no theme of hope, leaving it empty.

The only thing they unintentionally get right is that your environment doesn't necessarily change you, you do. Yes, a change of environment can assist in giving you space to make that change, but you are you no matter where you go. Junkrat and Roadhog don't change cause their out of Junkertown, they stay the exact same. Which is unfortunate because this is just due to them lacking any real depth in canon, an no, Junkrat actually being incredibly smart isn't character depth.

Back to the whole human connection thing, tell me, outside of fanon interpretation, out side of Junkrat's unreliable narration, outside of the interaction with characters he hasn't met in canon yet. Does anyone like Junkrat? Roadhog is there because Junkrat is paying him and because he seems board, the rest of Junkertown hates him, JQ especially. Roadhog doesn't seem to care about anyone, Junkerqueen's only true connection we see is with Hammond, and Hammond contiues to be my favoutite Junker by literally negating all the complaints about Junkertown I've had so far.

Honestly when I started looking at Junkertown lore I did not expect to be coming out saying that the fucking hamster was the best written character but here we are.

This is all also only referencing Mad Max: Fury Road by the way, which is probably what Junker Town is based off of considering its popularity and the time of release compared to Overwatch's. Honestly I might re-do this analysis/complaint if I ever watch the Mad Max series myself. Though I don't think my feelings will change of this, and that is the Junkers are an insult of a reference to MAD MAX. An empty copy at best. This is also coming from the person who often defends Overwatch's writing, I can't defend the Junkers, it's just bad writing.

[seyaryminamoto]

If you could change anything in the original ATLA storyline (besides making Sokkla happen) what would it be?

Uhhhh well with all my complaints across the years pertaining ATLA I don't think there's just one (1) singular thing I'd change.

Off the top of my head, I immediately thought I'd make Zuko's character and story more coherent :'D but then there's ALSO Iroh, who also needs to be more coherent.

I'd make the White Lotus an active faction throughout the war rather than just being Iroh's connections, initially, only to become the Avengers at the last minute. Hell... I don't even think I'd make Iroh part of the White Lotus, a group that's fighting for what's right should not readily spread its arms and embrace Fire Lord Azulon's warmongering son, much less let him be their leader :'D If anything, they can be a mystery Iroh spends the whole show trying to reveal, and we'd watch him prove himself to them in order to ever be deemed worthy of joining the group because NOW he has the right beliefs and is hoping to do right by the world. His membership there would not be a done deal from the get-go.

I'd also gladly make Ozai a more complex character, far worthier of being a final villain.

I'd give Toph an actual, challenging arc.

I'd make Katara learn from her mistakes so much more than she ever did.

I'd make sure Mai and Ty Lee actually learn to question what needs to be questioned rather than redeeming them just because they sided with Zuko one time.

I'd flesh out Suki way more too.

I'd give Aang more respect when it comes to his tragedy, and make his morals more consistent (which is part of respecting him and his culture that the OG show just... did whenever it suited it).

I'd absolutely rewrite every romantic relationship (I mean, even if Sokkla is canon in this dream scenario here, Maiko and Kataang still would be canon too, right?) so that they're nowhere near as unbalanced as they feel in the OG.

I'd hint at energybending all along rather than just keeping it as a last minute secret.

I'd most likely not kill Jet nor imply I killed him. Just don't see the need for it.

Probably would either give Hama a different approach or not have her around at all.

Combustion Man would also need a full rework or be deleted.

Zhao would also get more depth and complexity rather than just being around to make Zuko look better.

Sooooo... there are a lot of things worth changing if you ask me :'D but as far as priorities go, I think I'd definitely fix Zuko first out of all these things. I haven't ranted about his character for so many years in vain, even if Iroh were to stay the same, I'd love to see a Zuko who learns to think for himself and doesn't just rely on Iroh's guidance and on doing whatever he thinks Iroh would want him to do. :'D

[rococo-sonata]

i'm brainrotted by both bsd and steven universe so i made a crossover au because there is so many similarities between the characters!!

(NO DAZAI DID NOT GET MPREG☠️ ATSUSHI ISN'T HIS SON)

SO!! in this universe, years after the gem war, when the situation seems to have calmed down for the earth and the revolution seems to have fallen into oblivion at homeworld, Dazai who no longer has a goal decides to finally commit su!cide. But when he dies, his gem doesn't shatter, the small ounce of desire to live that Dazai has left (among other stuff) gives birth to something entirely new, something between a gem and a being. in short Atsushi is a sort of reincarnation of Dazai who has his gem

Now let me explain why i choose those roles for them :3 i just finished the season 3 of bsd so i might get some stuff wrong.

