#(here that is the theme of powerful adults failing to protect children)

[justheretolurk003]

What gets me about the scene between Claudia and Louis in the back of that truck is Claudia's vulnerability. Delainey Hayles is a genius bc she NAILED that look. Claudia's anger has disappeared and it instead has left way to her anguish. She is looking at him like a daughter looks to a parent who has betrayed their children. She does not know whether it is safe to trust him because everything until then has reasonably showed her that it is not the best choice. And then he says that it is her and him, but how true is that? Louis keeps aligning himself with hegemony.

And let's not even start with the sociological implications of this. There is a reason why s1Claudia calls Lestat massa: there is a racial power imbalance between Lestat and Claudia, and by extension, Lestat and Louis. But Louis instead aligns with hegemony: the whiteness and maleness of his lover, the protection that comes with that. Claudia is the most oppressed of the dynamic due to the intersection of her identities: a black vampire who is stuck in a body of a girl and who has less strength than other vampires due to the age she was converted in. On top of that, she lives under the authority of her parents… (search up youth liberation y’all). This is also why it makes sense she decides to change the family dynamic when Lestat is back. She needs to claw to some power, and when that doesn’t work, she is the first one to rock the boat. Bruce, Lestat and Louis have robbed her; she yearns for freedom.

And on top of that, Louis knows he has failed Claudia. You can see this in Jacob Anderson's BRILLIANT performance; his insecurity when he sees phantom Lestat, him trying to bury that insecurity and be a good father/brother for Claudia. It is not only that he keeps loving and yearning for Lestat, but it is also a hunting reminder of his failures to Claudia, his inability to be a good father or a good brother or a good anything to her. He seems to be burying and silencing the bit of himself that says that he will fuck up, that he is not strong enough, that he will fail her again. The tragedy is Louis is not honest with neither himself nor Claudia, and Claudia trusts him. Claudia's vulnerability is exposed, and even though she is an adult, when she looks at him she looks like a child. A child that needs love, but nobody is willing to give it to her.

One last thing: I love that Claudia and Louis' race has been swapped, and I am here to argue it is important to the narrative. It reinforces so many of the themes and dynamics of the series, and makes it hurt more. How many women of color have been betrayed/hurt/left behind by the men of our racial group bc them identifying as men lets them align more easily to hegemony? And the way this betrayal combines with the betrayal between family relationships? OH I LOVE THIS!!!!

[panistonhlil]

bischi

[crellanstein]

Prodigious

I find it odd how the fandom focuses so much on Aang’s childhood being ruined when he learned he was the Avatar at 12, but there’s very little talk about how discovering she was the Avatar as a toddler affected Korra’s life and how she was raised.

But we’ll circle back to that...

Because this is a good starting point to talk about one of the most prevalent themes in the story, which the mainstream discussion of tends to only focus on a few characters -- That is the Child Prodigy. 

We’ll start with the two most obvious. The ones we always talk about.

Azula.

The clearest example of your typical child prodigy (if there is anything typical about a prodigy). Azula showed early mastery of very advanced Fire-Bending techniques, and is the only Fire-Bender to use blue flames, which was intended to make her stand out amongst the other villains but is also indicative that her Fire-Bending is more pure and powerful (blue flame is produced when burning pure O2 or fuel without contaminant at a very high temperature). 

All this lead to her being praised and favored by Ozai as a child, but as double-edged swords go, this also meant she had a lot of pressure on her shoulders to never fail, and she rarely did. Her ego matched her talent, and let’s be honest she was the baddest bitch the show had ever seen. Conquering Ba Sing Se, defeating the Avatar in combat, and dropping some of the most devastating lines of dialogue in villain history; she was a force nobody wanted to reckon with. 

And that become a problem for one asshole in particular...

Being jealous of his own child is just one item on a laundry list of reasons why this guy is the worst father in the history of fathers. Azula had begun to outshine him with her victories, and Ozai’s maniacal ego couldn’t handle that, so he left her behind to babysit the Fire Nation while he went out to burn/conquer the world, which also was her idea.

And while this wasn’t the only thing that aided in her demise, it certainly was the final straw which sent her spiraling down into this...

In the end Azula is a sad example of how certain unfair expectations are placed upon talented children, and the more they succeed, the more these expectations grow and weigh on the them until they either disappoint those looking down on them or surpass and embarrass their elders.

It is a lose-lose situation which inevitably destroys them.

There is a similar example of the child prodigy, but his story goes a little different.

Aang.

Even as a twelve/thirteen year-old boy Aang by far has the most impressive stats among any character in the Avatar universe.

Basically mastering 3 of the 4 Elements in less than a year, after mastering Air by the time he is twelve (not to mention inventing his own Air-bending move, the Air scooter). 

Aang is an example of a child prodigy who had too much thrust onto him at too young an age because of the talent he showed; because of this he panicked and ran away, and the world was worse off for it. 

Aang/Sokka/Katara’s story is all about how in times of War, responsibilities normally handled by adults are pushed onto kids who then have to grow up very fast in order to deal with it all.

The message is clear. War robs the young of their childhoods. 

Now, let’s talk about a different kind of child prodigy.

The Unacknowledged. 

Yes, of course I’m talking about Toph, the greatest Earth-Bender to ever live.

Because of her blindness, Toph’s family tried to keep her sheltered and safe by hiding her from the world. Refusing to believe she could ever be more than helpless. Anyone who has seen the show knows that is far from the truth.

But because her potential went unseen, there were some negative effects to her personality. Initially, she resented her parents, and rebelled; which established a certain level of independence, a bad attitude, and a hot-headed streak. Over time spent with the Gaang these behaviors subsided because she finally had friends and they accepted her for who she was. By the end of the series she was fully willing to accept aid from them when she needed it, like holding on to Sokka’s arm in environment where her bending couldn’t help her “see”. 

Toph’s story is a foil to Azula’s, both showed immense talent and badassery, but while recognition of Azula lead to ever-mounting pressure for her to succeed; the lack of recognition for Toph created a need for her to be acknowledged and set an undercurrent of frustration which leads to her acting out in the ways she does.

The lesson to take from Toph’s story is not to shelter your kid from the world out of fear for their safety, and to be open to recognizing their talents, not shun them.

Next are two more Unacknowledged.

Katara and Sokka.       

Their story, and the reason behind their circumstances, is one of the more complicated and nuanced ones in the series, so here we’ll focus on how it fits into the subject of discussion.

Because of the War, Katara was robbed not only of her mother but also of any Southern Masters to train her, and any role models Sokka could have looked up to left with his father to fight. Because of this Katara’s potential and Sokka’s genius went unacknowledged not due to neglect but rather due to circumstance. (Yes, I think Sokka is a genius, how many 15 yr olds do you know that can plan an invasion, design submarines, and spit poetry off the cuff?).

This is a further example of how War robs kids of necessary childhood experiences, and these two robberies had particular effects on both Katara and Sokka’s character developments.

Sokka had the responsibility of protecting his home put upon him at a young age. The men of his tribe leaving prevented him from completing his rite of manhood until the Gaang ran into Bato of the Water Tribe, and early on Sokka was constantly trying to prove himself as a man and a leader. Sokka is one of the smarter characters of the series, but he rarely got credit for it until the third season. Not to mention that because he wasn’t a bender he often seemed less useful than the others. The circumstances of war made his talent go unnoticed and because of that he often was unsure of himself and overcompensated to prove something.

Speaking of talent going unnoticed.

Katara is definitely one of the more talented benders of the series. After training herself for years with little progress, she essentially mastered Water-Bending in a few weeks under Master Pakku. While her anger towards the Fire-Nation mostly centers around the loss of her mother, it can’t be ignored that the delay in her training was a direct result of the Fire-Nations’ actions.  Toph’s anger and frustration vented itself as rebellion. However, the same frustration and anger is within Katara, but because she wasn’t as natural a bender as Toph she sought to learn and be respected, and when that was denied to her is when that anger bubbled to the surface in some terrifying ways. 

While Toph’s talent went unnoticed because of her families neglect, Katara and Sokka’s wasn’t acknowledged because there was nobody to acknowledge it. Because of that both brother and sister wanted to prove themselves to the world.

And then there is Zuko.

I know what you’re thinking. Zuko wasn’t a prodigy, his Fire-Bending skill didn’t catch up with Azula’s until the finale and he never mastered Lightning-Bending, but this section is about the Unacknowledged.

Zuko had many other talents besides Fire-Bending, he was a master swordsmen, and was able to successfully break into every secure facility he attempted in the show (which was almost every secure facility the show featured).  Unfortunately, these talents were never recognized, because the only thing the royal family cared about was bending ability (It’s possible the reason he learned the sword was because he lacked skill in Fire-Bending). 

As per usual with Zuko, this part of his tale is quite sad. Many can relate to being outshined by a sibling, and when it becomes all too clear that one cannot match another’s talent it’s quite understandable to focus on what they do excel at, but even then there is no promise of recognition for their own talent. Zuko was even mocked by his father during the solar eclipse when Ozai tried baiting him into attacking with his swords. 

This lack of recognition is one of many sad aspects of Zuko’s early life, but it is a definitive example of one of the hardest unacknowledged prodigy’s cross to bear. The Outshone prodigy, one whose talents are never noticed because a bigger and brighter star stands in the way of such recognition, and arguably the most frustrating type mentioned here. Toph/Sokka/Katara all came from situations were there was no recognition being given to them or anyone, but Zuko had to bear watching massive amounts of praise be piled on to his sister while he and his accomplishments went by the way side.

Ozai summed up the situation best.

“Azula was born lucky, Zuko was lucky to be born”

Alright now where have I been going with all this?

So, far we’ve covered a lot of wrong ways to treat a child, whether they show talent or not, and how the circumstances of war can also take many things from children.

But what happened to Korra?

(Before we get into to this I should state that I like Korra, and the purpose of this is not to bash her as a character or her arc, but rather to give a little of my insight into it.)

It’s well established that Aang was told of his heritage too young, and that was a detriment on his development into an adult, but what would have happened if he realized his powers himself not long after he could walk? We’ll never know, but we do get to see the effects it had on Korra. 

When she revealed herself as the Avatar, Korra set her entire life in a new direction, and because Aang tasked the White Lotus with finding and training her that direction was out of her control. There are two key differences between Korras’ and other Avatars’ lives.

1. She grew up in isolation on a White Lotus compound.

Every Avatar before Korra we know of spent a portion of their early lives traveling the world in order to master the elements; along this journey they not only learned how to bend the other 3 elements, buy also many things about the 3 other nations and the world they are tasked to protect as a whole. By confining Korra in safety and bringing the masters to her the White Lotus deprived Korra of this opportunity to learn and grow and understand the world and the people within in. It also deprived her of learning modern bending styles until she reached Republic City.

While this might have kept Korra safe from the Red Lotus, it grew within her a naiveté about how the world worked, and because of this when she actually did venture out into the world she was terribly unprepared for it.

2.  She was trained and mastered 3 of the elements by the time she was 16.

Most Avatars don’t know they have this power until they reach 16 and then they spend several years learning to control it. Korra’s natural talent in the bending lead to her training being expedited not by necessity like Aang’s, but due to her talent and eagerness. Korra excelled at the physical part of being the Avatar and because of this by the time she reached maturity she had become over-confident in her abilities and true to what her Fire-Bending master said in Ep.1 she lacked restraint.

I’m not saying her bending isn’t great, but rather because it is so great it’s her go-to solution to anything, and she enjoys that so she uses it with enthusiastic gusto and not a lot of thinking before striking.

This overconfidence coupled with her naiveté of the world is what lead to many of her rash decisions and actions, most of which had negative consequences, and I believe are the reason behind some fan are dissatisfied with her. Aang had been almost the complete opposite, even by the age of twelve he was an experienced world traveler and an incredibly humble guy. 

Some may have been dissatisfied by these character decisions, but they served a purpose, they are only the beginning of her arc. The internal challenge Korra must overcome through 4 seasons is to humble herself before the world, and learn from it. This was finally achieved in the 4th season when the metal poisoning in her body forces her to face others in the world as equals, only then had she completed her journey.

And why did it all go this way?

Because she is a very unique child prodigy, what she demonstrates in the first episode of LOK would be akin to a toddler playing the violin or hitting a three-pointer; she could bend 3 elements close to just after learning to walk. That is the kind of prodigious talent rarely seen because it is mostly impossible. How does a rational person handle a child like that? 

It’s a tough question, and something this essay has been circling around the whole time. Each example here is the wrong way to handle talented and different children, but what is the right way?

As always look to Iroh.

Who treated his surrogate son Zuko with both respect and compassion. 

Unlike Toph’s parents, Iroh worried over Zuko’s well being, but also allowed him to be independent, make his own decisions, and take his own risks.

Unlike the Nomad Leaders, he didn’t want Zuko weighed down by his position in the world and the responsibility that came with, and always encouraged him relax and take advantage of the moment.

Unlike Ozai, Iroh would always be there to support Zuko in his victories and his failures. Iroh shows him the right path but does not force him down it.

And even after Zuko betrayed and abandoned him.

Iroh was never angry with him, and embraced him upon his return.

He wanted Zuko to grow and be a better man. Even if Zuko wasn’t a prodigy like his sister. 

And that is the answer here. The way to raise a prodigy is the same way anyone should raise any child. Love, Support, a Guiding Hand rather than a Forceful Shove, Recognition of What Makes Them Unique, and Forgiveness When They Falter. The problem comes along when you start treating children differently because you see them as different or special. All children are different, all children are special.

Kids are kids, and they all deserve a proper childhood.  

[aeolian-mode]

A rant I wrote in a Discord server but because of the recent BNHA chapter I thought I'd post it here. TL;DR it's about "All Might slander" in the fandom and why I find it a bit trite.

I feel like the "All Might slander" side of the BNHA fandom is comprised mostly of young kids or people who just aren't good media critics. They want BNHA to cater to their own personal interpretations and headcanons, and often their interpretation doesn't have citable support from the actual content of the story. Horikoshi missed the mark on a lot of BNHA's storytelling but there are a few themes and symbols that he's extremely intentional about. All Might's character arc and what he represents, juxtaposed with Midoriya, is one of those things he's clearly planned out very well. The All Might critics often fail to take into consideration the medium of BNHA. for example: yes, on the surface, in a real-world setting, a responsible 55 year old adult shouldn't leave a middle school child stranded on the top of a roof after telling him that his dream for the future is unrealistic. What actually happened: All Might is a superhero who just launched himself flying through the air with the sheer force of jumping and a middle school child clung to his legs and went sailing through the sky like a slapstick bullet before somehow landing unharmed on a rooftop. He immediately tells this overworked superhero (who just captured a dangerous villain in his pocket and needs to immediately get to the police station) that he also dreams of being a superhero even though he doesn't have a superpower. This superhero then reveals that he's missing half of his internal organs because of ridiculous superpowers in this world and warns (wisely) that Midoriya's dreams will lead him, a quirkless kid, to absolute annihilation. He then leaves Midoriya alone, which is admittedly a bad choice on his part, but it's probably the worst decision he made here- NOT telling Midoriya his dream is unrealistic. Because: none of this that I just described is feasible in an average, realistic, slice of life, run of the mill Earth setting. BNHA is a manga/cartoon for children that takes larger-than-life, exaggerated anime slapstick in a world full of superpowers that would realistically destroy any normal human upon use. (Like, come on. Nitroglycerin sweat??? Bakugo's skin would ignite or explode upon contact with any open flame throughout his life. Sure you can use an excuse that maybe his superpower specifically compensates for this by providing him with some sort of self-protection mechanism, but at that point you can make the "superpower" excuse for virtually any observed loophole.) We're dealing with cartoon physics here, and a cartoon world often creates a wider barrier for suspension of disbelief between the audience and the media.

Some major themes of BNHA are: the definition of heroism, friendship, and the power of community/working together to achieve a common goal. They're very common themes in shonen anime, and the way BNHA handles it offers a few unique perspectives, but ultimately what we have here is a shonen cartoon for teenagers. so yes: you're going to have slapstick, exaggerated cartoon violence, characters behaving badly without realistic consequences, and unscientific/unrealistic super powers.

(such as: there's SEVERAL instances where Aizawa takes his scarf and briefly chokes one of his students. If this happened in an actual real life setting, Aizawa would be criminally charged with child abuse, lose his teaching license, probably go to jail. Also, he regularly naps during class and is still somehow a respected teacher at UA.)

So a whole lot of the All Might criticism can be viewed in the same way: you can't really keep 'calling out' this cartoon superhero for his perceived missteps on the standards of what would happen in real life. We are already dealing with a cartoon universe where the laws of reality don't apply.

One of the common criticisms of All Might is the fact that he gave Midoriya a superpower knowing full well that if Midoriya used the power before he was ready, he would explode his bones and potentially kill himself. Like, no, in real life: don't give a child a loaded gun. Anything that they could kill themselves with if it was misused. That's Bad.™️ I don't think ANY All Might fan is arguing that he made a good decision if we were judging him on the grounds of reality.

