#there isn't any character I necessarily dislike

[danganronpa96]

who is your most favorite and least favorite character in dr 69 and dr 96 and why? And when we will see deadly life for ch. 5?

I'm going to answer this one now for the time-sensitive question becoming completely null and void very soon. Chapter 5 Deadly life will be posted tomorrow! If you want time specifics, we aim to have it out around 9PM GMT (that went for the daily, and hopefully will go for the trial as well).

Now, for the first question. I'd say my favourite character in DR69 has to be Miku, but Teto comes a close second to the point both are basically on the same pedestal lol. Look I'm a big vocaloid head, and I'm still very not so normal for MM!Miku sometimes

My least favourite, which is probably obvious to some, is Peter. I don't like le Family Man, and while I can appreciate his character in the early seasons, there's not much else positive I can say about that fella (still it was fun writing some of his jokes in the fic)

For DR96, my favourite is Hayasaka. Why? Maybe this image will help you:

But apply this to almost 3 years because that pathetic silly rabbit soaking wet cat of a man hasn't left my head and I hate it (affectionate)

Least favourite, however? Now that's a little hard since I do like everyone in this cast. Still, I guess I'll have to go for Walter? As in, I like everyone a little more than I do him. He's still funne though. But also he's a fucked up bastard in BreBa and no he isn't a sigma he's literally just some guy (who built a meth empire)

[plumipal]

AAAAAOMG UR TWST OC IS SO ADORABLE?? i'm absolutely in love with eden sm (+ his design?? the star eyes and the wings are my favorite,, i wanna smooch all his tattoos!) and i hope it's okay to ask a few questions about him... (I KNOW U SAID IT WAS OKAY BUT I JUST WANTED TO MAKE SURE 😭 i'm genuinely interested in knowing more!)

1) does he have anyone in the twst cast that he tolerates/likes? i know he's part of the whole harem thing but is there anyone he doesn't necessarily mind being around (or even sharing with the prefect?)

2) do grim and eden have a good relationship? i would assume so since they're living both with one another but do they just get along with each other for the prefect's sake or are they actually best buds? (๑ > ᴗ < ๑)

(little dumb idea but i think it would be so cute if the prefect treated the two as if they were all like a little family! eden and prefect being the two parents and grim their rambunctious kid lmao,, i would imagine the others not being so happy about it (っ‘ω`c))

3) is he okay with physical affection/pda? is he totally chill about it or would he rather shy about the whole thing? is he open to having the prefect touch his wings or his tattoos?

4) oooo any funfacts that you have about the new ramshackle resident?? just in general really if that's okay with u ofc!! ☆

aa okay that's it!! i hope my questions weren't annoying or anything! (っ‘ω`c)

Had to get one of those wheels ive seen going around where you put the oc and how they feel about the character and how the characters feel back about them, but with a twist lol (most of them are haters).

The ones he are most tolerant with are grim, ace, deuce, jack and kalim. Only one he could possible share with would either be kalim, jack or deuce, because of how he sorta is annoyed by ace.

Of course cant forget how he feels about you :) he thinks you are very very very special and he loves you a lot <3

He likes grim a lot, seeing as grim isn't one of the students that is oh so annoying. He warms up to the monster, seeing how gently you take care of grim, wanting to do the same. It feels, domestic, in his opinion.

Grim likes Eden a lot too, he has never belittled him, he has always made sure to feed grim along with Eden being very warm (and therefore very nice to sleep on). In grims opinion, he thinks you should go with Eden, cuz he is a good candidate for marriage (grim has been bribed with love, affection, and tuna).

He takes good care of the cat son, making sure he is healthy and happy.

Now onto pda. Eden are only okay with you touching the wings, the tattoo and the core, being as they are quite sensitive. The scar is still off limits, but maybe if you make him warm up to you even more you might be able to-

He loves when you help him with his wings, it's one of the best feelings out there. Fo mind that only you (and grim) can touch the wings, anyone else is off limits, ESPECIALLY ROOK HE IS FORBIDDEN TO TOUCH THEM.

Eden facts!! He has lil "ear-holes" like birds, just behind the feathers. Be careful around that part when you help him with his feathers, otherwise you might have a pouty and angry Eden on tour hands.

His eyes also glow in the dark! It's the scariest during the nightly snack runs down to the kitchen, seeing him suddenly stare at you, but you slowly get used to it!

You don't know where the extra eyes sometimes come from tho...

Also some general facts about Eden!

Dorm: Ramshackle

Birthday: 1/1

Age: ???

Height: 185cm

Fav subject: alchemy

Hobby: cleaning in ramshackle, birdwatching

Likes: you

Dislikes: Loud noises, blond 3rd year hunters named rook hunt, people trying to grab onto his wings that aren't you

Fav food: he don't need to eat to gain sustenance, bur he likes mashed potatoes with gravy

Least fav food: soup, any soup, he hates it

Btw if anyone were to write for Eden I would explode it would mean the world to me

[glitter-stained]

I always feel like a little sad seeing posts about how Jason's character is inherently tragic and that's what makes it good, how him being unloved, a tragic consequence of his own actions, is inevitable, and how that shouldn't change because any change on that regard is a fundamental misunderstanding of his character. Yes, Under the Hood is a tragedy. Yes, Jason survived and for a long time people have been pretty confused at what to do with the character that survives the tragic ending. That doesn't mean he should continue to be trapped in the tragedy, that there's only value in him as long as he's unloved. And maybe that's me preaching and being a party pooper again but the idea that the teenage-to-young adult character with a mental illness that has damaged all his relationships is doomed to be lonely and have bad/upended relationships forever, that he's only good as a character as long as he's hurting others and/or himself (and usually both) and isolated because of this... It's sad, at the very least. I refuse the presumption that tragedies are the only stories wise and worth telling.

Also I personally really dislike the idea that Jason isn't and shouldn't be anyone's favourite, because he made himself nobody's favourite on purpose. Did he make himself a villain on purpose? Fuck yeah. Does any of his early attempts at reaching out to people hurt them? Indubitably. I maintain that this is because he wants to be someone's favourite as he is, at his worst, with his hands covered in blood. And I think he should be. (Without contradicting or damaging, by comparison, the relationships between other characters, that's the tightrope we need to be weary of when making such things, of course.)

It's like this: love, in most relationships, is conditional: you don't owe your friend or your partner to continue to love them if the relationship changes, if you change, if you become violent etc. If my girlfriend started murdering puppies, I would stop loving her. Ideally, however a parent's love for their child is unconditional. That's very often unfortunately not the case, but ideally it'd be, it's really not great for a kid to have zero parents that love them unconditionally. And most importantly, it's not just about actual unconditional love, it's about it being perceived. So it doesn't matter in the debate if Bruce actually loves Jason in spite of the murder, it matters that Jason asks for confirmation of it at the end of UTH and receives a negative answer. (similar arguments to be made about Catherine loving Jason and dying of drug overdose and Willis going to jail and dying - it's the potential perceived abandonment of it that would matter, not their agency and actual love. And it's not a question of whether he would be angry at it so much as that he'd yearn and hurt for it. And of course Sheila didn't love him at all.) That's why he, upon learning about Mia and reaching previously unknown to man levels of projection*, tries to rally her with the hope that, because she's "so similar to him" she would understand him. That's why upon learning about Dick "killing" Blockbuster Jason, again projecting more violently than a bullet, Jason makes Dick into his new favourite person (god, the concept behind BiB has so much potential why did it have to suck so bad...) Anyway, Jason to me is a character with a very intense, very overwhelming conception of love both in who he loves and how, who struggles to understand that other people love and show it differently, and it makes so much sense for him to keep looking for a person who will love him unconditionally (something that's both very rare and not necessarily healthy since, again, most relationships aside from parent-child relationships do not and probably should not include unconditional love). This is particularly interesting in the context of him having bpd (again, using bpd because i'm focusing on the interpersonal dimension that's been mostly studied within that frame) because BPD often functions around a vicious circle of "is afraid of rejection/abandonment -> does maladaptive behaviour in attempt to prevent rejection/abandonment OR protect oneself by being the one to leave first" which is what leads to the instability in relationships. It's a doomed prophecy: i have maladaptive patterns that make me think my girlfriend is gonna leave me at any time, I keep demanding to see her phone, assuming she's cheating everytime she leaves and thus demonizing her even though I was glorifying her five minutes earlier" then she's going to leave me, which is gonna reinforce my thought pattern that everyone always leaves me. But that also means that in rare instances in which the other person in the interact, for whichever reason, sticks around through that, then these incorrect thought patterns begin to change through the sheet logic of extinction: if i think that people always leave me because of something fundamentally wrong with me and people don't leave then eventually the idea that people are doomed to abandon/reject me is going to lose its power. That's, btw, an important part of why therapy works.

(*that one's a joke, btw. He's not projecting onto mia and dick to levels impossible to mankind, just pretty intensely. Very human levels of projection, might I add'. Just to clarify.)

Now, be mindful: I'm not saying make Jason an abusive boyfriend. I'm not saying put him in a relationship where the other stays because they're afraid of him, that's not unconditional love or acceptance that's just fear. Of course, the ideal version of it would be Jason goes to therapy but because dc hates me specifically this is never gonna happen, but imagine him being in a relationship, romantic or otherwise, with someone who is as intense and "unwell" about him as he is about them. I'm not saying it would fix him (again, get him so goddamn therapy jfc) but it would change him. And just as it doesn't have to be healthy it doesn't have to be tragic.

I was asked a while ago my thoughts on Jason's current stagnancy as a character and if I thought he could become interesting again, and I said yes and talked about the directions I dream would be explored with his character and their potential. My answer hasn't changed, and it's completely compatible with this, but I will add: I think Jason as a character has largely and for long enough been defined through his yearning to be somebody's favourite, and that if you want his mode of interacting with others and dynamic with different characters to change then this is a very logical way to do it. And it would make a lot of sense for it to be the catalyst for other changes in his character (ie in his name or philosophy).

Get that boy into a super intense long-term codependent situationship, is what I'm saying. Please.

