#when you limit a character to one role that you want especially from canon it's like you're not really understanding that character

[epickiya722]

Actually, thinking about it...

It's something that some of the fandom refutes the idea of Gojo being a "dad" and one of the reasons being his age and/or just how he behaves.

But then that makes no sense to me because dads can be total goofs like Gojo, you know doing silly things with their kids and...

I have yet to see anyone shut down the idea of Nanami being "like a dad".

"But, Kiya, he is like a dad!"

True, but let's not act as if other family members don't act like Nanami, too, especially if they have to take up the "parent role".

He's more serious than Gojo, but that doesn't mean serious = parent. I can be serious with my siblings as I am the oldest. So if Gojo is the "silly big brother", Nanami can't be the "serious big brother"?

Nanami is also younger than Gojo. So to even bring up Gojo's age as a way to disagree with the Dad-jo agenda seems pretty... useless if you're a person who sees Nanami like a dad.

Mind you, Gojo is the eldest out of the Past Arc students. (Gojo, Geto, Nanami, Haibara, Ieiri and yes, I am also including Ijichi.) He would have just turned 13 and Nanami would have been 12 when Megumi was born.

Personally, I don't care if you see Gojo as a dad, uncle, brother, cousin - figure to any of the kids or just their teacher. Same goes for Nanami.

It just seems unfair to both characters, I guess, to be like "hey, he can't be like this and the other has to be like this".

Like, who said that person has to exhibit those specific traits to be in a role?

To me, at the end of the day, both Gojo and Nanami are mentors who also allow the students to feel what it is like to have some adult figure in their life who does care and protect them.

[hunter470]

My 9-1-1 RANT

Ok, I don’t normally do these types of posts, but I can’t move on until I get some things out. These are just my thoughts about the latest episodes of 9-1-1 as well as overall comments on the Buck/Tommy relationship. These opinions are mine and are based on the countless hours of TV I’ve watched in my 54 years on this planet, as well as my knowledge of writing and how Hollywood operates. I’m not confirming that any of this is true or are the real intentions of anyone involved with the show. Just my opinions. So, you can agree with me or not. I’m not trying to persuade anyone in any way. Also, I’m not going to get into endless arguments about my opinions but feel free to comment if you want, I just don’t promise I’ll reply. 

Ok, here we go. Sorry it’s so long. Like I said earlier, I just needed to get it out. So many wasted opportunities.

If you think TM cares what the fans want, you’re seriously kidding yourself. If he did, Buddie would have been canon a long time ago. The only thing he cares about is ratings and his vision for the show, which can change at a moment’s notice with no rhyme or reason as we’ve seen. 

Although I loved Buck and Tommy together, I knew the show wouldn’t do their story justice. So, no matter what TM or OS have said, the bi story was only to garner publicity, draw in new viewers, and increase ratings especially with the show moving to a new network. There was no altruistic reason behind it so don’t kid yourself. They knew there was an audience for the story because of all the Buddie shippers. Just remember, it’s called show business, not show friends for a reason.

Do you think OS really cares about bi representation? Based on his latest comments and non-apology it’s obvious he only cares about getting the stories that garner him the most screen time and press. Seriously, read his latest interviews. He’s excited to get to have fun now. So, congrats OS, Buck gets to F around. Just shows how most, if not all, actors are ego driven no matter what they say. Sorry not sorry.

TM has commented that he doesn’t owe anyone anything. In fact, I recall him saying to Buddie fans if they don’t like it, read fanfiction. If that didn’t clue you in, then you weren’t reading the room. Kinda reminds me of another show runner…for those who watched H50 you know who I’m talking about. That’s why I don’t get heavily invested in these shows. I’ll watch but I never expect anything I like to last…especially if it has to do with gay relationships.

It says a lot that the show remained completely silent about the bullying and death threats Lou received just for playing a role he was happy to play. Again, they really didn’t care because they knew he wasn’t going to be there after episode six. What a great message for all the bullies…just keep bullying and you’ll get what you want. 

Again, reread OS’s interviews. He was doing the Hollywood double speak. Says just enough to keep you hooked with hope to get you to watch even when he knew all along it wasn’t lasting. It really was as clear as day if you go back and read what he said. 

Also, if you thought Buck was going to get into a meaningful long-term relationship, then you didn’t watch the video from the You Tuber “Call Me Chato” that TM posted on his Facebook. The video was all about characters and how they should always stay fundamentally the same with minimal development - I’m paraphrasing. However, Buck is the golden retriever, heart so big it gets broken, character who will remain on a hamster wheel and unlucky in love because that’s who he is. If he changes too much it shifts the dynamic, which only happens if the show was ending. 

If you thought the writers would do justice to a bisexual story, then you haven’t been watching the show closely. There’s been minimal Buck/Tommy relationship development on screen. Taylor got more. Viewers were lucky to get crumbs in the limited screen time Buck and Tommy got. Then, a breakup out of left field? One minute Buck is saying Tommy is it for him and he wants him to move in, and then it’s over? If he truly felt deeply for Tommy, why not fight to keep him? Why give up so easily and let him walk away? What’s the point? Also, to end it on a terrible stereotype is yet another clue. Horrible writing and another sign that TM and OS had zero investment in the relationship. The whole break up was rushed and made no sense. Essentially, it was just used to draw people in and to get Buck single and sleeping around again because that’s who he is. I for one won’t care for any of Buck’s future relationships. I mean, why would I when they never last. 

Also, writers that give you a 66-year-old police sergeant and a 10 y/o boy landing a heavily damaged plane on an active freeway in LA with no prior training, and sorry playing video game flight simulators is not training, is some Sharknado level writing, which is not a compliment. Oh, and that whole story was truly the shows “jumping the shark” moment. If you don’t know what the term “jumping the shark” means, look it up and try to tell me I’m wrong. 

Not having Tommy involved in the three part premier episodes, other than a few minutes at a birthday party, was so obvious as to the show’s intent. I mean, the fake captain from Hotshots got more screen time. 

They claim they wanted someone for Buck that was connected to him and the 118 and then you don’t use the character at all. You wanted Buck off the hamster wheel? What a crock! Such a wasted opportunity.

Since it’s been confirmed episode 6 was filmed before 5, Tim’s just playing god with peoples’ feelings and crushing their hearts at this point. I mean, how do you have such a great episode (5) and a wonderful speech by Josh (6) just to break them up? Plus, having Tommy break up after six months? That man was all in, which was obvious in episode 5.

Guess it shouldn’t be a surprise that’s how TM would handle things after that horrible Tarlos breakup. At least on Lone Star we knew Rafa (Carlos) was a main cast member so there was hope. Lou was a guest star so it seems kinda final based on his interviews. Again, what was the point? They could have had Buck's bi revelation be with a random character. So, building up the Buck/Tommy relationship just to take it away was to inflict the most pain. Good job. 

Do I think the show will make Buddie canon? Who knows…one thing I do know is I wouldn’t trust them if they did. Also, even if Tommy somehow returns, I don’t trust TM with anything related to this story. Sure, hope he’s happy with ruining the show for so many people. Again, like another show runner I mentioned in item 4 above. Honestly, I can’t believe the Buddie fans have stayed for so long. That’s commitment, I guess. 

Do I think Lou should go back to 9-1-1? Hell no! He was screwed over by both TM and OS. Prove it to me otherwise. However, it’s up to him and of course, he loves acting so I wouldn’t blame him.

Finally, even though I’ve watched the show since the beginning, it no longer brings me joy. There are too many other TV shows to stick with one I no longer enjoy. So yes, I’m announcing my departure, and I don’t give an F what OS, you, or anyone else thinks about it. Not that any of this matters any way…

[linkspooky]

So I was genuinely surprised last week when we were finally shown Megumi's mental state inside Sukuna and he was predictably at his lowest point ever, and instead of sympathy from the fans most of the responses on twitter I saw were people mocking him.

Which I am going to assume comes from a misunderstanding as his character. You see Megumi doesn't fit into the role of the black haired supporting protagonist / rival well. He's not Sasuke, he's not Uryu Ishida, he's not Yuno but he's not meant to be a rival or even a typical shonen character who's progress is only measured by a series of power ups. Megumi is perhaps one of the most subtly written characters in the manga, and perhaps he's hard to sympathize with because he doesn't fit into easy to udnerstand shonen tropes. Which is why I will try to explain his arc below and why Jujutsu Kaisen does it like no other manga currently running.

1. Meet Potential Man

Let me introduce you to the worst meme on twitter.

Megumi's inability to live up to his potential to reach his full power as a sorcerer is probably his biggest flaw, one that is rightfully called out by the narrative again and again, but apparently an intentionally written character flaw is bad writing.

It's covered in Gojo's "Swing for the fences" speech.

Gojo notices Megumi bunt in the baseball game and decides to confront him about it later. He highlights that while bunting is alright in baseball, and it's good to sacrifice yourself so your teammates can advance in a team sport that being a sorcerer is a solo sport. No matter what Megumi is going to reach a point where he's forced to fight alone, and instead of trying to push himself to be as strong as he can be he intentionally limits himself to cooperate with the sorcerers around him.

Basically, the opposite of Gojo who literally cannot fight with other sorcerers because he won't be able to fight at full strength as they just get in the way.

It's not just that Megumi can't use the ten shadows to its full potential, something pointed out by Sukuna, and then later again by Gojo, it's also that he always prioritizes either the group or someone else above himself when trying to decide how to act. Megumi is a semi-decent strategist so this is not necessarily a bad thing, but because of Megumi's tendency to care more about trying to live up to other people's expectations towards him, and what other people need of him rather than his own needs he doesn't have the attitude necessary for sorcery, especially since the strongest sorcerers don't take others into account at all and act like living calamities.

Megumi doesn't look at himself, he looks at the people around him. He judges himself based on what the people around him want from him, not what he wants. This is going to be a continual theme in his arc.

Sukuna is a living calamity, the definition of the attitude a strong sorcerer has, Gojo Satoru wields sorcerery only for himself, and is a sorcerer because he finds exorcising curses and using his god given talents to be fun for him.

Megumi's reason for fighting, his self worth, are all much, much less than the strongest characters in this series which is why he continually fails to live up to his potential. It's not because Gege is not good at writing or Megumi is a disappointing character, but rather he's been written as someone with tremendous potential under the pressure to live up to that potential but who continually fails to do so. Megumi's low self-esteem, low self-worth, and lack of self-identity explains both his failure to progress as a sorcerer something that requires selfishness and self-identity to reach greater heights in, but also his tendency to pick the suicide option with Mahoraga because Megumi genuinely believes compared to the others even just his classmates his life is simply worth less.

So potential man, is an intentionally written character flaw already called out in canon. The more interesting question is why does Megumi fail to live up to his potential.

2. Meet The Original Potential Man

So, I said that Megumi is not like a lot of characters in Shonen Jump but that doesn't mean he's entirely unique. To help explain Megumi's inability to live up to his potential I thought it would be helpful to compare him to a character he's clearly inspired by.

