#parrot cult leader arc

[sympathytea]

So this is a sequel to this post mainly because there was some crucial details in the finale that I missed, but this is specifically going to be focusing on Parrot rather than Evbo, although Evbo is still going to be part of this whole theory. Lets start.

[Transcript Start] Evbo: -My iron sword, so their swords will never break. Thats why I have to get out of here, so that I can prove to people that there is a way out! Obviously, to do that, I need to make it to level 4. But its a bit tough to do that, since theres no way to rank up apparently. Parrot: ...Wait, what do you mean theres no way to rank up? Evbo: Oh yeah! I probably should've mentioned that every time I try to rank up to a golden sword- Woah, getting up close and personal. But..yeah, theres no water at the bottom, I've died-

[End of transcript.]

This exchange to me, at first, read as rather inconspicuous. Other players have killed Evbo before, or straight up hit him. So it didn't particularly click with me that this was something to pay attention to, but it was a bit weird considering how Parrot is first characterized. His whole introduction with Evbo and Tabi, and him talking about the iron sword layer being peaceful, and trying to protect Evbo's immortal identity, being depressed and isolating himself in a mansion.. It seems odd that this would suddenly shift when the situation becomes "Theres no way out" and him almost getting violent here, like every other character in the series. But he shows restraint in his anger rather than lashing out. Good right? Well... Next time we "meet" Parrot the implications are less than ideal. We learn he is a bow, and that he attempted to tell Evbo this, but the message about Tabi's betrayal got through to him too late. Then something else happens. Evbo, post betrayal and probably wanting to let off some of the stress that has most definitely been bubbling under the surface, Kills the entire iron sword layer. Or atleast very heavily implied that he did, along with Parrot's help. In Evbo's words, he "Killed all the people that were against me." which could either mean like, two people or the entire layer, and I don't think Evbo was particularly keeping track of the "bad" iron swords that came into his cell depending on how populated that layer actually is. The way someone would typically twist this, is that Parrot is willing to do terrible things for his friend's safety and comfort. Which is fine, but hear me out. Considering that Parrot got very close to snapping at Evbo back in episode 4, and was pretty absent throughout the arc where Evbo trains until he gets to the diamond sword layer, and then out of nowhere, helps with a murder spree despite him being one of the more peaceful residents? One that doesn't appear to get into fights, nor is seen going into Evbo's cell for kills? Evbo lets something slip near the end right after describing the massacre that he and Parrot did together. Parrot says:

"I will do my best to make a difference in this world."

Now, this sounds good in theory. Great, even! But consider the stuff we learned from him up until this point, the tiny details that you could easily miss or disregard entirely. Now, what does that phrase imply? Especially with the surrounding context being Evbo and Parrot killing a layer together?

What difference does he intend to make in this world? We don't get more than what Evbo tells us in the narration, but he does mention that he isn't willing to see Parrot just yet, and needs to piece his feelings towards him. What went down between these two that went unseen that left Evbo not wanting to talk to him let alone see him? Fishy, fishy, fishy.

[linkspooky]

Love your JJK metas - apologies if I missed it, but any thoughts on Gojo feeling that he was "left behind" and has to "catch up" to Geto before slaughtering the higher ups?

I don't think the impact Shibuya had on him was really explicitly explored, except for that one panel where he said it was his responsibility, but him internally seeing it as following Geto's path in a way surprised me - it makes sense to me, but it doesn't at the same time.

This is a question I really wanted to answer, but delayed for a long time because I wanted to think it over. When the exhibition changed and Gege released his original draft for this scene, it helped clarify a lot of my thoughts on this scene.

"If you want to kill me, kill me. I wouldn’t mind if it were by your hand. But make sure mine is the only life you take.”

These lines become more meaningful if you think of them in the context of earlier events in Hidden Inventory. It sheds light on a lot of scenes from the flashback arc.

In particular this scene.

In his post-enlightenment high Gojo could kill the entirety of the Star Plasma Cult and feel nothing about it to punish them for Riko's death, but he lives the ultimate decision up to Geto.

In that moment Geto convinces him that killing these bystanders would be pointless, because society has other methods for punishing the members of this cult. Specifically he tells Gojo that it's not their job as Jujutsu Sorcerers to punish these people. He basically confines Gojo to the morality of a Jujutsu Sorcerer. Sorcerers kill curse users yes, but they never use their curse techniques on other people like the members in the crowd who don't fight back. Jujutusu Sorcerers aren't a part of the japanese justice system, they exist for one job and that is to deal with curses and curse users in order to prevent them from hurting normal people.

So Geto's lpong explanation to Gojo to talk him down from slaughtering the crowd that's applauding for Riko's death amounts to "That's not our job." He also emphasizes how killing these people wouldn't accomplish anything, because the group was going to disband anyway, and these are just rank and file believers the leaders of the cult are already gone. So in total two reasons, 1) it's not our job, 2) this murder wouldn't accomplish anything.

In the KFC breakup, Gojo parrots Geto's own arguments about killing right back at him. Notice that when they're having their argument Gojo never brings up the fact that killing is wrong, but that killing non-sorcerers is pointless because the sheer amount of number of people you would have to kill is so enormous it's impossible.

Geto's methods are wrong not because they're immoral but because they're impractical. It's not whether or not killing is right or wrong. It's meaningles killing vs. killing with a purpose. Geto's goal is completely impossible for him to accomplish, so all the people he killed in name of that goal died for no reason.

Gojo and Geto are specifically arguing about methods, not morality. Gojo is especially troubled because he's trying to appeal to Geto using the morality that Geto taught him, obligation as a sorcerer, justice, killing with purpose, but now it's all falling on Geto's deaf ears. I think it's poignant Gojo at this stage in his life can't really form a moral argument of his own just repeat Geto's words back at him, it shows how much Gojo was using Geto as a guidepoint.

Gege even says in the databook the reason Gojo stopped himself from killing the cult is that he was using Geto's moral reasoning and not his own.

So in a way, it's Geto's words that prevented Gojo from being a monster all the way back in Hidden Iventnory. Yet, we see in premature death Gojo's completely unable to talk Geto down from the ledge he was standing on.

