#that being said in a story where she is the main protagonist I can understand wanting to make her more proactive in her story

[gch1995]

Yeah, I actually liked Ginnifer Goodwin as Snow White in the first two-and-a half to three ish seasons of Once Upon a Time. She was a little older, and occasionally, she could be a bit selfish. However, she still essentially had a brave, kind, and loving heart that inspired goodness in others. I think that version of Snow White worked on OUAT in the beginning because the writers weren’t trying to make her personality and story some sort of “feminist improvement” of the original fairytale when they made her more athletic, impulsive, and self-centered at times than the Disney one from the animated film. She was a more modern version of Snow White, but she could be enjoyed as her own character, rather than as a comparison to the original fairytale. She still got to have vulnerable moments, and she was still allowed to fall in love with the Prince. Not to mention the fact that there have been versions of Snow White and Briar Rose in which Snow is more athletic and girlbossy.

The biggest problem with this remake of Snow White is that Rachel Zegler and the producers are doing it with the intention to “improve” the Snow White of the 1937 animated Disney film because they viewed her as being “weak” for being a damsel-in-distress and wanting love. The whole point of Snow White’s strength in those fairytales is to be a role-model who inspires kindness, love, selflessness, and strength in others because she continues to hold on to her goodness and hope for love, even when life goes to shit for her.

It’s not so much that they made another version of Snow White who was more of a girl boss than the 1937 Disney version and Brothers Grimm version in and of itself that’s the problem with this new live action Disney film. It’s that they’re doing it as a deliberate middle finger to the original one by saying that Snow White “wasn’t good enough,” rather than treating this as it’s own thing.

I love the comments and defense of the original Snow White but some people are not taking the defensive position that I would take, all things considered.

I mean, asking the question “since when is it bad to wish for love?” is one thing, but then sometimes people follow it up with, “and that’s not all she wanted! That’s not her main goal!”

Okay I appreciate you but yes it was. Let’s just call it like it is. And then don’t back down. Hear me out.

The first thing you learn about Snow-White is from that pretty opening-fairy-tale-book page, where it points out two characters: the wicked and vain stepmother who is afraid of Snow White and dresses her in rags to cover up her beauty, and uses her as a scullery maid—and Snow White herself, who is…well, used as a scullery maid.

Treated as a servant, and actively hated by the only family she has. And she’s a child. She hasn’t been alive very long to experience anything other than hatred and jealousy toward herself.

She’s even talking to birds, and the fact that they’re clustered around her from beginning to end of that opening scene indicates that they’re very comfortable with her and she talks to them all the time—because they’re the only positive interaction she gets to have.

That’s the situation that Snow White is in. But the first thing you learn about who she is and what she wants comes when she wishes in the well. And what’s she wishing for?

Love. The one she loves. A specific, male figure, who will say nice things to her and find her. She wants him to come quick. Why?

How silly. How vapid and shallow of her. How weak and one-dimensional. Please, goodness, can’t someone update her to have some depth?

NO. She is a young woman who is not given any love and is treated like a horrible nuisance who must be covered up in dirt and rags. She has no friends except birds, who can’t talk back. She is actively hated by the closest person to her.

It’s a miracle she even knows the word “love” and has the strength of character to believe in it after the situation she’s grown up in.

The song very specifically says “I’m wishing…for the one I love…to find me…today. I’m hoping…and I’m dreaming of…the nice things…he’ll say.”

She wants to be loved because she isn’t loved. Geez, she wants someone to say nice things to her. She wants to give her own love because she doesn’t have anything but courtyard doves to befriend. Of course it’s her goal. Of course it’s her wish. What wish or goal could be higher? And what wish or goal could be more natural for a character in her situation?

And even more than that, what could be stronger than believing that it will happen? This character who’s been unloved and mistreated by everyone takes a Prince at his word when he says he’ll give her that love. He promises it, and she believes him.

She has every opportunity and right to be bitter, hardened, anti-social, self-absorbed (pre-Huntsman and Dwarfs, she could very easily believe that nobody else is going to watch out for her except herself) and jaded. But instead she has this pure faith, which it takes a lot to maintain when everything has been ripped away from you. She could’ve been totally swamped by doubt and bitterness.

I mean, she could worry that the Prince won’t be able to convince her Stepmother to let him marry her.

Then when she gets chased into the woods for her life, she could fret that the Prince wouldn’t know how to find her.

Heck, she could just forget about him, give up, and say, “this is my life now, I’m living with these seven dwarfs and we’ll take care of each other, I guess that’s the most I can hope for.”

But no. She has faith in his promise, and hangs on to her dream, and sings, with total assurance, “Someday My Prince Will Come.” I mean, she won’t even let a moment of panic in the woods go by without reprimanding herself for losing that faith, for a second.

Can any of you say the same? Can any of you imagine being that kind of person: the kind of person who unashamedly wants to love and be loved in return, and when everything is stripped away and every chance at that taken from you, you hang on and believe anyway? You stay positive and even joyful anyway? For love?

Come on. Defend that. Yes, her goal was “just” to be loved. And to love in return. The fear of having her life taken from her, the necessity (not the desire for) freedoms from that, was just an obstacle in the way of being loved. And this isn’t a movie about Snow White’s natural reaction to abuse. It’s about her strength of faith in love in SPITE of that abuse. The spotlight is on her strength, not her weakness, but it’s strength of faith in love.

Anyway.

If you believe that it’s good and fine for a girl’s whole goal and fondest dream is to be loved, then don’t stand with one foot in that camp and another in the camp that says “girls want more than just love.” No, what? Love is the best thing a girl can want. I’m not talking about “romance.” I’m not talking about sex. I’m talking about pure, self-sacrificial, kind love. It’s the best thing they can want, and Snow White is one of the only characters who does want it unashamedly, uncomplicated.

Just defend that. Don’t try to argue that the “Someday My Prince Will Come” Princess isn’t wholeheartedly after love. Makes it look like you don’t believe that’s as wonderful as it is.

[cherrytea556]

Lore Rekindled; The Lore Olympus that should have been

To be honest, I checked out the rekindled version before the original one and now having reading the original as well, it's extremely odd. Y'know goodbye volcanic high where the original was a mess but a group of 4chaners made a parody game which turned out to be of better quality than the original? This is like that but replace 4chan with tumblr users, mainly @genericpuff whose series is pinned in their tumblr blog where you can check all of the episodes, especially updated ones. In this post, I will be praising this series of how it fixes the problems of the original

The Pacing

One thing I notice about lore olympus and lore rekindled is the pacing. Not just the flow of the story but where it chooses to focus on. Now in lore olympus, the pacing is kinda a mess and its mainly to do with what it focuses on. An example is the magazine plotpoint; in the original, its basically kinda there in between doses to focus on other stuff like persephone and hades together, persephone's sa (i'll get to that later), eros story, zeus and hera etc...The flow generally isnt that bad per say (except for persephone's sa cuz that was way too quick) but for a story meant to be a romance between hades and persephone, you'd think it idk, it would focus on persephone and hades specifically, not eros which is another example of; its flashbacks. Eros specifically has such a dragged out flashback in episode 12 which we didnt need or at least with that much exposition when it should've naturally expand in the story and that's what rekindled does. The magazine plotline has turned into the first conflict of persephone and hades as we see how it affects their lives and relationships. This works for its pacing better because it doesn't give you too much stuff to jumble with, making the narrative more concise and easier to understand where the story is going. And with the flashbacks, rekindled cuts out the fat in the flashbacks from the original to a perfect balance where it gives exposition of the characters while also leaving mystery for the audience to be intrigued, my favourite one would have to be this (though it more of a nightmare than a flashback specifically speaking);

It's of persephone in a greenhouse her mother placed her in with this red eye thing following her from outside the greenhouse. I have no idea of this lurker if its her metaphorical rage or a danger in her life but either way, i am intrigued by its presentation.

The Characters

When reading lore rekindled and lore olympus, the characters are definetly an odd experience. For lore olympus, the characters arent exactly uh....great per say. I think the main reason for this is how their ultilised, with characters like eros, hera, hectate etc being there to mostly be a matchmaker for hades and persephone even if it was initially seen as wrong like with hera and hectate, be antagonistic as a way to have conflict between hades and persephone like minthe, demeter and recently leuce even if ones had reasons too like minthe with hades emotionally cheating on her and demeter because lets be honest, she had a point. Then there's hades and persephone, whoo boy where to start with them.

