#I don’t actually know this character i didn’t expect her to be such an underdog fhfhfhf

[sillygirlpoll]

Christine Canigula’s defeat was my final straw </3 the real results mean nothing to me, she is the silliest girl ever

Sometimes the popular vote is cruel </3

[hemingway-papers]

I have no authority on this whatsoever but going off instinct I feel that a few of the lupin Marie moments are actually kinda funny and not transphobic and some of the moments really are the unfortunate“man in a dress” transphobia/transmisogyny. That kind of humor plagues media especially in the past like the 70s when it was made or the early 2000s when it was dubbed. Lupin can be kinda a great chance for everyone to dive into these things. But it’s ok if you still like Marie! The series is pretty much inseparable from these things and I would rather use them as a learning moment than any outright cancelation.

ALSO I think a lot of gay and trans people embrace and reclaim Marie and other cross dressing moments since being GNC, doing drag or simply being gender fluid involves a lot of different gender expression. And that’s especially ok to like her cause of that ! it can be fun and really positive to reclaim something that might have been thoughtless originally or meant to hurt you and make it into something to celebrate and represent you. I’m not blaming or judging trans people or gay people for reclaiming that! Only that when reclaiming anything it’s really important and good to be aware of the likely original intent of the joke. (Although I’m sure many are, others in the fan community might not be). And it’s good to know and be prepared for why some members of the community might not feel good about it, may ask you to tag and trigger warn. Or not associate with those episodes altogether. Particularly if they’re trans women and directly impacted by it

Anyway the “fujiko this is the most important moment in a girls lifetime” line is really cute to me. the delivery is so sincere it feels more like lupin is fully committed to this character as if he’s doing drag or expressing himself non-traditionally I love that moment. It didn’t feel like he was making fun of the girl he’s playing at all and the humor was in the absurdity of him focusing on his fake wedding instead of the heist and in him saying something so cute and wistful at such a critical moment.

It can be hard to describe why some cross-dressing moments in the series don’t come off as hateful but others do. But it might have something to do with if the underdog and vulnerable party in the situation is being mocked or not or if the gag is more a subverted expectation that doesn’t involve gender (like in this case the subverted expectation is lupin caring about his wedding more instead of the crime, even if he was saying that jokingly cause he doesn’t want fujiko to blow their cover. The joke itself there isn’t hehe man in a dress which can carry a lot more mockery) I just think these nuances can be interesting to look at for why some humor on those subjects can land for me and others just feel cruel and do not, for me at least

Again I do want this to be an open discussion this is my musings and not the voice of any authority. I identify as a cis woman and bi 👍 so this is all more my best guess and various thoughts with an invitation to take it away, especially if it applies to you

[ashesandhackles]

Deconstructing Harry: The boy we meet in Philosopher's Stone to the man in Deathly Hallows

I have often seen fans talk about how nebulous Harry is as a character, especially in the earlier books. They can't make sense of who he is as a character and other more colourful, more actualized personalities take over our attention from any traits Harry might display. Harry becomes more defined for a lot of people OOTP onwards where he displays traits that sometimes make him unbearable or unlikable.

Harry, as we are introduced in PS, has a very little sense of self. He is narratively self deprecating or plays down his presence or skills, not that he is aware he has any. He grew up without any presence of him displayed in the house - no photos, no idea about his parents or what they look like or what really happened to them and discouraged from asking questions. Harry as we meet him is neglected, rootless about his identity and longs for escape. For him, every day is a battle against Dudley, who bullies him or Vernon, thus setting a worldview that never truly goes away: him vs adults. But just because Harry doesn't attach traits or values to self, does not mean he does not have it.

It's an effective narrative tool though - for Harry to be our eyes of the world. Only in later re-readings can we get a grasp of the traits that become more pronounced as books go on. Also, it's not surprising that Harry develops a better sense of self when he is removed from an abusive home.

Let me begin with this:

1. Harry is a fighter

One of the things that struck me in later re-readings is that how much of a fighter Harry is, from the very beginning. He will not lie down and take abuse. The narrative presents it as no big deal, because Harry doesn't assign any importance to it - it's every day life for him.

-Verbal standing up-

See his reaction to Uncle Vernon and the letter fiasco. He stands up for himself, even if it falls on deaf ears. "I want my letter - as it is mine!". Later on, in the same book, a completely befuddled 11 year old Harry stands up to Snape too, but in a politer way: "I think Hermione knows the answer. Why don't you try her?". He gets less polite with Snape as books go on. Harry's humor is something he employs liberally with Dudley when standing up to him - "The poor toilet's never had anything as horrible as your head down it - it might be sick" and we see this trait manifest into the sass we all know and love.

- Fight or flight-

He is remarkably good at "fighting himself out of tight corners" as Snape put it. And although Snape attributes it to luck and more talented friends, he is onto something about Harry's ability to worm out of tight corners. He lives moment to moment in a dangerous situation - relying on his nerve, very fast reflexes and athleticism. He is also able to notice things in an environment that will get him out of a quick pinch. You see this clearly in Department of Mysteries in Book 5 where he comes up with the idea to smash shelves, the mad idea to escape on a dragon, the ministry escape where he manipulates Runcorn's image (as he noticed how people were reacting to him) to create chaos and get the Muggleborns and the trio out, Chamber of Secrets when he instinctively understood the diary is the source of power and stabbed it.

Where does the athleticism and ability to spot dangerous situation come from? This boy has spent a decade cheeking Dudley and running away from his gang, spotting when he needs to get out of the way as "long experience had told him to be out of Uncle Vernon's arms reach" or "ducking when Aunt Petunia aimed a frying pan at his head". The instinct to see a dangerous situation develops over the course of the books in his adventures - to the point Harry unconsciously brings out his wand in Tottenham road without thinking too much about it. He is almost always wary and less quick to lower his wand.

When hiding/ escaping is not an option, Harry is not above physical fighting - despite how small and skinny he is in Book 1. Both he and Dudley fight for a chance to listen at the door when letter first arrives for Harry. Dudley wins the fight. Later on, Harry jumps Uncle Vernon from behind and hangs on to his neck to get his letter. He even does the same thing to the troll in the same book. ( Then over the course of series, we see him beat up Sirius in Book 3, Malfoy in Book 5, strangle Mundungus in Book 6 - all of these are related to his fury over the dead, so different context. But still).

- Manipulation/ Cunning-

11 year old Harry even tries sneakily - waking up early to get his letter (unfortunately didn't work). The other sneaky methods he has employed throughout the series is - not telling Dursleys at end of PS that he is not allowed magic at home, threatens Dudley with it in COS, not telling them Sirius is innocent to play up the threat of a murderous godfather to keep them accountable, and also the smooth way he negotiates with Uncle Vernon for Hogsmeade letter. ("Well it will be hard work, pretending to aunt Marge that I go to St Whatsits" ,"Knocking the stuffing out of me won't make Aunt Marge forget what I could tell her"). He similarly displays his negotiation and playing to what he knows about people with Slughorn in Book 6, Pettigrew in Book 7.

The scene with Slughorn is disturbing, with Harry coercing a drunk Slughorn to give up his memory. You can argue that this is the influence of Felix Felicis, but I think the potion acted more as facilitation. The disturbing way Harry brings up his mother's murder to unnerve Slughorn is his own doing. ("Voldemort stepped over my father's body towards mum" "I forgot - you liked her, didn't you?"). Again, in a life threatening situation, Harry plays to Pettigrew's latent guilt: "You are going to kill me? After I saved your life? You owe me Wormtail!"

2. Relational justice over abstract justice

Harry's concept of justice is relational and based on his high empathy for the underdog. He notices power dynamic in a situation and empathises with the victim. This is in contrast to Hermione, who has more abstract, bigger picture view of justice. It's no wonder that Hermione is the one who is the most political of the three.

His high empathy for the underdog and needing to stand up for them is because he feels responsiblility that no one should go through what he went through. He stands up for Neville in PS and encourages him to stand up for himself. When he sees his father bullying Snape, it is not about an abstract "this is wrong behavior". Harry goes further: "Harry knew what it felt like to be taunted among a circle of onlookers" , Harry focuses on young Snape's mismatched clothes because he himself knows what it's like to wear clothes that are not yours or ones that make you look ridiculous. His empathy extends to Voldemort too - understanding why he may not want to go back to his orphanage and desire to be in Hogwarts, wondering why Merope wouldn't stay alive for her son, his fixation with Voldemort's maimed soul in King's Cross chapter and later asking Voldemort to feel remorse (" I have seen what you will become otherwise"). Even his reaction to Dobby in COS - "Can't anyone help you? Can't I?" when Dobby talks about his slavery. Hermione is usually seeing the bigger picture, Harry sees the individual.

3. Pathological mistrust of adults

He is less likely of the trio to take an adult at their words or be assured by them when they say they are taking care of things. He has learnt, from a very young age, that he is always expected to take care of himself. And the times he does take things to adult, they consistently disappoint him - by patronising him or acting like he is a child, neither of which he has tolerance for or appreciates. This is why he takes to Sirius and Lupin, who exhibit neither of these communication patterns. In some ways, Mr Weasley too.

Umbridge's abuse of him for him is framed as a battle of wills between her and him, as if he is an equal. And he loses if he complains - "not giving her a satisfaction of knowing she got to me". Harry's worldview has always been - adult vs him.

His inability to trust adults even extends to the ability of adults he likes to look after themselves. While Sirius is understandably a wreck in OOTP, he has by and large followed Dumbledore's orders. This doesn't register with Harry (Ron points it out: "Sirius listens to Dumbledore even though he doesn't like what he hears") and Harry's fears about Sirius, excaberated by Sirius's tendency for recklessness, comes to play.

He even showed similar distrust in Lupin's judgement in taking a potion from Snape in POA ("Harry felt the urge to knock the goblet out of Lupin's hands" and tries to hint at Lupin that Snape will "do anything" for DADA job). And he shows this once again with the most magically powerful wizard he knows - Dumbledore. ("if I tell you to abandon me and save yourself, you must do so". Dumbledore has to insist on this before Harry nods reluctantly. It's also Dumbledore's wording, but this is a wizard Harry feels safe with almost entirely because of his power - and yet Harry cannot obey an order like this without reluctance). It's not about Harry's own ability to take care of them - he just innately cannot leave people to it.

4. Humor as a value and coping mechanism

Harry has an established coping mechanism by the time we are introduced to him - quip in the face of danger/ dark humor. There are repeated instances of Harry amusing himself with snarky comments in his head when things are really bad for him. Like in PS, when they are in the hut, Harry wonders if the roof will fall in and then thought that if it did fall in, he might be warmer. In the earlier books (before his growth), he seems to value Ron over Hermione simply because he is more "fun". Harry enjoys being around funny people like Ron, Weasley twins, later Ginny simply because there is some dark stuff happening with him and he needs "fun" people for semblance of normalcy, escape. In fact, this desire is so strong, he attaches it to his romantic relationships: Ginny is a "blissful oblivion" and times with her are "something out of someone else's life". His relationship with Cho failed because her coping mechanism is discussing her trauma and Harry's is escaping it.

-dealing with conflict with people he likes, small digression-

A part of his growing up in later books includes valuing Hermione as much he values Ron and we see it in display in HBP, where he is more willing to stand up for her to Ron (something he kind of did more quietly before in POA - "can't you give her a break?" ) and also get confrontational with her instead of using Ron as a buffer between them to fend off her more boisterous/ bossy tendencies. ("let him make up his mind" "skip the lecture" "don't nag" - Ron took the heat in earlier books. In HBP, Harry is more willing to be irritable with her in a day-to-day interaction - "I hope you enjoy yourself" he tells Hermione when she states her intention to investigate Half Blood Prince. Or when she tests the book - "Finished? Or do you want to see if it does backflips?" "Do you have rub it in Hermione, how do you think I feel now?" at the end of HBP. ) In OOTP, his best method to deal with her when she bothers him was lying, avoiding her nagging and if that doesn't work, explode and treat her to display of his temper. There is more to explore here, of course - even with regard to how he deals with Mrs Weasley in Book 4, 5 and the difference of him hugging her in Book 7.