When Midoriya uses the power during the entrance exams to explode the 0 Pointer robot, All Might looks on at his student with pride, instead of abject horror at watching the boy explode all the bones in his arms and legs. Because BNHA's storytelling is not operating in the realm of reality! At all! The scene where Midoriya explodes his bones by using All Might's power is directly correlating to the main theme of BNHA's storytelling: the definition of heroism. Cartoon physics aside, it's about being selfless. Midoriya exemplified selflessness here, a virtue that All Might also exemplifies and values in his disciple. But: watch this show and try applying real-world consequences to every single character's behavior and you'll find something "callout worthy" in virtually every scene, from virtually every character. People who hate All Might just want to hate All Might (and often do so divorced from context). Disliking a character is completely fair, everyone's got their tastes in characters and stories. And you don't have to justify your reason for disliking them. If you want to write a 20 paragraph dissertation on why you don't like them, totally go for it. That's why I'm writing my own 20 paragraph dissertation on why I do. :P Anyway all I'm doing with this dumb rant/post is to just point out that folks are arguing over a colorful superhero cartoon for teenagers. Instead I prefer to take a peek at the core values of what Horikoshi wants to show us with this story and examine whether or not he's successful with that.

[canary3d-obsessed]

Restless Rewatch: The Untamed Episode 16 part one

(Masterpost of All the Recaps)  (Canary’s Pinboard)

Warning: Spoilers for All 50 Episodes

All righty, this one is going to be a laff riot...not. Let's do it.

The first half of this episode is like a beautifully executed standalone tragedy, while also threading together all sorts of themes and paying off all sorts of relationship building that's happened in the previous episodes. My hat is off to the writers, while I also shake a fist at them for making me cry an unreasonable amount.

We’re Sailing on a Strange Boat

The episode starts right off absolutely DESTROYING me with the Yunmeng brothers holding hands, fingers interlaced, in the first of many hand-touching moments that punctuate the episode.

Jiang Cheng has to be pretty far gone to accept this degree of comfort and tenderness. I think, from their positions, he is also holding Yanli's hand out of the camera's view. 

Zidian finally lets the trio go, and they immediately turn the boat around and head back to Lotus Pier. Wei Wuxian gets the clever idea to turn the benches into makeshift oars but nobody gets the clever idea to use magic to push the boat like they do literally every other time they are in a boat. 

Their emotional need to go back to Lotus Pier is understandable, but they are being disobedient and irresponsible by doing it. Jiang Cheng is the future of the clan, and should not risk his life, particularly after his mother chose to sacrifice herself to protect him and after both of his parents told him to go hide with his sister and personal bodyguard brother. 

On the other hand, Jiang Fengmian, as clan leader, probably had a duty to go into hiding himself rather than go home to die romantically, so his authority is questionable at this point. Anyway, this is the Jiang Clan, they get to kind of do what they want, except when that pisses Jiang Cheng off.

Lotus Pier Massacre

Back at Lotus Pier, the Wens are kicking Jiang ass. The fight choreography is pretty good, taking full advantage of walkways, railings, pools, and other features of the environment. 

Using the set this way always makes fights feel more kinetic and real, as opposed to simply sparring in an open area. 

(more after the cut)

Yu Ziyuan is fighting adequately with a sword, having given her preferred weapon to her son.  She's clearly been at it for a while, and is tiring; the Wen soldiers are starting to land more and more sword blows but no critical hits yet.

Wen Zhuliu is kicking ass and possibly melting cores, although we don't see him do it to anybody yet. Later we'll hear from Jiang Cheng that he crushed the cores of his parents, but it's not clear when that happens.

Sixth young master replays Jiang Fengmian's entire archery lesson in his head while he waits, and waits, for Wen Zhuliu to finish strangling a dude the right moment to shoot an arrow at Wen Zhuliu. 

Homicidal tart Wang Lingjiao notices him lining up a shot, strolls over, and stabs him in the back while he's still thinking about what Jiang Fengmian said. One could wish that JFM's archery lessons weren't quite so wordy. 

Wang Linjao normally doesn't carry a sword because of her low spiritual power, but apparently can use one just fine when she's killing kids.

If you start feeling like this episode is unreasonably painful, just think of it as building up calluses so you can handle Yi City when the time comes.

Jiang Fengmian to the Rescue

Jiang Fengmian shows up very far past the nick of time, although he is not actually useful, so it's questionable whether arriving earlier would have helped. But his wife is glad to see him.

Netflix subtitles say that Jiang Fengmian calls Yu Ziyuan "My Lady!" which sounds courtly and romantic in English. His actual words are "San Niangzi" which hunxi-gullai breaks out here.  I might render this as "lady wife!" rather than "my lady" but I don't think English really has a perfect equivalent.

Jiang Fengmian sails across the courtyard, knocking down a few Wen soldiers and becoming a young, slender man in the process.

I mean, come on, that stunt double does not look like a boxy middle-aged man from any angle.

The Dying Bit

The episode splits up the big death scene for dramatic effect but I'm recapping it all together to keep things simple.

Within moments of arriving, Jiang Fengmian gets shanked by Wen Zhuliu like Scatman Crothers in The Shining (or Groundskeeper Willie in The Shinning).

Wen Zhuliu stops a Wen soldier from finishing JFM off, just so that a different Wen soldier can deliver the killing blow from the back, which is kinda harsh. With all this spin-fighting there is probably not an implication of cowardice when someone dies from a stab in the back, but still. Too rude, Wen Zhuliu.

Yu Ziyuan sees Jiang Fengmian fall, and after having a moment of sorrow and despair, she stabs herself in the heart, falls down, crawls to him and interlaces her hand with his. He revives just enough to give her hand a squeeze and say "San Niangzi" one last time before dying. 

She dies next, with a smile on her face at the end. The soundtrack plays that amazing "horribly emotional death scene" music that isn't one of the tracks available on the OST, argh. This same music appears at the end of Xue Yang's story.  

Of the many things I love about the Untamed, the complexity of all the minor characters is possibly my favorite. These two people suck at parenting, and suck at being married, and ultimately suck at protecting and leading their clan, making stupid, selfish choices at every step of the building conflict. 

And then they have this incredibly romantic death scene, in which they both face the inevitability of failure, and find comfort in failing together. Yet their death scene is totally in keeping with who we know them to be, and who they are to each other; the drama doesn't cheat by making them ideal lovers or great people at the end. But they have a great, great moment.

Jiang Yanli, waiting in the woods while her brothers are presumably running toward Lotus Pier, drops her lotus pendant, which is made of the loudest jade ever discovered, and it breaks with a crash.  

Yanli, who is a well educated young lady, knows a moment of doomy symbolism when she sees it.

Jiang Yanli: Who put a giant rock out here in the woods? What are the odds I’d drop my pendant directly on it? 

It’s all Over Except for the Crying, Running and Choking

The brothers climb up on the roof and are shocked to see nothing but Wen soldiers and piled up Jiang corpses... 

...including one child who is either about to become a zombie or who is being played by a young actor who can't control their curiosity, judging by the way this eye is sneakily opened while the camera is running.

There's a moment where Jiang Cheng is saying they must have spared his parents, they must be okay, where Wei Wuxian's face is just...wow. You can see right here the gulf in life experience between these two. 

Wen Zhuliu roams around looking troubled while searching for more people to kill. He’s an interesting villain; someone who believes his loyalty to his boss makes him a good guy, but knows his boss is a bad guy. 

Then we are treated to a hell of a camera move, where it tracks over Yu Ziyuan and Jiang Fengmian together on the floor, heroic in death and still holding hands, and then sweeps up to show their killers sitting on the lotus throne. 

The dead couple were at odds for their whole lives together, while the evil people who killed them are acting like devoted lovebirds. It's a stunning shot and a terrific thematic contrast. When Wei Wuxian eventually comes to take his vengeance, he will spend some time turning Wen Chao and Wang Lingjiao against each other, before ending them. 

The camera shows us JC's reaction, then shows his mother, then WWX’s reaction, then JF; each reacting to the death of the person who loved them. Some folks may feel that Jiang Fengmian actually did love Jiang Cheng but was just bad at showing it. But Jiang Cheng doesn't think so, and I don't think it's a given that parents love their children.

Side note: Macroexpression king Wang Zhuocheng is able to open his eyes so far that a giant strip of white shows above his irises, and keep them like that, which is quite a trick. Try it yourself.

Meanwhile Wang Lingjiao and Wen Chao gossip about YZY and JFM's bad marriage. Wen Chao admires YZY's beauty, and Wang Lingjiao insults her character, and announces that she's going to stab YZY's body a few extra times. Jiang Cheng briefly faints at this, taking a page from Wei Wuxian's book, and rolls off the roof. 

Run Run Away

Both young men run, and run, and run away from Lotus Pier while Wen Chao and Wang Lingjiao mistreat the bodies of Jiang Fengmian and Yu Ziyuan 

The stabbing happens off camera, because it's ok to stab a live child on camera, but not a dead adult. (As always, there are cultural reasons for "what's ok" in any country, and I'm not saying anybody's wrong about these choices). 

Wen Chao follows this up with pouring a cup of wine across their faces. He does this in the style of a libation for the dead, but as a desecration, combining mistreatment of bodies with profaning a ceremonial rite. In a world where ghosts are real and have sharp fingernails, this is deeply, deeply stupid.

Yu Ziyuan’s actress Zhang Jingtong is able to have liquid poured INTO HER EAR without flinching. Mad props.

The brothers eventually finish running and arrive in a field with an extreme purple photo filter on it. Which I've done my best to remove for these gifs, with variable results. 

Jiang Cheng wants to turn around and go back to Lotus Pier. He says he wants to retrieve his parents’ bodies and to take revenge, but he's devastated and it seems likely he just wants to die with everyone else.  

Wei Wuxian pleads with Jiang Cheng to calm down and stay safe, while Jiang Cheng gives himself over to anger and shock as the brothers shout at each other.

Punching and running ensues, and Wei Wuxian tries to hold his brother back, grabbing him around the shoulders him in a gesture that painfully echoes the many hugs he's given over the years. 

This time Jiang Cheng doesn't just push him off. He turns around and chokes his brother for nearly a full minute, while screaming at him and blaming him. 

Just as when Madame Yu beat him, Wei Wuxian doesn't fight back; he pulls on Jiang Cheng's wrists but doesn't hit him or try to break his hold.

Finally Jiang Cheng lets him go, and cries out for everyone he's lost, while Wei Wuxian weeps silently next to him. Eventually they fall asleep in the grass together, their bodies curled up in the form of a heart. 

Damn, this episode really brings it.

Side Note: during their argument, Wei Wuxian says, among other things, that "revenge is a dish best served cold," according to subtitles. It's a French saying from the 1800s so it's probably not precisely what Wei Wuxian is saying. More importantly, as a longtime Star Trek fan I can't help but hear James Kirk yelling "KHAN!!!!!" whenever I encounter that phrase.

There’s Got To Be A Morning After

When they wake up in the morning, Jiang Cheng is still in his feelings, but now his feelings have moved along to despair, from anger.

I feel bad for noticing how handsome they both look in this scene. Let's all feel bad about this together.

Jiang Cheng is free to have this level of emotional breakdown because Wei Wuxian is there keeping his own shit together and focusing on what matters.

When Jiang Cheng refuses to get up, Wei Wuxian reminds him, very, very gently, that they have a sister, who has waited all night to know what happened.

At this, Jiang Cheng gets up, but won't look at Wei Wuxian, continuing to blame him for everybody else's actions, as he walks onward to find Yanli.

Wei Wuxian follows, hurt and bereft, as he gets to work internalizing everything that he's being accused of. This is good practice for his future as a widely reviled bogeyman.

Part two will be slightly less awful! Coming soon!

[shieldofrohan]

I don't think GRRM hates Sansa but more in the like of he despises what Sansa as a character represents in AGOT .

Hello Anon,

Martin doesn't hate Sansa, that's for sure.

And I don't think that he despises her character's position in AGOT either.

Tbh, I don't know what exactly you mean by what her character represents in AGOT? So I'll try to assume.

Do you mean naive and romantic girl who wants to become a queen? Who was in kind of denial to achieve her Disney princess dreams?

Let's look at his thoughts about romantic ideals:

He was asked or mentioned most of the stuff that's already been covered, but one thing he talked about that I found particularly interesting was Romanticism. He said that he is a romantic, in the classical sense. He said the trouble with being a romantic is that from a very early age you keep having your face smashed into the harshness of reality. That things aren't always fair, bad things happen to good people, etc. He said it's a realists world, so romantics are burned quite often. This theme of romantic idealism conflicting with harsh reality is something he finds very dramatic and compelling, and he weaves it into his work. Specifically he mentioned that the Knight exemplifies this, as the chivalric code is one of the most idealistic out there, protection of the weak, paragon of all that is good, fighting for truth and justice. The reality was that they were people, and therefore could do horrible cruel things, rape, pillage, wanton killing, made all the more striking or horrifying because it was in complete opposition to what they were "supposed" to be. Really interesting stuff. [SSM 2005]

As you can see, Martin faced what Sansa faced in Agot in his life... So I doubt that he can despise her for what she represents because she represents a part of himself. And this is not just Sansa you know.. we see this in characters like Samwell, Brienne, Jon, Young Jaime etc. He doesn't despise what she represents in AGOT, in contrary he works on this in his books and he makes this one of the central themes of the series.

I found this passage in an article and I want to share it here:

This first paper tackled “Disney Medievalism” by examining the way in which authors like George R.R. Martin smash the traditional fantasy genre with “gritty” medieval realism. Martin takes the reader through this process with Sansa Stark, a character who represents this notion of the “idealised medieval” i.e., knights, fair ladies, chivalry and camp merriment at every turn. Martin destroys Sansa and the reader’s fantasy of the medieval through constantly forcing her into real life situations as far from her perceived ideal as possible.

[...]

“Disney Medievalism” descends from Victorian medievalism. Disney medievalism is for children and Martin’s work breaks from that and is purposely written for adults. Martin sets up situations and characters to show his audience that his books will not be the usual Disney trope common with most fantasy series.

[...]

Sansa struggles to digest this cruel reality and eventually realises that life is not a song. She finally starts to see that her vision of life is immarture just before the Battle of Blackwater however, she still acts like a lady even if her circumstances aren’t ideal. It’s her way of clinging to a vestige of the idealised world she craves.

[...]

Martin’s work is often shocking to fans who come from reading traditional fantasy novels. He writes to portray the realities of the human condition, not the idealised Victorian medievalism that is rampant in most fantasy tales. While he is smashing the mould, he still gives the reader hope that virtue is not entirely out of reach for Sansa and Jamie, it comes from within, not from romaticised ideals, songs and fairly tales.

source

I think this article was on point enough. Sansa faces the harsh reality but Martin still shows the gleams of hope that come from inner romantic ideals. Martin crashes her world view but not her spirit. He makes sure that her weakness AND strength come from the same romantic ideals. She is not wrong to have those ideals... she just needs to face the reality to know better and still hold on to that ideals to make her statement against the world. This is a very powerful message. I hope I managed to explain it well.

BUT do I think he was wrong to write her in less sympathetic light? Yes I do, I can see that he wanted to make readers see her as a mean older sister to Arya "on the surface".

Do I think he made her face the harsh reality too much? Yes I do... she is the only character who can't catch a break. He made her face the same reality over and over again by keep writing perverts molesting her and etc.

And do I think he doesn't examine her inner struggles enough? Yes I do... He doesn't examine the reasons of her so called betrayal to her father enough... he doesn't examine her bitterness towards her family/abusers enough and so many other things.

SO I do believe that he uses her to represent one of the most important themes of the series but when it comes to her as a character he owes her a lot.

BUT he doesn't hate her. And he doesn't despise her. He just failed to utilize her character and he made some mistakes by writing her in bad light sometimes but that's all.

Thanks for the ask. Have a nice day.

[bluephoenixdruidicprincess]

10 Fandoms, 10 Characters

I wasn't tagged by anyone but I saw @timotey do this...and I kind of wanted to do it as well, so here I am. 

Here we go, 10 fandoms and 10 characters that I love within those fandoms. These are in no particular order, I'm just listing them as they come to mind. I hate when people ask, "what's your favorite book, what's your favorite song, who's your favorite character". Like bitch please, I don't even know who I am most of the time and you're asking me these meta-physical kinds of questions? My favorites depend on my mood really. But anyway, I'm done rambling, in case you were wondering, that's the reason why I'm not ranking these characters. 

1. Ryotarou Nogami from Kamen Rider Den-O

Played by the wonderful Sato Takeru. You all know me, I have this weird kind of fetish I guess when it comes to stories that incorporate multiple beings sharing one body. I can’t tell you why, but I just love these kinds of stories. And this show has it in spades. Plus, Ryotarou is such a cinnamon roll, he’s so wonderful, so strong, so upbeat despite life’s hurdles that are constantly thrown at him. He’s great and Sato Takeru is wonderful in this role. 

