#this ones a bit tougher though imo

[o-i-w-u]

[lovelymessybubbly]

Tama-Chan! If you had to rate the Hashira from least threatening, who would be your most frightening ler?

In my personal opinion, in solo, it would have to be Gyomei, but a certain trio would be the scariest for lers, Mitsuri, Tengen, and Rengoku!

I could see Mitsuri having this teasy love for how ticklish the Lee is, Rengoku giving motivational quotes to persevere through it and Tengen stating how flashy the laughter of their prey is.

Though least threatening Hashira? Possibly Giyuu, poor boy is probably the most ticklish to even attack.

ahh thank you for this ask !! i love discussing my demon slayer cuties ヾ(☆'∀'☆)

i love your thoughts ahhh esp of rengoku °₊·ˈ∗♡( ˃̶᷇ ‧̫ ˂̶᷆ )♡∗ˈ‧₊° personally i have always found tengen to be the most frightening ler, BUT with the recent gyomei backstory stuff and considering his physical strength, agility and general power, i am starting to lean more towards him haha |๑˃ ॢ‧̫˂ॢ๑ ).*˚‧♡ growing up as the elected older sibling of so many orphans, it is definitely expected that he would be seasoned in tickled fights and know a technique or too lol. and of course with his quick thinking and honed strength… it would be an execution for sure (〃￣ω￣〃ゞ i would not dare imagine the consequences of challenging him upfront. although i can definitely imagine inosuke making that mistake, and winding up a tickle-destroyed puddle on the ground aha <3

tengen-kun also has always seemed a frightening ler to me, mostly due to his teasing personality and love for taking others down in a showy way lol. also just so many scenes that directly gave me ler vibes lol (like the hashira training arc ofc). and he is with three beautiful girls all the time, i mean… come on (눈_눈)

mitsuri is big brain as a ler too even if i constantly lee her lol ( ˘͈ ᵕ ˘͈♡)˚๐*˟ ♡ since she is so aggressively affectionate lol. she def tickles everyone she becomes friends w at least once; it is one of her fav ways of showing affection <3 but she is always really gentle and lovey with it so i just cannot classify her as scary haha.

and rengoku would surely be a formidable ler, i mean big strong man with playful tendencies is always a dangerous combo lol (⁄ ⁄>⁄ ▽ ⁄<⁄ ⁄) i love your thought of him being encouraging while rocking someone’s shit lol. i also feel like he would be the type to accidentally go overboard too haha but he means no harm; honestly even cuter idea, if he is with someone he is close with, he will even have them guide his hands to help him tickle gentler (๑ˊ͈ ॢꇴ ˋ͈)〜♡॰ॱ cute cute

honestly sanemi can be a scary ler too, it is just rare for him to tickle someone. buuut with genya ?? absolutely lol and ofc this only really applied well with like a happy ending au but imagining sanemi waking up his stubborn sleepy brother with merciless tickles is way cute haha, like you can just picture sanemi-kun’s super mean and scary face while laying into genya’s sides with the most playful of tickling (๑॔˃̶ॢ◟◞ ˂̶ॢ๑॓)♡

and shinobu i mean. she has got to be a top ler for me haha (｡・//ε//・｡) and anyone who knows her character even a little bit will know what i mean haha. a soft-spoken dainty girl with secret anger issues, giving her kind of a yandere personality, which imo is a perfect ler recipe haha. it is also canon that a lot of characters that are at least a little afraid of her (even tougher characters lol) and she never holds back when it comes to vengeance. i have drawn her ler-ing a few different times so my stance on her may be obvious lol

and yes, of course muichiro, obanai and giyuu are about as intimidating as a mouse haha; muichiro is so refrained and aloof he surely does not have much experience aha, i think even if he were to attempt (like at tanjiro) it would be very timid and awkward like “am i doing this right..?” hehe ꉂ (′̤ॢ∀ ू‵̤๑))ˉ̞̭♡ and then obanai would never dare haha i could not even imagine. maaaaybe with mitsuri but it would definitely be a gentle scribble or quick goose at most. i could only attest that to his harsh upbringing, which makes him wary of intimacy (๑•́₋•̩̥̀๑) but i should not dampen the mood with angst aha.

and then giyuu you are 100% about hehe my sweet introvert boy (º̩̩́⌣º̩̩̀ʃƪ) he would get flustered as hell trying to tickle anyone hahaha. way too much playfulness for him he just is not used to it hehe  ♡(˃͈ દ ˂͈ ༶ ) and even if he could, any attempt at anyone with a modicum of retaliation tendencies would be instant death for him haha, the poor ticklish thing. he is definitely easy to overwhelm too, whether it be teasing or tickling <3 hang in there, giyuu-kun !!!

anyways, those are my detailed thoughts, but if i had to make a general list of most to least scary hashira lers, it would probably go:

1) gyomei

2) tengen

3) shinobu

4) rengoku

5) sanemi

6) mitsuri

7) obanai

8) muichiro

9) giyuu

sorry for the looong post haha i always get this way when it comes to my demon slaying lovelies ♡✧。 (⋈◍＞◡＜◍)。✧♡

[many-faced]

ranking the nine sols main bossfights minus Eigong bc i havent finished that one yet

I will note while this is a ranking, I think all of these fights are REALLY good. Some are just even better than others. Fuxi and Nuwa is the only one I sort of disliked, but even then I did enjoy the bossfight!

I'd be interested to hear other's opinions :>

1. Ji Challenging but SO entertaining. I also just love his design. Probably actually my favourite Sol and I am including Yi in that equation.

2. Lady Ethereal Similar to Ji, challenging but fun! She marks the end of midgame imo, and perfectly sets up the crowd control and quick visual identification skills you'll need for the areas going forwards.

3. Goumang Looks tougher than she is. Maybe a bit easy, but a fun gimmick! Kicks up the difficulty a bit alongside Yanlao, but is a lot weaker. I recommend fighting her before Yanlao, even though you can technically do them in either order. Despite her being weaker, still very entertaining!

4. Jiequan A bit fast, definitely a good skill check for the halfway boss, though! Would recommend bringing the gene eradicator, though. Makes it SO much easier. Some azure bow upgrades wont go amiss either.

5. Yanlao Old man. Fun patterns, second phase is a fun challenge, all about timing and patience. A tough but still reasonable difficulty spike alongside Goumang, eases you out of early game and into midgame well.

6. General Yingzhao A great introduction to how the main bosses feel. Simple patterns, not too fast, but still a challenge for his place in the game.

7. Fuxi and Nuwa First phase is fun and simple. The second phase SUCKS. It's doable but I found myself relying more on luck and hoping Fuxi doesn't do certain patterns at the same time as Nuwa's charge or jump. They're also just my least favourite sols overall, design-wise, personality-wise and lore-wise. I do really like the Empyrean district area, and this is still an entertaining bossfight, but it's just not as good as the others.

[lemonynesser]

this is a recount of my reactions throughout the following video:

“Oh! A negative Undertale review? And it was made around the time people were getting tired of it? I know a lot of popular things go through that stage where everyone hates on it for some reason, but I’m sure it has to contain a few valid points, at least.”

“Oh, the… comments are disabled. Ok, maybe he had em off by default, or he was just swarmed by rabid fans! I know the fans were a bit crazy in the early days. I’ll just look in the description, there’s usually an explanation there.”

Comments disabled because I'm very, very tired of the same old crap being said over and over, plus it's apparently against the law for a creator to comment on their own video after a certain amount of time.

“Ok, guess that settles it. [scrolls down a bit more, for curiosity’s sake]”

UPDATE: I can't say I've missed the comment section for this video one bit. Having zero interaction with Undertale fanatics, their zoomer style morals and their speaking habits has been utterly wonderful.

“…well, I’d be lying if I said this wasn’t a bit of a red flag, but I still believe you can make a good video!”

“Ok, the intro was good, and I’m glad he said he didn’t have anything against fans!”

“Good basic plot synopsis… Ah, he doesn’t like Earthbound, that explains some things.”

“Wait, he didn’t like Earthbound for its boring combat? That’s one of the things that Undertale improved on though!”

“That’s fair, gameplay is incredibly important to a game. (it’s called gameplay for a reason lol)”

“What do you mean there isn’t any depth to Undertale compared to “the average JRPG”? Aren’t most of the more traditional jrpgs just your move, enemy move, your move, enemy move ad nauseam? Honestly, I think Undertale has more depth involved, because even with your normal attack, there’s a little minigame you have to do for more damage, which changes with each weapon you equip!”

“Ok, fine, that’s one point I don’t think was that good. But hey, maybe he just plays a ton of mechanically in-depth jrpgs, and i’m uneducated, I’m willing to admit I’ve not played many jrpgs myself. Plus, I’m only a couple of minutes in, the points can only get better from here, surely!”

“Ok, that is fair, the game is pretty easy (at least on the non-geno routes), and both sparing and killing normal enemies is pretty easy too.”

“While the bosses have some of the most interesting patterns in the game, I’d say that another interesting thing in this game is when more than one enemy is in the same encounter together, so their patterns are added together. Makes for a more engaging fight, imo.”

“Firstly, Toriel is literally the first boss in the game, of course she’d be less deadly than the rest. Second, the only real mechanical differences between Papyrus capturing you, and actually killing you is you respawn somewhere else, your items don’t come back, and he remembers you lost to him. Otherwise, it’s functionally the exact same as dying. Lastly, being unable to die in the Adriel fight is meant to be an engaging ad powerful moment, but once again, it doesn’t really matter, as the fight uses a somewhat sparse checkpoint system, restarting you at the last checkpoint you hit. Which functions, once again, pretty similarly to actually dying. Only difference being you restart from in the battle itself, rather than at your save point.”

