#and someone who will enable the worst traits in him and never push him to aspire to be more. enjoy your life.

[snekdood]

the worst thing about that poly relationship i was vaguing about- is how willing i was to let any and all romance fall to the side for their little romance plot to be fullfilled and very "story book" or whatever, was literally trying to push him to be more romantic with the meta, I was already falling out of love with the dude involved anyways bc he just was not capable of being what I needed, I was perfectly content JUST being friends but nah. even thats too much of a threat. theres still too much of a possibility of him conceivably leaving that person for me or some shit I guess, even though I DONT FUCKING WANT HIM LIKE THAT ANYMORE.

[housemdork]

Wilson ask: we know Wilson has certain routines he does when interacting with people, e.g. when he was telling Foreman how to tell someone they are dying, do you think he has anything similar with House?

So much of their relationship feels like it stems from them being able to be the worst possible versions of themselves with each other, without fear of the other leaving them, but then Wilson feels sometime like his relationship with House is work and so much of him feels, not like a facade, but planned, like he is always being what he wants to be, if that makes sense, like fake it till you make it. idk.

ooo this is such a good question.

i think this arrangement he has with house highlights not wilson's worst trait, per se, but his most self-destructive one: his addiction to "neediness." i've talked about this lots, but he's attracted to people who need him, and when that need passes, he grows resentful and sabotages things. that's the externally ugly side to him but, internally, i think this stems from a fear of being abandoned. according to house in 5x04, wilson is so scared to lose people that he dumps them before they can leave.

house also has this fear, and has self-destructive tendencies, but they complement wilson's so well: house will always push away someone who seeks to know/help him. wilson, meanwhile, will never stop pursuing it. it's all very blood-type-scene of them.

but back to the idea of their relationship being work/wilson acting "planned" in their dynamic, i think i actually disagree. i think wilson acts like he does to house because house's endless neediness is reliable. turbulent, sure, but it will always be there. wilson's honest state of being (his "worst" state, as you put it) is enabled by house - and vice-versa!

i think when wilson over-extends to other relationships, that's where the "fake it till you make it" comes in. that's not to say that he didn't love amber, for example, but there was a lot of unlearning going on there. i always point to 4x14 and the mattress debacle as a good example; amber was showing wilson how to shed that addiction to neediness/helping people so that he didn't grow tired of her down the line (i also think that's one of the best examples of wilson struggling with compulsive heterosexuality, but i'll just link that post of mine here lol).

there are obviously exceptions to what i've laid out here; wilson does leave and does get royally angry at house. but if we look at the whole show, most people make the understandable choice to move on from house at some point because he does push them too far. wilson, meanwhile, always, always comes back, and tries to pacify himself with the lie that we can't even "pick who our friends are" (5x04). yeah, we can, james. you just have a problem.

lastly (because this is long asf), i think one of the major arcs of the show is house trying to meet wilson halfway and, in the very end, finally getting here. that "work" you mention is rectified, at least to an extent, by the finale - i'll be vague here just in case. house makes The sacrifice of all time for him, and it rings of repayment.

so i think to classify wilson's relationship to house as planned/his worst state of being is more a question of what the show is trying to prove: do the people we love have to bring out the best versions of ourselves, or the honest versions? these 2, one of whom is so concerned with his persona, and the other who is so insistent on the opposite, choose honesty (which 5x17 devotes its entire plotline to). the ability to not front, to not lie, to not pretend, is what keeps these 2 together, despite all their destruction, toxicity, and enabling at times.

[june-rambles]

omg PLEASE elaborate on ocd emma bc like. you’re so right

HIII YESSS I WILL !! thank you for enabling my insanity several things, this might not just be ocd emma there is some highlight on just traumatized emma..

most of this stemmed from a fic i started where emma has a diary, and its very mental health focused. i might reference it a few times when its relevant.. also shameless promotion.. (one day i will finish it..)

and im looking at this through a lense of canon.. i have my own separate swanqueen + ocd emma thoughts but.. (also prepare for me inserting a lot of gifs by my favorite ouat gif makers 🙏🙏)

so with aspects of being the savior:

it begins with henry. i think of this quote,

shes not his mother. she can't be, she gave up that right when she gave him up. so she has to take on another role. she becomes his hero. she has to be someone he idolizes.

then august comes around and tells her shes the savior of the entire town. she didn't sign up for that, like she says. shes henry's savior. she's henry's hero. and now she has to be everyone's savior?

in that scene i kind of imagine her thinking, "why do i have to save everyone when no one was there to save me as a kid?"

with her taking on the role as the savior, she kind of starts to make it her whole identity. i dont think it was just a weird writing choice i think it does reflect a purposeful thing with her character. that she has an absence of identity. (because of growing up as a foster kid and all the times she's been abandoned in her life)

she really isn't given a choice with becoming the savior. once she breaks the curse, its pushed onto her, and she can't just leave henry so she kind of just has to deal with it. and then she slowly starts to accept it and internalize it.

because it becomes what every interaction is centered around. someone needs saved. she has to fight a villain. she needs to save someone. every interaction she has with anyone except henry is savior, savior, savior.

"IF I DON'T HELP PEOPLE, THEN WHO AM I?" and finally she has parents who are proud of her. which she has wanted her whole life,

to quote myself from another post of my emma ramblings,

because that IS all she wanted. all she wanted was her family and she had to put up with so much to have them. she overlooks all of her own trauma because in her mind its like, "Hey why am i complaining. i have a family". and NEVER speaks up for herself.

she can't really complain that her parents are putting her on this pedestal, because she has her parents now so she should just be grateful. (and to be fair she does get snappy with them at times but in my opinion shes eventually (like after season 2/3) starts repressing the years of anger at the people who "gave her up" unless shes really upset)

constantly, through out the entire show, her entire life is just savior, savior, savior, savior, savior-

its compulsive. do you get what i mean. its her routine and if she isn't the savior, she's the same person who gave up henry and ran away from everything. and she can't be that again. its so black and white to her. shes extreme with it.

she makes it her entire identity. i mean this goes on for 6 seasons.

and her fear of hurting people is another ocd trait, which is DEFINITELY SOMETHING HIGHLIGHTED IN THE SHOW:

the ingrid arc when shes convinced her powers are hurting people. so she runs into the woods and isolates herself. like she stays in that car for almost like a day i think? i could be remembering wrong. i know she atleast sleeps in there. she almost completely gets rid of her powers until at the last moment elsa talks her out of it.

she becomes the dark one (more on that further on) and, well, canon spells it out for me:

i think this is ALL SUMMED UP BY THE CONVERSATION HER AND INGRID HAVE

because ingrid wasn't just saying shit. this is emma's deepest worst fears. her truest thoughts.

oh and her relationships/friendships/partnerships reflect this too

magic has a price. i think she'd start believing that the price of being united with her family is being the savior. she stops questioning that putting her life on the line all the time is just what it takes for her to have a family.

i think she suffers a lot from not understand unconditional love. i think she'd imagine all these different expectations and condtions that people put on their love for her (like her parents). i dont include henry in that, i think thats the only person who she believes really loves her

excerpt from my fic, "This is the price of having a family. This is what I have to do to be enough."

and killian. oh, killian..

at first, its not love. but its something. and killain really likes her and maybe hes not so bad, so she gives him a chance and goes on a date with him.

the dark swan plot line happens and emma is now trying to balance her feelings for hook and being a mother and being a daughter and being a sister and being the savior and trying not to give into the darkness. but killian is there to support her if she lets her walls down, she can start to see a future with him. but then killian, the fucking idiot, gets himself fatally hurt. then he'll be gone. just like neal. and if she loses him, then its proof shes not supposed to be happy. if she loses him, then its her fault, she failed as the savior, and she can't lose her identity on top of losing him

it's horribly paradoxical in a way. she's the savior, so she has to save people. she has to save killian or she's failed being the savior, but to do so she has to give into the power. so she has to decide which is worse, losing him and losing her identity or risk losing her sanity and falling too deep into the darkness.

and so she does the very thing she swore not to do. the very thing everyone was afraid of happening. she fully gives into the power, into the darkness so she can save him. to save HIM.

to me its like, she promises to herself she'll make it up to them and she wont let them down after this. one last time. one last failure.

("How many times have you saved them? How often have you felt more like a savior than their daughter? And all it takes is one tiny mistake, one accident, and you and your powers go from being their salvation to their worst nightmare." - Ingrid)

and she takes everyones memories of everything that happened in camelot and she almost achieves it. but then hook gets his memories back and goes dark and curses her entire family. then everything she's been holding back for months kind of crumbles.

she resolutes it in her mind that theres only one solution; to sacrifice herself to stop killian and to save her family. shes the savior, after all, isn't that what shes supposed to do?

killian stops the curse by sacrificing himself. and then everyone else is grieving but moving on. but emma is stuck there. she can't move on because hook was supposed to be her future. he said it himself. and regina is with robin and her parents have her baby brother. everyone has purpose and she's just a failed, broken savior. shes just kind of stuck. so she thinks its hook. the answer has to be with hook. getting him back would fix everything.

excerpt from my fic, "My happy ending is gone and it seems like no one sees that. My happy ending was belonging. My happy ending was being loved. My happy ending was falling in love with someone who will love me back."

so she goes into the underworld. and i dont have anything really remarkable to say about underworld but heres these two things:

in the end, she gets killian back, but at what cost? robin died. she ruined regina's happy ending.

excerpt from my fic, "Everytime I choose myself, everytime I think it’s my turn for my happy ending, it’s at the sake of someone else's.

It’s either me or them. That’s the price I have to pay. That’s the price that magic demands."

season 6 doesn't really add anything specific that i haven't already put here. the only important thing is the therapy session between her and archie which i've mentioned already. if i have more thoughts i'll add to this later. but i am tired as hell so.. here. sorry if this is messy and entirely not cohesive.

sources for the transcript

(i say all of this with a person with highly suspected ocd but i had to cut off my old therapist before i could get the official diagnosis btw)

[burst-of-iridescent]

the official zutara dissertation (p.6)

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 

Now that we have discussed both Zutara and Kat.aang from a Watsonian and Doylist perspective, we will do the same for the second half of the canon pairings: Mai and Zuko. In this final section, I will prove that Mai.ko’s relationship was incompatible, dysfunctional, and did a disservice to both Mai and Zuko’s character arcs, as well as the themes of the show overall. 

BOOK 6: THE DUMPSTER FIRE OF MAI.KO 

Why Mai and Zuko don’t work in canon 

1. Mai and Zuko have fundamentally incompatible character traits.  

Zuko’s fundamental character trait is empathy. Mai’s fundamental character trait is apathy. Zuko is fiercely emotional, expressive and cares deeply about others, even strangers he doesn’t know. Mai is reserved, closed-off and barely seems to care about anyone, even her own family members. It’s true that opposites attract is a common romantic trope, but successful execution of this trope lies in the fact that those differences are compatible in a way that betters both parties, whereas Mai and Zuko’s do not. 

Zuko and Mai are canonically unable to reconcile these differences between themselves. Zuko wants Mai to be more open and expressive, calling her a “big blah” and telling her “I wish you would be high strung and crazy for once instead of keeping all your feelings bottled up inside” (Book 3: The Beach). Mai finds it impossible to live up to these expectations, sarcastically apologizing for not being “as high strung and crazy as the rest of you” and yelling at Zuko and Azula to leave her alone when they press her into expressing herself (Book 3: The Beach). Zuko cannot accept Mai as she is, wanting her to fundamentally change herself, while Mai is unwilling to make this change and unable to understand the need for it in the first place. 

While these conflicting traits would create a dysfunctional relationship in any circumstance, it is particularly unacceptable when both parties are about to become rulers (of a nation recovering from war, no less) – a position that demands compassion and empathy. When Mai doesn’t even seem bothered about her own brother being kidnapped (Book 2: Return to Omashu), how is she supposed to care about the people of the Fire Nation? When Mai was ready to order around servants for the fun of it (Book 3: Nightmares and Daydreams), how is she supposed to dedicate her life to serving others?

2. Mai does not truly know or love Zuko for who he is, bringing out only the worst in him. 

With Mai, Zuko plays the role of what he believes to be the “perfect” Fire Nation prince. He is lazy, spoilt, and obedient to his father and the Fire Nation – all of which is entirely antithetical to who Zuko is at his core. 

The Zuko who relentlessly hunted the Avatar for three years with dogged determination, discipline and effort, who stood up for an enemy village, who spoke up in a war meeting at thirteen to save innocent lives is not the Zuko who lounged around eating fruit tarts and silently sat by while his father planned to slaughter millions – and yet the latter is the Zuko that Mai “loves”, even though this is the complete opposite of the person Zuko is, or should be. Zuko himself admits as much, even outright telling Mai that though he was finally the son Ozai wanted, he wasn’t himself (Book 3: Nightmares and Daydreams). 

If she genuinely loved Zuko, Mai should have realized this and pushed Zuko to stay true to who he is – but she never disagrees with or disapproves of Zuko’s behaviour in the Fire Nation. In fact, in most of their scenes she seems to enable it, encouraging him to laze around and dragging him into nihilistic self-indulgence and pessimism with her. The Mai that we see with Zuko is undoubtedly Zuko as the worst version of himself. 

Zuko is an idealist, someone who never gives up, who believes in doing the impossible, and at the end of the show he is in a position where he desperately needs those qualities to recover from a century of war and change his country. The last thing he needs is someone who cannot share a similar vision, who “hates the world” (Book 3: The Headband) and can only react to it with cold indifference at best. (Hmm, I wonder if we know another female character who always chooses to see the best in the world and actively works to improve it?)

Ideally, a good romance has characters be drawn to each other because they see and love one another for who they are, but neither Mai nor Zuko are able to do this. The Zuko that Mai loves is completely unlike the person he really is, while Zuko wants Mai to be the opposite of who she truly is. 

Ultimately, this makes their relationship impossible to buy, because neither appears to like or even know the other for who they really are, and everything we are shown of their personalities and dynamic seems to suggest that there is no reason they would even fall for each other in the first place. 

3. Mai and Zuko cannot truly connect with or understand each other, making their relationship appear shallow and based purely on physical attraction.  

The incompatibilities in Mai and Zuko’s personalities makes it impossible for them to connect on a deeper level, forcing their relationship to remain shallow and stagnant. 

Mai’s lack of desire to express herself means that she does not open up, and in turn frequently cuts Zuko off when he tries to. In their very first scene together, when Zuko tries to discuss his worries with Mai, she tells him that she “didn’t ask for his whole life story” (Book 3: The Awakening) and promptly shuts him down. This pattern continues to be sustained throughout their relationship, with Mai failing to understand why Zuko is upset not to be invited to the war meeting and even glibly insinuating that he should be happy not to go, given the incident that occurred at the last one (Book 3: Nightmares and Daydreams). 

When Zuko needs comfort or reassurance, Mai’s response is to either kiss him  and just tell him to stop worrying (Book 3: The Awakening) or suggest that he abuse his power over his servants (Book 3: Nightmares and Daydreams), which in and of itself proves just how little Mai actually knows Zuko if she thinks that would genuinely cheer him up. Mai cannot meaningfully support Zuko, because she doesn’t truly listen to or understand his concerns in the first place. 

This, coupled with the fact that Mai never really opens up about her own feelings and thoughts, makes it impossible for them to truly connect on a deep, intimate level. This restricts their relationship to be characterized by kissing, flirting and fighting, none of which seem to indicate a genuine, lasting love on either side. Ultimately, this leaves the impression that the only thing really holding Mai.ko together is pure physical attraction, and nothing more. 

4. Mai and Zuko’s dynamic is toxic, and would make them both miserable in the long run. 

Mai and Zuko are fundamentally incapable of giving each other what they need in a relationship. 

Zuko, an abuse survivor, needs a partner who wears their heart on their sleeve, who can be both kind and direct, who understands him without excusing him. He does not need a partner who orders him around by making him get food for her, or repays his efforts to do something nice for her with ingratitude (Book 3: The Beach). He does not need a partner who puts his life in danger for her own petty grievances (Book 3: The Boiling Rock, Part 2), or who belittles and “jokingly” threatens him to stay in the relationship (Book 3: Sozin’s Comet Part 4). 

Zuko’s dynamic with Mai reveals a severe lack of communication, sensitivity, and support. While this would be frustrating in any circumstance, it is particularly toxic given that it repeats many of the patterns of abuse that Zuko endured in his childhood. The last thing Zuko needs is to spend a lifetime with another distant loved one who seems impossible to please, who leaves him struggling to figure out what they need from him and makes him feel small and inferior. 

On the other hand, a lifetime with Zuko would also mean unhappiness for Mai – not only because Zuko wants her to be someone she’s not, but because the role of Fire Lady would be extremely suffocating for her. As someone who apparently grew up with parents that stifled her (Book 3: The Beach) and is bored very easily, having to spend the rest of her life dealing with the rigid, tedious machinations of politics and ruling would be torture for Mai. Coupled with her inherent lack of emotional qualities necessary for the position, becoming Fire Lady would spell disaster for Mai, Zuko, and the country as a whole. 

The Narrative Failure of Mai.ko 

1. Zuko’s development at the end of the show has outstripped Mai’s and having them reconcile is an insult to his character. 

When the show ends, Zuko has completed his redemption arc and is unquestionably a hero. He has unlearned the nationalist indoctrination he grew up with, made amends for his mistakes, and is nothing like the person he used to be in the Fire Nation. 

Mai, however, has undergone none of this growth. She is never shown to question the Fire Nation, disapprove of Fire Nation imperialism or disagree with the Fire Nation’s actions. In their last interaction before their final reconciliation, she still believes that Zuko is a traitor, accusing him of betraying his country and clearly not understanding why he defected (Book 3: The Boiling Rock, Part 2). 

Mai ending up with Zuko when she is never shown to grow out of her beliefs or actually work against the Fire Nation on her own terms makes absolutely no sense. She and Zuko are on entirely different paths, and it took Zuko – someone far more empathetic than Mai – years to turn against the Fire Nation. It does Zuko a disservice to suggest that he would willingly be with Mai when he knows that she, at this point, does not share his ideals or beliefs, and has a much longer and more difficult journey ahead of her to get there (it’s also questionable if she ever does really get there, given that she doesn’t appear to care about people she’s not personally involved with). 

