#protagonists change but are kinda related

[no-brand-gays]

it is always a good day to find out that the character you’ve liked the most so far in your watch of love live superstar is a descendent of the samurai who founded the city you live in

[randomfoggytiger]

Fox Mulder: Jewish, Dutch, Or Other Some Such (UPDATED)

In my curiosity to explore Jewish cultural practices, I stumbled on an enlightening article (and a couple noteworthy theories.)

AUTHORIAL INTENT AND OTHER INTERPRETATIONS

I've briefly explored this concept in another meta post here, but it's wisest to tackle the subject as thoroughly as possible.

**Note**: This post has been shelved, since it failed to achieve its original goal. Proceed at your own peril.

Chris Carter named the Mulders in honor of his mother, a descendant of Dutch-Americans.

April 2001:

Loyal “X-Files” fans may know that Fox Mulder, the brainy protagonist played by David Duchovny, was named after Carter’s mother, the late Catherine Mulder Carter. (Scully was named for longtime-Los Angeles Dodgers’ baseball commentator Vin Scully – no relation). But very few people know that Carter’s mother was born to a Dutch-American family in Manhattan, Mont.

According to McCoy [Carter's cousin], the Mulder family moved to the Amsterdam-Manhattan area from Grand Rapids, Mich. Seven of their nine children were born in the Gallatin Valley and after an unsuccessful turn farming here, the Mulders moved to Southern California to start a feed and grain business in Bellflower, Calif. Norman Mulder was the only one of the nine children in the family to return to the Gallatin Valley. While McCoy and Mulder are Carter’s closest area relatives, there are probably many distant relatives still living in the Gallatin Valley’s Dutch community, McCoy said. She added that the California and Montana Mulders have always been, and remain, close.

(**Note**: While Kuiper, Tena Mulder's maiden name, is also of Dutch origin, that does not exclude the possibility of Jewish heritage.)

Meanwhile, David Duchovny and Vince Gilligan had a differing view. David inherently played any character through his experience of the world-- culturally-ish Jewish-- while Vince worked in a reference to Mulder's "Jewishness" in a deleted portion of Drive's script:

Crump: You know... what kinda name is Mulder, anyway? What is that, like, Jewish?

Mulder: Excuse me?

Crump: Jewish. It is, right?

Mulder: No it's not, yes I am....

But there is, yet again, another schism of dissent: Howard Gordon, write of the episode Kaddish, agreed with Carter's perspective, stating that he didn't think Mulder was Jewish "or even half-Jewish." The purpose of his work was to set Mulder up as the outsider peering inward: "We had never dealt with the horrors of antisemitism and the power of the word [on The X-Files]. And because I'm Jewish, it was something that was really compelling to me personally." As explained in Paula Vitaris's Cinefantastique article, Gordon purposefully wrote in three references to Mulder's Gentile identity: Mulder is unable to identify a Jewish book, does not read or speak the language himself (" I don't speak Hebrew, I don't know what that means"), and is unwilling to pass up a reference to Jesus Christ's Christian resurrection ("A Jew pulled it off 2000 years ago") in response to an antisemite. Gordon's Mulder, then, is a man who related to all people while still remaining, fixedly, an outsider.

CHANGES IN JEWISH CUSTOM

When toying with the idea of Mulder's Jewish ancestry, I had assumed that matrilineal lineage was the opening and closing authority on the subject.

Not so, apparently (or not completely.)

REFORM

Chabad.org

The Code of Jewish Law clearly states that a child of a Jewish mother is Jewish, regardless of the father’s lineage (or whatever else may show up in a DNA test), while the child of a non-Jewish mother is not Jewish. Matrilineal descent has been a fundamental principle of Torah since the Jewish people came into existence.

The code, however, has gone under intense scrutiny in recent years.

As My Jewish Learning explains: Although the Hebrew Bible defines Jewish identity in patrilineal terms (determined by the identity of the father) the Mishnah [a record of the oral Torah in the aftermath of the destruction of the Second Temple, 70 CE] states that the offspring of a Jewish mother and a non-Jewish father is recognized as a Jew, while the offspring of a non-Jewish mother and a Jewish father is considered a non-Jew. This talmudic position became normative in Jewish law.

This continued as the religious and ethnic norm for many centuries until, about, 1947: ...the CCAR adopted a resolution that stated that if a Jewish father and a gentile mother wanted to raise their children as Jewish, “the declaration of the parents to raise them as Jews shall be deemed sufficient for conversion.” And though the wording changed somewhat in 1961 ["The insistence on a “conversion” was dropped completely...."]

But it did not become-- in effect-- law until 1983 resolution:

By 1983, the CCAR was ready to spell out the patrilineal descent resolution in greater detail. By this time there was a broad-based commitment to egalitarianism. To many, it seemed unnecessarily biased to accept the child of a Jewish mother and a gentile father as Jewish while rejecting the child of a Jewish father and a gentile mother. 

[Rabbit Alexander] Schindler initiated a process that eventually led to the CCAR voting in favor of what became known as the Patrilineal Descent Resolution....

What this meant was that if a child was born of either a Jewish father or a Jewish mother, and was raised as Jewish, that child would be regarded by the Reform movement as Jewish. They were, however, expected to participate in the various Jewish life-cycle ceremonies which usually mark the life stages of a Jewish person.

1996 brought another development:  ...the CCAR created an 11-member task force to interpret and develop guidelines for the successful implementation of the patrilineal descent policy. The task force recommended that the resolution be referred to as “equilineal descent” or simply “Jewish descent” rather than patrilineal descent since the resolution accepted descent from either the mother or the father.

The radical shift, encapsulated, is as follows: While Jewish children had always been asked to prepare for their bar and bat mitzvahs, their Jewishness was never contingent upon successful completion of that ceremony or any other.  The Patrilineal Descent Resolution shifted the emphasis from birth to conscious choice.

DISSENT

Regardless, there is still broad disputation between Conservative and Orthodox Jews and Reform Jews:

...However, patrilineal Jews are likely to encounter problems later in life if they decide to become more traditional in their observance. A problem arises if Reform Jews who are Jewish by patrilineal descent choose to participate in ritual or celebrations at more observant synagogues. 

...Conservative and Orthodox Jews do not recognize patrilineal descent as a valid means of passing on Judaism. “Who is a Jew?” has been a controversial issue for several decades, and the Patrilineal Descent Resolution deepened the division between the opposing viewpoints. 

The article also raises an intriguing point:

Interestingly, this created the possibility that someone who had a Jewish mother, but had not been raised Jewish and had not had any public religious acts of identification such as a Jewish baby-naming ceremony, a bar or bat mitzvah, or a Jewish confirmation service could theoretically be regarded as a non-Jew despite his or her lineage. However, many rabbis recognize lineage alone.

SECULAR JUDAISM

If we work off of the assumption that Tena Mulder was a Jew, then Mulder's heritage is without question, as matrilineal descent is a core part of the Jewish identity.

It would then inherently inform Mulder's branch of Judaism, nonbeliever that he is--

Phoebe Maltz Bovy, The Canadian Jewish News:

Secular Jews are in some sense a process-of-elimination category. If other Jews register you as Jewish, if antisemites hate you for being Jewish, but you are not a practising member of any religion, then you are a secular Jew. It’s roughly the same as being nominally Jewish. It’s Jewishness, rather than Judaism, perhaps. A convert from Judaism to another faith might be culturally or ethnically Jewish but is not, obviously, a secular Jew. I will not belabour the terminological aspects of this....

“Secular” is a spectrum, and means different things to different people. It might mean avowed atheism, it might not. Secular Jews pick and choose from elements of their—our—religious heritage, but tend to interpret these as cultural, rather than spiritual, traditions. Though “pick and choose” suggests more intent than may enter into it.

MULDER'S EARLY PARENTAGE: A DIFFERING THEORY

Early canon states that Bill Mulder was Mulder's father, while later canon debates the issue back and forth a bit before settling on CSM in Season 9. In spite of this, the world en masse wouldn't have known the murky nature of Mulder's paternal origins; and, thus, would have regarded him in line with Bill's (and Tena's) ethnic heritage.

That being said, I do find it interesting that Mulder wouldn't have been considered a Jew until the 80s by the broader, entrenched community had his father-- and not his mother-- been a Jew.

Regardless, this speculation bears little weight on canon; and is just an interesting thought exercise.

CANONICAL INTERPRETATIONS (AND GAPS)

We are shown three Mulder family funerals: Bill Mulder's in The Blessing Way, Fox Mulder's in Field Trip, and Fox Mulder's again in Deadalive.