“I assume he’s talking about the sans boss fight being the only fight being somewhat challenging. But he did say it was “on the route to” the worst ending, and not at the end of it, so maybe he just misgendered Undyne? Regardless, I’d still say there are 2-3 actually challenging bosses in the game (sans, Undying, and Asgore) (also to some extent Omega Flowey but the game rigs the fight so much in your favor it’s almost funny).”

“Simple puzzles? tell that to the core spaceship puzzles lol”

“Something tougher or more inventive? Doesn’t the game come up with me puzzles and overworld things every section?”

“Glad to hear he isn’t against story. Also yeah the AA games are great.”

“That’s an interesting way of judging a game, asking yourself ‘Would I like this game if it was a person?’”

“aaand he’s just bashing on tumblr users and “sjw”s now. i will give him one thing though, he’s right, if Undertale was a person, it would use tumblr.”

“I feel like saying the games’ characters are just caricatures is a bit “missing the forest for the trees” so to speak.”

“Except some of Papyrus’s traps do work? And him being a lovable dim-witted goofball makes him a really likable character imo.”

“Surprisingly, I didn’t get a vibe of “internet savvy” from a lot of the game, except for like, Alphys and her anime stuff.”

“Oh, right, the Temmies do talk like that, which is sorta indicative of the internet I guess.”

“w

what

are you telling me,

that you don’t like sans

because he says the word

“welp”??

not only that, but you imply that the word welp is some “new fangled slang” instead of a word that’s been in use for as long as i can remember??? i feel like i just got slapped into an alternant timeline by a whole roll of salami. did i miss when “welp” was young person/internet slang or is this guy just unhinged?”

“bro… why are u comparing alphys with francis from super paper mario bro, the game is 10 ears older than ut bro. bro why are you making it about gender when they’re just different characters bro. also alphys was originally a guy iirc bro. stop making this weird bro”

“yea ur right, a lot of ppl don’t like alphys because she’s annoying (fair but still)”

“that’s the thing. if you don’t find the characters interesting or engaging on even a surface level, you are not the target audience. period.”

“actually there’s technically a few neutral endings where it’s heavily implied she kills herself, so yeah you can (technically) kill alphys …why am j even talking about this”

“the only time the game really hammers home how much of a piece of shit you are for killing monsters, is in the genò route and i’m sorry, you can call that route many things, but “self defense” is not one of them. all sans does in the neutral route is tell you the true meaning of EXP and LOVE, and asks you to reflect, before dipping and saying he’s rooting for you, (unless you killed his brother but, you litterally can’t kill papyrus before he spares you, so that kill wasn’t in self-defense either). also, you can spare enemies when you attack them enough, so attacking “in self-defense” is actually rewarded with a spare! and if the enemy is straight up allowing you to spare them, basically telling you they don’t wanna fight no more, killing them then is not in self-defense anymore. this is such a shallow point, it feels more like a gut reaction than an actual criticism”

“you make fun of people saying welp, then out of nowhere drop the word “mawkish”, that’s kinda funny. but seriously, of course the endings not gonna effect you, you fuckin moron! you aren’t attached to any of the characters! which is litterally what the story rides on!”

“the fuck do you mean ‘tries too hard’”

“boiling undertales story down to “friendship is magic” is almost as bad a take as boiling it down to “killing is bad”. plus, what? do you want games about bringing our fellow man down instead of lifting them up?”

“damn, i guess i was almost right on the money huh?”

“once again. the lesson of undertale is not just “killing is bad”, nor is it just “rpg leveling systems are bad”, good god what are you smoking, and can you tell me what it is so i can stay as far away from it as possible? thanks! the game never said you shouldn’t enjoy this type of gameplay, nor is it saying you should feel bad if you do. all it’s trying to do is answer the questions “what if i could solve these battles peacefully” and “how would rpg characters, and their world, react to you grinding them?” nothing less,”

“no. not every part of every video game is designed to be fun. sometimes it’s designed to make a point (a la ut geno route), sometimes it’s to make the player deliberately feel uncomfortable and question their actions (a la spec ops the line), sometimes it’s to exploit players into spending money on microtransactions (a la almost every mobile game ever). in short, it’s not always about the fun, whoisthisgit… it’s about the mETS BABY LOBE THE METS ALRIGHT BABY GET A HOME RU”

“wow, it’s over…”

“…”

“…damn i really hate that guy.”

i hope you enjoyed this decent into madness, i sure didn’t

if you’re ok with giving this guy like $0.0002 in ad revenue, i’d recommend watching the video while reading my comments, theyle make a lot more sense then

welp, buy

[todayisafridaynight]

I'm not a fan of Ebina at all but I kind of don't think getting wrapped up in the Aoki parallel is conducive to forming an understanding of him or the story either. I imagine the anons talking about how the epilogue went aren't exactly doing it just to recap the scene, but trying to point out that focusing so much on the things that make you mad may lead you to make bad faith assumptions about the storytelling and miss bigger picture of what it's trying to accomplish.

Because like, that bit in the epilogue isn't really about Ebina's motives. Upfront, it's confirmation that Jo didn't die offscreen after everything; after that, sure, it's potential insight on Ebina, but it's potential insight on Ebina as filtered through insight on Zhao.

Of course it's there in anticipation of the audience wanting an explanation or a follow-up, but it ultimately is just Zhao's two cents on the matter; he's projecting his experiences (conveying insight on Zhao), and it's disputed multiple times through Seonhee saying Jo might be tougher than expected (conveying what Seonhee thinks of Jo), Zhao agreeing that this is the more obvious conclusion (conveying what Zhao thinks of Jo and his own explanation), and Adachi saying only Ebina really knows why. You can say that makes it pointless with regard to clearing anything up but that's dismissing everything else it's trying to do. Also TBH both Ebina's monologue and Zhao's explanation are localized atrociously and lose the nuances of what Ebina was saying while making Zhao sound way more sure of himself than he is (on top of some lines just being completely wrong), but it's not on you for taking it at face value, so...

To get back to what I was talking about, I honestly wouldn't even say this part is asking you to sympathize with Ebina, just explaining what was going on in Ebina's head after he went silent, which is reasonable to want to explain given how quickly things get moving once Kiryu collapses. Zhao briefly touched on Ebina pointing out the futility of his own plans as part of his reasoning, but he was mostly talking about how Ebina was visibly moved by Kiryu's words, even though the sentiments conveyed basically were as simple as "Yeah, I get that you're angry" and "Hey, it's gonna be all right." Ebina could perhaps have been reached through words if someone had tried to sooner, a theme commonly explored in RGG; Zhao isn't really making that much of a leap in thinking Ebina would rather have heard it from the person he's closest to that we know of, Jo, than someone he just met like Kiryu.

If we're to take what Zhao says as fact, I think you're missing the mark when comparing the concept of Ebina wanting to be stopped to Ichiban and Aoki, too. It's more of a parallel to Jo wanting to be stopped before he had to kill Hoshino (which he does bring up earlier in IW), which I could see adding to Ebina's frustrations if Zhao's right since he almost definitely would know Jo has been in the same position of wanting to be confronted directly and yet he won't do it himself. That also would reflect on Jo, being unable to emotionally connect with any of Arakawa's sons even though that's what they want to varying degrees.

Rewinding, although I obviously would have liked to see another Eye Scene, I don't think it's that pivotal it doesn't happen on-screen, nor do I think it would add much to the existing scenes. IMO there's nowhere to add one in without breaking the flow of how the meeting transitions into the next scene.

Like, Jo being conspicuously missing from the meeting not only sets up tension as to where he is, you soon learn it means Ebina had already caught and begun torturing Jo before it began and get a sense of how premeditated killing Narasaki, holding Jo hostage, and burning down Tojo HQ was. Jo being in the wheelchair is not only ironic, but shows Ebina had already made it so Jo couldn't walk and that he was prepared to wheel him out of the burning building, which directly contradicts the idea he'd have killed him anyway or left him to burn to do death; he clearly wasn't planning to, at least not yet.

All of that already speaks to Ebina's ideology, convictions, and characterization as much or more than another Eye Scene would; that he doesn't have one differentiates this scene from others, if anything. As far as explaining his actions in that scene goes, there would be no point in telling Jo because Jo certainly remembers his past actions and would already know. Kiryu doesn't know, so it makes more sense he'd explain it to him later on. And since he does explain it to Kiryu, I can't really think of any questions left unanswered with regard to why he did all that.

With regard to why Ebina kept him alive, dismissing Zhao's speculation, Jo is the reason Kiryu and Ichiban are involved at all and makes for effective bait as a result. As for why he didn't kill him before Kiryu got there, as you mentioned, Ebina says himself he wanted Jo to see the downfall of the yakuza. It's made clear throughout that Kiryu and Jo are the only remaining figureheads of the yakuza Ebina is concerned with, so I expect he would've killed them in one go. It's the same idea behind the Second Great Dissolution as a whole; gather them up in one place and deal with them at your convenience. Arakawa may also have something to do with it, but this much is pretty easy to pick up from the game.

Outside of that, the simplest answer is that for the past several games RGGS has tried to keep their options open with regard to future games. If they want to do anything with Jo in future, noting he lived means they won't have to contrive a reason for why he's alive in the way they had to for why he's out of jail. I get you'd rather they discontinue the series here because you're worried it's going downhill, or at least that's how it sounded, but that doesn't mean the series is actually being discontinued and therefore there's no point in planning ahead.

