#this is essential for having those mistakes mean anything. and in a story ABOUT making mistakes and fixing them. it's so important.

[dogs-leading-dogs]

PapyrusPikmin1997 replied on Chapter 5: Now, this is an amazing fic, but like… how the hell is Olimar and the President dying in like sublevels 1-3 of the dream den? They aren't even that hard, and canonically the Pikmin leaders cannot die by pure damage, as in Pikmin 2 if both leaders "die" the ship just beams them up back to the surface and the day ends. (Unless however, you don't do it like this and instead make their life support damaged or something, which would be a very intelligent workaround)

Anonymous asked a question on my main blog: I know this sounds random, but for DLD, what... "game mechanics" have been changed? Because, so far it seems like the ""game"" is much harder and ruthless. I can infer that no longer does losing both captains just result in the hocotate ship beaming them up, ending the day and causing all the pikmin to die, but what else?

I received this comment reply and anonymous ask a few days ago, and considering that they're talking about very similar things, I figured I'd respond to them both at the same time. The long and short of it is that both of these questions are making a series of aggressive assumptions about how DLD "works" and kinda getting sidetracked as a result. There are also a few misconceptions that I feel are important to correct, because even if you are thinking of things in vague game mechanics terms (and you shouldn't be), they make it much easier to swallow what's going on if you properly account for them.

Fundamentally, DLD is a grounded story with a strong emphasis on how things would play out in a more or less real-world scenario while factoring known series lore; this groundedness is meant to make the emotional conflicts at the core of the story stand out all the better. For more details, let's continue below the cut, starting with correcting the assumptions.

Number one: The President hasn't been accompanying Olimar on any of his trips to attempt to find Louie. He may be physically present on PNF-404, yes, but he's more or less functioning as a middle-manager type or rubber-stamp than doing anything actually useful. This is demonstrated during the first scene of XVI and compounded via the President's noted absence during every other scene in the chapter. The long and short of it is that he's not relevant to the story that needed to be told here, as this story is very much about Olimar, the Pikmin, and their relationship; having the President be present as anything more than a nod to canon would have made things unnecessarily complicated here in a section that already had too much to say.

Next up: Olimar being alone in the Dream Den (aside from the ship's pod and the Pikmin he brought with him) also solves that "difficulty" issue more or less. I also never said that they specifically died on the first three sublevels — the Dream Den obviously has fourteen, and the only important part of the whereabouts everyone died is that the maximum sublevel they could have reached would be sublevel 13. It's important for the mainline sequels that neither Olimar nor the Pikmin encounter the Titan Dweevil here, so they must have all died before getting to that point; other than that, the exact details of their demise are up to the reader's interpretation, with the most likely scenario being a gradual decline in Pikmin numbers until Olimar fucks up in an encounter with any enemy, gets squashed by any kind of boulder or caught in a bomb rock explosion, or takes too great a blow to anywhere near his head such that his already-compromised helmet shatters and leaves him to slowly succumb to the caustic oxygen in the air.

Another thing is that considering what's "canonical" from the game's perspective is kinda the wrong question to ask in a lot of ways. HP bars or stamina wheels or any other kinds of video game abstractions like that work perfectly fine when you're playing a video game, but the second you're not they become really weird to work with and place very awkward limits on things. From a narrative perspective, working with this video game logic — where Olimar can get thrown around willy-nilly for 12-16 hours taking hard falls or getting crushed by boulders or god knows what else, end the day, and come back the next morning like nothing happened — makes things very awkward, because there aren't any consequences for fucking up. None of the Pikmin games have any kinds of systems to account for major injuries, such as Olimar's dislocated shoulder or Louie's implied concussion both from chapter 4; much less do they have any kinds of energy or stamina system to account for Olimar gradually starving in Chapter 1. Some games have systems like these — take the Fallout series as only one of many examples — but limiting what you can write to what is Explicitly Possible in a game just isn't conducive to writing a good story.

Having the day end when both leaders go down but letting the player try again tomorrow with no consequences other than losing a day is a good choice for a game, because it gives the player a chance to correct their mistakes; however, it's a bad choice for a story, because it removes all of the stakes. On the contrary, part of the reason that Pikmin doesn't have a lot of these systems for longer-term consequences and instead handwaves why some of these things aren't happening — such as PNF-404's relative lower gravity being the reason why none of the characters take fall damage — are because adding those systems would be bad for gameplay. In a game that is very fundamentally about doing things quickly and efficiently, it wouldn't just be annoying if e.g. Louie broke his leg and couldn't move and throw Pikmin at the same time due to needing crutches for a realistic length of healing time, it would be bad game design because it would be far too punishing to be fun. In writing, where the goal is to be fun by having higher stakes, the opposite would be the case.

That's a bit of an oversimplification — not every story benefits from higher stakes, even if DLD itself does — but one could easily write an academic paper about storytelling in interactive vs non-interactive mediums and how they function differently, and I don't have ten billion years to come up with definitions for all of these things to explain everything wrong with applying the rules of a certain medium universally especially when those rules are intended as abstractions. Either way, it comes down to the same thesis statement: "Applying the rules of a very dynamic and choice-based medium to an entirely predefined and non-interactive medium generally does not work well unless you're having your story be about applying those rules and all of the myriad problems or conveniences that it results in." DLD is not about applying Pikmin's video game logic to a non-interactive medium because it has far more important and deliberate things to be about, like communication, trust, personhood, fate, and perhaps most of all, dogs. Therefore, it does not benefit from having simplified video game logic that allows for infinite tries, and would in fact be made infinitely worse if everything that happened so far had no consequences beyond the end results of the immediate day. Olimar needs to die in the Dream Den because this is essential for his character arc; having him just "go down" and "get rescued" to "try again tomorrow" removes all stakes from this, because if he throws himself at the problem enough he'd eventually luck out and be able to save Louie. (Olimar is already very fond of throwing himself at problems until they get fixed; as we'll see, he doesn't need a "get out of jail free" card or a "get out of a bad situation without dying" card to continue with this behavior.)

So if we're not working off of video game logic, how does DLD generally work? More or less real life logic strongly informed by canon material. To some extent it's a vibes thing — I have definitely picked and chosen what works or doesn't depending on my own personal preference, and I've taken liberties with things that happen in the games as necessary to tell the story that I have in mind. For instance, as I've alluded to before, a lot of the rules about Onions and Pikmin work much more similarly to how they do in Pikmin 4 (with the exception of the three-type limit because it's purely a gameplay limitation put in place to not frustrate noobs). Some things, such as the exact symptoms of Olimar's leaflingism, are a blend of various ideas taking inspiration from canon, from other artists, as well as just what works better thematically. (Olimar growing a tail and "fur" certainly emphasizes the fact that he's a dog, not to mention the fact that it's that perfect combination of "cool" and "utterly horrifying", and the fact that his face remains uncovered by leaves has another thematic reading that we'll get to much, much later.)

But a lot of the minor day-to-day stuff is grounded pretty solidly in reality and an understanding of "if you were an inch tall, how would you approach this situation", which is much more effective for conveying the level of Absolute Deep Shit and general danger PNF-404 presents almost the entire time. You would not survive if a boulder three times as wide as you were tall rolled over you; Olimar and the other captains only do because Pikmin doesn't have permadeath, since that would be a very frustrating gameplay experience. You can cheat your way out of things like that hurting as much as they would for you, a Normal Human, especially when you factor in the fact that they are an inch tall, but past a point there's only so much handwaving you can do before you have to accept that half of the things that you only take "major damage" for in Pikmin would just be nearly instakills in real life. Allowing for more realistic damage creates more story, not less; you can't take damage from cornering too tightly in any of the games, but allowing it to jar Olimar's shoulder like that in Chapter 4 gives reasonable stakes that add to the situation rather than detract, as it makes it feel even more like the water wraith is a real threat.

As for other "game mechanics" that have been changed… thinking of DLD as a "game" in general is the wrong question. My philosophy with DLD so far has been to create a relatively grounded story about people and choices using Pikmin as a scaffold. (Not that DLD or any of its side material could ever be divorced from Pikmin itself — they're far too intertwined — but being faithful to game mechanics is literally the last priority that will only ever be nodded at in things such as the occasional mention of the max 100 squad size.) For everything else, I've tried to flesh the setting out using "speculative realism" where possible: by examining how things actually work in real life and applying those same principles to this setting.

For instance, while a lot of the medical science is simplified for a variety of reasons, such as ease of research and reduced scene complexity, almost all of it so far has actually had at least a little bit of research put into it. (Maybe don't orally ingest a topical eye medication, but tetrahydrozoline hydrochloride is a common active ingredient in eye drops or nasal sprays that reduces mucus membrane irritation; Omnicillin Z3 uses the naming convention of antibiotics in the penicillin family, implying that their medical science has progressed beyond ours; and demethoxycurcumin, one of the "active ingredients" in turmeric, is a yellow-orange compound that has anticancer effects among many other health benefits.) I've put a similar level of pseudorealism into the flight scenes as well; I've mentioned Olimar using various kinds of checklists multiple times (Wikipedia only has a page on preflight checklists, but here's a full list of checklists for a 747), and implied that Olimar has been acting as captain and pilot flying while the Hocotate Ship is effectively first officer and pilot monitoring via both of them effectively employing cockpit resource management principles. I even had Olimar do a walk-around on Day 30, though that was admittedly less of an intentional choice than being simply what the scene required for proper pacing. Even a lot of the specifics around how Olimar has been able to live as a leafling up to (and beyond) this point have had a lot of consideration put into them with vague real-life-adjacent explanations — it is admittedly more vibes-based than some of the rest of what I've listed out here, but most of that is because leaflingism in and of itself is a rather hefty lift away from grounded reality.

The long and short of it is: If something is actually important to be thinking about, the story will tell you that. If it's not, it won't. It should be easy enough to figure out what the actual differences are from there, but a lot of those differences simply aren't relevant on any grand scale.

In fact, the only "game mechanic" I can think of that's even vaguely relevant (and isn't essentially rolled into "baseline lore", such as the mechanics of Pikmin and Onions that I mentioned earlier) is Pikmin 1's ending requirements. DLD has simplified these requirements, in that there's no longer a strict two-tiered system with some specific parts being required while others are optional, but the general outline for part count has already been referenced in Chapter 1's title. In these relaxed requirements, you get the bad ending with 24 parts or fewer; the neutral ending with 25-29 parts; and the true ending with 30 parts. (I.E., the only change is that it's any 25 parts being required to get the neutral ending or greater rather than 25 specific parts.) Chapter 1 splits the difference as the exact dividing line between two wildly divergent outcomes of the bad or neutral endings, and thus the chapter title references 24.5, or the numeric dividing line between those endings.

Other than that, the exact game mechanics of all games in the series are for the most part entirely irrelevant. DLD is a story about people, and critically, one of the most important things that a person can do is die. Robbing Olimar and the Pikmin of their ability to end is a choice that must be made very deliberately, with great intent on the part of the story being told, and shouldn't be done merely out of faithfulness to the source material. …And that's about all I can say to avoid unnecessary spoilers.

[phantasm-echo]

POV: you wake up in the middle of your own autopsy with force powers then immediately get brainwashed into falling to the dark side

I was reminded of the fact that I haven’t drawn inquisitor!fives’ autopsy scars in way too long so here I am, delivering a few too many Fives 💀

Anyway I know I don’t post much about the AU on here so props to anyone who knows what’s going on here even slightly, I’ve decided to nerf siren!echo (who WAS part of this AU yes I know quite random) but since him being turned into a siren kinda limits what I can do with him story wise he is now an AU of the AU.

That means the name I came up with for the au (dead mean walking/swimming or dmw(s) as I’ve been tagging it) is kinda irrelevant. I’ll just call this the inquisitor fives AU but if you have any AU name suggestions feel free to drop them.

Here are some of the major factors of the AU:

It gets worse before it gets better

(WARNING: there are quite a few heavy topics covered in the AU such as torture, dehumanisation and su*cidal thoughts, so pls read at your own discretion)

- fives wakes up in the middle of his own autopsy with force sensitivity, then gets brainwashed into falling to the Dark Side by Palpatine. As an Inquisitor, he does not remember anything about his life because those memories were blocked by Palpatine.

- Palpatine discovers that Fives is essentially immortal, and any injuries inflicted on him will heal no matter how bad.

- when echo gets rescued from skako minor, he is recalled to Kamino for experimentation, first of all so they can figure out what the Techno Union did to him, second of all to see how he survived his injuries. Nala se, who knows that fives came back to life, theorises that since he and echo were tube twins they share the “immortality”. He is kept on Kamino for VERY extensive experimentation where terrible things happen to him (cough vivisection cough lobotomy) and so never joins Clone Force 99 even if he did work with them on Anaxes.

- Fives in this time is sent out on many missions by Palpatine that involve him unaliving many people, and after the rise of the Empire he hunts a few Jedi.

- Fox, who throughout the war had experienced many blackout missions where he woke up afterwards covered in blood, is the last living Coruscant Guard commander. (Thorn dies, stone vanishes one day, Thire mistakes Vader for a Jedi and pays the price) Despite the best efforts of his son secretary Dogma (no way!?) Fox has very little will to live, is extremely depressed and borderline suicidal, he would like nothing more than to bite the dust, but still feels he has a duty to the very few remaining corries and so tries to keep it together (he is failing)

- one day Palpatine decides he doesn’t need Fox to do his bidding anymore since he has much better assets at his disposal (Fives), and decides it would be ironic to sic his pet clone inquisitor onto Fox. Fives still doesn’t remember anything, and only knows that Fox is responsible for the main scars on his body and believes fox is the reason he doesn’t remember most of his life, and so sets out to kill fox. They battle it out (ref to that one animation wip I posted) and fives is on the verge of killing fox (who didn’t really try to fight that much, like I said he would very much like to die and dying at the hand of the vod he “killed” seems fitting to him) when he gets a sudden vision of echo.

- all fives knows is echo is extremely important to him and must be rescued and that snaps him out of palpatine’s control. He knows he probably can’t rescue echo alone, and since fox has already been betrayed by the empire he decides “fuck it” and basically kidnaps fox and they run. They make a deal, that once echo has been found, Fives will put Fox out of his misery (fox feels that fives should be the only person to kill him, and only goes along with the plan because he refuses to let anyone else kill him)

- fox and fives proceed to go on an intergalactic road trip to ��rescue echo” even though neither of them know how to do that. They become closer friends throughout, and fives slowly regains bits and pieces of the Before

- meanwhile during the destruction of Kamino, the bad batch stumble on echo and rescue him and he stays with them for a little bit before leaving with Rex

- meanwhile Dogma helps the rest of the remaining Corries desert, kills too many storm troopers, and tries to go after his buir fox and the bastard inquisitor who kidnapped him

This is the main stuff you need to know for the AU haha so if you’ve got new name suggestions I’m all ears ty!!

[hellslayersomething]

I feel like I should write out some proper thoughts about my opinions on Veilguard, or at least an outline for the much longer essay that is currently calcifying in my heart. It's a mixed bag of a reaction, and I'm not going to compliment sandwiching any of it--this is all just stream of consciousness, so I'm probably going to snag on the negative and spiral down that pretty quickly. Spoilers, obviously:

I liked the battle system. For the first time in a DA game, it actually felt satisfying to play and had its own identity. I do wish the Pokemon element aspect was a little better balanced among the companions, but overall it was great.