Killua Zoldyck, is the deuteragonist of a manga called hunter x hunter. You may have heard of it, Gege certainly has. Killua is born into a family of assassins who all have supernatural powers. The assassins inflict incredibly harsh training on their children from birth in order to raise them into assassins because their potential as assassins is all that matters. They also start with a "Z".

Killua is apparently the most talented Zen'in... I mean Zoldyck of this generation, though he's still young so he's weaker than his father and brother he's expected to easily surpass them one. Which is why Killua's family has already decided for him that he's going to be the next one to take over the family, Killua's opinion doesn't matter. Illumi and Silva are both setting him up for success by forcing their "help" upon him. Several other members of the family even point out that Killua probably doesn't have the attitude to be the head of the family, but what does it matter when he's got such great talent?

Killua is a complicated victim. He's a victim of many things, familial abuse is the most obvious one because the Zoldyck have a nasty habit of torturing their children, but the less obvious one is grooming. Not in a sexual sense, but rather the adults in Killua's life have decided to use their authority over him to manipulate him into becoming what they want him to be - the next head of the family.

What's insidious about this is the Zoldyck's don't just torture or beat Killua into submission, they will use any tool in their arsenal, familial love, emotional blackmail, threats, all to undermine Killua's agency and choices in order to make him not only do what they want to do but make him think he has to grow into the person they want him to.

Grooming not in a sexual sense, but definitely in a psychological sense, an adult using their authority as an adult over a child and their maturity to manipulate that child into becoming what they want them to be instead of letting that child grow naturally. When it's used in a sexual sense it's when an adult establishes a connection with a minor, and then uses that connection in the long-term to manipulate them into having a relationship and lower the child's inhibition. Think of that, but without the sexual part - an adult using their relationship with a child often in a long-term manipulation to lower the child's inhibitions and make them more malleable and raise them to do what you want them to do.

Killua has not been sexually groomed, but he has been groomed by both his parents and his brother to make him more suggestible to becoming the family head which is something he explicitly does not want to do. Not only did Killua's family only raise him for the purpose of becoming an assassin and taking over the family one day (raising him as a child into an adult, his emotional maturity, his health and well being are all secondary priorities to what Killua can do for his family) they also manipulate him into thinking he has no choice other than being an assassin.

Killua is a kid put through extremely harsh training from a young age, to do a horrible job that is being an assassin that doesn't let him make normal friends or have a normal life. On top of the physical abuse he's already endured, whenever he expresses a desire to do something else in his life, his parents send Illumi to emotionally manipulate him into thinking that not only is he a natural born killer, and therefore a bad person who deserves all the abuse he's been put through, to further convince him that his only path forward is to be an assassin.

Killua is a character who has a lot of power, but little agency. Agency, in fiction is the ability a character has to take action and make decisions for themselves. Despite Killua starting as a more powerful and more savvy character than Gon, he has little agency and is often very passive. He doesn't act, he reacts. Even running away from his family is a reaction. We don't really see what he wants in life, we just know that he looked at his family and went "NOT THAT". However, his entire identity is still formed in response to his family's abuse. Even when he gets farther away from them, Killua doesn't really do what he wants, he does what Gon wants, and follows around Gon.

However, it's very understandable why Killua doesn't act with a lot of agency, when Killua does try to make decisions his family always shows up to undermine him and make another attempt to emotionally manipulate him into doing what they want. It's not always Illumi showing up to spook him. Silva pretends to be a loving dad for five minutes and has a heart to heart conversation with his son, and lets his son go adventuring with his friends but that too is a manipulation. He only did so to make sure Killua would eventually come back, by giving Killua more positive memories that would make it harder to make the decision to leave the family.

With the extent that Killua's family goes to sabotage any decision he makes, it's no wonder Killua is so passive and afraid to make his own decisions. It's almost like a character flaw he's gotta work on.

Now here's where I'm going to blow your minds. Megumi is an incredibly similar character to Killua, they are both the victims of longterm grooming however people don't like to acknowledge Megumi's victimhood. That's because in Killua's case, his abuser looks and acts like this.

Killua's abuser Illumi is a creepy guy who looks like the girl from the grudge, telling him he's not allowed to make friends and giving off such rancid vibes that he's obviously a bad guy. Whereas, Megumi's groomer this this guy.

Gojo Satoru who is one of the most popular characters in the series, and who also gives speeches about how he wants to let children be able to live out their youths, which is why it's hard for the fandom to see that he has taken advantage of Megumi and stolen his youth away from him pretty much the same way that Silva / Illumi has for Killua.

Megumi, like Killua has no choice in who he wants to be when he grows up, or what kind of person he wants to grow into. Megumi, like Killua has been groomed for a young age and forced into an incredibly dangerous and life threatening job that he does not want to do, that denies him the chance of a normal life, and that does not really allow him to make many friends. Megumi is railroaded onto this path, not by his choice, but by Toji's choice, and later Gojo's choice... because he has potential. Megumi like Killua cannot leave his family and stop being a sorcerer, otherwise his little sister who is the only family member he cares about will be hurt.

Gojo doesn't show up with an evil aura looking like the grudge girl and telling Megumi that he doesn't have the right to make friends, and that he's inherently evil and a puppet that only exists to kill people though so it's harder to tell that Megumi is a victim of the same kind of grooming that has hurt Killua so thoroughly.

This is what I mean when I say a lot of Megumi's characterization flies over your head because his victimization is written really subtly. Gojo does the same thing that Illumi / Silva does to Killua, he may seem like a stand up guy compared to those two but Megumi has about as much choice about what he can do with his life that Killua has.

Not all grooming is Illumi showing up with his spooky eyes to intimidate and coerce Killua into submission. Silva shows up to give Killua the first fatherly talk he had in his life, and lets him go from the mansion.... not because he realized he was wrong for restricting Killua's life choices and giving him no choice but to become heir.

No, it was a ploy to guilt trip him into coming back because he knew if he held Killua there by force he'd just run away the next chance he got. Fear and intimidation wasn't working at keeping Killua in line, so they switched to love instead.

Gojo can encourage Megumi to make friends, let him hang out and spend time with Itadori, even honor his wish to save Itadori and in the end still be manipulating him into becoming a sorcerer and not letting Megumi choose what he wants to do with his life. Gojo just prefers the carrot to the stick.

This is something the databooks confirm, that Gojo hunts prospects like Yuta, Yuji and Megumi not out of the goodness of his heart, but because they are talented students he can recruit to his cause with the added bonus that by appearing as their savior, they "owe" him.

Megumi is also a character lacking in agency, he is someone who's had no agency his entire life and what little agency he did have was stolen away from him by the adults in his life.

Let's analyze Megumi's situation for a second. As soon as Megumama dies, Toji gives up on the idea of fatherhood entirely, and decides to sell his son, literally, like in the sense of human trafficking to be raised by the highly abusive Zen'in Clan.

However, before the deal could be completed his father died in the middle of a mission. Megumi apparently saw his father so little that he didn't recognize him on coming face to face with him years alter, which says a lot about what kind of role Toji played in Megumi's life before he was outright abandoned.

Not only does Megumi believe his father just left him to run away with his new wife (Megumi's stepmother and the mother of Tsumiki) but now he and Tsumiki had to live together in a household without supervision for an indeterminate amount of time and watch their money slowly run out.

When it looks like they're about to start starving, Gojo Satoru shows up to save the day.... or not.

Gojo seems like he's offering Megumi a choice, but it's a loaded one. There's no choice in this scenario where Megumi gets to be a normal kid. The option of calling social services so this orphaned child does not starve doesn't occur to him.

Megumi's options are a) go to the Zen'in Clan and be a sorcerer where Tsumiki will be abused, or b) be a sorcerer under me where Tsumiki will be safe. The unspoken part is that if Megumi rejects his offer not only will he just let the Zen'in Take him, he'll also probably just let Megumi starve. Megumi the uh six or so year old child at this point has to sign away the rest of his life as a sorcerer, and work in order to earn money to eat.

No adult is taking care of Megumi, no one is raising him, even the food and shelter Megumi is given comes with a price tag that he has to pay back by being a Jujutsu Sorcerer and attending Jujutsu High as a teenager. Gojo even kind of subtly uses Tsumiki as a hostage to get Megumi to join with his agenda, because his offer isn't really much better than the Zen'ins but he needs Megumi on his side because he needs to raise kids to be future allies to his political agenda.

At the tender age of six Megumi signed his life away to be a sorcerer and he hasn't looked back since. Considering his severe behavioral problems getting into fights constantly at school, I think it's safe to say Megumi is about as reluctant to be a sorcerer as Killua is an assassin.

Honestly, if Megumi had phrased it like this:

"I'm so tired of being a sorcerer, I just want to be a kid."

Megumi would have a lot more fans, and Gojo would have a lot of explaining to do, but I think the brilliance of Megumi's grooming is that it's not really as blatant as Killua's. Megumi doesn't talk out loud about how he wants to be a normal kid, he's just angry at the whole world, and prone to fits of violence because he's mentall unwell.

Another way in which he parallels Killua, by the way.

Megumi does not talk about his lost childhood out loud. Instead of knowing his thoughts on the matter, instead we are shown his behavior, the effects of having his childhood taken away from him and how unstable it makes him and left to ponder as the audience what Megumi himself thinks of this.

The same way that Illumi steals all of Killua's agency away, robbing him of the chance to be anything other than what the Zoldycks want him to be, so to does Gojo. It's just instead of Gojo using the stick, he uses the carrot. He is Megumi's benefactor, he's the savior, for whose help Megumi owes him, sort of like repaying a loan with interest.

Gojo tries to shape Megumi into Gojo Satoru 2.0. Or maybe a second Geto. That's more likely as it's Geto defection which inspires Gojo to go looking for him after neglecting to do anything about Megumi until a year after finding out about his existence. Gojo says that Megumi is going to have to work hard or else he'll be left behind, just days after Geto had left him behind. Megumi is helped by Gojo, he is protected from the clans by Gojo, he has been taken on missions alongside Gojo his entire life, Maki even refers to Megumi as a treasure that was raised carefully by him.

Gojo invests a lot of time and effort into Megumi and because of that Megumi is expected to "perform." However, he doesn't.

That's the thing, Megumi is supposed to be either Gojo or Geto 2.0 but he just can't be. THe reason why again is Agency. If Killua is limited because of his inability to decide for himself, then so to is Megumi b/c Nen and Cursed Technique Development both depend on things like imagination, ego and self-image to raise them up to their full potential.

However, Gojo has shot himself in the foot with regards to Megumi. Becoming a Jujutsu Sorcerer requires a strong identity, but Gojo by sabotaging Megumi's agency and ability to decide for himself every step of the way has robbed Megumi of the chance to form that strong identity.

Megumi, just like Killua has no sense of self and instead both judges himself according to others, how he meets their expectations, how he measures up to them - he also glorifies others while constantly putting himself down.