Had Zuko never defected and instead turned into yet another war-mongering Fire Lord, Mai would have stayed with him. When Zuko has a complete perspective change and pivots in the opposite direction to who Mai originally believed he would become, she still stays with him. Mai ending up with Zuko when he has undergone such a huge change and she hasn’t, loving two entirely different and essentially contradictory people, is utterly nonsensical. 

2. Mai’s characterization is retconned to justify her redemption. 

“I love Zuko more than I fear you!” is certainly a cool line... except nothing about how Mai is set up until The Boiling Rock earns that statement from her character. 

Mai is more than eager to join Azula when she comes to recruit her, even when she finds out that they’re going to hunt down Zuko. At this point, Mai has no reason to believe that Azula will bring Zuko back to the Fire Nation safely, but shows no hesitation about potentially capturing and hurting Zuko, even smiling when Ty Lee says “It’ll be interesting to see Zuko again, won’t it?” (Book 2: Return to Omashu)

Mai defies Azula on multiple occasions with no concern, which implies that she is either unafraid of Azula, or does not believe that Azula will punish her even when she disobeys her. She refuses to enter the sewers to fight Katara and Toph, saying “she can shoot all the lightning she wants at me, I’m not going in there” (Book 2: The Drill) and releases the Earth King’s bear without a fight despite the fact that she is clearly supposed to be on guard (Book 2: The Crossroads of Destiny). 

Unlike Ty Lee, there is never a moment before her betrayal where Mai seems scared of Azula – and the animators do add moments of Mai breaking her apathetic façade (such as when Ty Lee hugs her), so they could certainly have done the same in other scenes to show that Mai is secretly afraid of Azula and doesn’t agree with her actions. As it is, there is no distinction made between what Mai does out of supposed fear of Azula and what she does of her own agency, and this makes her redemption and characterization unbelievable. 

3. Mai’s redemption is unsatisfactory and undermines the importance of redemption as one of the show’s major themes.  

Apart from her retconned characterization, the only other build-up to Mai’s redemption is her betrayal of Azula to save Zuko – except this betrayal doesn’t happen because she experiences growth and rejects the ideology of the Fire Nation of her own will, but because Zuko switches sides, for some reason Mai doesn’t even understand.

If the writers truly wanted to redeem Mai’s character from the start, she had to be shown to distance herself from the Fire Nation in some way, or at least participate in Fire Nation militarism only under duress (as the show did with Ty Lee, which is why her redemption is far more believable). Instead, they characterize Mai as an outright villain, and then try to redeem her at the last minute. 

This is particularly galling given the emphasis the show places on restitution as a part of achieving redemption. Zuko’s redemption is satisfying because he doesn’t immediately earn it after one good deed – he has to genuinely see the error of his ways, and then make amends for the hurt he caused. Yet, despite the fact that Mai also hunted the Gaang all over the world seemingly of her own volition, and showed absolutely none of the growth Zuko went through, she’s automatically redeemed because she saved Zuko and his friends once? 

Unless Mai magically saw the light while in prison (which isn’t canon, and off-screen character development is not development in any case), neither Zuko nor the Gaang should be comfortable being around Mai at the end of the show, let alone playing pai sho with her in a tea shop. Team Avatar’s easy acceptance of Mai, and Zuko’s willingness to take her back, is a slap in the face both to Zuko’s hard won redemption and to the importance the show places on earning redemption. 

4. Making Mai.ko canon undercuts the entire narrative purpose of their relationship, which was meant to illustrate why Zuko made the wrong choice in returning to the Fire Nation. 

The reason why Mai.ko is so dysfunctional is because the audience is supposed to see that it is wrong. We are not meant to root for Zuko to find happiness with Mai, because Zuko’s arc in the first half of book 3 is intended to prove that his choice to return to the Fire Nation was 100% the wrong one. 

Everything about Zuko’s time in the Fire Nation is supposed to make him uncomfortable and miserable, to show him without the slightest hint of doubt that he is not where he’s meant to be. His relationship with Mai is another seemingly “perfect” aspect of this life that is supposed to make him happy, but does not because it is fundamentally wrong for the person he truly is. When Zuko decides to defect, the decision is supposed to be clear, no longer something to struggle with, because he finally realizes that everything he thought he wanted is not what he really wants. He has changed too much for that, and the fact that he does not want those things any longer is good.

Making Maiko canon after this completely undercuts both this arc and the severity of Zuko’s choice to side with Azula, making it seem as though it’s not all bad that Zuko betrayed Iroh and Katara because he got to reconnect with the love of his life, when really it was unequivocally the worst mistake Zuko ever made. It adds ambiguity to Zuko’s decision to turn traitor, insinuating that he had to “give up” Mai to do the right thing, when the point was that he didn’t really have to give up anything because he didn’t want any of this any longer, and so it was not a struggle at all. 

Nothing about his time in the Fire Nation was right for him, and both Zuko and the viewer were supposed to realize that, because that is what drives home the impact of Zuko’s wrong decision in the Crossroads of Destiny, and what proves that Zuko has changed for good. Portraying Maiko getting back together as something positive hurts both this narrative and Zuko’s character development as a whole. 

Ultimately, Mai.ko does not work because it is a shallow relationship attempting to force together two fundamentally incompatible people, cheapening and undermining both Zuko and Mai’s characters and arcs. It’s evident that it was not intended to be endgame until extremely late in Book 3, because the set-up, development and progression of this ship is entirely unsalvageable  – and only makes Zuko and Katara’s relationship appear even more perfect in comparison. 

[thriceloved]

Fire & Water

MC X Sebastian (Her name’s Erika)

Summary : After fifth year, and Sebastian hasn’t been turned over, Ominis makes Erika promise she won’t remain with him. They’re not good to each other. But Erika and Sebastian both become aurors, and it’s hard, but they keep their promise. Yet, when a mission goes badly and Sebastian goes missing, Erika takes it upon herself to find him, and bring him back.

Fifth year had been difficult, their dynamic forever shattered. The following years had proved almost as relentless, but their friendship tentative. Erika had retreated into her own head, pushed away her friends. Ominis had gone just as silent, sending daily owls to Anne, who was still as cursed as ever, and no hope ever came to help her. She would always suffer, but he’d found he could comfort her better when Sebastian and Solomon were gone from their lives.

Sebastian remained at school, of course, saved from Azkaban thanks to Erika’s silence and her promise to her friends that she would not support him through anything else he attempted.

But he was almost as badly tormented as the year before. Erika avoided him.

In truth, she felt guilty, and torn between two sides. Torn between her love for Sebastian and her loyalty to him, and her promise to the others. To Ominis.

“You’re not good for each other. You enable his worst traits, and he fuels yours. Please, this is my condition. You must let him go.”

It was terrible, but she agreed. And from then, she suffered in silence, training relentlessly, studying intensively, everything, anything to try not to think of the way she saw her best friend, her almost lover, the mate to her soul, lonely, and almost as desperate as she was.

They still disputed the top of DADA class, but on everything else Erika beat him, but it was a battle that felt nobody ever would win.

There was no more banter. No more flirting jokes.

She didn’t know what laughing meant anymore.

It was as if someone had died inside of her, and she carried the grief everywhere she went. Her other friends always tried to comfort her, to change her mind, but as they ignored what had happened, the secret accident a tale she would bring to her grave, as long as she lived, they couldn’t gather the magnitude of it all.

Of course, Fig’s death had mattered to her, had changed her, but it didn’t explain everything.

They believed it had hit her hard, seeing her favorite teacher die in front of her, when everything finally seemed to work her way. Dying in her arms.

The first few nights, her nightmares would show him to her. She couldn’t save him, no matter how many times she replayed that fight in her head. Later on, when that trauma had slowly begun to heal, her dreams shifted, and she still cried out for him. Desperate for his touch, for anything.

But she had promised, and she would never go back on her word. No matter how strongly it cost her.

Ominis had noticed it all, in sixth year, in seventh year, but part of him couldn’t forgive his friend, either of them for changing everything, and he felt they both deserved it. And he was afraid of what could happen if they got together again. So he said nothing, and left them both alone, as they wished to be.

Professor Sharp and Professor Hecat had seen the dynamic altered, and though they tried not to notice, not to say a thing, because, of course, their school results had never been so good, they could see how miserable they were. And even that was too small a word to cover the magnitude of it all.

Erika and Sebastian graduated, top of their class, and went on to Auror school. Erika knew it was going to get only harder, to keep away from him, if somehow they were paired together, which was a very high probability, considering how few students were accepted each year.

Because of some kindness of fate, they were able to avoid each other during their training, talking as little as possible. They were good, and when they left school, a bright future awaited them.

Erika celebrated rightly, with her friends, who were happy for her, even though grief still clung to her like an ominous shadow, always behind her.

She could almost forget it, at times. Forget the face of her dearest friend as he threw that Unforgivable curse to his uncle and changed their lives forever. Forget the toll it had cost her to let him wallow in grief just as intense as hers. She kept thinking of her promise, kept thinking it would be better that way. They were soulmates, she was convinced of it, but somehow, they would never be right for each other. Too much. Too fiery. Too intense.

If she repeated that lie again, and again, she would surely end up believing it, the way her conscious mind avoided that subject as best as she could.

It was too painful, to dwell on what could have been. If she’d been stronger, if she’d seen what he was truly capable of. If she hadn’t been so tempted, too. If she’d been less curious, more attentive.

But what ifs didn’t change the cold, hard reality.

Would she ever felt warm again?

There had been moments of success, of course. Moments where she could almost see an end to that much suffering, but nights would always remind her. Any little thing brought her back. She couldn’t go back to Hogwarts. Couldn’t handle flying, and going to the sea. There were too many memories tied with it.

In Auror training, she’d met other wizards. She’d seen him meet other witches, too. Nobody knew the truth, and after all, they were both highly eligible, gifted young wizards.

Still, her dates had been quick to run away, when they felt the amount of grief she was still in. She’d tried, she’d promised Ominis she would, but it never felt right. She couldn’t handle being touched.

Would this ever end?

Would her heart ever move on?

And what hurt even more was seeing him just as shackled to his grief as she was. If he’d been able to move on, she would have, too. Certain of her choice. Of having done the right thing. But he felt as duty-bound to remain alone as she was, and that only fueled their loneliness.

In truth, after she’d gotten her final letter of admittance to the Ministry, as one of the youngest, most-promising Aurors, just as he did, she returned to her flat, in London, and cried bitter tears, upset that she couldn’t celebrate as she wished.

They had both become Aurors, and integrated the Ministry.

She had held onto her promise.

But did her heart feel so empty?

Her first mission came and went, a resonating success. She had news of his first, as well, from the gossip between the aurors. He was cunning, he was ruthless and charming, and the best duelist she knew, and soon everyone wanted him as their partner. She didn’t have to fight for her own, as well, for no one could beat her, no one had beaten her in a duel. Ever. Even back in school, her quick reflexes and strong magic had been more than enough to keep enemies away from her. She wasn’t the Heroin of Hogwarts for nothing.

After that, the road was all clear. No mission was too hard, no filature too difficult, no dark wizard too strong for them to defeat.

It was only a matter of a few months until their boss pleaded to partner her with Sebastian. Each of them was a menace, but together? They’d be undefeatable, a extraordinary asset to the Ministry and the Auror department.

But they refused. They’d reached this agreement long ago, back in sixth year, not to be partners. Logical.  It was hard enough, being in the same department, seeing each other from afar, most days, but if they had to face working together, being this close… It wouldn’t work.

And yet, she couldn’t help noticing things. Aware of how, and when he was away, on what case he worked, as if second nature. She knew he did the same about her. It drove their co-workers mad, but they refused to talk about it, and the reason why was their best-kept secret. Too stubborn for their own good. But they always dropped the topic, when they saw the anguish, and the rage when they pressed too much. When riled up, Sebastian and Erika were equally frightening.

Five years passed, until one day, Sebastian went missing.

Three weeks had passed, and he should have been back a week ago. He’d never done this to her before. That had been a promise, too, exchanged after they’d agreed to keep their distance : never leave, never use Dark magic again, never go to harm willingly. They’d even had Ominis agree to make un Unbreakable Vow for them, binding them to their terms, under pain of death.

It had been one of the only things that had soothed her heart, many times over the years. Knowing that in spite of everything, because of that vow, he would be safe. She couldn’t love him, couldn’t be with him, but she kept him safe. And she kept him close.

She knew he couldn’t have gone willingly. She wanted to give him more time, but something in her gut told her it was serious. Despite everything, they both cared too much about each other, still, to play games.

She finished the case she was on, and asked for three weeks of time off. Holidays, she’d pretended. She’d go far, to the sea, for her health. A well-deserved rest. Her boss had agreed, and sent her away.

She didn’t lose a single second, before apparating to his flat, and breaking in.

Of course, each of them knew about where the others lived, knew everything about each other. Even if they didn’t speak, didn’t write to each other, sometimes it couldn’t be helped. Her ears would linger, Ominis would speak too much, Anne would let a word out.

It was easy, his wards allowed her in as if she came every day.

How she wished it was the case.

She looked up everything there, in his home, trying to find clues on what had happened, when he had left, what he was searching for.

She knew he was on a hard one, having successfully identified a net of dark wizards that operated in London, recruiting candidates for their experiences on muggles. It was secret, and well protected, but Sebastian had been looking into it. They were ruthless, and had begun leaving bodies for them to find.

He loved the thrill of the chase, especially when it could be dangerous. It reminded him of their adventures. Of feeling alive. The only positive feelings he had these days, and he’d become addicted to it.

If it had been her case, she would have tried to infiltrate them, and sure enough, she found several messages, cleverly hidden, mentioning such intentions. A small batch of Polyjuice was left, too, as well as several vials of different hairs, and she guessed he had impersonated different people in order to fool them.

How could she get to him?

She pieced together some clues from the letters ; discovering some names he had found, some people involved, nearly each accounted for, but for the boss at the top. In a small notebook, he’d left it all for someone to find, should something happen to him. And a letter, too, addressed to her.

With trembling fingers, she took it, but put it in her pocket. She’d read it when she’d find him, and not before.

Armed with the knowledge he’d given her, she left the flat and apparated again, to his last known location.

It was away from London, on the outskirts of the city proper. Of course, they had chosen a neighborhood they could control, thick with smoke, and surely plenty of informers about intruders.

With her magic, she could become close to invisible, and under cover of night, she waited. And waited, in front of the place where Sebastian would be.

She tried not to think about him. Tried to rationalize her mission as a job. Get in, find him, and get out. Simple, to the point.

But timing was essential. Reconnaissance was essential.

She’d studied his papers, knew how many were implicated, figured he might have missed some, despite his diligence, or else he wouldn’t have been caught by them. After infiltrating and passing as one of them, the second best way was breaking in. Finding and catching them. One by one.

He’d done the brunt of the job, and now she needed to finish it. And hopefully, by the time she found him, he would still be breathing.

She knew how ruthless these guys could be. She’d killed plenty of them already.

After two full nights and days’ worth of observation, she knew what she had to. There were two teams, swapping at midnight, four wizards. They had passwords, and would raise the alarm if something was amiss. Timing would be of the essence, and she needed to be quick.

That third night, she went. In a few wordless spells, she had neutralized them, bound them and prevented them from apparating away. She barged her way in. Silent as a shadow, and merciless as death, she flew through the building. She caught them before they even knew she was there, her mind focused on one thing only : find Sebastian, and get him out. If she could find their boss, good. If she couldn’t, well. She didn’t care.

She’d always had that ability to tune everything else out from her brain, and it helped, in missions like this. She was utterly, single-mindedly dedicated to her job. This time, it was saving the one she loved. She couldn’t allow him to die. Better to live away from him, than to suffer in a world where he was gone forever.

If he died, she knew she’d join him right after.

But nobody was going to die, not when she was like this, an angel of death and vengeance.

Not when she felt her ancient magic swirl inside her, and wielded it like the best weapon she had.

By the time she had arrived at the very bottom of their lair, she had dispatched 35 wizards. He had counted on 37, so she knew she had two more to go, and most likely 4 or five he hadn’t known about.

Their boss might not be there, but the second in command, surely was charge of the prisoners, and the traitors. She followed her instincts and her magic linking him to her to a small room, hidden behind a cleverly made puzzle. But by then, deciphering codes and hidden passages was second nature to her, and it was easy to open the door, and then to capture the one behind it. Several cells greeted her, and the smell brought her back to several distinctly unpleasant memories.

There.

He was there.

Covered in blood, and shaking, surely from the aftermath of the Cruciatus curse. Its markings were plain to her eyes, having suffered the curse a few times before, including because of the very man she was rescuing today.

She allowed herself a calming breath, reassuring herself he wasn’t in danger of dying immediately.

“Come on, let’s get out of here before they come back.”

He smiled, unable to stand.

“I’d love to, but I’d like some more help. I’m not as young as I’ve been, and they haven’t been very nice to me.”

“Oh,” she crooned. “What have you done to deserve this, darling?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know, love?”

If he flirted like that, he was not going to die on her yet.

With her wand, she helped him to his feet, threw a bottle of Wiggenweld into his hands which he drank without grimacing. He’d had too many by now to pay attention to the bitter taste.

When she was satisfied at his ability to be moved, she conjured a portkey.

“Here. Take it.”

“What? You’re staying here?”

“I need to finish this, or all this work will be for nothing.”

“He’s dangerous, Erika. I’m only alive because he wanted to hurt me, before the end.”

“Nonsense. I’ll go and get him, and you can brag about it when we get home. Now listen to me, and go.”

“I won’t leave you with them.”

“Please, Sebastian. Now’s not the time to argue,” she snapped. “You’re injured, covered in blood, and still cursed. Don’t make me hurt you to leave me.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time, now, would it.”

She seethed, but couldn’t deny it. She’d done it once, already, but she had never planned on repeating it.

“You don’t even have a wand.”

“That can be arranged.”

He hobbled to the guard she had dispatched while entering the room, and seized his wand.

“I don’t like it much, but well. Better this one than nothing at all.”

“Fine. But don’t try too hard.”

