#they are clearly making a lot of changes too so the backstories could be even more brutal if they want 🙃

[toadtusks]

From all the little hints we’ve gotten so far about the Mighty Nein cartoon and the animatic clip, I think there’s a good possibility the show might be having all the backstories/session 0s be shown up front as the first few episodes. If that’s the case, I can see why they describe it as grittier and darker, because yeah, a lot of those backstories are ROUGH TvT especially as an intro

[feefivefoe]

I guess I'm unintentionally working my way up the age ladder, so Jason next-

This is the first part that contains backstory stuff I gave my reader, so unfortunately this is where a lot of the "they can be anyone" immersion dies, sorry y'all.

Genuinely, he thought he might hate you at first. Even at the preteen age of 12, where children were usually trying to start striving to independence, you had been so...bland.

It's not that you didn't stand out. Quite the contrary. Anywhere Alfred could be found, you were just a step or two behind him. A leech. Only ever speaking in a hushed voice, making the old man strain himself to hear you, surely.

He doesn't think you've ever even looked him in the eye.

It isn't until that summer he starts connecting the dots. You still cling to long sleeved shirts, pants over shorts, even when it's clear you're struggling to not overheat.

Then he catches you in the kitchen in the middle of the night, t-shirt and pajama shorts.

Burn marks, healed yet gruesome, decorate your arms and legs. Based on how they're positioned, he'd argue they probably exist on the rest of your body, too.

And yet, despite his invasion of what you clearly(?) wanted kept hidden, you merely bow your head in shame and offer a meek apology.

That's when he stops seeing you as a problem, but as a victim of consequence.

Not a bratty child who doesn't care enough about the lower class to speak to your new 'sibling,' but a lonely child who had never even once considered he might want to speak to you.

"Mister Wayne and Mister Grayson are very busy." You had said once, matter of factly rather than bitter or sad. "I'm sure they'd spend time with me if they weren't. But they have two lives, so they have less time than anybody."

He doesn't have the heart to tell you that they make time for him. And the rest of Gotham.

As you do with Alfred, you begin to shadow him. Meandering behind him without a care as to what his plans are, happy to receive the barest of acknowledgments.

You hesitate when speaking about yourself, as though taking up his time with mentions of you is an issue. He's starting to understand why.

Jason isn't sure if it's pity or growing affection that keeps him around, at first. For a while, he sees you as more of a sad, wet dog than as his family.

But you begin to connect with peers at school, finding validation outside of those that feel forced to give it to you. You mature, grow up more than you should, and realize the reality of your home life.

And Jason is thrilled! ...and...a little sad? He's happy for you, sure. Having friends is probably what you needed. People who want you around, genuinely. Who choose to make time for you.

But he'd be lying if he said that the way you used to stare at him didn't make him feel like a hero. Like he was doing so much, changing your world, simply by existing.

You still speak, of course. You're friendly siblings that get along well. You give him various foods you've tried making, courtesy of Alfred inspiring a desire to learn to cook and bake on your own. You talk about books you've read together, and listen intently while he rambles about his favorites.

You even peek in after particularly rough patrol nights, just to make sure he's gotten through it okay.

But it isn't...quite the same. No, but it's...it's for the best.

And he is still a hero! As Robin, he's protecting the whole city alongside Batman!

So he's still a hero.

He's still your hero.

"Jay? I was wondering if I could ask you for some help. The show my club is doing is one of those old books you like-"

"They aren't that old."

"-and my character doesn't show up much in the movie-"

"You watched the MOVIE before reading the book!?"

"-so I wanted to ask if you'd help me with characterization!"

He remembers groaning at you and rolling his eyes. "I'm busy tonight. Go watch the dumb, BAD, movie again." He pauses. "Uh, but I can tomorrow. I'll make sure I don't have anything planned, promise."

He saw you pause, and sees the constant same promises pass through you.

"I...have other arrangements. I'll make it up to you next time."

"Ah...sorry, kiddo! Big kid stuff. But next time! You trust your big bro, yeah?"

But this is Jason. Jason doesn't lie to you.

Jason keeps his promises.

You smiled. "Yeah. Tomorrow."

...

Then he died.

[felassan]

Dragon Age: The Veilguard info compilation Post 3

[Part 1] [Part 2] Post is under a cut due to length.

There is a lot of information coming out right now about DA:TV from many different sources. This post is just an effort to compile as much as I can in one place, in case that helps anyone. Sources for where the information came from have been included. Where I am linking to a social media user’s post, the person is either a dev, a Dragon Age community council member or other person who has had a sneak peek at and played the game. nb, this post is more of a ‘info that came out in snippets from articles and social media posts’ collection rather than a 'regurgitating the information on the official website or writing out what happened in the trailer/gameplay reveal’ post. The post is broken down into headings on various topics. A few points are repeated under multiple headings where relevant. Where I am speculating without a source, I have clearly demarcated this. if you notice any mistakes in this post, please tell me.

Character Creation

All armor and clothing options will scale and mesh to any body type [source]

The character creator has lots of sliders for body parts and overall shape, none of which are tied to the voice or pronouns (she/her, he/him, or they/them) that you choose [source]

"Epler took special care to show off the extensive curly and textured hair options in the game, including several versions of braids and locs, noting that increasing these options in particular was very important to the team" [source]

You can change your character’s physical appearance at any time during the game, but not their class or backstory [source]

"Each individual class has some variability, too; even the mage class has some up-close-and-personal attacks, since a mage player character could still conceivably have an assassin backstory and would therefore need to have some attacks to accommodate that sort of career path" [source]

" "We’ve spent a lot of time thinking about skin tone,” Corinne said. The character we made, a Black elf, seemed to glow in the bluish light of a nighttime scene, and under bright sunlight, I could see the richness of his color. Corinne: "We want to make sure that skin tone is reflected authentically" " [source]

" “We have dozens and dozens of hair types,” she said. “And they’re fully affected by physics.” The quality and variety of choices I saw delighted me. The rows of bouncy, luxurious-looking hair of all curl types and textures (and yes, the annoyingly ubiquitous “Killmonger cut” was among the options, what can you do?) brought the biggest smile to my face in the hour I spent with Busche and The Veilguard." [source]

Story and lore

NPCs will remember when you chuck a shopkeeper through a plate-glass window [source]

" The game’s story sees Solas intact a plot that will result in the deaths of thousands. When his justification that “people die, it’s what they do,” falls on deaf ears, you and your merry band of misfits have to stop him " [source]

" “Early in the demo and in the trailer, you’re in a part of the world you’ve never been in – Tevinter,” Epler tells me. “Tevinter is known for being a place of high magic; visually, it’s different. Obviously in Origins you’re in Ferelden, which was grubby, muddy, and very visually different and distinct. That said, it’s the first hour of the game, so we’re only seeing the prologue. As you go deeper, you’ll find that the game can be just as bloody and just as grim as Dragon Age Origins, 2, and Inquisition. For us, it’s that feeling of contrast. You get moments of higher fantasy magic coming back to the world through Solas’ ritual, but also things get pretty grim, and things get pretty dark in some spaces for sure.” " [source]

"Snappy dialogue" [source]

The game is really about each of the companions [source]

Narrative narrative narrative! [source]

