#this feels like a first part while also feeling like a complete arc in a way
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Why Episode 7 is the worst episode in all of Season 2.
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This fuckass Timebomb ship is the worst thing to ever happen to Jinx's character.
Ok so finally we're gonna talk about Boy Savior Complex and AU Girl Next Door Powder
This is gonna be long. Also, we're not only talking about Episode 7 and Timebomb, we're also discussing Jinx's suicide attempt and how her character's resolution is actually really sad.
First of all, Jinx never liked Ekko back. Season 1 makes it pretty clear that they're friends, and that Ekko has an unrequited crush on her. His feelings are clear, but she never shows any reciprocation. And, no, the art book that came out after season 2 concluded doesn't count. You can't just put "the boy with the unrequited crush" trope in your story and then retract it.
And now to get to the serious part... who the fuck is AU Powder?
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Ekko gets transported into this alternate timeline where we the audience soon realize everyone is happy and none of the conflicts that plague the original story exist and everything is perfect and "as it should be". So this is the ideal world and the one where all these characters reach their highest form of happiness. Even Silco is back with Vander.
And in this ideal world Powder is... a waitress at The Last Drop? I rewatched this episode and I genuinely tried to pay attention to see what does she actually DO. Like what occupies her time in this universe. And between Vander's line about how she's "too smart to be spending her life in a bar" and the fact that she is at one point behind the counter (while Ekko is studying his books... imma get back to that) and the fact that we never see her in any other places besides the bar and her hideout and that one time Ekko takes her out... this seems to be it.
So in the perfect timeline, Powder has decided to stay back with her family once she's grown up, to remain with Vander and help him run his bar, and implicitly has no big ambitions of her own, and definitely no ideas that she would sacrifice her family life for.
Now... Powder/Jinx as a family person is not actually wrong characterization. This is pretty congruent with her character in season 1. Her entire story and literally everything revolves around her family and not much else. When she's Powder she's attached at the hip to Vi and when she's Jinx she doesn't seem too interested in the world outside of her hideout and Silco's office. So considering all we know, yes, Jinx does place family first.
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And this is pretty assumed by the show. Now, I also characterized her like this in season 1! She is a family girl. And Jinx happens to have all these people with big revolutionary ideas around her, be it Vander or Vi or Silco or Sevika, but she herself never actually seems much interested in that. She has a small moment in arc 1 of season 1, which i think it's significant to mention comes right after Vi plants the idea in her head. It would've been one thing if these ideas stayed with her, but post time-skip she doesn't bring anything like that up again. She mostly acts like a bored teenager whenever Silco drags her to the river to tell her all about his tragic past that radicalized him. Overall, any time she exhibits any revolutionary spirit, it seems to actually be more of a personal vendetta for her.
So, okay, Jinx is a family girl and she's never really actually been about all these big ideas, I can agree with the writers that this represents her character.
It's just that... this much?
Man, COME ON. There were people making "Everything's Perfect" AUs since season 1, and they almost all had Powder be a student at the Academy. This girl was clearly passionate about her little inventions, her bombs didn't work but she kept and kept trying. You're telling me she would be completely uninterested in learning more about engineering, in getting a formal education in that, in doing anything with it? Since in this world, there's peace between Piltover and Zaun, we can't talk about any barriers to her becoming a student. And, for that matter, in League lore there's an academy in Zaun, too, that she could have attended.
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Even Ekko points it out, man. Now, to the writers' credit, the story acknowledges quite clearly that Powder choosing to stay with Vander and help him run the bar is weird. It just... never explains it. Like why is she like this, though? Let's throw out some possibilies:
(1) in some scenes, there seems to be a little "jinxiness" in this Powder, too. maybe she's aware of that side of her, and doesn't like it, and fears that if she went off and did what she wanted, and was truly herself, it would ruin what she has, "things are good now" (in this case, this Powder is actually a tragic character. nowhere near ideal timeline stuff.)
(2) in act 1 of season 1, the reason Vi makes Powder stay back is because she fears losing her, after Vander tells her that she might lose Powder in a confrontation with Piltover. since Vi dies in this universe, on a job, maybe in that moment Powder internalizes that rocking the boat in any way is bad. Vi was spirited and had big ideas and wanted to be someone and it led to her death. so maybe this Powder gave up on all of that then. Vander seems like the type to give her a "look what happens" speech, too.
But these are just my theories. This doesn't ever get properly explained in the show. So then maybe Powder is actually content like this and likes this and maybe these people constantly pestering her that she could do and be more are just annoying nuisances to her, same as Sevika is an annoying nuisance to Jinx in the original timeline (although there it makes significantly more sense).
(Also, why is Vi even dead in this universe? They could've easily found another way for Piltover and Zaun to make peace. Guess Jinx doesn't even get to be happy in the Perfect Timeline, goddamn, girl really is cursed after all.)
If you're gonna spend an entire episode on fix-it fanfiction that is supposed to pander to fans and give them, on screen, what they always wanted to see, why didn't we get grown up Powder in a cute academy uniform, being a top student and working on school projects and being loved by her professors cause girl was a prodigy.
Instead... this is Ekko in this universe, actually.
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Ekko is the "big idea guy" and he's working on an entry to the innovations fair and he gets to be Heimerdinger's pupil. To her credit, this Powder still seems to be very smart, Ekko comes to her for help cause he can't actually build his invention alone. But she only uses her intellect to help Ekko. I always thought it would be Powder who would be Heimerdinger's pupil. Instead, here, she's hanging off Ekko's arm, and being all cute, as he discusses Important Stuff with Heimerdinger, stuff that she doesn't get to be privy to, but that she is expected to help them with anyway.
So AU Powder is this very smart girl who is helping her boyfriend build his entry for a contest because he can't actually do it himself but it's okay she'll help him of course and no he can take all the credit she doesn't want to be recognized or anything or to go to like University that would be crazy she's doing it cause she loves him and she's sweet like that and she likes to help others and she doesn't have any character traits that make her difficult she's just a cute funny and relatable down-to-earth girl and she pokes fun at Ekko but like in a loving way and she likes being a waitress and she'd rather be recognized for her dancing skills and................ I'm sorry.....................
So you're telling me Ekko gets transported into an alternate timeline in which his childhood crush who never liked him back is stripped of all her personality, has no goals or ambitions of her own and has no interests besides being his supportive girlfriend, is devoid of all the traits that might have made a relationship with her difficult, and despite the fact that she never showed interest in him in the original world, here she is head over heels for him, always acting all lovey-dovey with him and being nothing but a cute and affectionate puppy.
This is every little boy's with an unrequited crush dream right here. Man, Ekko won more than any other character in this show. And she's mentally ill, too! He's hit the jackpot. Y'all what the fuck am I watching.
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I'm sorry but literally ALL I COULD FUCKING SEE WHEN I WAS WATCHING THIS STUPID DANCE SCENE was that in this universe Powder is a good christian girl who stays home with her dad and loves her boyfriend and is always happy to help WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS GOOD GIRL PROPAGANDA get this bullshit OFF my fucking screen I cannot fucking believe what I'm watching here
Moving on.
Ekko has hurt Jinx more than any other character in the show.
Physically speaking.
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Ekko is the one who does this.
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Which leads to this.
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Which ultimately leads to this.
It has always confused me and it continues to confuse me why no one in this fandom treats Jinx being injected with shimmer as a big deal, when this is the worst thing that happens to her post episode 3. And it's a point of no return for her character, she can't undo this. And yeah I know everyone thought Shimmer Jinx was cool in season 2, but her being turned into a half-dead monster is not a good progression for her character. She also goes through agonizing pain in the process.
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Singed agrees.
It's Ekko who forces Jinx between death and being turned into a half-dead corpse. It's actually insane to me that no one in the fandom considers this and that this is never brought up in the show. If they wanted Jinx and Ekko to be a thing, you'd think this would be a big deal in their relationship. Ekko has changed her irreparably, for the worse.
Idk, is the guy who beat you up and left you for dead really boyfriend material?
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This is the first moment Jinx shows any interest in Ekko. Interesting timing.
I'm pretty sure she doesn't even mention his name post act 3 of season 1. She doesn't wonder about whether he's alright after the bridge fight (for that matter, neither does he). The first time when Jinx looks at him with any hint of affection is when she's standing on a ledge, ready to throw herself off.
Jinx has no one anymore at this point. Her old family is long gone. Silco is dead. Isha is dead. Vi has decided having a good time with Caitlyn is more important than her. This is Jinx at her lowest moment. Does she like him back or is he just the only one who showed up?
Ekko is a winner once again. His crush has been abandoned by everyone, and he is the only one left to comfort her. Luck like this is hard to come by. And of course, she's gonna be super impressed and touched by any sliver of affection now. Probably gonna look at him with big, grateful eyes, and see him as her savior. I'm disgusted.
By the way, this should have never been Ekko. If Vi was too busy with fucking Caitlyn, this should have been Sevika. Sevika is the only character who has known Jinx since she was a child, and who has been with her through every iteration. And she's the only character who has never cared whether she's Jinx or Powder or any other persona she decides to take up, to her she'll always just be an annoying kid. And to Jinx this might actually be comforting. Sevika is the only one who has a realistic perspective on Jinx, and recognizes her flaws, so her talking her down might have actually been very touching, and there are things she could tell her that neither Vi nor Silco could.
(The fuck could Ekko tell her, honestly? That he went off to an alternate universe where she was his perfect girlfriend, so she shouldn't kill herself actually? What the fuck.)
I also wanna talk a bit about Jinx's resolution as a character. Not her fake-out death, but her in the last episode. I think it's interesting that everyone who had a connection to Jinx is gone, namely Silco and Isha. Silco and Isha are both people she chooses, actively, and she is herself around. Instead, now, she's back to Vi and Ekko, the same people that were with her in her childhood. This is a full circle moment for her.
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This is Powder right here, guys. Powder was a little girl who made a mistake and then she went off on this journey where she met new people and she was someone else and it was fun for a while but ultimately she realized what she was doing was bad and she came back to her family and is ready to be that little, sweet girl again. The problem with the Powder-Jinx dichotomy is that Jinx, as much as she represents all this bad stuff that the show has made clear, also represents Freedom and Power, two things that Powder definitively lacked. Her coming full circle, coming back to Powder, is not actually a good resolution for her. She's right back where she started, with Vi and Ekko. Her venturing off on her own and making her own decisions was ultimately a mistake that only lead to her suffering. We can take this all the way back to when she decides to venture off on her own with that bomb, despite Vi's disagreement, and the consequences plague her for the rest of the story.
I know everyone thought it looked super cool when she lifted off that hood, but I could only think it was tragic.
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fizzie-frog · 2 days ago
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Blitzø: core self, trauma and healing
This will be a post going into Blitz’s character starting from his childhood to present. His teen self, his adult self and the present. As someone who relates so much to him, his arc was amazing to watch and went from a character I kinda disliked to a character I absolutely love today.
I apologize if this is all over the place - I don’t write long posts everyday and in the last years I’ve been so busy, tired and just unmotivated that it’s almost like my brain can’t cooperate, but I wanted to make this post.
Also, of course, this will be long… So if you want to read - under the cut. This will be split into parts (thanks to Tumblr's limitations).
PART TWO
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In the latest episode we’ve seen Blitz being so much more supportive, patient - Stolas’s cheerleader. It feels like he’s returning to his roots. Let me explain…
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“I think… I think if anyone’s gonna be the new clown face on everything… It’ll be you, Fizz!”
Clearly, this is a trait Blitz (back then going by Blitzo) always had at his core. He loved his dear ones and he showed it. He encouraged them, supported them in their dreams and also made sure they’re safe, as it shows with Fizzarolli in his teens. Growing up in Greed (arguably one of the most dangerous rings of Hell), Blitz had to toughen up. Fizz on the other hand had no clue how to fight and he was anxious.