Just like Rose, Dazai's motivations is hard to understand. They are both morally grey characters, who are difficult to describe as just good or bad because their true intentions are unclear. They both have a past in which they caused pain to people around them, they both seek to change and be better persons . Both revolve around a dual identity, one good and one bad, but they are really just a mixture of the two. They make mistakes, they're selfish but at the same time they want to fight for something good. People expect a lot from them and see them as leaders or role models while they themselves are lost and depressed. And in the storyline of the two their story is told in reverse ^_^

Atsushi reminds me of Steven mainly bcs of the role he plays for Kyoka, helping her find herself and what she wants to do with her life. Just like Steven he is told his whole life to be a certain way, he spend his time trying to help others, forgetting that his feelings matter too

(in this universe Greg is the girl from the cafe, it's a bit useless but i find it funny to turn her into a rockstar)

Kunikida as Pearl is for me the one that makes the most sense. Pearl remains unable to grieve because she dedicated her life to serving Rose. Kunikida dedicates his life to achieving his ideals of a perfect justice and in which he saves everyone. When he fails he is unable to forgive himself and to mourn over the people he could not save. I think they're sm alike.. Just with their personalities, they're both strict nerdy caring devoted and kinda got a stick up their ass. But also with their stories and mindset. Kunikida is tragic lesbian coded. This one makes me so happy because they are both my favorite characters. Not that I like KuniDazai that much, i don't really ship it. but here it's more or less canon, they are like very very very close friends. Kunikida remains stuck for years over the fact that he couldn't save his """best friend""" and consider himself as responsible for his death.

Ranpo as Garnet because I think ranpo makes a good leader. Despite being immature he is capable of rationalizing and making decisions (like in the cannibalism arc) he is a sort of guide and is admired by the members of the agency, like garnet in the crystal gems, everyone relies on him. and especially his power to see the future looks like the super deduction

Yosano as Amethyst is really because I wanted her to have an important role and I didn't know who else to put in☠️ I find that she's a bit similar in the way they fight, they're both ruthless and really mature in a certain way

update : now that i saw Yosano backstory i'm glad i picked amethyst for her. they both fight to earn the right to live, because they think they're bad by nature (because of their past or their appearance) they want to defend the only place and peoples that accept them

this is my 2nd favorite!! it makes so much sense imo. the story of both lapis and kyoko revolves around being imprisoned/controlled and used as a weapon, being seen as a machine to destroy by nature. Lapis' mirror is kyoka's phone. They both seeks emancipationand becoming good people ^_^

i'm done for now but i have so many others idea that i love sm!! next will probably be akutagawa

[getvalentined]

What’s your opinions of the various ffvii compilation games?

Oh I am a huge proponent of the Compilation as a whole; I know that opinion is rare for someone who's been in the fandom from the beginning, but I'm an insufferable lore gremlin and I just eat up everything the series has to offer. I have three different copies of Advent Children (the original on DVD, ACC on DVD, and ACC on blu-ray) and even still watch Last Order on occasion.

The series itself is really fascinating and staggeringly consistent (I've talked about how the implied timeline of the Jenova Project as presented in-game is so consistent that it matches up with real-world human gestational science), with the exception of the FF7Re series—which I can deal with, since it's canonically on a different timeline and therefore any retcons there are literal in-universe retcons, which is pretty brilliant.

That said, I'mma put ratings for the pieces of the Compilation individually under a cut!

OG FF7: 9/10. would be 10/10 if the English localization were better. Where it all started, still one of my favorite games of all time.

Advent Children (+Complete): 8/10. Not a game, but part of the Compilation! Anyone who says the plot makes no sense doesn't realize that they're watching a sequel that relies very heavily on people understanding the history and characterization of every single character shown.

Last Order: 6.5/10. Also not a game, also part of the Compilation. Love that this is implied to literally be Tseng's coverup of what happened with Zack, presented in anime form. Makes no sense in multiple places as a result, but if you know that's what it is then you can 100% see why it's portrayed that way! Honestly I really enjoyed it and wish more people would appreciate it for what it is.

Dirge of Cerberus: 7/10. The gameplay kinda sucks but honestly the storyline is super good—or it would be, if the entire fucking prologue hadn't been cut from any release outside Japan, thereby leaving the entire issue with DeepGround completely unexplained to all other audiences. Once you know what is going on, the storyline here is fantastic, and I've never really forgiven SE for not releasing the rest of it. I love that Dirge fills in the lore for Vincent that was cut when he was relegated to "optional" in the OG, and that it also helps to clarify why Midgar could have 9 functional mako reactors while every other reactor in the world is either sputtering to nothing or exploding. (It's Omega. Midgar is built over Omega. It's the place where all lines of the Lifestream converge so that Omega can draw it all in and carry it away at the end of the world, and Shinra never discovered that's why the mako well there is so expansive. I love good worldbuilding, and Dirge is a beautiful example of that.)

Before Crisis: N/A. I want this game so bad man where is it give it to meeeee. Honestly tho I've watched playthroughs and read scripts where available, and while I don't think it looks like much fun from a modern gameplay perspective, I have huge respect for it as far as development goes. This is one of the first really mainstream mobile games ever made, it was made for flip phones, and it's super extensive! Also it gave me Veld, who is one half of my favorite ship ever, which means it automatically gets a 7/10 even if I've never played it.