That said, considering the length of the game, they needed way more enemy diversity, especially with the bosses. Eventually I was just fighting dragons, and every dragon had essentially the same moveset, one of those moves being "the dragon trips over her own dick and face-plants on top of Rook", which sure doesn't make the fights feel epic. Even very unique characters, like the Gloom Howler, were just reskinned basic demons when it came time to fight them.

The decision to tie companion approval to companion levels was a mistake. A massive and extremely obvious mistake. No wonder there are no disagreements or tension among the group--the game can't let you lose affinity with your team members, because then it would have to account for you leveling them down. The gameplay design here strangled the narrative design in its crib.

Speaking of narrative design: while I appreciate that the modular approach to companion arcs was experimental, it was extremely weird of them to take that approach in the only DA game where all companions are required. The story doesn't have to be written to account for the fact that you might not recruit some of them or they might die early--so why didn't they write one story about Rook and their seven friends instead of one story about Rook and also there are seven smaller, unrelated stories of extremely varying quality shoved in next to it?

The hyperfixation on the companion quests paired with their complete compartmentalization from each other means that each companion basically has nothing going on outside of their own quest and very few opportunities to engage with other characters' quests.

I was so starved for conflict in this game that I went from Solas-neutral to Solas-positive because he was the only character who the game allowed to be a bitch to me, and I respect him for that.

I do like all the horrid little sons the game gives me. I think I would appreciate them more if there was anything bad or tense happening in the story on a personal level that required some comic relief, but I am a sucker for a funky little guy none the less, and Manfred, Assan, and Spite are the perfect trifecta of funky little guys, as far as I'm concerned.

"We're only going to do character cameos if it's important to the plot." *does what they did with Isabela* Okay, devs.

"We aren't importing player choices but we won't override your decisions either." *several codex entries overriding player decisions later* Okay, devs.

I like the companions, generally. I see their potential. Fanfic will do right by them. Harding, in my mind, is the weakest of the bunch, just truly having no personality to speak of and talking like she was written by a Boomer who thinks that Millennials are still teenagers. (Everyone responsible for her uttering the phrase "Awkward..." like she's a character in 2011 quirky girl sitcom should be tried at the fucking Hague, istg.) And while I like Bellara, it was extremely frustrating to have a character that's just "Merrill, again, but with the edges sanded off". Taash and Emmerich are also glaringly the last additions in the writing process, each belonging to one of the two most underbaked factions and neither of them being tied to any of the game's few "big choices". There's promise in this cast, but I don't think any of them came close to realizing their potential.

Davrin and Emmerich's companion quests felt appropriately scoped to the size of the questlines, had good emotionality, good antagonists, and expanded on the lore of Thedas in ways we hadn't seen yet.

Lucanis's companion quest had potential, but it was too unfocused with three antagonists, too much attention to the boring Venatori shit, and not enough examination on Illario's motives or Lucanis's relationships with either Spite or Illario.

Harding's companion quest was fine, I guess (the people are starving for dwarf lore), but Harding could have been swapped out with literally any other dwarven character who wasn't Sandal and nothing would have been different. (Also weird that the whole quest was basically about Sandal while simultaneously fully removing Sandal from the narrative.)

Bellara and Neve's companion quests were just nothing. Just a whole lot of nothing. And Neve's also suffered from what I like to call "machete editing", where it is glaring obviously where things were cut, changed, moved around, and added at the last minute.

I say, from the bottom of my non-binary heart: Taash's companion quest is total ass. Real nice of Mae to come out of hiding and risk being found and executed by the Venatori to give Taash a Queer Theory 101 class, though, I fucking guess.

Is Lucanis's romance bugged? Apparently I'm not the only one who had that thought while I was playing it, so now I'm wondering. Like, there's no way they made it Like That on purpose, right?

Why and how are the Venatori still a force in Thedas, never mind a force with numbers so great (in spite of lacking a central leader) that they were able to simultaneously occupy the two largest cities in Thedas?

They literally didn't even try with the Antaam. The Venatori are at least theoretically still working to try to restore Tevinter to its former imperial might. The Antaam are just invading countries for literally no reason except ill-defined power grabs. Given the racial coding of Qunari, this writing choice sure is...something. (And that something is racist.)

That said, the revelation that the Butcher did a military tour in Europe and fell in love with the culture and just wants to drink wine and visit art museums now is fucking hilarious.

What the absolute FUCK did they do the Crows. I like the Crow characters from Tevinter Nights/the comics, and Zevran is my favorite character in the whole damn franchise, but they completely whitewashed both TN's mafia take on them and their original portrayal in DA:O. But it also doesn't really retcon anything, making it instead seem like the human trafficking and torture and sexual abuse that Zevran suffered at the Crows' hands A) only happened to him individually, and B) are fine, actually??? Even the very few times that characters express reservations about working with Lucanis because he's an assassin, if you play as a Crow, those concerns get immediately backpedaled, so the Crows end up being so ironed out that the game doesn't even let characters say of the Crows, "Murder is bad," lest it hurt a Crow Rook's feelings. That is how conflict-averse the writing is.

So I guess everyone in southern Thedas is...dead now? Several characters survived long enough to get a mention from the Inquisitor, but by the end, it sounds like Orlais, Ferelden, and most of the Free Marches are pretty much donezo. When Epler said the events in southern Thedas didn't matter, I didn't expect that to mean they were going to nuke the damn place. Even having generally enjoyed VG (in spite of all my criticisms here) that, uh...doesn't leave me enthused about the future of the franchise, ngl.

The layoffs of several writers (and other Bioware employees) before the game's release was obviously heinous. But after that secret ending, I'm now of the mind that of the writers that remain, at least a few of them need to be demoted. Like literally what the fuck was that. That was the dumbest plot point to ever appear in a Dragon Age game, and that is a high bar to clear. If you're not going to acknowledge our past choices, then keep Loghain's name out of your fucking mouths.

[boldlyexplorational]

Episode 28 "The city on the edge of forever"

What can I possibly say. This is one of those episodes... I mean, I've been warned. I've heard the stories... But this series has a way to surprise me ... In unexpected ways? Is that even possible?

I love how some parts of the episode are incredibly stupid without taking anything away from its tragedy. For example McCoy injecting himself by mistake is hilarious, I'm sorry, he's so professional all the time and then he makes this one catastrophic mistake. Not to mention the whole thing about Spock having a hard time blending in (the infamous beanie).

But then the concept is so sad and tragic, this woman who needs to die because times aren't ready for her. And the whole thing about "the dangers of pacifism". Honestly the idea itself is debatable, even - or especially - in the context of the late '60. I think I talked about it before, how fascinating to me, the way this theme of "accepting, even justifying, but not condoning violence" is so specific and nuanced, and it's often used in the series; they really try and at times succeed in making a good argument for it ... Although something inside says it can't be true, the "necessity of violence" I'm finding it stimulating to consider and place in context.

Ok let's lighten things up, let's talk Spirk. I'm not going to state the obvious, we all know the good quotes and moments. I will say Kirk sure touches Spock a lot in this one, and I'm always thinking they should just hold hands sometimes, just for comfort, they stand so close to each other anyways! Might as well! Just you know Platonically even!

And btw, I'll let you know, I'm an expert when it comes to Bi Panic and let me tell you James T Kirk is also an expert after this episode. Also verbatim from my notes on the episode: "he's always covered in dirt (Kirk)"

I appreciated how they were all there at the gate on the edge of forever, especially my girl Uhura. This small team of essential personnel embodies the heart of the Enterprise, what Kirk's fights for and what he considered leaving behind. it's nice that he finds them waiting, as a reward for the loss he had to endure for the sake of the future.

One more shout out to McCoy's sick makeup and interpretation, I thought it was very good. But try and not stab yourself with a needle next time.

All in all an iconic episode, I did not expect it to be so sad, but as with other episodes it was so dense with meaning and I love that because it makes your brain and your heart work for it.

[juju-or-anya]

One question, no hate. Why do you say we don't know anything about Elia, Lyanna and Rghaegar? Could you elaborate on that?

When I say we don’t really know Elia, Rhaegar, or Lyanna, I mean that we literally don’t know much about them. Everything we know about Rhaegar is filtered through Daenerys’s limited memories of her brother; for Elia, we only have Oberyn’s perspective; and for Lyanna, we rely on Ned and Robert’s memories. But these are just third-party accounts: what Ned says about his sister—that she was kind and beautiful—might change if we heard it from someone from Dorne. The same applies to Elia and Rhaegar, whose image varies depending on who’s telling the story.

This narrative choice has a purpose. These characters serve a specific function in the story: their role is to set events in motion. They’re not essential to the story itself but instead act as catalysts. If George R.R. Martin had wanted Robert’s Rebellion to begin for a different reason, he could have used other characters or motivations. But he chose these stories to connect different houses and conflicts: the story of Lyanna and Rhaegar establishes a link between the Targaryens and the Starks, with the Targaryens resenting the Starks for helping dethrone them and the Starks resenting the Targaryens for abducting Lyanna. These characters are just a starting point; we don’t need to know more about them because their story only matters in this context.

I don’t deny that if they had more developed, well-written backstories, they could be fascinating characters. But, as it stands, they’re not fully explored. We only know that Rhaegar was the crown prince, handsome, skilled at singing and playing the harp (was it the harp? It doesn’t matter), that he was married to Elia and had two children. From Elia, we know she was from Dorne, married to Rhaegar, had two children, was frail, and met a tragic end. And with Lyanna, it’s the same story. In truth, we don’t know who they really were.

Perhaps what the northerners and Ned say about Lyanna—that she was kind, brave, wild, and beautiful—isn’t true. Maybe Lyanna was spoiled, difficult, or immature, but we’ll never know because we only get to see an idealised version of her, or sometimes a demonised one, depending on who’s speaking. The same goes for Elia and Rhaegar. Maybe Elia wasn’t as weak and frail as she’s said to be, but strong and dark-hearted. Maybe Rhaegar was a useless fool or a manipulative mastermind, or perhaps he was just a well-meaning man who made mistakes. We don’t know, because they aren’t three-dimensional characters; they’re “2D” characters who serve a single purpose: to set the story in motion.

This kind of character is common in fiction—those who give a reason for events and then fade into the background. In my previous post on Robert Baratheon, I mentioned Lily and James Potter from the Harry Potter series. We never truly get to know them. We know that Harry looks like his father but has his mother’s eyes; we know that Lily was talented and clever and that James played Quidditch and was a jokester. But beyond that, we only know what other characters say about them. Sirius gives us an idealised view of James, describing him as the best person he could have known, while Snape demonises him, calling him a coward and cruel. Lily and James are just like Lyanna, Rhaegar, and Elia: a starting point for situations that shape the protagonists’ journeys.

Everything depends on who’s telling the story—whether it’s Ned, Dany, Oberyn, or someone else—because each one reveals their version of who these characters were. But is that really the truth? We don’t know. And I think that’s what makes them even more interesting.

[purpleheartskies]

Story structures, character journeys, and Robby’s story

Also titled Robby is the underdog - Part 10

I know that many of the leaks for part 3 are really confusing. I myself don’t know what to make of some of them and if some of them are even real. But putting them aside, in reading more about story structures and character journeys, I came across more explanations that immediately made me think of Robby’s story and how his story really does have the structure and elements of a protagonist experiencing a character journey/Hero’s Journey. I’m going to use these explanations as I share my thoughts in this post. Keep in mind, there are different guidelines and structures for storytelling with different names for the same key aspects/story beats found throughout stories. The names of the story beats aren’t important; the presence of the story beats are important. When exactly they occur can vary to an extent too.

NOTE 1: SPOILERS!!! I will talk about the leaked first 8 minutes of s6e11 (which are meant to be part of s6 part 3 promo materials) because the Robby scene in it fits right into this analysis.

NOTE 2: This post is all text, no gifs (sorry!). tldr; Robby's story matches many common explanations of story structure and character journey writing.

NOTE 3: Text in blue font is quoted from referenced sources.

I’ve talked a lot about Robby’s Hero’s Journey and some about the 3-act story structure. The major points in Robby’s Hero’s Journey hit major beats in the 3-act structure. S6 is Act 3 and the final 3 stages of Robby’s Hero’s Journey: The Road Back, The Resurrection, and The Resolution.

The Road Back sets up The Resurrection. The Resurrection stage is also called the Climax, and The Resolution is also called the Denouement. I’m going to focus on The Resurrection/Climax in this post because part 2 is a part of this stage of Robby’s journey. I’ll also be talking about some of the prior stages because The Resolution/Climax happens in the context of those stages.

The Ordeal in the Hero’s Journey is also called the Crisis, the Black Moment, and “All is Lost”.

At some point in our story, our character will symbolically “die.” This usually means they’re stripped of their hope, but it can also mean they’ve lost other aspects as well, such as goals or plans. A Black Moment triggers the protagonist to lose hope, but what that looks like can be very different depending on the style of our turning point. Essentially, we need an event that forces the protagonist to leave some aspect of their old life behind, kicking off the change necessary for the story ending. The characters will seem further from their destination (goals) than ever, and the reader shouldn’t see a solution either. Whatever happens, our characters are so devastated that they give up despite the consequences. Those stakes that have been carrying them through the rest of the story aren’t enough to force them through this defeat. They give up. In plot-focused stories, we want this moment to invalidate all their plans for success. In character-focused stories, we want this moment to break them. Do they have a backstory wound or fear? Great! Echo that wound or fear and make them feel the pain. Any progress they’ve made in changing who they are during the course of the story should seem like a mistake. Our stories will likely include both plot and character aspects of a Black Moment, so don’t worry about trying to decide one over the other. But either way, hope should die. It’s only after that symbolic death that our character will find the courage to do the things or take the risks or make the changes necessary to “win.” It’s only after losing everything that they’ll be willing to do anything—because they have nothing left to lose.

In Robby’s Hero’s Journey, this stage spanned s4e10 when Robby looked in the “mirror”:

"It's this kid, Kenny. I took him under my wing… Be the mentor I wish I had when I was younger. But when I saw him today, and it… uh… It's like looking in a mirror. And I realized I screwed everything up. And I had all this hate inside of me, for you and for Miguel. I thought I could use Cobra Kai to control that. But it just made things worse and now it's never gonna get better… … I'm sick of blaming you, Dad." (Robby to Johnny in s4e10)

to s5e5 when Robby gave up who he is in order to have a relationship with Johnny, his “want”.

“Look I know how things can start out from nothing and get bigger and bigger until all you feel is hate. I've been there.” Robby turns to Miguel, who is watching and Miguel nods to him. “I'm telling you, it's so much better to let that hate go. ” (Robby to Kenny in s5e8) Christopher Vogler, who developed the 12 stages of the Hero’s Journey based on Joseph Cambell’s work, said that during The Reward stage (that follows The Ordeal) the hero usually expresses via dialogue the self-reflection he’s done based on the transformation that he’s gone through.

In s5e4, Robby told Tory that he and Johnny still have some issues that are too big to solve. But in s5e8, after experiencing the Ordeal (a first "death and rebirth"), Robby blamed himself. He was the one who had to “let go” of his hate to achieve what he wanted. But, in doing so, Robby’s old self metaphorically “died”.

