#i love characters whose motivation is “having fun for the sake of it”

[taurielofmirkwood77777]

I have a different take on why Alastor tried to one-up Lucifer than "they have history" or "reminds him of his own dad". It's probably not true, but I don't care. It's funny to think about that.

Alastor is a smart guy. He's well aware of Lucifer being miles more powerful over him. Which means, under ordinary circumstances, he'd be untouchable. But since he's now business partners with Lucifer's daughter, if not friends, Alastor also became pretty much untouchable. So he's simply taking the only opportunity in his life (or rather afterlife) to piss off Lucifer in every way imaginable just because he can. We know he sometimes does things just for fun, and I'm willing to bet he's been waiting decades for a chance like this. And he's not going to waste a single second.

[youvebeengalindafied]

This is all @polyarmy and @fiyeroba ‘s fault for making me sad about Glinda again so now I’m posting my whole Glinda Meta here (originally an obnoxiously long dm sent to @gamorahww who is a patient saint)

You’ve asked for it, and now you get……The Glinda Meta™

First: I have been obsessed w/ Glinda's character for like 15 years. She is my roman empire. But I also really LIKE her as a flawed character - something that the fandom has always seemed to be a little uncomfortable with.

She is, to me, what Jane Austen once wrote about Emma:

“I am going to write a heroine whom no one but myself will much like.”

Full meta character analysis under the cut. Uh. Strap in.

(This gets a lil long sorry, but PLEASE HEAR ME OUT -)

To me, the interesting thing is what actually - ACTUALLY - motivates Glinda to act the way she does is so much greater and deeper than a simple desire for success/fame/popularity.

Like obviously in literature/critique of narrative, we have this idea of protagonists vs supporting characters. Supporting characters might have philosophies or goals that drive them (think Nessa and Boq) but those philosophies and goals are usually not developed into self-contradictory nuance the way a protagonist's motivations are. They’re just facts about the character.

And in my option, a big problem in the wicked fandom is that everybody seems to treat Glinda as a supporting character whose motivations are easy to digest. To most fans, she's either the girlfriend who is there to support Elphaba's story by being "loving but conflicted." Or to critics she's entirely selfish and cruel (even as she's fun and interesting), and therefore a semi-antagonist

But if you step back and treat Glinda as a true antihero protagonist of Wicked (for the sake of the mental character study), you see that she's not actually motivated by love or popularity or even success....what drives her is desperation.

Glinda sees her world as a place that cannot be changed and will only work to destroy those who cannot correctly operate in it. And she is SO DESPERATE to avoid that. Elphaba's fate is actually her worst fear - she cannot break away from society and leap to a new fate, because she is the ultimate cynic who thinks there is no way that could possibly work. In fact, it's an enormous testament to her love (however you want to intepret that) of Elphaba that she's even willing to consider leaving during Defying Gravity. For a brief moment, her immense, incredible faith in Elphaba is almost enough to overcome her complete desperation to survive the horrible world she thinks she's in.

And that obviously means that she's not as noble as Elphaba or as brave as Fiyero as a character - she cannot make the choice to leave when both of them do at different points - but that's because she's the most "human" character in the story. Most people are not brave enough to become international terrorists, even in the face of great evil. We might join in a developed cause, but to knowingly walk towards what is likely one's death to change a system you know you’ll actually have very little effect on...that takes a very special kind of person. And while Glinda is a GOOD person, she is too much a cynic and too desperate to survive her crazy world to become that impossible standard of the Rebel or the Hero. She's just a flawed, scared girl, in circumstances she never dreamed she’d be in.

And then the craziest thing happens:

Rather than showing Glinda that she should have been brave and done what E and F did, the narrative instead goes and basically confirms all her darkest fears: Elphaba rebels...and her revolution fails, and Glinda loses her best friend to bitter hatred and insanity for most of Act 2. Fiyero decides to leave and do the right thing by going with Elphaba....and he is almost immediately murdered in a horrible, violent way as punishment for it. This can only reinforce for Glinda that the State/the System/the World is all-powerful, and she must bow to it.

But that's the most fascinating moment for her character, because the very moment she realizes the absolute overwhelming power of the system (March of the Witch Hunters) is also the very moment that chooses to die rather than perpetuating it. She leaves the City to approach Elphaba - whom Glinda thinks POSSIBLY WANTS TO KILL HER - and BEGS Elphaba to not die. Begs Elphaba to stop her self-sacrificial madness. Begs Elphaba to allow Glinda to sacrifice herself instead ("Then I'll go, I'll tell everybody the truth!" "No! They'll just turn against you!" "I DON'T CARE!" - this girl who is entirely motivated by survival is straight up throwing it all on the line ready to walk to her death at the hands of a mob with wide open, unblinking eyes)

And obviously, in doing so, she is making the same choice that Fiyero did earlier in the story, But the huge difference is that Fiyero is a classic case of a "dead from the beginning" character, and he does not have the same motivations as her. He starts as a nhilist already embracing death in Dancing Through Life and his character is not somebody who is desprate to survive - his character is driven by a desperation for a faith. And Elphaba (and her cause) is his faith that he happily martyrs himself for.

By contrast, Glinda is terrified of the system that is trying to kill her, and she is desperate to survive it. She sees the way it takes everything form her, again and again, destroying everything she loves - Elphaba, Fiyero, her own sense of goodness…

(And she is extremely genre-aware that she is in a tragedy: her world isn't fair, and she knows that Elphaba will fail. She knows this will all go wrong.)

But Glinda still has such strength of character that she - in the end - overcomes all of her fear, all of her weaknesses, and humbles herself at the pyre to join the people she loves so much in their fate. She both offers to die for Elphaba and she takes up Elphaba's work and dedicates her entire life to it, consequences be damned. And that comes from a place of ultimate love and goodness, despite all of her flaws and all the temptations dissuading her.

Because Glinda is not Elphaba or Fiyero - she isn't a starry-eyed optimistic rebel or a man with a obsessive, loving faith. She is just a girl. Just Emma. And she is extremely flawed, and has so many fears that push and pull at her in a way the other main characters do not experience. But despite being so painfully, humanly defective, her goodness allows her to do the right thing in the end.

tl;dr - the greatest thing about Glinda’s character is that she is flawed, and she is weak and makes all the wrong choices. But in the end, she humbles herself completely - to the point of offering her own life for Elphaba and taking the whole weight of the world on her shoulders despite all her fear - because she is ultimately good.

And thus in the end, she becomes the person that Elphaba so clearly sees her as throughout the story: good, caring, and able to make real change in the world. She will now try desperately to fully live up to Elphaba's incredible faith in her. And it's so heartbreaking and tragic, but also one of the best character arcs ever.

So I guess it's less "wants to stay safe in her bubble" and more "she sees no option other than to stay safe. The State/System is all-powerful and there is nothing she thinks she can do to change that. But the beauty of the character lies in her decision to step out of that bubble anyways."

—

BONUS: Glinda’s flaws in relation to her relationship with Elphaba

(Or why Gelphie is a devastating ship (romantically or not) but not in the way you think)

This section dedicated to the SJB/AA performance that just BREAKS ME.

Elphaba basically sees Glinda through some WILDLY rose-tinted glasses (which is just. such a fascinating insight into elphaba’s character). Which is why a good chunk of the fandom accepts it as fact that Glinda is ~not actually all that flawed~ or is somehow being forced to make the decisions she is (she is not. the narrative point of Fiyero’s character is to prove that lol)

Glinda is very much complicated and does make some truly terrible decisions. Elphaba just sees and believes the good in her, despite everything she does (because it’s also a fact of the story that - either platonically or romantically - she’s clearly a little in love with Glinda. (The passes she gives that girl…)). I don’t think her weird thing about Glinda is particularly rational, but it is undeniably all-consuming.

And that makes their relationship feel VERY human. Their flaws don't make them unworthy of each other’s love and respect and friendship. Elphaba's love of Glinda is pretty crazy in light of how much Glinda’s morals and choices differ from her own, but that’s the kind of love that real, sometimes illogical people have. Anybody trying to prove the logic or compatibility of the characters is kinda missing the point - it doesn’t make sense, and THAT’S how you know it’s love.

(Brief aside: similar to Elphaba’s obsession with Glinda, Fiyero is also irrationally obsessed with Elphaba. I mean, she kinda sucks at the whole revolution thing (she's trying!!) and he's clearly starry-eyed ignoring a LOT of her flaws lol. In contrast - for better or worse, Glinda does see Elphaba's flaws and calls them out, just as Elphaba sees Fiyero's flaws and calls him out. It’s a nice little circular relationship)

But…but….is it gay???

Sure. I think so - but I’m a lesbian who has shipped it since I was a preteen lol. But that’s also NOT THE POINT, and focusing on only the romantic angle of their relationship REALLY ignores just how layered and complex it is.

Taking off my squee shipping glasses for a minute: they’re fundamentally just two people in some version of an EXTREMELY intense relationship. I honestly think Glinda reads as a little terrified of how insanely intense her relationship is with Elphaba. She fears walking down that road and fully falling into that intense, all-consuming love. (And we literally learn why later through Fiyero’s ‘death’ and Elphaba’s insanity - love makes you do some crazy things, and Glinda can’t afford that in this world.)