The Shadow Dragons are an underground resistance that engages in guerrilla warfare against the corrupt mage rulers of the Tevinter Imperium [source]

"Varric has created the group called the Veilguards, recruiting a veritable group of weirdos to pursue Solas, who’s carved a path through the magical empire of Tevinter" [source]

"There’s intrigue to the game’s tale already, with Varric hoping he can convince Solas to stop his plan of tearing open the Veil: a wish by the dwarf to save a dear friend. There’s a fascinating relationship that's already being set up, Varric and Solas as opposing narrative forces, with your character, Rook, pulled between them" [source]

"There’s extra context to flesh out dialogue, with short descriptions that help give a vague idea of how things play out. The example we were shown was Rook trying to take down a gang leader inside a bar. We could choose to defuse the situation with either words or weapons, but the catch is you don’t know how effective those approaches will be" [source]

" Busche explained that the team wanted to give players a game where locations were imbued with just as much personality as the characters. “That meant making contrast from the areas that are dark and decaying to the areas that are illuminated with magic,” Busche said " [source]

" “This is a part of the world where magic has been embraced,” Busche said. “It is a society of mages and magic in this world is inherently colorful. So whether we’re seeing them use magic for everyday purposes like signage or using them as spells, that color really comes through.” " [source]

We will visit the Necropolis of Nevarra [source]

Gameplay, presentation, performance etc

There are dozens of abilities and spells [source]

The game has an easy mode [source]

There is a setting where your character can't die in battle [source]

"The Rogue class in our demo had a bow with recharging arrows for ranged attacks, and dual blades that could unleash a furious flurry of instantaneous blows" [source]

[☕ found this post or blog interesting or useful? my ko-fi is here if you feel inclined. thank you 🙏]

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

If you were to write Lila would you keep her being a con artist criminal with multiple identities but hinted at/revealed it earlier than S5 or would you cut that part down of her character entirely ?

It would really depend on how much space I had to fill. Gabriel is not the kind of villain that you can draw out forever. His story needs to have a clearly planned ending right from the start. In fact, I think they drew him out at least a season too long. So, if I also had to fill eight seasons, I could see myself going the Lila route. I'd just make a few changes. Off the top off my head, here's how I'd handle serious villain Lila as opposed to what canon wrote, which is petty school bully Lila who is entirely unbelievable as a serious villain.

First of all, Lila wouldn't be introduced at the end of season one. While her and Gabriel probably need to have some overlap, that's way too soon. In my version, she shows up at the start of season four and she'd be heavily toned down. We'd know that something was off about her, we may even keep the liar thing, but it would be a lot more subtle. Lies like, "Ladybug rescued me" and "I got to go backstage at a Jagged Stone concert" instead of "Ladybug is my bff" and "Jagged Stone wrote a song about me." Her goal would no longer be gaining peons, but instead gaining true close friends who like and trust her. The reason for this is that Lila is replacing Optigami as Mayura's last sentimonster.

See, season three ended with all those identity reveals and most of the revealed identities are in the same class. That's curious, so it makes perfect sense for Nathalie and Gabriel to want someone undercover in Adrien's class, but they can't do it. So Nathalie makes a sentikid of her own, gives her the power of manipulation, and sends her off to try to find Ladybug and/or Chat Noir by whatever means necessary.

This would give a clear reason for Gabriel to trust Lila, a clear reason for Lila to know all about the miraculous, and a clear reason for Lila to hate Ladybug. In this version, I wouldn't do Nathalie's lackluster redemption. Instead, Nathalie stays bad right up to her death. Perhaps her last act is getting the butterfly to her daughter and ordering her to get revenge on Ladybug and Chat Noir should Gabriel fail. After all, Gabriel can't wield more than six miraculous at once, so it makes sense for him to send Nathalie off with at least one of them while he enacts his master plan just in case it fails.

That's just one potential path to take. I also like the idea of having Lila be someone who came to Paris in order to find the miraculous, but who has no ties to the Agrestes. That would require some pretty big changes to her character, though, as I can't see that type of character caring about things like dating Adrien or being a model or all the other crap that has nothing to do with gaining a miraculous and everything to do with popularity and social clout. Lila canonically doesn't know that Gabriel even has a miraculous until the final of season four, so she basically just lucked into finding one instead of doing anything logical to find it because this show has no clue how to actually write smart, clever characters.

In summary, I'm totally fine with complex, master-manipulator Lila, it's just hard to figure out the best way to make her work when we don't know anything about her backstory or motivation. The version proposed above is just the best I can do to fit her into the role canon placed her in. A role I could easily see later seasons flat out ignoring.

[descendant-of-truth]

That said, I do think that Shadow Generations being such a more carefully cultivated exploration of Shadow's past compared to what the original Generations was for Sonic is... not doing Sonic himself any favors

General audiences are already kind of under the impression that Sonic as a character is fundamentally not that deep or interesting, and Generations was written during a time that really, really wanted to prove that notion right. Sonic "being deep" was what, seemingly, caused so much critical backlash, so to counteract that, they gave us the blandest cutscenes Sonic has ever had the displeasure of being in.

But that's not really what Sega is trying to push for, now. Frontiers wanted to be more serious, with a mature, down-to-earth Sonic. The movies gave him an origin story that inherently makes him a lot more complicated than usual. Prime put the focus on his emotions and gave him a character arc that lasted the whole show. The IDW comics can get extremely serious, and we're treated to Sonic's inner monologue as he wrestles with difficult choices. They clearly want Sonic as a character to be interesting to people, not just a vehicle for action and quips.

But putting the old Sonic Generations in the same package as the new Shadow Generations is inherently portraying them as equivalent experiences. When Sonic explores his past, it's no big deal - just another day on the hero job! Absolutely nothing worth exploring on his end when it comes to meeting his past self and revisiting his memories! Nope! No need to use time travel as a way to explore his core values as a person who prefers to live in the moment and not be bound by his past, no siree!

Oh, but Shadow? Now that's the actually interesting character! Revisiting Shadow's past is such an exciting event that it requires the whole year to hype up, and Sonic's just so boring in comparison, isn't he? Who really cares about Sonic beyond his surface-level characteristics anyway, right? The Sonic Generations remaster is more of an accessory to what's essentially Shadow the Hedgehog 2 at this point, and that bothers me.

Sure, Sonic doesn't have "a backstory" like Shadow does. But the past that we explore in Sonic Generations isn't his literal origins, but all the adventures we went on with him. Imagine how much depth you could wring out of him if you just took those events as being legitimate parts of his life that he has feelings on! Feelings we could explore!

But because it's a remaster instead of a full-blown remake, all of this effort they're putting into Shadow's campaign is nowhere to be seen in Sonic's. Can you imagine how good of a package deal this would be if Sonic's character was given this much care and respect, too? Like, we have two Sonics, but Shadow is getting more than double the favoritism.

And the fact that this is only going to continue to push the idea that Sonic is just. incapable of being interesting, or even really affected by what happens around him is really frustrating. We already have the movies and Prime drastically changing his demeanor and core traits for the sake of making him "able" to have character development, and as much as I love those versions as characters, it's really doing a disservice to who Sonic is supposed to be.