Even though the words he's using are Geto's words. Perhaps, because the words he's using are Geto's words. Gojo's faith in Geto as a partner and a moral guidepost was so unshakable he's not capable of reconciling with the fact that the person standing in front of him right now slaughtered a whole village.

Geto leaves, and Gojo lacks the words to make him stay. However, in spite of the fact that this scene is called the KFC breakup this, Geto and Gojo aren't ending their relationship. In Jujutsu Kaisen Zero, Geto is surprised by the fact that Gojo still trusts him and feels the same way years later. In Gojo's dying dream, he states that he would have been satisfied losing to Sukuna if Geto was there to wish him good luck before he left. The Geto he pictures is the one in his Gojo-Gesa, the corrupted adult Geto, and not the one he used in childhood.

This is also after Geto expresses jealousy that Gojo wanted to provide a challenge to Sukuna and force him to go all out, because Gojo understood Sukuna's isolation from being the strongest. Because Geto and Gojo's relationship began from the fact that Geto was the only other special grade in their year and therefore the only one able to understand Gojo by being just as strong as he was. Only for Gojo to immediately say that he wasn't satisfied going all out against Sukuna, because Geto wasn't there. It wasn't Geto's power he needed, but his presence.

Geto wasn't leaving Gojo. He was leaving Jujutsu Society. However, since Gojo is such an integral part of Jujutsu Society, it's essentially the same thing. They're not breaking apart because their no longer friends, but because their morals are so different. Even if his attempts at reform wasn't so radical as killing all human beings, Gojo still wouldn't be able to leave with Geto because without Jujutsu Society there is no Gojo Satoru.

Gojo doesn't believe that massacring half the world is possible, but in a way he probably wouldn't believe even a less extreme reform is impossible as long as it was accomplished from the outside. Gojo has always been an internal reformist while at the same time being a radical. Gojo stated this early on he can just kill the people on top but that would make him a monster.

Remember what I emphasized above, Geto convinced Gojo not to slaughter the members of the Star Cult because it's not a Jujutsu Sorcerer's job to punish people like that. If he crossed that line he'd no longer be a Jujutsu Sorcerer. Gojo not only lives to be a sorcerer, but the time in his youth when he was with Geto was the only time he ever felt understood and that there was someone he could rely on.

Geto crossed that line and when he killed the people of Nanako and Mimiko's village (the way that Geto wanted to kill Riko's murderers that day), he was no longer acting as a sorcerer. Geto stopped being a sorcerer, but Gojo couldn't follow him because Gojo lives to be a sorcerer.

Gojo's plan is therefore create sorcerers strong enough that they can support each other the way that him and Geto should have. Create strong allies so that in the next generation no-one will be left behind.

Gojo's belief is that what he needed was stronger allies, not a systemic issue. When his attempts at reform fail, and he wakes up to see that all of his students have had execution orders placed on them by the higher ups he finally gives up on the notion of internal reform.

Gojo eventually ended up committing a mass slaughter for his perceived greater good. The same kind of mass slaughter that Geto prevented him from doing that day he avenged Riko's death. By doing that, he stopped being a sorcerer.

Now that we've finally come full circle I'm going to explain what I think Gojo means by "I can't do that. That day I was left behind, so I have to catch up."

The most direct interpretation is that Gojo is echoing Yuta's sentiment. Geto became a monster all on his own and left Gojo behind. Now, years after the fact Gojo is realizing that Geto's violent action was necessary and he's essentially leaving his role as a sorcerer to become more like Gojo. He's finally understood why Geto did what he did, years after the fact, and far too late.

In one sense Gojo is becoming Geto in this scene. In another sense, he's recalling how he felt years before when he watched Geto walk away. Geto is the one who kept Gojo from being a monster and kept him on the path of being a sorcerer, only for Geto to go off that path himself. Not only that though, but in their final conversation, Geto made sure to still try to keep Gojo on that path.

Remember this line from the original draft:

"If you want to kill me, kill me. I wouldn’t mind if it were by your hand. But make sure mine is the only life you take.”

This line is essentially the same as this, but look at the paneling.

Gojo is about to unleash a hollow purple on Geto, but when Geto disappears into the crowd of people he stops. In order to kill Geto, he would have had to kill several innocent people in the crowd so Gojo hesitates.

The original draft lines indicate that Geto did this on purpose. He told Gojo to be sure only to kill him and not kill anyone else because he still wants Gojo to remain a sorcerer. Geto was resolved to become a monster on his own and didn't want to drag Gojo down with him.

Geto is leaving and he doesn't want Gojo to become with, because Gojo is the happiest when he's a sorcerer.

In the Hidden Inventory Gojo is playing the role of Yuta, begging Geto not to become a monster alone only to be left behind. In the future Gojo resolves to become a monster like Geto. Even though he's finally trying to understand his friend, he's a year too late. Geto is dead and he can't catch up now.

[kinopioa]

To get an understanding of how "in tune" Ian is with the fandom, in 1999 he started a collaborative fan comic, called Other M

Bare in mind it looked like this at first

But a collaborative effort was rare back then, and Ian assigning roles like a comic creator was seen as "professional". It helped that unlike most drawn fancomics, Ian's lasted for a few years, already having 20 issues between 1999-2002

It further helped that 1999 Sonic was turbulent in the fandom. "Green eyes bad" garbage, Archie incompatibilities to game canon, etc

With Other M still latching on old Sonic characters like Archie did (Bean having a major role of a brazen war leader, alt zone Chaotix working as a coup), some fans were interested. Especially since Ian ramped up references to obscure Sonic media (OVA, 8 bit games, US Sonic Bible, etc)

With Archie soon growing melodramatic and less rooted in Satam or Games early 2000s, more turned to the growing fancomic

Ian also managed to have really strong ties to SHQ, the main sonic fandom site outside games, even falling in love with one of the staff, Aleah Baker. He was cemented in the fandom as an inspiring icon, getting involved with many projects

In 2002 he had an interview with SHQ, noting his work, as well as noting that he was to apply for Archie

He got rejected, many times until late 2005 the fallout of Archie staff along with shifting editors gave Ian a chance to take over for writing

But in those years he still had his collabed fancomics, his presence in other sites like Sonic-Cult, Fanfiction.net, and Devianart. The idea of fans making it big already happened with 2 other fan artists like Dawn Best and J. Axers being hired by Archie