So, Blitz was the protector.
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When he sees Fizz made uncomfortable by a creepy fan, he’s quick to jump in.
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He makes sure Fizz is safe, pushes the creep away and goes right back to his so-called “cheerleader self”. Fizz is made to feel insecure by the cruel words spat at him, so Blitz supports him, telling him he is in fact good enough and not to listen to the words of some idiot.
It’s all so natural for Blitz. This was him at his core. And while I’m sure growing up in Greed does a number on someone no matter what, he still had some innocence within him before everything went wrong.
Let’s see more of his childhood.
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Blitz was a circus performer, much like Fizz. He was the ringleader’s son, but he was definitely not the star of the show. We’re not shown much of his circus performance, but as storytelling goes, this scene serves to tell us that he wasn’t quite the fan favorite…
Despite this, he pushed on. Even when he felt discouraged, he had drive (and that drive pushed him to achieve what he has today). Born in a discriminatory world where he’s the bottom of the barrel, drive and perseveration are his biggest qualities.
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He clearly saw the discrepancy between him and Fizz. His best friend and crush, he was the fan favorite and Blitz’s own dad favoured him over his own son. And Fizz is incredibly talented, that’s why he made it so big (even with the help of deadly sins, he couldn’t have been liked if he just wasn’t good enough), but that didn’t make Cash’s treatment of them better.
I doubt Cash was all that good towards Fizz either, just that he abused him in different ways than Blitz, but that’s for another story.
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Despite this, he was still in good spirits with Fizz. His dad’s treatment of them didn’t make Blitz wanna do bad things to Fizzarolli. He loved him as his best friend and I think it shows that Blitz could separate the two.
Even if he did end up hurting Fizz in an emotional moment… In a complete, tragic accident where everything that could go wrong, went wrong. It wasn’t Blitz’s fault, but he caused it.
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Of course though, the situation is much more complicated than that. The tent was flammable, there were lit candles being brought inside and also fireworks stored inside. It was a recipe for disaster. But Blitz, in an emotional moment, didn’t stop to look around himself or think before pushing the first person in front of him.
Feelings of inadequacy, I assume, both to be more to Fizz and also to be his dad’s son. Someone like Fizz couldn’t love him. And also, his dad loved Fizz more than him (or rather his potential). He is useless, he’ll never amount to it. Not to Fizz’s love, not to his dad’s love.
Who really knows what happened in Blitz’s head in that moment, but it was a mix of very bad emotions and his insecurities slowly became a self-fulfilling prophecy.
But before we go into the fateful day that changed his life completely, let’s talk a bit more about him in the past.
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Even though his dad has always been a neglectful, bad parent (as far as we’ve seen), Blitz was a bit of a rebel even from a young age. He held his ground as much as someone his age could, questioned his dad and despite his difference in treatment, Cash knew he could count on Blitz to do the heist mission he’s put him up to.
Blitz was scared. Of course, he was a child. But he wanted to help his dad, and especially his mom. Cash clearly knew it and used it to manipulate him into doing it.
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We don’t know much about his mom, but she was shown as someone that Blitz clearly loved. And Blitz does anything for the people he loves.
So… He agreed to it - he would go to prince Stolas’s place and steal off him. Even from a young age, he’s been set up to dangerous missions, cause if Blitz was clumsier or more obvious or he was caught in any way, it could’ve been horrible for him. Cash probably knew that, but still decided it was worth risking his son. (When I catch you, Cash…)
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As soon as he got to his place, we’ve seen even more of his core. He is smart and inventive (granted, Stolas was also pretty sheltered and didn’t know much). He came up with a way to steal right in front of the prince and get away with it.
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And he’s always had big dreams. He will have his own business, a big office, horses with good name, he will be a good boss… Despite his circumstances, he had an image of what he wanted to be.
So how could we describe Blitz at his core? I would use the following:
Brave
Rebellious
Smart
Determined
Kind
Playful
Supportive
Protective
The “cheerleader” of his loved ones
But also impulsive, which was his downfall that day and continued to be after.
This is Blitz at his core, before everything went wrong and trauma started to plague his inner self.
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The day everything went wrong.
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(Btw; not all hellfire is green. The fire is green cause they’re in Greed.)
His impulsivity got the better of him - in his distress, he pushed someone over holding a cake with lit up candles. Fire hazards aside, it was definitely a domino effect and it happened right on Fizz’s birthday.
Blitz himself was injured in this accident and in that moment, he had to make a decision… He was gonna save Fizz that was crawling in agony right in front of him, or save his mother.
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(Side note: So, did Blitz actually see Fizz crawling up to him? Cause there was a thought that he just managed not to see him, but in Ghostfuckers we can see Fizz from his perspective. So I’m going with that it was a split decision he had to make.)
That proved to be yet another unfortunate decision in the chain of tragedy, cause he made his choice, abandoning Fizz right in front of him to run over to help his mother… Who, ultimately, didn’t survive. Fizz did, and they ended up not speaking for 15 (!!) years.
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After the tragedy, his pos of a dad struck his freshly burnt son (!!) and forbid him from seeing his best friend, telling him he didn’t wanna see him (what he’d find later that it was a complete lie).
That resulted in a pointless grudge that lasted for 15 years. There is the question of why Blitz didn’t try to contact him after his hospital say, but there could be so many reasons. Further external interference, the inability to (after all, he was abandoned with nothing and injured), Fizz being unreachable, etc. But that could’ve been prevented if Cash just allowed Blitz to see Fizz in the hospital.
So what were the consequences?
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His dad hates him. (Trash took itself out imo)
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His sister hates him.
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His best friend hates him.
He has no home. No money. No family, no friends. He’s all on his own, and it was all his doing - accident or not. That would be hard on anyone.
What was he up to after that? Well…
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We know he worked at Loo Loo Land for a while before he gave up performing altogether. He wasn’t happy, and being in the presence of a robotic replica of his now famous former best friend (that he burnt alive and disabled by accident) certainly couldn’t be a fun time.
And clearly he’s got a few issues with performing knowing his performance during those days and in the circus…
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“I can’t do this, not again; I haven’t performed since…”
We know somewhere during his time he dated Verosika Mayday, whom she left and maxed out her credit card on shitty horse riding lessons, supposedly after she told Blitz she loves him.
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He adopted Loona…
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Seeing Loona in that shelter, Blitz saw himself. He saw himself and the love he never got and decided he was gonna give her that love. He was gonna be the dad he never had. A life changed without even realizing, too plagued by his trauma - he couldn’t see the good things he’s done.
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“Oh, her? That’s just Loona… What a nightmare; serious attitude problems. She’ll be out of our hair next month when she ages out… Good riddance if you ask me, she’ll never amount to anything much.”
That might as well be said about Blitz, cause that’s how he feels about himself. Like a disaster, like he brings misfortune to everyone else. He chose to take on that tough job, the job to house and care for a daughter with “serious attitude problems” that show in their day to day. She lashes out, she is mean, she is avoidant, but he never holds it against her. Just like he needed someone to support him when he was all alone. He doesn’t even have his own bedroom, taking the couch while giving Loona the only bedroom available.
He sneaked into the place of the prince he once stole from and got his book, knowing it'd help his plan (thus starting the full moon deal)...
He made his own business, something imps don’t do. He made it. He hired Moxxie;
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Changing another life.
He hired Millie;
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Changing yet another life.
Yet he still couldn’t help think that everyone hated him and that he deserved it. Nobody really cares, it all amounts to his usefulness. Why would anyone love him? Why him?
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Unhealthy beliefs hid his core self:
He’s unloveable
He brings tragedy to anyone he gets close to
You’re only as wanted as you are needed
Emotions complicate things and nobody cares anyway
He has never done a good thing in his life
He will die alone
He deserves it ^
PART TWO HERE (due to Tumblr limitations... Sorry)
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maidreveon · 3 days ago
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Let's talk about Hakon as a character. I don't have any education or sufficient knowledge in the field of creating a good plot for a work, but my reasoning is based on the knowledge that I have. During the game, Hakon as a character goes a long way (if you save him). At first, he seems to us like a good guy who saved Aiden's life, helps in every possible way. He is cunning, not very honest, but kind. Everything changes when Aiden learns about the scars from Lazarus - it suddenly turns out that our good friend Hakon worked as a double agent for a long time, betrayed a lot of people, and even Aiden felt betrayed because of hiding the truth about Waltz and Mia. From Lawan and Frank, we learn more details about how Hakon betrayed the Nightrunners. Then there is the meeting in the church - I think this is a very important part of his character arc, because it is here that if Aiden does not want to fight him, if he saved him in Villedore, if he gave the TV tower to Frank, we, as an audience, finally learn the truth. Hakon did not have to explain himself, tell how everything was from his point of view, because Aiden is unlikely to believe him after everything that happened, but he tells and really wants to convey his truth. Or maybe he needed to talk to someone. This scene is Hakon's confession. And I always end this mission the way I think is right - I stop Lawan. Hakon found someone who listened to him, who believed him, WHO GAVE HIM A SECOND CHANCE. Gave hope that Hakon can still fix something. Then Hakon comes to Frank - also an important part of his arc, he sees that Aiden did not lie. Frank, it seems to me, has long understood that Hakon was not guilty of the death of the Nightrunners. Frank's reaction to Hakon makes it clear that he has forgiven him. And for Hakon, this is really important, because the death of the Runners weighed heavily on his soul all these long years. Hakon works with Aiden at X13, he even carries Aiden's sister away from the explosion. In one of the endings, Hakon leaves Villedor with Aiden, to the ocean. The end.I always had a feeling of incompleteness. Like something was wrong, something was missing. And I realized what I was missing. Redemption. Hakon had a confession, but not atonement. He admitted his mistakes, admitted his cowardice and was even ready to die, but that was it. But in real life, and in other works, this is not enough. You can't just admit your mistakes, especially such SERIOUS mistakes, and just move on. If this were a movie, I'm sure we would have seen a scene where Hakon shows through his actions that he understands everything, that he has actually started to CHANGE, to improve. I miss that, I want to see Hakon do something that proves he is trying to improve. I don't want him to just suddenly start living a quiet life after so many years of working for Waltz. I think a good option for him would be to face his enemy - Waltz. The man Hakon hates, the man he was forced to work for under threat of death. The one who I'm sure Hakon blamed for what happened to his life. I think what he needs to complete his character arc is at least a short fight with Waltz, for example, when Aiden is injured and needs to be protected, to buy a few minutes, or maybe to distract Waltz while Aiden tries to find a way to disable the missile launch/just save his sister, Hakon can even stand up for Lawan. It doesn't have to be a long fight, Hakon can lose this fight, the important thing is that Hakon was able to overcome his fear of this man. And all the sweet stuff in the form of a serious battle with Waltz and victory over him can be left to Aiden.
