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IMAGINE this but it's Mike talking to TED of all people and he does something like this for Mike

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Anakin’s room

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How BSD flips power fantasy on its head

One of my favourite things about BSD and it's power system is that "stronger" characters are often much worse off than weaker ones.

Abilities aren't some power fantasy that makes their users lives better, in fact those with the strongest abilities tend to suffer the most because of them.

This is a rule baked into the ability power system, we are given a set of "rules" for ability users in the untold origins but the one that sticks out to me most is this:

Skills do not always make the possessor happy.

Think of the bsd characters with the most powerful abilities and how they have affected their lives.

Chuuya: Probably the strongest combat ability user alive right now, but his ability led him to be manipulated and used first by the sheep, then by the mafia. In stormbringer we see how badly Chuuya wishes he had no ability, that he was just a regular kid like the Sheep.

Yosano: Her ability is insanely strong; she is probably one of the most useful ability users on the planet and is a big part of how the ADA can stand a chance against much larger groups. But her ability was exploited, and she was forced into a horrific position where the lives of those near her became cheap.

Q: Incredibly dangerous ability which led to them being imprisoned for years by the Mafia and then put through horrible torture by the Guild.

Fukuchi ability made him the ultimate soldier, which meant he not only had to watch al his comrades die around him, but he was also used as to commit unspeakable evils for the sate of the state which eventually drove him to form the Decay of Angels.

Akutagawa: His skill is incredibly strong, able to cut through anything physical even space itself, but that power lead to him being conditioned by Dazai into a living weapon who had no value unless he killed and whose worth was tied to his usefulness to the mafia.

Lucy, Kyouka, Sigma, Atsushi, Mushitaro… and tons more characters were all exploited for their abilities, either through force or manipulation.

And it’s not just abilities, there is also a running theme of the smartest characters in the series suffering debilitating loneliness because of their inability to connect with other people. Characters like Dazai, Ranpo and Shibusawa are all shown at one point or another to be unable to relate to other people making them feel alone.

Dazai concluded that the problem was in him and that there was no point in continuing to live. Ranpo nearly fell into believing that the whole world hated him and if Fukuzawa had not saved him he might have ended up similar to Fyodor.

Shibusawa decided that normal humans were inferior to him and became obsessed with finding something that could surpass his own mind.

We don’t know what is going on with Fyodor but I’m 100% sure it is far from healthy.

Overall I just find it really interesting that unlike a lot of series where being powerful is normally just better, bsd tackles the isolation that comes with being different and makes being a powerful ability user seem like a nightmare. But thats why the main focus of the series isn't in indavidual power, but in the power gained from support and trust in others.

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Wanted to do this trend too

I was pondering which characters to choose and decided it fit these two the most

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"hm maybe the star wars hyperfixation is already leaving me!" I say and then I want to cry and scream and bite the walls over how happy Wald and Kitster were for Anakin when he won the pod race.

LIKE DO YOU EVER THINK ABOUT THAT? EVERYONE CHEERING UP BECAUSE THAT LITTLE ITTY SCRAWNY SMOL SLAVE WON AN IMPOSSIBLE DEATH RACE? THE ADULT PILOTS? THE WHOLE CROWD CHEERING FOR THAT KID??? AND HE DID IT TO HELP THREE WEIRD STRANGERS? AND WALD AND KITSTER WERE SO HAPPY FOR HIM.

But they're so small, and know nothing but harshness and all the abuse of being a slave and then Anakin gives them hope, it doesn't matter what happened after but for them? IT GAVE THEM HOPE, RIGHT THEREEE. I can't imagine how that must feel, you're a DAMN SLAVE, for your whole life which is just 9-10 years of life, there's nothing but dead, you have a damn bomb in your head and you have seen others head being exploded. And then your bestie who's also a slave wins the impossible in order to help strangers and in doing so he wins his freedom. That must be so amazing, like the excitement of seeing it happen? Of being there? How many times did your bestie almost explode? but then he won and escaped tatooine?

THEY'RE NINE.

Do you think Shmi thought of Anakin every time she saw Kitster and Wald running around and playing that they got to join Anakin and become a space wizards?

Ough OUhg i have feelings okay leave me alone i need to bite on my nails and eat paint

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I have been talking to people about this project for over a year, so I am overjoyed to announce that the illustrated edition of Salvage by @muffinlance is finally complete! Including 68 works of fanart for the story, this fic tried multiple times to crash my editing software (Microsoft Word, yes my suffering was of my own invention).

It was a lot of fun figuring out the paints for the page edges. A basecoat metallic black acrylic ink was topped with ReneeissanceColour's Novello color-shifting watercolor. The watercolor was stabilized with a clear acrylic so it wouldn't peel up when the stenciled gold detail was added (also in acrylic ink).

