#while using none of the story's actual canon traits for that character

[starcurtain]

respectfully the reason people mischaracterize aventurine in the specific way you mentioned in the tags of "canonically not caring about wealth or power" at least is a lot more simple than you'd think; because the devs said otherwise. in the livestream where acheron and aventurine were revealed (so right before we actually got that tb quest where we learned everything) the ceo and the writer outright state that he seems to have an obsession with amassing wealth.

now obviously we can now look back on this with hindsight, they said a lot of things in there that make more sense with context (example; mentioning that his original kit being focused around dodging left him the only party member alive was scrapped even though they joked about it being fitting might have made him look like a jackass, but now recontextualized as being about his luck only saving him) but i would argue that when the writer of the story and the ceo of the company look into the camera while revealing behind the scenes details and say he has an obsession with wealth (even if there are now multiple interpretations of that, from thinking he intentionally plays into that facade to thinking that's how he coped after losing his reason for going on) and that is the first impression a lot of people had of his real character if they didn't follow leaks, it's kind of no wonder that it's so common of an interpretation.

Yeah, I think I take this with a strong does of skepticism though, because:

A) Everyone knows the devs lie in previews in order to keep secrets about characters, and, as you note, what they say about characters tends to be wildly out of context. We all remember those comments about Gallagher not being plot relevant at all lol. Should we still believe that just because it was said by the devs once?

B) At this point, why would you be engaging in the fandom for a character if you skipped or put off doing any of his content in the actual game? Playing through 2.0 alone, let alone 2.1, would reveal to anyone paying attention that Aventurine is a very duplicitous character who puts on a specific persona as a mask to hide the fact that he thinks of himself very differently on the inside.

I feel like we can use the "the devs said this" as an excuse for a little while, but once the character's content has been out for months and provides a completely different picture of the character, if you're not willing to update your "first impression" of the character to an more accurate portrayal of them based on what's actually in the game... then like... why be in that character's fandom at all?

That's just my opinion anyway. This might not be the nicest thing for me to say, but I do feel like if people refuse to move on from an impression they formed of the character before the character was even released... then what they've created is an OC, not a portrayal of the actual canon character anymore.

[thankskenpenders]

Amy's fortune cards

The Sonic fandom has long been the kind of fandom that takes minor details very seriously, for better or worse. On the one hand, this means fans will really dig for the diamonds in the rough, latching onto fun character interactions, animations, bits of background worldbuilding, and more in pieces of Sonic media that many would write off as "the bad ones." But it also feels like every week another needlessly hostile debate over Sonic minutia erupts on Twitter, whether it's over individual lines of dialogue, fanart that makes Tails' shoes blue, or the ideal length and volume for Sonic's quills.

So it was probably inevitable that a fandom-wide debate would erupt upon seeing Amy's new gameplay style in the DLC for Sonic Frontiers, which takes the once-obscure fact that she enjoys reading tarot and shines a spotlight on it like never before.

I mean:

The thing is, while I basically always try to tune out Sonic fandom bickering... for once, I kind of sympathize with the detractors? Don't get me wrong, I like Amy's tarot stuff, and people on all sides of the discussion are being overly nasty about their opinions, as usual. (Sonic Twitter remains my personal hell.) But when I set aside the hyperbole and zoom out, I do think I understand why some fans are put off by the sudden shift in focus for the character, even if I think it's cool.

It's complicated. Let me attempt to present the cases for and against Amy's fortune cards

For years, I was always one of those fans who thought it could be fun if they played with Amy's tarot reading, or even leaned into some kind of magic with her. Part of that is my own biases showing, but there's just something that makes sense there, especially when you look at Sonic, Tails, and Amy as a trio. (I would argue that's the real "Team Sonic" these days, especially in the comics where Knuckles is more likely to be stuck on Angel Island or otherwise doing his own thing.)

You could argue that Tails is all about logic, relying on science and technology and deductive reasoning to solve problems. But Amy is all about emotion. She wears her heart on her sleeve, is extremely empathetic, and is very prone to magical thinking - both figuratively and sometimes literally. Her origin story has always been that her tarot cards told her it was her destiny to meet Sonic on Little Planet. She's claimed to be able to "sense" peoples' presences - particularly Sonic's. She's the type to believe that The Power of Love is a literal magical force. So, on some level, it makes sense to mirror Tails's science by having Sonic's other best friend believe in magic. And then Sonic is somewhere in the middle, primarily following his own gut instincts but taking advice from both of them as needed. This isn't totally accurate to how their dynamics actually function in canon stories, but I think it's a mode that could work for them.

Going off of that, it's fun to lean all the way into Amy being a magical girl, or even a witch, using her fortune telling as a foundation. Take, for example, this version of Amy from Diana Skelly's old Sonic cast redesigns from before she freelanced for Archie and IDW. This is one of MANY such redesigns for Amy.

Fast forward to the 2020s, and Amy's tarot cards are, in fact, finally getting brought up again in canon. Which is fun! I like seeing that. I like all of the individual stories involving Amy's fortune cards. This is a fun character trait for Amy, a fun nod to old lore, AND a fun storytelling device, all in one. It's really cool that the Sonic universe has its own thematically appropriate arcana, and that the cards are getting made as physical merch. And sure enough, the official card backs and borders were designed by none other than Diana Skelly, in yet another cool example of an ascendant fan leaving their mark on the series.

BUT... when you step back and look at the big picture, I get why some fans find this shift in focus jarring. At the moment, it's starting to feel like every new story about Amy involves her fortune cards to some degree.

The most recent mainline comic arc to feature Amy as the lead character, 2021's Trial by Fire arc, prominently features a sequence where she reads fortunes while camping with the girls. The Origins version of Sonic CD now bookends the game with scenes of Amy and her tarot cards. Sonic randomly mentioned it in a scene in Frontiers. And now, just this week, we got the (very cute, gorgeously illustrated) Amy's 30th Anniversary comic with a story revolving around Amy's tarot cards, followed the very next day by the Frontiers DLC in which she gets a brand new tarot-based moveset. Even her base melee attack now has her throwing tarot cards instead of swinging her hammer. Again, I like all of these individual things, but after years of it almost never coming up at all, it's VERY noticeable that Amy's tarot cards are suddenly everywhere.

To be fair, I'm looking at this from the perspective of a superfan who's actively following ALL Sonic media. Casual fans - especially kids - aren't necessarily going to be reading the comics every month, buying the thousandth rerelease of the Genesis games, or playing the ultra-hard new alternate ending DLC for a game that came out last year. Each of these stories is going to be someone's introduction to the idea that Amy can read tarot, and that's probably part of the idea behind this unified push.

But to play devil's advocate, for my fellow superfans, I understand why it feels like a very minor footnote of Amy's character is suddenly becoming the entire focus of her personality. While Amy has always been said to enjoy fortune telling, that wasn't really a character trait in and of itself, but rather an example of her being a typical girl who hopes she'll be able to find true love one day. It's less that Amy can literally predict the future and more like her using a cootie catcher or going "he loves me, he loves me not" while picking the petals off of a flower. So I get not vibing with this stuff, or feeling like it's being pushed very hard out of nowhere.

What I don't agree with are comparisons like "it's like if they made Knuckles' moveset revolve around him liking grapes." Like, I get it. Ian Flynn loves shoehorning in his little winking references for us nerds, and mentions of Amy's tarot cards were previously on the same level as other random bullet points from old Japanese manuals. But a multifaceted hobby like fortune telling that opens up so many narrative and aesthetic possibilities is obviously very different from having a favorite food. It's ALWAYS been a part of her story, not just a random fact, and there's no reason why the fortune telling can't be elevated to something more.

And, hell, even if it wasn't an established character trait, there's nothing inherently wrong with injecting new ideas into a character. One of the best Amy stories in recent years, the Free Comic Book Day special "Amy's New Hobby" written by Gale Galligan, came up with the idea that Amy's secretly been drawing little comics about her and her friends. Is this based on Lore? No. But it's cute, and helps tell the story of a younger Amy who's still coming out of her shell as both a hero and a friend.

Certain fans are also looking at Amy's Frontiers moveset and using it as evidence that once again the Vile American Contributors like Ian are CORRUPTING Sonic Team's perfect vision of Sonic with their misinterpretations. And like. Come on. Ian does not control the gameplay. He's a freelance writer. The tarot stuff is clearly something that Sonic Team likes if they made it the basis of Amy's new moveset - and, you know, if they keep approving comics and animations about Amy's fortune telling. None of this gets made without their blessing, and lord knows how much they can micromanage shit and shoot down ideas over the most minor of details.

Like, yeah, Amy's fortune telling was probably conceived less as a sign that she Knows Magic and more as a pretty mundane hobby for a lovesick young Japanese girl to have. But you're gonna sit there and tell me that using Amy's tarot cards for more than that could only be the result of a cultural misunderstanding? That nobody in Japan uses tarot card theming and aesthetics (or the general idea of magical cards) for the cool factor? Stardust Crusaders? Persona? The Astrologian class in FFXIV? Cardcaptor Sakura?? Hello??? Do you think Capcom put Gambit in Marvel vs. Capcom ironically because they thought using magic to throw cards at people was stupid? There's tons of precedent for this! It's nothing like Knuckles throwing grapes at people, be for real.

Giving Amy a very magical girl-esque moveset also just makes a lot of sense. For decades her hammer attacks have literally made sparkly heart shapes appear around her. Leaning into both that and her tarot cards in her new moveset makes a lot of sense to me.

But, admittedly... I do think it's very odd that her hammer is treated as a secondary element here, rather than having her primarily use her hammer and adding the cards for extra flair. If hitting the attack button made her swing her hammer instead of throwing cards, I'm not sure we'd even be having this discussion right now.

But the tarot-cycle and Amy riding her hammer like a witch's broom are fucking SICK and I will not concede on this point

The thing is, this whole fortune card discourse is but a small piece of a bigger problem. Amy's been a character who needed some work for ages, but there's basically nothing you can do with her without pissing SOMEONE off.

Years of stories where Amy's crush was her primary motivator and Sonic went "Ew, cooties!" have lead many casual fans to believe that being Sonic's obsessive fangirl is Amy's entire personality. At best people might call her Sonic's Minnie Mouse. This isn't just a matter of Amy having haters within the fandom - venture outside of that bubble and you'll realize that this is how MOST video game playing people seem to see her to this day. I don't feel like this is a fair assessment of the character, but this idea didn't come from nowhere. No matter how much good deeply entrenched Sonic fans may see in their old dynamic where Amy perpetually chases Sonic, this is a very real problem that Sonic Team has to contend with for their leading girl. Of course all those games where the way-past-cool protagonist thought Amy was annoyingly clingy and tried to get away from her made people think less of her.

If new stories were to go back to emphasizing Amy's crush on Sonic a little more, they'd probably be taken as confirmation that Amy's just the girl with a crush on Sonic and that this is her entire personality. Conversely, when the crush is played down, you piss off the hardcore SonAmy fans who don't seem to understand that they're Charlie Brown and Sega is Lucy holding the football. You can't win.

And so here we are. In the absence of what was once her defining trait, now reduced to an occasional blush or wink in Sonic's direction, new stories are trying to mine Amy's past for additional material to work with. Having been a thing fans wanted to see for years, right now we're getting a lot of tarot, but we're also getting reminders of her compassionate nature and her desire to go out of her way to help the little guy. This is an ongoing process. I continue to hope that her bubbly, exuberant demeanor can shine more in future stories. Now, I also hope that the tarot stuff gets balanced out a little better with other traits of hers. But I don't want it to go away. I think it's fun.

