#the choice thing doesn't matter because the ending undoes it all

[agirlking]

There are still people that think Life is Strange is a genuinely good game???

[divine-motion]

the thing about Handler Walter (his full christian name) is that he's a really horrible guy. he's a guy who's decided that he needs to be an extremely cold, pragmatic, paranoid man willing to use anyone and anything to "right the wrongs of the past" (which is to burn it all down and commit genocide, even if he doesn't know that Coral is sentient that is still what he's doing, plus i imagine every Rubiconian dies too in the Fires ending or are at the very least heading towards a slow death of starvation and such)

but

he's also really sentimental, something he's tried really hard to bury to be the man he feels he needs to be in order to fulfill the legacy passed onto him and Carla. this is why he ends up caring a lot about C4-621 aka Raven (aka G13 aka... the list goes on) and probably all his previous hounds too. he doesn't want to do what he's done to them - using them as slave soldiers, attack dogs to throw into the meat grinder as necessary sacrifices even though he himself is at least capable as a pilot. he lets 617, 618, 619, 620 and who knows how many others get killed because he thinks it's better that they die than that he dies before he can finish the mission. this then likely changes with 621 as he determines that they have a better shot at finishing the mission than he ever did and makes sure that they escape rather than him (also maybe pragmatically thinking "if Arquebus re-educates 621 then everyone loses forever" bc he has at this point discovered that he pulled god's greatest killing machine out from the bottom of the bargain bin) in addition, while i think him wanting to get 621 Raven to "buy their life back" and "undo the surgery, become 'normal' again" is a genuine desire for them to attain some happiness or so, i think it is also, mainly, a way for him to feel better about what he's done to them. a way to wash the sins of his father from his hands - sure, the blood of every other hound is on his hands, and there are still plenty of old gens suffering similar fates to 621, being treated like dogs and machines that can just be switched on or off whenever their Handlers want to, but at least this one made it out, at least this one could escape the Coral

and yet. asking them to burn Rubicon. is dooming them. history knows them as the monster who burned the stars from then on. there is no peace for a hound that chooses to carry on his legacy that he imparts to them.

sure, Walter is kind of, textually, Raven's dad. and he's kind of a bad dad. well-meaning and caring in his own gruff way, but still not great. i think he puts it himself best in the post-credits message, where he says "I'm sorry... and I'm grateful." he knows what a burden it is. and despite the fact that he gives Raven a lot of choices in what they do, it doesn't really change that Raven never got to choose to even go to Rubicon, the legacy is still something thrust onto them with little say in the matter. they were switched off by the cerebral Coral control device when they were being transported to Rubicon, and Walter holds the power over them completely since he decides when or even if Raven gets to be awake and about. i think it is very telling that Raven can and will take jobs that are specifically behind Walter's back, and that it's only once Walter's gone that they dare to go against him directly (or when offered protection by ALLMIND, who proves themself to be able to circumvent Walter's watchful eye).

that's not even to say that i think that 621 Raven hates Walter or anything! the fact that in the liberator ending, after he puts the gun down with the "you found a friend" line, Raven is backing away at first, keeping their eye on Walter as long as they can before turning to escape the Xylem being pulled down by Rubicon's gravity, all that i think means that they do care. the emotional core of that ending hinges on the fact they don't want to fight Walter. it's like how you kind of inevitably love your parents even if you know how they've mistreated you (not saying this is universal but it's what i know from personal experience and from a lot of friends i have that have been in similar situations to me).

but anyways. the point is. i really like walter. he kind of sucks! and i think we should explore the side of Raven that isn't slavishly loyal to him, because they very obviously aren't, or else they wouldn't be so comfortable repeatedly going behind his back. Fires ending is an exception tho since, as i've pointed out in another post, the one where you actively choose to remain nothing more than Walter's faithful hound

[lordofmelancholy]

Thoughts about Arcane Season2 and "bad writing" (Ramblings)

When you sit down and just think about it for a moment without people screaming in your ear

a lot of writing choices in Arcane make sense and works

Because they don't follow traditional tropes

they follow Real Life

Sometimes in life you dont talk to someone when you should Sometimes in life you dont make right decisions, or make right decisions people will think are wrong Sometimes in life bad people get away with things that you believe they shouldn't Sometimes in life people DIE in war you never expect Sometimes in life you dont NEED words to apologize, you need ACTIONS, especially in a world where words can be twisted and untrustworthy and not worth the dirt on your shoes.

I love Arcane SO MUCH because it does what no show really does anymore. It doesnt follow trope, it doesn't follow immediate reconciliation, or conversation or WHATEVER. It just lets these characters LIVE (and die) just like how the world turns.

No one is out of character because a person CAN NEVER BE out of character. You are never the same person day in and day out, your life REFUSES to allow you to do that because if it did you would NEVER adapt to change.

Its how you adapt to that change that is important Take Cait and how she is in Season 2 for an example

I don’t think it’s bad writing Not entirely One of the reasons I like Arcane is cause NO ONE is truly good or bad

(Cept maybe the few like Loris, Ekko)

Everyone is just morally grey, believing their doing right, but going about it in ways that aren’t

When they do right, they do right

When they do wrong you know it, but in the end I love that cause no creature, let alone people are ever one dimensional

But the ISSUES I’m having with the Caitvi side of the fandom is their ERASING what makes them good characters which is that MORAL dilemma side. So often you see people try to brush their issues under the rug, or water them down

AND THATS NOT WHAT ARCANE IS ABOUT it never was

Cait was Cassandra’s daughter The one person whose been there for her

Her death was basically what Silco said

It was the undoing of her daughter DO I like Cait

Yes I do She’s the perfect blend of morally delayed character that I love. But I don’t like what the fandom is DOING to her

Cait didn’t even honor her mother correctly when she went about her revenge

It doesn’t MATTER if she gassed just the chembarons and left the civilians alone It doesn’t MATTER if she thought she was doing right

Because she did something that Piltover ACTIVELY PROMISED THEY WOULD NEVER DO

She USED the gas, she used GREY

Piltover may have been absolute SHIT to Zaun But they at least KNEW that even the gas was too much Knew that if they used it they would hurt more then just the people they were aiming for

GAS doesn’t discriminate

It’s why even in the deadliest of war’s only the most vicious or determined to win EVER reverted to chemical warfare

Cait did it on a whim

But in the same breathe YOU cant only blame her

Blame Ambessa too She took a vulnerable person. Knew how to twist the tragedy she went through and turn it into something with her advantage

But people also seem to forget that Cait STILL had a moral code and she was learning from her mistakes

She CLOSED and forbade the use of the cells that Vi was subject to during her prison time

She called out Ambessa for instigating fights

SHE WAS FIGHTING WITH AMBESSA, turning her back on her when things got to terrible It wasn’t just

oh vi stared at her once and called her a petname

NO she was actively LOOKING for a way out from under Ambessa

and she found it

And it’s because of that I have to agree media literacy is at a all time low

Because if you ACTIVELY WATCH THE SHOW you realize things are not as face value cut-dry as they looked

S1 Cait NEVER left

S1 Cait is still present in S2 Cait

But the issue is we are seeing a side of Cait that is loosing her way and aligning herself with people who MAY act like their doing her right but aren’t and now she’s stuck in this loop of hell after hell after hell

Until the ONE greatest thing in her life, something that’s been constant in its support and love but not afraid to fight back with her when she thinks she’s wrong

came back

Vi came back during a time where Cait was once again lost in not knowing how to fix what she did wrong because now she was turning on Ambessa and had no one at her side

Vi literally just said cupcake and cait’s eyes widened to the point SHE ACTIVELY CRIES shortly after Vi called her that. Her eyes legit water if you look closely at her turn her head away.

And the best part is is Vi didnt just jump back into being steady with Cait

She didn’t trust her

until Caitlyn showed her she could be

[deramin2]

Meta: Bell's Hells Plan: Self-Determination for Exandrian Mortals

Bell's Hells keep repeatedly saying what their plan is out loud, so I'm surprised it's still a mystery to so many viewers:

Bell's Hells want the Exandrian Pantheon to no longer have control of Exandria.

After much debate and talking to a lot of people, they've concluded that the Exandrian Pantheon having nearly unlimited power and control over Exandria is bad, and it needs to end. They've considered all the good those gods do personally and through their institutions and concluded the harm outweighs it. Exandrians deserve true self-determination, and they can't have that while the Gods treat them as pawns.

They don't want Ludinus or the Ruby Vanguard to have that power instead. That was definitely going to make an even worse situation.

Their preference was to reason with Predathos about eating them and instead let the gods leave. That plan is clearly not working. While talking to the Raven Queen they formed a new plan to undo the gods' divinity, the thing Predathos wants to eat, and allow them to live as mortals with much diminished power and control.

They do not have a plan for what mortals do with their freedom once they have it. They took so long to commit to this path because it means the full overthrow of global power structures, and that's a really big and unfair decision for one group to make for everyone. But in their heart of hearts they feel like those institutions are so corrupt they have to be undone so something else can grow. That something else will still have problems, but different ones. They were thrust into the position of having to choose revolution or the status quo that just kicks the can a bit farther down the road until that inevitable overthrow, and they couldn't stomach kicking the can. As is often the way with major change.