Regardless of whether you interpret them romantically or not - it’s clear they’re very intense about each other and Glinda is very afraid that Elphaba is her weakness. Unfortunately, Elphaba is also her soulmate and the love of her life, and she’ll always come back again. That fact will ruin Glinda’s life in the end, but it will have been worth it for all the love that was there

[agentc0rn]

Kieran’s story as a loner champion rival character who challenged the game narrative + parallels with the DLC legends - another character essay

Okay, so this is another long rambling of mine that is probably an overthought (and reflective of past analysis) but anyhow, I like to think that Ogerpon, Terapagos and Pecharunt represent certain aspects of Kieran’s arc (albeit not in order). Although Kieran says himself about how he wants to be like PC/us, to be strong like the hero of the story, he outshone others in terms of being a protagonist; not in terms of simply as a central focus of the story but his desire to acquire qualities of a protagonist, which is very evident in his dominant role in the story. Kieran was a protagonist (along with Carmine) but not the main character in terms of the conditions it came along of being one.

To start, Ogerpon being a social outcast due to a great misunderstanding of her display of strength and act of self-defense as a threat is ironically picked up Kieran through his projected image of a strong “oni”; he later becomes this feared champion whose standards pushes out and judges others based on strength. Consequently, other students view him as overly stern and restrictive. He adopts that oni image and its attributed value of strength in who he sees himself as and subconsciously shows to others. Obviously the context of these circumstances are different, but Kieran ends up with a poor reputation just like Ogerpon did (He also takes the "treasure" - in this case Terapagos - like the oni which stole treasures in the tale of Momotaro).

Secondly, terapagos and its too short arc represents the full extent of Kieran’s desire, his potential and who he is; a reclusive, small being who possess great power and status, which, with neglect, caused great changes when it came to the tipping point. Moreover, Terapagos is the "monarch" of area zero, as evident with the tera crown, just as Kieran was the Blueberry champion/king. On another note, his quote of "I don't need my old self anymore - I will show you that I can change again!" resonates with the idea of transforming - physically and mentally - in conjunction with the terastalization, ultimately becoming who you want to be (penny says this as well).

To add further on, Terapagos' berserk state paralleled with Kieran’s monomia of battling and power (demonstrated in his behaviour at the championship match) that long affected his own well-being and his surroundings. The funny thing I personally noticed is that, Kieran took over that role of “control” as opposed to his possesion under dokutaro theories by capturing Terapagos and using it as a final resort to achieve his goal.

Likewise with Pecharunt's motive, Kieran was someone who deeply wanted something that resulted in the harm of others and himself (also mentioned in the case with terapagos). Kieran wanted not just strength, but also honesty and appreciation (form of love) from others. As our miscommunication led him astray, it persuades him that his self-worth is only found in strength (physically and mentally as a trainer and person), and that battling is no longer fun but a measure of worth, a trial determining the strongest who would outlive the weakest. He worked so hard to fulfill his goals for his own sake yet simultaneously for you in that sense of being proven wrong.

He gave up so much of himself by devoting his time, energy and studies to bettering himself (which is very ironiccc). Similarily, Pecharunt gave so much in return for its desire to be loved more - it took as it gave. Both have a warped sense of the things they love (or love in general) in their own respective ways. For Kieran, battling was a test of worth and that the things he liked ought to be strong. He went through such a training arc just to prove himself to you (he outright says so). Again, I repeat, Kieran did this all to fight you, ultimately to prove to you and himself that he made the right choice, that the effort for going through all of this was worth it.

Pecharunt went through all the trouble in seeking out the masks just to appease the couple (I would admit this just ties to the theme of treasure and its consequence with obsession in general, but this analysis aims to focus on the connection between the characters on a specefic level). Its grasp of love comes off as materialistic, more so conditional (same way applied to Kieran = battling in which determines one's success that is only found in strength; that to be a friend/rival, he needed to prove himself).

I have no epic quote/ending for this, oh well (it came off better in my head). edit: grammar issues and revised idea phrasing

[justawrites]

((Warning, long response incoming!! Sorry in advance!))

I totally agree with your vent post! While I really enjoy the fandom's diverse takes on Nari and Lamb's dynamic, motivations, and designs, I find that in AUs where they’re really horrible to each other romantically, they seem to lack any real chemistry. In these AUs, I often wonder what they could possibly even see in each other and wish they’d just move on, find someone else, or leave entirely. Oh well, at least I can enjoy the neat art styles. :/

I’ve also noticed that in AUs where Lamb abuses Nari, his agency is often completely stripped away, including the ability to care for himself, which feels annoyingly infantilizing. He also simply endures the abuse, like a battered spouse, with little to no pushback. It's frustrating, mainly because it feels like punishment for the sake of punishment, with no real motivations behind it. To me, these portrayals of Nari tend to exclude any grey area and lack nuance in terms of character development. They seem to focus on portraying Lamb as "good™" and Nari as "bad™," all while having the first abuse the second, which leaves a bad taste in my mouth, tbh.

((Btw, I feel that if someone tried to trap Nari again, whether through marriage or whatever else, he would try to leave as quickly as possible. He spent a millennium trapped; even if he could get the crown back, why would he risk staying, only to be trapped again?!))

Honestly, your work is one of my favorite depictions of Nari and Lamb because you give them both agency and clear motivations, while highlighting their strengths alongside their flaws. I particularly love how Nari's departure allows him to heal and find himself. You also take into account the complexity of not just their dynamic, but also their interactions with the Bishops and the rest of the flock. It feels like you genuinely care about how these characters will end up. The AUs you create are so fun, I’m always impressed with how developed your worlds and scenarios are. Ultimately, I find your fics really interesting to read. As someone who loves world-building and visual development, your work has inspired me in how to approach my own AU.

((I have a lot of feelings about this and could go on forever, but I won’t—otherwise, I’d have to include a tl;dr! XD))

But anyways, thanks for your time and have a good one!

(No worry I love long asks <3) Long answer so below the cut

You! You get it! Though I won't sit here and say I don't enjoy toxic fictional relationships, but it all depends on the framing for me. In a lot of cases it feels like shipping for the sake of shipping. I mean in Self-Fulfilling Prophecy, Unfulfilled, I definitely went with the toxic Lamb angle, and the more I think about that particular AU the less I want there to be any sort of positive feelings between the two. The more I think about that AU the less appeal romance has in it for me, and that's how I feel about a lot of AUs I see on here.

That being said, freak4freak power couple who are horrible people to everyone but each other is really fun lmao-

That's a big reason why I started God in a Godless Land in the first place if I'm honest. I wanted to explore a Narinder whose healing journey did not revolved around the Lamb or them being his caretaker, where when they meet again they're on as equal footing as a god and a semi-mortal can be. Spoiler alert, but Narinder and Lamb will have a conversation about this later.

And yeah I find it really boring when people throw nuance out the window. I don't like lumping all the blame on one character. I mean, Narinder was bad, yes, but at the end of the day the red crown was his and the Lamb did betray him, but most people shift it all onto Narinder. Also mostly unrelated but I think a lot of people forget/ignore that he did not want to be spared. He protests when the Lamb spares him and laughs when the Lamb kills him, so when I see an AU where they have him cowering in fear and begging for his life it's just like. I'm sorry what. That cat is not afraid to die. If anything he's probably afraid to live. (Side note, I also take issue with Unholy Alliance pushing almost all of the blame onto Shamura)

But yeah, in a lot of AUs I just. I want Narinder to either leave or find someone in the cult, at least, who will help him detangle his identity from the red crown and death itself. I would love to see more people exploring his healing arc separate from the Lamb. Obviously I tend to focus on his relationship with the Bishops, but it's also nice when people let him strike out on his own.

Narinder spent a thousand years trying to get out of chains, there's no doubt in my mind that he wouldn't let the Lamb even metaphorically chain him down. That's another thing about Godless Land that hasn't really been touched on yet; when Narinder chooses to settle down in Riverwood, it's his own choice. No one is making him stay and he's not subservient to anyone. There is no master, no one to be bowed down to and no one bowing, and he chooses to stay. When Wren confesses his feelings, Narinder can say no. There's no power or status difference between them in the godless lands. He can say no. He chooses Wren purely because he wants to; he isn't bound to obedience or subservience. It's his choice, and it is also so so easy to make these things his choice with the Lamb and cult as well, but all too often it's not. And, in that conversation between them I mentioned earlier, Narinder even acknowledges this; had he stayed in the cult and the Lamb shared with him their feelings, he probably would have accepted because that's how cults work. You don't reject the leader and you don't reject the god. He would have felt like he had no choice.