“As if I would. Just like old times, right?”

She didn’t answer, and went back to the main corridor, following the traces of the boss.

After that, they didn’t dare speak. But this banter, the first, longest conversation they’d had in years, had felt good. As if no time had ever elapsed between today and that long ago moment, stolen after Ominis had enacted her promise.

There had been much talk, and then, much less talking, and a lot more doing.

She had tried, desperately, not to cling to those memories, banishing them from her consciousness as much as she could, but this… This was only bringing them back with a bang.

She could still feel the ghost of his skin against hers, how it had felt, to be so close to him. She hadn’t allowed herself to dwell on these memories for nearly a decade, but they were never gone. That fire between them was never gone, just embers, waiting for the slightest wind to catch again.

She was burning.

Somehow, her decision to bring him back would change everything. She couldn’t return to these years and months of ignoring each other. She wouldn’t have the strength to do it. Now the dam was broken, and years of filling the lake would send it bursting open, taking everything with it.

Fire and water, always.

She needed to end this mission, quick, so that she could put his mouth to better use. So that she could see those eyes burning for her, as she had allowed herself to really, deeply look, for the first time in years, when she’d seen him in that cell.

Merlin’s beard, even shackled and filthy, he was glorious. Her blood was boiling for him. Her skin tingling, from the aftermath of fighting, the delight of the chase, and from anticipation. His smile, charming as always.

But she closed her mind to that part of her, and focused. Only a few more hours, and then she could scratch that itch. And then, maybe, she would stop burning, and avoid breaking her promise further. Maybe afterwards, she’d be able to turn the page. Succumbing to temptation, to finally remove it from her head, and his, too.

It was easy, so easy, to fall back into their old rhythm of sneaking out and dueling past Ashwinders camps, and poachers and loyalists. They’d never fought together again, after fifth year, even in Training, even in school classrooms, stubbornly keeping their distance.

With them together, the others never stood a chance. They blasted their way through the rest of the filthy corridors, checking every room, and she was counting.

“There’s only the boss left, now. He was the one to catch me.” Sebastian told her, right before the main room.

“And? With me, it’ll be quick work.”

He smirked, loving the smile on her face. That lovely, charming, arrogant smile that she’d earned, after everything she’d done before. After every wizard and goblin and beast she’d killed, even that guy stood no chance against her.

She knew it, and he knew it, and he would always, always fall for her.

That grin, wicked with delight at fighting, would always be his downfall. How he’d wished for another, one last moment like that. To capture it into his memory, commit every single detail of her looking like this, like before, when they were friends, and allies, and fighting together. When she loved him, and he loved her, and he believed nothing, and no one would ever come between them.

Of course, such happiness couldn’t last. He was young, a teenage boy with hormones running high and a heart much too big for him, and he fell. Desperate to help, unable to see that he was falling deeper and deeper into a magic that sucked life from him.

He’d sobered afterwards. Sworn to himself to atone, to do better, to be worthy of being spared Azkaban. Be worthy of her love, and that last gift. He was free, and he didn’t deserve it, but he would do his best to change his fate.

Without her, it was hell. Without Ominis and his twin Anne, life was unbearable. But he kept going. For her sake, if not his own. Surely, if he succumbed to his weakness again, it would hurt her, and so he remained on the right path.

He was good at it, too. Good at being an Auror, at studying, witty and charming and ruthlessly efficient. His partners always enjoyed working with him, but even he could feel, at times, a darker tinge slipping in his eyes that would always keep them from staying close. Only Ominis, his twin Anne, and Erika, had been foolish enough to stay close to him, when he was like that. Intense. Passionate. With a fire that would burn the entire world if they asked it of him.

Only Erika had never given up on him.

But she was loyal to a fault, and he knew the promise she’d made Ominis. He couldn’t hold it against her. It was for the best, he’d seen how she had encouraged his wildest dreams, and perhaps the world wasn’t ready for their fire.

But this moment, when they faced the wizard who’d unleashed such darkness on the city for years, until they’d finally been able to find him… It was worth every hour without her, when Sebastian could finally see her explode.

See the power she let out, free and wild, her ancient magic acting as another tool responding to her mind, and within minutes, she had bound him and silenced him.

An avenging goddess of war, that’s what she looked like, with that monster at her feet. And another one, right by her side, who would respond to her every spell.

They returned to the ministry, apparating with the group of dark wizards they’d caught, in a special room dedicated to these jobs.

In a swirl of her wand, she closed their cells, and marched out, setting out for the head of the department to tell him everything.

After a full report had been made, and their colleagues had fussed and congratulated them both, she claimed she was tired, and needed to go home. With one look at her, he joined her, and she held onto his arm as she apparated them to her flat.

Her hand had burned his skin where she’d touched him, and he was tingling all over. He was tired, and dirty, but damn it, he had only one thing on his mind.

“Not like that,” she murmured, and turned around, looking to face him.

The fire was gone. Her eyes were shining with bright tears, and his heart broke.

She was right. It couldn’t happen like that.

“Follow me,” she whispered, holding his hand and leading him to her bathroom.

Slowly, with trembling hands, she began undressing him. His torn shirt, his shoes, his pants, until he stood in his underwear in front of her, shaking just as violently.

She looked up at him.

“May I help you bathe?”

As if he would deny her anything in his state. Not trusting his voice, he nodded, and she took the last piece of clothes he had on, and pulled him to the bathtub.

Quickly, she took off her own clothes, and joined him inside the tub. She adjusted the water, temperature as high as he could bear it, and gently, so gently, began washing him.

He couldn’t stop focusing on her hands, the feel of her skin on his, as she sat right in front of him. Softly, she cleaned his hair, running her fingers over it, until all the grime was gone. He closed his eyes, enjoying that moment. Too soon, the spell would be broken. She’d realize what she was doing, how she was breaking her promise, and send him on his way, once he was clean and safe.

But until then, he would savor her every touch. The softness of her fingers, feeling her tight breath so close to his face, as she inched closer, and closer, under the pretense of needing more space to clean him. Her hands settled on his face, caressing his brow, his cheeks. Hesitating in front of his lips, but then she touched them too, and the water helped, not to forget this was not just intimacy, but something more.

Cleansing, perhaps.

Allowing her to flush his sins away, down with the bathwater.

She scrubbed where dirt was still matted with his skin, until he felt distinctly hot and raw. Her fingers came down, to his neck, his shoulders, and he felt her run her nails there, as if imagining how it would feel to hold him there, and it took everything he had not to touch her too, when she was so near, so warm next to him. Slowly, she went on, down, tracing the shape of his muscled back, his arms, his stomach, and where her fingers had been a trace of that old fire lingered, a small, gentle flame that ached with the sweetest pain.

He was so aroused it was painful, and she could see it, too. But she avoided it, cleaning his legs, his feet. He opened his eyes, then, as she stopped moving, her hands resting softly on his knees.

Her hair was unbound, and her gaze was glimmering with a thousand emotions he could not name. He should have known, that any reunion they had, would carry that weight. The weight of their history, of every hurtful word they’d thrown each other in their anger and grief, and all that had remained unsaid, afterwards. How the moments they’d stolen lost in each other’s arms would be called back at the slightest touch.

He was desperate to touch her too, and see if the memory did her justice. Desperate to see that their connection was still there. That of all the things that happened, their love was real. She was real. She had loved him.

“May I clean you, too?” he whispered, trying not to break the spell over them.

She nodded, and just as gently, he allowed himself to touch her, for the first time in years.

It was glorious. It was so easy, to keep his fingers light, and slow, as they washed her skin, her hair, and he sighed in how soft it was, how familiar she was. Her curves were still there, grown up, slightly, but still very much her. She was gorgeous. She always had been, ever since she’d thrown him off his ass during their first duel, but after nearly ten years, she had only grown more so.

To his eyes, no other woman could hold anything to her. No one would ever mean as much. Could understand him so well. No one fitted with him so perfectly. But her. Only Her.

He took his time, savoring each touch, each caress, until cleaning became a pretext to touch her, again, and again.

She had kept her eyes on him, and slowly, he could feel their breathing accelerate a little, her sigh airier.

She held a hand on his wrist, and he helped her to her feet. Water was still pooling over them, the only noise their breathing, and their beating hearts, steadily growing faster.

He stepped out, leading her with him. She turned, to summon towels wandlessly, wordlessly. Even in this state, she could do magic that amazed him.

Delicately, he dried her, then himself, and her soft hand brought him to her bedroom.

There, she settled him on the bed, seating so that she could stand between his knees, at the right height for her to draw his face to hers, and gently brought her lips to his.

How they had both dreamed of that kiss. It lingered in their minds, all day, but this was deeper. It was slow, and gentle. Like they had all the time in the world, two lovers reconnecting.

Two pieces falling into place, at long last.

Her hands were on his shoulders, and his arms wrapped lightly around her, just enjoying the feel of their lips against the other’s, tenderly, lazily.

It was hard, letting go, but she needed to see him, again.

They broke apart, lips thoroughly red. She pushed him on the bed, on his back, and settled against him, hugging him close.

“Please hold me.” She breathed against his skin.

He didn’t question it, just tightened his hold against her, as he brought them both further on the bed, and under the covers. He tucked her head under his chin, as she entwined their legs. All thoughts of sex had gone from his mind.

She was right, they didn’t need it. More than anything, they wanted their closeness, they missed each other. That certainty they’d both had, so fleetingly, that someone had their back, always. And there, in this embrace, skin against skin, as he drew circles on her back, and she sighed her pleasure against him, he could still see her tears against the pink skin of her cheeks, brightening her eyes.

And he cried too, for he had never quite allowed himself to believe that this was possible, that they could be together, one last time.

He had missed this, terribly. Missed his friend.

“I’ve missed you, so much,” he whispered in her ear.

“And I, you,” she breathed back.

It was so good, it felt so right, his heart was full to the point of pain.

They fell asleep, into a dreamless, gentle void, still holding onto each other.

Never letting go.

[gch1995]

I don't get how people have jokingly compared Obi Wan to Jesus when Anakin is literally Space Jesus complete with a force-induced virgin birth

Anakin’s a dark and tragic subversion of the “chosen one” trope because as inexcusably awful as he did become at his worst, at his best, he displayed all of the same amazingly brave, idealistic, empathetic, kindhearted, loyal, and selfless heroic traits that Luke did in the OT. The amazingly good side shouldn’t have ever gotten so deeply pushed down underneath this ugly darkness he developed because Anakin had so much potential to only ever make the galaxy a better place instead. If only he’d had more self-confidence in his own conscience and personal agency like his mother taught him after leaving Tatooine, had healthier support from those with positions of authority over him in his life to work through his anger, fear of abandonment, and trauma, and had more viable options outside of the Jedi Order and Sith, and he hadn’t spent his entire life being conditioned to be a useful tool or weapon for corrupt and misguided authority figures.

I don’t think Anakin is completely blameless via reason of insanity. He had a conscience, regardless of the mitigating circumstances, and he made the decision to deny it after a while in his fear of abandonment, anger, fear, and self-loathing.

However, his actionable agency definitely was always compromised by abusive, corrupt, manipulative, and emotionally negligent authority figures his entire life and a lack of resources outside of the Empire and broken Jedi Order and Republic. His sanity is definitely not all there either by AOTC, ROTS, TCW, and the OT era. Anakin seems to have poorly treated/severely neglected symptoms of BPD and especially CPTSD from a lifetime under systematic abuse, crime, emotional neglect, exploitation, and oppression under corrupt authority figures from whom escape either technically was and/or he was made to feel were inescapable.

Not a whole excuse for his crimes, of course, nor did anyone deserve them, but when someone turns out to be a horrific human disaster as an adult after spending their entire lives with compromised agency and emotional as a slave, child soldier, and member of abusive, corrupt, and oppressive cults that are systematically enabled and perpetuated by the governments in power they are under “for the greater good,” then it’s not fair to blame it all on just that person for becoming and remaining a dangerously emotionally/mentally unstable monster under that abusive, corrupt, manipulative, and oppressive authority when all the odds were steeply stacked against them for making morally correct decisions that ensured safety, anyway.

As for Obi-Wan, forget fact that he can’t technically be a “chosen one” because he wasn’t born to his mother via a miraculous virginal conception, and because he wasn’t foretold to fulfill a destiny. Forget the fact that being a “chosen one” in fiction doesn’t automatically equal a character being or becoming a good person themselves.

Let’s just focus on the fact that complex, relatable, and well-developed characters will have actual individual aspirations, goals, interests, and personalities apart from just asskissing those with power of authority over them to fit in and get ahead with the elites in their cliques and cults. Let’s focus on the fact that if a well-written character is meant to be heroic and/or have an atonement or redemption arc, then we will actually see them have growth and self-realization of their flaws and self-improve on screen. Let’s focus on the fact that flawed but static and flat well-written characters who don’t change in the narrative or learn from their mistakes won’t get the hero treatment at the end just because they did something good for someone else to get validation and reward from an authority figure who tells them it’s “for the greater good.”

Obi-Wan never was never portrayed as a horrifically evil monster at his worst because he was such a Yoda ass-kisser, but he was never portrayed as being a particularly good person who accomplished amazing acts of heroism at his best either because he largely defined the entirety of his life to blindly serving Yoda and the Jedi Order at the cost of giving up any opportunities to explore, get invested in, and self-improve through any other hobbies, interests, friendships, relationships, and possibilities outside of them, particularly after Qui Gonn died.

He’s a good example of how fitting in with the “right” side does not automatically equal being a hero when your heart’s only in the game to fit in and get ahead in class by being a conformist and kissing the teacher’s and cool kids asses. I’m not sure if he ever gets away with it because, I mean, look at what happened to his relationships with Anakin and Ahsoka in the prequels. Look at how Anakin survived the fire and became Vader because he couldn’t commit to either killing or not killing him in his anger, cowardice, and indecision. Look at how he was framed as wrong to deceive and manipulate Luke in the OT movies.

Obi-Wan is still essentially supposed to be the “good guy,” but he never really seems to have an arc of growth, self-realization, or regression either. I get why it was partially necessary for Luke’s and Anakin’s arcs as the main characters of the OT and PT movies, but it always bugged me that Obi-Wan and Yoda never actually had that moment of self-realization and growth on screen.

[ratsoh-writes]

I’ve wanted to do this one for a while, but here’s the best and worst qualities of the main 10!

Sans

His best quality for sure has to be his thoughtfulness. Sans is the kind of friend who will remember small details that others consider insignificant, and he saves those for when someone needs a bit of comfort. He’s a nurturer by nature

His worst quality is his ability to hold grudges. It takes a lot to make sans truly Angry, but when he is, it’ll take ages for him to ever forgive someone. Even if they’ve demonstrated that they’ve truly changed and are really sorry. It took him years to forgive frisk, and the resets and genocide runs weren’t even their fault

Papyrus

Papyrus is a truly loving and generous person. He only wants the best for others and takes joy from seeing other people happy. And he’ll go to great bounds and lengths to do so

That being said, papyrus can take it too far. He’s too forgiving, and if someone is manipulative in the right ways, papyrus can easily become an enabler. Luckily he has big bro sans watching out for him

Star

His best quality is his strong caring nature. Star is a natural born leader, and cares very much about those he loves. Star is relentless in his mission to make every friend the best person they can be! He’s incredibly supportive and is very good at bringing out the confidence in others

Unfortunately, star’s biggest virtue is also his biggest vice. Star can be too caring, and extremely pushy. It’s easy for his support to fall into overbearing territory, and it’s hard for him to let go of that. If you don’t want stars help, you’ll have to be very firm with him

Honey

Honeys best trait is his affection! He’s always sweet, and is great at helping his friends feel loved. He’s also that guy that will give you his full attention, even if he’s not that interested in what you’re talking about

Honey’s worst quality is how clingy he is. He needs a lot of affection himself, and isn’t very good at giving his friends/partners space. He can be very insecure at times, and tries to fix that insecurity by being around his loved ones at all times

Red

Red is one of the most loyal people youll ever meet. It’s hard to get his trust, but when you do, he’ll have your back no matter what! After red trusts you, it’s even harder to get rid of him

His worst quality is his temper. He’s easy to rile up, and will always pick a fight. Red is a very defensive person. Luckily he cools down quickly, and if he actually likes you, he’s fairly forgiving

Edge

Edge’s virtue is his honestly. Edge will never lie to his friends, so you can always count on him to give you a true opinion. Plus, he’s normally very good at letting people know exactly where they stand with him, so if you’re his friend, you’ll know.

His vice is his perfectionism. It’s something edge is getting help for, but he still struggles with ridiculously high expectations. For himself, and others. Not meeting those can sometimes lead to meltdowns

Mal

Mals best characteristic is probably his independence. Mal is very well put together and is a wonderful person to go to for life advice. Plus no matter what may happen to him, physically or financially, mal is sure to come out on top

His worst quality is stubbornness. Once mal has a strong opinion about something, he Will die on that hill. Circumstances be damned

Cash

Cash is a very friendly person by nature, and can get along with almost anyone as long as they have a sense of humor. He also loves making new friends and is good at working his way into strangers hearts. He’s just very charismatic

His worst quality is his inability to communicate. Cash sucks at feelings and heavy topics and will do almost anything to push the issue under the rug instead of actually addressing it.

Oak

The best thing about oak is how kind and gentle he is. If oak likes you, then you’ll have the sweetest friend you’ve ever met. He’s very calm, and is good at putting others at ease. Like sans, oak is also a nurturer by nature

The worst thing about oak is how overprotective he can be. When oak feels threatened, he gets stubborn. And stubborn oak doesn’t care about your independence, your safety is much more important to him

Willow

Willow is an extremely generous person. Show him a bit of kindness, and he’ll gift you the world if he could.

However, willow is also a firm believer in burning bridges. He’s been hurt too many times to ever allow anyone to threaten the safety of his family. No matter what your history together is, do any of willows deal breakers, and he Will cut you out with no regrets

[echodrops]

Why You Should Be Shipping Shigaraki/Ochako

No, no, hang on a second--I see that side-eye you are throwing hard enough to ruin your peripheral vision. I feel the shade you’re casting like a thundercloud rolling in. But you didn’t read wrong. I meant what I said.