5. Fascination with the dead/ a passive death wish

Harry feels remarkably little sense of betrayal knowing that he was set up to die by Dumbledore. His self sacrificing streak is rooted in his love, yes, but I also think Harry is a little bit too fascinated by death, not surprising considering most people he loved are dead. Him wanting the resurrection stone in DH, him obsessively spending time at Mirror of Erised (to the point he feels feverish and Ron thinking he looks strange) until Dumbledore stops him, him almost wanting to fail to learn a Patronus because he wants to hear his parents voice, the hearing of whispering voices in the Veil in OOTP which only Luna could hear apart from him, the scene at the grave where he almost wishes he was "lying under the snow" with his parents, the possession scene in the book of OOTP has him wishing to die so he can be with Sirius. You can almost argue the Harry has, in many moments, shown raw desire of death. In fact, him choosing to let go of the stone and not go looking for it is a big character decision for him.

I also want to address Harry's temper and how that develops over course of series, the implications of understanding the people he loved and put on pedestal are flawed - but I am afraid this post is already way too long. So I will leave that for some time later.

[staliaqueen]

Pevensie siblings sexuality headcanons

I know I’ve shared my headcanons about the Pevensies sexualities many times before, but I thought I’d actually write them down and go through why I headcanon them as I do, plus how I imagine their relationship with their sexuality is like. I’d also love to hear what you have to say about this! So don’t be shy to reply, wether you agree with me or not. All interpretations are valid. 

Also disclaimer, this isn’t very professionally written lol. It’s just the ramblings of a person who thinks way too much about fictional characters. 

Peter Pevensie – Pansexual

A lot of people say that Peter is really straight, which... like I get the line of thinking behind that but, no. Y’all should already know how much I ship him with Caspian. Just because he’s a classic, perfect hero, knight in shining armour type doesn’t mean he’s straight. I don’t even think he’s “the pinnacle of masculinity” like some people say he is. Sure, he inhabits a lot of traditionally masculine traits like strong will, leadership, protectiveness and so on but I think his soft feminine side gets overlooked. Like, he’s pretty in touch with his emotions and he doesn’t show any shame, forced stoic-ness or any other signs of toxic masculinity (unlike Edmund lol).

Therefor, I also don’t think he would have any problem accepting his sexuality. Ignoring the standards of 1940s England for a second, I think he’s just always known he feels attraction regardless of gender and has never felt any shame over it.

Susan Pevensie – Grayromantic

This one’s definitely the most underdog one, cause I haven’t seen anyone with the same headcanon, so I really wanna explain my line of thinking.

For those of you who don’t know, grayromantic is when you’re on the aromantic spectrum but not fully aro. So a grayromantic person may experience romantic attraction but more rarely (how much depending on the person) or only very specific traits/people do it for them. Graysexual is the same but with sexual attraction.

Firstly, I wrote grayromantic as a title just because I had to choose one pride flag for the picture, but I also think she’s graysexual, and when she does experience attraction I think it can be to any gender.

Susan being grayromantic really is just the vibe I got from her in the Prince Caspian movie. The scene with that boy in the beginning doesn’t just feel like she’s not interested, but has a distinct “you’re barking up the wrong tree, bro” vibe to it, which I think is a reason so many people headcanon her as a lesbian, which totally works too, but I see it more in an asexual/aromantic way.  

And then later with her romance with Caspian, I very much got the impression that she’s very surprised that she likes him so much. Like she did not expect to feel so attracted to him because she’s never been to anyone before. It’s strange and foreign too her but she welcomes it. It’s the same vibe I think a lot of people who interpret the Susan/Caspian romance as recognition the other is queer mistaken for attraction and/or queer platonic pick up on, because it really feels like you’re watching two lesbians fall in love for the first time lol. I think that is a perfectly valid interpretation, but I fully believe that Susan didn’t think she was capable of feeling romantic and sexual attraction, then when she liked Caspian she was confused at first because it was so new, but then when she realised what it was she welcomed it like “oh, I guess I do experience attraction sometimes”. And in a modern au I definitely see her liking the aspec label.

Edmund Pevensie – Bisexual

This one’s not that complicated. Edmund is my favourite, and I relate and project onto him a lot have talked about it before and I could go even more in depth about it forever but I don’t think anyone wants to hear that. Basically, I’m bisexual, therefor he is bisexual.

Plus, a lot of people also have this headcanon, so there’s definitely something more there than projection I think. I mean, we ARE very similar and since I’m bi, why wouldn’t he have the same vibes?

Edmund’s really the only one I think would have a problem accepting his sexuality at first again ignoring the standards of 1940s England. Like I hinted at in the Peter section, I think Edmund very much struggles with toxic masculinity when he’s young, specifically the LWW period. I think even back then he knew this about himself but wasn’t ready to accept it. I imagine that in Narnian culture they value softness and vulnerability way more, so they wouldn’t have the same dumb norms about masculinity, plus they definitely embrace same sex relationships. That coupled with how much he changed during the events of LWW I think made him totally ready to accept it. And of course his siblings would show nothing but love and support since they’re all queer too lol. 

Lucy Pevensie – Lesbian

I don’t even know how to describe it — she’s a lesbian what more do you want? It’s so obvious! Just look at the outfit she’s wearing in this picture! That’s a lesbian if I’ve ever seen one. It’s literally just the vibes, man. Picturing her with a guy feels so weird to me.

It’s also literally canon: “But as for Lucy, she was always gay and golden-haired” I know he meant gay as in happy but come on. 

As for her relationship with her sexuality, nothing describes it better than that she just loves being gay! She loves it! Wouldn’t trade it for the world! Modern AU Lucy definitely calls herself femme, and she makes gay jokes all the time. She’s definitely the sibling that talks about their sexuality most often. 

[juneisafantasyaddict]

If LB wanted The Darkling to be pure evil, there are literally a lot of things she could have done. But giving him a sympathetic backstory that is actually a legitimate reason for him to turn out the way he did was definitely not the way to do it. If she wanted pure evil, she could’ve given him a backstory that’s just a ridiculous sob story, not “for hundreds of years my people have been hunted and killed because of prejudice and no one did anything about it until I had enough power to.” Do you even realize how easy it is to get people to be on your side when what you want more than anything is for your people to be safe from harm?? That’s literally why we don’t get mad at heroes for killing people, it’s because we know they are protecting vulnerable people.

I’ve seen people say The Darkling is like Magneto (re: his fight against what was happening to mutants), and while that comes close, I think The Darkling is even more sympathetic because at least the XMen had the good sense to have Charles Xavier there to provide a more humane/viable alternative to Magneto’s solutions, and we got to see the difference between their methods. But, in the Grishaverse, we have a monarchy in Ravka that only sees the Grisha as useful for war but also doesn’t let them own property, we have a heroine who doesn’t seem to care about anything except meadows and her childhood crush, we have the entire country of Ravka that seems to only like dead Grisha because “new saint to build a cult over,” then we have the only person who seems to prioritize the protection of these people who have no one and we’re supposed to care that he’s ruthless with anyone he perceives as a threat to his people? When you haven’t given us a viable alternative to his methods? To make matters even worse, he’s not even imagining these threats, he is literally reacting to their aggression, e.g Fjerdans come for Alina, he uses the cut, Zlatan sends an assassin to infiltrate his secure building and kill Alina, but ends up killing another Grisha under his care, he kills the assassin and does Novikribirsk, etc.

This is not a justification of his ruthless methods of punishment for those who are threats to him and his people, this is a “you cannot expect me to focus entirely on his methods when he’s literally the only reason why his people have any semblance of protection” rant. The heroine who we think is going to save the day is basically dragged through her character development and all her progress is destroyed very quickly because of this ridiculous need to pretend that the underdog is always right (Mal, power is evil, blah blah blah).

Somehow, we’re supposed to just be ok with the fact that a group of people who haven’t exactly showed that they care about Grisha suffering are going to save them from prosecution? I mean, let’s not forget that this group includes: Mal who we already know is prejudiced against Grisha, Alina who *sigh* so much potential wasted there, Nikolai who I have decided exists for comic relief because I will not be convinced that a “maybe prince who is also a Jack sparrow type pirate should be king of a country with very complex social and political situations.” Like, I’m looking at this group of supposed saviors and honestly, I would rather take my chances with the 500 year old extremely powerful Grisha who scares everyone. Let’s not even forget that we’re somehow supposed to consider Baghra one of the good guys for “warning Alina,” even though 2 episodes later, we basically see that Baghra doesn’t exactly care about the survival of the Grisha.

Give people a truly evil villain and we will act accordingly. Don’t give us a Magneto type villain with legitimate points and then expect us to treat him like Voldermot or something. You can even decide to not understand Magneto because hello, we are given real alternatives to his problem solving skills right away. But with The Darkling it’s just “he’s pure evil because I said so, but like also this is how he got here, but also he’s super evil, but like do you understand where he’s coming from? but also he’s super evil even though he has points.” That’s not a villain dear, that’s a good person doing bad things and needs to be shown a better way.

You can’t give me an antagonist with a compelling, truly tragic backstory and then be like “now that you understand why and how this character ended up in this dark place and you can see that all this was probably avoidable if so and so did/didn’t happen, let’s totally blow up their life because so what if they’ve deeply suffered?” Especially when there’s a path to redemption right there in the protagonist who you have made sure to establish has a deep bond/connection with this person.

You want to write pure evil? Give me a character that has no remorse, no capacity to care for anyone or anything else, no reason for his cruelty, etc. Don’t give me guy who uses his power to keep his people safe and then falls in love with his soulmate so deeply he can’t stop looking at her and holding her hand in front of the whole country.

Also, can we like actually address the issue that got Nina kidnapped, made the Darkling who he is, and forces all Grisha to basically only have one life plan?

It would be so much easier to believe that The Darkling is a villain if there was an actual alternative to him, but there isn’t.

And btw, in this age of social justice, the fact that LB didn’t think people will see the value in a person from a marginalized community doing whatever is necessary to free his people from oppression is just LOL.

Ok, incoherent rant over.

[sniper-childe]

Hello! I’d like to share some of my notes if I were to Beta-read the most recent Archon Quest. I will be going through what worked, what could be taken out, and what could’ve been better. Note that I’m looking at this through an editor’s lens so I’m going to try NOT to change the plot we were given no matter what my opinions are about it BUT some of the said opinions may slip out.

Also, a bit of a disclaimer: I know that Genshin isn’t an actual literary work but miHoYo is known for its writers’ great storytelling and I’ve always loved their work so it really came as a surprise as to what happened to the mess that is Inazuma Act 3. So yeah.

Contains:

1. What was foreshadowed about the characters and why the payoff of their portrayals felt cheap.

a. About Kokomi and the rebellion.

b. About the Fatui, the James Bond villain wannabe.

c. About Ei and the Raiden Shogun.

2. How Chapter 2, Act 3 could have been the turning point that would have us, as the Traveler, cement our perceptions of the Archons and Gods of Celestia OR what I think the death of Signora was supposed to be but was undermined by this one tidbit.

BONUS: I wrote this before Kokomi’s story quest was released but decided to wait for it before posting. And guess what? I think Kokomi’s Story Quest works better as an Archon Quest. At least, some parts of it.

miHoYo teased us this intelligent leader of the resistance that is well-versed in the Art of War. The end of Ch2: Act 2 showed us a powerful Kokomi. So why was she sidelined all throughout the act?

I actually like the idea of the resistance asking the Fatui for aid. But miHoYo chickened out and made it so that they did it unknowingly. To which I say: how? If Kokomi was so smart she should’ve known better. I figured it was the Fatui within a single sentence, so why didn’t Kokomi?

They should’ve stuck with the concept of the underdogs – or in Kokomi’s words, the little fish – of war in an act of desperation. They could’ve shown a calculated Kokomi “making a deal with the devil” and will do anything to win the fight against the Shogunate.

In her Character Teaser, she was willing to burn the enemies’ supplies – to starve the enemy. She can be ruthless, that’s why Kokomi actively giving Delusions to her foot soldiers would have made much more sense to cause the Fatui to be involved rather than the whole “the Fatui orchestrated everything” schtick.