For Bill's funeral, Tena Mulder made the executive decision (or carried out his expressed wishes) to involve a minister, not Jewish Rabbi, in her ex-husband's final service:

For Mulder's Season 6 funeral, Scully glimpses a cross of white flowers standing above her partner's casket; and doesn't bat an eye:

For Mulder's Season 8 funeral, Scully chose a Protestant (or derivative thereof) minister-- not rabbi or priest-- to read from scripture and pray over her partner:

We aren't shown Tena Mulder's funeral; however, her burial wasn't within the traditional twenty-four hour timetable for Jewish custom (i.e. her body was likely preserved for multiple days while Mulder was tracking his sister.) Barring Shabbat or other religious observances, this points to two possibilities:

Tena Kuiper-Mulder was, like Carter originally imagined, a "generalized" American with Dutch roots.

Tena Kuiper-Mulder was a nonsecular Jew (with or without Dutch roots.)

Both interpretations work for her son, as well. Referring back to Howard Gordon's Kaddish, Mulder can't read or speak Hebrew; additionally, he is nonreligious (and devoutly so.) However: as @waxworkdaughter and @leiascully both pointed out (here and here, respectively), Jewish identity is a complicated, personalized topic that expands beyond simplified, black-and-white thinking. Mulder's lack of familiarity in Gordon's script could (and can) easily be explained if Tena Mulder distanced herself-- and by extension, her children-- from her heritage, for a myriad of reasons. Mulder's familiarity with other religious observances (i.e. kneeling in a Christian church and weeping for his sister in Conduit) could as equally be explained by many other factors without erasing a tie to that Jewish heritage.

With reference to the end scene in Conduit, Mulder's observance could simply be a shadow of Bill Mulder's WASP upbringing: Protestant symbolism tied to his father's upper crust, in-group sensibilities-- a societal expectation passed down as tradition.

CONCLUSION

Church and prayer, funerals and flags, could all be part of the nostalgic American 90s, symbols of meaning rather than actual belief.

Mulder could have been raised Christian, Jewish, agnostic; or all three. Mulder himself could be Jewish or Dutch or Dutch Jew or generic American (or a combination thereof.)

Tena Mulder could have been Jewish. Or Bill Mulder. Or neither.

The truth is, ultimately, what you make of it: everyone has their own perspective.

Thanks for reading~

Enjoy!

[imbecominggayer]

What Are Archetypes And How To Use Them!

Character archetypes are one of the many tools in a writer's arsenal to write believable and universally relatable characters which transcend geography, time, and culture!

Throughout this post, I will be discussing what archetypes are, how to use them, and how to subvert them.

What Are Character Archetypes?

What are character archetypes? Archetypes are kinda like templates that are grouped into categories depending on their traits, experiences, and actions.

When thinking about "archetypes", your mind may jump to the archetypes in the major Arcana which represent different aspects of life! Like character archetypes, the archetypes represented in the Arcana encompass a multitude of various traits, experiences, and meanings depending on the reader of the tarot or, with character archetypes), interpretations by the author!

Archetypes are meant to transcend time, geography, location, and the differences between other individuals to communicate universal truths about humanity.

But it's important to use archetypes correctly! All characters require character development and if you don't use character development or there isn't enough character then the characters are going to be flat, boring, and unoriginal.

The difference between "stock characters" and "archetypes" is the fact that stock characters aren't meant to be main characters. Stock characters are the strict librarian that tells the lovers to be quiet, the mean bully that gets humiliated, or the MC's lovingly dead mom.

They are static, flat characters who are meant to serve as filler. Archetypes are the foundation to create complex, changing characters!

Mixing Character Archetypes

Most characters fall into multiple character archetypes depending on the perspective that you are looking at. Mixing character archetypes allows your characters to be familiar but not cliche!

Character Archetypes (And How To Subvert Them)

There are way too many archetypes so I'm just going to give a quick run-by!

The Caregiver

The caregiver is a character who selflessly and whole-heartedly supports their loved ones. They often tend to fall into the Mentor role, the Best Friend role, or something else. It's common to see the Caregiver as an accompanying character to the Hero.

Traits: Selfless, Kind, Compassionate, Honorable, Loving

Pitfalls: Too selfless, tends to lack growth or goals, a bit too dedicated to assholes

Subvert: Caregiver can serve as an enabling force who encourages the Hero or the Villain to follow all of their desires and will force their loved one to deny any healthy accountability for their bad behavior. The Caregiver can be a shallow individual who has a tendency of nearly abandoning the group when things seem hopeless. The Caregiver can show some selfishness

Everyman

The Everyman is your regular Joe-Shmoe who isn't smart enough to be a Mad Scientist but not dumb enough to be the resident Idiot. They aren't particular ugly nor particularly attractive (but they tend to get the love interest anyway). They are kinda average in most respects.

The Everyman is humble and cooperative but not stand out.

Traits: Humble, Hard-working, Grounded, Relatable, Cooperative

Pitfalls: This is the protagonist for 95% of stories. Tends to flail around so much that the audience wonders why they are even needed.

Subvert: The Everyman tends to fall into the Innocent type. Basically, oblivious as all heck and a bystander. The Everyman could be a secret mastermind behind the whole operation and more aware than anyone suspects.

The Creator

Constantly creative and constantly making something. Their creation can be physical (inventor) or in the divine sense. To the Creator, there is nothing that is more important than what they are trying to make, and they are willing to sacrifice themselves and others to reach their goal.

Traits: Obsession, imaginative, strong-willed, egotistical

Pitfalls: The Creator tends to be unsympathetic and not that obviously relatable to the non-creative types.

Subvert: Actually try and make this Mad Scientist or God relatable. Many people have that one thing that they would sacrifice their time and life for whether that be their job, their family, their identity, or their creative pursuits. Connecting that creation to these universal truths will turn your one-dimensional character into a tragedy or masterpiece.

The Explorer

They want to break boundaries, take risks, and travel the world for something new. They yearn for something more than a normal life. They want to find their purpose and they don't believe their purpose lies in the mundane life everyone wants them to live.

Traits: Courageous, independent, nonconforming, driven, curious

Pitfalls: Explorer types tend to be the garden-variety " I want to explore this place". Highly common protagonists.

Subvert: Have the Explorer be a little bit lost in the world. They aren't courageous about their desires and they don't even really know what they want. They just know they don't want to spend the rest of their life here. They are afraid of stagnation. They are afraid of looking back on their life and only being able to feel regret. Make it spiritual. Make it about fear.

The Hero

The Hero rises to the challenge. They can't or refuse to stand by any longer to the injustice surrounding them. They fight the villains.

Traits: Honorable, Justice-Orientated, Strong

Pitfalls: One-Dimensional. "really? another story about Superman going rogue and killing people because angst?"

Subvert: At this point, having a character who is genuinely a good person who wants to try and be a good person is a subversion. Seriously, if you can only write an interesting character when they are evil or "morally complicated", they you are putting yourself in a box. They aren't perfect but they try. That's the thesis statement for heroes.

The Innocent

The Innocent is defined by their unending optimism and naivety with a child-life attitude (if they aren't an actual child). The Innocent tends to be the starting place for a character who will eventually have their comfortable life radically shifted by worldly events until their ignorance is swept away from them.

Traits: Trusting, Loving, Sincere, Open, Powerless, Oblivious

Pitfalls: So innocent to the point where they are obnoxious and not relatable to anyone above the age of 7. "Why is a man who has the ignorance of a child the Chosen One?"

Subvert: What if the Innocent isn't this childish person but actually acts serious? A story could have a character going on this journey to become the Innocent in an effort to get rid of their memories of the horrors of life that they have deemed unbearable. And they succeed. The Innocent could be someone whose naivety about the world often has them acting in cruel and insensitive ways.

The Lover

Ranging from the hedonistic players to the dreamy romantics, Lovers are guided by their heart. Like Creators, they also have an all-consuming obsession and dedication, although, in this case, the object of their obsession is the receiver of their love whether that be a person or an object.

They often overlap with the Caregiver.

‍Traits: Devoted, compassionate, caring, protective

Pitfalls: They often tend to be one-dimensional and horribly problematic.

Subvert: The recipient of their love could be an object, a friend, or a family member. Their love could also be demonstrated as purposefully toxic as their codepedent traits have the potential to intersect with Superior Complexes, Inferiority Complexes, and/or Savior Complexes.

The Rags-To-Riches Orphan

While not always a literal orphan, the Orphan starts in a state of poverty and unimportance who transitions into a life of opulence and excitement.

Beyond that, Orphans tend to fall into Found Families, as a desire for belonging often reunites them with either social outcasts or the Riches group.

‍Traits: Survivalists, empathetic, determined, driven

‍Pitfalls:  Another orphan? Really? Wow, you got picked up off the street and became unbelievablely rich? How relatable.

