#really realistic huge statues

[sosilliest]

ILL BE WORKING ON ASKS SOON HOPEFULLY!!

i was out all day and i went downtown! I got some transformers comics at my local comic store 🙏!!!

I also went to a dinosaur exhibit and a war exhibit in the same museum so i was a bit busy today as you can tell HAHA

But yes tysm for ur asks and i’ll be working on them tonight if everything goes to plan!

[siriuslyobsessedwithfiction]

My niche HP theory is that Tom Riddle couldn't give less of a shit about blood purity. He grew up during WW2 and saw both the muggle world's and the Wizarding world's prejudices and since the wizards were even more old-fashioned and disconnected from the muggle world, he decided to use their snobbish views and purebloods' fear of dying out and losing power to Muggleborns. Tom Riddle was an angry young man who saw how blood supremacy and hatred of muggles destroyed his family and left him with nothing. And the uptight filthy rich pureblood pricks got to parade around in his house at Hogwarts acting as if they owned the world? Imagine his fury.

My theory is that Riddle planned the downfall of purebloods at muggleborns' expanse. He promised purebloods to make their wet dreams come true: muggleborns and half-bloods would serve them instead of overtaking their places. He was an extremely intelligent, cunning, talented wizard who had a huge (albeit destroyed) legacy to back him up. A war started, purebloods would never win without Lord Voldemort, but at the end of the day, the majority still knew they served a half-blood with a muggle last name. The irony. He let purebloods destroy themselves - the majority of them died fighting for blood supremacist cause. As for the muggleborns and half-bloods, well, he didn't really care about them. He wanted to rule the purebloods, as he believed was his right, but at the same time, he resented them. There is no way that the orphan who survived the Blitz didn't want to stab a pureblood next to him during lunch at Slytherin table who bragged about his papa's influence on the ministry and made fun of muggle wars. Tom Riddle has also worked in retail.

Additionally, we see on several occasions that Voldemort respects qualities in a person, not their status. He called James Potter brave, even though he thought he was a fool. But openly insulted and made fun of Malfoys during a Deatheaters meeting.

This theory of mine has another one attached to it, which is that after making so many horcruxes, his mind and sanity were severely fractured. That's why he never changed his plans, because at that point, starting a war for the second time made little sense. Voldemort is self-serving and that served no further purpose for him. He just needed to kill Harry to ensure his immortality and let the world know that a child handn't defeated him. The darkest of magic which psychically altered his appearance didn't have any negative effects on his mentality and judgment? Highly unlikely. Which would explain why he wasn't as terrifying and cunning when he came back. Voldemort was a mere shadow of Tom Riddle and couldn't accomplish what he did. If Tom Riddle had stopped at three horcruxes, realistically, he would've won.

[yarns-and-d20s]

I really struggle to understand why people are SO salty over Gale requiring three (3) items. It's slightly more "oh no" in a Gale origin playthrough given that the item that Tara gives you is an entire ring of evasion and if you've long rested before doing much, you may not have any alternatives.

But if and when those conditions are not the case... what the hell kind of dancing lights emergencies are you having in this game that you feel the need to hoard KOMIRA'S LOCKET? Are you that hard-pressed and desperate for gold every second of act 1 that you must sell every magic item that you don't have use for with your party make up? Because lots of those items really are of no use if you don't have certain classes in your party.

As for money--how am I the only player in all the land who waltzes into Rivington for the first time with more gold than I can ever possibly spend in the game even if I buy a goddamn statue?

But as for Hotfix 17 and changing Gale's reaction to not being given items... well, it's not like the man won't BLOW UP A HUGE CHUNK OF THE SWORD COAST or anything. It's not like he's ACTIVELY DYING. It's not like HE'S IN PAIN WHEN THE ORB DOES ITS ORB SHIT.

Like, y'all are salty that you have to give this dude stuff to keep him alive and salty that he doesn't like being in pain.

People aren't necessarily sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows when they're in severe pain.

Ask me how I know.

Gale getting cranky and potentially fucking off make loads of sense. Like, we don't want "plot holes" in our fiction, we want things to be "realistic"... getting angry about being in pain and being refused help is extremely realistic. Not wanting to die and take countless people with you is realistic.

[rallamajoop]

A needlessly detailed analysis of Heisenberg's Conspiracy Board

One of the random details I was most eager to find in the RE8 game assets was Heisenberg's conspiracy board. (It's labeled 'strategy board' in the game files, but I think we all know what we're looking at here.)

The assets consisted of a base layer (below) with separate higher-res photos of Chris, Mia, Rose (with Ethan!) and the other three lords (clean versions of those last three, plus Heisenberg, can be found over here). The actual model is more 3-dimensional than you might think, with many of the photos displayed as separate 'flaps' that stick out from the base board (which does unfortunately make stitching together higher-res screencaps of the full board very difficult).

There are a few reasons why I wanted better pics of the board, but a real big one was catching an in-game glimpse of this one smaller photo on the upper right of some guy in sunglasses and going, wait, is that Wesker?

Having extracted the highest-res version of that photo possible... well, for that to be Wesker, he'd have to have come back to life and aged about 20 years. Which wouldn't entirely be out of character (he's come back from the dead at least once already, and even Chris is looking his age these days) but is really that who it's supposed to be? IDEK, and neither does this one Reddit thread I found discussing the same question.

There are a few other human-faces around the board ‒ mostly some mustachioed dude(s?) ‒ some of them entirely hidden under other photos on the finished board, but none I recognise. Presumably they're meant to be folks who are/were involved with Miranda or other bio-weapons research, past or present, and maybe they're characters set to appear in some future RE installment. But they may just be stock photos, thrown in to fill space.

But having finally posted this thing and come back to it again this morning, I'm looking at that one larger guy in one of those photos and going, wait, isn't that the Duke?

Goddamn, it is, isn't it? You can even see the lapels of his jacket and the curve of the wagon roof over his head. How did I miss that? XD No prizes for guessing why Heisenberg might think he's worth including on a conspiracy board!

Most of the rest of the board is covered with photos of various monstrous bio-weapons. Again, this is probably meant to represent a mix of Miranda's work and that of other bio-weapons manufacturers. Someone more familiar with extended Resi-canon than I am might even be able to identify some of these creatures, but none were immediately familiar to me.

Even the one zombie face below that looks almost exactly like a screencap from that first iconic zombie-reveal-scene from the very first Resident Evil turned out not to be (and yes, I checked both the original version and the remake), though it may still be meant to evoke that moment. The photo behind it, meanwhile, looks to be just a pair of soldats.

The other big 'notice me!' feature is, of course, the big map with 'BSAA Come!!' scribbled on it. The circled target location is the ceremony site, identifiable by the four huge statues, and the date at the bottom (February 10, 2020) is the date of Miranda's planned ceremony (tomorrow morning).

Presumably, this is supposed to be a map the BSAA themselves prepared for troop briefings, but no-one's going to get much out of trying to take this thing too literally. Realistically, the only reason "BSAA Come!!" is written in such big letters here is to let the player know at a glance that Heisenberg is clued in enough to be expecting a BSAA assault.

That's about it for really obvious features. There's not a lot else here that the casual viewer is likely to recognise or find particularly significant. But I'm way past 'casual' in over-analysing this damn game, and I can point out a dozen other features on this board that might (or might not) be awash with implications about all the juicy intel Heisenberg's got his hands on.

Basically, it's time to play my favourite game: Cheaply Reused Asset or Significant Callback?

See, much as I'd love for every last detail on this board to be dense with important lore, the reality is that the player gets barely a few seconds to look at this thing in-game, and so most of what's on it was probably thrown together in a hurry by some overworked member of the asset team without much thought. And nothing demonstrates this better than the fact that two different photo clusters (circled below) from the right edge of the board are duplicated wholesale as you move left across the board.