The last thing we need is for Generations to come out again and make the Sonic from the games seem like the least interesting version of him. Bringing Shadow up should not involve dragging Sonic down - they're supposed to be equals. But this game doesn't seem to be showcasing that very well, on account of essentially being two games written by different people haphazardly mashed together.

People being introduced to the series through this game are going to have such a skewed perception of what Sonic is like as a person, as well as what he's like compared to Shadow, and that just. makes me kinda upset not gonna lie

[jennilah]

You got some Hoffstrahm headcanons you'd like to share with us?

(Love your art)

maybe (◕‿◕✿)

(thank you!!)

ok first of all, I gave these men so many backstory headcanons that I dont think Ive ever actually shared

Hoffman:

I imagine him coming from a broken home, with a father that disappeared when he was young and a mother that struggled with drug abuse.

I imagine Hoffman growing up resenting her and people like her, which is why he thinks lowly of addicts

Let’s say Hoffman was in his early 40’s when Angelina died. He would have been a teenager when she was born.

I headcanon that Angelina was born to an unknown father, and was put into foster care after their mother passed away to an overdose.

I imagine a young Mark dedicating himself to learning law so he could fight to be Angelina’s legal guardian. And in the meantime, he’s already learned so much about law already, and he needs a job near the foster care and school district, so that leads him to the local police force.

He succeeds in obtaining guardianship, and so, he raised his little sister. His only family. He never really got to live outside of this shitty town and explore any personal desires. He was only ever doing what was best for Angie, and now that she’s gone, he doesn't even know what it's like to want something for himself. (Might as well start killin')

Strahm:

I imagine he’s so uptight because that’s all he was ever really raised to be.

I imagine he was an only child with two very strict parents who he could never seem to please. They pushed him ever since he was young. All he knows is working his hardest.

I also don't think he's just an angry, screaming asshole. If I can be real, I think during the interrogation, he was interrogating. Ever since first watching Saw IV, I always interpreted the start of that scene as Perez opening as "Good Cop," Jill shaking her head going "that's not gonna work on me," and Strahm stepping up to say "okay. 'Bad Cop' time, then."

And then he puts on his over-the-top, tough-guy, "I'm going to break you" FBI interrogation act.

Later when he's screaming and throwing things, it's because the situation has become 2000% more dire as people are dying out from under them as they speak, INCLUDING Perez, who he clearly cares deeply for. Things have become personal.

And, he's also irrational and just kind of charges into dangerous situations. (He was also very much led exactly where John wanted him, it was all orchestrated as part of his test from the beginning. Not just the cube and coffin.)

I believe he can be aggressive and have a short fuse, exactly as Perez says, but also as she says.. hes not some kind of coked up lunatic.

I think outside of his extremely stressful, high-stakes line of work hes probably... normal.

I imagine he's the type to bring work home and constantly mull it over. I imagine he had a wife that he slowly drove mad because he never paid attention to her, and his heart, admittedly, wasn't fully in it either. They split amicably, but he kept the ring because he's married to the job- no need to let anyone believe he's available and make the same mistake twice.

And he probably fidgets with it too. Yes, I'm in the "autistic Strahm" club.

So,

WHAT do you get when you cross an uptight FBI agent that never sat down long enough to relax for once in his life, and a depressed detective that doesn't know what to live for?

well. saw IV and V

but in my head... in alternate realities where small things were changed here and there...

Obviously this comes up in like, every single one of my fics.. but the way I imagine them working starts with them taking down a LOT of walls.

Strahm has his scowly outer shell that houses his soft heart that cares for people underneath

and Hoffman has a friendly, arguably flirty outer persona that hides how broken and lost hes become on the inside

in almost every universe I have them fall in love in, it starts with Strahm reluctantly showing some vulnerability in some situation or another, and ends with Hoffman looking at him and going "shit... I like him, and I want him, and I've never really wanted before..."

and either that goes in like a fun toxic yaoi route

or Hoffman's heart grows 3 sizes and he realizes in horror that he never had to do everything he's done. He never had to kill Seth. He never had to join a cult. He could have learned to be happy again, to be normal and fall in love with an endearingly grumpy FBI agent and live out the rest of his life with new desires, new goals, new ambitions...

but he went down the dark path. and he can't undo what he's done.

and in whatever universe i concoct, they work together to basically give each other something theyve always been missing. Strahm never knew what it was like to truly settle down with someone, Hoffman never tried to love before at all, and theyve both got so much baggage and personal issues and traumas...

but hey, maybe they can help one another. they cant get any more fucked up after everything theyve been through. They want this to work too, so they put in the effort. Its high time either of them experienced true happiness, and somehow, they found it in each other.

[cryingprincess13]

So, you know this awkward moment when your hyperfixation ends and you realize that media was kinda actually bad? For me it was season 2 of Arcane.

Don’t get me wrong, I still love this show, it gave me an unforgettable emotions and, like, one of the longest hyper-fixations. But now, when I look back, it's just... so weird.

Season 2 sucked and it needs to be pointed out. If the first season was as close to reality as possible, giving us relatable characters in a kind of unreal world where you could understand everyone, even if they were a terrible drug lord, the second season gave us Marvel-esque reunion of every single character fighting one big evil with “friendship is magic” kind of end. They also added so much of unnecessary stuff??

-the prison caitvi sex

- episode 7

-black rose stuff without adding proper explanation

- Zaun trio backstory (which is once again just makes their timeline and episode 3 of s1 even more weird.)

Etc. etc. all of it was clearly a fan service, I’m sorry. Like, I did liked all of it, but if you gave me the choice between having all of em couple reunions and actually good written and placed season at the same level as the first one? My choice will be clear.

Season 1 was weaved and paced very well with its plot and characters. In season 2, they turn most characters into complete idiots for the sake of sprinting through the plot. The plot itself is paced in what can probably be described as “wonky” at best. It’s not good. There are far too many plot holes that just aren’t addressed. They completely forgot about the actual plot of the story (Zaun/Pilties conflict) and apparently made it just angst part for caitvi??? Don’t even get me started on how fucked up Vi was in this season. Like you made her a fighter whose whole world now is around her girlfriend and/or sister happiness and then, when one of them going to end herself she just makes out in a prison cell??? Like in the place where she supposed to have some kind of ptsd and where her sister was literally a hour ago? They made her enforcer like in game but never actually gave us how she came to it.

Viktor? Lmao now he’s a Jesus. Like for what you changed the perfect concept of actual machine herald?

Same with Jinx. She was so inconsistent this season. Here’s she depressed, oh here she’s manic again, hey, look, here’s a child who somehow gonna make her as sane as she could be, we gonna kill her of course and never mention her again AT ALL. As a psychology student, no child in the word could possibly made season 1 Jinx or Jinx at all sane. Even in depression state. Isha was so clearly made to be a plot device it’s actually hurts.

They also got a little too indulgent with the music videos this time as well. Zaun revolution? Jinx trying to off herself and literally burning last drop down? They could make it so deep of an episode but here we are again with the mv. Every plot important line was given just as a music video. Was fun the first two times, now give me actual conversations please.

The ending? Did I mention marvel already? Also the (not)killing off Jinx was such a stupid decision. Warwick can heal himself, they know it clearly but apparently Jinx just need to sacrifice herself and then Vander just gone at all lmao.