So him being hired? Was very big

Well except in Sonic Retro, their reception to most things not "classic" was poor to be fair until mid 2010s

Ian parroting fandom complaints/ misinterpretations in the comic meant he was always in good faith, regardless of actual core flaws. 2010-17 being negatively recieved after Weide's vid foricbly hyper Ian, despite post reboot not being liked as much. The 2018 telephone rumor of mandates further buffed his position

It's how he;

got away with randomly bringing back Knothole, only to destroy it

repeated Shadow 05 dialogue and a hokey Maria virtual reality arc, despite Shadow not having amnesia in Archie, and already finding inner peace and purpose in Penders trash 3 issue arc

got away with killing off M Robotnik, Tommy the Turtle, A.D.A.M Almost immediately

got away with having a character trash talk Tommy, when that never happened before

Making Silver incompetent for 5 years, having Cream be pathetic, initially writing Rouge like a gem hungry villain, etc etc

A lot of these reflected fandom interpretations. Ian was effectively surface level appeasing them

It's honestly a fascinating case of heavy nepotism and faking till you make it. Shame he's so interconnected with Sonic, grew an ego of "fans are better than X", and never really improved

@randomthefox @aquillis-main

[scarletwitching]

Without the Avengers, Wanda Maximoff and her troublemaking brother, Pietro, were never reformed.

Heroes Reborn #1; writer: Jason Aaron; penciler: Ed McGuinness; inker: Mark Morales; colorist: Matthew Wilson; letterer: VC's Cory Petit

Someone asked me about this comic, which I have not read, so I went to check it out, got to this point, and said, "No."

I am going to say something that should be obvious and uncontroversial: Abused children are not supervillains.

You know this. I know this. We all know this. So, why does almost everyone accept this framing that Wanda started out as a supervillain? This is an absurd idea, based not only on what actually happens in the earliest X-Men comics but also on what we, people living in the year 2021, understand about abuse. And cults. And children.

You know that a teenage girl standing around while her abuser does crimes is not a "villain" and does not need to be "reformed." I don't know what villainy people think Wanda was getting up to in the 1960's. What evil plans was she enacting? Most people haven't read those old comics. I get it. Some of y'all think Magneto is based on Malcolm X. I know you didn't get that idea from reading X-Men #4. But what do people even think was going on in the original X-Men comics?

You know what Wanda was doing before she joined the Avengers? Living in Switzerland, hanging out. What was she being reformed from? Yodeling?

It is bizarre to me the way that people, including and especially Marvel writers, will buy into a narrative framing even when it makes no sense. But more importantly, wow, is the idea that Wanda started out as a spooky, evil supervillain used to justify everything. Right down to her being [Don Johnson in Knives Out voice] lit-rally a Nazi in those awful movies. You can have her do anything and people will rush to say, "Of course, that happened. She started out as a villain!" If you're a homeless teenager who falls under the sway of a charismatic leader who saves your life, then mentally and physically abuses you and you stand around while he does crimes, you are capable of literally any atrocity. That's just facts.

There's a lot of elements at play when we talk about what has gone wrong with Wanda and the horrible way that she's been written over the years. Writers being horny. Writers being incompetent. The sexism, the ableism, all of that. It's all true. But this is, to some extent, the original sin. Because if you create this hero/villain binary and then slot homeless teenagers who ended up in a bad situation into the "bad" category, 1) you have failed from the get-go and 2) you will be able to justify whatever bullshit you want. (And no, I'm not blaming this on Lee and Kirby. This is mostly people not reading their work but thinking they know what happens in it.)

Superhero stories have this ongoing struggle with themselves where they are torn between, on the one hand, the redemption arc and on the other, this black-and-white, tough-on-crime thinking where if you're "bad" once, you're "bad" forever. I'm not a big redemption arc person, but I don't get how people can feel this genre is at its best when it's parroting carceral mindsets brought to you by Ronald Reagan.

Anyway, stop giving Wanda red hair.

[newnitz]

Weapon XI vs End of an Era

I’ve got a test in an hour and my idea of unwinding is ranting about Kevin Levin AGAIN. 

A lot of the fandom hates the Rooters arc. Many even consider it non-canon, some hate it even more than So Long And Thanks for All The Smoothies. 

But I think it adds another layer to Kevin’s character.

In the OS, he started out as a really troubled kid almost doomed to become a monster. Then in UA we saw a vulnerable side to him hiding under this monster, a side Kwarrel reestablished his humanity through. Now, at the end of the flashback, we have Kevin, a lonely, traumatized 11/12 year old wandering in a chaotic, dangerous extradimensional penal colony. 

And what does Servantis, the leader of the black-ops section of the Plumbers do? He exploits him. He tells him he was right to blame Ben for all his woes, that he’s really the hero who will save the universe. Argit told the Tennysons of how badly Kevin wanted to eat these lies, to feel like he’s anything but a monster. Even when his liability(over-absorption insanity) takes over, his rants are about being the hero rather than the problem. While the other Amalgam kids and maybe even his fellow Rooters were mind-controlled, since Kevin was the source of the power and therefore immune to it, his treatment looks like the more mundane version of brainwashing: Take someone just old enough to start grasping ideological concepts(which developmentally is the early teens), appeal to their need to change the world, sell them a black-and-white view of a nuanced situation and use them as thee most devoted agents, since adults who are more capable of critical thought WILL second-guess you to a certain degree. I haven’t been in a cult, but from the outside looking in, Kevin’s time with the rooters does look like one, especially considering the mindwiped Amalgams still parrot their ideas during AF. 

It also explains why his fake memories were so convincing: He wanted to believe them. He wanted to believe that he had a father who died heroically, that his problematic home life was all Harvey’s fault. That he was always destined to be a hero rather than a monster. So he played into the Rooters’ hands perfectly, becoming the Alien Force team’s tank and tech expert, saving the universe at least three times(his mutation being the sole reason Charmcaster hasn’t taken over the dimension, Ultimate Aggregor’s defeat at his claws and him being the one to see through Elena who would have killed Ben and real Julie both). By the time the Rooters came knocking, Kevin was living a dream, a fantasy, for years. 