Which brings me to my next point: when did the Fatui turn into a James Bond villain? I hate that trope so much. It’s like the Deus Ex Machina of villainy. It’s lazy. And it doesn’t even fit the Fatui’s modus operandi.

In the prologue, the Abyss Order corrupted Dvalin and the Fatui was just there waiting to steal Barbatos’ gnosis while the Knights are distracted. Morax decided to retire one day so the Fatui swept right in and offered a test of Liyue in exchange for his gnosis.

The last two locations had their own story to tell while the Fatui was just in the background like the opportunistic antagonist that they are.

It also would have been a stronger plotline to have the already set lore – like the tenuous relationship between Watatsumi and Narukami – be the driving force of the Inazuman Civil War.

The prologue and chapter 1 also delivered what we are told we’re going to get in the Story Preview. That’s why they are satisfying. However, with chapter 2, the way it ended turned out to be more about the Fatui rather than “what do mortals see of the eternity chased after by their god.”

Sure, we got the consequences of the war in the World Quests and some of it in the second act. But making the Fatui the Big Bad in the end takes value away from the actions of the characters that are supposed to be the main feature of this chapter.

How much of the Eternity the Raiden Shogun is pursuing is directly from Ei? How much of it is its own understanding of eternity, coupled with Ei’s memories, and its own response? How much of it is the Fatui’s influence?

I have to say though, I’m fine with the puppet actually. Believe it or not. I have had kinda figured that out with the weird shifting of emotions in and out of the puppet. And the dead glowing eyes. So kudos to the design and animation team for that foreshadowing.

It was also said that the current Electro Archon lost someone dear to her and, while I didn’t think it was a twin, I did figure that the current Electro Archon wasn’t the real Electro Archon. So the whole Baal and Beelzebul backstory didn’t really surprise me. So I guess that was foreshadowed too? But my friends didn’t feel the same way so I don’t know. I’m not touching that.

But I do agree that all of the new lore got info-dumped to us by Yae rather than have us find out about them. To be honest, I would have wanted the backstory of Ei to be in her story quest rather than it be in the Archon Quest. A World Quest could work too.

I just feel like the 2.1 Archon Quest ended up cramming so many themes and subplots when it should’ve been focusing on what was promised: the darkness that is brought by their god.

They already had set up the Visions are people’s motivations/ambitions and that taking them away also takes away their agency.

Then they could’ve played with the idea of the people of Watatsumi looking up to Kokomi as their pseudo-god in-place of Orobashi and so with her actively giving Delusions could fit well in the said theme.

They could’ve made Ei and Kokomi character foils of each other and have the final showdown be about them.

And then it’ll all, of course, end up with the people of Inazuma learning how to work without their “gods” or something like that, which is the overarching theme of the whole series if you think about it.

But as I said, my opinions about the plot shouldn’t matter and I’m only here to make what was already written better.

So let’s talk about something that the puppet has done which didn’t make any sense on the surface level but could’ve been clever if it was done right. Killing La Signora.

Okay. So there is a pivotal moment at the end of the first arc of a three-act story where the main character experiences something that will leave them no choice but to move forward. This usually is a physical thing like Alice falling down the rabbit hole. But it can also be a mental or emotional situation.

Over at Honkai, the first arc ended with the death of a beloved mentor and a shattered world (both external and internal). The characters had no choice but to step up and “to stay alive, bravely” (yes, I won’t stop using this line ever). It was so very well done and even after so many years it still hurt no matter how many times you reread/rewatch the scene.

This reread value is what shows how much a twist is well written.

And that is what miHoYo is known for. So I had high expectations with the plot twist (technically this pivotal moment is called a plot twist because it twists the feel and/or pace of the story). Chapter 2 is the perfect spot to end the first act of a seven-chaptered story. So I’m really preparing myself for the inevitable twist.

But then we ended up with Signora’s death.

Okay. So. They could have used that to show us, as the traveler, how Archons and Celestial beings are unfeeling and not to be trusted. We were told this repeatedly by Dainsleiff and by the Abyss Twin. But it is only textbook writing 101 to show NOT tell.

And Signora’s death could have been this portrayal. Although, to be honest, it would have been more impactful if the one who died is a friend of the Traveler.

Them seeing someone die at the hands of an Archon could have their idea of gods shift. Because there is no turning back once you see the proof right in front of your eyes.

But instead, the puppet did it. So what was the point of Signora’s death if not just a power demonstration? We already knew that the Raiden Shogun is powerful. So why did Signora have to die?

Sure, one can argue that the puppet was enacting the Ei’s will so maybe there was a point. But! In Ei’s story quest, we were told that the puppet would have no hesitation when it comes to killing whereas Ei can show mercy.

Which begs, again, the question: how much of the Raiden Shogun’s actions is a reflection of Ei’s will, and how much of it is a logic response of an artificial intelligence from Ei’s memories?

Honestly? I don’t like that they killed off Signora. It doesn’t feel right. I would’ve taken Beidou’s death over Signora’s no matter how much I love Beidou. There was just no build-up to it and it feels weak. I… didn’t feel anything besides confusion. The anger only came later because of the wasted potential.

But overall, I do think they could’ve made it work if it were actually Ei doing the killing.

--

So I just did Kokomi’s Story Quest and man. The soldiers wanting to continue the war is what they really should have made the motivations of the actual war rather than have it as a post-war response and then have Kokomi fix their mess.

Seriously. While it was really interesting to see the usual trauma response of soldiers who had only known war their whole life, they wasted this idea, man.

Before doing the Archon Quest I had thought that the Watatsumi had a hand on the Vision Hunt Decree. Because if I were a tactician, I would have made something to anger the people of my enemies and have them have their internal issues. And while the Shogunate is weak, that’s when I will strike and claim Inazuma for my people and my god.

Then Orobashi will rise once more.

Yep.

Obviously, I really wanted Kokomi to be a more active character in the Archon Quest.

Anyways. If you reached the end, thank you for reading this ~1.5k words of musings. Tell me what you think. Or don’t. You do you.

[storytellerofuntoldlegends]

gods and the mortals they worship

A/N: honestly this idea started out due to the fact that scott and jack are gonna be housemates, and a friend and i were like "haha what if c!scott moved into Innit Hotel with jack" which turned into "haha what if c!scott was the god of mcc but he just seemed like a Dude to everyone else" which made my brain go brrr and think "haha what if god!scott and goddess!kristin met for tea" and then this fic happened. it got much angstier than i intended it to whoops

Warnings: implied/referenced temporary character death, grief/mourning, hugs, emotional hurt/comfort

Summary: Kristin, the goddess of death. Scott, the god of champions. Two deities that at first glance, have nothing to do with the other. But all the same, the two deities are close friends, meeting for tea and talking about the mortals they adore. However, some conversations painfully remind them of the mortality of their loved ones.

-

Kristin rather enjoyed it when a fellow deity joined her for tea. Not many would, XD was a little wary of her, being her opposite in a sense. And his sister Drista visited her often enough, but the young goddess was a bit on the rambunctious side, which was expected for the trickster. But the deity's whose visits pleased her the most were Scott's. The god of champions was always lovely to chat with, and she looked forward to each event he organized- always rooting for her husband's team, of course.

They met for tea weekly, but this visit... something seemed off about Scott. He seemed cheery enough, talking about how he had recently moved into the Innit Hotel with Jack and the other servers he was drifting between. But there was a melancholy expression on his face for a brief moment as he traced the flower pattern on his teacup, and a lost, faraway expression would come over his face from time to time. These were expressions Kristin recognized all too well- grief. She saw it in the faces of many mortals when she called their loved ones to her side- and it was unnerving to say the least to see such an expression on a god's face.

"Who are you mourning?" she asked, startling Scott slightly. The god's ever color-shifting eyes refused to meet her.

"The loss of my mcc team, of course," Scott countered with a half-hearted smirk. Kristin gave him an expression of disbelief, and the smirk melted away to something more downcast as he fiddled with something on a chain around his neck. A ring.

"Oh Scott," she said softly.

"Tried the married life thing. It was nice, for a bit. But it was a modified hardcore world, and it didn't end well. For him... or for me," Scott said, hand drifting to his throat with a grimace. Kristin set down her tea, placing a comforting hand on Scott's shoulder. Scott had a unique position as a god- he was one of the few who felt the sting of death. As he willingly lived among mortals most of the time, his godly power had to be diminished to do so. Which meant he could die- but it would never truly stick for him. Granted, death didn't really stick for most of the crowd he stuck around with. They would be reborn into other servers, maybe retaining impressions of the ones before- but Scott was the only one who truly remembered each server he had been on.

"I'm so sorry. Is he..." Kristin trailed off, unsure if she wanted to know if Scott's husband had been reborn into a different server.

"He's on another server with me now. Empires SMP. Calls himself the Codfather these days. I keep hoping he'll remember... but I don't know if I want him to," Scott said, eyes watery.

"Why not?" Kristin asked. If she was in a similar situation with Phil, she absolutely would want him to remember her.

"Because what kind of god can't even keep his husband alive?! I couldn't protect him before, who says I could do it now. Besides with my luck, by the time he'd remember me, I'd only lose him again. Why waste the effort on more heartbreak," Scott said, something vengeful in his tone. The aura around him tinged red, and Kristin drew her hand back with a jolt. Scott took notice of his surroundings, and with a sheepish smile his aura shifted to something more neutral and warm.

"That's why you're hiding in the Dream SMP with Jack, isn't it? You don't want to risk him remembering," Kristin asked softly. Scott let out a sigh.

"I'm not... hiding, exactly. Just lying low, somewhere where I don't have to pretend I'm not a god," Scott explained with a faraway glance.

“What if you were to tell this... Codfather," Kristin suggested. Scott wrinkled his nose in disgust in the name.

"Jimmy. His name is Jimmy," Scott corrected, sounding reverent as he murmured his name the second time. It was almost silly, a god worshipping the ground a mortal walked on- not that Kristin was one to talk. But then again, Phil wasn't exactly mortal.

"Then why don't you tell Jimmy the truth about who you are," Kristin prodded. Few knew the truth about Scott's godly status- Phil, most notably, and Wilbur. And now, she supposed, all who were on the Dream SMP. Otherwise, most knew Scott as someone who had a connection to the god of champions, and carried out his invitations to the games- not that Scott himself was the god in question.

"I... I don't know. Maybe it's safer for him if he never knows," Scott said with a sigh. Kristin squinted at him suspiciously.

"Scott, I've known you for centuries. Tell me the real reason you don't want to tell him," she said pointedly. Scott laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his neck. With a deep breath, his expression settled into something more solemn.

"I don't want things to be different between us. I liked the way it was, on that modified hardcore world. We had a flower valley, with a pond and overgrowth and- and his silly insistence on wanting to protect me, like I was the fragile one, not him. I even experienced a brief afterlife with him, after we had lost all our lives on that world. And that... that was beautiful. But then things reset, and he was reincarnated. And how could I not follow him?" Scott said wistfully. His eyes shone with bittersweet tears, a fond smile on his face.

"You truly have the heart of a mortal, my friend," Kristin said with a soft smile. Scott chuckled, shaking his head.

"Well I certainly can't let anyone know that, think of my reputation," he joked. Kristin laughed.

"Oh please, we all know how much you cherish your champions," she teased.

"Don't tell a soul," Scott said in a mock-serious tone.

"Oh please, the only souls I know are dead ones," Kristin replied with a chuckle. Scott laughed too, but it fell short as his eyes landed on the flowers that decorated the teacups.

"I think the worst part is that he sees me as an enemy. I guess rightfully so, I pushed him away because I was afraid of letting him back in. I don't think I'll be able to look him in the eyes if we end up on the opposite sides of a battle," Scott said, voice fragile as the delicate teacups on the table before them.

"Maybe there's still time to make amends. You could extend some token of peace towards him?" Kristin suggested gently.

"Maybe. I just..." Scott trailed off.

"You just want to mope around in a world of constant hardship and destruction?" Kristin teased lightly, smirking. Scott laughed.