This is not a story about good and evil. That framework doesn't fit around the events being told. It doesn't explain anyone's actions or motivations. Even a softer binary of altruism and selfishness doesn't fit. It's all too muddled in every single choice. Because that's reality. This is not heroic fantasy. They've said out loud the entire campaign they're not heroes. They're normal people thrust into impossibly large decisions and the story is about the changes that come out of that. Almost all the media influences they cite are stories about change, not morality. (Kentucky Route Zero is one example.)

People keep trying to order a milkshake at an art gallery and then complain the paint water is a bad milkshake. Milkshakes are great, but not every place you go makes them. And since the cast have repeatedly talked about what kind of story they're telling for years, the mismatched expectations aren't on them.

The thing that's kept them coming back to Exandria after nearly 10 years is that they get to see how all their actions, big and small, changed the world. Taliesin planted guns into a fantasy world, Matt added on that tech escaped Percy's control, and now it's a major political force in the world and Percy just has to live with that. Travis sees a big red button and he longs more than anything to press it just to see what happens. Matt made an entire Campaign 3 of big red buttons. They're not trying to protect the world from their decisions, they're trying to see what happens when they make interesting choices.

(I think the doubt about making the "right choice" is largely driven by the hostility of the audience to interesting choices with messy consequences. Especially the women who have faced a ton of misogyny-amplified criticism for every perceived "mistake" they make. But that's a different meta.)

They all know that an age is ending, and big changes are coming to Exandria, no matter what they choose. It's only a matter of whether they try to steer the runaway train or give full agency over to people they trust even less. Matt has said he now sees this as an end to a trilogy. Remaking the world to fully separate from WotC IP and probably switching systems to Daggerheart makes a lot of sense for both creative control and business.

Matt and others have reshaped these deities and their institutions away from WotC's versions pretty strongly, but they still by their very nature exert control over them as independent creators navigating the unfathomably vast and powerful cosmic horror entities that are mega corporations like Hasbro. Taliesin's closing remarks at the Candela Obscura: Circle of the Silver Screen live show are about how the Hollywood machine eats people. I wrote about the symbolism in my essay A City Made of Aspirations.

Just this week, and after Matt said "Fuck AI!", Polygon reported that a student project had used their work to build an AI Dungeon Master using a data set created by Microsoft engineers out of fan wiki summaries and the linked transcript database maintained by Sil. Geek & Sundry used fan captions, so a significant amount of the caption work in the data set is fan labor. Critical Role switched to professional captions as soon as they went independent because they saw the value in that labor. Those same fan information labor projects have allowed them to be the most academically studied AP due to the ease of collecting information, which has added to their success.

They're beset in the real world by forces that want to devour their aspirations to maintain their youth. They barely escaped the wreckage of one such entity in 2018 with their Critical Role work in hand, but a lot of their other innovative shows like Sagas of Sundry were lost. The system that propelled them into the spotlight and has allowed them to chase life-long dreams they thought were impossible, has also been trying to devour that work. They've fought for worker's rights through their union for a good reason.

Campaign 3 isn't a story about good and evil, but it is a struggle for who gets to control the future. It's about overthrowing the hegemony of systems whose manipulative, selfish, and destructive influence outweighs the benefits they provide. Even if that's confusing, terrifying, and a known sacrifice. Ludinus was a piece of shit, but he wasn't entirely wrong. Tragically the worst person you know occasionally makes a good point.

There are only two ways to solve a problem: do what you're doing better or do something else. Campaign 3 is the story of ordinary people who have decided the world needs to do something else. They found themselves in extraordinary circumstances through a series of decisions they couldn't know the outcome of. They don't have a firm idea of what they want the new world to be or how to achieve it, but they do know that things have to be different. Sometimes that's all the seed of change you get to work with.

On the Wednesday Club episode Love is Love (2017-06-28) Taliesin put it, "Culture is not a rocket ship. We all don't get on the rocket ship to the planet culture and go up to the moon. Culture is like life: it is chaotic, it is violent, it is hungry… It is not normal for everything to just keep getting better all at the same time. It's normal for everything to get better over a period of the long game. In any internal point, chaos—"

That's often how the world is. Most activists don't know what happens after they win their battle. They can't predict what knock-on effects anything from legalizing gay marriage to forcing the military to clean up Superfund sites will have. We don't know what happens next when the lead industry is overthrown, or tobacco companies are forced to admit their product causes cancer. We didn't know what movies would be made after the Hayes code or what effects streaming would have on film, television, and music. Early researchers into generative AI had no idea it would get used this way. We don't know the future or if what we're doing is "good" or "bad" on any long timeline. We can only choose what's in front of us one decision at a time and just hope we don't live to regret them too badly. That's what Critical Role has always been about.

Now is the time for different people to choose their own fates, for good or ill, without the Exandrian Pantheon dictating them. Whatever happens next is for Campaign 4 to sort out.

—

This essay is also available on AO3.

[raayllum]

Seasonal Set Up :: Book 2 of Avatar, Finnegrin's Wake, and S6 (Rayllum, Kataang)

So there was a youtube TDP react channel that mentioned "Finnegrin's Wake" and Finnegrin's dealings with Callum that reminded them of Aang's plot line in the "Avatar State" in which Katara is likewise used to coerce Aang into the Avatar State to have his power(s) exploited. The comparison didn't go much deeper than "hey these two things are similar" but I thought it was worth looking into, particularly because of how ATLA establishes set up for Katara and Aang in early S2 that comes full circle in the S2 finale, and 5x08 feels like similar setup for presumptive payoff in S6.

Let's go!

Power

I've talked before about the similarities of dark magic in TDP and bloodbending in ATLA due to the language ("The choice is not yours. The power exists" / "What choice do we have?") amid other similar uses in each tale; given that this was around three years ago, I didn't know how literal that connection would prove in terms of Aaravos, like Hama, being more than just a metaphorical puppet master. Not as talked about, though, within ATLA by extension are the similarities between Aang's confrontation with General Fong over the Avatar State, and Katara's confrontation with Hama.

This was someone they trusted, someone who offered aid, who is convinced that any means necessary to end the war or strike back against the Fire Nation (even children or innocent civilians) is justified, who bring Katara and Aang to their knees. Furthermore, both Katara and Aang end up using the type of immeasurable power that Hama and Fong want them to because of their love for each other—but more on that later.

For now, I wanna return to 5x08 and Finnegrin's parallels to General Fong. Both Finnegrin and Fong hear of this great power, and hope to use it for themselves:

FONG: Avatar Aang, we were all amazed at the stories of how you singlehandedly wiped out an entire Fire Navy fleet at the North Pole. I can't imagine what it feels like to wield such devastating power. It's an awesome responsibility. FINNEGRIN: Few years ago, a human took down Avizandum, king of the dragons, with dark magic. And I want to know the spell that did it [...] I want to kill the Archdragon of the Ocean, Domina Profundis.

While the Avatar State in ATLA is ultimately a 'good' when properly wielded, dark magic in TDP is a lot more negative leaning / morally ambiguous. At this point, Finnegrin's already tortured Callum who refused on principle to have anything to do with dark magic, after all. Finnegrin's aims are also decidedly more selfish than Fong; Fong, at least, is thinking of his soldiers and the Earth Kingdom, whereas Finnegrin is angered by his limited freedom and especially the slight to his pride.

What matters, though, is what they're willing to do in the pursuit of that power, and how quickly that escalates to threatening bodily harm and

Coercion

Both Finnegrin and Fong approach things at first with a less effective form of coercion. After Callum lets slip that he has done dark magic before but to save his friends (just Rayla, unknowingly to Finnegrin), the pirate captain accordingly threatens chopping off the hand of one of his friends, though this is foiled. Similarly, when Aang asserts that only him being in genuine danger can bring on the Avatar State, Fong begins threatening him through earthbending, but this likewise doesn't really go according to plan.

It is worth noting, however, that Callum was likely going to do dark magic even after this speech when the option was on the table to undo his friends' chains, even when he clearly didn't entirely trust what Finnegrin was saying ("You have all the power and control here") or why the captain was goading him into dark magic use. And as I've noted elsewhere, it could've just stayed a group thing; however, that highlights the definite turn the episode decides to take, anyway. Likewise, Fong is focused on coercing Aang through danger directly, and then realizes there might be a more viable option forward: the girl.

Rayla and Katara are both immobilized, Katara through earthbending, and Rayla through a form of torture of having her blood frozen in her veins. The previous attempts at coercion from Fong and Finnegrin didn't work (or weren't allowed to play out to a successful conclusion), but this one does. The easiest way to get someone to do something they loathe is to threaten the person they love (which is also why Katara uses bloodbending to save Aang from being impaled on Sokka's sword, for the record). This is no exception, and Callum and Aang snap.

They lash out into a rage, commit acts of violence, and—though delayed in Callum's case—give their attackers exactly what they wanted. But more on that in a minute, because to talk about the boys in this episode, we have to talk about:

Sacrifice

What does it mean to lose yourself? What does it mean to lose someone else?

Aang and Callum are both ultimately threatened with the loss of their loved one in the episodes above. Aang thinks that he lost Katara and enters the Avatar State out of rage induced grief; Callum fears that Rayla is going to be fed to the sea leviathan, and gives Finnegrin the spell that he wouldn't for his own safety or under torture.