2. Joxer The Mighty from Xena: Warrior Princess

We love and appreciate complete dorks with hearts of gold in this house. For me, Joxer was the heart of this show and his fate at the end ultimately left a wound that has never completely healed. To this day, I cannot re-watch season 6 of Xena. I refuse to go through that pain of losing this wonderful man again. 

3. Jiang Yanli from The Untamed series

Don’t let her looks fool you. She may seem like this delicate fragile flower but housed within that delicate skin lies the strongest spirit I have ever known character wise. She is definitely one of those characters that is absolutely beautiful inside and out and it’s such a shame her son never got the chance to really know how wonderful and extraordinary his mother truly was. 

4. Piper Halliwell from Charmed

She’s fierce and she gives everything she has for those she loves, and loves just as fiercely. What’s not to love about Piper Halliwell? Don’t answer that, it’s rhetorical. I’m not here for any Piper bashing. 

5. Max Thunderman from The Thundermans

There is just so much dichotomy and nuance with his character and I just love him and his arc so much. Him being the son of heroes and desiring to be a villain but ultimately failing at it because he’s a genuinely good person and a genuine hero. It was so interesting and definitely the stand-out character for me in this show. 

6. Peter Maximoff/Quicksilver from the FOX X-Men Movie Franchise

I love a dork with daddy issues, what can I say?

7. Gohan from Dragonball Z

And I’m not one of those fans who only likes him when he’s displaying power fantasies. No, I love that part of him but I also love the dork in him, I love the nerd in him, I love that he gets in a super hero costume and acts all dorky and uses his saiyan powers to fight crime. I love that as an adult, he’s still trying to figure out where he stands as a human and where he stands as a saiyan. He loves peace but also feels the need to fight as well and I just love watching him trying to essentially navigate between those two personas as well. 

8. Shawn Spencer from Psych

I got to say this is probably the first and only character I’ve encountered where I thought to myself, if this man truly does exist somewhere in this world, I want to marry him, I want to be his Juliet. He’s kind of dumb but also so smart, kind of insensitive but so sensitive in moments where it counts, and he makes me laugh. I don’t know if this person will ever exist in real life within my periphery and ever be available to me, but this is the partner I’m looking for in my life; I’m accepting applications.  

9. Eliot Spencer from Leverage

I’m a shallow girl and sometime I just love a good-looking texan man who can kick some ass. Plus, he also loves and protects children and old people. 

10. Saizo Kirigakure from the Samurai Love Ballad otome game

Hey, it counts, ok? I’ve been playing this game for well over a year now, I’ve played at least once all of the characters and I gotta say Saizo is definitely my favorite. I love his stories, the themes he grapples with and in the confines of the otome game, for me, this is the man the MC truly ends up with, he is who I would pick. Yeah, he comes with baggage but your life is always going to be interesting with him. Plus, he makes me feel some sort of way whenever he calls the MC “little lady”. 

And there you have it, 10 fandoms, 10 characters. This was fun and maybe you guys learned a little bit more about this blue phoenix. 

I’ll tag a few people that I can think of off the top of my head but anyone who wants to do this, please do. It was a lot of fun! @verobatto @casa-neurotica @lawfulgeek @thefirsthogokage​

[linkspooky]

What is a Hero’s Cape for?

This meta is in response to a comment by @k-isecchis​

I’d also like to point out the parallels between Eri and Shigaraki. Eri was left to suffer longer due to strategy. Something that always rubbed me the wrong way about that arc is that besides Mirio and Deku, everyone’s so desperately trying to save her because they knew that was Chisaki’s trump card. Eri’s power is as potentially as destructive as Shigaraki, but she was “lucky” Chisaki was making enough waves for the heroes to notice. 

Thank you for pointing out this excellent parallel. This opened my mind to the parallels between the war arc, and the overhaul arc. How both arcs are really about showcasing how massive the divide is between the ideals of hero society “saving people” and hero society’s pragmatic realization “defeating villains”. Once again let’s talk more about hero society underneath the cut.

1. Two Kinds of Heroes

Chapter 120 solidifies what has been an ongoing theme in the background of the story for awhile. That there are two prevalent attitudes in hero society. There are heroes who prioritize saving above everything else, and there are heroes who want to be strong and beat villains. This is also something that is outlined for us byb the narrative as set up for the overhaul arc. 

All Might says that both attitudes are necessary. That is true to an extent. For example, Deku’s biggest weakness narrative wise is his total lack of self preservation. Deku dying for the sake of saving people is selfless, but it’s not very practical. He needs to be able to live to save others, and there are people that Deku will have to fight to accomplish his goal of saving everyone. There are people like Chisaki who need to be taken down. So, it’s not wrong to want to get strong enough to save others. In fact the story has gone over several times with characters like Aizawa, and Kouta’s parents that dying in the line of duty while very noble helps no one in the long run. So yes, Heroes do have to be strong to overcome villains, especially people like Chisaki, and All for One who are unrepentant abusers. 

However, while acknowledging that point we can also agree that while Heroes do have to be strong to overcome obstacles, Bakugo’s attitude of being a hero who only wants to win is FAR FAR more prevalent in the current hero society, and especially the older generation of heroes. 

This motif of two kinds of heroes, one focused entirely on selflessly saving others, and the other who wants to become a hero to become strong enough to beat up bad guys is something we see repeat over and over again.

The Endeavor vs All Might rivalry, which is a direct parallel to the Bakugo vs. Deku rivalry is entirely built around this idea. Endeavor has the most resolved cases in history, but his focus has never been saving others this is something he himself admits, he does what he does because he wants to be stronger than everyone else. 

This same kind of divide repeats again between Endeavor and Hawks the new number one, and number two. Endeavor still focuses on being the strongest, and defeating the strongest bad while Hawks always makes sacrifices to save as many people as possible.

Hawks also, while being a much more popular hero than Endeavor and way better at appealing to the masses still believes he’s an inferior hero to Endeavor because he’s not as effective at fighting villains. Hawks reflects the attitudes of the hero society that he was raised in because while Hawks personally believes in sacrificing everything to save others, he thinks the only way to put people at ease is to be strong enough to defeat any villain. Hawks thinks that Endeavor’s way of heroism is better, to show that society as a whole right now prioritizes being strong enough to beat back villains, and having a strong flashy quirk is the best way to be a hero. 

So to summarize, in the prelude to the overhaul arc, and the next plot relevant arc the Pro Heroes arc it’s established there are two kinds of heroes, those that focus on saving, and those that focus on defeating villains and hero society is built to favor the latter. 

2. Saving Eri

The overhaul arc begins with this very conflict, Mirio on Nighteye’s instructions makes a decision not to help a little girl they see immediately in danger.

Deku wants to prioritize saving what is obviously an abused child, but Mirio tries to follow Nighteye’s orders of waiting until they have a better time to catch Overhaul and shut down his operation. 

So the question is, what was the priority in the Eri arc? Was it really saving Eri, or was it taking down Chisaki Kai’s operation? The answer to that question is split. 

For the previous generation, aka the adult heroes we see again and again the biggest priority is taking down Chisaki Kai. 

There is an extremely marked difference in the way the adults talk about Eri vs. the way Mirio and Deku react. The adults all calmly discuss Eri, and pay lip service to the fact that what she’s going through is bad (I get that they do this for a living but still, you can tell how different their reaction is to Mirio and Deku).

So, what is more important here? Saving an abused child, or putting down the threat to hero society that Chisaki represents? You can see it in the adults that they may care about Eri and obviously don’t want a little girl to get hurt, but they also keep bringing up the idea that saving Eri will also stop Chisaki’s plans. 

Rock-Lock says directly that if they had taken custody of the kid on the spot, the villain’s plans would have been stopped. So, there are two different interested parties those who want to stop overhaul, and those who want to save Eri. I think it’s an important distinction because it once again represents the two priorities of hero society, heroes who kill villains, and heroes who save. This raid is one where the goal just happens to coincide, but it’s still markedly different from the Kamino ward Raid where the number one concern was returning the kidnapped child Bakugo as quickly and safely as possible. 

Mirio’s decision to let Eri go back into the hands of her abuser, so he could rescue her at a more practical time is also something the narrative directly calls him out on.

Not only does the narrative call Mirio out on this: that in the moment he cared more about stopping Overhaul than saving a little girl who was right in front of him, but Mirio admits to his own personal weakness too. He says that this was wrong of him, that the worst thing he did was make a choice that let her go back into the hands of her abuser when he was supposed to save her. 

This is the entire thematic conflict of the Overhaul arc. The younger generation, represented by Mirio and Deku are trying to define themselves as what kind of heroes they want to be. All of their motives as heroes are called into doubt, because just for a moment they let Eri go back into the hands of her abuser. How can they call themselves heroes if they can’t save an abused little girl? 

The overhaul arc establishes that the younger generation is desperately trying to make up for the people who don’t get saved like Eri. And, what is Mirio’s greatest heroic action in the arc? 

He literally loses his quirk, because he doesn’t want to ever make the same mistake again. This is a choice a hero like Endeavor would never make because their priority is always being the strongest. However, despite literally showing us all of the effort Mirio put in to become strong enough to save other people he throws all of that away in a second because SAVING ERI IS MORE IMPORTANT. 

In the overhaul arc the thematic conflict is that Mirio and Deku make a mistake based on the logic of the previous generation. They let a little girl go on being abused because taking Chisaki down is higher priority then saving her. Then, Mirio and Deku do everything they can to try to fix that mistake. The younger generation tries to fix the mistakes of the older generation. Mirio and Deku both establish that HEROES SAVE PEOPLE and that should always be their top priority over being strong, including Mirio literally losing his quirk and all of his strength just to keep an abused child from getting harmed further. 

3. The Old Guard

If the Overhaul arc is about the new generation acting like heroes, then the War Arc which directly parallels it shows over and over again the older generation failing to act as heroes. There are several parallels which I will go over. First, in the Overhaul arc a big fuss is brought up about using children in an active raid. This is also something that happened in the Kamino ward arc, the only arc of the three great hero raids where the decision was made not to let ANY CHILDREN be involved (Deku, Momo and the others acted on their own and even got actively punished for it.)

Rock Lock literally brings this up, that just because they go to an elite school doesn’t mean they’re not children. He thinks protecting the safety of children should be their first priority. In the War Arc none of the heroes even question bringing along a bunch of children to one of the most dangerous widescale operation in hero history. The only person who points out how wrong it is to bring kids along is a LITERAL VILLAIN. 

Both the Overhaul Arc and the War Arc follow the same pattern. First, there’s a internship arc where Deku interns for a pro hero and immediately afterwards that Pro Hero becomes the head of the raid against the villains. However, the difference between the two characters is palpable. While Night-Eye is the sidekick to All Might and disapproved of All Might’s habit of saving everyone because it was literally killing All Might slowly, Endeavor is a child-abuser. 

While yes, Endeavor is repentant for his actions it’s clear his goal isn’t to save abused children. Endeavor legitimately believes the best way to make up for what he did is to continue being the best hero he can be, a hero Todoroki can be proud of. Endeavor is still stuck in the mind-set of defeating villains, rather than saving. 

In the internship set up to the arc this is something Endeavor is directly challenged on by Ending. Ending states that of all heroes, someone like Endeavor is most likely to kill a villain, and that he’s already stepped over the line and completely incinerated a Nomu. 

This isn’t about whether or not it’s ethical to kill Nomus, this is about a critcism the narrative is levying against Endeavor. What is his priority? Killing villains, or saving? The set up in the Overhaul arc is that the hero they are interning for is flawed, and makes a mistake, that the younger generation has to correct. Endeavor’s mistake in the fight against Ending is literally hesitating to save Natsuo. Endeavor isn’t a hero who saves, and once again this is something Endeavor admits directly that the younger generation was covering for his own mistakes. 

Hawks also serves as a parallel to the overhaul arc. Hawks, the character who was introduced to us as a hero who always saves everyone at great personal cost to himself, is shown being paralleled to a villain in Chisaki.

This is a comparison the narrative makes once again. Hawks’ actions are compared to Chisaki’s. Hawks takes advantage of Twice’s willingness to trust others the same way Chisaki does. Hawks also considers people ultiamtely disposable the same way Chisaki does. 

Chisaki decides people’s literal worth on whether or not they’re useful to him. Hawks decides if people are worth saving depending on if they’re useful to society or not. He deliberately says that Twice is the only one worth saving out of all of his friends because he’s the only good person, even though we know by now that everyone in the league is a victim to some extent. 

Twice even directly echoes the sentiment that he first stated on the eve of the Overhaul arc. That heroes only exist to save the virtuous people and no one else. This is an idea that was established by the overhaul arc, and we see this arc finally shows the result of that idea, Hawks deciding that only good and virtuous people are worth saving causes him to make the direct decision to kill Twice for the sake of the greater good. (The greater good). 

In the overhaul arc there was a conflict on what was more important, for the younger generation saving Eri was the most important thing, for the older generation it was putting down a threat. We even see in this arc shades of that conflict, Tokoyami as flawed as his logic is that Hawks did no wrong makes the decision to SAVE HAWKS rather than FIGHT A VILLAIN. 

This isn’t just me hating on hero society. It’s a question the narrative directly asks. A character says it aloud. That heroes should think harder about who really needs saving. It’s something challenged by both Dabi, and Hawks. Are heroes really saving people? 

Who is it that needs to be saved the most in this society? This is also a question asked by pitting Endeavor and Shigaraki against each other. In the Kamino ward raid arc, it was a simple fight of good against evil. All Might vs AFO is a very black and white fight. 

Chisaki has a parallel in the War arc, but his parallel isn’t Shigaraki, it’s Endeavor. Both Endeavor and Chisaki made the decision to use a child’s quirk for their own selfish benefit and abused that child in the process. Endeavor is repetentant about it, but he’s still the Chisaki parallel here. 

We’re reminded in Shigaraki’s dream sequence that ultimately what drives him is being an abused child who had his entire life controlled by abusive patriarchical figures, both Koutarou, and later All for One. 

The one leading the raid against Shigaraki is Endeavor. Endeavor’s actions parallel both AFO’s and Koutarou’s. He tried to force his son to become his legacy by grooming him, and subjecting him to violence from a young age. He also is shown to beat his child in front of his wife, which was Koutarou’s breaking point. 

Yes, Endeavor is repentant (please stay out of my inbox with this point I’m begging you) but at the same time as someone who has abused people before Endeavor’s priority should be on the suffering of abuse victims, but it’s not. Endeavor’s priority is stopping evil. Even though those villains he is fighting against parallel his own actions. Endeavor is trying to take down an abusive system, while having little to no sympathy for longtime victims of that system Shigaraki. He also has no awareness at all that his direct actions created one of those villains with Dabi, and therefore he himself is responsible for the evil he’s fighting against. 

There’s even a direct parallel between Aizawa’s roles in both arcs. In the overhaul arc, Aizawa’s number one priority is both the safety, and the feelings of the children involved in the arc. Aizawa only lets Deku come along because he feels like Deku would just run off on his own unsupervised to help Eri, and therefore decides it’s safer to supervise him directly and let him help the efforts to help Eri. 

In the War Arc, not only does All Might have no problems at all with involving children in the war arc, even though being on an internship at a young age and being exposed to danger is directly what got Shirakumo killed. His priorities have shifted, Aizawa whose good points are always connected to the empathy he shows to children, and who is practically Eri’s guardian 1) shows absolutely no sympathy at all for Shigaraki who is not only a parallel to Eri but also someone Shirakumo his friend cares about deeply. 2) Has his priorities shift from saving people and keeping children safe, to taking down a villain for the sake of petty revenge. 

Once again this isn’t me dramaticizing, it’s something that Eraserhead literally says. His priority here is payback. The Overhaul Arc and the War Arc are deliberately written to contrast one another. In the Overhaul Arc it’s established that saving an abused little girl should always be a hero’s number one priority, and in the War Arc, the villain that everybody is trying to stop is an abused child and a direct parallel to Eri that went unsaved for 15 years and now the heroes are only trying to put down. 

In this arc the heroes parallel the actions of the villains in the Overhaul arc. 

Chisaki loses his quirk as a narrative punishment, and also direct revenge for his decision to kill Magne. A decision fueled by the fact that Chisaki being a raised as a tool himself considers people to be ulttimately disposable and defined by their worth to others. 

Hawks loses his quirk as a narrative punishment for his decision to kill Twice. Once again, because he decided that Twice’s life was expendable because his worth is generated by how useful he is to society, and whether or not he can be rehabilitated to fit into the current society. Hawks, and Twice are both characters who make the decision to kill the outcast because their lives are worthless, the actions of a hero directly reflects that of a villain. This narrative punishment is also directly dealt out by Shigaraki and Dabi who are narrative foils to each other. Dabi and Shigaraki both prioritize the individual lives, of Twice, and Magne, whereas Hawks and Chisaki both considered those people to be expendable because they were outcasts. 

This is in comparison to Mirio who makes the decision to give up his own quirk, because nothing is worth letting an abused child get harmed any further. Mirio’s action is the only one framed heroically, funny that. Almost like the story sets up the idea that the priorities of hero’s should always be saving people. Finally, once again connecting to Mirio this is a parallel directly pointed out by @thyandrawrites​.  

