#what happened to her. and what she became in death is treated as a tragedy

[demento-mori]

every day i wake up and remember that the american remake of the ring is the version that everyone knows, and that people get facts about the original film wrong because of it

[wonder-worker]

I've been thinking about the tragedy of Elizabeth Woodville living to see the end of her family name.

I don't mean her family with her husband, which lived on through her daughter and grandson. I mean her own.

Her sisters died, one by one, many of them after 1485. When Elizabeth died, only Katherine was left, and she would die before the turn of the century as well.

All her brothers died, too. Lewis died in childhood. John was executed. Anthony was murdered. Lionel died suddenly in the peak of Richard's reign, unable to see his niece become queen. Edward perished at war. Richard died in grieving peace. For all the violence and judgement the family endured, it was "an accident of biology" that ended their line: none of the brothers left heirs, and the Woodville name was extinguished. We know the family was aware of this. We know they mourned it, too:

“Buy a bell to be a tenor at Grafton to the bells now there, for a remembrance of the last of my blood.”

Elizabeth lived through the deposition and death of her young sons, and lived to see the end of her own family name. It must have been such a haunting loss, on both sides.

[spider-chris06]

Do you know why Spider-Verse Miles is my favorite Spider-Man?

He, without having a choice, had to do in two days, what took all the other Spider-Sonas in the multiverse weeks, become Spider-Man, all under the unimaginable pressure of being the successor to the previous Spider-Man of his universe, which left the bar too high, having to meet everyone else's expectations, and having to go through a tortuous journey while learning from his mentor.

Even when the spider-gang not only didn't trust him but even seemed to dislike Miles at first (Except, of course, Gwen and Peter B, who are very special cases)

And pressing him to see if he was ready and treating him like just a kid (Even Peni).

All so that he then went to his uncle, who was like a second father to him and someone who truly understood Miles, only to find out that he had always been a hitman, going so far as to almost end with the life of his nephew, until he realizes what he was about to do and... well, tragedy happens.

The death of Uncle Aaron, due to the depth and history behind it, remains the most tragic "death of Uncle Ben" in all of cinema... ever.

Miles stopped being the same since then, and even when a hurricane of emotions possessed him, he learned that no matter what, Spider-Man always gets up and keeps going, at the same time he learned to take his leap of faith. Before becoming Spider-Man he had a normal and happy life, but after being bitten by that spider his whole life fell apart, but of course, Miles is someone truly strong and full of determination thanks to the people close to him.

In two days, he surpassed almost the entire Spider-gang, and in a year and a half he become almost a professional as Spider-Man, even giving lessons to everyone else, and making it clear to Gwen and the others what truly means being Spider-Man, not standing by crossed arms while someone is in danger, but trying to do everything you can to save everyone, doing both things, even when it seems impossible, Spider-Man should always try, because everything it's possible.

At the same time that Miles felt stabbed in the back by the same people to whom he wanted to dedicate his entire future just to see them again since he felt alone and sad inside in the world without them, and, specially, without Gwen.

And let me remind something, Miles actually thinks she doesn't even love him and only sees him as a friend, but he still wants to see her

On the ATSV betrayal, he release all that hurricane of emotions that he had to swallow and accumulate inside during ITSV and during that entire year and a half for not having time for ALL those things said before, leading him to have anxiety and panic attacks (Something confirmed in the synopsis of the short "The Spider Within")

All so that they later reveal to him that he was a mistake, an anomaly, that he should never have been Spider-Man, that he killed the Peter of his universe, causing everything that gave MEANING to his life fell down in just a few minutes, leaving Miles more traumatized, mortified and with more trust issues than he already had before.

He really became one of the most tragic character of all the saga (Along with Peter B and, put it in some way, Miguel O' Hara)

And just because Miles looks with a cool and chill personality doesn't mean he's any less traumatized and mortified on the inside (An example is Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man).

Even though in the comics that nickname is only used because that is what his universe is called, in the movies, on the other hand, even though there are people on the internet who deny the fact that he is currently becoming an unstoppable phenomenon that is marking an entire generation and will mark future generations, Miles Morales proved to be, without a doubt, the Ultimate Spider-Man.

As a bonus, even though she always screwed up with everyone around her, both the living and the dead, Gwen showed that she really loves Miles and that he truly is the love of her life, however, needless to say, she has a lot of work to do in her redemption arc to be able to fix things with Miles, which will be very difficult but not impossible, even more so taking into account all the hate she received for everything that happened in ATSV.

Now she has to PROVE not only to him, but to all of us viewers, that she truly deserves to be with Miles, that they can have a life together by her own merit, and that all the hate towards her after the ATSV release it's truly unfair.

However, I have to be realistic, there are characters like Peni or even Peter B who should not be anything more than simple 'acquaintances' or 'partners' for Miles, since, with what they did, the term "Friend" It's too big for them.

In any case, Miles has the last word.

[tossawary]

I saw "Hadestown" a while ago and found it pretty fun, especially because while it is a retelling of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth, it is also doing its own thing. It sets the story in a company town and presents a Hades in his aspect as the god of wealth. Though, it's not always clear in "Hadestown" what is figurative and what is literal. It plays with that mythological line a lot.

Hades is a wealthy businessman who owns mines and factories, which exhaust and trap (and presumably kill) the workers, a "god" among men, and Eurydice comes to work for him out of desperation. She doesn't actually die in this story... uh, I'm pretty sure. You can interpret the musical's ending a lot of different ways, I suppose. But when Eurydice first ends up in "the Underworld", in Hades' clutches, and signs a work contract to survive, her "death" is figurative.

So, when Orpheus comes to retrieve Eurydice, "Hadestown" is presenting us with a version of the story in which Eurydice can actually get away. She's not trapped by something as inescapable as death. When Orpheus appeals to Hades' love for Persephone and convinces this "god" to release Eurydice, I was watching the couple walk away together and thinking to myself, "What if they made it? What if they get to live together this time?"

I knew they wouldn't.

It still hurt.

And it later occured to me that a happy ending would betray not only the original myth, but also betray the new story that "Hadestown" presents to us.

"Hadestown" is a story concerned with poverty, with the fear of starvation and freezing to death, with the labor and rights of workers, with the oppressive power of wealth, with the selfishness of the rich. It's not subtle about it. At all. Hades is here as a figurative god of death, but he is very much present in his aspect as a god of wealth.

Hades releases Eurydice, but makes it conditional, because while Orpheus' song has softened him, he immediately becomes worried that this kindness makes him look weak and will set a bad example for all of his other workers. He doesn't want other workers to try for freedom or for other people to believe his workers can be set free. He curses Orpheus with doubt in order to make him look back.

Personally, I thought that the ending became a little messy, regarding what was figurative and what was literal. It fell back more into mythology, with how arbitrary Hades' condition is and how looking back automatically took Eurydice away. But I still liked it. Musical theatre is very well suited to that kind of blurriness in its lines.

If Orpheus had suceeded in saving Eurydice in this version, then the story would be saying that you can have your happy ending if you just work hard enough for it, if you're special enough, if you believe in yourself. The story would be saying: Orpheus' beautiful voice convinced a powerful, wealthy man that he and Eurydice were unique, that their love story was different, that their tragedy was unfair, and that they shouldn't be treated like the other poor workers. You just have to sing the right pretty song and people will listen to you out of the goodness of their hearts.

It's kind of what a modern audience expects: the heroes will succeed. They will succeed because they worked hard and they were special. The fact that Orpheus fails here too, even though Eurydice wasn't dead in this story, feels like a song getting stuck in your head because the ending is missing. It feels wrong. It's upsetting.

It made me think about how their ending was unfair. It made me think that their tragedy shouldn't have happened. That they could have been happy if only Hades hadn't taken advantage of Eurydice's poverty, if he wasn't so cruel to his exploited workers who create his wealth, if he didn't hoard his wealth instead of sharing it around, and if the wealth hadn't been allowed to go to one person in the first place. Orpheus and Eurydice were not without flaws, sure, but they were ordinary people just trying to make their way in the world. The "don't look back" condition is so arbitrary and unfair and disrespectful.