Now, Fong lets up once Aang is the Avatar State, revealing Katara to be physically unharmed, and Finnegrin doubles down, going on his merry way to murder Rayla anyway. However, both episodes highlight that when you feel that kind of love and grief and rage on behalf of someone else, when you're pushed into that state of powerful desperation, you can lose yourself:

KATARA: Do you remember when we were at the air temple and you found Monk Gyatso's skeleton? It must have been so horrible and traumatic for you. I saw you get so upset that you weren't even you anymore. I'm not saying the Avatar State doesn't have incredible and helpful power. But you have to understand, for the people who love you, watching you be in so much rage and pain is really scary. FINNEGRIN: That was quite a display. All that talk about how love makes you stronger, but the second you see that elf girl in pain, you completely lost yourself.

Obviously Katara is speaking out of actual concern for Aang, while Finnegrin is high on his own induced strength-weakness power trip, but the idea of "you can lose yourself amid your fear/desperation in losing the people you love" is persistent. Katara doesn't want Aang to sacrifice or lose himself in the name of power even if he has good intentions because she can see how harmful it would be to him ("It was scary, I was scary" / "I can't watch you do this to yourself"). Rayla, similarly, tries to save Callum from dark magic use and encourages "don't do it, Callum! Not again!" It's this sympathy and understanding that makes me confident that, if/when she finds out about his usage on Finnegrin's ship, she'll be only concerned and saddened (and guilty) / upset on his behalf rather than angry or upset at him.

And, of course, at the end of Book 2: Earth, Aang is called to sacrifice Katara in a way, in regards to letting go and unlocking cosmic power. He initially refuses, but gets pretty far in the process... until he sees that she's in danger and needs help, and rushes to assist her no matter the cost. This act of love likewise leads to tragedy as they're cornered, and Aang relinquishes his attachment in one last effort to save both of them. Callum has his own inversion of this, not only giving up the spell to Finnegrin but also performing dark magic when even that doesn't work, all in the name of saving Rayla's life before he loses her forever.

Like Aang, Callum is forced into being the person or doing the thing he absolutely does not want to, but there's no escaping it... nor the realizations that come with it, embodied by the parallel epiphany that Callum receives about the Ocean arcanum mirroring Aang's about the Avatar State—love (and power) can make you strong, but it can also make you incredibly vulnerable.

With that in mind let's talk about

Death

While of course people can ship whatever they want to, one of the reasons preteen me found shipping discourse in the ATLA fandom endlessly confusing back in the day was because if not book one alone, the beginning of book 2 makes it infinitely clear that Katara/Aang is endgame, if only because the first two episodes of Book 2 exist entirely to set up their plotline in the end of the season.

The first episode as we've gone over establishes the stakes for the Avatar State and how it works, and reintroduces Katara's connection to the Avatar State in being what forces Aang into it (whereas the midpoint season establishes that she can bring him out of it, too). Then the Cave of Two Lovers, in which Katara and Aang learn the tragic love story of Oma and Shu, two lovers torn apart by war when the man dies, not only gives them their love theme, but also foreshadows and sets up Aang's death later that season... a death he only experiences, narratively, because he gives up Katara at all, and it's her love that revives him (but more on that in the next section).

This is also why we get Iroh affirming that he was "wise to choose happiness and love" and that "perfection and power are overrated" btw.

Okay, so, Aang dies. Obviously Callum is not going to literally die next season, mostly because we don't have a healer or mage character who'd be able to save him in turn. So what's his death going to be? Well:

If possession is the loss of self, and given dark magic's consistent associations with death, then as I've posited in other metas, Callum being possessed again will be his Death in way. (And if he's already dead, then well, Rayla can kill him, can't she?)

This sort of framing would work particularly well if Callum makes active choices along the way that leads to his possession; S6 may not play out that way, and be more interested in exploring what he does within the possession and the aftermath of choices available to him, but bear with me, as either way, the Lover is the rescinder of Death, and no matter where S6 ends, I think we can at least decently count on a Rayllum

Reunion

Obviously this depends on how the possession fight goes—if Callum is stabbing Rayla while under Aaravos' command, then he'll presumably be saving her with magic afterwards in some manner, and swapping in for a less victorious Katara in this instance—but the point stands that well... love is brightest in the dark, and Callum and/or Rayla will be saving the other from their death the same way that Aang saved Katara from captivity (another form of Callum on puppet strings) and then she saved him from his own warped destiny of dying in the Avatar State.

Therefore, in the same way that 2x01-2x02 of ATLA set up Kataang's finale resolution and triumph over death, I feel like episodes in TDP such as 4x02 with Rayla haloed in light, her verbal refusal to kill him upon request in 4x07, and Callum's dark magic use in 5x08 are similarly set up to be brought close to glorious fruition in s6. We'll just need our tissues first

[arashi-no-saxlphone]

have read a publication about i-no and I was fascinated by your analysis. So I want your opinion on why the hatred/enmity between her and Sol?

So I can hazard a couple guesses based on my limited knowledge of certain Xrd story beats, but here's what I've got (under a cut because this is VERY long:

Both I-No and Sol are non human for the majority of their interactions: Sol is a Gear because of Asuka, and I-No is a Magical Foci created by the hopes and desires of every human on earth during the crusades. Both have been forced into a kind of "Savior" role (Sol by Asuka, who said he "needed a warrior" for the things to come in Overture, and I-No just by the very fact that she was created by Humanity's earnest wishes for the crusade to end being focused into her in the backyard)

Now, the key difference here is that I-No has half her power taken by The Original/Happy Chaos before she can become a God, because he believes that that would be a bad thing. The unfortunate side effect this has is that it rips I-No's ability to feel things and have desires from her, and that eventually causes her to become EXTREMELY jaded and cold (her constant hedonistic attitude towards life is a facade she puts up because of this).

Now we start getting into my own interpretation of events here, so whether or not this is all correct is a total matter of analysis and how much lore I actually correctly understand or not (essentially: "Hey I could be wrong or missing some details here, so please take what I'm about to say from here on out with a grain of salt")

Guilty Gear has this running theme of what humanity REALLY is and how people who are non human can still possess humanity; in a world where a lot of new creatures exist and have sapience thanks to magic, is it really just to still claim that these things are "lesser" because we decide that "Humanity" is unique to one species? I think Guilty Gear says both "No" and "Being human doesn't necessarily make you capable of humanity - having humanity is a choice you make"

Look at Sol Badguy - the man spends the whole series desperately clinging to and chasing the humanity he's lost. Even being a Gear he experiences IMMENSE guilt over the atrocities he commits to the point that he isolates himself for a large part of the series while he desperately and violently tries to undo the damage the gear project that he and his friends created unleashed on the world. He has to clean up a mess that he is in part responsible for, and one that Asuka made worse and then forced him to be a part of by converting his Fiance into Justice and then himself into the ONLY Gear that could stop her (Hence Sol being the titular "Guilty Gear")

Now you have I-No. This is the part where I remind you I-No ONLY exists because of the Crusades. She was essentially wished into being by the victims of the Crusades so that someone could stop them. The crusades started because of The Gear Project and Justice declaring war on humanity. In a way, Sol Badguy is responsible for her (very miserable) existence. Couple that with the fact that thanks to The Original taking half her power, she awoke essentially half-made with this inherent desire to fix the world (because of Humanity's wish) meaning that she has this intense power and only a vague idea of how to use it and what she should use it for that she doesnt totally understand, and that will likely breed frustration. Xrd however compounds this a little:

We learn in Xrd that I-No has repeatedly tried, and failed, to use her time powers to stop a ruinous future from coming to pass. This mostly involves Ramlethal, but it's stated at some point that the massive Gear stomping around in the Ruined Future is Sol, having lost control of his Gear Cells and bloodlust (it's stated a few times that without the limiter and if he "dies" somehow that Sol will lose control of himself and convert somehow into a fully violent out of control gear but I'm not as familiar with the specifics of that whole deal)

So essentially, Sol and I-No have both been forced into this Savior Type role. However, I-No knows Sol as both responsible for a lot of stuff, and as a potential danger and even catalyst for the end of the world. Inherently, because of her own purpose as a Magical Foci, she hates him for that. I think for Sol it's just that this woman seems to keep getting in his way and pissing him off on purpose and fucking with him - and just in general Sol has very thin patience for that kind of person. I-No also works with That Man (Asuka) who he hates with a burning passion because of what he did to Aria and himself. That's one way to look at it.

The other way to look at it is that even though Sol and I-No have slightly similar goals, the TYPE of world they end up wanting is different come Strive; Sol wants his humanity back (which he gets) and I-No wants a world where EVERYONE is like her. It boils down to this: Sol has what I-No seemingly, at least from her perspective, can never have: humanity. I think I-No's actions by the end of Strive are actions that ultimately become fueled entirely by frustration and jealousy - she is trapped in a world that does not make sense to her and cannot hold her as she was meant to exist. She has no identity or as Ky puts it "Present" to live in (hence her obsession with the future). Sol does because he was able to cling to his own desires and chase his humanity until he finally caught up to it, but because of the aforementioned issue of having half her powers taken away from her, I-No couldn't even believe in her own feelings or desires as "real." She says that to Jack-O in the interrogation room when talking about her memories with Will. So basically, I-No was never even given the ability to chase what she really "wanted," she couldn't even if she tried to. She had only her inherent purpose, and in a way, Sol took that from her by having everything she wanted and also fulfilling her role in place of her by saving the world. A fair few times even. That's why she ends up trying to create a world of her own design when she gets her full power back in Strive's story.