Someone's just copy-pasted these in their entirety, slightly reduced them in size, and assumed no-one would notice. The asset team is only human, and believes in working smarter not harder as much as anyone.

Then there's the fact that a number of other assets you can find on this board are actually posters advertising fishing equipment, which you can find around the reservoir, near where you pick up the boat key.

Why would Heisenberg include these on his conspiracy board? There's no good reason, they're just a convenient assets to fill in some space.

And then there's my all-time favourite random detail on this board ‒ a completely random photo of a bottle of Dulvey Beer, two bags of Half-Whole flour, and a carton of orange juice.

Now, maybe somewhere in these games, you can find these exact items arranged in this position next to never-before-found coded clue to the future of the series! But more likely, this is just the asset team making an inside-joke about asset recycling, using a picture of some of the most oft-reused assets in the game, on a board that's already covered in reused assets from elsewhere. (Look, I thought it was funny, even if no-one else looking at the board is going to get it.)

So, yeah, a lot of what's on this board means nothing, except that whoever made it had limited time and a lot of space to fill. And That's Okay.

But then we get to the stuff where I do really wanna believe its inclusion means something. For one, the board contains copies of both the mission briefing Chris' team is carrying when they abduct Ethan (the one you find by the overtuned truck), and Rose's BSAA-headered medical checkup report.

I already have this whole theory that that same medical report being leaked to Miranda might just be a major unsung catalyst for how she realised Rose's potential, and thus set all the events of the game in motion. So finding that the same report has made it's way onto Heisenberg's conspiracy board is a lovely bit of potential validation. Similarly, the implication that Heisenberg might have known about Chris' mission to Ethan's home before it even happened has some tantalising implications (or maybe he just found it out by the van where Ethan left it).

Rose's medical report isn't the only BSAA-headered document on the board either ‒ there's another on the top right (outlined in yellow) that doesn't correspond to any in-game asset I can find (presumably it wasn't actually needed for whatever it was created for). There's plenty elsewhere in this game to suggest Miranda has contacts in the BSAA feeding her all their secrets ‒ and whether Heisenberg got these reports from Miranda or independently, the fact he's got them at all suggests one hell of an info-leak.

Speaking of Miranda, you can find a couple of copies of some of her own research notes on Heisenberg's board ‒ this is the same asset used in her lab under the graveyard, where you can find notes about her experiments on 'Alcina D'. So that's another interesting file that it makes total sense Heisenberg might include on his board.

The board also includes a couple of extracts from that issue of The Dulvey Daily from Ethan's home, with the article about the closing of the Baker investigation. Realistically, this is likely to be another case of a random asset being used without much thought, but it does make sense that Heisenberg would have followed that investigation (and I can't help but loved that Heisenberg felt the Horn of Plenty article was worth including in his vast conspiracy-network ‒ I told you they were shady!)

You can find bits of a couple of Heisenberg's own Soldat-x-rays on the board too. Doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but they do look nicely sinister, so onto the board they go! (In multiple places again)

That's about it for assets I could identify. However, there are also a few photos from around the village itself on the board ‒ two of which were evidently screenshots taken from Ethan's own point of view, given that his gun is clearly visible in the bottom left of the screen in customary position. Objectively, this makes no sense, but it sure does add to that "someone's been watching you" atmosphere that any good conspiracy board should aspire to.

(I also feel like I should totally be recognising that doorway in the photo about the 'o' in 'mother', but can't place it.)

And for one final, bizarre detail, you may notice this weird photo of someone's feet appears in a few places on the board. And it's definitely the same photo ‒ the details line up perfectly, right down to the pin and that bit of string. But for some reason, someone's added a lace skirt to the feet in the example on the left.

You can't even see that skirt in the finished board (it's under Miranda's picture), but it amused me nonetheless.

Before we finish, have a few more close-ups on some of the other weird photos you can find on the board.

So, what conclusions can we draw here? There's a ton of detail on Heisenberg's conspiracy board to suggest he (or perhaps Miranda) has access to files from the BSAA and whoever Chris is now working with/for, that he's researched what happened at Dulvey and has certainly helped himself to Miranda's own files, if you'd like to read significance into what was included on the board. But there's also a ton of complete nonsense, so, you know, pretty much just RE lore operating as per usual.

I hope you've all enjoyed my little descent-into-madness while picking this thing apart.

[dailyrothko]

do you have a favorite rothko? also i loved your writing in response to the mad men question

First of all, thank you. Unfortunately I answered the same question yesterday so perhaps just look there.

As to my writing here, it can be tangential (like this!) but I guess these days I try to speak about a larger context that makes sense to me, not because I know anything more than others, but for the reason that there are connections between the art forms intellectually and also in terms of relationships between art and other sensual pleasures.

There's a huge trove of great writing on visual art intellectually in the context of art history, but we sometimes don't let ourselves talk about this stuff in a more normal way. I think people get intimidated by an external pressure to beknight some things and reject others, but once people have a better idea of their personal taste, the conversations really improve because they cast off the mantle of acceptability that we get confronted with so frequently.

Detractors of modern art do this too. They find Franz Kline not acceptable because he does not paint realistically, something the society still upholds as superior. But of course that's ridiculous and feeds a ridiculous culture war, where people on the internet feel they must not weakly proclaim they like or dislike but strongly condemn art as amazing or trash for all of society. It's a mind numbing experience to witness.

Tumblr is actually surprisingly good for these conversations because I think more people here trust their visceral impressions. We have these two worlds of criticism.

I think of wine sometimes. An interesting drink that people have spent centuries refining and playing around with. That in itself is sort of cool-the long lineage of trying to make something designed to get you high, also have other pleasing sensual attributes.

But...it's almost impossible to talk about wine with most people because it's a status symbol and for those seeking that. price equals quality, the status of it is more important than the taste. The pretension of knowing and ownership make everything a miserable competition.

While sometimes you have to pay for good things (some stuff just takes time and materials) most things in this life, including painting, are non-price hierarchical.

And there I didn't really answer anything but thanks for the nice words and the indulgence of your time.

[digitulart]

helluva boss redesigns. i made these a year ago so i cant completely remember my thought process on them, what i Do remember is my ideas for them

blitzo: (currently not renamed) grew up in the circus and still looks back on it fondly, hence his clothing. hes been not only declawed, but the light markings on his fur and horns indicate severe injury. hes not aggressive but he is very fidgety and overexcited, and does not think ahead, which always worries his coworkers. hes also very quick to try finding the "positives" in every scenario, and refuses to accept the downsides. the stress of being a tiny little imp trying to make a living through his assassin job is getting to him. he loves his big wolf daughter also. he loves her a lot. shes pretty much all he has

loona: The Wolf Daughter. renamed Ariel, shes a hellhound with albinism and was adopted by an imp, who arent so respected in hell due to their status and size. asides from her insecurities with not fitting in anywhere, and her teen angst behavior, she is successful in finding few friends and forming an indie rock band titled "Discord". yes she plays the bass. ariel cant say shes not grateful for everything her dad gives her and respects his commitment to his job, but she is a little embarrassed by him. she feels bad that shes ashamed of him, honestly

millie: renamed mimi for now. your average country girl imp. she plays a mean banjo. shes the heart of the I.M.P team and tries to keep everyone in good spirits. shes not above doing dirty work to get by, so being an assassin is more or less her true calling. it was better than her job in the mafia anyways. after meeting her husband, she began to realize she has extreme difficulty showing love in ways other than through service acts, as shes usually closed off emotionally. growing up in a big family, she wasnt given enough attention to really understand love. shes very grounded and a quick thinker, especially in tense situations

moxxie: (also not renamed yet) the actual realist of the team, aka nerd, and the strategist/planner/financial advisor/etc. his dad is a mafia boss, so although he left him many years ago, he also learned a lot from him. and also became extremely anxious and a huge perfectionist over executing any plans. but i mean, who wouldnt still be scared shitless over just about everything due to growing up like that, especially over their dad whos still actively looking for them anyways, even though their mom has tried keeping them from him multiple times until she disappeared, and he eloped with another previous member of the mafia, so now Shes in danger too, etc etc

(moxxie best character so he didnt get any severe changes btw)

(do NOT ask me about my opinions on this show or assume i hate it or love it or whatever i dont give a shit. that means you too viv)

[cl-0v3r]

remember the days when you didn't like ambessa? what changed your mind about her?