Hades starts off as a creep eyeing at persephone during a party, specifically at her body and still lusts persephone even being aware that shes 19 and he's 2000 years old. Also is a shitty boss, father AND contributes to slavery with it while being adressed in some way, doesnt change him which isnt good for a character that's meant to be the main protagonists love interest.

Persephone though, I can get the self insert vibes. From favouritism towards the story, being who most of the men in the story are attracted too, portrayed as a 'cinnamon roll' (they actually said that early on in the story, im not kidding) who cant do no wrong. She acts like a teenager rather than a young adult which makes the scenes where shes sexualised just more uncomfortable (and they already unnecessarily were) along with adding that uncomfortability to the romance

But with rekindled, they expanded on the characters much more than they originally were. Persephone for instance has turned from a 'sexy baby' legal teenager to an actual young relatable adult with agency and allows her to screw up (e.g, getting drunk on her own rather than eros drunking her). Her adult attitude makes the romance between her and hades not only more palpable, but also strays away from the infantilisation/uncomfortable sexualisation of her character which is nice to see. Hades also is written well in the series from how it acknowledges his faults while still making him likable. And thats the same for every character really, their personalities are much more fleshed out and nuanced which makes their characters feel real to life, gaining effectiveness for more emotional scenes with them. An interesting thing too is that they even expanded the magazine guy's character from making fake news for profit into feeling guilt over what they done, standing up for persephone which is a pretty nice change.

No Sa Plotline

Not like you cant have sa in your story ever but if you never planned it from the beginning and only did when people tell you that the scene you drew from your comic was sa then....maybe just not do it. Lore olympus does exactly that where while an attempt was made, it goes on to retcon it into making apollo (the guy who sa'd persephone) into a lesser evil like that would made a difference instead of just cutting it out from the very beginning. Lore rekindled thankfully just made apollo into his pilot version, a shitty bf but more likeable and expanded upon (which should have been his portrayal from day 1). His shittiness doesnt come up in the story, more like self absorbness/egotisticalness although with its recent chapter of the magazine guy offering persephone lunch, it might reveal some cracks or at least further down the story it will be revealed to us which futhers how effective rekindled character writing is in how its expansion of characters would give us the feels. That or portray him as not a good match for persephone, either way much better than the original.

Artstyle

Lore olympus has a pretty good artstyle (at least in s1/the early episodes, s3 is just kinda goofy) but lore rekindled has got a good artstyle which is on top, more consistent too. Here's some examples;

Comedy

It's objectively funnier than lore olympus, no question asked

All in all, if you want to read lore olympus, i recommend you to read the lore rekindled one instead as it's better in every way. Give it a read.

[aihoshiino]

Wow ONK sure had an ending and I think my main Issue with it is honestly the fact that it feels like every character is back at square one last chapter, until this chapter when Akane narrates to us how „actually everyone is ok and moved on“ and we‘re just supposed to? Accept this? Ok (shrugs)

And also the fact I feel like much of its themes didn’t reach a satisfying conclusion like what it means to live a life of lies/lying in general and (the focus of this last chapter) what to do with your life and how to live it.

We see all the characters magically moving on and being fine which is like, yea, good (ignoring the terrible execution) but? Why was? Aqua? The male lead/protagonist of much of the story? Not allowed to do that? Why can’t he move on from any of his trauma, sadness, suicidal tendencies and the idea his life has less value than those of others? Why can’t he get better? I hope it’s kinda understandable what I mean, this isn’t a „Why can’t my fave character be happy“ thing I‘m trying to get at but more so a „I think the themes could‘ve been explored way better in terms of his character and I‘m disappointed it wasn’t.“ I feel like I‘m missing something but it really just feels like the story is telling us that Aqua was right in believing this self imposed lie that the only value in his life is to die (so his sister gets to be in the spotlight for the final chapters)

Idk just leaves a really bitter taste in my mouth the way they handled Aqua‘s mental health/state and suicide

Honestly yeah, it feels like everyone is just kind of circling a Character Development Cul-de-sac. Sometimes recovery does mean taking a few steps back before you can go forwards but this feels less like a depiction of the natural and inevitable unevenness of healing after trauma and more like Akasaka just, like. Didn't have an end point in mind for anyone's arcs apart from Aqua lol. AND EVEN THEN, IT'S... YEAH.

I said this in a previous ask but I think if the story was more willing to frame Aqua's death as him relapsing in his recovery and ultimately succumbing to his suicidal ideation & survivor's guilt, I think that could be not just cathartically tragic but quite an important message to send - that, unfortunately, yeah. Long term suicidal ideation really can just catastrophically consume someone even if they're actively looking forward to and taking steps towards building their future. Aqua has textually been suicidal since he was four years old and that's not something that would've just turned itself off.

But even when the story does acknowledge Aqua's death as being a suicide, it still also has this weird horrible framing of like. It's SAD, sure, but it's this beautiful and necessary sacrifice that he was DESTINED to make to protect Ruby('s career lol). So we end in this horrible place where Aqua's life, dreams and happiness are implicitly, cosmically Not Important in comparison to Ruby's and that Aqua himself is not just acceptable bit of collateral damage but a necessary one.

Which would be an insane note to end things on ANYWAY if the career that Aqua was protecting was anything OTHER than being an idol, when we've spent the whole manga talking about what a fleeting, exploitative and ephemeral stage of someone's life it is. Like, what are the chances that Ruby's going to still be an idol in ten years? Five, even? What's she going to do when she's not an idol anymore? Was Aqua's life really worth this?

[sebadztian]

In relation to my previous post about demon lore, I hope we will never find out too much about Sebastian (and demons in general).

Despite what the general public think, the main character/protagonist of Kuro is Sebastian the demon. And yet, 200+ chapters later we still don't know anything much about him.

What we know so far about him is from others' POVs, the servants, the Reapers, Arthur, and even Ciel himself. But the man himself remained tight-lipped. It's just like what Bard & Ciel said in the Murder arc, none of them knew where he came from, whom he served before. Bard only knows him to be the perfect butler, and Ciel didn't care, as long as Sebastian can give him what he wanted. As for the Reapers, well, it seems that they despise each other.

Is Sebastian the only demon in Kuro? No.

Grell mentioned that she was surprised to find a demon posing as a butler, which implied that there are other demons out there, but none of them has ever played the role of a butler before (as far as Grell could tell, at least).

And Will also mentioned it in the Circus arc, implying that there are other demons who'd scavenge for a meal.

And to make things even more certain, Sebastian himself has talked about his own kind.

Even Undertaker has questioned his 'motive' in Campania arc.

Now, having said that, while Sebastian is not the only demon in the Kuro verse, we can safely assume that he's not quite like other demons. Or at the very least, he has changed. He's tired of consuming souls mindlessly and he's now actively working to cultivate his next meal, a. k. a. Ciel, as per his own words in the Circus arc.

Admittedly, the Reapers might know a whole lot more about demons compared to Ciel and Bard, but I think we can safely say that whatever these Reapers know about demons do not fully apply to this particular demon.

When it comes to Sebastian Michaelis, nobody quite knows what kind of demon he is. This is not a ship post, but I'd still say that Ciel knows him best - compared to other characters, but even then, he doesn't know a whole lot about him.

Ciel knows him well enough to trust him - and not to trust him. But even then, he still doesn't know him that wellz or at least, Sebastian doesn't show him that much part of himself, as evidenced in the Green Witch arc.

Ciel told him to be 'a beast', and Sebastian himself said later on that what he currently finds most fascinating is to play the part of Ciel's butler. Ciel clearly doesn't know/understand this.

The thing is, Sebastian is not all brawl and no brain. I personally believe that he has an eidetic/photographic memory, which means he has perfect recall. But being intelligent is so much more than that.

Throughout the manga, Sebastian has shown that he is smart, cunning, scheming, and he is one hell of a manipulative bastard. He's creative and resourceful, as shown over and over again. When he battled Grell, how he came up with the Curry Bun, how he got the information about Kelvin from Beast, how he battled Undertaker onboard of Campania, how he his own way into Weston, and he was shown taking many initiatives during the Green Witch arc.

As much as Ciel tried to keep him under control, the demon would always find ways to challenge him and find loopholes and to play his own games (like with those poisonous snakesz for example). He is no idiot.

What fascinates me the most is how little we know of him, and yet, despite all those knowledge - or lack thereof, we can see how his character developed throughout the course of the manga.