It's not just the pacing and the amount of new plots that make season 2 bad. It was confirmed that a lot of the writers from season 1 didn't work on season 2 and it shows. And you know what? I can tell.

[apoloadonisandnarcissus]

Since we are revisiting Sauron and Galadriel’s scene in 2x08, do I think he stabbing her with Morgoth’s crown was intentional? Yes. Did he planned it? No. He decided it seconds before it happened. Did he knew what he was doing? Absolutely.

She rejected twice to bind him to the light, so he bind her to darkness, to himself (blood) and to Morgoth: “in the darkness bind them”. Sauron has been wanting to bind himself to Galadriel since Season 1. This stabbing having any other explanation (when the showrunners already said he didn’t want to kill her during that scene, and Charlie said Sauron knew she would survive the fall), honestly, doesn’t make any sense with the story so far. Why would he stab her, then? To calm her down?

RoP Galadriel is not her book counterpart, the show changed her entire backstory. She has been nothing more than a warrior and a military commander, until now. We know this since Season 1, why are folks taking an issue with it now is beyond my comprehension. They decided for her to swordfight Sauron because it was the only way she could get the upper hand in that fight.

They somewhat changed Sauron’s backstory, too, but he’s introduced as a “cruel and cunning sorcerer” who has been awake since the breaking of the first silence. They are doing his necromancer and dark magic plot, too. Because that’s what Sauron is in the legendarium. He’s a Maia who was created by Eru and has corrupted his purpose by siding with Morgoth. And the show explanation on him being the most powerful Maiar in existence is because he’s blood bound to Morgoth (a Vala). Someone was talking about hierarchy among beings in Tolkien legendarium a while back, and that’s correct.

Is this Angband or Forodwaith? Does Amazon even has the rights to Angband? Either way, they clearly followed the plot of him being in charge of this place during the First Age.

Either way, I have a hard time believing Sauron didn’t know what he was doing with Morgoth crown. Especially when he was smiling in victory, afterwards. We are talking about an ancient being who exists before the creation of the world, expert in all sort of dark magic. Thinking he would give his power to another by accident is ridiculous.

And, by the love of Eru, stop bringing PJ adaptations into this discussion. I keep seeing RoP fans mixing the two. Sure, he followed a lot of “book canon”, but completely butchered many of Tolkien’s themes.

And since we are at it, I wished Tolkien adaptations would stop with the “enslavement” crap because there is no “enslavement of wills” in the legendarium, Tolkien is very clear about this in his letters. Although Galadriel saying the Free people of Middle-earth will always resist Sauron can make up for that, and them showing the complexities of Celebrimbor and Ar-Pharazôn and their desires to “side with evil” are also very fitting. Unfortunately, the audience doesn’t seem to grasp that.

So, yes, if Galadriel turns out to be blood bound to Sauron and he gave her some of his power is because she wanted it, and she accepted it. He can’t force her into anything, because “free will” is one of the major themes in the legendarium, and why Sauron (no matter how powerful he is) would always fail. She says so herself to Celebrimbor, she also wants what Sauron offers = she wants his power to become hers. That’s the whole point of Galadriel wanting the One ring in the legendarium. His offer wasn’t merely to “make her queen”, it was binding her to power, to his power.

[conanssummerchild]

lukewarm takes with conanssummerchild time ‼️

in solaricks when rick goes back to dimension C-137 he seems just about ready to start at least trying to move on from hunting prime, he admits that he can't find him and even goes on to tell "diane" about their grandkids

yet this is him less than a season later

so, what changed?

well, this, obviously:

not to mention how traumatic that episode must've been for rick in general, having to revisit his past like that, the diane ghost ai. well, rick makes it pretty clear he's not exactly thrilled to be alive

so think it's pretty safe to assume that this was the first step to the rick prime relapse, especially since we know he went back and managed to snag a killbot

one could also argue that rick wasn't ever really over it, so it took very little to push him back, and while i don't think he was over it either, he did seem to start to want to be, morty saying this:

was all it took for him to step away from the base, though it's likely he returned in another moment, but still, that could've been later on

okay, anyway, into the actual point of this post, i think rick took small steps into falling back into finding prime, because even when he seemed to want to be bettering himself things kept going wrong, so eventually he decided, what was the point?

this is how i see it:

obviously preceding solaricks we have rickternal friendshine of the spotless mort, which i'm not gonna go into too much detail on rn despite it being one of my fav lore episodes bcs i wanna look at post-solaricks (but for pre-solaricks rickmurai jack is also worth mentioning due to him having to revisit his backstory with the citadel which is very closely linked to his time looking for prime/killing ricks) but go ahead and check out this post by dirty-bear-rick-sanchez for the best explanation i've seen on it and its effect on rick

anyway, so just 2 episodes after solaricks we have bethic twinstinct, and i've gone into this in a past post how this might have taken him back to his past so i'm just gonna copy paste it from my other post (summarised) bcs im lazy:

a lot of ppl theorise rick and prime knew eachother before he offered him the portal gun so if thats true what if beth and space beth reminded him of them and how he was (hypothetically) cheating on diane and then lost her forever at the hands of the man he was having an affair with and also lost his beth

which is why rick said "remember, its not just your ice cream you're forgetting, it's your family's" or smth. because he forgot his familys ice cream too much, and all that happened

also look at all the similarities between prime and SB's outfits

then 5 episodes after that we have analyse piss, where we see that rick relates to pissmaster, sympathises with him

i will never not reccomend this fic by abed-with-a-knife about how rick was taken back to his own struggles with suicide and such, but it's not only that, so many features of pissmaster's experience are things rick can relate to, his rocky relationship with his daughter, everyone hating him, i think in general it's pretty clear that this episode was made to link rick and pissmaster

anyway, the next episode after analyse piss is immediately a rick in king mortur's mort, and this is quite clearly rick's breaking point, obviously we know this is when he replaces himself with rickbot, following this scene:

rick tells morty not to take the sword and morty doesn't listen

morty says rick's boring and calls him a "drunk cranky fuck" which does seem to bother rick

despite him shitting on a similar insult in the previous episode

in ricktional mortpoons rickmas mortcation, the following episode, he says the reason he replaced himself was because of this, because he feels like morty doesn't respect him any more, and that:

so first the show wears away at his friendships and his past trauma and self hatred with rfotsm, rickmurai jack goes even further into his past, his relation with the citadel, his "crybaby backstory", etc.

then solaricks forces him to confront his past, specifically his relationship with diane and accept his future and his new family, while giving him a small clue to prime.

then bethic twinstinct, provided he and prime really did know eachother previously (which im a little on the fence on if i'm honest), reminds him of his guilt for diane and little beth dying and how he feels responsible for it by mirroring the situation with older beth and the "edgier" version of herself. after that, analyse piss continues to dig into his current relationship with a beth that isn't his own, and takes a shot at his suicidal tendancies and how he feels like "god hates him" or the universe is against him or whatever.

and lastly akikmm takes all of that that rick is already carrying on his shoulders and adds morty not respecting him or caring about him to it, and it clearly cause rick to finally snap. if all of this was building and the only thing keeping rick afloat was his codependant relationship with morty (as seen in solaricks when morty gets him to not go after prime just by showing his care) then morty (by no fault of his own) seeming to dismiss rick must make him think "what's the point anymore?" if no one cares about him, then he might as well complete his life-long revenge plot, even if it destroys him again

because no one cares about him, right? (dramatic old fuck, get him psycological help)

anyway it's almost 2am so my thoughts aren't as coherent as i would like and i'm too lazy to read over this post and check if everything is right and good

most of what i've said in this post is probably pretty obvious, i just wanted to lay it out neatly with images and everything (im so classy ik /j) it accidentally came out a LOT longer than i intended. what can i say i just love yapping on about rnm

[cl-0v3r]

Is Mel Medarda a Fox?