The tragedy of I-No is that she is very much like Sol, except she was doomed from the very start. She was created with only half a self, born into and shackled to a purpose that she never had any chance of fulfilling. I think largely the enmity between the two stems from jealousy over all that, but also, just the very fact that the two butted heads on a very similar path that differed JUUUUST enough to make them really hate eachother.

That's just my take on it though. There's more I could get into here with how the Axl/I-No relationship fits into I-No's story but that doesn't have as much to do with her and Sol hating eachother (actually I got off on a few tangents related to your original question overall but I hope I ended up answering it at least somewhat LOL). I definitely reccommend asking around and seeing what other people think of it because admittedly while the passion is there for me when it comes to guilty gear lore, I still have a comparatively ramshackle understanding of a lot of plot beats and motivations when it comes to some other Gearsters around here. I do like talking though so thanks for the ask!

[aldritch-ao3]

Hey op I am very fascinated by the theme of bad people trying to do better in your work. It is very cool👍👍👍

Do you think in an alternative reality Kenjaku could have ended up being a better person? Maybe like a distant advisor on Jujutsu that comes and goes from Jujutsu High randomly? Or something. If yes, what do your think would have had to happen for that outcome?

i think it's more worth assessing kenjaku not as a bad person, but as a selfish person. playback is about selfish or self-absorbed people, more than 'bad' people (this isn't a jab at your choice of succinct language i understand entirely what you mean), because the flaws and cruelties of these people stem from their selfishness rather than an intrinsic badness.

i think the key difference between kenjaku and jian is their connection to other people. jian's flaws may not be as apparent as kenjaku's since we view things largely from his perspective, but don't let that fool you. he is a deeply flawed man, in the end. he plays god with the lives of other people, he makes key decisions about the future of the jujutsu world to benefit those he cares about solely on his own authority, he keeps secrets and sacrifices the people he doesn't care about pretty freely. he's a hypocrite, but he's still acting largely in society's best interest because of his love for the people who are a part of that society. kenjaku is bored, discarding projects before even seeing their conclusions through, because they have no investment in either end result. no conclusion of their experiments will ever satisfy them because in the end they don't care either way. yuji seems to be the sole exception here, because kenjaku cares about yuji. maybe not willingly but the care is there and it matters, it factors in.

not to be cheesy, but we even see it in canon. the catalyst of change in kenjaku is a connection with another person, someone who truly entertains and impresses them. in many instances, the ancient sorcerers are changed by forming a respect or appreciation for the modern ones they face off against - even sukuna, even uraume, even kenjaku. i think kenjaku could be a better person in this reality, or at least a less selfish one, if they were able to form connections to people like takaba and regain some of their passion for the world by loving the people in it. this wouldnt undo their crimes or make them kinder, i don't think they'd suddenly gain a sense of empathy (because having empathy does not make you good, and lacking it does not make you evil), but i think it would change them all the same. what would change with them and how they interact with society? maybe nothing, maybe everything. maybe they would be pushed to reconcile with their sister, or maybe they would disconnect from jujutsu entirely and pursue comedy or whatever their other hobbies are.

playback is a story about selfishness and a story about learning to love other people, i think. its about a lot of other things too but in the end its a story about love. and even if that love doesnt save the day or fix anything it matters that it was there.

[onwhatcaptain]

hi i didn’t know what Star Trek was until i came across your fic it’s so. Real. poor McCoy bruh nobody’s gonna know what he went through …I guess it’s not entirely gone, but still. He didn’t get the three socks metaphor.

YOU TRICKED ME. canon divergent LIEEE LIEEEE

The way you omit time travel as a tag is craaazyy (I love time travel) AND AND THE SUNMARY BEING

“About men who love each other” LIKE NOT TWO MEN but all THREE

I do have one question though. If McCoy said “tell him you missed him” and set up the holo night, then in the first timeline had McCoy already gone back at that point and failed?

Hi! So I saw your comment on AO3 (please forgive me if it takes a moment to reply, I have an enormous backlog of comments to get around to after I took a break when the fic ended!) and I knew I absolutely had to ask you these burning questions: how did you find my fic if you didn't know what Star Trek was? What inspired you to read it?

I am beyond thrilled that you enjoyed the story and so touched that you read it all the way through without having seen Star Trek, but I absolutely have to ask what the story behind this is if you're willing to share with me!

It's definitely still canon divergent in a sort of way! At least in my figurative and literal book if you know the episode that inspired this novel, it would definitely be considered divergent:) I wanted to keep things as spoiler-free as possible to retain the surprise and emotional weight of the story, so I made the decision early on to not tag where the plot or ending was going, which definitely threw a lot of people off! Sorry for the trickery!

I ADORE that you pointed out the summary. I was actually shocked when I was reading this ask, because it was absolutely intentional and a huge part of the foreshadowing, but you're the only reader to my knowledge that has consciously noticed that choice, and you haven't even seen Star Trek!! Amazing!! I have such a big smile on my face right now!

More below because I realize this is getting long already!

As for poor McCoy, it is truly tragic nobody will know what he went through. In Star Trek, a lot of fans (rightfully) emphasize the love between Kirk and Spock, which I feel is only kept alive because of McCoy's quiet love for them both in the background as he takes care of them. In a way, it's a tribute to love that goes unnoticed, unseen.

With regards to your question, it's a great question! And I don't have a perfect answer for it, because it's entirely paradoxical. The first half of the story can only happen if the second half happens, because Kirk and Spock would not act on their feelings without the existence of the holo night and McCoy's intervention. But in the original timeline, they still die even though McCoy's actions in the latter half of the novel seem to exist. It's totally circular. It's expounded on somewhat in Forever and a Day, where McCoy tries to make sense of the same question and concludes that even if he does succeed, they will still die.

McCoy tries not to think about the horrifying implications. The knowledge that no matter what he did, he could not undo their deaths. To live, they would always need to die.

This doesn't necessarily mean that McCoy has gone back before, but it raise some serious questions about metaphysics and leaves a lot unanswered, because the two events now cause each other, and they also contradict each other. I actually took a stab at explaining the metaphysics in way greater detail in the fic originally, but my beta reader (correctly) told me this would confuse readers. So because it's confusing, I later just wave my sci-fi authorial wand to try and convince you to go along with it! :)

"And I like how the paradox makes no sense.” “I reckon it’s not meant to. They never do."

I do have to say, I recommend giving Star Trek a watch if you were interested! I think it's an amazing show. Again, thank you so much for taking the time to read a whole novel about a show you had no idea about!!

[atgvnpoint]

"Truth hurts, sometimes it makes you feel like you just want to cut your life short. My reasons for stating the obvious, is not to make you feel guilt or make you feel question your love or loyalty to your husband, even worse make you feel like you're one of those man whores. You and your husband have a history, a past the both of you aren't proud about. Is it hard to say those hidden secrets that burn you from within, your husband can see right through you. You can say whatever you want to make him feel good, feel like he's the only one in your hear -- fact of the matter is, someone else occupies your heart whether you'll admit that to your husband or his brother. You can always try and box that love for Amaru, but your husband knows, i can see it in your eyes now. Lying just not make them fight over you or worse kill each other. I don't blame you for thinking that, you know Ludovic best. He'd kill that love you feel for Amaru. "

This wasn't about telling Benny he's an awful human being, no. Devil Ghostface released a deep sigh that sounded muffled within the mask. " You can't turn back time and undo everything. You can't stop who you love whether your heart now shares your love with another. Ludovic doesn't think you mistreat him, he's not once thought a bad thing. On the contrary, he's thought about everything else, any possible way to view a life with Amaru, maybe he'd give you what you wanted. All the nice things, a real love, the ones that almost everyone craves and desires. Ludovic would die to just see you happy -- with him or with anyone else. That's what you do when you love somebody. Good things always come to an end ...sometimes though." Devil Ghostface looked at his knife. "Yeah i do got a knife, i could end you, i could kill you. An easy yet perfect kill. What's the fun in killing you, when you can cut a whole in the center, right in Ludovic's heart. " his gloved hand turned the knife on himself, dragging the tip temptingly over his clothed chest. "It's too easy. " turning the knife back towards Benny. " Knives look pretty on you though, but not in the way you think. I got a better use for you. "

Nothing   of   the   things   Devil   Ghostface   said   made   Benji   feel   any   better.   If   not   it   made   him   feel   worse   than   before.   He   didn't   ask   to   have   any   feelings   for   Amaru   and   he   wished   so   much   to   turn   them   off.    But   like   Ghostface   said,   he   also   had   a   past   but   Benji   knew   that   his   past   wasn't   as   wild   as   Ludovic's.   Yet,   does   that   matter   now?   No.   Somehow,   he   wished   he   would   have   met   Amaru   first.   Somehow,   he   wished   that   he   would   have   had   a   relationship   with   Amaru   first   just   for   the   younger   Montserrate   to   leave   him   soon   because   Benji   was   crazy.   But   then   these   things   wouldn't   be   a   topic   between   Ludovic   and   him   anymore.   He   had   to   press   his   lips   together   to   stop   himself   from   shouting   at   the   cloaked   figure   in   front   of   him.   Raising   his   voice   wouldn't   help   them.