And when this is all over, Ciel Phantomhive might be a blip in the long life of this demon, but he'd have the most impact in the demon's existence & character. Which is why this demon has chosen to tell this particular story of his adventures as the young earl's butler. Because if you really think about it, Kuro is Sebastian's story about this foolish yet beautiful boy and his path to revenge. He's the narrator and the story-teller and maybe that's also why we don't quite know a whole lot about him...

In other words, Kuro is Sebastian's recipe book about how to microwave a Victorian boy.

[championofravens]

Skip to Loafer and Transgender Role Models: A Brief Analysis

To any who watch or read Skip to Loafer, Nao-chan is a presence you immediately can not ignore. The protagonist’s aunt, she is the primary adult we interact with in the series and one of the main characters of the supporting cast. Our first introduction to Nao-chan does not immediately reveal her transgender status- we are instead introduced to her as a kind, nurturing, caring and protective adult in Mitsumi’s life. We learn later about her being trans through negative whispers from strangers and immediately the tone is set: instead of having Nao-chan hear the gossip on the train, she is instead immediately given a small gesture of love and support from our protagonist Mitsumi. It is a simple but deliberate scene and seems to offer a quiet promise that Nao-chan is as deserving as happiness as anyone else in the cast, an overarching theme that becomes more and more powerful for many characters over the course of the story.

I specifically want to talk about Episode X from the anime and a few scenes from it. For anyone who hasn’t watched it, I will summarize as best I can:  Mitsumi asks permission from Nao-chan to invite her school friends over for a slumber party and she happily agrees. However, she also says that she wishes to tell her friends she is biologically male “just in case”. No reason is directly stated why but many can easily spring to mind. We cut then to Nao-chan dressed in a more masculine style than normal, serving Mitsumi’s friends and being referred to with male honorifics. As Nao-chan leaves, however, our beloved supporting cast all pipe up to compliment Mitsumi’s stylish and kind aunt. We see Nao-chan listening from outside the door, joyfully tearing up.

Later, Nao-chan reappears in her typical feminine attire and makeup to the girls, informing them she’s stepping out. Mika ends up following Nao-chan out, the two having somewhat of a repertoire from earlier in the episode, and Mika confides in her reasons for leaving the slumber party early. Nao-chan immediately is able to relate to Mika’s anxieties and fears based on her own experience growing up, the viewer given a quick shot of her younger masculine self. Before letting her leave, Nao-chan offers advice and urges Mika to return to the slumber party, imparting an important lesson about embracing being genuine to yourself her (with some briefly hilarious word choices).

At this moment on our first watch, my husband turned to me and said “God, if only I heard that growing up.”

It can’t be overstated how shocking the amount of respect and affection Nao-chan gets in the story is. First, the story’s way of choosing to address her being transgender while keeping consistent with it’s happy and airy tone is done masterfully. Nao-chan makes a very realistic choice for her situation in wanting to present as male to Mitsumi’s friends and the narrative respects that. But it also doesn’t linger on the issue either by having Mitsumi’s friends immediately address it positively to the viewer. I think my favorite thing however is that the story lets Nao-chan hear the praise and kind words. We get to see a transgender woman in a moment of maximum gender euphoria. She is respected as a character and as her gender at all times, whether she is there in the moment or not.

Things are taken a step further in the next scene, going beyond simply supporting Nao-chan as a transgender character in the story but also as an adult role model too. In a time where radical rhetoric says transgender women can never understand the struggles of cis women, the story shows the exact opposite. Not only do a group of cis young women all think Nao-chan is beautiful and kind, they also see her as a safe person to confide in and a person who can relate to their feelings. Mika’s short time with Nao-chan earlier in the episode was of a more slapstick variety yet her honesty with Nao-chan feels organic when it happens. We can understand how the two would find common ground on their feelings, even if they lived completely different lives. In fact, it is implied that Nao-chan’s feelings are uniquely pulled from her experience growing up assigned male.

Part of this is contributed to the fact Nao-chan breaks the curse of transgender characters in much of anime by being surprisingly “sexless”. Not once is a perverted joke made at her expense or does she slip in a strangely blunt reference to her body. Part of this is thanks to the genre and overall tone of Skip to Loafer which is incredibly comfortable and chaste.

I was inspired to write this after realizing that there would be a chance that this character and this story’s handling of her might slip under the radar. Though she is not the focus of the story, she is present constantly within the narrative just as anyone else and her presence only enhances the experience. When I see the same examples being passed around of what qualifies for good trans rep in anime, it makes me burn to think she may not be included in these lists.

[h7jfangirl]

TGS UPTADE 🎩✨

Ten years... Ten fucking years happend after tgs first page

After all this time, at least for a momento we were thinking about how the 'first revelation' moment would be, who would be the first person to discorve Dr Henry Jekyll's darkest secret? The real truth beahind Mr Hyde?

We though about Laynon, because he is the main love interest of the story and also a protagonist himself

We though about Rachel because she cares so much about Mr Hyde

We though about Jasper because he may understand Henry's situation

And we though about Frankestein

And today, Monday 12, 2024. We finally have the anwser

She really said 'New grandson unlocked'

Victoria Frankestein, was the one who had the honor to be the first person to know about Dr Jekyll's secret, a secret he is been keeping inside for two whole years, a secret so delicate that could destroy his life in the wrong hands...

But Frankestein isn't the wrong person, maybe not the best netheir but not the worse

And this is how the chapter ends, and by Sage's words we can tell we are getting closer to the CLIMAX of the whole story.

If we think about it, in this moment she dosen't have any idea of who Mr Hyde is. For her, Henry just suddenly transfromed into a blonde with green eyes

She could think anything right now! Here some ideas

Frankestein would think that Edward is the real scientist/person and Henry's identity it's his experiment, something that Hyde may like it a little too much...

Frankestein thinks that Henry made a experiment to change the body's looks and she is fascisnated with it because it's perfectly done

Frankestein understands that Henry is Hyde but thinks he did this to himself just to impress her, and she would feel proud for turning Jekyll in the 'right path' of the mad scientist

Or maybe she dosen't even think that's actually Henry but that she found some kind of random creature that take's others indentitys

Whatever she though on that moment, it will not go anywhere because Creature is right there, and they met Hyde before

Creature will explain who Mr Hyde is to Frankestein, so that's the moment when she will realise that Henry it's not the man she belive he was (Maybe she will apologise for her behaviour towards him) or idk, this looks like the start of their official 'redemption arc' in their relationship, where both characters finally can understand each other in a real way

Think about it, Henry will not have to pretend being 'the perfect doctor' that he thinks he needs to be with everyone, something that Frankestein hated of him even before he could even talk to her. Now, Henry may have someone that can understand him completely and knows whats the real hell is been through all this time, that remenber, he is been going through this all by himself without anyone to actually talk to.

Think on a more positive light, it would be sweet to see Frankie treating Jekyll and Hyde nice like she does with the logders, or mostly Hyde (Not hating Jekyll really, Hyde is just happend to be her favorite) and the rest of the society seeing it like;

The logders: oh, They are getting along now!

Robert: oh no, they are getting along now

But well, whatever that happens I just hope THIS IS GONNA BE AMAZING AAAAA

Okay, good bye now! (⁠｡⁠•̀⁠ᴗ⁠-⁠)⁠✧

[ming-sik]

My dear good comrade in the trenches against AoB's nonsense: I'm having Ferdinand thoughts (derogatory, mostly) and stewing. You said you thought Ferdinand's boring, if you would be up for it we could complain to hell and back about him T_T (aka, I remembered someone saying “Lestilaut's bad and he doesn't even have [Ferdinand's] trauma excuse!” as if... trauma... is an excuse for... anything... also did we forget the system was inherently abusive and traumatizing orrrrrrr)

i'm always up to complain about ferdinand. i swear i tried to like aob's golden boy but he just... is bad.

like ok my main problem with him is honestly just that by being the most perfectest bestest coolest guy ever he makes the story so fuuuuuuucking boring. there are so many potential conflicts especially from part 4 onward that just get completely ironed over with "ferdinand took care of it offscreen" or "literally as soon as the problem was introduced ferdinand already had the solution", half of the remaining conflicts are just getting ferdinand to stop being an asshole long enough to easily solve the conflict, and half of the conflicts left over after that are how to stop ferdinand from being so incredibly selfless that he burns himself out solving all the story's problems before they can go anywhere interesting. it'd be one thing if he existed in a story that wasn't trying to be serious or if he was used very sparingly as a hermit whose help was difficult to acquire or came at a high price, but as it is i can't even bring myself to get that invested in new conflicts because aob's world has been mostly converted into a playground for rozemyne and ferdinand to flex their enormous brainpower over because obviously the only thing more interesting than one ridiculously overpowered protagonist whose only flaw is being too self-sacrificing is two of the damn things.