This course correcting is far from exclusive to Amy. Knuckles is getting stories that remind us that he's a competent fighter, an experienced treasure hunter, and even a self-taught archaeologist after years of him being perceived as either the dumb one or just the guy who stands in front of the Master Emerald all day. And Tails has been getting some stories reminding folks that he's a capable hero in his own right and not just Sonic's timid kid sidekick.

But no supporting character will ever compete with the sheer number of new ideas Sega has tried with Sonic himself. Like Amy, his Frontiers moveset has also given him half a dozen new superpowers that he never had before, from the Cyloop to air-slicing projectile attacks to his own take on Shadow Clone Jutsu and beyond. He's also been a hoverboarder, a swordsman, a time traveler, an Olympic athlete, a racecar driver, cursed with a Flame of Judgment, imbued with alien power, a fucking Werehog with stretchy powers, and on and on and on.

If Sonic can do all that, Amy can try out using a tarot-cycle.

Anyway TL;DR the REAL problem with Amy's current characterization... is where the FUCK is Amy's bestie, Honey the Cat???????

[starrysharks]

DESIGN DEEPDIVE:

OCTAVIA KRANKENSTEIN

due to popular demand, here is my first DESIGN DEEPDIVE, where i explain all my little character designs! character design is really important to me, so i hope you guys appreciate this TwT

this deepdive goes over octavia krankenstein, the main character of my series reassassination. firstly, we'll go over shapes and color pallete, the first things you notice when looking at most character designs.

when it comes to octavia's shapes, we can see that she's primarily made of squares and triangles. this establishes two things about her right off the bat:

- she's sharp, and personality wise, probably dangerous and active.

- she's strong, and possibly stubborn.

however, a detail that i want to point out is octavia's singular circle, in the form of a button on her dress under perfect pendant. i've added this button to indicate that behind the sharp, tough exterior, octavia has some empathetic traits. the location of the button is also important, being at the heart. (this exerpt is from my own personal factfile for octavia):

"...Octavia is a particularly self-contradictory character - while she's apathetic to the idea of killing, she can't stand the idea of harming innocents - meaning she often feels the need to justify her homicidal tendencies."

the color pallete of octavia is also important. as you can see above, she's made up of two colors and a tone - black, scarlet, and seafoam green. i want to focus on black and scarlet here.

when it comes to black, i think it's an interesting color both technically and in terms of character. black was used to give octavia's design the vibe of an executioner or medieval assassin. it blends into the night, and hides bloodstains, so it makes sense for octavia to wear it as an assassin. however, this is juxtaposed by flashy red details, which indicate several things about octaiva -

- she cares a lot about fashion and the way she looks, even if it isn't functional. the style of clothing that octavia wears is heavily inspired by 2000s "mallgoth" and the general nu-metal scene, which was often red and black clothing. (cybergoth was also a small inspiration!)

- octavia is a character with a lot of freedom. this might seem like a stretch, but in color language, red indicates action, confidence, danger, passion, and power, along many other things. in canon, octavia's dress was given to her by another character (dr. krankenstein) completely black, and then octavia edited the dress herself to include red details. this on its own might seem like nothing, but the thing about octavia is that her design is complimentary to another character's; vivica de la crux.

vivica is a character who wants freedom, but has next to none, to say the least. therefore, her "red" qualities (passion, freedom, etc), are stifled, so she has very little red in her design compared to octavia. side by side, you can see that their designs have a strong contrast in this regard.

- and lastly, octavia is vulnerable in that she wears so much of her personality literally on her sleeve. while octavia may seem stoic and mysterious in terms of character, and possesses strong physical strength, she lacks social awareness and struggles in that regard, being a social outcast within the story.

alright, now it's time to go over body type, hair and outfit! these are all pretty important in my opinion.

firstly, body type. octavia's heavily exaggerated thinness which is actually inspired by that "scene kid" artstyle that you've probably seen before, and 90s/2000s cartoons and comics in general (SPECIFICALLY the art of jhonen vasquez, who made invader zim and JTHM)!

of course, octavia's hair gives her design more depth and volume, and a strong silhouette - one resembling a ghost or spiky monster. as you can see in her ref sheet, there are 3 spiked ends on either side of the hair. in fact, there are a lot of matching pairs of threes in octavia's design, aren't there?

- three bottom eyelashes on either eye - 6 in total

- three bows on either boot - 6 in total

- and of course, three hair spikes on either side - 6 in total.

that's right! octavia's design hides a secret 666, which relates to her alternative name - experiment-666 - and the fact that she's literally seen as a demon to the clear crucifix org, the antagonists of the story.

but let's look at octavia's outfit entirely. or maybe not? the thing about octavia's design is that i wanted it to be one where you could deform and modify it in various ways, and no matter how many details you remove, it's still clearly octavia. kind of like hatsune miku!

in the end, octavia is supposed to feel like a character from the 2000s, rather than just one based off of 2000s alternative culture. i don't know if i really succeeded with that, but i'm still proud of her design regardless. if you read all of this ramble to the end, thank you so much! i might do more design deepdives for other characters if people are interested. you can even request specific characters of mine if you'd like!

[adarkrainbow]

Names in fairytales: Prince Charming

Prince Charming has become the iconic, “canon” name of the stock character of the brave, handsome prince who delivers the princess and marries her at the end of every tale.

But... where does this name comes from? You can’t find it in any of Perrault’s tales, nor in any of the Grimms’, nor in Andersen - in none of the big, famous fairytales of today. Sure, princes are often described as “charming”, as an adjective in those tales, but is it enough to suddenly create a stock name on its own?

No, of course it is not. The name “Prince Charming” has a history, and it comes, as many things in fairy tales, from the French literary fairytales. But not from Perrault, no, Perrault kept his princes unnamed: it comes from madame d’Aulnoy.

You see, madame d’Aulnoy, due to literaly helping create the fairytale genre in French literature, created a trend that would be followed by all after her: unlike Perrault who kept a lot of his characters unnamed, madame d’Aulnoy named almost each and every of her characters. But she didn’t just randomly name them: she named them after significant words. Either they were given actual words and adjectives as name, such as “Duchess Grumpy”, “Princess Shining”, “Princess Graceful”, “Prince Angry”, “King Cute”, “Prince Small-Sun”, etc etc... Either they were given names with a hidden meaning in them (such as “Carabosse”, the name of a wicked fairy which is actually a pun on Greek words, or “Galifron”, the name of a giant which also contains puns of old French verbs). So she started this all habit of having fairytale characters named after specific qualities, flaws or traits - and among her characters you find, in the fairytale “L’oiseau bleu”, “The blue bird”, “King Charming” (Roi Charmant). Not prince, here king, though he still acts as a typical prince charming would act - and “Charming” is indeed his name. 

And this character of “King Charming” actually went on to create the name we know today as “Prince Charming”. It should be noted that, while a lot of d’Aulnoy’s fairytales ended up forgotten by popular culture, some of her stories stayed MASSIVELY famous throughout the centuries and reached almost ever-lasting fame in countries other than France: The doe in the woods, The white cat, Cunning Cinders... and the Blue Bird, which stays probably the most famous fairytale of madame d’Aulnoy ever. It even was included in Andrew Lang’s Green Fairy Book.

And speaking of Andrew Lang, he is actually the next step in the history of “Prince Charming”. He translated another fairytale of madame d’Aulnoy prior to Blue Bird. In Lang’s “Blue Fairy Book”, you will find a tale called “The story of pretty Goldilocks”. This is a VERY bad title-translation of madame d’Aulnoy “La Belle aux Cheveux d’Or”, “The Beauty with Golden Hair”. And in it the main hero - who isn’t a prince, merely the faithful servant to a king - is named “Avenant”, which is a now old-fashioned word meaning “a pleasing, gracious, lovely person - someone who charms with their good looks and their grace”. When Andrew Lang translated the name in English, he decided to use “Charming”. At the end of the tale, the hero ends up marrying the Beauty with Golden Hair, who is a queen, so he also becomes “King Charming” - but the fact Avenant is a courtly hero who does several great deeds and monster-slaying for the Beauty with Golden Hair, a single beautiful queen, all for wedding reasons, ended up having him be assimilated with a “prince” in people’s mind.

And all in all, this “doubling” of a fairytale tale hero named “Charming” in Andrew Lang’s fairytales led to the colloquial term “Prince Charming” slowly appearing...

Though what is quite funny is the difference between the English language and the French one. Because in the English language, “Prince Charming” is bound to be a proper, first name - due to the position of the words. It isn’t “a charming prince”, but “prince Charming” - and again, it is an heritage of madame d’Aulnoy’s habit of naming her characters after adjectives. But in French, “Prince Charming” and “a charming prince” are basically one and the same, since adjectives are placed after the names, and not the reverse. So sometimes we write “Prince Charmant” as a name, but other times we just write “prince charmant”, as “charming prince” - and this allows for a wordplay on the double meaning of the stock name. 

[thechurchoftheradiodemon]

I've been mulling over something. I read one of Vivzie's interviews lately and I've come to some conclusions about Alastor's character (these are just my own theories, though, so we'll see how everything actually develops in s2).

Unfortunately, I believe, canonically, Alastor is NOT aromantic. Maybe on the aro-spectrum, and deffinitely asexual, but not aro per se. In this interview, Vivzie confirms Alastor's asexuality, and plays with his aro identity saying something like "I don't want to ruin people's fun with him". This could be queerbaiting in a sense (I don't actually think so, when Vivzie is high on queer representation, but aro people are very left behind in the community, sadly).

But she continues to add on that there are plans for Alastor in the future of the series, saying something like "I can't confirm that he is aromantic". To me, this reads like we will see romance in Alastor's life in season 2, wether it's a past lover/romantic interest or a new one I could not say. She would've had no problem in confirming Alastor as aromantic otherwise, and I interpret this as Vivzie not wanting to spoil part of the plot.

I used to think that Alastor's deal would most surely be with Lilith, but, while it could be the case, I'm not so sure anymore (although it could be a fun dinamic). But, nontheless, I think Lilith's and Alastor's 7 year absence and his deal are intertwinded somehow.

My bet, for the future romance plot, is that it could be one of these three: either Lilith, whom the fandom is already considering in a sense; the mysterious Eve, or... Lucifer. HEAR ME OUT. I don't say this as a Radioapple enjoyer. The reasons I think it could be Lucifer are the same that I think it could be Eve (although we know absolutely nothing about her).

Mainly, I draw these conclusions from the early comic Zoophobia, from where we know Alastor's character was taken. In this comic, his character is supposed to have a crush on the character of KayCee, a powerful being with whom he could have made an alliance to reign chaos.

KayCee's descriptions could match either of the three romantic interests I mentioned, but what strikes me more are her defining traits: white and gold colour palette, and the apple. We know not all of Vivzie's characters stem from Zoophobia, and the ones that do have (understandably so) went through important changes through the years, mediums and aesthetics.

BUT these could be some clues into what we might discover in s2 of Hazbin. And, so long, the character we've seen fit this palette and apple motif is none other than Lucifer himself. Eve, on the other hand, is also shown during the intro sporting some sort of apple motif, which could be indicative of her future appearance in the series. But we know so little about her, and, knowing Hazbin Hotel will only have 2 seasons confirmed, I'm not sure we will see more of her.

I personally don't like the idea of losing Alastor as an aromantic character. I'd much rather not see him in a romantic relationship whatsoever in the canon series. But that is not my call to make, and he will always be our ace-king no matter what. Also, that wouldn't mean his story or character will be less interesting or developed. So we'll have to wait and see...

(This is visual representation of me reaching these conclusions, btw)

I would love to hear what other fans think about this, so if you want to leave and opinion in the comments we can discuss!