After experiencing the apartment fight with no resolution for his side of the story and hearing the baby news, Robby “gave up”. He “gave up” trying to understand who he is by giving up who he is. Remember, to find balance and make the future he wants, he needs to understand who he is and who he wants to be (visualize the future he wants). But, he stopped believing in himself; stopped fighting for himself. He gave into his "lie" that he is to blame for his "hate"/traumas and that he is not worth it. Until this point, Robby still tried to stand up for himself and his worth. But Johnny, the Shadow, with the help of his Ally and Robby’s main Threshold Guardian, Miguel, slowly chipped away at Robby between s5e1 to s5e5.

After this stage, The Reward stage spanned the dinner scene in s5e5 to s5e10.

During The Ordeal, the protagonist faced a trial that pushed them to the brink; they died, perhaps literally or, more often, figuratively (the old them died). Almost always this comes from having to confront some inner demon, a weak characteristic and/or a greatest fear (which plays into the theme). Now that they have faced such a crisis, they will be rewarded for it as they are reborn into something greater. Typically the Reward is what the protagonist truly came to the Special World for (whether or not he was fully aware of it at the time). In a lot of stories, the Reward may be multiple things, something concrete and something abstract. There is usually a moment of euphoria and celebration. Sometimes a bunch of people celebrate.

Robby gained a “relationship” with Johnny and renewed other relationships, and together they defeated Cobra Kai. In s6e1, Robby called them all "one big karate family", claimed that he and Miguel had worked out their shit, and said that Cobra Kai was gone.

But remember this is a "false victory", as is the case often with the Reward stage. Robby gave up his “need” in order to obtain his “want”. None of Robby's relationships are truly reciprocated. The "karate family" is dysfunctional. He and Miguel hadn't really worked out their shit because Miguel never took accountability for his role in their shit and scapegoated Robby for it all. Cobra Kai also wasn't truly defeated.

The Road Back stage followed.

After the celebration, it's time to get refocused. The hero may fully rededicate himself to the Adventure, and The Road Back may function as yet another threshold to cross--to something deeper, bigger, more dangerous, or different. Just as the hero has been reborn, the other antagonistic forces may have gained more power as well, sometimes even as a consequence of The Ordeal and the Reward. This may be a moment of retaliation. An antagonistic force that seemed to have been defeated may raise its ugly head again. The hero may have to draw upon and gather more strength. The Road Back is a turning point that propels us toward the final climax of the story. The reason it is "The Road Back" isn't because the story is over, but because the hero has learned whatever and grown however they needed to in order to do what is necessary to finish the story, and now they need to get back on track, on that road, to do that.

If you've employed The Road Back stage of the Hero's Journey within your story, you've done the necessary work to set up the high stakes. And make no mistake, the climax of your story has to have your protagonist dealing with the highest stakes they've ever experienced.

Part 1 was mainly The Road Back stage.

Robby’s story picked up in s6e5 after the elements were put together in s6e1-4 to set up the ST: the character and plot setups leading into the ST, including introducing new antagonist characters in Cobra Kai, one of which was Robby’s mirror character. Miguel's issues with Robby were also reestablished.

The writers doing this right before starting the Climax of Robby’s story is notable. In s6e1, he worked to restore his relationship with Kenny and try to convince him to join Miyagi-Do, who now has an important role/moments in the ST. Robby was barely present in the episodes between s6e2-3 and was barely focused on in s6e4, as the pieces were being assembled. However, some of his scenes were quite relevant, like the college essay scene in s6e2, which was his only scene in that episode and which set up Miguel bullying him later on. This scene fed into their s6e5 scene. In both scenes, it’s shown that Miguel believes his future is more important and that he believes he is entitled to step on Robby, yet again, to achieve his own goals. His comments to Robby in s6e7 continued this trend. After he undermined Robby’s relationship with Johnny once more and after his mom told him to win in s6e8, he changed his behavior with Robby in s6e9. Miguel was in full-on Threshold Guardian mode from s6e2 to s6e8. The captaincy fight in s6e5 had been a major crossing of the threshold (between the Special World and the Ordinary World) in Robby’s Hero’s Journey.

The lag in Robby’s story picking up in Act 3 reminded me of the lag in Robby's story picking up in Act 1, the start of the series. 

Sometimes, our story is structured such that the story problems or questions are established before the protagonist becomes involved. Remember that opening scenes aren’t about setting up the character and their situation. Beginnings are about setting up elements of the story’s conflicts.

In s1e1, Robby is introduced as an important character in Johnny’s life via Robby’s picture on Johnny’s fridge in the first few moments of the series. He is also mentioned by Sid with a pointed comment about Johnny not being there for Robby. However, Robby himself has his first scene after Johnny and Miguel’s relationship is established and after Johnny and Daniel have reconnected. In s1e4, while Robby’s Ordinary World was being shown, Johnny and Daniel’s rivalry was reignited. Robby even mentioned to Johnny, “Like your old pal Daniel LaRusso. Must be nice to be a winner.” Despite not knowing about Johnny’s present life or that Johnny recently saw Daniel again after all these years, Robby made mention of this conflict that Johnny has with Daniel. With the primary external story conflicts/problems established, the groundwork for the main story conflicts/problems in the/Robby’s story were also established.

In both s1e5 and s6e5, Robby’s story picked up after a noticeable lag. In s1e5, Robby experienced the Inciting Incident: seeing Johnny give Miguel the gi and hug. In s6e5, the Climax to Robby’s story started.

The Climax… encompasses everything leading up to the Climax as well as the actual “showdown” [Climactic Moment]. Before the story beat of the Climax, our characters have experienced the Black Moment/Crisis beat, and they’ve given up… The Climax starts at the point when our characters recommit to the story goals, when they give up “giving up”. When our characters recommit to the story goals, that’s usually the sign to begin the race to the finish, taking care of all the henchmen and obstacles along the way to the big showdown.  The Climax story beat starts after our characters survive the Black Moment (where they give up) and then rally for a comeback. As soon as they decide to pick themselves up and start working toward the story goals again, the Climax has begun. But what makes our characters recommit? They’ve just symbolically died and had their failures shoved into their faces. Why are they getting up again? Characters don’t have to recommit to the story goals all at once. The Climax is filled with obstacles, each causing our characters to question whether they can succeed or stay the course. Each obstacle can also provide an opportunity to show how our characters’ commitment strengthens and grows. We can start off with a trigger to get them to recommit and then build on their determination throughout the Climax. Sometimes our characters only need a reminder of their goals or motivations. For example, a sidekick or mentor might give our character a verbal kick in the pants.

For Robby, the first trigger was in s6e5. Tory played the role of renewing Robby’s drive to believe in himself and his future once again. The stark contrast between his responses to Miguel in s6e2 and in s6e5 shows this. Another trigger is Miguel’s encouragement in s6e9, after Robby had lost focus completely because of the SA.

In part 2, during the Climax, Robby had to deal with the most obstacles, out of all the characters. 

Tory had joined Cobra Kai behind his back, threw him under the bus by telling Sam that Robby knew about Kreese, and put them on a break while also stonewalling him, which led to him misunderstanding her intentions alongside Kwon playing mind games with him.

The Miyagi-Dos scapegoated Robby about Tory and were not supportive of him as captain.

Miguel was bullying him out of jealousy.

No senseis were helping him with his focus issues. Johnny also did nothing after hearing Miguel bully Robby in s6e7. Robby is still all alone; in a way, mentorless.

Robby's trauma and mental health worsened in response to Tory’s behavior, Kwon’s mind games, and the lack of support from his mentors and team. (Johnny and Miguel seemed to have not told him what was going on when they took off to go back home. This lack of communication/inclusion is another sign of how Robby is excluded from the family.) Remember, Robby’s poor mental health/balance is his internal Threshold Guardian. He was experiencing freeze responses during his fights, whenever he was triggered. Due to all of this, he took a drink and got drunk for the first time.

The three new antagonist teens were all antagonistic to or opponents for Robby

Kwon, Robby’s mirror character, was his main rival.

Zara SA’d Robby when he was drunk, and this caused him to lose much more focus. (I’ve talked about this in length in these two posts: post and post.) 

Axel and Robby were opponents in the semifinal, and no one had scored a single point on Axel. Robby could only use Miyagi-Do defense against him, meaning Robby may not have been able to score had their match continued.

In their fight, right before the brawl, Axel said something that is a subtle meta-commentary about Robby’s behavior and has relevance in this stage of his Journey: 

“Are you going to keep defending. Or are you going to start fighting?”  (Axel to Robby in s6e10)

As I’ve mentioned before, Robby’s fawning behavior since the Ordeal is a defense/survival mechanism. Robby had stopped fighting for and believing in himself. But since his conversation with Tory in s6e5, he’s slowly been picking up the drive to fight for himself more as he deals with obstacles along the way. For example, he stood up to Miguel in s6e5 and in s6e7. Robby also fought Kwon in s6e9, like Robby had fought Kenny back in s4. Vestiges of that part of Robby, the part that believes in himself and his worth, are still there and are coming back. In s5e5, Robby stopped standing up for himself. Although in s6e5 and in part 2 Robby does defend himself to others, he still hasn't taken a stand against them for the validation and better treatment that he deserves, like he used to.

People were wrong after s5e5 that Robby had found balance. “Letting go” didn’t help him. It made his mental health worse as he resolved himself to “second place” in Johnny’s life and “family”. This is clearly “shown”.

To find balance, Robby has to be able to do the following:

"You may know the moves, but none of that matters unless you have balance.... I didn't mean balancing your body. I mean balancing your life. Look, Robby. I know it's hard growing up without a dad, believe me. Mine died when I was young, so I know. But when those bad feelings all weigh you down, you gotta... you gotta search inside for the good stuff, you know, and just... Because then you can find some balance in your life. Understand. It's not easy, but you'll do it." (Daniel to Robby in s1e8)

The “good stuff” is Robby’s self-worth and belief in himself. When his trauma from abandonment and rejection and his fears of becoming like Johnny way him down, he needs to search inside for his self-worth and belief in himself.

After Axel’s comment to Robby, the brawl started soon after. It ended with the death of Robby’s mirror character. Usually in The Resurrection stage, there is a physical and spiritual death of the character. Although Kwon is not The Shadow in Robby’s story and has the role of a Threshold Guardian, as a mirror character to Robby, Kwon played the role of a Threshold Guardian who represented who “the hero could become if they succumb to their inner darkness or make the wrong choices”. 

Mirror characters tend to share several qualities and are used to complement and highlight each other’s traits. Common mirror characters embark on parallel plots, sometimes to achieve a single goal, which tests them and highlights their traits in different ways. Mirrors in fiction are characters who reflect the main character and reveal insights into the main character's behaviors, thoughts, and motivations. A mirror allows the main character to check the state of their own being or learn lessons from their mistakes.

Kwon is a representation of the darker parts of Robby. The parts that are driven by his ”hurt”/trauma, insecurities, and self-blame. The parts that Robby channeled when he fought and defeated Kwon. It’s symbolic that Kwon was introduced during The Road Back and died during The Resurrection. The first (and hopefully only) death of a teen character in the show was that of Robby’s mirror character during The Resurrection/Climax of Robby’s Hero’s Journey. It was an echo of the “death” of Robby’s darker parts in the Ordeal stage. Kwon had become the fighter that Kreese had wanted Robby to become in s3. However, during their match, Robby had taken his anger/self-blame and given it purpose, as Cobras are taught to do and as Kreese had told Kwon to do.

Whatever triggers our characters to get back into the game, there’s an element of courage at play. They’ve already failed to some extent with the Black Moment/Crisis, so they know how easily they can fail again. They’re facing their fear and deciding they’d rather fail by trying than by not trying at all. They’re refusing to let their fears or their circumstances stop them.

In s4e4, during The Approach stage, Silver told Robby that he had to dig out and face his fear in order to become a champion. Robby later told Johnny—the Shadow—that Robby’s greatest fear is to end up like him.

In s4e10, after Robby looked in the “mirror” at the start of his Ordeal stage, which also featured another tournament championship loss for Robby because he lost balance, Robby later went to Johnny—the Shadow. Robby didn’t care that he didn’t become a champion as much as he cared about the fact that he’d taken a step that would lead him to ending up like Johnny: Robby had trusted Kreese, adopted Cobra Kai completely, and had hurt Kenny. 

At the end of the Ordeal/Crisis/Black Moment in s5e5, Robby “let go” of his anger, or moreso buried it like he buried the egg in the lesson in s5e7. He “gave up”. In s5e8, Robby told Kenny that Robby’s been there. His hate got bigger and bigger until all he felt was hate and indicated that he just “let that go”. But, in doing so, Robby also “let go” of belief in himself and his self-worth completely.

In s1e10, Daniel had told Robby that if he found balance he wouldn’t become like Johnny. However, Daniel’s advice to “let go” of his anger was wrong. You can’t just “let go” of the anger. You have to validate your experiences and feelings and process and work through them.

In s4e1, Robby had commented to Sam that Johnny had become a drunk loser who still hadn’t figured out his own life. It makes me so sad that Robby’s mental health is now so bad that in part 2 he took a drink and got drunk for the first time. He also later gave into this anger and fought Kwon like a Cobra would. 

As Robby was trying to become a champion, Robby’s worst fear was slowly coming true. Unlike in s4e10 in which Robby course-corrected, in this case Robby didn’t seem to regret drinking—as much as he regretted the SA/”stupid thing he did” (which was understandably his focus)—and he definitely didn’t regret fighting with his anger against Kwon, "making it hurt" and humiliating him thus adding to Kwon's own anger (which drove his actions in the brawl).

In the first 8 minutes of part 3, the meeting in the counselor's office was so telling. 

1) In s1e2, the principal had called Johnny, and he had told her to call Robby’s mom. Now, in s6e11, not only were Johnny and Shannon at this meeting, each of their partners were there too. Although they are physically present, the fact remains that Robby is alone in his struggles. (Johnny and Shannon don't get a pass or any credit for any good they do. Johnny has yet to take accountability with Robby, and neither of them validate him about the trauma that they have caused him. They don't care that they weren't for him after the school fight and for how they continue to emotionally neglect him. Johnny also abused him. They are the reason Robby’s mental health is so poor, he has so much trauma, and his future prospects are so minimal. Don't know anything about this new guy in Shannon's life, but Carmen definitely doesn't genuinely care about Robby or his future.)

2) Robby was once again solidified as the underdog in life. He may not graduate with the others, and he doesn’t have good future prospects. He may not even have a future in karate.

3) Johnny commented that Robby had been so close to becoming a world champion but the opportunity was lost. The ST being called off because of Kwon's death is yet another obstacle for Robby in trying to become a champion and make the future he wants happen. Kreese had honestly told Robby that he has more talent than his father; he just needs to show it to the world.

4) Johnny hasn’t grown, and Robby is the more mature one between them. Johnny also rolled his eyes at Shannon’s boyfriend when he praised Robby and offered a helpful suggestion. Johnny hadn’t rolled his eyes when Carmen had suggested something, right before Shannon’s partner did. This shows Johnny still gets petty and jealous of Robby getting support from another adult male “father figure” and is jealous of Shannon being with someone.

5) The counsellor handed Robby the pamphlet for trade schools. The picture in the construction pamphlet was of someone who looks like Johnny in s1, when he worked as a handyman. That conversation was a direct reference to Johnny’s speech in s6e7, in which he projected his own past onto the kids once again: “That wasn’t karate. That was weakness. You fought like little lambs waiting for slaughter. We keep going like this. We get eliminated tonight. Some of you will put this behind you. Some of you are gonna carry this for the rest of your lives. Knowing you had this chance to actually make something of yourselves, But instead you crumbled under pressure. You’re gonna go on to live shit lives in shitty apartments with shit jobs and always have to live with this failure…”

This last point continued to show that Robby is still facing his fear of ending up like Johnny. It also shows Johnny's lack of self-worth and poor mental health. Miyagi had also been a handyman, but he seemed content with himself and his life.