to which the counterargument is obviously "noooooo ferdinand isn't a perfect angel, he's deeply flawed!" and yeah he is, but not in a way the narrative is at all interested in doing anything but glorifying. i love it when characters are deeply flawed unpleasant assholes, but only if 1) that's taken in an interesting direction and 2) the story doesn't lie to my face and pretend everyone loves them. YS's society is systematically and inherently abusive, which means that every noble we meet is dealing with an intense web of motivations and pressures that mean being a "good" person in yurgenschmidt's nobility is basically impossible, but ideally that's a way to set up interesting tragic characters, not a reason i'm supposed to excuse ferdinand(and only ferdinand) from judgment for perpetuating that abuse and call for the execution of anyone who thinks he's an asshole.

and the counterargument to that is "oh it's not the narrative that thinks ferdinand is perfect, it's rozemyne!" but that's objectively wrong. the entire plot point of ferdinand's marriage to detlinde is when the story just spends basically an entire volume repeatedly telling the audience that ferdinand is actually the only reason anything gets done in ehrenfest ever and he's the most wonderfulest person ever and everyone is overcome with grief that their savior is gone. even sylvester's habit of pushing off work seems to exist basically entirely so we can have the literal archduke be hugely reliant on ferdinand for day-to-day work just so he can get a little extra credit.

that's not to say that he and rozemyne aren't massively codependent. they are. and again i understand that ferdinand doesn't intentionally put rozemyne in a position where he's literally the only person she can fully trust and she's both completely reliant on him for guidance and terrified of losing him, he does do that. he claims he wants her to rely on wilfried but outside of trying to train him to be more competent(unsuccessfully) he doesn't actually do anything to achieve that, and he never thinks of the perhaps more sustainable option of trying to get her an actual support network. a lot of the tragedy of her losing her life in the lower city is that originally she had a wide group of people to trust: she had her family for comfort, benno for guidance, and lutz as a peer who also knew the full story of her reincarnation. afterwards, she only has ferdinand, and the paranoia he teaches her prevents her from trying to find anyone else, to the point that she only realizes that elvira knows about her commoner origins when he's leaving! and. again. i get so hard that this is an understandable result of ferdinand's trauma making him extremely insular, it's in character, but it's also really, really something that i want the story to, at some point, actually interrogate, but it doesn't! even when ferdinand is totally for real ripped away during the marriage plotline, he actually isn't because they stay in contact the entire time and then she has an excuse to come rescue him and post-battle he's literally just back on the team and it's like he never left so that ended up having the same emotional impact as if he just moved to the next town over. so he never really "leaves", and rozemyne never has to actually get used to life without ferdinand, which would've been really interesting and a way to actually deliver on the ticking time bomb that is grooming subplots.

which he is! and to be clear, he's a groomer in the general sense, not even specifically the pedophilic sense(although yknow. he is explicitly pro-child marriage), i mean that he grooms her to accept that the way yurgenschmidt's society works is normal and fine. he's not solely responsible for the inherent abuse of feudalism, but he's a product of the system he lives in and a product that's not particularly interested in changing that system, so he views myne primarily as an aberration who needs to be incorporated into yurgenschmidt's nobility and made to understand that things work the way they do because this is the best system. i think people rail against ferdinand being called a groomer for two main reasons-- firstly people think that if you say a character is immoral you're saying that they're a bad person for liking them or finding them interesting, and secondly people not understanding that grooming isn't as simple as mustache-twirling villain evilly and intentionally completely controlling a helpless child. bc yeah rozemyne struggles against ferdinand's attempts to fit her into noble society and at multiple points does the opposite of what he tells her to, but that doesn't disprove my argument! it's actually repeatedly acknowledged(well, joked about) where characters including rozemyne and ferdinand themselves say that ferdinand has made her more and more similar to him. like basically the first thing that happens when he gets her into noble society is him convincing her to start participating in the buying and selling of orphans and speaking of orphans do not get me started on the temple it drives me so insane how her turning it into a company town where they serve as her unpaid labor is presented as her being a saint. that can't totally be blamed on ferdinand but he sure does talk her into accepting that the only way she can interact with lower status people is through the lens of a benevolent master. one of the main facets of their relationship is him making her worse.

which is interesting! conceptually! ferdinand is entirely a product of the cycle of abuse and his reaction to his trauma is to preserve that cycle even as it continues to harm him and everyone around him because it's just the way things are. on that topic, he's completely bought into yurgenschmidt's view of children where 5-year-olds are expected to be capable of fending off psychological warfare and 15-year-olds are expected to be fully mature adults, so he has a vitriolic, burning hatred for wilfried age 6 and later detlinde age 15 despite both of their biggest crimes being not magically overcoming the fact that they're being neglected and abused, because he did, which means it is possible and therefore required. even his favorite oops all negative reinforcement education is irl infamous for being literally the worst possible way to educate children because it doesn't work very well and also traumatizes them, something which rozemyne herself seems to understand when she tries to keep ferdinand from being so harsh on letizia but never ends up interrogating because she can keep up with it. just kind of because? the implication is that she has a big headstart from her being an adult university student in japan but we actually don't see him do much instructing outside of giving his pupils a bunch of stuff to memorize and then getting really mad if they don't do it fast enough, which is... not the most effective strategy, wouldn't help with her memorizing new information, and also requires her to show a level of attentiveness and reading comprehension she never actually shows when she's onscreen doing stuff because when she's onscreen she lacks basic reading comprehension and stops paying attention to literally anything she's not interested in, but all of that's just ignored because the whole reason ferdinand cares about rozemyne is that she's the only one who understands that he's just trying to do the right thing and she's the only one who can keep up with him in this world of idiot sheeple. and i don't like that either i think it's pretty boring.

the specific combination of his plot purpose mainly being to instantly solve problems and his actual character just kind of being an insufferable asshole who won't shut up about how awesome child abuse is means that unfortunately every time the male lead of the series is onscreen i'm booing and throwing tomatoes at the page because he isn't interesting enough to pull off being morally grey or fun enough to pull off being a terrible little freak. and i really do not feel sorry for him because everyone in the story is experience similar levels of abuse but mysteriously the story can recognize that it's bad when literally anyone else treats any character the way ferdinand treats everyone all the time.

the lestilaut comparison is so specifically dumb oh my god. like yeah he has the trauma excuse.... everyone does... if we take dunkelfelger seriously lestilaut was raised in an environment where his worth was entirely placed on how physically strong he is and the only solution to any problem is physical force, so that's the only way he can think of to solve problems. his main character flaws are being kind of a jerk in a way that's very normal for a teenager! like his character introduction is revealed to be him misinterpreting hannelore's desire to hang out with the cute shumils as a need to have them at any cost which combines with the existing prejudices he's been taught(yknow the excuse that works for ferdinand and nobody else) to mean that he executes a stupid plan, and then even the bride-stealing ditter plot which is... not his finest moment, definitely, but is him trying to save rozemyne from what he thinks is severe abuse. which isn't an excuse for his actions, like i said with sylvester you kind of lose the right to appeal to good intentions if your mistakes have a body count, but you could make the exact same criticism of ferdinand. i mean his "i'll get ahrensbach for you" bit is basically just the shumils thing but it's treated as romantic instead of "what the hell are you doing"

tbh in the AU i'm working on i just toss him out the window entirely but if he IS going to stick around he neeeeeeeeds to have his untouchability be dialed way the fuck down. he can't just solve literally every story problem with "and then ferdinand pulled the solution out of his ass" and there need to be things that he is actively bad at which other characters are good at. also other characters NEED to be able to criticize him for things other than being too self-sacrificing or limply saying that even though he's the most skilled wonderful guy ever it's a shame he's such a jerk. instead of having people being worried about how dependent rozemyne is on ferdinand be played for cheap jokes about her being in love with him you could idk have it GO SOMEWHERE because if ferdinand isn't totally perfect then you could have that relationship actually negatively affect her in some sort of way that could perhaps cause a narrative conflict, and there should be sympathetic characters who actively dislike him for reasons other than not being able to keep up with his amazingness. like florencia just thinks he's a massive piece of shit because he tried to get her 6 year old son condemned to the ivory tower, or lutz thinks ferdinand is wrecking the myne he knows and loves in order to fit her into noble society, or charlotte and wilfried just end up hating him after he tries teaching them because he's an abusive jerk. i don't even wanna give him a redemption arc because i don't want rozemyne to need to "fix" him and idk who else it would be outside of maybe sylvester? if i was gonna try and not fundamentally change the structure of aob i genuinely think i would just move detlinde's assassination attempt to basically as soon as he gets settled in ahrensbach and also have it succeed. just fucking kill him! make rozemyne navigate the world without him! it also killing off justus and eckhart could even make it so they're also invading ahrensbach without knowing anything about lanzenave so the silver cloth and instant-death poison can actually matter.