I don't want to stray from the Jo topic so I'll leave it there. Much Love and With All Due I think you'd benefit greatly from playing the game off-stream with an open mind and at your own pace. I think if you're at the point you're asking why the party members are reflecting and speculating on what's happened so far end of their journey you're past the point of engaging with the story in good faith and it's kind of. Hm. Not Good

It’s unfortunate my irritation with the story has come across as being purely influenced by my personal feelings, and I do understand I can come across as explosive and reactionary at times. However, I do not imagine my agitation is totally unfounded. You’ve provided a substantial amount of points to cover, so pardon the length of this response as I take the time to go through them.

Full response under the cut for compression's sake.

Before I go in-depth with the character/s aspect of your ask, you make note of supposed translation issues, and I do not doubt they exist; you- alongside many others- have expressed your frustrations with the translation team in the past, and I have no reasons to distrust you on this as I’m aware translation teams in general make differences both minor and major when translating. However, as you are aware, not only do I not fluently speak Japanese and therefore cannot hear the dub/sub differences, but I certainly did not attempt to play the game with Japanese subtitles and could not even begin to attempt to read the dialogue changes. I cannot explore a point I have no knowledge in, and with these factors in mind I wish you had provided some examples of dialogue changes if they were necessary to better understand Ebina’s character, as you’ve usually been generous to provide evidence in the past. I can only provide my opinion in that the translation differences cannot be so drastic as to significantly weaken my stance, especially when no specific quotes have been supplied for me to reconsider.

Now to begin, it’s undeniable Ebina is supposed to parallel Aoki, whether as a whole or in parts. Particularly being a son of Arakawa who harbors ire towards him, his attempts to dismantle the yakuza so blatantly shouldn’t be overlooked (especially when Ebina has- quite literally- taken up Aoki’s mantle with taking Bleach Japan’s name and their mission to ‘clean up Japan.’ Of course their definition of ‘clean’ is varied, but they both maintained the objective to dismantle the yakuza and both harbor a disdain for the yakuza). Their shared goal of diminishing the yakuza, their grudge against Arakawa, and adopting the Bleach Japan organization are fair enough grounds as is to compare the two, and as a result I do not find disconnecting the two to be efficient when discussing Ebina. To add on, there exists contradicting notions to separate Ebina from Aoki yet simultaneously acknowledge their similarities complicates the point attempting to be presented, particularly when citing Ebina putting Sawashiro in a wheelchair and punctuating that as an Aoki parallel. Had Ebina had any unique qualities to him or had been given a chance to breathe as a character on his own to see these supposed qualities, then suggesting to do so would be fair. Yet the screen time Ebina was warranted and what they did with it does not validate this criticism of my observation of him.

To continue exploring Ebina’s parallels and relationships to the Arakawa’s, the supposed integral relationship between Sawashiro and Ebina is questionable. Throughout Infinite Wealth, Sawashiro and Ebina- from my perspective- did not read as anything beyond a superior and his inferior, not unlike Aoki and Sawashiro. However, where Ebina/Sawashiro and Aoki/Sawashiro differentiate, Aoki and Sawashiro had an established relationship that the game provided evidence for. In regards to Ebina and Sawashiro, it remains to be seen how the two are connected beyond banausic purposes and Ebina utilizing Sawashiro for his personal benefit simply because he was a notable yakuza.

A lack of clear connection between Sawashiro and Ebina aside from Sawashiro working for him  could have been rectified with the demonstration of The Eye Scene. RGG has never shied from showing gruesome scenes (lest we need a reminder of the initial Eye Scene), so in doing so this time not only did they evade the opportunity for cinematic irony in relation to Sawashiro losing his eye, but they also neglected the chance to truly explore Sawashiro and Ebina’s dynamic when they were alone. Even more so, it tends to be these gruesome scenes where the most telling bits of drama and characterization are pulled from: the insinuation that including a scene such as this would drag or halt the story goes against what RGG has been able demonstrate in their storytelling prior in carefully combining gore with meaningful storytelling. If believing including an explicit Eye Scene would hinder the story, then that is a critique on Infinite Wealth’s overall capabilities to tell its tale, not as a suggestion that another scene would be excessive.

Elaborating on Sawashiro’s injuries and the details behind them, It goes without noting that removing an eye so violently- among the collection of other bruises on Sawashiro- is an incredibly personal and aggressive action (See: Sawashiro’s Eye Scene). Was Ebina truly that enraged with Sawashiro for helping Kiryu and his crew, and was it just because Sawashiro was hindering his plans? Or was it because Ebina trusted Sawashiro on a personal level and felt betrayed by this? Was Ebina so brutal because of his personal feelings, or because he is sadistic in nature? We can assume this is not the case since he seems to detest ‘dirty tactics’ of yakuza, yet showing this hypothetical new Eye Scene would have done an exceptional job on elaborating on not only Ebina’s mentality, but his relationship with Sawashiro as well. 

Continuing this examination of the two, the comparison between Sawashiro wanting to be stopped after murdering Hoshino is- to put it bluntly- a reach. Beyond the semantic fact it was revealed Sawashiro didn’t actually murder Hoshino and- with this next context in mind- his warning to Ichiban and his party could be interpreted as wanting an out from Aoki’s side as a means to stop Aoki, I neglect to see the purpose of drawing these comparisons together when in relation to Ebina. When it came to Sawashiro’s surrender, this was due to him realizing once and for all he was only a puppet for Aoki and that his attempts to pursue being in his good will would be foolish. Yakuza: Like a Dragon had showcased throughout its entry that Sawashiro was already conflicted about serving under Aoki before his final scene (See: his one-on-one cutscenes with Aoki where he’s both shown to be verbally abused by him and demonstrates hesitance to obey/respond to him). It is much more believable to come to the conclusion Sawashiro’s surrender was a cry for help because of these instances provided by the game. Ebina’s hypothetical cry for help is not only completely executed differently, but it is also unfounded. There had been no indications Ebina was remorseful or had any reservations about what he was doing, nor that he wanted to be stopped. It was only Kiryu’s speech to him at the very end that it would be fair to come to this conclusion.

Rounding off the Sawashiro segment of this response, there’s no reason Sawashiro shouldn’t have died just as there is not apparent point presently in keeping him alive; whether he was meant to be ‘bait’ for Kiryu and his party matters little when his death would have made no difference to the end sequence whatsoever. RGG has made it clear they’re fickle when it comes to committing to the death of a character- at the very least, it can be praiseworthy that they didn’t pretend as though Sawashiro was dead only to bring him back X games down the line like nothing happened. To be sincere, it makes no sense from what was shown in-game for Ebina to keep Sawashiro alive: Sawashiro no longer served a utilitarian purpose to him, and he did not have any personal connections to him. All in all, supposing the alleged connection between Sawashiro and Ebina do exist, RGG had done an insufficient job of connecting them together, and at best only left small hints to hypothetically elaborate on. Pardon their alleged cries for help and putting Sawashiro in a wheelchair (which, truthfully, reads more as irony than anything personal), there had been no other way to connect the characters in any meaningful way to indicate they are meant to be connected in a deeper manner.

Moving on, it is necessary to remember that these characters are objects and if not serving in-universe purposes, can act as mouth pieces for creators. With that in mind, Zhao’s observation of Ebina can be summarized as just that: RGG’s attempt to explore the potential depths behind Ebina’s character without efficiently exploring it throughout the game before the finale. Zhao in his entirety had little to insignificant impact on the overall plot of Infinite Wealth: it’s unlikely RGG had true intentions to elaborate on Zhao’s personal feelings for characterization purposes when he hardly had any meaningful commentary beforehand. Postulating Zhao to be a spokesman for RGG is not baseless when RGG has in the past done similar with other characters (See: Akiyama speculating the true nature of the relationship between Majima and Mirei in Yakuza 5. He comes to conclusions without any evidence- neither from peers or from the game- besides his personal experience knowing Mirei, just as Zhao came to his own conclusions based predominantly on his upbringing).

Moreover, supposing that RGG did intend to explore Zhao’s character in this way, it does not excuse the lack of building up Ebina’s character beforehand. If RGG had done so, then corroborating these two would have been justified and would have had a more credible foundation: we are allowed to verify what Zhao is speculating (or we can disprove his feelings) due to evidence we’ve seen from the game about Ebina. As it stands now- considering RGG’s past of using characters to speak for them- it is justified to observe Zhao’s commentary as merely RGG’s last-ditch effort to add extra depth to Ebina.

It isn’t that Ebina’s backstory is void of potential, but with how RGG executed it, they expect the players to fill in the blanks themselves and then praise them for work they didn’t do when in the past they have done an excellent job of building up their characters, especially in recent entries to the franchise. One of the most basic forms of storytelling is to show and not exclusively tell your audience key, important events, yet Infinite Wealth seems keen on doing just that; therein lies a difference between drawing conclusions from the text, and having to actively hunt for points to build off of. The glaring gripe here is that much of Ebina’s intriguing points either happen off-screen, are treated haphazardly (See: Ebina’s initial backstory reveal being from a lackluster in-game cutscene considering the gravity of the information), they must be hypothesized from minimal evidence, or it is a hope on RGG to do something excellent in the future- which should not be the norm. There shouldn’t be a dependence on sequels and add-ons after the final product to improve or justify previous entries if there’s no proper groundwork laid in said entries, especially in a title like Infinite Wealth where it has a solid conclusion that leaves little for meaningful wonder. Should you want to make a case that there are points worth covering, there are absolutely none left by Ebina: the case that he has more to offer to the franchise cannot be confidently made without excessive theoreticals. As I’ve said before, I already intend to run through Infinite Wealth a second time. Of course, I will be sure to  do my best to approach the story with a more open mind with retrospect, yet I fail to see my opinions on Ebina swaying anytime soon.