Megumi doesn't give speeches about how Yuji is like pure light, but he also refuses to let Yuji out of his sight post Shibuya, and even says it'd be better to be killed by Sukuna alongside Yuji if Sukuna does take over.

In the Chimera Ant Arc Killua defines all of his self-worth around being useful to Gon, and beats himself up for not being able to measure up to him - because Killua has no sense of self his selfhood has always been undermined by his family who wanted to make him more suggestible to what they wanted.

Megumi is flippant with his own life and very willing to lay down his life for another's sake, because Megumi has very little agency in his life and has been taught by both Gojo and his circumstances that he himself and what he wants does not matter. Megumi doesn't fight fate, and fight for what he wants because he's already been shot in the kneecaps by both Toji's abandonment, and Gojo Satoru, and he's having a difficult time just trying to stand with bullets in his knees.

Maybe, the reason Megumi is so willing to risk his life to summon Mahoraga and sacrifice himself if he thinks it will help his allies is because Megumi has been forced into a job where he's gonig to be expected to sacrifice his life for the greater good since the tender age of six years old and therefore everything in life has conspired to tell him his life is worth less than others.

Yuji isn't the first person in story to think of himself as a cog, that's Megumi. He doesn't even need Shibuya to beat him down to accept the cog mindset, Megumi is already there at the beginning of the story.

I think a lot of misunderstanding of Megumi's character comes from the fact that his grooming is more subtle and insidious, and not as blatant as Killua's, and also that it's done by a character well-liked by the fandom. However, if Megumi has all the same symptoms of Killua then it's logical to deduce that they share the same trauma

Even Megumi's summoning of Mahoraga has a tie to Killua.

There's a pattern of KIllua running away from stronger opponent that's established in HXH that's eventually revealed to be because of a needle that Illumi inserted directly into Killua's brain to mind control him to run if he faced someone that was too much of a threat.

Obviously, that's just continuing the metaphor of the fact that Killua isn't able to believe in himself to face people who are stronger, because Illumi has been constantly putting him down his entire life.

Isn't this essentially what Megumi does as well?

When Megumi is faced with an opponent that's too strong or a hopeless situation, instead of running like Killua he summons Mahoraga. He does this because he doesn't believe in his ability to surpass his limits and fight, because he doesn't believe in himself or his own potential.

When is actually able to think more freely and picture a version of himself who can surpass his limits and who can do these things - these are the moments he is shown to grow.

Megumi however, for the most part isn't free. He can't think of himself as free and he can't free himself, because not only does he still have no choice about what he wants to do with his life (even if he becomes the msot powerful sorcerer in the world Gojo won't let him quit, he's gotta pay off those student loans), but he's also internalized the idea that he's not free. Not only has Gojo raised him to be a cog, Megumi has also accepted the fact that he is a cog and what he wants does not matter - the most he can do is hope that his actions will protect the people he loves and give them a little bit of happiness.

Megumi doesn't need a needle in his brain to control him and make him run away from fights and more obedient, because Megumi has already done all of that to himself with the toxic and self-harming ideas he's internalized.

Megumi and Killua having given up on themselves, try to make others happy, the same people they put on pedestals in order to make themselves feel even worse in comparison.

However, from this point Megumi and Killuas arcs go in opposite directions. You see after the Chimera Ant Arc when Killua hits his lowest point and his codependent friendship with Gon is exposed for what it is, Killua returns home in order to try and rescue his sister Alluka who is probably the reason he ran away in the first place.

Alluka and Tsumiki are both at the start of the story taken away from Killua and Megumi respectively, and with them the only genuine familial affection they ever enjoyed in their lives is taken too.

However, Alluka and Tsumiki are inversions. Alluka finds her freedom and agency, and Killua is able to reform his connection with his sister by accepting both pats of her, Alluka and Nanika. Afterwards the two of them finally leave their family home together and go off on a journey together.

If Alluka finds her personhood, Tsumiki remains a plot device. She never awakens from her coma, she's possessed instead and then murdered.

Now, here is where I point out how unfair the audience is being to Megumi. If you're a hunter x hunter fan remember all the character development that Killua gained by reforging his relationship with Alluka, how much confidence it gave him to connect to the one person who's even unconditionally loved him as a family member.

Now imagine that Alluka is brutally butchered right in front of him, and Killua has a first person point of view, because somehow in this scenario Illumi used a needle to mind control him into killing Alluka.

Do you really think Killua would be able to stand after that?

Sukuna is really just the last in line of a long line of people who've stolen Megumi's agency away from him, in order to benefit themselves. Sukuna even saw the same "potential" in Megumi that Gojo did.

Sukuna physically posessing Megumi's body, is just what both the Zen'in Clan, and Gojo Satoru have been trying to do to him in the most literal way possible. Gojo wants to remake Megumi into Gojo Satoru 2.0 with no regards to who Megumi is as a person, what Megumi's wants and needs are. No he just wants to raise someone as strong as him and pass the burden of protecting society onto Megumi, this starving orphan Gojo decided to exploit.

People have always used Megumi as a puppet for their own agenda, Naobito wanted to make him the head of the Zen'in Clan because he had the technique, Gojo wanted him to become the next strongest sorcerer / Gojo Satoru and also to replace the elders with Gojo's political agenda. They all want Megumi's "potential" for themselves to use to their own ends. Sukuna just takes what Gojo did one step further by literally stealing Megumi's body away from him and using him as a literal puppet instead of a metaphorical one. Gojo took Megumi's childhood by making him work as a sorcerer, Sukuna kills the physical embodiment of Megumi's childhood innocence by murdering Tsumiki, the only thing Megumi had in his life besides being a sorcerer, his only family, the only person he grew up with in his childhood years, the only person who loved him for who he was.

Megumi coped with what Gojo did to him the same way Killua did, by building himself around his use to others, and by building his identity around protecting others but now that's all gone. Tsumiki is gone, Megumi is trying to kill his friends, and he's already butchered Gojo Satoru.

Yet the fans are surprised that Megumi doesn't immediately get back on his feet.

However, and this my slightly optimistic ending to the post. Perhaps, Megumi is going the complete opposite of Killua, because what Megumi needed to learn was not to grow strong and confident enough to protect his sister but to learn to fight for himself.

At this point Megumi has nothing else left. It's sink of swim. He either develops a strong enough identity to regain control of his body and push Sukuna out, or he loses and the anti-Sukuna team will just have to resort to killing Megumi along with Sukuna.

Even in that case.

Megumi not being saved by Yuji is a good thing.

Because a victim who gets rescued by a hero still has no agency.

Megumi told Yuji that he needs to start by "saving me."

However, it might just be the opposite. Before Megumi can save anyone else, before he can become a protector, he has to find his own power and save himself. He has to both accept thathe's someone worthy of salvation, and at the same time he can't just passively accept the hand that Yuji's offered to him he has to actively be the one to break free of Sukuna and save himself.

Megumi can't become the strongest sorcerer by becoming the next Gojo Satoru or being what Gojo or Sukuna wants him to be. THe only way Megumi can become the strongest, is by being himself.

[ask-whitepearl-and-steven]

Um, hi! Regarding that other anonymous asker wondering about the comic's enjoyability, I actually WAS one of the people who voted "I've never watched the show but I do read the comic" in that poll; all my prior knowledge about Steven Universe was from passive osmosis. I don't know anyone personally who likes it either, my baseline is limited to, like, the premise and 'hey I think that one's a major character?' every now and then (this was most recently Lapis Lazuli. Peridot I'm prettttty sure is canon, but I didn't recognise her right off. Betting that Sea Glass isn't. No clue about Jasper).

So if it's of any help, from my experience I do think that your comic is fairly accessible to folks outwith the Steven Universe fandom! I read long-form fanfiction for media I know nothing about on a regular basis, and it does a good job of explaining the core concepts required for the plot to hold water; it makes it much harder to spot foreshadowing that I feel may have been more obvious to experienced readers (e.g. I didn't get anywhere near working out Earl's issue because I didn't know that A. White Diamond could do mind control, or B. what societal role Pearl-class gems (is that the term?) hold relative to the Diamonds), but the actual narrative itself holds up well so long as you're willing to put the thought in. Actively following your blog helps a bit too, I've gotten extra context clues from the FAQ and asks you've answered.

My one warning would be that reading a long-form story for a fandom you don't know is a very different experience. The best way I could describe it is akin to reading Arthurian stories or folkloric retellings without studying the source material: while the main narrative is comprehensible, you become distinctly aware that certain parts are name-checking their original culture in a way that the author expects to be apparent but isn't, not to you. I spend a lot of time faintly baffled when I'm not cross-referencing between multiple fics for commonalities to reverse-engineer (also do that regularly, would recommend), which is fine! It's fun! Might not be for everyone, though.

I just want you to know I love this ask, and I was enraptured reading this. It's a very cool insight! Especially as someone with the exact opposite reading philosophy, this is extremely valuable.

It's neat to also get a confirmation about the fact that a lot of over-the-top stuff that was meant to echo the original show might not get pinged by those who aren't familiar with the original. Though to be fair, people didn't quite pick up on what was happening with Earl even when they knew what White Diamond's powers were.

I also find it hilarious to realize that Jasper might not be a recognizable original-show character to most outsiders. DEMOTED!

[blitzbuckzowild]

On Stolitz, Kink and Power Dynamics, and Role Reversal - Stolas Centric

So, I have been thinking a lot about the kink dynamics between Stolas and Blitzø, especially how they are portrayed in the show vs. what is popular (or more popular than you’d think) among fan works. A lot of this has probably been said, but I am unsure what has and has not, and I have only recently begun to interact with the community.

For some background, I have about 10 years of experience within the kink/BDSM lifestyle including several long-term dynamics as both Dom and sub, attendance to events, extensive engagement in online forums, etc. I’ve been in many types of dynamics and have a good understanding of the culture.

We have very little knowledge on the intricacies of the dynamic between Stolas and Blitzø but from what I can gather its a pretty standard one without very much structure. This makes sense seeing as before recent canon events, their scenes are primarily limited to once a month. There is no evidence of switching that I can find in the show, most likely they stay firm in their roles of Blitzø as Dom and Stolas as sub. There is the comment during the Loo Loo Land episode, where Blitzø say “wait till her dad tries diddling your holes”, but the keyword being “tries.” Now obviously he could be receiving penetration, but I find it hard to believe that there is any actual control given to Stolas.

This structure obviously allows for some entertaining role reversal, and (on the surface level at least) mitigates some of the issues with the power at the same time. I find myself often wondering how people would regard the dynamic between them if Blitzø was portrayed as the sub. It obviously doesn’t really fit his character as he is now, but it is a thought.

Anyway, the point is actually to explore the idea of a role reversal between the two and what this can represent. Obviously, a lot of this has been touched on in fan-works, and probably other posts, but primarily in the framework of Blitzø’s experience subbing. I think that is well-established that a lot of the draw for Blitzø to submit is the idea of him being vulnerable and letting go of control. There are many works that focus on this.

But what about Stolas? That’s something I haven’t seen a lot of.