Crisis Core (+Reunion): 9/10. As fun to play as the OG. When I first played this on PSP over a decade ago, it hit me with such an intense feeling of nostalgia that it almost took me off my feet. In spite of the dramatic difference between game mechanics in CC versus the OG, it felt exactly like playing the OG again, and that feeling never really left. Humanized Sephiroth in a beautiful way that pissed off a bunch of fanboys and made me fall in love with him all over again. Also introduced my second favorite FF7 character ever, Genesis, who is one half of one of my core FF7 ships, so A+ on that too!

FF7 Remake (+InterMISSION): 8/10. Had a lot of fun with this one, and it's beautiful, but it doesn't have a lot of replayability in my experience, which is a shame. Would have been 6 or 7/10 if not for InterMISSION, which was a fucking delight.

FF7 First SOLDIER: 6/10. This applies to both the Battle Royale and the title in Ever Crisis. I am not a fan of Glenn & Co. but I love 14 year old Sephiroth and really appreciate that extension of lore and worldbuilding, so it's a decent balance. I love that the opening cutscene for the battle royale literally filled a 20+ year old plot hole in under two minutes.

FF7 Rebirth: 9.5/10. The only things that could make me like this game more would be if Vincent were playable (although I understand why he's not and, in spite of him being my favorite fictional character ever, I agree with this decision), and fewer required minigames. Just cut like one or two. Or fix the controls, maybe. Glide de Chocobo is even more broken now that it's been patched.

[lucabethforever]

If you have to tear down a much-beloved character and discredit years of storytelling and canon to make your new ship sail then that tells you all you need to know about that new relationship.

It is so obvious this whole season was written to be a TN fanfiction come to life and to clear Elizabeth and Nathan of any wrongdoing last season. Rosemary literally asked Elizabeth if the news about Jeanette made her feel less guilty about the way she ended things with Lucas. It's so obvious what the writers are doing. But it won't work. As far as we're concerned Elizabeth and Nathan are cheaters and liars and we loathe them.

This season also doesn't realistically validate any criticism of Elizabeth and Lucas’ relationship or Lucas himself since all of these issues have had no basis whatsoever previously in the show. If they had it would be legitimate and we would accept it as such.

Just looking at the Jeanette storyline, Lucas never referred to her as an old poor widow. It's also unrealistic for her to rely on seeing a newspaper article to track Lucas down when he was in direct contact with her and told her how Hope Valley was perfect. When Lucas saw her in this episode it was like he saw a ghost. He couldn't wait for her to be out of town. So why would he freely contact her without hesitation in previous seasons? If he doesn't trust that she's gone straight and is associating with the right people why did he enlist her help to bring down Wyman Walden? The answer is a RETCON. This show and the characters are Linday Sturman’s version. LS and her team are revisiting resolved storylines and writing them the way they would have had they been at the helm. This season is season 2 of WCTH: a different version.

[butchgrayson]

15 16 18 for Jason Todd

omg jason time... i am about to reveal how much i love and miss countdown and all its potential and the fact that i cannot shut up abt it...

15. What's your favorite ship for this character? (Doesn't matter if it's canon or not.)

JAYKYLE i think that theres something so interesting about their dynamic during countdown (kyle in one of his worst mental spaces post-ion, jason adrift as he tries to figure out what he's doing in a post under the hood world) and the antagonism/friendliness that so clearly could have morphed into a truly interesting relationship that could have been so thematically relevant to both their storylines and i wishhhhh dc had actually committed to more stories with them post countdown but well. as with all jason things we must grasp onto its potential with all our might <3

16. What's your least favorite ship for this character?

The clear answer is anything batcest but outside of that i have to say jay/roy. i have read all of rhato unfortunately and so i can understand logically why people end up shipping them if rhato is their intro to comics/they haven't read any roy comics before (or jason ones for that matter lmao) but like. n52 roy is simply not roy harper, and lobdell's writing is truly so contemptuous towards him (and kory) that i really really dislike it. as with everything that came out of that series it relies on butchering every single character and selling their parts off in order to contrive a dynamic that does not make sense given their histories. blegh.

18. How about a relationship they have in canon with another character that you admire?

JASON AND DONNA TROY YOU WILL ALWAYS BE FAMOUS <3333 its like catnip to me i wont lie. like even starting in jay's robin era him and donna have such a fun dynamic (see: ntt v2 #20 esp), where outside of dick she is the titan who takes the most time to talk to him/get to know him, and then after his ressurection in countdown she is like. the only person who really gives him any chance/benefit of the doubt re:duela or his capacity to change. i think the fact that they had suchhhhh clear parallels to each other with their deaths/ressurections and the fact that they cause such huge shifts in their internal self-conceptions, and the process of them dealing with that on their little cross-dimensional road trip is such a treat. sometimes you see someone you used to know two lifetimes ago and it is a comfort and a knife because who they are and who you are have so radically changed but all you can do is keep moving forward etc etc. i wish they had done more with these two after 2007, but unfortunately jason got tossed back into batman-land and genuinely some of the worst writing he has had post-res and donna had like .5 good comics afterwards (i hate u titans 2008). once again: potential potential potential

tysm for sending this in 🥰

character ask game

[maul-of-shame]

I think it's hilarious when anti-elandriels try to justify Celeborn's blandness with 'wELL He's A gREaT FOuNdATion tO BuILd ON!!' like my guy, that's the flashing red light telling you that his own creator didn't even think about fleshing him out as much as he could have. And while yes, technically that's free real estate if you're into that, I sure don't see many fanfics being written about him and ONLY him WITHOUT relying on Galadriel to be the only noteworthy thing about him as a character. Much less any that capture a wide audience.