(Also this is just a personal me thing but I am very bored of the "Narinder tries to get the crown back" angle lmao I mean, go off y'all, write what y'all want and have fun with it. I'm more partial to "Narinder either chills out immediately because sunlight and berries and sleep for the first time in a milennia" or "Narinder goes into retirement mode and just shrugs his shoulders any time anything happens- your cult not mine")

hhhhh thank you so muchhh I really do love the stories/worlds I create. And I understand on some level CotL is like... a story about cults and killing and things are inherently unhealthy, all things considered, but I really really wanted to focus on the idea of Lamb (and the Bishops, once they've chilled the fuck out and basically became cleansed lol) wanting to change the world (even if they end up repeating patterns before figuring it out) and Narinder learning to live again without the weight of the life he once lived on his shoulders. But the shift for the gods from being worshiped deities who command and don't give their followers a second glance to worshiped deities who protect and love their followers...... they really do want to change things hhhgjg

I would have more to say myself but I have 5 minutes before class starts so imma leave the response here kjgfjk but thank you so much, I'm glad you're enjoying my stories!! I'm having a blast writing them so I'm happy to hear someone out there is enjoying them <3

[user-needs-new-hyperfixation]

What are your opinions about character ai? (Totally not asking bc im turning to it to feed my sherliam and alcroft hunger bc im picky and cant find actual fics i like right now and Im not motivated or confident enough to actually write anything myself)

I say this emphatically but with total kindness towards you as a person: AIs don't write, don't draw, don't create. They devour and regurgitate plagiarized art, and in my opinion the best thing we can do is collectively completely ignore them until they become so unprofitable they cease to exist, or are repurposed to do other things that free us humans up to actually create more art. The proliferation of them is likely part of why you have a hard time finding fic you enjoy: more and more folks are scared to share their art when it might be stolen and fed into AI, and more and more are locking their AO3 profiles for the same reason. So uh...my opinion is "AI (at least in its current iteration) = bad."

Lecture aside, let me encourage you to dabble in writing yourself, even if you don't feel confident! In the decade or more since I last published fic before getting into Yuumori, I've started and abandoned probably well over a hundred WIPs for different fandoms. And even though all those snippets just sit on my computer for my eyes only, they were all fun to write! You don't have to share something to enjoy creating it. Have a line you want to hear one character say to another? Write a single scene, just for yourself, incorporating that line! It doesn't have to be complete, and no one else ever has to see it. It's healthy: you're interacting with something you love, flexing creative muscles, engaging your brain and practicing grammar and cadence and so on and so on and so on. Writing is good for you!

Also, if you don't already, get into your fandoms. Engage. Comment on fic you DO like. Become a fic author's recognized regular. (And don't ever ever ever feed their work into AI!!!) Do all that, and you might find someone whose authorial voice you really like who is willing to take prompts and feed your ship hunger for you, in a way that has heart and soul and humanity embodied in it.

Anyway, I hope this wasn't too harsh...I do be going off about things I'm passionate about. I know AI is kinda ubiquitous now and it's easy to think it's just something fun to play with and not doing any harm, but it's good to talk to authors and artists about this stuff and hear where they're coming from. I'm not super defensive of my work myself (not that I WANT my writing put into AI, please don't!), but I am easily riled up for the sake of my many friends who are very stressed about the whole topic and what it means for their art!

[goddamnwebcomics]

Worst villains you've seen in webcomics?

It's surprisingly tough for me despite bad webcomic generally having bad characters.

For me it's not tough. Every villain I've tackled in this blog is either too likable to be a villain, too pathetic to be a villain, or just a generic villain who isn't interesting or cool in any way due to lack of a proper motivation. There really isn't a villain you love to hate or you feel enriches the story in any way, with very few exceptions.

Here is my Top 5 Worst Villains Ever

5. The Hosts (Gene Catlow)

I could've included various one-off villains like Horton or Evil Staggler here, but I feel like Hosts deserve this spot, because they were a clever and unique idea whose execution was completely and utterly botched. These invisible entities who eat the lifeforce of living creatures, especially cats due to their status in Gene Catlow World would've been absolutely terrifying, but they ended up becoming jokes. They ultimately didn't end up affecting the plot in any way, besides Horton killing them and resurrecting them as asskissers. The Hosts really should have been the main threat of the comic due to their nature, because they don't eat creatures for fun, but rather their own survival, and they should've also served as a reason for Gene and Matt to put their differences aside in order to fight them, but, they're all gone now.

4. The Infernomancer (Dominic Deegan)

I feel like The Infernomancer isn't a character. He is more like a plot device. When conflict, gore and death is needed, Infernomancer isn't too far behind. Outside of wanting to hunt down Miranda because Karnak demanded it, he doesn't have motives, any character, any backstory. He just wants to kill for the sake of killing, because this story needs an eldritch horror, when arguably, THE ENTIRE CONCEPT OF MAGIC IN THIS UNIVERSE ALREADY IS ONE. Remember, magic is established to do random shit because it's magic, and just about anybody can learn it, and only few are just completely immune to it. Maybe The Infernomancer is an allegory for the dark side of magic which is why he doesn't have name either, but we have enough bad magicians in this comic already. He's just a generic edgelord in a comic full of edgelords, except this edgelord is powerful and keeps cheating death oooh so spooky! It's like Batman Who Laughs but even worse.

3. Trasik (Alien Dice)

As bland as Infernomancer is, Trasik is probably even worse. I guess I am only ranking her so low because she could've had potential to be a good antagonist but somehow Tiffany fucked up EVERYTHING about her. She is a mysterious woman who also happens to be the sister of Riley, and for whatever reason she wants to hunt Lexx down. We later learn her intense hatred of Lexx is because her father, Kade, was close friends with Lexx's mother, and this led to Trasik just deciding to become racist against rishans. However over the years she has somehow gained a child soldier ring that she actively runs, and also Lexx's mother and grandmother live in secrecy RIGHT NEXT DOOR from her and she somehow has never known this. And if that wasn't enough, she was replaced with a mimic by ADC at some point after they kidnapped Chel, because she didn't attend a wedding. Trasik's entire existence is a gigantic mess, and we don't know why she does the things she does, and if she is even real, and worse than that Riley and other siblings have no issue with her doing these corrupted things. More than anything Trasik should've served as Riley's puppet who took the blame for his shady acts, but this is not about "characters who should have been villains".

2. Dr. Demikhov (Spinnerette)

Spinnerette is horrible at creating political strawmen, not because they're strawmen but because they're not even good strawmen. General Generic is actually a surprisingly reasonable authority figure and thus loops back to being likable. However one character I feel is a waste of time is Dr. Demikhov. Demikhov is the Anti-Universe, he is a proud communist who is somehow in high position at the Russian Federation. However he doesn't really do anything communistic, he just speaks in technobabble with occassional communist word, and this triggers the shit out of Universe. He is also a moron who merged his two assistants together because he wanted to prove something. Spinny has had a lot of bad villains, but even ones like WereQuakko Sisters were entertaining enough because of their fucking ridiculous concepts, Demikhov is a blank slate. He really should've been an oligarch-funded scientist who only uses communist jargon to draw the interest of young people like Manya Sisters, when in actuality all of his science is loyal to the world view of Putin. Having a scientist paid by the state to control their narrative would make him a proper opposite to anti-authoritarian Universe and also would make this arc less of a waste of time. At least he's implied to have straight up died, so we'll likely never see him again.

1. Matt (Gene Catlow)

Yes, Matt is the worst villain in the history of Goddamnwebcomics. But that's not his fault, it's the fault of his surroundings. Due to how every character seems to always read his mind and always seems to judge him as an asshole despite the fact he has more realistic view of the world and he respects his peers, Matt comes across like an underdog. He also has been stripped off his powers and constantly backstabbed, whether it's his former lovers, the puppet he created, his tech support and even his bosses and mentor. Not even his girlfriend is loyal to him as she's more interested in creating the Dog Holocaust than actually make his vision of a cat-ruled world come true, which is implied to be inevitable. Anyone trying to step into Matt's shoes usually fucks up, like how Tane destroyed the family power, and rather than spend all his days hating Gene, he is willing to work with his enemies in exchange of a better life for them, because he knows World of Friends is dangerous. Matt is perfect in every single way as a character, so in order to make him a better villain, everything AROUND him needs to be improved first!

[rainysflowers]

Rainy answers this because it doesn't have enough people who would actually send in asks for an ask game so it'll just do it on it's own!!

1. What was the first anime you watched?

The first anime I ever watched was Pokemon Black and White when it aired on Disney XD. Ofc, at the time I didn't consider it an anime for whatever reason, and that has stuck with me forever, so when asked this question, I always answer with the one I consider to be really the first anime I watched. Ouran High School Host Club. Summer camp, awards ceremony, final day. My friend comes up to me and says, "Hey, have you heard about this show??" I said no, and went and watched it on Netflix. Instantly hooked. Kyoya was my favorite host, btw.

2. What was the first fandom you were involved in?

Pokemon and Warrior Cats. I 'wrote' fanfiction for Pokemon in my head since the age of zero, and made so many Warrior Cat OCs as a baby. Had a HUGE playlist of M.A.P.s too. Both of them had a long impact on my life going forwards, and I'm not entirely certain which came first.

3. What fandoms are you involved in right now?

Gosh, atm? Nothing specific. I've been in a depressive mood for a while so I haven't watched anything at all in a LOOONNNGGGGGGG time. It's sad, to be honest.

4. Who is your favorite character from Lost Universe and why?

DAMN, putting me on the spot right away, god. Okay, so LU is a spin-off of Slayers and I have to be honest, I don't have a favorite character from it, mostly because it's not all that much of a favorite anime to me in general, BUT for the sake of this question, I think Rayl would probably be the one I like the most. Tho, that's cuz he's kinda aimed to be the Xellos of the anime...