To recap: So far in Robby’s Resurrection/Climax stage, in addition to facing all the obstacles he has, Robby drank for the first time and got drunk, fought with his anger, and is once again looking at a future similar to Johnny’s. “My dad became a drunk loser, who still hasn’t figured out his own life.” These words are still true for Johnny, who needed Carmen to lecture him in s6e2 about earning a better income to support their growing family. Johnny was relying on the kids winning the tournament so he could also benefit from the gains. It was also pointed out in the baby shower scenes that Johnny never has only one drink.

It’s interesting that this counselor scene showed, through Robby’s behavior, that he is not like Johnny while simultaneously showing that he is still on a path to ending up like Johnny. 

When readers want to be inspired by heroes, they’re looking for stories where characters stand up to obstacles, dig deep within themselves to find courage, and recommit to the story goals despite everything working against them.

Remember that Robby's journey is both internal and external. The internal journey is Robby having to cope with his poor mental health due to his lifetime of negative experiences. The external journey is Robby trying to build a good future for himself while dealing with dysfunctional relationships and the dojo war. These journeys are all tied together.

“You know who you are, right? So now all you've gotta do is visualize what you want your future to look like, and then you make it happen."  (Daniel to Robby in s1e7)

“your dad had the worst teacher there ever was. It sent him down a wrong path. But you don't have to go down that path. Do you understand? You don't have to ever become him. Trust me. You let go of all that anger, and I guarantee you, no matter what happens tonight, you go home feeling great.” (Daniel to Robby in s1e10)

In s6e5, it was interesting to see Johnny’s and Robby’s second place traumas be portrayed. It was yet another reminder of the generational trauma that Johnny has passed down. Part 2 then showed Robby making mistakes (drinking to cope with poor mental health, taking his anger/self-blame out on Kwon) like Johnny does. The scene in s6e11 continues with this thread, showing that Robby's future prospects look like how Johnny ended up. I’m curious to see what Robby does next.

The Climax beat ends after the antagonists (internal and external) are dealt with (positively or negatively, such as in a tragedy). After the Climax, we’re ready to wind down to the final image, resolution, happy ending, or story denouement.

Robby's main antagonist is Johnny---the Shadow---and to a lesser extent, Miguel---the main Threshold Gaurdian. In the overall plot, Cobra Kai is the representation of the generational trauma that is being passed down. Robby is the cycle breaker who is setup to take down Cobra Kai. The dojo itself and its various forms (Eagle Fang and Iron Dragons (which is run by Silver)) are all representations or allegories of that generational trauma. Miyagi-Do has always been the representation of the healing of the generational trauma. Although Miyagi had had a past filled with tragedy and war, he hadn't turned out like Kreese and Silver. Although Kreese wants Robby to be the third generation of Cobra Kai, throughout the series subtle parallels between Robby and Miyagi have been shown. The latest parallel is the introduction of a backstory for Miyagi by which you can describe him as “A liar and a thief, who once assaulted someone and ran”. These words can be used to describe Robby as well. 

As part of the Climax, Robby will have to make a crucial decision, which is also called the Crisis/Crisis Decision (I know! Confusing...) depending on the story structure. Regardless, there is a moment when the character has to make that crucial decision. They usually have to choose between their “want” and their “need”. It’s been shown very clearly that Robby getting his “want” has resulted in his mental health and ability to find balance worsening. That is, obtaining his “want” has made it more difficult to obtain his “need”. He will have to choose his “need”, regardless of if he can keep his “want”. Usually, a sacrifice is involved by the protagonist in this stage. That sacrifice is usually their “want”. The character also chooses their “truth” over their “lie”. I’ll go into this in a bit. First, I want to talk about another explanation of story structure that I found that made me think of Robby.

One explanation outlines story structure with 5 “commandments”:

Every effective story has five structural components that work together to communicate a CONTROLLING IDEA [theme] in a way that bypasses readers’ critical minds to touch their hearts and change their worldviews. These components are the Five Commandments of Storytelling.

1) The Inciting Incident - The event which knocks the protagonist’s life out of balance. It puts the events of the story into motion and introduces the reader to the global conflict in a compelling way. This event must be so big that the protagonist has to change the course of action they were following before in order to deal with this event.

Robby saw Johnny give Miguel the gi and hug. Up until then, Robby was doing things to passively get Johnny’s attention, like skipping school. After this, Robby decided to get a job with LaRusso to “get back at” Johnny. He took a more active approach to get Johnny’s attention and hurt him/his ego in the process. 

I find it interesting that, just after Robby got the Larusso Auto shirt with his name on it, Daniel gave Robby the Call to Adventure: “You wanna stick around? Learn something?” To which Robby responded, “Sure.” 

Throughout Robby’s story his “want”—relationship with Johnny— and his “need”—to understand who he is (develop a healthy relationship with himself) and find balance have been at odds. 

Note also that it was this incident that led Robby to Daniel, learning karate, and eventually taking part in the dojo war.

2) Turning Point Progressive Complication - The protagonist goes through a series of actions to restore balance to the world after the inciting incident. As these actions fail, it progressively complicates the story until the protagonist faces a final turning point where everything they have tried fails. They realize that there’s no turning back to the way things were before. They realize that they may never get what they want, and if they do get what they want, they’re going to have to suffer and give up way more than they ever thought in order to get it. This leads to the Crisis.

Robby tried various things to get Johnny’s attention and/or restore their relationship. For example, Robby went to the AVT in s1. Robby reopened Miyagi-Do with Daniel to take down Cobra Kai aka Johnny. (In 2e1, Robby commented to Daniel, “When my dad finds out what we’re upto, he’s not going to know what hit him”. But later Daniel found balance and reminded Robby that their goal is to spread Miyagi-Do, a better way, to all of the Valley (luckily there are part 3 leaks of a pure Miyagi-Do being open which means they (hopefully) succeed).) Robby gave Johnny the opportunity to speak to him in s2e1. Robby went to Johnny at the end of s2e9 after Shannon told him that Johnny wants a relationship with him. Robby gave Johnny opportunities to explain himself in s3e4 after waiting for him to visit in s3e3. Robby joined Kreese at the end of s3 and tried to convince Johnny to too. Robby officially joined Cobra Kai in s4e1 to prove he’s better than the others, especially Johnny. Robby went to Johnny in s4e4 and s4e10. Robby went to Mexico in s5e1 and later stayed despite Johnny's deception. Robby started fawning completely after hearing the baby news in s5e5.

Robby also experiences progressive complications while trying to find/maintain balance. Johnny has chosen Miguel over him since s1e4, except for one good day together in s2e10. His parents abandoned him with no money or food in early s2. Miguel attacked him and pushed him to his limit in s2e10, which led to his “fight response” and him accidentally injuring Miguel. In s3, he was on the run, and when he went to adults he trusted for help, they sent to juvie without caring about his side of the story. He was abandoned and rejected by everyone, as they all believed that he’d purposely injured Miguel and they all took Johnny’s and Miguel’s sides over his. Juvie itself was traumatic. His confrontation with Johnny didn't end well, and Johnny continued to abandon him. In s4, he joined Cobra Kai to control his “hate” but he eventually trusted Kreese and hurt Kenny. In s5, he was emotionally, psychologically, and physically abused by Johnny because of Johnny’s codependency with Miguel and because of Johnny’s anxiety over the baby coming and wanting to force the "family" together. Miguel also used Johnny’s suggestion for a fight to take his anger out on Robby. Miguel then gaslit Robby about both the school fight and this fight. After hearing the baby news, Robby started fawning. 

Robby’s Turning Point Complication that led to him "giving up" are the apartment fight + baby news, especially the latter. Now, there is no going back to life before the Inciting Incident, in terms of the potential of ever having a real relationship with Johnny in which Robby could potentially be Johnny’s main/only focus. The Diazs are now solidified as Johnny’s new “family” because of the introduction of the baby plotline.

3) Crisis [Decision] - The Crisis is a binary, this-or-that choice that arises out of the TURNING POINT. We reach the Crisis when all of the protagonist’s attempts to go back to the way things were before the INCITING INCIDENT have failed. The Crisis is what forces the protagonist to change and reveals their true character [essence]. Every Crisis must pose a real choice between incompatible options with meaningful stakes. 

Something should happen in part 3 that pushes Robby to make a decision between his “want”—his relationship with Johnny—and his “need”—finding balance. After all, finding balance is the theme of the story, and Robby’s struggles in getting his “want” has been in direct opposition with his “need”. Right now, Robby has the worst balance he’s had all series, as shown in part 2 with his freeze responses because of Tory putting them on pause and his much worsened abandonment/rejection trauma. Robby has to make the choice to choose himself over his relationship with Johnny. 

... antagonists that challenge your protagonist’s character growth. These kinds of antagonists are most effective… because they create situations that put the protagonist’s external goals in opposition with their internal needs. Ideally, every scene in an effective story forces the protagonist to make small decisions between their external want and internal need. All of these individual choices eventually lead up to a final crisis decision where the protagonist must choose between what they want and what they need once and for all. In effective crisis decisions, the protagonist cannot have both, and the consequence of either choice is severe and life-changing. This final decision often occurs around the climax of the story.

4) Climax - The climax of a UNIT OF STORY is when the protagonist decides and acts on the binary question raised by the CRISIS.

This is the moment of change. Robby will make that internal change and commit permanently to finding balance. Externally, this can be shown, for example, by him standing up for himself once again against Johnny (and Miguel and others), walking away from Johnny, and being able to fight using balance and using Miyagi-Do without losing focus. As a Karate Kid story, Robby should win a karate match, the most important one, after experiencing this change at the Climax as part of his “resurrection” into the person he will become, the person he was always meant to be, when he makes this choice.

5) Resolution - The story resolution shows the results of the protagonist’s decision in the CLIMAX.

This will be the story wrap up, The Return (with the Elixir) stage.

What I wanted to highlight by talking about this explanation of story structure is that Robby’s story so far features the first two "commandments" and these tie into the theme of finding balance and are shown throughout the series. Miguel’s story does not feature either of these elements. Miguel doesn’t have an inciting incident. He also doesn’t experience progressive complications. Throughout the series, Miguel’s struggles are quickly resolved and do not linger. Even his back injury was approached this way. Meanwhile, in Robby’s story, Miguel’s role is that of a plot device/Threshold Guardian/foil who plays a huge role directly or through Johnny’s codependency with him in Robby’s progressive complications. Miguel either uses his training from Johnny on Robby and/or Miguel plays a role in undermining Robby’s relationship with Johnny.  

Robby’s progressive complications are shown both externally and internally. Externally, he has experienced the most struggles, most of which still affect him. He’s had the least stable home life of all the kids. Even Tory has had one physical location as a home, despite being the caretaker of her family, while Robby hasn’t had a stable physical home since the start of s2. Since s5e5, Robby has been in an dysfunctional "family" and "home" in which he was beaten into place and can’t speak out or expect support when he is being emotionally neglected (s5e8) or scapegoated (s6e2) or feeling down about his future, without being dismissed by Johnny. Robby’s future prospects are one of the worst out of all the kids, even being told that he won’t graduate with the others and that college is out of the picture for him. Robby was cheated out of a championship win in his first avt. Robby was scapegoated and continues to be scapegoated for the school fight, even though he was the true victim between him and Miguel in that fight. Robby wasn’t given any adult support and was betrayed by all of them, including his parents, who all in some way chose Miguel over him and took Miguel’s side over his. Kreese(!) was the only one who came to him when he needed it most, took his side, and helped him. Robby later went to Kreese because Robby knew he couldn’t rely on the adults who he should have been able to rely on. Of course, neither Kreese nor Silver could be trusted.

Miguel’s hardships are usually self-inflicted. For example, he picked the fight with Kyler on Halloween in s1. He also assumed Sam was cheating on him with no proof and picked those fights. He started the school fight and pushed Robby to his limit in s2. He chose to run off to Mexico after the s4 avt. He acted entitled to Johnny’s attention while his whole team was struggling in the ST in s6 part 2. Miguel had been injured in the school fight, but he suffered no legal consequences (which he should have), was lauded a hero, and suffered no detriment to his future… to the point that Miguel was able to write an application essay to his dream university Stanford and scapegoat Robby by name for the school fight while being gushed about by the adults, including Johnny, and Robby silently having to endure this and dismiss it. (At least he spoke up about it, which shows how much it bothered him.)

Internally, Robby’s mental health has been worsening with each trauma he experiences and the more Johnny chooses Miguel over him. All negative events Robby experiences, big or small, add to his trauma and make it more difficult for him to find balance. This is itself is progressive complications!

Since s4, I've said that the writers have been sacrificing Johnny's character for Robby’s story. In light of this post, I really do think they have been. Johnny's behavior due to his lack of growth is the core conflict/problem for Robby's story. If Johnny grew, the primary conflict/problem of Robby's story would be resolved, or at least the obstacles will be lessened. But Johnny is the Shadow, the main antagonist, in Robby’s Journey. Miguel is the main Threshold Guardian. Their relationship, which the writers have called the “heart of the show” is the main conflict/problem in Robby’s story. If Johnny’s growth had happened sooner, Robby’s Hero’s Journey and progressive complications would have been resolved too soon and on their own. Like Robby had said in s5e4, before his Crisis/Black Moment in s5e5, he and Johnny have issues, some that are too big to solve.

Coming back to Robby believing his “truth” over his “lie”.  In my Robby’s Hero’s Journey post, I talked about Robby’s “wound”—Johnny abandoning him— and his “lie”—that he is at fault for all the bad that has happened to him and he is not worth it. The “lie” can also be called the “false belief”. During the Crisis Decision, the character gives up the “false belief” they have about themselves or the world around them, and they adopt their “truth”.

False beliefs are things the characters believe that we, as the author, know not to be true. They’re not really unlovable, a loser, unworthy, deserving of their pain, etc. However, their Wound makes them believe so, and more importantly, it makes them think they’ve reached this conclusion logically. They don’t think they’re being delusional.  The question then becomes, how can we show those beliefs? It’s not as simple as we might think. While readers might occasionally see evidence of the character’s False Belief through dialogue, that method of getting information across would often be too “on the nose.” Normal people don’t usually state aloud, “Such-and-such happened because I’m unlovable.” On the other hand, normal people might think or feel such things. Or those thoughts and feelings might color their perception of situations and interactions. Same with our writing. Readers will pick up on these false beliefs primarily through characters’ point of view/worldview (what they pay attention to) and internalizations (what they think or feel).