Subvert: The Orphan uses their skills and resources from their time in poverty to secure power, influence, and popularity from the masses as their relatable upbringing, connects to the underground market, and survivalist mentality leads them to be even more cunning and manipulative than the natural-born. The Orphan isn't as innocent and ignorant as everyone seems to think they're. The Orphan falls from their rich status. The Orphan hates their found family and relishes in the opportunity to leave them.

The Rebel

The Rebel leads the charge against flawed leaders and power structures when the balance of society is threatened. They might be the public head of a rebellion, a charismatic outsider, someone who works in the shadows, or just someone whose another James Dean- knock-off.

‍Traits: Natural leaders, courageous, inspiring, strong, charismatic

Pitfalls: Romancization of rebel groups and abusive behaviors as , more often than not, rebel groups establish a new order that is the same or even worse than the previous group.

Subvert: What if we didn't contribute to the massive romantization of rebel authority and instead investigated how extremists groups can manipulate desperate citizens into horrible governments. Because Hitler was a rebel who instigated a national rebellion. What if we explored the topic of co-option as previous signs of rebelliousness and civil rights are being commercialized for right-wing non-pocs and "rebellious" teens?

The Mentor

The Mentor is the character who is typically off in the corner, training the protagonist with life advice such as "life happens man" and "if you klll a killer, that's somehow worse than being that killer".

Because writers don't know how to write actual wisdom so they copy facebook quotes and look up a thesarus for some "fancy" words

‍Traits: "Wise", caring, patient, insightful, rational

Pitfalls: "Author! Arthor! This a serious topic with a huge diversity of variables and an imperfect solution as humans are inherently imperfect! This advice seems really oversimplified and kinda biased!

Subvert: What if the mentor's teachings are revealed to be heavily biased and based on misinformation which is reflective of the mentor's upbringing? What if the mentor is secretly working with the antagonist to feed the fledgling Hero with false beliefs? What if the mentor genuinely hates the Hero but is still on Team Good Guys?

[lilac-read]

Rewatching Community again and I love how the show immediately sets up parallels between Jeff and every other character.

Jeff and Abed were both raised by tv (also I totally hc Jeff as being autistic too)

Jeff and Troy are trying to find themselves in some way (troy abandoning his football player persona, and Jeff learning to not be alone)

Jeff and Pierce are both headstrong and insecure.

Jeff and Annie are both manipulative and selfish.

Jeff and Shirley are both kinda mean (but in the affectionate way).

The only one who doesn't have a direct parallel to Jeff? Is Britta. And honestly, I feel like that's part of why her character gets butchered. Each other main character has something that causes them to relate directly to Jeff, the protagonist. Even Chang and Dean Pelton have that. But Britta doesn't.

[countlessofvoids]

what's interesting about hiccup's character that you never see people talk about? as someone who likes him, i also get annoyed by how the fandom sees him and i prefer him in the first movie over everything else.

A lot of things honestly. I have a hard time naming them individualy lmao.

I feel like people tend to take parts of Hiccup's character they like, then mold him into something imitating Hiccup. I see a lot of interpretations where his sarcasm takes up 90% of his personality and/or his entire motivation is saving dragons and killing people as some kind of vigilante. Another thing popular in this fandom that annoys me is taking other characters' traits and giving those to Hiccup.

But what I believe mainly gets ignored, or rather purposefully removed, is him being a 'peacekeeper'. Now, I can't exactly blame anyone for doing this, because continuations after the second movie either ;

1) Completly forget it was a thing.

Or 2) The Narrative actively shames him for it, or turns it into something else. This goes for THW — where it's treated as a flaw of Hiccup's character, then reduced to him "being afraid of change" (And circles back to the whole "Humans bad, Dragons good" message of THW, I could go on about this topic for hours).

The source material itself is not interested in exploring it.

This also happens partialy because fans think peacekeeper means someone who has no understanding of how conflicts work and expects everyone to drop their weapons to go frolic in the fields together. Hiccup gets criticized for trying to find another way, when he has a reason to believe he can change people. I mean, he changed the entirety of Berk. Yes, pursuing Drago Bludvist so you can convince him to join your side when everyone who has more experience with the warlord tells you not to, is not the best decision. But Hiccup is young, he's bound to make mistakes. Besides, events wouldn't alter too much if he did otherwise.

Which is a bit disappointing. I think it could fit with the theme of him being different from everyone else; Looking for a peaceful solution when others want to destroy each other. Another reason why I find this concept intriguing is because I see Hiccup as someone who struggles a bit when it comes to sympathizing with humans, especially hunters. Not as in he intentionaly hates them — he just spent his life befriending animals & dragons instead of people, so now he's spiteful especially towards humans who hurt them. I like to think he still holds even a tiny bit of spite towards Berkians and his enemies-turned-allies (not with Stoick & Valka though, it's complicated with them).

As for why I personaly don't like him in most iterations after the first movie: He's just kinda boring. He goes from a sarcastic loner who ultimately wants to be accepted by others, to 'young movie male protagonist n.1235'. Huge part of that comes from what was done with his design. Second movie!Hiccup has started to grow on me lately. I couldn't care less about RTTE!Hiccup. THW!Hiccup was on the right path, but they chose the worst and most contradictory way of doing it. It could also be the fact he loses relatability for me.

[itoukaiji]

ok here it is

i have nothing to do while im still kinda sick so lemme write up the kaiji trans lesbian post ive been sitting for for.. a long time because well i have a lot of thoughts. fair warning this is long as fuck

to preface i use any pronouns for kaiji + perceive them as being a nonbinary transfem dyke n well! this is a post about why i believe this. cuz i do genuinely think there is subtextual evidence within the canon to support this. oh also like expect spoilers for the entire series

Gonna try not to ramble too hardcore but i think a lot of the outcast narrative pervasive in kaiji is also very applicable to transness and gender non-conformity and this is imo supported within the text aswell. A lot of instances when kaiji is looked down upon is for failing at masculinity not just failing at being a "productive" member of society. and yeah those things are very much related with the whole, a man should be a provider etc. but kaijis femininity and inability to conform to and rejection from manhood is both enforced on the character but also i would argue kaiji rejects this themself.

This is evident as early as part one, particularly over kaijis hair

Kaijis hair is pretty symbolic of their outcasted status but also i think is really relatable to the trans experience too (especially transfem experience) the pressure to cut your hair so you look less feminine. Kaiji has canonically been growing their hair out since middle school

and later in part 6 this happens

and then we have very explicitly short hair being associated with the concept of kaiji finally becoming "a real man"

after this encounter too kaiji says this

again kaiji trying to be lowkey but is still attracting unwanted attention for being nonconforming, while yeah narratively its cuz this old lady makes it her problem their all NEETs but what intially prompts her to confront kaiji is the fact they are androgynous lol.

to jump back to part 1 kaiji is MUCH more self conscious about standing out and being different (although doesn't do anything appearance wise to conform better, which could mean nothing).

But in later parts, this attitude has changed a lot, the frustration turns outward. Again to go back to the part in the house they are more bothered now people have a problem with THEM over feeling it would be better if they could change. again this mindset they are fundamentally flawed is only really evident in part 1

I know the transmasc reading of kaiji is a pretty popular one, and yeah, a lot of these feelings are resonant for both transmasc and transfem people. BUT i do think kaiji leans more explicitly as being read as transfem and my reasoning for that is their relationship to womanhood.

This is a bit more meta but if you've ever read any other fukumoto works fukumoto really likes to make his protagonists either like , functionally asexual or pathetic virgins LOL, while protags like Akagi and Zero dont express any kind of attraction to anybody at any point. any character that does like women is usually fiending for that pussy.

When Kaiji expresses interest in girls its always within the context of wanting the girl to think their cool

cant even allow themselves to lez out in their dreams...

also when Kaiji does actually get to talk to a cute girl there more fixated on the idea of being seen as cool to her.

Again there's never a point where Kaiji ever tries to seek any kind of acceptance from the men they encounter. even in part 1 when they are explicitly more self hating, this never manifests in seeking any kind of approval. This follows with them feeling disappointed the cute girl wasn't more impressed

also i think its worth noting they make it very clear they want to be perceived as cool for being an accomplished gambler NOT just for having a lot of money. there's not really a sense kaiji wants to just buy the admiration of women. i could get into the way kaiji holds onto being good at gambling as the one thing that gives them worth but NOT THE POST FOR THAT, MOVING ON

now for the most telling part imo [famous representing all the women in the world panel analysis incoming]

When Kaiji meets those guys at the campsite, its very clear they find the way they talk about women and very off-putting, and what finally sets them off is that they share porn lol (and trying to pressure kaiji into joining in)

I think this is the most like overt expression of their disdain with being treated like a man, this is also probably the most honest they've ever been about these feelings. So yeah interesting this all comes out when their completely shitfaced, and they dont even realise what theyve been saying until after the fact.

jumping forward a little later into this arc...