Stolas is passive. Even if he snarks back at Blitzø and does set some boundaries a bit at the beginning of Apology Tour, and he does tease and push, it’s really not substantial. Even with Full Moon, even with the crystal, he is still so submissive to everything that happens around him. He makes his grand gesture and throws the ball in Blitzø’s court until he can’t handle what that looks like. He let’s things just happen to him for the most part. So a lot of his character growth in the show focuses on him gaining confidence and taking initiative.

Even in Apology Tour, at the Blitzø Hate party, he makes it clear where he stands on what he wants his role in a relationship to be. He wants to be pursued, like a woman in a rom-com who stereotypically and historically takes a passive role to whatever confident or goofy hunk wants her. Sure, she wants him (usually), but typically she is not doing the pursuing. Instead she rolls her eyes and things happen to her.

Stolas taking on a dominant role, taking control, even in the context of kink, can be symbolic for him learning ambition and initiative. Everything has been decided for him and he’s letting Blitzø’s actions and responses make the decision for him. Even with Octavia, he acts as if he is collateral to her behavior and emotions. It’s fair for him to want Blitzø pursue him and to take accountability. However, at some point he needs to pursue as well. You could say that the crystal was an instance in which he did? But was it really when at the first sign of resistance from Blitzø, he folds and pull back.

All this to say, there can be some really great story telling using their BDSM dynamics. I don’t really expect the show to address this, because I think there are some intricacies here that can only be appreciated by those really involved in the BDSM lifestyle, and honestly I am not sure how knowledgeable the writers are about it outside of the mainstream knowledge (Well mainstream compared to someone like me.)

With the deal ended, and the power dynamics somewhat balancing out, the door is really opened for this type of thing. There isn’t as much baggage in Blitzø being portrayed in a sub role. The class divide is still there, but Stolas no longer holds all of the cards

There is waaaay more I can say on this in regard to the roles of sub and Dom and how they relate to Stolas and Blitzø but this is already so long. Some things to consider would be the the actual emotional needs that are filled by each role, the ways relationships in dynamics develop, different BDSM subcultures and theories on the nature of their dynamic, and more of my thoughts on how their current dynamic with Stolas subbing and Blitzø Domming impacting perceptions of their previous arrangement by viewers, how Blitzø is already submissive to Stolas in ways, the general emotional state of people when engaging in kink, etc. I could also provide my own thoughts on Blitzø subbing but I feel it’s already well addressed in the fandom.

Maybe I’ll do a part 2 if it’s wanted or I get the will. I would love to engage in any discussion (agreeing or otherwise) on this, I probably missed some things, or interpreted stuff differently than others.

And here is a Poll to wrap this up

[remusawoooo]

anon here, excited to read the essay! i asked you because i really like your takes and i see people in the more canon-adjacent parts of the marauders fanbase to complain about the extremes of the fanon one, though personally ive never really seen anything Too extreme, tho thats probably just tantamount to how well i curate my spaces i suppose (ive seen people say that fanon makes remus really “alpha” or makes sirius “bimbofied” and while ive seen hints of those extremes here and there, mostly it looks like it varies from person to person. ive just seen remus be more assertive than he probably is in canon, or sirius being more dramatic and “fem” than he probably is in canon). from what i know people like exaggerating events (the prank, etc.) or shifting some personality traits, but i dont really think thats a bad thing - i personally enjoy it. as long as they dont completely turn characters into stereotypes (though its a pitfall of every fandom, i fear), then whatever its just camp.

people are allowed to criticize stuff like that though, not taking that away from anyone, i personally just dont really care enough to be totally accurate esp since this hyperfix is kind of the bottom of the barrel for me LMAO. but i ask mostly bc im just curious to see what other peoples opinions are, and bc i think - especially in a fanbase like this - that its incredibly important to be at least a little critical with your media experience and reflect on it. saying “oh fuck canon we’re just having fun” is fine and all, i dont think anyone is stopping you, i think the personalities people have made up for characters that have zero screen time are super fun and the little ships are not everyones tea but like its fine. but even still, people should be way more aware of what characters theyre dealing with and from what franchise, and like reflect on any biases you may have. if youre making shit up for a random DE character, or retconning some sutff, okay, whatever, but be sure to not defend or like suddenly turn to really weird rhetoric. idk i think its the bare minimum in a fanbase like this

i definitely rambled way too much here, super sorry op! i hope this doesnt bother you, feel free to reply or feel free to not. i just really like hearing peoples thoughts on things, and i like your takes and your blog so i hope i didnt catch you by surprise. i really am just an outsider trying to look in LOL

hello anon, I'm sorry I lost your ask. I was writing on my laptop and saved the draft (but apparently had to press on alt, and didn't do it) so I basically lost your question and half of my initial response. Ty for sending in another ask!! Not a bother at all, i find this very lovely :D 

I was mortified to find that someone who isn't really a part of the fandom was perceiving me while I was complaining about fictional characters ahahaha. still, thank you for validating me and asking my thoughts on the mischaracterization of marauders!! I do talk about it daily, unfortunately, and without any prompt too. I'll try to gather all my thoughts here. I don't necessarily come across fanon as much as I did when I reentered the fandom and honestly, I can not be more with you about curating your space !! at the end of the day, I am just here to have fun, and really, pointing out these issues is not a good time at all! But I do post a lot about these, I can't be bothered to bottle up any thoughts lol.

I think the major issue I have with current interpretations is the underlying bigotry that comes along with it. There is a lot of unchecked problematic content that doesn't sit right with me.

Flanderizing characters in fandom interpretations is not limited to marauders fandom obviously. any popular media will face this because so many of us want to interact with one character so their traits are simplified for easier consumption and to find a common ground. this is also not limited to new marauders fandom. even in the older era, leather jacket-wearing, motorbike-driving quintessential bad boy siruis was a thing. so I won't nitpick on silly simplifications.

I just want to say that this isn't about me wanting everyone to have the same interpretations as I do about the canon. I follow so many lovely people and I don't agree with all of their posts. But, we all just simply share the love for these characters in the text and form an imaginary community. So, if we were to remove all the issues I will mention, it is still very well possible to have different personal takes.

Here are some of my issues:

Queerness, Gender roles, and misogyny:

My biggest problem is the representations of queer relationships. the fandom packages these couples in a strange and obvious heteronormative mold where the individuals fit into male and female gender roles. mlm and wlw are now an “f/m”* stereotype and characterization gets affected by the ships. Heterosexual relationships shouldn't have these limitations either, anyway. There is no one way to be a woman or a man. With queer relationships in particular, we have reclaimed the word queer now but it was used to describe the unconventional weirdness in the relationship. We didn't fit into the normal portrayal of a loving relationship. So, it really bothers me, even in fiction, that queer ships are popularly consumed in a way that represents a traditional template. (*this is not about gender itself but the gender roles! f/m can very well be queer!). 

Let's take the biggest victim in this fandom: sirius.

Sirius’ portrayal concerning his gender and sexuality has heavily changed his characterization in the fanon. We have a character who is popularly headcanonned as trans and is it a coincidence that all their traits have changed from the og material? Sirius is suddenly vain, whiny, and dumb. Canon doesn't suggest this interpretation, it has to have stemmed from somewhere. It's the implicit bias. Sirius becomes a caricature of what a woman “should be”. When we focus on sexuality, there is the suddenly short twink sirius who has the same new traits- proving the point of fulfilling gender roles. These characteristics are a stand-in for the “female” role of the traditional relationship and it becomes more clear in the example of new age wolfstar. Remus is now the big alpha stoic manly man- the obvious stand-in for the “male” role. I could go on, it is apparent in the way you can see remus becomes a caretaker and sirius is taken care of.

The point I am trying to make is not to discourage gender/sexuality hc. I love them, keep them coming. But, why is female sirius not tall suddenly? It is not inherently bad at all to have a feminine and masculine pairing! But why do we need to change the constitutions of these characters to consume their relationship?

I'll keep dropping disclaimers because I hate being misinterpreted: I don't obviously mean every single person is doing this or that doing one of the things means doing the other too. 

Race:

It is related to the point above. I was personally so excited to see the popular desi james hc. Even in fanon, I have never seen such a prevalent and encouraged brown rep, it was quite sweet to come back to that. But the problem is the change of characteristics that comes with race hc. Desi james is also a manly dude who is big and buff as opposed to the white petite and delicate regulus within jegulus ship. The melanin is directly proportional to the manliness here. 

This is a propagation of race stereotypes. Maybe jegulus was a bad example because usually there are seen as blank templates. I will raise the argument that this can't be all we can come up with for blank canvases then. Either way, my point about race still stands when you repeatedly design interracial queer relationships so they fall into heteronormative roles. Anyway, same issue with wolfstar when there is a brown remus.

Canon, JKR, and hypocrisy:

Refusing to engage with source material is funny when we are picking characters out of it. the interpretations of the characters will be from their book. otherwise, they are just original characters with the same name. you can add onto the traits and a lot of the time fandom comes to a consensus regarding a few things! This is common in every fandom but I don't think I have seen such reluctance to not only critically engage with media but also shame others who do. We are surely in special circumstances with this fandom but I really do think jkr and how we navigate the fanon should be two different things.

Most of us don't condone jkr or even remotely agree with any nonsense she spews on the daily. Most of us can see the problematic nature of even consuming this media and staying in this fandom. It is one of the reasons I even left the fandom. Most of us are simply doing our best to engage carefully while distancing ourselves from her. So, it is quite laughable when some love to take the moral high ground for rejecting canon while still engaging with the same characters. (the rejection of canon in question being sirius’ height, lol)

(Sirius' height is quite a polarising fact apparently. Unfortunately, the point about height is also discussed so disingenuously. When I talk about sirius’ height, it is not really about him being 6 or 7 feet. It will not really impact my life. It is about what it represents. He is bimbofied as he becomes short. It's an issue of "WHY" again.)

Of course, this isn't an accusation of intentional bigotry from everyone here. The problem with this fandom is that the people in it tell themselves that it is progressive and to run away from the problematic creator as much as possible. We are not progressive if all we do is co-opt queer and racially diverse identities on such a superficial level. The bias manifests in subtle forms. I just wish we check ourselves from time to time, that's all. 

There is a lot of hostility when we try to discuss issues in the fanon. Things are interpreted in the most misguided way to just win the argument. Like I said in the beginning, we all just want to have a good time. That also means creating a welcoming space for vulnerable groups (especially when the same identities are used to pat yourselves on the backs for inclusivity points). I didn't even cover everything btw, I just wrote about the issues that concern me. queer and poc also partake in biased representations, I also probably have some biases that I didn't identify yet. I just think it would be super neat if everyone tried to make an effort to unlearn and engage with media without hurting anyone. 

I have other issues but they are all just super subjective opinions and smth I can ignore when others do. ex: I really don't like giving tragic backstories to bigots in the story. Not every supremacist loser has a trauma that forced them into oppressing people! There is also "tropeyfication" of all major ships. Just an overall issue in the reading world I think, though.