Everything happened at the unkind whims of a wealthy businessman who was scared of looking weak and losing power. It's not fair and it's all Hades' fault.

To me, though they tell you from the beginning that this is a tragedy, it seemed like "Hadestown" wanted you to think, "Maybe Orpheus and Eurydice will make it this time," and then wanted you to feel let down when they didn't. And maybe then wanted you to think to yourself, "As long as this same story keeps happening, they're never going to make it. Maybe there shouldn't be gods of wealth putting conditions on freedom, and deciding who lives and who dies. It's not fair."

[twentiethcenturysims]

Thank you to everyone who came to trick-or-treat!

Treats will be released publicly tomorrow, November 1st.

A little more on the Loveless family below the cut (tw: child death)

Bad luck can hang like a heavy cloud over a place, for reasons unknown, causing trouble of all sorts - from mishaps to tragedies. This was the case with the Loveless home, built in 1908 and moved into the very same year by the young family. The stern and unyielding Ernest Loveless, and his troubled wife Sybilla, along with their children: bookish Verna, fanciful Leona, energetic Boyd, and little Wendell.

Did something already haunt the halls of the new house? Something inhuman, which delighted in the misery of the human residents? Ernest went first, a sudden cardiac arrest as he smoked his pipe in the parlour. His cruelty in life made him less than fondly remembered by his children in death, but Sybilla was distraught. And in her mourning, she began to forget her duties, and the children were left to care for themselves and each other.

Little Wendell was the first young life lost - drowned, in the pond, when Verna left him for a moment to fetch a book from the library. In her despair, the eldest girl buried herself deeper in her fantasy worlds, the stacks of books growing higher around her in the library until one day her piles became structurally unstable and fell on her, trapping her and leading to her death.

Leona was next. One minute, on her swing - the next, she was gone, and only a spattering of blood on the swing to suggest what may have happened. A madman, on the lose in their town?

Sybilla was broken by the loss of her children, and forbid Boyd from setting foot outside the house. She locked the doors, closed the heavy curtains, and hid her remaining child from the outside world. But Boyd was a wild young boy, and when cooped up, he couldn't help himself - he slid down banisters, climbed on furniture, and eventually took a tumble from the top of the stairs - another young life lost.

Sybilla, left alone in the expansive house, began to feel as though death pressed in on her from all sides. She felt ill, her heart fluttered, her skin seemed to yellow and age before her eyes. She had lost her husband, her children, and now even her beauty was deserting her. Worse even than this - she began to hear the voices of her departed family, and see glimpses of them in the shadows. In time, her fear turned to comfort - if they were still here, in spirit, she could pretend they had never died. And she wouldn't be alone. As she turned her mind more and more towards the ghostly remnants of her family, her health continued to decline, until one day she awoke to find her family more real to her than they had been in months - and her own body slumped over her vanity. Dead. But she was glad. Embracing her family, she swore that they would never leave the estate, and always be together within it's grounds.

So, to the young explorer who set out to explore the Loveless house, there's the answer - HAUNTED, very haunted. Extra specially haunted!

[dunmeshi-darlings]

Hi! May I please request some angst?

Marcille,Falin, and Laios (separate) with an isekai'd terminally ill s/o who needs to go back to their world in order to get treatment, since their disease is incredibly advanced, by their standards, and not easy for magic to handle.

However, the three want to save their s/o, but at the same time doesn't want them to go back to their world.

Aye a somber request but one i can do. After All, The whole worlds a stage. For some it is a comedy, Others an adventure, and yet still for others it is a tragedy. But all must play there part one way or another.

When you first arrived marcille was in awe, Not only did another entire reality exist, but you had apparently somehow been teleported from there?! She had questioned you for hours about the world, about what it was like. Fascinated that it was a world of technology in a vaguely similar fashion to the dwarves machinery, yet even more advanced. How it was a world without monsters and only had regular animals. How it was a world inhabited only by People like you, Nothing but tallmen (though in reality you and the rest of the people from your world werent tallmen, they just happened to be the most similar to your people). But strangest of all it had no magic (or so you thought), The idea seemed foreign to her and she couldnt even imagine what it could possibly be like.

You two had grown closer and fallen in love and marcille viewed you as a gift from the divine...but like all divinity they are cruel and can change there whims in a split second. It started off with a small cough, neither of you were particularly worried about it, sicknesses come and go after all. But the cough over time slowly progressed and got worse and worse, it eveolved into a tightness in the chest and struggle breathing. you became unable to do most physical things as your condition worsened, Then the dry coughing grew worse when one day you coughed into your hand and when you pulled it away it was soaked in blood.

Marcille tried everything she could, she had asked falin to do everything she could, but sadly to no avail as the healer couldnt seem to slow this disease. She asked laios for help who spent a small fortune of his newly aquired kingdoms gold to try and find you the best healers in the world to no avail. Marcille was at her wits end, she couldnt see you die. She had seen so many people she loved and cared about die already, she couldnt loose you too. However one day you brought up an idea, one that broke her heart almost as much as the idea of your death did. "i think...the only ones who could help....me..are doctors from...my world.."

Marcille begged and pleaded, she didnt want to loose you that way either...but she knew deep down that there was no magic here that could help. The both of you knew that with the magic of this world, your death was certain and you needed to go back to be treated...but...but what if...what if marcille used magic not of this world.

That dark beckoning call came to her once more, its powerful embrace called out to her, it whispered gilded words that dripped a hopeful venom. It asked of her how far would she be willing to go to save the one she loved? If her true desire was to save you, she would do anything right?....right?

She had already used its power once, what harm would using it once more do? Maybe it could save you? maybe it could fix this disease and you and her could live happily ever after. Marcille had already called upon these dark ruinous powers before, it would be so simple to do it again? Who cares about the law, of morality, of the dangers this magic poses...Would marcille truly wield that eldritch power once more to save you? consequences be damned...right?

Your arrival was incredibly to falin, the idea of a whole new world of wonder, of things to see and do, a whole new world of beauty she had never seen before made her giddy. You and her would sit up for hours as you told her stories of your world, of just how different it was than her world, how the people were, how life was. And though there were many sad stories, Falin always found it comforting to know that so many good things happened in this other world to, that no matter how grim the world seemed. There would always be people being happy and living there lives and trying to make the world a better place, it made her smile. The two of you grew closer and eventually you confessed your feelings for her, however she giggled saying how she had planned on doing the same as well. The two of you getting together as you two travelled together after laios's ascension to be the new golden kingdoms king. However, Death once more made its presence known in the door of falins home, but instead of seeing her once more it decided to come calling the one person she hoped most it would never see for years.

The coughing was the first sign something was wrong, Falin was a gifted healer and so she used her magic to try and get rid of it...but it didnt work, no matter what she did that cough wouldnt go away, at most only disapearing for a day or so then coming right back. Its progression only getting worse and worse as she frantically tried to out heal the symptoms, each time she would try to heal you she would be in tears. messy tear drops falling down her cheeks as she would use her healing magic over and over and over till she herself would throw up from magic sickness.

By the time you had started coughing up blood you had to force falin to stop trying to heal you, you both knew it wasnt going to work and that she was just hurting herself and that broke your heart. the two of you laying together as you both sobbed at all of this..it wasnt fair, it wasnt right. How could something so awful happen to such an amazing and loving person....falin couldnt believe it could happen. Eventually you told her one night you had an idea. "Falin...i think the only way ill survive is if i go back to my world...and get help there."

It broke falins heart, because she knew deep down you were right...that the only hope you had was to go back to your world and get help there. Falin was quiet for awhile, her mind racing before she softly takes a hold of your hands. "Ok...if thats the case...IM GOING WITH YOU!"

She shouts confusing you, asking her if she is serious!? would she just leave this world behind? her nodding saying that your her world and wherever you go she wants to be right there with you. And besides, she cant loose you..