Shigaraki’s first response upon waking up is to declare that he is cold, and steal the cape of a hero. 

This is a direct reference to Mirio’s famous line about the fact that a Hero’s cape should be used to wrap around the shoulders of a little girl in pain. Shigaraki is an Eri parallel. He is an abused child who needed to be saved from the abuser who convinced him that his quirk only exists to destroy, and wanted to use him as a weapon to destroy hero society. Mirio’s cape is used for further symbolism. 

When Eri grabs Mirio’s cape, she remembers that the hero’s number one priority was to save her. That is what finally convinces her that her quirk is capable of more than just destruction, and she uses it to help people. 

In 270 the opposite happens. X-Less is told to carry Shigaraki out of here, and even is told directly the Shigaraki’s heart has stopped. However, instead of saving Shigaraki he prioritizes destroying a random machine. He makes the choice not to carry Shigaraki out of there and because of that, Shigaraki wakes up. His first action upon waking up is to steal X-less’s cape, mirroring Eri’s choice to grab and reach out for Mirio’s cape.

Eri is moved by the actions of everybody trying to save her, and that convinces her to overcome Overhaul’s brainwashing of her. All of the heroes treating Eri like a victim in need of saving changes her. Whereas, every hero regards Shigaraki as a THING that needs to be stopped and it produces the opposite effect. 

The heroes caring about Eri enough to save her helps her shake off her abuser’s manipulation. The heroes only caring about Shigaraki as a threat to be stopped drives him literally directly into the arms of his abuser. 

And therefore, the opposite happens. Eri uses her quirk to save others for the first time. She becomes capable of more than just destruction. Whereas Shigaraki uses his quirk only to destroy. 

That is the greatest point of this arc. The heroes actions to save one little girl results in a lifelong victim learning that her quirk is capable of more than just destruction. However, the heroes actions in not saving Shigaraki convince him he’s only capable of destruction. Ther overhaul arc sets up the idea that heroes should always act to save people, and the War Arc subverts it by showing the consequences when Heroes choose not to save. 

[sfb123]

Sapere Aude - Part 6

Book: The Royal Heir

Pairing: King Liam Rys x Queen Riley Brooks

All characters belong to Pixelberry.

Catch Up Here

Series Description: I developed a theory of what I think will happen in TRH Book 4, and I was encouraged by some very lovely people to turn my theory into a fic, so here it is. Basically, Riley is recruited to join the Via Imperii, this series will follow her as she joins them to try and bring them down from the inside, and all of the drama and bombshells she learns along the way. Sapere Aude is Latin for “dare to know” it seemed like an appropriate title.

Rating: PG-13 Adult language, allusions to smut (but nothing graphic), discussions of death, conspiracy, blackmail, and other adult themes.

Warning: The Royal Heir Book 3 Spoilers all over the place.

Word Count: 2,146

Notes: Not much to say, other than this is the big meeting you’ve been waiting for. There’s A LOT of information here. I hope it’s not too overwhelming!

As always, one love to my pre-readers @texaskitten30 & @txemrn. And thank you @twinkleallnight for my moodboard!

Tags: Tags seem to not work in the actual body of the fic, so I’m going to try tagging everyone in the comments, hopefully that works. If you want to be added or removed, just let me know!

As Riley entered the solarium, Eleanor rose from her seat. To say it was an awkward moment was an understatement. Yes, they had met the night before, but there had been so much going on in Riley’s mind that she wasn’t able to truly process the woman standing before her until that moment.

“Your majesty.” Eleanor bowed slightly.

“Forgive me, but I’m not quite sure how I’m supposed to address you.” Riley was doing her best to stay guarded, even though she was screaming on the inside. 

“Please, call me Eleanor, no need for formalities. We are family after all.”

Riley grimaced subtly at that. What does she know about family? Did she really just say that? Too soon, lady. Read the room. “Okay Eleanor. Please, call me Riley.”

“Riley, how are you feeling this morning? You’re recovering alright, I hope.”

“Considering the circumstances, I’m doing fine. Can I offer you something to eat or drink before we begin?”

Eleanor nodded. They both took a few moments to put together plates for themselves. Riley was certain anything she ate would immediately come back up, but she wasn’t going to let her nerves get the best of her. They sat there in silence for several long moments. Riley finally spoke up. “So, you’re in charge of the secret society that has been trying to take down my family. How’s that going for you?” There was a bite in her tone, despite her attempt to stay neutral and composed. 

“Riley, please, I know how all of this may seem to you, but you haven’t been getting the entire story. There are very few people in the organization that have the full picture. I am one of those people, and I am here to fill you in on everything.”

“So fill me in. I’d love to know why you’re so hellbent on destroying the son you abandoned.” She crossed her arms over her chest. As hard as she tried to stay calm, the longer she sat there, starting at this woman, the more angry she got. Not for herself, for Liam. She was so protective over him, he was always worried about others, his kingdom, his friends, his family, he needed someone to worry about him. That was a burden she would gladly bear.

Eleanor sighed deeply. “Riley, I didn’t know what I was doing, or who I was when I joined the Via Imperii. I was a young girl with a crush on a boy. He told me about this group that would be able to show me the world.” She knew the similarities in their stories would get her attention. “Surely you understand what that feels like.”

“I might have heard a story like that once or twice.” Riley blushed and sunk a little lower in her chair. 

Eleanor went on to explain that, unbeknownst to her, the boy that she followed into the group was actually sent specifically to recruit her into the Via Imperii. They were looking for a way to unite Auvernal and Cordonia, and they saw her as the way to do this. They would get her in power beside Constantine, and she could advocate for the unification of the two countries. There had even been a marriage alliance proposed at one point that would have promised Liam to Isabella and had him rule Auvernal by her side, with Leo taking over the Cordonian throne. Luckily, that failed spectacularly, and didn’t make it past the negotiation phase. The Via Imperii had chosen Eleanor because she seemed to most fit Constantine’s type, making it easy to catch his eye in his vulnerable state, considering his wife had recently abandoned him. Since she was not familiar with Cordonia, they made sure to pair her up with a native operative, to compensate and help her along the way. That is how she met Jackson Walker, her partner, and Constantine’s lead guardsman. 

“Drake’s dad? Wait, if Jackson was working with you, does that mean that he’s not…he’s still...” She took a deep breath, trying to compose her thoughts, but her brain was moving too fast for her mouth to be able to keep up. 

“No. Unfortunately, Jackson is no longer with us. After my extraction, Constantine became difficult, he stopped listening to everyone. Once influencing him no longer became an option, it was determined that the only path was to remove him from power entirely. Jackson expressed his doubts over the change. The Via Imperii decided that this made him a threat to the plan, so he needed to be eliminated.” There was a sadness in Eleanor’s voice that Riley wasn’t expecting.

“So the failed attempt on Constantine’s life…”

“Was not an attempt on Constantine at all, but a successful attempt on Jackson.” She closed her eyes, and bowed her head slightly. “It was so hard to see that happen to such a dear friend. And it broke my heart to watch Bianca and the children go through all of that pain. Especially Drake, it hit him exceptionally hard. But he and I both knew what this was when we signed on.”

“So there really is nothing stopping them from taking me away from Liam and Eleanor?” Riley’s eyes started to fill with tears. She was officially in over her head.  

“Yes there is. Me.” Eleanor reached her hand across the table and placed it over Riley’s. “ I have caused my son enough pain for a lifetime. I won’t let him go through a hurt like that ever again.”

Riley jerked her hand back, sadness and fear quickly replaced with anger at the audacity of Eleanor trying to comfort her. “Why would you even care about the pain you caused him? Wasn’t he just part of the job? Another thing you signed on for?” This was the exact argument that she had talked Liam down from that first night that they discussed everything. At the time, Riley truly believed that his mother loved him, but all of this new information completely threw her for a loop. She didn’t know what to believe anymore, and she needed to stand up for her husband. 

“When I married Constantine, it was part of the plan, yes. But in my time by his side, I truly grew to love him. He was a good man that only wanted the best for his country, and his family.”

“Yea, I’ve seen first hand what he was willing to do to make sure his country, and his family had ‘the best’.” She emphasized her sarcasm with air quotes. 

“I know what Constantine did to you during Liam’s social season. My heart truly broke for you, and for Liam. The love you two have for each other was evident, even back then. Constantine wasn’t always like that, there was a time when he would have been thrilled for his son to find someone he cared for so greatly. Unfortunately, everything changed after my extraction.”

“Let’s talk about that extraction. Why did you just leave like that?”

Eleanor explained that after the marriage alliance with Auvernal fell through, Constantine started to doubt her loyalty to Cordonia, that she seemed to be putting the needs and wants of Auvernal ahead of those of the kingdom she ruled. The Via Imperii determined that, in order for the plan to move forward, they would need to pull Eleanor out. Because of her expansive knowledge of the inner workings of the monarchy, and Constantine himself, they agreed that she would still be a valuable asset, but she would be reassigned to work behind the scenes, providing them with intel to help them in their mission. 

They had worked with Barthelemy through associates in the past, and they knew his desire to have more power in the kingdom, so they felt he would be the best choice to move the plan forward. In order to boost his ego, they led him to believe that he was truly killing the Queen.Through a series of undercover operatives, they ensured that no actual harm would be done. Despite Barthelemy bringing in an outsider, Godfrey, to assist him in the assassination, the plan went off without a hitch. The only problem was, after Eleanor’s ‘death’ Constantine was in a constant state of paranoia. Barthelemy was confident that nobody would be able to get to the king, and if the Via Imperii wanted any control in Cordonia, they would need to take over the throne. 

Riley’s head was spinning. She didn’t know if the explanation made things better or worse. She understood now the mechanics of it, but she still couldn’t comprehend a mother abandoning her son. “But you just left Liam. Abandoned him. You knew what these people were doing, you knew what the plan was, how could you just leave your son in the middle of all of that?”

“Trust me, leaving my son behind was the hardest decision I have ever made. When I was assigned to my position as queen, my loyalty was to the Via Imperii. The second I became a mother, everything changed. My priority became my son. He took precedence over everything.” 

“Then why did you leave him?” Riley’s voice was small, barely a whisper. 

“It was the only way I could protect him. They wanted me out of there. At least if I went willingly, I could still be here to keep him safe.” Elenaor looked at her hands, which sat clasped on the table in front of her. “Leaving Liam will remain the greatest regret of my life, but it was all I could think to do in that moment to protect him.” 

Riley’s eyes closed briefly, those words immediately brought her back to the balcony in Fydelia. That was practically word for word the reason he gave her for choosing Madeline at the Coronation. Boy, the Cordonian Ruby doesn’t fall far from the tree. 

Eleanor looked up, a single tear rolled down her cheek as her eyes met Riley’s. “I made it my personal mission to make sure you joined the Via Imperii so that we could work together to keep Liam safe. They want him out, they are telling you that the plan has changed, but I know for a fact that it hasn’t. Liam has already proven to be one of the best rulers Cordonia has had in centuries. The two of you are exactly what this country needs, and I’ll be damned if I let anyone ruin that.” 

There was a level of vulnerability in Eleanor’s eyes that Riley wasn't expecting. It was the look of a mother desperate to protect her child. The same look Riley had seen in the mirror when she was protecting her daughter from the countless threats that they had faced in her short life. There were still so many unanswered questions, so many obstacles and grey areas. As horrible as all of this was, in that moment, Riley truly believed Eleanor, she trusted her. 

“So...what can I do? How can I help?”

“You and I will stay in touch, I will give you any information as I get it, so that you can stay one step ahead of them. For now, just keep your family close, and keep living your life as you normally would.”

Riley nodded. Part of her wanted to tell Eleanor that Liam knew what was going on, that she had told him everything, but she was afraid that would do more harm than good. She figured she’d wait, at least until she told Liam about her. While she did believe Eleanor was being sincere, she was going to let Liam take the lead on how this relationship progressed. She was grateful for her help, but that wasn’t going to cancel out all of the pain that she had caused Liam. 

Eleanor stood from her seat. “I really should be getting back, but I’m so glad we had a chance to talk.” She extended her hand to Riley’s.

Riley was just about to shake her hand when she paused. “Wait, I have one more question.” She had just remembered a very important missing piece to the puzzle that was Eleanor’s death. “You were pregnant when you die...er, were extracted.”

“Right, of course. I found out I was pregnant about a month before the extraction. I hadn’t gotten a chance to tell Constantine, which was probably for the best.” She looked down. “I had a son, he was raised in the Via Imperii, and is currently on assignment within the Palace.”

“Wait, so Liam has a younger brother, and he works in our home? He’s been in contact with his brother this whole time, and he doesn’t even know.” Riley felt that all too familiar sting behind her eyes again. 

“Yes, we placed him in the King’s Guard so that he could also help in protecting your family. His name is Thomas.”

Continue Reading

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[itsthenovelteafactor]

Superhero Gothic

Thanks to everyone who responded to my previous post (special shoutout to @jeyfeather1234 💛 ) about superheroes and gothic media! I know it’s been, like, a month, but here we go.

Here’s a bit of a look into some common gothic themes, and how they apply to Doom Patrol, The Boys, Watchmen (2019), and The Umbrella Academy. This one’s a bit long, not gonna lie, but I hope you enjoy! 

Part I: Let’s Talk About Gothic Media

There is not actually an all-encompassing definition for gothic media, or even a universally agreed-upon one. You’re probably familiar with some well-known gothic works (think Dracula, Frankenstein, Edgar Allen Poe, Stephen King) but there is a lot of debate on what exactly makes them gothic. 

There are some common themes in gothic works, though: families/characters under the control of a tyrannical paterfamilias, the crumbling of the established order/estate, long-buried secrets that have consequences in the present, and supernatural events that are stand-ins for/reflective of the emotional state/past actions of the characters. 

(Note: these aren’t all the themes of gothic works or even most of them, but for purposes here, I’d like to limit this analysis to them. I’d love to talk about other themes/ideas, though, if anyone has them. 😊)

So… superheroes (quick overview in case you haven’t watched any of them… spoiler warnings for the rest of this discussion)

Doom Patrol:

Five misfit superhumans attempt to rescue their mentor figure when he is kidnapped by an old enemy.

They are very, very bad at it.

Also features a singing horse head, a sentient nonbinary teleporting street (who is by far the best character) and the narrator is the fourth-wall breaking series villain. 

Beautifully weird but will also emotionally devastate you. Criminally underrated, tbh.

Watchmen (2019):

Story takes place after the canon of the graphic novel which is too much to summarize.

Alternate history (that should really feel more fictitious than it does) where white supremacist organization the Seventh Cavalry, masked police officers, and former superheroes in hiding all collide in Tulsa Oklahoma

Swept the Emmys this year and ABSOLUTELY DESERVED TO

The Umbrella Academy:

Washed up former child superheroes are forced to reunite when their father dies under mysterious circumstances 

Time travel, dysfunctional siblings, and a killer soundtrack

Basically a family drama with the superhero story as secondary (complimentary)

Probably the most obviously gothic of all of these it is aesthetic AF 

The Boys: 

Superheroes exist but they are corporate sellouts under the control of evil company Not-Amazon (AKA Vought)

Regular human protagonists try to hold them accountable for their actions with varying (read: usually minimal) success

Yes, it’s the one from those weird ads earlier this year

Billy Joel!! 

Part II: Niles Caulder, Ozymandias, and Other Terrible Father Figures

The Tyrannical Paterfamilias: 

Does not always mean a father figure explicitly, often relating to the notion of a patriarchal tradition, or family inheritance that plays a role in controlling the main characters. 

Sometimes, it is a father figure. 

Sometimes, it is a representative of patriarchal tradition/male head of pseudo-family unit.

So, uh, role call: 

Reginald Hargreeves (even in death) holds power over his children, and has shaped all of them into the adults they have become, and that drives the majority of the conflict. Each of the major character individually grapples with the after-effects of his abuse. Luther feels the need to be the leader and protect everyone and alienates his allies as a consequence. Diego constantly asserts himself as a hero (often to dangerous extremes) because it is the only way he was ever valued. Allison has to teach herself boundaries and responsible use of her powers after he encouraged her to abuse them for years. Klaus turns to drugs to cope with his childhood trauma. Five disobeyed his father with disastrous consequences and is constantly fighting to not become him. Vanya spent her entire childhood in the background, and never learned to assert herself in a healthy way. Thanks, Reggie.

Homelander says that The Seven are like a family. While whether or not this is accurate (it isn’t) is up for debate, he does occupy the tyrannical paterfamilias roles incredibly well. Homelander controls every member of the Seven, threatening them and their loved ones whenever they step out of line (read: do not do exactly what he wants in the exact way he wants them to do it.) He is also very closely tied with conservative/patriarchal rhetoric in-universe and at one point dates a literal Nazi. 