Short answer: no.

I've seen a lot of people calling Mel a Fox by the end of the season, saying "oh she painted over her painting with gold, she's choosing the fox way!"

I disagree with that statement.

The Fox & Wolf tactic is used by the Medarda family, as her mother had told her in episode 8 "You must learn to be both the fox and the wolf" Mel, however, never liked the idea of being a wolf as shown from both her backstory and overall throught the season where she's only ever going to bring the 'wolf' tactic onto the table is if its as a last resort, or an act of self defense/ a counter measure. The idea of taking a life when there was other less-bloody solutions horrifies her, to the point where a single memory of a bloodied necklace LIVES over her bed and haunts her, giving her a reminder of its horror.

so Mel is clearly no way a wolf, she was banished because she did not live to it's standards, and the whole point of her character is to be against that sort of thing.

So is she a Fox? Well, in the beggining, yes.

Mel, influenced by her brother, wanted to do what he was doing after she was sent to piltover, the Fox tactic. talking her way through things without the need of physical violence. And it has worked for the most part, she got a seat on the council and continued to talk and talk, became the richest person there from her sharp tongue, and even managed to make piltover have more importance in the map. And she believed that if she could keep it up, then she could prove to her mother and family that they were wrong, that unessecary bloodshed should not be the first option on the list, that she wasn't as weak as they thought she was and she did everything without the wolf way like how Kino was trying to do.

but when Ambessa came to Piltover to put her hands on hextech weaponry, she told Mel that Kino had unfortunately died because he made the wrong decision, And that changed EVERYTHING. The way of the Fox didn't work.

with the current problems piltover has with Zaun, the fox tactic won't work in this situation, and Kinos death was the proof of that. He never made it, so neither will she.

So if the wolf tactic doesn't work, neither does the fox, where does that leave mel? Should she just let things happen?? Abseloutely not.

To be a Wolf, you must be Violent, Harsh, And Straight forward.

To be a Fox, you must be Sly, Manipulative and sneaky with things.

The fox was never made for peace, no. The fox approach was STILL used by the Medardas and they NEVER pushed for peace and mercy, quoting back to Ambessa AGAIN with the same exact line: "if you want to last in this world, you must learn how to be both the fox and the wolf." They did not just stick to the wolf tactic, but the fox too. It's like they either only Wolf, or Wolf and fox. NEVER only the fox. Kino was the only one that had used the fox. Yet he was never banished, and thats because he was a fox and nothing else, was he against bloodshed? Probably, but not completely. he was most likely still harsh with his words, and was not as 'gentle' as mel was. He was not soft towards death. He wasn't Merciful And that was enough for their standards.

So why was Mel banished? Because she was Mel. Mel wasn't like kino, never was. she didn't have his traits despite the fact that she wanted to be a fox like him. She wanted mercy.

And this is an important point.

Later on, on episode 9, we see Mel painting her canvas with streaks of gold, representing the fact that she is no longer going to let the Medardas stop her from doing things differently, followed by her leaving her ring.

The color gold represents mel, it's an important part of her character, and colors in arcane play a big role in it's characters.

Keep in mind that Red is the color of the Medardas, INCLUDING KINO. Its the color of the wolf and the FOX.

So for her to cover the painting of those red ships with gold, means that she is choosing to no longer be a Medarda. No longer someone that takes and takes, not a fox, nor a wolf. she is doing things the mel way, pushing for peace and mercy and nothing else. She isn't mel medarda anymore, she is Mel.

And that means that if she dies, she doesn't die a medarda like kino, but rather dies as MEL. Her ring being taken off is a symbol that she's not a fox nor a wolf, Not Ambessa nor Kino.

The Wolf approach? Harsh and bloody

The Fox approach? Sly and manipulative

The Mel approach? Peaceful and merciful.

Now, Mel is Mel, and in that last episode of season one, she used the same tactic that got her Banished.

I really hope this made sense.

[doodlegirl1998]

hori constantly acts as if he isn’t the writer and has full control of the story and it pisses me off to no end. gonna drop some examples below. these are from the street wear profiles from the manga.

sen kaibara - “I love his Quirk, so I can’t wait to portray it more.” he’s acting like something/someone is actively holding him back from doing so.

tetsutetsu tetsutetsu - “I hope I get to show him in action more.” once again, acting like something is stopping him. side note, why tf did he give him that name. it’s just so lazy. and it’s not even funny. just annoying to say and annoying to write.

hanta sero - “He’s mostly just for one liners in the background, but he’s a good guy, and I’d like to feature him more. At some point. For sure.” and then proceeds to never do that.

this might just be me being bitter abt all the amazing characters he’s completely disregarded and disrespected. this might just be me not understanding what it’s like being a mangaka. but it still bothers me.

i just hate how he’s created this insanely interesting world and amazing characters and never expands on anything bc he’s too busy sucking bakugos dick.

speaking of bakugo, as someone who has narcissistic tendencies, he’s a textbook case.

he obviously has some sort of inferiority/superiority complex and a mild to severe case of a god complex. at best he’s dismissive of people who he sees as inferior to him, at worst he’s downright cruel.

his “nicknames” are all just fucking insults aimed at peoples insecurities.

raccoon eyes/horns: mina was probably bullied for her appearance and then her so called “friend” exclusively calls her names that poke fun at her appearance.

bird brain/bird face/other bird names: tokoyami has probably heard it all at this point but once again bakugo making fun of heteromorphs.

dunce face: denki has shown to be insecure about his intelligence and once again his so called “friend” mocks him for it.

tentacles/arms/octopus: again, mocking heteromorphs.

tail: i’m beginning to see a pattern here.

ears: ok how has no one pointed out how most of his nicknames are him basically just calling them slurs.

i don’t think bakugo has ever called someone their actual name. maybe a handful of times? but it’s like a massive event when he calls someone by their actual name.

exclusive calling people insults isn’t exactly heroic.

anyway rant over i just needed to get all this shit off my chest.

Hi @the-jello-bowl 👋,

There could be something to be said here about how the editors may have had a hand in Hori not exploring all the characters he may have wanted to.

But, even if that is the case, not all of the blame would rest on them.

Hori clearly did not plan ahead for a lot of MHA. He is very good at coming up with good character designs and concepts as well as bringing life to them but seems to be at a loss after that is done. The cast bloating is key evidence of this.

It is sad to see all these interesting characters be swept to the wayside in favour of Bakugou, who by contrast brings nothing of interest to the table.

Bakugou is a narcissistic abuser in my opinion. He uses cruel nicknames, not as lighthearted jibes, but to bring others down - especially his friends.