“You were right. It was a mistake trying to help me because I can’t change.” (Robby in s3e2)

“All those years you weren’t there, I blamed myself.” (Robby in s3e10)

“I screwed everything up. I had all this hate inside of me… I thought I could use Cobra Kai to control that. But it just made things worse, and now it’s never going to get better… I’m sick of blaming you, Dad.” (Robby in s4e10)

“It's still better than always coming in second." (Robby in s6e2)

“I'm completely screwing it up out there… Tory ended things. She hooked up with Kwon… Then I got drunk and did something stupid. I'm blowing it on and off the mat. You were right. You should have been captain.” (Robby in s6e9)

Even if we stick just to internalizations and descriptions, they can still be too “on the nose” if they’re not triggered by something in the story. Characters who think negative thoughts out of nowhere could be seen as (at best) a too-mentally-unhealthy character or (at worst) a victim of clunky, non-organic storytelling. Instead, we need to follow the action-reaction chain of our story. A plot event can cause a character to react in a way that exposes their false belief to the reader. Now we merely need ideas for how their reactions can show their false belief. [In psychology,] cognitive distortions… is when our mind tricks us into believing something is true even though it really isn’t. If characters believe X about themselves (e.g., they’re unlovable), they might react in one or more of the following ways: (I selected the ones that matched Robby’s character/story the most.) 1) Filtering: Magnifying the negative and ignoring the positive - They’ll dwell on plot events that prove their belief right and they’ll gloss over those that prove them wrong. 2) Polarized Thinking: Seeing things in black-or-white - They’ll deem any attempt to overcome that flaw a failure if it doesn’t turn out perfectly. 3) Overgeneralization: Basing conclusions on a single piece of evidence - They’ll pick out a single word, act, or event to reinforce their belief. 4) Jumping to Conclusions: Assuming others’ feelings or motivations - They’ll assume others’ actions are driven by their flaw. 5) Personalization: Taking everything as a direct reaction to them - They’ll see themselves and their flaw as the cause for everything others do or say. 6) Emotional Reasoning: Believing feelings automatically true - They’ll trust their feelings about their belief above all other evidence. 7) Global Labeling: Extreme and emotional mislabeling - They’ll exaggerate and overgeneralize their flaw to the point of creating unhealthy emotions.

Throughout Robby’s story, and especially in part 2, you’ll find that these are true for Robby. (For example, see my post on Robby’s mental health in part 2.)

Characters start in their Identity, the false self they present to the world to protect themselves, from their Fear [created by that False Belief]. Over the course of the story, characters move two steps forward and one step back in their journey to overcome that False Belief and Fear [What terrifies the character, often a fear of experiencing the wound’s pain again (stakes)]. It’s that “one step back” that brings out a character’s False Belief. When the arc calls for a retreat to their Identity or a return of their Fear, we can trigger it first with a reaction based on their False Belief.  In the middle of the story, the character wavers, doing the two-steps-forward-one-step-back dance. At the crisis point [Ordeal], the character fully retreats into their Identity. At each of those points, plot events can force the character to react in one or more of those cognitively distorted ways above. Finally, in the climax of the story, a plot event that would normally trigger a character’s False Belief doesn’t, and furthermore, the character rejects their former belief, often stating for the sake of the theme or the antagonist that they now know it not to be true. The reader sees the character change and the emotional arc is complete. 

This last point is the Climactic moment of the character’s journey.

More about the character Identity and Essence. (Last section, I promise!)

A character’s Identity is the “mask” they wear to keep themselves safe. Maybe they push people away before they can be rejected. Maybe they don’t pursue their business dream so they can’t fail. Maybe they bury their emotions to prevent losing their heart again. A character’s Identity is who they want everyone else to see: the strong person who can’t be hurt. But this safe life is built on lies and fear. Our story starts around the time that something happens to our character to make that emotional armor not fit as well. The Inciting Incident might show the first cracks and demonstrate how their coping mechanisms don’t work perfectly. There’s a gap between how they want their coping mechanisms—that emotional armor—to work and how they actually work. And that gap exposes unhappiness and the… unfulfilled life they’ve been living. That gap gives readers the first glimpse of what the character’s internal journey will entail. As the story proceeds, the character’s emotional armor will get more in the way, causing problems. Plot events act as triggers for their various realizations: 1) Something happens to make them consciously recognize a goal around the 25% mark (the End of the Beginning/First Plot Point on a beat sheet) [The Crossing of the Threshold stage], but they can’t reach this goal while wearing their emotional armor. They’ll stubbornly try to keep their mask on anyway because, again, change is hard. 2) Something happens to make them consciously recognize around the 50% mark (the Midpoint) that they need to change to reach their goal. They start experimenting with taking off their mask. 3) They slowly make progress, but around the 75% mark (the Crisis/Black Moment)[The Ordeal stage] something so horrible, so painful, will happen that they’ll retreat completely behind their armor again. They’ll think that allowing themselves to become vulnerable during their minor progress was a huge mistake. At the Black Moment/Crisis point, all should seem lost. They tried their experiment and it failed, causing them pain all over again. They’ll go back to their Identity, their coping mechanisms, and try to forget any of this ever happened.

For Robby, the first point was his lesson from Daniel at the s1 avt. The second point was in s4e10, the start of his Ordeal. The third point was the end of his Ordeal. To note, there are some journey’s in which the "midpoint" is delayed. This seems to be the case with Robby’s journey, which I talked about in my Robby’s Hero’s Journey post.

A character’s Essence is who they are behind the emotional armor—or who they have the potential to become. But coming out from behind their mask opens them up to hurt and vulnerability. They stay behind their armor until something at the beginning of the story forces them to start recognizing how much it’s not working for them. That’s how we know where/when a story should start. If we’ve done our job right, we’ve been raising the stakes—the consequences of failure—throughout the story. Now we’ve left them no choice. They can’t give up because the stakes are too high. Our characters have to dig deep and find the courage to allow themselves to become even more vulnerable than they were before. They go forward, knowing pain is waiting, and they’re willing to take that risk. Often the final battle against the story’s obstacles at the Climax will force the characters to face their fear. They refuse to let the pain stop them this time, and they refuse to let their fear hold them back. That’s what makes our characters heroic. That’s what makes readers cheer for them. That’s what creates our theme. Our characters push forward with a leap of faith and expose themselves to all the pain, all the vulnerability, all the risk. They are now in their Essence. And now they deserve to win.

Robby’s Identity is who he is when he’s not balanced, blaming himself for all of his trauma, setting unhealthy boundaries, and experiencing trauma responses. Robby’s Essence is who he truly is and to be that person he needs to find balance. 

Now, in part 3, the stakes are too high. Robby’s future is on the line, and Cobra Kai and Iron Dragons will both be returning for one final battle. Now is the time that Robby will need to make that final decision about the path that he wants to go down. Obtaining his “want” has driven him the furthest that he’s been from his “need”. Robby needs to find balance so that he can be in his Essence and win!

Main resources:

https://jamigold.com

https://storygrid.com

https://katjolewis.substack.com

(As always, please don't reply or reblog with dismissive comments about the nuance in the story. The nuance is part of the story, and the story is exploring important topics like trauma, bullying, neglect, and dysfunctional relationships. I'm aware of the part 3 leaks, but people also shut down conversations about all possible theories for the leaks. I’m just going to stick to analyzing canon here.)

[nightmare-foundation]

You said few months ago to aks your thoughts: what exactly do you mean by "Ozpin has long since given up on his task"?

I agree but don't have any coherent thoughts, except I also kind of think Oscar might've returned a spark to him ("You saved us," Ozpin also fighting the merge in the V9 Epilogue storyboard.)

Honestly this is a bit hard to explain bc I haven't touched RWBY in months (I'm neck deep in a batfamily hyperfixation), so my thoughts on this are VERY scattered, but I'll do my best to explain. I might come back and add any additional thoughts I might have.

Essentially, Ozpin doesn't really act like he's actively working towards his God-given task. Even if he is, I think he's doing the absolute bare minimum required of it. He's clearly tried before- if The Infinite Man is a 100% true story- but he labels that attempt as a mistake several times over. On top of that, he hasn't done... anything with the Relics after The Great War. The world was described as being in a time of 'unprecedented peace'- but Ozpin didn't DO anything with that.

I also think it's safe to assume that doing Lights task probably requires- essentially a cult dedicated to him. This is seen in The Infinite Man, since the woman Oz talks to mentions a 'final judgement', and the antagonist towards the end says that Oz's mere existence makes him a target. So it's safe to assume that pretty much everyone knew about his task at this time, and people didn't like the idea of it. I'm pretty sure it's also stated that this is the closest he's gotten to completing it. But as Ozpin recounts this, he repeatedly says that this was a mistake, and clearly regrets his actions here. He had good intentions, but it didn't matter in the end; the Circle was a mistake and he's asking for forgiveness.

On top of that, he says "Some people worship God's, while others insist we must be our own salvation. But the world doesn't work in absolutes, so why can't it be both?" This coupled with The Gift of the Moon and The Man Who Stared at the Sun as well as The Two Brothers heavily imply Oz believes that Light, or both of the Gods but especially Light, is selfish, petty, and that appeasing him not only requires heavy sacrifice, but hurts everyone else, and that humanity can replace the Gods; they don't need them.

The Academies themselves imply this too- they're safe Havens, Beacons of hope, keeping the world raised to shield them from destruction and providing Shade from the unforgiving sun (Light). They're symbolic, representing Oz's core values/beliefs, and one of those is that humanity needs to be shielded from Light. He very much also supports individuality, if the Great War is anything to go by plus the creation of the Academies. Something that, honestly, I don't think Light very much appreciates.

Also, Oz's inner circle doesn't really seem like Light followers to me. They follow Oz, and they believed his story of "The Gods cursed me for failing to stop Salem"- something that doesn't exactly paint them in a good light. The Gods don't seem to matter at all to them, just that they... exist. They also weren't aware of Oz's task, just that Oz wanted to keep things peaceful; not necessarily united, but peaceful. I also wouldn't call Oz's circle a cult either, since imo they really don't fit the bill to me, and it wouldn't make sense if they fit the cult BITE model since it'd hinder more than help, though the group IS dysfunctional.

Also, Oz knows how impossible the task is, knows it's just not possible to appease Light.

I do think he USED to work towards the task, but likely hasn't in a long time. I believe he's trying to keep Salem from the Relics because he believes that a second rebellion would never go well, and Remnant is free enough as is, even if he's essentially still chained via his immortality. Salem sees the Relics as a sort of Sword of Damocles- a constant threat looming over the world. And they are- but I think Ozpin also sees them as tools that could help the world.

Basically I think Oz has come to the conclusion that the world is free enough as is, and that rebelling against the Gods again will end very badly (as it had for Salem), while Salem believes that the world is still in chains. Oz's fears definitely aren't unfounded- after all, the Gods pretty much played with him like a toy by repeatedly reviving and then killing him.

Oz has pretty much completely lost faith in the Gods, if he had much to begin with, and the only reason I believe he followed his task initially was likely due to fear and believing Salem hates him, rather than out of any real devotion.

Oh and, I almost forgot- the tale of the two brothers is widely regarded as a fairytale on Remnant, and the main characters had to be TOLD about them, so it's safe to assume they're not nearly as widely known anymore, and we haven't seen any evidence of anything religious surrounding them yet. So there likely isn't any widespread religion about the Brothers, and if there is a religion, it certainly isn't large. There's definitely no mention of any in-universe backlash of including a supposedly widespread religion in a book of fairytales (and I say this because I've seen people say that it's a widespread religion like Christianity, when there's nothing implying that it currently is. During the time of The Infinite Man? Yeah, but not in the modern day).

Soo, there's my analysis on Oz and if he's still working towards his task and what his thoughts on the Gods are.

[undertalerainbow]

What are the personalities of each of the fallen humans and can you tell me some facts about each of them?

Without major spoilers

Morgan has immense patience but has a bit of anger issues. It’s supposed to an ironic thing where someone with such an affinity with patience has the anger issues of the group. Most of the soul traits are determined by what they view as that soul trait. So Morgan defines patience as sticking it out even if it annoys her. Kinda similar to how bravery doesn’t mean without fear, but to push through the fear to be brave. Also her and Percy constantly fight as they’re the one who gets on her nerves the most, but if anyone else hurts or insult them, then they defend like a wild bulldog. As for a fun fact, Morgan is very interested in medicine thanks to a monster in her game, if she had the chance to grow up, she’d want to be a doctor. This is a reference to the bandaid in the omega flowey fight.

Nick is a himbo, but not in the traditional sense. He is the only character amongst them who wasn’t raised from a Germanic, English, or anything else like that. From his design, he is supposed to be from one of the indigenous tribes in North America. We didn’t want to be specific as we don’t want to offend anyone, so we made our own tribe based on the Cree tribe. That’s where most of his clothing references are from and even his gender, as he is two spirit, specifically the Cree Tribe’s “ᐄᓇᐦᐲᑲᓱᐦᐟ, înahpîkasoht: "A woman dressed/living/accepted as a man" or "someone who fights everyone to prove they are the toughest"”. As we searched more on Native American tribes we learned more on how they don’t view gender and sexuality the same way we do. So essentially, he has more of a culture shock rather than being outright dumb, which we thought would be very interesting. We looked at a lot of references on here and other places for how to make Native American characters to make Nick as respectful as we can. In his character sheet, it was clarified his real name isn’t actually Nick, rather a nickname as his friends when he went into the underground couldn’t say his name, thus a “Nick”name was born. Fun fact: Percy is the only one in the group who can actually say Nick’s real name, which solidified for Nick that this is now his sibling and his favorite person.

Stella is the stressed out mom friend of the group, trying her best to keep everyone alive and to not make the same mistakes she did. She tends to be very secretive as an incident in her life caused her to not trust telling anyone anything. Her story is compatible with undertale yellows hints on the integrity souls story, but revealing more would be big spoilers so I will not describe much now. The one thing I will say is a fun fact about her game that we had in mind, at the start of the game you do not have access to spare or act at all, so the pacifist run is still the true ending as you have to use those as they unlock over time to achieve it.

Percy is the resident smarta** of the group, correcting the other kids when they get something wrong with slight jabs. If you know Danganronpa think byakuya but more likeable and less of an a**hole. They’re the smartest of the group but still can be silly at times. They’re a bit self conscious as they weren’t very well liked in their village, which is why when Nick proclaimed their his sibling and favorite person now, it gave a rare moment of softness for Percy. Their fun fact is that theirs and Rosemary’s games are linked, but not in a buddy system. Essentially, Rosemarys half of the game is the present whilst Percy’s the past and it has different sections that show both half of the stories. If you’ve watched once upon a time, the structure is similar to that, where there’s a problem presented in the present and the past that mirror one another, till at the end they meet together in the story.

Rosemary is an extremely kind girl but can be very chaotic. Shes the one of the three characters of color in the group being Mexican and is the only one who actually has a confirmed mainstream religion, Quaker. Shes a savant in cooking many different dishes, one of her mechanics in her game is that she makes her own healing items with food items you find around the underground. Shes the only kid out of all of them who doesn’t really have depression, but is very traumatized as her death was the most brutal out of all the kids. Fun fact, she’s the only one who doesn’t eat something religiously like the other kids. Chara is chocolate, Frisk is snow, Morgan is snails, Nick is dirt, Stella is roses, Percy is pencils, and clover is gunpowder. She has an aneurysm everytime they eat those things, as it’s food sacrilege in her eyes.