When they are sober, in order to hide the fact there carrying like a bazillion dollars with them, they do play along with the pervy guy role to avoid suspicion (albeit extremely reluctantly).

Again its not like Kaiji straight up does not find women attractive at all, they just find this conversation nasty as hell (i mean like YEAH FAIR) but again, when they are drunk, they take it extremely personally as opposed to just. finding it gross as a dude who is like, normal lol.

^ kaiji finally coming into some acceptance of their butch realness

All that being said I do like that is becoming a lot more evident kaiji has a lot more self confidence throughout part 6 espec when you revisit...... now if you just go an see a therapist- ANYWAY

Kaiji also gets associated with motherly figures like... more than once lol. its a running gag in the fukumoto all stars comics based on that one line in part 2. i wont use that as evidence since those a gag comics but well, there out There JUST SAYING.

but i do want to add that in kaiji before espoir (the bonus prequel) its canonised that kaiji does indeed enjoy being praised by other for doing kind deeds

which isnt to suggest theres some selfish intent behind kaijis kindness just that. they do genuinely like being perceived as altruistic to some extent, despite having kinda complicated feelings about it intially (ie feeling flawed for not being able to participate in braves mens road). And yeah again this is something that is explicitly being feminized within the narrative.

Then theres like everything that happens in one poker lmfao. Thats a whole nother post but again theres a very pervasive theme of motherhood in that arc. Particularly a mothers love being unconditional. A lot of kazuya's hatred for kaiji comes from the fact they care about everybody unconditionally. And as someone who believes his own mother didnt truly care about him, this fucks him up big time.

this whole couple chapter in the finale of one poker is just kazuya projecting his mommy issues hardcore onto kaiji but well this aint about him! moving on!

again theres plenty of altruistic figures they couldve chosen to call kaiji but they use mother teresa cuz yeah she is in theory, a mother to the world type figure, someone perceived as loving strangers unconditionally. and yeah this is not just a throwaway thing its supported thematically throughout the narrative.

This might be a bit of a tangent but im mainly trying to emphasise kaiji is associated with femininity and this is something they like and accept about themselves (eventually, to some extent). and this is a core trait that makes them an exceptional person.

Its a good thing Kaiji is like this, Kaiji femininity is perceived as like, actual sainthood. And yet its still something consider innately wrong and incorrect by broader society. Despite all this, people still want kaiji to be a """real man""" instead. and idk, i just think this is something that makes me really love this series. The idea the very things kaiji is outcasted for is what makes them such a special person.

tl;dr trans dykes heal the world 5ever !!!!!

anyway i hope this is makes sense, and, well you agree with my beautiful and true autistic delusions <3

thats all i think!

[afalconfromalcyoneus]

"Would Thunderclan be better off without her?"

Redraw of the new cover revealed a few days ago ↓ Spoilers down below.

I find this pretty interesting.

1) About Moonpaw. I'm really glad that her clanmates support her! That's awesome! I like this change considering how weird clanmates have acted in past arcs. Oh! And Goldenpaw. I wonder how their relationship will be like? I'm not very interested in the romance, but I only find this interesting bc 1) it's not a cross-clan relationship & 2) Goldenpaw isn't a Pov. I guess the Erins realized how stale Cross-Clan romance between 2 Povs have gotten (unless Goldenpaw fumbles & Moonpaw starts liking Starlingpaw which would um...) (also yes Moon & Golden are related but let's just forget that 💫)

2) Tawnypelt's story is very frustrating. What I mean is that Tigerheartstar seemingly is becoming antagonistic (and I'm starting to agree with Berryheart more & more tbh). Him banning her from talking about a POTENTIALLY important Prophecy is insane. Like why? Is he just in denial? Anyway, she's moving to Thunderclan so there's a high likelihood that her & Moonpaw interact. My prediction is that Tawnypelt is going to be suspicious of Moonpaw at first?

3) My darling Starlingpaw. This guy has 8th grader syndrome so bad, and I love that. I'm just wondering where they're going with his story. At some point he'll have to interact with the other Protagonists, though. I think he and Tawnypelt would get a long, maybe, but I can totally see him & Moonpaw not getting along at all lol. Don't make them fall in love 🙏.

Anyway, what's with Moonpaw having that red eye on the cover? Haha that's kinda funny, but I added it to my design anyway.

[danmei-hot-takes]

SVSSS is the only MXTX novel where you can’t really switch the genders of the main characters without absolutely decimating the plot/theme… this isn’t really a commentary on fanworks (AUs are beautiful), but more on BL and the relevance of gender.

Hualian? Nothing changes is Hua Cheng is a woman. She just has to cross dress into the army, maybe. Xie Lian is a lil harder bc he’s the crown prince and sexism exists in the world, but it wouldn’t break the story completely.

Wangxian? Lan Wangji would be less respected, but like, while I’m blanking on the name of the girl boss Lan sect leader, she did exist. Wei Wuxian is more difficult bc then u also gotta genderbent Jiang Cheng to make All That make sense. But it’s not impossible. The point of cloud recess being gender divided mentioned like once in the extras IICR also has to be poofed if only one gets bent, but yk.

SVSSS? Stallion protagonist cannot be a woman… at best you might be able to get a trans post cannon Binghe (or SQQ). Shen Qingqiu in PIDW can’t be a woman bc you can’t torture a woman that bad… maybe SQQ could be an ugly old or lesbian woman actually (bc no longer attractive/attracted to men). Shen Yuan is defined by his heteronormative man tendencies. If you woman’ed either of them, any commentary on hereronormativity and maleness in relation to abuse kinda gets lost.

Again, this isn’t a commentary on AUs, I just think it’s interesting when making things gay is the only way the plot makes sense vs when it doesn’t really matter. Tho queer romances have other advantages too.

In conclusion, SVSSS is the gayest MXTX novel.

I’d say that sounds legit, but I also haven’t been able to force myself to finish svsss yet, so I can’t really comment on whether it is the gayest. My favourite danmei game to play is whether you can take the romance out and the plot still make sense, which you can do quite easily with mdzs and tgcf so I guess that means they’re not very gay 🤷‍♀️

[synergysilhouette]

Everyone keeps talking about "traditional villains," but in retrospect, I wish Disney had gone in a different direction for the Revival Era. Hear me out...

King Magnifico's failed characterization and poor writing in "Wish" really bummed me out. I was looking forward to a complex villain who was kinda right. I was hoping it could usher in a new age of Disney villains who were more grey than black and white, who made the characer grow as a person because they challenged their perspective. But then I realized that the opportunity existed in earlier revival-era villains:

Dr. Facilier is a villain first and foremost, though thinking back on it, I do think he is kinda proto-Magnifico, granting people's wishes, only for them to find that what they wanted isn't what they expected. I do wish he tied a bit of truth in with his scams, mentioning (similar to Magnifico) how people's dreams are very difficult to achieve--especially in the post-WWI American South, particularly POC. Naveen is generally assumed to be a POC himself, so he could juxtapose this viewpoint as someone who's never really had to experience such hardships. Dr. Facilier could still be 100% villainous, but further emphasis on dreams, wishes, and hard work would be part of his character. However, this is the reverse of "Wish"; Tiana has already worked hard, but she's lost a lot of her innocence and light-heartedness trying to achieve it, thus causing her to reevaluate how important love is and how she may not have realized it, being more practical about her dreams. It all starts with a wish.

Mother Gothel was already right; the world can be dark and cruel, and will destroy any light it finds. However, similar to Magnifico, since she's completely evil, the protagonist she goes against doesn't really change to understand what she's saying. Rapunzel doesn't see the world as dark or dangerous anymore; it's the opposite, thanks to her experiences. Because of this, I do wish Rapunzel did have a bit more negative experiences independent of Gothel to prove Gothel's point rather than it being "hey, she's just saying that because she's the villain." Maybe Rapunzel tries healing someone and people start lusting after her hair.

Hans is DEFINITELY a missed opportunity. He was the anti-Anna; isolated and alone, and he became bitter and cruel because of it. It's mentioned that the deleted song "More than Just the Spare" was removed because it made Anna too much like Hans. I don't think that, and if anything, it furthers my point: Hans gave up on his brothers, who he felt overlooked by and pestered by (he doesn't even mention his parents). Maybe give Hans less brothers and feature them a little in the movie so we can see how they interact with Hans and how it's a "what could be" for Anna and Elsa. His evil character is exactly what Anna is trying to avoid, but she understands how he became this way rather than it simply being for shock value.

Yokai was a great villain to me, but the reveal happened too late. I'd have loved seeing a more thorough exploration of his character and parallels to Hiro (which were done great in the film; I just wish it was expanded on). Highlight how people quickly forget about the dead and don't always learn from history, how there's this cycle of loss and hatred that you have to break.