[iscdisc]

2012 Oroku Saki ("The Shredder") Analysis / Also kind of Hamato Yoshi ("Master Splinter") too, but mainly Saki- Lmao || Part 2 !!

Here's Part two of my analysis on Oroku Saki and Hamato Yoshi within the 2012 series ! 👍✨

Are Hamato unreliable narrators within the story? Or the Foot Clan / Oroku?

This is kind of a yes and no thing for me personally. I feel like both sides have had their fair share of spreading misinformation or just not fully understanding certain events that occurred / painting them a particular way upon their recollection of them. My whole take on Hamato Uta and the centuries long Foot Clan / Hamato Clan fued shows this.

We already see this a lot with Shredder throughout the series as well, as he claims over and over again that Yoshi was the one who took Tang Shen's life even though the truth is that it was him all along. Telling himself this so much that he truly ends up believing it by the end of the series. He also blames Splinter for Karai's mutation, even though that was a tragedy of his own making since he's the one that put Karai in that position in the first place, not to mention the fact that he was the one that broke the chain that was suspending Karai over the mutagen vat himself.

However, I feel like we see this with Splinter during his recollection of past events as well.

When he's having his conversation with Karai during, "Vengeance is Mine" in Season 2, we are shown this shot which implies that Saki knowingly and deliberately attacked Yoshi AND Tang Shen during his fit of rage all those years ago. He also proceeds to claim that Saki deliberately burns their house down afterwards.

However, we know this isn't the case at all, since TOTY explicitly shows the chain of events that led to Tang Shen's death and you can see that this wasn't a deliberate action from Saki but rather a horrible circumstance. Both Yoshi and Saki witnessed Tang Shen walk away before they started their battle, so neither of them were expecting her to be there whatsoever. This is further reinforced by their shared shock at her death. We also see throughout their fight that the fire is caused directly from that altercation. Candles that were lit inside were being knocked over by them, which is what actually caused the fire that burned down Yoshi and Tang Shen's home.

I'm not saying Splinter necessarily lied to Karai or that the trauma of it all couldn't have caused Splinter to recall things poorly, since it's entirely plausible. It's also EXACTLY what Saki is doing / experiencing throughout the series. Cough cough. 🙃

And although I've already talked about it kind of extensively in the first part of this analysis, I feel like his relationship with Saki is another instance of him recalling things differently than how they actually were / happened. Which is how I want to pivot into talking about Splinter right now, since I'd like to give some attention to his "perception issue".

Hamato Yoshi / Master Splinter and his relationships with those around him:

I want to make it extensively clear that I personally really enjoy 2012 Splinter as a person and a character. I'm not saying that others can't dislike him or be critical of him or pick apart his character, because obviously you can and I would be super hypocritical for saying you can't considering that's what I do on a daily basis ! I'm also a firm believer of someone being critical of a character or a character's writing and that not necessarily meaning that they think the character is dogshit or an awful person necessarily. Sometimes being critical or analytical of something is how we express our love or interest for it (Like me with this entire decade old series- LMAO) ! But I just wanted to put that out there, since I'm not necessarily going to agree with any negativity or hate comments directed at 2012 Splinter as a character. I just blatantly disagree with most of them, and I think it's okay to agree to disagree if you feel that way. I'm sure a lot of people feel that way about my takes on 2012 April and how I'm pretty overly critical of her and don't really think the best of her canonically. 👍✨

With that out of the way, I really really like talking about Splinter's perspective and how different it feels from perspectivea of the people in his life that he specifically claims to love and care about very much ! It was such a perfect opportunity to really delve into his character and how his relationships, specifically his relationship with his brother Saki, plays such a big role in the overarching plot line that is the 2012 series !

From TOTY, we see the two most important relationships that he currently has in his life (Not discounting his daughter Miwa, but she's still an infant at this point so it's not like they've had many deep conversations- Lmao). Two relationships that, from his perspective, are relatively strong and healthy and wouldn't collapse in the near future whatsoever. I think it's safe to assume that prior to the events of TOTY, before all these issues started flaring up, that this was his mindset completely. I feel like this is also reflected in his mannerisms, and how he comes across so airy and carefree when talking to Saki during their conversation about Yokai with their Father. To Saki, he's being condescending and undermining his opinions / experiences yet again, but to Yoshi he's just shooting the shit with him and having a friendly brotherly interaction. Yoshi's disposition only shifts when Saki pushes further about never listening to others and of course when he brings Tang Shen into the equation. Something similar happens with Tang Shen as well. Yoshi's content and happy being with her and their daughter on their late night stroll, and it's not until Tang Shen brings up wanting to move away that Yoshi shifts once again.

Which leads me to wonder why in his eyes things are completely copesthetic until these problems come up? In both these instances, it seems as though Yoshi just expects them to "understand" rather than meeting them in the middle and actually having a conversation about these things. He wants his Brother to understand that he's always been there for him, despite Saki expressing the opposite which stems from lived experience it seems, and he wants his Wife to understand that he has responsibilities to this Clan and that he can't abandon them. Not that this is an excuse, because I absolutely don't think it is, but part of me feels like this is just a reflection of how he was raised by their Father, Hamato Uta. Where Yoshi was constantly forced to "just understand" when he was burdened with something or forced to bear something, like being the next head of the Clan. That he was "meant to understand" when his Father wouldn't give him the time of day because he was a busy man. Etc.

Through this, you can definitely draw a parallel between Yoshi / Splinter and Leo. Always feeling this need to be perfect, to maintain the vision that your Father has for you, to bear the burden of something that you didn't ask for and not expect any grace or understanding from others in return (Something Splinter expressed to Leo in, "New Girl in Town"-). To sacrifice your wants for what is needed of you, like your individualism and freedom to live your life outside of these responsibilities. I feel like this can be tied to Yoshi very well actually, since we don't exactly get a lot of insight on his feelings and opinions about being the next head of the Hamato Clan,, We honestly don't even know if that's something that he really even wanted. Not that it makes the scene any different, but it's interesting to view his exasperation with Tang Shen's asking to leave from that particular lens. How even if he does feel the same way she does and agrees with her completely, he doesn't believe he's allowed to say that. He doesn't feel like he's allowed to have any dreams or wants outside of this Clan, because those in it depend on him. Yoshi also brings up how this Clan is the last of its kind and that being a big reason why it must endure, which also adds a whole other level of stress,,

Like I said earlier, I don't think this excuses his poor management of his relationships with his Brother and his Wife, but I think it does give a little more insight (Or potential insight-) as to why that was. It also speaks volumes to the way Saki is so gentle and open-minded it seems compared to Yoshi, who comes off cold and emotionally unavailable, during this time (Primarily in his interactions with Tang Shen during TOTY-). In this way, I truly feel like Saki and Raph paralleled one another. I wouldn't be surprised if Saki was actually surprisingly in tune with nature and very respectful of the earth and the universe. That he felt much harder than most people, like Raph, which is why he was so emotionally reactive. That he was actually a lot more receptive than we ever got to know.

This moment from Season 2 ("Vengeance is Mine") always stuck out to me with Saki / Shredder for that very reason. When he's pleading with Karai and expressing how he doesn't want to lock her away (Even though he currently is- 💀 Lmao). Up until this point in the series, this had been the gentlest we had ever seen him. Like a part of his old self was really shining through in this moment,,

But circling back to Yoshi / Splinter, part of me wonders if he was somewhat aware of the state that his relationships were in-? Maybe he was already stressed enough that he just couldn't bring himself to address it without falling apart or feeling like the ground is caving underneath him. So to the detriment of his Brother and his Wife, he maintained this almost aloof attitude towards their concerns as a means of holding himself together. Maybe he didn't feel like he was strong enough to face these problems at the time. This issue clearly wasn't resolved by the time we reach the beginning of the events of the series either, since we can still see this very present in Splinter and how he behaves with his Sons. Regardless of my opinions about April's position here during this conversation (Lmao), I think her questioning of Splinter during the Season 1 finale is a great example of this. His tone and body language truly reflects something almost akin to escapism in my opinion. The way Leo had to pester him constantly for him to open up about Karai being his daughter. The way Splinter seemingly shut down after Karai got recaptured after she finally learned the truth and it seemed like she was within reach for the first time in ages, and Leo was constantly talking about how worried he was about their Father's mental well-being. How Splinter also became kind of closed off yet again after Karai's mutation (And if we're being entirely honest, I wouldn't be surprised if Splinter was a little upset with Leo during this time, which also contributed to his lack of communicating with him-) + a majority of Season 3 due to Karai's new situation. Like I brought up earlier about his upbringing, it seems like Splinter has a hard time really communicating about anything emotionally charged and would rather maintain this composed disposition than to actually confront these things and, quite honestly, cry...

He's eluded to having temperamental tendencies in the past (Like when he was trying to verbally express a lesson to Raph about managing anger in, "Turtle Temper"-), and I wouldn't be surprised if this is something that he's learned to suppress over time. Especially with the "guidance" (so to speak) of their Father, since that most likely contradicted with what he wanted for Yoshi if he were meant to be the next head of the Clan. But Yoshi's not a robot and he shouldn't have been treated like one (If any of my theory were to actually hold up-).

Reasons like this are exactly why I feel like this should have been Splinter's whole Character Arc throughout the 2012 series. How building his relationship with Saki once again would be both a literal battle and a mental / emotional battle. Shedding light on how difficult it can be to overcome emotional pain and mending relationships that you had a lot of fault in, even if you didn't mean it,,

This Character Development Arc absolutely should have started with his Sons (And Daughter, but given the events of the show, I think it would be more feasible to start with his Sons- Lmao) first and foremost. I think having some kind of epiphany through them about his relationships with those he cares about should have been the catalyst for him viewing this entire situation with Saki a completely different way. I think giving the Turtles an opportunity to be more openly honest about how they view him as a Father and how they feel he views them as his Sons would have been the best way to go about that. For Splinter to have a moment where he realizes that maybe the people that he loves and cares about in his life don't always know that he does. Maybe it's obvious to him, since it's his perspective and his actions, but it's not always obvious to them and he needs to consider that more. This should definitely cause him to make connections to his past with Tang Shen and Saki,, Realizing that there actually was some truth to Saki claiming that he doesn't care for anyone but himself. Understanding now why Tang Shen worried about whether or not he would've been a good Father to Miwa, especially in relation to his role in the Hamato Clan. This, of course, wasn't something that he wanted or meant to do, but it still happened,, And he has to face that now.