Clover’s the other parent friend of the group, being the fun, goofy parent that balances out Stella. They have this need to help others even if it means detrimental to themselves. Most of us probably knows what happens in undertale yellow anyways, so I will talk about our own addition which is their relationship with their little sister. Clover is about 5 years older then Annabelle and was born just before America hit the Great Depression. Clovers parents were alright before but thanks to the stress of not being able to afford two kids and their apartment, they soured overtime. This made clover essentially become Annie’s parent, which is why they’re so parental with the others while still being quite goofy, they’ve done it before. Part of the reason why they went after the kids was to get the reward money that would make them have enough to leave the apartment and start new. They first wanted to get back to Annie as soon as the mission was done, but when they realized what it’d take to get home, they became conflicted. They promised to come home and they never wanted to leave Annie in that house alone, but they knew Annie wouldn’t want them to do such a horrific thing in order to get back to her, and honestly they didn’t want to either. So as our add on in the clover death scene, we also had the others promise to find their little sister when they get to the surface and get her out of there, not knowing that the underground and the surface have two different flows of time. Fun fact, clover is supposed to be written in a way that you can see them either being a girl, boy, or non-binary. There’s supposed to be an explanation for why it could be either one of the genders that fits perfectly. If she was a girl, then they dressed themselves like a boy during those times in order to have more freedoms in the age they lived in. Whether that’d be it to find work or other things like protection. If he was a boy, then when they wear dresses they genuinely just do not care and wear whatever’s comfortable. We have a headcannon that they would absolutely wear the grom dress that luz wore in owl house. Clover’s official gender identity is gender apathetic, but they’re willing to also be called nonbinary as it is similar. Also all the characters have different assignments on what they refer to clover, some call them she, some call them he, and some call them they. We have a list ready for reference so keep that in mind when reading the comic as it may be confusing to keep track of the different pronouns.

Frisks and charas personalities is mostly going to be ambiguous as there’s big plans relating to their personalities that we do not want to reveal yet. As for fun facts, chara is the only one that was summoned by their corpse whilst everyone else was summoned by their objects.

Asriel/flowey is a part of the soul kids dynamic, and is supposed to be written very ambiguously just like chara and frisk. There’s plans of a mystery surrounding these three that the other six soul kids are trying to solve. Fun fact, Morgan is the only kid that knows that flowey is asriel right off the bat, as in her game flowey is a companion of Morgan like underfell. Flowey wasn’t as evil during her time and was trying to keep to being asriel, but was changed after Morgan’s death.

I hope this was sufficient enough to answer your question. Thank you for being the first asker!

[positivelybeastly]

This might be a fun little project for you, and certainly for the rest of us attempting to understand Hank better. What is something that a writer should takeaway from the most popular incarnations of Hank, yes including the recent one, to write him in a storyline? Maybe even bring something new to his character?

Speaking for myself here I’m fairly curious to know!

Hmmm. Good question.

I think that there are four central tenets to Hank's character, and they're basically integral to whether or not a run understands what Hank is about.

First of all - Hank's general story arc is about the importance of making mistakes, and learning from them. This is what gives his character meaning and resonance. He teaches us that you can completely fuck up your life, and come back from it, if only you try. If only you don't let your mistakes become bigger than you.

I would argue that the worst versions of Hank, and by worst I mean badly written, get stuck on the idea that Hank is reckless and makes mistakes and he never learns from them, and the thing is, that's simply not true anymore. It was true, in the story in which he turned himself grey and furry, but that was 1975, and that story broke Hank as he existed up until that point.

This story is so good because it understands that Hank made the single biggest fuck-up of his life in that lab, and he cannot undo that mistake, and he knows that. He has no right to. His ego died in that lab. Yeah, he can get a bit conceited, yeah, he can boast of what he's done, but he learned his lesson and he should never really reach the heights of ego and arrogance that he did back then.

All he has to do to remember what that led to is to look in the mirror.

It's not dissimilar to what happens with Mr. Fantastic - any time someone writes him as this big, boastful, arrogant scientist, they are forgetting that all he has to do to remember what that led to is look at his best friend, Ben Grimm, and what that led to last time. Actions have consequences. Hank and Reed know this all too well. They know this lesson, learning it again is bad storytelling.

Second of all - Hank is about change. His character is constantly changing, not just physically and visually, but emotionally and in terms of personality, too. He explicitly talks about this in Defenders.

He's allowed to be different and change, he is, in some ways, a social mirror. He code switches. He's different with the X-Men and the Avengers and the Defenders and X-Factor and the Illuminati and S.W.O.R.D because those places are different, with different people and different aims and different needs, and so Hank becomes different.

This is why feline Beast is so fucking important to his character growth, and why it was the best place for his character to go. By the late 90s, his character had, in ways, become a little bit stale, stuck in the rut of the jokey scientist with a philosophical side, and he needed a new internal conflict, because he's matured and dealt with most of his issues about growing up and taking responsibility.

Flipping the essential point of Beast's character, and making it so that it wasn't just other people who had to get over how Hank looked to see the brilliant, wonderful man beneath, but Hank himself, was genius.

Third of all - Hank is a consummate performer. He sings, he dances, he quotes poetry, he can turn the Periodic Table into a dirty rhyme, he knows more than you do - he is constantly performing. The aggressive performance of both humanity and masculinity is essential to Hank's character, something I've talked about extensively here, and X-Force is so instructive here because Ben Percy comes so close to understanding this character point, but fails to do anything with it.

He's just so damned uncritical. He doesn't have anyone actually engage with Hank's performance, which is why X-Force is just a succession of increasingly dry monologues by an actor trying to do improv while surrounded by the rest of his amateur dramatics group who just aren't with it today.

Fourth - Hank McCoy is a good man. He isn't perfect, by any stretch, but the instant you try and make him an intrinsically bad person, you've failed to understand who he is, where he comes from, and what the entire point of his character is.

HE HAS NO DARK SECRETS.

HE HAS NOTHING TO HIDE.

I'm sorry, but Grant Morrison just understands Beast better than 90% of writers, because they understand that Hank is a complicated man, he is a walking thesaurus, he's a pile of insecurities and neuroses and mental illnesses, but he is so painfully genuine and sincere and honest. He doesn't believe in just straight up lying, because it is beneath him. He is eloquent and cultured and smart, and he believes in giving you the truth as you need to hear it.

Bendis and Percy just don't understand what Hank is. Who Hank is. He's not the man who takes murder as the first and only option. Stop making him act like him.

As for what to bring to his character? Give him a child.

It is so painfully obvious that this man wants children.

Challenging him by making him have either biological children, or getting to just straight up adopt a child, would be an excellent place to take his character. Now, granted, I understand that comic books fucking HATE children . . . but I don't care, you asked what would be a good place for his character to go, and this is it. The man deserves the chance to be a father. He'd be a good one.

[blackflash9]

AC and the Conundrum of Sequels

So I've noticed a particular trend that paraded many people's minds within the AC community, and that's been the gradual descent into this rather presumptuous mentality that the more sequel games a character has, the more unequivocally 'better' their development is as a character. This is often followed by Ezio used as the poster child.

[Disclaimer: I don't hate Ezio or Bayek, I'm just using them to illustrate my points] While I understand this sentiment, I've also learned that under a more critical lens, a lot in the case of Ezio's supposed "growth" has arguably always been more aesthetical than anything of substance. When we are first introduced to Ezio in AC2, we are already bombarded with a character that is far too perfect. It's hard to think of any genuine flaws in his personality or behavior - especially those that have any lasting consequences for the plot. He never quite makes any mistakes either; it doesn't help that everywhere he goes there's a small army of people desperate to help him out. He also has actual armies willing to help him at the drop of a hat, as well as being best friends with one of the smartest people in human history. His achievements in the plot are all handed to him on a silver platter.

He's never made to learn to do anything for himself. At first, you feel like that could have been the point of the early game. Ezio's father and brothers are dead, he's a wanted man and he needs to protect his mother and sister. Then, instead of trying to get them to safety, he prioritizes a chance for revenge, which suddenly brings the whole city down on him, making it harder to protect his family. The whole thing would then set up a story about Ezio having to grow up, stop being so brash and arrogant, etc. Having been born into luxury and an easy life, he now has to learn how to provide for himself and others. But these opportunities are missed.

When it comes to Ezio's motivations, I always felt like there was no reason for him to continue pursuing the Templars after all the Florentine conspirators were dead. Nor is there any kind of "Creed" or higher calling at play here, since he doesn't remotely know what the Assassins are for another ten years. He just hears that there are some bad guys in Venice and decides to go kill them. By this point, he doesn't have any real reason or motivation to continue hunting them other than his own blood lust. As a result, Ezio often feels like he is a vehicle is that dictated by the plot rather than the other way around.

I mean, only look at the average description for his character arc:  "He went from a young teen to wise master assassin and mentor."  That's all there is to say for most people: arbitrary labels. Rarely do you receive any commentary around here that delves into any shifts within his mindset, outlook, point of view, or anything that isn't just this parroted and outdated take. When we get to Brotherhood, this problem is exacerbated more where Ezio is even more static than he was before (aside from leadership and giving orders), because his arc was already concluded in the game prior where we already spent over twenty years with him where he was already leading people and giving orders. It's just more pointless and reductive padding.

Bayek is another character that normally gets wrapped up in the sequel discussion, but genuinely ask yourself: Is there anything else left to do with Bayek in a sequel? Much like Ezio in AC2, his arc is also pretty much wrapped up by the end of Origins (including the Hidden Ones DLC). He begins looking for revenge for his son's death; takes a stand against the Templars when he realizes the problem is far bigger than just himself; founds the Assassins to fight this corruption. What else is there to really do with the character? His arc's been concluded, it's not even like AC2 where not killing Rodrigo Borgia left a door open for a potential sequel. Any new game would essentially have to come up with a load of new goals and motivations for him to the point you may as well just come up with a new character.

But this is frustrating because we see complete and profound development from characters like Altair in a single game, even before Revelations. He begins as an arrogant jerk who sees himself as better than everyone but slowly becomes a wise individual upon learning from the complexity of his enemies and the contradictions within his own Creed. It's learning from his allies and enemies alike, learning the pros and cons of concepts like freedom and control, about what is gained and lost from acquiring both in life, does he truly become not just a better leader for the brotherhood but a better man.

We also see the same from Connor in a single game. Starting as a naive idealist who wants to fix all the world's problems, only to realize that he'll never be able to do so. The consecutive deconstruction of his naivety through each of his interactions with allies and enemies alike teaches him that the ability to judge right from wrong can sometimes be lost in a world that's presently reluctant to do the same. But through it all, he maintains his faith in his convictions and compromises with what's in his control to forge a better tomorrow for humanity. Altair & Connor reach the same conclusions about life, human nature, and their place within the ongoing struggle in one game, a fraction of the time, as much, if not more than Ezio does in three. Yet, more is needed because we've been spoiled and entitled to more than what was necessary with Ezio. And it's honestly this fixation that holds this series back. Whenever we delve into this topic, I never really feel like the underpinnings behind what sequels actually did for Ezio and his characterization are discussed beyond the surface-level shallow aesthetics, or the ignored light-switch motivations that have made many in the community so insistent that every other character must also have this kind of treatment.

[eretzyisrael]

By Seth J. Frantzman

A number of disturbing news stories over the past week about anti-Jewish incidents in the US.

A Jewish man walking to synagogue was shot in Chicago.

A Jewish man was slashed in Brooklyn.

A Jewish man and his five year old son were harassed and told to leave a coffee shop because he had a Star of David on in Oakland.

These incidents are part of the rising wave of hatred directed at Jews in the United States. These are not just random attacks. They target people who look "visibly Jewish" meaning they might be in a Jewish neighborhood or dressed like an Orthodox Jew, or have a symbol, such as a Star of David.

It reminds me when I first moved to Jerusalem to study, I got to know a number of people who went on to do volunteer work or study abroad or work in other countries. Many of them were Jewish and wore Jewish symbols, such as a Star of David necklace. I remember hearing again and again how they were told by programs they worked for or NGOs that they couldn't wear anything Jewish in Jordan, Yemen, Egypt...and even in the UK.

It was interesting to me this Nazi-like hatred of any symbol or even the mention of being Jewish throughout many countries in the region. Make no mistake, this is Nazi-like hatred, this is complete ethnic cleansing of Jews who were indigenous to the region and had lived in places like Yemen or Egypt for thousands of years. These societies have cultivated hatred of Jews as a norm.

Today that zealous hatred and attempt to erase any visible trace of Jewishness and Judaism and Jewish symbols is becoming common in the West. It begins in a slow way, with synagogues all needing armed guards and Jewish schools needing walls and armed guards, and then it proceeds to attacks on people who wear a kippah or a Star of David.

For a long time when Haredi Jews were attacked in Brooklyn or New York, a lot of people would not step up and do anything because it was happening to Orthodox Jews. There were weekly attacks on Orthodox Jews, and almost all of them carried out by other minority groups, and therefore authorities and others preferred not to highlight this. The attack in Chicago is appears to be in the process of being covered up by authorities, a preference for not mentioning the background of the perpetrator.

In essence the quiet and unspoken message is that because most attacks on Jews are carried out by other minorities, the theory is that if you mention who those people are then it might be "racist" against them, meaning it's "racist" to note that people are anti-semitic. This is the new shield that violent anti-Jewish crimes have. To make them acceptable and essentially move the West back towards the 1930s types of hatred that once existed, instead of noting that a lot of the Nazi-like anti-Jewish hate that is common in Yemen-Egypt-Jordan and other places is percolating up in the West, the preference is to simply ignore or deny it

[firecrackerhh]

I’m so fucking tired of hearing people bitch that Viv’s shows are bad queer rep or something like I’m sorry, do you think every LGBT+ person or minority is fucking incapable of doing bad things? Do you think they are immune from doing bad things purely off their minority status?

Stop putting minorities, sexual or otherwise on fucking pedestals. Not every fucking queer person is a fucking uwu soft baby who just needs a hug or whatever.

Queer people do bad things, BIPOC do bad things. You know why?

Because they are human, and thus they are just as capable of being a fucking piece of shit as anyone else.

And those kinds of people deserve representation too! Stop being a whiny bitch cus the show isn’t representing you specifically or whatever.

Ngl if anything I think that’s kinda fucking offensive tbh like holy shit, just because you’re obviously a whiny fucking baby with the emotional maturity of a fucking 7 year old at best doesn’t mean every other LGBT person is as sensitive as you. Get over it.

To essentially imply that certain human beings are incapable of making bad decisions purely off of their minority status is fucking infantilizing and it’s fucking gross. Fuck you.

Plenty of LGBTQ people like Viv’s stuff, if you don’t like it, whatever, but claiming it’s bad queer rep, likely because you’re so terrified of conservatives that you don’t want to “rock the boat” as it were, if you think such rep shouldn’t exist because of the inevitable conservative backlash or whatever, you’re a fucking coward and I don’t respect you.

Newsflash, conservatives want you dead no matter what. It doesn’t matter if you’re the “good gay” they still hate you! They still want you to suffer for your “sin.” Whether intentional or otherwise, using their talking points is fucking disgusting. Do you have any fucking respect for yourself?

Putting people on pedestals, thinking they can do no wrong ever, is fucking delusional. Get your fucking head out of your ass and realize that human beings come in all shapes and sizes. Bad queers and BIPOC exist and showing the messy parts of their lives in media isn’t fucking “bad” queer or BIPOC rep just because you don’t relate to it.

So fucking entitled, so bratty, go watch The Owl House or some bullshit if you want squeaky clean LGBT rep.

Take your whiny bratty bullshit and fucking shove it up your ass you disgustingly pathetic crybabies. You spineless cowards.

LGBT and BIPOC folks deserve to have their stories told, even if they aren’t squeaky clean or family friendly. If you think otherwise you’re fucking retarded, sorry not sorry.