Pivoting to the personal ending of this response, suggesting my woes only come from a personal standpoint and not from an objective view of the story as a whole is insulting. I won’t act as though my personal feelings don’t factor into things, however these feelings should not be regarded as a hindrance but should be an example of how much I’ve paid attention to and thought of Infinite Wealth’s story since my initial playthrough and that my dissatisfaction comes from a place of passion for this franchise, not ‘bad faith’. Ergo, attempting to justify Infinite Wealth’s shortcomings by stating it’s simply RGG’s signature style is not only minimizing the growth RGG’s writing team has exhibited in the most recent entries of the franchise, but it is also an insult to players by telling them to overlook insufficient writing just because that was the standard of the past when we’ve been shown greater. Perhaps not perfect stories, but stories with vast improvements compared to their predecessors.

Finally, and looking to the future, my concerns on RGG’s next steps shouldn’t be treated as pessimistic conjecture and instead as sincere curiosity. Infinite Wealth had done a good job on rounding up loose ends from the franchise (tying up those ends well is another topic to touch on another day), so forgive me wondering how RGG will go forward with its stories when there’s little to build on from the previous sagas without repeating itself. The future of RGG is an entirely different discussion- a discussion I’m not concerned with having at this moment, so I thank you both for supplying your own perspective- which I always respect both your time and efforts to do so- and for reading my own.

[literaticat]

Hi Jenn! What advice would you give to a newer agent who feels like their submissions are being ignored by editors?

I don't know you, so maybe you are already doing this, but:

I'd suggest you get to know the editors outside of pitching them / submitting to them. It IS a little tougher now that Mr Covid has come to town and so many people are spread out / not in the office a lot or at all, but it's still doable. If you are going to be in NYC, reach out to editors and see if they are around for a meeting or to get coffee or lunch. If you are outside the city and not going in, make an effort to schedule zoom meetings with editors, whether one-on-one or in a "team" setting. Read a great book? Figure out who the editor is, write to them and compliment them on it, and ask for a meeting! Make a goal -- say, eight new editors a month or so -- and put yourself out there! (And if you have the opportunity to go to mixers, or to ALA or places like that, make an effort to introduce yourself to the editors there as well - - again, less common these days, but they will come back I believe!)

Again, I'm not just talking about email. I know a lot of Youths have social anxiety, and I really do get that, but IMO, you HAVE TO be brave enough to pick up the phone or meet people in person or at least on zoom to really get to know them and for them to get to know you. (And I'm sorry if this advice seems condescending or anything -- maybe it doesn't apply to you! I just know that a lot of younger agents / support staff and such I've met and worked with have phone-phobia and are nervous, so, just saying!)

This is not to pitch them books right then, no pressure (though fine if it comes up organically and you are too excited NOT to share), but rather, to get a sense of their taste and style, so they can get to know YOU a bit better, to "put a face to the name" as it were, etc. Ask them not just "what are you looking for" but also talk about anything -- what are their picks for upcoming awards? what shows are they loving, what are they obsessed with, do they have kids or pets, etc. (And TAKE NOTES!) (And ACTUALLY DO SOMETHING WITH THE NOTES, like put them in a spreadsheet so you can find this intel again when you DO have a book to pitch!) -- you may be really surprised how often those random questions and conversations help when you are trying to decide who to submit a new manuscript to. (Like, "oh, I remember so-and-so said she was a ballerina in high school and loves Tim Burton -- this new horror book set in an elite ballet school might be perfect for her!" "Oh, I remember so-and-so has a toddler who is obsessed with building things, this new picture book dummy about forklifts might be perfect for her!")

I haven't run tests on this or anything, but I suspect you'll find that editors with whom you have some sort of a relationship are more responsive than editors you approach cold. (I mean sometimes you HAVE to approach cold, there's not really a way around that, but if you CAN do a meet-and-greet first at least, it'd be nice.)

Anyway. If you've already done all that and you still feel like you are getting ignored. . . I don't know the answer at that point, except perhaps redouble your efforts, and/or make sure your submissions really are up to snuff?

[tintysun]

All of Us Are Dead (2022) [Remarks (by episode)]

EPISODE 1

• Damnnit. Su-hyeok should have done more for Eun-ji and her reputation. Maybe he believed something like it wasn't his place and could indeed make it worse by meddling. Among other things. But still... :/

EPISODE 2

• "Heads" of schools are so often so effin' dense. Geez. Trying to reason with them is worse than talking to a brick wall hoping to get through it. *facepalm*

EPISODE 3

• It's characters like Lee Na-yeon that I tend to dislike the most and have no compassion for. At first, you may be like, "Okay, so they're privileged and pretty out of touch. But nobody is perfect and people change! I could be bitchy too before..." And then they start pulling shit (and crying when they're facing the consequences of their actions).

IMO, one of the worst kinds of person to have in a team. IDC if they're right at times.

• Yang Dae-su is like the complete opposite. Jeez. Purest and biggest heart of gold.

• Spoiler: Jang Ha-ri LIVES! And I had no idea I would grow to like this character so much when she was first introduced...

EPISODE 4

• You wouldn't believe how heroic Nam So-ju is...

• And Park Mi-jin is so feisty and quarrelsome.

But such a good teammate after all...

EPISODE 5

• Cheong-san is tougher, smarter, kinder, and more deadly than he looks and you'd initially assume. Messing with him is not a good idea.

• The conversation about what if everyone turned and they're the only humans left hits so different now...

• Yoon Gwi-nam is the worst. *shudders*

EPISODE 6

• Trying not to say more than I should before upcoming episodes and the ending, but... Choi Nam-ra is OP. Top student and top fighter.

EPISODE 7

• Call me biased, but when it comes to Min Eun-ji, I'm like, "YASS, SLAAAY!!"

• Welp. If they all leave the school in this instance, that'd be it.

EPISODE 8

• I love how Min Eun-ji, by dealing with her pain, indirectly freed the group to be out on the rooftop and relatively safer. Not the abuse and neglect, though. People are messed up.

• The reluctant "villain". Though, I mean, if you've been severely bullied or outcasted by your peers (and chances are they're all turned or infected, anyway), it kind of follows that you'd hate the place and everyone in it or be indifferent about it all. He may just have been honoring another's rage wish, too.

• Am I supposed to feel bad because she starts showing signs of having some humanity? Well, I don't. She had plenty of opportunities to do the right thing but over and over chose her own comfort and convenience over it. It didn't matter that the teacher who sacrificed herself for her practically begged her to do better and help others. She still chose to be selfish until her bit of conscience (or maybe a literal ghost), and probably her loneliness most of all, finally pushed her to more. I'm not saying go get killed by a zombie, but missed me with that sympathy-seeking. And if I had to guess, she'd be the kind to revert to her old ways once she has it going good for herself again.

EPISODE 9

• Is there a politician that isn't a phony?

EPISODE 10

...

EPISODE 11

• Hmm... Seeing someone you love, or just knew, turn all the way into a Zombie must be a whole other kind of grief. Because you remember the person they were before and you want to hang on to that, and maybe even cherish it, but then in front of you is the same body acting in wildly contrary ways. And you'd have to tell your brain not to override who they were with this new behavior but it would still do. Then there's the hope that there's a cure and you can bring them back again, but that's rarely the case in zombie stories.

• It always both baffled and irritated me to no end the obsession of Yoon Gwi-nam with fighting Lee Cheong-san. But it makes sense that Lee Cheong-san could upset him so. Besides Yoon Gwi-nam just being generally violent and wanting to take that out.

EPISODE 12

• I'm sorry if anyone saw themselves in Park Ji-hoo but, to me, she came across as an NPC - there to prompt the rest of the characters to show different sides or degrees of them as well as to display how emotions can be processed or moral stances taken. I wanted to take it all seriously, but couldn't help but be amused at parts to watch others interact with her as though they were all interacting with a non-entity rather than with a number of other characters they would have shown those sides and degrees to. 😂

Or maybe she's the writer's self-insert? Anyhow, thank you for that, Park Ji-hoo, whatever or whoever you are.

FINAL

• I regret not having written down my favorite lines as I was watching all the episodes. There were some true gems in there. I'd have to rewatch for all of them now. 😭

But off the top of my head right now: Loved Ha-ri's profoundness showing, as well as the thoughtfulness of the teacher, Sun-hwa, and the boldness of Cheong-san. 💛💛💛

[stumblngrumbl]

i recently made a bunch of citrus juice as a friend dropped off a few bags of fruit

i have this press (not my pic)

and they're fantastic for juicing lots of fruit, works on limes, lemons, oranges, grapefruit... even pomegranates - though those are a bit tougher to do it's still easier than any alternative

if you haven't tried it, when you have orange juice, add a bit of one of the other citrus. IMO orange is too sweet and needs more bitter, so a lime or a grapefruit juiced along with a few oranges makes a perfect blend

[merlwybs-wife]

Thistle, fuschia, tangerine! (And also I love your trash-son Yaz! They're all interesting characters, but maybe his similarity to Jak has endeared him to me from afar. XD I want to say that they should meet sometime, but I genuinely can't even gush like 'they'd be such good friends' bc who knows with Jak?? But it would be interesting! It's not often she meets people like her, and they're often the only ones she likes! ) - Miqojak!