[foolsocracy]

Hi, hello, I’m new to your blog. I’ve made myself at home. Lovely carpet.

Can I please know more about your spider Robbie pie? Can’t seem to find the silverware.

but of course, kind anon

Spider Robbie is an au in which Robbie Robertson takes up the spider mantle after the death of the one before him. He is the third, following Ben Urich and, most notably, Peter Parker.

This au is very much canon divergence from Eyes Without a Face, where Peter makes it in time to save Robbie from his original fate but dies in the process. Peter is shot while rushing Robbie and the others out. In his panic and elation at finding Robbie physically unharmed, Peter outs himself as the Spider Man to his best friend. Robbie stays with him as he bleeds out and resolves to continue to hide Peter's identity.

Peter is buried and remains that way for... an undetermined amount of time.

Robbie is left with a mask, a jacket, and the question of just who was this other half of his friend. As he learns more of who this... Spider Man was, he gets more and more involved in the spider's cases and conflicts. Robbie gets more sure of his own abilities and makes a bit of a name for the Spider Man within his own community, though the people of Harlem are largely unaware that the appearances of a masked vigilante match the interests of one Robbie Robertson.

It is to be noted that none of these aforementioned abilities are spider-god-induced powers like Peter's. Robbie, especially at the beginning of his spidering career, leans more into Urich's role than Parker's. To me, Robbie has been passionate about the press and journalism in a way that Peter never was. For Pete, his job as a photographer and reporter was a job he took until he could get into college and study science. Robbie has a way with words and communication that Peter frankly lacks. Of course, that isn't to say that Robbie won't be kicking ass, because he will. It will just take him a bit of time to get some of those skills as he's, well, a normal guy. Not everyone can get their biology scrambled like Pete.

And just because Robbie hasn't been scrambled doesn't mean he's completely separate from all things supernatural either!

I think the marvel noir universe is at its best when there's a magical, supernatural undercurrent. This concept isn't super prevalent in the actual comics, but HoplesslyLost on ao3 has done some really cool world building with it.

I think in Robbie's case, where he would be the narrator, "magical realism" would be an interesting avenue to take it. I use this term in particular because I most closely relate it to Toni Morrison in my head, when I first learned about it through her work in high school. For Morrison, the concept was inseparable to blackness and I think for Robbie, where his blackness is so central to his character and his motivations, drawing on that could be more of a service to his character. It feels better to do that than ignore how incredibly racialized his society and story is. It will make his relationship with the spider god, Peter (who I will get to very very shortly), his community, and his own mythos as The Spider Man really interesting and complex.

So it's been established that Robbie doesn't have spider powers. And we all know that Peter did-- or should I say does. One of the spider god's abilities is to bring Peter back to life. She does this in the comics, but not in any of the runs from 2008-2010 (the runs that make up this au). When Peter dies on Ellis Island, he does not think he is coming back from that. Waking up again is a surprise.

Here's where I think the au really takes a left turn. Do I think the Spider God is purely evil and spiteful and has it out for Pete? No, not really. Will I be ramping said traits up to 11 for the au? Yeah, I guess I might. This is because I love a little bit of horror and the came back wrong trope. I will hopefully be fleshing the spider god out in the near future, but I really haven't given her the many hours of thought I have the other characters. For that I'm sorry spider god </3

Peter digs himself out of his grave, more spider than he ever has been. For much of his new, waking life he is more animalistic than not. There is clearly something wrong with him; his joints are too flexible and loose, he's got some eye-shine going on, his skin is pale and his veins are starkly dark beneath it. He's possessed. Someone is puppeteering him, someone who knows a lot-- almost everything about him, but it's clear that the someone isn't him.

And Peter--- the body, it can't be Peter. At least, that's what Robbie thinks when the figure catches his eye the first time. Because Peter is dead and buried, and he has been dead and buried for weeks.

[redux-iterum]

With your track record with your ‘favourite chapters’, I am deeply afraid of what trauma is going to occur in chapter 45. Also, here’s that opportunity to rant about the Erins’ crippling allergy to characterisation that you asked for!

Chapter 45's a great time. I promise. For me.

Now! Characters and the Erins.

So the characters in Warriors are extremely inconsistent. I think we can all agree on that. Firestar, for example, goes from murder-happy to altruistic and loving to completely apathetic, sometimes in the span of one book. He's constantly said to be a paragon of goodness and a soft-hearted nice guy, but if you actually read the damn story, you can see he flipflops around as the plot progresses. There's a lot of characters being said to be one thing while they behave entirely differently in the story itself.

The main thing that I believe when it comes to canon is that almost none of the cats having a consistent, present personality is more-or-less on purpose, or at least extremely convenient for the Erins. They focus on the plot first and foremost and shove characters into the slots that need to be filled so that the plot they have in mind can progress or be halted whenever it's most useful for them. Would Leopardstar be stupid enough to let Tigerclaw walk all over her in the first arc? No, but we needed the Clans to be split in two for the future battle at the end of the books. Is ThunderClan truly that eager to listen to a clearly battered, befuddled and bizarre-acting Bramblestar, especially when he starts kicking cats out of the Clan? Not logically in any respect, but how else are we going to facilitate drama and get multiple cats out there to help bolster the numbers of the secret rebellion? So on and so forth.

Is planning a plot first a bad thing? Not necessarily. Anyone with enough skill can create a plot and then create characters to service that plot and its themes.

But the complete lack of personality about 95% of the cast displays is much more harmful to this series than a bad plot (of which there are many). The entire premise is about a community of cats and their interpersonal drama. You can't do that well if your readers can't tell you what kind of personality Snaptooth has, or how Mousefur and Runningwind interact with each other. I've talked before about how even families don't feel like families, to the point of not grieving when their child dies at some times (never forget that Yellowfang's own mother is one of the first to demand her be cast out as if she could believe her own daughter would murder her siblings - likely because the writers forgot they were even related). The most we get for personal relationships is romantic subplots, and because there's no character between the partners, there's no chemistry, and therefore romances are more annoying than interesting. Not having real characters is poisonous to the story.

If I were to alter one thing - a singular aspect - in the books, it would be to give characters actual traits, and have them act consistently with those traits. I genuinely believe that if everyone had a personality they stuck with, we could have much more interesting drama, plots that are much easier to come up with and navigate through the different Clans and their members, and an overall higher-quality series with a fandom that could actually ship characters instead of slapping two designs together and pretending they had any chemistry or even interacted in canon.

As it is, though, I can't even say we're stuck with a bland flavor of cats. We have no flavor at all. No sprinkles, no vanilla, not even really any flour to begin with. We have nothing to work with. And it annoys me greatly.

[maxdibert]

yeah, people love to act like w0lfstar are some canon queer icons when in the actual canon Sirius had posters of bikini clad women on his walls and mocked his former classmate for being a crybaby (Snivellus) well into his adulthood, while Remus got a younger woman pregnant and then bolted in fear of the responsibility. none of which means they couldn't be gay or bi! but all of which points to neither of them being the soft uwu boys that fanon likes to dream them up as. all of these character traits are the things that make them even remotely interesting, and I'll never understand the impulse to remove them in order to make them more palatable or nicer. they were assholes too!

Wolfstar is a ship as old as the fandom itself, but its characterization of the characters used to be much more accurate. Back in the late 00s, there wasn’t this kind of twink Sirius who had been turned into a completely different character by stripping away all his essential traits, including the fact that he was always described in the books as the epitome of traditional masculinity: the tallest of them all (not just of the Marauders, but in general; he was taller than most of the characters, and Rowling constantly compares his height with others), the most violent, the most attractive, the one who made the girls sigh, the one with posters of women in bikinis in his room, the one who had A HUGE MOTORCYCLE, FOR GOD'S SAKE. I mean, Rowling really makes an effort to emphasize all these things at various points in the story—she likes to dwell on how handsome, masculine, and handsome, and once again, handsome, Sirius Black was. She repeats it like eighty times. In fact, she repeats it as often as she repeats that Severus is ugly, slouched, and looks like a shadow. Sirius and Severus are described in great detail, both ironically with completely different physiques and diametrically opposed appearances. With the other Marauders, you know certain things, but there isn’t the same emphasis as there is with Sirius. Rowling wants you to know that Sirius Black was incredibly handsome, super tall, a rebellious tough guy with a motorcycle, and that he had posters of naked women in his room. She wants you to know that he was a guy who performed his masculinity in a very heteronormative way. Could he have liked men? Sure, we won’t rule it out, anything is possible, but you can like men and still be a tough guy—those things aren’t mutually exclusive. And I don’t know if Sirius was straight, bisexual, or gay; that’s not something specified, but regardless of his sexual preferences, he was a tough guy. And Rowling stamps that fact into your brain all the time.

This was something that was respected in the old Wolfstar. They respected this Sirius Black, and they also respected that he had very problematic, violent attitudes and was a questionable person. They also tried to stay a bit more true to the Remus of canon, who had this pathological need for acceptance and was a bit cowardly, etc. There was an intention to keep the characters in character, and while Wolfstar has never made sense to me as a pairing because 1) if Sirius had an obsession with one of his friends or was emotionally attached to anyone, it was James, and 2) he always treated Remus like shit and didn’t even care that he might end up in prison for killing a fellow student, just as he was the first to distrust him during the war, and 3) Remus went on to live his life, married a young girl, got her pregnant, and almost abandoned her, showing us that he was the worst kind of hetero but also the best example of an insecure hetero guy, the truth is I didn’t mind that pairing because I always say that people can ship whatever they want and I always respect that.

But what they’ve done now with the characters... I mean, I don’t care who ships who; everyone can ship whoever they want with whoever they want. It’s a free world, and I’m really one of those people who thinks that as long as it doesn’t involve minors with old people, everything is fine. But, seriously, they’ve destroyed the characters, they’ve mutilated them. I don’t know who this person is that I sometimes read about in some posts, but it’s not Sirius Black, it’s not the Sirius Black from the books, and the Sirius Black from the books is a character with a lot of depth who could be very complex if treated properly. But instead of exploiting his essence, which is so inconsistent, full of cynicism, double standards, and pure hypocrisy, they’ve turned him into some kind of... I don’t know, a cheap character from a Netflix tabloid series that lasts five seasons with terrible plots just for the aesthetic. He seems like he’s come straight out of Elite, like, what a cringe.

Destroying Remus’s character also seems like a huge slap in the face to me. Hello? Is this really your queer icon? A man who, at 38, gets a 25-year-old girl pregnant and then runs off? Seriously, don’t you realize that you’re making the most heteroproblematic guy in the entire saga into a sort of symbol of the LGBTQ+ community? I just don’t get it. I mean, at least portray him for what he was, it doesn’t matter, it makes him more interesting.

I don’t know what the hell has happened to this fandom. I’ve never liked the Marauders, but their fandom was bearable years ago. People used to keep the personalities and traits of the characters. And the physical appearance too, because this new generation even invents that, turning Sirius into a gnome or something, I don’t know, lol. I really don’t know what the hell has happened in recent years, but that place is unbearable now—not only because it’s full of toxic people or because it glorifies abusive rich kids, or because most of them have a super classist background, but because they’ve destroyed characters that, while you might not like them, at least the reasons you didn’t like them were the same ones that allowed for interesting dynamics. Or to make interesting analyses. Or to read interesting metas. Now, it’s all reduced to seeing who fits more with a magical version of Sex Education, and it’s not only cringey but it also takes away all the charm of the characters.