I also love how having this moment with his Sons would helped break some stigma around masculinity and the relationships that Fathers can have with their Sons. They should be allowed to be emotional together. They should be allowed to have meaningful conversations about their relationships,,

I also feel like this would have been a great way to have more of a discussion about Splinter's position as a Father, and the toll losing his first daughter and abruptly gaining four Sons had on him. I don't think anybody could cope with that very well, and I feel like that should have been reflected in his parenting and how he tackled this new family dynamic. That's honestly why I kind of enjoy the fact that Splinter isn't this "perfect Father", because why would he be? That would make no sense- He has as much growing to do as everybody else in the show- LMAO 😔👍

I think it would have been super interesting to see Yoshi and Saki interact with each other very differently throughout the series in small increments. In Season 1, during the finale, we can see Splinter try to converse with Shredder (Saki) rather than immediately jumping into combat. Again, I'm not saying this couldn't have just been a stall tactic on his end, but I like to think that maybe that was his attempt at trying to be more civil despite everything that's happened. Saki's the one hunting him down, not the other way around, you know? I would have liked to see way more interactions with Splinter and Saki where Splinter truly is just trying to talk to him and reach some kind of understanding. Naturally, this wouldn't yield any results since he hasn't done any reflecting about their positions and their past yet, so his approach would be ineffective. But after Splinter realizes the part that he's played in where they both are right now in their lives, I think he would get through to Saki a lot more. Being more willing to apologize. To understand why Saki is so upset, as opposed to before where he behaved as though he didn't understand why Saki was doing this. To admit that he didn't know about his post and Saki's Father, and he how should've tried harder to make him feel seen (Which I want to add that it would have been absolutely chef's kiss for us to see Splinter actively do more research into the Foot Caln and Hamato Clan past before approaching Saki and trying to fix things- It would truly show how much Splinter means what he's saying and that he actually cares-!) . To reaffirm to Saki that he's a human being just as much as he is, and that Saki has a right to exist without being labeled (Referring to his Foot Clan heritage-). Since Saki's predicament truly feels like the epitome of, "They labeled me a monster, so I became one.", you know?

I also think it would have been interesting for Splinter to grow to view his predicament in a positive way-! Like, if what had happened between him and Saki hadn't happened, he never would have been free from becoming the head of the Hamato Clan and he would have had to wear those metaphorical shackles for the rest of his life. In a way, Saki kind of saved him from that timeline, you know? Which obviously would be bittersweet considering the position that Saki is in currently and the fact that Tang Shen is gone now, but you know- 😭 Lmao

And from Saki's side, it would have been interesting to see him slowly give in to these attempts from Splinter to make amends and fix their relationship. Sparing him more and more despite how often he's threatening Splinter. There being a lot of hesitance in some of Saki's actions. During Season 3, when Splinter was mentally absent and reduced at a rat in the most literal sense ("Return to New York", where the second picture comes from-), what if Shredder had felt guilt and sorrow for him-? To see him in such a state was more painful than it was gratifying, you know? Imagine he took care of Splinter in secret during that time, as to avoid having a confusing and complicated conversation with his followers- It's small details like that that I think would have made all the difference.

This also makes me wish this particular moment from S4 went differently for Yoshi and Saki. For Yoshi to want to help his brother now more than ever, seeing how far he's plunged into this darkness. Saki needed someone . He needed help . He needed support and understanding and a real family .

This would've been such a great parallel to Karai as well, since she too needed help and genuine support,,

I just can't help but think about how great it would have been if Saki was allowed to change and heal alongside Yoshi. So they could be Brothers again. So Yoshi's children didn't have to be subjected to this pain and suffering through their situation anymore. They could all learn to be better from this fucked up situation, you know?

Instead of having one child, Saki can have five (As their Uncle, of course-) ! He can share so many things with them, things that he wanted to as a Father (Figure) but never could properly with Karai (Miwa) for the longest time. The Turtles and Karai can see how human Saki truly is, with Karai going through the motions alongside him given she walked his path the most and I'm sure she has her own set of insecurities that come with that. For Raph to feel the most seen by Karai and Saki in particular. To acknowledge just how much Saki's interactions with Yoshi had paralleled (And somewhat continue to parallel-) his own with Leo. For them find better ways of dealing with their emotional "sensitivity" (so to speak) but also not feel ashamed for being so emotionally intuitive either. For Saki to genuinely laugh for the first time in nearly a decade and a half because of Mikey. I bet Saki would have no problem openly gloating about Mikey's raw potential as a ninja / martial artist, perhaps being super eager to be a mentor for him ! For Donnie to have an Uncle that supports his efforts through giving him access to a top tier lab set up and genuinely showing how impressed he is at Donnie's abilities. For Donnie to have yeah another parental figure that shares in love of love / romance- I'm sure Saki would have many fond stories to share about Tang Shen,, For Yoshi and Saki to both encourage Karai and Leo's individuality and to make strong efforts to unteach any thoughts about barring burdens and heading clans (Which would apply to themselves just as much-). For Karai to have her Father and her Uncle in her life again and it not be for negative reasons. For all of them to visit Tang Shen's grave monthly,,

LIKE, HOW CAN YOU NOT WANT THIS FOR THEM?? 🗣️🗣️

Anyway, this is the conclusion of my analysis (For now anyway-) ! Thank you for reading, as always ! 😌👍✨

[flying-fangirls]

To be quite honest with y'all, one of my biggest frustrations with the Witch isn't the fact that she's portrayed as a bad person or an allegorical transphobe, but moreso with how... nasty, the responding attitude toward her is-- both in the podcast's voice and several fans' voices. I'm not saying that her hate and intolerance were totally excusable, but like. Relatively speaking-- in this podcast-- it's nowhere near the worst thing any character has done (especially in light of all the yonic/assault coding behind her character, but I won't go into that because it requires way more energy to respectfully talk about than I have rn)

Everything about Larson's background has pretty clear undertones of incest and rape, but we all still treat him as one of those "characters you love to hate" (and I'm definitely not condemning that fandom response btw, I do it too). Hell, even the podcast's voice itself portrays him as that entertainingly despicable villain. And even past Larson, let's be honest with ourselves, most main characters in this show have done incredibly fucked up stuff, such as Kayne, Arthur, and John. Still, Kayne also gets the entertaining villain treatment, and Arthur and John get praised for their imperfect nature.

The Witch though? It feels like the general response to her is unflinching disgust, a sort of "that nasty, lying bitch" attitude without any remorse or nuance. All of a sudden, harmful behaviors mean a character should only be despised, and nothing else.

And yeah sure, the Witch refused to budge from her intolerant viewpoint or whatever-- in this single conversation, after a lifetime of being taught only hate, despair, and loneliness. I don't know about y'all's experience talking to people raised in hateful environments, but it takes more than one heated conversation to change their minds. And again: no that doesn't excuse the harm they spread. But for a story that preaches the importance of giving people extended time to improve themselves from the worst of morality, even if they stumble or fuck up several times along the way? It feels entirely antithetical for this woman to get spat upon after a single impression of her.

Think about Yellow, too. Think about how he "grew up" in an environment (Arthur, then Larson) that taught him only hate and despair, which led him to be incredibly intolerant, violent, and hateful. And then think about how both the story's voice and us in the fandom treat Yellow. It's not with unflinching disgust and loud vitriol; most of us view him with sympathy, despite all the horrible things he says/does that aren't necessarily excusable, yet are understandable. Why is the Witch any different? Why does the disdain for her ring so much louder, sharper, and meaner than anyone else in this entire show? Why do we "love to hate" nearly every other antagonistic character we've met (Kellin, Butcher, Larson, Kayne, etc etc etc), but suddenly only do the "hate" half of it for this one specific character?

Why is SHE so much worse? What difference between HER and every other major onscreen character subconsciously shifted our viewpoints?

Obligatory disclaimers: Again, I don't think the Witch's physical/verbal violence was wholly excusable. I don't think anyone who dislikes the Witch is a terrible person, nor do I think Harlan or the show are terrible. I am not claiming that everyone in the fandom displays these attitudes, nor am I saying this attitude is some moral failure. This is a critical critique meant to spur critical evaluation, and not any sort of attack.

[abbyfmc]

A Yandere girl/fem as a mother.

I've always seen stories about yandere men and women, in which it's depicted how these characters feel a crazy love for their partners or crushes, but I've rarely seen these characters in a family role, unless it involves incestuous situations (which I won't do in this post, since writing incest is not my strong point).

Parents (not necessarily biological) are important parts of most humans' lives (and I don't say all of them, since not everyone is raised by their parents, unfortunately). Some are terrible and do all kinds of harm within their reach (and many unfortunately don't accept their mistakes until it's too late); others are practically absent; but there is another kind of parents who love their children and would do anything for their well-being, even going so far as to endure terrible situations so that their children can live happy, healthy and safe lives and have a good future, even if that means that the parents have to walk through hell.

Whether biological or adopted, she will love you with all her heart infinitely.

A yandere mother doesn't have to be married or dating someone, as she can easily be a single mother. You can be her only child, just as you can have more siblings.

Whatever the case, she will love you deeply.

For a yandere mother, things like your sex/gender, political ideals or sexual orientation are not important (in the sense that she will not discriminate against you for any of that).

Something that influences the upbringing (and yandere mothers would not be the exception) of children is the socioeconomic status of the parents, which can be lower class or working class; middle class and upper class. The lower class is the one that has the most problems to access quality services such as health, edition and incolding food; The upper class, on the other hand, has greater resources, facilities and better conditions to support one or more lives. The middle class does not have so many problems to access basic services, but they also do not have so many resources to be considered rich. There are people who refer to the middle class as "poor people with money."