I’ve never made a secret of my love for rare pairs, but for once in my damn lonely shipper’s hellscape of a life I would love it if my favorite crack ship in a fandom had more than two fics (I’m NOT JOKING) to its name.

What can I do to correct this egregious oversight before the entire summer passes with nary a whisper of the most romantic ship since Juliet wherefore art thou’d Romeo?

Well, what else? I was forged in the fires of early 2000s’ fandom, and I know that desperate times call for desperate measures meticulously researched and extremely rose-tinted

Shipping Manifestos.

Fam, I am about to blow your minds, align your chakras, open your third eyes--because Shigaraki and Ochako is the most slept on ship in the entire BNHA fandom, and if you give me ten minutes like an hour (holy shit, this is long), I can prove it.

Disclaimer: @mistystarshine is the enabler who convinced me to write this but we were both enabled by @ohmytheon’s Reconfigure (on AO3) so you know who’s really responsible.

Spoilers to Chapter 231, watch out.

First off, I know what you’re thinking. Maybe you’re still reading from pure shock. Maybe you’re doubt-reading to get your daily fix of internet skepticism. Maybe you’re waiting for me to say these two characters are meant to be because she wears pink and his hair is blue. Maybe you’re already freaking out about age gaps but like that is what future fics and AUs are actually for!!!

I’m not telling you to give up your IzuOcha or Kacchako. I’m not gonna pry ShigaDabi out of your eager little villain stan hands. But if you’ve never considered multi-shipping, now is the time my friends, because I’m totally serious heartfelt here! I’ve got VALID reasons for shipping Shigako--ten of them, in fact:

1) Midoriya is taken for granted as Uraraka’s love interest--but Shigaraki is incredibly similar to him.

There are reams of meta on the parallels between Midoriya and Shigaraki, with plenty people noting how Horikoshi specifically set the two up as foils to examine similar character development despite their drastically different circumstances. Yet for all the meta pointing out that Shigaraki and Midoriya are basically the same character through a mirror darkly, I’ve never seen anyone bear that thought out to its logical conclusion: there are traits Uraraka admires in Midoriya that are extremely apparent in Shigaraki too.

Multiple times in the manga, Uraraka expresses admiration for Deku’s resolve and refusal to give up. His determination in the face of impossible odds and his sense of dedication to his cause are powerful motivating factors in Ochako’s storyline, and Deku’s behavior--his willingness to charge straight into danger and his unflinching pursuit of his goal to be #1--have basically become the standard to which Uraraka holds herself.

Her crush is literally founded on an appreciation for Midoriya’s drive, earnestness, and constant growth as a person.

But these are all traits that Shigaraki also explicitly possesses. Shigaraki’s unwavering resolve is so strong that even though everyone around him says dream is unattainable... they follow him anyway.

Ujiko flat out tells Shigaraki he’s chasing a pipe dream, but he’s willing to come along for the ride strictly because of how committed Shigaraki is to making that dream a reality. The strength of Tomura’s conviction alone persuaded a collection of the most volatile and difficult personalities in the manga to band together and become found family the most well-known anti-establishment organization in all of Japan.

Shigaraki never, even in the face of overwhelming threat, backs down from a challenge, and he approaches each impossible task with absolutely as much effort, ferocity, and refusal to quit as Deku. He is just as dedicated, just as much of a shounen protagonist main character, and just as willing to push himself above and beyond as Deku.

The traits that motivated Uraraka to become the character she is today, many of the exact same traits that formed her crush on Midoriya, are all there in Shigaraki. In another world, the person who inspired Uraraka to go “Plus Ultra” could be Tomura himself, and if 1) no sense of self-preservation, 2) ZERO CHILL, and 3) dogged obsession are what Uraraka finds attractive, Shigaraki clearly has 'em covered. Oh no, he’s meeting all my standards.

2) Being serious though, Ochako’s role in the plot would be vastly improved by more meaningful interactions with the antagonists, even if just in battle.

I’ve written before about how badly the writing of BNHA treats Ochako, and why her constantly being out-of-focus is a hallmark of the genre’s crippling inability to handle dynamic female characters, but it bears repeating: in her current position in the story, Uraraka’s character has minimal agency. She exists to fill the role of Deku’s love interest (at worst) and an emotional crutch (at best). Again, absolutely no hate on the IzuOcha ship--it’s clearly canon endgame and “wholesome” I guess is what they’re calling it nowadays. But the way IzuOcha’s being written in canon is actually the worst possible thing that could happen to Uraraka’s individual character, because Ochako’s crush on Deku has been given virtually no bearing on the story’s main plot and allows Horikoshi to consistently reduce Uraraka’s personal accomplishments to “inspirations from Deku” (in order to, likely, fulfill young male readers’ fantasy of having a girl fixated on them).

Is Uraraka about to do something cool in the manga? Wait for her comment about being motivated by Deku.

Does Uraraka actually get to see some action and get involved in a fight? Wait for someone to bring up her feelings for Deku.

Is Deku about to have a dramatic clash with the story’s villains to advance the main plotline? Wait for Ochako to entirely vanish (at worst) or get sidelined into a three panel clip where she’ll use the same martial art move she’s been using since like chapter 10 (at best).

If I have to read “Gunhead Martial Arts” one more fucking time... Give Ochako her OWN supermoves goddammit!!

The story of the comic itself continually pushes Ochako out of any position of relevance. She’s not one of UA’s strongest fighters (despite having a quirk that, if applied like ANY of the male characters, has incredible potential), she’s not given half the emotional depth or attention even side characters like Kirishima get, and her backstory lacks the development many of the male characters’ get (I’m looking at you, Todoroki).

As a “good girl,” she isn’t allowed to get her hands dirty like Toga, she isn’t allowed to get as bloodied or ugly as any of the boys, and she can never be allowed to surpass the main male characters in coolness or plot relevance because girls can be “heroes” but they can’t be The Hero™. (I’m literally gagging, guys.)

Which is EXACTLY why a plot involving Shigaraki and Ochako--in ANY capacity, even just a flat out fight against each other!--would actually be a fan-fucking-tastic addition to BNHA.

Skip the token Toga vs. Ochako chick fight where they squabble over who loves Izuku more. Let Toga talk to Izuku as herself for once. Let Uraraka throw down with the League’s leader. At least once, Horikoshi? Just once?

Literally any form of plot that puts Shigaraki and Ochako into contact would mean moving Uraraka into a more central position within the manga’s plot, would boost her screen-time, increase the likelihood of her contributing to the story’s primary conflict, and would give her more to do and emotionally engage with than just repeating the same lines about Deku being amazing on an endless loop. There is untapped character development potential in spades here if Uraraka was given chance to genuinely interact with the other half of the story’s cast!

Give👏 Uraraka👏 something👏 meaningful👏 to do!👏

Putting the story’s foremost female character on out there on the frontlines with the manga’s actual main character antagonist would finally break her out of the mold she’s been forced into by genre stereotypes and set her on an even playing field with the male heroes at last.

A meaningful encounter with Shigaraki could be Ochako’s ticket to being treated respectfully by the story itself (and hell if giving underappreciated characters a real place in the world isn’t Tomura’s freakin’ calling card already).

3) Okay, I know the words “subverting expectations” leave a bad taste in everyone’s mouth nowadays, but there is a huge difference between “throwing inexplicable plot twists at the audience just for shock factor” and “averting stale cliches in an emotionally rewarding manner.” Sure, cliches do exist for a reason, but there are still many instances where actively avoiding a cliche plotline is a great choice. A shounen manga’s token love interest ending up with someone other than the hero--namely with a (reformed) villain--would be an interesting flip on the trite “hero gets the girl” script.

Look, we all know how it goes: Hero clashes with Bad Guy. They duke it out all over Kingdom Come. RIP like fifty square city blocks. The Hero wins, heads home triumphant, sweeps his Princess off her feet, and sails off into the hero rankings sunset. End of the same story we’ve seen a million times. Sometimes it’s done well and the audience is left satisfied. Other times, the heroine involved is reduced to the hero’s reward, less person than wish fulfillment. In either case, tying up a romantic subplot with a hero is the go-to way of resolving female characters’ storylines and, at this point, pretty much a given in manga, even when the romantic subplot is never given the development it deserves, leaving audiences bewildered at how and why the hook-up actually happened.

I’m not saying every comic should “subvert expectations” and cancel its romantic subplot between the hero and heroine, of course not. But I am saying that it would be pretty refreshing to see something else for once.

By virtue of their role, villains don’t usually “get the girl.” Even redeemed villains rarely end up in happy, healthy, well-written relationships. It’s not impossible but it is unlikely that a series’ designated female lead ever wavers in her attentions from the main hero to a new romantic target.

So it would be pretty cool if one did, if the moral of the story’s romantic subplot wasn’t just "token love interest completes painfully shoehorned romantic gestures.” A good romance with a redeemed ex-villain instead of a hero would take a lot more explanation. It would demand, by its very nature, more work on the author’s part to suspend disbelief. The characters would have to develop an entirely different rapport from the normal interactions between designated love interests, and, to a certain extent, strong character growth would be required in order for such a romance to even get started. There’s more moral complexity and conflict to a subplot like this, and a greater sensation of choice--if the heroine doesn’t have to end with the hero by the end of the story, well hey... That means she could end up with just about anyone. Whoa.

Even more so, in the specific case of Shigaraki, who has lived a life of misery and manipulation, the idea that he could come out on the other side, grow as a person, redeem himself, and eventually enter a healthy relationship with someone who isn’t going to hurt him is an idea I find deeply appealing. I think there are a lot of villain stans, myself included, who see parts of themselves in Shigaraki. If a character who has been so severely impacted by abuse can still heal and ultimately end up happy, to me, that’s a far more hopeful and heart-warming conclusion than the alternatives. I did warn you this manifesto would be rose-tinted, didn’t I?

I want storylines that prove that none of us are beyond saving. That people who make bad choices can still change. That romance isn’t a reward for playing the “right” role. That heroines have options. That there are still pleasant surprises to be found in romance plots.

4) But why Shigaraki and Ochako, in particular? It’s not like they have any remotely shared life experiences--

Oops. Friendly reminder: Ochako is the only major character in the manga besides the villains who is overtly described as, I quote, “poorer than poor.” Todoroki, Yaomomo, and Iida can all make it rain; Kaminari, Mina, and Jirou can afford stylish clothes; Kirishima can drop a stupid amount on night vision googles... Even Midoriya, whose father “works overseas,“ can afford plenty of All Might merchandise. One of the popular fandom theories for a while was that Ochako could be U.A.’s traitor specifically because of her desire to help her parents financially, and I think that most readers at this point can discern a clear divide in BNHA’s society: heroes are the “haves” and villains are the “have nots.” To be a hero in this story is to attend a prestigious school, have access to expensive support items, gear, insurance, fame and glory, etc.

Meanwhile, with the exception of All For One, to be a villain in BNHA’s story is to be marginalized, live in unfit conditions, lack access to basic safety and nutritional resources, and struggle to make ends meet. When ability to thrive in a hero-centric society is synonymous with being a good and worthwhile person, anyone who doesn’t just naturally excel in the hero-driven economy is treated as flawed at best and suspect at worst. Poor characters in the story are ignored, and, as demonstrated with people like Twice, left essentially to fend for themselves.

Uraraka’s status as lower income is mostly played for laughs. She’s still a privileged character in that she can attend U.A., receive hero items for free, has a safe place to live, etc. But it is important that the story acknowledges her family’s situation, because her financial status does set her apart from her classmates.

She is less privileged than the others. Being “the poor character” situates Uraraka in the interesting divide between those who couldn’t cope and chose to rebel against hero society instead, versus those who conformed to the hero system in an attempt to improve their situations. In different circumstances, if Uraraka’s family was just even the tiniest bit worse off, we might be seeing a very different character here, one who had to make some much harder choices to keep her family afloat.

Having been in the position of "going without,” Uraraka also has a unique understanding of the “real world” that many of her heroics classmates might lack. She understands what it is like to go hungry, to not be able to afford to keep up with the newest trends, to be constantly anxious about the future--to feel unsuccessful, overlooked, and under constant pressure to perform. As someone who wasn’t raised in the lap of luxury or even really a middle-class home, Uraraka has more insight into--and would likely have more empathy for--the plight of the downtrodden daily criminals of the BNHA world. Just based on her own life experiences, Ochako is more likely than her classmates to recognize how harsh reality can be, and understand the temptations that lead people to make terrible decisions.

This makes Ochako an especially interesting character in terms of her pro hero future. Would she be able to sympathize and reach out to struggling "villains” more effectively than others from her class, who lack her humble background? Would she be able to better see the big picture of BNHA’s society, and the way it actively creates villains from its marginalized populations? Would she be able to look at the League not just as criminals, but also as people who never stood a chance within the confines of a rigged social structure?

Uraraka’s background shifts her closer to the story’s villains than many of the other hero characters, and puts her in a unique place to both empathize and become motivated to change the flawed system that produced people like Shigaraki and the League in the first place.

5) Likewise, Uraraka’s background actually makes her more palatable to Shigaraki than other heroes. At least at the beginning of the comic, Uraraka isn’t shy about admitting that one of her reasons for becoming a hero is to help her parents financially. Ochako’s original motivation for heroism isn’t portrayed as nobly as others’ like Deku--Deku has no ulterior motives for being a hero; he just wants to save people and wouldn’t care about personally benefiting.

Instead, Ochako is presented as someone who (initially) sees heroism as a means to an end. It’s not that she doesn’t want to save people, but that she’s not doing so only for the intrinsic worth... the hefty paycheck that comes from heroism is a big draw.

Over time the manga has shown her shifting away from this (which actually makes her character less unique, unfortunately), but I’m sure it’s still a thought for her, and she’s definitely going to send paychecks to her parents in the future. At the end of the day, heroism is still going to be Uraraka’s ticket to a better lifestyle, even if she’s committed herself to it honestly by the time she leaves U.A.

But it’s this exact form of personal motivation that Shigaraki is much more likely to understand than the “goody-two-shoes” motivations of people like Deku. Multiple times in the comic Shigaraki has expressed confusion with society’s habit of clinging mindlessly to symbols, of their blind faith in the virtues of heroism, and their ability to simply overlook suffering because “surely a hero will do something about it.” Stain’s ideals about “true heroes” go straight past Shigaraki, who seems to hate heroes who are earnest (All Might, I’m talking about All Might) far more than those who are simply faking their way through for fame. 

Shigaraki understands humans who are driven by personal gain. He respects the individual desires of people he cares about. Someone in the hero industry explicitly seeking tangible benefits would likely, to Shigaraki at least, come across as more genuine than someone who claims they have no ulterior motives, and a person who is blunt about their needs and grounded in the reality of BNHA’s world would likely be much more acceptable to Tomura than someone who spews trite lines about peace and justice.

Shigaraki’s feelings for heroes have been irreparably damaged by his conditioning from All For One, but there are certainly some heroes that he would find less loathsome than others. He will probably never understand Deku’s selflessness. All Might’s saccharine symbolism actively infuriates him. But a person who became a hero to put food on the table? To provide for her parents (maybe especially because it is her parents she’s trying to provide for)? That’s at least understandable. If the manga’s future does see Shigaraki redeemed, my thought is that the only type of heroes we’ll ever see him willingly interact with would still be heroes just like Ochako, with more “down to earth” personal motivations. Uraraka, your codename is “If I had to date a hero”...

6) While we’re talking about shared life experiences, there’s another very obvious similarity between Shigaraki and Ochako: neither one of them can touch things with all five fingers.

Cute/fridge horror observation: Shigaraki is even daintier about touching things than Uraraka is; Uraraka usually lifts just her pinkies, but Shigaraki frequently uses as few fingers as possible.

Yeah, yeah, they both have to be dainty and careful with everything they hold. It’d be cute to watch them eat together. They could mutually gripe about the annoyance of video game consoles not designed for four-finger use. More than that though, neither one of them can touch other human beings without the risk of causing death.

Uraraka, as a hero, has the more privileged quirk design (she can turn her quirk off, while Shigaraki can’t) and until recently, the comic was always very careful to portray Uraraka’s quirk in a way that no one was endangered by it. But dropping Zero Gravity into the hands of a villain for a single chapter reveals the truth: Uraraka’s quirk has just as much lethal potential as Shigaraki’s.

Like Shigaraki, Uraraka has to face the reality that her touch alone could jeopardize the safety of anyone she comes into contact with, in her daily life and in her hero work. Drop some debris without looking twice? Just crushed a civilian. Release your quirk without thinking? Now the villain you floated is paste on the sidewalk. Thought that it was safe to float away the building? Oops, you crushed someone still trapped inside. Yikes. In a one-on-one battle, Uraraka is actually at a disadvantage not because her quirk is weak, but the dead opposite--in an outdoor fight, she would have to actively work not to accidentally send people off into outer space.

Having an auto-activate touch quirk means that both Shigaraki and Ochako have to be conscious of every single thing they touch all the time. Both of their quirks require constant bodily awareness, and both come with the lurking knowledge that “My touch causes problems.” Even for Ochako, who would merely be a nuisance if she accidentally floated objects indoors, it’s easy to internalize frustration and negative associations with one’s own body. Every day, Ochako has to be careful with herself in a way that few of her peers do, another factor that sets her apart.

One of the story’s overarching themes is the idea of “self-acceptance” and what it even means to “accept yourself” in a world where (almost) every human being possesses a distinguishing feature, often built into their bodies at the expense of standard human functioning. For people with limited control over their quirks, who can’t choose when the effect activates, a quirk is a constant burden and facet of their identity that entirely re-shapes how they interact with the world. Both Shigaraki and Uraraka face the practicality of having burdensome, even lethal, auto-activate quirks that require constant self-awareness. This is a similarity that, of the major characters, only Shigaraki and Ochako possess so far. (Even other major characters with touch-based quirks like Overhaul appear to be able to choose when to activate their quirks).

The “funny” way Shigaraki and Ochako hold things seems like just a small similarity until you remember the amount of practice and frustration it must have taken to internalize a four-fingered touch. Until you remember that this similarity marks them both as very careful and self-conscious characters. Until you remember that Shigaraki’s got a one-touch instakill... but so does Uraraka Ochako.