[coeurdelain]

I couldn’t care less about Elriel/Elucien/Gwynriel shipwars if some of them didn’t want to erase Elain existence because yes it’s what they do :

« Azriel and Gwyn book is next ». So a side character will have a book before a member of the inner circle ? Before the sister of the main character ? Also, I saw this big account on insta who said Azriel and Elain can’t have a book together because they’re both MC, so they will have a book each. Just a reminder, the next book is a dual pov. The two protagonists are the MC, the two protagonists have to move the plot. Both of them. Not just one. It will be like Nesta and Cassian. They both were important. Azriel is more mysterious than Cassian, that’s why some people seems to think that he will have his own book, but none of the characters will have his own book. They will share a pov with another character and even Azriel can’t move the plot alone. He’s not made by the cauldron. (Now ask yourself if Gwyn can lead 50% of the plot ? What her pov will be about ? What a book about Gwyn will be about ? She can’t wield the troves, she’s not made by the cauldron, she’s not connected to truth teller, or the prison. Also, we know her story, we saw her healing, I’am sorry she’s cute but I prefer to know the thoughts of a character that I know nothing about. I know everything I have to know about her. And knowing about her father is not something enough interesting to me. We learn who was Lucien’s father in Feyre’s book, I don’t think Gwyn needs a book to find her father, and honestly, I don’t even think it’s important).

« Rhysand and Gwyn friendship will be so cute ». I’am sorry what ? Where is that come from ? Why Rhysand will have a friendship with Nesta’s friend ? Last time I checked, Rhysand has a soft spot for Elain and Elain only. (« Elain is Elain »). Cassian+Feyre, Azriel+Nesta and Rhysand+Gwyn. When they say something like that, they don’t see the problem ?? One of them is not like the others.

« Gwyn will be a spy ». Ok. So I guess Elain is taking lesson with Nuala and Cerridwen for baking. It’s not like there is a quote in the books who say that Elain is probably training with the two spies of the NC, that Elain can keep secret, that she’s observer and she can walk without a sound. Please, Gwyn can’t even keep a secret. Be serious. There is no foreshadowing for this.

« Nuala and Cerridwen could be friend with Gwyn because they’re also nymph». When I say that Gwynriels act like Elain doesn’t exist it’s what I’am talking about. When I saw this on tumblr I knew these people just ship Gwyn and Az because they hate Elain. They even want to take her friends from her. They want Elain to have nothing.

« Nesta prefers Gwyn than Elain, she’s rooting for Az and Gwyn » just say you have no brothers and sisters because there is no way someone believe that.

« Gwyn will be Nyx’s favorite auntie ». This one is funny. In a world where Nesta, Elain, Mor and Amren don’t exist, maybe.

« Gwyn is a starborn, she has so many powers, she can wield the troves ». Sure, more powerful that the three sisters who can match Rhysand power aka the most powerful high lord. (Not me who said that, but the books). Elain is made by the cauldron. What’s the point of knowing if Gwyn can wield the troves or not when Elain is just there ??

The only thing they still didn’t take from Elain is Feyre and her ability to see the future. But we never know, they able to do it.

I don’t understand why they want to transform Gwyn into a Mary Sue. Is Gwyn not enough ? Being a valkyrie is not enough ? You need her to have MC energy. So you try to connect everything to Gwyn. And you also need to erase Elain. Because of course, Elain is not staying in the night court, she will be away and Gwyn will replace Elain in the inner circle too because you didn’t know but Gwyn is the third Archeron sister. She will defeat Koschei. And at the end, she will be the most powerful person.

All of this made me the hardest Elain supporter and defender.

I don’t care if people ship Gwyn and Azriel, it’s ok to have different ship, but I wish they will stop acting like Elain doesn’t exist. They stop inserting Gwyn into Elain’s storytelling and they stop calling Elriels delusionals ( the audacity. How it’s delusional to ship two characters who like each other ?)

[littlealeta]

Spellbound (2024) Review [Spoilers]

Long post! Scroll down for a TL;DR and Aleta Rewrites Version!

I, at first, didn't want to watch this movie. But after hearing some surprisingly decent reviews, I decided to give it a chance. Coming out of it, I can understand why it resonated with some people, even if the writing is ultimately a mess. I think if this came out earlier, in the mid 2010s, without all the controversy John Lasseter has got into as well, I think this could've done a bit better among other simplistic films such as Home and Secret Life of Pets. And I probably would've liked it better myself back then, but alas, I am not a slightly mindless 17 year old anymore, and we live in different times where cute, heartfelt stories are not the only things a movie needs to be good. So, I must view this film objectively as it is.

I will have to say, though, the trailers hid way too much. It's not as horrible as they made it out to be, but still mediocre.

Story

So much to say here...

The story is a real mess. It literally pops off with the parents being monsters. We know nothing of their life beforehand at this point.

There are some good ideas here, like the dark emotions tornado. the parents being monsters concept and having the child be the one to parent their own parents sounds like it could be ridiculously funny, but the problem is, it doesn't do much to set it apart from other stories that have done this before, Brave and Spirited Away with the parents being creatures concept, Wonder Park with the dark emotions symbolism, and It Takes Two with two fighting parents going on an adventure. The monsters at the start could just be Eileen's annoying pets and there would be no difference.

I also like that the main conflict revolves around divorce, a theme that is rarely touched upon in media, especially for children. It's unfortunate that this doesn't come into play until halfway through the story. The message is very heartfelt and a good lesson for children going through this same situation.

There are some good scenes here. Like there's some creative and beautiful segments like the echo or the Look for the Light scene. Most of the humor is actually well-written, although, I probably could've done without the freaky friday thing as it doesn't really contribute to the story. There are a couple times where I felt the humor is tacked on, but other than that, most of them felt natural.

One thing that doesn't make sense about the story, though, is the parents gradually getting their humanity back after it was said that they would get it back at the lake. This was never explained. I believe I could subtly see the reason why that may be the case. The parents and Elliaan are starting to accept the reality of the marriage. But, there's not enough implication to connect that reasoning to the story, and it just feels contrived.

The way conflict gets resolved is often anticlimatic. Like, in the echo scene, the parents suddenly saying "Girl" for no reason and getting their humanity back felt rushed and contrived as well as Bolinar being able to somehow call in the other flinks during the big climatic moment.

Characters

The characters either don't really have much personality or feel one-note.

Princess Elliaan is just your typical Disney protagonist. She's cheerful, optimistic, good-natured, and a bit clumsy. She lacks any flaws, quirks, or depth to help her stand out.

The parents only show their personalities when they're fighting. They, too, have nothing to make them stand out.

The only characters who kinda have a personality are Bolinar and the Oracles, but even they feel a bit one-note. Bolinar's only characteristic is that he's perpetually negative, and he really doesn't contribute anything to the story. The Oracles, being minor characters, aren't very memorable.

Flink is just your average trouble-making Disney sidekick.

Animation/Music/Voice Acting

I love Princess Eileen's design, I think she's very cute. However, that is all the positives I have in regards to the animation. There are some different artistic styles used in some of the musical segments, but most of the animation is just your average 2010s 3D animation.

Music is alright. Most of it is not memorable. There are a couple of weird moments where it seems like the characters were talking more than singing. My personal favorite would be The Way it Was Before. It's catchy, and the sweetest and most heartfelt song out of them all.

The voice actors do well with both funny and serious moments. I have to give props especially to Rachel Zegler, for both her singing and her ability to convey emotions. I really felt her character there.

Overall/TL;DR

I give Spellbound 5.4 bells out of 10

The story takes too long to reveal itself and get interesting. There is barely a concrete arc there, it could easily be seen as a movie where "things happen". A lot of the conflict is resolved anticlimatically, too. There are inklings of a deep, emotional, and creative movie in there, but it needed some more drafting to get there. The comedic timing is mostly well-written, though, besides a few tacked on moments.