When you first showed up laios was excited about the possibility to learn about all new monsters in a whole new reality....however when you told him that monsters werent a thing he couldnt help but admit how your world seemed boring.

Despite that he adored you as the two of you grew closer and closer and eventually got together. You ruling the golden kingdom alongside him. The two of you ruling the kingdom together happily, Despite laios endless hunger and curse towards monsters he was happy. you help him deal with the stress of ruling the kingdom, But perhaps fate had one last curse in store for laios...or perhaps this was some aspect of the winged lions curse on him itself.

You started off with coughing, Laios noting it was likely a cold or something and asking falin or marcille to use healing magic to help..but it didnt work. You only continued to grow worse and laios grew more and more worried. He looked through his books about monsters trying to find something in them that might heal you. He had you drink multiple brothes, eat mixtures of vegetables and herbs, bath in some monster blood but nothing was helping. None of the medicinal properties of the various monster parts he would hire people to go get would work.

By the time you had started coughing up blood, laios had all but given up hope. Nothing was working, no matter what he did, no monster remedies could help, neither marcille or falins magic could help..and his own healing magic wasnt great. He would just sit by your bedside and cry into the sheets as he held you. Eventually though you spoke to him. "Laios...i think the only way ill live..is if i go back...the doctors of my world are more advanced...its the best chance i have."

It tore laios to pieces to hear this, he hated the idea of loosing you. he had almost lost his sister, and he was so afraid to loose you too. But he knew you were right, it was the best chance you had. He would join you if he could...but he couldnt, he had to rule over the golden kingdom. There was nobody else that could rule it in his place, He had to stay behind..and it ate him alive. He told you that he would always be yours, and that he would always think of you no matter what. And as long as you lived, thats all that mattered to him.

[thelunarfairy]

Heya!!!

So about chapter 120 that shattered all of us...

I couldn't help but wonder that when Nene called out for Hanako to help her and it snapped him out of what he was doing, do you think that means somewhere deep down Amane remembers? I'd like to think he does, but then when they were just talking before shit went down Amane's memories weren't jogged when Nene was first talking to him and calling him Hanako-kun. It didn't jog his memory when Nene was crying.

But it did when he almost killed her.

I don't know what to think honestly. And I'm forcing myself to focus on something else besides kou dying.

Oh, and also, why are people so mad when people are comparing teru & kou's situation to amane and Tsukasa's? Like AidaIro was clearly drawing a parallel here. And I'm fed up with the Fandom attacking itself yk?

Anyway happy Thanksgiving if you celebrate, and have a great day/night !!

Yes, Amane seems to be lost in his own memories, even when he was still Hanako, but it doesn't seem to be something definitive.

You can see that he remembers that something happened but doesn't know exactly what or why, so yes, it's as if his memory is on a threshold.

You know when you have that dream and when you wake up you forget what you dreamed but know that you dreamed about something? It's similar.

Hanako will probably need something very strong to make him remember, and of course, it will be problematic, after all, the entity will get in the way of the process.

Oh, don't worry about Kou, he'll come back.

It's like that with most of the JSHK arcs, it starts off happy, then comes the big drama, then a tragedy, then the resolution and in the end everything goes back to the way it was before.

It was like that with PP arc and the number six arc. Aidairo still needs Kou for a lot of things, not even Mitsuba who collects deaths has gone away, he always comes back.

It's a character development arc. So, it's going to take a while for Aidairo to start creating definitive deaths. This is the number one arc, so I would be worried if it was the twins arc, but that hasn't started and we don't know when it will.

Remember, at the end of this arc, number one will lose his Yorishiro, this arc is about him. We're seeing all this now because Aidairo wants to convince us that this reality is bad (and she's succeeding).

So don't worry about Kou now, he himself said he'll come back.

About the fandom, the Minamoto brothers and the Yugi brothers, well, yes, it's a kind of parallel.

Hanako killed Tsukasa because he became a supernatural (theoretically).

Teru exorcised Kou because he became a supernatural.

One thing we have to keep in mind is that Aidairo likes to work by making the characters deal with traumatic but necessary experiences for them to develop.

Teru is closed off, he hates supernaturals, even those he knows are not that dangerous or not completely supernatural. He even treats Akane with a certain contempt.

This is rooted in him for reasons we do not know yet. Teru's development follows a path that Kou himself decreed from the beginning, "if Teru could deal with the fact that someone he loves could become a supernatural".

He did not like the idea.

But this is where the good things are born.

This is the point of Teru's development, he is dealing with it firsthand. Feeling what it is like to have someone he loves as a supernatural and how his instincts made him exorcise Kou without thinking twice.

He is dealing with the pain of having exorcised his younger brother.

Just like Hanako had to deal with the murder he committed, he has not accepted it yet.

So, here's where Teru can develop in two ways: either he becomes more flexible about supernatural beings (like Kou wanted) or he will get more hatred for them.

No matter which side he chooses, it will still be a development.

How will Teru deal with his actions?

That's the question.

Seeing that Teru judged Hanako so much and did something similar, the parallel that Aidairo created so that Teru could understand Hanako a little, because he would never understand if he didn't go through it.

So we shouldn't create a war about this, it's just a necessary phase for Teru's development (and Kou's too).

For the character to develop, he needs to suffer, he needs to make mistakes, he needs to feel pain. The two brothers are dealing with this dilemma, while the older one hates supernaturals and says that the younger one is weak, Kou deals with the desire to become a supernatural because he got too attached to one of them and realized that not everything Teru says is true.

Still, Kou is really weak and he will probably realize that Teru was right in this, even though Kou's lack of training happened because Teru wanted to protect him.

An older brother who hates supernaturals And a younger brother who likes them to the point of wanting to become one.

Teru is dealing with this possibility in this reality Just like Kou is too. He is discovering that being a supernatural is dangerous, as Hanako said.

And maybe this is the fuel for Kou to have the courage to exorcise Mitsuba, when he understands that it is the best for him and he is suffering because Kou does not want to let him go - Just like Hanako does not want to allow Tsukasa to be freed.

The parallel here again?

See the importance of this moment, of Teru having exorcised Kou, see how many paths this action can take both of them.

Because one day Hanako said he was anxious for Kou to exorcise him, when he was ready.

And he probably will one day.

Kou needs to be strong to understand that there is no salvation for Mitsuba other than freeing him.

JSHK talks about this, about how love is giving freedom, and suffering for it.

So, everything that happened is for their development. Just like Teru almost died to protect Kou, and Kou had enough willpower to face and defeat number six, now it's Teru's turn to deal with it.

But in the end, they'll be fine.

That's how it ends.

At least for now.

Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wish the same for you!!!

[dykebelova]

Personnal opinion on Arcane Season 2.

This is my opinion on what went wrong in Arcane and why, after three years of waiting, I am mostly disappointed by how it ended, despite a strong season 1.

Ambessa was introduced way too early in the show, back in season 1. We already had so many complex plots going on and adding this heavy subplot in addition to the rest made the scenario messy and more complicated to follow.

Now don’t get me wrong, I loved all the lore around House Medarda and the development of Mel, but for me it deserved its own season or, quite simply, its own show. Focusing first on the conflict between Piltover/Zaun and — after it’s resolved — introducing Ambessa so we can switch to another huge plot while also introducing a new region, Noxus.

Making the show about how Hextech corrupts Viktor and Ambessa coveting this power was wrong, and it should’ve been kept as a subplot instead of being the main topic of season 2. Personally, I   am tired of “magic things corrupt people, people coveting this power, two cities initially fighting each other uniting their forces to defeat this evil” trope. It has been done a dozen times, and given how the first season was about Zaun being oppressed by Piltover, it’s not even bad writing or cliché, but wrong on so many levels.