Never mind the fact that the point of Hazbin Hotel specifically is about redeeming people that have done horrible shit. If you see their bad actions and immediately think “bad queer rep” without taking into account the whole point of the fucking show is watching these terrible people become better, then I don’t know what to tell you. I think your brain is fucking broken.

Perhaps these people get so mad because they don’t believe in redemption, that any mistake you made is a stain on your character permanently. I wonder what skeletons they must hide if that’s the case…

Viv is not your enemy. And the fact you act like she is shows just how fucking retarded you actually are. These people don’t even know who their real enemies are, it’s fucking pathetic.

🧨🔥~Firecracker out~🧨🔥

[vergileon]

I've been thinking about this for a while, how to formulate an analysis without losing anything quite essential. Let's start saying: Ada is a character that I see as made to intrigue. I think that she mediates between what she believes to be good and bad, especially when it comes to all those characters she cares about and has some connection with.

Little is known about her, we don't know exactly about her past, we don't even know if her real name is Ada. But we're not here to somehow justify her actions, but rather to understand, without categorizing her as something, because not even she puts herself in those parameters.

It's hard to describe a character who is usually there as an extension of another, this closes the door to depth. Ada before the remakes was this type of personality that we didn't know — and still don't know much about — what was going on in her head, (the closest thing to her real feelings about everything that happened in Raccoon City was brought up in the original Resident Evil 2, a dialogue with Leon) a “fatal femme”, a mysterious woman who contrasted with the hero. — A tragic relationship. From Resident Evil 1/2 — here I'm talking about the original — to Resident Evil 6, there wasn't exactly a malleable construction of her character. Until Resident Evil Damnation, Ada had a connection with mercenaries. Which makes this “redemption” of Ada an act, let's say, imposed, but without a bridge to it. By this I mean that, even with Ada's campaign in RE6 and also the original Separate Ways, it was hard to see why she reflected on the things that happened because of the bioweapons, everything seemed to somehow revolve around the feelings she had for Leon. — And it's not that characters who had bad attitudes shouldn't have their redemption arc, but for Ada, it was a leap without ground, it was nebulous. Not only that, but it's as if there was an internal conflict within her — I think people are very wrong in assuming that Ada has (and needs to have) a side within the construction of her character and her mistakes. It's not wrong to question her attitudes, but it's not right to compare her in such a way as to see her as a villain — like Wesker and his romanticized dystopia. I think that the great chance of her story happens when she realizes the results of her work, when she becomes a survivor together with Leon, facing a reality that she had been dodging because of her (very objective) missions.

I say this because, as said at the beginning, not even Leon had his good moments. From Resident Evil 4 to Infinite Darkness, we see that, for example, he rather to keep Claire safe when exposed that Wilson (directly linked to the American government) were working for Tricell. He preferred to save an important person over saving others. This is a huge moral burden, which he may condemn, since he was unable to save Shen Mei — he was unable to expose what the government did in Raccoon City — and he didn't want to lose someone who is important to him. Not only that, but Leon submitted to working with the government after Adam Benford threatened Sherry's life after RE2 — under Simmons' supervision.

• Leon being threatened by Adam Benford

So here we see that Leon sank and became a hostage to his own convictions, in Vendetta he does this when they talk about Arias, for example, for him two wrongs don't make a right, and he even starts working with Patricio to obtain illicit information for the government's benefit.

I believe that liking Ada from the beginning means understanding that her past was just as erased from her own backstory. She is a lonely woman who uses her abilities to survive in a world of powerful people. Think about it here: when we talk about Ada and Leon, we are talking about different sides of the same coin — and I think that is why I find their strange relationship interesting — they are characters with very different visions that mix like paint, stain each other and create a color of their own. They are characters who, when placed in situations like those in Resident Evil, show themselves willing to do X or Y. It bothers me to realize that this speech about Ada about Leon's position towards her, mischaracterizes both characters. Leon is not wrong to question, to try to understand why she does the things she does, and she does not exactly need to verbalize that she regrets it when it is clear that she cares about Leon — about people around him, like Sherry — not only that, but she cares about the future of biological weapons. Perhaps a large part of the fanbase has become accommodated to this view of right and wrong — without nuances — because we sympathize with Leon, his motivations were beautiful and seemed right to him, not putting yourself in his shoes is also denying that he has changed. And all of this is intertwined with the subject, precisely because Leon, despite being hurt by Ada, puts himself in her position. This does not mean agreeing, but imagining her life in a way that allows us to see part of it, her experiences and ask ourselves why she does not allow herself to come out of her own mask. Emotions. Ada seems to have difficulty accessing her own emotions and lacks empathy for herself. She can't discern what she feels, as if she were forcing herself to feel things or hide them. I like the remakes for this expressiveness. Ada has difficulty saying what seems obvious, but she chooses to demonstrate it and is genuine in such a way that the details about her show how she is and acts.

• Ada sympathizes with Carla and sees herself in Carla’s situation. This dialogue I interpreted that Ada was talking about herself too.

The franchise also doesn't give us an immediate answer, because we don't know much about the characters themselves, but rather about how they shape themselves when faced with the choices they must make, the bonds they form with other characters, and the unethical situations of pharmaceutical companies, the government, and the dehumanization of humanity. Resident Evil is a game about political power.

It's interesting to see how, in the remakes, Ada's development becomes much more linear and coherent with some of her reflections — her pains and weaknesses —, even if briefly. Before that, it was unclear to see this internal conflict of the character; she is a personality that questions her mistakes, starts to question her real intentions with what she does, starts to understand that perhaps her own survival has cost other people's, and this becomes evident during Separate Ways, RE6, RE2OG/RE2R. She seems to realizes that after Raccoon City, her "connivance" and her work left her too oblivious to a reality that she seemed to understand — but not live in. She started to normalize what was happening to such an extent that she didn't think it was different when, for example, she met Leon —, the problems caused by bioterrorism made her insensitive. But before that, at the end of RE2R, it was already something that would be demonstrated for the RE4R.

I like how, apart from her strange relationship with Leon, they are parallel characters that are different. I mean, throughout the franchise, Leon has been losing his sense of morality — I want to point out here that with this characterization of Leon in the remake, we saw that he was a very idealistic character, with a moral compass already defined and having discovered what was happening shook him, not only that, but later in the games and CGI films Infinite Darkness/Vendetta/Damnation/Degeneration/Death Island already mentioned — he realizes that the American government is not so different from everything he condemns, but he is part of it now and Ada was trying to find hers.

I also think that this doubt about Ada's morality comes from some prejudices and an unfair villainization, Ada has a hard time keeping in touch with her own feelings, not because she despises them but because maybe she never had that contact; she is a shell of herself, trying to pinpoint her identity compass — of morality too. Ada is always unsure of what to do, especially when it comes to her traumas, and the perception that her work (its results) could harm her too.

• Ada exposes her feelings about what she's been through.

• Ada dialogues with Leon about her feelings in RE2OG

• Ada kept a picture of her with John, even knowing that she was using him to get information from Umbrella, Ada seemed genuinely felt something (not necessarily love/passion) for him.

I added this photo precisely because, despite working for Umbrella, John did not agree with the way the situation was going. I think this reflected on Ada, not an affection/feeling for him but a personal thought that the circumstances could have been different and the same thing about Leon. The scenario could have been different, but would they have been what they are? Would they have been what they are not?

And now a topic which bothers me bitterly not only for the old fanbase, but also the new one. There is a certain fetishization, as if Ada not only didn't want to repent but also continued in this role of getting what she wants through her seduction and her little games, a character who, in many quotes, was made to be the hero's romantic partner, the mysterious hot woman in red. We know that this is not true, Ada is a character who has shown herself to be reflective, alone and lost within an identity that no longer means anything to her. And here I want to say that the choice of Ada's VA to be Lily Gao, brings a much more beautiful and humanized vision of the character, precisely because she is a Chinese woman, giving more experience and more life to a character who spent much of her franchise being fetishized by a portion of the public or hated. I like how Lily Gao played Ada Wong (Welcome To Raccoon City and especially RE4R;SW) without exposing the character to sexualization. The voice, expressions and also body language were punctually placed in a way that showed the humanization and more realistic construction of Ada even in the underlying dialogues, even those in which there is a misinterpretation by the fanbase — like many saying about Ada being jealous of Ashley. Lily Gao in her interview with Moni from REDATABASE made a pointing out Ada's malleable, ambiguous and mysterious personality — much more about affection, understanding of the character, putting herself in her shoes, than her sensuality or objectification — covered by a fake femininity/empowerment.

When I talk about humanization, I'm not talking about being right like the heroes, but rather understanding that life is intrinsically linked to the parameters we give it. Bad attitudes do not mean that people are completely bad or good attitudes are completely good. Imagine that within a subjective perception, we, as human beings, are constantly trying to correct ourselves for things that happened, because we had bad attitudes and regretting it is showing humanity, it is showing empathy. Ada is not only an interesting character because she has ‘gray’ choices, but because she has human choices. It may be difficult to first think about how we should act in the situations in which she was exposed and the same for everyone else in the franchise. Knowing what is right and wrong in the Resident Evil universe is desperate, Leon himself is proof of that.

a/n: thank you so much for reading! if you liked it let me know your opinion!

[misrepresentedmorallygrey]

PROPAGANDA

Yukio Okumura (LONG PROPAGANDA)

(Does contain spoilers and suicide mentions) Ok so the main issue I see people having with him is because he has threatened his brother and has shot him before. (His brother, Rin, is also the fan favorite so you can probably imagine people's feelings towards those scenes.) A lot of times Yukio also comes off as mean because he's a pretty closed off person and people don't like that either.

Although what people love to ignore is the reasons as to *why* he acts this way. (Granted, harming your brother is not an ok thing to do and it doesn't excuse that but it explains why he did what he did.) For starters, Rin was the one who inherited Satan's demonic power, not Yukio, meaning that Rin could potentially become dangerous even though his powers were locked away until he was about 15. Because of this, the boys' adoptive father, Shiro, put the responsibility of protecting Rin onto Yukio from the age of 7. So while Yukio was training to become an exorcist at a very young age, Rin got to live without knowing anything about demons or exorcists. This did cause some envy from Yukio, who felt the crushing pressure of having to do everything for his brother while Rin had no idea. Later on, Rin's power awakens at 15 (the present time in the story) and after a series of events, Shiro ends up dying due to becoming possessed by Satan. With their legal guardian dead, Yukio is now the one who has to take care of Rin because if his demonic power gets discovered, Rin will be executed by the Vatican. So yeah. In the span of ONE DAY Yukio now has even more pressure put on him and he didn't even get to say goodbye to Shiro, let alone grieve for him because he had to be the calm and collected one in the situation. (Yukio is also 15 btw!!) Now, both boys are going to enroll in True Cross Academy, a school that also has a secret exorcist program. At this time, Rin has no knowledge that Yukio knows what's going on. It's only until he's at the exorcist cram school that Rin finds out that his teacher is Yukio. This leads to a confrontation between the brothers as Rin feels rightfully betrayed that everyone knew except him. This is also where Yukio reveals some of his concerns, leading to people not liking him. Essentially, Yukio says that Rin could be a danger to others because he can't control his powers yet and that Yukio will kill him if it's necessary (this is also where he threatens his brother with a gun). Eventually the conflict does get resolved and they go back to normal for the most part. So not only does Yukio have to keep his brother from getting into trouble (which he does. several times. Rin does eventually get discovered.) but he also has to be an exorcist AND a teacher. Yukio constantly has to act like an adult throughout the series, and HE'S ONLY 15!! He has so much pressure put on him by everyone and if he makes a mistake, either him or Rin could die. As the series continues, you can see Yukio's mental health rapidly worsening due to his self-hatred leading him to several suicide attempts (which he doesn't die because Satan is now residing in his body). Yukio also feels that Shiro never really cared about him and only kept him to be raised as a weapon. All this and the fact that he's being manipulated by another antagonist character leads him to join sides with the Illuminati (the evil organization). By doing this, he will be able to take down the Illuminati from the inside and hopes that he and Satan will die along with it. The entire time up to this point Rin does not realize just how bad Yukio's mental health has been (which to be fair, Yukio is pretty closed off and has lied to his brother several times). Yukio then tries to force Rin to kill him, and ultimately fails because Rin cares too much. Overall, Yukio had so many responsibilities and felt as though he had to take everything on alone. It's honestly very tiring seeing people villainize everything bad he's ever done while completely ignoring how much he actually cares for his brother + all his mental health issues. This is only a summary of the things he's gone through so there's definitely some other details that show the escalation of his depression that weren't included here. But yeah. Justice for Yukio. He does not deserved to be treated like Satan (pun intended).

Apple White

everyone shut up about her being evil and selfish she is a teenage girl who has been raised HER WHOLE LIFE with this ideology, she can’t unlearn her entire belief system overnight especially when it’s so deeply tied to her identity as a person. also she literally does let go of it eventually, because she’s not a static character, she has an arc. apple is my favorite because she’s complex, not in spite of it. on the flipside there’s the people who act like she didn’t do anything wrong. i’ve seen people call raven the selfish one? this show was made for 5 years olds. how do you have less media comprehension that a 5 year old. and also, you’re loving apple the wrong ways!! she makes mistakes. she fucks up so much, and it’s awesome. i get overcompensating because the haters are so loud or whatever, but saying she’s perfect is erasing what makes her interesting. this propaganda is not very good because I’m guessing a lot of propaganda looks identical (edelgard and vriska have similar issues in fandom spaces) so here is my final pitch. vote for apple because she’s a lesbian (her canon soulmate was a girl). vote for apple because she’s a protagonist in a kids cartoon who was a lesbian way back in jan 2016. vote for apple because mattel let the face of their new franchise be a girl who likes girls (still feels surreal) #gayrights #applesweep

[mama-qwerty]

Warning, AI rant ahead. Gonna get long.

So I read this post about how people using AI software don't want to use the thing to make art, they want to avoid all the hard work and effort that goes into actually improving your own craft and making it yourself. They want to AVOID making art--just sprinting straight to the finish line for some computer vomited image, created by splicing together the pieces from an untold number of real images out there from actual artists, who have, you know, put the time and effort into honing their craft and making it themselves.

Same thing goes for writing. Put in a few prompts, the chatbot spits out an 'original' story just for you, pieced together from who knows how many other stories and bits of writing out there written by actual human beings who've worked hard to hone their craft. Slap your name on it and sit back for the attention and backpats.

Now, this post isn't about that. I think most people--creatives in particular--agree that this new fad of using a computer to steal from others to 'create' something you can slap your name on is bad, and only further dehumanizes the people who actually put their heart and soul into the things they create. You didn't steal from others, the AI made it! Totally different.

"But I'm not posting it anywhere!"

No, but you're still feeding the AI superbot, which will continue to scrape the internet, stealing anything it can to regurgitate whatever art or writing you asked for. The thing's not pulling words out of thin air, creating on the fly. It's copy and pasting bits and pieces from countless other creative works based on your prompts, and getting people used to these bland, soulless creations made in seconds.

Okay, so maybe there was a teeny rant about it.

Anyway, back to the aforementioned post, I made the mistake of skimming through the comments, and they were . . . depressing.

Many of them dismissed the danger AI poses to real artists. Claimed that learning the skill of art or writing is "behind a paywall" (?? you know you don't HAVE to go to college to learn this stuff, right?) and that AI is simply a "new tool" for creating. Some jumped to "Old man yells at cloud" mindset, likening it to "That's what they said when digital photography became a thing," and other examples of "new thing appears, old people freak out".