Other than the instances you mentioned, I want to bring attention to one that belongs to Bakugou's supposed best friend, Kirishima, who he calls only "shitty hair." We learn in his backstory that Kirishima changed his hair to be like his idols as a symbol of his growth prior to U.A. Therefore, being continually called "shitty hair" would hurt Kirishima deeply. He also tells Bakugou to stop, and yet Bakugou does not care.

The time I can think of when Bakugou called someone their actual name is that time he used "Izuku" instead of the usual "Deku" slur. And even that is bad because instead of asking for the right to call Izuku by his first name, usually reserved for close family, Bakugou just does it.

Typical narcissistic, entitled and stagnant Bakugou. We hate to see it.

I wish Hori didn't waste so many manga panels on this idiot.

[ladyazurith]

You mentioned in one post that you think one problem with the game is that it twists itself into pretzels to fit the various different narratives, even when it doesn't make sense for the characters. Can you talk more about that? (Because I totally agree.)

Very much so! It's really bothersome. The first thing is in the individual chapters they tend to act like the students don't know each other well outside their own dorms, almost like they're practical strangers who have never interacted before. When everything else points to the opposite. Take Chapter 5 for example. They try to act like Ace and Deuce have no idea who Epel is, yet in Ace's CR story, he clearly meets Epel during their sorting. Never mind how they behave during events. And in chapter 2 when Cater is with Yuu and the others scoping out possible targets, it's presented like he doesn't know most of them well, when he clearly knows *everyone*.

Then from there, it's how the characters act in their individual chapters. Chapter 1 is mostly okay in this regard. Events with Riddle happen quickly enough that him having a major change of heart and acting "normal" in material from then on isn't too jarring.

But moving on from there it's a trainwreck. The chapter's overblot victims/ antagonists can get a little bit of a pass, but even then it stretches things.

Like Ruggie for instance, he is very shrewd and isn't above taking advantage of a situation. But he's not evil, he very clearly cares a lot about his home, his grandmother, and the other kids who live in the area with him. The idea that the character we see in every other situation would cause serious harm to someone else over a game is kind of ludicrous. He could have very easily risked expulsion if things had gone too far, and then he wouldn't be in a position to help *anyone*. Leona is even kind of iffy to me. While Leona tends to go out of his way to appear uncaring/unmotivated/lazy, he's actually an incredibly good dorm leader who cares about his students. Most of his real issues are internal, and harming innocent people who aren't even part of his beef with Malleus just seems out of character to me. Never mind what he does to Ruggie. Some of it can be explained by the build up of blot but not all of it.

And then Chapter 3, Azul, Jade, and Floyd. For the most part, I can see the tweels going along with everything because they both thrive on chaos. But Azul's plan is just...stupid coming from someone who's a professional businessman. First off he has no shortage of workers for the lounge. Ruggie frequently takes shifts there, and Cater while not a waiter also does a lot of work with them. But the whole sea anemone thing was just gross. And apparently, there was nothing in the contract about not disparaging their employer. It might have caused a spike in business at first just because people want to see what's going on for themselves, but overall, he'd ultimately hurt his business and drive customers *away*. Never mind the whole bullying backstory comes out of NOWHERE. Like I do have sympathy for Azul and what he went through and he is one of my favorite characters, but Ch 3 suffered from poor writing in my opinion. Narratively the whole thing was a mess.

Chapter 4 is handled better in my opinion. For the most part, I have the least amount of complaints about what goes on here. My biggest one though is what I mentioned before, Characters tend to exist in a bubble during their chapter events. You can not tell me that Cater nor Lilia wouldn't have tried to figure out what the hell was going on with Kalim. Or Silver for that matter. Never mind how Kalim had the authority to keep his entire dorm at school over a holiday when it's shut down?!!? I get his family is rich and powerful but, that still seems like a stretch idk.

Jamil I think was a least handled well otherwise, his actions and motivations seemed consistent with his character. In the end, he didn't really want to harm anyone, he just wanted his freedom and was desperate. The only real question is what did he think was going to happen next? Even if Kalim got kicked out of NRC then he would have only had about a year and a half of 'freedom' it wouldn't have solved any of his problems. And if Kalim had turned up dead, there would have still been severe repercussions for him and his family. IDK for someone who is supposed to be good at planning and scheming there definitely were parts that weren't well thought-out.

Chapter 5 and Rook is where this conversation started I think but I'll touch on it again. His actions at the end of chapter 5 are COMPLETELY out of character for what we know about him otherwise. Hiding his obsession with Neige from Vil, and then revealing it IN FRONT OF him while he's still licking his wounds from his overblot is just...if this was the only context we had for Rook, no one would be calling them friends. He had no real reason to reveal he was the one that cost them the competition.

The reception to this was so bad that's why we have the start of chapter 6 where Vil gives his speech about professionalism and why he's okay with Rook and what he did. I don't believe the narrative that Vil wasn't hurt at all, not with how he's shown to be so insecure especially where Neige is concerned. Sure I might buy the part about Rook voting for NRC not hurting him, but not the rest of it.

Never mind otherwise Rook isn't cruel. Especially not to Vil, and his actions were just that.

This is also biased, but the fact that Cater was cut from the team, and the reasons why rub me the wrong way. I know that they just wanted Jamil and Kalim because they were the previous chapter's focal point and Ace and Deuce because they're tied to pretty much everything because of Yuu and the story. But Vil keeps talking about being a professional, admitted straight up that Cater's audition was *perfect* but brushed him off and passed him over anyway. (Also Ironic because Cater's VA actually is a musician/singer/ensemble group member and not a traditional VA) but that's off course of the question lol

Also, I will never not be salty that RSA won with their song/performance. All for the narrative. And THEN they gave us a shot at seeing some kind of revenge or at least a win over them after the VDC with Epel's hometown event and yet again WE STILL LOST. I don't understand that one either. It's just frustrating for the players to be put in that situation again needlessly. There was no real narrative/story reason we had to lose.

Chapter 6 we finally get away from the narrative that the characters can't know who each other are in the main story at least -_-;. overall I don't have too many issues with Chapter 6. (other than the mini games -_-) Idia's character is kept consistent. We get some fun moments from the cast, and for the most part its in line with what we know of them and their characters. Azul and Riddle are gold, Jamil needed to hear what Leona told them. (tho it was a little pot kettle but then again that meant that Leona knew what he was talking about). And over all things don't seem AS forced. Had hoped things were gonna get better.

Then Chapter 7 rolled around and they murdered Lilia's character. The character we knew would NEVER treat his family like that. He even gives Malleus a speech in Cater's Halloween SSR about how he'll always be there when he needs him. He's consistently been shown to value his family and connections. It was just such a drastic change I am still baffled. I understand why he would be leaving, but to not really talk to those around him or explain what's going on and make an effort to keep in touch and stay in their lives? It's absurd. Of course Silver and Malleus broke down, if in high school my dad basically told me he was dying and that he was going far away and I'd never see him again, I'd have lost it too, and I'm not nearly as close to my dad as they were to Lilia.