❝I   don't   want   a   life   with   Amaru.   I   wouldn't   be   here   then.   I   would   have   rejected   Ludovic   back   in   Mexico.   It   was   our   chance   to   get   a   divorce   quick   and   easy.   I'm   here   with   him   because   I   love   him.   It   is   a   real   love   with   all   the   nice   things.   Yes,   we   have   our   quarrels   because   we   are   both   fucking   crazy   and   jealous   as   fuck.   But   that's   how   we   work   and   I   wouldn't   want   it   any   other   way.❞   Sometimes,   Benji   wanted   to   violently   force   these   words   into   Ludovic's   brain   until   he   finally   understood.   He   knew   that   his   husband   still   thought   that   Amaru   was   the   better   option.   Maybe   Amaru   was   the   better   choice   looking   at   it   from   the   outside,   but   Benji   knew   that   everything   would   always   draw   him   back   to   Ludovic   no   matter   how   hard   he'd   try   to   avoid   the   other.   It   didn't   work   back   then   before   they   became   a   couple   and   it   would   still   not   work.   Yet   before   Benji   could   think   about   it   further,   Devil   Ghostface   turned   the   knife   and   pointed   at   his   own   chest.

This   was   the   moment   Benji's   mind   went   blank   and   pure   fear   took   over   his   rational   mind.   Benji   closed   the   distance   between   them   and   wrapped   his   hand   around   ghostface's   wrist   his   other   hand   slapped   Ghostface's   shoulder   harshly.   ❝Don't   threaten   my   husband!❞   His   blue   eyes   sparkled   dangerously,   not   minding   that   the   tip   of   the   knife   pointed   at   him   again.   No,   instead,   Benji   leaned   his   chest   a   little   more   against   the   tip   until   he   felt   a   sharp   sting.   His   nails   dug   into   ghostface's   wrist.   ❝You   won't   hurt   him   only   over   my   dead   body!   What   is   the   use   you   have   for   me?   Tell   me   before   I   seriously   slap   you   for   threatening   my   husband!❞ // @inscnityclub

[ninja-guy-yo]

I'd be more okay with Crystalized being the ending of the ninjas' time as the protagonists if it wrapped up their stories better.

Lloyd's arc about reconciling with Garmadon and unlocking his Oni Form amounted to:

Garmadon having a temper tantrum over Lloyd saying he trusts him too hesitantly ("Can we please discuss this after we defeat the Overlord??" There is no after, this is it)

Garmadon faking his death to make Lloyd go Oni out of rage and grief, only for that to fail because even after warming up to his father and realizing he's not inherently evil for being an Oni, he's still afraid of becoming anything like him

Lloyd yelling at him for faking his death and wasting his time on an arc that went nowhere and didn't contribute to the ending

Them smiling at each other as Garmadon passes him a plank of wood, as the second-to-last characters ever seen in the show

There's mixed signals after they bond in the sewers, even though they're supposed to be on good terms at the end. Is this just what their dynamic is going to be if Garmadon ever shows up again? They care about each other but they constantly argue because their personalities clash, like the movie?

(I saw a post the other day about how this was Lloyd amicably cutting Garmadon out of his life as a toxic influence and I don't.. understand how that's what they took away from this? Scenes like that final one represent the beginning of a relationship, or rebuilding one, not the end. They're literally rebuilding their home. Maybe I didn't read it right...? I wish I was watching the show that fans make it sound like in analyses. It's better than the actual thing)

I wish I had anywhere near as much to say about each of the original four ninja, but they barely had anything to do individually. As soon as Nya's back, any arc Kai and Jay could have had was done. Not because they learned to move on from their grief and overcome their differences, but because they no longer had a reason to be sad. Instead of her brother and boyfriend, Zane is the one to learn about the benefit of grief, but again, because Nya's already back he doesn't have to deal with it when he turns his emotions back on. Zane's time as the Ice Emperor was used as a gag, and him having any issues with it at all was relegated to a book. Cole

The ninja were all crystalized and none of them, technically not even Lloyd, intentionally contributed to the Overlord's final defeat. They destroyed the Golden Weapons because they thought they were about to lose anyway, and Lloyd failed to complete what his arc throughout the season was building up to. It's pure luck that the GWs and the ninjas' powers could transform into a dragon to save Lloyd and destroy the Overlord, and wasn't foreshadowed as a possibility until it happened.

Nya returns through her own willpower, which is great, because even though it undoes her sacrifice in Seabound, she had agency in it instead of the guys making the choice for her! And then she's sidelined for the rest of the season, her powers return, and any consequences from her departure are undone. She doesn't even get to participate in the final battle on the same level as the other ninja. I never wanted or expected her to be gone, but in hindsight, what was the point of her sacrifice or return if she wouldn't have a role in the ending?

Ultimately, the six ninja and Master Wu are staples of the evergreen LEGO Ninjago franchise and removing any of them permanently isn't an option, no matter how many times it's teased. They must've had no idea Crystalized would be the final season when they wrote her sacrifice, so they had to get her return out of the way as quickly as possible to get everything back to normal before the actual arc of the season began. Which just contributes to so much of the season feeling like wasted time, because the prison arc happens as a result of that..

Instead of stories that serve as the characters' and the original Ninjago's swan song, they just did whatever random shenanigans to fill up space, and then ran out of time for the stuff that actually mattered. We know they'll all still be around in Dragons Rising, but with Doc's heavy emphasis on it being a completely new show that you can start without watching Ninjago, I doubt it'll be continuing any plot thread from it, at least not for a while. It isn't like SotFS was, where it's just the old show continuing with a new name and still heavily dependent on the past decade of lore. This is a new show with a new world and new main characters, even if the old ninja are still there to some degree. It's Ninjago: Dragons Rising Season 1, not Ninjago Season 16/17: Dragons Rising

[strangestcase]

People often say Dr. Jekyll was being more responsible than Frankenstein but was he, really?

When his actions began to turn towards the monstrous (his words not mine), all Jekyll could do was heal those he had hurt, right the wrongs, fix what was broken- all full well knowing that eventually he'd undo that work. Trying to steady himself. Constantly repeating himself I didn't do this I didn't do this I didn't do this even though he knows that's a lie. Reasoning with himself, thinking that it's Hyde's fault alone, as if Hyde wasn't something he had full control over.

He has to pay for his sins, undo his cruelty, but from an outside perspective, he's just a doctor helping others, making sure those victimized by his protégé at least receive a compensation. And he forces himself to partake on this perspective, although he's fully aware it's all his fault.

Sure, he actively attempts to undo the damage done by Hyde, but he does so reflecting his responsibility. Rather than thinking "I did something wrong, but I can make it right again", he thinks "someone did something wrong, someone I have nothing to do with".

Frankenstein at least has a reason to intervene too late, too ineffectually. Adam is his own person, who makes his own choices, and his choice is to hurt people because he was hurt first, even when he's well aware he's just dooming himself further. Victor has no say on who Adam is or what he can do, as much as he would like to. He ran out of choices when he left him to his own devices; no matter how much he insists Adam is his creation, he no longer is that, and, as Adam puts it, being the creator doesn't give Victor any reign over him. Victor can try to help those Adam has hurt, can scramble to prevent more deaths, can feel sorry about himself for not doing more (but what is there to do, anyway?), can feel guilty for being able to stop Adam, but at the end of the day it's not up to him because he has no control over Adam's actions.

Jekyll doesn't get that luxury. He's fully aware of what Hyde does. All the choices are always his, even if it's arguble he doesn't have all that much control over himself as Hyde (no inhibitions and whatnot).

The thing with Frankenstein and Jekyll is that they both have this illusion of control going on. Frankenstein wants to believe that maybe if he had done something about Adam (killing him? educating him? giving him a girlfriend even though that'd be a dangerous gamble?) things would have gone differently, but for as long as Adam is rejected, which is part of the character by that point, he's going to want revenge. That's the issue. Jekyll, on the other hand, wants to believe that what he does as Hyde is not his business, and that if things get too hairy (hah!) he can always quit the serum. It's not that easy, however. His addiction has permanently altered how his mind (soul, spirit, call it whatever) works and now it's it what has a final say on what he does and even who he is.

So no matter what he did, Frankenstein could never prevent all those deaths, that he feels are his fault, and, well, part of the reason Adam is killing people is his fault indeed, but it's Adam, and not Victor, the person that is hurting others. Victor has to watch everything go down and maybe do damage control, but he has very little power over what happens next. No wonder he breaks down so often.

And on the other side of the spectrum, we have Jekyll, who could have prevented all he had done, including the murder, if he had known when to stop (and how could he know, if he's addicted to Hyde? much to think about). It's him the monster that blights his own existence. And, yes, he might patch up someone Hyde beat up, he might pay for something Hyde destroyed- but at the end of the day, there you have him, Hyde himself, thinking "it's not my fault, never my fault" and patting himself in the back for canceling the evil out.

More aware of his monster? Yes, definitely. He is the monster.

More responsible for his monster? Why of course. He is the monster.

A better scientist? He has the credentials and a sense of hygiene.

A better person? Please, don't make me laugh.