5. Who is your least favorite character from GetBackers and why?

Easy. Drunk Vash. I, uh, don't know his name, but if you've seen the anime he's the other blond older man with light powers who shows up in the second half. To be fair, I hate the second half period, as it feels like a retread of all the cool stuff they did with Maku-chan and the Fortress in the first half, but I also think that Drunk Vash is just boring. The random assholes he brings along are boing (Not Toshiki, I respect his manga characterization), his motives are boring, and his ending is boring. And that's coming from someone who hate the manga's ending!!

6. How do you feel about Boa Hanncock from One Piece and why?

Of course the wheel chooses the long asf anime, smh. I'll have you know I put a decent amount of people on the other wheel. I hate her. I cannot stand her. I want her to go away. Great, very sad story though!! Okay, seriously, I HATE Boa, I hate her probably more than I hate any of the other characters that I hate. She kicks small animals, she's a dick, she's vain, and I hate her. She has a beautifully tragic and traumatic backstory I love. I love the symbolism of it that she has to carry, and how that has affected her into her later life. I cannot stand her. That should summaries how I feel about her.

7. What color do you associate with Zelgadis from Slayers?

Hmm, I'd have to say lighter blue. Not light blue, just a lighter blue. A grossly dusty and depressingly grey lighter blue. It is his skin color, so that's little surprise. But other than that, maybe a little bit of yellow. The sickly bright eyes of a creature watching you from the woods, stalking your every move. Will it attack you with its monstrous teeth and blood-stained claws, or is it making sure that you can't hurt it like everyone else whose come to this forest?

8. Have you read the manga for Ghost Slayers Ayashi?

Actually, I have not. I do own it, it's a two volume series, and I have an extra volume one that came with the collector's box set for the anime, but I haven't read it yet. I should, GSA is pitifully under stocked with content.

9. What is your favorite anime op?

I don't really think about this all that often, but if I had to choose, I'd probably say Death Note OP 2, What's Up People. Its fun. Other than that, We Are from One Piece.

10. What is your favorite anime ed?

Have a Nice Music!! from Show by Rock!!, or Revolution from Slayers Evolution-R. Mostly the latter.

11. Who is your favorite character to write for?

I think it'll have to be Xellos. That's hard to say, but I do really enjoy writing about them interacting with other characters, and they're one of my ONLY antagonistic characters I write for. Writing their world view as the Slayers equivalent of a higher demon is fun, and I just love using their character voice in the things I make.

12. What is your favorite headcanon for Crow from Show by Rock!!?

Oh boy. I'm not super fond of Crow, personally, I don't think about him too often, but if I had to choose something, it'd probably be that he actually does care about Aion, but just teases him cuz he feels like it. Basic, I know, but this headcanon applies more towards various fics and AUs I like to write. Most of them deathfics. A large through point is Aion breaking down to any degree and isolating or removing himself from the group, which causes the tri to go and find him. I usually like to have Crow most affected by this when I am writing him because it's a good contrast.

13. What is your favorite character to read fics about?

I don't have an all time favorite character to read for, but I do have characters who I like to see focused on in the fic, if that makes sense. There's not one that's more than the others, tho, cuz I usually read fics fandom by fandom. Character's I prefer to have a focus on (NOT THEIR POV THO) are: - Xellos (Slayers) - Ban (GetBackers) - Jack (L/R) - Sanji (One Piece) - Yoji (Weiss Kreuz) - ECT... Basically look at a list of my favs and you get the point. Funny enough they're also all my favs to read about dying er uh who said that!!

14. What is your favorite ship from Death Note?

Oh no. Why would it land on this. Oh well. If I have to admit it, I do really like Light/L, but not in a super sexual or even romantic way. I like them more as a fucked up, evil dynamic that can't be quantified, like 'love and hate are both the same' type sentiments. I particularly like them ship-wise when in a No Kira!Cops! AU I have, because it allows me to mess with them not liking one another BEYOND the scope of being a serial killer and a cop. Other than that, and a worthy mention, I also like Misa/L, both in canon and in that AU I mentioned. I just think it could be cute :3 No Light/Misa tho, not in canon most certainly, it skeeves me out

15. What is your least favorite ship from L/R: Licensed by Royalty?

Time to sound awful. Uh... I don't really like Claire/Rowe... I don't want you to get the wrong idea, they're fine, I'm just not into their chemistry. It's not something that I would enjoy writing about or consuming solely. That's mostly because I ship the boys, Jack/Rowe, the non-canon gay ship, but I really don't mind seeing Claire/Rowe in general. I'm just not into it. I don't really have strong feelings on characters outside of the main three (Jack, Rowe, Noelle) in this anime so the two being in a relationship means I'm not interested in half of it and it's hard for me to engage with it. Sorry two other L/R fans on Earth :P

16. What ship will you go down with?

... Okay, uh... this is weird, but my fav fav fav ship is Shuu★Zo/Aion from Show by Rock!! It's an enemies-to-lovers ship with two character who I don't believe have ever spoken before once... BUT I have this AU. So in the show, Aion ends up possessed by a negativity demon, and wanders to the roof of a very tall building (He seeks out high places when distressed, he's very mentally ill). Shuu notices and tells Aion's band where to find him. In the AU, it's Shuu who goes and saves Aion instead of the band, and they grow closer after this, which is hindered by the fact they are in dueling, opposite genre bands (Aion is vkei, Shuu is jpop). I love them so much.

17. Who is currently your main comfort/emotional support character?

I have like five million but a sold fall back is Xellos from Slayers. I don't know why, but something made me gravitate towards them and it was never the same after that. Other notable ones are, like, Ban from GetBackers or maybe L from Death Note, but Xel is def the all time fav.

18. What is a comfort character you have that makes other people go ??? "Really?" 

I honestly can't think of anyone that would fit that description, but I like Kiriko from Black Jack and I think that he might be one of the weirder ones?? He's an old man twink who does euthanasia, but he's got a good story and I like that he just shows up sometimes lol.

19. Have you used a quote from an anime/manga in a relevant situation?

Nope. I have referenced the plots of anime/manga in situations before, however, like when I let made my friend explain the semantics of Minecraft Parkour Civilization just to say "OMG that's like GetBackers :3"

20. What anime food would you like to try?

L's strawberry shortcake from Death Note. It's a weird choice, right, but it just looks sooooo good. Perfect strawberry, good looking cake, and it's L's!! What's more to ask for?? Or I'd like Sanji from One Piece to make me something. Anything at all, I just wanna see what he'd give me.

21. What anime place would you like to visit?

Not an anime place, but omfg take me to Sapporo or Okinawa. They are soooooo pretty in Yakuza 3 & Yakuza 5 respectively, I wanna go NOW!!!!!!! But if I'm allowed to choose a fictional anime place then probably... I think I'd like to go to Shinjuku cuz Count D from Pet Shop of Horrors: Tokyo is there and the GetBackers boys are there too. I'd like to meet with them.

22. What anime animal would you like as your pet?

I feel like I'd rather BE an anime animal more than having any that I WANT, but if I had to choose, then... The person I reblogged this from makes a good point with an eevee from Pokemon. I kinda want a persacom from Chobits but thats not really an animal...

23. What anime movie is your favorite?

I don't watch many anime movies, but I guess if I had to choose one it would probably be either the Castle of Cagliostro or The First, both from Lupin the Third. Great films really, each extremely well animated and easy to get into... well... Cagliostro is, not so sure about The First... BUT you should still watch them, they're wonderful!!

24. What is the saddest anime you have watched?

Trigun 98. By far. Saddest shit you will EVER see, I highly recommend it. It starts off really fun and goofy, but as you get into it, the anime slowly creeps in its depressing things until you get halfway in and its game over from then on. You will watch Vash cry at least once per episode, and you will watch as he is broken down mentally and physically till he's nearly nothing. Great show, tbh.

My overly sepcific ask game with questions no one wants an answer to

Alternative title: things I want people to ask me but no one does

What was the first anime you watched?

What was the first fandom you were involved in?

What fandoms are you involved in right now?

Who is your favorite character from (anime) and why?

Who is your least favorite character from (anime) and why?

How do you feel about (character) and why?

What color do you associate with (character)?

Have you read the manga for (anime)?

What is your favorite anime op?

What is your favorite anime ed?

Who is your favorite character to write for?

What is your favorite headcanon for (character)?

What is your favorite character to read fics about?

What is your favorite ship (from a specific anime or in general)

What is your least favorite ship (from a specific anime or in general)

What ship will you go down with?

Who is currently your main comfort/emotional support character?

What is a comfort character you have that makes other people go ??? "Really?" 

Have you used a quote from an anime/manga in a relevant situation?

What anime food would you like to try?

What anime place would you like to visit?

What anime animal would you like as your pet?

What anime movie is your favorite?

What is the saddest anime you have watched?

This took me forever to make please don't let this flop

[kreideprinzalby]

Genshin 4.0 Thoughts

So I finished the Chapter IV Archon Quests (And some of the major World Quests) for 4.0 a while back and like very other long-time Genshin fan whose been playing since it's launch in 2020, it's been a joy just going through the new nation and for the first time in so long I finally felt like I'm having fun in Genshin again. To the point me, someone who will admit never 100% completed any Genshin area or region, 100% COMPLETED THE FONTAINE 4.0 AREA IN A WEEK, it think that says something about how far we've come from the early days.