[bambiraptorx]

I think the reason people, myself included at first I'll admit, are/got so hype for missing sis' design is because it's a 'canon' (I can't remember how canon the comics are) appearance of a character reveal that was planned to happen in Rise but we never got. Now that my hype has gone down I'm disappointed too :(. I'm semi-willing to forgive the snatched waist she has because Leo has it too. I do think the face marking are cool though

Yeah I do appreciate the facial markings, they're a different enough shape from Leo's (and the fanon ones the others often get) that they stand out nicely. The idea of a flame-like pattern that doesn't seem to be fully symetrical is very cool. But honestly? It's one of the few things I like about her face reveal/comic design, the rest I'm neutral on or mildly annoyed by.

this next part got ranty, so I'm just gonna put it under a read more. Absolutely nobody has to read this lol. TLDR I get heated about the design for Big Mama's Assistant in the comic.

I do want to clarify upfront, most of my issues are with the design of Big Mama's Assistant (Venus/Frida) as shown in the comic specifically. Given that it does not (and isn't meant to) fit into the show's artstyle, it's possible that her show design would have looked different. But the fact remains that this might be the closest we ever get to having an actual canon design of her.

And... it's not all that great a design in my opinion.

(That said, I do still like the markings that she's given in that design. Those are cool. Thumbs up.)

My main issue is with how there's so many little details intended to scream "I am a Girl Character that's G-I-R-L and don't you forget it". Like, I genuinely hope that's not the design she was supposed to have in the show, because it feels like it's being almost shoved in your face that This Is A Girl.

The traits I've noticed so far:

She has lips. Or possibly lipstick, but in either case the appearance of lips. None of the other (male) turtles have lips, but all the important female characters in Rise do.

She has heavy eyeliner/mascara, as in the upper line of her eye is noticeably thicker. Yes the boys look like they have winged eyeliner at some points, but hers is much heavier.

This is more subtle, but she seems to have larger pupils than the other (male) characters in the comic, giving her something of a doe-eyed look.

Her plastron shape has been rounded out/simplified, giving her the appearance of boobs and an hourglass figure. (Interesting note here: in the show, the male turtles have comparable or perhaps larger sized bumps in their plastrons. Yes there's a slight difference in shape, but it defintely doesn't look like she has boobs in the show.)

They made her have an obviously lighter skin tone than the other turtles. Yes it may well be a result of dramatic lighting, but enough people have taken it as her canon skin tone that it still counts.

Long story short, all these items are things often used in visual media (especially in cartoons) to code male and female animal characters as, well, male and female. And it's important to note, most of the time this coding is *completely divorced* from the sexual dimorphism actually seen in those species. We can speculate all we want on if she's wearing makeup or not, but the fact remains that turtles don't have lips or cinched waists. She doesn't *need* all that to emphasize that she's a girl. Even just two or three of these traits would be fine!

(And while I also have issues with the whole "you have a brother and sister" thing when it was previously discussed as being two sisters, maybe it would have been fun to see a design that gave us a little more room to debate if this was a brother or a sister. Yeah we'd heard from the creators that Big Mama's assistant was a girl, but that's also where we heard that the turtles had two sisters.)

It also kind of bothers me a bit to see the fandom response, in that there's a lot of people who are taking the design as is I guess? And sure, there's plenty of people who *aren't* drawing her as is and remove some of the intense girl coding, but there's also people who do draw her as close to the comic design as possible. And while there's nothing automatically wrong with that, I do hope those people are at the very least aware of the tropes that her design falls into.

Now to perhaps the more controversial part of this post outside of just the visual tropes she falls into. For me personally, there's nothing (outside her markings) that makes the face reveal all that interesting design-wise? And there's basically nothing that indicates anything about her personality.

She wears makeup. So what? Not only is that the societal standard for women and girls in real life, it's basically the standard for how female characters in Rise are designed. It's also a hugely common design element of female animal characters. It tells us nothing about her, except, again, she's a girl.

Her outfit is the same as canon, so there's no new information there.

Her expression is carefully neutral, and doesn't really tell us anything. Heck, everyone else in the scene is having more of a reaction than she is. The other turtles have shocked expressions and Big Mama is angry. Venus... has her eyes open I guess? There's a lack of expression on her part in an otherwise very expressive comic.

And (again in my opinion) her design honestly isn't particularly unique. She has a face shape relatively similar to Mikey's (the main different being his chin is rounded and hers is pointed) and she has facial markings like Leo. And while it's not a bad thing that her design resembles the other turtles given that she's supposed to be related to them, many of the design traits that make her stand out are the Girl Design Traits.

It's also worth pointing out that there's a very specific way Rise draws important female characters, with them all having similar body types and facial details, and this design plays right into that. It's a further example of a Rise girl/woman who's thin with a small waist and lips and a small nose and no obvious musculature. There's been other posts that break this down more than I'm going to here, but the design for Big Mama's Assistant just... continues all that.

And I don't have a problem with characters looking feminine, but when they're all feminine in similar ways, it gets a little... boring? Even a little body type diversity would have been nice (like giving Casey muscles instead of the same slender arms as everyone else, for example.) The assistant doesn't have to follow the same pattern (she's an entirely different species, for one), but she does.

And in some ways it's like, yeah, we got to have confirmation that she's a character. She exists. Hooray. She said nothing and she did nothing besides take off her mask. We all knew there was gonna be a face under there anyway! And seeing her finally appear in canon, only to be drawn using so many visual cues to show her as The Girl Turtle is... a little underwhelming, I think.

But the fact that I've already got a design for Venus/Frida is probably also a factor here. I'm more attached to my design and I like it better lol. Rant over.

[hawkogurl]

Tell me good things about Harry so that I'll like him more.

I don't really like him for some reason, but to write good Norman & Harry one-shots/stories, I need to actually like Harry (and loving Norman but not liking his son is ridiculous). I thought you'd be a good person to ask since you're writing a fic about him and seem to like him a lot.

I mean you don't have to answer this if you don't want to, but I assume, like me, you'd love to rant about your favorite character.

Have a good day!

So I’m gonna warn you in advance, I have severe insomnia and I haven’t slept in more than a day so I’m not firing on all cylinders. This is also why this is taking so damn long to write. Also none of this is necessarily directed at you specifically if I mention something. It’s probably a general observation.

While I do think it’s valid to dislike him for a lot of reasons—I think it’s valid to dislike him on the grounds of what an absolute piece of work James Franco is alone—there are some things I will posit for my son boy. It’s worth noting that one, he is seventeen years old in the first movie, he is a baby, and he dies at either 20 or 21. Additionally, most of the more overt shitty things he does are things he’s shown to have developed as a direct result of Norman, namely his treatment of MJ being an explicit result of Norman being a misogynist. And on the topic of reasons I think he’s liked, I know for a lot of people his reaction to MJ commenting on Norman, while not pretty, is just so, so real to a lot of victims of similar abuse.

While at the end of the day I do sort of think that trying to quantify morality sort of misses the point of the Raimi trilogy’s core cast. Whether or not they’re good people is less important than the fact that they are human, with human flaws and human problems who are all for the most part trying to do their best, or in cases where they actually are acting maliciously like Eddie and, not to slander your blorbo, Norman, acting maliciously for very human reasons. I think Harry is a great example of this.

And I do think Harry is a better person than he’s generally given credit for. He maintains his 616 trait of not having it in him to kill, even having a line in the novels where MJ mentions he couldn’t kill a frog in science class. He keeps a lot of the 616 core of his character when it comes to fragility and gendered tropes, having a complex relationship between traditionally female and male tropes as used in those movies. He is subversive as a male character. But that’s getting off topic, even if I could go off about that for hours. He’s more respectful of MJ’s romantic decisions than most secondary male leads in fiction, maintaining a platonic relationship with her long after they’ve broken up. Norman is a weapons manufacturer, yet Harry’s job in OSCORP has him working on accessible green energy with Otto. He’s far more loyal to Peter than people want to give him credit for, resisting his hallucinations and the revenge he’s obsessed over for two years at that point for no other reason than the fact he loves Peter. And it’s important to me that you know the original ending of the third movie didn’t have him going to help Peter after being told how Norman died but instead after seeing a shattered photo of himself, Peter and MJ. That boy cares so damn much. While poorly executed, the amnesia arc in the third movie is very important in my opinion because of what it’s meant to demonstrate. Harry isn’t a malicious or malevolent person at his core, he’s just deeply traumatized and struggling.

And I know well that all that is buried six feet deep beneath his mountains of issues, but that’s half the reason I like him. I think it’s easy to admire Peter, and he’s well written and deserves it, but I don’t think it’s any coincidence that there’s such a decent amount of affection for Harry on tumblr specifically. He’s the character with the subversive gendered tropes, the canon schizophrenic, the one I think a lot of people connect with out of this feeling he was treated unfairly. And I think it’s reassuring to see something that reminds you that no matter how much has happened, no matter how many mistakes you’ve made, it isn’t too late. You can always choose to be better.

There’s also a fantastic video essay about Harry and the stages of identity development somewhere on YouTube that I think is absolutely fantastic because that also is a massive part of his character. Along with his genuine psychological issues, his development of identity has been stunted. He’s soft spoken and tries to make himself as unobtrusive as possible in the first movie, basically molding who he is to try and please the people around him. He swings in the opposite direction in the second movie, where he’s perfectly capable of interacting like a normal human person at Peter’s birthday party, he almost deliberately paints himself as obnoxious as possible around Otto. I’ve written full posts about that before, so I’ll keep it short as the idea that he twists who he is to make himself feel safe. And feeling safe isn’t necessarily what’s actually safe for him, but often just what’s he’s used to. There’s a sense of completion to him simply deciding to go and help Peter. He’s choosing who he wants to be for himself and nothing else, choosing whose love actually matters to him.

I’m happy to talk about the guy in messages or asks upon request. Also have like 293 posts this length or longer about the dude tagged under harryposting he is so important to me. I should probably make a specific analysis tag.

[docgold13]

On the Scale of 1 to a Villain's Circus themed torture chamber, the amount of unnecessary, painful and contradictory loops taken by the retcon for Nightcrawler's origins goes beyond that limit. Because Azazel cannot do a single takeover without Nightcrawler existing as both his biological child and a mutant with his exact teleportation abilities. You remove any of those things and Azazel's plans can't come to fruition whatsoever (he really needed him for both a possible one on earth and the one in Heaven). So literally making sure Nightcrawler or someone like him doesn't exist would have made none of Azazel's takeovers happen (which is easy because none of Azazel's other bio kids have his powers or even look that much like him and Kurt was literally the only one that did)... It also doesn't help that every time Nightcrawler did stop Azazel, he needed his blood ties to him to pull it off (no really, every magic seal required his blood to work). To even be part of the first takeover and "stop it", Nightcrawler had to be related to Azazel too because Azazel had to bring all of his children in one place which was easy because he has mindcontrol powers that only work on them. To pull the Heaven one, Azazel used Nightcrawler's soul (which he is tied to as his father) to pull himself up there and he found him right away because he has a passive ability that helps him know where his children are (and who is his bio child too, it keeps him from accidentally thinking someone is his child when they're not and has always worked). The icing on the stupid cake is, Azazel is just a mutant, who was even on Krakoa since before the laws were made there and they only allowed mutants back then. The last time Nightcrawler stoped him, he put a power nullifier on him... And it was all over. He would have went to Rikers island and be sentenced if he didn't break out of his transport vehicle and Mystique didn't give him a job

And then you have Mystique and Destiny's first canon X-Men story which is Days of Future Past where, after they assassinated Senator Kelly, they created a dystopian future for mutants that has them near extinct... And Nightcrawler is one of the first to die in it, right after Kelly's assassination actually. He also already died in 616 protecting Hope Summers and stayed as such for years while they were ready to sacrifice baby Hope to save Rogue right after M-Day, which would have doomed Mutants. Then you have Age of Apocalypse where Mystique raised Nightcrawler since birth and did it all as a single mom after picking his father for his fuzz, where he never met Destiny until he was in his 30s and where Azazel never did a single takeover because a lot of other components were missing to pull it off (and you know, APOCALYPSE took over and killed almost everyone). Then you have Cardinal, a Chimera made from Nightcrawler's DNA (+ three other mutants) which makes Kurt Wagner his bio grandfather, who just looks like Azazel with red hair and red eyes so all of Azazel's traits were passed down in Kurt's family line. Then you have the fact any of Azazel's takeovers happen years after Destiny dies in 616 (they would have taken much longer if Nightcrawler didn't exist, if not never happened at all) yet she appears in the vision of his takeover. Then you have characters like Doctor Doom, Jean Grey and the Scarlet Witch as part of the people Azazel managed to defeat (Scarlet Witch depowered 99% of mutants with a few words and can scramble powers on a whim in an average day, enough said). Then you have the fact the only reason Azazel is even on Earth is thanks to Margali Szardos getting him there so literally convincing her not to do that would have meant Azazel would not be at the point he was in 616 (the retcon has it that Destiny made a deal with Margali to KIDNAP Nightcrawler from the spot Mystique left him at under a tree in a SNOWY forest, since she never threw him to his death to save her own skin in this take even tho Azazel remember that happening), ...