Exactly!

If the writers of TROP had thought Celeborn was the "untapped treasure trove" his defenders claim, they would’ve jumped at the chance to flesh him out right off the bat, don't you think?

Instead, they chose to create brand-new characters to stand beside Galadriel, knowing full well she deserves a dynamic cast that actually elevates the story. Galadriel's journey was worth building from scratch rather than banking on an underdeveloped spouse who, frankly, doesn't bring much to the table.

When the creators opt for original characters instead of leaning on the so-called "foundation" of Celeborn, that says everything about how narratively weak he is. If he's supposedly all this "free real estate," where are the groundbreaking scenes centered on his character alone?

Where's his individual arc that doesn't hinge on Galadriel’s legacy?

The answer is nowhere because the only consistent intrigue he seems to generate is rooted in Galadriel herself.

It’s telling that, even with all the canon to explore, the show's writers saw that a new, dynamic storyline with original characters was a better option. They're investing in characters who actually contribute to Galadriel’s journey and the larger stakes at hand.

And the fandom? Let’s be honest—there’s a reason why Celeborn remains on the backburner while Elrond and Galadriel, with their own compelling arcs and depth, continue to captivate audiences and inspire fan content.

These so-called Celeborn “fans” aren’t really campaigning for his return out of a desire to see him fully fleshed out or developed as an individual. They��re not holding their breath for an original storyline that finally gives him depth.

No, they want him back for one purpose: to sideline Elrond.

And I'll die on this damn hill.

They don’t actually care about Celeborn as his own character—he’s just a convenient tool they hope can push Elrond out of the narrative.

Here’s the irony: if these “fans” truly wanted Celeborn back for his potential as a character, they’d be talking about his own arc, his struggles, his goals outside of Galadriel. They’d be speculating about his role in the wider conflicts or relationships he might develop independently.

But you almost never hear that.

Instead, it’s all about diminishing Elrond’s presence, as if that somehow elevates Celeborn. They don’t want him to complement Galadriel’s journey or enrich the story; they just want him to be a placeholder, blocking Elrond’s screen time and connection with Galadriel.

The real kicker? Even if Celeborn does show up, he’s never going to fill the role Elrond has earned.

I'm sorry if I sound like a mean girl, but that's true.

Elrond has carved out his space with his own personality, history, and relationships. He’s connected to Galadriel in a way that’s complex, with mutual respect, trust, and a depth that’s only grown over time. If Celeborn were to drop in now, after all the action, it would be glaringly obvious that he’s out of place.

There’s no chemistry built over seasons, no gradual development. Instead, he’d be riding in after Galadriel has already been through the fire—and, ironically, it would only make Elrond’s impact on her journey more apparent by comparison.

It’s the height of irony that a character who’s supposed to be Galadriel’s “equal” is only ever discussed in relation to pushing Elrond aside.

But let’s be real: Elrond is here to stay because he’s actually contributing to the story, not just filling a role. So if the “Bring Back Celeborn Brigade” is hoping he’ll magically erase Elrond’s significance, they’re in for a rude awakening.

[horizon-verizon]

https://www.tumblr.com/horizon-verizon/763989616788406272/i-think-theres-a-certain-irony-in-the-fact-that?source=share

If I were to say that this actually satisfies me? Alicent fans didn’t complain about all the changes in the first season since they benefited her by giving her a victim storyline. They didn’t care how much the first season strayed from her book counterpart like they do with the second season because they liked those changes. The problem isn’t the changes or how far they deviate from the book—the problem is that they no longer benefit her. What they really wanted was for the show to create a hybrid between Show Alicent and Book Alicent. They wanted Book Alicent but with Show Alicent’s backstory so they could victimize her and justify her actions.

If you pay attention, most of the things her fans use to victimize her are based on changes the show invented ("a 14-year-old girl manipulated by her father and forced to have children," "her friend lied to her after she tried to help and support her, which got her father fired," "she married a man as old as her father," "she had to care for her husband who abused her and rule for 6 years while he rotted away," etc.). None of that happens in the books. The fact that the writers didn’t give them what they wanted is hilarious. Rhaenyra’s character was sacrificed in the first season to give her a storyline, and the fact that the writers also ended up sacrificing Alicent for that “rhaenicent” nonsense, going in a completely different direction than what they expected, makes me respect Condal just a little.

The problem isn’t the changes or how far they deviate from the book—the problem is that they no longer benefit her. What they really wanted was for the show to create a hybrid between Show Alicent and Book Alicent. They wanted Book Alicent but with Show Alicent’s backstory so they could victimize her and justify her actions.