So what does he do with the restored memory and ability to keep (most of)his lucidity while absorbing energy? He takes responsibility for everything Servantis used him for, fakes becoming a villain again and corrects what he perceives as his past wrongs by freeing the amalgam kids from Servantis’s control. The only time Kevin was more heroic is when he sacrificed his sanity to stop Aggregor.  

Now come End of an Era, and we get a confirmation that the events of Ken 10, originally occurring in an alternate timeline, are now canon as the future of the prime timeline. Now remember: Kevin 11000 is a monster. He has no love for his own son, who he manipulates into breaking him out of the Null Void then casts aside, he tries to kill Ken, he lives for the sole purpose of killing Ben because he wants to, not to prove anything. Where exactly can the reformed, heroic Kevin of Omniverse, who(aside from being manic and volatile, which judging by the progression of his self-control from AF S3 to Weapon XI shouldn’t be a factor by then) has nothing but sadism and bloodthirst? Make it make sense. And how the Hell is the same monster now the leader of the Rooters? 

The creators could have said these could be the same timelines rather than are. Hell, Matt Wayne said just that. But Derrick J. Wyatt said it’s canon, therefore necessarily part of the same timeline. It’s jarring and horrifying. The easy answer is to pick and choose between these statements, but for a character with this much nuance, picking the easy answer feels like doing him a disservice. 

[stillness-in-green]

I saw speculation on this going around & I’m curious to get your thoughts on it: where do you think Geten’s story might be going in the future, & do u think it’s possible Dabi will kill him? I saw ppl talking about Dabi’s noted distaste for him & how the PLF seems more of a temporary alliance in the LoV’s mind (Compress’ noted rejection of the name in his thoughts, Dabi’s use of Skeptic against his will, etc), & w/ AFO back in the picture they theorized Dabi may get his quirk & kill Geten.

Okay, so, it took me a while to grapple with this one, and in the end, I'm going to have to break my reply up into two parts. Because you asked a very simple question, anon, and my answer to the question you actually asked is pretty simple (if characteristically rambly)! But you also provided a bunch of contextualizing information about what prompted your ask, and I have a lot to say about that contextualizing information, stuff that is only tangentially related to your actual question.

Note that some of this is going to get pretty salty, but I assume you wouldn't have brought a Known MLA Stan a question like this if you didn't want at least a bit of that. Most of the salt will be in the second part, though! This first part is pretty safe!

So, to answer the actual question: I don't have a lot of solid thoughts on where Geten's story is going, because from the looks of the way the series as a whole is going, it may well be that the MLA’s story is already done. I have previously expressed concerns about the current status of the MLA mainly because of all the speculation that Horikoshi is trying to rush to get to the ending, and if Hori’s rushing the ending, I don’t know that I’d bet on Geten coming back at all. In fact, given what I can guess about the scenario, I’d kind of rather he not.

The thing is, the MLA have always been far more relevant to the League than they have been to anyone else in the cast. They’re Tomura's victory spoils; their plot beats were established to connect to the League, not the heroes, the students, or even All For One. There’s just no personal connection there, and lacking a personal connection, all they’d do is be fodder for background fights to fill page space and give the side characters something to do.

And there’s just no drama in that! Not even any tension! We've already seen the MLA characters beaten--first by the villains, and then by the heroes. Hell, we've seen Re-Destro beaten three times!(1) Based on how the raid went, there are maybe three people in the entire MLA that present a credible threat--Hose Face, whose name we don’t even know, Re-Destro, who has a repeatedly-illustrated weak point in the form of his new legs, and Geten.

While I definitely think Geten could give any of the students save Deku a run for their money,(2) what would be the point? Who would he be slotted in to have a dramatic fight with? Geten hurt Cementoss, but he didn't kill him, and none of the students are uniquely close to Cementoss anyway. Geten has never personally offended or harmed any of the kids directly. There was a time people theorized that Shouto's end game boss would be a combination of Geten and Dabi, but with the PLF scattered, that looks less likely.

From the other side of things, Geten himself has no particular beef with the kids. If he'd been on the front lines to witness the opening moments of the battle, maybe he'd have a bone to pick with Kaminari, Kinoko, Juzo, and particularly Tokoyami, but it took Geten a bit to get to the front; he has no particular way of knowing about those four, and at the moment, he certainly has more pressing matters on his mind.

Geten's primary interest, when it comes right down to it, is Re-Destro. He talks a big game about the MLA's goals, but when the pivotal moment comes in Deika, he bails on the battle that was assigned to him to try and help RD instead. He claims that pure strength is to be valued above all else, but his loyalties don’t change when Gigantomachia bats him aside like a fly or when Shigaraki proves himself to be An Strongest. Even up to Jakku, Geten is still concerned solely with Re-Destro. With no real reason to pit RD against the kids, there’s no reason to throw Geten against them, either.

The only person Geten has an established rivalry with is, of course, Dabi, but getting the two of them even in the same vicinity again is going to require breaking the MLA leaders out of jail, which clearly isn't a priority of AFO's, and he's the one running the show right now. Would Shigaraki bother? He might, particularly if RD, Trumpet and Geten all get shipped to whatever Tartarus Lite Mr. Compress and Machia are likewise bound for. But if the story is headed to its conclusion, is Shigaraki ever going to get that option?

Is AFO the final boss? If so, it doesn't seem to leave much of an opening for the MLA to become relevant again, because, again, the MLA are all about Tomura's victory, Tomura’s ascendant arc as a villain, his status as a hero to other villains (namely RD). If Deku "saving" Shigaraki from All For One is going to magically resolve all of Tomura's issues with society as a whole, because hey, at least this kid is a good person, so his society can't be so bad after all! (GAG), that doesn't seem to leave much room to get into the myriad issues with society that all of Tomura's followers have. Frankly, the only thing the MLA has to offer Deku right now that's remotely relevant to his current goals is Re-Destro's starry-eyed explanation about why he's fallen so hard for Shigaraki, and Spinner is better suited for that role on basically every level.