Unnecessary loopholes doesn't cover it : We're on an essay's length in tomfoolery

TL;DR - The X-Men's Nightcrawler has a very complicated backstory. Efforts to retcon and streamline his origins have been clumsy.

No offense to readers out there who are fans of Azazel, but the best option moving forward might be for the X-men comics to never mention him again and just move forward.

[pynkhues]

People getting mad about character interpretations that differ from their own is funny because none of what we say on here is going to change how the characters are written. We already know for a fact that Lestat’s POV will be different in some capacity. And they’ve told us explicitly that we haven’t seen the real him outside of the reunion. Reading from IWTV to TVL gives him a lot more nuance, though obviously what the show changes we don’t know yet. I can’t help but feel that some of the fandom backlash is because people are worried that their headcanons will be rendered obsolete, which TVC might be the very worst property to get attached to in that way, and especially at this point in the story. Anyway, your analyses are always great to read, please keep on posting them!

Yeah, I was actually percolating on this last night as I cooked dinner, but I do wonder if some of this doubling down on Louis as being submissive / a 'housewife' / feminine / bottoming has been partially motivated by Louis explicitly becoming a dom in his relationship with Armand in s2?

I could be way off base here as while I watched s1 as it was airing, I actually wasn't involved in the fandom at all really prior to s2 starting, but I do wonder if with s2 leaning into certain traits (and not even just with Armand, but with the boys in San Francisco, his violence to Lestat prior to the drop [again, not defending Lestat for the drop at all, or diminishing it as a singular act of abuse] and his coldness to Claudia at the end) has created a bigger divide between the canon Louis and the fanon Louis, and if it's that that perhaps creates a certain degree of protectiveness/defensiveness over that fanon version who clearly means a lot to a subset of fandom?

I don't know, like I said I could be way off base, haha, but it's interesting to consider.

[blackstarchanx3new]

Red's characterization is frustratingly inconsistent (based on the viz translation)

So I tried to do a "Red centric" FS reading the other day and honestly:

Red as a character lowkey pisses me off the more I think about him.

Trying to write him doing ANYTHING in FSR just, breaks my brain because: What character does he actually HAVE?

To explain further: WHAT CHARACTERIZATION DOES HE HAVE THAT IS CONSISTANT?

Because I can list a fuck ton of his traits, but none that remain consistent and reliable character traits that I can make into a rule set for me to follow to write him properly and which rules I could BREAK depending on the scenario.

I'mma admit this rn: This might be extremally bad faith reading and I'll admit that with my whole chest but it just bugs me the further I try to think about characterizing him.

Buuuut on the other hand. Venting my frustrations might help me get a grasp on what he's MEANT to be like and that'd be useful.

TLDR: I genuinely think Akira has no fucking clue what they were doing with him and I think he's the worst written Link of the set of four/Shadow Link. (This admittedly could also fall hugely on the fault of the translation team too with botched dialogue.)

And I even hypothesis they cut a whole chapter about him for time. (We'll get to that)

Full rant:

Okay. So you'd think this idiot would be pretty simple to figure out.

There's a lil page dedicated to each Link describing their traits, which are all pretty accurate. (This to my knowledge i only in the legendary???)

EXCEPT IN MY OPINION, RED'S. (Green's too but maybe I'll get into Green at a later time...)

His is just. Wrong. Upfront wrong depending on how you read his character...Which...is imo inconsistent based on the canon events of the story.

Let's go down the list of traits from this page

Easygoing - this is accurate since he takes the mission the least bit seriously between the four and gives everyone silly nicknames.

Bright- ...I'm going to assume this is in reference to his personality being "Optimistic" not his intelligence, as we'll get into soon.

Innocent - ...I have some counter arguments to this one but go off I guess. He's SUPOSIVELY more innocent than the other 3.

Simpleminded - again there is a shit ton to suggest the opposite, but well, get into that shit.

So, depending on how you read the word "bright," there are already inconsistencies with "simple-minded" (I'm trying real damn hard not to be obtuse as fuck here but I'm a stickler for wording...)

So for the "innocent" thing...okay this one particularly rubs me the wrong damn way. Because of a few diffent things.

Let's go over smth first:

Identifying the links, you can always tell its red in a panel due to his even screen tone tunic and white sleeves.

Blue has a gradient that goes almost black with screen toned sleeves. Green also has an even screen tone but black sleeves, and Vio has a noise screentone with white sleeves.

Now, Red's "Innocence" or imo lack there of.

Now thought bubbles are hard to pin to anyone specific without like, tails to lead to characters. The fs manga is guilty of not having proper word bubbles often or pointing at the wrong damn character. But here were lead to think the one who assumed the knights were dead were Red and Green. Green starting the thought and red finishing it here.

Red is the first one willing to stab who they assume to be very close people to them. Green as we know is the one NOT willing to fight and rather just defend himself.

So much for "innocent"

Tangent time: I'm not unconvinced the screen tone artist didnt fuck up here, and this was meant to be Blue, but...uh that's not what it ended up being

It's hard to tell because the eyebrows could be either red or blues from my guess.

Until coloring the first volume of manga I ALWAYS ASSUMED this was Blue.

It's for sure not vio or green since their eyebrows are nearly always blonde/not filled in while Reds are thin but occasionally have a bit more thickness, especially when giving heavier expressions. And if this was meant to be Blue. It would be a bit on the thinner side but would match way more personality wise.

Further on the whole "innocence thing"

Wtf was all this shit

Like...I get it. It's for comedy haha. But it just feels so out of character for him this scene just ends up annoying me.

Like it makes him feel so fake. It makes ALL HIS PREVIOUS AND SCENES HERE ON OUT FEEL FAKE.

His tears feel so crocodile considering he doesn't cry when stabbing someone he assumes to be his friends and does THIS SHIT immediately after assuming blue is MAYBE DEAD???

Seriously I kind of hate this scene it feels so two-faced, out of character, and mean-spirited for no fucking reason.

I get it. It was a joke haha. But why the fuck is he joking around and being a goof when his response to green possibly being dead TWICE was to panic and cry and be terrified for real. Why am I meant to take one seriously and not the other from a character standpoint.

From a character stand point: it just feels like he gives less of a shit Blue is in danger/dying vs Green and considering later character interactions I don't think that's meant to be cannon/intentional. (He also calls out to green exclusively on occasions so like...Again was this on purpose or on accident...)

I'm just not a fan of writing characters shittily and out of character for the sake of comedy that doesn't even land.

From a character context: it just looks like he doesn't give a shit about blue here. Which, fine write him mad blue has been a dick but this feels like such the wrong way to go about it to me. Idk.

Onto his intelligence:

Imma be real it feels like he just is only smart when the writing needs him to be for plot reasons and not for characterization reasons.

His intelligence fluctuates so damn much it drives me insane. He's either dumb as a brick or literally smarter than vio, and there's no in-between or reason behind why. It's not like he's good at certain things and dumb as fuck at other things it's literally just because Akira pulls it out of their asses and said so and that kind of writing especially character based pisses me off. 😭

Examples of red being smart:

I don't have a problem with Red having intelligence of his own, but they had to give vio 1 functional brain cells for this scene to work the way it did. Like red can be smart, it'd be great if he was in some instances! It'd even make sense they're all dumb at some shit or excel at others. That'd make them a good well rounded team!

Vio randomly being shit at directions would be a hilarious character trait.

IS this why he gets lost in the tower of winds? Idk if that's a genuine intentional writing reason, but I'm going to assume/head cannon. Imma say that's why, for my own sanity and making this scene make any sense. But i shouldn't have to justify vio being an idiot here with head cannons.

I'd have loved for a scene where Vio over thinks to shit about smth and red is just like "lol the answer is just this silly" but red and vio literally never speak sooooo...thats off the table.

That almost feels like that's what this was trying to be but just...failed at.

He randomly grows a brain again in the temple of darkness. But it just feels so out of nowhere, considering how he's such an idiot most of the book. Like his competent moments, feel SO out of character in comparison.

Like I can see what I THINK they were trying to do with him but it just doesn't land. It just feels like he randomly grows a brain every so often instead of always having one but he he just lags behind the other three in terms of other contexts.

What i think they were going for is "red IS smart. He IS capable. He just needs to be in the right scenario for it to shine. He has such a unique mindset compared to the other three and hes a valuable team mate"

What it comes OFF as... is bad writing.

Onto his like "crybaby" persona the manga and the Fandom itself likes to fall back on

I've touched on it but it feels so fake.

Like I genuinely cannot tell if this is meant to be a character trait I second guess but it's thrown out the window all the damn time.

-him stabbing that one knight with no fucks given really

-him quickly getting over blue being frozen in lue of a stupid joke

Okay let's see when he DOES CRY...

Virtually all the damn time but here's smth I noticed:

He doesn't cry when shadow dies lmfao.

But he does when they kill random rock babies.

Yeah sorry but that rubs me the wrong way too.

Like Reds whole reaction and facial expressions to shadow dying just gives "I wonder if we're having Wendy's of McDonald's later"

Like I think most people are too distracted by vidow to notice that shit but it's so off-putting from a guy who will take the change to bust out the water works at any given change doesn't shed a damn tear when a version of himself kicks the damn bucket.

Not even a reaction to vio being upset about it. Like wtf.

This is what I mean about him being inconsistent. Literally the entire manga is just "He does x sometimes but not other times when you think he would" I genuinely cannot find rhyme or reason to half his character traits and it drives me up a wall. There's no consistency to ANY OF IT and it just leaves this sense of fakeness and it rubs me such the wrong way.

One last thing:

I'm pretty sure he had a cut chapter centered around Red.

I don't have concrete evidence but here's smth i noticed:

This is the last time we see him before his next apearance

And then...suddenly. THIS IS HIS NEXT APEARANCE:

I'm sorry WHAT.

DID WE MISS SOMETHING???

Randomly:

He has a fairy. They've apparently been looking for the other three. TELEPORTATION IS JUST A THING WITHOUT EXPLANATION???

Like, Wtf????

What my opinion?

And SUDDENLY later Red's all like "I'm so independent!😇 "

WHEN. WHEN DID WE SEE THAT RED BECASE IMEDIATELY AFTER YOUR TOWN SCUFFLE YOU'RE WITH A FAIRY AND GET BLUE SO STFU.

If you want what I THINK happened in this hypothetical cut:

Red got away from the towns people and ran into the fairy, and Shadow shape shifted out of being that kid that stole his shit.