7) Okay, similarities are cool and all, but you know what they say: opposites attract. And if we’re talking character motivation, there are no cleaner opposites in the entire series. Shigaraki and Ochako are actually even better emotional foils than Shigaraki and Deku, because Ochako’s central motivation is “Make as many people smile as possible” and Shigaraki’s is, literally, “Make it so no one can ever smile again.”

I know I ragged on it earlier, but now I’m going to use it to my full advantage: as the story evolved and characters grew, Ochako’s “true” motivation to become a hero revealed itself: she feels a deep, intrinsic happiness when witnessing the happiness of others. Her desire as a hero is to spread relief, the sense of security that allows people to go about their days smiling. She literally feels happiest when everyone around her is happy.

Even more so than Deku, this casts Uraraka as Shigaraki’s diametric opposite in the story, because Shigaraki’s entire pipe dream goal also hinges on the smiles of others--and how absolutely much he hates them. Shigaraki’s goal is total world destruction because he just resents the happiness of others that fucking much.

On the surface alone it’s more fascinating than the story will probably ever live up to: Ochako, the heroine who wants to spread smiles; Shigaraki, the villain who wants to destroy them. Even if we’re just talking canon, zero romance involved, that would still be an interesting conflict to explore. The story could cover a lot of deeper ground by drawing the comparison between these two characters more directly. It would definitely validate Uraraka being involved in more major plot events, at the very least.

BUT this was supposed to be about shipping, so of course I can’t leave it there, and leaving it there would only be half the story anyway, because nobody is born hating smiles. Everything we’ve seen of Shigaraki’s past so far indicates that he was a kid with a cute dog, a warm relationship with his sister, and an interest in heroes--i.e., a decent life that probably included his own fair share of smiles. Shigaraki’s hatred and resentment are direct products of the traumatic manipulation he suffered at AFO’s hands. He despises the idea that people around him can smile and act upbeat, even when they objectively know villains are lurking all around them. He is actually sick to his stomach at the idea of people blindly putting their faith in heroes, knowing what he does: that heroes often fail, that there are many people who desperately need to be rescued and are instead overlooked. The world failed Shimura Tenko and then had the nerve to keep on smiling without him.

Other people’s smiles represent nothing but the joy, security, love, and peace that Shigaraki Tomura hasn’t experienced since the day his quirk manifested. The sight of any living thing fills Shigaraki with rage because everything bright and beautiful, everything good and calm and kind and soft and warm, is everything that Shigaraki has lost and believes he will never, ever get to experience again.

Shigaraki doesn’t really hate the pure happy smiles of others; he hates the fact that the world has taken away every single thing he ever had to smile about.

It is my belief that Horikoshi is hinting at a redemption arc for Shigaraki, especially as we see the League become closer allies. But Shigaraki can’t be completely redeemed, can’t be persuaded to give up his world-destruction plan, until he can look at the smiles of others without scorn. Until the bright, upbeat attitudes of heroes other people no longer feel like a personal attack. Until he’s happy enough that the happiness of others no longer hurts. Until the weight is lifted.

And I can’t think of any character more obviously suited to helping lift an immense weight than Uraraka, the zero gravity hero who wants nothing more than to spread smiles.

8) Speaking of lifting weights... Kacchako is a popular ship stemming in large part from Bakugou’s refusal to treat Uraraka with kid gloves. He faces her head-on as a real opponent and views her like any other hero hopeful.

As I’ve said before, this is pretty much the most respectfully the series itself has ever treated Uraraka Ochako, and it caught a lot of attention because it was one of the rare occasions that a female pro hero-in-training was really treated as an equal to the male characters. Kacchako shippers had something awesome to work with.

But... You know who else treats women as equals? (Hell, you know who treats literally everyone as equals, from those with mutant quirks to trans people to those with severe mental health issues?) You can say what you want about Shigaraki’s habit of, you know, mass murder, but in terms of viewing others equally and respecting (okay, let’s be real, it’s probably closer to just ignoring) differences, Tomura is about as open-minded as BNHA characters come. The League is an equal opportunity employer.

Unlike actual hero characters, Shigaraki has never once suggested that Toga is incapable of keeping up with any of the male members of the League, and in fact has entrusted her with many of the League’s most dangerous and crucial missions. He explicitly has faith in her ability and skill.

Toga’s right there in the fight against Gigantomachia and the QLA, as much an equal member of the League as anyone else. In terms of gender equality, the villains seem to be light-years ahead of their hero counterparts, and Shigaraki in particular doesn’t discriminate, among his allies or his opponents either. He’s not a “spare the women and children” kind of guy; every hero and villain challenger is treated with equal violence (and equal snark), whether they’re male, female, a long-time pro or a student in training.

In whatever context--canon opponent, AU ally, or a future romantic interest--Shigaraki would take Ochako just as seriously as Bakugou did. If you like Kacchako because Bakugou doesn’t dismiss Uraraka, that same dynamic would be present in Shigako too.

9) And on the topic of Shigaraki and women... It doesn’t feel accidental that every single female character who ever had love for Shigaraki has been taken away from him. A distinct part of Shigaraki’s storyline is that all positive female role models have been systematically removed from his life. He lost his grandmother, a hero he could have looked up to; he lost his mother, who he now has no memory of; he lost the older sister he clearly held dear... All For One’s control over Tomura has always been total, but this particular detail feels especially insidious: was All For One’s spite for Nana so strong that he delighted in deliberately destroying every single relationship Tenko had with women connected to Nana’s legacy? (Or is AFO perhaps just a raging misogynist? Every single one of his known associates is male and he seemed to despise and mock Nana particularly hard...)

In any case, the point I’m trying to make here is that, even ruling love interests out, Shigaraki’s storyline would be enriched by forging a meaningful connection with a female character like Ochako. Acceptance--maybe even some grudging admiration--for a female hero? A fantastic opportunity to show just how different the “villains” are from the discriminatory society that produced them. Supporting friendship while he’s on the road to recovery? A+ way to diversify interactions between the male and female cast. Send a tough girl to Tartarus to question his motives? Nice chance for tense dialogue and some good old noire-esque foe yay. Hostage situation that takes a turn for the surprisingly cordial? Fun way to explore different dynamics and humanize the villains because hey, they treated the “damsel” to dinner shortbread cookies. My god, Shigaraki could even develop some positive sense of rivalry with a woman, for example! The possibilities are endless if you’re actually willing to give female characters a shot!

Being more serious, Tomura’s life has been dramatically marked by the loss of his female family members, and--at least from what we know so far--his entire youth was spent without the presence of reliable friendships, let alone any form of “love” that wasn’t disturbingly fake. Beyond his fragmented memories, he has no models for healthy relationships, romantic or otherwise.

Letting Shigaraki develop to the point that he could form a mutually positive relationship with a female hero character would be extremely cathartic for me as a reader. I don’t mean “rewarding redemption with a last-minute happy ending romance”--I mean actually getting the opportunity to watch Tomura rediscover what it means to be genuinely loved and realize he has the capacity to give love and be happy in return...

Reaching that level of mutual support and closeness--especially with a female pro hero--would be the biggest “FUCK YOU” that Shigaraki could give to All For One, short of, you know, actually killing him.

Shigaraki Tomura has a critical (and deliberate) lack of healthy connections to women. BNHA, coincidentally, has a criminally under-utilized female lead just twiddling her thumbs over here, waiting for a meaningful plotline to be thrown her way.

Sure, putting AFO in prison is cool and all, but have you considered... crushing his pride and legacy of evil by helping the boy he tortured for years learn to love again? I’m just sayin’!

Uraraka Ochako, snatching Shigaraki right the fuck out of AFO’s hands:

10) Basically what the whole thing boils down to is this: Shigaraki Tomura needs a hero.

Don’t mistake my meaning. A lot of “girl meets bad boy” plots end up amounting to “girl becomes emotionally responsible for fixing bad boy’s issues,” and that’s not what I’m gunning for--Shigaraki has to redeem himself because redemption is only meaningful when it stems from the character’s own inner desire to change; I’m not quite rose-tinted enough to buy into the Love Redeems trope myself. I’m definitely not advocating anyone dump Shigaraki Tomura as he is now into Uraraka Ochako’s lap and expect her to turn him from a beast to a beauty. It’s not an unrelated woman’s responsibility to fix a broken man.

But! From a reader’s perspective, I think we can agree: Shigaraki’s redemption cannot be complete until he learns to believe in real heroes. He doesn’t have to like them. He doesn’t have to support hero society. But he has to be able to look at real heroes like Izuku and Ochako and admit that they are doing what’s right--that society is a better place because they are here. Shigaraki’s path to recovery can’t even begin until he’s capable of at least acknowledging that the world has things worth saving in it.

If Horikoshi moves forward with a redemption arc for Shigaraki, it will probably be Deku who Detroit Smashes the message of truly noble heroes into Shigaraki’s head. That’s his job as the resident Warrior Therapist, I suppose. But you know... to me, it might be even more meaningful if Shigaraki’s hero--if the hand that reaches out to rescue him--isn’t The Hero’s™ but just a hero’s. We all know Deku is selfless and good to the core. As All Might’s perfect successor, he really has nothing to prove. It’s everyone else who is in question. It’s the whole rest of hero society that owes Shigaraki Tomura an explanation for the suffering of people like the League’s members. It’s everyone else who needs to prove they can do better--that in the future, there will be no bloody children left abandoned in back alleyways.

Uraraka Ochako’s conviction is to save people. As a female hero who hasn’t lived a privileged life, she’s uniquely situated to think about those who are most often overlooked. In a world where violence begets violence, where only those with strength and flash excel, what a powerful message it would send for the terrifying antagonist to effectively be rescued by someone the story itself has called “a frail girl.” At the end of the day, heroics isn’t supposed to be about mountain-destroying explosions and mach punches--heroics is supposed to be about heart, about reaching out a gentle helping hand, about spreading smiles to those who need them most.

Tomura’s faith in heroes has been brutally stripped from him, and every part of his conflict is tied up intimately with his misdirected hatred: it wasn’t actually heroes who isolated and hurt him--it was villains. In order to move forward, he will have to come to that horrible realization, deal with that means for himself and his place in the world, and recognize the truth: there are goodness and good people in the world. Selfless heroes, those who wouldn’t turn their backs on a crying child, do exist. There are people, even now, who would extend a kind hand to Shigaraki Tomura and do their best to bring a real smile to his face. Because that’s what’s really going on, after all.

Shimura Tenko is still waiting to be saved.

And I know just the person to do it.

[bigskydreaming]

You often saya you think bruce is a good dad in young justice, so i'm curious, how do you think Dick decided to become Nightwing? And how do you think his relationship with jason was like??

I do think Bruce is a much better dad (consistently) and has a much stronger relationship with Dick than in the comics. At least for the age Dick is for the second and third season, which corresponds to when Dick and Bruce had their most strained relationship in the comics.

To be honest, I credit a lot of that to the fact that even though there certainly are times in the comics where I really like Bruce….I think he’s pretty much always portrayed better in the animated adaptations. I think that has a lot to do with the audience the cartoons are written towards…..obviously, many, many adults have enjoyed the various cartoons as well, but there’s no denying that they’re meant to appeal to younger audiences in particular. So, there’s a concerted effort on the part of the writers to well, write a more kid-friendly Batman than the grim and gritty figure so many comic book writers are obsessed with keeping him as, without variation.

Note….this doesn’t mean that Bruce can’t ever be (and isn’t ever) those things in the various cartoons. He’s still a dour, cynical, dark figure compared to most of his teammates in various adaptations….but there are degrees to that sort of thing, and ways to pull off those personality traits that aren’t so inherently alienating to audiences and as often prone to violence or conflict with his own family as many comic book writers make them.

I think the key difference is a lot of comic book writers, especially in the last couple decades, prioritize pushing Bruce to various extremes and ‘exploring’ the limits of what a hero is, and how far you can go while still being termed an actual hero or even a good man. Compare this to the cartoons, where most of them, even when emphasizing Bruce’s more antisocial traits, never go anywhere near the worst territory in the comics…because the cartoons still remain cognizant of the need to keep Bruce….a hero in the eyes of children as well.

And the way he’s written in the comics, at least lately, just…isn’t that.

Anyway, point being, I think he and Dick have a lot less conflict in the YJ universe, and in how I headcanon and write them there, though that doesn’t mean its always smooth sailing. I personally always go with a take that in that universe Bruce adopted Dick while he was still living at home, somewhere around twelve or thirteen maybe, after he’d been living with Bruce for three or four years. There’s nothing really in YJ continuity that contradicts that, and there’s no storylines predicated on conflict over him not being adopted, so there’s no reason in my mind not to have him adopted fairly early on and give him a more secure grounding in his relationship with Bruce in that continuity.

So as a result, even though I think due to certain core differences, there was always going to be some conflict between Bruce and Dick as the latter got older, due primarily to Dick’s need for independence and self-agency and Bruce’s issues with only feeling secure with having a measure of control over situations and thus struggling with Dick moving towards more autonomy in his life as for Bruce that correlates to it being harder to protect him….

Like, I think that was still a thing in the YJ universe, but due to Dick feeling more secure in his place in Bruce’s eyes and family, and Bruce feeling equally secure due to Dick having accepted his offer of adoption and expressing that he doesn’t really want to ever not be a part of Bruce’s family even if he’s not living at home anymore or even in Gotham….I think that’s really all that’s needed to keep things from ever getting TOO bad between them.

Then however, there’s things with Jason - one thing that’s always had me really eager to see them get to Jason’s story in YJ is that for years, Weisman has mentioned in passing that in that universe Dick and Jason were very close before Jason’s death. Which of course, is like catnip for me. LOL. So I tend to headcanon that Jason was adopted not long after coming to live with Bruce, but there was no conflict or insecurity or even reason for those things between the brothers and Dick and Jason became close pretty early on.

And so personally, I headcanon that Jason was a large part of the reason for Dick’s transition to Nightwing….I think he was already organically feeling that Robin, as he’d put so much effort into making a symbol during his own time in that mantle, like….no longer quite fit him or who he wanted to be as a hero, specifically, as he grew older. And that perhaps Dick wanted Robin to remain associated with Batman, his father, in a way that it might eventually come to no longer be associated with Bruce if Dick had stayed Robin even after moving away to another city and becoming more strongly associated with that city. 

And IMO Jason was always going to want to go the Robin route himself, not just to be like Dick or whatever but just because Jason is very proactive and action minded, and while I don’t think either Bruce or Dick would have encouraged it or pushed him towards it, like….my view of Jason is that he was never going to be okay with sitting at home safe and secure when his father and brother were out on the streets fighting supervillains and risking their lives to protect people. He was always going to want to be part of that, IMO, and I think upon recognizing this inevitability, Dick (like he did in the pre-Crisis comics) is the one that actually gave Robin to Jason in the YJ universe, with his blessing, and then he took up the Nightwing mantle for his pre-Crisis reasonings - the hero he shifts into becoming as Nightwing was in his eyes a result of being inspired by Bruce, Clark and his first father in various ways.

However, there are drawbacks to this of course, when Jason dies….because due to having given Robin to his brother himself, Dick inevitably feels a lot more responsible and guilt-stricken here, like if he hadn’t done that this would never have happened - even though, as I said, Dick ultimately only gave Robin to Jason because he was sure Jason was determined to go the vigilante route with or without anyone else’s blessing, and so with that in mind it only made sense to offer him Robin and enable Jason to carry on in a family tradition at the same time.

So Dick, in my YJ headcanons and writing, distances himself from Bruce, Gotham and pretty much everyone in the wake of Jason’s death, because of his guilt and his unwillingness to let anyone like, pardon him for that guilt or tell him its undeserved. Because Dick is only 19 in Season 2 and was 14 in S1, I headcanon Jason as not being five years younger than him the way I view them as being in the comics….rather I bump Jason up a couple years so he and Dick are only about three years apart, and go with the idea that Dick was fifteen when Jason was adopted at age twelve by Bruce, which is about how old he was when taken in by Bruce in the comics.

So I put Jason’s death as happening only about a year, maybe a year and a half before YJ S2, when Dick is only 18…..so a lot of how I see Dick reacting here, and how he deals with his grief and guilt, like, stems from him being young and not really wanting to RELINQUISH his guilt. He’s experienced so much tragedy in his life already by age 18 that like, he needs it to make sense, he needs there to be a reason, and that gets twisted in his head so that he comes to lean on his guilt and rely on it, because the extension of it being his fault, is like….that means there’s a REASON Jason is dead, and by blaming himself, Dick is able to kind of impose a sort of artificial order on what is ultimately just a senseless tragedy, violence that needed no reason to exist.

Grief rarely makes sense.

But point being, like I said, I feel Bruce is a bit more emotionally healthy and put together in YJ than in the comics a lot of the times, so here I emphasize him trying to work through his own grief by FOCUSING on his remaining son, rather than alienating him and immersing himself in violence and his own guilt. Trying to help Dick through his grief and loss and guilt at the death of his brother, after having lost his first family just a decade before, whereas Bruce’s own initial tragedy is further removed for him….like, here, this is how Bruce copes. It gives him a goal, something to focus on, a productive direction to channel his grief and anger and energy.

Unfortunately, the thing is, you can’t really ever help someone through their grief or loss in something like this, IMO. You can only really ever just….be there for them, when they’re ready and able to come to terms with it in their own way and just need your presence and support. Which Bruce does here, for Dick, but the caveat to that is there’s no timeline to it, and no way to speed up that timeline. It happens when it happens. Sometimes these things just need some degree of time to work themselves out, and I think that here, Dick needs time to spend feeling guilty, being angry, raging at the senselessness of it all before he’s able to accept the tragedy of it and the fact that it happened because it happened. Reasons ultimately don’t do much more than chart a course to the tragedy. They rarely change anything about it having happened.

So again, even though its the right thing to do and not really something he had any better alternative to, Bruce trying to get Dick to see that Jason’s death wasn’t his fault is ironically the thing that alienates them for a period here, even if only a year or two at most. Because as I said, Dick just doesn’t want to hear that, doesn’t want to accept that, because blaming himself is something he can DO, and if he doesn’t have even that anymore, then there’s nothing to distract him from facing the simple reality that’s just…his brother is gone and nothing he can do or say is going to change that.