A Yandere mother will do whatever she is in her possession so that you are well next to her.

A Yandere mother will not be afraid of working on whatever, as long as you are well.

A Yandere mother will make sure you eat well and take care of your health responsibly, although she won't be upset about taking care of you herself.

A Yandere mother will always want to know everything about you. She wants you to tell her your problems; about your likes, dislikes, hardships, feelings, and everything that happens to you.

A Yandere mother is someone you can't lie to. She'll always be watching you.

A Yandere mother will always know where you are, who you are with, and what you are doing.

A Yandere mother will always protect you from danger. She would put HERSELF in danger so that no one hurts you.

A Yandere mother would be capable of sacrificing others for what she considers "your well-being."

A Yandere mother isn't afraid to kill others for you.

She will appreciate every display of affection from you; whether it's a hug, a kiss on the cheek, a smile or even a simple "I love you" it will make her very happy.

She would be selective, protective and controlling when it comes to meeting your friends, but she would be even more selective regarding your partner or love interests under the excuse of protecting you.

If you are her biological child, she will have loved you since she conceived you or since she held you in her arms after giving birth.

A Yandere mother will not have aborted you under any circumstances (except VERY specific dangerous situations) and will not accept anyone convincing, forcing or obliging her to do so.

Your yandere mother will have told you that she took great care of herself during her pregnancy, because she was terrified of the scenario of miscarriage and someone making her lose you.

Let's be clear; a miscarriage is a traumatic thing for many pregnant women (or, well, all of them). Some go on with their lives; others fall into a depression that only a few recover from, while others commit suicide. It's something extremely heartbreaking for them, and a yandere mother would be no exception. She would be emotionally and psychologically devastated, knowing that she lost her child and she would be devastated to know that her baby has died, and will never come back.

If the yandere mother is your biological mother, she will describe the pregnancy and your birth as the best thing despite the pain of the moment.

If you are adopted, your yandere mother will tell you how she met you, where she found you, and how happy she was to have taken you into her arms.

If she is getting divorced, she will not let anyone take you away from her, fighting to the death for your custody.

A Yandere mother will not tolerate bullying of any kind. She will do anything to get justice for you, including killing your bully and his family; or publicly destroying them through connections.

A Yandere mother will be able to beat up your bullies and make them beg for forgiveness, all for daring to hurt you.

If you are disabled, your yandere mother will be even more overprotective.

No matter what happens, your yandere mother will do her best to keep your life safe.

Has someone abused you? Mommy will seek justice for you, whether judicial or by her own hand. In addition, she will ALWAYS trust you and support you no matter what happens.

Have you gotten lost or disappeared? Mommy will search for you thoroughly everywhere and won't rest until she finds you.

Are you very sick? Do you have a terminal illness? Mommy will do whatever it takes to help you live, such as going into debt to buy expensive medicines or treatments; taking care of you day and night; stealing medicines; donating her own organs to you or killing others to steal their organs for your transplant.

However, a parent's worst fear is seeing their child dead. Knowing that their child is gone, that they are no longer here and that they could do nothing to prevent it is heartbreaking, whether the cause of death was a serious illness, an accident or a murder; the death of a child is SO heartbreaking that it can cause depression in parents (especially if the child was very young or died in a very unfair and painful way). Some parents move on; others end the relationship or get divorced, sometimes blaming the other; some blame themselves; some go into states of denial; many fall into deep depression and some even commit suicide. Each case is different, but the pain in all of them is quite strong and horrible.

A Yandere mother would be no exception. Your death would be her worst nightmare.

She would go crazy after your death.

If it was due to an illness: she will remember EVERY moment of your illness with bitterness, pain, sadness and helplessness, because she knows that despite trying all the treatments and care to save you, she could do nothing but watch your mortal decline.

If it was an accident: She will blame herself for not having acted quickly and for not having prevented it.

If it was a murder: Obviously she will feel helplessness, anger, pain, frustration and sadness for not having been there to protect you or save you. She will feel guilty.

If it was suicide: She will feel guilty for not having supported you enough with your problems. Depression and sadness will consume her.

A Yandere mother won't be able to bear losing you. She'll feel completely empty and without a purpose to live.

Your yandere mother would miss you very much. Her heart would be heavy with sadness if you were to die.

It is likely that after having found answers or justice for you, she will end up committing suicide or feeling a minimum of peace for having managed to get revenge on those who have once hurt you.

However, something I almost forgot is that a yandere mother will have to teach you values ​​and discipline you. She will set rules that she wants you to follow, under the excuse that she does it to protect you or out of love.

A Yandere mother will not tolerate disrespect, otherwise there will be punishment.

-The End.

What do you think about it?

[rox1000000]

I'm tired of stats in rules light games.

A game design ramble.

Stats are usually very boring. That doesn't necessarily mean they're bad. Not everything needs to be exciting or thought provoking and they're sometimes good to have. More complex games will have stats or adjacent, but have way more to define a character mechanically, or other things of interest stacked on top of them. They can be a good foundation in more complex games and my issue isn't with their use in that context.

My issue is when writers strip back everything but stats to make their game fit on a page or two. Many OSR games do this, but it is by no means unique to OSR.

In this post I'll go over what makes something a stat to me, why I dislike them being center stage in rules light games, and alternative ways to approach defining a character in minimal space. I'm trying to be brief here but it's a long post.

What is a stat?

I view stats as being generalized attributes or verbs that a character can do. The core things that I view as being indicative of "stats" at least how they're defined in this manifesto is that they're generalized, and that they're not abstract. In a game you'll usually find them called attributes, skills, ability scores, or the like. Not everything described as a skill in a game is a "stat" to me, and that distinction usually comes down to how specific it is. Something like "fight" I would describe as being a stat, whereas something like "hand to hand combat" I would describe as being a skill.

Famously D&D's STR, DEX, WIS, CON, INT, CHA are stats.

Why I Dislike Them

Lets suppose you have a game where you've stripped down basically everything except core stats about a character. Why is that a bad thing?

Lack of granularity - I think one of the issues here is that in stripping back other options, the stats become your main verbs in the game and characters get very easily pushed into confined boxes, or expand to slurp up a good deal of action. (Idk how to word this lmao) Lets take intelligence for example. Many games just have a brain stat, meaning a character is more knowledgeable, reasonable, logical than everyone else in every single situation always when they have more of this stat. In a game with more rules, there's ways to make that knowledge more specific or to differentiate mechanically, what under the umbrella of intelligence a character is good at, but in a stripped down game it's just "I am google." This also pushes out other characters from the relatively universal action of thinking. Same happens for strength or speed or any other large category. Why think when we have a thinky guy in the party that can think instead. Why try and do something precise when we have mrs. dexterity ready to do it at a greater success rate?

Lack of characterization - I think stats do a poor job of characterizing a character and making that characterization matter in the game. If I have a character with high strength, that doesn't actually say anything about the character. I believe that in an RPG it's important to know who a character is as a person and/or what role they have in the narrative. With so little to go off of, does it really matter that your character can punch people and pick up heavy objects about 10% better (or in many cases, more often) than the character of the player next to you? When cutting back a game's mechanics, a designer is making a statement about what matters, and I'm hearing many designers say "yeah it does matter to be able to quantify slight differences in physical characteristics between characters, this is definitely a good use of my extremely limited time and space!"

Things I think are better

I have already seen some solutions out in the wild:

Assign numerical weight to problem solving approaches - I see this often and it works well to drive action without restricting specifically what a character must do to get their bonus.

Assign numerical weight to vibes - This works for games that are lighter and fluffier and can serve to characterize a character well, but can be lacking in more grounded games.

Assign numerical weight to archetypes or jobs - A character having points in "crime lord" is a lot more evocative than them having points in charisma or sway and then using it to deceive people.

Be more specific - If you're designing a game with a very specific scenario in mind, it might be better to use something way more specific and tailored to your game. This entirely solve the issues on its own, but won't make me roll my eyes at the very least.

Don't use them at all - there's other ways to define a character than assigning numbers to generalized categories, and I've seen games that don't have stats and work fine.

I don't believe I've seen it pushed it far enough, frankly. I'm a sicko like that. You can assign a number to nearly anything and it can work. Nearly anything. So experiment more. Let players write their own stats, find a job resume and add numbers to it, staple numbers where you wouldn't think to, the world is your oyster so don't be boring with it.

Signed, a pretentious game designer

[mixelation]

I know you said Founders Era isn't your fave, so feel free to ignore this, BUT. With Kushina Jr. dating Space and Time Travelling Tobirama and planning on marrying her, is there a future where Tori and Itachi have to meet Madara at a social event and try to play nice to make their child happy? Sorry your wine sucked. Rip.

for the "does anyone have any questions they want me to answer?" ask meme stolen from toz

you are correct that i don't really like founders era as a setting! i also range from neutral to actively disliking basically every founders era character beside tobirama. so i have not considered what's going on on tobirama's side of the family at all, because i don't care about them. however i guess depending on whether or not i decide characters give a shit about time paradoxes (i guess not in a post kushina jr society), the cast of mutagenicity might have to interact with mildly au founders era at some point.

now. i need you to understand this. there is no "play nice to make [other family member] happy" in this family. it is occasionally attempted because they do like each other, but it almost always failed. tori is incredibly effective at schmoozing in short bursts but she lacks stamina and needs to save whatever stamina she builds up as an older adult for being hokage. itachi often attempts to be nice but he is fundamentally bad at it. kushina jr is mellow enough they SEEM nice at first but they are actually just lazing through life doing whatever the fuck they want and don't necessarily care if it screws other people over. if anyone in this family thinks you're a bitch, they will tell you and the other two have accepted this about them and support them. they think you need to be told, madara

(i think at this point tori and itachi are old enough that whatever unhinged dynamic they've settled into is one they both actively enjoy and refuse to change. tori is hokage you can't stop her)

[jarimaa]

hey, i was just wondering what are your thoughts on the final chapter of jjk…

The End

This is gonna be a little detailed. I am gonna first give a short answer and what I liked and disliked, then a little more detailed one. This is about ending as a whole.