"I guess the Dream SMP isn't the greatest place to hide out," he said, still chuckling. Kristin was relieved to see her friend back to his more genuine smiley self, multicolored eyes glinting with amusement.

"Maybe not. Are Phil and Wilbur staying out of trouble?" Kristin asked, picking her tea back up to sip at. Scott laughed again.

"Staying out of trouble is asking a lot for your family. But I think Phil has forced Wilbur to make friends with Ranboo," he replied, picking up his tea as well.

"Oh? How did that go?" Kristin asked.

"Not sure, honestly. I think they opened a burger place? I've mostly been keeping to myself in the Innit Hotel," Scott said with a shrug.

"I'm sure Tommy loves that," Kristin said dryly.

"Oh yes, cussed me out until I threatened to not let him on mcc anymore. He changed his tune pretty quickly," Scott laughed.

"Doesn't Jack actually own the hotel now?" Kristin asked.

"Yes, but Tommy doesn't seem to know that," Scott answered with a sigh, shaking his head.

"I'm sure he'll get over it. Probably still a little jumbled from being brought back," Kristin muttered, unable to help looking miffed at that. She wasn't exactly fond of people being torn from her domain, especially by an overzealous mortal and the god who he eerily resembled. Although she couldn't exactly blame XD, the book had called him and he was forced to answer.

“Maybe life and death shouldn’t be toyed with anymore,” Scott said softly, after a few beats of silence. Kristin thought of Scott’s struggles with death and rebirth, then thought of her own family. Her husband who survived and lived, never dying- and her son, who fought and died, but ended up living.

“You wouldn’t see me complaining,” Kristin replied, voice coming out more melancholy than she meant it to. Scott looked to her with brows creased in sympathy.

“What a pair we make,” he said with a humorless laugh. Kristin laughed too, just as bleak as Scott’s own laugh.

“The goddess of death whose loved ones live, and the god of champions whose loved ones lose,” she said, voice forlorn. Scott set down his tea, dropping his gaze from Kristin’s.

“I do tend to be drawn towards the lost ones, don’t I?” he said with a weak smile.

“Nothing wrong with rooting for the underdog,” Kristin pointed out with a shrug. Scott looked at the flowers on the teacups, and his smile was a bit brighter this time around, less sad and bittersweet.

“I guess not. Maybe you’re right, maybe there is time to smooth things out with Jimmy,” Scott said, looking back up at Kristin.

“Good! Being mopey doesn’t suit you. And telling him the truth couldn’t hurt either,” Kristin insisted brightly. Scott rolled his eyes with a chuckle.

“Okay Mumza, no need to get on my case. I said I’d try and smooth things over, not reveal that I’m an all-powerful god that was married to him once because I like playing mortal,” he replied, dragging out her nickname with a teasing grin. Kristin grinned back.

“I guess your situation is a little different than when I told Phil I was a goddess,” she said semi-sheepishly.

“Phil was also hopelessly head-over-heels for you when you told him. Jimmy is decidedly not,” Scott pointed out with a laugh.

“Oh Jimmy will come around eventually. If he knows what’s good for him,” Kristin said, sipping at her tea. Scott blinked at her in confusion.

“Are you threatening my ex-husband?” he asked, tone so adorably baffled that Kristin couldn’t help but laugh.

“All I meant was that he doesn’t know what he’s missing. Any man would be lucky to have captured your attention," she clarified with a teasing grin. Scott flushed in embarrassment, the aura around him tinging pink.

“You’re acting like an embarrassing mum trying to convince her son to get out there and start dating,” Scott huffed, trying to play off his flusteredness.

“You’re the one who called me ‘Mumza,’” Kristin pointed out, still grinning.

“This is rude, I’m being attacked and you’re twisting my words against me now-” Scott cut off with a laugh, unable to keep up the mock-offended act as his aura shifted back to being a neutral warm color. Scott finally looked the most himself that he had been all day- aura full of warmth, a smile on his face, and color-shifting eyes sparkling.

“Oh, whatever will you do?” Kristin teased. Scott shook his head, picking up his tea and finishing it off with one last sip before standing from the table.

“I think I’m gonna leave, actually. It’s about time I head out anyway,” Scott said. Kristin looked at how low her own tea had gotten, and sighed before standing with a gentle smile.

“Well as always, it was wonderful to have you. I hope everything works out,” she said softly, holding out her arms. Scott hugged her without hesitation, and Kristin got the feeling he was silently thanking her for her advice through the hug.

“See you next week?” Scott asked after he pulled away.

“I look forward to it,” Kristin replied. Scott smiled, giving a two-fingered salute before disappearing in a burst of color. The lightshow faded, leaving Kristin in her rather gloomy domain. The loneliness after a fellow deity left was always the worst, and the heavy conversation from before didn’t help matters much. Scott and Kristin were very similar beings for two deities that ruled over extremely different things- both of their hearts were too big, too smitten with mortals. Scott could at least compete alongside mortals if he so chose, but Kristin was in a plane of existence that her loved ones could only reach through tragedy. Perhaps Scott had it worse- Kristin could at least distance herself from mortals, while Scott stubbornly refused to. But all the same, Kristin was hopeful that things would work out for the god of champions. And maybe, things would work out for her family as well.

-

MCYT Taglist: @corazon10000 @damiensaidno @franticfandomfanatic @hetapeep41 @space-ace123

[robotlesbianjavert]

MVA is a Matryoshka Doll of Character Development & Framing: Yes This is About How the Anime Failed. Whatever.

Breaking it down, the My Villain Academia arc serves two (2) main purposes in the overall narrative.

→ Put the League of Villains back in a position where they can be a credible threat to the heroes after losing All for One and their potential partnership with Overhaul falling through. Obviously accomplished by upgrading Shigaraki / Twice / Toga, giving Shigaraki the Meta Liberation Army, Ujiko’s assistance, Gigantomachia’s loyalty, etc. 

Of course the anime undercuts all of this by letting the heroes know what the League is planning before the League can take advantage of their new position (ergo narratively giving heroes the advantage, as seen in the manga’s war arc) before we even get to see HOW they got all these cool new toys. So why bother. That’s a different sin that the anime has committed, we can put this on the backburner.

→ Pseudo-reboot the direction of the story so that villains are characters on equal standing with the heroes, rather than being obstacles to beat up. This involves a lot more factors, but it’s all rooted in how the arc and characters are framed, and how the characters are developed.

I talked a bit about my concern about the sympathetic framing of the League in MVA way back when we first learned about the anime arcs being shuffle here (my triumph of objectivity). The gist of it is that the arc switch undermines the way the League are portrayed as underdogs—broke, aimless, and relatively weak compared to the heroes and the army coming for their heads—and I was right! Worse, they didn’t just undermine that underdog framing, they straight up didn’t bother. There is zero context for the League’s situation post-Overhaul, pre-Gigantomachia. No explanation for how they have to rob other villain groups to get by, that their equipment is breaking down, that they have no solid end goal or means to achieve anything of note. Just a challenge from Ujiko and Gigantomachia that loses a lot of pressure without understanding the sorry situation the League is in.

Tellingly, they don’t even let the League kill the fantasy racists. Who doesn’t want to see the fantasy racists get murdered! Outside of the existence of the CRC being an interesting bit of worldbuilding that confirmed the existence of heteromorphic discrimination, which is likely to continue playing a role in the manga, it’s an easy way to let the villains be villains while allowing the readers to go with the flow into this villain-focused arc, without having to be outraged by their actions.

From the get go, we’ve lost the framing that made MVA an arc worth paying attention to when it was first released, which indicates a) that the anime doesn’t care about the actual purpose of this arc outside of setting up a flashy hero vs. villain fight for season six and b) that we shouldn’t expect much from the rest of the anime arc. Even if they get the technical aspects of it right, we’ve already lost the weight of the narrative.

MVA is also obviously known as being the big push to develop the villains as characters. We’ve gotten some character development for them before (Twice and Toga’s adventures with Overhaul, Shigaraki’s consistent growth from “brat” to a capable villain and leader in his own right), but MVA is the first arc solely dedicated to their stories and humanization. However, there are “tiers” of character development and focus here, nested within each other, that are tied into the arc’s narrative structure.

Getting them out of the way: Dabi and Compress didn’t get to do much, though we do get to see their relationships with the League in action, plus stuff like Dabi’s quirk limits which come up later. Otherwise, their actual storylines only come into fruition or start with the PLF Raid arc (which in itself is dependent on MVA but that’s another argument). 

More memorable and meaty is the development for Toga and Twice. We learn more about their backstories, we get to see them push themselves to the breaking point for the sake of survival, Toga gets to evolve her quirk while Twice finally uses his to its full potential. We also get to understand their personal philosophies, relationships with society, how they view the world around them, and their loyalty to Shigaraki and the League. And with the manga’s underdog framing and the life-threatening situations they were thrust into (plus at the time they didn’t have guaranteed plot armour the way the students and heroes did), the audience wants to root for them, even if they’re the bad guys!

Toga and Twice’s development are undeniable highlights of the arc, contribute strongly to the story as a whole, and justifiably receive a lot of attention. However, they are also primarily moments nested within the arc, tying into their personal ongoing storylines (Twice’s starting with the Overhaul arc and ending tragically with the PLF Raid; Toga’s storyline carries on into the PLF Raid with the loss of Twice and her confrontation with Uraraka). But they aren’t the primary storylines of the arc.

A primary storyline of MVA is in Shigaraki being able to identify the direction he wants to take the League in and make that a reality, as well as answering the questions of his past. MVA starts with the League’s aimlessness and with him revealing how little he remembers of his origins; the arc climaxes with him regaining his memories and having the confidence and strength to earn the Ujiko, Gigantomachia, and Redestro’s loyalty and resources, giving him the means to finally enact his dreams of destroying hero society. Toga and Twice’s development is encased within Shigaraki’s storyline, and that storyline provides a concisive beginning and endpoint structure of My Villain Academia—

Except Shigaraki’s narrative structure is encompassed by a layer even beyond that: Spinner’s story. When the arc begins, before Shigaraki can discuss his dream of a destroyed horizon, Spinner is the one challenging him about the League’s lack of direction and purpose. When the arc ends and Shigaraki stands victorious, Spinner is the witness who now understands that the destroyed horizon can be their reality. Spinner is the one watching Shigaraki throughout the arc, Spinner’s gaze is emphasized at the beginning and end of Shigaraki’s MVA storyline, and Spinner is the one who undergoes the most radical change from frustrated Stain flunky to Shigaraki’s devoted follower.

To paraphrase from @stillness-in-green, My Villain Academia is “about what Shigaraki coming into his own looks like to the people watching him”.  To Re-Destro, to Ujiko and Machia, and most importantly to Spinner.

It’s been frustrating enough over the past two years to see people who have read the manga discard Spinner’s role in the arc just because he isn’t a basic easy pretty boy didn’t get an elaborate flashback sequence the same way that Toga, Twice, and Shigaraki did. Seeing the anime not even bother emphasizes that lack of comprehension. But why does it specifically matter that the anime screwed over the Spinner & Shigaraki premise of MVA?

Aside from the anime’s decisions taking all the weight out of the story: In the current manga, Spinner is the only one left at Shigaraki’s side who is specifically loyal to and cares for him.

Barring executive meddling, Horikoshi changing his mind on plot points that he set up, and straight up bad writing (which can all very well happen): You don’t go through the effort of developing a character like Spinner, explicitly in conjunction with your main villain, as the framing perspective of an arc that is so vital to your story, without having a plan for that character. With the way Spinner is positioned right now, there’s a lot that can be done with him! And if that potential does get utilized, then the anime lost out their chance to give that potential its due.

Between the immediate loss of set up and context, tossing the pseudo-protagonist framing of the League, and gutting the emotional core of Spinner’s developing regard for Shigaraki, the anime adaptation has already lost. The rest of the episodes could be perfectly competent, but without the actual base of the arc it all falls flat. Hell, they could stick Spinner’s confrontation with Shigaraki in as a flashback in his fight against Trumpet and it won’t matter; that just nests Spinner’s story within Shigaraki’s the same way Toga and Twice’s is, when it should be the other way around.