And then there’s Tim. I always view him as about two years younger than Jason in the comics and the same here, so if Jason is 15 when he dies and Dick is 18, Tim is 13 when he becomes Robin.

But again, there’s differences here, because Bruce is actually dealing with Jason’s death a bit more healthily here, in as much as that’s possible. By focusing his attention on Dick and trying to get him through this and them through this as a family, Bruce is able to avoid the spiral he goes through in the comics, where he descends into brutality and self-destruction in his crime-fighting. Here, he’s trying to be a rock for Dick, when Dick is ready to try and grab hold of something instead of just drowning in his grief, so the end result is there’s not the same canon impetus for Tim to seek out Dick or Bruce himself out of concern for Batman’s behavior.

So rather, its more just hero worship that motivates Tim. I headcanon him as having figured out their identities previously, same as in the comics, and him being like, a huge fanboy of both Robins and having been among the first to realize when Jason took Dick’s place as Robin, even before Nightwing debuted and people connected the dots there. So of course, when Robin was nowhere to be found and Jason Todd was announced dead, Tim knew why Robin wasn’t out there anymore, and that he was never going to be again.

And so here, I think that alone is what motivates Tim, as that’s the thing he’s not able to accept. I think its a fitting grief reaction for Tim’s age, given that in a way, it is grief. He might not have known the Waynes personally at this point in time, but he did KNOW them in a way, from following their public lives in both their civilian and costumed personas. So it makes sense to me that Tim, knowing that Jason Todd and thus Robin is dead, and knowing that he’s one of the few people to even KNOW for sure that Robin is dead, like….it makes sense to me that he would end up grieving in a kind of way himself, even just from a distance, knowing that he can’t really just go up to the Waynes and offer his condolences about Robin.

And so for a thirteen year old fanboy who is grieving for a fallen hero he never knew personally, just via his symbol, and is perhaps frustrated and maybe even angry that nobody else is grieving for Robin, because the general public has no idea that a hero even fell….even being able to understand WHY it had to be that way, why Batman and the JLA weren’t announcing Robin’s death in order to protect the remaining Waynes’ identities….

I think here, this all culminated in an unwillingness, a refusal to accept this, and from there it kinda morphs for Tim into a determination to….keep Robin alive, essentially. He understands why they can’t admit Robin’s dead, he does. But if Robin can’t be dead, Tim decides, then he needs to be alive, otherwise its like pretending Robin just…..doesn’t exist anymore.

So here, I headcanon/write Tim as having set out as Robin himself, in kind of a makeshift costume and trying to help people the way he watched Dick and then Jason help people as Robin for years, as just…a combination of hero worship and a grieving thirteen year old trying to process things there’s no real manual to going through, and trying to honor his fallen hero by emulating him. I don’t think he was actually trying or intending to attract Batman’s intention, though he’d realize in hindsight it was inevitable, its just…that was never why he was doing it, so he was kinda like AWARE of it as a likely possibility, it just wasn’t particularly relevant to him until it happened.

And of course, it’d be quickly obvious to Bruce that this kid didn’t mean any disrespect with what he was doing, the exact OPPOSITE in fact, so its not like he could in good conscience be angry with him or resent him for doing it. Rather, he’s touched, it means a lot to see someone else honoring Jason for the things Bruce is kinda STUCK being unable to honor him for….so that makes Bruce perhaps a little more predisposed to Tim and not fighting him on his efforts than he otherwise would be, just considering it was as Robin that Jason died. I see it as Tim probably reminded him of Jason then and there just as Jason had reminded him of Dick when he met him…..rather than see himself in each of his sons and future sons, he sees THEM in each other.

So he kinda convinces himself not to talk himself out of letting Tim continue what he’s doing, justifying it as like, Tim’s obviously so much like both Jason and Dick, there’s no way he’s not going to keep doing this on his own if he feels this strongly about it, and he understands and even agrees with Tim’s logic in doing all of this in the name of Robin, like it makes sense to him as a way of honoring Jason, so he kinda just….like I said, he just talks himself out of talking Tim out of this and focuses on just training Tim and trying to make him as capable and prepared to survive anything he encounters as possible. And at the same time, Tim kinda becomes a new ‘project’ for Bruce to distract himself from his own grief with, especially while Dick is avoiding him.

Dunno if you’ve seen my meta on this subject but I really LOATHE the take that is used for Tim’s comic book narrative, that Batman NEEDS Robin and that this thirteen year old shouldered the burden of becoming a grown adult’s emotional support child in order to stop him from like, beating people and himself to the point of hospitalization. To me that’s just…..super backwards and not ideal at all, so I flipped it here to what I think it should be, at least for a world predicated on child superheroes who aren’t grounded from crime-fighting each and every time they try it.

So rather, in the YJ universe I posit Tim becomes Robin to keep Robin alive, after knowing he must be dead, and Bruce devotes himself to helping the latest caped kid to plant himself in his life and say “I’m gonna go save the world whether you like it or not so get on board or get outta the way old man,” like….actually survive their “Kids, Don’t Try This At Home, No But Seriously, Really, Really Don’t” life choices.

And so here, Bruce doesn’t make Tim Robin….its more he just doesn’t have the heart to second guess Tim’s choice there, given his reasons for making it and the fact that Bruce no doubt feels guilty about not being able to honor his son as Robin himself.

Problem is, from a distance, that’s not how it would look to Dick. So this contributes to Dick’s distance and alienation for a few months at first….because to him, this is a betrayal, because he looks at what he knows of the situation and he doesn’t know Tim personally yet, so to him it looks like his dad took the one thing Dick ever gave to his brother that was truly his, that was just theirs…and gave it to some stranger. And he’s like, wow, I’ll take “You’re fucking dead to me for $500, Alex” and keeps his distance.

Except Tim hero-worshipped Dick just as much as he had Jason, and he’s witness to Bruce’s unhappiness because of his strained relationship with his son, and so Tim sets out to like, meet Dick and convince him that his dad is miserable because he never wanted to hurt either of his boys and he loves Dick so much, gosh, he just wished Dick knew how much…..

And the thing is HERE, unlike in comics, since the real issue is Dick not knowing Tim himself and seeing how similar he is to Jason and himself and how determined he was, like, having a backwards perception of Bruce just kinda….giving Robin to Tim rather than Tim just genuinely wanting to honor Jason’s memory, which Dick of course can’t actually fault him for any more than Bruce can, for pretty much the same reasons….

Because THAT is the specific issue, here, meeting Tim and getting to know him IS exactly what’s needed to get Dick to reconcile with Bruce, and from there, finally start to heal as Bruce and Tim and Dick and Alfred are kinda all able to finally get on the same page and help each other with that.

And then stuff with Tim’s parents happened, I figure, and Bruce is like, well I gotta adopt you now, like duh, obviously, but I mean, only if you want, and Tim is like well yeah, obviously, like duh, and this probably all happened right around the exact same time Cass came into their lives and family and Steph started Spoilering around town because what is pacing, I mean, really.

BUT then bonus to all of that is that then by the time Jason DOES come back, he doesn’t feel as alienated or forgotten as in the comics, because Dick due to his and Bruce’s very apparent period of estrangement, not to mention Dick’s reasons, is able to act as a bridge between Jason and Bruce. And similarly, he’s able to blunt Jason’s resentment of Tim and insecurities about being replaced by virtue of the fact that Dick held these very things against Bruce himself on Jason’s behalf, until Dick got to know Tim and began to see it the way Bruce had, and that he in turn is now able to relay to Jason and help guide him to see it the same way and how everything only happened this way BECAUSE of everyone’s memories and feelings about him, not in spite or in dismissal of those things.

And thus I can this way see the YJ Batfamily awkwardly stumbling (albeit with a few backsteps along the way) towards actual happy and healthy cohesiveness, huzzah!

[chicagocityofclans]

Jace Cicero → Arjun Gupta → Witch

→ Basic Information

Age: 1174

Gender: Male

Sexuality: Questioning

Powers: Geokinesis

Birthday: December 26th

Zodiac Sign: Capricorn

Religion: Buddhism

Mark: Unknown

Generation: 1st

→ His Personality Despite his gruff and often cold exterior; Jace loves nothing more in life than seeing those he mentors flourish. He has the soul of a teacher and believes his greatest gift is helping people reach their fullest potential. Years of failures and betrayals from mentees have hardened him and he doesn’t typically open up to anyone, but especially those younger than him. Despite this, he is often the first mentor contacted when there is a new, unclaimed witch or warlock in town and has trained magic users from every type of magic. He is often the first stepping stone on the path to a witch or warlock’s future mentor, but Jace gives his best for them for what they need. Jace is a firm believer that you can achieve almost anything if you work on yourself and put your whole being towards it.

Jace is a very sensitive person, and is almost as commonly down as he is up. Things and years take their toll on him and being a present and active mentor and counselor can at times be the only thing he gets out of bed for. He has never found someone to settle down, unwilling to burden anyone else with his infertility, and generally lives a solitary life. A large source of satisfaction comes from the connections he makes at his job. He works as an addiction counselor for both humans and supernaturals and has made many lifelong connections through his work. Jace cares deeply for the people in his groups and though he doesn’t say it, sees them as his family.

→ His Personal Facts

Occupation: Council Member and Addiction Counselor at Cleirigh Psychiatry Center

Scars: Multiple

Tattoos: Multiple on his hands and arms and back

Two Likes: Meditation and Technology Breaks

Two Dislikes: Infertility and Enablers

Two Fears: Flying and Giving into his Melancholy

Two Hobbies: Camping and Sculpting

Three Positive Traits: Supportive, Pensive, Patient

Three Negative Traits: Guarded, Sensitive, Despondent

→ His Connections

Parent Names:

Cannot remember (Due to his many bouts of depression most of Jace’s memories  before his 200th birthday are lost.)

Sibling Names:

Cannot remember (Due to his many bouts of depression most of Jace’s memories  before his 200th birthday are lost.)

Children Names:

None

Romantic Connections:

Cat Barr (Interested): Jace and Cat connected easily with one another, and are both clearly interested. They’ve hooked up a few times but she never really seems like she wants something more emotionally. She always has a new question or idea to talk to him about and recently has been prodding about the rules and the council. He’s concerned especially with knowing where she is at with her powers. He doesn’t want to see her die over something foolish.

Platonic Connections:

Minsky Edison (Good Friend): Minsky and Jace had come across one another many times before they both eventually made their ways to Chicago. They have similar personalities and often agree on council decisions.

Ronan Cleirigh (Friendly): Jace has known the entire Cleirigh family for quite some time. Though he wouldn’t call himself and Ronan friends, they are civil during council meetings and don’t have any bad blood.

Kudzai Rinker (Friend): Jace and Kudzai are both very closed off and relaxed compared to others their age and who are on the local Council. This makes being friends easy. They are both able to leave Council business in the Council Room and continue about their day without taking it out on others.

Garrett Cleirigh (Friend): Jace and Garrett’s personalities click on a level that few peoples do. They’re able to jump into long, sometimes bickering, conversations after just a few words and had he not been so irritating at times, Jace would consider him a best friend.

Judson Cleirigh (Friend): Judson has been Jace’s supplier for his pH medications for centuries. He has been one of Judson’s test subjects for each iteration of the potion and has found immense relief through his wares. They developed a strong friendship through this and Jace considers him a confidante. Recently Jace has slowly been bringing up his desire to have children to Judson, specifically to see if he knew a way to make him viable or if he would explain how he had Ryan.  

Ryan Cleirigh (Friendly): Jace has known the entire Cleirigh family for quite some time. And he was quite surprised when Judson came in with baby Ryan a couple of centuries ago. He always found him quite entertaining as a child, and was amused to find out that it carried over into his adulthood. Jace was one of the first witches Ryan got onto his show to talk about his history and his part in the local Council.

Eric Lasiter (Old Friend): Jace and Eric have been friends ever since he settled in Chicago. He frequently purchases products from Eric and their girls often train with one another. He is one of the few that Jace opens up to, and considers him a confidante.

Rhiannon Draga (Friend): Rhiannon, Minsky, and Kudzai are all close friends outside of the Council. Jace has recently taken Rhiannon’s daughter, Fallon, in as a mentee. She is a handful, and he probably would be more strict with her had she not been the daughter of a friend.

Maya ‘Flower’ Hanes (Mentee): Though Jace cares a lot about all of his mentees, he is rarely very open about it with them. He was there for Flower when her parents unofficially disowned her, and put a stop to the Wilhelms that came snooping around for her. She has been with him the longest, over 100 years, and she is the closest to him. He has noticed her reluctance with Chloro-Weaponry, and has been trying to broach the subject with her.  

Fallon Draga (Mentee): Though Jace cares a lot about all of his mentees, he is rarely very open about it with them. Fallon is a handful. Initially he believed she was acting out because she was bored and needed stimulation, but despite the stimulation he’s offered she doesn’t seem to be becoming any more focused. He’s now working under the assumption she needs more attention and is having her put in more one on one training time with him.

Skylar Beckham (Mentee): Though Jace cares a lot about all of his mentees, he is rarely very open about it with them. Skylar is a new puzzle that Jace is trying to figure out. She seems timid and unsure about him and he wants him to help her get more comfortable with the supernatural world.

Cassia Trelawny (Former Mentee): Jace was Cassia’s first mentor, and was the one to connect her with Kudzai. He is glad she was able to find someone that pushes her and thinks Kudzai and she make a perfect match.

Amberlynn Chase (Mentee): Though Jace cares a lot about all of his mentees, he is rarely very open about it with them. Amber came to him about 50 years ago after having a bad experience with a mentor. They have progressed some with her power, but she has recently asked if he would help her find someone new who could help push her power farther. It is not something Jace is unfamiliar with and he has been looking around for her.

Bitwa Armii (Old Friend): Jace and Bitwa are very good friends. He has known him and his wife for centuries. He stood in his wedding, and was the one who invited them to come to Chicago. He is glad to see his friend is beginning his mentoring again. He has considered recommending Amber to Bitwa since he is also working with an Ergokinetic.

Kaylor Genesis (Liaison): Jace has a good relationship with the Seekers of Chicago. He is often one of the first mentors they go to when they find an unknown witch or warlock. He is also often the first person the liaisons refer people to when they are generally searching for a new mentor in the city. Kaylor and Jace have known each other for a very long time, and is one of the Cleirighs he is most friendly with.

Emmett Cleirigh (Liaison): Jace has a good relationship with the Seekers of Chicago. He is often one of the first mentors they go to when they find an unknown witch or warlock. He is also often the first person the liaisons refer people to when they are generally searching for a new mentor in the city. Emmett mentored under Jace for a year before he found another pyrokinetic to teach him.

Hostile Connections:

Averill Sookram (Dislike): He and Kudzai are convinced that Averill is guilty. That argument is still one of the worst the council has had with one another.

Roman Cleirigh (Dislike): Roman is furthering the addiction problems that the supernatural community faces and Jace is done with it. They would have cracked down already if he wasn’t related to Ronan.

Pets:

None - Though he is considering adopting an animal.

→ History (paragraph(s) on background)

→ The Present (paragraph(s) on how the character connects to the plot)

[stagekiller]

CW for drawing of topless murder carrot, detailed descriptions of injury & vivid pain imagery.

I would like to highlight that this post only refers to traits and not storyline/timeline alterations. I prefer to explore these with my partners in threads rather than write the entire storyline myself. Thank you for reading!

‘ Dead? You mean to tell me you’ve never taken a nap on a car roof? ’ - Jerome Valeska, after waking up from yet another death

  Perhaps brother dear got to wear the purple suit, but if you think about it, color is a little subjective, is it not? It is said that drowning is one of the worst ways to go, but those who sustain a broken ribcage & a bunch of lead in their system might tell you otherwise. This luscious carrot-top, in specific had a bit of a hard time healing those fatal wounds. They say keeping a positive attitude helps, to which Jerome would retort that it can be a little hard to smile through your stitches.

   At least nobody SHAVED anything off of him this time, right ?

‘ If I open my eyes and I’m not wearing pants... I swear- ’ - Jerome Valeska, after regaining consciousness in the makeshift lab used to reanimate him

 Before I begin I would like to direct your attention to this post ( x ) containing headcanons about post season 2 Jerome, after prolonged exposure to Strange’s concoctions. I would also like to point out that it is canonical for Joker to be blessed with obnoxious luck - it is considered to be his equivalent of a superpower in some parts of the fandom. This element is also present in the show, with Jerome being saved from his Uncle by Bruce due to sheer luck, having his cult rescue him from Jeremiah out of just luck and good timing and sustaining a bullet to his shoulder during his final scene, which enabled him to still be mobile & capable of climbing up presumably three flights of stairs in the least.

  Therefore, it makes sense for him to be capable of surviving his fatal fall, as long as his luck would work in his favor again and have a few cultists around to retrieve his body. More details about the divergent storyline I follow on that aspect can be found in my verses page.

‘ We were a little worried we would have to scoop him up with a spoon, but fortunately he was all in one piece when we found him. Phew. ’ - some cultist by the name ‘Clyde’

INJURIES SUSTAINED;

Broken ribs; 

Due to his increased healing factor, Jerome will be able to heal his entire ribcage back within a month or so. That is, assuming he does not go out of his way to make things worse for himself. Physical exercise is highly prohibited for a time span after his initial awakening. Coughing or laughing causes severe abdominal pain. Severe bruising is present around the area.

Bullet wounds;

 Three in total number, all inflicted by GCPD’s favorite golden boy - needless to say, The Original Clown Prince of Crime is not too happy about this outcome. Really Jim? In the stomach ? That’s rude.

  Below follows a scandalous topless shot, drawn by yours truly the mun, that depicts how the final piece looks in recent times.

Shot 1; Upper chest. A flesh wound. Left behind a nasty scar. Some nerves around his arm are damaged. With moderate physical exercise and proper caring his increased healing factor will help him recover in time. The bullet failed to puncture anything too vital. However it’s safe to say it did - and does - hurt like hell, especially when he moves this arm. Gestures might appear stiff.