So that’s all been one big if. The other alternative is the ending I'm hoping we get, in which Deku and Shigaraki join forces to put an end to AFO, only for Shigaraki to thank Deku cordially and then get right back to destroying things because, surprise surprise, Midoriya Izuku being a good person doesn't absolve Hero Society of all of its many, many sins. Then I can see there being room for the MLA to return. At that point, not only is there RD’s devotion to Shigaraki on offer, but also the MLA’s ideology of Liberation, what it is, what it offers, along with, for example, more on whatever Harima Oji’s complaints were about heroes, more on what has to change systemically to satisfy Shigaraki’s grudge. That’s a story the MLA can meaningfully contribute to, and therefore a story in which Geten and his quirk supremacist beliefs are more likely to be addressed.

However, I’m not optimistic that we’re going to get that ending, and until we find out whether Shigaraki will be satisfied with being rescued from AFO (if, indeed, he survives the process at all), or whether he and his compatriots’ societal issues will be left by the wayside, I’m not yet prepared to spend a lot of time theorizing on how the MLA’s role in it would look.

As to the specific question of Dabi killing Geten--honestly? I think that moment is past. While I said earlier that Dabi is Geten’s only established rivalry, that is frankly being more generous than their relationship actually warrants. After all, we haven’t seen them interact since Deika, and literally the only time one of them has so much as thought of the other in that period was Dabi grumbling, “That icy punk sure knows how to let loose,” after Geten’s big wall of ice attack allows Tokoyami to get away with Hawks. If their continued animosity were going to be a plot point, and especially if Dabi were going to murder him in cold blood eventually, Horikoshi should have shown us the two of them antagonizing each other as co-lieutenants of the Violet Regiment.

At this point, Dabi has made his big play, revealed his identity to the world. I think he's pretty locked into the Todoroki Drama now; he has bigger concerns than going back and winning a grudge match against Geten. Also too, given the point he's trying to prove about the strength of his/Endeavor's flames, would he even want Geten's quirk? If he were to get it, would he get the "evolved" version or just the basic one?(3) Because given the precedent set by both the mechanics of Monoma's Copy and AFO's comments about Jeanist's Fiber Master, I'd be inclined to think the latter, and Geten's ice powers are way less badass without the temperature control, especially for a dude trying to wield them in concert with flames of the temperature Dabi uses.

From a narrative standpoint, Geten has already been punished for his hubris with a personal defeat, the humbling of his leader, a loss of pride in his organization, and then a second, much more damning defeat and subsequent capture at the hands of heroes. Dabi taking his quirk and killing him at this point would just be kicking--indeed, killing--him when he’s already down. It doesn’t feel like karma; it just feels malicious.

That said, in the rather dubiously scaffolded scenario that the MLA gets free and finds their way back to the League and AFO/Shigaraki takes Geten's quirk(4) and Dabi accepts it, would Dabi then kill Geten with it?

…I mean, maybe? Do people think that Dabi is that much of a sadist? Because it would be the act of a sadist, to murder a kid who's almost certainly younger than he is and might even still be a teenager, one who has just been violently stripped of any ability to defend himself, all out of a desire for petty revenge over a months-old slight--a slight consisting of Geten parroting rhetoric he learned from the weird cult he grew up in, and which Dabi has very possibly been working with Skeptic long enough to know is maybe not all that accurate a characterization of the cult's ideals anyway!

And that brings me to Part 2. ---------------------------------------

(1) Four, if you count the clone’s destruction.

(2) Even 1-A's two remaining powerhouses don't present any more of a threat to Geten's ice than Dabi did, and Shouto will only give him more of it to work with. Their advantage over Dabi is that they can both sort of fly, which might well tip the balance--one of Geten's major advantages is his ability to manipulate ice from a considerable distance away, farther away than Dabi's flames can reach, but flying opponents deprive him of that advantage. Now, Shouto's flying is fairly unstable, so I suspect Geten is more maneuverable in the air, but his maneuverability wouldn't save him from Bakugou, the human equivalent of the anger-powered jetpack.

(3) Set aside the Doylist explanations about anyone who stole Geten's quirk getting the version the audience already knows purely out of laziness, forgetfulness, or authorial fiat.

(4) And look me dead in the eye and tell me Geten would just let Shigaraki Tomura or anything currently inhabiting his body just casually stroll up and lay hands on him without protest. Not to say I think AFOmura couldn't do it, but doing it in a "cool," dramatic way would probably involve some lightning movements we have not seen him make thus far.

[alteredphoenix]

In Defense of Calia: On the Topic of Misogyny and the Criticism of the Forsaken Double Standard

So I like to browse Twitter a lot, mainly for the art but mostly just to kill time. But I also follow people and websites, and one of those happens to be Wowhead. A couple days ago there was an article documenting Calia’s appearance within the Horde Council in the Shadowlands pre-patch, to which she would voice her opinion on the state of the Horde as well as the uncertain future that Azeroth now faces with the breaking of the Helm of Domination and return of the Scourge.

The WoW community can be...very passionate, or inflammatory, depending on your point of view. The same can be said for any big fandom, in all honesty. But I’m not in a lot of fandoms, and, at least where WoW is concerned, there’s a kind of laser-guided hyperfixation in regards to the introduction and development of its characters. Old or new, the fandom watches them like a hawk, but perhaps none more vigilantly than ones that have been mentioned in-game but have not made an actual appearance itself beyond the tie-in novels.

Three of these characters are Turalyon, Alleria, and Calia. However, Turalyon and Alleria are not given this much scrutiny outside of snide quips that “Turalyon is flat and boring/he’s a zealot/he’s the embodiment of the white savior among the draenei” and “Alleria is a fucking psycho for using the Void and wanting the blood elves to return to the Alliance, she’s just like her sisters, it must run in the blood/she’s arm candy to another, rugged Alliance man” whenever the plot calls for their convenience. I would daresay these parts of the fandom would go as far to say that with their developments given within the story, it would be in Blizzard’s best interests to have never brought them so as to “preserve their memory from before the Activision merger”. On the other hand, I would like to note that this sentiment is echoed ad nauseam for practically every character in WoW...but we’ll touch on that a little bit. This piece isn’t about Turalyon and Alleria or the others.