Поговорим о Хаконе, как о персонаже. У меня нет какого-то образования или достаточных знаний в сфере создания хорошего сюжета для произведения, но мои рассуждения основаны на тех знаниях, которые у меня ест��. Во время игры Хакон как персонаж проходит большой путь(если спасать его). Сначала он представляется нам таким хорошим парнем, который спас жизнь Эйдену, всячески помогает. Он хитрый, не очень-то и честный, но добрый. Всё меняется, когда Эйден узнаёт про шрамы от Лазаря - вдруг оказывается, что наш добрый друг Хакон долгое время работал двойным агентом, предал кучу людей, и даже Эйден почувствовал себя преданным из-за сокрытия правды о Вальце и Мие. От Лоан и Фрэнка мы узнаем больше подробностей о том, как Хакон предал Ночных Бегунов. Затем идёт встреча в церкви - я считаю, это очень важная часть его арки персонажа, потому что именно здесь, если Эйден не хочет драться с ним, если спас его в Вилледоре, если отдал ТВ башню Фрэнку, мы, как зрители, наконец узнаём правду. Хакон не обязан был объясняться, рассказывать, как всё было с его точки зрения, ведь Эйден вряд ли поверит ему после всего, что было, но он рассказывает и правда хочет донести свою правду. А может, ему нужно было кому-то выговориться. Эта сцена - исповедь Хакона. И я всегда заканчиваю эту миссию так, как считаю правильным - останавливаю Лоан. Хакон нашёл того, кто его выслушал, кто поверил ему, КТО ДАЛ ВТОРОЙ ШАНС. Дал надежду на то, что что-то Хакон ещё может исправить. Далее Хакон приходит к Фрэнку - также важная часть его арки, он видит, что Эйден не соврал. Фрэнк, как мне кажется, давно понял, что Хакон не был виноват в гибели Ночных Бегунов. То, как Фрэнк реагирует на Хакона, даёт понять, что он простил его. И для Хакона это действительно важно, ведь смерть Бегунов тяжёлым грузом лежала на его душе все эти долгие годы. Хакон вместе с Эйденом работают в Х13, он даже уносит сестру Эйдена подальше от взрыва. В одной из концовок Хакон уходит из Вилледора вместе с Эйденом, к океану. Конец.У меня всегда было чувство незаконченности. Как будто, что-то не так, чего-то не хватает. И я поняла, чего мне не хватало. Искупления. У Хакона была исповедь, но не искупление. Он признал свои ошибки, признал свою трусость и даже был готов умереть, но на этом всё закончи��ось. А ведь в реальной жизни, да и в других произведениях этого недостаточно. Нельзя просто признать свои ошибки, причём такие СЕРЬЁЗНЫЕ ошибки и просто жить дальше. Если бы это был фильм, я уверена, мы бы увидели сцену, в которой Хакон показывает своими действиями, что он всё понял, что он действительно начал МЕНЯТЬСЯ, исправляться. Мне не хватает этого, я хочу увидеть, что Хакон делает что-то, что доказывает его старания исправиться. Я не хочу, чтобы он просто так, внезапно начал жить спокойно после стольких лет работы на Вальца. Я думаю, хорошим вариантом для него было бы столкновение с его врагом - Вальцем. Человек, которого Хакон ненавидит, на которого был вынужден работать под страхом смерти. Тот, кого Хакон, я уверена, винил в том, что случилось с его жизнью. Я думаю, для завершения арки персонажа ему не хватает хотя бы короткой драки с Вальцем, например, в момент, когда Эйден ранен и его нужно защитить, выиграть пару минут, а может, отвлечь Вальца, пока Эйден старается найти способ отключить запуск ракет/просто банально спасти сестру, Хакон даже может встать на защиту Лоан. Это не обязательно должен быть долгий бой, Хакон может проиграть в этом бою, важен сам факт того, что Хакон смог перебороть свой страх перед этим человеком. А всё самое сладенькое в виде серьёзной битвы с Вальцем и победы над ним, можно оставить Эйдену.
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(About Thirst by Marina Yuszczuk)
I finally go to read one of the books I got from the pride market and it was billed as like a sapphic vampire love story and I am SCREAMING!! It’s like??? I guess?? Technically???? I went online to go see what people were saying and people keep talking about things in the book that just??? Aren’t a thing??? What is happening did I miss something 😭
#oni talks#thoughts#thirst book#Marina Yuszczuk#side note autocorrect has been FIGHTING ME EVERY SECOND FOR ME TO TYPE THIS NAME I S2FG#sapphic books#Oni vents#like I feel like I’m going crazy??? ppl are talking about this as if it’s like sapphic twilight or as if it’s some super feminist book#and I’m just here like girl where??? EXACTLY WHAT SPECIFICALLY ABOUT THIS IS FEMINIST AT ALL??? (as a feminist myself and not the terf kind)#like everywhere I go ppl are talking about the book like it’s the most lesbian feminist thing and/or talking about the book as if like thing#things are happening that are just??? factually not?? like did yall just pause and go read fanfic and forgot where the fanfic and book ended#is there some big huge thing in regards to this book that I’m missing??? this was supposed to just be a book I consumed while I waited for#stuff to charge so I could listen to a different book and do the dishes but NO! THE ENDING IS SO FRUSTRATING#this book actively frustrates me coz like there’s parts I do enjoy and like and there’s bits of a story in it but it’s like the book doesn’t#even wanna BE a book? like towards the latter half it feels like the writer just wanted to be done already#feels like we’re missing half a book or like it’s 2 VERY different books that don’t mesh well#also there’s so much set up and for like??? nothing? or is it just me and my potential rot brain where I’m just like overly excited#and see all the cool stuff they COULD HAVE done but NOOOO#also like?? stuff just happens? it doesn’t really feel like a concrete story with like proper fulfillment or arcs#it’s basically just oh so yeah thing happened so anyway and then this happened anyway#I know I don’t read a ton but are we this starved for sapphic books that yall just overhyped the sapphic stuff or am I just a unique#anecdotal case?? like? idk I got more books & now I’m scared to read them but I also want a different sapphic vampire book but that was the#only one I got coz it was like a big pride market and the book place was one of the first stalls and I didn’t wanna carry like a ton of book#I am so tempted to go to the queer bookstore nearby to find more sapphic vampire to FULFILL MY CRAVING THAT WAS LEFT UNFULFILLED#like it was sold as this big sapphic romance but I swear it’s like that’s barely any of the book?? the other romances get way more???#am I just reading a completely different book or something????
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prettyboykatsuki · 2 years ago
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“How are you so quiet when you’re that big?”
“Trade secret.”
lines that kill you instantly and immediately and also swiftly and
Sleeping in the Garden: Part I
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in which bakugo katsuki is your next door neighbor, and he’s just gotten custody of two girls he’s far too young and far too inexperienced to be a father for—but he’s bakugo katsuki, so he’s damn well going to do it anyway
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bakugo katsuki x fem!reader
wc: 21.5k genre:pro hero au, neighbor au, single dad au, slow burn, kidfic type:longfic (6 parts) reader:fem (she/her pronouns, fem terms, neutral clothing) part warnings: children (7&16 years old), parent illness/death, discussions of toxic relationships (pre-fic), discussions of age gap (pre-fic; 20 & 34) note: this is the first part of my submission to the @mybigbangacademia big bang! this was an incredible opportunity, absolutely full to the brim with such talented writers and authors, and i for one can’t wait to check them all out! i’d also like to give a quick thanks to @phen0l​ and @sipsteainanxiety​ for their incredible beta work ♥️ this fic is a real work from the heart, something i’ve been working on for over a year now, so i hope you all enjoy!
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masterlist || part ii ⟹
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You sit at your kitchen counter to do your work. It’s not exactly ideal; you can’t see them, and you’re certain your back will ache in the morning as punishment for using the tall bar chair for an hour and a half, but you make it work. The minutes pass, the girls continue to work on their assignments and help each other out when needed. It isn’t until a text chime blares out that you turn around and realize how long it’s been.
Ayame is looking down at her phone, reading the text with her arms still preoccupied with academics.
“Did your father get back to you?” you ask.
“He’s not my father,” Ayame snaps immediately, head snapping over to fix you with a fierce glare. “Despite what he and everyone else thinks, he is not my dad, so don’t call him that.”
You raise your hands in surrender, palms out. “Peace. Understood. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have assumed.”
She seems to startle at that—her glare doesn’t pause but her brow furrows further in confusion and when she speaks it’s muttered more than angry. “Yeah. You shouldn’t’ve.”
“But I need to know he knows where you are.”
“He does,” she grumbles. “He’s stuck in traffic, he’ll be here soon.”
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Your next door neighbor is the number two pro hero.
It’s a nice neighborhood—admittedly most of the inhabitants are getting on in years, and at times can be unbearably wealthy, but you’re not about to complain when you inherited your half of the duplex already paid off by your grandparents. It’s an unusual western-style house, connected on one side to a reflected twin, with three floors, three bedrooms (though you’ve converted one into an office), two (and a half) baths, and a shared rooftop terrace with the remains of planter boxes and a run-down little greenhouse that your grandfather once used to grow food; a nice place, something you’d never have been able to afford if you hadn’t come into it by luck.
The leftmost wall is shared with none other than the Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight, though contrary to what the name might suggest he’s actually a pretty okay neighbor. That is to say: an almost entirely absent one.
You don’t see the man very much. Hero work, you presume, keeps him more than busy; when he’s home there’s always a shiny, clearly expensive sports car in the driveway (you have no clue what kind but it looks like something a car nut would drool over) and you definitely see it gone more than not. The older ladies like to coo at him when he shows up—sometimes with another tall, built hero in tow, often with groceries in arm. You’ve only talked to him a few times but he remembers your name, and he gives a brusque little nod of acknowledgement whenever you wave at him in greeting. He’s not exactly known in the news as the friendliest type but you’re never felt entirely unwelcome when you’ve gone over to let him know that you’ll be on vacation for a week, or that you’re expecting a handyman to stop by to fix your sink. And that’s just about all the friendliness one inherently needs from a neighbor, so you’re content with the whole relationship.
That kind of goes out the window when the girls show up, because you’re too meddling for your own good and nobody, not even (or perhaps especially) an incredibly busy top hero, is prepared to suddenly take on two children without warning.
Keep reading
#ari reccs#all time faves#oh pluvi. what have you done to me /pos#this no joke made me re enter my bakugou era at an alarming rate this was fucking magnificent and absolutely#just. did not feel like 20k. what do u mean it was over that#GOD fuck PLUVI your bakugou FUCKS#i feel crazy im so sorry i love that guy to death and you just. CAPTURE him#im so picky about his characterization and im so Sensitive about it because thats my blorbo of all time#but god hes like literally perfect here#i think like. one of the things i admire most in people who i follow and mutuals is that all of them#generally have an ability to write stories that progress at the right pace#and i think you nail that here#this feels like a first part while also feeling like a complete arc in a way#everything feels natural and everything moves at a flow i can keep up with#i dont have to go back to read what happened#and for me personally thats so difficult to accomplish so super well done on that front#can i say. the way you write kirishima as like so charming w kids made my stomach flip like fdfjsd hes so sexy#WHYWAS HE ABLE TO HOLD US SO EASY IM THROWING UFDOPFFHD#JUST. IMMACULATE AND AUDACIOUS AND STUNNING EVEN#god i love ayame#i love that she feels like a girl in highschool#i love the part where reader reflects on not being able to change a teens mind abt life after hs cause thats so true#that riko calls bkg dad and ayame doesnt#and that ayame isnt immediate to warm up to bakugou#i think you can tell in their interaction that like. they're just not there /yet/ and that ayame is a little bit more sensitive to their#interactions. bkg doesn't push her either because he is just patient im so#LOVE how you wrote bakugous observance too im throwing up at that#LIKE YOU GET IT. YOU UNDERSTAND IT COMPLETELY.#and i really enjoy that you used kirishima as bkgs Friend and not deku#or at the very least we get to see kirishima first
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suiana · 3 months ago
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yandere! cheater and gn! reader who's in their villain arc...
you've suspected that something was up when your boyfriend started to get busy with his work, coming home late, hiding his phone from you...
of course you just wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt that he really was just stressed from his work. he was yourboyfriend after all. you had to trust him, didn't you?
well everything was shattered when you found one of his side chicks under your shared bed. she was naked, only wearing a pair of undies while holding in her pee.
"wtf why are you hiding under here?"