I remember I did quite some research during my college time on post modernism and existentialism because i had to write an essay (it isn't about that) but I will be referring to what I researched here and there, when put forth my points.

Short answer- I am content with the ending. I am also surprised since this is the first time gege wrote a full manga for the first time, but he still managed to give an ending better than most. And any gripe that still remains, I will not hold it against the author cause the story and characters aren't real, Gege is.

Yuji, Sukuna, and Gojo's character have some of the best conclusions within the story (unpopular opinion probably 😮‍💨). The way they were written and the consistency with regards to their characterization was amazing.

As for what I am conflicted about, well, it's Megumi's character. I don't know how to say it, I liked it his conclusion, but I wish there was more introspection to how he reached there. But alternatively, I talked with a moot of mine, and they think the lack of introspection from Megumi is quite in-character. He decided to live for others once again (i.e., he didn't address his problems at all) and he is finding peace and comfort in the cage he is stuck at, it's such simple decision from his part, cause he is very clueless about his own psychology, and this is the beauty of it, that we as readers know what caused him to make that decision-according to my moot. I highlighted this one, cause this interpretation stood out the most. I also talked with other people, who seem to hold dislike for the lack of introspection from Megumi's end. While I am still conflicted, maybe I will address in some other posts or not at all, idk, but right now, I haven't formed my opinion on it. But I am satisfied, to say the least, conclusion itself isn't bad for me.

Detail:-

I like that it's more about evolving and coexistence rather than breaking the cycle or one conclusive solution. Regardless of Sukuna's or Yuji's existence, the curses will always continue to exist. It's humans' negative emotions that create curses in the first place. If the negative emotions of humans can't cease to exist, then curses won't either. Jujutsu Kaisen in a way rejects the idea that life can just have a start, middle, and end, or that one single truth/solution can provide closure. Maybe things can get worse in the future, maybe things can get better, that's up to you to decide, in that particular sense, it's open-ended.

You may ask what was even the point then? Well, let me offer a perspective, although it's just my interpretation, you don't have to agree to it...

When characters within a story accept a belief, perspective, or solution as the only truth, it can lead to their failure, especially if that belief oversimplifies a complex reality. But, one character who comes to understand the complexity can find a way to coexist with the chaos or ambiguity, though not necessarily "fixing" things.

In narratives such as these, the answer isn’t just a rejection of truth but a recognition of multiplicity, the presence of multiple perspectives, interpretations, or meanings within a single work or the idea that one truth or solution cannot account for the full stretch of experience. The character who realises the absence of a single "fix" often ends up navigating the challenges in a more nuanced way. They may not succeed in traditional terms, but they endure by accepting life’s complexity.

Many characters within JJK try to find some single "fix" to the system or the problem of curses and cursed energy and each of them had very flawed solution which we see failing--Yuki/Kenjaku/Geto were all extremists in that sense, one of my friend mentioned this in twt, Yuki wanted to completely break away from CE but also she didn't have any concrete plan, and Kenjaku who wanted to optimise it, but never really knew what merger could do, himself. Even Geto knew that killing all non-sorcorers is not possible.

Sukuna/Gojo-- both their ideals were extremely flawed. Many people have written amazing analysis on this, so i won't go in detail. But we see in the story how strength was the reason for both their solitude and which led them to path of their own death. But Sukuna perfected what Gojo didn't, sukuna completely threw away his humanity and was content living as a curse. A hollow human, who only ever cares about strength, he deemed love worthless, like Gojo deemed love to be the most twisted curse. However, gojo still wanted connections at the end of the day, and this kept him a little more humane than sukuna, who became a monster who clung to life wanting to stay at the pinnacle.

I liked that in the end Gojo realised that Yuji and other should follow their own path rather than just following his goals (although he would've like that) and I am glad they didn't follow his footsteps.

This conversation between sukuna and mahito just added so much to their characters.

Sukuna is the man who perfected his ego. He discarded his humanity till his last breath. Sukuna says he was an unwanted child (maybe cause he ate his twin in his mothers womb, someone on twt pointed out that this is similar to biological condition called "fetus in fetu") and he internalised this all and lived his whole life as a curse, only ever caring about his pleasures and displeasure and being the pinnacle. But even a perfected ego gets humbled in death, and the same happened with him. He acknowledges that he could have taken a different route, and if there is a next time, it would be nice to walk on a different path. Beautiful, honestly.

Now, Mahito is the literal manifestation of humans' hatred for others. He is a true curse, and he wasn't able to reconcile with his humanity after death because, unlike sukuna, he has none, he is not human. He is the manifestation of the same cycle of human hatred, he didn't change, he is the only one left sulking like a child. As I mentioned before, if the negative emotions of humans can't cease to exist, then curses like mahito won't either.

You could then say - well, then nothing changed?

I mean, is it really nothing? Tengen is no more, and this is the curse user Yuji, Megumi, and Nobara caught, and what happened to him?

Earlier, he probably would have been executed, but now Yuji offered him a chance to change.

Yuji turns out to be the person who learns to coexist. He is, for me, the best written character within the story with the best conclusion.

Now, let's just say that doesn't mean anything, nothing changed at all, there was no point...

However, the idea that "nothing changed" often misses the deeper layers of such narratives, which are less about external change and more about internal realizations, the acceptance of ambiguity and even the rejection of simplistic resolutions.

The "point" is not necessarily achieving change or a clear resolution, but rather witnessing the struggle itself. How characters navigate or accept a chaotic/indifferent universe.

There are two examples I can think of, first one being, Camus' "The Myth of Sisyphus", Sisyphus endlessly pushes a boulder up a hill, only for it to roll back down, its completely futile, yet the "point" is his perseverance. The second one is "Waiting for Godot" by Beckett, nothing really appears to happen in the story, and characters seem stuck in a cycle of waiting for this supposed person calles Gadot. However, the "point" is in the waiting itself. It's a reflection on the human condition, the search for meaning, and how we deal with uncertainty and the passage of time.

Thus, the point of such narratives is not in "what changed" but how we live with things not changing, how we adapt, or re-contextualise meaning of things when the world resists easy solutions or "fix its". It's reflectimg on the messiness of real life, where change is often slow, subtle, or non-existent, and simple answers are rarely seen.

So it's up to you to decide what you wanna make of this ending. Personally, I am very, very content.

(Again, this is my interpretation, I could be completely off charts, and I don't mind, maybe I will change my mind after thinking about it again, or maybe not, but one thing remains, that I throughly enjoyed all 4 years I was reading this manga. Peace✌️)

[writers-potion]

Don't Fear Criticism

Creating homosexual characters can feel like planting an active grenade in the middle of your story. You start to fear bad reception of your work - even before you start!

But really, there is no need to worry. The fact that you're concerned only proves that you care.

You probably won't get it the first time.

You probably will get some criticism.

Only remember that it's perfectly normal to make mistakes. After you punch out your draft, have beta readers who are part of the community and incorporate their feedback.

No Diversity Shopping

Yes, diversity is important, but it's no checklist where you need to list all possible sexual orientations and have at least one character for each.

First of all, it would be quite impossible.

Second, that is likely to make all of them underdeveloped and stereotypical.

Check if you really need the character in your plot.

If they turn out to be homosexual, let them run their own course and shape their path. If your story's theme is related to the character's sexuality, think about the message you want to convey.

Quality over quantity, always.

Go Beyond Sexuality

Your characters exist, and they happen to be homosexual, not the other way around. This doesn't mean that it won't be an important, or that you should downplay their sexuality.

Strike a balance by showing readers their hobbies, interests, likes and dislikes, relationships with their family and friends, etc. The more holistic they are, readers are going to be convinced that you have an actual character, not a scarecrow holding up the #diversity tag.

How do their sexuality play into their broader narrative?

Develop a Backstory

Every homosexual character must have thought about their orientation and identity, with a process of how they came to recognize their sexuality.

Whether you're character is a confused teenage girl, or a middle-aged gentleman with a stable relationship, think about what brought them here.

Backstories don't have to be tragic. They can have supportive parents and find escapism in online communities who accept them for who they are.

There isn't just one "gay life". Get creative.

Normalization is Important

Sometimes, your story world will not accept homosexual people as normal. That's okay!

However, there is a difference between other character treating them unfairly and you as an author normalizing homophobia in your narrative.

Word choice and tone would play a key role.

When a likeable character is homophobic, avoid normalizing it by making it a flaw. Show that your conservative medieval village is narrow-minded when they treat them as outcasts.

Homophobes may not necessarily be the evil guys.

It's enough to state (clearly) that it's wrong.

Make Use of Tropes

Stereotypes aren't just an issue with gay characters, but when used successfully, have created wonderful retellings and spinoffs that are refreshing.

You can purposefully overplay stereotypes to show how silly they are. Deconstructing stereotypes can add humor to your narrative.

You can also use them to explore the expectations that readers have for those kinds of characters. The Gay Best Friend might be a trope, but you can get them to go deeper than the typical sidekick to realize their true potential as a cast member.

Religion and Homosexuality

In the real world, religion and homosexuality are often presented on far opposites of politics, and that makes me sad. Homosexual characters are free to be religious, find peace, support and mindfulness through any religion of their choice.

Vise versa, deeply religious characters can have wonderful relationships with homosexual characters.

It all comes down to how your characters interpret religion and homosexuality in light of those religious values. Though I'm an atheist, I believe all religions have the ability to embrace diversity at their core.

If you like my blog, buy me a coffee☕ and find me on instagram! 📸

[birdmitosis]

What are your opinions on selfcest?

(I need to answer so many asks in my inbox... I'm sorry this is late! I will be late again/some more!!)

But I really wanted to finally get around to this one because I actually have some very specific thoughts on selfcest, which is that I feel like it would be... not necessarily "more liked," because people like what they like and are into what they're into, people are squicked by what they're squicked by, etc... but seen as less scandalous if it didn't have "-cest" as part of the name.