Of course there are other reasons why MVA anime arc is set up to fail without reany spect for the source material (I know that the MLA got screwed over in the PLF Raid arc but that’s no reason to not even TRY with introducing them into the show properly just LET Rikiya be his fun, threatening, and engaging self!), but the fact of the matter is that I’m not going to get my Spinaraki AMVs and I want to fucking die about it.

[sehunniepotwrites]

AS YOU WISH | J.JH | TWO

cover by @seostudios

SYNOPSIS. He was a boy, she was a girl— can I make it any more obvious?

But actually, she was a cursed genie of two thousand years who longed to be freed of her gilded cage and he was a modern but lonely boy who hoped to free her. He just didn’t expect to fall in love with her in the process.

GENRE. angst, slow burn, romance, genie!au, reincarnation!au, royal!au, thief!au PAIRING. jeong jaehyun x female genie!reader MINOR CHARACTERS. mark lee, moon taeil, jeong sungchan, lee taeyong, johnny suh WORD COUNT. 2k

WARNINGS. stealing, mentions of cuts and wounds, blood, physical beating, derogatory name calling, a lifetime of pain

ONE: PAST | TWO: INTERLUDE | THREE: PRESENT

You had all the magic in the world at the tips of your fingers but what was the point of it all? None of your spells or incantations as a genie would bring Yuno back to you. Even a genie had their limitations— there were rules and regulations to follow and Rowena made sure you understood them perfectly. 

As a genie, you were bound to your lamp unless your master called for you or wished for your freedom. The only other way for you to escape the curse was if Yuno was able to find you, become your last master, and set you free with a lover’s kiss. The situation itself sounded impossible but one could still hope in the good of people. You never wanted to lose hope in the hearts of humans but as time went on, your own heart hardened by witnessing the complete selfishness of others. 

The rules you had to relay to your masters were simple. They were given two choices: to have one wish granted with endless possibilities until the end of their lives or have three restrictive wishes granted. As much as you wanted someone to wish you free, they never did, too blinded by their own wants.

Every master who had found you throughout your years picked the option of having one wish granted. With each desire fulfilled, you lost faith in the human race and were completely disgusted at their actions. 

You were not able to kill, bring anyone back from the dead, or force anyone to fall in love with another person and yet, your masters found ways to come close to having these wishes granted. Those were the people you remembered most. 

One of those masters was named Taeyong. He was a young man, his lithe body filled with ambition. He strived for fame and fortune and refused any other light but the spotlight. He found you in his grandfather’s belongings after his kin passed and kept you to satisfy his selfish needs.

His one wish was to remain the richest bachelor in the world and to never run out of money. Taeyong spent frivolously with you by his side, your powers robbing those with higher numbers then him.

Taeyong remained on top of the world but at the cost of stealing what really belonged to others.

Another master you had met along the way was the handsome Youngho, a businessman who had no time for socializing. He was always nose deep into his work, calling you out at random times to keep him company. He never wished for anything; he just wanted to have someone with him.

Youngho said he liked having you around and he was glad he found you. He described you as a guiding light that kept him on the path and you almost fell for his charms. Your hardening heart softened and you found yourself falling for the lonely businessman with the sharp eyes and kind smile.

“Thank you,” Youngho said one day as you sat beside him, his head curled on your lap as you ran your fingers through his hair. 

“For what?” you asked.

“For being there for me when no one else was,” he replied and you felt the flutters in your stomach. It had been centuries since you had last seen your prince but the Yuno-sized hole in your heart was slowly being filled with Youngho.

But just as you let your guard down and your heart grew soft, something happened. Youngho fell in love with another— someone who wasn’t you. The pain you felt was excruciating and you had to grin and bear it as he asked you for an endless supply of the most powerful love potion in the universe.

You had no choice but to give it to Youngho and watch him as he poured the substance into another’s cup every time they started to slip from the man’s grasp. The potion itself did not mimic the feeling of love itself, it simply gave the consumer a case of strong infatuation aimed towards the giver. 

It was then you decided to hate humans and their extreme selfishness. The only people you refused to hate were Yuno and Minhyung— but they, much like the love in your heart, were long gone.

Reincarnations, you quickly discovered, were real. You could not count how many times one of your former masters found you in their new lifetime. Seeing Youngho reincarnated did not shock you one bit. He was named Johnny in this life and no matter how many smiles he flashed your way, you refused to reciprocate the action.

All humans are selfish, you repeated the mantra in your head. Do not trust anyone. 

You could not fall for his dazzling smile again. You refused to. The only person that belonged in your heart was Prince Yuno.

Similar to his last life, Johnny was a workaholic. He was a businessman with almost no time on his hands but the male still made time for his friends. You heard the voices of his closest colleagues often as Johnny brought you everywhere, your lamp tucked into his bag. He kept you hidden, a secret for only him to enjoy for the rest of his days.

Some of the voices were oddly similar to ones you had heard before and how you wanted to laugh. You heard Taeyong’s voice once; how funny was it that all your former masters met in this life? With a roll of your eyes, you remembered a saying Yuno would often iterate: “You attract what you are.”

Selfish, selfish, selfish. That’s what all humans were. 

There was a day Johnny had his other colleagues over for a late night drink. He hid your lamp in plain sight, the object acting as a paperweight on his coffee table as his friends gathered around the living room.

“If you could have one wish granted, what would it be?” Johnny posed the question, taking a sip of his drink. He reiterated the rules you gave him and you scoffed; the man couldn’t decide on what to wish for so he turned to his friends for ideas.

“Fame, naturally,” Taeyong’s reincarnation replied and you chuckled bitterly from inside your cage. He never changed. “I want people to remember my name.”

“Of course you would ask for that, you narcissist,” Johnny laughed, the others chiming in as well. They took turns around the room and you couldn’t help but roll your eyes at each request.

Johnny posed the idea of forever staying on top, no matter the means. 

“So, let’s say someone takes the number one spot, would you do whatever it takes to snatch it away from them?” A new voice muttered. It sounded awfully familiar and it made your heart lurch forward. 

“Yeah,” you heard Johnny reply nonchalantly.

“Even if it led to hurting them?” the deep voice asked again. Tears welled up in your eyes and you couldn’t figure out why.

“Since killing them isn’t an option, hurting them until they’re on the brink of being ruined, why the hell not?” Johnny pushed. His other friends agreed with him but that one achingly familiar voice openly opposed his companion’s choice.

“Isn’t that a bit harsh? Some people spend years working their way up to the top and I think they deserve to stay up there,” he retaliated. 

“Jeffery, isn’t that a bit naive to say in the business world?” Johnny asked, a bit of edge in his voice. “It’s a dog eat dog world out there. You can’t rely on goodness and hard work to get you through everything.”

“But doing that, stepping on the underdog— it isn’t right,” the man named Jeffery said. “They’ll suffer. I don’t know, I just feel like it’s always been my duty to assist those below us and help them thrive.”

Why did Jeffery’s words sound like something you had heard before? 

As the men continued their discussion, a memory from long ago came to mind. Yuno’s face during your second meeting came to mind, his handsome features wrinkled as he expressed his disappointment in Rowena’s actions: “What she is doing to the people out here, it isn’t right. They are suffering and I feel as if it is my duty to stop her.” 

Bless the stars, you had found him. 

Yuno. Your Yuno

The tears began to fall as you sobbed. He was right there with you, in the same room. You closed your eyes and listened for his voice again and placed your hand on the wall of your lamp. You were facing the direction Yuno’s voice was coming from and a smile broke out on your lips. The action of smiling felt weird to experience, seeing as how long it had been since you last grinned this widely. 

After how many years of not having him by your side, your prince was finally there with you. If only you could let yourself out of your lamp.

“Hey, what is that?” Jeffery asked.

“What’s what?” Johnny replied, a bit confused.

The conversation shifted as your hand remained on the wall. They were no longer talking about wishes; instead, they were talking about you, or rather, your lamp.

“I’ve never seen that before, John; is it new?” Jeffery pushed. You felt a warmth radiating against the golden walls, a warmth similar to Yuno’s loving touch. This was it, you thought. The reunion you had been waiting for.

It grew hotter and hotter, your heart was about to burst. Electricity was flooding through your veins and a dizzying spell reached your head.

Just a little bit more, my prince. A little bit more, you said to yourself, your hand clasping against your lips as sobs of joy began to escape.

“No!” Johnny shouted. “Don’t touch that!” 

Just as quickly that warmth surrounded you, it was snatched away with the same amount of speed. It disappeared, the walls now cold as your lamp shook. The sudden action jolted you across your space, causing you to hit your head on a surface. 

“Sorry, John!” Jeffery said, “I was just curious.”

The mood in the room shifted and so did the mood inside your lamp. 

“I think you all should go.”

“Wait, just because I tried to touch your thing?” Jeffery fought back. “It can’t be that serious, can it?”

Not liking the sudden shift, the other colleagues obeyed Johnny’s request. 

“It is that serious and I think you should leave.”

“No!” you screamed from your cage, now banging on the walls. Johnny felt your actions, the lamp shaking as you continued to hit the surface. “No, no, no, no, no! Please!” 

Please, you begged miserably. Using a bit of your magic that would surely cost you a bit of your health, you willed yourself to peek through spout and there he was, still as beautiful as ever.

His name might have been Jeffery in that life but he was still your Yuno. He stood there, looking just as princely as he did in the past. His blazer was draped over his shoulder with a tie loosened around his neck and white sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His eyebrows were furrowed and a frown hid the dimples you loved so much. 

Oh, how much you wanted to escape and turn that frown upside down. To kiss the downward curl away like you had back in the days when you were together.

“Go, Jeff,” Johnny’s voice hardened, almost challenging the younger. Jeffery took one more glance at the lamp behind his hand and you caught his eye.

You watched as he did a double take with a look of confusion before a flash of pain took over his face. That expression of discomfort went away as the man shook his head. He dragged a hand over his immaculate face, stealing your one last glance at his beauty from you, as he unwillingly put on his shoes.

“Fuck, fine,” Jeffery said before taking his leave, his back turned from you. You bit on your lip as another sob escaped you. 

Don’t go.

Don’t leave me.

Don’t leave me alone again.

He promised to always find you. Why couldn’t he find you this time around? 

Yuno was so close yet so far. 

How much more of this pain could a genie like you take? 

Why was the universe set on keeping you apart?

Why couldn’t you finally have the only thing you wanted?

Why couldn’t your wish come true?

author’s note. hello, my genie lovers! this is the second part of three or four. i’m still working on the last part-- it’s a really slow process but i’m getting there! be patient with me, please! i would love to hear feedback from everyone! any thoughts on the rules she has to follow? her masters? her unwavering love for Yuno? uwu

taglist. @rindomo @yshbaewenjun @hannie-dul-set @itsapapisongo @babyyynatty @notnctu @w0nni3wrld @yuta1forme @lucyinthesunshinee @johtenrecs​

[why-this-kolaveri-machi]

please. i can’t do this alone.

Titans 3.01

thoughts! thoughts! thoughts! some red hot thoughts!

SPOILERS ahead.

1. one episode in, and this season already looks set to give me everything i want. its abandonment of plot and storytelling conventions as it goes from one point to the next at breakneck speed; its cheerful bastardisation of iconic storylines from the comics; the ‘as-you-know-bob’ clunky exposition on one end and extremely restrained, subtle explorations of complex character dynamics on the other; endless shots of neon bleeding into black and blue corridors, shadows and silhouettes; my delight in seeing it celebrate and deconstruct the dark nolan-y batman aesthetic at the same time; my bafflement that it’s so fucking goddamn obsessed with the batfam when it’s supposed to be about the TITANS; kory just... saving every overburdened, clunky scene that she’s in by her sparkling charisma. just... *chef’s kiss*. muah. my show is back, in all its glory.

MY SHOW IS BACK, Y’ALL!

1.5. i mean... this show is so artful and weird and not afraid to go absolutely bonkers in exploring its characters’ psyche, but can just about barely stage a passable comic book fight when every tom dick and harry and their new streaming services can deliver ones that are far more exciting. i love this show with every atom of my body.