Because like...I never knew that kid was meant to be shadow Link until someone pointed that out as a possibility because...Literally I thought Red having his sword and shield gone after he left the waterfall was an art error and not because of the kid.

Like the fact that is even up for debate whether or not that kid was shadow or it could be misinterpreted is a flaw in the writing imo but whatever.

Like it was never solidly conformed. There's evidence but it wasn't stated/shown directly and having the idea Shadow can shapeshift to THAT DEGREE is very interesting/cool lore. (We know he can look like green/Link but still. Would have been nice concrete powers around him he can be random ass people too and he's not bound to being just Link.)

If you think about it:

Green got the Pyramid segment

Vio gets the whole shadow link subplot

and Blue gets the temple of darkness.

Wtf does red get. He gets tacked on in the temple of darkness KIND OF but that felt like it was ONLY because he didn't get his own chapter and they had to mash Blue and Red's arcs together making both of their arcs WEAKER. And it just, annoys me idk.

Aaaaanywaaaay. That's my rambling nonsense.

I think with the idea of what they were TRYING TO DO with Red's character I can get a better grasp of where to take him in FSR.

It's so hard to describe why Red gives me "uncanny valley" vibe in his characterization but I hope I did a decent job explaining my thoughts.

You probably noticed: When smth about red doesn't make any fucking sense. I try to rationalize it. But I don't think there was any thought behind a lot of what he does. Which is why it makes me annoyed. 😭

[wolf-beils]

The Man He Became: An In Depth Character Analysis of Hector's Adult Iterations

Introduction

Hector’s adult iterations are a pretty overlooked facet of him. When people see him as an adult, he’s typically brushed off as “just Lilina’s father” and/ or a raging shotgun dad. Boiling down a character to one thing or a gag doesn’t necessarily mean people don’t know what more there is to one. It does somewhat make that “something more” a little more obscured though. The noise of a simplistic fanbase portrayal, no matter how out of character, will often drown out a character's true self.

That’s why I want to provide this in depth analysis and theorisation on Hector as his adult self, and why it’s actually a really great part of him as a character. He has more to him than what the community and IS push him as which goes very unsung. So I guess this is my shot at trying to spread the good word if you will. I do hope people can take away at least something from this.

And yes, I said “theorisation” because he doesn’t have much content as an adult to go off compared to his younger self. He is ultimately just a backdrop character as this version of himself. So you really have to look deep into Hector and contextualise a lot to get substance. That isn’t to say he's got nothing going for him though. I do firmly believe what I’m going to provide is logical.

I'm just getting that out of the way in case you end up like disagreeing with anything. This is fuelled by my own personal take on this character in the end. So like— please respect that.

A Recap On Part Of Hector’s FE7 Development

Firstly, I want to bring up some things regarding Hector's youth. His exact age during events is not something spoken of in game, but through an artbook and a timeline on SerenesForest, he does have canon ages:

17 during Lyn Mode.

18 during the main story.

Probably 18-19 during the FE7’s epilogue.

34 during FE7’s extended epilogue.

37 during FE6.

SerenesForest Timeline In Question

Anyhow, the reason I’m bringing up Hector’s younger iteration first is because I want to make something clear about his character and development: that he’s only young. This is a point FE7 strives to drive home, often describing Hector and the other two lords as “young”. It helps us realise that while they are good, strong people, they’re still only young and have yet to fully grow and mature. Keeping this youth in mind is pretty important for understanding them.

None of them are fully matured even if it seems like such, especially Hector. Growing out of that lack of maturity is a point Hector makes about himself at the end of his mode. This quote from the epilogue of Hector Mode pretty much says it all:

Before this, before FE7 even, he was more or less a free spirit. He did as he pleased, whether it was befitting of his status or not (mostly not). As implied in his Eliwood and Oswin supports, he was kind of rebellious about it. It's a trait he mostly retains during FE7, though to a less rebellious extent given the situation he's in.

Point is— what I want you to bear in mind about Hector as a youth, before I analyse his adult self, is that he is not a grown man here. He is not grown up, nor developed, nor matured. He's never had the chance to really grow up. This is more than likely due to his trauma and the mess he ends up in for the duration of FE7 then doesn't quite allow that chance either.

With that refresher on his younger self, we can start actually going into Hector as an adult.

Purpose

The absolute main thing I see adult Hector as is a statement that he becomes that better version of himself he vowed to become. It’s honestly quite the inspiring thing to see— someone wanting to change, making that change happen, and making it last. That is, above all else, the biggest yet most criminally unsung thing about him as an adult in my eyes. It's among the most unsung things about Hector as a whole really.

While he is almost only given spotlight if Lilina is involved, be it from IS or the fanbase, I don’t think fatherhood is truly the biggest thing about him as a character. As a person, a human being in the world of Elibe? Yes, he’s a father first given how much he does care about Lilina. Any parent should be a parent first and Hector is no exception to that.

But his adult self just adds such a good extra layer to Hector as a standalone character. It’s like if you ordered 20 chicken nuggets from McDonald’s and got a couple extra. Hector as his younger self is already a nice box of 20 McNuggets. His adult self is those couple of generous extra nuggets that you didn’t need, but god damn are they appreciated anyway. And I personally value that much more than him being a decent dad. That extra layer is yet another part of why I love this character so much.

Through the little screentime his adult self has and the nods to him in FE6, it can be deduced that he’s a much better man. Foremost, he's clearly more mature— the very thing he wanted to improve on when he became Marquess Ostia. It can be said that he’s more respected, which is quite contrary to how he was viewed by others in his youth.

And as much as I don’t like considering FEH writing (especially given how dirty FEH has done Hector's younger self in the past), his Halloween alt also shows his adult self off really well through what dialogue he has. I do have a personal rule of not considering FEH’s writing for a character that isn’t from the game itself but I do make exceptions when the writing is genuinely good. In this case, they did good for him so I’m considering it.

Flaws, Insecurity, & Fear

Just because he’s a better version of himself, it doesn’t mean that he’s suddenly flawless. He’s probably far from it in fact. We all are. So I want to start the nitty gritty off with his less bright aspect that he’s retained, as well as some new stuff he deals with.

First, I want to present this line of dialogue from FEH:

He is likely still quite protective to some degree. Although he’s a better man who’s managed to iron himself out, he’s still a traumatised man. Unfortunately, trauma is something that will stick for life whether we like it or not. All we can do is not let it dictate our thoughts and actions too much. In the past, Hector let this happen and it cost him his very fate when he didn't have to do what he did.

Before I go on, I want to bring up a very similar character for a minute: Gustav from FEH. He too is a deeply traumatised man. His stone cold attitude is fueled by traumatic experiences in his own youth— losing his father to Hel, the man dying right in front of his eyes. That was punishment for Gustav's once excessive willingness to dive into action. That’s why he’s so critical of Alfonse being similar. He may not admit it, but he’s still very deeply hurt by the loss of his father and the attitude he shows towards Alfonse is an expression of that pain. He desperately doesn’t want either of his children to go through that same pain.

At the point we see Gustav in FEH, he’s either a similar age to Hector or slightly older. So that said, Hector is still likely a protective person. He always has been, and always will be. That fear of losing those he cares about most will always be present with how he’s lost so much in his youth. His parents, Leila, Uther— those three losses will stick with him for life whether he likes it or not. On top of that, he witnessed Elbert dying and Athos died in his arms so that’s probably caused some extra damage.

Something to be said about his relationship with Lilina is that she's the only close family he has left (though that could be somewhat debatable since we have next to no clue about his relationship with Orun). As just stated, he's lost more family young than anyone should. Those losses have made him wary, and desperately not wanting to lose anyone else. This little girl of his is all he has left. In his eyes, he must protect her from everything. At anything that could possibly lead to him losing her, he feels great fear.

This facet of his trauma is actually something subtly established in his B support with Eliwood in FE7. While he's young here, it's safe to say that the fear he shows in that conversation applies to his adulthood for the most part. It's also shown in one of Bride Lilina's text quotes in FEH:

But that isn’t to say Hector is some overbearing shotgun dad with a violent, lightning quick temper— far from it. He’s evidently pretty lax, shown by how he doesn’t seem to force Lilina to do anything. That even includes her study of statecraft to be his successor. Lilina does that willingly and Hector does nothing but support that in a genuine fashion rather than just a “because Ostia needs an heir” type manner per the Halloween duo unit conversation. That should be enough indicator that Hector will support whatever his girl does, so long as it’s safe.

This extends to marriage, and moving away. Sure, Hector may well have doubts and fears. But as long as Lilina chooses the right person, he’ll be fine. For example, if she married Roy and had to move away to Pherae for whatever reason (not that it'd happen due to the circumstances of their ending), he’d probably be more than glad to let that happen. Without a doubt, he’d trust in Roy’s goodness seeing as he is Eliwood’s son and all. There’s zero reason he wouldn’t trust him.

Hector can’t really be the untrusting person he once was given his position and certainly wouldn't cast aside rationality when a boy he likely knows is nothing but good is involved. This line of thinking applies for pretty much any character Lilina could reasonably marry in the future. (Not that she has any other marriage options but that’s why shipping exists. This message was brought to you by the Lilina/ Ogier gang.)

Would marriage and Lilina moving away still make him uncomfortable? Probably, yes. But he’d ultimately be fine. Every parent must let go of their child some day, and Hector would be capable of doing that— even if he’d feel disconcerted at first. But he’s likely grown past standing by irrational conclusions and refusing to think any different. He wouldn't have got as far as he has as a leader if he wasn't at least a bit open-minded. That need for trust and open-mindedness would surely aid in his deep down struggle with trauma.

Additionally, I’d like to show an excerpt that more or less proves he trusts Lilina to fend for herself. Here’s a bit from volume 4 of a storybook series related to Cipher (rest in peace):

Before continuing, I just want to link the post that contains the full passage. It’s a detailed PoV from Hector when he’s bleeding out in Araphen. Full credit and big thanks goes to starfirexuchiha for providing the translation, as well as ZoraTwilight for scanning the volume for this to be a thing. I highly recommend you check it out because it’s genuinely one of the coolest pieces of official written Hector content out there and the rest of the stuff is awesome too.

Fire Emblem Cipher Album Book Volume 4 Translation

Back to business though.

Yes, this is obviously how Hector is thinking when he’s about to die. But I think this pretty much shows he trusts Lilina wholly, and knows deep down that he doesn’t have to worry so much over her. Of course, he can’t not worry since he’s a natural worrier. It’s the thought that counts though. Deep down, he knows and appreciates just how great his little girl is.

One last thing I want to talk about regarding this topic is the Armads curse. A curse he contracted through taking up the legendary axe in his mode. Something which is lowkey a writing mess that conflicts with how FE6 handles the axe but that’s not what we’re discussing. I want to discuss how it may have affected him long term, and how he feels about it into adulthood.

First off, I think the curse affected him quite a lot emotionally, and he regrets his decision to take up Armads. He didn’t need to pick up the axe because things would’ve been totally fine without it anyway. The decision was one made out of fear of losing anyone else, and a deep insecurity about his own strength. It probably wouldn’t be long after FE7’s events that he starts to regret it. Perhaps during the year period between the final chapter and the epilogue.

Into adulthood, I feel he’d still regret it. He can’t not when such a curse will lead him to die a horrible death, the chance of leaving his loved ones too soon painfully real. No less is there many possibilities for what could happen. Would he die alone? Would he die in front of others? Worse, would he die in front of a loved one? The outcomes are many, and incredibly unsettling no matter what.

And whenever he lets someone new into his life, there’s always that feeling of knowing that’s someone else that’ll be crushed when he does die. Another heart that will break when he passes. He’d be well aware of this fact— most definitely when Lilina comes into the picture.