Now what I think would’ve made season 2 better is if the writers had focused on trying to find a solution to make Zaun and Piltover coexist, without any discrimination, as equals. We needed the writers to address Vi's traumas; allowing her to be vulnerable around the people she loves the most; having actual meaningful conversations with Caitlyn or Loris. It would've been great to have Vi deepen her relationship with Loris, to see how they became close after their first encounter, and how come he became so loyal to her toward the end. Caitlyn should've made herself accountable for her actions; making a public apology toward Zaunites people about how she used police brutality to achieve her goals while blinded by grief, hatred, and vengeance; also, making a more personal apology to Vi in private, talking about how she felt, being honest with her. We needed Cait and Vi to have an open-hearted conversation in addition to the sweet physical touch. Them being finally a couple is great, especially when it comes to representation, but alas it was to the detriment of both characters’ development. It’s as if writers forgot characters can exist outside of their relationship.

Vi not pursuing Jinx when she was clearly suicidal is such an out of character moment that made no sense to me. Same for the fact that Vi apparently doesn't care about Maddie being Caitlyn’s side-chick. But as long as people have what they wanted the most (CaitVi sex scene), oh well… 

Please spare us all from the nonsense that so and so was clearly hinted at by this or that. Or worse, the condescending “do the writers need to spell out everything for you to understand?”. You can’t excuse lazy writing by calling everyone else dumb. And look at Christian’s interviews — is this who you’re trying to defend?

Surprisingly, the writers did an amazing job at the start of season 2 with Jinx. She was way more interesting than she had been in season 1, and she is one of the best characters of season 2. Unfortunately, she was inconsistent throughout the whole season.

The writers should’ve treated Jinx, Isha and Sevika’s relationship better and developed it more. Isha sacrificed herself and this wasn’t addressed at ALL during Act 3, which is crazy given how she had a huge impact on Jinx. It made her death unimpactful, practically useless, and it shouldn't have happened at all given how the situation has been handled. Tragedy can be really good, but you have to commit to it until the end or else it’s going to be ridiculous.

We also needed more of Vi and Jinx’s reconciliation; an actual dialogue on screen. Many important conflicts — such as Caitlyn and Vi’s reconciliation and their joint plan to trick Ambessa, or the reunion between Vi, Jinx and Vander — have been settled outside of the screen, which is clearly proof of lazy writing and that the characters have been underwritten throughout the whole season.

Jinx should’ve stayed a symbol of Zaun’s resistance against Piltover’s oppression, and her relationship with her followers should’ve been more developed as well. The story should’ve addressed how Sevika went from trying to unite Zaun as much as she could, despite the mess following Silco’s death, to people turning on her, even ignoring her, and only following and listening to Jinx.

(One minute of silence for this blue haired dark skinned diva that didn’t deserve to die as an enforcer, you were destined to greater things than what happened to you).

Speaking of Sevika, the fact that she didn’t utter a single word in Act 3, despite having a seat on the council, is absurd, especially considering the importance of her character. Having her seat on this council is even more insane given her history with Piltover. Teasing Act 3 on Twitter with a thirst trap poster of Sevika doesn’t sit right with me either when this is what happened to her character during it.

Arcane Season 2 Poster for Act 3

The characters were deeply underwritten, with wasted potential for some, all for the sake of fanservice. There were too many complex subplots added to the main story, which was already heavy. It feels like the writers completely lost the plot and couldn't understand their own characters, it’s disappointing.

[maythevoidnotscreamback]

My outrage given voice: The Shittenou were done so dirty!

It's very damn annoying to me and I hate it! Why the hell were the Shittenou not given a chance for a 'normal' life like Usagi wished for in the 90's anime; especially with the implication of the time of the first season repeating for the second and thus meant that they hadn't been nabbed for Beryl's/Metallia's purposes? Or even in the manga/reboot rather than kept as the stones they became after their deaths?

Like, what thoughts went into that? Why were the various relationships of the Shittenou changed so drastically, and not just between each other but their Prince and their Love Interests too? Especially when Mamo got a, technically, third chance to be with Usa after the first season's finale. The girls themselves have other love interests, I know, but you'd think that they'd at least be given the option to see if they were still compatible and part (hopefully) amicably if they weren't, rather than just have the view that they'll never have love or even a family. And, no, I don't count the "Parallel" world of the manga because it seems that they're right proper clones of their mothers rather than their own persons with thoughts, feelings and dreams like Chibi is. Yes, she's annoying and a frickin' Obnoxious Brat, but at least with that we know she's not Usa's clone just with pink hair and red eyes.

I remember watching the show growing up and never, not once, thinking they used to be love interests of the Senshi during the SilMil. Just that they were at the front of the invading army once that episode aired. Not to mention how my perceptions were fucked with beforehand because two of the four were in a relationship with each other (after one of them had been 'gender-bent'. Just...why?!) and a third was romancing a side character that had disappeared after the one episode she was in during the third season. Hell, the only reason I found out Sen/Shi was a Thing was due to the internet a while after watching the 'last' (for the North America viewing audience) episode of the fourth season. That pissed me right the fuck off.

I believe that shouldn't have happened. They could've done so much foreshadowing, maybe even a bit of character development, about the tragedy that would've been the Shittenou being killed off as the season went on once the SilMil's Last Day came about.

Like, think about it.

With Jad's constant disguises and schemes, it could've been that Rei, being a trained Miko, always seemed to find and flirt with him, because he was cute no matter his disguises, and then get mad about it because why?! is it always him?! she does that with?! The fuck?! And Jad's just like, 'How the hell does she keep doing this?!' before putting together that she must be an informer to the Senshi with the way they always show up when she does so he tries to keep her distracted in one form or another so his youma can do its job because she's too passionate and fiery to want to hurt or drain despite getting in his way so much. Beryl actually kills him off after his showdown with the Senshi, not listening when he says how he knows who they are, instead of being iced for his constant failures. (I never did get why he was singled out like that.)

With Neph's civilian identity of Sanjoin Masato, instead of Naru being the 'victim' of his 'manipulations', Makoto could've been brought in earlier and get to experience being treated like the young woman she is despite how other guys were put off by her strength and stature and just discovered she could transform just as or after he died. He still dies to Zoi's schemes but it's because, due to being around his Lady so much more than Jad was with Rei, he's starting to question what once he hadn't, especially if some dormant memories he hadn't known about break loose from their shadowy bonds, and so Beryl made out that he was defecting or losing sight of their goals so she didn't have to get her hands dirty.

With Zoi, 'cause I found it real annoying that only he could extract the Nijizuishou when the Moon Wand could also track them down but not get them out, Ami could've used her palmtop to scan whatever residue might've been left on the Wand, to also help look for the Carriers as Zoi did the same with his own tracking crystal. It could go that, because she does take her duties as a Senshi seriously and she's not all about school/studying despite her grades and work ethic and she's gonna prove it, she might get in trouble for 'stalking' while Zoi's just wondering what this cute but annoying brat is doing following him where she could get hurt - the Great Demon he awoke might very well kill her! - when in all reality she's trying to get close to the Carrier but this jerk-wad with the beautiful blond waves, because those are not curls as far as I'm concerned, in a ponytail keeps getting in her way! Shenanigans are had where they try to outsmart, trick or distract each other to get to the Nijizuishou first without outing themselves or her comrades. Zoi's killed by Beryl because when Ren's revealed and Zoi takes that hit with the Ginzuishou it purified him and left him unconscious, like Mamo is later in the season, and so taken to be "healed". I was thinking of how she seemed to be the one most hovering over Mamo while he was being converted to their side. She heard Zoi's fevered ramblings after being purified of the DK's taint, heard him talk about how 'This is wrong. We're loyal to Dymi, not Beryl. We serve a Prince, not a Queen. Where is he?' and made plans because she'd rather lose the General than waste the energy re-brainwashing him while Mamo is also being brainwashed. Kunzite's not a witness, just told in the aftermath that Zoi died due to complications of whatever the newly revealed Princess had done to him to leave him weakened and "delusional". That way Kunz is kept low-key scared of what the Princess might be able to do to him if she caught him in a moment of weakness, distraction or off guard. So that he never stuck around long enough or kept far to the back so that he wasn't healed even accidentally.