Rather, this is about Calia, and I wanted to give voice to my opinions on the backlash - or perhaps reception would be a better word - she has been receiving. She was a character I came across reading Arthas: Rise of the Lich King and didn’t think much of afterwards; for all I knew, she had died when Lordaeron and that was the end of the Menethil bloodline. However, with her debut in Legion and unique circumstances that followed culminating from the ending of Before the Storm, as well as being tangentially tied with the Light/Void conflict that’ll come to the forefront in the future, I wanted to keep an eye on her character arc.

Needless to say, when I read the Wowhead post, the comments could basically be described like this:

The WoW Community: Gawd, Blizzard is pushing Calia so hard into the narrative.  She’s just another pathetic dev’s self-insert like Nathanos is, even though we only base this off some harmless, tongue-in-cheek posts on Twitter and we need to vent our anger toward another character who clearly has too much development! She’s everywhere!

Be me, off to the side, remembering she was only present in the Priest Class Hall campaign in Legion; takes part in Before the Storm before getting axed in the Arathi Gathering and being subsequently raised into Lightly undeath by a king, her Archbishop, and a naaru that may have influenced her into going to the Gathering; only shows up very late in BfA right after Sylvanas Blasts Off Again at the end of the War Campaign to reconnect with the Proudmoores and help the kaldorei undead as well as the Forsaken Sylvanas ditches; shadows Lilian and the Horde Council in Shadows Rising, and shows up in Icecrown when the sky cracks open and Bolvar is no longer the Lich King that took up the role her brother was in.

I don’t know what popular fanfiction you folks are reading (or whatever tea you’re drinking; I’ve been looking around since the last Calia post I made and I can’t find it!), but that is not what I would call everywhere.

Look, you’re more than welcome to despise Calia as much as Nathanos over baseless claims and double standards, but let’s not pretend there are other Forsaken that’d fill the hole Sylvanas left behind. Because they can’t. They won’t be able to, because for years Sylvanas made up the core of Forsaken identity. Prior to WotLK they were a race that was reviled and ostracized by the world and looked upon with distrust by everyone including the Horde, even as Hamuul vouched for them and convinced Thrall to give them a chance despite knowing full well how cruel and selfish they could be. Their sole purpose was to exact revenge on the man who took everything away from them, destroyed their lives, and raised them into his service against their will.

And even when Arthas was defeated, they had no other purpose but to conquer Lordaeron, find a way to reproduce their numbers, and reaffirm their loyalty to the Horde - because where the hell else are they going to go? Because even if some Forsaken disagree with Sylvanas’s strict institutions regarding the acceptance of their undeath and the complete rejection of their former, mortal lives, not everyone in the Alliance is going to welcome them with open arms; not everyone is an Anduin or a Jaina. You see this with Genn, who despite accepting that not every Forsaken is bad still holds them in contempt, and with Alleria, who, after spending a thousand years in the Twisting Nether fighting the Burning Legion and thus being removed from the changes that occurred on Azeroth, is justifiably concerned that they are no longer the same person in undeath as they were in life. You see this in the way that some families spurn their loved ones when the Gathering takes place.

So while it’s true that you can say Calia doesn’t have what it takes to be the person the Forsaken need in a post-Sylvanas Azeroth, you must also remember that of all the named Forsaken we know of only Lilian has been given due development. You can’t say the same for Belmont (a loyalist who disregarded Cromush’s warnings about using the plague in Silverpine, as well as fought a losing battle against Tyrande in Darkshore in BfA), Helcular (a presumably former Cult of the Damned affiliate who notably defended Tarren Mill during the Legion’s third incursion), Faranell (another loyalist who created the New Plague and believes Putress is behind Wrathgate, but perhaps unaware of Sylvanas’s possible involvement), and Velonara (who did not want to be want to raised but followed Sylvanas anyway until the Fourth War, eventually siding with the Horde Council). They are merely foot soldiers; outside of maybe Velonara they don’t have the luxury of experiencing the emotional turmoil a newly risen undead goes through the way Lilian Voss does when Thomas Zelling, dying from illness, makes a deal to be raised into undeath and help the Horde in their war if it meant protecting his family. They don’t have the luxury of watching him get executed by the Warchief’s right hand man in front of their eyes the way Lilian and every other Horde leader present did. You would not get the same weight by switching her out with any of them. You could say Lilian would make a decent successor to Sylvanas, and I would not disagree with you. However, Lilian does not have the familial connection that Calia does to Lordaeron, and while Gey’arah poses the question of leadership to her at the Horde War Campaign’s epilogue, it should be noted that Lilian believes there is “another more suited to the task”, preferring to be the hand that would comfort the Forsaken of the trauma of being raised into undeath and, as of Shadows Rising, act as their interim leader.

Then again, neither does Calia. We don’t know where she and Faol were after Lordaeron’s fall (which is one key detail I have seen people not take into account upon their criticisms of her character), but we do know that upon being asked she had refused to reassert her claim to Lordaeron. However, she has common sense enough to know that Faol was not like the other Scourge in the beginning, and later when she met with Elsie, Parqual Fintallas, and the Felstone family.

Whatever happened during that time period prior to Legion, she identifies with the Forsaken. They are, in a way, still her people, regardless of that. This is why I think she would suit the Forsaken best as their leader, not as Queen of Lordaeron that the fandom - or rather, most of the Sylvanas stans - has been so prone to parroting since her intentions to help guide the kaldorei undead and the Lordaeronian Forsaken were first revealed.

And look, I’m a Sylvanas stan, too. But it is very much apparent that Sylvanas only started the Fourth War for her own purposes, has clearly been in an alliance with the Jailer since Cataclysm (yet is hinted to not be entirely subservient to him), and even if she was doing everything up until Shadowlands as an extreme mixture of For the Greater Good and The End Justifies The Means she was still a toxic influence to the more honorable members of the Horde and to the Desolate Council. Even if her behavior were an act to conceal her true intentions, it would still not absolve her completely for all the atrocities she committed and the suffering she caused. Not even Nathanos, whom people have an obsessive, misandrist fixation of being based on someone who’s not despite being in the game for fifteen years prior to that dev joining Blizzard, would not be the best replacement for Sylvanas. Nathanos - the same man who loves Sylvanas so much he would do anything for her even as he pushes aside the brief moments where he hesitates following her orders and expresses shock at her actions - would not have either the Horde’s or the Forsaken’s best interests at heart, for his belongs only to her. After all, you can’t “redeem” a character if the character himself does not regret what they have done and does not want to change for the better.