Characters feel pretty one-note and Elliaan is just your average Disney princess.

Besides a few artistic musical segments, the animation is mostly generic. Although, I think Princess Elliaan is very cute.

Music is ok, quite forgettable. The only catchy one being the heartfelt The Way It Was Before.

Voice actors did their jobs well, especially Rachel Zegler in terms of both her singing and emotional range.

It's passable enough for kids and those who want to Netflix and chill. It's a simple movie with a good heart and there's nothing wrong with that, but in terms of story and characterization, it's pretty bland with nothing much to make it stand out from other animated kids fare.

In an Aleta Rewrites story, I would of course start off with the parents being humans. Elli is harboring resentment for them due to their constant fighting and planned divorce and just wants everything to be peaceful again. Due to Elli's resentment, the parents themselves are having trouble going through with the divorce because they want to "stay together for the kid". Their fighting causes the parents to turn into monsters because this is how Elliaan sees them. At the start, I would try to do something a little more creative with the parents being monsters concept to set it apart from other movies that have done this before. Like, maybe instead of just having them be rambunctious creatures, show more facets of their personalities. Like, maybe the parents' personalities are still somewhere in there and they're trying to talk to Eileen or trying to help Eileen, but their monster sides just keep coming out and it just all ends in the wrong way. Also, show more of the parents fighting as monster forms instead of just acting like pets causing trouble around the castle.

Let Elliaan's growth happen more naturally instead of at the last minute. And her growth (her acceptance of the changes the parents want to make to their marriage) is the reason her parents slowly gain back humanity. Their adventure is a representation of Elliaan and her parents' journey to accept the truth that the marriage is not going to work out well. Show more symbolic elements of Elliaan's resentment and her growth similar to how you showed symbolic scenes of the parents fighting with the quicksand and the echo.

I would also have Bolinar be more of the foil who often ditches and kinda gets in the way of Elliaan and her parents' adventure. His selfish attempts at trying to get back his body hurt their plans (more scenes like the acorn trail scene), until he grows to be more helpful in the adventure and realize his selfish ways.

[saphira-approves]

Alright buckle up y’all, I’ve got a book series recommendation and propaganda under the cut for any fans of the Inheritance Cycle.

If you read our beloved farmboy-turned-dragon-rider books and had a particular fondness for: the idea of an order of individuals chosen to be both partner and rider to powerful and beautiful magical creatures; Snowfire; an immortal evil that resurfaces in disguised and unexpected forms (specifically referencing the Draumar cult which we now know had influence in Galbatorix’s rise to power); and/or the juicy juicy drama of complicated parent-child relationships, then oh boy do I have a recommendation for you.

Mercedes Lackey’s Valdemar series, comprising of many, MANY individuals novels, trilogies, and short story anthologies. I don’t currently have a count for the exact total of published books, as I’ve been getting most of these from my local secondhand bookstore, but she’s been publishing these books since 1987 and is still writing them today in 2024.

Since this is such a huge collection, it can be hard to know where to start, so first of all I’d like to assure you that you can start pretty much anywhere, with any of the individual novels or series, so long as you make sure to find the first installment of that series. Personally I started with The Black Gryphon, which seems to be one of the chronologically earliest books; Arrows of the Queen of the Heralds of Valdemar trilogy would also be a good place to start, being the first published Valdemar book, though I haven’t actually read it yet—I only just got my copy today, actually!

At any rate, wherever you start, there’s a lot to look forward to. Lackey has a knack for writing characters with depth and complexity, giving them flaws that are so well balanced by endearments that even at their worst, you can still understand and empathize with them; she absolutely refuses to write idiot-plots, allowing her characters not only to remain consistent with their established characterizations, but also to communicate with each other and allow their relationships to evolve as the characters do. Characters are allowed to make mistakes, be vain and stubborn and prideful, get angry, get jealous, get scared, and yet afterward still be received with love and forgiveness when they apologize. The magic is beautifully described and, at least for me, easy to understand; the schemes are clever, diabolical, and exciting to watch unfold. There is true, pure evil in the villains, and satisfaction in their endings.

There’s also a decent amount of diversity, which may or may not be surprising, depending on what you’ve read of 80s/90s SFF. Of the handful of books I’ve read so far, here are my observations: Lackey writes fantastic and complex women full of depth, emotion, and ingenuity, each as different from each other as their backgrounds would demand. There are several canonically queer characters across the timeline, including a main protagonist. Lackey’s worldbuilding establishes several unique and disparate cultures, drawing clear influence from many non-European real life sources, with featured characters of those cultures given, in my opinion, respectful and appreciative spotlights. There are characters with disabilities, respected both by the narrative and the characters around them. There are also non-human cultures, characters, and protagonists!

As fantastic as I have been finding these books, it would be remiss of me not to add that these books will not be for everyone. They are firmly adult fantasy, and Lackey does not pull her punches when she wants her characters to suffer. There is torture, sexual assault, suicide. Not all of this is graphically described, but some certainly is; most of the graphic stuff I have so far read is of about the same intensity as the torture scenes of Inheritance, but some of the abstractions are much more intense, and I get the sense that some of what I haven’t yet read may be both graphic and visceral. That being said, if you could handle Game of Thrones’ graphic violence and assault but disliked the persistent pessimism of that series, this one might be right up your alley!

Anyway. That’s all from me for now. I’m off to go read about characters bonding with magical creatures somewhat beyond mortal ken and going on fantastic and harrowing magical adventures. :)

[goblins-riddles-or-frocks]

the realization that he’s sitting on centuries’ worth of accumulated corpses for absolutely no pay off or greater purpose is itself a looming source of anguish that he’s trying very, very hard to avoid.

This sort of broke my brain but it's so true damnn. What do you think of his pov in rule of wolves? I read it years ago and never read the book again all I remember is bits and pieces which confused me. Darkling looked very... idk messy? He saves Nikolai in the war but a moment later he's like "uhh nvm" then he also sacrifices himself in the end so maybe some of it is starting to seep in especially after Alina's words that he kept repeating to himself and also insisted that she wasn't true and how he Just Didn't Care 🙄 *insert the pretending not to cry wojak meme*

His POV was fun! I just didn't like the duology; I think the plot was a mess and it was inconsistent with itself, not to mention the trilogy before it. But I preferred RoW to KoS bc my evil goth son is in it at least. I've said this before but I dislike the base premise of resurrecting him at all, especially in a narrative where Alina remains out of the picture as protagonist. I think it undercuts her arc and efforts too badly, and like his send off was already good. He doesn't need to come back! But he's clearly LB's favorite blorbo and she refuses to let him stay dead lmao. So like, if he must come back, then I do think that is the funniest possible premise for it, where he's lost all status and power and is completely out of his depth. It is interesting to see him in such different context! I just wish it made sense or contributed to a better story. Personally, I liked his silly little glass prison arc and wish it had lasted longer. They needed to fully just Hannibal Lecter him and keep him as their pet war criminal to advise on random plot or the Saints or whatever. I did think it was clever though the way he got maneuvered into a grudging near redemption, where he's completely and entirely unrepentant,* but tricked into saving the day from sheer ego. He's the self appointed main character of the world, so of course he has to be the one to go to tree hell. In general, I feel like the characterization in KoS suffered? Where most of the characters got flattened, but I think he was the most intact. His actions were messier, but I got the impression that that's more him being unused to not having the power that he used to have, and flailing a bit. My main gripe is that I do think he would probably be petty enough to demand Alina see him off to tree hell. But LB super, super didn't want her involved in any meaningful way, which, I can understand! But in-universe it didn't really feel consistent. *Or so he claims! I did think it was really fun the way he was grappling with pretending to be an emotionless husk of a person as per usual and also just not quite fitting into that anymore. I don't think he was sorry, but it's like that one tumblr post that goes "not evil anymore i want to be loved now -> evil again" rinse and repeat dfghj

[piracytheorist]

ngl i usually dont like child characters in shows, they tend to just be huge obstacles for the protagonists. however, anya manages to be likeable and fairly realistic depiction of a child which i greatly appreciate. that may be because she is actually helpful, even if she greatly over and undervalues what she does (depending on what the situation is, such as not understanding the gravity of certain actions she took that ultimately ended up helping the entire world).

it's rare we get a useful and extremely young character in shows that doesn't either make them immensely intelligent for their age, or very bitter. She acts her age and still helps at times, but of course not all the time. I appreciate Endo so much for that 🙏🙏🙏

Yeah, writing kids in fiction can be really tricky, and the success in Anya's character is one of the main things I respect Endo for. She is very much written like a child; impulsive, emotional, she thinks very simply but with great imagination, she's full of energy and she's developing her cunning. It's either that Endo has studied a lot how kids work, or he's possessed by a child's soul whenever he writes big Anya scenes.