With Kunz, well... we all kinda-sorta saw how many times Minako seemed to fall into his traps meant to nab Usa, not to mention their own history while she was in London. And he's killed as in canon because he would not be tricked by the images and lies the Witches from the Sky tried to force into his head, an unintended side-effect of how the SilMil's Last Day was shown, especially regarding her (Venus), into betraying his Liege; completely unknowing that he, technically, already has!

[hanzajesthanza]

regis didn’t die because “he got drunk,” he died because he abandoned his principles.

regis swearing at stygga and vowing to “fuck this castle up” is not only disturbing for what it is, and who he is, but also because of who he is in the company.

it truly is the “i’m a healer, but…” meme, because regis is the voice of reason, moderation, and logic, advising geralt away from hasty decisions. he’s a self-reported coward and afraid of violence, and you know, he’s the doctor.

it’s not just his abandonment of his principle to not drink, but the abandonment of ALL of his principles—patience, rationality, goodwill, optimism—is what kills him.

this discarding of principles happens in the scene where he returns to the rest of the company and sees milva’s dead body, where he says he feels such strength to fuck up this entire castle.

this hasty, violent cursing of his comes before the scene with vilgefortz—it foreshadows his death owing to his hasty, violent attack of vilgefortz. it didn’t just come out of nowhere that he made a terrible decision. (i mean, his first terrible decision was to follow geralt in the first place but, eh.)

it’s not just because “he had been drinking”—the drinking is more of a side effect rather than a cause... (and “one should treat the cause, and not its symptoms…”)

since, to our knowledge, he had one drink before returning to see milva dead, and during that time seemed to be, more or less, regis as he was—he even cracks jokes to ciri before he realizes, ‘wait, maybe i scared her’—it is when he returns and has seen, is processing, milva dead, that he makes this suspiciously unhinged, out of character statement about “i feel such strength inside me,” “i could fuck up this entire castle.”

sure, he could have had a couple more drinks between these two scenes that sapkowski did just not deign to write of, but even if he had been totally plastered, i don’t think that that solely is what causes his downfall, his out of character viciousness and hastiness. remember that alcoholism is an addiction, and addictions re-emerge when one is faced with despair, loss, grief… and hopelessness. (and with blood already on his lips from the laboratory, it became that much easier to give in when having to confront this tragedy—the coping mechanism was already right back in his hands)

the hopelessness of losing milva at the portico of stygga castle broke them all, before they even went inside. and this death broke regis as we knew him, as the company’s optimist.

seeing milva dead was the death of his principles, his virtues, what he worked so hard for such a long time to hold himself to. because these principles became as worthless as his surgeon’s tools—in this citadel of death, there’s nothing you can do to save life, to preserve it, as he had done prior:

after her miscarriage, although they stayed in the lyrian-rivian corps of meve for five or six days, they had deserted—and deserted the barber-surgeons in that corps—in less than a week. consider then that it became once again, regis’ responsibility, as the company’s barber-surgeon and sole healer, to care for milva as she recuperated.

though dandelion notes she did so quickly as she was a hale and strong woman and her troubles were mostly emotional, one must consider the responsibility that not only a friend feels for his friend’s life, but how a doctor feels for his patient’s life.

and how he feels when that life heals slowly, recuperates with difficulty, suffers more (broken ribs) but continues to heal under care, finally becomes strong again and, like her namesake, a bird, released with pride into the air—only to be shot down immediately, glassy-eyed in her own blood.

milva for regis was a symbol of preserving life (indeed, an interesting symbol, as she suffers miscarriage). and between them, it was also, of course, a complete inversion of the mythology surrounding vampires and pregnant women.

but at stygga, she dies so immediately, so violently:

… and from something… something as inconsequential as any old bit of wood…

what kind of cruelty is it for life to be ripped away so quickly, by something so small, with no chance of saving? of healing?

but it’s nothing, because this is stygga castle. where healing becomes unusable. useless.

so regis leaves his healing at the doorstep—literally, upon the portico, where milva’s body was dragged back to by geralt and cahir, bleeding out in a dark pool.

and along with healing… his patience, moderation, mercy, kindness, wisdom… all of his virtues.

their virtues. the company’s virtues. since regis embodied this rationalist and optimist side of the company, when he abandons these principles of his, the entire company loses them;

because now, there is no one to advise them to “proceed slowly and with due prudence.” now, there is no one to placatingly say, “come, come, let there be concord.” now, there is no one to say, “of course we can, it is simply a matter of invention and positive thinking!”

the voice of reason has left us, he flew off on bat’s wings without a murmur or a whistle. now the voice only says — “i will fuck up this entire castle.”

i don’t think at stygga, in this scene and the one with vilgefortz, we’re seeing just a “regis, but drunk”. it’s deeper than that… because it’s not just his sobriety he broke, he broke everything—broken and shattered, like the collection of glass vials and flasks he shattered in his dramatic entrance to vilgefortz’s laboratory, exploding, bursting one after another. and from this erupts a hellish inferno of corpse-blue flames.

it’s not just “regis, but drunk” it’s “regis, but without patience, wisdom, kindness… etc…”

that’s why he’s so unlike the regis we’ve come to know during the series, why he at stygga becomes so unrecognizable to the readers—because he’s thrown away all of his beloved virtues that he strived to embody. and because “everybody has their good points, to even out the vices,” he became unbalanced, with his vices leading him. namely, his hubris, which often came out in a much more modest way during the rest of the saga—in a scholarly and lecturing tone of voice—but at stygga, comes out as an arrogant threat that he and he alone can and will fuck up this entire castle, an overconfident leap at vilgefortz’s throat.

and in my interpretation, it’s also not accurate to look at it like “this was actually the true regis,” “this was regis underneath it all,” because it’s not “how he was back then,” it’s not like he went back in time to be his past self. it’s not a reverting.

it’s more like coming full circle, for it’s milva’s death which triggers him to discard his principles, and he only got to know milva through his upholding of these principles. his actions towards her (namely his midwifery) showcase some of the best of what he became, owing to these principles of his.

and her presence, or rather the loss of her, makes him realize that all of his goodness is in vain and will be of no help here. and that is when a great hopelessness consumes him, and he throws out his goodness with a cold clatter to the ground—what use was any of this, after all? i cannot save her with medicine, i cannot save her with my principles, it all turned out to be useless.

and we’ve seen something like this already in the saga—it’s much like when ciri is in the korath desert and begins to think, everyone has abandoned me, the morality and ethics they taught me are utterly useless. and it takes her being in korath for her to get there, to break her spirit. the seed of this may have been planted in her at cintra, but her contempt didn’t fully erupt until after she had tasted the love, mercy, and kindness of geralt and yennefer’s parentage and saving of her—and then was suddenly deprived of it.

similarly, regis had a terrible youth, and yes, when he’s giving up his principles here, he’s returning to a similar state—but it’s not the same as if he had never experienced the entire arc following his rebirth into human life. it’s not a return to his youth, it’s more like… hm… a mid-life crisis? hah…

a metaphor of day and night is apt!

he’s not “reverting” at stygga—it’s like how dawn and dusk, though they are at similar light levels, are not the same thing, because they have the entire daytime inbetween them!

the sun sets with his discarding of principles, and we return to night… a cold, sinister, menacing, darkness. back to the realm of the vampire, not the human:

because he, the company, is suddenly deprived of their archer, who, just remember, they worked so hard to save on the battle of the bridge, milva, whom regis rushed towards and carried on his back, staying with her during her miscarriage.

and now, she’s utterly dead in such a violent manner, and actually, the arrow pierced her lower abdomen, possibly where her womb would be: “struck [her] low in the belly (…) having shattered her pelvis (…)” for the ultimate symbolism for her character.

and suddenly with her death, regis realizes how useless he is, to them, here, as a surgeon. he cannot save milva now like he did under the bridge. he can’t help, save any of them. he’s powerless.

and if not a surgeon, their surgeon, who is he?

and if not wise, patient, cautious, kind, gentle? if not always knowing what to do, ‘in his infinite wisdom,’ in his ‘omniscience’? if not humanity? what is left of emiel regis? what is left?

blood.