There will be talk of 4.0 spoilers under the cut so be warned!!

Funny enough, I've never made a post like this since 2021 when Inazuma went live. Mostly for a lot of personal reasons (college courses, moving away from home, etc.) and how i felt about the game post-Inazuma / pre-Sumeru wasn't exactly positive. Plus the initial backlash Sumeru had soured my mood to the point i was just playing through the game just for the sake of it. But that was before the Archon quest finished, and while I'm not going to talk about Sumeru's exploration aspect (no one mention tunnels in the desert to me ever again), The Archon quest was a MASSIVE improvement and showed how the story of Genshin can be good when they take their time. It did make me hope the next region would take a page from how Sumeru handles it's characters. Besides that tangent, So what is it about Fontaine that's making it so fun?

Well for starters, the water exploration is VERY fun. Even without Fontaine characters the atmosphere and just overall game-play feels smooth and easy to control. I found myself mindlessly swimming around just taking it all in. It's probably also why I felt motivated to 100% the area since 4.0's area is small and feasible to do.

Surprising no one, Genshin's soundtrack for Fontaine is fantastic as always. I could pinpoint some songs the 4.0 livestream played but the rest are still beautiful to listen too. Especially the vocals in the underwater tracks or even just the songs that play in Fontaine's countryside.

Staking a page out of Sumeru's Archon Quest, the first two acts of Chapter 4 really set a new high bar. Mostly because they mystery of why the Nation of Justice treats trials like a spectacle plus the the looming threat of the entire nation being flooded and dissolved away with only Focalors remaining makes for a chilling mystery.

As a fan of Ace Attorney (and Danganronpa unfortunately/lh) the trials section are so much fun to play thru. The way we get to piece it all together, granted with not much penalty, felt like we were uncovering a case before our eyes. And hey! the traveler got to talk some more! also shoutout to Paimon's Groucho glasses staying for that 1st half.

Even though Genshin is no strangers to killing off NPC's at this point, something about how the methods of murder are done here feel eerie. From the jumpscare of the Box being crushed with someone inside to the fact PEOPLE IN FONTIANE JUST, DISSOLVE? so there was a Serial Killer going out murdering girls in a way that leaves nothing behind is very scary to think about even with the lack of blood and gore onscreen.

Of course the real stars of the show are the Fontaine characters we have already met. It's nice to finally see Lyney & Lynette after the Teyvat Trailer showed them nearly 3 years ago, and their dynamic is so nice to see (even if Lyney is rizzing us up lmao). I also love the direction they're going with Navia, Clorinde, and even Neuvillette with how they came across from the teasers.

As the 5th Archon we've met, I already love Furina's personality and dynamic she's got with the traveler. We haven't had an Archon whose been an outright rival to us since they've either been helpful to us from the get-go (Venti, Zhongli, & Nahida) or or straight up tried to kill us for exisiting (Raiden Shogun / Ei). Furina not only is committed to acting al high and mighty every chance she gets, but also really seems to want to show off how grand she is. I also love how we get to see a lil' bit into her psyche and how underneath that bravado she's really just scared her people will judge her if she didn't act like a god fit for the land of Justice. which makes me really excited how were going to convince her to devolve info about the traveler's twin.

Less serious but i love that Arlecchino is called the "Father" and is King in her home we love a GNC queen <3. That being said I am a bit excited to how they portray her since the way Lyney and Lynette talk of her is very much rose-colored since she saved them from horrific circumstances and they trust her with their life, but that remains to be seen

But if that's what I think is good, whats some stuff I think could have been better?

Even though the water exploration is fun, I wouldn't say the puzzles and some of the underwater power are balanced. The Bullet Barnacles took me way to long to figure out before i took too much damage and since underwater you done have access to hearing other than specific areas your characters are just dead until you revive them. Plus the Sonar you get from the Seals feels weaker to use then say the Crab or Manta Ray power-ups. Plus the time trials and such are just your normal fair for genshin 'secrets'

The Pneuma and Ousia mechanic for the Meka enemies feels a little janky in combat. Maybe because from the start we only have Lyney & Lynette (and the Hydro Traveler) that can use this system right now make be why, but the targeting on certain Meka enemies looks like they hit them with the correct energy but doesn't stun them. Maybe it'll get better once we have more Fontaine characters but for now it's just another combat mechanic.

This is more of a nitpick, but there's one story moment that has one of the worse timing in Genshin. You've prob seen how people reacted to the Traveler seemingly random hostility towards finding out Lyney & Lynette are Fatui (or at least part of a Fatui household since House of Hearth raises Fatuus Soldiers), and normally that would make sense since they spent an entire trial trying to defend them but that omission of crucial info almost cost them the case. BUT, from the players perspective not only hours before were they JUST friendly to Childe, a Fatui Harbringer that despite being friends they are still wary of and now suddenly is willing to treat him like any old friend now in Fontaine makes it come across as cruel to the twins and weird in context. Why would the traveler, whose a twin themselves, show a lack of compassion two twins that opened their heart about their (surprisingly dark) backstory? It's not a horrible choice but it's definitely a weird writing choice in this instance. Especially since you have to finish Act's I & II to seen Lyney's Story Quest, and the traveler is somehow okay with them now? It's just weirdly timed is all.

I need more Freminet PLEASE I JUST WANNA SEE THE BOY!!

That's pretty much all I got. Hopefully I'm more hopeful of Fontaine's hype to the end, especially with how great Sumeru's story quest went. So we'll just have to wait & see what 4.1 and 4.2 gives us!

[stardustizuku]

Hi, I just finished reading your MBL Magical Girl analyis and wow, it was great. PTT is really the only magical girl anime I've seen, but you were so articulate and your passion for the genre makes me want to watch more of them. I could spend hours reading your thoughts, they were so well-presented and I'm just drooling over your writeup right now. I was curious if you you have watched/have any opinions on the redemption that happens at the end of Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure? I thought it was really badly handled because of characterization, motive, etc, but that it COULD have worked with better writing. Thanks for your time!

Unfortunately, I have not.

I did watch the first few episodes, but I was not that interested in it. I do follow some people who like it, but from what I've gathered - the redemptions were extremely rushed. Not that I'm surprised, but from the few episodes I saw, Rapunzel came off as a bit of an overbearing person whose fatal flaw is how she wants everyone to like her/love her.

It'd make sense for her to just forgive anyone if that means having less enemies - which makes sense when you consider her abusive upbringing and how Mother Gothel would make her love only "accessible" if Rapunzel pleased her - aka liked her.

It seems like because of this Rapunzel has been made into someone too trusting, too forgiving, all for the sake of being liked and not denied the small safety net she's created.

However, if neither the show nor other characters call it out, that's where we have a problem. I adore redemption arcs, but we have to address the elephant in the room that is "not everyone deserves a redemption" or better yet "you don't owe anyone a redemption".

Little girls, the primary audience of these shows, are being taught to do the emotional labour of forgiving the people who hurt them. I'm not particularly mad when it's girls forgiving girls - because I think it serves us form communities and heal from the patriarchy.

"I'm sorry I made fun of your weight, I was taught to that my beauty means everything, so I lashed out when I saw how confident you could be and how my worth is beyond that" is more about healing and becoming a better than person than anything else.

BUT when it's girls having to forgive men who've hurt them...I'm less inclined to agree. And while I'm aware the person I'm thinking abt is a kid, I've suffered enough harassment from "kids" or well, "teenagers" to know it's not a justification.

I am pretty sure I would have strong opinions abt it if I were to watch it, but unfortunately, I do not watch things I know I won't like, or at least not enjoy the hillside of a ride I'm about to embark in.

[art]

Creator Spotlight: @tinypaint

My name is Michelle Fus. I’m a Jewish, non-binary artist. I graduated from the School of Visual Arts for Computer Art and Animation in 2011. I’ve interned at Pixar and worked for a few years at Dreamworks Animation. Over the past ten years, I’ve self-published two books and have run three successful Kickstarters. I now work with Skybound (The Walking Dead, Invincible) in developing my webcomic, Ava’s Demon, as a physical book series for stores. I like hiking, cultivating plants, caring for my cats, and hanging out with my beautiful husband. You can read my webcomic at avasdemon.com.

Check out our interview with Michelle below!

How did you get your start in art, and more specifically, with Ava's Demon?

I’ve always been into art since I was very young. I started to gravitate towards it in first grade, where we were required to keep a daily journal. I found myself drawing in it more than actually keeping entries. From there, I got more and more interested in honing my skills as an artist. I started making my own comics for fun. I signed up for classes outside of school and put together a portfolio for the School of Visual Arts, where I majored in Computer Art and Animation. After getting my first job in the field, I realized that it wasn’t what I wanted to do with my life. After working my day job, I would come home and work towards building a career in comics for myself by creating and uploading my webcomic, Ava’s Demon.

What is one habit you find yourself doing a lot as an artist?

Looking things up to learn more before I make art or write. For instance, how many livable planets are in a Galaxy? What does a black hole actually look like, and can it give off light? How long would it actually take to travel through space if you had the fastest ship possible? I look up all of these things and then ignore most of them for the sake of writing a fun story and making fun art.