HI ANONN , THATS A GOOD QUESTION!

Since the beginning I've always found it hard to trust Ambessa, it's not that I don't believe her experiences, she's one of the smartest characters in the whole show. But It's more about her relationship with Mel, I've always been so unsure about what her true feelings towards Mel are, she is a wolf, but undoubtedly a fox as well. Manipulation is like smooth sailing for her, and finding genuinity in her expressions always came with a little bit of doubt on the side, "Does she actually care? Is she manipulating the people around her -including Mel- JUST to get her way? Is she trustworthy with her intentions and feelings towards Mel?" And etc.

Only a little while ago did I realize that Ambessa is just extremely complex, she has so many layers, to the point where I didn't really have to time to clear my glasses about her character. I hated her for her morals, and i let that affect my interest towards this character as a whole, which is a huge mistake in my book. I also did take her a little personally sometimes, shes really realistic and it scared me a lot.

But ever since riot released the few beggining s2 trailers, I slowly started getting excited to see her. We did not get much screentime with Ambessa in s1, hence why I never felt a close attachment to her, and Mel was another reason on why I didn't like Ambessa because I'm attached to HER the most. Which reflects on my opinions on certain others, sort of like seeing things from her perspective. Mel is basically the base of my opinions on other characters if that makes sense?

Family, especially motherhood tropes are such a weakness for me, seeing her league voicelines and that music video they recently released (blood, sweat & tears) is what tipped the jar completely for me. We never got a clear indication on what Ambessas true perspective was, so finally seeing things from her eyes, hearing what she had to say, seeing how rough her past is made me understand why she became who she is in the current timeline.

And now I feel like I do not need to doubt everything she says, she does indeed love Mel as much as she does kino, she was not telling Mel in episode 9 all those things to weaken her for an open road, no. She'd went through hell and back just to keep her family safe despite how nuanced her actions are. seeing her lore simply made me do an entire 180⁰ turn.

She was going to accept her and her childs death and give in, but instead she chose to fight for her and their lives instead.

Kindred has the Lamb and the wolf. The lamb takes the lives of the dying peacefully, the wolf on the other hand, takes the lives of those who fight for their lives until they're dead.

And I find that interesting, gut wrenching and sickening mentally, thanks riot, good to know Ambessa is locked to the wolf in every single way <333

Thing is, what pains me is that she had no choice, she had to choose to die and leave everyone behind including the unborn child, or become the Medardas dictator, with the expense of her child's inevitable death. (Or perhaps I've taken this wrong)

From my understanding, the MV was more about Kino than it is about Mel, her letting go of the lamb was like handing the lamb for slaughter, a sacrifice, sort of like a "contract". Which lead to Kinos death despite how unrelated it was from kindred (like he didn't die by kindreds hands directly) . Hence why she was crying over the child figure/statue holding the lamb.

And later with the visual presentation of her pain too, someone please take the medardas pains and give it triple the amount to the actual worst fucking person to exist oh my god 😭 😭 😭

To summarize, I just never understood her character properly, I never got myself to do so. and that is a mistake from my side, I am a really visual person and the reason I really love arcane is because they don't really need words to express and show who their characters really are. Theres so many visual secrets and easterggs, expressionism, movements, colors, every single thing matters. And with Ambessa only appearing on the last 2 episodes?? Yeah I never felt like learning about her. But now im slowly starting to do that! She made it from my least character ever to like TOP 5 😭 😭

All of this will not change how horrible she is, she is a painted villain, ambiguous yes, but leaning on the darker sides. But that's what makes her Ambessa and no one else, I will forever hate her morals, I won't defend her actions. but her true intentions are meaningful nonetheless, with all the other characters too.

[joannerowling]

I’m curious - why do you think Fred dying was necessary? I’m not disagreeing but I was devastated so I’m curious what your thoughts are! (Especially after your Percy meta 🤌🏻)

Many reasons! A Weasley always had to die in the last book because, as JKR put it, it wouldn't have been realistic for all of them to survive. They were too involved.

With regards to Percy specifically, well… Percy's return always had to come at a price, to really drive home how poor his decisions were. Percy's arc teaches the reader a lesson about family, and being careful about the sort of wedges you're prepared to drive between them and you, and why, because if you ever change your mind it might be too late, especially in uncertain times. Think about Covid, or the Israel-Palestine war, those are the sort of political situations which can create huge tensions and sometimes tear families completely, and needlessly, apart.

The point isn't really that Percy was in the wrong when he stood with Fudge in OotP, his real offense was his refusal to come back after that. He had ample opportunity to do so – he could have admitted his mistake, apologised, and the family would have forgiven him in time. Instead he wallowed in his pride and/or shame. Then the war truly started in DH and even if he'd have wanted to make contact it became either too dangerous or impossible (as he wouldn't have known where they were hiding). And then right as he finds them back again during the finale battle, right as he's making tentative connections (a joke!) with the member of the family he had the toughest time communicating with, giving us some hope for reconciliation and growth… Nope, it's too late.

It ALWAYS had to be one of the twins because they were the ones Percy had the most volatile conflict with. It could have been Arthur, but Arthur had already a close call in OotP and Percy's emotions over that had already been shown so it would have felt repetitive. Plus, as discussed in the previous post, Percy takes his "big brother" status seriously, so it HAD to be a younger sibling he failed to protect and ever fix his mistakes with.

What makes it worse (and therefore better! :D) is Percy COULD have been close with Fred and George: they are the closest in age after all. But the fact they were twins meant they were always their own little team within the siblings + their personalities didn't match with Percy's + they were all competing for Molly and Arthur's attention. (In fact i think there's a good chance that a young Percy at some point wished he only had one little brother instead of the twins, so it could be Bill & Charlie, Ron & Ginny, and him and whoever would be instead of the twins. Obviously, once one of the twins gets actually killed, it wouldn't have been a great memory. I know, i'm extrapolating a lot here, but some people in this fandom think Evan Rosier was fucking Luna Lovegood's mum so just indulge me lol)

ALSO (i'm stopping after that promise), does Percy's behaviour remind you of anyone? Ron is very Percy-like in DH. But unlike Percy, Ron needed to have a bit of Voldemort's evil soul hanging around his neck to make that kind of choice + he regretted it immediately and tried to come back + crucially he was ready to admit his mistake and work on his flaws. He sought the advice of Bill when Percy isolated himself. That's why Ron doesn't get punished, and also probably why Ron's a main character and hero.

Tl;dr: Fred's death is the inevitable conclusion of the tragedy that is Percy's arc about being too proud to solve minor conflicts with his family until it was too late.

[jeweljoker]

Why I like Caitvi more after s2

I've had what I'm assuming from what I've seen is a somewhat unique experience where I came out of s1 thinking Caitvi was very cute but wasn't particularly gripped and moved on with my life and then watched s2 and had my brain chemistry rearranged by them and am now possessed and thinking about them 24/7 like a crazy lady.

I've tried to figure out why I feel this way. Why my opinion is so different. Their s2 moments aren't cuter. Acts 2 and 3 give them so little time together for their reconciliation. There are genuine problematic elements there that weren't before. So why.

It's because Caitvi's relationship is a thesis. A thesis that s1 presents, but only s2 proves. s1 tells you why Caitlyn and Vi are good for each other. s2 shows you why.

Their significance to each other as characters and why they fall for each other is shown in a lot of ways in s1.