(there’s something to be said about rooting for the underdog as well. a pleasure in finding something to love about what other people dismiss. but! enough navel gazing! i have fictional characters’ navels to look at! metaphorically! and maybe literally!)

2. i expected jason’s death to come about pretty early in the season as soon as i heard rumours that red hood was showing up, but for it to happen in the first five minutes of the first episode... that’s a record. 

(well. “happen.” still don’t know what exactly went down there.)

2.25. GOD. jason is such a tortured and tragic character in this show, used and passed around by people with alleged good intentions, never really fitting in anywhere. he’s veritably bleeding vulnerability and the need to belong, the need to be known, and yet the tragedy is that his death proves that nobody in his life knew anything about him at all; that they only saw the flimsy walls he put up to protect his soft core, and thought that that was all there was. that they say they loved him, but blame him for his own death. 

dick is flabbergasted that jason can read, though we know from last season, from what jason revealed to rose, that he has a love for plays and music. barbara is quick to dismiss his actions as ‘impulsive’. bruce has no idea that his supposed son was building his own little chemistry lab right under his nose, and beyond that, no idea that jason needed structure, stability and validation beyond being left alone in a huge house with a treasure trove of dangerous weapons. kory thought his decision to fight the joker was from not learning and growing when the guy tried to kill himself last season and nobody apart from dick even tried to talk to him about it! did you consider that he might still be suicidal? especially after the titans admitted to having “given up” on him because he was just “too hard”?

2.5. the one thing that’s been consistent across all three seasons (so far) of the show is the unreliable narrator trope. there’s a reason why the characters’ dismissals of jason’s actions as impulsive is so repetitive; why jason’s death is a mystery dick feels compelled to solve. it’s a flailing attempt to know his brother much too late--but with red hood, maybe he gets a second chance, just like he got one with the titans. this is what jason’s arc has been building up to. this is ‘death in the family’ but more fucked up in some ways. it didn’t linger on the death because the death wasn’t the point. the joker isn’t the point. everything that came before it is.

this way it will also make perfect sense that the red hood’s main enemy becomes the titans rather than batman.

2.75. goodness knows what’s going on with jason’s little chemistry project. at first i thought he was immunising himself to joker gas or something, but maybe it’s what passes for lazarus pit juice in this universe? 

anyway, it’s pretty impressive that jason learnt all of that from a college chemistry textbook. STOP BRINGING UP THAT HE READ SOMETHING, DICK--

2.8. i’m glad that dick doesn’t immediately sink into self-loathing and guilt and tries to investigate jason’s death while also acknowledging how he failed him. it’s like he actually learned something from the last two years! 

anyway. more about dick later. 

3. oh how i love titans!bruce. a lot of characters had a lot of Opinions on his reaction to jason’s death in this episode, but again, i ask you to consider that they’re unreliable narrators, and this universe’s bruce is a product of how it shaped him. bruce wayne has become a phantom to himself--an artifice borne out of vigorous discipline and crushing self-denial. 

bruce has been batman for a very long time, and without a robin for much longer. (dick must be... in his early thirties? so he was robin for about, say, 10-12 years according to the timeline of the show. that still makes bruce pretty old when he took on his first robin.) things have... calcified (possibly parts of his brain). the personal cost and the collateral from the mission he’s taken up for most of his life is too much to countenance; it has to be a war, and war requires sacrifice. 

on some level bruce knows that’s a lie. he’s so goddamned alone. what’s he going to do? sit down and cry? who’s going to listen to him now? oh, is he going to just stop being batman? who’s going to stop gotham from consuming herself then? he’ll just have to forge ahead, do better next time, maybe he’ll be firmer with them, or kinder with them, or notice more things, or train them harder, or spend more time--

3.25. don’t get me wrong: titans!bruce is an asshole and a half. his roster of potential robins was honestly bone-chilling. the fact that there’s a twisted root of compassion makes it more disturbing. 

3.5. alfred’s dead! it must’ve been pretty recent, because i could’ve sworn that dick tried to call alfred in the very first episode of season 1, or at least considered calling him... 

what a devastating double-blow for bruce then, losing his father-figure and his, uh.... son-figure so close together.

4. i don’t know about barbara yet. i mean, i like her, but she had so much clunky expository dialogue to deliver this episode, and for an episode that was named after her, she only showed up halfway through it. but i like the weight of history behind her interactions with both bruce and dick and her compassion to bruce before he cruelly crossed a line. i also like the implication that she and dick have been in touch recently, and that she didn’t immediately try to guilt-trip dick about some perceived abandonment. it’d be too repetitive.

4.5. there’s also a sense that she ran interference for dick a lot whenever there was something Too Big and Emotional for him to confront directly, and i like and appreciate that character beat.

5. dick, my man! it really does feel like a substantial length of time has passed between the end of s2 and the beginning of s3... kory’s got a new costume, they’ve become celebrities in SF, working missions together, and dick’s actually smiling! genuinely enjoying his work and having fun with it for possibly the first time in the entire series! it’s really a far cry from the fractured, dysfunctional mess that they were at the end of the last season.

i just hope this doesn’t mean that they’ve magically reached a resolution off-screen to all of their fucked-upness from last season, and that the repercussions--for gar in particular--are actually addressed on screen. 

5.25. i mentioned this briefly above, but it really is so refreshing that dick doesn’t wallow in guilt and self-loathing after jason’s death; he acknowledges his and the titans’ failure, is able to admit to barbara honestly that he’s not doing great, and is actively trying to reach out to bruce to make sure he’s ok, is trying to investigate what made jason seek out the joker on his own, and is probably the only person not immediately buying that it was jason’s recklessness that got him killed. i love that dick is finally beginning to trust his instincts or just employ them at all after years of guilt and paranoia and self-loathing. we love some positive character growth!

5.5. another thing i love? the bruce-dick interactions on this show. every scene they’re in together is so fraught with tension, both of them holding themselves back, their emotions on a whipcord-tight leash. dick wants to reach out to bruce, is even somewhat familiar with this brand of denial in the wake of grief, but wants barbara to make the first move because he genuinely does not know how to get bruce to open up. his instincts are right, and wonderful, and genuine, but his expression has been smothered by years of trauma, emotional and physical self-discipline, and what i suspect is poorly treated mental illness. 

it takes a lot for him to finally explode at bruce at the end of the episode--in a way he hasn’t done even when his only opinion of bruce was ‘fuck him’--and it’s all the more startling for how subdued he’s been through the episode, how much he’s been holding back his emotions for bruce’s sake. love it.

5.75. it sort of hurts my heart to see the flying graysons poster in jason’s room. there are a few implications:

a) jason settled into dick’s old room despite living in a giant mansion with dozens of other rooms he could’ve used

b) he didn’t take down dick’s poster--not when he moved in and was idolising him, not when he moved out of the titans and was sort of hating him. i wonder if the reminder of what dick was before robin--that he was forged out of unspeakable tragedy--gave jason the connection to dick that he so desperately wanted in real life

c) dick moved right back into the room and slept on the bed that was now jason’s. grief can be so quiet and piecemeal sometimes.

6. i spy the beginnings of actual arcs for both gar and kory! i just hope that with the move to gotham their stories don’t fall to the wayside...

6.5. i’ve known tim drake for less than ten minutes but if anything were to happen to him i’d kill everybody 

7. this review has gone on for too long and i am tiRED. however, before i leave: i miss some of the dedication-to-aesthetic that titans season 1 used to have. remember how the first few episodes didn’t really feel like a superhero show but something out of gothic horror? there was something gorgeous and raw about that, about open landscapes and the road and creepy buildings looming up at the end of it. moving to titans tower in s2 really ruined a lot of that for me, given its ripped-from-architectural-digest aesthetic, all smooth and clean and artificial. 

i hope that we really explore gotham’s hellscape in interesting and innovative ways instead of camping out in the batcave all the time and indulging in the show’s unending love for long corridors, neon backlights and silhouettes.

8.....

9.  wait, fuck, HOW CAN I FORGET ABOUT HOT PSYCHIATRIST GUY (TM)??? NONE of you prepared me for his return! NONE OF YOU! i gasped! i got up and did a happy dance! 

listen, titans writers, if you’ve had a peek at my titans s3 wishlist, please go ahead and give the other items on the list a go too, thankyouverymuch.

[ziracona]

T2 was okay and it could have been really good—had some real moments. But it needed more script iterations, and it was too goofy. Goofy is fine in general, but Terminator works best as a sci-fi action-drama-horror mesh. That’s the peak atmosphere. Also just, they gave their new Terminator scary powers to keep him relevant, but there’s just...no way to really make anyone on screen look like a threat to Arnold Schwarzenegger you know? And they never overcame that and it throws off the whole underdog atmosphere. He just. Wasn’t scary. Not when he was trying to kill heckin Arnold the brick house.

I’m not gonna talk about T3 bc I feel like I don’t need to and I think I have a lot of support for that in the fandom, and I’m not gonna talk any Genysis bc no one ever should, and I know I have support there.

Dark Fate was fine, but I felt like they really didn’t have to kill off their Kyle expy like at this point the surprising thing and interesting one would be /not/ to kill him. That role has died in /every/ other film. Like we get it. But plot rehashes are only good if you have some kind of spin. Mostly though I just...would have liked T800 man’s personality in another context but you couldn’t ever sell me on him after watching him gun down a 10 year old in the open. Like what, he found a soul by being...bored? If you want to convince me of fundamental change in a person, you /gotta/ motivate it better. Show me. Don’t tell me and expect me to take your word. And there just wasn’t enough meet in some spots. I wanted more firm lore and a little less action. Like I’m not even a science-heavy leaning sci-fi fan but it still wasn’t enough. I liked it more than most of the others but it just wasn’t quite...meaty enough. Sarah still a queen. But T800 man didn’t sell and that was a real weak spot, and so was expecting us and Sarah to just...like and forgive him bc he had accrued a family. But also like. I enjoyed having a new protag, but feeling like so much, no, /all/ of the work and suffering of everyone in other Terminator films was for nothing bc it’s not even Skynet anymore it’s some other robots?? It kind just...didn’t really work. It makes everything more hollow like it’s not even Terminator anymore there’s no more Terminators. They should have just had it be Skynet but a different rebel leader, or more. Sarah goes on to mentor Dani instead since John is dead, /something/ to make it more the same franchise and not so hollow. Or if it’s gonna be gutted, go all the way and let us feel that, don’t blip it as a plot point once and keep rolling. There’s decades of character attachment for fans; either make that matter, or make it mourned because it’s dead. Don’t skim it and make it cheap. Also on a meta level it was kind of weird how they handled time travel compared to the norm for the franchise but I’m not going into that.

BUT. The Terminator? A cinematic classic. It’s just...such a good film. The characters work is solid the whole movie, and Reese and Sarah are both truly excellent protagonists also given ample time to explore and exhibit that. There’s so much you get in moments that show tiny things about them. The way Sarah handles getting canceled on and goofing with Ginger, her having a pet iguana she loves to cuddle, talking to the statue at work? And she’s smart and normal (I mean normal in a very complimentary way). Kyle is introduced almost immediately running from the cops, but even in the middle of a chase scene, he’s stealing clothes in a mall while evading flashlights, and little things like hopping while he runs to check shoe sizes give you so much right away. He’s clearly out of his depth but he’s smart and methodical and he holes up in a car he hotwires and has a ptsd moment waking up from a dream because of some heavy construction machinery. You don’t have him say much about himself at all but you get him taking a second to be nice to the kids and guard dog on his way back before a T800 attacks. Even though if you’re watching it classic, you have no spoken goal for Reese and all you know is he’s armed and /also/ looking for Sarah, like the man who has killed three people already is, you kind of aren’t very scared of him by the time he’s creepily following her into a night club. That scene is iconic too damn. Anyway. Her reactions to everything are so great. Only film I ever saw where I 100% felt the person on screen was reacting like anyone would to almost being killed and then getting kidnap-saved by some other guy claiming to be from the future like I’d bite him too, but you know, I’d also be pretty happy he saved me and also decide he was crazy and not like, dangerous, and try to keep the cops from killing him. It’s so cute he thinks anyone is going to believe him like hang in there Kyle baby, king. Love as soon as the Terminator hits the police station, he breaks out and goes to find Sarah, and she’s immediately like ‘so fuck this actually’ and looking for him too. The deleted scene in the motel woods. The slow character build. Him falling in love with her because of the picture where she always looked a little sad and he wondered what she was thinking about and you don’t find out till the last scene it’s him she was thinking about in that picture. A family can be two complete trauma disasters making pipe bombs in a motel. The top 5 cinema shots moment where you think they won and they think they won and they’re both injured and stagger to each other and collapse laughing and crying and hugging and it holds for like ten seconds before that fucking thing gets up and you see the rubble in the fire shift and Kyle sees it first. And the hopelessness and despair. Sarah just screaming no in rage because it’s so unfair. The little scaffolding fight?? Kyle doing what he does? Sarah winning with a broken leg? The picture? The heartbreak? A work of art.