William Butcher less evil than most of the other characters on this list but the bar is also like, on the ground. Butcher tries to control the Boys in a similar way (Butcher and Homelander are character foils, okay? it’s actually pretty neat). He’s perfectly willing to sacrifice them in pursuit of his own goals, disregards their points of view and the well-being of their loved ones, and tries to cut loose anyone who disagrees with his methods (recall when Hughie tried to rescue his friends at the end of s1 and Butcher… punched him in the face? Yeah, that.) The difference is that the Boys can push back against his without being, you know, brutally murdered. (And also the Butcher isn’t a literal monster; I’m not anti-Butcher, okay? He’s an interesting character and the fact that he seems constantly on the verge of becoming that which he hates most is part of what makes him interesting.)

Guess what, folks? It’s hating Niles Caulder hours. He engineered accidents to turn the main characters into his test subjects, and then kept them conveniently hidden away in his large manor. Stole their autonomy and independence but paints himself as a benevolent father figure. And that’s not even including what he does to his actual daughter, Dorothy. He’s terrified of her growing up (read: becoming a young woman) and so he locks her away for almost 100 years and, when she is freed, yells at her constantly and makes her terrified of showing any signs of maturation (even though she’s 111 and clearly tired of being written off as a child).

The relationship between Ozymandias and his daughter, Lady Trieu, is integral to the final act of Watchmen. Heralded as the “smartest man in the world,” Ozymandias refused to acknowledge his daughter as his until he needed something from her. While Lady Trieu is more self-sufficient and independent than some of the applications of this trope, she goes to great lengths to prove herself, first to him, and then to herself when he rejects her.

Part III: Been a Long Time Gone (Constantinople) 

Gothic fiction is often associated with change, and particularly, the collapse of established systems of power. For example, many works like The House of the Seven Gables and The Fall of the House of Usher take place in old, crumbling manor houses. There is a reason for this! These kinds of estates are remnants of a past that is irreversibly gone, and their continued presence in decrypt forms serves as a reminder. 

Each of the four series takes place at a moment, either on a wide scale or on a personal scale (or both!), in which an established order is being questioned, and the constant reminders of that failed order are used to gothic effect.

The Umbrella Academy plays this most directly (In fact, there are TONS of parallels between the end of s1 of TUA and House of Usher that I don’t have the time to get into right now... lmk if you want that meta). We can see the Hargreeves mansion as a very literal example of this. While not worn down, the house is notably both very large and very empty. Shelves are filled with merchandise for a superhero team that disbanded over a decade prior, and portraits of a family that no longer speaks to each other. None of the family members ever seem truly comfortable or at ease in the house, and for good reason - every back corner is a reminder of their incredibly traumatic childhood. 

In The Boys, the story begins with the fridging death of the main character’s girlfriend, Robin, at the hands of a member of the Seven, a group of heroes so ingrained in the public consciousness that when they later hide out in a costume shop, literally every single costume is for one of Vought’s heroes. The Seven represent the system in power, which, at the disposal of Not-Amazon means corporate greed, shallow altruism, and the cultivation of public personas at the expense of actual humanity. 

From that moment on, the sheer presence of The Seven on everything from public billboards to breakfast cereal is a remainder for Hughie (and the audience) that this established system doesn’t work and is based on lies, which serves this effect on a personal level. In the broader scale, however, we also see that the Seven themselves are fracturing under an unsustainable business model. Even their name, “The Seven” starts to seem a bit dated when halfway through season one through the end of season two there are notably... less than seven of them. 

The main characters in Doom Patrol are all in recovery after the accidents that irreversibly changed their lives. We see through flashbacks the people that they used to be, and the difference is striking. They were each established in their own elements: Cliff a famous race-car driver, Rita a world renowned actress, Larry a hero pilot, Jane was involved in counter-cultural movements, Vic was a student and athlete. The foundations upon which their worlds were established are completely decimated by the accidents, and now they (save Vic and sometimes Jane) live mostly in isolation in Niles’ manor house, an estate that is far larger than would be necessary to comfortably house a group of their size.

And you feel the emptiness, both in the manor, and in the lives of the characters. They have barely created a shadow version of their own existence when the series starts, so fragile that a simple trip into town devolves into utter chaos. 

Angela Abar of Watchmen has also constructed a life following the terrifying act of terrorism on the White Night. It’s a bit of a double life, and we see that the balancing act is challenging for her, even before the story truly begins. The death of Judd Crawford, and the revelation about him that follows is not only traumatizing on a personal level (but it definitely is that), but also upsets her understanding of the world. People she’s come to trust are not just dishonest but truly monstrous. And the more Angela learns about what has been happening, the more her understanding of the world begins to unravel. Her memories, and the memories of those around her are cast in a much more sinister light, and the effect is genuinely chilling. 

Part IV: “I’m the Little Girl Who Threw the Brick in the Air”

In episode 3 of Watchmen, Laurie contacts Dr. Manhattan on the cosmic phone booth to tell him a joke. It’s a version of what TVTropes calls the “brick joke,” and it relies on set up taking place early on, other stuff happening, and then the response coming at an unexpected moment. 

So, yeah. Events of the past/buried secrets resurfacing with consequences in the present.

Continuing with the theme from Watchmen, the entire series is punctuated with the way the past and the present intertwine, with elements from both the original Watchmen graphic novel, and actual American history. One of the things we talked a lot about in my gothic lit class was the manner in which the overhanging specter of past atrocities casts a shadow over the present, and how many works cannot help but have gothic themes because there are so many horrifying things in the past that cannot be ignored, and provide both context and nuance for the discussions we have in the present. No series tackles these topics quite so directly (and with as much care) as Watchmen. (note: it does not always make for easy viewing, but if you’re in a place where you feel like you can engage with that kind of material, I highly recommend the show.)

In Doom Patrol, the past actions of the characters very much control the storyline (see: previous discussion of Niles Caulder), but the character whose storyline I want to talk about here is Rita (partially for plot reasons and partially because I just love Rita, okay?). We learn when we first meet Rita that in the past she was... not a great person. We know that the trauma of the accident that gave her her powers has changed her, we also know that she still holds on to the guilt and that her guilt has limited the scope of her world for years, but we don’t know what exactly it is that she’s done. 

Enter Mr. Nobody, all-powerful narrator who is not just aware of Rita’s greatest sins, but perfectly capable of manifesting reminders of them into the story. She is confronted with empty cradles, and the sound of crying children in the background of many scenes and we see how much it effects her, without a full understanding of why it does (see: The Tell-Tale Heart). Her past begins to haunt her physically, and she begins to crumble in response to it, until finally she is forced to confide in a stranger (and thus the audience). The past actions do not just inform the audience of Rita’s character - they show up to influence her behavior in the present. 

The ending of The Umbrella Academy season 1 is super evocative of the gothic genre with Vanya breaking open the soundproof chamber (wherein she was silenced for years) and rising from the basement to destroy the last remnants of the Hargreeves legacy (which would be awesome if the last remnants of the Hargreeves legacy didn’t include the rest of her family). Pretty much every mistake the siblings make over the course of the season feeds together to create the finale, but the primary cause isn’t something any of them actually did. It all ties back to Reginald Hargreeves’ complete inability to be nice to children. Any children. His own and random strangers that need help. 

In The Boys, while the extent to which people are making f-ed up choices in the present cannot be expressed enough, we see through the characters of Homelander that many of the present difficulties are a result of past mistakes. Particularly, the profit-seeking corruption within Vought. We learn in s1 through Vogelbaum that Homelander was raised in a lab by Vought as an experiment, only to be unceremoniously thrust into the spotlight and told he was a superhero (which... does not justify a single one of his actions but is still a major yikes). As the head scientist of the project, Vogelbaum is very aware that ignoring his conscious if the name of research has essentially created the biggest threat their world has ever seen. 

(Seriously y’all just stop raising your super kids in isolation) 

Part V: Put Them Together, and They’re the MF-ing Spice Girls 

Having the environment respond to characters’ emotions/mental states is pretty common in gothic works (it was a dark and stormy night = someone is probably not doing super well). One of the advantages of the genre’s tendency towards the supernatural is that, often, those elements of the stories, as well, are reflections of the main ideas of a work of fiction (see: Stephen King’s really unsubtle period metaphors).

Because all of these shows have a ton of supernatural/scifi elements by virtue of being, well, superhero shows, I thought it would be easier (and more fun!) to come up with a short list of elements, what they mean, and what cases they might apply to.

1. A Nonlinear Experience of Time

The Umbrella Academy: legitimately about time travel. Characters are attempting to fix the timeline but are unable to because they are both mentally and sometimes literally stuck in the past. 

Watchmen: In the episode This Extraordinary Being, Angela experiences firsthand the experiences of her grandfather, under the influence of a drug called Nostalgia. The episode touches on many themes, one of which being the impact of generational trauma in marginalized communities. Throughout the series, Dr. Manhatten is cursed with experiencing all time at once, and the episode A God Walks into Abar illustrates that, because of this, he is constantly facing the consequences of particular actions before, after, and while he is preforming him.

Doom Patrol: Mr. Nobody is able to physically travel to one of Jane’s flashbacks via his fourth-wall breaking powers, and gives Dr. Harrison an ultimatum for the future. 

What it implies: Events, particularly events that evoke guilt or conflict, are not as rooted in the past as one would like to think.

2. Powers/Abilities that reflect personal trauma/failings

Doom Patrol: Larry’s abilities/bond with the Negative Spirit have made it so that he is constantly covering himself with bandages/avoiding other people, which reflects his experiences having to hide his identity as a gay man in the 50/60s. Rita forced herself to walk a thin line, betraying everything in pursuit of her image; her abilities require constant effort to keep her entire body from becoming misshapen and out of control. Vic’s father with boundary issues can literally control his perception of the world through his cybernetic enhancements. Dorothy’s abilities manifest as imaginary friends because she was kept isolated for years at a time. 

The Umbrella Academy: pretty much all of the kids’ powers are representative of the interpersonal skills they were never able to develop. Luther is super-durable but also the most emotionally vulnerable of the group. Five can teleport and time travel but always seems to be too late to stop things. Diego can manipulate the trajectory of projectiles but cannot escape the path his father set out for him, not matter how much he resents it. Vanya always forced herself to stay quiet until the sound literally explodes out of her.

The Boys: Annie’s abilities allow her to control light, but she struggles (in the beginning) to bring to light the horrible things done to her behind closed doors. 

Watchmen: Not technically a power, but Looking Glass’ mirror-mask is a constant reminder of the hall of mirrors that both saved his life and traumatized him forever. 

What it implies: from a story perspective, these allow for an exploration of trauma/guilt to occur on a scale much larger than people simply talking about their problems (as if anyone on any of these shows knows how to talk about their problems...) It also means that the trauma/guilt of the characters takes on a physical form that is able to haunt them, and constantly remind them/hold them accountable for their past actions.

3. Diluted Sense of Reality:

Doom Patrol: The first season is narrated by its main villain, and throughout the season we see that the act of narration itself has an impact on the story.

Watchmen: The event that kicks off the plot of the story is hinged upon a paradox introduced by Angela near the end of the series when trying to speak to her Grandfather in the past through Dr. Manhattan.

The Umbrella Academy: The pair of episodes in season 1, The Day that Wasn’t and The Day That Was take the same point in time and explore two possible avenue for the future from there, with The Day that Wasn’t ending with the events of the entire episode being completely erased from the timeline.

What it implies: you can’t necessarily trust everything you see, even from the audience perspective, giving them a position not unlike that of the characters. The character’s uncertainty and confusion is magnified and reflected in the world that surrounds them.

Other examples: an apocalypse (The Umbrella Academy, Doom Patrol, Watchmen (of a sort)), ghosts (The Umbrella Academy - hi, Ben!), immortality/invulnerability (Watchmen, Doom Patrol, The Boys), and characters that look significantly younger than they actually are (The Boys, The Umbrella Academy, Doom Patrol). 

Part VI: Why Did You Write a Literal Essay Don’t You Have Real Schoolwork (yes... shhhhh...)

And... there you have it. I don’t really have some grand conclusion here. This is (clearly) far from a complete analysis but it is the most my finals-week brain can concoct at the moment. 

If you have other ideas, let me know! You can always add to the notes or message me – my inbox is always open!  If you got this far, thank you so much for taking the time to read this! Much love! ❤️

[sabineelectricheart]

The Oracle Vault [Pt. 1]

Summary: Byleth and Sylvain take refuge from the cold and prying eyes at the Abyss.

Rating: K+ - Suitable for more mature childen, 9 years and older, with minor action violence without serious injury. May contain mild coarse language. Should not contain any adult themes.

Words: 2435

Notes: So, a new series. I hope you enjoy this one, too.

The Oracle vault.

The large, stone salon was tucked somewhere on the face of the stone that held up the monastery main buildings. A wrong turn away from the Abyss settlements, the chilly, mysterious room had always elicited some strange regard from the new Archbishop.

Before the war, Rhea would use the room to make predictions about the future and the wishes of her mother, trying to communicate with the Blue Sea Star. The monks tasked with the prophecies used all sorts of methods, from magical objects, narcotic substances and, mainly, ritual dancing. So much so, the White Heron Cup was usually held to identify students with a particular talent for it, as, upon victory, they were brought here to further education in magic.

Of course, the former Archbishop’s attention to it was uneven. At the dawn of the Church of Seiros, Rhea would invest heavily upon the art, hoping to bring forth Sothis through their magic. After the Four Apostles failed so shamefully and were purged away from the religion, the woman started investing in Crestology and alchemy instead, returning every so often, after another failed experiment and lidden with guilt for perverting her mother’s creations in such a manner, hoping for absolution and guidance.

Byleth does not know why she cares for this room, as she is unsure about its power to predict the future and the will of the Goddess. She understands why she appreciates the gardens and gazebos, and do have fond memories of her old classroom, but, prior to the war, she had never even heard of this place.

It was far more contrasting from the others, consisting simply of stone walls and arched ceilings, a large empty space in the middle, as if what should go there was yet to appear. On the dark and damp corners, mismatched tapestries draped in ruffles from the walls in bursting colours, equally so in the various sizes cushions and chairs with rugs to match. Other objects as pebbles, scales, magically-infused items and strange clothing were discarded around, as well.

Regardless, it laid empty and forgotten. The Oracle mages and dancers were seen by Edelgard as the consubstantiation of everything that was wrong and corrupt about the Church, just short of the Immaculate One in foulness, and so made her personal business their systematic persecution and murder. Seteth said it was unlikely any of them managed to survive, and if not, they had no news of any of them. Their art is mostly lost, and it elicits a bit of a melancholy in Byleth’s heart, knowing that.

“Why is it that we are coming here?” Sylvain asks with a sigh, trailing behind her as Byleth ascend the last few steps of the winding spiral staircase.

The green-haired woman turns to him with a slight wicked grin and a raised brow, a look he soon returned as he grasped her hand in his own.

“I think we could do with a change of scenery, after all.” She responds with some ease. “I am growing rather tired of the Goddess Tower and the Star Terrace.”

“What is wrong with the Goddess Tower?” He scoffs in faux offense, his brows furrowing as she tugged him along with her into the vacant room as he looks over his shoulder once more.

“It is far too cold and cloudy to go up there tonight. Besides, this is one of my favourite rooms in the whole monastery if you must know. You will survive mingling with the Abyss people just this once, Sylvain.” She jests light-heartedly, releasing his hand to skip ahead of him as he groaned at her sudden absence and he had no choice but to follow her.

Though, he felt that he would follow her anywhere, and this was a proven fact with the conflict that came to a head only a few Moons prior.

“And if I do not?” He calls after her just to be difficult, pinching a piece of red velvet fabric between his fingers before his eyes roam back to her.

Byleth turns on her heel and purse her lips at him, narrowing her gaze as she fights her bemused smile. She shakes her head as he holds her stare in just the same manner, his head tilting and eyes squinting as he challenged her and she readily gave up on suppressing her grin for a moment longer.

“You did not have to join me if this is not to your taste, you know?” The Archbishop says, and he rolls his eyes as he tugs her close to him by a gentle grip on her hand. “If you have such a strong opinion of my wards, you are more than welcome to turn around and leave, but I have a feeling you would miss me too much if you did.”

The horseman silenced her very logical words with a kiss, her chuckle dwindling as she relaxed against him. His kiss was soft and tender as he hummed against her lips, his hand coming to brush her hair behind her ear as his lips moved from her own to sweep across her cheek. They linger just under her jaw before pressing chastely under her ear, his nose brushing over her skin.

“Must you always pick on me, darling?” Sylvain murmurs, his breath tickling against the shell of her ear.

Her soft laughter starts up again at his words, pulling his attention back to her gaze as he pulls back to look at her. She rests her hands on his chest, her fingers splaying across the azure fabric of his wool-lidded coat and smoothing over his furred collar.

“Yes, I think I must.” The woman concludes and, with that, she turned away from him and left his loose embrace much to his dismay.

She walks over to the centre of the salon, and twirls around slowly, taking in the static air buzzing on her skin. She knows her companion can feel the magic, too, and was just being a contrarian for sport. Besides, they were deep underground, behind complex magically-protected doors. If there is a private, unassuming room in all of Garreg Mach, this is probably it.