However, I do think that as he grows older, and as Lilina becomes a part of his life, he tries to be optimistic. He tries to stay hopeful, so as to not feel down about it all, nor get others down. It’s why he fills Lilina’s head with promises that he won’t leave her in the FEH Halloween alt conversation. He has hope that he’ll live to become a grandfather, and proudly watch Lilina take the throne (given what ends up happening— yeah, it’s a bit of a bittersweet moment).

All in all, his deep-rooted insecurities won’t change. Everything he’s been through will stick with him for life. He can very much still get hurt. But his way of managing it all has potentially changed for the better.

Worries & Stress

While Hector is a better version of himself, his life still isn’t without stress— especially come FE6 time. From personal struggles such as the Armads curse I already mentioned, to simply the stress of being one of Lycia’s highest powers.

A big one is that there’s a particular someone he could potentially be on the brink of losing around FE6 time. That ‘someone’ being Eliwood, who is of course deathly ill by this point. It goes without saying that he’s definitely hurting about that to a degree.

In fact, this is actually alluded to in the storybook volume I brought up earlier:

I think that excerpt more or less shows Hector’s fear of losing him. It’s a no-brainer really, with Eliwood being his first and one of the only friends for his entire childhood as well as his teenage years. It shouldn’t be too hard to imagine just how scared he is to lose him— especially given he’s lost three other close people to illness, all before he even became an adult.

With that in mind, there’s no doubt it plays on his brain to some extent. We know from FE7 that while he is capable of putting up a tough face, he is rather sensitive on the inside. I don’t doubt that sensitivity has changed much. Even if he wasn’t rather sensitive, it’s his best friend. Eliwood is someone he respects above pretty much anyone, and as shown in FE7, he’s willing to do a hell of a lot for him. It’s going to upset him knowing Eliwood is suffering, and possibly on his last legs.

On top of that, it’s implied in FE7’s extended epilogue that Bern starts becoming suspicious as early as that time:

Given Athos’ prediction, it’s within reason for both to think something might happen from this. And it’s probable things slowly escalated throughout the 4-5 years leading up to FE6 events. As the military leader of Lycia, and Ostia’s highest power, Hector’s surely going to be a bit stressed.

And that'd certainly be the case when he eventually has to go out to Araphen. He’ll meet it all with his head held high, but he can’t not be a little stressed when there’s the real possibility he may not come back. It’s known he did tell Lilina about Durandal’s location before leaving too. So he went into that battle knowing full well it could be his last— which as well known, it was his last.

He did ultimately vow that he would do anything to stop anything from going out of hand. Even if it meant sacrificing his life. Which… let me go on about that idea for a minute.

I think that bit of dialogue is such a neat little nod to how aware he may well be of the Armads curse. It shows that he knows well that if anyone is going to sacrifice their life for the greater good, he’s the best for it. He’s going to die in battle anyway and he knows that. The words Durban spoke to him stick to him like a tumour, a reminder that his end won’t be peaceful.

The Real Hector Is Out

Now, I’ll really get into how he’s bettered himself. Why else is it that he’s a much better man than he was when he was younger? I’ve already made it somewhat clear that Hector has attained the inherent maturity and sensibility that can come with adulthood. So what else is there?

The biggest thing is that he’s learnt that he shouldn’t hide parts of himself. When younger, this was one of his biggest struggles. He always felt the need to be someone that he wasn’t exactly— a run of the mill tough guy. You learn through his supports and a story scene or two that he’s actually a wonderfully kind and even somewhat gentle soul who just wants the best for people. That is the real Hector beneath the tough front he puts up the vast majority of the time.

When he grows up, this is something he has potentially improved on. One such implication of this is the Halloween alt’s friend greeting:

This single line of dialogue honestly tells quite a bit for no reason. He’s showing that kindhearted man he is out in the open. No longer is he afraid to hide that softer side— which honestly can be said about this alt’s entire existence really. He’s happily dressing up alongside his daughter, genuinely celebrating the festival. He’s happy, relaxed, lovingly keeping Lilina in his clutches (who’s around 10 here by the way so she doesn’t really need to be held).

Additionally, and on the topic of his Halloween alt, he is very well-mannered towards others in the paralogue and the Tempest Trials dialogue. That’s more or less another way to show he’s more openly kind and sociable too. It’s a bit of a step ahead of how his younger self is (not that he’s that much of a little shit as a youth but there’s no denying he’s slightly too forward and slightly less inclined to gentleness).

And there is one particular part of the Tempest Trials dialogue that shows him at his best. A heartfelt exchange he has with L’Arachel:

There’s not many words, but this exchange speaks so much about both characters. It’s to this day my favourite bit of writing to come out of FEH. There’s just so much meaning tucked into this little exchange. It’s truly a heartfelt moment where two characters relate to each other on a deep level for a moment.

L’Arachel sees a little girl and a wonderful father she sees her own in. It calls back to the hurt little girl inside of her. She wouldn’t wish the pain she experienced on anyone. No less that little girl with the man before her. That’s the place her words come from.

And Hector knows that very acutely. He knows the pain she carries with her all too well. So he hops right to it— metaphorically extends his hand out to the girl in front of him. He offers the most comforting words a girl could hear from a father. Perhaps he offers something more than comfort. I’ll be honest, I am of the genuine belief that he maybe even offers fatherhood to L’Arachel.

However it is, there’s no denying just how sweet he was here. And not to mention how readily he comforted L’Arachel, despite her being someone he’s not known for long. Really, before this, we’ve never really seen Hector so quick to support anyone with words— not even Eliwood. Often times, he was very much a doer, and never much of a sayer. Definitely shows he’s shaped up in terms of speaking to people there.

Another example of his willingness to be more openly soft comes from FEH yet again, and from the same alt. This time in an interaction with Ivy in her Forging Bonds chain:

I just want to say that Hector and Ivy’s interactions in FEH are kind of funny when you take into account how they interact in Engage. I’m just really amused by the juxtaposition between how the younger Hector and the older Hector interact with her. In Engage, he just laughs in her face when she brings up her fear of ghosts. In FEH, as his older self, he doesn’t care and pretty quickly offers some support for her.

And funny enough, I think that does showcase the change in Hector between his youth and adulthood pretty well. He’s being way more readily kind, let alone sociable than his younger self would be. No less coming up with a good remedy to Ivy’s trouble socialising. That in and of itself is why I’m really glad they chose to include Hector here, seeing as Lilina was shown to be quite shy in FE7’s extended epilogue. It’s probable enough that he’s got an affinity for cracking shells.

That knack seems to yield results too. Lilina is quite sociable in FE6, becoming quite trusting (even if to a slight fault) and good with conversation. For Ivy, that little party gives her the drive to interact with others more.

To me, those bits are enough indication to show he’s past making his best bits more exclusive. There’s no reason for him to do so and he knows that. He’s got a brilliant heart in his chest and a whole lot of decency. What good is there in hiding that when such goodness can uplift many? There is something in relation to this I’ll bring up later too.

What Got Him There?

Of course, Hector couldn’t have become this man overnight. Self development isn’t easy at all. 

A logical theory for this is that he begins to learn this being with whoever he marries. But the change really comes when Lilina is in the picture. What better thing to change a needlessly rigid, stoic man than an adorable bundle of joy to call his child? Typically, such a thing can soften someone up quite a bit. In the case of Hector, given some tidbits here and there (including interactions with the child in question), I think this would be the case.

Have a listen to the Halloween alt’s conversation with Lilina, and then picture something. Picture Hector who’s been a father for like six months, holding a little baby Lilina. He looks her in the eyes, about as beaming as he can be, making small funny noises to entertain her. When you hear the tone that Patrick Seitz uses, it’s not too hard to envision that, is it? (Awesome work as always by Patrick by the way. I really love his take on Hector despite the criticism it sometimes gets.)

I think Lilina is the thing that really changed him for the better for good. That little girl is the key that indefinitely unlocks what his consciousness locks away more than it should be because of how much he conditioned himself to be what he thought was strong. Of course, because he’d be spending plenty of time with his bundle of joy, that side of him will be quite active. And with regularity comes establishment.

This doesn’t mean he’s become some soft, jovial dad though. Soft and jovial he can be around Lilina, that’s for sure. But in the grand scheme of things, she enables his best side more. A side of him that not just those close to him deserve to have the pleasure of seeing. An openly kind, golden-hearted man that the world around him deserves.

Aside from Lilina, he definitely shaped himself up for the sake of his leadership roles as is because well… he kind of had to. There’s no way he was getting around as a leader if he didn’t work on his manners or his trust issues. So it’s safe to say he must’ve done a lot of soul searching before the first epilogue.

His CYL alt in FEH does entertain the idea of him picking up reading. He probably used that as a method to improve his patience, and actually study (something he didn’t do too much of in his youth). Aside from that, there’s plenty of ways he could’ve started to shape himself up mentally. There’s many ways one can go about healing and self improvement.

He’s Still Hector

I sometimes joke that his adult self is like a different character but really, he’s not entirely. Despite all the change he’s been through, he’s still the same person who those around him know and love. As has been established throughout this analysis, he has changed. In some aspects, he is a different person in that he doesn’t seem to hide who he really is any longer and he’s overall matured. Still, he’s not a completely far cry from who he was in his youth.

Of course, as I said in that last section, he’s still boundlessly good-hearted, loyal, and well meaning. Out of everything, that hasn’t changed a single bit outside of how much better he expresses that. It’s a core fundamental of who he is in the end. Without that wonderful side of him, he just wouldn’t be Hector. It’s a part of what draws those he loves to him, and can more or less be what draws players/ readers to him.

And another thing I’ve already said he’s retained is his protectiveness. That is something he is by nature. He cares for those he loves and will protect them as he sees fit. And like the trait in the previous paragraph, he goes about it better. I probably don’t have to repeat any further on this since I did go on about it earlier in this. So we’ll leave this topic at that.

One small thing I haven't alluded to is how he doesn't completely care for his status. This is pretty much set right in stone in his conversation with Eliwood during FE7's extended epilogue:

It's a very neat tidbit in the conversation. It does show that he cares about his station but also that he isn't consumed by it. He just wants to talk with Eliwood friend to friend, not leader to leader. Just because they're of high stations (Hector in an even higher station than Eliwood ironically), that doesn't mean they can't speak like familiars. Hector doesn't believe in there being this set way nobles have to act. He never has believed in it, despite how much noble conduct is likely pushed, and no matter the judgement that was thrown his way in youth. 

That last bit actually kind of segways into this next big thing that Hector has retained. It's a trait that he's admired for— that being his preference for doing things his way, and penchant for making it work. This is something that Oswin spells out very nicely in two separate supports:

Hector isn’t someone bound by convention. He’s about getting things done and doing whatever he can for that to be so, no matter how improper it may be. Like I said, he doesn’t care so much for his status and won’t bend his behaviour to adhere to what’s considered ‘proper’. That especially goes for when he’s doing something for anyone he cares about. When that’s the case, he definitely does whatever it takes, everything regarding convention and conduct thrown out of the window.

Again, Oswin pretty much puts it all perfectly. He strives to stay true to himself, and he does that better than anyone. Where one doesn’t see a way forward, he makes one himself. It all very much attests to him having a will made of iron. But more than that, he’s just being himself.

So how does this trait fare into adulthood? Well, it’s certainly there and he’s still just about as unconventional. Despite his leading positions needing him to be at least a bit poised and proper, he still does what he wants and it works out. Where this shows is Lilina and Astolfo’s support conversation in FE6:

Yeah, he kind of guilt tripped a thief into working for him.