Also just. They’re both attractive but like, they are not remotely airbrushed Hollywood pretty. Kyle’s got that big scar on his lip and they’re both sweaty and bloody and dirty and gross the whole film??? God yeah.

Terminator Salvation? Also a classic. You have a film not about the core cast exactly, but it’s very ensemble. You get early days war. And it’s from the very open a solid narrative about second chances and what it means to be human and they really do explore that the whole runtime. Markus dies and comes back more confused than you are in the apocalypse. Baby Reese is absolutely perfect. You get formerly executed for murder Markus somehow adopting like 20 year old Reese and 13 year old kid Star and they’re amazing. Rebellion drama, lore reveals. Reese’s devout faith in the cause and how fast he looks up to Markus and starts learning and Markus is like :[ but then he’s like ... :] because he god assigned two family members now. The tag team fights—how incredibly talented Star is. Guilt trip on a look to dropping cars, she’s super effective. Tbh Markus is just O_O to >:-[ the whole movie as soon as Reese and Star are taken and I feel it. You’ve got a guy who was killed for straying too far from human, come back as a machine, but he doesn’t know it, wondering if he deserves another chance and if he can change, and it’s really neat the way it unfolds. Even after losing so many friends to Terminators that look human, Blair refuses to believe he isn’t a human even if he’s also a machine and risks her life to save him, when they barely know each other. Markus getting like, tortured by the rebels, and still choosing to help them and be who he has decided he wants to be this time, even towards John. Even with better alternatives. And you have Star never having a moment of doubt, or Reese, and him getting to save them both, and them trying to help the other humans in line for extermination before he arrives. The hand hold with Star when his hands just metal. And he decides to die for someone he doesn’t even /like/ and who has personally hurt him a lot of times, because he knows the rebels need him to win. Anyway death row to death row but completely different people in the same body facing that same death differently are amazing if done well (see TWDG I mean ow) and it was a very simple core theme to latch to and very enjoyable executed and it got snubbed by fans when it’s the best sequel Terminator ever had.

[buttofgrayson]

As someone, who's favorite character is Dick Grayson and I find often reasons to be angry at or even hate the batfam, can I ask you to rank them from your most preferred character to the one you dislike the most?

Haha you feel my pain! Yeah being a Dick Grayson fan is rough when it comes to the batfamily. Let's see if I can rank them for ya!

1. Dick Grayson

Of course my favorite batfamily member and my favorite fictional character of all time! I tend to really like characters I feel like I would like if they were a real person and Dick fits that perfectly. Not only that I feel like he works as a character more than so many others. He's Batman and Superman without their narrative problems (being to powerful, not able to be an underdog, limited story potential, lack of fun). So honestly I think he's DC's best protagonist. Likeable, admirable, fun, sexy and exciting and engaging. Dick has this energy to his character that leaps off the page and it just pulls you to him.

2. Barbara Gordon

I love Barbara so much and really always longed for better stories for her. She's someone (like Dick) that you really feel like you would like and admire even if they were real. She works amazing as a character and could fill almost any role you want for her. So versatile. Personally though I think she's pretty hard headed and can come off as very condescending. I feel she's kinda bad at thinking about others feelings because she's just so in touch with her own. Not a total bad thing but something that can be a bit annoying.

3. Bruce Wayne

As I get older I find myself amazed at how much more interesting the rest of the batfamily is compared to Bruce. He's like our window into these more likeable characters lol. That sounds bad. I like Bruce because he's such a pure idea. You always understand his actions through the person you know him to be. He's such a clear understandable character that you can instantly spot something he says or does that's off because "Bruce wouldn't say or do that". He has a consistent voice. As a person? He's infuriating. He's hard headed and he expects his family to take sacrifices for him just because it's what he wants. He's been especially terrible to Dick but in all its consistent with the person I know him to be.

4. Cassandra Cain

Cassandra just like Bruce is a very boiled down consistent character. And she's best girl! So strong and so caring she really is a lot like Dick. More than a lot of other batfamily members (minus the quips). And she just has such an interesting backstory and themes of her own. I can't find things to dislike about her. The only thing is that I'm just more likely to read other batfamily characters because sometimes she can be a bit one note.

5. Damian Wayne

Damian is a mistake. He should've never been invented. As a character his entire purpose is "what if batman had a son?" But he does. He had three of them already. Damian's existence actively makes the batfamily worse because it takes from all his brothers relationship with Bruce in a "well those weren't his REAL sons" sort of way. This was the moment there became too many batman characters. Does he work as a Robin? Yes. Does he work as a Robin as well as Tim? No. So why is Damian higher on the list than Tim? Because Damian breaks everything around him but isn't broken as a character. As a person though I like Damian a lot. His demeanor as a mean kid is pretty charming and it makes it really mean something when he progresses and is actually a really good person.

6. Tim Drake

Poor Tim. He's too old to be Robin and too young to be his own man. Red Robin and Drake both didn't really work well as identities and at this point he might just be the character with the most unused potential. It sucks because this character used to work so well. He works as THE NEW ROBIN! A Robin for the new age! Kinda spiderman-like. Learning from the successes and mistakes of his predecessors and making his way to be Robin the way he wants to be. It works so well! He's so likeable and charming and he fits the role so well. Sadly he doesn't have it anymore. Big oof. Sorry Tim.

7. Jason Todd

Jason is a broken character. And I don't mean that in a "he's so broken and sad!" Kind of way. I literally mean he doesn't work in a storytelling sense. He's incredibly inconsistent. A muddled character because people wanted to have their cake and eat it too. They want Jason to be a killer who hunts criminals and is against the batfamily but they also want him to be a part of the batfamily and to have his murders overlooked. It makes no sense unless you want everyone involved to look like an idiot. Look guys I know the animated movie was good but that character that was in that movie is only worth telling that one story with. Keeping him as the killer villian would be to tell that story over and over again (like we've been doing forever) and making him a proper batfamily member would take everything his fans like about him away from him. Jason isn't who fans want him to be either. He isn't charming or funny or sexy like Dick. He's pretty unlikeable and the parts you like about him is the parts he got from Dick (and Dick does better). I know I sound like I hate Jason but I really don't want to. It's just the honest truth.

8. Stephanie Brown

How dare I! Stephanie is best girl! She really is. I think she's pretty fun and likeable. I never dislike seeing her or anything. I like her spoiler costume a lot. So why is she so low on the list? Because I don't know much about her. Something really just stopped me from connecting to this character and I don't know why? Unlike Damian or Jason I have zero strong feelings for Stephanie in either direction and that's almost as bad as if I disliked her. I don't know there just hasn't been a hook for me to feel like she's worth taking a dive into. I can tell at the very least she is a better character than Jason but aside from that I can't say I like her. I have no attachment to her.

[bcbdrums]

(Super long ask ahead)

Ok I really wanted to add and talk more about how bad the wiki got, just look at some of this lines:

As is common for a fictional underdog, Ron has a tendency to have low expectations of his performance and to set low standards for himself, both academically and socially. He lacks focus and often appears to fare poorly due to either a lack of effort and a lack of belief in his own abilities or through trying too hard and coming across as a clown.

Shocker, he is a teenager boy who sometimes can be insecure and seem awkward, as the series goes on he gains more confidence in himself, but why do they make it sound so mean? Going on a bit of a tangent here with this being a personal headcanon, but doesn’t this also sounded kind of albesit? because come on how many times have somebody called a person with adhd that they are “ lazy”, that they”lack effort” or “focus”? This so unnecessarily mean

His efforts to fit in are often hampered by the fact that he is moderately hyperactive and has a tendency to act with a pronounced level of immaturity, which has earned him a reputation as a loser among his peers. However, for the most part, Ron's type B personality means that he either does not notice this, and thus tends to embarrass those around him more than himself

I mean it was shown that Ron was friends with various characters in the show, which usually shared his same interest inside and outside of school such as: Tara, Zita, Felix, Yori

And besides Bonnie, who ever considered him or called him a “loser”?

Ron has also displayed considerable bouts of jealousy throughout the show, especially when he feels that he does not have Kim's undivided attention. However, all of Ron's Kim-centered jealousy is entirely restricted to the instance of Kim paying attention to others over him.

Like what considered bouts of jealousy? One or two times and even when Kim dated Josh or Eric, Ron was always supportive of her and he basically shelved his agenda because he recognized Kim looked happy and he did his best to be supportive and still helped Kim with whichever he could (like when he brought her the flower in the first episode)

And you know which other characters also had “considerable bouts of jealousy”? Kim, Shego and Drakken, but when has the wiki page being edited to go out of it’s way in order to call Shego out of this? Never (of course that’s the shippers fav, they will never do that)

Ron's type B personality means that he either does not notice this, and thus tends to embarrass those around him more than himself, or that he passes his quirks off as part of his intrinsic "Ronness" and ignores what others think.

Like notice how him not caring about what others think of him, something that made him and Kim such a great dynamic because they complemented each other is suddenly portrayed in a bad light, why is that? Isn’t being authentic a positive character trait? Why is suddenly the wiki page so means towards him and Kim? (Now I know why: toxic shippers)

And the wiki also tried to said that the reason for his “low-expectations on himself” was because of Kim, and I’m like: Could you not? So, dissing on Ron wasn’t enough, was it? Whoever edited the wiki also had to diss on Kim as well and blame her for things that weren’t even her fault.

Kim herself often performs a similar function for Ron by motivating him, encouraging him to participate in some areas, and attempting to dampen down his enthusiasm in others.

When does Kim does that? look at the wording: Kim sometimes encourages Ron but more often she “damps Ron down” nah, she is very encouraging on him specially on season 4

And just notice the wording: “Kim sometimes encourages Ron but more often than not she damps him down”

Ron's personality is defined by ego [..] Ron has on occasion expressed his usually hidden arrogance , which typically results from a bout of self-confidence combined with his tendency to go overboard with things. Kim once commented that Ron is "prone to big-headiness." The statement came as a result of the sudden ego boost

He is not egoistical by any means, he has moment of big headiness sure, but he is never defined by thus, you know which tower characters also have moment like this? Shego, Drakken and Kim, why is Ron the only one being called out while other chats yes (Shego) have nothing but praise in their pages? Even Kim is being so harshly criticized

Another effect of this personality type is that Ron tends to doubt himself more often than not, making himself subservient to Kim. It is highly probable that his behavior patterns have been influenced by Kim's frequently overbearing and hyper-competitive Type A tendencies causing him to back down as a trained response because he knows that Kim does not like to lose. Because he values Kim more than anything, Ron is willing to sacrifice anything for her, including his own potential for greatness.

What? Did we even watched the same show? Kim encourages Ron to excel and be more active in general and this goes both ways, ron isn’t subservient to Kim, he is actually one of the few people who can and will call her out on her flaws, this goes both ways and both of them grew because of this

All of these self-imposed restrictions are lost, however, when Ron becomes his alter ego, Zorpox. Because he is evil, Zorpox does not care about hurting Kim's feelings and therefore has no problem unleashing his full potential

No, those “self imposed-restrictions “weren’t caused because he “didn’t wanted to hurt Kim’s feelings” it was because Ron is by nature an anxious person, I hate how they are trying to blame Kim for Ron’s character flaws, if anything it was because of Kim that he grew more proactive and confident, he always stepped-up and confronted his fears when Kim needed him the most.