Anon, I didn't mean to make it preachy in any way btw. You probably asked for a silly little rant and I went full lecture mode, so I apologize for the tone shift!! I mentioned these because every other issue can be brought down to these imo. Like you said, I also don't have any fixation on everything being canon-compliant. I only complain by asking about the thought process behind certain kinds of changes, if that makes sense! I hope this wasn't a drag really and you can see where I am coming from. If I misspoke anywhere, pls lmk. Thanks for sharing your opinions too!!

This is a long long rant, anyone who read everything, you are wonderful and patient. Thank you for taking the time. This huge post and the content can make you think, “who cares this much?” or “it's not that serious” and yaa it really isn't that serious. The characters aren't real but we all are. the identities projected are real. so, it does matter to talk about this.

Everything said this is a fun place to be once you find your own corner in the playground.

[stelladess]

I kind of hate the "Firefly or March jealous of the other"/competing stuff.

Because it just... does not match with how the characters actually interact when they meet each other in game.

It feels like it is just trying to slot people into usual ship roles when that does not fit the characters.

March and Firefly get along very well, which at first felt odd to me but looking back on various events and side quests I actually think it makes sense. March initially has a very black and white world view of good guys and bad guys. But she has gradually expanded it, from the slow burn growing friendship Stelle and March has with Silver Wolf over multiple events and side quests to just, seeing more morally complex situations March has grown to understand things are not as clear cut as she once thought I think. So she was more open to the idea that Firefly might not be a bad person then she would have been had she met her back before the Luofu arc for example.

And once the initial hurdle of "she is a stellaron hunter" is overcome, March and Firefly have a lot of things in common, and common interests. It makes sense they would hit it off right away. Most of the plot of the bird event is just Stelle, Wolfie, March and Firefly gaming together. Especially Stelle and Wolfie... (also on Firefly´s end she seems to idolize the nameless to some extent and seems to kind of wish she could have been one, it is kind of cute and fun how she just copied word for word how March introduced herself during the talent show because she had clearly not thought of her own answer)

Which gets me to another thing, I think people seriously flanderize how much Firefly is into the trailblazer. It is very heavily implied that she is but it is not exactly the core focus of her character in game. Marketing I do not care for but even then it is more with outsourced stuff that is in the spotlight, with the stuff on the youtube channel mostly focusing on her background and her identity as Sam.

Firefly´s life does not revolve around the trailblazer, she has a lot of other people she cares about too and also other concerns and goals then just the people she likes.

And March... there is even less suggesting she is even into the trailblazer romantically, there is a lot you can read as that but you can also just read them as being close friends or more sibling like. Which is probably on purpose, gacha games tend to want to avoid ever directly canonizing any romantic feelings.

I think the bird event is also kind of telling, most of it is Stelle and Wolfie hanging out because they are the ones most into the game. March and Firefly both get into the game too and the reason they disappear for part of the story is they wanna practice the game more while Stelle and Wolfie wanna experiment more with what the limits and scope of the game is as opposed to just practicing the basics.

Basically, these characters are driven by other interests then just romantic feelings, and it feels kind of silly to flanderize what is actually a fairly minor aspect of a character into their whole thing and I do not like it.

Also the bird event was peak.

[effypcfcwrites]

The Owl House

(Originally posted on my personal Facebook dated April 25, 2023)

This is probably the first time I'll be posting a detailed review of a piece of media that I like, so witness me sing all of my praises for this animated series from the House of Mouse, because wow, I've never been so invested in a Disney show after rewatching Gravity Falls.

For those unfamiliar, The Owl House revolves around Luz Noceda, a teenage girl who stumbles upon a portal to an alternate world called The Boiling Isles, meets a witch named Eda Clawthorne, learns magic under her tutelage and eventually enrolls in Hexside, a magic school where she makes many friends and goes on multiple adventures.

I binged this whole show in a span of weeks and even stayed up all night on my day off to finish it up to Season 3, the first 2 Seasons being on Disney+ and the latter on Disney Channel's YouTube page.

Simply put, I love it so much! I love how it reminds me of Avatar: The Last Airbender, Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, and, dare I say, Harry Potter, which it even poked fun at, at times. Well-deserved, considering J.K. Rowling’s transphobic views and HP’s underlying anti-Semitic undertones.

I loved the pop culture references to Thor: Ragnarok, Howl's Moving Castle, Metal Gear Solid, and even Hades, among many others! I thought those were very clever and funny, and just a treat for fellow nerds, geeks, and fans of fantasy stories, anime, and video games.

I love the LGBTQ+ representation all throughout the show, which was such a bold move considering Disney’s iffy stance on the subject. None of them were antagonized for it, and it was treated as something normalized in both the Human and Demon Realms. The show featured 2 gay dads, non-binary and aromantic-asexual characters, and one of the internet’s favorite sapphic/WLW couples Lumity, which is the ship consisting of canonically bisexual Luz and implied lesbian Amity Blight, whose rivals-to-friends-to-lovers relationship was just so wholesome, so natural, and very healthy, considering they're both teenagers. Suprisingly, there was very little melodrama, not once were they petty towards one another whenever either party did something wrong, and they never got tired of showing affection towards each other. I found myself shamelessly gushing over how cute, adorable, and supportive they were together, and tearing up a lot during key moments of their relationship, especially when they both found themselves in dire straits as the story progressed.

I love the writing and the character development of them all! None of them felt static, they all grew throughout the series, maturing, getting better, and healing from their own insecurities, trauma, and guilt. The humor and comedic timing was a nice touch, and I was really taken aback by how S2 ended on such a dark cliffhanger with all stakes raised to the roof, similar to A:TLA S2 and The Empire Strikes Back, as mentioned earlier. That season wasn’t afraid to have such a grim ending, with such a great payoff by the end of S3 which is worth celebrating.

I love the animation and art style, which blended colorful and whimsical with eerie and ominous in just the right amounts. As a sucker for animated movies and series such as Adventure Time, The Prince of Egypt, and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, it was just such a delight watching it.

I love the overarching message of the show, which is to be truly yourself, to embrace your quirks, and never to limit yourself and your potential based on what the majority of society and the powers-that-be expect from you. All throughout, you’ll find the characters challenging pre-established norms and roles, and it’s just so satisfying seeing them all win.

11/10 top-tier show. Don’t @ me, it’s hard for me to find something I disliked about the series. It's definitely a must-watch, especially if you're sick and tired of all the bleak nihilism of modern adult animation, and you just want to baby your inner child and escape to a whimsical fantasy world with characters you can all relate to. Betting my bottom peso you'll all be hooked, like I was.

[boundinparchment]

For the fanfiction trope: 77 and 23 with Pantalone and someone of your choice (reader, oc, canon character, whatever) Feeling like a little devil on your shoulder 💙

77. In Vino Veritas  

23. Performer AU

Hosts are part of the entertainment industry and thus performers; Pantalone plies you with champagne to speak truthfully.

—————

At this hour, the club was packed with patrons. The air was buzzing with orders and chatter and an energy that bounced and darted between every table.

You were surprised that you were able to extend your time as much as you had. Usually, there were strict time limitations, especially with the head host and manager who rarely sat at a table himself. Tonight was a remarkable exception that had your mind swimming from both the champagne and the glances of pure envy you felt creeping up your neck.

Attentive, your host filled your glass again, a playful sparkle in his eyes. The accent lights cast his hair into a delicate shade of purple, perfectly offset by eyes of molten mora. Although your mind was hazy, you knew the expression on his face well; he intended to pry you open and cradle your heart, leave you begging for more.

He had done it the first night, although you’d been stone cold sober and too stiff for it to truly work. It had taken you three weeks to return after that initial meeting and ask for him specifically. Your heart’s rhythm never quite recovered from the way he’d tilted his head and smiled, complimented you like no other partner had.

“My dear, why did you ask for me?”

So straightforward. Like an arrow. Or more like a bullet aimed right for your soul.

And yet he said it with the most charming smile, eyes crinkled as he looked at you. You couldn’t recall the last time a lover looked at you with such intrigue, with such fascination, or even the last time anyone even…

You giggled, the room spinning a little as you tried to control your tongue. Everything felt so slow, almost like you were frozen in time, and you took a sip of champagne to give you a final bit of bubbly courage.

“You pay attention,” you said, placing your glass down on the table with a ‘clack’.

Your limbs didn’t want to work anymore but that was okay. You turned your head back to him, the act feeling so much slower than it truly was, sending your line of vision into whiplash for a moment; blinking, everything seemed to settle again and your host remained listening, his eyebrows a little higher now.

“The first night was a fluke-you were filling in for someone else on the list who wasn’t available,” you continued. “But I picked you because of…”

You opened a hand and gestured vaguely to his entire personage before you pointed at his face. Your arm wavered, the alcohol having seeped into every cell in your body.

“Because of the way you listen. No one listens. No one sees me.”

“But I do.”

Your grinned so wide your face felt like it was splitting in two as you poked his chest, right near his tie clip.

“You do, Pantalone. You always do.”

Just a role to play, you reminded yourself. That was his job. To listen, to placate, to entertain and socialize.

Your eyes burned.

“But you deserve someone to listen to you, too. Here you are, entertaining people and hearing about their lives and who they are…but who listens to you?”

He took your hand in his own. They were warm and soft, the hands of a man who cared for himself. His lips against your knuckles were warmer, scalding even, and you felt your body betray you for a second when your heart practically stopped.

“You worry too much, my dear. I have you to listen in return, do I not? Or have I always misread your kindness?”

He pulled the glass away when you reached for it, cutting you off for the evening. For a fraction of a second, you caught a flicker of something else before his smile widened and his charm returned. That familiar twinkle in his eye made your mouth run dry.

“Perhaps next time, we can share a meal together. I know a lovely place nearby that serves some of the best desserts outside of Fontaine.”

[davekat-sucks]

Alright I’m back to ask you the opposite of a question I once asked..

Using morals and actions who is the WORST character in the Epilogues/HS^2?

Dave and Karkat because they are the most NOTHINGBURGERS. They don't do anything and just be the gay couple. Even with shit active like war or meta battle between Ult Dirk vs Alt Calliope, they are not in the active front. It's mostly the females like Rose, Roxy, Kanaya, Jade, Jane, etc. are the only ones active with the only few like John and Jake being an exception that are part of the main cast. Dave and Karkat are not doing shit or anything. Dave especially because he doesn't want to use his godtier powers. Why even have something as fucking OP as TIME POWERS if you are reluctant to use them by the end? At this point, he might as well not have become godtier and not have powers at all by the end of the webcomic if he's not going to do anything with it. Dave is a useless, washed out Soundcloud rapper. His rhymes are shit and he only had his friends around to boost his ego on thinking he was the cool guy when he's nothing without them. Why have other Ancestors like the Signless if Karkat won't follow the footsteps in taking the lead and taking down the bitch Condesce who started it all? Like they play up he had to HIDE his blood and can never go out because of it. But now that he's on Earth C, why isn't he active going out more? Is Earth C that boring? Is it because Dave limits him when he goes out? The other Ancestors might as well not be necessary or needed if some don't really follow through or give up their roles for shitty reasons like subversion bullshit. Karkat wasn't even the true leader of the troll session when it was Aradia who planned out every fucking thing. From the game being found, her being god tier, and trying to continue the timeline. He was never special and played along like a retard. He's even more bossed around than fucking JOHN EGBERT. And he's a freaking BREATH Player. Yet freedom don't mean shit to the aspect. Blood aspect is useless and not known what it could do. By the off chance that we do learn something in Beyond Canon, it will be underwhelming because Karkat has not done anything special in Epilogues to 2/Beyond Canon that would justify he could tap into his abilities or find a cheat way for him to get godtier powers. Plus, him wearing red sweater now, Karkat unironically has become Kankri, the very same person he hates.