[metacrisisdoctor]

everytime i read a quote about the doctor and river it makes me rub my temples in frustration while also making me so so so deeply grateful that the doctor and rose's story ended how it did.

putting this under the cut, so if you do ship the doctor and river you don't have to read this.

the thing is: the doctor and river's relationship was a cool idea that moffat completely half assed, but at the same time he made it so that river is meant to be seen as more important than all of his other relationships up until his final life (without showing us the journey there) and i find that so insulting to the nature of the show. they are both locked into this "marriage" with such little choice in the matter, if any. it makes me sad for BOTH of them.

so according to moffat in the "end" river is uploaded to the library and the doctor is allegedly there too, his mind uploaded to the moon or whatever. but wtf kind of ending is that for the doctor? that's so odd to me. i don't ever WANT to know how things end for the doctor because the story should never have definite end, but moffat wanted to have the very last word in 2008 ig.

it confuses me further that he decided to write a pretty overt romantic storyline with eleven and clara in s7 which then continues onto twelve and clara. not because the doctor can't be in love multiple times or because i think it would bother river but because it makes it the relationship that is actually developed for THREE seasons.

i understand rtd being accepting of river during s4, since he was going to step down as showrunner seemingly forever. and i genuinely think that this is why rose and her doctor were sealed off the way they were even if he's never actually said it.

it's such a large part of why, to me, tentoorose is such a gift. it's so beautiful. because the "original" doctor has this future that is set in stone that tentoo never has to be part of. he is not only free from being essentially immortal, but he is free from being manipulated into a marriage with river and from being potentially uploaded into the library. and rose has the gift of having the last version of the doctor who does not know river aside from one episode. this doctor loves rose and rose alone. he will never be married to river, he will never have whatever romance went on with clara and yaz either. and i do believe that the doctor is allowed to fall in love multiple times in their many lives, which is where both doctor/river and "rose and all the doctors" does not work for me at all but then again, it doesn't matter because rose got her happy ending with the freest and happiest version of the doctor there ever will be and i'm so grateful for that when i remember how bonkers the plot became after season four.

some people say they dislike je because tentoo isn't rose's doctor when it's the complete OPPOSITE by now, and i cannot imagine rtd ever having a reason to undo that so when people suggest he would break them up for rose to be back with the "real" doctor i'm just like, you understood NOTHING. he wanted them to be safe and happy and HUMAN tucked into their own world that no one else but him would or could ever touch. because of journey's end the doctor and rose truly end up together in the most even, healthy and honest way possible. i just still feel so lucky 😭💗

[ultraericthered]

Why am I encountering Akito Sohma discourse in 2024, soon to be exactly 5 years since the premiere of the second anime adaptation?

Not naming names, only commenting on the garbage takes here.

No duh on "being abused doesn't justify abusing others", but you might want to tell that to all the stans and simps for (usually male) villains who were abused and took their inexcusable actions towards others even further than Akito would've ever dared to yet they get their crimes downplayed or even defended and rationalized with "the abuse they suffered made them into people who act this way, don't judge the way any abuse victim internalizes and externalizes their trauma from the abuse they experienced, there is no 'perfect victim' y'know?", and are said to "deserve better" or "deserve" redemption.

The idea that Akito "got away with everything Scot-free" seems like a really poor reading of the story based on only the notion that if Akito is not dead, locked up in a penitentiary or asylum, or left completely alone and miserable forever by the end of the story, she faced zero consequences for her actions. Totally disregarding how almost the entirety of what the 2019 anime has as its final season was reality coming in to smack Akito around repeatedly and make her face all the natural consequences of her actions, of how she'd lived her life and ruled over her family as an abusive tyrant. See this? All of this?:

This is all Akito's karma. It's from the punishment she wrought for herself. The misery she passed around through her family came back around in full, and she had to watch her entire world, the world of the "eternal banquet" she was promised and believed herself entitled to, gradually unravel along with her own mental and emotional state.

In the anime at least, it hits a crescendo that's regretably so brief and silent that it's easy to miss, but when Akito has mentally shut down and is just sitting there moping beside Shigure, we're shown a bit where she suddenly gets up, like she just hit a breaking point and without any thought, just on pure instinct and emotional impulse, she walks to the screen door and hits her head against it. Given her frail, shaky body language, and the mix of alarm and pity that lurks beneath Shigure's still calm facade, I'm to assume that Akito is wailing and screaming. She's having a full psychotic breakdown.

"She never apologized, never made amends, never did anything to deserve anyone's love and forgiveness". ...I'm sorry, this person really stopped watching after Tohru got put in the hospital, huh? In the last couple of episodes, Akito did nothing BUT be apologetic and set out to make whatever amends she could, including undoing all remaining bonds and breaking the Zodiac curse! She did nothing to "deserve" anyone's love and forgiveness even at this point because now she at last understood she was undeserving of such things and was entitled to nothing, especially nothing from her victims, after the way she'd behaved and the many sins she'd committed. Forgiveness is earned and granted, never "deserved", and it's always a choice whether or not to grant it, so anyone who'd never forgive Akito for as long as they lived would be entirely within their right to do so, and so would be those who did make the choice to forgive her. Neither is invalid. And love is never a matter of "earned", "deserved", or "owed", and to think that it IS is ironically adopting a very Akito mentality.

Also have to go back to that "she never apologized" thing. Really?

Really?

And if "that Tohru, of all people, befriended her despite the horrific things she did to her (not yet and in fact he'd just rejected her) husband" disgusts anyone, than Fruits Basket was never the story for them and Tohru was never a character they were going to love. That moment, and that gesture from Tohru, was one of THE core pillars of the entire narrative, something everything had been building up to from the very beginning. Tohru looked deep inside the cruel, childish, deranged, abusive, controlling, possessive, selfish, cowardly, downright evil pseudo-god that she, and the entire Sohma family, knew as Akito Sohma and she found who Akito Sohma truly was: a sad, abused, broken, twisted, pathetic, wretched, needy and terrified child who'd suffered through an upbringing in which she'd never been allowed to forge a single human connection with anyone else that was not dependent upon her status as the family head and the bonds with the Zodiacs that was her promised birthright, and was thus left with so much vulnerability, so much mental and emotional instability, such fear of living her life in the world as the woman she should be, as the human being she should be, that she kept concealed beneath the armor of a wrathful god who she felt could be comfortably in control of everything in her life and keep it all from slipping away from her and leaving her all alone with all her internal anguish and misery. It's that Akito Sohma who Tohru reached out to and extended the offer of friendship, to become her first ever true human friend in her life, no string attached and no bonds or godhood required. Because that's what Fruits Basket was always all about: the existence and value of love. family, and friendships as forged, mutual, equally consensual connections between humans rather than as some divine mandate upon animals or some commodity to be horded by a god.

Already took shots at "she gets away with everying and does nothing to deserve anyone's love or forgiveness". On the belief that Akito needed to be jailed for her crimes, that is actually something I can agree with and see as a weakness in the series' ending. Once the Zodiac curse was broken and Akito was no longer "God", there'd now be nothing standing in the way of some of the Sohmas, the family members and servants alike, pushing charges against Akito for all the worst things she'd committed against them. We should've been told that such legal action was taken and that Akito knew it was coming and accepted it, being fully ready to accept accountability and justice for her crimes. When last we'd see her and Shigure, they could be doing a round of community service together! That would've been perfect! But Takaya didn't go that route, and I think what we did got was also satisfactory: Akito had lived her life with power, privileges, and freedom with which to do whatever she wanted but was also a prisoner of her own damaged psyche and of the broken family system she was born into and had to play such a large role in perpetuating, so by the end, it's now flipped so that Akito has been internally set free, is healing and finding inner peace, but without the Zodiac curse, the family headship in a lonelier, harder, constraining position but she voluntarily endures with it so that she may live the rest of her life atoning for the sins she'd committed when she was "God", all at a distance from family members who mostly will never forgive her, never think any better of her, and are glad to be free of her. So the idea that Akito's fate not being punitive enough being akin to a slap on the wrist is misguided. It's a lifelong committment to restorative justice and not getting all she desired that Akito's made, and she has to endure it while being romantically involved with Shigure, which honestly feels like a punishment worse than prison!

Piss the fuck off with the "blatant abuse apologist" claim, too. This is the same bullcrap spewed towards Kohei Horikoshi when he gave Endeavor a self improvement/atonement arc. WIth both Endeavor and Akito, the narrative is never at any point remotely pretending that their actions are anything but monstrously abusive, toxic, cruel, harmful and wrong. They're bad and so the abuser is made to feel bad about having ever done them and must face up to all the natural karmic consequences that will inconvenience their lives. An anti-abuse narrative that does not keep it as simple and black-and-white as "the abuser is 100% Bad Person, it's a problem that they exist and hurt people, the solution is to remove them from life entirely" yet still condemns the abuser for their actions and champions their victims ability to move beyond them, find healing, peace, love, and happiness in lives better than what the abuser could ever hope for, is not in the slightest bit "abuse apologism": no apologies or excuses for the abuse are being made.

Not Akito-related, just showing how this same person truly feels about Fruits Basket on the whole due to how "problematic" it is. If it's not for you, fine, and this is actually 100% correct regarding Katsuya Honda being a sociopathic predator who fucked a child student of his yet it get beyond inappropriately framed as a beautiful, romantic, loving thing within the narrative. But when it reaches this hyperbolic "the entire series has no value, it's irredeemable media and deserves to be trashed" level of vitriol for the work...nah. That's not agreeable.