Which is another thing I have noticed, in the years I have been in the WoW fandom: the concept of “redemption” in the wake of “character assassination” in the wake of events that caused by said characters that are often deemed questionable, which is what I believe makes people conclude the causation to be a source of “bad writing”. This also ties to what I also believe to be the misogynistic undertones the fandom expresses, simply because the events caused by questionable if dubious methods are done by a woman and not a man, which therefore leads to the notion that Blizzard “hates women”. This gives me the impression that these voices would prefer to have Blizzard write their women as someone who are pure and strong and multi-faceted but the minute she performs an action that not everyone is on board with then she is either considered “ruined” or a “dreadlord”, which is merely a cop-out excuse that you only see applied to the female characters (e.g. Jaina) but not the male characters; those men are simply called “evil” or “genocidal”, whether or not they are rightfully so. Then again, men are also considered “ruined” if they are so much as given the spotlight (e.g. Lor’themar in Nazjatar, Baine throughout BfA), but they are nowhere near under as much scrutiny than the women are (unless it’s Garrosh, then you’re going to have to put up with the “Garrosh Did Nothing Wrong” memes). Which leads us back to the hypocrisy the fandom shows towards Calia, a character to whom people call a “Mary Sue” but at the same time an “abomination” who is going to be “Queen of the Forsaken” that is being pushed by Blizzard to make the playerbase hate Sylvanas even more.

And from what we know about Calia, she is neither seeking to become “Queen of the Forsaken” for the foreseeable future nor a “Mary Sue” (if she were, she would’ve succeeded in making all the Forsaken defect to the Alliance and, you know, not die). Perhaps she is made to question if she is capable of providing for the Forsaken (for some, that is, for it was confirmed by Blizzard that not all Forsaken are willing to be lead by another Menethil, and one who had been missing and presumed dead for years at that). Perhaps she is an anomaly, but she is by no means perfection incarnate the fanbase paints her to be.

TLDR Calia Menethil is a character that deserves a chance at getting her character arc and development, and should be judged accordingly instead of jumping the gun.

[princess-of-the-corner]

 I heard about new mlp episodes and I have several questions. 

First off, did we really just get a bunch of new characters dumped in? We just ended the last series with dumping in several new characters. Not to mention they made the Movie Canon(but not EQG for some reason!), which also has a ton of new characters. Okay, I guess the celebrity voice cast isn’t a maintainable option, but they could do something. I know Hasbro has to get it’s toy sales, but come on guys. I think you have plenty you can work with, in both toys and characters to make stories for. 

Continuing on, is this new set going to be new main characters? You can’t just introduce a new, large group like this and have them tag along on every episode. Either it’ll go back to the original cast and everyone goes ‘uh, what about the new guys?’, or you focus on the new ones and let the old ones fade back into the secondary cast. Which, I mean, at that point why not do some kind of full reboot or even just a timeskip?

I also have several problems with the story in general. It’s been a problem for a while now, but this episode made it pretty blatant of “all the non-ponies don’t know about Friendship! None of them have friends, so they’re all jackasses!”. Which is, to be blatant, pretty fucking impossible. They don’t have friends? Not even just ‘oh, our inter-species relationships are bad’, but legit they don’t have friends even within their home country? 

How- How do they function as a society? You can’t love without some kind of friendship, you can’t have a healthy family without some form of friendship. What I’m saying is that, as presented, the population of these countries should be the most fucked up assholes possible, if they hadn’t already killed eachother off!

I don’t even get what they’re trying to do there? You can introduce characters, and even have them be going through a Friendship Problem, without saying ‘they know nothing about friendship at all’. You even could’ve had this episode without that plot point! I mean, if Ponies, who ‘already know about friendship, unlike everyone else’, can still go to Friendship School, why not other creatures know Friendship but strive to learn more about it?

That said, if you’re going to dump characters on us, can we have a Crystal Pony character? You have an entire Empire of them, yet they’re only backup background Ponies. Do any of them have names we heard on-screen and not from looking in the credits/merchandising? Also more Zebras! We still haven’t seen any other than Zecora! Or Diamond Dogs! Or Buffalo! Or the Cats and Parrots from the movie! Or Minotaurs! Or other Sirens! Holy fuck I just realized how many sapient races they shoved in this show. My point still stands though. Y’all should’ve developed any of these before you tossed in Yaks. 

Side note, ‘Everycreature’? Look, ‘Everypony’ was already pointless since everyone/everybody works just fine. Why not just switch to those words? 

However, I feel like the biggest problem is the original cast in this episode. 

The other five usually would’ve been more assertive when they saw how downhill it was going. And, like, when Twilight was all depressed, they were converted to their most basic of character traits to try and cheer her up, even though they all know better! Rainbow: “get the fuck up!”, AJ: “Eating apples makes me feel better!”, Fluttershy: “Here, hug a bunny!”, Rarity: “I bet a pretty dress would cheer you up!”, Pinkie: “Party Time!”. Again, these characters know better by now, and have been legitimately helpful and comforting, and also call each other out on things! 

Instead, we get Starlight doing the ‘tell you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear’ bit. Which, okay, I like Starlight well enough. I kind of want to rewrite her first villain episodes(I have a long rant on how the first ones went far to make her a villain, but had her turn around in a mater of seconds), but she’s been doing good and progressing well enough. Even so, Starlight is not the one who should’ve done this for several reasons. Partly because the rest of the cast should’ve done that. 

And then we have Celestia. Like... okay. Celestia’s ‘uselessness’ in major situations before were explainable. It used to be that she was disconnected from the Elements of Harmony, so she couldn’t use them to save the day. Then it was the dangers either overpowering her or getting the jump on her(Sometimes both.). The second excuse was weak, but hey, if you want Twilight and crew to beat the villain, you need to have them take out the sort-of-goddess so she doesn’t go in guns, er, horn blazing. 

But this episode could’ve showed Celestia off as a Leader, as Princess! When everything goes sideways and all the other leaders are bickering all to hell, she could’ve been the one to smack some sense into them! That is literally part of her job description! Diplomacy! Just have her go “Okay guys, I know you’re pissed. How about we put aside the fight to find the missing students? Then you can talk it out with them.”. But no, she just sits back and tells Twilight to do it. Fucking hell! Who thought old ass memes of characterization would come true!