Shot 2; Forearm. Fortunately for him it was just a scratch compared to the others. Albeit very painful & leaving behind a nasty scar, it was a surface wound that didn’t puncture anything vital. Nerves around the area were severely damaged upon impact and thus Jerome has lost feel of certain parts on his forearm.

Shot 3; Stomach. This one topped it off. One centimeter away and it would have landed right on his aorta, the biggest artery in the human body. Luckily for the clown, he got away with a punctured stomach. Even though what little following he had left blackmailed a surgeon or two to stitch him up, there are lingering symptoms such as;

Inability to eat certain foods/large portions. Severe abdominal pain follows food consumption. Laying down for a prolonged period of time gives him heartburn. Upon drinking anything acidic he will most likely vomit. Antibiotics are required to ensure he won’t end up with an infection. Severe abdominal pain will be frequent initially.

Thanks to the increased healing factor Jerome will be able to heal the actual hole but certain symptoms might remain. Depending on his behavior for the first weeks following his reanimation there may be complications.

Mental damage/psychological trauma;

 Fortunately that precious eccentric noodle of his remains intact, all the funny thoughts are still inside, we counted the voices meticulously and nobody’s missing. Nothing to worry about on that aspect. However, even for men such as Jerome Valeska, a death experience remains...well, a death experience. As much as he likes to pretend he can FLOAT over mundane feelies, certain things stuck with him regardless.

  Delusions of grandeur have never reached quite the level they do now - and we all know what he was like before. Death is a natural expectation that lives in all human beings, therefore if defeating it once convinced him that dear dad’s word was true, coming back TWICE definitely sealed the deal. Jerome is pretty much convinced he’s invincible at this point.

  However, he is extremely self conscious about the fact he can’t run or perform physical activities the way he used to. He tires out faster and will push his poor heart to its limits just to prove a point - to himself. It is very likely that Jerome will seek to upgrade his physical body, as he now considers this some sort of ‘vessel’ for the demigod-spirit type deal he believes he is. Expect some messed up ‘can I put my brain in this lookalike’s body’ type situations.

  As long as there’s someone to scoop him up after a fall, Jerome’s body is not completely worn out yet. And this means what you think it means; Gotham’s favorite maniacal cockroach is here to STAY, baby.

[lookwhatilost]

i finished my second watch of bojack s6 p1 and here’s a predictably massive post of some thoughts/observations abt it

spoilers under the cut obviously

the “fuck” of the season definitely came in a moment that i didn’t expect, but i rly liked how it was used. like, it was a callback to when gina dropped it in the last season –– something that traumatized her vs a reaction to her PTSD symptoms. a lot of people seem unhappy w it but i think it’s more powerful than people are giving it credit for being

the gatsby reference in e3 rly brought to mind that there are, like, a lot of gatsby tie-ins w this show and i never rly pasted them together mentally bc of the ubiquity of the “rich guy is utterly depressed and alone” trope. like, the imagery related to the pool, the shallow parties, the yellow car, the spacious but empty house, the billboards staring him down as he drives when he’s hallucinating in s5. charlotte/daisy being a weak parallel in that he had feelings for her when they were younger, held onto them for years, only for her to be married when they reconnect, but it’s worth mentioning that the glow stick balloons were green.

someone on reddit pointed out that jameson’s baby in e1 had physical traits associated w fetal alcohol syndrome. like, short, upturned nose, eyes that are far apart, and low ears. it’s hard to say if it’s intentional, but he’s drawn w a lot more detail than a lot of the other babies i’ve seen in the show. if it’s purposeful, like, that’s amazing attention to detail

i liked how the season opened on a planetarium flashback, because honestly, the immediate aftermath of sarah lynn’s death is definitely kind of glossed over in s3 when it initially happens. and though i suppose the added information isn’t terribly surprising (like him lying abt the events that lead up to her overdose and minimizing his own role in it as much as possible), it did make me wonder why i hadn’t thought abt it before

bojack rly does show signs of serious growth in the 6th season and it’s cool to finally see him move forward w/o simultaneously backsliding in other ways. a lot of his good actions in previous seasons were only rly things that benefitted him. and there are a lot of examples of it, but i think the one that stuck out to me the most was w his therapist. when he fell off the wagon, it’d have been rly easy for bojack to look the other direction and walk away like we’ve seen him do before. realistically, he has no real incentive to care for doctor champ’s wellbeing if he’s no longer staying at pastiches, but he checks him into rehab anyway, and when doctor champ throws his insecurities in his face to be hurtful, he immediately identifies it for the petty jab it is instead of letting it fuel his negative thoughts and using it as an excuse to dive into self-destructive behavior. honestly e6 was the emotional high water mark of part 1, even though it wasn’t the kind of gut punch that the dramatic, narrative focused episodes of bojack tend to be

i’m glad that the writers finally /did/ something w todd that made him feel like an actual character instead of jst a device for the comedy part of the show. i used to watch this show w a friend and we always used to say that todd had very little depth given the amount of screen time he occupies and seeing them move away from that was refreshing. his struggle w jorge is very relatable as someone whose parents have always pushed me towards things i didn’t sincerely want based on their expectations and desires for me vs my actual opinions of what success and happiness would look like for myself. but, on the other side of the coin, there’s finally a little bit of confrontation of the fact that todd’s erratic behavior and shenanigans are very taxing things for people who care abt him to deal w. and todd is rly the only character who’s somehow defied the show’s formula in that he never faces accountability for the things he does. like, he’s enabled PB’s impulsivity many times and drove him to bankruptcy, care of PB Livin’, and it’s a detail in the show that’s never truly been acknowledged or talked abt at all. he fucked PC over when he wouldn’t follow through w his sham marriage to courtney, and it was met w a cheesy speech from her abt how he needs to follow his heart and do what he thinks is right. it always struck me as a weird oversight, and to finally see someone take him to task for how taxing his behavior can be was refreshing. his only other “depth” was the asexual stuff and honestly? that is stupid and does not actually count for anything

if it didnt warm your heart when PC named her daughter ruthie then you dnt have one. i wasn’t as invested in her narrative as i’d have liked to be, but its good when PC is happy and that’s what everyone wants

IM SO GLAD JUDAH IS BACK. also i still hope he and PC end up together (and maybe she has a viable pregnancy this time w him a la sex and the city charlotte but that’s a little too cornball sappy for this show). generally rly enjoyed how characters from previous seasons were incorporated this time around. but i dnt want them to bring back vincent adultman jst to spite everyone who’s always saying “bring back vincent adultman”

pickles is still my least favorite character even tho the surprise wedding episode was probably the one i found the funniest. realistically i wanna see things work out for PB but his relationship w her is obviously not the move for him, and she’s also the worst

i like diane and guy together, they have rly good chemistry but i also have a bad feeling abt where things are headed w them. he seems ambivalent abt how principled she is and the scene where his son comes to the party and he makes her leave when he could have jst introduced her as a party guest if it even needed to happen at all... there was jst something off abt it. like you can definitely see the cracks in the foundation already and it’s disappointing

the scene btwn PB and bojack where bojack says to him “but i understand that feeling of needing to bottle up your guilt, not burden other people w it. you think you’re protecting them from your toxicity, you convince yourself that you’re being selfless, but it comes out in other ways and it infects everything” hit close to home bc it reminded me of someone i used to bond over this show w and like... whew

i rly love how the dominoes are being set up w the reporters (even tho their his girl friday shtick got old fast) bc the way things are culminating, the story getting out is liable to expose bojack for everything. if they approach penny and she talks to them abt what happened, she’s liable to tell them that bojack and sarah lynn went to ohio to find her in the time before sarah lynn overdosed, and the pictures that her classmates took of them could establish a time frame. he was in new mexico when he was supposed to be filming secretariat, and that knowledge could lead to them finding out that he’d been digitally replaced in the movie. when this information gets out, it’s very likely that gina will dogpile onto it w the truth abt what happened on the set of philbert, since trying to conceal her ptsd is actively hurting her acting career bc of the reputation she’s developing as a problem actress, and even though she dznt *want* to be “that girl that got choked by bojack horseman”, she won’t have a choice if she can’t get jobs otherwise. i guess there’s always a chance that penny and charlotte won’t talk to them, but now that hollyhock knows about what happened in new mexico, either way his personal life will be hurt by this. i’m not sure what’ll happen to him professionally, since there’s a recurring point the series has been making w famous people never being held fully culpable for their negative actions, and it’s a dicey thing for them to approach w a character that many viewers find sympathetic without ending on some myopic note abt cancel culture (whether intentionally or by popular interpretation) but im excited

i also hate how my obsessive watching and rewatching of this show meant that the intended pete repeat reveal (like, you’re not supposed to recognize him until his identity becomes obvious through the prom night story) was sort of compromised for me bc i recognized his voice and the second he introduced himself, i placed him IMMEDIATELY but it was still such a great scene. it’s the most tense i remember feeling when watching and an all around great cliffhanger

the final line of e7 comes off as some rly grim foreshadowing–– “it looks like you found solace in our show. stay if you’d like. in 30 minutes, we start over”. but it’s such an incredible line in context. my god, i fucking love this show, you guys

[ograndebatata]

Fiero headcanons

So... these are another first of me as far as Elena of Avalor headcanons are concerned. 

The ones I posted for Doña Paloma were my first attempt at headcanons for a questionable character.

These are the first I post for an actual villain. And I admit I’m a bit nervous.

As I have said before, I don’t think character writing is my strongest trait, and that’s all the more true when it comes to villains. Hitting that right balance of ‘realistic and not one-dimensional, but still clearly evil’ is something I’m not the best at. 

And I may have let some personal biases get in the way here, as I admit I like Fiero, both as a villain and for what I believe is his relative potential for redemption. I also admit to have grown a bit too attached to the Fiero x Prisma ship. 

I hope I still managed to come up with an unbiased headcanons post that doesn’t turn a blind eye to the fact Fiero is a villain... but I’ll let you be the judges. 

On a different note... for headcanons about a villain, these are actually relatively light in nature, but you still find darkness in them, such as dealing with the deaths of loved ones and struggles with personal darkness. As such, reader discretion may be advised here. 

With that said, please check below for my headcanons on Fiero, with references to Alacazar, Zuzo, Chief Zephyr, and Shuriki.

Fiero

Starting out at the circus

For much of his life, Fiero would reside in Avalor and harbor bitterness over the fact he hadn’t become its royal wizard, but to the surprise of all but the few who knew him, he was not born there.

He was born in Tangu, but not to locals. Instead, he was born in a circus, the Circo Arcobaleno, which was owned by a Corinthian family. His parents were Ferdelance, a snake charmer from Paraiso (known to audiences as Ferdelance el Fantástico), and Flama, a fire wielder from Cordoba (known to audiences as Flama la Fogosa). Both had already been well versed in their arts before joining the circus, and both joined the circus when it was doing a tour through their kingdoms.

Their romance was a simple case of them spending time together as two ‘relative outsiders’ at the circus and hitting it off. And while some were put off by their scary names, Ferdelance was nowhere near as dangerous as the snake he was named after, despite his fondness for using black snakes in his acts. And while Flama could be feisty, she wasn’t out of control or deranged or destructive by any stretch of the imagination.

Both of them were loving and supportive parents to Fiero, though the boy managed to be a touch upsetting at times. By and large, he was a well behaved boy, and though not exactly nice, he was compassionate, despite what his literally fierce name would suggest. He also took the moral standards his parents taught him to heart. But he could hold a grudge as fast as he could hold a friendship, and even at a young age he could already apply his cleverness to being patient and determining the best punishment to those he felt wronged him or someone else he cared about.

Not helping matters, Fiero had a disconcerting amount of natural talent for magic, greater than his parents’ put together. While Ferdelance could do little more than talk to snakes, and Flama could ‘only’ generate fire, manipulate it, and touch it without being hurt, Fiero could already do much more even at a young age and without proper training.

His natural talent enabled him to join his parents’ circus acts at a young age, but many of the performers were worried about what kind of havoc such a child could bring about, while others were jealous such a child had more success than them.

His parents tried their best to keep an eye on him, but both knew the sad truth: despite their best intentions, a parent can’t keep an eye on their child forever.

Unfortunately, the moment they stopped being able to do so arrived much sooner than they had expected.

A heated act

When Fiero was eight years old, the Circo Arcobaleno had stopped at Avalor during a tour, and after the tepid reception their act had gotten at Paraiso, Ferdelance and Flama were devising a new number to bring into being. Like many of their acts, it was to have Ferdelance’s black cobras combined with Flama’s white flames, but they figured that by combining those with a few more exotic snakes, asking them to make more complicated maneuvers around the fire, and make the fire itself more spectacular, perhaps their reception in Avalor would be warmer.

As it turned out, things got quite heated up when Flama, in her frustration at not producing the proper act, shot a jet of flames that set fire to a nearby bush. Both them and the snakes got scared, and many of the snakes ended up biting Ferdelance and Flama in their fright after being accidentally stepped on. Thankfully, the couple managed to sound the alarm, and the circus crew tried to contain the fire.

The nearby villagers did their best to help, but something about that magical fire seemed to make it more difficult to put out than a regular one. Fiero did his best to try to help by using his magic to put out the fire, but not only did he lack formal training, the fire had grown vast enough that he could never make it vanish alone.

As they tried to find out ways to put out fire, someone mentioned that if the wind changed directions the fire would just burn itself out. Inspired by the comment, Fiero instead generated enough wind to push the fire back where it came from. His magic was still too weak to properly do so, but he managed to slow down its spread enough for the circus people and the villagers to put it out.

To everyone’s relief, no casualties ensued from the actual fire, although there was heavy damage to the circus tent. But worse, Ferdelance and Flama had already been killed by the snakes’ venom, having been left unattended in the midst of the chaos.

Upon seeing what had happened, Fiero broke down in tears.

A new family

Reactions to Fiero’s stunt were very much mixed. Some lauded him as a hero, others were worried that such a young child already displayed this level of magical prowess, and a few even suggested he might have deliberately murdered his parents.

The circus crew had a gathering, and decided that although they didn’t believe Fiero had started the fire and he had done well by putting it out, he was too dangerous for them to manage. He needed actual magical training, and they couldn’t afford to give it to him at the circus.

The villagers told them of Wocketio and Zumba, a skilled couple of magic practitioners who didn’t live all that far away, and who would tutor Fiero for sure. The circus crew accepted, but they did not know how to take him there. Thankfully, a trio of jaquins that had shown up to see the circus (only to see it burned down) offered to take the boy there.

Upon arriving at the couple’s home, the jaquin who had carried him, a gray-furred one named Zephyr, explained the situation to the best of his ability to Wocketio, while Zumba tried her best to comfort Fiero. He said that indeed he could take the boy under his wing and teach him magic, and he wouldn’t even charge for the services, but he would need to sort out the details with those who were responsible for him.

As it happened, there was very little to sort out. Besides those worried for how dangerous Fiero could be, there were those worried for how much he might steal their thunder after having full magical training, which had already been happening before. Those had little problem spreading their philosophies to the others, and as a result, the circus people just wanted Fiero gone. When Wocketio came to work things out, he found the ruins of the tent left behind and any trace of them gone, with them having only left a message about how if the wizard wanted to keep Fiero, he could do so for free. If not, then the boy was not their problem anymore anyway, for it had been decided he had no place in the circus.

Wocketio was beyond outraged that they would simply throw the boy out like trash, but he made the decision then and there that he wouldn’t let him go back to that circus anyway.

As a result, Fiero stayed with Wocketio’s family. There was one person not very happy with the deal at first - Wocketio’s son, Alacazar, who had never had to share his parents with anybody. But Alacazar did feel sorry for him, and soon ended up defending him when Fiero joined him at their school and was ridiculed by others due to his circus origins and due to his rather introverted and insecure nature, not to mention his fear of what might happen if he lost his temper, never quite fought back.

But Alacazar did defend him, much to Fiero’s surprise, as those kids were Alacazar’s friends. And he kept doing so even as his friendship with Fiero’s bullies became strained at best or ended at worst.

In the end, despite the troubles of the adaptation period, the two boys became as close as if they had been brothers their whole lives.

Edge into bitterness

As they grew older and learned more and more advanced forms of magic, both boys kept proving just how skilled they were. However, Alacazar always remained just a tiny edge better in many areas. Nothing too special - no outside observer would notice, and even Wocketio and Zumba had to make an effort to notice the difference, but it was still there, and it was enough to plant a tiny seed of doubt in Fiero’s mind, which sometimes tried to grow into something more. Perhaps those who said he was ‘inherently less’ were right after all.

Both his adoptive parents and adoptive brother kept trying to dissuade him from such notions, and it mostly worked. Alacazar and Fiero kept practicing and studying magic together, having a wonderful time doing it, and even going into adventures in the meantime. The first crack in their friendship only appeared when Alacazar was eighteen years old, and the time came for him to summon his chanul and find out what kind of creature had been assigned to him, which it turned out to be a fox named Zuzo.

Fiero congratulated him, and said the choice seemed to fit, before he mused out loud about what his chanul would be like. Hearing him, Zuzo replied that he could tell him that right away. Or rather, he could tell Fiero that he wouldn’t get a chanul. While he did know the Maruvian ways of magic, he was not from Avalor and had no direct Maruvian ancestry (a seemingly freak event given that there were descendants of Maruvians in both Cordoba and Paraiso) so he would never get a chanul, period.

Zuzo did try to temper it by saying that nothing would prevent a friendly chanul from giving advice to him and that he could still summon chanuls to see if he could get advice, and Zuzo himself claimed he wouldn’t mind helping him if he needed it.

But to Fiero, that just wasn’t the same thing. It was still something that Alacazar happened to have by sheer circumstance of birth while Fiero himself could never achieve it.

Wizard to malvago

Despite his slight resentment, Fiero did not hold it against Alacazar, and the two remained friends. But over the course of time, more cracks would appear in their friendship.

A year later, when the evil wizard Morkemagi came and killed Alacazar’s parents, Alacazar and Fiero fought him together and defeated him together… but the credit went only to Alacazar. Fiero did recognize that Alacazar tried to make sure he was recognized also, but no one paid any mind. Fiero either had been negligible or not a factor at all.