Sylvain watched as she smiled contently, her eyes falling closed as she tips her head back and bask in the peace that came with nightfall. In the enchantment of the room. For it was the time where they could love one another as freely as they would like, for as many hours as the moon remained in the deep navy sky. He wanted desperately to love her in the light of day, without fear of prying eyes and listening ears, but she knew why things were the way they were.

The House of Gautier were devout followers of the Church and loyal subjects of the Kingdom. The Margrave’s assistance on the Homefront during the war against the Empire was undeniable, and absolutely invaluable on their struggle for resistance.

However, for all the decoration and respect the family has amassed throughout their existence, and above all the more recent achievements, are believed by the current house head to be thanks to their Crest, and its consequent ability to yield the Lance of Ruin. As such, the blood must be protected with all zeal.

In Fódlan, that usually meant inbreeding, but the House of Gautier has not birthed a girl in one hundred and fifty years, and so incest was a material unpracticality, even between cousins. So, it was established a rotation between the Crest houses of the Kingdom: Blaiddyd, Dominic, Galatea and Fraldarius. It was believed that, through this system, the family would profit from the influx of blessed blood, but no one other Crest would be able to supplant the Gautier, as it happens from time to time with noble children.

In this regard, while Byleth carries a valuable and powerful Crest, coveted by many houses throughout the continent, a match between her and the only heir to Gautier seemed like an existential threat to the Margrave. Not only she carried the Crest of Flames, the sign of the Goddess’ favour, the Church documents seemed to indicate that both her parents carried the Crest of Seiros. They would certainly overpower the Minor Crest of Gautier the old noble and his son carried.

While Byleth cannot say for certain which Crest her children would bear, or even if they would bear one at all, or even still if she is able to have children of her own, the Church does know of ways to make one carry any Crest. From blood reconstruction surgery, to Crest Stone rituals, to even a valuable collection of Dragon Seals hidden away, if there is a pressing need for a bearer of the Crest of Gautier, she is guaranteed of its supply.

Nevertheless, it was widely agreed amongst the war generals that Crests were an undesirable feature of their society, and they should be let naturally purge away in the coming centuries. She cannot go back on such an important and consensual position for her own personal gain, especially if it means announcing to the world that the Church could have granted Crests to anyone all this time.

So, Sylvain’s father pressured him to sever his ties with his girlfriend, he is constantly pressured to wed either Annette or Ingrid, and they continue their liaison under the clandestine guard of the Garreg Mach nights. It was not a situation that would be left standing for long, but the dices will fall where they must, and Byleth has decided to deal with them as they do.

For now, to his great delight, the nobleman watched the way the torchlight glowed against her divine beauty as it shines against her verdant hair, falling like a protective veil over her head. It danced across his girlfriend’s unmarred and soft skin, as soft and jovial as a new-born’s, in bitter spite of the many years of probations she endured.

Such an ethereal beauty left him wondering how someone so perfect could love someone so flawed. He found himself to be an anchor tied to her at times, his grievous mistakes and current standing in the nobility something he felt kept her from thriving the way he knew she would, the way she deserved. She already was, far more than he could say for himself.

His girlfriend still had that unsettling unfazed look on her face, that tendency of over-rationalize what is said, but, as he grew accustomed to it, he found it more endearing than disturbing. In her own way, she radiates warmth and, above all, acceptance, something he so desperately craved and found he could not keep himself from. To him, she was the embodiment of sunshine and he felt he was quite the opposite, rather bringing storms and rain. Yet still, she chose to love him in spite of it.

He felt guilty, really.

Guilt for having a father who made her feel like their relationship was in jeopardy without ever having the displeasure of meeting the man. For not being able to love her as fully and openly as he so desired.

“Are you going to join me or are you going to stare all night?” Byleth quips, breaking him from his pestering thoughts.

His gaze flickered from the vacant spot she once stood in to where she sat on purple velvet cushioned stool. She smiled as the crystal sphere flowed before her and a grin of his own tugged at the corner of his mouth. He took a seat on the small crimson stool right next to her, finding himself a bit too tall for such a small seating arrangement but he decided against complaining.

The sphere before she contained a fog-like haze that swirled around much like the clouds many floors above their heads.

“Just what are we doing?” He asks, an amused smirk on his lips as he raised a brow.

The green-haired woman shrugs. “As the Archbishop, I suppose I should be proficient in every aspect of the religion I am expected to lead. Perhaps I would be able to see something on these. I was told they were quite easy to operate, in fact.”

“Are you having any luck with it?” He asks, as his girlfriend peers ever closer to the object.

“Unfortunately, no.” She says, laughing at his scrunched nose and the way he gripped her stool and tugged her closer with one swift pull. “Tell me, what will our future be in five years’ time?”

He chuckles, shaking his head fondly as he looked from the crystal to her. “That is quite simple, I do not need some silly crystal to tell me that.”

She raises her brow in amused curiosity. “Is that so? What lays ahead, Oracle?”

The redhead nobleman looks at her attentively, his smirk softening to an adoring smile. “Of course, Your Grace. The future is that I will love you as long as you will have me, and even more.”

Byleth nearly rolled her eyes at his sappy words, but she found them too earnest and the look on his face far too endearing to do so. She cannot deny the fact that she appreciates his steadfastness, too, but she also did not have it in her to miss an opportunity to tease him.

“Is that so? The crystal ball seems to disagree from you. As I see here, I shall sustain a wart on my nose in the next five years, and you, heartbroken from the lost beauty of mine, shall flee with a travelling minstrel.” She jests, and he rolls his eyes as he fights his smile.

“I am convinced you love to torment me.” He frowns, even in spite of his half-amusement from the stupid joke.

Despite the light-hearted moment, he finds he cannot enjoy it fully with the worry weighing heavy on his mind. Her question was merely playful, but it had been one that frequented his thoughts far more than he cared to ever admit, more than he ever will admit.

In a perfect world, one there were no Crests, that there was someone to shoulder the responsibilities he is so eager to shirk, Sylvain would have felt confident with the idea of loving her for the rest of his life. Would have felt rather excited for their future together because he loved she entirely too much for his own good.

However, it was much too difficult to indulge in thinking of such dreams when there were things in particular pressing down on his shoulders.

That one night in particular, to be specific, he would never forget that.

*_*_*_*_*

The Oracle Vault Masterlist

Fire Emblem Masterlist

Three Houses Masterlist

[aspoonofsugar]

Children, Adults and In-between

This chapter starts with a father losing all hopes of seeing his daughter again:

And ends with said daughter finally waking up:

All in all, I think this is a fitting choice for a chapter which is once again centered around the relationship between adults and children. And, as per usual, this relationship is not what it should be since the children end up having to take care of the adults’ problems. All in all, this is the root of Annie’s story as well. Annie became a warrior because of his father and in the end it is probably gonna be her the one who goes back to her father and not her father who comes to find her. Basically, Annie is the one who has to be active if she wants to meet her parent again, while said parent has a passive role.

This is true also for another child:

Gabi is one of the most active characters this chapter. The adult who has come to save her is left sleeping, while she goes in search of her loved one. Reiner falling asleep is nothing more than a symbolic representation of his passiveness and it is not the first time that it happens:

During the battle of Liberio Reiner is about to give up and it is only because of Gabi and Falco’s desperate shouting that he stands up and saves Pokko. In this chapter, Gabi lets him sleep differently from what she did in Liberio. This could be because she has now realized how Reiner feels, while in Liberio Falco was the one who had understood it:

That said, it is possible that when Gabi comes back she will finally wake Reiner up and force him to act.

However, for now it is important that Gabi is not giving up, while Reiner has given up:

And this brings us to her parallel with Eren. In this meta I said this about Eren:

On  one hand the father-children relationship is a very important one for  the series and we have seen that so far children have kept paying for  their parents’ mistakes. Eren is a character who is clearly trying to  change the system and him embodying the future against the first King (and Rod Reiss) embodying the past is clearly symbolic of this.

Basically, Eren is a child who is challenging the world built by the previous generations and his ability to see the future and to influence the past through memories symbolizes also this, among other things. That said, Eren’s approach is highly destructive. Now, Gabi shares some (okay a lot) of these destructive tendencies:

In this chapter as well, she initially proposes to kill Eren. However, she also recognizes this:

And proposes other solutions:

Basically, as for now, Gabi is trying to walk away from a path made only of violence. And because of this, she is slowly communicating with people and is making important information go from one side to the other. If, as I think, we will finally see some kind of alliance to stop Eren, then it would be interesting if this alliance is born because of both Eren and Gabi. Eren can be the common enemy who unifies the world, and Gabi can contribute to the overcoming of the rift between the two sides, if only just a little. We will see what happens.

What is more, one of the most important themes is stated directly once again:

@thisworldgodonlyknows has already written a great meta on this exchange among Kaya, Gabi and Nicolo and I had talked about the forest metaphor here, so I won’t repeat myself.

What is important is that Nicolo, Gabi and Kaya have all grown and Nicolo especially is becoming a “man like Mr Braus”. He is able to encourage and guide two lost kids asking difficult questions about themselves and the world. In short, he is acting as an adult should and it is not by chance that after the metaphor of the forest comes back we have this scene:

Here we have another adult who is acting like one and who is protecting the kids under his care. This scene is another scene of reconcilitaion, but this time we don’t have two children who have hurt each other and an adult who has hurt one of them, but an adult who was hurt by the kids, but who is still there to protect them.

So, we have children growing up and adults acting like adults, but the problem is that the majority of our main characters is an in-between. The 104th are simply refusing to grow up by this point and this is why they fail to make any game-changing choice. This is made clear by this exchange:

It is not by chance that both Jean and Connie are willing to sacrifice a child to have back an authority-parental figure aka someone who can tell them what to do and can make them feel secure.

In short, Jean and Connie’s negative reactions this chapter are born by the same fear of growing up. Moreover, their reactions are rooted in their own personality-flaws.

Connie’s reaction is an emotive one because througout the arc he has kept repressing his negative feelings. Tbh it is probable that him repressing his negativity is something which goes way back:

Connie has been suffering a lot because of what happened to his mother, but we have seen very little of this suffering up until now and the moment he tried to express some of his anger in the past he immediately went back on what he said. What I mean is that up until now Connie has processed his grief alone and it is implied that Sasha was a big help for him:

It is clear that for him the 104th are a family and so the moment this new-found family loses another member and risks to break up because of inner tensions he goes back to his mother hoping to bring back what he lost. However, he can’t and must accept it. In a sense, he is probably going through a process similar to the one Nicolo experienced and, just like before, Falco is the one put at risk by this. I doubt Connie will follow through with his plan especially because Falco’s situation is similar to his mother’s.

As far as Jean is concerned, it is as if he is somehow back to his old habit of choosing the easy way out. He is somehow conveying te thought process of a relatively normal person. He is in a conflict much larger than him and there is the chance that this conflict will be solved in a positive way for both him and his loved ones without him having to do anything. What right does he have to consider Eren’s method wrong if it brings results? Hasn’t he learnt that sometimes cruelty is necessary in order to win? In short, Jean’s stance is probably born both by the horror of the situation and by him trying to figure out what is right and where he should draw the line between what must be done and what must be avoided. That said, Jean has already shown clear signs of strongly disliking what is happening, despite his unwillingness to fight Eren:

Jean states that the rest of the world is being destroyed because they were not able to let go of their prejudices and that in this way his loved ones are going to be safe. However, his little moment with Onyankopon already shows that this isn’t true. Onyankopon is a person who earnestly tried to help him and Paradis and his country is going to be destroyed as well. He is Jean’s friend and him and the other volunteers are gonna suffer.

As far as Mikasa and Armin are concerned, it is interesting that they find themselves with Gabi again and so they are once again confronted with this mini-Eren who is asking their help to save a loved one and who is repeating what they themselves know. She is telling them that it is not necessary to destroy the world and that there are other ways to use the power of the coordinate. I think that it is impossible for Mikasa and Armin not to see Eren (and so a little bit of their past) in Gabi. Hopefully, this meeting will motivate them to act soon.

Armin in this chapter has already made clear that he thinks Eren is going too far and has tried to protect Falco and to find ways to avoid unnecessary conflicts with the Marleyans, but he is being too timid about it. As @hamliet said here, it is possible Annie’s return will force Armin to become more active especially because by this time Annie and his arcs are clearly tied.

This chapter also gave us more foreshadowing of Armin eventually becoming a leader:

It is clear that he will have to succeed Erwin and hopefully this will happen soon.

Mikasa too has subtly shown that she is growing stronger:

The chapter has conveyed it through her foiling with Yelena. Yelena frozes when she realizes Zeke is not in control and that things are not going according to his plan. She is so dull she can barely react, but Mikasa, despite what Eren is doing, is perfectly able to move and to protect the other soldiers. It is clear who between the two is the blinded follower and who is her own person.

In conclusion, I would like to highlight how Eren’s actions are already “symbolically” destroying people self-defense mechanisms and obliterating the barriers among people:

Eren has undone all the hardening and so we have Reiner and Annie losing the armors/crystal they were using to protect themselves. This means they will have to face others and to overcome their isolation. Similarly, the barriers among people are starting to fall just like the Walls which have isolated Paradis from the world. Because of this, we have seen some relationships being mendled and some communication happening between the two sides.

[fencesandfrogs]

cloudtail’s daughter au

so i decided to do a full write-up of this au instead of doing a second post to cover books 4-6 and then everything will be self-contained.

the essence of this au is pretty simple: dovewing does not, imo, fulfill the prophecy by being the granddaughter of firestar’s nephew, because that’s at least 3 “kin” away from him. so while i think she’d actually have to be princess’ daughter to fit, i’ll let her be firestar’s grandniece and call that “close enough” because it’s better.

anyway, there’s no real reason for this to change anything, but i think given who cloudtail and brightheart are, and how close dovewing and ivypool are to whitewing, it would probably change quite a few things.

[4k words. 15 minute read. proper section headers.]

this is a big summary so i’m sure i’ll forget things, i’ve already had to add in the events caused by the dovewing/tigerheart romance/conflict that carries through the first three books, and that cloudtail being an atheist has a major effect on ivypaw. i know i wrote a detailed summary of the first arc, where i didn’t forget any of that, but nothing exists for the second arc. anyway this au is tagged cloudtail’s daughter and apparently i have a lot to say about it so i’m sure if you click on the tag you can find info about it. assuming this isn’t the first thing i post. which it might be.

section one: things that don’t happen

so i don’t want this to be a po3 rewrite, which means i’m going to take a moment to explicitly discuss what doesn’t change.

first, po3 stays pretty much exactly the same. i want jayfeather to be a warrior too. i also want him to be dovewing’s brother. but the au where brightheart gives birth to dovekit, anxiety child, and jaykit, blind, and feels like a failure despite the fact that its not like her half-blindness is genetic, is not this au. that is another au.

anyway, hollyleaf does keep herself more together, because she needs to be alive for some family drama. she’s in background character hell (BGCH) for a while, though, especially the first book.

she still goes to the tunnels, mind, she just comes out sooner.

but otherwise, despite my personal tastes, i’m not changing po3 very much.

section two: brightheart’s litters

okay so cloudtail and brightheart have four children, i believe, and my choice is either to replace whitewing, or to replace the others. now, i don’t particularly care for either of these options, but i’d rather they have their second litter younger, so we’re replacing amber/dew/snow. this still lets you have old queen drama, but not so much that you’re like “brightheart how on god’s green earth did you have 3 children with no issues”

instead, she’ll have dovekit and ivykit at about the same time whitewing had them.

now, for complicated cat genetic reasons, cloudtail could have been a black cat. now, here me out: what i mean is, if he wasn’t white, he could be black. basically, white is a masking color in cats, it goes on top of whatever pattern they would have displayed. both he and brightheart would have to inherit one dilute gene (princess was not dilute, so she had to carry it), and then either dovewing or brightheart are tortie, and that’s the best i can do for keeping dovewing grey.

i, personally, lean towards tortie brightheart, because i always pictured her that way, but i have seen some pretty cute tortie dovewing.

ivykit inherits red from her mother, and is tortie either way, because tortie ivypool is cute.

in fact, i’ve been tinkering with the idea that ivykit and dovekit have kind of mirrored grey and cream spots. not, like, perfectly mirrored, because that’s not how tortoiseshell/calico (they would technically be calico, since they have white) works, but close enough to be cute.

section three: arc one (summary)

these books are going to have six protagonists (dovekit, lionblaze, cinderheart, hollyleaf, jayfeather, ivypool, in that order) with a secondary character who gets less chapters but the most important b-plot (ivykit, hollyleaf, lionblaze, jayfeather, cinderheart, dovewing).

arc one focuses on “two braincells” i.e., dovewing, lionblaze, and cinderheart (sorry bb, ur not like the other two, but i’m putting you somewhere) and the main theme is dovepaw learning to manage her power. it’s a tug and pull between dovewing: glass canon, and dovewing: can’t do shit.

cinderheart and lionblaze also have a romance going on, which irritates ivypaw, who has a bit of a catalyst with the dark forest in the middle/end of the arc (like in the original). we only get this through external perspecives, though, because when this happens, lionblaze is in the secondary position.

one of the ways to fix this book series is to decouple it from ivy and dove, much as i love them. both the beavers and the dark forest make up a b-plot in this arc, while the quest for the third prophecy cat, as well as growing tensions between clans, take center stage, and lionblaze and cinderheart work in the second and third book to give us the adult perspective of the tension that dovekit and ivykit can’t in the first book.

mostly, this is fairly low stakes. part of that is because characters are having stakes appropriate for them, rather than smeared around in a book. (looking @ u, flametail buddy). so dovekit/paw spends her first book worried about apprentice things and doesn’t get to narrate again until the end of the series.

section four: book one — growing shadows

i think the fourth apprentice is a stupid name, okay?

so book one is dovekit and ivykit, for pretty obvious reasons.

although actually i’m pushing off the beavers in this to book two or three. i’m not 100% sure where i want that, yet.

so anyway, dovekit is born and wow is she anxiety child. (i call dovewing anxiety child a lot, because, well, she is? i feel like it’s sort of implicit in the books and i’m making it explicity.) anyway, she’s in sensory overload like 100% of the time. see, she was born late, and so she didn’t have her powers kick in over time like lionblaze and jayfeather. nope. she got the adult version right away.

so she spends a lot of time hiding with cloudtail because he’s big and fluffy and not complicated to look at. cloudtail and brightheart are understandibly pretty worried about her, because no one really knows what to do about it. she’s skittish and distractable and extremely sensitive. she hates going out in the rain, hates bright sun, etc.