I know they needed something to trigger Malleus's overblot but again this just seems like poor writing to me. The idea of Lilia loosing his powers and possibly dying I think would have been enough if they'd framed it right to push Malleus over the edge. That's difficult /emotional enough and they wouldn't have had to completely destroy Lilia's characterization to make it work. They could have even had the scene with Silver and Malleus when SIlver breaks down crying in front of him after trying to stay strong in front of Lilia so as not to worry him.

I'm trying to reserve too much judgment until we see the entirety of chapter 7 but unless there is some unknown reason for Lilia to have chosen this method of leaving, I don't know how to really justify it.

I get sometimes characters have to make difficult choices it is what helps make a story interesting, but if those choices arise from conflict that's not framed well or meaningful, it loses its potency. It comes across like us as the players and the characters themselves being cheated.

[channelmariegreen]

Rating the Diabolik Lovers: More Blood game! 🩸

I really enjoyed the storytelling of everyone’s backstories and what happened to them to make them the way they are today. The only critique I have is that it seemed like almost eveytime Yui was alone with one of them for a bit they’d find any reason at all to bite her. Every. Time! 😞😟 and it just got super repetitive and frustrating so I just skipped those parts towards a certain point.

Now onto the Sakamaki brothers + Yui

Shu: At first I thought Shu was just chill and to himself but then I learned he’s more… “mature” if you know what I mean- so I just skipped past that whole thing. 2/10

Reiji: okay. I genuinely liked him at first since he seemed the least problematic- now let me make it clear 👌 I love sassy characters most of the time and I find it funny- he was so rude. And for someone who cared so much about manners, he clearly didn’t have any respect for anyone and expected it to be given to him regardless. I remember he tricked Yui into drinking poison and she coughed obviously and he got at her for coughing without covering her mouth- like bro you just poisoned her, are you crazy?!- yes 😁 and he had the gall to say “what’s wrong with you…?” What’s wrong with her?! What’s wrong with you?! You freak! Anyway 😠 at least he’s good looking 5/10! It was so satisfying to see Cordelia slap him but also satisfying to see him tell her off 🙂‍↕️

Kanato: okay, I genuinely think- it’s obvious that Kanato has a lot of issues, right? He’s crazy but not because he has mental health problems. I felt so bad for him during his route because he was getting so frustrated and he couldn’t just be happy and he’d get so upset 😢 some flaws from his route though is that every other convo with him was him screaming so… 😐 and another was that he switched from being horrible to be around in most of it- to being very loving but toxic at the end and honestly as much as it was too much I think I would’ve liked him more if he was like that throughout rather than him being horrible- but idk 🤷 other than that his personality sucks 4/10

Ayato: Ayato is pretty much a bratty and usual annoying popular guy at school. He did have some funny moments where I’m in shock but other than that I like him but I like Azusa better ☺️ 5/10

Laito: I’m not going into Laito- he seems cool at first but he’s a per*ert 🫤 if he was just cool, charming, fun and a flirt then that’d be fine but 😬 so if you want to look into some of the stuff that happened in the anime, More Blood and especially Haunted Bridal- be careful. 2/10

Subaru: I enjoyed his route to the point where I got but Yui was on my last nerve so I stopped. Although he’s super wrong in the way he handles most things- I liked that he did stand up for Yui when people were gossiping about her and trying to keep her safe from the others. Now- I heard he doesn’t like girls… so that’s an immediate 2/10 sorry! 🫵😬🤚 I don’t know how accurate it is but that’s what I heard 🫤 but if that changed and he grew then it’s a 5/10

Yui!: I think yui’s a sweetheart and she genuinely wants the best for everyone- but oh my goodness she didn’t have a backbone. Occasionally she’d stand up for herself but other than that it was just letting these people control her, bully and *buse her and override her opinions constantly. And everything went over this girls head- and she was so naive 😫😖 of course I don’t condone the abuse and sometimes there was nothing she could do- but tell me why in the anime when Kanato pinned her down in the garden to bite her- why did this silly girl decide- “y’know what… he’s going to drink my blood… and I’m scared, so I’m gonna turn my neck to give him more access to my neck so he won’t bite my neck and I can hide 🙂‍↕️” 😦 girl are serious? 6/10

Okay that’s it for part 1! I love all of them even though they’re all horrible- except for Yui even though she makes me mad. Also if you’re in my age bracket, i wouldn’t tell you what to do, obviously! But, I truly recommend skipping the Ecstasy parts and the blood sucking because it’s a bit much and then just catching up by going online and looking at the walkthrough to see what happend(mainly for the ecstasy portions since the blood sucking seems like it’s just fan service)- but do what you want!.

[th3overthink3r]

My brother is obsessed with TTG, and I am baffled. We binged it, and I looked around in the... Fandom? I know the show is lighthearted, but I'm a psychology nerd.

Btw I binged it with him in the name of sibling bonding.

Tw: Abuse, neglect, shitty people in general, mind conzrol and trauma. Progress with caution.

Not many people talk about the abuse Robin faces. I don't understand why is there basicaly no angsty content.

I also want to scoop that boy up and hug him and take him away from those people that surround him.

This boy has no positive influence in his life. Get him a therapyst.

He's neglected. I was sick watching this.

WHAT THE HELL DUDE this was genuinely hard to watch, and even the colour coded idiots aknowledge how badly he was treated.

Oh but they don't get away scott free. The little idiots.

They constantly hurt him (which I noticed is a reocurring joke, but it happens to him so constantly that it's not even humour. It's just... painful.)

What the fuck was that prank?

Considering I know his backstory pretty well (look, I watch enough dc), this prank just makes me want to cry. He smiles. His smile broke my heart. I genuinely started crying, alonside Robin. It was not a nice experience.

So they clearly don't have a problem with triggering traumatic responses.

Robin is also almost always the butt of the joke, even tough he is the leader nobody respects him.

Which would be understandable if he didn't try his damn hardest. He's resourceful and can make the best of a situation.

Like the time he got dance powers (which is just amazing, holy shit I want dance powers).

He found great use of an othervise "useless" pover.

Speaking of useless, his "friends" look down on him because he has no powers. Even though he is capable of beating all of them without it.

Yknow, like in the movie.

Oh yeah, nice recall to the movie the one where they competed with the Super Hero Girls team (love that show).

Y'know, where it started like this

And ended like this in like, five seconds.

Abandonment issues go brrr:

He's my angsty boy.

Also, the fact that he answered mind control on the last question, and it wasn't even on the board, broke something in me.

Him being a "control freak" is also played up for jokes, which I personally hate, but you can also go with the route of the Titans just not listening, ever, and Robin, still raised by the batman even if differently than in canon, in a city where if you are not on top you are dead, it's obvious that he developed an instictive need for control. He had gotten used to being on top of every situation, so when he felt that control slip, he grasped it and held on. This behaviour is not good, but he can't help it, and without proper consuling, he won't be able to stop this behaviour. He could, if he just let go of the illusion of control he clings to, a safety net, and we all know one can not simply just do that.

(I was someone people called a "control freak". I worked on myself, and I changed, but it took years after I noticed. Letting go is the hardest thing people like me and him can do because letting go means losing control, and that can be the scariest thing in the world. So I have experience, yes.)