"your bf doesn't want u to know that he's cheating. told me that he'd kill me if i came out."
yeah, so the girl was an asshole to get with your man when she knew that he was in a relationship but at least she told it to your face straight up. also she pissed herself while getting out from the bed so there's that.
meanwhile, your boyfriend was sobbing and crying when he came home. you had found out of his side affairs, a side he never wanted you to find out about. to be honest, your boyfriend didn't know why he he got with others in the first place. he had everything he could ever want in you. you made him feel alive, all the good things you know. being with you was like a dream come true and he constantly felt like tearing out his skin from how happy you made him.
you were his god.
oh, yeah, thinking about it now that's probably it. he felt that you were too good for him and didn't want to taint you. which... was why he resorted to sleeping with others.
shitty move, yeah he knows. don't need to repeat it.
but you... why were you so forgiving? you welcomed him back with open arms, sobbed a little and told him how hurt you were! he thought you'd have up and left by now!
but you didn't.
he knew you were too good for him, he had to treat you better now. he just had to, this was obviously you giving him a second chance, right? oh he just loves you so much!
unfortunately for him, it wasn't a second chance. no, you were about to absolutely ruin this man.
it started with the small things. small rumours about him ranging from how he had a small dick to how he's a pushover... you needed to start your plan slow, you know. tear his reputation of a good and sensible man bit by bit. gotta build up that tension teehee >w<
then from the rumours, you started manipulating the people close to him. crocodile tears, white lies, and a whole pity party for yourself... telling his friends and family members how your boyfriend was an absolute shit of a boyfriend, how he didn't treat you right and how he was the worst an alive... well, it wasn't much of a lie. he did spoil you and treat you like a deity but if he really treasured you why would he cheat in the first place? there's no space left in your life to pity him.
the most important part was to constantly reassure him that you loved him and to make sure that he never finds out that you were the one ruining his life from behind the scenes. can't let him find out that his angel lover is the one that's bringing him to social death now!
by this stage, your boyfriend was completely dependent on you. everyone around him was looking at him like he was the absolute scum of the earth. where did the rumours come from? why was everyone avoiding him? he couldn't even go to work without his coworkers side-eyeing him like he grew an extra head! he's just lucky he didn't get fired-
oh and what do you know. he got fired.
he comes home crying, an absolute mess and a shell of the man that he used to be. what was once a confident and charming man is now a desperate and pathetic boyfailure.
"baby i got fired, i'm so sorry. i don't deserve to be with you."
his arms wrap aorund your legs, tears staining your pants as he seeks comfort from the only person still left by his side. yes, you're the only person left dying for. even his own parents desserted him, yet you stayed. he's so thankful-
"yeah, you're right. you don't deserve me."
it's like time stops the second the words fall from your lips. he slowly looks up at you, eyes widening in horror as his tears dry up. what? was he growing delusional? he must've heard you wrong. no way his beloved god just said that!
"haha... you're so sweet baby. joking around in a time like this-"
"i'm not joking. you don't deserve someone like me."
you slap his hands away, looking down at him as he remains on his knees on the floor. you had a smug smile, expression all cocky as you even started to laugh.
"haha! did you really think i wanted to stay with you? fuck no! i have standards okay? i really didn't want to stay with a cheater!"
your boyfriend didn't know what to think. what were you saying? he doesn't understand. is this a late april fools prank? the way his heart was clenching and the way he felt his face paled shows just how much he doesn't like your words.
"babe stop-"
"i hate you god damnit. i really thought you'd be the one for me but no! you just had to go ahead and cheat!"
but you didn't listen to him.
"let's break up."
oh yeah, you hear that? that's the sound of his heart shattering.
he quickly crawls over to you, face pale as he grips onto your pants tightly. his hands shook with each word he uttered, tone desperate as tears streamed down his cheeks once more.
he never thought he'd start begging for someone to stay when it was usually the opposite but... you were his god. the one he's devoted his entire life too.
so he'll gladly get on his hands and knees for you if he has too. you can't leave him. he doesn't want to be alone.
"please! forgive me! i know i did something wrong but i'm trying! you can't leave me too!"
he looks up at you, face completely flushed as he continues to turn himself into an even bigger pathetic mess. he doesn't care what he looks like now. he's practically lost everything. he has nothing left to lose.
"i promise i'll be better! i haven't cheated since you found out last time! d-doesn't that count for something?"
he gives you a shaky smile, as though that would convince you.
it wasn't.
in response to his words, you could only give a disgusted expression, kicking him away before walking past him to the front door. what a pathetic man he was.
"you know, you look best when you're like this."
you state, glancing at him with a smile before turning to leave his house. well, there's that. your plan was complete and your now-ex boyfriend was absolutely destroyed.
so why did it feel like... something bad was about to happen?
you quickly look back at him, keeping your cool and remaining nonchalant before you feel the blood drain from your face. your best friend?! where did they come from?! and the fact that your crazy ex was holding a knife to their neck-
"no... don't leave me... you can't leave... i have no one else but you..."
what were you supposed to do now that he was holding your best friend hostage?
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ambrosiagourmet · 11 months ago
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I love Izutsumi. She's got a great design, she's a fun addition to the main party, she adds some new tension, and she's honestly one of the reasons I read dungeon meshi in the first place. I mean, "the most cat to ever girl" is an extremely appealing hook to anyone who loves cats and girls (me, I love cats and girls).
However, while I have always liked Izutsumi, I finished the story kind of feeling like I didn't really get her. I felt like I had a decent grasp on her character an character arc (she's a traumatized teen given space to feel safe and open up, and because of that she realizes that she can't grow without letting go of the coping mechanisms she once needed). But I didn't feel like I really understood her role in the story as a whole.
She follows the group of her own accord, after a coincidental meeting and a misunderstanding of what they can do for her. She's never super invested in saving Falin, at least not compared to the rest of the group. Though they do help her escape Maizuru's shackles, and are clearly good for her in general, she doesn't really have a healing Moment with the group the way that Senshi does with the hippogriff soup.
And yet, she gets an entire chapter, the third-to-last chapter, dedicated to exploring her growth and future. She's the one who frames much of the falling action, who lets us check in with everyone. She's the one who helps talk Laios into accepting his role as king. She may join the story part way through, but she is there for most of it. So Izutsumi! What's your deal!?
Well, I think I've come up with an answer, at least for myself, that I really like. Two of them, even! Though they both really work together to form the overall point - Izutsumi is the character that most helps the story face towards the future. Here's why I think that.
So the first of these "ah-ha" moments was when I realized that Izutsumi really is the best supporting evidence for Laios' point about the good things that wouldn't have happened if Falin hadn't died.
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If Falin hadn't been eaten by the dragon, Izutsumi probably would still be a slave. It was because of Shuro and Laios' parties both being in the dungeon to rescue Falin, as well as Marcille's use of ancient magic in the resurrection, that she got the chance to escape. None of that would have been the case if Falin hadn't died. Shuro wouldn't have separated from the group and joined up with his retainers, Marcille wouldn't have revealed her knowledge of ancient magic, and Izutsumi never would have even met any of them. They are only part of her life because of Falin's death.
Though this isn't explicitly pointed out by Laios or Izutsumi in the scene, I do think you can very much feel the presence of it. For one, when Marcille reflects on the journey and how much it made her realize she didn't want to lose everyone, her relationship with Izutsumi is prominent:
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It's the main original group at the top and center, but when you read it right to left, it’s Izutsumi and Marcille who might catch your eye first. And it's specifically Marcille and Izutsumi's relationship on display here, not just Izutsumi's presence in the group in general.
Also, after Laios' statement about how none of their adventure would have happened without Falin dying, it is Izutsumi who gets the final word:
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Izutsumi is also the one here who is the most forward-facing. Chilchuck is trying to correct Laios, Senshi is focused on the immediate future, and Izutsumi is talking about her new goal.
And I want to talk about that goal in general as well, because it’s also interesting how it comes up. In that moment, everyone is trying to remind Marcille of her less destructive desires - to eat food, to share it with them, and to meet Chilchuck's family. All of which are previously established, existing desires. When prompted by Chilchuck to join in, however, Izutsumi offers something new:
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That's interesting, isn't it? It's kind of funny, of course, to see her rambling on about a completely new thing, her own personal motive, in the middle of everyone working together to reach out to Marcille. Izutsumi doesn't even know who Yaad is! But at the same time, it’s kind of meaningful. Amidst the focus on desires that everyone already had, she adds a completely new one to the mix. It’s even the final bridge that lets Laios reach Marcille.
It is, in fact, even an idea that comes back later to help out another lord of the dungeon. The idea of finding new goals and feeling new desires... this is exactly how Kabru reaches out to Mithrun, after the Winged Lion is gone
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So yeah, Izutsumi's presence here, both in what she's actively choosing to say as well as what she represents of the consequences of Falin's death, supports the story's ideas of moving forward. Of accepting the past, and finding new reasons to live.
Which is all really good, and that alone works pretty well as an answer to what Izutsumi's role in the story is.
But oh, oh. There's more. Something I realized after having thought of all this, because I still couldn't let go of the feeling that there was still something I was missing.
And as I reviewed the things I loved about Izutsumi - her sometimes unhealthy ways of coping with trauma, her struggles with isolation, her skill with fighting, her selfishness contrasted with the ways she grows to care for and protect the group, her perpetually guarded nature, born from the seeming impossibility of ever fitting in or finding a safe place to just be herself - I realized something.
Izutsumi...
is a foil to Falin.
Where Falin copes with isolation and trauma by being eternally caring and struggling to say no to people, Izutsumi copes by constantly saying no to everything she can. Falin is often considered selfless, but does have selfish desires that she can’t easily express until a moment of crisis. Izutsumi is delightfully selfish, but chooses to stick by her friends when they need her. They are both transformed, against their will, into partly monstrous hybrids, and they both will have to live with that - there is no undoing what has been done to them.
Falin anchors the group in the past. Izutsumi pulls them towards the future. Neither would find freedom without the other - it is Falin's death that leads to Izutsumi joining the party, and likewise, it is Izutsumi who inspires the realization of how they can save Falin.
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And Falin is her future, as much as Izutsumi is Falin's. Both learn to be a little more like each other, even though they never meet. Falin gets a little more selfish. Izutsumi gets a little more willing to bend.
In this context, I feel like I have finally started to understand just how important Izutsumi is to the story. She is a proof that they cannot just go back, and she is a clawed, happy-to-scratch-anyone-who-pisses-her-off reminder, at that. In any conversation about what the group wishes would have happened with Falin, she cannot be ignored or brushed aside.
She is a reminder that, even in the midst of a tragedy so big it feels like a shadow you will never escape, you have yet to met all the people you will love. Hell, some of those people might even be catgirls. We should all be so lucky.
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flawseer · 3 months ago
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Your thoughts on the wof characters have been really interesting and I'd love to hear your take on Starflight (your assignment of him being the 'designated sufferer' of arc one is both hilarious and tragically accurate). I've always liked him, cowardly though he is he still acts when he really needs to and the dynamic between him and Tsunami is super fun (the whole outwardly combative but inwardly just wishing to be as strong/as smart as the other).
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I like Starflight and I relate to him a lot, as a fellow chronic worrier who annoys his friends with constant blathering about stuff only I find interesting, and often finding myself paralyzed in the face of decisions.
It’s funny how the story puts forward a black dragon, which in media are usually portrayed as mysterious, ambiguously malevolent harbingers of doom, and makes him into this adorable dork.
He’s also the plot’s chew toy, which I am at times less enthusiastic about. Especially when jokes are made at the expense of his misfortune.
Wings of Night and Sea
Starflight’s and Tsunami’s friendship is very engaging because, in a sense, both of them complete each other. For each, emulating the other serves as their last resort when faced with a personal crisis. Whenever Tsunami encounters a situation she cannot overcome with her usual blunt and direct approach, she asks herself how Starflight would resolve the situation. When Starflight becomes overwhelmed and too scared to move, his mind conjures an image of the strongest, bravest, most unstoppable thing he knows, which is Tsunami. Though either would be reluctant to openly admit it to each other, they both rely on each other’s strengths to cover their own weaknesses.
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Through this you get the sense that, while their opposite personalities annoy each other to no end—if you locked both of them in a room for three hours, they’d be strangling each other when you open the door again—at their core they have only the deepest respect for each other. It becomes especially apparent when you realize that both of their stories in their respective books have them compare themselves to the other unfavorably.