And of course, thanks to her powers, she's made more active in the story. She has her own adventures going on at school, but then with her mind-reading she can get into the stories of the adults and help them, while also confusing them (Loid, for the most part 🤣). That way she can still act as a child but be relevant in the stories of other characters, without acting out of character or too mature for her age.

And I just love how she's neither cute nor annoying 100% of the time. She has the perfect balance of being adorable and being an absolute gremlin.

Like, kids in media tend to be either one or the other. Anya is a spectrum, gracing us with the cutest cute to ever cute one day, and the "sleep paralysis demon" face the next. And that's how kids are in reality. They experience the world for the first time through their small, developing brains, and they adapt to their new experiences through various feelings, which can vary from adoration to monstrous cunning. Anya has expressions and we love her for that.

That said, she still has a lot to learn, as you said sometimes she undervalues the things she does to the point where she caused the deaths of the two hiding assassins in episode 35 and then slept like a baby. Like. Homegirl actually caused two people's deaths. I'm not saying she should have lost sleep over it, but it is kind of funny within the context.

In short, Anya is a great, adorable and funny character, providing great foil to some of Twilight's and Yor's traits so the story feels balanced.

(Anime only fan here, don't spoil me for the manga)

[divinemiracles]

may i ask why lunter shippers often criticize and/or dislike lumity so much ─ as in, the pairing itself, not the fans? it's extremely frustrating because i'm a multishipper (lumity main, but i very much love lunter too) and i don't understand why the shipping war over which one "should be true canon" isn't just one-sided from biphobes/antis/etc., because i was always under the impression that was the case. i've only ever experienced the fandom mainstream and i'm still new to spaces where shipping luz with boys, especially hunter, is acceptable. i'm curious as to why each side has negative shit to say about the other as if their opinion is absolute. hell, i'm still confused by how much people passionately hate huntlow this bad for being boring and unoriginal at worst; if it's problematic for the age gap then surely lunter is too (rhetorical)? anyway, i hope this ask comes across okay and respectful enough. i read your blog's description and pinned post so i hope i can find some answers through you.

~ bi-ship

Thank you for being so respectful!

There’s many reasons as to why Lunter fans dislike Lumity as a ship. It’s mainly due to a difference in shipping taste or out of spite since a handful of Lumity shippers are toxic (I like Lumity, it’s cute, but I fall under the difference in shipping taste category).

Lumity and Lunter are two completely different ships. One falls under the cutesy, wholesome, loving couple (Lumity) trope and the other falls under the angsty, heartbreak, storyline, and lore-based (Lunter) ship trope.

Many Lunter fans are mainly in the fandom and watch the show for the lore and Wittebane brothers, which is why they ship Lunter (for the Evelyn/Caleb parallels). If Lunter was canon, TOH would be a completely different story and have the Wittebane family as a major key to the story. But with Lumity, the story doesn’t go much into the brothers and just has a cute loving couple.

That’s where most of the criticism comes from. Lumity isn’t a ship that’s there for the lore, it’s just there for sapphic representation and normality. Also, since it was the first Disney sapphic couple involving a protagonist, it would be difficult to add it into lore-based angst since it would probably be passed as “too toxic” or whatever. That’s why they’re so lovey-dovey. Keep in mind this is just a thought. Lumity is not toxic at all, they’re just a normal couple.

With Huntlow, Lunter fans mostly hate it and criticize it for being boring and unoriginal like you said. It was rushed a lot and could have been dropped since it didn’t bring representation or relevance (Willow was never confirmed as Evelyn and they were never in-show confirmed or coded as bi/pan. I headcanon them as such but all they ever had were popular color palettes). It also depends a lot on perspective. It’s toxic to some and not toxic to others. I have a deep hate for it just for the unoriginality (bad boy turns into malewife for the shy girl that turns into a girlboss) and irrelevance but I don’t actually view it as TOXIC toxic since in my viewpoint, it’s just two normal people pushed too hard into a malewife x girlboss ship. I don’t like how Willow does sometimes resemble Belos but she’s far FAR better and healthier than Belos.

To sum this up: Lunter fans often dislike/criticize Lumity and Huntlow for being lovey-dovey, unoriginal, and not relevant to the plot. It all boils down to a difference in shipping interest. None of the ships are actually toxic (it’s mostly just people looking far too deep into them) but some people can view it as such and that’s fine as long as no one gets harassed. We all have different views.

[aihoshiino]

LIKE SHITS AND GIGGLES ASIDE it just sucks like. Ruby really didn't... have a proper arc with a proper conclusion in the end. like. i don't mind that she aborted her villain protagonist arc and deactivated her Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan to become a brocon because, y'know, regardless of how you feel about that stuff there IS actual discussion to be had about her feelings, if they're understandable or not, the nature of her relationship to Aqua and Gorou and how for Ruby this new life is like just a continuation of her life as Sarina due to how young she died as opposed to Aqua... like maybe i'm biased but it feels really meh in particular that Kana and Akane got their chances to really showcase their grief while Ruby didn't. like the second main character doesn't deserve a chapter to break down???

but NOPE it just. happens? and then she just becomes Ruby 2.0 which is awful bc like. like you said it's SO not a fate that Ai or honestly i think even Aqua would've really wanted for her. it was not a fate she wanted for herself. like, Ruby surpassing Ai should've been about Ruby being an Idol in her own way that made her happy, and now she's just... a liar like Ai was? it's honestly like... a really horrible outcome for her it makes me sad just to think about it.

like ONK still has a really special place in my heart i'll always love it just. man this ending needed SO MUCH MORE TIME to make it work. i really think the bittersweet/tragic ending could've worked given it's been implied since day 1 but good lord that race to the end was just ugh. i feel like ONK with two more full volumes might've been able to fix this but idk. i'm just.... maaaaan Ruby my girl you at least deserved a full chapter just to grieve

IT SUUUUUUUUUUUCKS. I feel like I was constantly ragging on Ruby in like all of my chapter reviews lol but that was entirely because I was so mad that the narrative was treating her like such dogshit. I was so so SO excited about the arc she was being set up to have during the preproduction phase of the movie arc - the idea of her being faced with the abuse Ai went through and having that literally trigger her to such a degree that it causes a similar crisis of identity/split between her and Sarina that we've already seen in Aqua and Gorou was sooooo fucking juicy and I felt like it was exactly the kind of arc that Ruby really needed, especially if Akasaka wanted her to be the major focal point of the second half of the manga as he apparently did.

But the INSTANT the past life reveal happened, it felt like that stuff all just got wiped clean with no interest in letting her naturally reconcile with it. I think I said before that like... I can totally understand if Akasaka had just accidentally dug Ruby into a bigger hole than intended and wasn't sure how to more organically get her out of it, because sometimes that DOES happen, especially in a serialized story where you're at least a little bit writing by the seat of your pants. So if that reveal was Akasaka kind of soft resetting Ruby to get her back on her feet for the Movie Arc, I totally understand needing to do that even if it's frustrating.

But even once Ruby's back in her feet, the story just... isn't interested at all in her inner world? There's no time given to her having any kind of complicated feelings about Gorou reincarnating as her brother or how she might be processing the changes this necessitates in their relationship. She just instantly pings into wanting his dick and she spends the rest of the manga not having those feelings taken seriously while also being disallowed from actually processing and potentially moving past them, because god forbid a female lead in a manga have a life outside the male lead.

Idk! Ruby deserved better is all I can really say. As frustrated as I got with her & the way she was coddled and spoonfed by the narrative in the back half of the story, those are ultimately issues with how Akasaka was just failing to respect her as a character who could stand on her own as a protagonist and aren't inherent to Ruby herself. It just sucks that her story ends on such a crappy note for her, in more ways than one.

[journalsouppe]

APOLLO JUSTICE!!!!! AHHHHHH!!!! What i would literally give to have a true AA4 sequel. I wholeheartedly believe if Yamazaki's team could ignore aa4 canon to make 5 & 6 then Shu Takumi should absolutely be allowed to ignore any 5&6 canon to make an aa4 sequel. I'm dying out here pleaseeeeee

The Phoenix sticker is from Peachcott. The Klavier sticker is from Ayabit from the Turnabout Cinema zine. The Apollo and Trucy stickers are from astarsor.