From idea to final piece, how long does it take for you to create something?

It depends on the feeling I want to convey. Sometimes I’ll work for a whole week on a drawing and then delete it because I just don’t feel good about it. Other times I’ll make something in a day that I absolutely love from beginning to end. Some drawings I never delete nor finish, and instead, the files just kind of sit in a folder. The time it takes varies a lot.

Over the years as an artist, what were your biggest inspirations behind your creativity?

I really love good stories. So movies and books with captivating stories usually motivate and inspire me; stories that stay with you permanently, with twists and turns that you can’t stop thinking about. I also love finding characters whose struggles I can deeply relate to. I try to hold onto those feelings and emulate them through my art.

What is the hardest part of your process?

Actually finishing a drawing. The anxiety of it piles on me sometimes. I’ll work for a while on a drawing and constantly ask myself, “Is this drawing really finished? What terrible things about it am I not seeing?”. My desire to avoid making something terrible can sometimes put me in a mental prison where I keep chipping away at a drawing until I no longer know what I am looking at.

What is one interaction you had from a fan of yours that has stuck with you over the years?

In general, I like letting young artists in middle school, and high school know that I wasn’t very good at art at their age (I really wasn’t, I didn’t have the same resources they have now, and I didn’t have any perspective on what it takes to have a career in art, it’s a different world). Kids have come to me at conventions with their work for critique and advice, and I have to tell them that they’re already miles ahead of what I could make at their age. I have to tell them that it’s okay if they can’t make what all the professionals make online, to know that they have SO much time ahead of them to work at what they love. If you love making art, do it often, study art throughout history, and over time you’ll be able to create everything your heart desires.

What is something other people find hard to draw that you find enjoyable?

I have no idea. Sometimes it feels like drawing anything is suffering, even if you like what you’re making.

Who on Tumblr inspires you and why?

@loish has been consistently inspiring me since my days in high school. Every new painting has so much grace and power and is so excellent to look at. Her skill in shape and form seems limitless, and I hope to someday achieve even a small fraction of her understanding of art. Seeing her new work on my timeline also makes my dopamine spike, so I’m always looking forward to updates from her.

Thank you so much for stopping by and sharing, Michelle! Be sure to check out their Tumblr blog over at @tinypaint and follow their webcomic, Ava’s Demon, over at avasdemon.com.

[inamindfarfaraway]

I love that it’s King more overtly than Luz the Collector has a special connection with, because of how much more they serve as a foil for King. They’re a foil for Luz too, but like:

King wanted power and control, but has learned (ironically as he’s discovered his nature as a Titan) that more important than that for its/his own sake is family and friends, having good connections with good people in your life and helping others. He’s grown up a lot - learned empathy, humility, selflessness and better emotional management. The Collector is an ancient, almighty, omnipotent being able to warp reality effortlessly. Because of this he’s never faced any challenges that have motivated them to change and remain stagnant in eternal selfish, careless immaturity, never sparing a thought to anyone else and treating everything as a game.

King wanted subjects who feared and worshipped him, armies to command, devotees to perform acts in his name. The Collector has a whole civilization built around worship of him and the destruction of his apparent enemies or prey the Titans, and inspires terror in the people of the Boiling Isles.

King longed to be a god, but got the life of a fairly ordinary kid, initially to his annoyance and insecurity. He tried to project a fierce, intimidating image and coveted positions of authority and symbols of status like crowns, was desperate to be taken seriously. Since the start of the show he embraces his childhood and ‘humanity’, wanting to be treated like an equal and no higher, treasuring his stuffed animals and small joys like simplistic puns and cuddles from a big sister - even in the face of actually being the young of a species revered like gods whose dead bodies are potent enough to spontaneously create life on continental scales and whose blood can open holes between dimensions. The Collector truly is a god and his level of power commands respect entirely in itself, but he has no grandeur or weight in his disposition and behaviour. They’re a child in mind and bearing alike, from when he’s petulant and demanding to ranting and sulking in bitter rage to his glee and excitement about new games and fast-formed, hot-burning affection toward his ‘friends’. They shun formality and take barely anything seriously, wearing a child’s playsuit.

King’s character has been and continues to be heavily shaped by a deep sense of loneliness and abandonment. He was born and started developing his personality completely alone except a seemingly non-sentient artificial guardian; vaguely remembers his father being present when he was incubating, but entering the world with no family; then after Eda took him in had no friends that we know of until Luz came along and his social skills were accordingly poor. Now he’s forced to reckon with being the last of his species and walking on his dead father’s decomposing corpse every day, mourning his people, their culture and the life he might have had with them. Between that and the species in question being Titans, his experience is fundamentally impossible for anyone else to relate to. And he leaned this through the merciless betrayal of a people he thought he belonged to! He’s consistently been afraid of his loved ones leaving him and this manifests as attention-seeking and clinginess, often literally holding onto people. The Collector is the only known member of his species to have ever existed. They feel total emotional detachment to all other life, but as harmful as they’re willing to be to others, it’s clear they’ve been hurting immensely themselves. He despises his lonely prison and will do anything to be free of it; so isolated is he there, he can’t even touch people. Thousands of years of that existence would break anyone’s sanity, but especially a child’s to whom attachments are a crucial part of development. It’s no wonder he constantly needs attention and, fun and games the sole medium of interaction and connection they understand, loyal ‘playmates’ to keep him happy and stimulated. They like King have a habit of invading people’s personal space and literally (or telekinetically) holding onto them, e.g. pulling King toward them at the end of “King’s Tide”. Betrayal, abandonment and loneliness are the worst feelings in the world for both the Collector and King, and ones they know all too well.

Finally, the kids have each had a single important relationship both prior to and during the show with a magically powerful adult: Eda and Belos. Eda rescued King from his isolation before she even realized he was of her intelligence, let alone a Titan many would kill to get ahold of, just out of the kindness of her heart, and raised him with love and dedication. She created a false narrative that he was more important in the greater scheme of things than she had reason to believe he was, but he was always indispensably important to her. When it became evident the lie wasn’t helping her son, she revealed the truth, took full responsibility and apologized for it. Eda respects him and puts his needs ahead of her own and he officially recognizes her as his mother. Belos meanwhile promised to free the Collector from his isolation to exploit his knowledge and magic and refused to follow through. He always understood how important the Collector was in the greater scheme of things, but created the false narrative that they were more important to him than they actually were. He revealed the truth when it became convenient for himself and disposed of him with no sympathy or remorse. When they held him accountable, in his shameless selfishness he outright denied having betrayed them. And although the Collector’s childlike psychology and lack of any love or discipline in his life mean he desperately needs a parental figure, Belos kept their relationship a business partnership and never felt anything toward him; so they, upon realizing his treachery and heartlessness, had no hesitation to blithely murder him.

The Collector is essentially what King would be with his pre-show personality and all his potential Titan power; and, equally importantly, no healthy relationships and a toxic relationship instead of healthy, loving family bonds and friendships!

[shockersalvage]

Salvage Showcase: Isshiki Madarai

An attempt by yours truly in trying to be active once again here! And what better way than by talking about the characters in Danganronpa that don’t get as much love from the fandom, mostly due to appearing in media that weren’t officially translated or just aren’t that well known. I’ll be giving my analysis on their role in their respective material and my thoughts on them!

So whose up first?

Oh.

Summary

Well, let’s start with a brief explanation. Isshiki Madarai is from Danganronpa Zero and is the Ultimate Bodyguard and is a member of the Hope’s Peak Student Council. On-paper at least. In actuality, despite officially being on the council, no one considers him a true member, instead regulating him to just being a bodyguard. Something they’re painfully aware of.

‘They’re’? Yeah, Madarai is actually one of eight octuplets with the collective talent of ‘Multiple Birth Siblings’ (henceforth will be known as MBS because that full title can take a hike). They all act under the ‘Isshiki Madarai’ name and are reoccurring antagonists for the events of Zero. Their main goal is to gain vengeance for the Student Council’s demise, with their intuition leading them to believe Ryoko had something to do with the incident and relentlessly hunting her. In the end, all eight end up being murdered by either Mukuro or Junko, with their deaths being covered up by the school as them being expelled.

Personality wise, the Madarai are all fairly similar to each other: merciless, stubborn, prideful, and ego’s easily wounded. They’re also detrimentally violent, which leads to their downfall on multiple occasions. Overall, they’re a clan that feels insulted over the Tragedy of Hope’s Peak and will stop at nothing to find the perpetrator of the incident. They also hold keen intuition and can be cautious, but they're opt to use brute force like torture or murder in order to get their way.

The Rundown

Now, the good I will say about the Madarai is how they fit in with Danganronpa Zero’s theme of identity. Or rather, lack of identity. Not to mention a theme of irrelevance (I’m not making of fun of them, being serious). As well as being contrasts to both Yuto Kamishiro and the Despair Sisters. The first thing that comes to mind is Madarai’s sibling gimmick, where eight individuals are acting as one person, effectively suppressing their own individuality for the sake of a lie for intimidation purposes.