A giant shout out to the Microsoft Word wranglers at @renegadeguild. I would have lost my mind getting page numbers and text wraps to work properly without them!

And thank you to @muffinlance for creating such an amazing story! It will be treasured on my shelf from here on out!

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anyway sound off. at what stage do ppl think Han figured out the Force was real. the boring answer is after seeing Obi-wan vanish but i think he could rationalise that away as his eyes playing tricks on him. what do we think.

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I think Dazai's backstory is really cool in how, despite having more information about it than most other characters, majority of his life is just one giant noodle incident.

Yep, that's the line I'm going with as an introduction to this analysis. Just bear with me.

To start off, for those who don't know, the term "noodle incident" originates from the (amazing) comic Calvin and Hobbes. In it, the whole idea is that Calvin did this unspecified thing in school that involved noodles, but it's never confirmed what exactly happened. It's only referenced in passing, and it is clear that it was not good. Applied to general fiction, the term Noodle Incident refers to an event that is often referenced, but never clearly explained, and what is important is the characters' reactions and feelings towards it. The principle idea behind it is that imagining what said incident could be is way more significant and impactful than anything it would actually be if it was said. It's not the event that's important, but the effects and responses to it are. *for more info, I recommend Overly Sarcastic Productions trope talk video about it*

Now, how this plays into Dazai's life is that, while it is extremely evident that he likely has a horrible, tragic backstory, we never really get to see much of it. The earliest we are introduced to him, he is already suicidal, and he has lost most in hope in existence. These feelings are tempered a bit when he first joins the Port Mafia, but they come back all too quickly. And while you could argue that him being in the Mafia is a large contributor to his depression,the main reasons why he seeks escape clearly transpired before he ever met Mori.

Dazai was already trying to commit suicide at fourteen, which is how he met Mori. Something happened earlier in his life, but we don't know what. Asagiri himself says that he left Dazai's core, the reason he wants to die, vague on purpose. We aren't given many details, and honestly, we aren't given much backstory to it either. The two biggest hints that we get is when he is speaking to Odasaku. First in The Day I Picked Up Dazai, and the second from Dazai and the Dark Era.

We have no idea who or what Dazai is referring to. From all that we have seen, all the backstories and light novels we are given, the only people that we know of whom Dazai actually lost were Ango and Odasaku-for Ango, it was that special friendship, and Odasaku, it was his life. And even so, it isn't much of an explanation, because he was obviously suicidal before he met them, as evident from how he speaks to Odasaku, and losing them wasn't a catalyst for Dazai's depression. (As a matter of fact, it was actually the first step towards improvement, but that's a different analysis).

Yet for how much we don't know about Dazai's life, I think it's done in such a way that it doesn't really matter. It's a noodle incident, in that sense. Because it's not about the events that actually transpired, it's about how that affects Dazai and the way we see him. Don't get me wrong, I would love a full, confirmed backstory, but Asagiri doesn't seem to intend to write it, and that makes Dazai's character so beautiful. It's also one of the reasons why the dark era, especially the light novel, is so tragic. Because yes, you can argue that as far as tragic backstories go, losing two friends isn't near the most awful, especially not in this universe (I'm not trying to play the "which character has more trauma" game, but compared to, for example, growing up in an abusive orphanage, it's relatively not as inherently tragic. That doesn't make it any less horrible though). But the point of the backstory isn't just to explain the reasoning why things ended up the way they did, why Dazai left the Mafia, boo hoo his friend died, but Odasaku and Ango represent everything in Dazai's life, everyone from his past we never got to meet and I'm not sure if we're ever going to. They symbolize all the things in his life that mattered to him, everything he never wanted to lose but did. The last scene in the bar, where the three of them meet up for the last time, Ango leaves, the picture with the three of them laughing and smiling, the whole thing is meant to serve as a microcosm for Dazai's life as a whole. That he feels he's always going to lose everything, and that's why he wants to die. We don't get details, we don't know the specific events, but we're left with the emotions that gives us an important glimpse into this character's mind, more than his life, and that's what makes him such an interesting character that's left open to interpretation and analysis. We aren't privy to the tragedy, but the aftereffects of it. And, almost as if to prove the point, Odasaku dies the next day. Right after Dazai says he always loses everyone, further cementing the idea that there's almost a curse surrounding him, a void of loneliness that may never be fulfilled, which is as much as Odasaku tells him when he dies.

Whatever happened in Dazai's life before fourteen was probably something horrible and tragic. Maybe he had a family. Maybe he had other good friends. Perhaps he even believed in the goodness of life and humanity. But what's really cool about the way he's written is that the exact events are not important nor necessary to understanding his character. His life is one big noodle incident, yet because of that, we're able to glean an almost deeper understanding about him, by leaving the details in the dark and exposing only the raw, humane emotions left behind. The most important part about any backstory in fiction isn't about what actually happened, it's about how does this affect the character now? What lasting impact did it leave on them, and how is it evident in the way they interact with the story in the present? This is something that Asagiri nails on the head when it comes to his backstories. And I think the lack of clear information about Dazai's backstory, yet all the information we do end up getting about him, is one of the reasons why Dazai is such an interesting and intriguing character in the series.