Caitlyn sees through the walls Vi puts up between them and recognizes her good heart. She is the first person to give Vi care and understanding and a listening ear in years, and the first person to take huge actions to protect her since Vander. She chooses to protect when Vi has been forced to be the protector. She chooses to fight when Vi has been forced to.

Vi sees Caitlyn for who she is when she's grown up knowing people who only see her name and status. Recognizes and pokes at qualities others dislike her for, but likes her. She treats her frankly and challenges her, and that's what Caitlyn has wanted. To not be pampered. To be seen and treated like an individual person.

They're sweet and have chemistry and you already see how they do good for each other, but there is a problem there. A rift that realistically would have caused trouble for them down the road in some form regardless of how things went. Their lived reality has been vastly different, and both of their growths have been stunted in different ways. Caitlyn has only known a life where she doesn't have to fight while Vi has only known a life where she has to. Caitlyn has been sheltered from pain while Vi has had too much of it. s1 puts her through some shit, sure, but it only scratches the surface and the worst of it was only ever going to show its results in s2.

Unless she was an unrealistic saint who is capable of having her entire worldview changed in a couple of days, Caitlyn was always going to be a problem.

Something that s2 does for Caitlyn and Jayce is have them, very unsubtly, go through a reflection of struggles of characters who are significant to them in the story. Caitlyn goes through a reflection of Vi and Jinx's, Jayce goes through a reflection of Viktor's by playing Dark Souls.

Despite sympathizing with Vi's suffering, Caitlyn never really understands in s1. It isn't possible for her to ever truly understand the weight of how Vi has suffered. But she gets a taste of it. While the trauma she goes through is intentionally closer to Jinx's(by the fact it's a consequence of her actions and she recognizes it), she also goes through Vi's. She experiences the loss of a parent in front of her and witnesses her broken body bleeding out on the floor. She knows the sadness and anger and hatred at the culprit. Her life is irreversibly changed.

What ultimately separates people is that we are all products of our societies and experiences. What is forced on us and what we take from it. What supports we have in the quality of people and resources around us. Arcane does a good job portraying this across its large cast, and especially with Jinx, Vi and Caitlyn.

You want Caitlyn to overcome that. Through Vi's support she turns the right direction even. You want her to be the perfect understanding partner who can overcome grief with love, even when that partner is the sister of her mother's murderer. But she isn't. She is imperfect. In the face of the worst tragedy she has personally experienced she goes dark places. She falls back on what she has known and what society has enabled her to have access to. She fails Vi and herself.

In their separation you see who they are at their lowest points.

A Caitlyn who is attempting to fit the mold of society out of the guilt of her actions(she is not just operating out of a desire for revenge, i have another post cooking about this).

A Vi who doesn't know how to function without purpose and punishes herself for what she deems as her mistakes.

They are both trying to stifle themselves. Do things that run contrary to their desires and nature. Caitlyn has never wanted to be confined by her family name and the role her birth has deemed she should play, now she feels she must. Vi has wanted her freedom, her home and family, but now she's recreating her prison conditions with constant fighting and a room like a cell. They both punish themselves in similar ways.

Caitlyn is not a monster. Can't be a monster. Her hands are dirtied now, but there was always going to be a line. You immediately see her struggling with everything after the timeskip, but she's gotten herself in a situation she doesn't know how to get out of. She's biding her time while she looks for it, tailing Ambessa and learning what she can from her.

Vi has a fear of change. Change has only ever been bad to her. Taken things away from her. She has accepted that her sister has changed now, but what does that mean? You see Vi and Jinx act like actual bickering siblings for the first time, and of course, Vi quickly shows that she still loves her changed sister and their changed relationship.

They go through things. Layers are added to them. They're different when they reunite. Their relationship is and will be different if it continues. So what now.

That moment in the jail cell means a lot of things, and one of those things is Caitlyn and Vi both being stripped bare(heh), coming together as everything about them that's the same and different, and looking at each other again.

It's Vi stripped away from her responsibilities and purpose. It's Caitlyn who has thrown away her hatred and what society thinks she should do.

There are layers of them that have changed. Things about them that will never go back to how they were when they first met. But what they fell in love with is who they were at their cores, and they still love that.

Caitlyn fell in love with Vi's good heart. The heart that extends itself to many but keeps choosing her family above all else. Above Caitlyn. The heart that stopped Caitlyn from shooting in part for her own sake and Caitlyn rejected at the time. She can accept it now. That good heart is right there in that cell.

Vi fell in love with a Caitlyn who tries to understand. Who builds her justice and does what she thinks is right based on personal judgement and not face value despite her position. Caitlyn re-evaluates Jinx and can look past her own mother's murder. That understanding woman is right there in that cell.

Vi gives Caitlyn what she needs. A person who reflects who Caitlyn truly is. Someone who won't let her become what she isn't.

Caitlyn gives Vi what she needs. A person who she won't lose because of her decisions. Someone who she doesn't need to protect or prioritize, but will still stand by her.

Caitlyn and Vi give each other what they want. What most anyone wants. A person who loves them for who they are.

Again, s1 gives you a thesis. s2 proves the thesis. They have fewer moments together, but it shows you a lot more about who they are as characters individually, or more specifically them at their lowests and their self-destructive tendencies when they are. It shows you all that and paints a picture of why they have a hopeful future where they're much better together than they are apart. That's what has sold me on Caitvi.

[ape-apocalypse]

Road To The Kingdom - My Planet Of The Apes Retrospective

With the hype for Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes on the rise, I decided to do a bit of a deep dive into the trilogy of reboot movies starring the incredible Andy Serkis and the various tie-in titles.

Why ramble on about a series that most people seem to overlook? Well, I think back to an interaction I had here on Tumblr in 2017, just one week before War For The Planet Of The Apes came out. While scrolling through the POTA tags, I found a post that wondered if anyone was actually excited for the new film or if the studio hadn't gotten the message and was making it for an audience that didn't exist. I responded that I was genuinely excited for the new film, that I loved the motion capture apes and the action scenes and the surprisingly engaging story, and would be seeing it opening weekend. The other person seemed surprised by my honest answer and apologized for their snarkiness (a truly shocking turn of events in the history of the Internet!).

I explained that I'd gone into these films thinking of them like Jurassic World series; I wasn't there for a great story and deep writing, I just wanted to see dinosaurs destroy things. So when I went into the POTA films, just expecting to see fun action movies with monkey chaos and apocalyptic results, I was surprised that I was swept up in the characters and their stories. I loved seeing the life of Caesar from tiny carefree baby to resilient revolutionary to fearsome leader, and the lives of all the humans and apes around him. The other poster said they hadn't actually seen the movies, just expected them to be shallow cash-grabs on reboot nostalgia, but they might have to reconsider giving them a shot after my enthusiastic response.

So if I can sway the minds of anyone who has written off these films, more movie tickets sold might mean more films and other media told in this ape apocalypse world!

And even if you already know and love the films, I also want to give some love to tie-in materials. Books, comics, YouTube shorts, video games; POTA has a surprisingly large catalog of bonus material for a series not considered mainstream like Marvel or Lord Of The Rings or Star Trek. I don't see them get many mentions in the fandom so hope a little spotlight on them can help them shine. They have delicious tidbits of world-building and character backstory, filling in gaps between the movies. I already have my fingers crossed there will be some tie-in material covering some of the huge time jump between War and Kingdom. With three hundred years passing between them, there is so much to learn about the ever growing and changing ape societies. I'm eager for any scrap of info they'll share!

But really, even if nothing I write changes anyone's mind about this franchise, it's still fun to gush about one of my favorite fictional universes.