THISTLE = Why didn’t we meet sooner??? FUCHSIA = Your blog content is gold TANGERINE = I love your aesthetic y'all gonna make me cry.

ngl I've given thought to Yaz meeting Jak, even though it's probably impossible to predict how that would go. Yaz is just... so incredibly rude to strangers and generally doesn't warm up to people easily. So it makes growing new friendships tough? I think it'd make for an interesting dynamic, even if they don't exactly befriend each other.

I will say as an outsider, I think Jak is much tougher than Yaz. I think it's a bit harder to get a feel for characters outside of RP--at least in my case, i struggle with it-- but it seems to me like Jak... if she says she doesn't care, she really doesn't care. Yaz, unfortunately, will say he doesn't care-- repress all emotional reactions to whatever happened until later that night, where he proceeds to care too much. ;; So imo they do appear to have stuff in common, but I think Jak is kinda what Yaz wishes he was? Could make for some real interesting RP if you ask me... I generally only RP in game or via discord, but I'm def here if you wanna set something up. :3

Thank you for the ask! <3

[phoebe-delia]

Inspired by that recent post about Burr/Hamilton and drarry, which houses do you think Hamilton characters would be sorted into? It's all to easy, imo, to put Hamilton into Ravenclaw, of course, but he does sort of scream Gryffindor. Without a doubt, Burr is Slytherin, all the way. (and I have my own thoughts on the sisters). What do you think?

Nonnie, this is a truly fantastic question. Thank you for asking it. I want to include a little disclaimer: I'm basing my analysis only on the characters, not the historical figures. Here's a link to post referenced in the ask!

Okay, let's begin!

I will start with Burr, who as you pointed out is definitely a Slytherin. I won't elaborate much other than to say that he embodies all of the traits: self-preservation, ambition, cunning, pride, determination, and resourcefulness.

Now, the other characters.

Alexander Hamilton: It does sound, at first glance, that he'd be a Ravenclaw; he's witty and very intelligent. But Hamilton doesn't value learning and wisdom for their own sake; he uses these traits only as a means of self-advancement and ambition. He spends all that time reading and writing all in the pursuit of his legacy, of his promotion in the world. I would sort him, as you suggested, in Gryffindor. He is courageous, determined, and has a ton of nerve. He's also impulsive and stubborn--both Gryffindor traits.

Eliza Hamilton: Eliza and Hufflepuffs have a lot in common: both are loyal, kind, patient, hard-working, etc. They are both written off as being sweet and harmless--but they're also fierce when needed. Like Slytherins, they pick their battles, but where Slytherins might use risk vs reward or their cunning to make their decisions, Hufflepuffs are more likely to pick battles based on their morals, their values. Just like Eliza. Eliza is a caregiver, a mother, but after Hamilton dies she determinedly and loyally helps build the last of his legacy, finishes the work he started. Alex was Treasury Sec, and accomplished an enormous feat by designing our financial system, but Eliza was an ordinary citizen who used grassroots organizing to accomplish her goals. That requires immense patience and hard work.

Angelica Schuyler: Ah, my lovely Angelica. She is a Ravenclaw. In so many ways she's the voice of reason. As a woman at that time, she had almost no hopes of political advancement in society. And yet, she chose to learn as much as she could. She could (and did) hold her own in conversations with the political leaders of the day--and she had no real "reason" to other than her own interest. That is a true Ravenclaw. We love to learn, we hyper-fixate, we debate. Angelica is literally "looking for a mind at work." She's a Ravenclaw, through and through.

Peggy Schuyler: I think she's a Hufflepuff. We don't see much of her, but what we do is her struggling with her moral code when she and her sisters are breaking the rules by disobeying their father. She's

Thomas Jefferson: This is a tougher one. Overall, he's a Hufflepuff, which I decided after a process of elimination of the other houses. Jefferson isn't a Slytherin like Burr, he lets his opinions and ambitions be known (that's why Hamilton endorses him after all). He isn't fierce or impulsive or brave like a Gryffindor: he didn't fight in the war. As Angelica sings in "Congratulations," "You know why Jefferson can do what he wants?/He doesn't dignify schoolyard taunts with a response." Moreover, he's not quite a Ravenclaw, either. He values intellect, sure, but he also seems a bit blazé, what with his obsession with France and his sort of "I am to be the Secretary of State! Great!" He sort of takes everything in stride and floats to wherever seems to draw his attention. Therefore, I would sort him into Hufflepuff. He claims to care about fairness--that's his reasoning for his loyalty to the people and not wanting the south to assume the war debts. (Although, how much into "fairness" can you be if you're a slave owner....but the fact that he thinks he's motivated by fairness is what nudged me in that direction.) He also has a lot of loyalty to France, to the point that he's willing to put the country at risk somewhat by going to war with England again. He's patient and hard-working. The main piece of Hufflepuff he seems to miss, though, is modesty. He's pretty flamboyant and brags quite a bit. Honestly, I'm a little torn between Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff for him, but if anyone has any other thoughts I'd love to hear!

James Madison: My knee-jerk reaction was to say he was a Ravenclaw. But no, I think he's a Slytherin. He's an opportunist. He's not as quiet and guarded as Burr, but after writing the Federalist Papers with Hamilton, he then switches over to Jefferson's side. I find it interesting that he sort of sits back and lets Jefferson do the fighting with Hamilton, while he, as Speaker of the House, has to be friendly with everyone as he negotiates with Congress members for their votes. He also seems to be more of an orchestrator of the Meeting with Jefferson and Hamilton over the capital/the banks. He convinces Jefferson of the idea to meet Hamilton over dinner. He's cunning, ambitious, self-preserving, and resourceful.

George Washington: Washington is a Gryffindor. He's brave, determined, and chivalrous. He explains in "History Has Its Eyes on You" that he failed in a previous battle because he was inexperienced and probably impulsive. While he's grown out of that now, and he has more maturity and wisdom, he still possesses the same traits that make him a strong leader.

Laurens, Lafayette, and Mulligan: I think they're all Gryffindors. They're all such revolutionaries and kinda loud and funny. They're not super developed, sure, but the traits we do see are Gryffindor-ish, especially Laurens.

Thank you so much for the ask, nonnie!!

Send me an ask about Harry Potter, broadway/musicals, The West Wing, and/or Taylor Swift! Or just about life in general :).

Also, I have a playlist of my 99 most listened-to songs of the year so far. Pick a number 1--99 and send me an ask and I'll write you a fic based on it!

[evakuality]

Hanna, episode 9

1.  Hanna is such a sweet character.  Occasionally it’s easy to forget that, but even in the face of her own hurt and justifiable anger at Matteo and what he’s done, as soon as she realises he’s going through some shit, she not only doesn’t pursue her anger but asks Jonas to hug him for her and give him best wishes.  Honestly, I love her so so so much.  I don’t actually much recall the way this scene goes in Eva’s season, but Eva always felt tougher (? I think that’s what I mean?) somehow.  I mean, I know Hanna doesn’t let it lie forever (good for her!) but she has so much compassion in this particular moment.

2.  I adore that Hanna is wearing this ‘stronger together; shirt when she’s talking with Jule.  This is always such a great moment - the girls realising that actually they need to stop tearing each other up and actually place blame where it needs to go.  This scene with Jule is also much nicer/better than the previous one.  I really do think that’s because the stuff with Leonie was SO emotional that the Jule thing had no time to breathe.  But here it’s a) much longer and b) is given the space it deserves, and Hanna is being so proactive in such a positive way.  Love this for her.  Also, look at this gorgeous yellow surrounding this scene.  It’s so warm and calm and it calls back to those soft colours of the early season, but it’s so much stronger and brighter.  I like that we’re kind of getting a return to Hanna’s true self (if that’s even a thing) but it’s not so washed out and pale.  My girl is getting stronger.

3.  Hanna and Jonas.  Awkwaaarrrrddddd.  But also this hallway/stairway they meet in is so cool.  I love how many different textures this place has.  Also, it’s a bit.... hmmmm.  I don’t know, it feel so artificial the way they are giving us this information about Matteo’s family.  It could arguably have come out (the stuff about his mother anyway) more organically earlier in the season.  It’s good to know, but the execution isn’t the best.  I do like the bit with Sam and Jonas.  I mean, not ‘like’ as in approve, but like as in I like the way it’s executed.  This is so real for this age, and it really felt like it could be genuine.  I also really really like how Hanna’s immediate reaction is to try to settle Jonas, to give him the same attention she used to, and how natural that also feels.  But of course, he’s still in pain and so it doesn’t work.  But it does show just how well connected they were - and lends weight to what Hanna was saying about how she has genuine feelings for Jonas.  It wasn’t just about stealing a boyfriend.  I really do like the way these clips bleed into each other, bits from one informing what comes into another.

4.  I do like these little girl squad moments.  And while Kiki really does get on my nerves, it’s nice that they are all thinking about and concerned about her.  It’s nice when they support each other.  Still.  She still really hasn’t grown up, and is still chasing that whole popularity thing at any cost.  She’s at risk of losing genuine friends, and of seriously damaging her health.  But we know that, and it sucks what’s going to be coming for her.  

5.  Ahh, the karaoke is so much fun!!  I really really do love this whole bit.  It reminds me of ho0w much fun we used to have doing it.  Though I was never good enough at singing or confident (or drunk!) enough to do it by myself, so full kudos to everyone here who did it.