[agerefandom]

10 Favourite Regression Dynamics

I’ve made lists of some characters I headcanon as regressors, and characters I headcanon as caregivers: and I love a good ‘character and reader’ dynamic, but here are some canon dynamics that I LOVE to add age regression to! 

Important note: these aren’t necessarily romantic ‘ships’ and they might not be healthy age regression dynamics but they’re dynamics I find it rewarding to write about! 

1. regressor!Will and caregiver!Hannibal (NBC Hannibal) 

Starting strong with a regression dynamic that is not healthy but it is such an interesting thing to add to their existing codependence! Will gives me such agere vibes and Hannibal’s existing trauma around his big brother history make this such an interesting dynamic to explore. It definitely tilts the power balance faaaar in the direction of someone who will take the opportunity to do terrible things with it, but that’s basically what you’re signing up for with any story about Hannibal Lecter. 

2. regressor!Jack and caregiver!Bitty (Check Please!) 

No one exudes stronger caregiver vibes than Bitty: I’m definitely a supporter of this as a double-flip pairing (with both regressing and caregiving) but I want the sad hockey man to get cuddles, goshdarnit, and you know that Bitty would just be the sweetest most thoughtful caregiver and I just gah they’re already such a good pairing with such canonically developed communication as a couple and I would love to see that skill applied to something as vulnerable as regression 

 3. regressor!Harry and caregiver!Sirius (Harry Potter) 

If anyone deserves a chance at a second childhood, it’s Harry Potter. And I think that when he connected with Sirius as a young teen, he really saw that possibility. I think it would be so sweet to see Sirius actually able to give Harry that full parenting: both at the age he is now, and all the ages that he missed. I just strongly feel like Harry is a regressor, and as much as I like writing him with peers supporting him, I feel like he deserves a real parent figure who can support him in that role in and out of regression, especially in his teen years. 

4. regressor!Jon and caregiver!avatars (Magnus Archives) 

Okay, this is more of a whump thing than a good dynamic, but I just want to see little!Jon dealing with avatars when they’re being nice to him, and it’s like 90% manipulation but it’s also a bunch of monsters being sweet and you can kind of read it as genuine if you squint. I’ve got a vision and it includes literally any of the not-quite-human characters of the Magnus Archives, ranging from the mostly-sweet (End!Gerry) to the completely-terrifying (Bouchard). 

5. regressor!Tony, caregiver!Pepper (Marvel) 

This is the first pairing that ever made me run to write regression fanfiction, and I do believe that I would not be an agere writer without them. Ironically, I’ve never finished and published any of my fics about them, but they have my whole heart. Taking Tony’s earlier unthinking dependence on Pepper and bringing it back in a healthy way, with limits and negotiation and emotional vulnerability, showing how much they’ve grown as a couple? Yes please!! 

6. regressor!Cullens, caregivers!Carlisle and Esme (Twilight)

I am such! a! sucker! for immortal beings finding a way to reclaim the concept of time and childhood. Carlisle and Esme canonically find a lot of value in being parents, and considering that they’re such a range of ages, I think that regression is a neat way to create that dynamic, and I just like big groups of regressors in a family and it scratches all of those interests in one!! 

7. regressor!Morty, flip!Rick (Rick and Morty) 

It’s the toxicity for me!!! I make no claims that this would be a good thing, but also I enjoy writing about the things that trigger Rick’s ‘oh shit I have feelings’ mode and you can’t tell me that regression would not key into that, both in his own experiences as a flip and then having to face it as part of Morty’s trauma. And Morty simultaneously trying to get away into independence but getting drawn back by Rick’s kindness in this single circumstance ties into all of the terrible themes of the show. 

8. regressor/caregiver flips Dean and Sam (Supernatural) 

Speaking of codependence, I cannot choose which of these boys is more symbolically resonant to have as a regressor, and both of them certainly have enough trauma to make it a viable coping mechanism. I think they have the art of balancing each other down to an art: especially in the early seasons, you can really see that process in the way they take turns being the Angry one. Writing about that balance in the context of regression is an interesting concept, and then the way that Dean relates to caregiving versus needing care, and Sam’s desperation to be the reliable one... it’s just a lot of tasty angst to play with alongside the sweet opportunity for a childhood without the war they were raised to fight. 

9. regressor!Erik, caregiver!Christine (Phantom of the Opera) 

Okay, this one is like ninety percent for the aesthetics, because you do need to do some handwaving over canon to make it fluffy. But Erik needs reparenting, and flipping the relationship from the original dynamic with Erik as a kind of father-figure is a nice way to reclaim the story from the original gothic maiden themes. 

10. regressor!Dave, caregiver!Roxy (Homestuck)

All hail my Ride Or Die regression dynamic!!! It’s basically canon and I stand by that! Dave called her mom and said that it feels nice to think of her as a mom because he had such a mixed experience with his own parental figure. And she’s got her own complicated feelings about parenthood and guardianship, but says that she likes it when Dave calls her mom, and it all just makes me very happy.  

This has been my TEDtalk on my favourite regression dynamics!! Thank you for coming!! 

[problems-exe]

Back again not following the character limit to ask YOU about pj and lux for the character opinion thang

This is going to be long, but I'm sure you expected that. I will say, some of my answers will probably be very similar to yours LMAO

Paperjam

First Impression:

I remember thinking their design was so cool, and immediately doing everything I could to research into the character. Sadly, I was 11, and didn't realize Tumblr would be the best place to do that so I saw some very not canon content of them on YouTube, but somehow got attached anyway.

Impression Now:

I'm still just as attached to PJ as I was when I was kid, even more so now with the knowledge of what PJ is actually like in canon. I love the little guy; he's such an angst-filled little shit. Tied with Lux in the top spot of being my favorite UTMV character.

Favorite Moment:

Struggled to answer this because there are so many good posts with him that it's hard to choose from. Ultimately, I'd probably have to choose the entire roleplay between @/7goodangel and @/cereusblue of how PJ and Omni met. It's really cute and really well written and it shows off both of their characters so well.

Idea For A Story:

There are so many I could write here, to just stick to one, any story with PJ being a parent is so awesome and cool. I want to see more of that!!! PJ being determined to raise his kid/kids better than how he was raised? That would be so cool to see. Make this guy a parent!!! He has a canon kid!!!! Include him in more stuff!!!!!

Unpopular Opinion:

Stealing what you wrote for this because I agree wholeheartedly. I do not personally like the concept of PJ and Fresh being a couple. It makes me wildly uncomfortable. I think their dynamic works much better as friends or with Fresh taking on an uncle role! That's just my opinion though. People are free to disagree.

Favorite Relationship:

Platonic: PJ with any of his siblings tbh. Especially PJ as a big sibling. It is something I enjoy seeing very much. PJ is just so sibling coded, guys. It's like he was meant to have one. Or multiple. Trust.

Romantic: I don't want to repeat myself too much, so I'll answer for one ship I really like with PJ and put the other in Lux's answers. I adore OmniPJ. The two of them are so cute, and I am obsessed with their dynamic. Starts sobbing thinking about them. They are so!!! It's definitely my favorite canon ship within the fandom. They are insanely underrated it makes me so sad. Omni is often disregarded, which SUCKS!!!!! They should not be separated!!!!!!!!!

Favorite Headcanon:

I think my favorite PJ headcanon is that he can purr. He is so creature coded to me and I love the idea. Guy that is bad at expressing himself and his subconscious gives away how he's feeling through purring. It's a really cute concept to me.

Lux

First Impression:

I think my first impression of her was that she was pretty but not super interesting. I enjoyed her from afar. I thought it was neat to see a fairly popular girl ship kid, given how male-dominated the characters in the fandom are.

Impression Now:

My baby darling angel girl, I love her so so much. She is the moon, stars, and sun in the sky. She is everything. She's my favorite character in the UTMV fandom, and I think she is severely underrated. I would die and kill for her.

I'm so normal about her can you tell

Favorite Moment:

I generally try to ignore a lot of her canon content because most of it is just silly or weird, but there is one moment I like from her original comic. I think the moment when she was a baby and fed jam to help calm her down was cute. That's like. Pretty much the only thing I can remember having a soft spot for in that comic.

Idea For A Story:

There is so much unused potential with this girlie it's insane. I could ramble about a lot here but I'll just mention one story concept I particularly enjoy. Anything with Lux becoming corrupted like Nightmare is so fun to mess with to me. The symbism and angst go crazyyyy.

Unpopular Opinion:

Repeating one of your points, but I cannot imagine Lux dating a man ever. That girl is a lesbian, and nothing you could say to me would convince me otherwise. No hate towards people who ship her with men, of course; it's just something I personally am not a fan of. As far as I'm aware she was never given a canon sexuality, so it doesn't really matter at the end of the day, but she will always be a lesbian in my eyes.

Favorite Relationship:

Platonic: I blame @/bluepr1ntyy for this, but the dynamic between her and Raven is everything to me. They have literally never interacted in any canon setting but I do not care they are canon best friends to me.

Romantic: Man. I wonder. Yeah, it's FireColor/PJ and Lux. They are. So important to me. The painter and the poet. They are eachother's muses. I just love the idea of them together so so much. They are so in love guys, trust. Also adore her with Omni. They are literally so cute. And the three of them together? That is everything to me.

Favorite Headcanon:

My favorite headcanon is that she likes baking. I really adore the idea of her making pastries for her loved ones, for events, for anything she can make an excuse to bake for. The idea is just so soft and sweet to me. It's just, ugh, I love it so much.

[anonzentimes]

Chiaki to me is kind of an odd character in that I think she actually has good potential, especially in possible interactions with Nagito (seriously, Komanami is probably the ONLY really great Chiaki ship in my eyes). I've seen some great fanfics that play around with her. Especially ones that explore a Despair!Chiaki. But canon just...doesn't really do a great job with her.

In fact I actually find her role kind of detrimental, in that it almost vindicates elements of Nagito's worldview. With her being an angelic embodiment of hope. Which is just...not a very healthy way to present a character in my eyes.