My brief history with POTA was that I didn't know much about the original films before going into the new Andy Serkis trilogy. I'd heard enough about the original film to know the main beats of the first movie (quotes like 'damn dirty ape', the reveal of the planet being Earth with the Statue of Liberty). I saw the Tim Burton film which didn't leave any kind of impression other than the incredibly realistic costumes/make-up, so much so that I was apprehensive of the CG apes. Since getting into the new films, I've started watching the originals and may cover those just for fun.

So whether you're a long-time die hard fan or a fresh face to Caesar's legacy, I hope you'll enjoy my thoughts on the Planet of the Apes franchise!

Links to all my posts as they are released:

- Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes Film

- Prelude and Contagion Comics

- Motherboard YouTube Shorts

- Firestorm Tie-In Novel

- Fall Of Man Comics

- Dawn Tie-In Comic

- Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes Film

- Revelations Tie-In Novel

- Last Frontier Video Game

- Crisis Video Game

- When Worlds Collide Comics

- War For The Planet Of The Apes Film

- War Tie-In Comic

- Caesar's Story Novel

[vickyvicarious]

Oh man, this chapter was rough for Henry to the point of it being kind of funny. Every two lines he kept trying to flirt but Margaret was just not picking up what he was putting down. Honestly, it's pretty impressive how every single move he makes is immediately countered/shut down by either Margaret herself or the narrative. It's made clear again and again and again that they are not a match:

“Did not I say that I should?” asked he, in a lower tone than that in which he had spoken. -> Henry tries on a meaningful voice, Margaret not only doesn't respond in kind at all but also leaves the room shortly afterwards.

They were a dull list of words, but somehow he liked looking at them. He put them down with a sigh. -> No Margaret here but the narrative itself hinting at them being unsuited, with Henry mostly bored despite his infatuation, and also disappointed in her family's humble status.

He was pleased with everything; delighted with Margaret’s idea of going out sketching together; would not have Mr. Hale disturbed for the world, with the prospect of so soon meeting him at dinner. -> He's all for his solo time with her, but she only came up with it as a ploy to let her mom get the food ready in peace.

When they sit down to sketch, Henry scooches them close together with the excuse of a puddle. Almost immediately, Margaret is getting up to go and talk to someone.

He drew her and says he really likes the sketch. She walks away. This is maybe the most potentially promising moment from his perspective, because she's blushing and he's watching her closely to try and figure out if it's a good blush or bad one. But even here we get an immediate negative, because he's not sure she heard and he regrets saying it because it wasn't planned.

“I should say that a likeness you very much wish to take you would always succeed in,” said Mr. Lennox. “I have great faith in the power of will. I think myself I have succeeded pretty well in yours.” -> Henry says I really wanted to take your likeness but Margaret just keeps picking flowers without seeming to pick up on the line. This leads to another potentially positive moment partially spoiled by his own thoughts, as he seems a little frustrated at her not understanding him even as he's helping her with the flowers and getting matching ones for himself. They also physically part right after when she goes inside.

Margaret leaves to go get the pears for dessert. Henry suggests everyone follow, and watches her while she's getting them together. He's out of sync with both Margaret herself (off doing her own thing getting the food her father wants without thought for him) and her family (making her mother feel awkwardly forced by politeness to go eat outside, proposing a way of eating the pears her father isn't into). Nothing huge but the fact that it keeps happening over and over...

They go for a walk and he tries to praise her home and life. She immediately tries again to be more realistic about it and complains about him having 'scorned' her fondness for her home previously.

The second he starts to propose, the trainwreck gets rapid-fire and worse all around. He gets hesitant and Margaret wishes she were anywhere else. He takes her hand and it's described as "forcing" her stay and listen; he has to try to retain his grip as she tries to pull her hand free. Any "fluttering at her heart" is despite herself and she despises it. He's not pleased that she likes her home because it means she isn't listening to him kindly. He loves her almost in spite of himself. She doesn't think of him as anything but a friend.

He wants to ask her if she loves someone but can't. She wants to shut him down more harshly but restrains herself. He feels snubbed and bitter. She feels guilty and annoyed (both at him and at herself for feeling bad for him when he isn't reacting well to the refusal).

Afterwards they both wish he could just leave. She's sad and pensive. He's acting witty in a cold and snobby kind of way and it rubs everyone wrong.

When he makes one last appeal before leaving, we don't see her reaction. But the jumble of negative is there in his speech: first, she was very firm that she didn't want anything more with him, but he's refusing to give up hope. Second, even as he says he loves her more, he also says he might hate her, both for the "disdain" with which she met his proposal.

There isn't a single potential romantic moment between them that isn't soured in one way or another. Also, this line:

“It was irresistible. You can’t know how strong a temptation it was. I hardly dare tell you how much I shall like this sketch.” He was not quite sure whether she heard this latter sentence before she went to the brook to wash her palette. She came back rather flushed, but looking perfectly innocent and unconscious. He was glad of it, for the speech had slipped from him unawares—a rare thing in the case of a man who premeditated his actions so much as Henry Lennox.

That feels like a huge character moment for him. He plans things out, he isn't spontaneous and he isn't comfortable with the vulnerability that comes with being so. He clearly planned this visit and this proposal, and came armed with plenty of practiced flirtations that would work on the type of women he's used to. Margaret seems pretty uninterested in playing those types of games (at least that I can judge so far; maybe it's mostly just with him), and seems more of a straight shooter.

They both censor themselves around one another. Margaret's willful ignorance of his flirting, his regret of unplanned flirting... During the proposal, he cuts off his request about if she loves someone else and she struggles to phrase her denial of ever liking him and her displeasure at this conversation in a way that isn't harsh.

Quite simply, their personalities aren't a match any more than their financial/home situations are. Romantically, at least. Honestly, he doesn't seem like a terrible guy (with the caveat that I really hope he is more respectful of her not liking him back in the future) and I would like to see them rebuild/continue a friendship. But it's made so very clear in this chapter that they will not be getting together.

(Also, on a meta level, if his feelings are at proposal attempt level this early in the story, the outlook isn't great. We're going to see more of a development throughout the book in any romance. The chapter title feels like a cheeky nod to that as well as to possibly the fact that Margaret will need time to fall for anyone. The quote at the beginning also makes a point of not using "courtship's flatteries" but those are Henry's technique.)

[vivianwine]

"If Rhaenyra comes into power…your very life could be forfeit. Aemond's as well. She could move to cut off any challenge to her succession."

"Then I won't challenge..."

"You are the challenge! You are the challenge, Aegon! Simply by living and breathing! You are the King's firstborn son and what they know,

what everyone in the realm knows, in their blood and in their bones is that one day, you will be our king."

Do you remember these lines? These exact lines are the one of the reason for Aegon to usurp the iron throne. Because whether he usurps the throne or not his, his brothers and their bloodline is the most dangerous treat to Rhaenyra’s bloodline.

If you have a little understanding of medieval politics, you would know that no matter what the green kids do, they wouldn’t be able change the their status as potential treats.

It is truly an unfortunate thing to realm wanting to have a male ruler instead of a women but at that time period no one wasn’t ready for such a drastic change. They first tried that with Rhaenys and that was a big fat NO

And then they had Rhaenyra. People have sworn to her. And she was accepted even after she had brothers. Which is a good improvement on the society’s view of women being on the power.

So as we can see realm would eventually get there but for that to happen in this generation, Viserys should’ve stopped having kids. Even though realm was getting there, it wasn’t “exactly there”

So having her 3 dragon riders silver haired brothers(one of them has the Vhagar) has made things complicated cause just like I said realm wasn’t exactly there (again,unfortunately but again, these things take time) eventually resulted as a civil war.

And also expecting realm them to be there is kinda foolish. Since GRRM is writing his stories rather realistic (people can write fantasy and be realistic) also his writing is actually quite based on the real world’s dynasties and their systems. So in real life these changes took time, it is expected them to take time in also HOTD since Writer is kinda taking examples from real life.