[ratective]

i luv baby sardonyx can you tell us more abt the family dynamic?? like garnet and pearls parenting styles... i feel like it'd be different than raising steven bc that's not loaded with rose's death (eyes emoji)

that’s true it’s an interesting thing to consider!!

i feel like having sardonyx would give both of them a better idea on how to treat a child, gem or human! (and save steven from more trauma from her moms)

before steven i feel like raising sardonyx (and amethyst by extent) would’ve been a team effort. rose pitched in a LOT and was almost the third mom to her, almost like pearl and garnet were a parental influence to amethyst in many ways. so while there were challenges of raising a baby, because everyone pitched in it created a more chill environment; pearl wasn’t messed up from rose’s death yet but she was still prone to anxiety, except this time if garnet was away on a mission, there was rose to comfort her and the other way around

garnet took it upon herself to take care of everyone. she wasn’t the one to have the baby so she opted to take care of everything else she could for pearl. she took on the role of the protector of their family so pearl and rose could spend as much time together with the baby while she took care of gem business and keeping any humans away. that was when garnet got more serious and goal oriented like in the series, it just happened before she became the leader so i guess you could say she had some practice this time lol. she felt a little guilty that pearl had to handle everything on her own so she did what she could to make things easy for her

pearl was a stay at home mom, but not for long. the baby needed her constant attention (idk how gems would feed their babies; maybe she fed her rocks idc) sardonyx was a very clingy baby and didn’t like not being able to see her mom so pearl always carried her around since contact was so important to her. she got very attached and very protective so it was a good thing she had rose and garnet around to let the baby grow more independent with time

those roles weren’t set it stone as pearl still wanted (and often needed) to go out on missions and garnet would happily drop everything to coo at the baby but this dynamic worked for them well, especially after rose died

with rose gone and steven with greg they reverted into that safe order of things. pearl enjoys domestic chores and sardonyx wasn’t a baby anymore but still pearls little shadow so she found comfort in staying at the house they built, cleaning cooking and anything to take her mind off of the tragedy.

garnet detached herself from their family, not wanting to fall apart on anyone like pearl did. she became distant, more laconic with her orders and pearl and amethyst quickly clung to that facade of strength and stability. pearl became dependent on her, she stopped taking initiative as much and resolved to trusting garnet make the right decisions.

garnet hated that. she was suddenly the pillar holding everyone up. that goes pretty much like in the show. garnet always does her best to put on a smile for sards (and steven) but they both know it’s hard on her too. Sardonyx noticed the shift in their behavior and i guess that dynamic after roses death was the closest thing the crystal gems had to a nuclear family

once sards got older and steven moved in with them things changed a bit. they had to juggle their attention between yet another kid

garnet is pretty much how she is with steven; an overprotective mama bear in general but tries very much to not hinder sardonyx’s independence. she’s stern, especially once sardonyx has grown into a “teenager” but she aims for sardonyx to be able to figure out her own problems. she always tries to put on a chill face but her future vision feeds her terrible visions as always 😓

pearl and sardonyx relationship worsened in many ways, similar to amethyst. they’re too similar and have the same stress response only sardonyx got the mix of pearl and garnets anger issues and bad anxiety. she blows up over small details and shuts herself off which makes it harder for anyone to reach her…they both love each other but mom daughter relationships are so tricky 💔

[maverick-wingman]

Broken Skies (Bradley Bradshaw x Mitchell!Reader) Sneak Peek

Note: This is a redo of my Bradley Bradshaw Sneak Peek. This is more of a prequel rather than a sneak peek this time. Mel - “one who is fearless and daring.” 

Warnings: Nothing big, maybe angst, other than a brief mention of death, possible military inaccuracies. Not grammar/spelling checked.

Masterlist | Sneak Peek | Chapter 1

You and Bradley Bradshaw grew up together, rarely ever leaving each other’s side. Your dad is Pete Mitchell; your mom left not long after you were born thinking that she was not fit for this lifestyle. Pete raised you with the help of his best friends Nick and Carole Bradshaw. They have a son, Bradley, who is only two years older than you, but that didn’t change the fact that you two became best friends. Whenever Pete and Nick had to go on deployments you stayed with Carole and Bradley. Carole treated you as if you were her own; Bradley treated you like his little sister, holding your hand when going outside, comforting you when you miss Pete, playing any game you want, you name it. Pete and Nick made a bet that when you and Bradley grew up, you will end up together.

Everything was going great until tragedy struck the Bradshaw family. Bradley lost his dad, now it was your turn to comfort him. You were not old enough to understand everything, but you knew when Bradley was sad. From this, you and Bradley became even closer. Pete did everything he could to be there for Carole and Bradley, at the same time raising you. The other’s from the Top Gun class did what they could to chip in. 

Things started getting better. Before you know it, you joined Bradley in high school. He was still your best friend. He didn’t care that his best friend was a freshman when he was a junior. He was your ride to and from school, he walked you to class whenever he was able to, even waited for you after class. He would scare off anyone that made you uncomfortable. He even asked you to every school dance. Carole thought it was the cutest thing in the world and had collections of photos and home videos, while Pete always joked about whether or not it was time to attempt scaring Bradley, with the “treat my daughter right or else” talk, but deep down he knew Bradley would never hurt you. You started developing a crush on Bradley, but not wanting to ruin the friendship, you kept it to yourself. Little did you know, Carole saw through it right away. The way you look at Bradley is the same way she look at Nick, it was love. 

That’s when things took a turn for the worse. Bradley lost his mother; you lost your only mother figure, Pete lost another person that means so much to him. You were there for Bradley throughout everything; Pete had Bradley move in to live with you and him, promising Carole and Nick to take care of Bradley no matter what. 

Before you know it, Bradley started applying for the Naval Academy. This scared Pete. You were sad and scared, but at the same time happy for him. You understood he wanted to be like his dad, follow in his footsteps, to be a naval aviator. You wanted to be just like your dad too. You both made a promise to join the naval academy and make it to Top Gun, and that he will wait for you. Remembering his promise to Carole and not wanting to lose anyone else close to him, he made the bold decision of pulling Bradley’s paper, ignoring countless advice from his wingman, Tom Kazansky. Bradley was so angry when he found out, some of that anger going onto you. 

“Why did you let him pull my papers?! You are trying to get me out of the picture so you can get ahead, aren't you?!” Bradley shouted at you. You were confused and hurt at the same time. You didn’t know what your dad had done. You were hurt that Bradley would think that low of you. Before you can get a word in, Bradley had stormed out of the house. That night, as you laid in your room still upset about what happened earlier in the day, you heard your dad and Bradley arguing back and forth. You heard the door slam, not knowing that was the last time you saw Bradley. 

Months went by, you continued to try to get in contact with Bradley but nothing ever went through. But life went on, it was now your turn to submit an application to the Naval Academy. This scared Pete even more, he already lost so many people, he didn’t want to lose you too, his only daughter. He wanted to pull your papers too, but this time Iceman stopped him from making another mistake. He wasn’t going to let his wingman lose another kid. “She’s ready, Mav. You have to let go. We’ve taught her everything she needs to know.” Reluctantly, he listened to his wingman this time. 

Time flies. Before you know it, you were graduating from the naval academy, then you were going onto flight school. Pete and Tom couldn’t be more proud. Turns out you fly just like your dad and Tom, fearless, a bit reckless, makes no mistakes, but also has a hint of cautiousness, earning the callsign Mel. 

 They tried to keep tabs on Bradley as much as possible. Of course they were proud of him too, and they know his parents would’ve thought the same. Soon, you found out that you would be attending Top Gun. You finally made it. He never did contact you, but your dad kept you up to date. Turns out he will be in the same class as you. Maybe you’ll be able to rekindle your friendship with Bradley.