Bellweather was on a power trip, but I do wish she had a storyline similar to Judy and Nick, since--in an interesting twist--they come off as more interesting and complex than the villain. She doesn't really say what made her act like this, and comments that "fear always works." I wish we got more of that, especially to play the two sides card; Zootopia is mainly predator-phobic, and challenges to this, ie predators playing down predator-related crimes in order to get people to look past their identity (and the fact that many predators are in positions of power) may have caused Bellweather's abuse by predators to be overlooked, causing her to want them all gone.

Te Ka is interesting. Despite "Moana" being a great film, I do feel like Te Ka and Maui's storyline was underutilized. It's revealed Maui stole Te Ka's heart for humans, but from what we see, Moana lives in this ideal community where their heritage, culture, and nature is loved and respected. Maybe embrace the fact that Tala is the only one who tells the story of the ancestors and how being they became "comfortable" since they were no longer voyagers, being used to the hierarchy and their stagnant society. Highlighting some humans' selfish natures would've been nice rather than Maui just telling us about it, with Te Ka being a metaphor for the destruction and disregard for nature and love.

Namaari is such a missed opportunity. Despite caring about her community, she comes off as more villainous than an antihero since she doesn't show any sympathy or care for Raya--in fact, she seems rather smug about hurting her. By making her a villain burdened by expectations and love for Fang while slowly being redeemed would've been better to me, shifting her POV slowly, making Raya angry with Namaari but understanding her motives. Having some regret about her choices--even if she believed they were the right ones--would've gone a long way for Namaari's characterization.

Magnifico...well, you already know he could've been one of Disney's most complex villains. Horrifying backstory and powers that are the result of hardwork left him with a jaded view on wish granting. He wants to help others, but has MANY reservations about it.

This is just my POV, of course; some of you may disagree (or feel like the aforementioned villains already achieved what I ask for), but I do hope future Disney villains have that "they're kinda right, even if they're wrong" characterization. It'd be a nice new era as the successor to traditional villains and twist villains--though just like twist villains, this trope requires VERY good writing.

[tiredspacedragon]

So we finally got a proper Legends: Z-A trailer

Saw a few other people posting their thoughts, so I figured I might as well join in because I do have a lot to say and not too many people to say it to. So here's what's going through my head looking through the trailer and website.

Long post ahead.

I was right. I told y'all and I was right and I am going to be smug about it because I said so. Present. Freaking. Day. I said the clothes in the reveal trailer proved it wasn't set in the past and I. Was. Right. Could still be time travel involved I suppose, but the majority of the game is set in the present and I am vindicated.

I wonder if the train station we arrive in, or I guess I'm just assuming this is a train station, is the same one that takes you to Kiloude in XY. Still want to know what "the usual place" is and if it has anything to do with the ghost girl.

The male protagonist kinda looks like Professor Sycamore to me. I wonder if we're gonna be a nepo baby in this game.

No gym logo on Prism Tower anymore. Which could mean anything really.

Actually a little disappointed about the "wild zones," I'd have preferred to see the Pokémon just out and about wherever. I think they may still be? But just mostly confined to these places. Bit of a bummer, not that bad.

The starter trio is...weird. I am disappointed to see that neither Snivy nor Piplup are part of it, feels like that was done on purpose just to subvert expectations. But subverted expectations don't guarantee the surprise is better, y'know? But yeah, Chikorita, Tepig, and Totodile. I mean I don't dislike any of them, I'm happy to see them getting some love, they desperately need it. But having two of them be from Johto is really strange. Kanto and Hoenn probably weren't options because their starters already have Megas, but that still left Sinnoh, Alola, and Galar to pick from. So here's hoping they've just got something really good cooked up for both Meganium and Feraligatr that they just couldn't wait to show off. I'm really not sure if this game will follow in the footsteps of the previous Legends game and give us regional forms for these guys, or if they'll just get Megas instead. Both is possible, but unlikely, while just Megas feel like the most likely. Which kinda sucks because I like regional forms and would like to see more, but Kalos is the Mega region, sooo... I mean they could give these guys regional variants and then give us Megas for the Kalos starters and have us get one of them a la how we got a Mega Kanto starter in XY, but that's pure speculation. Anyway, these guys are neat, if a little odd. I like 'em fine. Also first time getting two quadrupeds in one starter trio so that's cool. Yeah Tepig's gonna stand up but it's still a first for the base forms.

Looks like the catching system works the same as it did in Arceus, which suits me just fine, because I had a lot of fun with that.

Ooh, we can go on rooftops. I notice, though, that there's no sign of catacombs yet. Still holding on to that little hope. Come on Game Freak, it's a whole game set in Poké-Paris, there have to be catacombs.

Rival picks the starter weak to yours. Lame.

Okay, so real time battles. That is...very interesting. I doubt this will become a series staple, at least in the mainline games. The turn-based Pokémon metagame is far too deep, intricate, and honestly well-crafted for them to just throw it out, but it is a neat idea for a pseudo side game like this. The faster pace will make the battles less methodical, less about taking your time and coming up with strategy and more about thinking on your feet, which could be a neat challenge. And I'm looking forward to seeing how certain moves' mechanics change in relation to this new system. The above screenshot, for example, shows a Lucario using Protect, which is normally not a very good move for playthroughs as it doesn't do much in most single battles other than waste a turn, but now in this game it will be invaluable. Being able to completely block an enemy attack without worrying about dodging and repositioning is incredible. It looks like each move is on a cooldown timer too, so you can't just hammer away with the same move over and over again. Guess that keeps the battles more dynamic. Also I wonder if this means they'll do away with PP. More powerful moves may just take longer to recharge. Hmm. There's a lot more I could say here, but I don't want this post to go on forever. Still this is neat, especially since I've been musing a lot lately on the differences between battles in the games vs how they're depicted in the anime and such.

I see the player character still has a dodge roll, so I assume the Pokémon can still kill us? Hope so, that was a big part of the fun last time.

So Mega Pokémon are all permanently iridescent now? I...actually don't mind that, it looks kinda nice. Sorta reminds me of the Terastallization crystallized effect. Pretty. Also I like the new bronze-coloured Mega Ring. Also pretty.

So the CEO is evil, right? That's kinda the way these things work in Pokémon. Of course it could be a double bluff and she's actually chill because they know we're expecting that trope by now, but we'll see. The big manly man secretary with the Pancham and Buneary hair ornaments in his man bun is cute though.

They put AZ in a SUIT?? Man looks clean! Like he even washed his hair! And he's smiling! He recovered and he's actually happy! Oh you love to see it. Still though, my guy, I get that you're three meters tall, but you live in Poké-Paris. You could have found a tailor. So I guess the stitched together clothes are a fashion statement.

Also we are so getting that Floette.

I never noticed that Zygarde 10% has a butthole before. A hexagonal one at that.

Looks like some parts of the city are still under construction. There's scaffolding up. That's cool, adds more of a 3D element to the environment. I do like climbing things.

Also, speaking of the city, it's split into five sections, and now they're all colour-coded. Which is kinda funny looking, but I mean I'm here for it. The colours match the plazas Lumiose had in XY that were named after colours...almost. The red section is where Magenta Plaza should be, and the section where Rouge Plaza should be is a very pale pink. So did they change the order, or are these colours someone's very mixed up idea of what magenta and red look like?

Okay so the rival is the protagonist you didn't pick with a palette swap and wardrobe change. That's cool, it's been a while since we've seen that. I mean I guess Arceus did it, but that was to match DP having Lucas and Dawn appear in game. The last time it happened with totally new characters was...XY. Huh. And of course changing their look is totally new. The names are a little goofy though. Urbain and Taunie. Sometimes Pokémon can be subtle with the protagonists' and rivals' names, but Urban and Townie here are not an example of that.

Speaking of, no names for the protags yet, but they are totally new designs, not makeovers of Calem and Serena, at least not obviously. I wonder if they'll be referenced at all. I highly doubt either will actually appear, but some mention of "the hero who stopped Team Flare x years ago" would be pretty standard Pokémon fare.

It is interesting how things in the wild zones seem to have just been left as they are. Like they weren't cleared out or turned into parks, there are cars left crooked on the side of the road and tables and chairs abandoned where they sat. I wonder if that's going to be a point of tension in the plot, people opposing the redevelopment plan because they were forced out of their homes. Seems unlikely for Pokémon to get into anything like that too deeply, but they may touch on it. Why do they look like that?

Sooo that's a Chikorita that knows Disarming Voice, which it cannot learn by any means in the mainline games. I smell a Grass/Fairy Meganium form in our future. Mega or regional, whichever. Tepig is shown using Rollout and Totodile is shown to know Bite, but both of them learn those moves normally, so that's no guarantee of Rock or Dark types for them. Fairy moves are new for Chikorita though, very very new.