Back to the story: If he were to stop having children and put Rhaenyra on the throne without any challenge in the next or two to three generations later people could’ve accepted their first born as their heir without giving care to their sex.

These kind of things take time. And Dance of the Dragon’s timeline wasn’t ready to accept a women as their queen(unfortunately)

Therefore Aegon had to take to throne because he literally didn’t have a choice. Cause since realm is not ready for this huge change, they would eventually push Aegon or any of his brothers to throne and Rhaenyra would’ve to kill her brothers(rightfully)

So I really don’t understand this hate ontowards to green kids. They were trying to survive.

And I am not being misogynistic just by pointing out this sequence.

I am aware that Aegon being on throne is basically erasing the women’s standing as a ruler HOWEVER him not being on throne also means that he and his almost entire family being butchered. (I empathize with green kids’ POV just like i do with Rhaenyra’s.) So just because Aegon wanted to save himself and his family, this doesn’t mean that he is a bad person (I know he is rumored rapist in the book and I know he is a bad person but not because of him wanting survive. He has so much things to make him a more a bad, I KNOW)

[zahri-melitor]

Some more coherent thoughts about Gotham War, now it's settled on me.

(Spoilers below cut, for length and as it's still only Wednesday)

It's not a huge surprise, but Selina's whole 'train henches to steal from the rich non-violently!' ended up being a complete side issue that only existed to get the plot moving. Nobody's conception of this plot, in two years time, will really include this detail, despite the thousands of words spent arguing how ridiculous it was.

Yes it remains a poorly thought out plan on Selina's part (she's never heard of earning money legally) but the narrative also frames it as long term ineffective from the very first issue and knocks it down on multiple occasions.

DC editorial definitely tried to dress this up as a full family event, but realistically it was a Bruce, Selina and Jason event, written by their three current writers, with solid bit parts played by Tim and Dick.

Vandal Savage remains ridiculous and ready to sacrifice anyone and I appreciate that about him. As a villain he was just the right level of stakes for this event.

I enjoyed getting to see Scandal, even if her fans would say she got done dirty here. Scandal usually has enough sense not to believe anything Vandal says, and I admit I was somewhat waiting for some level of twist here as to why Scandal was all for immortality at this point in time, but it never came.

I still agree it felt a lot like three separate plotlines intersecting, but I think they managed to land the event successfully (while leaving some nice loose threads). I actually appreciate they didn't overreach in their goals.

It still finished out with two separate plotlines: Bruce and Selina and Jason; and Dick and Tim and the rest of the family. Structurally this again reminded me as much of Resurrection of Ra's Al Ghul as Batman #138 did; the main plot and then the far more interesting Dick & Tim sideplot which is what I go back to reread. (Chip Zdarsky is clearly also a fan)

Also promisingly for an event yes, it did actually shake up the status quo and push the participants off in new directions.

So Bruce is now doing the Loner Batman thing (in that he's locked out of the fam computers/comm lines), Selina is officially 'dead' (what is with all these fake dead people with titles, Penguin is too right now), and Jason has what's effectively permanent fear toxin response to stressful situations. Also, apparently, we are getting Dick and Barbara back 'running' the Batfam while Bruce is on the outs.

As far as Bruce goes, what has been really notable in this event is how much Chip Zdarsky loves early 2000s Bat comics and their dynamics, and particularly Joker's Last Laugh. There's a lot of structural things about how this event was shaped, what specific characters did, and emotional beats that feel very JLL as someone who's read it at least half a dozen times. It's not the only influence, but it's a pretty prominent one.

Bruce ending the event in a position where he's effectively not working with most of the other Bats actually tracks reasonably well over to Batman & Robin, to my surprise. It makes sense that it's just Bruce and Damian and they're focusing on homelife and domestic relationship details between the two. It gives Bruce an excuse for why he's closely focused on Damian there.

I will admit I have not been reading Catwoman, but from the event it seems they're spinning her off to keep moving her back into a more antihero position. Tini Howard clearly has a direction she wants to take Selina.

I actually think this has pretty interesting storytelling potential for Jason. It means that he has to stay calm, or has to overcome his own fear to achieve things. It gives him a goal? Matthew Rosenberg clearly seems interested in using it for his Jason storytelling and he's got Jason right now, so...

I'm personally delighted by how much Tim Zdarsky wrote into this storyline. He used the space more to show off Dick and Tim's brotherhood and what Tim is good at, rather than push the Tim side of the Zur story we're all expecting to occur (there's that waiting Zur-Robin costume). Means he's planning it for Batman as a title itself rather than getting it tangled up here.

"It was the only way to become the second-best Robin". Yes, this is Tim getting to show off his core competencies - he probably is the only Bat other than Bruce who would have extensively studied all the trophies. Dick would remember a lot of them simply because a lot of the trophies are from old adventures, but pretty much all the others are not particularly retrospective, respect the past sort of members of the group, while Tim has always been surrounded by the shadows of the past. I loved this note.

I haven't talked about Babs yet! She's in green, in glasses, sitting down at her computers with a novelty mug, directing everyone, answering to Oracle. That's her! That's my Oracle!

I do think Bruce expecting Dick to take over running the Batfam right now is a big ask, given he's also running the Titans as the main superhero team on the planet and handling Bludhaven, but Tom Taylor's writing both those books so I don't expect to see the stress catching up with Dick there. Benefits of writer choice right now, I guess. Also personally 'Babs and Dick organise everyone while Bruce has a breakdown elsewhere' is one of my favourite Batfam dynamics so you know, I'm pretty excited if we actually get to see this play out.

New Lazarus Pit in Gotham! This won't be a problem at all.

[extraordinarilyextreme]

Are you watching under the skin 2? What do you think of the season so far?

hiiiii~ thanks for asking, and sorry for such a late reply. i had been watching but couldn't finish it until recently (hence why im answering so late)...

in short, i don't like it. so if you don't wanna read abt a negative opinion then click away~

i think the cast delivered as wonderful performances as usual, and i think the cinematography was quite beautiful (there are a lot of details that i really adore as an artist). but the script/writing/pacing... even the characterization... left much to be desired.

there are so many things to critique...

to start with, as someone studying psychology, i've found it laughable since s1 that everyone buys into Freudian psychoanalysis so much - but they really took it to the next level in s2. i'm a staunch abolitionist and also anti-police, so i'm always watching shows like this with a critical eye, but it's just utterly mind-boggling that this show/the writers really suggested that crimes can be solved and culprits can be pinpointed because they drew a house in a certain way. and i hate that the show made DC out to be the bad guy for "limiting SY's talents/intuition" or whatever.

i already don't trust our so-called "justice" system; now you're telling me police should be solving crimes and accusing people based on a hunch? (that "hunch" in real life often looks like profiling and stereotyping, mind you, and it can be fatal.)

Du Cheng isn't in the wrong! and i hate even more that even in the last episode before Shen Yi's confession they had him say "but i was wrong. my boundaries, in truth, were limiting your talents." (and yes i know SY corrects him, but) IT FEELS SO OUT-OF-CHARACTER compared to the resolve that DC had back in s1. there, SY's laoshi begged DC to return SY to the art world, but without even flinching, DC firmly rejected that notion.

because being an officer beside DC, in Beijiang, is where SY belongs. AND THEY BOTH REACH THAT CONCLUSION AT THE END OF S1. they both affirm their convictions, that they belong beside each other - so why did we just spend another 28 episodes only to reaching the same result ("where you run to, is where i'll fly to." and "where you are, is where the circle is too." and "i will forever be your best trump card.")???

another issue: yes, SY has always had his reckless streak - but how can he possibly get away with doing so many investigations completely independent from DC and without DC's knowledge?? that's not realistic at all. and, fine, obviously they're dramatizing things, but what i liked about s1 is that it was just realistic "enough" to keep me invested - it deviated just "enough" from your typical procedural/crime-solving show (by tackling cases from the unique lens of a sketch artist) that i could just convince myself it was grounded in reality. but what they did in s2... like, come on. let's not kid ourselves.