If these two ever did a DBZ-style fusion dance, the result would likely be one of the most capable and balanced characters in their series.
Starflight's misfortune
CW: Discussion of blindness
One thing I have noticed (and have alluded to a lot in previous posts) is that the plot really likes to kick Starflight in the teeth. His own story arc puts him through the wringer, but he is not even safe in the two arcs past that, where he is largely out of focus. Most of the things that happen to him in arc 1 seem to occur for the sake of the story, but past that... it sometimes feels to me like the world has it in for this guy.
I started writing a list of every bad thing that happens to Starflight over all three arcs, but it got way too long, so now I’m just going to talk about a few select things instead.
One thing that stands out to me is that every other protagonist in arc 1 gets a specific moment. That kind of scene where they enter their tribe’s biome for the first time or connect with a particular part of their culture/physiology, and are overcome with a sudden burst of euphoria or deep resonance with their own nature. Clay gets it when he submerges himself in mud for the first time and then later again when he finds his siblings, Tsunami when she sees and smells the ocean, Glory when she’s in the rainforest and feels the sun, and Sunny when they go through the magic tunnel and end up in the desert. Starflight is the only arc 1 protagonist who doesn’t get a moment like this; when he enters his tribe’s home for the first time it’s a giant craphole that makes him feel upset. It only gets worse from there.
Then there is the big one; the misfortune that happens to him at the end of his book. I struggle to talk about this because... uh... How do I put this?
I opened this post by saying I relate to Starflight on a personal level. I wouldn’t consider myself as studious or well-read as him, so it’s not a direct comparison, but I do like to draw, write and dabble in visual artistry. This is a major part of my life; how I define myself as a person and what I think makes me “me”. The thing about this though is that all of this is tied up into one thing: my sense of sight.
It follows then that what ends up happening to Starflight is the realization of the one thing I fear the most. Thinking about the possibility of losing ones sight is deeply, personally horrifying to me. It messes me up internally just to consider it happening to me.
This, the subject of becoming blind, is a very difficult topic for any story to properly engage with. There are many pitfalls you can fall into and come off as insensitive, or ignorant. The way Wings of Fire deals with this subject is to... well... it doesn’t really. Starflight is blinded and then the story skips over most of his reaction to it because the next POV character gets separated from the group while they sort it out.
In a way, this is a good thing. I don’t know how this series—which often rushes through these really uncomfortable, harrowing events—would be able to show a realistic reaction to this development. Like, losing ones sight would be a horrifying prospect for anyone, but for Starflight especially this completely uproots not only his entire life, but his sense of identity. Everything he likes doing, everything he is and wants to be in life is rendered virtually impossible by this.
Consider who Starflight is. He is a thinker, and a worrier who is always inside his own head. He dreads and fears, he seeks out worst case scenarios, I daresay he is inclined towards pessimism. Whenever his neuroticism gets him too stressed, or emotional, or worried, he has one immediate response: bury his nose in a scroll. When he arrives in a new place, he usually asks where the scrolls are at. When he is under threat of being abducted or attacked, his first instinct is to go grab his scrolls to keep them safe. Like with me and drawing, reading is how he unwinds, how he balances himself. It is what keeps him sane and functional through dealing with adversity (and he's Starflight, so he deals with a lot of adversity).
Then this happens to him, and suddenly the one thing that makes this poor, battered boy happy, the one thing that never hurts him, is taken away forever. If I was in his place, if I learned I was suddenly blind, I would fall apart. I would cry, then scream, then cry AND scream and probably flail around in a panic. Clay would have to hold me down and restrain me so I don’t end up falling off the platform in a frenzied fit. Or worse.
So yeah, I get why the plot had to look away. Seeing this happen to Starflight—him going through this kind of anguish and then sinking into quiet despair as his world crumbles around him—would have been heartbreaking. In the end, we go on Sunny’s solo adventure and when she returns Starflight is already conveniently past the screaming fit phase and has adjusted to his new life circumstances—enough to talk and joke as if nothing happened. He then goes on to dedicate himself to bringing the wonders of literature to other blind dragons, which is a noble goal and good trajectory for his character—even if it’s a bit abrupt and I would have liked to SEE him do that instead of just being told.
Anyway.
This next one isn’t as notable because it doesn’t happen TO him, but I want to point it out to back up my claim that Starflight Ls can and will happen even in story arcs that have very little to do with him. In book 6 Moonwatcher and Darkstalker have a conversation where they discuss the concept of Nightwing powers and how they relate to the moons. The story very pointedly draws attention to the fact that Starflight nearly was born under three full moons and would have become the most powerful Nightwing of his generation if his inept caretakers had not decided to hatch him underground. While I don’t think getting these powers would have been good for Starflight in the long run, it is a bit sad considering he spent most of his childhood thinking he was born wrong because he didn’t have powers, and then Morrowseer further gaslit him about it throughout the arc.
And then we don't talk about what happens in arc 3. I am not the right person to discuss it.
My take on Starflight
I was asked to give my take on the character, so...
I already went into how I think he’s very introspective and prone to worrying. I see him as an introvert, which is something he has in common with Glory, and contrast him with Sunny, Clay, and especially Tsunami. He enjoys reading but also other activities where he gets to use his brain. He likes puzzles; I imagine he got very excited when they had to figure out the murder plot in book 2, or when he caught Blister in a lie. If he had a computer it would be full of adventure and puzzle games, and he’d hog the resident DS to play the Professor Layton series all the time.
When they found the academy, it is implied he teaches a literacy course and gives out writing assignments. That is right up his alley, but I’ve always felt he also has strong math/natural science teacher vibes. There should logically be a numbers class at that school and I can’t imagine any other character who would be more suited to teach it.
If I were asked where I would make changes to his story, I guess I would nix the part where he and Fatespeaker hook up in book 5. I have nothing against their relationship, it’s actually grown a lot on me over time. But I never liked how it started. Starflight gets rejected by Sunny and then immediately hooks up with Fatespeaker. This is really undignified for her because it takes their potentially intriguing romantic relationship and turns her into Starflight’s “rebound chick”. You really need to give yourself some time to move on from your previous attraction; rushing like this creates doomed relationships.
The original story implies that about half a year passes between the end of arc 1 and the start of arc 2. I like to pretend this gap is actually a bit longer, by like 2 or 3 years. It gives the old protagonists a bit more time to settle into the roles they’ll occupy during the next arc, and makes it more plausible to me that they could build and outfit an entire school, write the curriculum, designate roles, etc..
In that time, with things being more calm now, Starflight has opportunity to get lost in his own thoughts again. It turns out, now that the dangers of the war are no longer distracting him, he finds it difficult to cope with his blindness and sinks into a depression.
While this happens, Fatespeaker is there with him. She sees his condition worsening by the day, but refuses to give up on him. She reads to him; they talk, and they bond. Though serious self-searching and hard work, together they manage to pull out of the darkness eventually. This is how their relationship starts, and it’s also how Starflight gets the idea to invent the dragon-equivalent of braille.
Somewhere during that time, I also imagine Glory has Tamarin escorted to Jade Mountain so she can help Starflight adjust to his new situation and learn how to navigate his life without needing to rely on others. Perhaps this is what motivates Tamarin to attend the academy later.
What else is there to say? Hmm...
I think Starflight is really fond of hard candy. Jawbreakers are his favorite especially. Though given how prone to misfortune he is in the story, I’m hesitant to put him in proximity of anything with a name like that.
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where-does-the-heart-lie · 3 months ago
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I love Sabo as a character so much! However something about his introduction into the story has bothered me for a while. Oda is a master story teller but it truly feels a bit like Sabo whole existence was dropped into our laps out of nowhere. What's your opinion on his introduction? And if you could, what would you change?
Thank you so much for all your amazing art! Always sparks joy.
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Hello hello! I also love Sabo a lot and as such theres a lot that I’ve had to come to terms with and work out with myself. I’ll let you in on my brain worms and what they’ve concluded with this subject though so hopefully some kind of weight is lifted off your shoulders, cuz right now, i think his introduction was done really well.
So first off, All Of Luffy’s family members’s whole existences were dropped into our laps out of nowhere, to be fair.
Luffy is not one to talk about his family or his past at all. So i dont blame him for not telling us directly about sabo when he barely told us about ace as he stood in front of us in Alabasta. But even if he doesnt talk about his family, for me, it’s very easy to see what Sabo’s influence on and especially what the loss of him taught Luffy before we even officially see him. We see it especially in water 7/enis lobby/sabaody arcs. During the course of the story up to that point, we don’t really see the world government, but even so, we see Luffy’s complete understanding of the cruelty and heartache it creates. We see his utter determination to not let a single other person he loves be taken away by the world government, too.
Also in Arlong Park! We see him understand what someone’s sacrifice on his behalf looks like. He knows how it ended last time. He’s not going to let it happen again and seeing it happen again in arlong park and water 7 and sabaody and Marineford absolutely kills him. Omg not even to mention Shanks losing his arm, too. This man is completely surrounded by people sacrificing themselves for him wtf. But like Shanks’ situation didnt give him that patented World Government Hatred, babeyyyyyy
And with how he was reintroduced officially in dressrosa, i think it was very artistically done. Like having all those themes and parallels to Luffy’s childhood, even going so far as him pointing them out, himself. That, and the Mera Mera No Mi coming back into the story, it gets you thinking back on Luffy’s backstory and what his brotherhood meant to him. So like Sabo’s already in the back of your mind from that and then youre also thinking “well who the hell is gonna get this fruit once Luffy wins it??” So when Sabo comes back i just feel like “of course. Of course it could be no one else but you.”
Also E S P E C I A L L Y with introducing Sabo, famous Amnesia Patient, back into the story during an arc that explores the absolute horrors of being forgotten and being the one forgetting???? Like truly the most opportune moment to get him back in there. I really love the Dressrosa arc, i think it’s all done very well.
I feel like if it was just Ace and Luffy, it would feel incomplete. Like Sabo’s part in their backstories just adds such a delicious spice to the age old dynamic of “older brother who dies for younger brother who he loves a lot.”
Like tell me Ace’s Death would hit the same if Ace didnt already know what it felt like to lose a brother.
His passing is already beyond tragic but like Sabo’s whole part in it just makes it so much more tragic in a way thats just 😚🤌 mwah~❤️ 𝕷𝖎𝖋𝖊 𝕽𝖚𝖎𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖌.
Sabo’s presence also adds a very personal level to Luffy’s understanding of the world he lived in. Like the big picture. I really think that if sabo wasnt occupying that space, Luffy wouldnt try to even know about the WG or class warfare or bother with any of that shit. Sabo is Luffy’s draw to the world around him me thinks. Like of course he would have to face that stuff when he went pirating, but those lessons would not have been taught to him before he got out there without Sabo.
This is the same in present day, like why would Luffy care at all about the Rev Army if Sabo wasnt in it? He’d be very thankful that they took Robin in, but like he wouldnt be actively asking about how the Rev Army was doing if his big bro wasnt a big part of it.
Also on that note of Sabo being in the Rev Army, I think that before Ace’s death and Sabo regaining his memory, Sabo wouldve been sneaky and largely unseen. Like yeah he barges into marine fortresses to take them down, but usually there isnt any survivors to tell the tales of him doing so. So before the timeskip, Sabo is out of the public eye. Out of any eye, really. But in my mind, when he regains his memory, i think he would do his level best to get his name out there. Thats why we see all those people in the colosseum/dressrosa be like “:O!!!! ITS THE CHIEF OF STAFF OF THE REV ARMY NOOOO” its cuz all his inhibitions left him. So like his face would be in news papers but luffy doesnt read news papers to find that Sabo’s alive and doing shit.