YUP, very much all this. Although I do see how many women in Alicent's position would and feel entitled to their sons put before an older daughter from a previous marriage in succession lines--what with how she had to "sacrifice" her body and put her life at risk (even though she may not know the extent of how risky pregnancy was bc they don't teach people nothing, esp not young girls), Alicent is still objectively also wrong to go after Rhaenyra under the goal of upholding patriarchal destruction of women.

Though 18x29/30 is still pretty weird for it all being legal in the U.S., it is also true that they deliberately made it worse for Alicent as they did for Aemma, Rhea Royce, Rhaenys, Laena, etc. Which gives off an impression that what happens to these women canonically "wasn't as bad" and is more acceptable, really.

Yes, Alicent grew up indoctrinated...doesn't mean she didn't also have the choice to not go weird in canon against a kid 3 TIMES--Rhaenyra, Rhaenyra's Aegon, and her own granddaughter Jaehaera--or choose to participate in provoking a war to give said sons the kingdom when there would likely have been a relatively more peaceful transfer of power.

Yes Alicent grew up into the mindset where she would fear Rhaenyra might kill her kids due to history...except since only the Targs have dragons, there were oaths made, etc., there si also the more objective fact that there was really no threat to Rhaenyra except those kids who no one else can be a threat to in turn....so why was there no attempt to see how Rhaenyra felt about her siblings or how Rhaenyra would/wouldn't bow to others' attempts to turn her against said siblings? And do we know how much Alicent's own desire to be "first lady" informed much of her fears for her kids, the "ratio" for that? Not saying she shouldn't have ambitions or seek to be first-first through her son becoming king, but it appears that people wish to over-rely on the notion that bk&show!Alicent was mostly or only afraid for her kids when she keeps doing & saying things that belie that idea. Meanwhile, I'm pretty comfortable with saying that Rhaenyra absolutely wanted the throne for herself, prove a point/reap the benefits after similar experiences of women being excluded from power, AND to protect her kids. And the consequences of the war/violence/sexism was that she lost her kids and was murdered for merely following convention in a way by affirming her heirship.

Rhaena the Black Bride, after all the stuff with Maegor and her own family excluding her for Rogar, wanted power/Dragonstone/affirmation of being Aenys' heir to defend her peace and bc it was the most available way to affirm her dignity; these two women of the Dance wanted power to affirm their dignity nearly the same way but not only.

Those writers said they will not satisfy anyone, but in a way that they some didn't anticipate.

[katurdayss]

It’s been a full week since the finale of Rings of Power and every time I've sat down to try to write my S2 review I see a new take and start rethinking. I eventually circle back to the same ideas tho, so fuck it, here are my thoughts in no particular order.

Season 2 was a lot better than Season 1. This is true for most shows, as S1 is usually a 'lets find our footing' scenario, but also these seasons are SHORT. Which leads me to...

This show would benefit GREATLY from seasons longer than 8 episodes. The way they've structured it means they juggle a LOT of storylines at once. Sometimes this is great, other times it feels like storylines suffer because they're just planting seeds for the future and it doesn't really have an impact on the Main Storyline for the season. For me, Arondir was one of these. His started with this great potential for how an immortal would understand the concept of grieving the forever loss of a loved one. Unfortunately that was really watered down into tracking down Adar to kill him, full stop. Which brings us to...

What.the.fuck.is.the.timeline? How much time has passed? S1 and S2 feel like they happened in a month. I don’t care if the timeline is compressed, I still want to feel time passing other than noticing Annatar's/Sauron’s hair magically grew like 4 inches in one episode.

Speaking of Annatar, I feel like what the show did really well was creating original dialogue/moments (even with canon things) instead of what I would call fan/studio service. The parts that I have loved the most were the more original moments: like anything involving the dwarves, the development of Miriel and Elendil, the Ents, and Cirdan. The parts that I felt were weakest were when the show relied too heavily or used dialogue from the Jackson movies. I didn't want the Stranger to be Gandalf, not because it isn't canon, but because Peter Jackson already did that. I don't need multiple call backs to his movies (I love those movies too). I'm here for NEW STUFF. Expand my Tolkien universe, show me shit I've never seen before that will make my head explode. That weird nameless thing Arondir killed? Imagine the Cardi B 'What is that' meme and that was me. Fucking great. I don't want to be constantly reminded of the Jackson version of shit, I'm here to see Prime's version.

That brings me to the idea of consistency. I have yet to figure out what the methodology the showrunners/writers have when choosing to follow or not follow canon. Example, they included that little orc family but didn't make Elrond an elf lord? WHY? His lineage is like royal af. Even when not following canon, I feel like the writing can be really inconsistent. The Numenor storyline is a great example of this. Sometimes it's awesome, but the dialogue for the Kings Men characters are often really cringy, and not because what they're saying is fascist. Galadriel is another one for me. Do I need to like her, no, but her character is also used as a studio catch all for every woman character archetype possible. She's single-minded and driven, she's soft and caring, she's thoughtful and wise, every dude apparently is in love with her and it swings WILDLY from episode to episode. You need space to build in these changes to make them believable, which see points 2 & 3.