Either that is the world's tiniest Onix, or Pokémon won't be properly scaled in this game. Again :/ Come on guys, you made it work last time. Yeah, visible size variation has been a thing in the last couple games, so maybe there's hope, but that itty bitty Onix sucks to see.

Okay hold up. Bottom right corner. It looks like Mega Evolution is on a timer. Don't tell me it just ends after that runs out. Oh I don't like that. Not at all. The whole point of Mega Evolution is that it's once per battle but it lasts the entire battle. That better not mean it only lasts until that timer runs out, that just makes it reskinned Dynamax. But I don't know what else that could mean. Ugh. Not a fan of that, no sir.

LOOKER BUREAU SPOTTED!!! Oh please tell me we get to check in on Emma. I would love that.

Okay, so this is the last thing shown in the trailer. A logo showing what looks to be the Prism Tower with a Poké Ball atop it, just after the text, "PROMOTION MATCH ANNOUNCEMENT." So what I would assume that means is that there are some kind of promotional battles, maybe a tournament, being held in Prism Tower? Possibly to fund the redevelopment project? I expect they'll use this to have a bunch of old characters show up with updated designs, which I love, so consider me stoked.

[pixelatedraindrops]

Happy 1st Anniversary RainCode!

☔️6🔎30👻

Thank you for bringing me so much joy 💜💕

(and thank you for giving me the gift that is yuma kokohead)

I didn’t think I’d make art for it at first, but I figured this game has done so much for me, so I’ll give back by drawing the duo that started it all 💜🩷 These two are such an iconic pair and I will draw them together as much as possible c: (tho Shinigami will be mostly in her ghost form if I do)

First time drawing human form Shinigami non-chibi, and I admit she was a little tricky with that outfit. But I think I did it decently enough… xD

little bonus for the kokogami enjoyers 💕

miss death god is too much woman for this little boy to handle~ 🤭

i know he's an adult but can you honestly look at him without context and say this is a man??? he's just an eemey meemey little guy.

Personal Rambling below (because I love this game so much)

WARNING MINI ESSAY INCOMING (lmao)

Oh RainCode... Where do I even begin...

RainCode is a game that has changed my life along with likely many other people’s lives. Although the premise of it is fairly straightforward, the characters and atmosphere make this game so much more. The successor to Danganropa is honestly its own unique story and structure, and tbh I think I love and enjoy it far more than Danganronpa. But this game…is just so much more for me.

I truly never expected this game to be such an impact on my life, let alone become my next fixation.

So, for history, I was honestly in no real hurry to get the game on its release date last year, so I got it a day later. On July 1st, I played the game for the first time. And I didn’t think much of it at first. The only thing that was on my mind when I started this game, was that I was positive I was going to be treating the protagonist like Makoto Naegi and Kyoko Kirigiri’s son the whole time.

This was the first post I made about RainCode back on twitter in 2023.

Yeah... Kinda silly when I look at it now... XD But I do still beleive this headcanon.

When I started the game my 2016 fixation of Danganronpa came back a bit. As a previous DR lover, I did make comparisons here and there to all of the characters. Yuma was very much like Naegi with his shy and timid demeanor at first due to having amnesia, and it felt like déjà vu when playing through the start of the game. But then it happened. The moment that solidified Yuma as my next and now permanent target. When he got sick/dizzy on the train... God that moment still lives rent free in my head. (I know the cause of it was different/related to the first mystery/case, but as someone who enjoys any sort of sick whump moment, regardless of if its little crumbs or a whole-ass meal it still counted for me) I was still shy and hid in the shadows with my silly little niche back then, but I told myself. Yep, once I finish this game, I’m writing a sickfic for this game and he’s the victim. (though what surprised me was that I wasn’t alone on that, 3 other people made sickfics with yuma before I did so that was a pleasant surprise xD)

As the game went on it shocked and impressed me in many different forms. I realized that this game isn’t the Danganronpa clone I thought it would be. Sure, it had a lot of similar elements and mirrored mini games like Hangman’s Gambit, Spot Selection, and of course the Conclusion Comic of the whole case, but the story the world and the mysteries were honestly different from the way DR structured them. And it pleased me when not many people from the main team had died. Most of the deaths were of side characters that had appeared in their respective chapters. Which honestly was a breath of fresh air for me, and I think that’s the real reason it’s separate from DR. It’s not as cruel and not as stressful. It’s a lot more chill, but the mysteries were still enough to get me excited and look forward to the next maze I would enter. The mystery labyrinths were probably my favorites elements of the game. They were just so much fun. And every single character was so likeable, (yes even some of the peacekeepers were fun aside of one or two that I absolutely despise. mostly yomi and guillame lol but I guess I kinda like yomi a bit more bc of the fandom)

And I grew to love Yuma EVEN more. He is honestly one of the best written protagonists I’ve seen in a long time. It’s hard to do timid protagonists right, but RainCode definitely nailed it with Yuma. He had his moments, but it wasn’t enough to be obnoxious. He also shined in more ways than one. And my god, so many relatable moments… (I have anxiety too xD) He was so charming and cute the whole time and even had his badass moments. This little guy is the whole package and I LOVE him for that. Truly a unique and fun main character that blows every DR protagonist out of the water.

(Yes, I said what I said.)

And the ending, GOOD LORD THE ENDING?? It was so well executed, and the ending twist villain was immediately my second favorite character after the protagonist. I could go on about how much I loved the ending but if I did, we’d be here all day and I don’t want to spoil the entire game…so… I’ll leave it at that.

When I finished the game, I was so satisfied. (Yes I love it more than DR, what are you gonna do about it?) It left me super happy and made me want to make some fan content for it. Though I was still very quiet on twitter and had a feeling since twitter is a more complicated platform, I couldn’t gush about the game too much due to fear of spoiling other people…and when one of your favorite characters is just the whole secret of the game’s core mystery, I couldn’t talk about it too much… >.>

So, then I did the unthinkable. I went back to tumblr… It’s a little embarrassing but this account is actually my old one I had from years ago. I was on tumblr more 2013 to 2017 before I abandoned the site when it no longer seemed fun and there were times that I’d rather forget... (let’s just say that I used to RP with my OCs and…one of my RP ex friends catfished me and it made me feel VERY uncomfortable. I wanted to forget it, so I ran away and never returned.) I was super nervous to come back and try to post again, so my first RC related post was about him being a naegiri child.

After that I began making more edits once I gained access to the sprites and full body arts. I made some Pokémon AU edits because those were always fun, and then I started making feverish edits of Yuma’s sprites. My first post ended up becoming a hit and I caught the attention of some people. They liked what I was doing so it gave me a bit of confidence to continue. I got even more attention, and it made my confidence go up even more.

And then I started trying to draw art again, something I gave up long ago. My first few arts were a little rocky at best, but so many people enjoyed it! One of my older arts ended up becoming pretty popular. Through this my few pieces of art, my many sprite edits, and my first fan fiction (Home Is Where The Heart Is) got me pretty well recognized in the Rain code community on here. So much so that I felt confident enough to give myself a title. The CEO of RainCode Whump or “Whumpcode” and all of this confidence made me decide to turn my blog into a fandom and sick whump blog. It became a full blown obsession that possessed my mind that I've become TOO passionate about. Never thought making these little guys suffer would bring me this much joy... XD

Over time, I’ve drawn more art and written more fics than I ever had for a fandom. Before I never ever made fandom art, and I would usually only write one sickfic per fixation. (my last ones being demon slayer and spy x family) But here I am, making more art pieces than I ever have before (hell even doing a MONTH ART CHALLENGE) and improving even! And having 7 fanfictions of RainCode, 6 with Yuma and one with Makoto. And those two became my prime targets and muses for my art. Drawing them is easier for me and they’re my favorites so it brings me such joy to draw them. I love MakoYuma so much. Maybe not so much romantically, but friendship and familial. They have such potential to be so much, and I adore them. Plus putting them in sicknarios and situations is fun (I think we can all agree on that haha)

I think I’m talking too much, so I will say one more thing. I never thought my fixation on this game would last this long. I was positive it would go away after just a few months at best. The game is great but nothing amazing to keep thinking about for too long for me. But I think the main reason I was able to keep my fixation on this game for almost a year (and ongoing) is because of the fandom. (specifically, the Tumblr fandom, but some people on twitter are cool too) I’m honestly so happy I returned to tumblr and was able to make a name for myself in this community. I have met so many talented artists and creators and even made some new friends (and even got a few apprentices to take under my wing) If it weren’t for everyone’s support, I don’t think I would have ever done this much and made it this far.