I think that Sabo took so long to let luffy know he was alive because he was scared luffy would hate him. I think he was scared of the potential scorn from his little brother he feels he wouldve been justified in getting. I think that if luffy was not put in a position where he wouldnt be able to fight in the colosseum anymore due to Law Getting Shot And Taken Off circumstances, Sabo wouldve let Luff keep going all the way to the end. But in that moment, Sabo knew that the fruit was no longer in his little brother’s capable hands and had to take matters into his own. Like we see him thinking about this in the episode of Sabo. We see him slowly following luffy around, listening, waiting, understanding the complexities of his situation, and ultimately making the decision to swap places with him.
I could literally talk about this forever i love talking about this forever and ever theres so much to discuss.
I’ve heard criticisms that Sabo’s amnesia story feels like fanfiction, but like,,, I just cant stop thinking about the hilarity of it all. Like why do you care that all this is all convenient, when it’s kinda funny. Like image you’re explaining your tragic backstory to someone and like you have to be like “now i know this sounds really. Really. Convenient. And ironic. But it’s My Life and I’ve had to Live Through It so please dont laugh.” Like idk!! ITS KINDA FUNNY!!!!!!!!!
I dont think i would be able to change anything about Sabo’s presence in the story without someone being out of character if im being honest. Like Luffy doesnt bring up his past, Ace doesnt like bringing up things that cause him pain, and we dont meet anyone else who knew he even existed until we see Luff’s backstory.
There’s a panel in the logue town arc though, that kinda looks like Sabo standing in the crowd. I think that maybe in the reanimated show or even the life action, if we could get a closer visual on him, just to see that he exists there, i think that would be neat.
Thanks for the question and kind words! Hope you enjoyed the long rant, i could rant for 2000000 more paragraphs but I’ll cut it there for now.
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dixons-sunshine · 5 months ago
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Damn Tease | Daryl Dixon x Fem!Reader
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Summary: It was an extremely hot day in Alexandria. Luckily, there wasn't much to do, barely anything at all, so you and Daryl decided to do it while everyone else relaxed for a change. However, Daryl soon wished he hadn't offered, because you decided it would be a good idea to get him all worked up—and your tiny shorts and tank top certainly didn't help his mind stay on track.
Genre: Suggestive.
Era: Alexandria, no arc in particular.
Warnings: Swearing, suggestive themes.
Word count: 1.5k.
A/n: For @ghostboneswrites2's writing challenge! It's my first time ever doing one of these so hopefully I did it right lol. I hope you like this! By the way, to my fellow writers, please join if you feel up for it! You can find the post with the prompts and rules here.
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The blazing summer sun relentlessly beat down on the world ravaged by the undead. It seemed as if though even the flesh eating monsters that roamed the earth every day had deemed the day too hot to go on their regular cannibalistic ventures, for no rotting corpse could be seen for miles and no loud groan could be heard in the near distance. The Alexandrian occupants had decided that the overly hot day would be spent lounging indoors or on their porches, the tasks of the day luckily not too much and could be left for the next day. However, Daryl had decided earlier that very morning that lounging indoors wasn't an activity that he wanted to partake in, so he went about completing the miniscule amount of tasks around the community. And since you didn't want to spend the day lazing around without him, you decided to join your partner on his stubborn venture.
However, as you brushed past the crossbow-wielding archer to grab one of the crates to bring into the pantry, your behind brushing ever so slightly against his front, Daryl wished you had decided to spend the day like the rest of the community. Although you were helping, and he certainly appreciated your help, you were being a major, hot as hell distraction, and he was two seconds away from dropping the crate of cherries he was carrying, throwing you over his shoulder and carrying you back to your shared house to indulge in the fantasies his mind was conjuring up the longer he stared at you.
Daryl felt like a perfect fool for even thinking of things like that while the two of you were supposed to be working. You barely even acknowledged his presence, too caught up with your own tasks to do so, and there he was, ogling you like an inexperienced school boy with a dumb crush on the popular girl. Admittedly, the outfit you had chosen to wear that day certainly didn't help his problem at all. The shorts you were wearing left just enough covered for his imagination to run wild, and your tank top hugged you in all the right ways, your cleavage covered but also showing just enough skin to have him licking his lips to keep them wet. Whether you had worn that particular outfit just to tease him and punish him for not complying with your request to stay indoors that day, he didn't know. What he did know, was that he desperately wanted to tear that shirt from your body, and work his way down to—
“I was thinking,” your voice rang through the air, effectively snapping the huntsman from his provocative train of thought. You had stepped back into the part of the pantry that temporarily housed the crates the two of you were hoisting and sorting out. “Tomorrow, when we go on that run, we should swing by that store we saw a few weeks ago. You know, the one that had all those kiddie pools? It would be nice to bring a couple of them back for the kids so that they don't have to suffer in this weather.”
“Yeah,” Daryl began, his eyes following you as you bent over to pick up your water bottle, your shorts riding up ever so slightly and driving him mad. He should just shoot himself at that moment and spare himself the misery you were putting him through. He cleared his throat, put the crate of cherries he held in his hands down on the ground and tried to focus back on the conversation at hand. “Yeah, sounds good.”
You smiled at him and took a sip from the water bottle that held some cherry flavoured drink you had made that morning with the same cherries the two of you were busy with in the pantry. You accidentally spilled some of the drink, and the droplets trickled down your chin and onto your chest, soon disappearing down your shirt. Daryl's eyes followed the droplets that trickled down your shirt, inhaling sharply when you tried to brush the wetness away, slightly pulling your shirt down and exposing some of your bra. God, you were driving him completely insane.
You looked up again and locked eyes with Daryl, and you smirked slightly at the sight of him. He was tightly gripping the shelf to his right, his knuckles turning white at the force he was bestowing on them. His breathing was heavier than usual, and he not-so-subtly adjusted his jeans. Good, your plan was working.
“Daryl, are you okay?” you asked him ‘innocently’, walking up to him and barely containing your smirk when you heard him inhale sharply. “You look a little flushed. Maybe you should sit down for a bit.”
Daryl licked his lips as he stared down at you, his vantage point giving him a clear view down your shirt. However, Daryl forced himself not to think like that. “Yeah, m'fine, Sweetheart. Why do ya ask?” he told you, trying to convince both you and himself. “And m'jus' a lil' hot, s'all. Nothin' to worry 'bout.”
“Are you sure?” you asked him while looking up at him through your eyelashes while maintaining your innocent act.
Daryl nodded quickly. “Yeah, m'sure. Ya dun' gotta worry 'bout me. I'll be alrigh'.”
“Okay, if you're sure.” You took a few steps backwards, sending him a mischievous smile. “By the way, you should probably focus more on sorting out these crates than staring at my ass. And my boobs, for that matter.” Daryl's eyes widened at your words. He started stuttering out words of denial, claiming he wasn't staring, but you simply waved him off. “No need to deny it, Daryl. Besides, I'd be offended if you didn't stare. I didn't wear this outfit for Spencer, after all.”
Realization dawned on Daryl. He shook his head and cursed himself for not figuring it out sooner. This was your version of revenge for him deciding not to stay in with you. Under no normal circumstances would you ever wear an outfit like that while doing chores around the community. It all suddenly made perfect sense to the archer.
“Ya did this on purpose?” Daryl asked in an accusing tone, shaking his head when you simply sent him a smug smile. “Yer a damn tease, ya know tha'?”
In a surge of confidence, you dipped down to grab a cherry from the crate Daryl had put on the ground. You stepped forward and looped an arm around Daryl's neck, staring deeply into his ocean coloured eyes as you slowly and sensually bit down into the sweet fruit. A mischievous, teasing smirk rested on your face as you heard Daryl let out a shaky breath, and you pressed your body impossibly closer to your partner's, successfully eliciting a small groan from him when you put just the slightest bit of pressure on his growing erection. “I know,” you whispered in a sultry voice, throwing the stem of the small fruit away to loop your other arm around his neck as well. “That's the whole point. Consider it payback for not staying in with me today. I had so much planned for us today, so many fun activities, but you just had to be your selfless self and do this.”
Daryl gulped and stared down into your eyes, his pupils dilating with each passing second. His hands rested on your hips, his grip tightening at your words. “Wha' activities did ya have in mind?”
Your smirk widened and you leaned up to let your lips hover over his, just barely grazing against his. Daryl's breathing stopped at that action, his eyes following your every movement. “Well,” you began in a seductive whisper, one of your hands trailing down his chest, his stomach and stopping just above the tent that was forming in his jeans. “Let's just say, it's not exactly something people would consider kid-friendly.”
Daryl's heart sped up at your confirmation. He pulled back from you and turned around to pick up the crate he had put down, before looking back at you expectantly. “We have a job to do. Let's get this over and done with, yeah? Then we can go home. The other chores'll have to wait 'till tomorrow.”
Your eyes widened at the pace he had started working at, the smirk on your face ever present. “What? I thought you wanted to get everything done today. Isn't that why you didn't want to stay in with me?”
“Jus' quit smackin' yer red lips and help me, won't ya?”
You giggled and sprung into action, eager to finish up with what you were busy with and to return home with your partner to do something way more exciting than sorting out crates. “Yes, sir.”
“Good girl,” Daryl praised you, sending heat straight down to your core.
Daryl was a selfless man by nature. But just that once, he wanted to indulge in something meant just for him, and that something was the two of you, naked as the day you were born, in bed, limbs tangled together. And Daryl would be damned if he let that opportunity slip between his fingers.
©dixons-sunshine 2024. I do not give permission for my works to be copied, modified, adapted or translated to any other site or platform without evidence of my given consent.
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comicaurora · 5 months ago
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I heard you talking on a recent OSPod about Hades, and as someone who very much can get ADHD-yoinked into games, it got me curious, but I'm...not great at video games and have found Dark Souls-y games where you try over and over and keep failing at the same task kind of frustrating. How's your Hades experience been in those regards? (although I'm not sure your general game skill)
Hades feels like it's really carefully designed to circumvent those frustrations.
I also hate the feeling of lost progress, which had me wary about playing a roguelite defined by constantly trying and mostly failing, but by far the most helpful part of the game design is that Zagreus also hates it, so it feels like the game and I are on the same page about it.
It also helps that most of the actual, tangible progress in the game is bound up in advancing the character arcs, which isn't a totally skill-free experience since it involves finding a couple characters out in the underworld, but a lot of it can be done back in the House of Hades, so every time you lose and die you can run around having conversations with everyone, almost all of which will be new and unique and advance your arc with them. If a character doesn't have a new interaction for you, you usually just can't find them on the floor, so there's very little time-wasting.
Speaking of, there's a lot of advancement that can only be done in the House of Hades, and a lot of it involves resources you can actively choose to seek out on runs. I did a couple runs today where my only goal was getting the last of a specific olympian's Boons so I could fill out their Minor Prophecy achievement and reap the rewards, and everything after that was just a bonus. This means the game is passively encouraging the player to develop secondary objectives beyond just making it to the end of the game again. It also helps that making it to the end of the game basically just gives you a weapon-unlocking resource and another small slice of conversation with [EXTREMELY OLD SPOILERS] so while it feels important, and is necessary for advancing towards the true ending of the game, it's not so overwhelmingly rewarding that you feel absolutely crushed when the final boss takes you out halfway through his second healthbar again.
You also benefit very greatly from not playing the game the same way twice - using new weapons or adding new challenge modes is the only way to re-acquire the unique boss rewards for the three main regions of the underworld, instead of the more generic resources that replace the unique ones after you win them for the first time, which means instead of feeling like you need to optimize a winning build and then use it every time, you're encouraged to play with the other weapons that you might find unwieldy or annoying, and if you manage to beat even the first boss with them, you'll be disproportionately rewarded. Also, on every run a random weapon will be empowered to give you bonus resources if you choose to use it, so even if you're a strictly melee-only main you might find yourself willing to figure out how to use the bow in exchange for the extra gems. The Boons you get also dramatically change the strategy you're likely to naturally fall into over the course of fighting your way out - some builds are extremely melee-based, others just boost your ranged abilities to the point that you can mostly just dash around the battlefield while your Casts chew through everyone's healthbar at top speed. So when you reach the final boss, you're not going to be using the same strategies, and even if you lose, it feels less like you had a skill issue and more like you've learned something to look out for or try out next time around. The final boss's strategies and moves don't change either, so you'll know what to expect every time even as your own moveset might be completely different from run to run.