6.  The thing with Matteo is also super well done.  The acting here, from both of them, is really great.  Her voice changes when she asks if he’s better and when she says he’s trustworthy you can see on his face that he knows that she’s caught him before she even has to say anything.  This is always a moment I like in these scenes - when the Isak character is so close to the verge of admitting that he likes the Jonas character, and the Eva character goes in an entirely wrong direction.  And it is really well done here.  His little face when he realises she hasn’t got it, and the absolute irritation in her voice when she says that’s no reason to be doing all this fucked up shit.  I’ve seen people saying they don’t like the way Matteo is acted in this season, but it’s very much consistent with how he develops later, particularly given the changes in his life situation rn.  It’s a lot in the face and the body language, and I guess again because Matteo is subtly different to Isak you might see that as ‘bad’ but I really like it.  I like that they’re two different characters who happen to go through a similar life path (and I did go over that at length in this series of posts starting here).  The acting really has been great this season imo.  Even when it was finding its feet early on, Hanna always resonated and rang true and it’s still true here.  And the really nice thing is, you can see here that they are and have been good friends.  So when she tells him she misses him in s3, you can believe it.  You can see it here, how upsetting this is for her.  

7.  I’d forgotten just how much is in this clip.  It’s roughly half of the entire episode!  And oh.  Kiki.  Again, I think the acting is so superb, from all of them.  But Lea infuses so much into Kiki, that as irritating and hard headed and just plain horrible as she can be sometimes, you can’t help but feel so much for her.  This moment is awful.  You can feel how lost and unhappy she is, and while the other characters are bemused (Amira’s face when she grabs the mic is amazing), I can’t help but feel so sad for her.  I also find the way Druck moves PoVs occasionally to be a strange choice.  But it does allow us to get this little insight into Mia before we’re with her fulltime (and ick.  Alex needs to learn boundaries and back off - how does he even have her number?  Do we find that out?  I don’t remember).  

8.  The whole thing with Hanna and Jonas is so painful, from the wistful looks between the two of them, to the scene together and how that all plays out, and I really like that the way it’s shot is so awkward and just a bit ‘off.  The fact that Jonas is singing a Matteo song (to Matteo, no less), and then ends up singing it to Hanna.   Then they’re not properly framed in the shot at the end, and it almost feels designed to make it uncomfortable.  They clearly have a great connection, but at the same time nothing has been talked about and so everything is just subtly ‘wrong’ and that’s why this whole bit works for me.  It’s all off, kind of difficult to parse, and leaves the episode in this place where things are not really right.  They’re not right with Mia and Kiki and they’re certainly not right with Hanna and Jonas.  

This is such a difficult episode in so many ways.  You can see why it’s called ‘crashes’ - so many things are crashing down for so many people.  So much is packed into this last clip too, that it must have been really intense when it aired.  And so we’re close to the end - one to go.  Which is a bit sad because I really really am going to miss this revisit of Hanna.  I’d forgotten just how much I love her because it’s been far too long since I watched her.

[cadopan]

What do u think about Leah as a player ? Do think she really had offers from the big clubs n choose Arsenal ?

Leah is quite interesting because many people hype her up/speak as if she's already the finished product when really, she's still young and has ways to go in terms of development.

I'd say she's comfortably one of the best CBs in the WSL and head and shoulders above what we have currently, but that's also because the pool of good defenders in woso is very limited as compared to attacking players (as I noted in an earlier Ask). In terms of her overall game, she might be a standout in her on-the-ball skills/contributing to buildup, but isn't quite up there with the world's best in terms of pure defending yet. She's been exposed many a time against top level opposition in ways that you wouldn't see experienced world class players getting done like that. Personally, in terms of solely the defending aspect I actually rate Ellie Carpenter (though she's a RB and younger) higher than Leah just because she has blistering pace and opponents have a tougher time penetrating her side.

However, it's great that she added goals to her game this season because most of the elite CBs (Renard, Kumagai, etc.) are unquestionably dominant in the air and have that goal-scoring threat (from set-pieces) in their locker.

Also, I get everyone's excitement but I'm not so convinced that the return of one Leah will plug all the holes and miraculously send us back to our early season form, because to me whatever is going wrong with our team has extended to the forward players too.

Finally, I'm not sure about the speculation that she had concrete offers from big clubs, though I would say that she surely would be in demand from top teams. Still considered young for a defender, poised to have a major role in the next England era (possibly captain down the road), and has the rare asset of being good enough on the ball that she could easily be converted to a midfielder (versatility). But her brand/image is very much associated with Arsenal imo, she's like the poster girl of the women's team (even more so than Viv or other bigger names) and it's her childhood club so it'll probably have taken something out of this world to pry her away.

Still a tiny bit miffed they didn't tell us how long she extended for though :P

[dreaming-of-assclass]

Hey! I think this question might be kinda dumb LOL but I'm new to your blog and I saw you referring to groups? Like Group 1-4? I'm assuming that they're the cliques of Class 3-E that have been categorized, but if you could explain it to me I'd appreciate it! Like is this official or mainly decided by the fandom, and if it's fandom-made, how did the groups get decided on? I'm curious! Thank you in advance 💕

Hi!! Omg no problem at all! And welcome to my blog!! I hope you’re enjoying it so far UwU 💕

The groups 1-4 are based off the groupings of students in the Kyoto Trip episodes. But they’re like the general friend groups of 3-E anyways, even if there are a lot of overlaps still.

So yeah it’s canon haha, but every group is very endearing to the fandom. Some have their favorites and like to focus on a certain group, like me for example. I always talk about how Group 4 are my babies. I’d say the group I see content of the most on tumblr is probably 3 or maybe 2.

Now here’s the fun part hehe. I wanted to make a post like this a while ago and now I get an actual chance.

The (Unofficial) Guide to Friendship Groups in 3-E

Group 1: Isogai, Kataoka, Maehara, Okano, Kimura, Kurahashi, Yada

I always associate this group with being the “popular kids” although that’s not super curious

They’re the closest to being that type of group. But really, I’d say they’re just the friendliest and most...proactive group? They’re assertive and make plenty of plans/ideas for assassinations.

They’re close with each other as like a clique, but all of them hang out with a fair amount of the class, especially the girls.

I feel like...the class reps, Maehara, and Okano are closer...and then Yada and Kurahashi tend to branch off more and hang with other people too.

Kimura is sort of the odd one out ngl, and it’s canon that he hangs out more with other guys in the class. But he sits near most of Group 1, so who’s to say they’re not close, right? He seems to be tightest with Okano and Yada, and he crushes on Kurahashi hehe.

Oh yeah. This group is made of some of the top athletes in the class. Physically, they’re def the strongest imo. We love the jocks

Group 2: Chiba, Hayami, Okajima, Sugaya, Mimura, Nakamura, Fuwa, Ritsu?

Mostly made up of background kids, but nonetheless entertaining

The Artsy Kids™️

They’re scattered across the middle of the classroom but seem to sit near each other generally. I’d say their shared interests bring them closer though

I compare this group to like a standard friend group I’d see in school. They’re like the squad who sticks together from freshman year until past graduation haha.

The boys alone are my favorite part of this group lmao. They’re just chaos, and I love that they had a pre-established friendship from 2nd year, then Mimura fits right in UwU

Art trio kind of have their own thing going on ofc. And Fuwa interacts with them. Chiba is besties with them. We have sniper duo. What’s nice is that 90% of the group has been showin interacting and having friendships. That sadly can’t be said for some others T_T

I’d say the odd ones out are Nakamura and Ritsu lmao. The former doesn’t have a ton of moments or established friendships, and she’s not particularly artsy. And Ritsu...I can’t remember how she joined lol.

Ngl I think this group has the most interesting and creative talents and ways that they contribute to assassination. But they’re generally more supporter types, the ones who hype up the assertive kids.

Group 3: Terasaka, Hazama, Yoshida, Muramatsu, Hara, Itona, Takebayashi

We have the delinquents squad~ No just kidding, I think of them as just the ones who don’t fit in as well in the setting

They took the longest to get used to the class and get along with everyone

They look tougher than they actually are honestly. Muramatsu and Yoshida are soft punks. Terasaka is a big teddy bear deep down, etc.

I think they have the tightest bond amongst all the friend groups. Like...they’re basically a mini found family in 3-E lmao. They’ve been through a lot together, and just are super close.

They immediately open their arms to Itona and take them in after his whole...um, situation. He’s basically the baby of the group lmao.

Hara is of course the Mom Friend but I like to think she’s less so with this group. They treat her more like a close friend rather than someone who needs to take care of them.

Terasaka is their leader just for face. Hazama is the badass who’s actually running things. She has the one braincell always.

Takebayashi is an on-off member for me ngl. I think he’d hang out with them a lot outside of school, and see them as his close friends. But in school, he’s most likely to branch off and hang out with other kids.

A pretty skilled group, nice balance of talents. Almost all of them can cook extremely well, holy shit.

Group 4: Karma, Sugino, Nagisa, Kanzaki, Okuda, Kayano

MY BABIES! My precious children. I unashamedly have such a bias for them.

Ok so...every other group I mentioned so far have a lot of stuff in common, pre-established friendships, close seating, etc

Group 4 has like...none of this lmao.

They’re the wild cards of the class. How did they even get together as a solid group oh my god

I mean...basically Nagisa, Sugino, and Kayano got close by sitting together. Nagisa invited Karma, an old friend. Sugino invited Kanzaki, his crush. And Kayano invited Okuda out of friendliness. And from there...

They are the group of hidden talents/“blades” and I love them for it.

What’s nice about this group in contrast to the others is that it’s clear the guys are tight, and the girls are very close, and it’s decently mixed. They’re just so adorable.

The type of group who don’t hang out as often in class...but would go on a random train trip on the weekends if they’re all free.

They’re spontaneous, ok?