I’ve essentially made a platform for myself, and I didn’t think tumblr would be a place I’d check daily ever again. To think this silly little game…would change my life so much and make me happier than I’ve ever been in such a long time. I feel recognized and like I belong, I’m finally able to be loud and proud about my passions for sick whump and not worry too much about it, I’ve finally found my prime target and I have fun with him every time, I’ve gotten back into the arts of drawing and writing again and I think I’ve made some of my best work yet, and I’ve met so many wonderful people and even collaborated with them on some fun projects too! (Here's the most popular one and also the first one I did!)  It’s just been…so wonderful… I am so happy to be part of such a chill talented and fantastic community TwT So thank you everyone… this is all thanks to your support… <3

Sorry I’m getting a little mushy here aren’t I… x’D I just couldn’t be more grateful for this game if I tried… So, thank you so much Rain Code, for existing and doing so much for me and making me so happy… I have never had this much fun in a fixation before, and I never felt like I was ever truly part of any fandom and was always just a lurker. It feels so good to finally feel like part of a fandom you love, and also be well liked, admired and accepted by others despite your niche being a little on the odd side… XD

I really hope there will be a sequel for this game, and we’ll see all these wonderful characters again. After all I’ve been through with this title and how much joy and purpose it brought me, consider me a fan for life. I will be dedicated to every future title in this series and play the hell out of it. And I hope it gains a wider audience come October when it is released for more consoles. (Just hoping no weirdos take over and ruin it with stupid drama and horrible things like the DR fandom…)

Though once new fans come in and are also tumblr users…I wonder what they’d even think of me and my place and takes when it comes to this series… XD (hopefully they’ll be nice to me… XD)

Anyway, I’ve said enough.

Happy Anniversary RainCode!!

☔💜👻🔍

[milesconure]

Okay so today I finally watched the Miraculous Ladybug & Cat Noir Movie and one thing I really have to say is… I am SO ANGRY THAT I NEVER WATCHED IT IN THE CINEMA, BECAUSE HOOOLY SHIT!

Like I am so freaking late for that, since this movie came out a while ago, but I just watched it and I'm literally so shocked, because I LOVED IT!

I can't believe that I've been watching Miraculous since I was a kid. We got 6 damn seasons of this show. We got bunch of specials. AND THIS ONE MOVIE DID EVERYTHING BETTER. IT FREAKING FIXED THE DAMN STORY. FIXED THE MOST BROKEN STORY POSSIBLE GOD DAMMIT!!!

Thomas freaking Astruc. What the hell did you say back there? "The movie gives you what you want. The show gives you want you need"? WELL SCREW YOU. I DO NOT NEED YOUR MESSY SHOW AFTER WATCHING THIS MASTERPIECE.

So what did I love about the movie:

Marinette being an actually likeable character. Her having struggles, her having development from being this scared, bullied girl, to the amazing superhero who can stand up for herself and people around her. Marinette who's not being a stalker. Marinette who even if nervous, can talk like an actual human being to the boy she likes. Marinette who can be funny and kinda mean (that scene when she tried to get rid of Tikki was literally so funny lmao). Watching this movie reminded me why I loved Marinette so much on the beginning of Miraculous Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir. That's the girl I related to back then!!

Adrien not being perfect, having struggles and real emotions after his mother's death. Him actually acting depressed and being kind of a loner made literal sense. Also him kinda acting like an asshole after becoming Cat Noir for the first time?? Honestly I loved it. What I loved even more was him not being afraid of sneaking out from his house and not being afraid of telling Gabriel off. I LOVE ADRIEN STANDING UP FOR HIMSELF! I LOVE SEEING HIM FRUSTRATED AND ANGRY,

Gabriel being an actual sympathetic villain. I liked that as a Hawkmoth he was kinda goofy (with that one song), but he was also serious about the whole thing. It was visible that he was depressed as heck and he really wanted to bring his wife back. And he did care about Adrien, the most important thing that the show FUCKED UP. Was he perfect in the movie? No. Was he a good support to Adrien? No. But I could sympathize with him, because the movie showed us why he is like that. The movie showed us how much he suffers and how depressed he is. But he wasn't cruel to Adrien. He wasn't abusive to him like Gabriel from the show is. He wasn't locking him up. He wasn't controlling his every move (sentimonster go brrr). HE DIDN'T FUCKING BEAT HIM UP OR AKUMATIZE HIM AFTER HE FOUND OUT THAT ADRIEN IS CAT NOIR. He was a depressed man who then started spiralling after becoming Hawkmoth (I loved seeing that change) and who cried and apologized to Adrien after he found out that he is Cat Noir. Not to mention, if I understand correctly, he did face the consequences for his actions (getting arrested).

the dynamics between the main protagonists??? LOVED THEM. They looked natural, they weren't toxic like in the show. I loved that Marinette was at first nervous around Adrien, but then their relationship grew and they literally talked normally without any problems. And I loved Ladybug and Cat Noir's relationship too. It started with difficulties, with Cat Noir being an asshole and all, but it developed into innocent teasing between two partners who were always ready to support each other and save the Paris together. Also it's a small thing, but I loved Marinette's parents and the bond of their family? It was super adorable!

okay I don't know if it's just me, but honestly I loved seeing both Ladybug and Cat Noir get hurt during the battles. I liked it, because it added more drama, more emotions. It showed that even with superpowers, those two are not invincible. That the danger they face is REAL. That loosing the Miraculous is not their only worry, but also loosing their lives. They weren't afraid of showing something more dark and I LOVED IT. The main show would never-

the final battle with Gabriel is literally what I always wanted from the show. BOTH Ladybug and Cat Noir being there, having difficulties, being on loosing postions, detransforming and revealing their identities, being in danger, wHOLE PARIS IS BURNING!! THAT'S IT!! THAT'S THE SHIT I ALWAYS WANTED. I also loved that their special powers appeared on the end of the movie. For some reason I really liked it.

I could probably yap more about it, but I just don't know what else to say. After all those season of the tv show, all those specials, the movie gave me everything I always wanted when it comes to Miraculous. That's the story I always wanted to see. And I'm just so happy with it, because it's GOOD. I can't believe I was watching a Miraculous thing and I was smilling from excitment all the time. I was actually freaking amazed and curious and feeling emotions I've NEVER felt while watching the main show!! Honestly my only complaint about this movie is that it has singing in it, but it's my subjective opinion. I'm just really not fond of musicals. Oh and also the farting scene with Plagg. Yeah, not a fan of farting jokes-

Other than that? MWAH, absolutely amazing movie. OH WHY, OH WHY I DIDN'T WATCH IT IN THE CINEMA-

[m0dernchr0n1cles]

Rewriting DC Monkey Prince & Nezha: Characterization (it’s really bad)

I previously mentioned how I believe Marcus Sun = Gene Luen Yang self-insert, and it only gets worse.

Credit to @journeytothewestresearch, @sonicasura, @nightstar47, @gaaralover55

Marcus' character is established through relation with other characters. Marcus is being traumatized by Batman. Marcus is being bullied by Riz. Marcus is being told off by Kaya. Marcus is being wrongfully attacked and kicked around by Big Bad superheroes.

Then Marcus gets superpowers, and he immediately uses them for selfish revenge. He is then saved by Zhu Bajie, who forces him to be a superhero.

Marcus seems very reactionary, only getting the story moving because of plot convenience.

The poor writing isn’t just limited to Marcus. The original characters are bland and lacking in depth. Kaya is a generic love interest who does next to nothing about her bully brother. Riz is an over the top bully who gets redeemed for no reason other than giving a pointless arc closure.

All of the DC characters have been misused and mischaracterized, all for the sake of making Monkey Prince the star of the show.

A rule of writing is that characters have to be distinct. If you can replace Character A with Character B, and there would be no difference in behavior and action, you’re doing something wrong.

The biggest issue (as always) is Batman. Yang did not write Batman. He did not even write, to quote OSP, “the Punisher in a silly hat.” He wrote an edgy wannabe with delusions of being the Punisher.

Batman is also incredibly dumbed down, falling for the "you got your fly down" trick, and the whole “Marcus’ Batman trauma” subplot goes nowhere. After appearing for the first few issues, Marcus just moves on to hating and dumping on the Dark Knight to hating and dumping on other superheroes.

The only exception to Marcus’ “I Hate Superheroes” is Supergirl, who only serves to be the generic love interest who needs to be a “Damsel for the hero to prove their worth to”.

What did Kara do besides show up, pick a fight with the protagonist, flirt with said protagonist, fawn over how “AMAZING” the protagonist is, then be the “Damsel in Distress” for protagonist to save?

Marcus as a character is a bit bad (not just in terms of lackluster characterization). Marcus flirts with Kaya and Kara on sight, which is kinda creepy. He never bothers to discuss or work on his "I Hate Superheroes" trauma, which means this plot line goes no where, but is forced into relevancy by contrived encounters with superheroes. He never questions the morality of what his parents are doing, or find ways to help them not be henchmen.