In my personal experience, I have a pretty good feel for when a game is disappointed in my performance. Nothing says "the designers didn't expect you to get stuck here" like endlessly looping dialogue or not-so-subtle hints that you can knock down the difficulty if you need to. Hades has thus far done this to me very little, and only in specific areas - even if I'm no longer getting unique banter with Theseus every time I kick his ass, I'm still having unique conversations with Asterius in the same region and it doesn't feel like I'm anywhere near done with the dialogue back in the House. Zagreus's dialogue when he enters the same three boss arenas will also randomly go from seemingly-interchangeable lines of "yep it's this boss again" to much more unique angles that legitimately change the game from then on. Yesterday, after killing the bone hydra something like a dozen times, he randomly decided to nickname it Lernie, and now he consistently calls it Lernie and every time I kill it the victory banner says "LERNIE VANQUISHED". Today he got Tisiphone to say his name instead of just "murderer" all the time. The game knows you're going to be fighting these guys a lot, and this tells me I haven't outstayed my welcome in the anticipated main timeline of gameplay.
If I have a frustration, it's that I'm not always sure that what I'm doing is advancing the character plotlines, and you can only talk to a character once on any given visit to the House. The game kind of helps you out here, your little information codex will tell you stuff like "Learn more by having X more conversations with this character" or "learn more by deepening your relationship with this character" but it can still be pretty vague and opaque. There's no dialogue trees, Zagreus basically just says what he wants, so when, for instance, Achilles indicates that I should talk to Nyx about maybe getting Orpheus's deal with Hades undone, it's a little frustrating that I can't then go over to Nyx and ask her about that. Or, in fact, ask her about it at all in any of the dozen runs I've done since that nugget got dropped. It's not a game-breaker, but it is a little frustrating. On the other hand, this is clearly intentional, because this means you're tempted to get back into a run as quickly as possible, because then when you die more conversations will have unlocked back at the house - but also, to deincentivize just running out and dying on purpose to get those dialogues going, there are some characters who will only appear in the House if you get far enough into the run to deal with them, and certain characters whose arcs and dialogue only advance if you find and talk to their missing loved ones out on the run. So you'll always have something new back at the House, but you're strongly encouraged to get as far as you can before you die, because the farther you get, the more you'll have to do when you get back.
The game is basically designed to never, ever make you want to sit still. You can quickly exhaust everything there is to do in the house, and that makes you want to go out on a run and see what new things will happen. Then while you're on the run you have the benefit of randomization keeping things interesting and making you make plans for the next time you encounter a given character. It's got a good rhythm to it!
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tls12lessthan3 · 4 months ago
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one thing i enjoy about orv is how morally grey kim dokja is, especially in the beginning. during the beginning of the novel kim dokja seems to have almost no empathy for the people around him, and his number one priority is progressing the scenarios with himself being a secondary priority and saving others coming later. he does undeniable good, like saving jung heewon and caring for lee gilyoung - and he does some much more questionable things, like selling his food for coins knowing that it will disappear soon and people need the coins to survive.
this part of orv gets ignored a lot and chalked up to kim dokja's self-hatred, which i disagree with. yes he hates himself and yes he's an unreliable narrator who paints his actions in a worse light because of it but sometimes he just does objectively bad things. and it's interesting when he does! particularly in the beginning, he is focused completely on self-preservation and often steps on others in the process. his actions force you to ask questions like how responsible is kim dokja for those deaths on the subway car, or at that first subway station? is he obligated to try and save the people around him? how strong is that obligation? is it right of him to use his future knowledge the way he does, to decide who lives and dies? they're fairly basic questions, and orv doesn't particularly insist on answering them, but i enjoyed thinking about them nonetheless. the fact is kim dokja was often cruel, to strangers and his companions both, if different types. and you lose these questions when you ignore that. and thats not even to discuss the parallels between his exploitation of yoo joonghyuk's story and the way constellations gobble up incarnations while enjoying their pain. even if yoo joonghyuk eventually decides he considers it worth it, kim dokja still subsisted off of a living being's immeasurable pain for years, and that's a fucked up thing!
and to ignore kim dokja's less-than-moral actions also ignores kim dokja's character arc! kim dokja feels guilt at the end of orv for actions he wouldn't have thought twice about at the beginning and that is because he has changed and matured over the course of the novel and pretending he was always that way erases that. and i dont see why you would want to!! his journey towards seeing his companions as human and learning to care about the 'extras' he previously discarded and coming to understand the damage he inflicts with his self-sacrifice is interesting to watch and discuss. i've seen the stark contrast in empathy from early kim dokja to later kim dokja chalked up to sinshong not being quite sure how to write him yet and while i think that may have played a role i also think they did a good job of building and showing these changes through arcs like the demon world arc, the fruit of good and evil arc and the journey to the west arc
i think i lost my point somehwere but in summary kim dokja does some fucked up shit and some of it is basic edgelord apocalypse murder and some of it is genuinely interesting to contemplate and all of it is important to his character
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lover-of-mine · 1 month ago
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Hi, welcome to Buck just had his oh moment and the color theory of it all.
Usual shoutout to @stagefoureddiediaz because being mind meld with her is what's getting me here lol
First, I'm gonna break my own rule and give too much power to the showrunners, I know I keep saying not to, but hear me out. Buck, Bothered and Bewildered is on Buck's pov, right? That was made clear by the episode and then confirmed in interviews that that was the vision, and well, Tim also said that that scene was from Buck's pov, it's all about Buck's reaction and how he will go crazy about this because he's abandonment issues personified, that is also confirmed with the way we don't see what Eddie is doing until he tells Buck, we are learning things at the same time as Buck is.
Okay, well, why am I going back to 704? Well, Buck's fear of losing Eddie (I don't care what Buck says, he wanted Eddie's attention) made him go completely batshit crazy last time. But it also triggered something really important: Buck's bisexuality. And they just repeated that trigger, but this time with Buck choosing to walk in.
They repeated the bt first kiss structure but with Buck making the choices that create that change. The bt kiss, Buck is working on some bills, Tommy shows up, Buck is spiraling because of Eddie, Tommy kisses him, Buck has the bisexual realization. The 808 scene, Eddie is working on the houses, Buck shows up, he's spiraling about Tommy, Eddie reveals something, and Buck is snapped into the realization. Important thing to notice is that Buck still doesn't fully understand the depth of what his relationship with Tommy showed him about himself, so Buck still might not understand the impact of what his abandonment issues just told him while he was sitting on Eddie's couch. And it's all on Buck's pov.
But Anna, you said color theory.
I'm getting there. Because, well, the bt kiss is blue and red.
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Same as 808. So we are evoking the same feeling, especially because of Buck's short sleeves and the buttons (and not a white shirt under this like he had all season lol)
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And thinking about the blue and yellow coding Buck's bi arc, he worked his way to lighter blues. He starts with the navy blue colors until that lighter teal tone from the coming out scene.
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It's also interesting that in the scenes that are about Eddie in a sense, when he's talking to Maddie and he got it right about it being about Eddie, and the coming out scene being about their friendship, are lighter colors along with Buck matching his background. We don't have the yellow elements but we have that cohesion on the frame composition. (I guess the 606 hoodie also counts since blue and green theory but I don't want to make another image now).
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If you're new here, the theory is that Buck worked his way to his blue from darker colors, his blue being the color he is wearing during the coming out scene (and Eddie will find his yellow, but we are not talking about Eddie).
We are back in the darker blue but the composition of the scene is lighter. Buck is literally in front of the light as he is talking to Eddie in the kitchen, and it's the middle of the day.
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He matches the background, the couch, the Texas frame, the lighting is also a lot colder than it usually is in Eddie's house. And it's also very important that he is on the couch, because yay couch theory.
But Anna how does any of this prove anything?
Well, Buck is working his way back to his blue while in the darker colors, because while he got the bisexuality part right, Tommy wasn't the right person, and he's finally back in the light, we don't have the dimmed light and the obstruction of his face created by the shadow, dare I saw Buck is finally starting to see things clearer.
But why am I so sure? The shirt he was wearing today?
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Same color but in a darker shade than his blue.
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Buck is back on the discovery feeling that comes with the darker blue but this time he's in the correct hue, he just needs to get to the right shade, and he just figured something out.
Abandonment issues personified just had his oh moment about Eddie at the thought of losing him permanently, sitting on Eddie's couch while wearing his blue.
Other things to notice, Buck knocked but walked in before Eddie could get to the door, he used his key and the knocking was just to let Eddie know he was there, Buck is the one who suggests moving to the couch and the couch ties it back to the couch theory and the 601 dinner, dare I say that even Buck offering to bake for Eddie and the cooking aspect of it all, and the idea that the couch is home and home is a person and for Buck that's Eddie.
Something else is the way that we finally see someone eating whatever it is Buck is stress baking. Madney don't eat at the loft and the chief interrupts them at the firehouse. Eddie on the other hand is DIGGING into those. And food in 911, in media in general, is about connection, and is very pointedly about love here, and the whole stress baking is great because the kitchen is Buck's safe space, he cooks for people he loves, we see that from when Maddie comes back, to the pointed way he gets take out for his parents in 610, to the lasagna, making chilly with Bobby, cooking for the house on 709 and getting Bobby's approval. And the fact that we are getting Eddie eating what Buck's nervous state is creating while allowing Buck to just go through his kitchen to make more because he is not about to not accept every part of Buck Buck offers him is important.
The fact that Eddie isn't objecting to Buck rummaging around his kitchen is also important in the way the show uses Eddie's house in a meta way, kinda like the way the show uses the loft to match Buck's spirits in a sense, how the kitchen is his heart and for family, how the living room ends up being for guests and it's made pointed about the couch his mother bought "for his guests", Eddie's kitchen and the whole way it's the space Eddie allows himself to be vulnerable but there's the thing of honesty, the core of who Eddie is is tied to the kitchen, and the fact that he's just letting Buck move around like it's his kitchen ads a lot. Buck is the only person who walked into the house through the back door, Buck has a key, Buck has been in every room (except the bathroom but I think they are saving that for buddie canon), that's home for him too and Eddie never thinks to question and Buck never thinks to doubt it ("this is Eddie's house, I'm not really a guest").
Anyway, Buck oh moment real. Buddie 8b real. Color theory got me so high I'm wondering this is what doing hard drugs feels like. I think this is all I have to say. I might come back, who knows? I don't.
If you read this I love you.
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secondhandsorrows · 11 months ago
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Some Vital Scenes to Include in a Romantic Subplot, pt. 1
I’ve been in the plotting stages of a novel I’ve been working on for some time now. It’s not a romance novel, per se, but the romantic aspect is very prevalent… dare I say important. Anyway, so as I was working on my scenes and character arcs, I began to realize that I didn’t have enough fleshed-out about romantic arc, nor deepened the protagonist’s love interest or their connection, for that matter. This led me to devise up some scenes that I felt were crucial to the story if I wanted to keep this romantic angle to it, and now that I’ve most of them arranged, I find now that I’m way more excited about my characters’ love story. 
These tips will be unnumbered because, obviously, the sequence of these events and how they will fall into your storyline will probably be different. Also, you don’t have to use only one scene for every suggestion that will be mentioned, as you can have multiple scenes of flirtations or deep conversations, for example. They usually blend all together into the narrative at this point. Just remember that there should be some relevance to the plot at hand in some of these scenes as to not derail completely from the main narrative or other conflicts.