To go back to that stuff about Despair!Chiaki, a really neat interaction that a writer friend is considering implementing into an AU is her and Nagito talking after being rehabilitated. And her admitting that the embodiment of hope he was desperate for was something she could never be. Chiaki says something like "I guess...I'm sorry I could only ever be a girl, Nagito.". To which he responds "...And I'm sorry that wasn't enough for me."

hmm, If I'm very honest I don't ship any mlw ships with Nagito lol! It's mostly because I think the idea of Junko finding a gay man who's lonely, terminally ill, traumatized, and desperate for someone to love him, then exploiting and warping his affection, one of the only things that remains healthy about him, warping it to where he can't understand his own sexuality anymore is pretty brutal. Nagito loving despair is something he can accept, but loving Junko is so fundamentally mind boggling that he goes spiraling when he thinks about it. The idea of Junko convincing a gay man he loves her and robbing an important part of himself from him is super interesting. Also just him never really showing any interest in a woman but showing interest in hajime and Izuru gives that impression. But don't let me discourage you that's just my opinion! His sexuality is not confirmed in any way and that is my interpretation. Just wanted to touch upon that to give insight on what I think just in case it makes me sound too biased at any point in this discussion.

I think making Chiaki real and using her again plot wise to use the same strong suit of her character, empathy, can be seen as a little clumsy. Although I do thoroughly enjoy the fact that Hajime heard her advice but only truly understood it in Danganronpa 2 after she was gone. It's really tragic and I enjoy that Ai Chiaki and Real life Chiaki are indeed different. It's a little indecent but I enjoy the story of the franchise overall.

If I'm honest I think a lot of things about hope's peak in general are detrimental to Nagito because his world view is specifically influenced by Hope's peak. Nagito believes Chiaki is an "embodiment of hope" for the class and likes her status and impact on everyone. Junko sees her the same way and wants to crush that so called hope to create despair for the class! I think that all makes sense and is decently done considering the characters and world. It's important to remember hope is practically absolute good, and Chiaki was just an absolutely good person to the class and when that's lost it creates despair. Even those who she wasn't really That close with, like Nagito, respected her and her impact a lot! Enough to be devastated and have the brainwashing work more.

Chiaki serves a purpose and I think criticism with the fact that she mostly is there to be the support role and impact for everyone else is absolutely valid. My only personal criticism is I'd like to have seen the different ways the class cared for Chiaki, basically just how close each person individually was with her. I'd like to have seen more of their hangouts to know that, but I understand it's an anime recapping a story with limited time. They spend episodes expressing how much they all cared but not how personally close they were, so the fact all of them cared so much isn't entirely sold for a lot of people including me at first. You kind of have to infer a lot which is a little sad? It's for a lack of words a missed opportunity I think.

Fanfics do a really good job at showing those things the anime misses about real life Chiaki, and honestly overall I'd say Chiaki is most often well characterized in fanfics! I think a despair Chiaki is an interesting idea too like you said, you'd have to explain how they became despairs without her though. But fanfics are all about being creative and it's an au in the first place so I'm sure people can figure it out and have fun! All of it is interesting fun ideas and I'm glad you and your writer friend are having fun and enjoy the ship.

I do think the dialogue they've come up with is pretty interesting and a cool approach to an au like that. "...And I'm sorry that wasn't enough for me," feels a little odd for him to say to me at least? I mean, I definitely don't know the direction or the entirety of the work that led to that interaction though of course, and I think it's definitely interesting dialogue, but for Nagito to say that feels a little off for me personally. Like, I think after rehabilitation supposedly it would go something like the Dangan Islands where he learns Hope was inside him all along through spending time with Hajime.

"You provoked the hope that was already inside all of our hearts Chiaki, and for that I am grateful. We all fell to despair, but the hope always wins, Right?" or something like that feels better to me personally but I'm just being silly and don't know the full context anyway

Thank you for your ask, please let me know if I misinterpreted anything you said and didn't respond accordingly, It was nice reading somebody else's take on things and trying to respond with mine as respectfully as I could <3

[daybreakrising]

HEADCANONS - WHO IS G.ALLAGHER?

this should go without saying, but just in case: SPOILERS FOR 2.2 STORY AHEAD. this will be tagged but not under a cut, so proceed with caution if you're not caught up yet.

so, since 2.2 refuted one of my favourite theories for g.allagher's identity, much to my disappointment, i've opted to keep my hcs as is and make my portrayal CANON DIVERGENT. this is also in part because i've already developed (or started developing) certain dynamics that rely on him following this particular identity and i don't want to throw that out / limit it to an AU verse, especially given interactions with "g.allagher" are now pretty restricted for anything post 2.2.

MINOR CANON COMPLIANCE

there are certain aspects i will keep, of course. namely, that he is a pathstrider of the enigmata, and that "g.allagher" is a created form specifically designed for p.enacony. he does deliberately "borrow" traits from the Family members as s.unday describes to create this image.

and, to an extent, "g.allagher" as we know him has ceased to exist following the events of the story. however, a different form was created in its place that shares some of the traits of the previous one - a new g.allagher, if you will.

THE TRUE "G.ALLAGHER"

prior to 2.2, i ascribed to the theory that g.allagher was a potential "human form" for the memory zone meme Death, that he was Death itself (saying he was Thirteen played a lot into this, obviously) - and i took this and ran wild with it. and, so:

he does not control Something Unto Death/Dormancy. he is Something Unto Death/Dormancy.

"g.allagher" does not have a singular true form - at least, not one that is known or has ever been seen. instead, he creates various 'characters' that he can shift between at will. for p.enacony, these were the human guise of g.allagher and the memetic entity itself. whilst in either of these forms, he can also alter individual aspects of his appearance at will - though these are usually temporary and used as a means of unsettling or intimidating enemies.

quick note: this portrayal of g.allagher will occasionally involve minor descriptions of body horror for this reason. i can and will leave these out for people who are uncomfortable with that, so if that applies to you, please let me know during discussion/plotting prior to interactions! these descriptions will never be graphic/too horrific, but i still don't want to make anyone uncomfortable unknowingly.

the primary form is the memetic entity, and as such, there is a certain bleed through into the human 'g.allagher'. these include the elements of g.allagher's attacks and the glow that shines through his scars and forms his claws. there's also occasionally an unsettling presence about him that certain others can pick up on, particularly those who are also possibly not quite human.

despite being the same entity, he is able to split himself into multiple forms at once. as such, both the human guise of 'g.allagher' and the memetic form 'dormancy' are able to be encountered separately - this is mostly to further conceal the truth, avoiding an observant eye coming to the realisation that they are never seen together, despite dormancy being 'controlled' by g.allagher. when separated like this, all forms share senses and can even 'take over' certain senses of another form - for example, g.allagher could 'take over' dormancy's vision to see through its eyes.

KEY INFORMATION

his role in the story is unchanged. his involvement with the w.atchmaker remains the same, etc. he's still a history fictionologist. given there's so little information available for this faction, i don't see a reason to tweak this (yet).

very few people know he and the memetic entity are the same. canon characters that could fall into this category include m.isha (obviously), sunday, robin, and s.amfly. for sunday and robin, this will largely be post-story (as in, after he fckn stabs them-). s,amfly i would accept prior knowledge of due to script reasons. as an additional note, i hc that siobhan knows something is weird about g.allagher (as one of the few who seems to know him & interacts with him in a way that implies a history between them - and as someone who regularly deals with & has experience with inhuman creatures) but she simply doesn't ask questions.

g.allagher and "dormancy" can be encountered as separate entities at the same time, and share senses. to avoid the risk of questions, g.allagher makes a point to be seen with "dormancy" on occasion.

g.allagher and "dormancy" have different personalities - g.allagher has been carefully crafted a certain way to fit the role he needs to play. when g.allagher breaks this character, that is "dormancy" bleeding through. g.allagher's personality is a blend of borrowed traits from the Family and hints, perhaps, of the fictionologist who created him...

post-2.2 story, "g.allagher" is recreated but with altered traits from the original. the new form is in a similar age range appearance-wise, has a similar colouring (though his hair is longer), and also has visible scarring though the scars themselves are different.

he can still be found around p.enacony in both forms, though the human g.allagher (2.0) is more likely to be found in reality whilst the memetic entity remains in the dreamscape.

[purplekoop]

Took a bit of a hiatus thanks to work and such, but back on day 10 of updating the Darkworld cast, now with one more character I wasn't expecting to get to this month, let alone in this role: the insectoid mastermind, Hyvera!

So, as she's a much fresher addition to the cast than anyone besides Cassandra, Hyvera's backstory is fairly uncertain right now. So instead of sharing her canon in-universe history, here's a brief peak into her history behind the scenes.

One of the older concepts for a DWS character was a cybernetic bug creature. He was ambiguously more ant-like, while also having a surgical theme, being able to turn his hands into saws or drills. However, when considering characters to shave off in a more minimal cut of the cast, this bug character was cut due to being planned as a slower zoner character, vaguely similar to Samus in Smash, which felt like a crowded archetype at the time that he didn't really offer an interesting take on. When considering reintegrating some version of this character, I wanted to focus on what could make them stand out: unique and aggressive aerial mobility, leaning much more into the strengths of the subgenre, while also giving their minion master gimmick more nuance than just projectile spam.

So enter another failed concept: Hyvera, but as they were intended for War Bots. Hyvera was originally planned as a support with a unique drone management gameplay loop, requiring resource management and strategy loosely inspired by Pikmin. However, no iteration of this concept felt like it could feasibly work in action. Early on the drones were meant to be a small number of full entities (essentially flying multi-purpose turrets with extensive management controls), but this could easily strain how much one character could impact the number of things happening in a game at once, which felt like a bad idea for the sake of both player-end readability and development-end practicality. In a more hero-shooter style game with smaller team sizes this idea could have potential, but with War Bots as a more classic class shooter with bigger teams, having potentially 20 Hyveras each with several complex drones sounds absolutely hellish to both play and handle performance-wise. A more novel idea later on was that the drones were essentially just bullets that did lingering damage or healing, as opposed to Hyvera having her own personal weapon like she did previously, but this felt like it was losing the appeal of the concept in the first place. Even with some resource management element, there just wasn't that same thematic cohesion with the drones being proper beings, instead basically just being either lingering overheal or a different flavor of poison damage. So, Hyvera was shelved, and the fourth support in her place is still not totally certain as of now either.

So we had an old bug for DWS that needed an overhaul including a new name, design, and gameplay feel, and an old bug for War Bots with a similar theme/gimmick and a design that lends itself way better to freeform fast-paced movement that just didn't fit that style of gameplay. With a bit of discussion on my collaborator/sibling on where to take this new interpretation stylistically, and taking a hairstyle cue from one more character of mine with a similar gimmick, we have the character now known as Hyvera. So all that said, how does she work now?

In terms of stats, Hyvera is among the lightest in the cast, but with the best air speed, and solid ground speed as well. Her air game is opened up especially with her first of a few unique mechanics: instead of a set number of midair jumps, Hyvera has a limited free flight duration, indicated by a stamina meter that appears next to her while in use. Holding the jump button midair will allow you to accelerate upwards, and you can start and stop flying as much as you want as long as you have the stamina for it. Stamina recharges quickly (though not instantly) while on the ground. Using this and her air speed, Hyvera can fly through the air with unmatched precision.