Does he have any actual flaws that he recognizes and improves on? Does he overcome his trauma in a meaningful way? Does he take any action of his own?

The only arc he goes through was the vague "I don't believe in myself, I don't know who I am" which gets resolved after 12 issues with little to no change in behavior or thought. All the changes is he has arrived at the "I don't know what the future holds, but it will be frickin' wicked" stage.

I hate this self-actualization ending. It’s very Mary-Sueish, especially since there are loose plot threads that were never tied up.

For Devil Nezha, I'll already ranted about him here.

It’s the same problems as the DC characters. He’s an interchangeable baddie who can be swapped with any other character, who only serves to make the heroes look more awesome and good for defeating him.

What’s worse is that many of the Devil Nezha stories were written by non-Chinese people, and it shows.

Fixing This in 新神榜：孙太子

There is how I would redo it in my rewrite:

I would scale down the world to just Gotham. There will be a consistent cast of characters to show up, and enough time to flesh them out as individuals. Give Kaya and Riz some actual depth and growth. It also gives Marcus the opportunity to interact with Batman's Rogues.

Since this is just going to be focused on Gotham, I might not include Shellestriah, but I could write a one-shot with her later

Give Marcus' "I Hate Superheroes" an actual arc. He needs to confront Batman, the source of his trauma, in order to have growth.

Address the "Evil Grandpa Ultra-Humanite" and "Parents are Evil Henchmen" storyline. Give them resolution. Give Laura and Winston some character beyond "Good Parents".

GET RID OF SUPERGIRL. She's been butchered into being Yang's self-inset fantasy "generic white bread damsel in distress", and I hate it. Yang should have just stuck with Kaya, or no love interest.

GIVE MARCUS AGENCY. He needs to want something of his own. Since he's staying in Gotham here, it gives him more opportunities to try to be the hero that he thinks Batman isn't. Give him opportunities to have meaningful relationships with characters other than Zhu Bajie.

For Nezha, my plan is to split him into two characters: Devil Nezha, and Li Yunxiang.

Li Yunxiang, under the guidance of Yang Jian, arrive at Gotham in hopes of collecting Nezha's weapons and help Yunxiang escape Heaven's watchful eye.

Devil Nezha, the understudy that Heaven took in when the original was banished to Earth to be stuck reincarnating. He was a pawn of the Celestial Court, held in place by the Huntian Ling. When he found out the truth, he tried to rebel, only to be sealed away in a tomb.

I have big plans for Devil Nezha that I won't spoil.

MAKE BATMAN COMPASSIONATE AND SMART. He does research about the strange crimes and sudden wave of demons. He does his best to provide guidance to this monkey superhero who hates him for reasons he doesn't understand. He learns about the Shugel-Shen situation and tries to offer them a legitimate job at Wayne Industries, where they can do good. He meets Li Yunxiang, De Zheng, and Yang Jian.

[mymoshangthoughts]

it's prolly time i talked abt my theories for luo binghe and airplane having similar personalities

so i have like separate theories about how exactly the multiverse works in svsss canon and what the system is and airplane's specific relationship to god-hood that i should prolly make a post about to explain BUT

before that i wanna talk about the influence between protag and author lol

oki airplane might be a hack author but he isnt the type of author who can only write self insert characters. still, there is something to be said about relating to your protagonist and something else to be said about method acting

like sometimes when you get so fair into someone elses head for writing (or acting) purposes, certain traits just stick. your personality can influence the character your write but also the personality of the character you write can influence your own, it's a kinda funny lil quirk of people. it's a lot to do with cognitive dissonance, our brains don't like inconsistency. so if you spend all freaking day writing about a character who fucking loves pizza, even if you kinda hate pizza, you'll start to feel a certain want for pizza. because you've basically been telling your brain for hours "PIZZA IS THE BEST, WE LOVE PIZZA". you're not gonna change your tastebuds lol, the power of suggestion isnt THAT strong, but it can definitely make you second guess "do i hate pizza....? should i try it just one more time??" and look, if you really hate pizza, you'll still hate pizza. this isn't some "personalities can change dramatically via the power of suggestion" post. BUT if you were maybe just meh on pizza or your hatred was overblown bc of a bad experience, you might find that you didn't hate pizza that much.

so if you spend all day writing like a machiavellian manipulative bastard, if you generally don't have a manipulative bone in your body, you're not gonna become machiavellian overnight. but if maaayybbe you have some machiavellian traits that you normally don't explore bc Society or Morals or Whatever, you might start to lean into those traits more

it's a bit of the same sort of thing that positive self-talk is supposed to do. it tends not to work well if you say something you absolutely cannot believe, but theres something to be said about influencing yourself by saying the same thing over and over and over

and its a bit of the same reason that when you're in a long term relationship with someone, you tend to share a lot of traits with them over time, because you're just kinda together that whole time

so basically i like to think that luo binghe and airplane influenced each other. like a two-way street. i think that airplane related to binghe as a person to some extent, prior to even writing, bc it's easier for a lot of people to model their protags after a personality that they find personally relatable, so there was a bit of a core similarity between them. not a "we're the same person" sort of bullshit, but a more general "we have a lot in common" sort of thing.

and then, after years spent "together", with binghe influenced by airplane's writing and airplane influenced by writing binghe's personality, they developed even more similar traits over time and by the time pidw ended, the two of them had A LOT in common

anyway i want to explore this more lol cuz i think it's fascinating

[crimson-chains]

*Reading the latest update of star crossed*

So Alcar really said "he's not the worst person you can have by ur side" while a few months ago he sabotage his OWN YOUNGER BROTHER star powers or creatures(something related to their star magic and brush),steal his kingdom and tried to banish him from his own galaxy yet he continues to say yuildun the one who's been protecting Polaris from his bad deeds in the past and still NOW is not the worst person to be by Polaris side

Like seriously what's he tryna say, he's the PeRfEcT person to be by Polaris side after he neglected his OWN YOUNGER BROTHER because of his stupid jealousy and the funny thing is bro didn't even apologize for all he's done like excuse you

He shouldn't even try to play that protective older brother at this point cuz it ain't working for me,like anytime I see him in the comic trying to play that caring and protective older brother I'm always like bruhhh please don't do that

I'm sorry if this sound like I'm hating on ur character or something but it's just that to me in a comic,webtoon,anime, movie or manga if a Villian is a Villian he remains a Villian to me even if they turn good or their just broken heroes,if they try to harm the protagonist in anyway, either emotionally,mentally physically or spiritually their Villians to me.

So that's kinda one of the reasons why anytime I see Alcar all caring for Polaris I'm always like

What I'm trying to say here is that yuildun is the BEST person to stay by polaris side,purr.

Anyways I can't wait for the ceremony,I wonder what yuildun's gonna wear and are other royals from other kingdoms gonna attend to or is it just a ceremony within their kingdom 😀

Lolololol Definitely Yildun is a great man for Polaris and I'm happy you're excited for the ceremony! X3 It's totally fair if you don't like Alcor! I personally think that it's interesting to see how people change and grow after they've made mistakes. And he did save them during the original duel when Yildun and Polaris were falling ^^ But, also valid if you personally don't think his growth is something you can trust or just something you're not interested in!

[lxikobsd]

It hurts that it feels like the way Kunikida was created to be a bit more of an important character but the plot constantly shafts him

You're telling me we have a character who was introduced in the very beginning of the story, who is the main mentor to Atsushi our primary protagonist, and current partner of Dazai our secondary protagonist, so important roles to both characters who kinda share the spot of being the main protagonist.

You're also telling me that we are constantly told that he's the person who embodies the values of the ADA the most, the main organization of the manga and is one of the things that we as the audience are supposed to care the most about. So we have the character who is the human embodiment of the beliefs of the ADA, who is the character that is going to be the next leader of the ADA, and is the character that was specifically targeted to be broken first because of these reasons.

so not only all that, but Kunikida's Matchless Poet has arguably some really strong parallels to The Book. We've got:

An ability that allows the user to create anything they want by writing it into a special book.

A special book that allows anybody to create and change reality into anything they want by writing in it.

Obviously there is a massive difference being the scale, The Book being able to change reality, and The Matchless Poet only being able to create notebook sized objects to our current knowledge. I don't genuinely believe there's gonna be any relation between the two but the parallels are still there and we also don't know the full strength of Kunikida's ability due to Fukuzawa's ability and lack of a proper backstory for Kuni showing what it was like before the ADA. There is a very good chance that The Matchless Poet is stronger than what it's shown to be but its purposely kept to such a small size because of practicality.

I'm not saying that he isn't important at all, but it definitely feel's like he's been shafted the most out of the ADA, except for maybe Tanizaki. At least give us a backstory please.