(side note: dovekit’s powers extend to pretty much all her senses. she can see, hear, and smell much farther than she should, and she can taste and feel much more strongly than an other cat.)

ivykit doesn’t feel unloved, but she does know her sister is getting more attention, and that always kind of hurts, even if you’re understanding.

cloudtail and brightheart work to try to help dovekit get on her feet, but they’re not super successful. she learns to cope enough to be able to function as a kit, but she’s always kind of a strange, quiet kit. she doesn’t know how to talk about seeing too much because she doesn’t realize its too much.

dove is given to cinderheart, because lionblaze is a terrible mentor for small anxiety child, and ivy is given to lionblaze. this will also create drama later, just wait.

so the main plot of this book is keyed into dovepaw learning to hunt. the stakes are pretty low, honestly. they’re mounting around dovepaw and ivypaw, but the girls are too young to properly understand everything.

dovepaw is initially successful hunting due to some luck and being good at spotting prey, but she can’t replicate it. ivypaw only trains with her a bit at first, and she sees this success, and feels like her parents’ attention on dovepaw made dovepaw better than her.

this gets ivypaw into the dark forest. this is the b-plot: ivypaw training, realizing she made a mistake, and not knowing how to get out. plus, she doesn’t have to mind her sister. (ivypaw is raised by an atheist, so while she’s smart enough to eventually work out that these cats are evil, she doesn’t have a sunshine and rainbows view of starclan. that’s the only way i can justify her not being smart enough to nope the fuck out of there, even if she is really young and really angry.)

in clan life, ivypaw knows she needs to look out for dovepaw. she doesn’t mind, but she gets to experience a life without that in the dark forest.

dovepaw does mind how everyone treats her like she’s made of glass. she sees cinderheart talking to brightheart and jayfeather and firestar and feels like everyone thinks she’s useless. so she decides to go out on her own and prove she can function.

dovepaw starts sneaking out at night and she finds the tunnels. her senses dampened, she panicks, running deeper and deeper, getting lost. fallen leaves will find her, and help get her strength up and then get her out. kind of like with hollyleaf, who is out of the caves by now.

ivypaw sees everyone searching for dovepaw and starts to feel guilty about wanting more attention, and the fact that part of why she wants dovepaw back is so people pay attention to ivypaw again. she also feels responsible for this.

cinderheart is distraught, because she really did care about dovepaw, and it’s been three days, her scent tracked to the tunnels but it was raining and no one has seen her since, so she’s probably dead.

ivypaw, grieving, refuses to accept that dovepaw is dead and she hunts outside the tunnel mouth until she thinks she hears something.

dove and ivy reunite and return to the clan. ivypaw’s convictions that dovepaw needs to be protected are strengthened, and dovepaw knows she failed in her goal. everyone is happy to see them.

we get some fretting about how washed out everything is, how the rain didn’t even stick because the soil is so dry. that’s a cue to the drought, which will be a bigger deal next book.

section five: book two — fading echoes

honestly i’m not attached to book titles, but this works here too.

so this book is split between lionblaze and hollyleaf. i’m pretty sure hollyleaf is out of the caves by now, but i haven’t decided if she’s rejoined the clans. she feels strongly for fallen leaves: they’re listed as mates on the warrior cats wiki, and if hollyleaf and jayfeather are both going to have ancient dead ghost mates, she’s at least going to visit hers. her end goal is to get him to starclan so they can be together after her death.

anyway, this is beavers book. i don’t have a ton to say about it because it’s pretty much the same, except hollyleaf goes with dovepaw and cinderheart and she’s our pov as dovepaw falls for tigerheart because (and this is my understanding of her logic in the books to begin with): “big fluffy tom is safe fluffy tom.”

lionblaze feels the disconnect between him and ivypaw, but he can’t help that cinderheart is away. ivypaw is clearly preoccupied, but he can’t tell with what. his larger conflict is in finding the third cat.

this isn’t a filler book, per say. the tree falls and that happens, and lionblaze gets thrown into rebuilding camp. ivypaw feels doubly abandoned. lionblaze tries to win her affection, but he doesn’t know how.

beaver crew gets back. dovepaw has stars in her eyes. ivypaw is close to passing her warrior assessment, but lionblaze can tell she’s holding back because she doesn’t want to leave dovepaw. dovepaw can hunt by now, but she can’t really split her attention.

she’s scared of going into battle.

after a border skirmish where dovepaw just freezes, ideas of her being a medicine cat are raised.

ivypaw sees tigerheart in the dark forest, and she goes all bluefur being like “snowfur ur bf has rabies” on dovepaw, who is not happy with this. ivypaw pushes dovepaw to be a medicine cat because of this. the sisters are squabbling and barely talking.

book ends.

section six: book three — distant whispers

again not 100% sold on the names.

so this is cinderheart’s book, and she’s going to figure this out, because dovepaw and ivypaw are falling apart, and dovepaw deserves to be a warrior. so she convinces firestar to let her and lionblaze take ivypaw and dovepaw to the mountains. she believes, well, i’m not sure i haven’t worked that part out.

anyway, they go.

the tribe is like “yeah the world sure is a big place with a lot to look at. that’s why only half of us look.” (i know that’s not exactly how cave guard’s work but close enough.)

cinderheart is like “hm. what if, dovepaw, just a thought, what if you just, you know, avoid battles? i know it’s part of clan life but judging by the two souls crammed into my body, i’d say there’s been very few major conflicts over this and, reasonably, you should be able to avoid being chosen for battle control.”

dovepaw says, “but cinderheart, i’m a main character! unless i’m being punished or taught a lesson about duty, i’ll be automatically registered for every battle patrol until i die!”

cindheart says, “you’re right, i’m so sorry. hey ivypaw, [whoops yeah ivy and lion are here too sorry i forgot to mention that] what if you two learn to work as a team.”

dovepaw says, “i don’t want to work with her.”

ivypaw says, “that’s a great idea.”

because dovepaw talks very quietly (she forgets not everyone can hear as well as her), ivypaw wins.

they spend at least a month in the tribe, maybe longer, i’m not sure. eventually, they decide to go back. dovepaw is never happy in the tribe, it’s way too loud all the time, but she does manage to sort out her hunting issues, and so fighting is left.

so there’s still a big push for dovepaw to consider maybe being a medicine cat.

but that is not this au. this is the jaywing/dovefeather au where they basically switch roles. there’s a really good fic where dovepaw goes to riverclan for a while that i love and anyway this au is a as-close-as-possible to canon au for me to rectify my issues with dovewing in canon (nominally, i don’t have any, but i think her character was displayed…curiously, and i’m mad about the prophecy.)

ivypaw is team medicine cat. cinderheart and lionblaze are struggling. cinderheart eventually teaches dovepaw an extension of the techniques of the tribe, and they work out that dovepaw can kind of, track the cats she’s with to anchor herself in battle. this means dovepaw no longer is tied to ivypaw for her success, and so they both become warriors.

while they’re still in the tribe, ivypaw has time away from the dark forest and lionblaze finally puts two and two together, and that basically makes up the b-plot for the back half of the book, lionblaze trying to get ivypaw to admit what’s going on and then trying to help her.

dovewing’s senses begin to return but since they come back slowly she’s able to manage them. so she quickly excels in hunting.

ivypool cottons on to the dark forest breeding loyalty between its members, not to their original clans, and realizes that this is going to threaten all four of the clans.

end book with a bang, end first arc. we will now turn to the actually-have-more-than-two-braincells crew (sorry cinderheart, you don’t deserve to be in this group, but your prefix doesn’t end in -y, so you can’t be with jay/holly/ivy in the brainy crew.)

section seven: arc 2 (summary)

so this arc is when the main conflict (dark forest battle) becomes obvious. dovewing’s problems have been sorted out, so she’s pushed into BGCH for a little bit while the smart adults sort things out.

book three ends with ivypool realizing the dark forest isn’t a personal problem, but a clan-group (like, all of the clans together? not sure how to call it) sized problem. ivypool, jayfeather, and hollyleaf together manage to sort out a lot of the dark forest’s eventual plan, and they try to sort out a way to solve it. then the battle happens. that’s basically the summary?

in here, the clans start working together way sooner and the prophecy comes out way faster.

section eight: book 4 — the forgotten character

alright, hollyleaf is liberated from BGCH. actual title is still the forgotten warrior.

hollyleaf and ivypool start to bond, and hollyleaf is convinced all the clans need to know about what’s up.

ivypool disagrees, and they talk about it like rational people.

hollyleaf and fallen leaves are still cute.

jayfeather has his timetravel thing in this book so he can do flametail’s job in the next book. he gets to talk to hollyleaf and fallen leaves about it.

i don’t think i’d mess with jayfeather and briarlight’s relationship in this au, because i think it’s sweet in canon as is, but you know i have thoughts about half moon and briarlight. anyway, jayfeather gets his book next, this is about hollyleaf.

fallen leaves helps hollyleaf learn to control, idk, spirit dream travel? jayfeather helps with this too. hollyleaf has to share extra hard with jayfeather because she took up a disproportionate amount of time in lionblaze’s book.

so anyway, hollyleaf is learning to travel into the dark forest. similar to the way dark forest cats leave it? but in reverse. this is the main plot.

like the second book, it’s not really filler, so much as lower stakes, and like the second book, i don’t have a ton to say about it because the plot is self evident. unfortunately, hollyleaf has the two “chill” books. sorry bb.

anyway, this is building into jayfeather going all angry old man yells at sky at starclan next book, so the biggest conflict in this book is hollyleaf realizing she can just, leave. she can go back in time the way jayfeather did, but on purpose, save fallen leaves, and they can be alive.

i mean, that wouldn’t actually work, not the least because i’m not keen on hollyleaf being a reincarnation, espcially in the reincarnation-lite universe, but also because she can’t save fallen leaves, then he wouldn’t be a sharpclaw, not really, and like a whole host of other issues but anyway

at the end of power of three, hollyleaf runs away from her problems. this book is about her standing up to defend them.

i don’t know if she explicitly breaks up with fallen leaves, but they have a falling out that won’t get resolved until after the great battle. this is a mutual/not mutual thing where they both know that fallen leaves is stopping hollyleaf from fully committing to helping her clans now, but they love each other.

relationship conflict that isn’t forbidden romance.

speaking of, ivypool getting close to hollyleaf means that the two of them start to reconnect with their siblings. hollyleaf’s actions alienated her from jayfeather and lionblaze and she kind of just was sad and apologetic but they didn’t want to forgive her.

(sorry hollybush, says jayfeather,

that’s not my name, says hollyleaf,

oh, says jayfeather, guess i forget. well anyway, i have a new sister now. her name is dovewing.

dovewing?, says hollyleaf. but you don’t like her.

it’s okay, says jayfeather, she never tore my family to shreds and then abandoned me to deal with the fallout.)

(jayfeather and hollyleaf always seemed closer to me than lionblaze and either of them, until hollyleaf’s whole event. anyway he remains petty about everything and lionblaze stands by him because, well, he’s not wrong, also dovewing is important to cinderheart so he feels like he should be on her side on this which means jayfeather’s side. even though cinderheart is friends with hollyleaf look i said lionblaze is a loveable dumbass already, didn’t i?)

so anyway hollyleaf is sad and ivypool sees that and is like “hm maybe i shouldn’t be a petty bitch for no reason” and this is fine until after this series is over when dovewing and tigerheart are like “bitch we gon b together”

dovewing’s emotions get jayfeather to, well, not go back on his actions, but recognize hollyleaf is the most effective person to work with. because lionblaze and dovewing are just. so dumb.

and yeah this book ends with things feeling almost hopeful.

section nine: book 5 — sign of the moon

i cannot overstate how little i care about the titles of these books.

anyway, jayfeather and cinderheart.

i don’t have a ton of thoughts about this one. jayfeather reunites starclan, cinderheart helps convince ivypool and dovewing to work together. this is the book where clans find out about the propechy but not the dark forest that is for next book

they know something is coming, but everyone agrees not to give ivypool away yet. they like her, you know, alive.

anyway, i don’t have much to say because it’s pretty obvious what happens, because this is just a bunch of events from other books crammed into this book, now, and they’ve been written and i don’t see the need to make many changes.

cinderheart and lionblaze have kit drama, maybe? cinderheart counsels dovewing about tigerheart, maybe? my point is it’s not super important.

the book ends with the two warriors to every camp. and dovewing, jayfeather, and lionblaze, are going to get split up.

this is my biggest change so far imo because it’s the most plot relevant.

dovewing is going to shadowclan with ivypool. jayfeather is going to windclan with…i’m not sure yet? i don’t want him going to riverclan because leafpool has ties to riverclan and, well, i want jayfeather to get a chance to stand on his own. and lionblaze goes to riverclan, with either cinderheart or hollyleaf.

jayfeather is super grumbly about this, but admits that it’s important as a show of unity, and also, he’s pretty functional in wind clan? like they’re all playing to their strengths.

jayfeather learns to navigate pretty quickly, dovewing appreciates quiet and also not being that-strange-cat who everyone is super careful around, and lionblaze is big and gregarious and enjoys riverclan being chill and friendly. so yeah, people get a chance to chill and be happy.

ivypool is in position to be angsty next book.

end book.

section ten: book 6 — the last hope

despite my claim that the biggest change is sending the three to different clans, i don’t have a lot to say about it.

basically, well, okay

first, we see ivypool and dovewing again. reminder that last time we were in one of their heads, they were apprentices. in book one.

dovewing couldn’t even hunt last time we had her pov.

so there’s a few chapters to some characterization that happens. dovewing is no longer anxiety child. she’s somewhat shy, she’s soft spoken, but she’s not skittish. you can’t surprise her. and she’s intense. she’ll just stare at you with wide eyes if you come talk to her until you say something she wants to respond to.

ivypool sees why dovewing and tigerheart are good together. she’s still not supportive, but, like, he understands her. he doesn’t treat her like she’s fragile, but he also is kind and forgiving and soft to her.

plus he’s a total simp for dovewing. that helps.

anyway, ivypool gets along fairly well in shadowclan. i don’t have ton of thoughts about this.

ivypool, hollyleaf/cinderheart, and jayfeather’s companion, as well as half of the other cats away on missions, are acting as messengers between their host clans and their home clans. that’s how ivypool gets to find out about info. they meet on the island every morning. or something.

anyway, this bit is where i most hate the set up of this with two pov per book hard cap because it’d be cool to see into everyone else’s head but that’s for novellas and side stories.

the battle happens.

everything sucks. dovewing has basically committed to tigerheart, but bramblestar’s storm messes with the timeline.

and that’s pretty much it.

section eleven: what’s next?

so i swore i wasn’t starting new fic and then i thought of this and now i do want to write it so, maybe?

the most important thing is:

tl/dr: the reason dovewing shouldn’t have been a prophecy cat is because she’s not the kin of firestar’s kin.

[pokemonbutch-fr]

Why every dragon breed can be easily autism coded by me: an autistic lesbian

I’m doing this as per canon lore in the Encyclopedia, obviously anyone can do whatever they want and this isn’t law

I’m just having a good time

Feel free to add on anything about your autistic dragons, or how autistic draconic society may work!

There will be NO clowning on this post, we’re appreciating and celebrating autism here!

And no I’m not saying that ONLY autistic people do these things, it’s just that these are all common themes I’ve seen amongst autistic people.