However, in doing so they had also effectively stunted themselves. In exchange for uniformity, they had become utterly predictable to the point that Ryoko herself, a scared amnesiac, was able to knock one out after being exposed to their fighting style for long enough and Mukuro even chided that being the reason she can kick their asses so easily. In a series where Ultimates praised over their own unique individual talents, their choice to be the same effectively doomed them. This uniformity also goes against the Despair Sisters. While they may be twins, both are extremely different in terms of personality and skills - you can’t approach one like you do the other and trying for anything conventional against them is bound to get you hurt.  They’re existence pretty much slaps the Madarai’s methods in the face and given their major feat of ENDING THE WORLD you have to admit their way worked best.

As for Yuto? In general, both of their desire was to figure out the truth to the Tragedy of Hope’s Peak, albeit for different motivations. For the Madarai it was for the sake of their own wounded pride and vengeance. For Yuto? A way to increase his own fame. While the Madarai’s methods are flashy and brutal, with the culprit in their sights given their intuition- its largely ineffective and doesn’t gain much in the way of practical information and only results in them being taken out knowing nothing useful. In Yuto’s case, befitting his nature as a spy (though not his personality), he gains credible evidence and extremely useful knowledge into stuff regarding details like Izuru Kamukura. However, he is physically weak, so when he gets in way too deep, he ends up killed for his efforts. It’s one of the case where, if both had known about the other’s intentions and opted to work together, they probably could have covered way more ground and be able to make up for the others weaknesses.

What’s interesting about both is how they relate to the identity theme of Zero - or the lack of it. Yuto is the Madarai’s polar opposite. Yuto design and purpose is to be fairly simple and forgettable, much to his chagrin. But its in this lack of identity where he finds strength to get things done and showcase his information gathering skills  and become fairly close to the truth. In contrast, the Madarai’s design is supposed to stand out (for better or for worse) with his  elaborate snake-like monster design and serves as a plot roadblock. Yet, his effects on the plot when you look back is rather paper thin. At best, their attempts are good for highlighting Ryoko’s competence and Mukuro’s power. At worst, which to me they hit that way often, they are aforementioned roadblocks. Any interaction one would want to see further or plot details you want to see developed end up getting derailed with their whole invincible shtick and their own story of revenge concerning the Council’s demise. They’re purposefully made to be intrusive in the story, yet its also on purpose that their storyline never successfully goes anywhere. It ties back into their secondary theme of ‘irrelevance’.

The Madarai, technically, would have been ‘16th student’ of the Student Council killing game, but weren’t there because Junko never considered them one. She wasn’t the only one to consider this. The Headmaster, Steering Committee, Soshun Murasame, hell not even themselves if Mishiki bitterly remembering it is to go by. No one considers them a true councilman beyond just being a guardian and they had no use in-story beyond that. Mukuro even points this out that she actually doesn’t want  to fight the Madarai since it just creates more victims and it was better for the remaining Madarai to go away since the story had nothing to do with them (I’ll talk about DR0!Mukuro at a later date). To put it simply, they aren’t wanted in-story since they have no relevance to the bad guys’ plans and for, well Hope’s Peak aren’t really good guys, the administration side the Madarai’s worth as people aren’t considered beyond their talent. Once they failed no one even bats an eye at them. Even DR3 shows that, even in spite of that guardian role, no one in the Student Council bothered to alert the Madarai they received threatening messages or bring one along. It’s one of those things that retroactively gives the impression Madarai’s presence was quite the afterthought in-universe and adds a layer of a bitter tragedy to it. They stand out and have utility, but no one sees their potential and layers beyond that. Their gimmick would be interested in a more action oriented series, but in Danganronpa (a murder mystery fiction) brute strength takes a back seat for brainpower. And given DR’s nature, where Ultimates who excel in combat more than them exist (like the Ultimate Soldier) or excelling in intelligence, like the Despair Sisters the only thing awaiting a character like the Madarai is cruel defeat and to be swept under the rug just as fast.

Personal Thoughts

Now I’ll be blunt: I don’t like these guys. In fact I think they just might be my most hated Danganronpa characters of all time. Remember the whole ‘they’re intrustive’ bit I went into earlier? Yeah, them showing up again and again with the strategy of ‘we’ll beat you up until you fess up’ quickly wore thin. I know they’re supposed to be bitter hotheads and I know them acting the same is intentional, but God did it not make their antics bearable. “Yes, let’s threaten this guy’s life! Yes, let’s attack the principal’s daughter! Surely this won’t backfire on us, assuming we don’t die ourselves”. Ugh.

Side note: Also hate their designs. You want to make a snake like student? Sure designers go ahead! But you need to make sure they look decent.

Making them ridiculously buff isn’t making them decent!! It clashes with the motif and just makes them look jarring to look at it! You can have a character be strong, but this goes way overboard.

His concept art is a major improvement that I wish the other illustrations stick to.

This ends the first showcase, next time I post I’ll be going on about a character from the Danganronpa Kirigiri side of things!

[spidersmiceandeverythingnice]

Is ACOTAR actually worth reading? I get that it's mostly just a cringey romance novel with fairies but I'm still kind of morbidly curious anyway.

Honest answer: it depends entirely on your bullshit tolerance levels and your personal boundaries.

ACOTAR has nuggets of gold and for me it's worth reading because of individual characters and Lore Potential - which is why i primarily interact with this content via fanfiction/fandom. But there is a LOT of stuff in the books that I try to ignore - like let's set aside the issues with representing marginalized groups (the entire main cast is white and we are always reminded about how STRONG and BEAUTIFUL they are compared to a supporting cast containing multiple black and brown characters who should logically be just as powerful if not much stronger [special shoutout for Helion Spellcleaver, my favorite minor character], and this series contains one of the worst instances of maybe bi maybe lesbian who even knows coming out drama that I've ever read.) The main couple is genuinely insufferable, the plots are often thin, and the world is inconsistent because it constantly has to bend to accommodate the male hero, because he's a legitimately awful person who the author wants you to believe is a misunderstood hero. Events and character motivations are retconned as a matter of course. This series also handles topics like sex, abuse, and trauma legitimately poorly - I've seen reviews of people getting quite legitimately triggered by things like a heroine having a "recovery arc" that involves her loosing all of her agency and autonomy, reproductive abuse by the main hero, and other examples.

But! Let's take Lucien for example. In a better book, he's the main character. A biracial, disabled faerie whose main job is to secure political alliances for the Court. He's charming, friendly, flirts for fun, and has a mischievous streak. He steals every single scene he's in. He has lived his entire life in a bloodthirsty royal court where his only solace is his mother, tormented by six older brothers and an incredibly abusive father who once murdered his fiance because he believed that she wasn't good enough to marry a royal before he escapes to sanctuary offered by his closest friend. This guy immediately becomes ride or die for the main heroine in book one and almost gets himself killed trying to help her multiplie times. He hasn't even learned the identity of his real father yet! He's currently in what amounts to a magical arranged marriage with the main characters sister which has a lot of really excellent potential. Of course, the author is not super interested in writing this and repeatedly teases a love triangle with the sister and a character who is canonically employed to torture his Courts enemies and loves BDSM for some fucking reason. (No this was considered essential character information for this random ass guy.)

So it goes.

The worst instance of this was Nesta, my favorite female character. She's the main heroines eldest sister so in book one she plays the Evil Spoiled Sister role to her martyr little sister - until 3 quarters of the way into the book it's revealed that Nesta is immune to faerie magic and tried to force her way into the faerie kingdom to rescue her little sister after she's taken away to fulfill the curse. Nesta is a strong, brilliany, and inconvenient heroine who has a lot of heart even though she masks it with indifference and rage. The author later proceeds to browbeat her for this inner strength and agency, declaring via the narrative that she was always a bad ungrateful person and she has to learn to Become Good and Nice and Sweet and a warrior like her angelic sister who suffered so so much for her sake - then and only then will she deserve to be loved and cared for!!!

And that for me was when I knew that there was no saving this series.

Basically my advice is to read the first ACOTAR book. If you can't get through it, you find it tips your bullshit meter one way or another, you can't stand the main characters - literally whatever! Then don't bother with the series. If you can ignore a metric shitton of BS and prospect for the bits of lore/characterization that you like, then I say put the blinders on and enjoy. Book one is a beauty and the beast retelling with a sprinkle of the Ballad of Tam Lin for spice - its a decent YA novel that I do legitimately enjoy reading. But because i got attached to the leading man of THAT book, I'm not sure I can recommend the rest of the series on good conscious even if the cool lore bits that I like come later - (I'm especially interested in Summer Court geography, the one thousand libraries of the Day Court, and I have a theory that the true magic of the Dawn Court is time manipulation.)

Tldr, I have very strongly divorced the series canon from the content I make and consume about it - I have recreated entire personalities for the majority of tje cast and supply my own lore - and if you want some better fanfics about the series tho I've got you COVERED.