And then there's this anon who called in to say:

Seeing you rightfully call out the utter bullshit of Akito's "redemption" has me heated. The story becomes irredeemably bad the moment the forgiveness shit is pushed.

Let me say this much: there was no "redemption" or "redemption arc" for Akito. She had her big epiphany and recieved personal salvation from Tohru's approach to her, and from then on she turned herself towards self-improvement and atonement for her many sins while finally living a true human life of her own. Atonement /=/ redemption, as all avenues for her to redeem herself for her abusive acts directly to those effected by said abusive acts got closed off a long time ago.

And forgiveness is entirely another matter from redemption and atonement. Tohru, Kureno, Shigure, Momiji, Arisa, and Saki chose to forgive Akito. Literally no one else was shown to do so. Rin even said outright she could never forgive Akito after everything she did, and in the anime at least, she was positioned as not in the wrong for that.

Takaya is on my shit list for life for how she handled Tohru's character, she is my favourite I love her compassion for people and her determination to never give up despite how difficult things can be plus her learning to move on from her crippling grief resonates with me. The ending Takaya gives her is fucking vile Tohru forgiving and befriending Akito is bullshit and my mind is never going to change on that.

"I love her compassion for people." "Tohru forgiving and befriending Akito is bullshit!" Do...you not see how these are conflicting ideas? "Tohru is wonderful for how much empathy and compassion she has for people...wait no, not THAT people!" How do you miss that big?

The sole reason Tohru wants to break the curse is because she sees how much her friends are suffering under Akito's abuse both mentally and physically. She would never be so inconsiderate of their feelings as to befriend the person who hurt them so much.

And she also saw how much Akito herself was suffering under the curse and the role that was forced upon her from birth. Also, how is choosing to befriend her friends abuser inconsiderate when they don't need to factor into it at all? Tohru doesn't try to force Yuki, Kyo, Rin, Momiji, Hiro, Kisa and the rest to also be friends with Akito. She at no point even considers that possibility. What's between Tohru and Akito is kept purely between them, away from Akito's victims. Tohru understands that they'd never be comfortable around Akito due to having a history with her that Tohru herself does not have, and while she wants to help Akito move past her pain and put in the good work to make reparations for her sins, she's not going to ever downplay how vile those sins were and how badly they hurt people, nor would she put up even the pretense of giving absolution of them to Akito.

That's not even getting to my other major problem with this storyline Tohru never even learns about half of the horrific shit Akito does to her friends, Takaya intentionally has her character be left in the dark. Not to mention how abusive akito is to HER!

Why does it need to be Tohru's business to know absolutely every horrible deed Akito ever did to every person she was ever horrible to? Akito did that shit, it happened, there's nothing Tohru can do that could possibly change that or make any of it better. And oh dear, are we getting into the "antagonistic behavior = abuse" bullshit again?

She manipulates her the first time they meet and then at the beach house she threatens her and scratches up her face. Tohru outright admits she is scared of her. Then towards the end of the story akito then has the audacity to blame her for the zodiacs not loving her despite that being the consequences of her own disgusting actions. She shows up at the house to hurt and potentially kill Tohru, she slaps her multiple times, stabs her and pushes her close to the cliffs end directly putting her in danger. Akito almost gets the poor girl killed. Akito spends the entire story being an abusive monster to Tohru and the people she loves. And nearly leads to multiple characters dying, Takaya really wants us to think a friendship Between the two of them is cute because they both relate to being lonely????

Ah yes. Yes we are. Most of what's described above is Akito being a cruel villain and acting as a threatening adversary to Tohru, with actions that are clearly reprehensible and uncalled for but are not inherently "abusive", as Akito is treating a stranger badly and making enemies with her rather than being in any relationship in which she can treat her abusively. The hardest into abuse it ever swings is when Akito is holding a knife to Tohru and physically strikes her, and that's when Akito is in the midst of a full-blown psychotic episode.

And that the characters apparently aren't that different to each other??? When they clearly are. Tohru is a kind and compassionate person who helps those around her while Akito is a manipulative snake who treats those around her like they are her possessions. Tohru grows up being bullied and alone. Akito is a child abuser and commits multiple attempted murders. Trust me Takaya these characters aside from them having tragic backstories and fears of abandonment are as far away from each other as you can get.

Tohru was brought up to be kind and selfless, to the point of seeing her own self as lesser in value than others. Akito's upbringing shaped her into becoming cruel and selfish, to the point of seeing others as possessions for her to keep hold of, to pleasure her with a sense of superiorty as a cover for her own poor self image and lack of self-worth. Tohru was left alone without her mother and was ostracized by her peers. Akito was left alone without her father (as her own mother would never give her the time of day) and was "othered" by literally every person around her. They're foils. Akito is a broken reflection of what Tohru might've become if Kyoko had not put in that effort to be such a kind, loving, nurturing parent, and Akito always envied Tohru because she reflects the girl she might've been had she been allowed to be, and not internalized everything wrong with the Sohma family nor adopted her mother's own internalized misogyny.

The friendship is disgusting, Akito is an evil bitch period she is not Tohru's problem or her responsibility. Also Uo and Hana being friends with her after they find out she nearly killed their best friend and Kureno was also so gross. The characters do some of the most OOC shit in order to give Akito one of the least deserving redemption arcs i have ever seen. It is truly some of the most atrocious, insulting writing, Takaya should be embarrassed for thinking this was an acceptable way to end the story.

If you want to get technical, none of the Sohmas are Tohru's problem or responsibility. It's not on her to "fix" them or be their therapist and savior, she doesn't owe them anything. She chooses to help them out of compassion, empathy, and a desire to do right by others, to see true justice done and freedom, peace, and happiness assured for the people she cares about in their lives going forward, With Akito too, she did not impose or make her into her responsibility; she extended her hand. She offered Akito a choice. The friendship would not happen if Akito decided she was unwilling to put in the effort to do her part and accept the care, help, comfort and understanding offered to her by Tohru. So yeah, you can blame Akito for that too, even though it's not a wrong thing of her to do whatsoever! Uotani also did not become Akito's friend, more like a friendly acquaintance. Hanajima did follow Tohru's lead and befriend her, and considering she knows how it feels to internally tear yourself apart with self-loathing over guilt from having hurt people to the point of cursing your very identity and existence, I'd say her decision makes sense.

I haven't read the spin off but Akito having a child just reinforces that she is still the same selfish person she has always been. Her wanting to have children but deciding not to because of how they would suffer due to her terrible actions would actually mean she has to live with the consequences of what she has done. but of course we can't have that.

Meh. Not much a fan of that spin off and I'm kind of hoping we don't get it adapted into an anime. Some things are best left open-ended.

[acourtofthought]

Hii! Hru?

I started reading the Crescent city series, and there is this one scene in Hosab where Hunt and Bryce talk about what to label their relationship and they agree on "mates" and Bryce explains what mates means for the Fae. And it reminded me so much of Elucien.

"To the Fae, we're bound on a biological, molecular level. There's no undoing it." "Is it a biological thing?" "It can be. Some Fae claim they know their mates from the moment they meet them. That there's some kind of invisible link between them. A scent or soul-bond."

Elain and Lucien are linked. Soul-bonded. Ppl try to lessen the value of their mating bond just because they recognized each other instantly.

According to Nesta, she wanted Cassian the moment she saw him, and Cassian also suspected they are mates right away, still I don't hear anyone complaining about her choice being taken away...

The antis claim that Elucien mating will not be meaningful and there is no choice unless Elain chooses Az and Lucien chooses Vassa...

...but then there is also this passage in the same chapter in Hosab:

"... Maybe Urd had long ago bound their souls, and they'd needed all this time to realize it. But did it even matter? If it was fate or choice to be together?"

Ppl are so hung up on the whole choice argument, meanwhile, Miss Sarah J Maas the AUTHOR herself is like choice whatever.... 😅

I absolutely love the excerpts you just included and I think you should write a blog on this so we can share it around. SJM really just said fate or choice makes no difference so long as mates end up together 😂 And we have no evidence in any of her series that you get more than one. Mating bonds follow one another, even in death. It doesn't make sense for part of your soul to be connected to one person making less of your soul available to be connected to another. Because that's the truth of it all, isn't it? Bryce and Hunt may have chosen to be together however, their decision led their scents to merge, led them to become mated on a biological level. And as the second excerpt shows, even though in their hearts they chose one another, it is still possible that it was always fated to be that way, that it was always Urds plan. That Bryce and Hunt would become mates only if they ended up together. Bryce could have ended up Connor but that doesn't mean they would have become mates on a biological level. SJM is still putting it out there that though it was choice, it may still have always been their destiny. As far as the bonding immediately snapping for Elucien, I'm really not sure why anyone is trying to claim that means it's fake. Rhys tells us his parents bond snapped in exactly the same way (though that's where the similarities stop. Lucien didn't instantly take Elain back to Spring and he isn't cold or vicious like Rhys's father). I'm also including the second message you sent so both are together: my-macarons asked:

Also, I feel like all the "True mates" theories (Elain and Lucien are not real mates, fake mating bond, Azriel is Elain's true mate) are because of this part in Hosab:

„Ruhn glared at her as Hunt continued to glow and menace. It means that he’s going ballistic in the way that only mates can when the other is threatened. It’s what happened then, and what’s happening now. You’re true mates—the way Fae are mates, in your bodies and souls. That’s what was different about your scent the other day. Your scents have merged. As they do between Fae mates.”