And finally, on the subject of romance/shipping, for the love of god a story can be great without all the fan service romantic tension editing and teasing. People can exist without romantic partners. People exist without romance. I literally do it every day. I'm not saying you need to make characters asxeual or anything either. Just you know, let people be people. Did The Kiss bother me? No, but you also could of written Elrond slipping Galadriel a lock pick numerous other ways. Is Sauron obsessed with Galadriel? Sure, but maybe its because her hair shines with the light of the west or something and not this tired trope of 'bE mY qUeeN'.

There are other things I would personally change, but I thoroughly enjoyed this season. It made me do a whole lot of reckoning with the ideas of canon representation vs just good storytelling for the audience, which is a really good thing. But it also showed me the folly in treating every media property the same, because Tolkien is not Marvel is not GOT is not The Witcher. You can't be like, 8 episodes works for X so it should work for this too, or x worked for GOT so we'll use that here as well. Maybe it's the Graphic Designer in me but just because Pepsi and Coca Cola are brand soda's doesn't mean the design language and marketing is the same, ya know?

[scarlet--wiccan]

Do you have any criticism on how the Darkhold was handled in the Multiverse of Madness?? And the lore building in general if you want to rant more

Yeah, although, honestly there's not much to say besides "it sucks." To date, the Darkhold has been used in three different M C U/ M C U-adjacent properties-- Agents of SHIELD, Runaways, and now Wanda/Vision and the subsequent titles-- some of which contradict each other, and none of which have attempted to adapt any aspect of its canon history or lore.

The Elder God mythos does not exist in these continuities. Chthon is only mentioned once, and is described simply as a "demon." The Darkhold is otherwise just referred to vaguely as the "book of sins" or "book of the damned." Without the context of Marvel's unique cosmology, it becomes either a cheap stand-in for the Necronomicon, or a stock horror prop that relies on an implicitly Christian worldview of sin, damnation, and "dark magic" to make sense. WV, MoM, and Agatha have specifically leaned really hard into that treatment, despite ample opportunity to do otherwise, and it's disappointing. Honestly, I think it speaks to the disdain that these filmmakers and showrunners have for the source material-- they can never just take it at face value, and they often do away with the things that make it imaginative and unique.

This is especially problematic for Wanda, whose relationships to chaos magic, Chthon, and the Darkhold are central to her character and to the major themes of her narrative. None of those relationships are carried over, and the M C U undermines and betrays those themes at every turn. It creates a narrative that, I think, is actually less sympathetic to Wanda, although you can tell that the writers believed they were doing something progressive. She has more autonomy in this storyline, but she also has fewer things to overcome besides her own poor behavior. Although the Darkhold appears to have a corruptive influence, Wanda's lucidity and control is repeatedly affirmed, even in the midst of the Hex. At the end of the day, she's responsible for her own actions.

You could argue that her descent into villainy in MoM is a product of the Darkhold's influence, but even that just feels like cruel moral determinism. She becomes the Scarlet Witch through a combination of trauma and prophecy, and as the Scarlet Witch she's apparently destined to claim the Darkhold and the temple on Mount Wundagore-- which will, apparently, lead to inevitable moral decay. Or perhaps the temple was always meant for her to destroy-- the movie is frankly unclear. Either way, it was built for her, and it led to her downfall. It seems excessively cruel, and without a possessor or abuser to overcome, Wanda has no way to free herself from this cycle besides suicide. Maybe it's stale, but I'd prefer a standard possession storyline over that any day.

And anyways, the whole corruption thing is moot, to me, because there is already an established pattern in which Wanda uses her grief to justify harm. Years before she began to manifest her magical powers, Wanda's grief and outrage led her to volunteer for HYDRA, and she continued aligning herself with a fascist robot until his violence reached her own (white) community. That wasn't magic-- she just got radicalized by neo-Nazis! And again, we're repeatedly shown that she's aware of the situation and has the ability to control her actions, and the conditions of the Hex, in WandaVision. Yes, the viewer empathizes with her grief and inability to let go, but she crosses too many lines, and she doesn't learn from it. She's locked in this pattern from day one and never grows. Maybe that's not her fault, but at the end of the day, her story in the M C U is tragic and cruel in the ways the comics never were, and it offers far less hope of redemption. If and when she is redeemed, it won't feal earned or plausible like it did in the comics.

[tomwambsgans]

hello! I agree with a lot of your takes re: Tom/Greg and am quite sincerely baffled by how many of the big 'intellectual' Succession blogs are comfortable dismissing them as a joke unworthy of insight or analysis. one of the weirdest trends I've seen is 'Tom/Greg would be nothing without Tom/Shiv' because it's like... of course a storyline about what's essentially an affair relies on the marriage it's destroying; of course the relationships on the show all feed into each other vitally. I wouldn't even say I 'ship' T/G or have a deep personal investment in it, but I think understanding it as textually real and substantial is essential to any reading of the show as a whole. I love Tom's relationship arc with Shiv; I find it chilling and heartbreaking and fantastic (and I have equal sympathy for her), but saying that every scene he has with Greg is just about Shiv is such a ludicrously ignorant dismissal coming from people who purport to be invested in, like, serious dramaturgical analysis. Tom being closeted is important; Tom sincerely (and sometimes truly selflessly) loving Greg on a show about egomaniacs forever betraying each other is important. it's almost hilariously ironic to see 'serious' bloggers waving it all away.