Bogsneaks: often isolated from each other, when interacting often fight. Autistic people who have different major languages can sometimes have trouble communicating (ex: I tend to read people’s body language more than their intonation, versus someone who has little to no body language and usually relies on focusing on someone’s voice)

Coatls: have lots of trouble understanding other breeds, often end up communicating with other Coatls and nobody else. The autistic community is often very accepting and works to avoid misunderstanding, whereas allistic people often fail to see past the way autistic people can have unique methods of communication

Faes: have a unique form of communicating tone, as they have expressive crests no other breed has, and cannot understand dragons without those same crests. Likewise, other breeds cannot understand the monotone Fae. Autistic people often have unique communication methods that don’t make sense to allistics, from non- and low-verbal people, to those who show no emotions when speaking, and so many in between

Gaolers: they’re considered children until they get a job, and have a lot of trouble understanding the current states of society. Autism is so often associated with children, that autistic adults either can’t get the diagnosis/recognition they desire, or they’re treated as young children unless they can “prove” they’re an adult. Additionally, autistic people can have a lot of trouble following societal norms and understanding how the world works in allistic people’s eyes

Guardians: they have a charge, which is something they will tirelessly protect until they can no longer do so - for whatever reason. Autistic people often have special interests, which is an intense, powerful connection/interest/etc in something. Many autistic people will also have an extremely long lasting, possibly life-long special interest that always fills a part of their heart

Imperials: emotionally distant and reserved with words, but able to passionately throw themselves into anything they care about. Many autistic people either have difficulty expressing themselves, and are low- or nonverbal, or due to the way society treats them, aren’t often very open with their feelings and interests. Though when presented with something they’re passionate about - often a special interest - they have the ability to jump into it and do amazing things

Mirrors: stick with their own kind, don’t care much for unnecessary words. Autistic people gather in groups whether or not they realize it, since they share similar communication styles and life experiences. They’re also often very happy to simply hang out in silence, enjoying each other’s company without having to talk the whole time.

Nocturnes: copy copy copy! They mimic traits and activities of any dragons they’re around, meaning to fit right in. Autistic people do this SO much, either due to fascination and the desire to share interests, or an uncanny ability to blend in with allistic people when necessary

Pearlcatchers: their pearl is essentially a part of themselves, vitally important and irreplaceable, something they value dearly. Special interests can often be a very personal thing, something so valuable to someone that it’s a part of their life. (ex: I play FR literally every day and it’s honestly a nice part of my life because of how valuable it is to me)

Ridgebacks: they borrow first and ask later, insisting that it isn’t the “stealing” the other dragons always claim it is. Autistic people often run off of different social cues/rules than allistic people, which can lead to many misunderstandings - such as borrowing something they thought was free to use

Skydancers: very good at reading emotional energies to see what others are feeling, which can benefit them in discussions/arguments, but frustrate them greatly if they can’t read someone’s emotions. many autistic people are empaths, and have an uncanny ability to feel other people’s emotions, and often share them. This comes in handy for being able to understand other people more easily, but can be tough if somebody around them is feeling bad, they’ll often feel the same emotions

Snappers: they live for routine, and know a LOT about everything you could imagine. Many autistic people love having a routine in life, and find comfort in knowing exactly what they plan to do. In the same vein, any autistic person can likely talk endlessly about their special interest, answering any questions you have and 5 more you haven’t even asked yet

Spirals: talk and move every single moment. Stimming #1, many autistic people have trouble not moving for a while and will find something to do so they can keep moving. they also often have trailing trains of thoughts, and can totally change subjects within 10 seconds because they’re talking so fast

Tundras: wonderful at sitting in silence or simply listening to others, they lack a good memory save for their sense of smell, and cherish their family like no other. Autistic people often have found families they’d die for, and take their close relationships very seriously. They also often end up with shoddy memories in one way or another, and love to sit in silence with friends

Wildclaws: their social hierarchy is based on appreciating those for their ability and what they can do. since autistic people can struggle with the way society will define worth, they focus more on someone’s personal value in what they find important. if someone is really good at identifying insects based on their silhouette, well dang that’s a really cool thing to do!

[kintsugi-sheep]

2021.01.10: Redcaps and Manga Reviewing, Vigor and Nostalgia

Alright, so what happened this week?

Well, I don’t think I’ll ever forget what happened this week. I was six when September 11th occurred, so I wasn’t really cognizant of what had happened. But I am cognizant now. And I won’t forget what happened on January 6th for a very long time. I don’t consider myself especially patriotic or loyal to the democratic system of government as it operates in this country, but I do acknowledge when something so sacrosanct is violated.

I don’t want to spend time getting into this. If you’re old enough to find this blog post you’re old enough to know what happen. I hadn’t intended for that to be what I wanted to talk about anyway.

Where I left off last week, I wanted to announce my intention of making a video on Shaman King.

There are a number of hurdles—some might even dare to call them issues—with this idea. I’m not a reviewer. I don’t have any video editing experience. I don’t have a platform of great enough scale to protect my work. And, for the nature of what I intend to write, I may not even have enough time to get it out before the series drops in April.

So why bother?

Because I love the series. For years, it almost never came up in conversation, but when it did, I was pumped up with the nostalgia I had while reading it. I didn’t know where this excitement came from for years.

It’s a good manga. Not the best that there ever was, but yet I inexplicably loved it. And I didn’t really know why. But when I was asked what my favorite manga of all time was my answer would be Shaman King.

When I heard the anime was getting a re-release and when I heard they were going to re-publish the manga in full this time, I was ecstatic. I told my friend about it and, being the type of person who’s typically late regarding news related to anime releases, they already knew.

Then, I saw the articles. And my heart ached.

Read my article about how Shaman King is pulling a Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood.

Read my article about ten characters that will be in this anime that weren’t in the original.

Read about whether or not this character is okay for woke 2021.

And I my stomach sinks when I think about what will be coming next.

Theories made by people who read the series and are reciting spoilers for clicks.

Essays on why Hao is the greatest anime villain of all time for clicks.

Speculation on whether or not Yoh can beat Goku in a fight.

I don’t have a very high opinion of journalism. And knowing that the series I love will be used and disposed of for quick clicks is upsetting to me.

In deciding to do this project, I put it all together. I realized why I loved this series.

When I drew as a youngster, Shaman King’s stab-your-eye-out-on-my-protagonist’s-edges art was my early influence for character design.

Every story I’ve come up with—whether or not it’s been continued, recycled into another idea, or wholly abandoned—has had themes of spirituality that I’d only seen present in Shaman King as a child watching it on the FoxBox.

It was my exposure to the reality that manga and anime don’t always coincide; I hadn’t watched FMA or FMAB yet.

I used to record the Saturday morning cartoons and watch them with my grandmother, and while for years I’d hop between Fox, the WB, and ABC recording cartoons so that we’d watch things like Lilo and Stitch, Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends, the Proud Family, Xiaolin Showdown, Coconut Fred, Ultimate Muscle, Johnny Test, Mucha Lucha, Jackie Chan Adventures, even One Piece—to name what I could from the top of my head, these shows didn’t all run on these channels in the same breadth of time—I’d skip over Shaman King, keeping it selfishly to myself like a child would.

This week, it hurt watching a bunch of redneck monsters trample over the Capitol. As someone cynical of the government, it hurt to know something so sacrosanct could be treated so shamefully. But it hurts so much worse to imagine that I wasted all these years, like a boy concealing his affection for a girl until she falls into the arms of someone else, to actually take the time and express the love I have for this series.

The image of this post is an issue of Jump a buddy of mine bought at a thrift store or yard sale and gave me almost three years ago. I posted the picture with a long blurb about how my week feeling on Facebook. A lot of it is auxiliary, but I’d like to recount what I wrote here.

Spoiler alert, I was feeling a little pretentious that day:

 “Vigor. Even writing this feels more cumbersome than it actually is.

How do I say what I mean? I hate nostalgia. It’s true, if hyperbolic. I see it cut down so many peers, creatives, and critics like a guillotine; a sloppy, artificially guided, swift force that lops their heads into a collective basket of thought.

Still, this past week I’ve felt my own dismissive chest opened with a more surgical precision that permissed” [NOT A WORD] “nostalgia to play with my heart strings. I reflected on Avatar, a show from a time when animated shows didn’t have their runtimes bisected for the simpler consumption of children that would choke on anything longer, that powered itself on the labor and inspired vision of its creators and crew as opposed to memes for the children and references for the adults, and had the temerity to demand that an audience be comfortable going thirty minutes at a time without a joke to amuse them.

My friend went to Pennsylvania and got me an issue of the now defunct Shonen Jump magazine from 2004. It had series of comics I’d forgotten about and an ad for Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 2, but those were inconsequential. I find Shaman King to be the greatest comic I’ve ever read and in August, the month of the issue I’d received, the protagonist was featured prominently on the cover. I remembered how engrossing it was to read something with that level of complexity; taking into account my age. And never since have I seen a series with such a great balance of brutality and humor and never since have I seen any form of media where” [REDACTED FOR SPOILERS] “led to a happy ending.

To round it off, within the hours before writing this I’d watched Feel Good Inc. I couldn’t help but feel my eyes begin to water at the genius of Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett. An unforgettable song latticed with moments of haunting beauty and brilliance.

As a child I would sit down for hours to draw terribly. And I loved every warped, misshapen, humanoid, tailed thing I drew. I’d scan my grandmother’s cookbooks and write recipes by mending foods I liked together in a manner similar to Frankenstein assembling his monster. I wrote chapter after chapter of a terrible story because I wanted to prove to my first girlfriend that I could write something better than twilight. I had a sense of self-motivation. I hadn’t struggled through college for a year to graduate without confidence in my own abilities. Or lost friends to unfair circumstances beyond my control or the ignorance of how much control I had. Or been stressed to the point of genuine fear from some of my earlier work. In many ways I still feel like the child I was when I lived at my grandmother’s house. Except now as a child too anxious to do anything besides what he knows will keep him alive.

How do I say what I mean? Not well. That, too, may have been a bit too hyperbolic. It’s not that I hate nostalgia, but that I fear being stagnated in memories of better days. Still, like a failing vegetarian having a hamburger the time I’ve taken to indulge myself has let me realize something I’ve been missing from my diet.

Vigor.”

[temporoom]

As promised : the angry post about TPN’s last chapter. Read at your caution under the cut. (I really don't want to bother the people who enjoy the manga or enjoyed this chapter). I want to also mention that I tried to avoid spoilers as much as possible before reading this chapter (and never looked at raws). So no bias.

I can summarize that chapter in one word : pointless.

Now, most of you thought : “It is an emotional chapter that made me cry and I love it a lot, why do you think it was pointless?” You fool. A story doesn’t need to make you feel strong emotions to be good, a good story keeps you engaged in it, not obviously makes you cry over it. And to be honest, the chapter made me teared up a bit, it doesn’t change the fact that I was angry.

Now, to explain why this whole scene was poor scenaristic choice I need to go back to the beginning of the manga (and I don't want anyone telling me : yeah you are angry because you wrote that fanfic about Isabella trying to be a mother to Ray post-story. No, it’s not that.).

In the first chapter, we learn a few things about how far the story can go:

First of all, TPN doesn’t shy away from killing innocents, and especially children. This is an important point.

Second of all, TPN wants to subvert your expecations as many times as needed in order for you to stay engaged and to be unable to predict the rest of the plot.

This first chapter set a basis for the rest of the story. And overall, at least in the first arc, it was well-respected. Characters die very suddenly, but logically. And in the end, the remaining children still survive. We can all agree that the first arc was perfect. 

Then we get to the Forest arc and Goldy Pond arc. The Forest Arc was a transition so I won’t talk about it much since its main point is to give you new basis for this new adventure. But the Goldy Pond arc is very interesting because it’s the reflection of what the GF children could’ve become.

As for deaths, unlike many people, I think it would’ve been rather unproductive to have killed any of the main Goldy Pond cast in the sense that we never had any development for them and it wouldn’t follow Yuugo’s and Lucas’ arc. Yuugo and Lucas lost all their companions during their first attack of Goldy Pond, the goal of this arc is to show them tthat they are allowed to live and go on despite their deaths. Them failing by letting one of the children die would be pointlessly dramatic. 

Then Yuugo and Lucas die. Again, it follows a certain logic, but this logic has a terrible risk that the author seemed to have failed to notice. I’ll explain later. In any case, their deaths were, despite their arc, well executed. They stay together until the end instead of being separated, and do everything possible to protect their new family. Even the fact that Andrew actually didn’t die is also incredible because it feels to children as if it was pointless while it’s not.

When Yuugo and Lucas are stucked in the bunker, the group is divided, ultimately leading to the few children going out and being caught by Andrew. In the end, this scene shows that the group still needs to be cohesive to survive, as everyone’s been affected by the events of this. (The Goldy Pond part lost their father figure and multiple comrades, whil the GF part also lost a father figure and have one of their youngest child in a coma)

Then we go to the Paradise Hideout Arc. If you know my posts well, you know it’s my favorite arc, so I don't have much to say about it. Even when looking at it in retrospective I think it was overall very good. And to anyone thinking Norman’s end of the arc was rushed (the whole part where he ends up listening to Emma), do I have to remind you that Ray’s development arc was also rushed? Yeah. Anyway, no important deaths this time except demons we alreday know were assholes… The only thing it would’ve benefited from was just spending more time with those demons and on how far Geelan lost it.

Then we get to what I call the “Last Queen’s fight” Arc or, with more affection: “The Useless” Arc. THIS WHOLE FIGHT IS STUPID. I don't mind the queen actually being like… an unkillable bitch with two cores (also those gore-horror thing were creepy as hell so good job on that). What I mind is the placement of the flash-back indicating her motivations. At that point in the story, we already knew that she was a bitch… We really don't need another flash-back to just show us how much of a bitch she was. The flash-back could’ve stay, but it just needed to be placed before Norman’s attack on the capital. That way, we would’ve ultimately root for Geelan after knowing the truth, but be even more desesperate when seeing that he did not succeed instead of feeling like we just stumbled on two lynx shouting at each other. Also being given more details about the Royal Family could’ve help for the rest of the story and explain better what happened after Legravalima’s coup d’état.

Anyway, she dies. As expected.

Then everyone goes back to GF because the children have been kidnapped… I have a question tho… WHERE IN HELL IS CHRIS. That kid was in a coma for Demon God’s sake ! (spoiler: we still don't know where in hell they put him). This is the first mistake… Of the numerous mistakes of this last arc.

Peter appears as a dangerous threat with Isabella. We expect that she will betray him because she had her character development. Vincent presumably die until we reveal he is not. I don't mind that one because seeing the fandom panic because they made so many posts about his death was hilarious. And also because I felt nothing when he died so I was revealed to actually see that he survived. Then Peter is revealed to not actually be that much of a threat. Unlike many, I didn’t had the Peter hype, so I don't mind. I had always seen him as a rat and a mob (definitely not the final boss). But the bitch then had the nerves to die!

I know that Lewis was revealed to have survived (and even with the hints I still think it was a dumb as hell idea too), but they didn’t had to kill off Peter. The story would’ve benefited more of him surviving and finally acknowledging his responsability towards the children rather than fleeing his desitiny by killing himself. Especially with what is about to come. (we are not talking about the demons choosing Mujika as a queen, because that whole chapter was a rushed mess)

AND THEN ISABELLA DIES. No. I really don't want any “But it was sad!” because no. Just no. It’s not that she is one of my fav character… It’s just perfectly and ultimately pointless.

As I explained earlier, all deaths had a certain logic.

Conny was to show the overall theme of the story.

Krone and Norman were logical actions taken by the villain and a way to motivate the characters to go forward despite the adversity.

The kids at Goldy Pond was again made to set the tone.

The demons there because it’s the plot duh.

Yuugo And Lucas were to get rid of any parental figure capable of giving advices to the children.

Geelan to show that he came to a point closer to madness than reason. As well as showing how powerful is the Queen.

The Queen as she is the main antagonist of Norman’s arc.

But then...

Peter because he doesn’t want to accept his responsabilitie.

Isabella because… Because…? BECAUSE...????

To get rid of an adult figure that could give children advices? It’s the end of the story. To complete her redemption arc? This is a middle finger to all of us. To show that we can leave things to the newer generation?! THAT IS ONE OF THE WORST MESSAGES TO ANY STRUGGLING ADULTS OUT THERE.

Do you understand? Isabella died because they wanted an emotional moment. That’s it. There were no points in it except tears. It was an incredible and well-done emotional moment… But it was pointless.

Without forgetting this replica :

And I love Emma: BUT NO ONE THINKS OR SAYS THAT IN REAL LIFE. 

Re-reading this chapter helps me appreciate it more, and I look forward to how the rest of the manga will go because despite everything, I love it.

I love this manga so much.

But let me tell you this: deaths aren’t supposed to be here for emotional matters, they are here for a purpose, or to show a reality of life. Not just to cry over them, no matter how emotional they can be, they must serve a purpose.

Isabella was just a robbed opportunity.