Thank you all for you time. You may now return to your procrastination.

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Nos robaron al buda flaco

#NotMyStebbins

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It is a good day to be in the long walk fandom

(claiming my, 'liked it before the movie' ticket here)

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Things almost every author needs to research

How bodies decompose

Wilderness survival skills

Mob mentality

Other cultures

What it takes for a human to die in a given situation

Common tropes in your genre

Average weather for your setting

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personally i think there should have been at least one episode where sokka collects aang and zuko and is like, “looks like we’re running low on supplies.  time for a GUYS-ONLY field trip.  three days of hunting and fishing and polishing our swords.  y’know, manly warrior stuff.  (aang, sotto voce: actually sokka i’m a vegetarian as you know–)  you girls have fun sitting around braiding your hair and talking about your crushes” and then the entire episode is just zuko and sokka lying around by a river, plucking blades of grass and staring up at the stars confiding in each other their deepest feelings and most secret insecurities while aang braids flower crowns, and whenever the screen cuts back to katara and toph and suki, they’re fighting and screaming and hacking away at river pirates and evil spirits and legions of assassins and hired mercenaries with swords.  you know, as girls do.

and when the boys finally drag themselves back to camp (they stayed up way too late discussing what true leadership really means and whether or not power always corrupts)  they find suki and toph and katara lounging around with black eyes and fresh bruises and bloodstained weapons and sokka shrieks, “what were you guys DOING while we were gone???”  and karata just shugs innocently and says in her sweetest voice, “oh, you know.  just girly things”

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his dear friend who haunts the narrative with stripes 💔

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Let's have a moment of silence for Garratys fatigue jacket, Bakers striped shirt,and Stebbins purple pants 😔✊️....

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Fun little trivia about The Long Walk novel while we wait for the movie

Stephen King wrote it in his freshman year of college (what were you doing freshman year?/j) Even at that age, guy had talent.

The story takes place in a dystopic United States where young men, mostly teens and early 20s, are made to walk until they are killed or die of exhaustion. Arguably, it's the 1st example of teen dystopia and King wrote it in the 60s and got it published in 1979.

There is no definitive prize, only whatever the winner asks for. Since most of the participants are poor, we assume they ask for huge sums of money or something similar.

The story is just 100 boys going on a hike across the country. A very deadly hike. A deadly hike where you aren't allowed to stop for food, sleep, or bathroom breaks and your fellow hikers can be shot dead for leaving the trail or trying to pop a squat to take a shit.

The contestants are all volunteers. Many read The Long Walk as a metaphor for war and how it takes young men and kills them indiscriminately + how young men feel compelled to sign up for something they don't fully understand until their own mortality is staring them in the face.

The Long Walk is not a race but an annual death march watched by people all over the country. Instead of lions and gladiators in a coliseum, it's Mom and Dad taking the kids to watch a parade of exhausted teenaged boys walk down main street with soldiers at their backs.

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It’s always so heartbreaking to me that every time we see Owen display how he really feels about Luke in canon (the books, and Kenobi) Luke is never there to hear it.

When Owen faces down the inquisitor and declares that Luke IS his son, Luke is already way out of earshot (even though I do sort of consider the Kenobi show non-canon). When Owen talks to Beru after the argument with Luke on the day they die, telling her he feels bad about having to squash Luke’s dreams and wanting to find some way to make it up to him, he never hears it.

Owen’s relationship with Luke WAS complex, and it was rocky sometimes. I’ve always read this as Owen having difficulty being emotionally open, at least as far as the ANH novel and Kenobi show have shown. Owen loves Luke DEEPLY, right to his core. But he doesn’t know how to put that into words. He’s an awkward man! He’s been raised on nightmare hell planet where becoming too attached to someone might end up in them being killed or sold into slavery and you being miserable! Look at what happened to both of his mothers!

When someone you love dies, you look at all their actions with a new light and deeper introspection. Can you imagine the absolute world-shattering thoughts Luke must have had after Owen and Beru died?

Realising he was more deeply loved than he could have ever realised, even if Owen had a harder time showing it.

And Owen’s parental anxiety is shown in Kenobi! Owen Lars, one of the most dedicated fathers in the galaxy, probably died wondering if his son would ever know how much he really loved him.

Owen probably died with so, so many regrets. Owen probably died wondering if he deserved to raise Luke (which he DID) and if he had done enough to prepare his son for the world (HE DID).

Owen Lars has always been a heartbreaking character for me.