Also, back to new characters, I have concerns over that villain pony. I forgot his name, but I’m calling him “Dr. Dracula Strange”. My concern isn’t over his potential villainy in the future. Oh no. However, remember that thing I said about Starlight’s time as a villain? How they spent their time making her the worst, most irredeemable pony and then shoved a ‘tragic backstory’ in and had her change her mind in three seconds? I’m scared that they’re going to pull that with this racist fuck. Partly because of story, but also partly because the racism angle hits a bit closer to reality compared to “Unicorn accidentally starts a cult, and then causes timeline fuckery”, so I say let’s just toss the guy in a cell with Tirek and not go the redemption arc route with this one. And that’s coming from me, who loves redemption arcs! You need to give a character redeemable traits if you want them to become a good guy. 

Another thing! It’s not really a complaint but, seriously? “Not even a princess can do whatever she likes when it comes to shaping young pony minds.”. Er, I hate to break it to y’all, but that’s kind of the definition of what she can do! Celestia is the Immortal leader of the country and the one making the laws. If she wanted to, she could make laws on anything. Of course, you do need to draw the line before going full tyrant, but still. Tia’s got a bit more power in this situation. 

TBH, I’m very glad that I already decided that my universe/fanart/fanfics are officially Canon Divergent as of a while ago. 

[feychannel]

5, 30, 31 and 33 :)

Do you ever have a moment where you look at your inbox and go “I swore I answered that” and then you… never did?? If not, this is my life and my incredibly poor choices :’) I AM SO SORRY BUT HERE WE GO:

Ask me my top 3′s!

5) Top 3 Romantic Relationships Between Characters

Sora/Kairi, Kingdom Hearts. There aren’t many ships I’ve been ride or die for - either my multishipping habits get the best of me, or I’m simply not That Invested in their story. Sora/Kairi (or SoKai) hold a very special place in my heart for being the first real fandom ship I’ve ever had. They hit so many of my narrative benchmarks - friends to lovers, “making each other better, reminding each other that they’re whole, keeping each other safe without realizing it,” etc - that bitty me was invested from the very first time I saw them on screen. I don’t want to think about how much fanfic I’ve written for them either …

Damon Salvatore / Bonnie Bennett (”Bamon”), The Vampire Diaries. I could write a whole thesis on why their entire relationship is wasted potential and how their entire fandom was baited into thinking it could actually happen (see: my otp tag), but the short version is that Damon is a better person in Bonnie’s presence, and not because anyone’s forcing him to. He wants to be better for himself. If that’s not a compelling story, I’m not sure what would be.

Dick Grayson/Kori Anders, DC Comics. While I’m not as hardcore about them as I was in high school, they receive a spot because they balanced each other out so well - and I was far more intrigued by them than any of Dick’s other romantic interests.

Honorable mention: Stefan Salvatore/Elena Gilbert, the Vampire Diaries, but only because their entire dynamic is grown-up Sora/Kairi. I’m… not actually kidding, @seventhdoctor is the Worst for pointing out that TVD is “Kingdom Hearts but with vampires.”

30) Top 3 Tearjerking Moments in Fiction

Zelos’ betrayal (Tales of Symphonia): I thought it was pretty bad when Kratos abandoned you right before the Tower of Salvation? Nah, the fight against Zelos was worse. If you wanted to get Kratos back in your party, you had to fight Zelos to the death - and that still strikes a chord with me in a way that much else doesn’t now. And to think, saying you don’t trust Zelos is what triggers the entire “bad end” for him.

Hikaru/Umi/Fuu learning the truth about Cephiro’s Pillar (Magic Knight Rayearth): I don’t want to spoil this moment for you or anyone who hasn’t read MKR, but the last few chapters of the manga blindsided me. I didn’t see it coming, and even now, I’m impressed at how masterfully it had been foreshadowed.

Sora sacrificing his heart for Kairi (Kingdom Hearts I): this scene still gets me every time. In Kingdom Hearts, your heart is like your essence - you sacrifice your heart, and you become a Heartless, lost to the darkness. When Sora heard that the only way to get Kairi’s heart back was to unlock his own, and essentially give himself up, he didn’t hesitate. He went and did it, and how many people could say they’d do that at 14??

31) Top 3 Heartwarming Moments in Fiction

Alan Matthews beating up a cult leader for Shawn Hunter’s sake (Boy Meets World): Alan Matthews served as a second father to Cory’s best friend, and this instance highlighted that bond best - Alan was willing to maim and potentially kill for Shawn’s sake, just because he knew what family was, and he knew that he + the entire Matthews family had unofficially taken Shawn into the fold.

“Ohana means family, and family means no one gets left behind.” (Lilo and Stitch). The entire movie is one big moment of heartwarming for me - but that quote sums it up, and is something I subconsciously quote to this day.

Eleanor, Chidi, Jason, and Tahini affirming that they made each other better (The Good Place). Saying any more about this moment would make this a true spoiler, but it’s so telling that their friendship - meant to bring out the worst in each other - actually did the opposite, and they found strength in each other instead. I’m excited to see how s2 will continue this theme because their friendship was downright my favorite part of this show.

33) Top 3 Awesome Moments in Fiction

Phoenix Wright cross-interrogating the parrot AND THEN LATER A WHALE (Phoenix Wright: Justice for All, I think?): basically, whenever Nick’s interrogating an animal, you know you’re in for a treat. Neither of these disappointed.

Hikaru dismantling the Pillar system in Cephiro (Magic Knight Rayearth): look, I don’t talk often about how formative Magic Knight Rayearth was for me, but it was SUPER FORMATIVE. Hikaru deciding that nah, she didn’t want to be a pillar, and nah, Cephiro would never have one again??? That was huge. Also downright badass.

Zuko’s entire redemption arc (Avatar: The Last Airbender). I can’t narrow this down at *all*, but it was so incredible to watch a serious antagonist grow and learn from his mistakes - and to become someone that Aang trusted with his entire being. I don’t talk a lot about my love for this show, but dang - when it was on point, it was seriously on point.