Honestly though, prepare for something of a tangent because this whole support speaks volumes about Hector and I love it so much. So this won’t entirely pertain to the topic of this section.

More than anything, this support portrays Hector exhibiting those traits I’ve just gone over. Your typical leader/ noble would sooner apprehend a common thief stealing castle riches. But Hector isn’t quite typical. He’s not like the other nobles at all. No one else but Hector would recruit a seemingly random thief who once looked for the castle riches. To an average noble, that sounds utterly ridiculous.

But why did he do it in the first place? Like— yeah, Hector is kind of bizarre but he knows what he’s doing and has a whole lot of sense to boot. There’s always a reason for what he does. There's a method to what a lot of cut and dry nobles would consider madness.

His castle is nowhere near easy to get into. From what we know of Ostia, let alone the support, no common thief makes it as far as the treasury. Here comes Astolfo, a common thief who bypassed the guards and made it as far as the treasure room. Thus what Hector sees is not a common thief, but a man of great potential to be something more than that.

He’s rather pragmatic— albeit a bit of a wacky kind of pragmatic, but pragmatic nonetheless. Definitely the wacky kind given he just laughs in Astolfo’s face at first. Then he compliments the man, and offers him a job. If that doesn’t show how one of a kind he is, I don’t know what does.

Even so, there’s a reason he’s so flippant. Remember, this is the same guy who doesn’t care so much for his noble status. That’s all shown in his attitude and the way he tells Astolfo that he can keep what he’s stolen. He doesn’t talk to Astolfo noble to commoner. He talks to him man to man.

The reason I go over this support so thoroughly is because honestly, it alone lays out just who Hector is as an adult. It showcases both how much he’s changed and hasn’t changed. For the former, it goes back to him getting over his trust issues. He’s clearly much better at seeing good in others and not going straight into his prickly shell. In terms of the latter, he still couldn’t give a rat’s ass about his station and is all for being a little unconventional. He very much lives up to what Oswin says about him in his Matthew support.

The Astolfo and Lilina support chain may not seem like much at surface level. But think about all this stuff I’ve gone over. Think about how the Hector you see in FE7 would approach the situation. Think about the minute details pointed out throughout this analysis. When you consider all that, this support is the hard proof that he achieved the goal he set out to do. And he still stayed true to himself in the end.

Meaning

Well, I’ve pretty much covered every base that matters. So we reach the tail end of this analysis.

I will admit firsthand that Hector’s adult self definitely isn’t the most deep thing out there on surface level. Hell, a chunk of this whole thing has been theoreticals (which I did say that’d be the case at the start). Theoreticals based on the heaps of characterisation he has, but still theoreticals. What I will say though is that through him not having much in plain sight, there lies room for all this speculation and the chance to suss things out yourself.

There’s a reason he doesn’t end up completely better off by the conclusion of FE7. He’s been hurt since before the game’s events. He was always a hurt boy in a world that never entirely accepted him. It only got a bit worse throughout FE7, with him going through the horrors of real battle and going through some painful losses— especially Uther. So after it all, of course he’s not going to be better in a flash.

That’s why I really love the detail that he doesn’t seem that way until he’s portrayed as a grown man. It makes his proclamation towards Mark in his mode’s epilogue that much more meaningful. He does get better, and evidently fits himself into his new life eventually. Even in spite of him being unsure about leading that life, he’s determined to live it and does it all because that’s what he’s all about. He’s all about achieving anything he puts his mind to.

He becomes kinder, wiser, more respectable, and evidently a damn great father. Sure, he’s a great person in his youth, but he had some glaring problems. Growing up, he remedied those problems as best he could while still remaining himself. He’s not without vices, as that is with anyone, though he’s done a good job at toning it all down. 

And of course, it would take until he’s a grown man for that change to be in full force. He’s mentally scarred in more than one aspect. Such things can take a long time to heal. Change can take equally long to truly come into fruition. It’s yet another layer of realism to an already very human, realistic character.

So what do Hector’s adult iterations mean for him?

Well, they serve as a conclusion to his tale. Hector’s tale, his true tale, is one of overcoming trauma and realising his best self. It’s a tale of inner struggle, loss, and a testament to what true strength is. It’s a tale of a boy becoming a man.

Closing Words

That about wraps everything up. If you did read this entire thing— first of all thank you from the bottom of my heart. Second, I sincerely hope you enjoyed and took interest in my perspective.

I’ve worked on this analysis on and off for almost two years, pouring in all the love and passion for this character. I’d be lying if I said that time hasn’t been pretty transitional for me. I’ve changed a bit as a person on my own road towards self improvement. This character, and especially this facet of him, is a massive comfort and inspiration for me. Writing this whole thing has definitely reaffirmed that to a degree.

But yeah, I’m not going to hang around too long. Seriously, I appreciate it colossally if you managed to read all of this. If you have any questions and such, then you’re welcome to ask. I will say, I am more active on Twitter (@/WolfBeils on there), so you may have a better shot at reaching me there.

Otherwise, yeah, that’s all I got.

[the-blossica-fan]

Greetings!

Actors Au Schneider interacting with Schneider (ehhh just have either her be alive miraculously or this is before she disappears).

What are your headcanons for Sonetto and Schneider for actors AU? Either as a pair or individually is up to you!

Whats the tea between Arcana and Constantine?

Ill guess the seasons for the actors au are the patches, and the mysterious narrators are like the mysterious voices that appear in the beginning of eps. Grandpa and Grandma could be old famous actors (maybe the Grandpa was the narrator in Disco Elysium since Ive heard his voice has been compared to that game) or related someone in the cast!

Hello again, Comrade!

Schneider talking to AU Schneider could probably happen after the storm, a surprising apparition of another - less healthy and tired looking - Schneider was quite a surprise, and naturally both wanted to see each other.

AU Schneider is healthier and more active than Canon Schneider due to their difference in pasts, but still maintains that similar personality trait that characterizes them. This didn't last long, as the others, but Schneider was able to leave this alternative universe in peace after knowing her family is safe, even if not in the world she comes from.

Canon Schneider: Is My Lord alright?

AU Schneider: "My Lord"? You mean Vertin? Yeah, she must be spending time with her girlfriend

Canon Schneider: Girlfriend? Is she dating Sonetto?

AU Schneider: Nah, Sonetto is dating me

Canon Schneider: What?

As for Sonetto and Schneider, it's not that long of a story actually.

Sonetto used to study with Vertin and Mesmer Jr in the same class and held nearly the same activities, when it comes to filming, she's quite camera shy.

One of the most extroverted ones is Schneider so she always ended up helping Sonetto during scenes, trying to get her to crack open that shell. One would say they're complete opposites, which is why they somehow attracted each other.

They're not dating per say, it's that stage where they both know but haven't been able to give that step further, either for outside reasons or simple nervousness.

Sonetto is definitely more shy than in the series, though she does develop alongside her character. This is her first time actually acting, unlike some of her classmates (Matilda is pretty experienced in this field due to her family name but ofc, they're just acquaintances) and she's very, very nervous, which prompts her to often make mistakes

Meanwhile Schneider is not necessarily new but she's not been in the filming industry for long, she's slightly older than Sonetto after all. She knows some stuff and decides to help a fellow.

Gotta say, Sonetto did have a crush on Vertin a while back

How do I explain Constantine's and Arcana's relationship... It's complicated.

They're friends and have been for a while, they were one of the first members to be cast and have had enough time to connect. And by friends I mean frenemies who got it for each other but will not admit it.

They're their biggest supporter and hater at the same time. Saying they're enemies is getting rid of every friendly interaction they had, saying they're friends is a bit too little but saying they're lovers is quite the lie.

It's... Complicated.

Smoker grandpa and Sarcastic grandma ate quite a famous couple the directors had to beg for them to give their voices for the series. They're married and have children who are older than half of the cast, who already have children, they are grandparents after all. None of their children actually act on R1999, they truly enjoy the series but only they are a part of it

The narration happens at the start of a chapter or during a change of scene, offering more information on the background of the characters and current situation. The narrators also have a part to play on separate projects (Like Three Doors, for example) but they gain relevance as a storyteller for the series.

[crownedinmarigolds]

12, 19, and 17 for Noa and Xandy if not already answered?

*Gasp!* Thank you for asking ahhH! 12. What have you found to be most difficult about creating art for your OC (any form of art: writing, drawing, edits, etc.)?

17. Is there some element you regret adding to your OC or their story?

19. What is your favorite fact about your OC?

Noa: 12. I would say the most difficult part about creating art for Noa is having to really restrain myself! Noa is incredibly repressed and has SUPER staunch beliefs and a code she really sticks to, so I feel weird if I just do certain things with her with wild abandon even if I really really want to. Like if I want to fun crack!ship her with anyone, then I overthink like "well she wouldn't do that," or etc... making her probably the most socially "inept" out of all of my OCs! Like, Nono is not a meme'r. 17. I'm usually very flexible with character stuff, I don't keep things I feel are actively detrimental to the stories I want to tell with them! If they have something going on with them, I put it there purposefully and with good reason. I will say I regretted certain things at her initial conception when I was playing her on a live VTM server. I had made her a Instagram starlet with a cute big butt. I had just added the butt thing as a dumb little "hee hee I got a bubble butt" but a LOT of people really ran with it? It made me actively uncomfortable how people took the "has a big butt" thing and made her to be a very very sexual character. It was this attitude towards Noa that actually had me hard reverse her into being sexually repulsed and also being small and flat as a board. Of course... people still sexualized her even with these traits as well in our next server we played her on. It could just be the way I type making people feel nice, but it's still very annoying to try and play a serious game or write out a serious conversation and people just won't stop writing about how their drooling over her body. So I regret making Noa curvaceous in the beginning of her play, but I'm VERY happy with Noa as she is now. I use the sexualization from these people to fuel a very important part of her motivations! 19. I love lots of stuff about Nono, but I think I love her having a good father despite being a Giovanni? Now her father wasn't good to her brother of course, but so many people go nuts with the more unsavory parts of the Giovanni lore in VTM, so I just feel satisfied with Noa having a good relationship with her Dad while he's alive.

Xandy: 12. Xandy is a bit difficult to write for because I have very specific situations in mind that involve her that are hard to make interesting in a written format? If that makes sense. She's very action oriented, swift, silent. If I could animate I think she'd be a blast to draw - I imagine her operating like Faith from Mirror's Edge - lots of parkour and smooth disarming motions. However writing action isn't my biggest strong suit. One of her coping mechanisms is to try and see herself as a tool for her Master to use, and while writing her breakdowns is very thrilling, I also can't have her upset ALL the time. She fills a great role in the canon but otherwise a little difficult to make the main character. ALSO - a lot of her stuff is history based, and that's a TON of research to fall down the rabbit hole for! 17. Xandy was one of my first REAL OCs... I had a few before her but she's probably the one I've had and kept the longest. [I had a ATLA one for a little bit and a Naruto OC that lasted a while but none stuck like Xandy!] I have changed her a lot over the fifteen years I've had her! There's not much I regret really, she was my Call of Duty Modern Warfare OC, so she was a military woman - which COULD be regretful but nah. It suited what I liked at the time and she's changed for the better I think! I suppose one regret is that she's silent and distant, which makes writing fun interactions hard, but it's still an important part of her character! 19. My favorite fact about her is.... commitment issues? I think I love it because I'm such a hardcore Ride or Die, and so are practically all of my characters. So it's kind of fun to have someone who is like "BAIL" the second someone really shows genuine adoration and interest in her beyond a one night stand or a passing curiosity! She's not against-against commitment... she just knows the life she lives and how "it just can't work."

THANK YOU GORGEOUS FOR ASKING!!!!!