To elaborate, I don't think it has any similarities to incest unless the specific individual characters in question outright do think of their "other selves" in a familial way. In many cases this just isn't the case, however -- the relationship doesn't map that way in canon itself, or the other selves are totally noncanonical in the first place. I can think of some exceptions (Galerians, where almost all the clones of one particular person think of one another as siblings, including the one who was raised separately and didn't know about any of that so doesn't feel a sibling bond with them but they still seem to consider him one) but in many cases, that's just not what's going on. It's clones, or a changeling, or a time loop, or a multiverse, or something else where the canon doesn't portray them as feeling any sort of familial bond -- and where sometimes the canon actually outright makes a point to show or talk about how different they are.

And to explain even further... I think my view on selfcest is influenced by the fact that for a couple of decades now, my views on selfhood have been such that... I don't think "self"cest inherently feels self enough to feel offputting to me, either. Yes, you can have situations where someone looks at a clone or alternate universe version of themself and goes "that's 100% me" in a way that never really treats the other like their own person, and in that case it wouldn't appeal to me... But even since I was a teenager, I've always considered that if one person was suddenly two people, the second person unavoidably becomes their own person from the moment of separation, the moment either of them says or does anything that starts to develop them in a different direction from the other. And a lot of the time "selfs" in selfcest are even more different than that: Think of the Spider-Verse movies, for instance, or the possible interactions between a Transformer and their alternate universe selves if you crossed some of the cartoons and comics together. Pavitr Prabhakar and Peter B. Parker just do not feel like the same person; neither do EarthSpark Arcee and Transformers Animated Arcee and IDW comics Arcee.

TL;DR though, uh, I have to assume you're asking me because of Slay the Princess. 😅 In which case that was a really long and roundabout way of saying... Honestly, I don't even think "selfcest" applies in STP. (Mostly, at least.) While the voices are all parts of the Long Quiet (and the vessels are all parts of the Shifting Mound), they are different enough people that they necessitate their own names, they have different relationships with one another, they disagree with one another to the point of dislike at times, their actions if they could act on their own would be VERY different, and especially once they have their own bodies I just don't register them as the same person anymore. And I truly think the game backs me up on this, because... the Shifting Mound and the Long Quiet also used to be the same being originally. Go back far enough and arguably any ship that isn't the Narrator/one of the other characters is selfcest! But it so doesn't feel that way to me, not even to the extent that most people mean it.

I have the occasional selfcest ship, but long story short, voices shipping and vessel shipping doesn't actually feel like selfcest to me at all* if that makes sense.

[battlekidx2]

Alastor Theory

Okay, I'm gonna throw my hat into the ring when it come to who has Alastor on a leash and I'm not gonna say Lilith.

I think Eve might also be an option for being the one that owns Alastor's soul.

I think the Lilith connection is a bit too obvious and Lilith hates being forced into subservience canonically within the show, so it would be weird if she chained another soul to do her bidding. And Eve is easily the character that would have the most issues with the Morningstar family, heaven, and hell. She was made out of Adam's rib and given the apple by Lilith and Lucifer. She's been a pawn in other people's plans since the beginning. She's the one blamed for original sin and it's clear she's not in heaven. She was the scapegoat while Adam got off relatively Scott free.

She has so many reasons to want to get back at everyone and what better way to gradually gain a foothold without drawing attention to herself than enlisting the services of a sinner in hell?

It’s said that Alastor immediately started taking out overlords that had been dominant for centuries the moment he stepped foot in hell. There has to be a reason for that. It feels too calculated to be a coincidence.

Plus Lilith’s disappearance coinciding with the Alastor's isn’t necessarily a factor against this theory because it can be explained as Eve essentially throwing Alastor into a battle with Lilith where Alastor was injured and had to take time to recover.

His reaction when Zestial said people thought he had been struck down by holy arms was a bit telling to me. The way he took that moment to look away and collect himself to brush it off read as Zestial hitting too close to the mark.

He's super touchy about why he was gone for 7 years and we've seen that Alastor's berserk button is his pride and he dislikes his strength being questioned. He absolutely would not want to admit he was gone because he was recovering.

That comment seemed too pointed by the writers to be completely written off.

Maybe in this battle Eve got Lilith's soul. If she doesn’t why would Lilith be gone from Charlie’s life for seven years? Why wouldn't she return around the same time as Alastor? She seemed to really care about Charlie. Charlie still tries to call her and she doesn’t seem to hold any resentment toward Lilith, so I think there would have to be a reason beyond nebulous plans that's keeping her away.

Alastor also clearly does not have a good relationship to whoever has his soul, so I kind of imagine if it was Lilith he would be a bit more hostile towards Charlie or it would show a bit more in the moments where he was alone or when Charlie isn't looking. (Alastor is the only character this show is truly subtle with)

I just wanted to put my opinion out there because I've seen so many Lilith owns Alastor's soul theories out there and I wanted to offer a different angle.

[lemotmo]

99.9% sure T is coming back and people are dooming because lfjr was filming on the same block and there’s a helipad on the rooftop he posted BUT I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing… I know nobody wants to deal with that insufferable part of the fandom but I could see them bringing him back for closure and Buck (once again) trying to misplace his feelings for Eddie onto T until T finally makes him realize it was never about him at all. It’s ALWAYS been Eddie. As much as I don’t want to see that man again I think it would make for dramatic TV lol and it would put the nail into the coffin for BT forever! Also I remember Tim saying in an interview after 8x07 I think that T is in Buck’s romantic past for sure but he may intersect with T in this universe again… so I’m almost positive this lfjr appearance is not a reconciliation and rather just another way for a plot device to do what they do best and move the plot :)

Okay, my inbox is flooding with L and T messages right now, so I want to address this now, before it explodes completely.

I'm addressing this using this ask by a very clever anon. Why? Well Nonny?! I think you make an excellent point!

Let's look at this logically, without any emotions involved. The problem with T right now is that all of our experiences with this character and actor are clouded with negative emotions.

Why? Well... you all know why right?

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

So let's get rid of all of these emotions for a moment. And let's look at this from a pure narrative point of view.

Say T does come back. So what?

Can he stop Buddie at this point? No. That ship has loooong sailed and to be honest... there was never a contest to begin with. Eddie has always been more important to Buck than T ever was. It's obvious from the last episodes that Buck is very close to figuring out his feelings for Eddie. So T is no threat whatsoever.

So why would he be there? Well, logically speaking it would be an interesting choice for T to run into Buck and mention something about Eddie, cue Buck starting to question what exactly it is he feels for Eddie.

Way back when, right after 7x04, L did an interview where he talked about T being some kind of a stepping stone for Buck to realise he really wanted Eddie. Around that time Oliver did an interview saying that he really wanted T and Buck to stay in contact and that T could be some kind of wise queer person who kind of helps him figure things out.

What if this is what we are seeing right now?

If T is back-- and I'm using a big IF here, because I'm still not so sure whether or not he will be-- he could be there to be a catalyst into both Buck and Eddie figuring out what they feel for each other.

He could be a 'stepping stone' aka a 'plot device' to get the main ship together.

I'm just saying--

If he is back it is not for a round 2 of BT. That obviously didn't work out very well for either of them. So the only logical explanation is that he is there to push the Buddie narrative along like a good plot device does.

Honestly, I'd rather not see the man back either, but the reason for that isn't that he could threaten Buddie. It never was about that. There was no competition there to begin with.

I don't want to see him back because I really dislike the way some of his more ardent stans have treated me and the rest of this fandom from the moment he kissed Buck. I'm simply tired of dealing with these people.

So let's stop spiraling over this please. If (big IF here) T is back, he is there for a purpose. I can guarantee you that that purpose? It's Buddie-related.

[mari-lair]

Let's talk about Akane's overprotection of Aoi and the dangers of not properly setting up a narrative tone.

We are told that Akane stalks Aoi because guys have been trying to force her into a relationship for years, so he protects her by beating up anyone who approaches. Nene and Kou are understandably horrified by this.

But in the very next page, Aidairo hit us with this tone switch:

What Akane is saying is contradictory to the violent and possessive narrative that was shown during his introduction, to this yandere role he played the entire chapter, but the manga is trying to convey that we should take him seriously here. Even the lighting and composition are the ones used when characters are vulnerable and Aidairo wants to show that what they feel is real.

It's strange...

Being possessive is never framed as something that leaves other characters in awe, just compare Akane's melancholic and peaceful gaze to the creepy tone used when Kou and Hanako have their "you are possessive" moment.

Both Kou and Hanako hate that part of themselves, Kou even rejects it, but it's still clear the rejection doesn't make him any less possessive. Both want to be dependable, they want to be the only choice, no one else is acceptable. It's a selfish feeling. Being 'the most important person' is more important than the joy of the person they want to help (Kou's wish is Mitsuba needing him, instead of Mitsuba happy as a human. Hanako wants to be the one to save Nene, the idea of Nene being saved by someone else does not satisfy him even if it would make her happy and safe)

So this isn't a "Akane is lying to himself" or a "he is delusional" case.

The narrative, which had presented Akane as a yandere, wants us to believe that "I will protect Ao-chan... Even if she never looks my way" is not only what Akane believes to be true, but also something admirable. A sentiment Nene craves directed her way, claiming to be 'a little jealous' of Aoi, despite calling Akane scary a single page ago.

Let's rewind to see how we got here.

Akane and Aoi's stories suffer from being mostly given to us in gags for a good chunk of the manga, as they are not very relevant in the early arcs, but the crumbs come together after their confrontation in chapter 69.

Why is Akane stalking Aoi? Because he worries about her. Not about someone stealing her necessarily, but about her being hurt or forced into situations she is uncomfortable with.

They are very codependent. They have been for years.

We can see Akane being shocked at the sight of people bullying Aoi since they were kids, it isn't just 'boys who want to date her' that makes her uncomfortable. Jealous girls do too.

Even when Aoi is left alone, using clothes completely out of her cutesy style to attract less attention, and just living her life, she is still harassed.