Taglist: @alluringshawn @anurst @urmomssidehoesposts @sarahjoestewy-blog @adoringsebstan @70spadfoot @khaylin27

@littlebadariell

[katyspersonal]

Oh boy, more asks..

These are some... strong words, but you are not exactly wrong about it! It is hard to grapple with. Where exactly "We should respect many things being open to interpretation in Elden Ring" stops and "You people did not play the same game tho" starts? You are not wrong about it at least being 'boring'. What use would be the story through this reading? Obviously, the tragedy of cycle of revenge and becoming the very thing you promised to destroy is a story with more importance and depth than..... than..... uuuuugghHHHH

.....ok sorry I might have overreacted. BUT, I have my limits. What if I told you that trying to uplift the weight of the genocide by either dehumanising the species or finding an 'unavoidable reason' to do it is extremely poor taste. What then.

I suppose that a deeper reasoning here is how normal it became to see fandomry as moral act. The girls go into new interests and see stuff like 'war criminal', 'murderer', 'sex offender', 'committed/complicit in a genocide', 'abuser', 'fascist' etc etc as an obligation to hate the character! From which follows both desperately trying to prove that something is inherently wrong with fans of this character AND feeling in danger if THEY like this character! So what follows? Right, character should be "protected" from "slander"! A kind of behavior that does NOT belong in Fromsoft fandoms, but literally every other fandom IS like this so I am not surprised if people carry this disease here from their previous interests! I can't even judge it because in many cases people did have a reason to be worried about harassment because fandom inquisition would treat their morally grey or black fictional favs as testimony of their beliefs!

Again, maybe I am reading too deep into it? I am just really old, therefore I saw the fandoms as we know them these day at their birth. How that behaviour happened and how it developed. Yes, personal preferences and simply not wishing your fav to be hated are big factors when such things happen!

But I think we NEED to try and think what the writer tried to tell us! What IS the purpose of telling the story where the survivor of something unspeakable returns a long time later to wage a "war with no grace or honor" that gets countless innocent people killed? Would Miyazaki write a story that excuses fascism and genocide?

Nonetheless, so many people just not really think through this lense: why would author write this? A genius writer with multiple masterpieces under his belt before Elden Ring, consistently criticising all the ways society and humanity can go corrupted or monstrous? Would he focus on how wrong the Crusade was just to make Marika and Messmer good guys here, or focus on how cruelly Marika treated the last Fire Giant, after a war with 'Fire of Ruin that could burn the Erdtree' for you all to say she had good intentions in it? 'Death of the author' should have always stayed just a narrative method, as opposed to fandoms deciding to miss the point for the whole past decade!

...And the most frustrating part is that they'll treat those who simply demand more lore accurate reading of the story and characters, without even any moral weight to it, as "omnipresent problem", when going anywhere near Youtube, Reddit and Twitter attempting to avoid Marika defence is like that scene from animated Snowwhite and Seven Dwarves where heroine ran through the dark woods and something horrid would show up no matter where she pokes her nose!

But, look, anon, you are doing That Thing. You are upset at the way some DLC reveals had changed the things in the fandom, when it is not the fault of the DLC. Even before SOTE, there was the whole infight about 'wow Marika is like Gwyn but somehow more evil' vs 'she is just a puppet of Greater Will that wants to rebel'. Such complex characters just tend to attract falling into one extreme or another! One side, likewise, was saying that she was unfairly vilified even when criticism was valid, another was snapping at them saying they woobified her-

Again: just because we as a fandom are not ready for the concept of 'tragic backstory makes a character more realistic than someone bad just because they're bad' does not mean that writers should not make stories like this! I know I am one hell of a misanthrope that can't care less about the "community", but I think somewhere deep down, even I believe we could be better and help each other to improve! People who decided that character is just bad without sympathetic traits and will side-eye anyone who says otherwise are a HUUUUUGE pain, but so can be people who take any criticism as a personal attack!

_________________________

(The post in question: ( x ))

Eh, I am glad that you liked my analysis, anon; It is strangely a second instance ever since SOTE came out where I get anon approvals over "actually analysing lore for what it is instead of using popular headcanon or theory" (first was about Nanaya)! I do not check fandom beyond what ends up on my feed, just never had that habit, but are things actually this drastic?

Regarding your confusion, I think it became widespread because a very popular artist started to draw/write a lot of this fanon? Personally, I absolutely dread when it happens in the fandoms; when it is not a singular popular person on Twitter OR Youtube, it is a group of "cool kids" on some community Discord or whatever, but the resulting hegemony of the same takes/designs/ships/preferences/etc is always there! Don't get me wrong, I am a boring unimaginative autist whose only talent is over-analysing a videogame, HOWEVER. In the places where canon goes vague and one should apply their own creativity, I'd rather see variety of interpretations! Not something that can be helped: most fans, especially the new ones, will adopt popular takes without scrutiny in order to socialise faster and be noticed. It is a self-feeding cycle that you can only escape when you block out all fandom influence and try to look by yourself!

And, well, I guess this is what I do? I try to make sure I don't have any biases besides 'what makes more sense', 'what works better', 'what has more evidence' and 'what author most likely implied'! I guess this is how I ended with "acknowledging the actual relationship" as you've put it! 'Knowing' is a very loud word for Fromsoft lore, yet these games give you limited amount of ingredients and despite there not being a recipe, you would still not try to cook a cake seeing ingredients clearly meant for a soup! Or is it for salad? Or lasagna...? Well, it is not for something sweet, right?

[thekingofwinterblog]

Thoughts on people saying "Kuina dieing to the stairs is anti-climatic!" To me it works, because that seems to be the conflict of Zoro's ark: pipe dreams vs cruel, sometimes even banal, reality - Kuina feared that she wont reach her dream do to simple biology, and she died because of something that could happen to anybody who is human and not a demigod - hell Zoro in the end is also a human, so what are the chances that he has the best swordfighter genes?

Guess the only flaw could be that in Arlong park the fishmen were said to be 10* stronger than humans, so by Zoro easily defeating them it kinda proves the point mute and makes Kuina sound like a brat "Well a man is 1.6 times stronger than a man, but fishmen are 10 times stronger, and I defeated the ez gg, git gud"

I really like Kuina and her story, but there is no denying that the original message it was trying to convey has been diluted HARD by One Piece's later developments.

The message of the tragedy of Kuina's death is indeed that simple, Banal reality is very much a thing that can upend pretty much anything. It's basically the same message of Usopp's backstory. his family's plans fell to pieces for the simple reason that his mother got sick and died after his dad left. no grand battle, or dramatic circumstances behind that. she just got sick and died.

It is very similar to Kuina's death, in how ambition, plans, and desires of Humanity can be derailed by mundane and cruel reality. That is life. To claim othervise would be naive. People Die.

That part still holds up.

The other big part does not. Namely her father's line "Humans are fragile beings Zoro."

The thing about this line, and it's importance in the context of One Piece has been destroyed over time to such a degree that rather than the feeling of grounded reality that it once brought, instead brings laughter by how untrue it actually is.

Early One Piece had a much, much less uncomfortable relationship with death than the Modern series which is terrified of killing people off.

This is not to say that tons of characters died, on the contrary, not counting flashbacks and chapter 1, you can probably count the people who died in East Blue on one hand(I can only recall Zoro's skinny opponent during the Kuro Arc), but Death was treated in a very different manner than it would be later.

When Oda had this random bandit gunned in the head in chapter 1, it was to set a tone. None of these characters are playing around, wheter they were pirates, bandits, marines or bounty hunters. They lived in a world where getting killed in a fight was a very real and expected risk.

When Usopp gets laughed at by the Black Cat Pirates, Luffy throws a huge boulder at them, and tells them in no uncertain terms that if they laught at him again, he WILL kill them all.