Shen Yi being so infallible and able to get away with so many reckless stunts is a Huge failing of s2. talk about "main character energy". they made this into a 大男主 drama when what (i found) appealing about s1 was the fact that it made both DC and SY brilliant and competent in their own ways. this season tried so hard to make DC seem like an unbudging traditionalist or something but ??? like, no! i agree with him that you can't just be arresting people based on their choices in interior design or jewelry! what the fuck??

(but, seriously. i will not deny that our subconscious influences our behavior and choices in many, MANY ways - but for Shen Yi to be making the most outrageous leaps in logic because this one guy had a certain painting in his office or this other guy had a lioness statue, like shut the fuck up... talk about trying to make/find meaning out of nothing.)

(also, also, LOL at talking abt the Oedipus complex in earnest. are you shitting me right now? have you picked up a Psychology 101 book at all?)

the fact this show even remotely suggested that Freudian psychoanalysis could be used as empirical evidence immediately destroys any goodwill i have toward the cast.

ON TOP OF THAT. the fact this show even remotely suggested that eugenicist Cesare Lombroso's theory of the "criminal man" should be treated as empirical and sound research is just... what are we doing here. what are we doing here???

(also if you look up the "warrior gene" and whatever other stuff FKY was "citing"... again, it's not empirical research. and i HATE that the writers tried to pass it off as an established concept.)

honestly i feel like the way they wrote this FKY guy in general is disrespectful af to what scientists actually do (or what scientists should strive to be). at the simplest level, how can he allow SY to walk into his lab so easily? and look at his data?? don't we have IRB protocols in place to protect research subjects??? what about where he gets his funding??? any oversight agencies???

but in terms of characterization, i felt that the parallels they were trying to draw between pre-7 years SY and FKY were such a stretch. because even pre-7 years SY was fundamentally kind - LIKE DOESN'T THE SHOW EVEN ULTIMATELY REACH THAT CONCLUSION TOO?? why WHY would SY ever feel like he and FKY were mirrors; they are fundamentally different in their bottom lines.

all this to say, i love the cast and i'm glad it was 原班人马 because everybody Delivered (and zheng yunlong did a great job too) - but, like, no wonder the original screenwriters left. this story is bs. we should've just left it at s1 because, to me, s2 did nothing except pander to shippers (and i'm mostly happily pandered! but i also care about the story goddammit).

(i say "mostly" because, again, i think they tried too hard to give SY a "protagonist halo." it weakened both him and DC, and their relationship as a result.)

i can't believe they're making a s3 but of course i can because they're making great money from this... hoping and praying that they can get the original writers back.

[greatwyrmgold]

I've been thinking about pacing.

Back when I was posting random thoughts about every new Shonen Jump title, I kept complaining about how they feel the need to cram everything into chapter 1. Premise, worldbuilding, main characters, some of the key supporting characters, primary antagonists, plot structure, tone, maybe a quick thesis statement. Everything gets a little time, nothing gets much development.

Contrast that with Oshi no Ko. The inciting incident is chapter 9. We get a whole chapter dedicated to the inciting incident, and we don't see it until we get eight chapters establishing our main characters and themes. We don't get the premise until the end of chapter 10. A whole volume of almost pure setup.

A slow pace, but OnK wouldn't work without it. Imagine if the 228 pages of volume 1 were compressed to the 50-ish that some Shonen Jump debuts get. Volume 1 is bookended by huge status quo changes—Dr. Amamiya's death and subsequent reincarnation, and Ai's murder and Aqua's revenge.

Realistically, we'd get maybe a dozen pages of Dr. Amamiya and his patients, maybe chapter 1 could end with Ai getting stabbed, and that leaves about 35 pages to tell the entire story of Aqua and Ruby's peaceful childhood. And that would be pretty slow by modern Shonen Jump standards; if we tried to squish Ai's death and Aqua's declaration of vengeance into chapter 1, so the reader knows what to expect and get excited about in chapter 2 (and maybe vote for OnK in the weekly popularity poll so the series doesn't get cut?), there would be less than half a chapter for the peaceful childhood.

Even if you cut Sarina and Ruby, that's not enough time to sell the reader on either Dr. Amamiya's life cut tragically short or the peaceful childhood Aqua lost when Ai was murdered. And for all my criticisms of how Ruby's character arc was wrapped up, OnK would not work without her. She's essential, and so is the time spent establishing the "normal world" before each of volume 1's status quo shifts.

You cannot tell Oshi no Ko under the constraints of a typical Shonen Jump debut. So it's a good thing Aka Akasaka wasn't working under those constraints! For starters, OnK is serialized in Young Jump, not Shonen Jump. More importantly, Akasaka got pretty famous from Kaguya-sama, so readers and editors alike are willing to give him the benefit of the doubt where they wouldn't for the mangaka of those new Jump series.

Shonen Jump puts its mangaka under a lot of pressure. If they succeed, they could become one of the most famous authors in the world, a small step below living legends like Eiichiro Oda. But if they fail—if volume 1 tankoban sales are weak or your weekly popularity poll results start to slump—they might find out they have got a month to wrap up their story before it leaves the magazine. And that includes the chapters they already submitted.

So you can't just tell a good story. You have to convince readers that you're going to tell a good story from chapter 1, you have to explain that story in the first 50 pages; you have to keep convincing readers that your story is worth reading, worth supporting, worth continuing.

You can't write Oshi no Ko under those constraints. In fact, I'm not sure you can tell any story.

I get the theory behind Jump's editorial practices. If you only let the strongest stories endure in your magazine, you'll have a handful of really strong stories plus a constant churn of new ones, good for both novelty and for increasing the odds that one of the new hopefuls will turn out to be one of those strong stories.

But that pressure forces authors to adapt or die, and the adaptations make the stories weaker. They constrain the stories in Jump to premises that can be fully explained in a handful of pages, squeezed between the handful of pages explaining their protagonist and the handful explaining the setting and so on and so forth. They also constrain how those relatively simple stories can be told, making it harder to build on those simple concepts.

And that's a problem Oshi no Ko didn't face. Say what you will about the back third or so, it had a really strong opening, specifically because of its slow pace.

[kaphyr]

How I Changed the Hero Ranking's… Everything

I have been wanting to explore this mostly because I feel like cannon doesn't give enough info. We know that ranks are chosen based both on performance and popularity, but there's no specifics given (as far as I am aware and the Wiki page shows) beyond:

Strength Displayed 

(Which TBH means nothing because if you ask me, that'd mean someone like Snipe should have a lower ranking. Also, TF is this strength??? Physical? Mental? Quirk? I mean, OFA almost lost to Shinso's so would he be n. 2???)

Number of Cases Resolved 

(Does it count if you just go from crime scene to crime scene while doing the bare minimum? If it's a huge team together, do they all get equal points for the case?)

General Popularity 

(lol, I think we can all see the issues with this one * cough * mutant-quirk phobia, agism, racism *cough *. But let me add, popular among who? On what platforms? For how long?)

Overall Contribution to Society 

(This seems like a great excuse to dock points from counter-culture heroes and adding them to status-quo heroes, but ok, fam.)

In my fic (The Long Defeat), I decided to take a similar approach, but the fact that the specific methods aren't known is on purpose. Yes, it's based on performance and popularity, but how come heroes that create massive property destruction like Katsuki get a high rank? How come someone who is well known in his own city gets a low rank?

(I actually don't wanna answer this here because I wanna explore it in the fic). But there are some things I can explore and that is what knowledge is available to the public (in my fic).

The Types of Rankings

So, I'm thinking that there's 6 “Hero Rankings”. I would classify them as either rolling (influenced by current events) or official (fixed, lasts 6 months, and affects salary). Alternatively, you can look at the region: International, national, regional (e.g. city).