this isn't to say that the vast majority of those interested in T/G don't also get them completely wrong – once people are actually confronted with a 'canon gay pairing' that doesn't conform to shipping conventions they don't know what to do with it. it's just tiring that the two extremes seem to be 'total, smug disregard' and 'pointlessly unfaithful misrepresentation'.

but anyway: I like your blog! keep doing what you're doing.

hi wow okay i love this message first of all

and tbqh that Intellectual Dismissal of tomgreg? homophobia. it's homophobia. whether internalized or otherwise that's genuinely what it is lol. like at absolute best it's ppl who've been convinced that it's dumb or immature to be passionate and sincere about two men loving each other and that that's never gonna be the "correct" reaction about a piece of media or something.

and yeah no "tomgreg only exists bc of tomshiv" is a take that makes me want to rip my hair out any time i catch so much of a whiff of it. as something to dismiss tg first of all it's dumb as fuck bc like.. okay? and YOU only exist bc your dad managed to say some offhanded thing to your mom one day that made her decide they were gonna fuck or vice versa. everything in the world "only" happened because something else happened first. and then as an actual analysis of tg it's still wrong and falls apart so easily with so many of the big tg moments in mind. like nero and sporus? I'm gonna push my wife down the stairs and marry you? I'm literally going to end my marriage and be with you instead? and honestly you don't even have to go far that into the show, I'd argue that the ortolan dinner and the connection that tom literally spells out there is very clearly independent of shiv. there's parallels but tom isn't consciously thinking "shiv is out cheating on me so i'll also (emotionally) cheat on her".. obviously lol. Tom and greg simply connect as two human beings more than basically any other pair in the show do and the actual ""reliance"" that their relationship has on shiv boils down, I would say, to simply how tom's unhappiness with shiv pushes him to pursue what he wants. otherwise yeah tomshiv influences certain aspects of the tg dynamic but I guess a lot of ppl don't realize that that's not the same thing as being "reliant" lmao

[thestupidhelmet]

I get that Red was trying to help Eric from making a mistake by marrying too young. He and Donna were too young to get married (it’s my opinion they could’ve still been engaged and waited till after they graduated high school to marry). But I think Red was going too far by taking away everything that Eric earned— especially his job! That was vindictive and completely unnecessary. I hated how he did that to try to prove a point he couldn’t make by “demoting” Eric back to a ten year old. Red wanted Eric to be an adult TM, but by taking away his son’s responsibilities, he wasn’t doing that. Eric was really trying to prove to his father and everyone else he could handle supporting himself (and by extension Donna, even though she’d be working too), but Red took away all his chances.

I don't like how Red or Kitty reacted to Eric and Donna's engagement, either. That being said, I also understand their point of view.

Eric and Donna are only seventeen. While the planned length of their engagement is never explicitly stated or discussed in season 5, Red and Kitty's behavior implies that Eric and Donna plan on a relatively short one. Otherwise, Eric and Donna would've told them to chill because they don't plan on marrying until after college.

They never communicate that intention, however. If they had, the storyline would have fallen apart. The writers purposely never define the planned length of the engagement so that all the conflict between Eric and his parents can happen.

Red and Kitty fail to dissuade Eric and Donna verbally, including asking them simply to postpone the engagement by one year -- which, again, implies that marriage would soon follow.

Red tries to give Eric a dose of reality by firing him from PriceMart, that once married Eric wouldn't be a kid who could rely on his parents to fix or find solutions to his problems. Problems that would now be adult in nature: being financially responsible for his adult family, living expenses, future children (T7S prime canon, not T9S AU canon).

Neither Red nor Kitty want Eric to grow up unprepared, foregoing college because the responsibilities of marriage and maybe kids at a young age means he'll have to work full-time. We know from "Hunting" (season 2) that Red very much wants to prepare Eric for taking care of himself in a much less kind environment than his home -- i.e. the world.

Red and Kitty are desperate to get through their determined, stubborn, teenage son, who doesn't yet have the wisdom borne from experience to make different choices. He has an arrogance that many teenagers have about their choices. It's part of the growth process.

So Red pushes Eric and Donna to get married right away, at seventeen) to scare them into postponing engagement/marriage.

The one act that I believe goes too far is Kitty sabotaging Eric getting the bank job. Again, I understand why she does it. She's right to believe if he gets that job that he'll delay college or never go. And if I were in her position, I might want to make a similar choice (I wouldn't necessarily act on it).

But Eric will live and by his own choices as an adult. He's made his decision at seventeen, and in a year -- at eighteen -- he's legally an adult. Getting that bank teller job is another indication that he and Donna planned on a short engagement.

Red and Kitty are parenting Eric the best, imperfect way they can, trying to protect Eric from his own dumbassery.

I do think that an in-character Donna, at least, would have insisted on a long engagement that lasts through college. Eric would have agreed to it, too, even if he were eager to be married during college. But the T7S writers began manipulating the characters in season 5 to manufacture conflict and put plot first.