This isn't about a new technology that artists are using to help them create something. A word processing program helps a writer get words down faster, and edit easier than using a typewriter, or pad and pencil. Digital art programs help artists sketch out and finish their vision faster and easier than using pencils and erasers or paints or whatever.

Yes, there are digital tools and programs that help an artist or writer. But it's still the artist or writer actually doing the work. They're still getting their idea, their vision, down 'on paper' so to speak, the computer is simply a tool they use to do it better.

No, what this is about is people just plugging words into a website or program, and the computer does all the work. You can argue with me until you're blue in the face about how that's just how they get their 'vision' down, but it's absolutely not the same. Those people are essentially commissioning a computer to spit something out for them, and the computer is scraping the internet to give them what they want.

If someone commissioned me to write them a story, and they gave me the premise and what they want to happen, they are prompting me, a human being, to use my brain to give them a story they're looking for. They prompted me, BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN THEY WROTE THE STORY. It would be no more ethical for them to slap their name on what was MY hard work, that came directly from MY HEAD and not picked from a hundred other stories out there, simply because they gave me a few prompts.

And ya know what? This isn't about people using AI to create images or writing they personally enjoy at home and no one's the wiser. Magazines are having a really hard time with submissions right now, because the number of AI generated writing is skyrocketing. Companies are relying on AI images for their advertising instead of commissioning actual artists or photographers. These things are putting REAL PEOPLE out of work, and devaluing the hard work and talent and effort REAL PEOPLE put into their craft.

"Why should I pay someone to take days or weeks to create something for me when I can just use AI to make it? Why should I wait for a writer to update that fanfic I've been enjoying when I can just plug the whole thing into AI and get an ending now?"

Because you're being an impatient, selfish little shit, and should respect the work and talent of others. AI isn't 'just another tool'--it's a shortcut for those who aren't interested in actually working to improve their own skills, and it actively steals from other hardworking creatives to do it.

"But I can't draw/write and I have this idea!!"

Then you work at it. You practice. You be bad for a while, but you work harder and improve. You ask others for tips, you study your craft, you put in the hours and the blood, sweat, and tears and you get better.

"But that'll take so looooong!"

THAT'S WHAT MAKES IT WORTH IT! You think I immediately wrote something worth reading the first time I tried? You think your favorite artist just drew something amazing the first time they picked up a pencil? It takes a lot of practice and work to get good.

"But I love the way [insert name] draws/writes!"

Then commission them. Or keep supporting them so they'll keep creating. I guarantee if you use their art or writing to train an AI to make 'new' stuff for you, they will not be happy about it.

This laissez-faire attitude regarding the actual harm AI does to artists and writers is maddening and disheartening. This isn't digital photography vs film, this is actual creative people being pushed aside in favor of a computer spitting out a regurgitated mish-mash of already created works and claiming it as 'new'.

AI is NOT simply a new tool for creatives. It's the lazy way to fuel your entitled attitude, your greed for content. It's the cookie cutter, corporate-encouraged vomit created to make them money, and push real human beings out the door.

We artists and writers are already seeing a very steep decline in the engagement with our creations--in this mindset of "that's nice, what's next?" in consumption--so we are sensitive to this kind of thing. If AI can 'create' exactly what you want, why bother following and encouraging these slow humans?

And if enough people think this, why should these slow humans even bother to spend time and effort creating at all?

Yeah, yeah, 'old lady yells at cloud'.

[twistedtummies2]

Top 5 Scar Appearances

Tomorrow is Halloween, everybody! Good news, bad news, WORSE news time: the bad news is that a very special month-long countdown I WAS planning to do in November isn’t ready yet. I’m going to try and get it done in time for either December or January. The WORSE news is that I also didn't have time to write a Halloween story special. :( The good news is that, since I don’t have those things to worry about, I now have a chance to present to you all a smaller list in commemoration. And, seeing as how Halloweentime is the “Season of the Villain” for Disney, and we’re still in the month of Disney’s 100th Anniversary…how about a list devoted to a lot of people’s favorite Disney Villain: Scar, from The Lion King. I’ve never been AS into Scar as a lot of other people I know are. I love him, make no mistake, but he’s never been my absolute favorite Disney baddy; he’s not even in my Top 10. However, do not misconstrue this as me thinking Scar is a bad character or even an unfit antagonist: there’s a very good reason he’s widely considered to be one of Disney’s greatest and most sinister evildoers. Many people name him as either their number one favorite, or at least somewhere in their Top 10; I’m an outlier there. You can’t blame anybody who does: Scar is one of those wonderful villains who is equal parts menacing and delightful. He does some of the absolute worst things any Disney Villain can do, which is saying a lot, yet it’s hard to completely hate him because he’s just such an entertainingly vile character - the secret formula that makes a lot of villains, especially those from Disney, so uniquely enjoyable. Despite his notoriety, Scar is surprisingly not a villain who makes a LOT of appearances beyond his film, and most of the ones he does make are relatively small. There are a lot of possible reasons for this, but whatever the cause, it does mean that making a full Top 10 for this list was very difficult. Ultimately, I decided to shorten things up and make this celebration of Scar a simple Top 5. Also, I’m just going to say it right now: I WON’T be including the 2019 Remake version of the Lion King anywhere on this list. This is for two reasons: a.) the remake sucks, Sucks, SUCKS, and b.) even if it didn’t suck, it doesn’t really do anything new or meaningfully different with Scar compared to the original, in my opinion. (Unless you count making him infinitely more boring.) With this in mind…I know it sounds sordid, but I think it’s time Scar be rewarded, and at last be given his dues! Be Prepared: these are My Top 5 Appearances of Scar (since the original Lion King).

5. Kingdom Hearts.

As I’ve said many times before, Kingdom Hearts is quite possibly my favorite video game series of all time (alongside Castlevania), and Scar’s big appearance in the franchise was in my favorite game of the series, “Kingdom Hearts II.” You’d expect, therefore, for this to be in my Top 5…so the greater question is why the KH version gets the lowest billing. Well, first, let’s focus on the positives: Scar provides an awesome boss fight in the first visit to the Pride Lands, which essentially follows the footsteps of the original film, but with Sora and Co. inserted into the story. It’s also cool to think of Scar siding up with characters like Maleficent and Pete, since part of the reason he becomes a threat is due to his joining forces with them. I also really like the way the second visit to the Pride Lands plays out, in fact I like it more than the first visit: in that one, Simba is now King, but is haunted by the recurring reappearances of a shadowy “ghost” of Scar. This Ghost seems to pop up all over the Pride Lands, mocking Simba for his past failures and calling him a coward. It’s revealed that the mysterious Ghost of Scar is a lingering trace of Scar’s inner darkness, which feeds off of fear, and survives off of Simba’s doubts about his role as the King. Villains who have a legacy even after their gone are fascinating to me, and this is one of the best examples of such a thing I’ve ever seen. While I really love all these elements, one specific point drags this Scar down to the bottom: the voice. He’s played by James Horan, who does, to his credit, provide a near pitch-perfect impression of the great Jeremy Irons…but something about Horan’s performance feels like it lacks a lot of energy and direction. He’s honestly much better during the boss fight, providing the necessary aggression and intensity for the battle taunts and dialogue, but everywhere else in the game his work feels somewhat wooden to me. It’s a pity, because Horan is a fantastic actor, and I feel could have done so much better with the part…but, for whatever reason, the stars just weren’t in alignment. Still, this is ultimately a nitpick above all else, and KH still provides perhaps the most memorable appearance Scar has had in a video game to date.

4. Lion King: The Musical.

While I didn’t feel the 2019 cinematic remake of “The Lion King” deserved credit on this countdown, I think the stage musical does. This is, once again, for two reasons: a.) the musical isn’t an abominable waste of time and brain cells, which the remake largely is. And b.) while the show basically follows the same story as the original film, and does include a lot of the dialogue and other elements you would expect, the Broadway-originating musical does do a few new things with the material. First of all, aesthetically, it has to use some very clever costuming, choreography, and staging to bring the African Savannah and its wildlife to visual existence onstage. Second of all, the musical does actually do a few new things with Scar, in particular, giving him a few extra scenes and songs absent from the film. The most notable is the infamous sequence called “The Madness of King Scar,” where the audience checks in on the villain after his hostile takeover. While there is a scene like this in the film, the musical takes more time to look at the situation, and gives it a musical number to accompany it, diving into the depravity Scar has fallen into as tyrant ruler of the Pride Lands, and indicating that his sanity is slipping just as the kingdom is crumbling around him. The Broadway version of “The Lion King” is one of the most popular musicals in the world, and has been brought to other countries and theaters worldwide, such as London’s West End. This is not to mention numerous touring companies! There’s even a “Junior” version of the show intended for younger performers to put on, typically for High Schools and community theatre productions. Scar has been played by some pretty big names in musical theatre over the years, accordingly, such as John Vickery (the original performer in the role) and Patrick Page (pictured here). Ultimately, the only reason the musical doesn’t get into the top three is because, aside from the fact it’s basically just a staged version of the original film, I feel it’s a show best experienced live, and I unfortunately have not had the proper pleasure of witnessing it in such a fashion. Hopefully someday that will change.

3. The Lion Guard.

There is a LOT I could say about this show, just revolving around Scar alone, and I DO mean a LOT. It’s kind of hard for me to figure out where to begin. I will attempt to be as succinct as possible. “The Lion Guard” was a Disney Junior series that acted as a spin-off/official sequel to “The Lion King,” and covers the period of time between the end of the first movie, and the events of the earlier sequel film, “The Lion King II: Simba’s Pride.” The first season of the show was essentially a series of disconnected adventures, with the main characters - led by Simba’s son, Kion - having to protect the Pride Lands from a variety of antagonists. However, in Season 2, Scar was brought back, and became the main villain of the series until early in Season 3. (A new main antagonist, Makucha, became the primary rogue for the remainder of the show’s time.) Resurrected in the form of an angry, fiery spirit, dwelling in the bowels of a vast volcano, Scar is unable to do anything DIRECTLY to cause chaos for his rivals, but the phantom’s mind remains as cunning as ever. He thinks up an elaborate scheme to destroy the Pride Lands, vowing that if he cannot rule, no one shall. Instead of Jeremy Irons (or James Horan, or even Jim Cummings, who helped with singing duties in the original movie after Irons strained his vocal chords), Scar is voiced in the show by one David Oyelowo, who brings his own unique flair to the part while still carrying the mixture of foppishness and cruelty the original version had. The show gave us what are now considered the official origins of Scar, and while I have a few niggling issues with those origins, it did lead to some interesting story points for the show in its final season, as - much like in KH - Scar’s wicked deeds still have an effect even after his second defeat. Again, a villain with a legacy is a grand thing, and this is probably Scar’s biggest post-original-film outing, outside of direct adaptations of the same. “The Lion Guard,” in general, was a surprisingly well-crafted series; it went a little deeper and a little darker than most other Disney Junior shows have gone before or since. You might say it is the “Batman: The Animated Series” of Disney Junior…though how much that’s really saying is somewhat up to debate. Regardless, while neither Scar’s depiction nor the show as a whole were totally perfect, both have more than earned their placement in my Top 3.

2. “Disney Villains: Scar” Comics.

Recently, Disney teamed up with Dynamite Entertainment - a comics company that I know best for publishing things like “The Shadow” - to produce a series of comic miniseries focusing on the stories of several of their greatest villains, all set in a time before the Events of the original films. Of all the ones I’ve read so far, Scar’s miniseries is by far the best. This simple four-part miniseries takes place in the time between Simba’s birth and…well…the rest of the movie. It tells the story of how Scar formed an alliance with the hyenas, and thus began to work out the machinations of his grand scheme for power. While this is an interesting premise on its own, what these comics do so beautifully, and why they take top-billing, is that they do something for Scar that, honestly, no other version has really achieved before: they humanize him. (Or…lionize him, I guess? Semantics.) While Scar is, of course, fully immersed in the shadows by this point, so to speak, the comic dives into his mind and his heart, as we see what really makes him tick. The way he’s written, and the way other characters rebound off of him, gives us a more empathetic and almost tragic look at the dark lion than anyone has really ever attempted. Past origin stories of Scar always depict him as a bad seed, even before getting his namesake wound and becoming the scoundrel we all know and love to hate. “The Lion Guard” indicated Scar already had a desire for power and glory before getting his scar, and an earlier story, “A Tale of Two Brothers” (now considered non-canon) was much the same. While this comic doesn’t describe Scar’s origins, per say, it actually makes you FEEL for him, as we get the feeling there WAS some good in him somewhere, and he DID have a chance to see the light. The tragedy of Scar, as the comic makes it out to be, is that he was so blinded with anger and jealousy, there was no way to save him: it wasn’t that he didn’t have a good side, it was that he SHUNNED that goodness in favor of his ambitions and his rage. That’s something no other version has honestly TRULY achieved, which is funny because, in my opinion, Scar is one of the easiest of the Disney Villains TO make into a sympathetic, or at least empathetic, character. This miniseries does that, but still makes sure to make it clear that Scar is too far gone to be anything but the bad guy…which, of course, is what we love him as best. I actually debated making this one number one…and considering what I DID end up making number one, I sincerely hope it won’t be considered blasphemy of the highest order that I did not…

1. Leona Kingscholar, from Twisted Wonderland.

Okay, so…I had to fight with myself over whether or not I SHOULD make this lad and this game my number one. Because he’s not actually Scar HIMSELF, and therefore it felt like massive cheating to make him number one. After discussing the issue with a friend, they made a very simple and very good point: “I think Leona should be number one, because it’s been a long time since you’ve gone this crazy over a character.” I realized…yeah, that was correct, and therefore, even if I HAD placed Leona at number two, it wouldn’t have really been HONEST. For those who don’t know or have simply forgotten: “Twisted Wonderland” is a game that takes place in a parallel world, set in a school of dark magic called Night Raven College. The school is inspired by seven of the great Disney Villains, and many characters reference those villains. Scar is the villain who inspired the Savanaclaw dorm at NRC, and is seen in some flashbacks…but his main claim to fame here is the analogous character, Leona Kingscholar. Like Scar, Leona is the second prince of an African-styled kingdom ruled by leonine beings, but whose claim to the throne has been ruined by his nephew, after years of living in his older brother’s shadow. Also like Scar, Leona is sadistic, lazy, gluttonous, selfish, and while he absolutely can throw down in a physical fight, his true asset is his intellect. Leona lacks Scar’s elegant manners, but underneath his more beastly exterior, he’s a genius and a master strategist, who always has schemes within schemes (within schemes, sometimes). He’s also indicated to be one of the most powerful characters at NRC, second only to the Maleficent character, Malleus. Despite all these despicable elements, what separates Leona from his inspiration is the same as many other TW characters: he isn’t too far gone yet. While he resents his family, he actually does still care about them, and despite his at times downright narcissistic behavior, he genuinely cares for his kingdom as well. He’s not very nice, and he’s willing to go to some dangerous extremes to get what he wants, but he’s not pure evil the way Scar is often seen to be. It’s hard for me to say why I love this guy so much, but the fact is that I do. It’s probably going to be something a lot of people disagree with, but at the end of the day, he takes the cake at number one on this list. Whether it’s Scar or Leona…Long Live the King.