Writing typed below!

rating: 9.8 played: Fa 2023 port: 3DS favorite? Y replayable: Y recommend? Y series: Ace Attorney

Comments

THE JUDGE PAINTING

apollo's such a dork <3

ooo i like the perceive function

i love the music

DONT SAY THAT TRUCY T_T

there's so much going on in this investigation

wow i love how uneasy i feel even after the trial ended

LMAO I FORGOT ABOUT THE PHOENIX SEX PHOTO

i dont think y'all want your panties back...

klav's a bill and ted fan i see lol

LOVE mr eldoon's design 10/10

klapollo meet cute moment LMAO

oops ^^; i accidentally wrote a 600 word essay about the first case

i like how apollo cried over trucy

IT'S JUSTICE TIME??? T^T

i like klavier's hands a normal amount

alita must have some dirty fucking feet

the animations are so smooth

apollo being jealous of klavier at the concert and thinking he's cool LMAO

apollo is WHIPPED

trucy is KILLING it in court, she really is nick's daughter

klavier's shoe print *skull emoji*

out of pocket shiny forehead comment LMAO

lamiroir has similar vocal tones as malon!

THE PENIS FIRE AND KLAV PUTTING IT OUT IN THE BKGD

the smile and hair twirl klavier LMAO

why am i doing this music recording thing T^T

i dont like looking at daryan T_T

letouse kazuma moment lmao

capcom loves the face down death with writing on the ground huh LMAO

wtf is the judge talking about

i love all these scientific tests with ema! :)

i love the snackoos SFX

klav does not miss an opportunity to take a short at apollo's big forehead LMAO

APOLLO YOU DUMBASS

faking blindness is crazy

I KNEW IT WOULD BE DARYAN'S VOICE

klav's office is so much more normal than edgeworth's

WAIT IS IT GRAMARYE AND NOT GRAYMAYRE??

THE ANIMALS??

i love apollo and lamiroir goofing on klav

similar tech opening to brc

WTF WAS THAT KRISTOPH JUMPSCARE T-T

LORD DADDY???

oh he's insufferable

HOLY SHIT THAT'S WHY VERA IS STARING AT KLAV??

"rip off" phoenix is so real for that

are they injecting magnifi with piss??

im curious why kristoph would do this to phoenix

he just left his daughter???

tf is going on

T^T THE KRISTOPH ZOOM IN

why does klav have that egg from dragon tales

apollo understands me with mascots

this is so gay omfg

daryan not liking trucy means he goes even more into the shit book than before

apollo the journaling king

the x-ray function is a really fun addition

BABY TRUCY

omg phoenix with out the ugly hd redraw

GUMSHOE

he said it!!! he said 'ace attorney' lmao

i love and hate that i have to present the journal page

why does the screen shake when mr misham speaks T_T

THAT SCAR IS FREAKY

siblings omgggg

Summary:

I love this game so much. I love it so much that I am heartbroken knowing that AA 5 & 6 butchers the story it setup and I'm considering not even playing them unless AA7 is announced. I love all the main characters so much, the whole story was so well built and I can def see the influence the story had on DGS. Apollo is such a good protagonist, he's relatable but also so unique. I love seeing his character progression in the game: a new attorney who is easily manipulated to a confident and determined attorney who trusts in his own judgement. I LOVED Klavier oh my god. I love how much he respects Apollo and although he doesn't hesitate to tease him, he doesn't bully or abuse Apollo in any way. They both have a mutual admiration and rivalry where they try to play as fairly as possible. Klav doesn't maliciously withhold or change evidence, but he does spend hours reviewing his arsenal and thinks of all the counter arguments the defense could bring up. I really like Apollo's ability, it continues the mystery and mysticism from the original trilogy but with new mechanics. I adore Trucy so much. She honestly might be my favorite AA character. She's determined, strong willed, and above all -- extremely silly. I couldn't of asked for a better character to be Phoenix's daughter. I also LOVE the sibling reveal at the end but gdi if only they actually figure it out T^T T^T. I think Apollo and Trucy's dynamic is probably my favorite Defense and assistant dynamic. This who game was so fun, I know 4-3 is not everyone's favorite and it is a little all over the place but I also enjoyed it and loved the premise. There's so much to say, I haven't even talked about Nick and Kris - what an incredible feud, what a genius development for Nick. I cannot recommend this game enough, I am so obsessed with it and cannot wait to make art <3 <3.

[year2000electronics]

do you have any tips or suggestions for someone wanting to make their own oc story? your ocs and their stories are so insanely cool but i have no idea where i’d even begin to make one!

also happy y2kvr-versary ! late i know but it was still the ask blog that caused me to follow you and i’ve just stuck around for your other content after. :)

HMMMM lemme just spill a bunch of my thoughts all at once, this is just some stuff i personally like doing with my own oc stories! by no means is this a comprehensive list and i am not a professional!

1. accept the fact that you’re probably going to need minor/side characters. of course that isn’t always the case, there are story types that only focus on a handful of characters, but let’s use the reckoning as an example: even though i love all the characters there dearly, it’s about sinclair and his donning and subsequent subverting of the “mythological hero” mantle by taking on the vices’ challenge. montez and duncan, the other two archangels, are there to serve as a secondary antagonist in holy orders and bring some more life to the story’s world respectively, and That’s Okay. recognizing that not all your characters are gonna be the most specialest boys is a great place to start with structuring an oc story imo!

2. KEEP AT IT. the reckoning as it exists now didn’t truly come together until 2020, which is when the ask blog was made. cardine (the city the vices reside in) is such a key, important concept that drives the story along and the reckoning wouldn’t be nearly as good without it, and that only got introduced in one of the final drafts pre-ask blog!! reworks, practice with laying out the events, thinking and re-thinking of stuff and spending years with it is really good. it’s healthy. i mean a lot of great films and tv get ‘saved’ at the last minute from being terrible by one terrible concept being scrapped so revising and not being afraid to change things is your best friend

3. learn some rules. i’m of the firm belief that storytelling should be an all-access hobby for everyone, so you don’t have to read all of save the cat and then write out a full script or anything, but like. turn on a movie you like, or read a book you love. think about what they’re doing to convey primary themes to you. pick out the themes, actually, that’s good too. being able to pick up on themes that aren’t just being stated to you as if it’s dialogue from sonic heroes is a great teacher on how to subtly weave those themes into your story

4. don’t be afraid to break those rules! a lot of that stuff is great to pick up but at the same time they’re YOUR characters, and if you find yourself getting bored by playing too “by the book”, nobody said you can’t change how things work. for example, a lot of my oc stories have “villain protagonists” because i just really connect with the way ‘villains’ present themselves in media. if you find yourself fixating on a side character and brushing your main character aside? screw it! you can just make the story about them! what if a 7/11 clerk went on an adventure instead of the main guy!!

5. INSPIRATION IS YOUR FRIEND. WEAR IT ON YOUR SLEEVE. i don’t mean you have to publicly disclose every single thing you were inspired by, but the amazing digital circus is REALLY big right now, and gooseworx has told people IHNMAIMS and the raggedy ann movie were big inspos and she clearly loves those things because they uplift the work higher! (plus it gave people a new appreciation for those things) and, imo, understanding what inspires you and celebrating it is a lot better of a mindset than going into something out of sheer spite (like you’ll see a lot of people online making very inflammatory “i alone could fix a piece of media that had to go through an entire writer’s room as well as corporate mandates, gosh why doesn’t everyone just Make Things Good?” type posts on social media, and i find myself straying more and more away from that). best example i can think of are all those very ill-fated “original alien stories” that su criticals made back in the day that were even more confusing than the gems and everyone had to pretend that “of course it makes more sense for the aliens to be flowers, gosh, why didn’t rebecca sugar think of this? we’re so smart”. my point is hate and shame can fizzle out quickly but creativity is forever

6. and of course, always make sure you’re actually having a good experience with the process. fun, catharsis, importance, etc. if it sucks, you can literally hit the bricks. i say that with experience because before my original superhero story existed (iris of the storm), there was another (problem students). it was dormant as a story for a really long time because i had accidentally made a superhero story without any of the superhero tropes i loved, but i couldn’t just… delete it all! OH WAIT. YES I COULD. i started it all over and got rid of ocs that i was glad i made but don’t need anymore, and i’ve never been happier cos iris of the storm is actually fun for me.

BUT YEAH THATS IT. thumbs up