I'm sorry, but drawing the conclusion from this that Elain and Lucien are not real mates just seem like bad reading comprehension to me.

"You’re true mates—the way Fae are mates..."

True mates = Fae mates. Like the Fae in Acotar.

Elucien are mates and antis need to deal with it. 🤷‍♀️

(End of second message). Did Lucien not go a bit feral when Mor whisked Elain back to Velaris? Have we not seen him visibly struggle with the effects of the bond? Hands clenching at the chair, trying to keep himself seated, a snarl slipping out of him when he realized Az took Elain away? Everything we've witnessed in Elucien's bond is in line with everything we know of bonds including an Archeron sister trying to first deny hers. 😂😂

[stargirlfics]

*rubs hands together and rolls out wares* Okay, I, too, have been thinking about the old man (as if I'm not ever) and the thots I have to offer are brat tamer Alfred. He's such a soft and gentle dom that he doesn't have to do much, but give you that raised brow look 💕

You do things like tease him throughout the day; brushing past him and your hand rubs against his front or you're wearing a very short dress and purposely bend over too far to give him a view, but you swear you don't know what you're doing! 💀 You do soft brat things like eating a piece of candy when he specifically told you that you can't have that for breakfast. He just looks stern and holds his hand out in front of your mouth.

"Think about your choices right now, love." "You're not going to like the consequences later, darling."

And when he punishes you, it's in the form of him not letting you touch him so he just jerks off in front of you knowing you're just dying inside to touch him, to take him into your mouth. Or when he fucks you he's only giving you slow agonizing strokes knowing you just want him to pound you.

"Only good girls get rewarded, love." "Are you going to behave then?"

And of course *inhales* spankings. He makes you bend over his bed or the armrest of a couch. He undoes his cufflinks and rolls up his sleeves and makes you count them out. He's very gentle with it, giving firm smacks and then caressing your ass before delivering the next one. Every so often he smacks closer to or your pussy or runs his fingers through your folds.

"A shame you're so wet for me, darling, I was looking forward to fucking this pretty cunt." "If I end up fucking you, then this won't have been a lesson learned now will it?"

Just gonna set this here and *exits stage left* 💕

BEING A SOFT BRAT TO HIM!!!! You get me oh my gosh this is something I’ve thought about! Because you’re right he really is a soft dom! 🥺 and I just knowww his stern eyebrow raise or pointed look makes your brain all fuzzy, like the immediate effect it has on you! But also teasing him and being a bit of a brat still is just too fun!

“Think about your choices right now, love.” OH MY GOD 😵��💫 I can just hear him saying that goodbye that’s so hot!!! It’s so simple and matter of fact, giving you a warning that he’ll have to do something about your behavior and he’d much rather reward you with all the fun, naughty things you want

But of course you like to see how flustered he gets when you tease him, brush up against him, just being the most distracting ever, but it’s only because Alfred punishes in such a way that makes you seek to be reprimanded, his display of control, of getting you back in line really does turn you into such a drippy mess and he knows it

CRYNG at him spanking you and teasing you with his fingers in between, mocking you a bit by telling you all about how he wanted to fuck you later, all the things he wanted to do to you but isn’t any longer because someone decided not to behave and be patient…not me pouting already this is so good!!!

Love this! He gives off such disciplinarian vibes it makes my brain go crazy like please stop being hoT!

[ordinaryschmuck]

Alright, let's go in order...

I'm intrigued by what Doomsday could be. I'm still not a fan of the fact that they chose RDJ for Doctor Doom when an Romani actor would be much more appropriate. Still, I think SOME kind of good story can come out of it if treated right. It's just a matter of waiting and seeing.

Secret Wars...should NOT be a movie. I tried reading the event comic, and it's way too interesting of a concept to make up a movie. The BOLD choice would be for it to take up a whole saga, showing each section of Doom's land before taking him on in a final battle with all these Avenger variants. That could be exciting, but it's likely what we WON'T see, instead favoring a quick movie showing off small bits of the land as a group of Avengers fight through it. Which would be fun, but a missed potential for what Secret Wars is.

I'm STILL intrigued by what Fantastic Four: First Steps could be. I've seen the first look, and I think this is the right direction to take these characters in and it could be the most unique movie the MCU has ever made...Just PLEASE delay it so you can let it cook. You don't NEED this to compete with James Gunn's Superman, a movie that's already wrapped up on filming and going into post production while this movie just started filming days ago. Give the Fantastic Four the time they need to be good because the world doesn't need a FOURTH bad Fantastic Four movie.

Spider-Man 4 NEEDS to be good. No Way Home had such a great ending that if you really NEED to continue things after that, the film needs to justify its existence with a worthy script that carries the emotional weight that the last movie left on. PLEASE don't undo everything Peter did right away. Let the consequences STICK and give him his happy ending in another movie.

Still not watching Captain America: Brave New World. I don't care how interesting it looks, I'm sticking to my morals on this one. Maybe I'll watch it through special means one day, but that's about it.

I'm hopeful for Shang-Chi 2. I'm one of the few who actually LOVED the first movie and I really want to see this character again. It's just a shame that he got sidelined for a whole bunch of other new characters that the MCU hasn't done ANYTHING with either.

I'm not going to be the asshole who'll go, "Who ASKED for a Wonder Man show?" If we started asking questions like that, we wouldn't HAVE the MCU. No one was begging for an Iron Man movie in 2008, and it was still the biggest spark that launched a dozen projects despite no one really wanting it. HOWEVER, I'm going to instead be that asshole who points out that the MCU kind of lost faith in introducing new characters because of how faulty of a job they've been doing. I WANT to be excited, but I can't be anymore. Especially since I'm not really a Wonder Man fan. He's so...not interesting.

The production hell Blade has gone through and continues to go through, it'll take a fucking MIRACLE for this movie to not only come out but to be GOOD.

I'm curious of what Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man could be at this point. At first it was meant to be the origin story behind MCU Peter Parker, but now it's become more it's own thing as a semi-original series and I'm curious to see what comes of it. I'm always keeping my eye out for Spider-Man stuff, as a loyal fan would, but I'm gonna need to see more of a trailer to determine if it'll be good.

Still do not have high hopes for Thunderbolts.

STILL on my hands and knees PRAYING for Daredevil: Born Again to be good! PLEASE LET IT BE GOOD!

Ironheart...Still trying to think of a way Ironheart could be good...

Armor Wars COULD be fun. I THINK they're making it a movie instead of a series, which I'm for. Falcon and the Winter Soldier and Secret Invasion didn't really NEED to be stretched out into a mini-series when making a movie might have worked better in their favor by cutting out the fluff and making things go by a lot faster. And this is from a guy who LIKES Falcon and the Winter Soldier...Secret Invasion however can go to hell. And I REALLY hope that Armor Wars doesn't confirm that War Machine has been a Skrull since Civil War. That's NOT A GOOD IDEA!

I like the idea behind Marvel Zombies, I'm intrigued by what an TV-MA animated mini-series of survivors surviving a superhero zombie apocalypse can be. Just...maybe cut out the jokes that took up too much time in the What If episode.

Not sure what Eyes of Wakanda could be, but I'm not complaining yet. Always interested in Wakanda stuff.

Saw the trailer for Agatha All Along, and, son of a bitch, it might just be good. IF DONE RIGHT. That's an important distinction. This show could be good if done RIGHT. We'll just have to wait and see.

I'm excited for What If Season Three because I still really like What If. It's my favorite dumb fun show. I don't WANT it to be the last season because...that's a show with endless possibilities. Don't limit it to three seasons when you could go on for, like, eight before things get stale. Just PLEASE keep it going.

Okoye...Is she getting a series or a movie. I hope it's a movie because WHAT could Okoye do that justifies her having a TV show?

Not sure what Sidewinder is but...maybe it'll be good? Honestly, it depends on...whatever the fuck it is. What is it?!

I'm EXCITED for X-Men Season Two! LOVED the first season and I can't wait for more! Season Three is where I get a little wary because that's the season where the showrunner of What If takes the reigns because the last guy got fired for...reasons. And as much as I like What If...X-Men 97 is TEN TIMES better, being the best X-Men content fans got in YEARS (if you ignore the comics). If you're going to replace the showrunner, you need someone who can match their talent.

I'm not sure what the live-action Wakanda series could be and how that's different from Eyes of Wakanda...but I want it to be good. MAKE IT GOOD!

Hey! We're finally getting an answer to what the fuck Vision has been up to since WandaVision. That only took...way too long.

Nova. Nova, Nova, Nova...What could they even do with Nova at this point?

And I'm grateful for getting a Marvel Special Presentation. They're short and fun and easy to get into. A lot more than I can say about other shows on Disney+

And that's everything...I'm barely excited for ANY of this. I'm cautiously optimistic about a lot of projects here and vaguely curious about some of them all while BEGGING for each project to be good. I WANT them to be good. I want the MCU to IMPROVE instead of continuing on its decline since Endgame. Just PLEASE let it improve, that's all I'm asking for.