And Fiero’s resentment grew over the following years as similar incidents happened. Whenever they dealt with any magical peril, the general populace only credited Alacazar. Whenever anyone showed up at their home in search of magical assistance, they only wanted Alacazar. And worse, whenever Fiero dealt with any magical peril on his own, everyone assumed either it couldn’t have been all that serious or that Fiero had been making it up for glory.

Granted, there were the fair ones willing to give Fiero due credit, but to him, the others were not only too numerous but spoke too loud.

In the end, Fiero made a decision: he would find the Scepter of Night and use it to vanquish any terrible and undefeated creature that still lay in Avalor and other realms. Once that happened, he would be recognized for his value, and more, he would be doing good things for everyone.

He did think about using the Scepter of Light, but not only did that artifact belong to the royal family, it needed Maruvian magic in the blood to be wielded. The Scepter of Night lay unclaimed, and had no such Maruvian limitations. So it was his only option.

Alacazar kept trying to dissuade him, but while Fiero did still appreciate his concern at that point in time, he was undeterred in his goal. However, he did promise to not use the Scepter if there were true hints it could lead to dangerous harm. He wanted to do good, not bring harm.

That said, a side effect of studying about the scepter was that he also started studying other dark magics… and once he started dabbling in them more often, he couldn’t help but take some comfort in knowing that at least this was something he was better at than Alacazar.

That said, he did feel it taking a small toll in his personality, so he did his best not to dabble all that much in it.

In the end, it turned out that his personality was intact enough that he could still fall in love, as he found out when he went to the Conjurers’ Conference and met a sorceress from Tangu named Amaya, in whom he got interested enough to ask out (to his mild amusement, Alacazar also met a sorceress he asked out at the same event). Amaya accepted, and over time they became a couple, although unlike Alacazar with his girlfriend, Malih, Fiero did not get married just yet. First he wanted to be someone Amaya could be prouder of. Someone with actual feats to put to his name and his name alone.

And his chance arrived when news came that Gregorio, the old royal wizard of Avalor, intended to retire and was looking for a successor. Hearing that, Fiero leapt at the chance, as it would give him two things he wanted. For one, he would be in a good place to do the good he wanted. For another, upon becoming royal wizard  he could get his hands on the Codex Maru, the old spell book that word of mouth said Avalor’s royal wizard had, and use it to find the Scepter of Night.

So he threw himself into practicing for the upcoming examination, with much help from Amaya. He was so touched by her support that he did his best to make time to be with her without neglecting his studies, and even put in the time and money required to buy a ring and pop the question, to which she said yes.

At last, things seemed back on track.

And a week later they went off course, during a battle with a fire demon that showed up unexpectedly in Avalor, and which ended up burning Amaya alive, causing someone else Fiero loved to be lost to flames.

Fiero was devastated, but he was undeterred. Amaya might not be around, but she had been helping so much and had been so supportive of him that he would not let her effort be for nothing. He would get what he had wanted to give her.

Such plans went away on the day of the examination. For the first time, Fiero was genuinely on top, and yet it still did him no good. The king had also summoned Alacazar for the examination, and he wanted Alacazar to be his royal wizard. When Fiero tried to protest, King Edmundo threw him wave after wave of insult… to the point Fiero snapped and started hurling his magic at anything and anyone in front of his eyes, not caring about anything else.

It lead to a duel with Alacazar, at the end of which he was defeated. More than that, Alacazar was given the honor to punish him.

At the end of the day, Fiero’s life was spared, as Alacazar, rather than sentencing him to death like the king and others had been expecting, pardoned him instead, even though his wife, Malih, had been among the victims.

But in some ways, being alive was a worse punishment for Fiero.

His tamborita had now become grey and with a snake stamped on it, symbolizing how he had fallen into a malvago, which Fiero had been trying to deny would ever happen to him

He had just become what he had tried to make people understand he was not.

He had become evil.

Dark years

Though Fiero had to move into an isolated cottage in the middle of the jungle, he stayed within Avalor’s borders, and managed to keep his files on magic. He might have not gotten the Codex Maru, but he was still determined to find the Scepter of Night. He knew he could no longer be recognized for any good he did - he had done too much evil already.

He even ended up changing his look in recognition of it. He grew out his hair and slicked it back, and started wearing black robes instead (although the blue cloak with black cobras in a white outline had already been part of his looks from long before he became a malvago, as a tribute to his birth parents). He also began studying dark magic only.

But he still wanted to at least achieve one goal: to vanquish threats to Avalor.

But without the Codex, he stood no chance… and any attempts of his at finding the Scepter failed thoroughly. And as he spent decades living alone, he could start to feel it taking a toll on him.

Perhaps it was the reason that, over fifty years later, when a woman named Shuriki came seeking him out, he let her in and even fell for her advances, though he could sense what kind of foul creature she was.

He paid for that dearly, as it was indirectly thanks to him that Shuriki learned enough about Alacazar to later send some of her cronies to fight him while she took care of the ruling couple, as he had opened his heart too much. And more, once she got the throne, one of the first things she did was banish from Avalor everyone who had magic but hadn’t gotten it from her. And Fiero was first on the list.

At a loss on what to do, he ended up going to Tangu, the land where he had been born, and stayed there for the following years, sometimes visiting other kingdoms for brief periods, and occasionally getting news from Avalor, such as those of the bounty Shuriki had put on Alacazar’s head. A bounty that he refused to try to claim. Alacazar had spared him, and they had been friends long enough that, though they were now enemies, Fiero could not bring himself to kill him or otherwise lead to his death.

Eventually, he also had news of Princess Elena’s return to the crown, upon which he decided to go back to Avalor, right on time to witness the proclamation of Alacazar’s grandson being appointed as new royal wizard.

He immediately decided to seize the chance to get the Codex Maru, and this time he was perfectly willing to resort to dirty means to get it. After all, he was already evil, and nothing he did could change that, so what were a few more nasty deeds along the way? And if he managed to cause Princess Elena some pain (her being the one meant to be more affected by all his deeds that night) all the better.  It might seem surprising to some given how Alacazar was the one picked for royal wizard instead of him, but Fiero had much less problems with the boy than he had with King Edmundo’s great-granddaughter.

His plan backfired when he ended up remaining a stone statue for over a year, but he was eventually released by Shuriki, who wanted to be lead into the royal treasury.

At first, Fiero agreed to help her in exchange for the Codex Maru, again planning to get it for his goal of finding the Scepter of Night. But when it became clear just how overpowered they were by Princess Elena, Fiero changed plans.

He would instead offer the Scepter to Shuriki under the cover of wanting the post of Royal Malvago, and put her in the direct path of Elena’s wrath. That way, if Elena won, he would have a greater chance of being out of the greater harm’s way. If Shuriki won, he would be able to seize the Scepter from her, kill her, and finally go about achieving his initial goal.

Sure, perhaps Princess Elena would be killed in the meantime… but he told himself he was past caring about that. After all, it was just another evil deed to add to the list.

All the same, for whatever reason, part of him always seemed to feel just a touch subconsciously uncomfortable with taking the most evil approach, to the point he would consistently go for the less dangerous and damaging spell during a battle, even when a more dangerous and damaging one would be better.

Perhaps that was part of the reason he ended up finding himself in a position to be defeated by Alacazar’s grandson and turned to stone yet again.

But it was not the end.

Fiero would come back once more… but where he would end up that time would be up to him more than anyone else.

[ilikelookingatthings]

Something I noticed as well that makes prince Il the better choice was who would influence the king. With Yu-hon he was already set to be the king but Yu-hon HATED the ideathat he could be influenced by the priests. the priests canonically had the power to influence if the country went to war or not and could even impeach kings. Yu-hon was told on multiple occasion that he should try interacting with the priests and pray on multiple occasions even though the actual king once in power was required to work with the priests. Yu-hon didn’t even let yon-hi and his wedding be officially blessed by the priests even though he didn’t really believe in the dragon’s blood and it would have help yon-hi to be recognized and respected due since she was a commoner.

Yu-hon was definitely the more brilliant leader who loved the country and went out to do stuff and travel in person but despite KNOWING that he would have to work  with the priests... he never let them influence him. even resented the idea they could influence a kings choices even though his father listened to them and isa respected king.

King il of course also shows that stubbornness and yu-hon had because many told him about the issues his weapon’s policy had but Il wouldn’t budge. but Yu-hon had already showed when there were positive alternative influences that he refused to listen to them. Il on the other hand KNEW that Il wasn’t trained and strong enough for this role instead of assuming he knew what was best.

when junam chose Il as the king it was with the understanding that Il would take yu-hon’s advice and yu-hon who does love his brother and can be more practical would rally everyone around il. Il wasn’t a very good king and it was his own choices...but Il was also affected because none of them respected Il from the beginning.

the only tribe that was willing to really give il the benefit of the doubt was the windtribe. even yu-hon complained about everyone not giving il a chance and acting like thy were doomed from the get go. it was still on Il for not trying harder to bring everyone together but everyone else didn’t help either.

Il as king who was more prone to diplomacy and not jumping into war while on his own didn’t work...but with yu-hon it could have been balanced out because yu-on would be in charge of the military so push ilif war was really nessacary.

If yu-hon was chosen instead there was nothing stopping him from waging war on everyone because all the priests were dead and he wouldn’t listen to il. and everyone enables yu-hon’s worst traits because it makes the country strong.

plus kaashi the priestess would have been alive and by il’s side as well.

I really like your point  that il wasn’t meant to be king and the hard choices and its tragic he had to fill that role because the alternative is yu-hon who was too aggressive and thought intimidation was the best tactic.

I like your point about soo-won wanting someone properly qualified to be a proper king rather than just relying on blood.

It has been universally agreed on that King Il was a horrible king. He was willing to let his country fall in despair all because he wanted to solve things with peace. But as King Hiryuu came to realize, eternal peace is a pipe line dream. However, I think that it is sad that King Il had to become king in the first place. Yuhon was capable and willing to do what was necessary making him a good candidate for king, yet it was his own lack of morality and blood list which made him lose his position. And not only that but his life. Yuhon was a war mongeror. He had no problem slashing down children and decapitating prisoners of a surrendered country if he thought that it would get him to his goal. He was too quick to violence. Especially looking at how he handled the situation with the temple. If he had spoken to his wife and the villagers then perhaps he wouldn’t have acted that way but since he’s so Used to using violence to solve problems, he savagely killed more innocents. It must have been hard for joonam to pick between one son who hugs trees and would collapse the country to stop fighting and another son who would commit genocide without blinking. However, I still think he made the right choice.

This is one issue that I can actually see eye to eye with Soowon over. He realizes that the state of kouka was because of a lack of qualified candidates and doesn’t plan on subscribing to that when he passes on the crown (hopefully soon).

[costazachary1994]

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Should You Give Your Ex Back His Stuff

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3-gatsu no Lion 2nd Season – 06, 07

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3-gatsu no Lion 2nd Season – 06, 07

「小さな世界 / 手紙」 (Chiisana Sekai / Tegami) “Chapter 56 Small World / Chapter 57 Letter”

End Card

「梅雨の始まり / 蜂谷」 (Tsuyu no Hajimari / Hachiya) “Chapter 58 Start of the Rainy Season / Chapter 59 Hachiya”

Hina’s Predicament

Throughout these two episodes, Hina’s suffering continues on with no end in sight. Her teacher keeps brushing her off, and no one will stand up to the bullies. However, she does find solace within her household, although there’s a dire lack of permanent solution.

I think that we’ve been seeing an exploration of potential approaches, only to find out that these types of situations are truly delicate, and tricky to a fault. Too little effort, and you may as well have done nothing. Too heavy-handed, and some undesired consequences may arise. We see that even Takahashi’s intervention can only provide a brief respite, by momentarily raising Hina’s spirits. In fact, I would argue that his involvement only exacerbated the issue, since it gave the bullies a perfect narrative to push. They wasted no time in framing Hina as being a slut, who was fooling around with Takahashi.

Upon his immediate reaction to the unwelcome news, it was terrifying yet awesome to see Rei flare up in such a way. If we exclude his vulnerable outbursts from the first season, I’ve never seen such powerful displays of emotions coming from him, and it is here that we can see how the Kawamoto sisters have formed a cornerstone in his character development. No longer is he the pushover of old. Rather, he constantly strives to be a dependable person, who can look after the people he cares for. That said, he is still the same old, awkward Kiriyama, unintentionally startling some animals when he suddenly raises his voice in solidarity. Then again, who wasn’t on the same page? I personally feel an indescribable rage towards the bullies first, then towards the teacher above all else.

For someone who usually maintains a solid composure, it’s been really interesting to be reminded that despite being a mother by proxy, Akari is still a young woman with her own insecurities. Although Someji and Misaki are capable relatives, she worries about an extenuating situation, where she will have to go to school and confront the parents of Hina’s bullies. To be honest, I can see why such a concern would be legitimate. Imagine a middle-aged mother, who effectively enables her daughter’s terrible behaviour. Such an individual would be quick to protest her daughter’s innocence, and assert herself over Akari by ruthlessly putting her down. Even with all her love and best intentions for Hina, I could see Akari crumbling under such an unprecedented crisis. Let’s hope that the worst-case scenario doesn’t come about, right? I would hate to see such a beautiful smile getting fractured.

Rei vs Hachiya

In my opinion, this was the best shogi game depicted thus far in 3-gatsu. Due to the opponent, it was highly kinetic and fairly intense. Plus a new kind of difficulty arose. Rei’s perspective fantastically conveyed the unpleasant experience of playing against someone like Hachiya, who would fidget and make loud noises at sporadic intervals during a match. Often times, I found myself experiencing second-hand discomfort and irritation. By the way, these kind of physical reactions are a testimony to Shaft’s incredible directing. Anyhow, I wouldn’t blame people for thinking it’s a cheap tactic to unsettle shogi opponents. However, Hachiya strikes me as someone who suffers from ADHD. For those reasons, I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, and you could never really deny his sincere passion for the game. Combine all these quirky traits, and you might even find him endearing. I’d say he won me over, after knuckling down on Kiriyama in the post-mortem, while demolishing parfait after parfait.

Concluding Thoughts

Rei forges ahead into the semifinals, and with Nikaidou hot on his heels, I look forwards to seeing what the next few matchup brings. Just how far can his newfound determination take him, or even better, what will he do if he falls short?

So far, the pacing has been nothing short of amazing. Where most other shows would struggle to follow up from a climax, 3-gatsu just seems to naturally transition between moments, continually moving from strength to strength in its depiction of Hina’s problem with bullies. Shaft deserve credit for faithfully following on, but most of my praise has to go to Umino Chica, who set down the entire groundwork that made everything possible. Both her character and story-telling feel organic in their construction,

Anyway, I’d like to play the Devil’s Advocate for Hina’s teacher because reading the manga grants me the benefit of hindsight, thus altering my initial preconceptions. Otherwise, I suspect that I would also be up in arms over how she chose to handle Hina’s situation. While it’s true that the teacher’s passivity is utterly despicable, humans all have their reasons for acting in certain ways. Righteousness is typically the natural course upon which our feelings run, but over time, disillusionment over the system can slowly erode away our capacity to do what’s right. That is to say, we become paralysed by an indescribable fear of failure, to the extent that we’re prevented from taking proper action. Not that it justifies losing courage, when the weak and vulnerable are crying for help. However, it’s completely understandable that not everyone has the same kind of conviction we see within Hina.

Zaiden’s Anecdote

Early on in my school days, I remember that I was quick to stand up for my friends, getting in tussles with larger kids who picked on anyone I cared about. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for those who I thought were my friends. What I’m about to tell you precludes my most bitter memories from secondary school.

This guy who could never beat me at Pokémon battles thought it would be hilarious to dump an entire plate of spaghetti over my head out of spite. Not saying I was perfect, considering I was as arrogant as they come and a sore winner. But what shocked me was that none of my friends tried to help me, stand up for me, and all left the scene as soon as they could.

What’s more, this kid went straight to our Head of Learning, and straight up lied to them about how I was the one who threw food at him, landing me into two weeks worth of detention. The kicker? Not one person who I thought of as my friend stood up for me.

Their shallow reasoning was as follows. Judging by my character, they thought that I would be quick to forgive and forget. That is to say, by not choosing a side, they thought could keep both friendships, even though one side had clearly wronged. And the worst thing? I never got an apology from this scumbag.

The ridiculous thing? My ‘friends’ told me to forgive and forget, and ‘make up’ with the perpetrator. Water under the bridge, making life easy for them. The dumb thing? I did exactly that, just to make my ‘friends’ happy. But he always continued acting like he was somehow the victim, and it felt horrible having to stick around someone who had wronged me in such a vile way without remorse. And what my ‘friends’ did was enable his lousy behaviour. One ‘friend’ told me they let him get away with it, because he never directly hurt them, making it okay for them. Needless to say, I don’t speak to that person anymore.

I’m not ashamed to admit that I cried at the time, cleaning up the floor covered in spaghetti, while the rest of the school kids in the dining room looked on in glee. Much like Hina, I also cried on some random nights, because I felt really abandoned, and the incident messed me up for a long time. However, I managed to come out stronger, and eventually found the genuine friends I had always wanted. There’s one in particular that comes to mind, that I want to talk about.

End Card

A Heartfelt Message to My Best Friend

Dear Alvin,

I know you sometimes read these Random Curiosity posts. Whether you’ll read this one is anyone’s guess. Nevertheless, I just wanted to say, I love you lots and thank you for being my best friend over these past few years!

A lot of people in our secondary school misjudged you, readily dismissing you for being ‘lame’. Not only were they completely wrong, but they utterly failed to see your true worth and value. From the bottom of my heart, I am thankful and blessed to have you as my best friend.

While you may be awkward at times, that does not refute the fact that you’re a truly good person at heart, who holds a deep sense of compassion for your peers. You would stand up for me without any hesitation, and properly listen to me when I needed someone to confide in. As I would do for you as well.

Had I known you prior to the spaghetti incident, I know I wouldn’t have experienced such loneliness. As such, it is my regret we couldn’t have been best friends earlier on during our time at secondary school, since I wish I was there to help with your hardships too. I will always have your back, and if I needed someone to have mine, I’d trust you for time immemorial. I hope we can continue to be best friends, till death do us part.

Yours sincerely,

Zaiden