Aoi's life is a nightmare, it straight up sucks. She hates that, and when Akane notices this discomfort, he hates that too.

He is far more protective than possessive, he doesn't care when people are touchy with Aoi as long as she welcomes the touch: Take Nene as an example.

Akane never touches Aoi at the start of the manga but Nene does, a lot. He never think "Nene is touching my Ao-chan! Unforguivable". "Maybe Ao-chan likes Nene more than me is not far!" or anything of sorts

Even when Aidairo uses the same over-the-top/creepy gag humor I personally find excessive, and Aoi straight up flirts with Nene, Akane's only thoughts about it are the usual "I love her so much"

When he does show dislike for Nene it's never because she is of value to Aoi. It's because of how dismissive Nene can be, not taking Aoi's safety seriously and easily excusing Hanako's actions.

We only see him be aggressive with Nene when Hanako possesses her and makes Aoi uncomfortable.

The problem here is the framing, the comedy focus. It's hard to take it seriously.

Everything about Akane's intro chapter is hard to take seriously. We are told he is "Hard working. Reliable. What a nice and sweet person."

But we aren't shown these honorable qualities much, not explicitly at least. The big panels, the main focus, is on his gag.

And his main joke is that he loves excessively, even for this school standard where everyone is weird (like Nene writing a self-ship fanfic with Teru) so he needs to be over the top, his behavior has to stand out!

How do they try to achieve this? Yandere jokes.

It is overplayed, they spend pages on it. WHOLE PAGES on it.

It is an old narrative trick to present a twist character as a comic relief to lower suspicion, to keep the more important characterization for after a reveal when they are oficially important, but framing all his actions as comedic and devoid of dept to make his reveal as No.1 more unexpected leaves him in a strange position: Akane is intended to be written as a protector but framed as a joke, to the point his introduction become the satire of a protector.

When he is revealed as the clock keeper and allowed to be given more focus, Aidairo try to explain his behavior and show signs of him being a genuinely caring and kind person, as the first part of his intro had promised.

But it's to late.

His crazy actions and anger issues is in most people's minds, a few lines can't erase pages and pages of his introduction as a yandere like archetype, so it's easy for first impression bias to come into play and interpret all his actions as a simple "He is obsessive." instead of trying to find dept or nuance to the established dependence he has on Aoi.

When we are shown that above wanting to date her, he just wants her to be safe and happy, it does not become clear. The reader needs to pay a lot of attention to small moments like these:

Which a casual reader likely won't. Most are reading for the toilet trio at this point in the manga.

This fumble on his character introduction makes it hard to know what should and shouldn't be taken seriously. Aidairo discarded the yandere narrative relatively quick (we haven't seen Akane's bat in ages) but this gag about being happy as long as Aoi is happy turned out to be important:

It was used to further contrast Aoi's and Akane's mentality on their big arc, and highlight how much nearly losing Aoi affected him.

So the only way we can tell what joke to take seriously cause it will be used to build up his character and what is a gag is hindsight.

I did not care about Aoi and Akane's relationship when I first read the manga, i went 'oh cool!' on their conflict, cause that was very well done, but since their characters were not well introduced, I did not notice a lot of the ideas being shown to me.

Akane is a sweet boy. That's his core, his consistency. Even with Aoi, being kind is the priority over being with her.

Let's compare him with Hanako, who is an openly possessive character, and see how they approach their love interests when they don't know if their love interest likes them back yet, and they aren't reduced to a gag (so we'll dismiss Akane being 'a yandere with a bat', and Hanako's joke of him being a tactless pervert, like peaking under Nene's skirt when her time was frozen)

(so pre-chapter 86 to Hanako and pre-chap 69 to Akane)

Hanako traps Nene, he will cling to her anytime he can, he cares about Nene and loves her dearly, he even says he "loves everything about her" but he is greedy for her attention, he is selfish, always trying to make her focus on him out of everyone in the room and keeping her in his hold, out of others reach. His unsubtle possessive nature is a charm of his, makes for an interesting character.

Akane has a different vibe to it. He doesn't have many serious moments with Aoi before their spotlight arc, unfortunately, but when he does, he focuses on reassuring her (even when her time is frozen and she can't hear him) and avoids touching her at best he can. He has known her for more than 10 years, but he doesn't act as if she belongs to him.

I am not saying Akane is not possessive of her, he is. But he tends to be more worried about her than anything.

Using hanako as the trademark of possessiveness again, check out these two scenes:

At the start of the manga Kou likes Nene, and Akane is under the impression Teru like Aoi, so both scenes follow the basic premise of "A know B has a crush on their crush, and they get possessive over a possible romantic rival being too close."

Hanako doesn't say anything, but his message is clear "She is mine."

Akane explicitly says he doesn't like Teru near Aoi but he doesn't try to remove Aoi from Teru or try to do anything violent. Why would he? Aoi is in no danger, nor is she uncomfortable, so he changes focus to the person who is troubled, awkwardly reassuring Teru that his distress is, in his personal opinion, stupid, so "chill bro".

He wasn't like that with Teru before.

He was so determined to stop the wedding he even rejected hanging out with Aoi, crying tears of blood and asking for her forgiveness in his mind but prioritizing not making her get together with Teru above her joy.

Is that because of his development? Yes! A big part is. Notice the way he treats his mental image as reality? That was his biggest flaw, he imposed his views on Aoi (the view being "everyone is stupid in love with Teru" in this case), and assumed what he believes is a universal truth, doing exactly what Aoi accused him of: Not seeing her, just an idea of her.

But the reason he went so crazy and determined, it's because Akane saw Teru as someone dangerous. Someone who would use Aoi. Hurt her. He believes he is protecting Aoi from the big bad president. A view that makes sense when we take into consideration both Aoi's history of being forced into relationships, and when we go back to their interaction.

Look at this and tell me this isn't a threat:

Teru acts as if he barely remembers her name, she is just 'that cute girl', mostly a tool for him to use against Akane.

When his view of Teru changes to someone kinder who genuinely cares about Aoi as a person, he no longer enters protective mode.

He is still bothered about the idea of Aoi being with someone else, he does noooot look pleased even with his fairy tale vision of a happy couple, but the way he treats this possible 'rivalry of love' when he does believe Teru loves her is so different from his "Don't get close to her!! I will NOT allow it!!" approach.

There is no insecure overthinking. No aggression. He is playful about it. He even teases Teru.

He just wants to focus on rescuing Aoi. A 'rivalry' isn't important. He needs her to be safe.

These two parts of Akane have been juggling for a long while.

But now, character focus is the priority, and I am thankful the damage is being undone, that Aidairo let Akane's love take up whole pages instead of small panels buried under pages of jokes.

Their codependence, no matter how many issues it has, and how it can sabotage them, is based on so much care for each other.

It's a shame I only believe Akane was sincere when he said he'll always be there to protect Aoi regardless if he 'gets to be with her', because of what we see later in the manga, not because of what had been set up in his intro.

[danwhobrowses]

I'm not sure how much good this vent will do, I'm not even sure I want to post this vent after my last one, but I'm writing it just so it's out of my head and into words because it seems once again fandom has chosen to send vitriol Ashton Greymoore's way.

What for? They talked to a 'specter' of the primordial titan within them, through their connection to the earth, the natural flow of creation and destruction. They ask what will happen to the world, it responds that it'll endure, they ask what of the people, it responds that the strong will survive and the weak will be remade into something stronger, to which Ashton replies they think they understand. To fandom this means that Ashton is becoming a fascist, that they have a 'Make Exandria Great Again' attitude for wanting the Primordials back, that they need to be beaten up or 'get what's coming to them' in order to change their mind, and I can only sit here and stew and wonder if this hate is really well-founded? Ashton is among my favourite characters in C3, I get frustrated by them at times too but if I think about it a big percentage of my frustrations is more towards people disliking them than me disliking things they do, or Matt setting up scenarios that doesn't do them any favours towards the fandom that hates them. Some of these are knee-jerk reactions of course, but for others it does feel like they have it out for Ashton, and I don't wanna engage with that, which makes it quite lonely when most of the fandom hones in on it.

For the most part I can understand how the whole 'the weak will be remade' bit can be taken badly; it's definitely iffy, but every other plan we have is also very iffy. The Release Predathos option literally involves unleashing an entity that wants to genocide the gods, the Maintain Status Quo option ('option' the status quo imo is impossible, in my mind the Gods can stay but the dynamic will still have to change) maintains a relationship where the gods pick and choose who they feel deserves help, using their power to covet more power, strongarm and demand loyalty, and overall choose fellow gods over mortals when the chips are down and not owning up to it. We should also remember that entities can speak in riddles, 'remade into something stronger' doesn't necessarily mean death; it could mean to adapt and grow, to become strong enough to bear and overcome it as many of the PCs of Critical Role have done with their hardships and trauma. It's worth reminding that the sad truth is that people will die whatever outcome happens - the aim is always to lessen the amount but if the Gods leave it's a power vacuum, if we linger too long it's a Calamity, and if the Gods stay it's a holy war on a more wild and less organized scale - and that Ashton isn't saying they approve of such death, merely that they think they understand. The commune doesn't tell Ashton which way to go; it only tells them that the world will endure, there will be change and it will change people, trees will still grow, the wind will still blow, the waves will still flow along the coasts of the sea, and people will survive. I know the interpretation can differ from people thanks to Matt's patented vague or riddle-mounted choices in phrase, but I also think if it was the Wildmother who told Orym or some other follower that 'nature is a cycle, everything must adapt to change or else it'll die - this world will change, but it will also survive' nobody would be calling Orym a fascist, people would accept it because the Wildmother's domain is nature, and nature is not always kind.