Hyvera's next signature mechanic relates to another part of her insectoid anatomy, the Extraction Stinger. This cybernetic stinger acts as the sweetspot of many of Hyvera's moves, notably increasing damage and hitstun if the stinger itself hits and not her thorax. This includes her up special, Stinger Dive, which has her ready for a moment before lunging stinger-first based on your directional input. If the spike hits while aimed down or diagonally downwards, then the victim is spiked along with your trajectory. However, if you stab into a wall or floor, you will be stuck in place temporarily as Hyvera pulls herself out. Some moves, like her rapid jab, pummel, and forward throw all only have stinger hitboxes, but are weaker accordingly. Landing these stinger attacks also extracts data from enemies, measured in Data Points, or DP. DP is displayed as a meter of bubbly fluid next to Hyvera's percentage display. DP will also slowly generate over time, and you start each stock with 50 out of its max of 100.

But what is DP used for? Well, naturally, it's her final special mechanic: Hive Drones. Drones are created using Hyvera's neutral special, Drone Production. Holding the special input will allow you to select one of four drones by holding up, left, right, or down, then releasing the special input with the desired direction held will have Hyvera release one from her mouth to await on standby hovering behind her. You can only have up to 5 drones at a time, and attempting to create a sixth will have the oldest drone fly off screen to be replaced by your new selection. Tapping the input will instead cycle which drone is next to be active. You then send a drone forward using her side special, Attack Directive. All drones will fly forward a set distance in the hopes of hitting an enemy, though they will automatically fly to you back if they don't. Drones will also bounce off of shields, leaving them vulnerable for a moment before they retreat. While attacking, each drone type has unique properties:

Skeeters are weak mosquito-like drones, and cost only 15 DP to produce. They have the second highest flight speed, but are destroyed when hit by any attack whatsoever. Upon hitting an enemy, the Skeeter will latch onto them, slowly leeching their health with their proboscis. Skeeters can't drain health from a shielding enemy, but will instead cause their shield to be damaged at an increased rate. After leeching enough health (indicated by the fullness of their back pouch), the Skeeter will fly back to Hyvera, and restore both her health and DP proportional to the damage dealt. Hyvera can recollect the Skeeter early by grabbing its victim, but if they instead hit Hyvera with a melee attack or throw, then the Skeeter is shaken off while losing all of its stolen health. Their cheap cost makes them effective to rack up early damage and aid your DP income, and even help offset Hyvera's low weight with their lifesteal aspect, but they struggle to help close out a stock.

Darters are fast dragonfly-like drones, and cost 25 DP each. Darters fly at high speeds, and will slash through enemies (though not shields) along their path, before sharply turning around to strike again on their return back to you. The damage is relatively weak, but their good range and high speed makes them useful for applying bursts of pressure, or starting/extending a combo.

Flingers are bulky beetle-like drones with massive mandibles, costing 40 DP. They're slow fliers, but have enough health to survive some weak attacks, and don't flinch when hit. Upon hitting an enemy, they will grab them in their pincers, then fling them either left or right depending on whichever side Hyvera is on. They will still bounce off of shields, but are capable of bypassing super armor and counter-style attacks with their grab. While reactable, the threat of their throw as an exceptional combo starter requires respect.

Bursters are small, winged, ant-like drones that are curled around their massive transparent thorax full of menacing bubbling liquid, and cost 30 BP to produce. These volatile menaces fly the slowest of any drone, but will violently explode upon touching an enemy or being hit by any attack, including any of Hyvera's. This explosion is the most lethal attack in Hyvera's kit, but can easily be disarmed or even used against her if the enemy can safely detonate it from a distance, which also wastes the BP used to produce it. However, in a pinch, this friendly fire can be used to Hyvera's advantage when recovering, as the knockback both launches you up and resets her freefall, though at higher percents the knockback will KO her anyways.

Hyvera's drones can also be commanded with her Guard Special, Defense Priority. Upon use, all drones on the field return to Hyvera, and form a protective bubble around themselves that hits enemies and overpowers other attacks and projectiles. The drones will cycle around Hyvera in an evenly spaced circle, meaning the coverage will be weaker and less hits will occur with less drones. The attack ends when the last drone finishes its lap around Hyvera, which also acts as a launcher while the prior hits combo into it. All drone types behave the same for the purposes of this move, not applying any special on-hit effects.

Hyvera's last special move is her down special: Sectoid Snatch. This move has her fly ahead with outstretched arms, or dive diagonally downwards and forwards if used in the air. If she successfully finds a victim, she will be able to use her free flight for a short time with her prey in tow. Pressing special or letting the timer run out will cause Hyvera to toss her victim directly downwards as a weak spike that can start combos, while pressing attack will have her jab her stinger into the victim's chest, dealing strong forwards knockback and generating a significant chunk of DP. Successfully landing the move will also refresh Hyvera's flight stamina, but missing the move leaves her extremely vulnerable.

With ALL that said, it's needless to reiterate that Hyvera is one of the most complex members of the cast, playing her own resource management game along with having some extremely freeform movement options in the air. Unlike some other minion master characters, Hyvera is far from helpless on her own thanks to her mobility and equally fast and combo-friendly normals. However, these normals don't do her many favors in terms of stage control or kill confirms, both of which she struggles in without drones. Drones are powerful in what they offer, but require taking risks in order to use to their fullest, both in terms of gathering the DP to make them and in commanding them properly without them getting destroyed, wasting your investment. This high-risk high-reward mentality is a pervasive theme in Hyvera's playstyle, with her high speed but low weight, and several devastating attacks that can end either player's stock early. With so much decision making integral to every moment of her gameplay, Hyvera is a character that can be hard to do well with, but is devastating when the master plan comes together.

So this surprise addition is almost certainly one of the absolute wildest in terms of inspirations (Olimar, Ridley, Q Bee, Charmy, and my DnD character) and development history, but I hope all this was at least vaguely comprehensible. But we're back after a long break! And we've only got four characters left on the agenda, meaning we're actually primed to be finished for now by month's end! There are more characters planned, but they're either major story spoilers or were created by my friend I collaborated on this project with heavily, but have had spotty contact with for a while. I don't want to take those ideas without his stated approval, so for now they're gonna have to wait for their updates. They're some great ones though, so they'll be worth the wait.

[she-is-27-i-checked]

It's bloody well your turn, 27! Top 10 hottest fictional women/people of all time?! 😁

Well well well... If it isn't the ask I was going to answer whether anyone asked me or not. 😂

Some would call me "over prepared", "unable to count" or just plain "thirsty"... and they would all be correct.

So let's do this...

1. Ava Silva - Warrior Nun

I tried to limit myself to one character per work of fiction and this was the hardest one to narrow down from simply ALL OF THEM. EVERY SINGLE WOMAN IN WARRIOR NUN IS AN ABSOLUTE SMOKE SHOW. This is helped, considerably by the fact that they all can, and would, snap my neck. Woof. But I made myself choose. So here we go. (SorryBeaSorryLillithSorryMummySupesSorrySexyDoctorJillianSorryTheAbsoluteDeityOfHotnessThatIsShotgunMary!!!)

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

2. Bette Porter - The L Word. She's a legend for a reason. If you're ever having a bad day just hit up YouTube and find a super cut of Bette Porter swearing. Never fails. 16 year old me would turn myself inside out for this woman. (37 year old me probably still would too, who am I kidding)

Exhibit A

3. Jane Rizzoli - Rizzoli and Isles. See the last 6 months of this blog for my complete derangement facilitated by doomsday luring me over here from Supercorp. Yes we know Angie Harmon is kind of evil, yes we do still very much want to get under it anyway. Black button up supremacy!

Exhibit A

4. Bo Dennis -Lost Girl. It's Anna Silk? Playing a pansexual succubus who needs to have lots of sex or she dies?? And did I mention it is Anna Silk?? Just an amazing sex-pollen crack fic come to actual life.

Exhibit A

5. Carson Shaw - A League of Their Own. Ok, I will admit to being severely under-medicated when this show came out. And that was probably a factor in me going absolutely BATSHIT FERAL for Abby Jacobson in this role. The dimples? The arms? The cheeky little smile and the innocent little face. Urrrggghh. I. Just. Want. To. Squish. Her.

Exhibit GAY:

6. Faith - BtVS. One of the first hotties to penetrate this prickly exterior. She's a smoke show. Everyone knows it, especially her. When she swaggers in to season 7 after busting out of jail to stop the apocalypse ? ((Chef's kiss))

We present to the bench m'lord

7. Stella Gibson - The Fall. Urghhhhhhhh. Look. It's Gillian Fucking Anderson playing the most sexually liberated, yet morally dubious character we've ever seen. She wears suits. She tells men to fuck off. She drinks wine like she's making slow love to it. SHE KISSES ARCHI PANJABI.

If it pleases the court

Exhibit B

8. Jane the Vicar - Collateral. Ok, this one is maybe out of left field but I needed Nicola Walker on my list and I narrowed it down to This Nicola Walker because a) canonically (heh) gay and b) vicar's outfit (ok sue me). She also maintains that pathetic wet cat of a woman vibe that she does so well while being slightly less depressing than in Scott and Bailey.

The prosecution rests

9. Debbie / Lou in Ocean's 8. Yes. I know I'm breaking my own rule. Shut up. It was going to just be Debbie but I was looking at the evidence and it really is the pair of them together where the magic happens. We've seen both these actors be depressingly unsexy in other things (sorry. *cough*Carol*cough*) but in this they Just Eye Fuck for 2 hours and it's AMAZING.

Exhibit A

10. Villanelle - Killing Eve. Show me one woman who does not want to be murdered intimately by Villanelle and I'll show you a fucking liar. I present her 2 best looks for the jury...

Exhibit 1 - the suit and tie and ring a ding ding situation...

Exhibit 2 - the cable knit that rewired my ovaries and made me genuinely want to have little murderous babies for her.

10a. Commander Lexa - The 100. Gone but never forgotten. Continuing a pattern of brunette, lethal and soft as a kitten's arsehole for one specific blonde woman.

Honourable mentions...

M'lady

Mare of Eastown!! Every time a male show runner tries to make a beautiful woman less beautiful by mucking her up a bit I howl at her for a decade.

Diana Leatherby in Tipping the Velvet. I read the book at the tender age of 16. When I say I will never see a wooden chair the same way I mean it. Anna Chancellor in the BBC adaptation is only maybe 70% the hottie my brain cooked up tho.

Root and Shaw in Person of Interest - lost out because I couldn't choose between them!

Alex Danvers in Supergirl. Chyler Leigh is hot as fuck in this role, especially with her shaved hair. But I haven't watched enough of the actual show to judge her personality. I get the impression she becomes a bit of a cunt....

Mickey Knight in the JM Redmann books. Excluded because no one will have heard of her but lives in my heart and sexy musing forever. 🔥😘