[rollercoasterwords]

HI YOU!! for the ask game ooh. well actually i would love in general to hear your thoughts on peter i don’t know if i’ve seen you speak about him b4 xx and i guess for the sake of the game my unpopular opinion in regards to him is that. i sort of do sympathize with him as a boy at least more than general fandom seems 2…feel like the tendency to erase him from the narrative altogether sort of. undermines the significance of his eventual betrayal + also the way he is treated by fandom compared to other equally terrible characters like barty or tom riddle or evan whatshisname…a little suspicious 2 me!! anyway i am front row in the lecture theatre ready to hear your takes hand em over xx

ridi!! welcome 2 my lecture hall i am clearing my throat + taking a sip of water + tapping my little microphone <3

ok for the sake of summarizing: unpopular opinion that peter is underrated

strongly agree | agree | neutral | disagree | strongly disagree

so like....i agree with this but idk if it is in the way i sometimes see people agreeing with it. like i have seen people who go "omg peter was actually a great fantastic guy!!! he was amazing i love him!!" in an effort to combat him sort of getting left to the side and. well. i do not think peter was a great guy lol. and of course u can do whatever u want with him in an au but i personally do not usually take an interest in characters unless there is at least a few threads or connections to their canon characterization, bc that's what gets me interested in the first place, y'know?

i actually have talked about peter somewhere on this blog before so maybe i will go and hunt down that post bc i kinda put like. a bunch of my takes in there. (found it here u go!) but basically in the context of a canon universe i think peter's betrayal is incredibly interesting and can be read in a variety of different ways all of which can be fun to explore. i've written two canon-compliant fics where in each of them i took a slightly different route for what i did with his character, but both times peter was one of the characters whose motivations and interiority felt the most complicated to me and i had to spend a long time like....sending voice notes to my sister to work through how i wanted to portray him.

however that being said as with characters like regulus or barty or bellatrix or whoever i am not a fan of people trying to rehabilitate peter's character by erasing his canon flaws. he was a villain in canon for a reason and i think his betrayal + the flaws that go along with it are crucial to his character, so i just find it boring when someone tries to pull a 180 and make him this super-duper nice guy who's never done anything wrong.

i also don't blame people writing aus or whatnot who just....don't really care much about peter and don't want to spend a bunch of time writing him. i think that's valid! the same way that i don't really blame anyone who just isn't interested in certain side characters and doesn't really care about taking the time to write them. HOWEVER. i do agree that there is an interesting bit of discontinuity in the way people sidestepped peter as a villain + death eater + instead became obsessed with characters like barty + evan, and i do think part of that....may come from the fact that peter is portrayed in canon as unattractive (which...jkr's fatphobia is a conversation for another post lol) and the ways i have seen many people engaging with other death eater characters involves making them ummmm. very conventionally attractive. which! idk. i hesitate to generalize abt this issue bc i don't necessarily think it's like a driving force so much as one slightly suspicious variable in a whole host of variables for why anyone might be interested in barty crouch jr. but not in peter--like some people obviously are not gonna care about alice + frank as much as james + lily + will be happier to redeem the longbottoms' villain than the potters', etc etc. overall i think that is just a whole can of worms that i need 2 think abt more before opening lol

[jechristine]

I have a question and my English is not the best but I was watching a video on tropes on YouTube and they mention fridging “stuff in the refrigerator” and how is basically a dismissive form of writing to uplift usually a male character is that what happens to aunt may cause there is a difference between character death like Ironman and then what happen to aunt may they also said gwen Stacey was also fridge mainly in the comics than her movie counterpart ask you cause you are English teacher

I had to look up this “fridging,” and it sounds to me like this term is simply applying one of the commonest plot devices in all of western literature to comic books. Helen of Troy from the 8c BCE Iliad is an archetype. Violence against female characters, who themselves have no arc or real characterization, for the sake of motivating or teaching male protagonists is pervasive across all media still. In the last ~50 years there’s been more and more feminist writers who have retold old stories from those female characters’ perspectives, thus trying to course correct. And there’s more writing by and about women now more than ever. But until we have an equal number of movies, novels, comic books etc etc that center female characters, it’s gonna continue to be a problem.

Generally speaking, I don’t love the way “tropes” are usually discussed outside of literary studies because people tend to use that word extremely imprecisely and also treat the tropes as themselves the culmination of thinking and reflecting.

But it can be fun to start with this idea of the fridging plot device and see not just if it’s present but how it plays out in any specific story.

In Spidey’s particular story, the murder of Uncle Ben, a dude, traditionally serves as a motivator and teaching moment for Peter Parker. So it’s he who is usually fridged, and as far as I can tell the term loses its original meaning/significance when the gender is swapped. It’s just not the same when we objectify male characters since irl men still hold all the levers of power in the western world.

BUT I’d argue that in the MCU and Home trilogy, it’s Tony Stark who replaces Uncle Ben as Peter’s father figure. He’s clearly not fridged (he dies once he’s completed his full arc across many films).

So by NWH the MCU still needed someone to die to teach Peter that “with great power there must also come great responsibility” and to motivate Peter to become the stoic hero. Having enriched the father figure well beyond the film predecessors, but having killed him off in his own character arc, they gave Watts an underdeveloped female character, whose role (no matter the few lines about helping her community) was mainly reduced to her surprising, unconventional sexiness. Hot May is swapped in for Uncle Ben mostly to titillate boomers/gen X (??) viewers and teach Peter his hero lessons and then to die to trigger his anger and remorse and his next chapter. I’d say it was an especially egregious instance of fridging.

I don’t know anything about the comic books or Gwen or May there. Maybe @lila-rae or @artsimpourtzi can weigh in?

[moonlit-sunflower-books]

creating sympathetic villains

[@/moonlit_sunflower_books on ig]

hi everyone! today's post is about creating sympathetic villains, because let's be honest, the antagonist is the best part of any story /hj. a sympathetic villain is essentially one whose intentions are understandable, but whose actions are not. i hope this post helps!

disclaimer: i am not a professional writer and everything here is based on personal experience and opinion. i am always open to respectful discourse and constructive criticism!

give them reasons

and i don't necessarily mean a tragic past. give them genuinely sympathetic reasons. maybe they want to save the world by burning it down. maybe they want to wage war on the politicians that have denied them life. maybe they want to secure peace for the people in their country, if they're a ruler. or maybe they've been denied and ignored their entire life and just want to be recognised.

whatever your character's motivation, it should be something that the reader can sympathise with.

give them a past

yes, we all love characters with a tragic backstory, but don't stop at 'their parents were killed when they were young' or 'their girlfriend betrayed them and now they're a bad person' (yes this is me attacking the shadow and bone tv show no im not sorry). any character's backstory should have depth and reason to it.

take loki from the first avengers movie, for example. he's a sympathetic villain because we have seen him before in thor movies and we know his relationship with his adoptive father and brother. he was constantly pushed aside and watched his mother die in front of him, neither of which could have been fun. and his relationship with thor is a really strong dynamic that makes the viewer want him to get something out of the conflict.

his past gives him context and reason and the depth of it makes him seem like a character rather than a symbol, which made it easier for the viewer to sympathise.

give them humanity

make your antagonists funny. make them awkward. make them bad at flirting. make them walk into a grocery store and not understand how the self check-out works. i understand the appeal of having an all-powerful fantastical being be the villain, but if your aim is to create a sympathetic one, it's important that they are shown to be human because that's what allows the reader to relate to them.

i know i'm using all marvel examples, but if you take hela from thor: ragnarok - she is undoubtedly the evil antagonist, but she's funny, for goodness sake. also cate blanchett is gorgeous but that's unrelated, i just had to point it out.

they are not morally gray

there is a very important difference between a morally gray character and a sympathetic villain. a sympathetic villain is one who is, undoubtedly, a Bad Character - they just have understandable motives. they do the wrong things for the (arguably) right reasons - or their reasons have been corrupted by events and/or people, causing the reader to sympathise with them.

a morally gray character, on the other hand, often has the wrong reasons and justifies them anyway. they do a combination and Good and Bad things, unlike the villain who does solely Bad things.

helene aquila from an ember in the ashes is morally gray because she makes hard decisions in the face of crises and is often on the opposite side from laia and elias. she's arguably a good person with hard luck, and circumstance drives her to make questionable decisions that play on her mind.

the darkling, however, is a sympathetic villain, and i'm going to elaborate on this much more now.

case study: the darkling

okay before we get started: i am NOT a darkling apologist and i do not think any of his actions are excusable. but the fact that so many people on this hellsite think he's a good person just proves how well leigh bardugo created a sympathetic villain, and i'm going to explain how i think it worked. and yes, this has shadow and bone spoilers.

the darkling is grisha, and through his lifetime he was hunted and therefore hiding and living in perpetual fear (his past). he wanted to create a safe place for the grisha to live and thought the only way they could be safe was if they were feared (his reasons). he also supposedly fell in love with alina (although his is arguable) and that could be seen as his humanity.

rule of wolves spoilers: the end of the rule of wolves where he agrees to make a sacrifice for the good of ravka also gives him some amount of humanity.

all of the above make the reader sympathise with his intentions and are probably smitten with ben barnes' face which makes it easier. however, literally none of his actions are excusable. he manipulated teenage girls, kissed alina pretending to be mal, literally bound her to his power with an amplifier that completely eliminated her agency, created creatures that blinded his own mother and cut off one of his students' arms, and attempted to expand a physical darkness to take over the entire world. excusable? i think not.

his initial desire for safety is what the reader sympathises with. but the darkling uses that as a jumping-off point to go completely off the rails and essentially lose any sense of boundaries or limits on even his own power, which undoubtedly makes him the villain. not a single one of his actions are excusable.