Made up of academic nerds, except for Sugino, but it’s ok. We still love you

I hope this helped a bit, sweetie!! Welcome again to the blog 🥰

[fireladybuckley]

911 Verse this or that

Indirectly tagged by @perfectlynervousbeard <3 

Buck or TK. Look I adore TK, Ronen is seriously one of the cutest guys I’ve ever seen and TK is adorable and easily my favourite LS character.  But it’s not even close when comparing him to Buck, Buck is my comfort character, my absolute favourite of just about anything, ever.  I adore Oliver and there’s not a single person you could compare to Buck that I would pick over him, lol.

Eddie or Carlos.

Again, I really do like Carlos.  I firmly believe Carlos (Rafa) doesn’t get enough screen time and his character development suffers because of it and I hate that.   But again, I love Eddie just SO much.  Comparing him and Carlos isn’t fair because they’re very different and Eddie’s storyline and character in general are SO much more developed, I feel like we’ve gotten to know him so much better and that just makes me love him more, I’m more attached.  Plus Eddie’s relationship with Christopher alone is just so precious and I love it so much.

Bobby or Owen.

Easiest question ever.  Bobby is amazing and the best dad and Owen sucks.

Chimney or Judd Not that I hate Chimney or anything (he gets on my nerves sometimes but overall he’s fine) but Judd is just wonderful.  I love his whole southern gentleman vibe while also being a bit of a mischievous little shit which makes me laugh.  And the way he loves and respects his wife is just so refreshing to see. <3

Hen or Marjan I wonder if this is kind of like how I feel about Carlos; I really like both Carlos and Marjan, but I feel like I barely know them.  Marjan is badass and awesome and everything but aside from her arranged marriage stuff, I feel like we barely know anything about her.  Whereas with Hen, I feel like we know her so well she could just be my best friend and it would be amazing.   She’s smart, compassionate, hilarious and just awesome and I adore her.  I also love her relationship with Karen and Denny and now Nia.  If they take Nia away I’m going to riot

Maddie or Grace.  This one was tougher, and REALLY close.  I really love Grace, she’s amazing and badass and I love her and Judd’s relationship.  I just like Maddie slightly more.  I love how much Maddie has overcome and how strong she is, how she took care of Buck their whole lives (which was NOT fair to her), and I love their sibling dynamic.  I love her relationships with the other 9-1-1 operators.

I will say though that they are both BADASS 9-1-1 operators and they are both queens.

Athena or Tommy Tommy’s fine but she’s very new and I feel like I don’t know her at all (though I love Gina Torres).  Not that that matters, however;  Athena is QUEEN and no matter how awesome Tommy could be, she would never surpass Athena.  Athena is just so amazing and I love her so much.  She is compassionate, badass, hard working, hilarious, terrifying when mad but at the same time so gentle and kind.  Her and Bobby are amazing together (especially earlier in their relationship), she’s such a good mom to Harry and May (and by extension Buck, and maybe even Eddie).  She’s just amazing, ok.

Albert or Mateo  I’ll be honest, I was going to choose Albert because I find him adorable and funny and I wish we knew more about him.  But this time it’s the opposite problem of the others... I feel like we barely know Albert, even though he’s been around for a while now.  The 9-1-1 writers have done a terrible job giving him meaningful backstory imo.  Like he’s been in LA for how long now?  Does he even have a job?   Is he still speaking to his parents? We know barely anything about him besides that he’s Buck’s roommate and he has been on some dates.

Mateo on the other hand is much more flushed out.  I loved the story arc where he is just SO dedicated and driven to become a firefighter despite his dyslexia and I’m so glad it was made possible for him to have allowances for the test.  I love that his crew doesn’t mock him for it or treat him like he’s stupid, they ALL help him as much as they can, and I LOVE when Marjan goes and gives the tattoo parlour who intentionally fucked up his tattoo a reaming.  He’s an earnest, eager younger brother who just wants to help and prove himself and I think he’s adorable.

Michael or Paul. I like Michael, but I like Paul a bit more.  I just wish they would give him more screen time and a storyline that doesn’t involve people being transphobic.  I’m sorry (not sorry) but the sister storyline thing still pisses me off

118 or 126.  The 118, no question.  They feel far more cohesive as a team and I love their relationships more, both with each other and with other people.  The 118 feels so much more real than the 126, and I’ve no doubt it’s because of LS’s continued sidelining of its characters that are not Owen (and, I’ll admit, TK.  I love that he gets a lot of screen time, but not if it comes at the expense of Marjan/Paul/Mateo being shunted to the side). 

Maybe the 126 will get better with time.  I’m certainly hoping that with TK in his new role, maybe they’ll bring in another firefighter to replace him (hopefully a woman!  Both shows definitely lack women in the fire-fighting department imo - but the OG is definitely worse; only Hen in 9-1-1, and only Marjan in 9-1-1 LS but at least LS has Tommy and Nancy as medics.  the 118 needs another featured woman firefighter!!)

California or Texas.  I don’t know if it’s the filming choices or if Texas is just like that (having never been there, I have no idea), but Texas doesn’t seem nearly as nice as California.  That could just be my personal preference; I love lush greenery far more than the more desert-y types of things, and I love the ocean so much.  I feel like LA has prettier settings, and LS is more gritty.  Not that there’s anything wrong with that at all, I just prefer pretty haha.

Buddie or Tarlos I feel like this is a bit of an unfair question, since it’s still up in the air whether Buddie even exists in canon, and Tarlos is unquestionably real.

But of course, if I’m forced to choose, it’s Buddie.  And that’s not to say Tarlos isn’t amazing, because it is... I adore BOTH ships so much.  I’m just too drawn into Buddie, and how their personalities compliment each other, and Buck’s special relationship with Chris that places him firmly into the Diaz family unit, Buddie or not.  I really do feel like they’ve set them up 100% as a potential romance and as far as slow burns go, it’s amazing so far.  Plus, even if they don’t become a couple, I am still so invested in them as best friends.

That being said, Tarlos is fucking adorable and I live for their scenes on LS <3

Tsunami episode(s) or Tornado episode.  There was just SO MUCH going on with the tsunami.  Of course the entire plot arc with Buck and Christopher is amazing and easily one of my favourites in the entire series, but I also loved that the tsunami episodes showed EVERYONE in their element, doing everything they could to help people.  I love that it brought Lena into the mix (I know the fandom is divided on her but I love her unashamedly).  The amazing scenes with Athena and May, the scenes with Maddie and that girl with the drone... it was just SUCH A GOOD ARC and I love it.  The fact that I can remember SO much about it and I barely remember what happened with the tornado tells me just how much more I enjoyed it, as well.

911 or 911 Lone Star.  Unquestionably 9-1-1.   I feel like the firefam has become part of my own extended family and I just don’t feel that with LS.  Maybe after a couple more seasons it’ll be more like that, but for now, 9-1-1 is EASILY my favourite.  I do love LS too, though.  I just wish there was less of Owen and more of everyone else.  AND I WANT MORE CROSSOVERS!!!

I have no idea who has been tagged so I’m just going to pick a few random people.  If you’re reading this and want to do it, consider yourself tagged by me!  (And tag me back so I can read yours! <3) @firemedicdiaz @that-firehouse @bicepsie @tulipsfrom-medusa @evaneddie @kittycat-cas @bvckleydiaz @ashavahishta @matan4il And anyone else!!

[jeannereames]

Writing Historical Fiction (Well)

From an anonymous ask:

"What advice would you give to someone who wants to write about Alexander?" Sorry I didn't clarify, I was thinking of writing a fictional novel (but do not plan to publish it, lol)

If you’re just writing for yourself with no plans to publish, you don’t have to worry about constraints like wordcount and publishability. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to sell mainstream historicals. Selling a genre historical is easier (historical fantasy, historical mystery, historical romance). But there’s a reason it took me 30 years to get Dancing with the Lion into print. Yes, some of that time I was actually writing it, but much more was devoted to finding a market for it, and notice that I did, finally, have to sell it as genre even though it isn’t really. (It was that or shelve it forever.)

Yet if you’re asking for my recommendations, I assume you want to write something that’s marginally readable. Ergo, what follows is general advice I’d give anybody writing historical fiction.

For historicals, one must keep track of two things simultaneously: telling a good story, and portraying history accurately enough. It’s possible to do one well, but the other quite badly.

First, let’s look at how to write a good story.

There are two very basic sorts of stories: the romance, and the novel. Notice it’s romance small /r/. A romance is an adventure story; in romances, the plot dominates and characters serve the plot. A novel is character-driven, so plot events serve character development. Dancing with the Lion is a novel.

Once you’ve decided which of those you’re writing, you have a better handle on how to write it. You also need to know where you’re going: what’s the end of the story? What are the major plot points? Writers who dive in with no road map tend to produce bloated books that require massive edits. That said, romances will almost always be faster paced, in part because “what’s happening” drives it. Whereas in novels, the impact of events on characters drives it. Exclusive readers of romances are rarely pleased by the pacing of novels. They’re too slow: “Nothing is happening!” Things are happening, but internally, not externally.

Yet pacing does matter. Never let a scene do one thing when it can do three.

You will want to pay attention to something called “scene and sequel.” A “scene” is an event and a “sequel” are the consequences. So let’s say (as in my current MIP [monster in progress]) you open with a fugitive from the city jail racing through the streets with guards following: he leaps the wall of a rich man’s house and ends up in the bedroom of a visiting prince. That’s the scene. The sequel is the fall-out. (House searched, prince hides fugitive, prince gets fugitive to tell him why he’s running.) Usually near the end of the sequel(s) to the first scene, you embed the hook to the next (a slave of the rich man has been found murdered outside the city walls). The next scene concerns recovering the body and what they discover (then fall-out from that). Etc., etc., etc.