I was going to post this all at once, but decided it was too long and wanted to split it into two parts to go more in-depth and for easy reading. /-\ Enjoy ~
- The meet-cute, or the meet-ugly:
Ah, yes, the first encounter. Or, as we sometimes like to call it: the meet-cute, or the meet-ugly if you’re feeling a little unconventional or perhaps mischievous. Though we may enjoy setting up our star-crossed characters in a whole range of moments from awkward to swoon-worthy, the initial meeting is what’s important (if your characters haven't already met before the beginning of the story, ofc, but this is useful to have in mind). Let us quickly define the two:
Meet-Cute: A charming and serendipitous first encounter between the characters in question that sets a positive, memorable, and oftentimes romantic tone.
Meet-Ugly: An unconventional, awkward, or disastrous initial meeting that adds a unique twist to the start of the romantic connection, often leading to unexpected chemistry and an added intrigue on whether or not they’ll get together.
You don’t have to nail your characters’ first encounter into a label or bubble such as these two examples, but I like bringing these up for a general idea. 
- Bouts of flirting and/or banter:
Just as the title suggests, these are scenes containing the flirtaious communication between the two characters. These kinds of interactions will, of course, develop over time and deepen the bond or relationship. Playful interactions, gazes, and witty exchanges between the characters can create a lighthearted and flirtatious atmosphere that hints at their growing attraction.
The way they might flirt or tease can reveal their personalities. For example, one character might be more sarcastic, while the other responds with quick wit, or quiet bashfulness. There’s an element of subtlety, as flirting lets the characters express their romantic interest without explicitly stating it (unless one of your characters lacks subtlety in general and prefers to shout their undying love from the rooftops, which would make for an interesting dynamic, but I’m only spit-balling). 
Banter, teasing, and romantic tension underscoring heated debates or loathsome gazes suit just as nicely, especially if you’re writing with enemies-to-lovers or rivalry tropes in mind. But be careful! A little goes a long way: too much all at once can repel any growth for the characters or narrative.
- Initial conflict or struggle:
Depending on your story’s big-picture conflict, the introduction of challenges or obstacles can create tension between the characters, adding depth to their relationship and making their eventual connection all the more satisfying. This might include cultural or class differences, opposing goals or values, history of past heartbreak, personality weaknesses such as stubbornness, or external pressures that threaten to keep the characters apart. Even a nosy family or a disapproving mother can be considered. How the characters navigate and resolve these conflicts contributes significantly to the overall emotional impact of the romance subplot, as well as allowing for some exploration of each character's strengths, weaknesses, and resilience. 
- Shared vulnerability:
This kind of scene involves the characters opening up to each other about their innermost fears, insecurities, past trauma, or personal struggles. Shared vulnerability goes beyond surface-level interactions. It involves characters revealing their authentic selves, exposing their emotional vulnerabilities, and allowing the other person to see them in an honest — and sometimes new — light.
This is a symbolic gesture of commitment we’re talking about, here… something that requires trust. As characters share their fears or past traumas, they are entrusting the other person with sensitive information, fostering a sense of trust and emotional intimacy. It might be scary, it could be out from left field, but they will end up learning something new about themselves, their situation, or about the other person, and thus deepen their connection, little by little.
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ryanthel0ser · 1 month ago
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I just finished Sk8 the Infinity
first off "queer subtext" my ass, it is front and center you can't NOT see it.
second, oh my god the theme of love and having a passion for something is done in a way that scratches my brain in the best way. The three main relationships, Reki and Langa, Joe and Cherry, Tadashi and Adam, whether you think they are gay or not they totally are all highlight this dynamic of loving skating versus getting lost in the competition.
Reki and Langa are the clearest example of this. Reki loves skating, he may not be the best at it but he truly loves it. He understands the tricks and the skills, he knows it so well that he can make boards specifically to suit nuanced skills like Langa's because he loves it. He has the passion and the spirit for it which is the central thing he learns during his character arc in the show. But even outside his arc, Reki embodies the spirit of skating, that love of skating. That's what makes his race with Adam so important and that's present in why Langa feels the way he does when he's skating with Reki other than being gay. Langa falls in love with skating and Reki but then he starts to get lost in the competition of it all. Once he races with Adam (who is the antithesis of Reki's skating spirit), his love for skating is poisoned by Adam's "love" of skating. He starts focusing on skills, getting better, reaching Adam's level, he starts losing the spirit of skating. He loses Reki. Once Langa realizes what he's missing, he begins seeking it out again, looking for Reki. But Reki hasn't come back yet, the fun of skating is dead still until Reki has his own realization. Something that is brought back in part by the two other "Reki's" of these relationships: Joe and Tadashi.
Joe and Cherry's is the one that is in the background the most, but it's clear they're meant to parallel Reki and Langa's relationship. While the dynamic is not as extreme as the other two relationships it is still present. Joe loves skating, even if he wasn't the best at skating he'd still be doing it. That is made clear in his conversation with Reki when he gets him to come see Langa at the tournament. He understands that. His race against Adam isn't about proving his skill, he wants to beat Adam because he hates what Adam has become and what Adam is embodying. He wants to punch him in the face. Cherry however does want to prove his skill to Adam. He wants to beat Adam because he's better than him. In a sense, Adam's "love" tainted his enjoyment of skating too. Hence the AI board, the board giving him everything down to the millisecond, to the decimal so he could get the best time possible. I honestly believe part of Joe's worry during Cherry and Adam's race is because he knows Cherry is going to get lost in trying to surpass Adam and forget the fun of skating. Then Cherry gets slammed in the face quite literally by this, he's forced to face what's being going on through this injury. We don't see the resolution of this since it's regulated to the background, but it's still clear these two are meant to parallel Reki and Langa's dynamic towards skating. Also there's the whole thing where Adam is like Cherry's ex and Joe wants to fight the ex that hurt Cherry yadda yadda yes I ship Matchablossom what's new.
Tadashi and Adam are the most extreme of this dynamic going in a negative direction. Adam as I stated is the antithesis to the spirit of skating. He's completely forgotten what it meant to skate and is now tainting every other skater around him with this "love" he has. He's so lost in this darkness that it's seeping into the other skaters like Langa. All that matters is being the best, to crush everyone else below his level so he's completely alone. He's ruining skating for everyone else. Tadashi is the spirit of skating for him. Tadashi is the one that introduced him to skating and led him to fall in love with it as a comfort and an escape from the horrible environment he was being raised in. Skating with Tadashi was his escape. Tadashi was a comfort. But then Adam is found out by his father and Tadashi makes a mistake, but not the one he believes for most of the show. Instead of leading Adam back to the fun of skating, he lets Adam trample it. Rid of it. Put it completely in the background because he blames himself for what happened to Adam that day. And Adam doesn't rid of Tadashi because skating is still a comfort to him, though twisted and abused. He refuses to let it go. To let him go. Tadashi then tries to completely take away skating from Adam and then tries to get Reki to abandon it too. However, Tadashi's broken spirit only fuels Reki's back to life. Then, as he watches the race, Tadashi realizes where he went wrong with Adam. What the true love for skating was, not what Adam thinks it is.
This spirit of skating versus Adam is why Reki's race, Tadashi's presence in the tournament, and why Langa's race are so central. Tadashi including himself in the tournament is Adam being forced to see the dead spirit of skating that he's forgetting and it pisses him off. Reki's race is him directly being pitted against the living embodiment of that spirit of skating and while he does win the race, he still gets his ass beat. He's not stronger than it. Then his race with Langa is where he finally returns to it. Langa is like Adam, but he's fully back to the spirit of skating. He's had his character arc and now Langa helps Adam return to it as someone who experienced to a certain level what Adam is experiencing. Then Langa wins the race and the spirit of skating, the true love of skating, defeats Adam's "love." And Adam leaves the race changed, he remembers the real love of skating, he returns from that darkness he was in. The Adam of their childhood begins to return to Tadashi.
This main conflict in the show that's present in these three relationships is presented so brilliantly and it's what makes Sk8 the Infinity not just another sports anime with some possible queer subtext or baiting. It reminds me of Yuri on Ice and how the relationship to ice skating is reflected in Yuri and Victor's relationship, a show that I absolutely adore (and yes I wept profusely over it when the announcement came out). I desperately hope that Sk8 the Infinity does not receive the same fate because this show has something great that I want to see continued, it's almost a spiritual successor to Yuri on Ice to me.
Now I need the studio to let them lean into the very very very gay tones of these relationships like Yuri on Ice because holy shit all three of them have it. I thought Reki and Langa were going to kiss in the back of that van, Cherry and Joe kept acting like a couple and the english dub only emphasized that, and then that last scene with Adam and Tadashi hello????
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smallmightsupremacy · 9 months ago
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Izuku isn't losing his arms and here's why:
Okay so I know that we're all freaking out over that one manga panel, but we really shouldn't be.
Deku isn't going to lose his arms. It's all in his head.
Just stay with me.
First and foremost, look at the reactions from the characters when they join the battlefield. Specifically Aizawa:
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What about this screams 'one of my students just lost both of his arms and may not end up having a future as a hero anymore?'
You would think that if Hori were to really go through with Izuku losing his arms, he would put more emphasis on the characters' reactions to make it more impactful, right?
To further reinforce this idea, we also need to consider the significance of Izuku's hands in Katsuki's arc. Whether you view their relationship as romantic or not, you can't deny that Izuku's hands holds significance to Katsuki. It represents the time when their relationship first fell apart, and I think in order to call their relationship fully 'healed' and complete Katsuki's growth, he's going to need to accept Izuku's hand again.
I mean, look at how foreshadowed the handhold is. There's no way they're not going to be holding hands by the end of the series. It's a necessity at this point.
And yes, you can argue that they already did hold hands, but to me that handhold didn't seem like the official one. It wasn't as impactful as it could've been. Now, while I'm not saying that the handhold didn't have any emotion to it, I feel like it's impact got a little diluted by Katsuki's revival. It wasn't the main focus. I think that the proper handhold is going to come later and be in it's own moment.
And, I mean, Izuku kind of needs his hands for that to happen.
So now you may be wondering, if Izuku hasn't lost his arms, then how do you explain what's happening to him right now?
Well, like I said earlier, it's all in his head. I think it's AFO fucking around with his mind.
I think AFO is somehow manipulating the vestige world and OFA mental connection he was with Izuku to make him hallucinate that he's lost his arms. He wants Izuku to crumble, and what better way to do that than to convince him that his dream is over and that there's nothing he can do?
I feel like this has also been foreshadowed in a way too. Take a look at this picture:
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This image already foreshadowed Ochako getting stabbed in the chest, so perhaps it's also foreshadowing Izuku's fate?
The knife is in his head, so perhaps it's hinting at him being affected psychologically?
Also, the idea that it's only those that are connected to the vestige realm that can see the illusions that AFO is planting would be a great way to get Katsuki to be a part of the final fight too.
We already know that's he's going to be involved somehow. Hori himself said that the ending for mha was going to be better than the ending for Hero's Rising (the one Kats and Izu share OFA), and what better way to improve that than have Katsuki come save him from the mind fuckery?
I also think that finally having Izuku and Katsuki fight side by side has been foreshadowed for a long time, and if that really were to happen, then there's no better time for that than the final fight.
Also, Katsuki's really the only one that can save Izuku right now if my theory were to be true. He's the only character that fits the very specific requirements that Izuku needs (being connected to the vestige realm, and also having a willingness to save/help Izuku).
Speaking of, Katsuki being connected to the vestige realm was a shock for us all, and it doesn't make sense for why Horikoshi would show us such ground-breaking information if he didn't plan on using it later. This has to be the later. There's no other case where I can see Katsuki's connection to the vestige realm being implemented into the story again other than this.
So here's the TL;DR:
Izuku is being mindfucked by AFO and Katsuki is going to be the one that brings him back to reality
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