Controlled by the Hero Association:

International Rolling Hero Rankings

International Official Hero Rankings

Controlled by the Nation's Law Enforcement (and in some cases, Government):

National Rolling Hero Rankings

National Official Hero Rankings

In the Hero Ranking chapters and right before it, Katsuki kept getting news of different ranks he might get. This was the national rolling hero rank. As you can imagine, it was quite volatile right before new official rankings came out.

Controlled either by the Nation's Law Enforcement or Government:

Regional Rolling Hero Rankings

Regional Official Hero Rankings

So, Katsuki might have an official national ranking of 17 at the start of the fic, but he definitely has a lower ranking internationally (still top 100), and he's really hated in Esuha, so he might be at the bottom of the list of the well-known heroes, so something like n.15 out of maybe 20 (and then, the rest of the heroes are less known). 

By comparison, Uraraka has a national rank of 118 at the beginning of the fic (not mentioned BTW, it's just in my notes), she's in the top 5,000 internationally, and in the top 10 in Esuha and in the top 50 in Tokyo. 

Also, I imagine that there are other international rankings such as just for East Asia, the European Union, the African Union, etc. Also, countries in (or in-and-out of) civil war or land disputes might have different “national” and “regional” rankings depending on political affiliations.

What Affects the Hero Rankings?

By its nature, I imagine that regional rankings are more realistic and based on performance (as perceived by the people). Meanwhile, national rankings are definitely heavily influenced by popularity, so someone who has not been active but is doing interviews like Kirishima or Mina would rise in ranks just by doing more ads. Internationally, I imagine that ranks are decided by the Hero Association and are based on performance and who gives heroes the best name. So, someone like All Might with a crazy good performance and who is beloved by (nearly) all would have been n.1.

Obviously, politics would affect the rankings. For instance, at the international level it could look like pushing down the ranks of all heroes of a country that has been heavily sanctioned. Alternatively, boosting the ranks of heroes whose countries contribute more to the association.

On the national and regional level, I won't go into detail – because spoilers – but the politics, relationships (including nepotism), and business would influence ranks. However, how that plays out will depend on the specific country and region. 

Additionally, I imagine that there are other major factors:

Type of quirk: Heroes with mutation quirks tend not to have high rankings with notable exceptions, which makes people think that there is no discrimination. Except if you have 2 heroes with mutation quirks in your top 5 and still 2 in your top 10 and top 20, and yet they make a large percentage of your population, something is up!

Gender: There's of course sexism, as per usual. That will affect how the public interpret heroic actions and even the ratio of genders. Also, transphobia :(

Weather: I imagine that if a hero has a quirk sensitive to the weather (like Katsuki), this might affect how they are perceived ― especially if they need to stay underground or perform worse for that reason.

Hero status: Since you can either be a hero (heading your agency) or a side kick (working for an agency), I imagine that actual “heroes” get more legitimacy and praise than side kicks, even if they do the same work. Of course, there are rare exceptions like Katsuki (wow, can I stop mentioning him??? lol)

Age: Very young and old heroes may have a bias against them. But I think that heroes that completely hide their features might get away with favourable outlooks regardless.

Culture: Your ethnicity, tribe, religion, nationality, etc will all affect how you are perceived and so, how well-liked you are (and whether the powers that be want your people getting a high rank). I don't know if I'll find the time to fit it in, but I have imagined that Aoyama would have gone to France to be a hero and only has a French passport despite his dual heritage. Of course, this has the effect of him not getting a Japanese rank even when he works there. Actually, I'm thinking that even if you work in Japan, unless you can prove your Japanese nationality, you can't enter the official ranking. Yes, I realise that is fucky, but also have you seen Japan??? V exclusionary. 

Who Votes in the Hero Rankings?

I have previously mentioned (in the fic) that there are new rules for the votes. Namely, you need to sign up with your national ID. So, foreigners and those who can't quite prove their claim to Japanese nationality will not be able to vote. In turn, that means that the way that these people are policed will not have an impact on a hero's status ― which is extra true if the press already demonises your people or you are looked down upon by society (as are some other Asian in Japan). 

Fun times. Anyway.

This also means that as a child you don't get to vote. Also, I imagine that those that are currently incarcerated don't get to vote either (in Japan, other countries might allow it). I think that ex-convicts would be able to vote if they go through the process of getting reinstated in the voting registry. 

While I think someone mentally ill could vote regardless of the severity of their illness so long as they had access to their ID and the faculties to do so, it would not be possible if the people around them stop them. Similarly, someone in an abusive household that has their ID taken from them wouldn't be able to vote. In fact, these people might get their vote stolen and used by their carers/family members.  

What Does a Rank Do for Heroes?

Basically, a rank has 2 jobs. It shows off that you are a hero, a real one and a strong one. So, it legitimises you and ensures you get called upon. The other job of (specifically) a national rank is to allocate funds. In Japan, the HSPC aka the Commission calculates your rank and reveals it every 6 months. Based on your rank, you receive a certain portion of the taxes allocated to paying heroes.

Because I like to make things unfair (as they are in real life), let's say that the top 50 heroes, get the 50% of the total salaries (¥40,000,000 – ¥150,000,000). Meanwhile, the bottom 20% get the minimum wage (¥168,800 per month). (The math is probably wrong, but I don't feel like figuring it out. The math is fineish, I ended up checking it out:

Top 50: paid each on average ¥95,000,000 (based on idol salaries)

Mid 80% minus top 50: paid current avg middle class: ¥471,000

Bottom 20%: paid ¥168,000 (min wage)

So, the total (avg) top 50 salary ads up to 40.59% of the total salaries (¥11,703,250,000))

Of course, if you wreak a lot of things during battles (including your body), a lot of that money is going into insurance (even if the Commission foots the bill for villain-caused damage). Also, you have to use this money for your hero suit, paying rent or taxes on your agency's property, and anything else related to heroing like marketing and association dues.

(This actually pairs well with my pet theory on why there are heroes and side kicks. The side kicks are essentially buoying the heroes. So, most side kicks don't go into major battles but get their pay, with a portion returning to the agency as per their contract. Then, the agency uses the pool of cash to sort out expenses. So, even if everyone must give 5% - 10% of their pay to cover costs, it definitely hurts more the guy losing  ¥17,000 a month out of ¥170,000 than the hero losing hundreds of thousands when he's rolling in the millions. And if there is only one or a couple of heroes taking on bigger fights, then it reduces cost overall for the agency.)

What about the Vigilantes and Underground Heroes?

They don't have ranks. First off, vigilantes are technically classified as villains so they get no pay.

On the other hand, underground heroes get pay based on “performance” or whatever the nation decides to take into account. As some underground heroes might be taking on large fights as well, they may receive very high salaries to compensate for the cost of operations. But they'll usually be paid closer to minimum wage or middle class wage.

Explaining Katsuki's Attempt to Beat Hawks' Score

When I say that Katsuki climbed faster in rank than Hawks, it is in that first jump during the first half of Hawk's and Katsuki's (official) career as heroes. I didn't think of the specifics, but imagine their ranks per 6 months were something like:

Hawks: 8,782 → 10 → 9 … → 1

Katsuki: 10,213 → 89 → 72 … → 17 

(How? Plot reasons.) 

So, Katsuki is trying to beat him in reaching rank 5, 4, 3, and 1. Hawks reached rank 5 in his 8th year as a hero. (Because he took a while to dethrone the top 10.) Katsuki is now in his 7th year and at the start of the fic he's n.17. Katsuki has 6 months to get to n.5, 12 months to get to n.4, and 18 months to get to n. 3. Then, he would have beat Hawks. After that, he has a few more years to beat Hawks to n.1 (since Hawks stagnated at n.3 behind Endeavour and All Might).

Do you have any questions about hero ranking? (In my fic or in canon, I'm just excited to discuss it!)