For the hitting... Wild hot take and shit: Since Batsy was not a stellar dad, he kept robin in line by means not so family-friendly. (He hit his kids in canon, it's really OOC for him, but we have proof that happened) And it was really effective. Children of abusive parents go a lot of ways, but repeating the parents' mistakes is one of them. So maybe Robin decided that violence might be the thing to keep his teammates in line. (We are circleing back yeah.) But it clearly didn't work.

(Yes, I also have experience. No, I am not going to talk about it, but it wasn't physical, don't worry)

Edit: Holy shit I just realized that this Robin is all of the worst qualities of the other Robins. Obsessive, Controlling, full of himself, violent, and then throw their insecurities into there too (Abandonment issues, parental issues, anxiety, paranoia). Holy lady.

Edit2: Thank you, Yurki-posts, for pointing out some things my little rant was missing. I shall update it now.

[thedorkurge]

Illario Dellamorte is my favorite Veilguard character.

And it's because he makes sense.

A fatal flaw in Veilguard is that every character is made to be super agreeable and nice, and it means that their origins hardly even matter in the story of the game. Bellara isn't impacted by the isolationist nature of the Dalish, Neve has no controversial opinions on magic, Lucanis isn't jaded by his training, etc. (these points can be debated, sure, but generally I think they hold true).

Even the villains are painfully one-dimensional. Cartoonishly evil cultists, necromancer who wants to conquer a city, darkspawn who wants to blight innocent creatures. There's little room for nuance or motivation, because there are simply too many bad guys to actually go in-depth with any of them, and the game can leave no room for interpretation, because it depends on you being 100% against them. So an easy black and white hero/villain dynamic is what they choose to go with.

And then there's Illario. Sure, on the surface it's a classic plot, jealousy making him turn on his family. But it makes sense. Because it actually feels like a product of his upbringing.

The crows are... Very different in this game. This point has already been discussed to death, but I think it's obvious that they changed them a lot to make them fit the narrative they needed for the faction mechanics. However, we know from the other games that growing up as a Crow is hell. Even if Illario wasn't subjected to the same treatment as other "recruits" (typically slaves and orphans), he still grew up in an incredibly cutthroat environment. Both Illario and Lucanis lost their parents to the power struggles between the houses when they were just kids, and were sent to live with a grandmother who trained them to be killers. The same grandmother who likely chose her position over her own children. Lucanis even describes her methods as "torture", which says a lot coming from the guy who was locked up in the Ossuary for a year. And he was the favored grandchild. Caterina clearly never hid her favoritism either. Illario learned from an early age that the only way to succeed, to be recognized, was to kill and rise through the ranks. And while it seems that his skill set (charming/manipulating people) is less valued than the flashy methods of "The Demon", it was an excellent skill to have when it comes to surviving within the crows.

The crows are known for infighting, Ivenci even points this out in the game. Anyone raised by the crows would know that the greatest battlefield is your own home, your own parties. They know that their allies are also their greatest enemy. They know that the other houses could be plotting behind your back, and that they will take advantage of any perceived weakness (such as leveraging familial love to force Caterina to give up the seat of First Talon).

So tell me, what makes more sense after being raised in a place like this? Becoming a kind and shy coffee addict who trusts and adores the other crows? Or becoming a jaded social climber who uses everything in their power to strengthen their own position? One who would turn on his family before they turn on him, allowing him to take the thing he has been taught to value above all else: The title of First Talon? One who thinks that family members are disposable, and that the only way to come out on top is to betray them before they betray you?

Illario was allowed to have that kind of nuance because you get the option to spare him, but I think the game would have benefitted from more characters like this. Characters whose backstories mattered, characters who weren't deliberately evil, but rather a product of their environment. It would have made everything feel more real, more grounded in the actual world building.

I wish we got more content with this bastard man, because he's (to me) the most interesting villain the companions have to face, and it seems a shame to reduce his storyline to "he was just jealous".

[khonaker]

So, I've been scrolling for uh, a LONG time on your page because I really like your takes and learn a lot of insight that I didn't know before, and I wanted to ask if you can give your opinion on Hawks? (Also, that one post like, 2-3 years ago about how Ectoplasm should've been Tokoyami's mentor has literally sent me to the heavens. I agree with it SO much it's actually unbelievable so I'm not even going to start on that.)

You've had really interesting and unique(?) takes on characters (especially Aizawa, I've started to do my own research/deep dive on him because of you) and I was wondering how you feel on his particular character and relationships.

Anon, I have no idea why I didn’t get a big notification on this, so I apologize for not responding for so long!

So, in the manner of Hawks.

I honestly *don’t* care for him. I don’t know if gets to *hating* him, but I don’t get the hype with him. Originally, I had thought he was actually playing double agent for the MLA and we would *actually* get a character that is labeled a hero but he actually becomes a villain for his own reasons and beliefs. An actually morally grey character or a twist villain.

But nope. All we get from him is he actually is just an agent for the government that is just a very chilled guy and his biggest trait is glazing Endeavor, regardless of what he did. His backstory doesn’t move me because at that point, just about every other character in the series has abuse trauma, and Horikoshi loves using this to try to make us feel sad for characters. At this point, I became numb to it and didn’t care about it, as cold as it sounds.

I also have great issues that my *favorite* character, Tokoyami, who I thought was going to be fleshed out more ever since we see him teaming up with Hawks, was also used to glaze Hawks up, and we always learned more about Hawks, *never* Tokoyami. People think Hawks and Tokoyami is similar to Izuku and All Might, but that is so far from the truth. With AM and Izuku, we get to learn about *both* characters, and we actually get to see the bond between them grow and change overtime. Hawks and Tokoyami is very one sided, we never see Hawks ask about Tokoyami or get to know him. Toko is too much of just an accessory. And Tokoyami became a diehard fanboy of Hawks too quickly and suddenly. As you brought up in my post, I see Ectoplasm and Tokoyami being more likely having a bond like All Might and Izuku.

And Aizawa…

This guy I have no problem admitting I hate.

People love the concept of Dadzawa, and I have seen fics where it’s pulled off successfully and believable.

But that is purely fanon. There is no Dadzawa in canon. All Aizawa is is a flat, hypocritical hardass that plays favorites and barely does anything ‘rational’, despite how much he loves to use that word. I’m convinced if he could, he would have his class comprised of only Bakugou and Shinsou with how much he favors them. He *barely*, if ever, goes to bat, hypes up or cares about any of the other students, he always seems to particularly defend the blonde Gary Stu.

Horikoshi also loves to try to use retcons to try to fix the glaring flaws of his blantantly favored characters instead of trying to improve them organically just so more readers can get suckered into suddenly liking them, and Aizawa is no exception, with him “putting the fear of expulsion and death” into the students he expelled being a cheap copout.

I also have no idea also what Hori was trying to accomplish with his history with Present Mic, Midnight and Oboro. They never seem to have any real significance, especially with this information that Midnight was suppose to be Aizawa’s friend according to Vigilantes series. Could have fooled me, since after her death, we don’t see him ever think about her. And his relationship with Present Mic isn’t anything to write home about. PM can clearly do better finding friends. And seeing as how we knew nothing about Oboro, I couldn’t care less how torn up Aizawa was with him.

Again, sorry for the late response, Anon, but yes, those are my thoughts on these two characters, and in my opinion, we wasted time on these guys instead of more interesting characters.