[thebreakfastgenie]

Hawkeye for the character ask game please ❤️

How I feel about this character

"Character of all time" is perhaps played out, but... I love this character. He's complex and interesting and shaped like that. He's one of my favorite characters ever. He's from Maine! He has one of the best character names of all time.

All the people I ship romantically with this character

Margaret

Frank

Trapper

Charles

Bigelow

Carlye (not endgame)

Inga

I'm also a big fan of Hawkeye/OC, especially Female OC but Male OC too

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Hawkeye and Trapper probably takes the cake, but I also love his dynamics with Radar, Klinger, and Sidney.

My unpopular opinion about this character

This is tricky because there's a lot of fanon that I agree with the broad strokes of but disagree with the details, or feel it's taken too far. I'm a fan of exploring his trauma; I think he has PTSD and he's still going to have an adjustment, but I don't think he's a broken bird.

I don't think he's overly political. I don't think he's read theory, I don't think he throws around words like imperialism. He certainly has political opinions but I don't think they're ovelry sophisticated. I think he's much more of a mainstream liberal than a leftist and he's definitely not a communist (though people like Flagg would call him one). I think his strong anti-war feelings come from a more basic moral place of hating death and violence and his anti-bigotry views come from a similar place. I think that's an important part of his character, because the show is trying to say that the horror of war should transcend politics, that everyone should be as horrified by it as Hawkeye is.

I don't think he's especially feminine, I think he has a lot of masculine traits and he's a man who's very comfortable in his masculinity which makes him willing to explore more feminine traits too, because he's not afraid of being "less" of a man. I think most of his gender-nonconformity is about about rebelling against authority much more than gender expression. Even his more feminine traits feel like more of a statement of what a man is allowed to be.

I don't think he's a bottom and I hate the bratty bottom characterization (he's vers; I can buy bottom-leaning but he definitely enjoys topping).

The last thing he would ever do is sit around pining for someone who wasn't available. I don't think fandom consciously characterizes him as a pining love martyr, but a lot of ship fic/fanon relies on that characterization, so it's very popular.

I don't think he was wrong in Fallen Idol, Commander Pierce, or Bottle Fatigue, but I don't think he's a saint who's never wrong.

I think a lot of his friends treat him badly in the later seasons, especially 8-11, and he doesn't deserve it.

I'm not sure what the popular view on this is these days but I feel very strongly that Hawkeye was raised culturally New England protestant but agnostic.

I think he wants to get married and have kids someday, just not yet, and he probably does eventually.

Of course, my least popular opinion is that he has no romantic feelings for BJ whatsoever.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

I wish he'd gotten a medal! You could get a great storyline out of his attempts to avoid it. Unlike BJ's bronze star storyline, it wouldn't be out of guilt, it would be purely because he doesn't want to be honored by the military.

[lunarlegend]

okay, now i've fully played through Verse 2 with the subtitles mod. and while i enjoyed it much more now that Ignis doesn't sound yandere for his brother, i still don't think it makes sense. and i know it doesn't technically have to, since it's meant to be an alternate ending anyway, but.

i dislike how quickly and seamlessly it goes from Point A to Point B. that's something the canon game already struggled with, and Verse 2 is even worse. in this ending, the events of Episode Prompto never happened. that's a whole chunk of the game that's straight-up missing. but more importantly, Verse 2 erases Noct's character development.

it's a huge deal for Noctis to slowly start to grow up and accept his responsibilities throughout the second half of the main game. and it takes more than just the Train Scene to do it...it's also dealing with Prompto getting kidnapped, being separated from his friends, losing his father's car, etc. there are several events that all build on each other, resulting in Noctis being truly alone for the first time in practically his whole life, with nothing to protect him but the Ring he initially refused to wear.

that's a lot.

and none of it happens in Verse 2.

in the alternate ending, there is no train ride after Altissia. there is no argument, no reason for Gladio to push Noctis into accepting his role, because the catalyst for that (Ignis going blind) didn't happen. no appearance from Luna's spirit, no visit to Tenebrae, no traumatic journey to find Prompto. none of it.

if Verse 2 were to be believed, that would mean that Noctis (after years of relying on others and a history of not wanting to embrace his royal duties) is now showing up, directly to Zegnautus, and immediately saying "I'm sorry. I was weak." before willingly stepping right into the Crystal. and that just doesn't make sense to me at all.

i still believe it is Ignis' fantasy. it's the version of Noctis he never got to know. the one who recognizes everyone's sacrifices and has the self-awareness to make the right choices without having to be pushed. in the canon storyline, we don't get to see this Noctis until the night before the final battle. and it makes more sense to me that Ignis would want to imagine a world like that, than believing Noctis as a character could just do a complete 180 in maturity in such a short amount of time.

also, i continue to find the final scene of Noctis on the throne to be very unsettling.

the room is completely empty and has a distinct blueish tone that makes it seem cold (as opposed to other scenes featuring the Citadel's throne room, where there are people and you can see warm light streaming through). it is silent. even Ignis' words are silent. and Noctis looks far too serious.

i don't think it's really Noctis at all.