While we're mentioning Orym - and because this is gonna come off as critical I must preface that I like and enjoy All of the Hells, that's not changed - I also gotta call it out here because it does very much feel like the people who hate Ashton hate them for the reasons they love Orym. Both are stubborn, they're diligent in their personal code, they care deeply for their friends and would give their whole being just to keep them safe, they believe in the Hells' power and greatness more than each member does and more than they believe in their own, but Ashton gets the hate mainly because these fans agree more with Orym on the god stuff. What confuses me though is how these same haters can despise Ashton for being consistent but love Braius, the literal Devil Worshipper who secretly is on board with the Chase Away plan only so he can help the Devil rule the world, the compulsive liar. Where's Braius' scrutiny? A world under Asmodeus will be a far worse 'survival of the fittest' scenario, why does Braius get a pass in all this stuff huh? Because he's funny? Seems people ignore the whole morality talk when they're discussing Braius' dedication to Exandrian Satan.

I find it irksome too that even the group seem to criticize Ashton reaching out to Primordials too - as if that wasn't what we wanted them and Fearne to do anyway. They don't dislike the gods simply because they're a 'great entity', it's because they're a great entity that holds power and doesn't use it equally or fairly; they pick and choose who to help, a lot of the time in Ashton's experience for their own self-service, but they won't prioritize mortals over another god no matter who cruel or heinous the god is being, and the following of these gods are so intertwined with politics that most religious motivation also ends up being political. Ashton has no connection to the gods, they reached out and got nothing, an Angel looked at them and made them feel like nothing, but they do have a connection to the Primordials; from the Earth Golem to the Titan Empress they're literally a vessel of, they experienced something significant in their connection to the Earth, so I don't like how that they're almost mocked for having it. In addition, Ashton's behaviour during this commune differs because of that connection, but also because the titans are a natural flow; they don't demand or test or politic or prejudice, and despite being a Great Entity in its own right it never made sure Ashton felt small for their own satisfaction, they asked a question and got an answer, it's the same reason Ashton has disdain for most political leaders but likes and respects Keyleth, Allura, Kima, Pike, and (eventually) Percy despite also being people in power. To call on Orym and the Wildmother as an example again; Orym's an Air Ashari, the Ashari are guardians of the Elemental Planes - made from the Primordials - not tied to a god, but nobody criticizes his connection to the Wildmother despite both not being a follower and his culture being more tethered to Primordials and their descendants. I'm not saying it's all correct for Ashton to want things to go back to how Primordials ruled, but we must remind ourselves also that we only know a story written by victors when it comes to the Schism - a story which could very easily have been altered and edited to make it feel more justified for the Primes and mortals to actively genocide all the Primordials, the native species and creators of this world, and desecrate their remains to make weapons, soul anchors, and cities - the specter didn't say 'fuck em, all mortals should die' after all, if they believe mortals would survive then they must be at the least tolerant of mortal existence. Why is it okay for god followers to say they wanna keep the world with the gods they have a connection to (and I'm not saying they aren't) but Ashton is out of line for wanting to have a world which has something active that they also have a connection to? It seems rather unfair to allow one side to have and the other to have not, picking and choosing because our audience's bias has spent more time with the gods, Ashton wanting something they can connect to doesn't feel all wrong either, the Eidolons still exist with faint worship hiding away so they're not smited by the gods, why can't faith exist so they're not in hiding? I sincerely doubt the Punk Rock that is Ashton is asking for the Primordials to fill the Gods' roles the same way the Gods have been running things either, they want to break the throne remember? There needs to be a balance in ideals and practice of course, and in an ideal world there could even be a more fluid and all-inclusive Exandria where gods and Eidolons live harmoniously with mortals without hierarchy and class systems, I think Ashton could happily live with something like that, they did say the world needs 'a little chaos' to call back to Matt hinting that the current world doesn't have enough.

Which leads us to those wishing violence upon Ashton - and I really don't like that. People who say 'hitting them over the head is the only language they understand' seem to misinterpret Ashton as if everyone around them have been on their hands and knees begging Ashton to reconsider and them ignoring valid points and pulling a Leroy Jenkins. In reality, nobody is actually talking to Ashton about it, a lot of the frustration with Bells Hells right now is that they aren't talking to each other, even about the end goal! Ashton has valid reasons for their thinking, so being violent isn't gonna change their mind; undermining, dehumanizing and trying to effectively bully anyone let alone someone with chronic pain and low self worth will never truly convince them to your way of thinking. All people understand the language of violence, but that language is not used justly, those who truly wish violence upon Ashton don't want it in hopes it'll force Ashton to change their mind, they want it for their own satisfaction of seeing them in pain; so they can further push them away from the rest of the group and go 'that guy's not one of us', make it so the people Ashton calls family after a lifetime of loneliness, confusion and abandonment - the people they promised they won't abandon, and have kept true on that promise even at their lowest - make them feel small and worthless, and force them into box where they can't be themselves, and I hate that people would want to treat them that way. Ashton IS capable of listening; they've stepped back and trusted the other Hells to do their own thing even when it's ridiculous like staging a play where they pretend to be Ludinus to trick Unseelie emissaries into thinking that he attacked them, they listened to the gods even when they didn't have to like they promised they would and despite it being very personal they held themselves back for the benefit of the group, and if the group talked to them calmly where they were all allowed to healthily discuss the pros and cons, the ideals and compromises, and the risk and reward of all plans that have been proposed then they would listen, and they would try - you don't need to slice bread with a broadsword.

Will Ashton 'get what's coming to them'? Maybe, but what is that exactly? We only assume to know the full vision of what Ashton wants to act on. All of Bells Hells are gonna face the consequences of the choice they make on Ruidus - when they finally make one that is - in and out of the world they live in, so won't that apply to everyone? So what for Ashton? do people want Fractures 2.0? Does everything Ashton wants in life have to blow up violently in their face? Family, Closure, their best friend's safety, why does 'what's coming to them' have to be something aggressive and harmful? People change through positive reinforcement and good experiences too! Caduceus Clay would remind you that it's love that makes people. Don't mistake this rant as me wanting Ashton to be exactly as they are now, I too want to see growth from Ashton and we ARE seeing it happen; I see it in small instances where they think twice about rash actions and try not to fly off the handle, when they sit just to listen or understand or to defuse tension, and that when they're going somewhere or doing something they let the group know in advance, those who think Ashton hasn't changed since ep. 1 aren't paying close attention, but that doesn't mean that they don't still have more ground to cover. I believe that Ashton grows the most through kindness; when they're treated like a person and not a blunt instrument or a nuisance, and I hope what's 'coming' for Ashton isn't rejection, bitterness, and isolation, but acceptance, empathy, and for someone - if you know me you'd know who I'd want it to be - to convince them that they are worthy of living, that they're special not because of their powers or blood or because they have died and been put back together again (honestly, it does irk me a little that both Keyleth and Imogen chose that for titles and to brag to the Matron, I know it isn't intended this way but sometimes it feels like saying 'your best defining quality is that you've died a lot') but because while they have every reason to hate everything they still chose to be kind to those who deserve kindness, they have a good heart and they mean well. Are they perfect? No! They're in their 20s very few people irl have their lives together at even twice that age, but I want them to have good things in their life; things that help them feel happy and safe and like they can still feel comfortable in their own skin without having to appear more 'palatable' for people who've already decided that they don't like them. I want them to know that they've always deserved to live and they still deserve it now, I want that not just for Ashton but for all the Hells, and hopefully they'll all live to have it.

And most of all I want the people who hate them to be wrong about Ashton Greymoore, and I want Taliesin to prove them wrong.

[prettycottonmouthlamia]

I will say that in addition to toxic positively in fandom spaces there is a counterpart to it that I have repeatedly noticed. This was more immediately apparent in some spaces that I'm in like Magic, where it's fairly common to see people who complain about virtually everything under the sun, even in ways that are contradictory. It's something I've called "Communally Enforced Dissent" because it is usually a result of a desire to keep opinions about something...low. But maybe this is toxic negatively in the same vein.

I will admit to a rather bad habit of mine as of late: when I disagree with someone about something, I will actually usually some time later check in on them, usually popping onto their blog, to see if something has changed. I think that what motivates this is the desire to see people as...individuals who are not necessarily so invested in their opinions that they become obstinate: they are capable of engaging with a topic and its dialogue.

Like, for example, I think the most salient critique of Mon3tr's design is that it could be less cute. This is not necessarily a critique I find to be that important, but I can understand where its coming from. I can disagree but like nod my head that I think it is a salient critique. So I was curious on the opinions of a couple of individuals who I won't name here for the sake of not like causing trouble now that some time has passed.

Have their opinions on Mon3tr changed, now that there has been quite a bit of fandom discussion about the ways in which Mon3tr reads as very transgender, especially from many of the transfem bloggers in the community? As one of them put it, art should be debated and discussed. Are they doing that?

Well no. As far as I can tell, they've not even bothered to discuss the topic at all since then. That sentence I brought up was complaining about going onto the Arknights subreddit (L O fucking L sorry but I also lurk that subreddit and shit is dire) and getting downvoted for criticism, and it highlighted that these people don't...actually want discussion. Like if you want to talk about, for example and not an opinion attributed to any of the people I'm talking about, Integrated Strategies being a bad game mode, I can understand the frustration when you run up against the fact that Integrated Strategies is very popular.

I don't think it's a bad game mode. I do think it has problems, there have been design choices both in the past and recently that are concerning. IS5 in particular I think is not a very well designed version and I vastly prefer IS4. But if your goal is not to actually have discussion but batter me down until I agree with you, that's not actually a discussion.

I will say, and quite publicly, that there are reasons for disliking Mon3tr's design that are quite revealing of internalized misogyny. I do not think they are legitimate complaints and are actually people being very weird about women. But when it comes to like, the direction of the game and the story or about specific plot beats I can see there being a lot to discuss. I have a post constantly brewing in the back of my mind about Kal'tsit and how...well resurrection isn't an inherently bad plot beat. But I haven't made it because I'm primarily waiting on the content that either doesn't exist yet or is untranslated.

If you want Mon3tr to be more monstrous, I will disagree with you: I think that her character design is well supported all things considered. But I think that is a critique that is reasonable even if we disagree. Discussion doesn't result in everyone coming to a consensus with each other you know. :)