That’s how stories progress. Or don’t progress, if the author can’t master scene-sequel patterns.

It also means—again—you need to know where you’re going. Outlines Are Your Friends. But yes, your plot can still take a sharp left-hand turn that surprises you…they almost always do.

When I sat down to write Dancing with the Lion, I knew three things:

1)     I wanted to write about Alexander before he became king.

2)     I wanted to explore his relationship with Hephaistion.

3)     I especially wanted to consider how both became the men they’d did.

With those goals in mind, I could frame the story. Because I always intended Hephaistion to be as important as Alexander, the novel opens in his point-of-view to establish that. And because I didn’t want to deal with Alexander as king, the novel had to end before he became one. History itself gives a HUGE and obvious gift in the abrupt murder of Philip. Where to open was harder to decide, but as I wanted to explore the boys’ friendship and its impact on their maturation into men, I should logically begin with their meeting, and decided not to have them meet too young. From there, I spun out Hephaistion’s background, and his decision to run away from home to join the circus, er, I mean Pages. 😉

IMO, Alexander’s story is Too Big to do in a single novel, or you get an 800+ page monstrosity like Chris Cameron’s God of War. The author must decide on what piece of the story she wants to tell. (Or, like me, view it as a series.)

So that’s (in a nutshell) how you construct a story.

As for the historical side, there are three levels here:

1)     What the world looks like (details).

2)     The events that take place.

3)     How people living in that world understand life, the universe, and everything.

Number two is probably the easiest. Numbers one and three require deeper research on all sorts of things. Sometimes historical novels spend all their time on number one and completely forget number three exists.

The past is a foreign country. Just as you wouldn’t (or at least shouldn’t) write a novel set in Japan (if you’re American) without learning something not only about the physical country but also the customs…same with stories set in the past.

This is why the Oliver Stone movie failed. He put modern people in a costume drama. He didn’t understand how ancient Macedonians (or Greeks or Persians) thought. So he committed crazy anachronisms like the oedipal complex between Alexander and Olympias. Freud may have named his theory after a Greek hero, but it’s largely a foreign idea to the Greek mind. (Whether it’s valid at all is a topic for another day).

The author has to let ancient people be properly ancient.

Problem: what do you do when they’re SO foreign they’re impossible to understand for modern readers—or their attitudes are outright offensive?

Well, if you don’t plan to get your story published, you don’t have to worry about that. Or not as much. But if you want to share it with others, you might still want to consider it.

There are two basic approaches:

1)     Introduce your world through a “stranger” who enters it.

2)     Spread out more “modern” views among various characters in the story, to give modern readers something familiar to hang onto.

The first of those is by far the most common. So in Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander, Claire Randall—quite literally a modern woman—introduces the modern reader to Jacobite Scotland. As she learns about her new world, so does the reader, and in Claire, the reader has a voice to express both their fascination and their horror of that world. In Judith Tarr’s Lord of the Two Lands, she uses Meriamon, an Egyptian priestess, to enter the Macedonian world of Alexander. Judy can then contrast Egyptian and Macedonian cultural values in order to explain them. Meriamon asks questions the reader wants answers to—or Niko (or Alexander) ask questions of her about Egypt.

The second choice (which is what I did in Dancing) is to identify cultural mores likely to offend modern readers: indifference to slavery, glorification of war and conquest, Greco-Macedonian attitudes towards women, and Greco-Macedonian attitudes towards sexuality. Then to assign one of the characters to voice a more modern view. Alexander gets to be a proto-feminist, and I gave points of view to two women. One of those women, I made a slave. Hephaistion gets to express a more modern view regarding the horrors of war. Sexuality was a bit tougher, but I used the boys’ atypical relationship—that the younger is the one of higher status—to illustrate Greco-Macedonian assumptions about what a male-male relationship should look like.

That approach presents more hurdles, but for my purposes, I preferred it.

I harp on this because it’s the biggest problem for historical fiction: not having historical characters! It wrecks what might otherwise be decent research into the details. No matter how much you look up what they ate, how they dressed, the way their houses were laid out…if you have them behaving anachronistically, it’s a bad historical. Or if you have circumstances that just wouldn’t occur.

Let me give an example. I’ve said before that, when I started writing the novel in December of 1988, Dancing always began with a run-away boy (Hephaistion). But in my initial version, he showed up in Pella incognito. The more I read about Macedonia, however, the more I realized that was virtually impossible. There just weren’t that many Hetairoi. He’d have been recognized, and probably sooner rather than later. So I went back to the drawing board and, instead of having him try to hide, he comes right out and says who he is, and that he wants to join the Pages. It might take away the “mystery,” but set up more interesting dynamics: would Philip let him stay? What would his father do? Etc.

That requires the author know enough about the culture to know what’s possible, probable, and impossible. It also requires the author to be willing to change original plans in order to reflect reality, not insist on doing ___ anyway.

A good example of jettisoning history in favor of “what I want to do!” can be found in David Gemmell’s Lion of Macedon. So many, many things wrong with that book, starting with his choice to make Parmenion a Spartan for no historical reason whatsoever—but (I assume?) because Spartans Are Sexy. Parmenion likely belonged to the royal house of Upper Macedonian Pelagonia. Although even if he didn’t, absolutely nothing suggests he wasn’t Macedonian, and quite a lot says he was. The whole duology (with included The Dark Prince) was essentially Blue Boltz ™ Epic Fantasy Does Greece. The fact he actually included a bibliography in back, and got weird, isolated details right only added insult to injury.

Yet Gemmell was a best-selling British fantasy novelist who knew pacing and how to spin a good yarn. For a reader with zero knowledge of Alexander, it would stack up as a predictable but tolerable fantasy set.

Remember that as an historical fiction author, your job is to practice the art of getting it right. If that isn’t important to you, please God, write something completely made up.

At the spectrum’s other end is Showing Notecards on Every Page. You’ve done ALL that hard research, and you’ll be damn sure the reader knows it!

Um, the reader doesn’t care. The reader wants to be transported to another world. How locals in that world shoed horses (or if they shoed horses at all) is irrelevant. It matters only if your main character’s a farrier. And even then, it matters only if said-farrier is having a conversation with someone else while shoeing a horse.

If people want all the little details of history, they’ll read a history book.

Now, how much detail is “too much” can vary from reader to reader, and often has something to do with the genre.

Regular readers of historical fiction are fans because they enjoy history. So they’ll expect proper world-building. But they don’t want the Dreaded Information Dump. Weave in details. The Dreaded Information Dump is a common beginning-author error across the board, but especially bad in certain genres, such as historicals, fantasy, and SF.

What’s an “information dump”? It’s where the author provides details the reader doesn’t need at that point in the story. What the character looks like, is wearing, their family background, what they had for breakfast….

As mentioned, details should be woven into the story organically. What your character had for breakfast matters only if, later, it’s giving him/her gas: “Damn those beans in my breakfast burrito!” Some details may be useful to set a scene and prevent characters from walking around, having conversations in a void, but again, a light touch.

Similarly, One scene, One head. We do NOT need to see everything from each character’s point of view. No, really. We don’t. And dear God, please don’t “head-hop” inside of scenes (unless you’re writing omniscient, but be sure you know what omniscient IS). Drives me BUGGY.

Anyway, back to the Notecard Showing Problem. As noted above, genre expectations and reader preferences often dictate what IS “too much detail.” Generally, historical Romance (the genre) and historical mysteries go lighter on detail than historical fantasy or plain historicals. That’s because the former two have genre conventions that work against it. Romances preference the love story front-and-center at all times, and mysteries have a mystery to unravel. E.g, they’re plot driven. By contrast, historical fantasies tolerate more world building because world building itself is a feature of fantasy (and science fiction too). And the appeal of mainstream or literary historicals IS the world building, so you get massive novels like Ken Follet’s Pillars of the Earth.

I’m blathering now, but hopefully this gives pointers not just about writing Alexander, but writing fiction period, and historical fiction in particular.

[mega-ringsandthings-world]

I feel like I’d have liked Peeta more if more of an emphasis had been placed on how cunning that boy could be. The one true ‘pure’ and ‘good’ character imo was always Prim. I like the aspect of Peeta that’s wily and cunning and just a little bit like a kindhearted Coriolanus Snow.

I hate to see Gale demonised for his anger, though. Especially when if Peeta is a kinder, more compassionate Coriolanus, I think Gale is a tougher, more focused/less sweet version of Sejanus. I love the books so much, but I wish Gale’s fire and anger had been portrayed with more appreciation. ❤️

I literally had said the same thing a while back when tbosas had come out. There are comparisons to be drawn between Sejanus and Gale and Snow and Peeta. Peeta, for all his "goodness" is quite manipulative, and has no qualms maneuvering situations to get what he wants. (See everything that happened in the first Games) He's also capable of being cold, and can be quite bitter. (See the way he treated Katniss after the first Games and in 13, although in 13 his "bad side" had been forcefully drawn out by the Capitol) He's much more complex character than the "good" one, and I wish the fandom would allow for that. Peeta also grew up in a more "privileged" position in life, and could afford to be more kinder and sweeter. For anyone who has watch Parasite, think, "she can afford to be nice." Not feeling the threat of death and starvation one's entire life can do a lot to keep from being jaded and angry and bitter. (not to downplay the family problems Peeta had at home, but he never almost starved to death, never had to provide for and become head of the household for his family at the age of 11, or lost his father at the age of 10) Katniss and (especially) Gale in comparison suffered all that and more. And of course their anger and outrage is looked down on.