In the context of this world, Kuina's story has very specific point. Namely it's there to showcase that even if you do overcome your doubts and fears, and do commit to chasing your dreams, that is no guarantee for success.

You can still die, and in the stupidest ways, because this is not a universe where death is cheap. It does not take much to kill a human being.

This is also hammered in with what happened to the cook Pirates, a strong, and experienced crew that sailed and survived the Grand Line, and seemingly the New World as well... And they went down toa single, wave in the East blue they hadn't positioned the ship for.

despite their strength they went down like complete chunks.

Just like Kuina.

With all of this in mind, within the context of East Blue, Kuina's Death by a broken neck makes sense from a thematic standpoint.

If you look at it from beyond that era, and into the grand line, where death became as cheap as salt by the sea, it instead makes her going down to something as simple as falling down the stairs and breaking her neck, as something frankly hilariously silly, given just how many characters in this series cheats death, in the dumbest ways possible.

I could make a list of characters who the story would be better off if they died, and i would literarily be able to put up a list with at least over a hundred characters.

The simple fact is that the old tone where death is treated as a serious thing that can happen in any fight, is dead and gone, and has been for a long, long time in One Piece.

Thus removing one of the big thematic points of Kuina's death.

As for the other point, Kuina's actual strength, I dont really see that as a problem.

The Reality is that neither Kuina, nor Zoro knew ANYTHING about the "Real World" so to speak. That was mostly what Mihawk's entire speech during his and Zoro's fight was about. The fact that he was a big frog at the bottom of the well, who had never seen just how wast the world actually was.

While she was at a disadvantage in terms of the fact that her training would begin to produce slower results than Zoro's due to simple biology, the reality is that the strength ceiling of One Piece seems to be the same for men and Women.

After all, Big Mom was by all accounts just as strong as Kaido, able to fight him to a very comfortable draw withouth any greater injury.

Hell, you could make a very good argument that the reason why Big Mom never managed to surpass Whitebeard and had to settle for just being one of the other Yonko who were not the Strongest Man in the World, was because she let herself go really, really hard. Who knows how strong she might have become if she had kept herself in shape rather than just indulge in hedonism completely and become utterly decadent.

There is also the reality that Kuina is drastically underselling her own strenght and potential, because by all accounts, Kuina was a monster in her own right.

Zoro used to train by lifting boulders over his head while training to fight her.

And Kuina was stronger than him. and not by a small amount either given her unbroken 2001 win streak.

Her greatest problem was, at the end of the day that despite being blessed with immense natural skill and strength(much moreso than Zoro) she had a fragile self esteem, in large part caused by her father's upbringing that told her she was destined to failure.

Her story was about overcoming that, and her tragedy was about the fact that after doing so, her dream was still snuffed out to something completely unrelated to any of her worries or struggles.

[sokkastyles]

ATLA LA Ep2 Let's go:

I love that they kept a lot of the original music, but one thing I could have done without is the generic three-note chord to signal a cut to a scene with a villainous character. Those specific notes have been parodied too often for me to take it seriously. It's one thing that always jarred me in the original and it is especially jarring in live action to hear music that signifies a cartoon villain is about to walk on screen.

Zuko throwing things and chewing the scenery my beloved

"He ran! He's a coward!" I do love the angle of Zuko being confronted with the reality of what he thought would be a glorious destiny. There are two reasons Zuko associates not fighting with cowardice. One is because of what he believes about the fire nation as a whole, but also because of what his father made him believe about himself.

I do like that Aang is identifying that controlling the Avatar State is a problem he needs to solve. It gives me hope that the writers are trying to actually flesh out that plot point where the original failed. I don't like that there's been no mention yet of him needing to learn waterbending. Which brings me to...

Yes, Katara, it IS unbelievable that you've learned waterbending in a day all because Aang said some mumbo to you about energy. That's why I don't believe it. Katara does grow fast in the original, too, but it still feels organic. Here it doesn't and once again, it feels like they are giving that credit all to Aang and I hate that. I also hate that this is Katara's motivation rather than the Katara who took it upon herself to make sure the Avatar learned waterbending whether he wanted to or not.

There is something missed by Kanna giving Katara the waterbending scroll. Idk, trying not to compare to the original because I did want Kanna to be more active in Katara's life. But I get the same feeling of loss here as Aang already having Appa's whistle. Those two things in the original were part of a point about the tragedy of cultural attrition, that Aang has to buy back a cultural artifact that the seller does not even know the true meaning of, that Katara has to steal hers from pirates who already stole from her culture. It also begs the question that if Kanna had that scroll the whole time, why didn't she show it to Katara before, who was so desperate to learn waterbending?

Zuko talking about being gone three years, clearly ecstatic at the thought that his banishment will come to an end, while Iroh looks like he's about to send his son to his death for the second time. Kudos to the actors' faces expressing so much in that one scene.

The actor for Sokka is very good-looking.

Aang and Katara playing in the water was cute, but they seem even farther apart in maturity here than in the original. Even that scene comes across as a much older sister honoring a young child. I don't get a sense of Katara as someone yearning to be a child.

She's not wrong about the Avatar bringing connections, but Aang showing off isn't really the best illustration of that concept.

Okay, so, I saw some people complaining about Suki wanting to leave home "because of a boy" and like, that also happened in the original. What feels kinda pat here is that we've also added overprotective mom to the mix, which I don't love. When I said I wanted Suki's mom I meant I wanted to know how Suki became a warrior, I wanted to see more women bonding with other women and women's autonomy being treated as normal. Not whatever this is.

So they don't already know Zhao here? That's less interesting. Also "actual royalty." Another log to keep the "Zhao is a royal bastard" theory burning. Heh, burning.

Sokka is still a prick about girls fighting, everyone can rest easy now. Also his reaction when Suki tries to flirt with him the same way he does with her is exactly how that would play out in real life.

Aang avoiding fighting out of fear of his own power adds an interesting dimension to his character which is only briefly touched on in the original.

Zuko and Katara 1v1 yes!!!

Katara flashbacking to her mom's death during her first real fight is a nice touch.

KYOSHI!!!

Zhao wasn't very impressive until Zuko accidentally gave him a foothold, then that shit-eating grin was great.

I'll hold off on really commenting on this because I haven't gotten that far yet, but I heard that Ozai is more willing to praise Zuko here and it just does not make a lot of sense to me, not only because that is not how that kind of parent works, but also because hearing the news from Zhao, who would 100% play up Zuko having discovered and then LOST the Avatar, would just make Ozai see Zuko as more of a failure for having come close. Unless Zuko does something spectacular in the next few episodes I don't see Ozai being impressed.

[kusakiguzen]

Helppp...

Mafia step- brother x reader: This is a fairly popular concept on wattpad and even youtube. I haven't found any good ones so i want to write it in my style. Now for the summury Y/N was the middle child of - and - with a twin brother- and a younger sister -. They were a close knit family until tragedy struck where her father died protecting her younger sister. Your twin, being the man of the house decided to take over his dad's legacy of protecting the family, who were weak. But in the process forgetting about you since you knew how to defend yourself, thanks to your father. One day tired of the neglect, you leave home to clear your mind, only to find a man on the brink of death, who refused to go to the hospital. After treating him with limited medical supplies, He revels to be your fathers old friend. How will Y/N's life change? Will she find happiness on the new path that she takes? Or regret it for the rest of her life?

This was just something that came to mind after writing my recent 8th member fic. Summery: You joined Hybe along with BTS, befriended them, Helped them, Became famous, They fall for you. The only difference is you were an idol in your past life as well and returned to the past with all the modern knowledge. Basically the same concept just a few story difference.

This came to mind while reading the manhwa " Death is the only Ending for the Villainess" so the Summery: Y/N was adopted in the family to be the fake daughter, running after her family's affection. She poisions herself after one of her brothers tell her she is better off dead, Reader wakes in the body, Does everything in her power to avoid them but they now want her attention. Will she give it to them? What will happen if the real daughter comes back?