He tends to "trip over his own feet" in most episodes, often in comical or socially embarrassing ways

This is straight up just a Jab against his character at this point

Ron's problems are accentuated by his overall lack of focus, and by a tendency towards laziness which, at its most extreme, included expecting his lab partner to do all of the work on the grounds that their natural motivation to succeed would compel them to pick up his slack.

He keeps up with Kim academically and he is in almost all of the classes he is in, he even said he was an average C + student at worst, he goes with Kim in all of their missions and it was shown on episodes that he would even travel half of the world in order to aid Kim because he knew Kim needed him, he applied himself more in school in the last seasons and even applied to a lot of schools.

And this is me projecting, but Ron tends to apply himself on the subjects and hobbies that are interesting to him, he might have adhd (even the wiki had a section in which this was speculated) this sound si low-key ableist

And I just hate how bad they are talking about him, all of his character is so negatively described: “jealous”, “immature”, “clown”, “Lazy”, “egoistical” “subservient”, “embarrassing”

There is zero mention of his positive character traits, being selfless and committed? Nah, that makes him subservient somehow , no caring what others think by being authentic to who he is which is a great counter-balance to Kim? Nah, this makes him embarrassing and dense, What about every time he is able to apply himself and do something great every he gains a little more of confidence (usually because Kim inspires him to) nah, this just mean he is defined by his ego and that makes him arrogant somehow.

They did my boi so dirty here.

i'll refer you to the anon i just answered before yours...

if someone out there wants to take the time to try to fix the wiki, or start a new one, i fully support it. i just don't have the energy to fight them anymore.

but you're right, this is character slaughter. their so-called evidence is all things being broadly and grossly interpreted to be extremely and unfairly negative to ron, and in some cases plainly made up, when we know that's not what the majority of fandom sees. in fact i'd wager that ron is the second-most popular character to shego. you've just got your people out there who are clinging to their pedo out-of-character ship for who knows what reason... 🙄

perhaps anon, if not edit the wiki yourself, you'll take time to make a positive character post about ron? 👀

[duelistkingdom]

you’d come back to me

chapter eight: suggestion

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Summary: Seto Kaiba has been presumed dead for four years after the events of Dark Side of Dimensions. His return causes both unresolved feelings of grief to be brought to the surface and the past to be dragged right back up. In hopes of helping Seto move on and reintegrate back into society at large, Mokuba asks Yugi to work on Spherium II with Seto. Never one to leave a friend hanging, Yugi agrees. Over the course of the project, Seto and Yugi both come to terms with their mutual grief and grow towards a better understanding of each other.

Rating: T

Ships: Yugi Mutou/Seto Kaiba, Mokuba Kaiba/Rebecca Hopkins, Katusya Jonouchi/Mai Kujaku

Warnings: aged up characters, grief, references to suicide

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On the first day of development, Seto immediately began to question all of Yugi’s choices in design. “This could be far more effective if we do this instead,” Seto said as he spread out a new code that would take far longer than the allotted time to implement. “I don’t know why you’re doing it that way.”

“We only have a year to get a working prototype to show investors, Kaiba,” Yugi said for what felt like the fiftieth time that day. He was certain that it was, at most, the fifth time. “I’ve already told you it would be unfair on the team to do it that way so we’re doing it the easier way.”

“If you want it to be effective, you should do things right the first time,” Seto snapped and Yugi glared up at him. Once again, Yugi was annoyed that he stopped an inch short of six feet tall. It was hard to be intimidating when Seto was still ever so slightly taller than him and had to wear some sort of heeled boot on top of it. “We should do things this way.”

“Kaiba, believe it or not, the team is not made of robots and we have new rules in place where we’re not allowed to stay in the building past 11 pm,” Yugi said, back straightening out to his fullest height. His eye line still barely met Seto’s nose. “It would be impossible to do things the way you outlined, so we’re keeping things the way I designed.”

“I used to stay at work all night,” Seto countered, not seeming to realize what a very bad argument that was. In fact, Yugi couldn’t help but smirk in response because as far as he was concerned, Seto made his point for him. This seemed to bother Seto, however. “Stop smirking at me. I stayed at work all night and it was fine!”

“Kaiba, you do realize that might just be the worst argument anyone’s ever made right,” Yugi asked as he raised a brow at Seto, enjoying the flush that appeared right across Seto’s cheeks. He couldn’t believe he was ever intimidated by Seto. Seto was basically putty in his hands. “If you did something, that’s proof enough that it does not work. We’re keeping it the way it is. Thank you for your input, now get back to work.”

To his great surprise, Seto shuffled off without another word. Perhaps working with Seto would be a lot easier than expected.

 “Mokie,” Rebecca called as she burst right into Mokuba’s office, her badge pinned to the pocket of her pink and blue jacket. Mokuba looked up from his work, a surprised look on his face. While Rebecca did, indeed, frequently visit, she normally at least called ahead. Though he couldn’t say he was complaining as he noted she’d paired the jacket with a pink skirt that showcased her legs. “Whatcha planning for my birthday?”

Mokuba wished he could say he was surprised that Rebecca would think that this was an appropriate reason to visit him at work but he really wasn’t. At least it wasn’t as bad as when she dropped by to ask him about fabrics for the apartment’s couch. She’d been convinced it was dire and refused to admit it could have waited until he got home. “I thought you said you wanted the details of your birthday to be a surprise,” Mokuba remarked as he took a look at the calendar. There were only three days left until Rebecca’s birthday on December 28th. “You also said Christmas gifts do not count towards your birthday gifts.”

“Hanukkah gifts do not count to the overall total either,” Rebecca said seriously, eyeing Mokuba suspiciously. “You should make sure everyone knows that. It might start on the 25th but that doesn’t mean they can cheap out on my gifts.”

“Of course, Rebecca,” Mokuba said, almost amused. He had to admire Rebecca's tenacity. It was part of her charm, after all. He made a mental note to remind Yugi about Rebecca’s gift demands as his hands rested on her hips. “I wouldn't dream of letting you get cheaped out on your gifts, my love.”

Rebecca was instantly mollified by the pet name, a soft smile appearing on her face as she leaned in to press a quick kiss to Mokuba’s cheek. “Good,” she said softly, hopping off the desk and winking at him. “I’ll see you at home, darling!”

Mokuba grinned as he looked over her backside as she walked out the office. As much as he was certain that was another thing that could’ve waited until he got home, he did feel a little more relaxed about going back into working on this project. In fact, he actually didn’t want to get back to work at all.

 Yugi checked his watch, keeping a close eye on the time. Jonouchi’s Duel was at six pm and he needed to be at the stadium an hour before the Duel. The tournament that Jonouchi was dueling in had been excited to have snagged Jonouchi for their roster. He took his dueling rather seriously, always working to improve his deck. Yugi had passively mentioned how Jonouchi’s deck had improved to user saggithedarkclown that he’d started to regularly chat with online, who expressed a little bit of doubt that Jonouchi might be able to secure victory. Yugi had a small bet with the user riding on Jonouchi’s victory now.

As expected, the stadium was already a madhouse when Yugi got there. Everyone was chattering with excitement as Yugi was directed to enter through the back. He wound up driving under the stadium and directed to the valet. A security guard met with Yugi, handing him a badge that secured access backstage and made a joke about how it was a formality. Yugi grinned, joking back about how rules are rules. It would be impossible for him to ignore that people knew who he was at this point. “Where’s Jonouchi?”

“He’s getting ready,” the guard said as he led Yugi towards his dressing room. Yugi noted that the halls of the stadium were cold and impersonal until they turned down the hall that led to his usual room. Posters from past exhibition matches and promotions for other events decorated the walls. The few things that weren’t Duel Monsters related stuck out the most. “You’ll see him when the Duel starts. Sorry about that, Mr. Mutou.”

As much as he’d like to wish Jonouchi luck before the Duel, he wasn’t about to break the rules for it. Jonouchi would know that Yugi was rooting for him, after all. He thanked the guard as he ducked into his dressing room. Yugi changed into his professional Dueling attire, noting it over in the mirror. He was still embarrassed by how much it still looked like his old school uniform. He’d been wanting to replace it for the longest time but his manager had insisted this was what people wanted to see. Yugi had a hard time believing that. The backstage of a stadium was the same lineal space it always was. If it were not for the clock on the wall or the watch on his wrist, Yugi could’ve easily lost track of time. “Mr. Mutou,” came the voice of one of the security guards from outside his dressing room. “You’re on.”

His boots clicked on the concrete floor of the hallway with the sounds of the crowd getting louder as he approached the pitch. Before he went out, a stage hand pinned a microphone to his tank top and pressed the battery pack into his back pocket within seconds. She gave him a thumbs up before ducking out of sight as quickly as possible and he stepped onto the platform, staring upwards at the opening that would lift him up into the center of the pitch.

No matter how many times he did this, it always felt strange. The roar from the audience was deafening and the lights in his face prevented him from getting a good look at the audience. Still, he grinned, spreading his arms out as if he wasn’t uncomfortable. “Welcome to the Duel we’ve all been waiting for,” Yugi announced, stepping off the platform onto the field and spinning around as if he could see beyond the first row of the audience. He grinned when he saw Mokuba, Honda, Bakura, Mai, and Otogi in the front row. “Katsuya Jonouchi is going to face off against Ryota Kajiki! A rematch, as it were, for those of you who remember Jonouchi’s time in Battle City!”

The crowd went into a frenzy as Ryota entered the pitch and waved up towards the crowd. Yugi grinned at Ryota. Yugi was glad that the first Duel that Jonouchi had in this tournament was against this Duelist. Ryota was as honorable as ever and always proved to be a real challenge. “I Duel with the raw power of the ocean behind me,” Ryota called, holding up his Duel Disk in a theatrical manner. “Not many have managed to withstand the powerful monsters that hide in the sea!”

“Ryota’s a three time champion, with his most recent victory being in Nagasaki, where he took the top prize. He’s known for his signature Umi based strategies,” Yugi announced. “He seeks to challenge Jonouchi for the Domino City title today! And now, here he comes - Katsuya Jonouchi!”

If the crowd had been frenzied for Ryota, they were absolutely feral when Jonouchi entered the pitch and tossed his bangs out of his eyes with a glean in his eyes. “Been a while, Kajiki,” Jonouchi called out with a grin on his face and activated his Duel Disk. “I’ll warn ya now: I’m not gonna cower away from a challenge! Let’s have a fun Duel!”

“Most of you remember Katsuya’s rise from underdog to third place at Battle City to four time champion,” Yugi called out as he gestured over to his friend with a grin across his features. The crowd roared, and Yugi laughed. “Katsuya, like Ryota, is seeking to proceed forward in the Domino City regional championships in hopes of going to nationals! With his fierce Red Eyes Black Dragon and warriors by his side, he’ll be a tough one to beat!”

“Remember, fair play, fair Duel,” Yugi said as he pulled out the coin, tossing it up in the air. “Heads, Katsuya goes first, tails, Ryota goes first.” He caught it in the air as the drone flew around him, catching the fact that the coin toss came up tails. “Ryota will start! Each player will start with 8000 life points with no draw on the first turn. If a player fails to make a move within five minutes on their turn, they will automatically lose. Duel, start!”

Yugi took a step back, watching the Duel with a sense of pride taking over. Jonouchi really had managed to come a long way since his first Duel. In fact, Jonouchi had managed to get his trusty Red Eyes on the field by turn two. By turn four, Red Eyes Slash Dragon was on the field and equipped with Axe of Despair and Gearfried. “And that’s not all, Kajiki,” Jonouchi said, sounding proud of himself. “I’m tributing from my hand another Red Eyes Black Dragon to bring out Red-Eyes Alternative Black Dragon! And I’ll be setting three cards before heading into my battle phase!”

From there, Yugi saw how that one turn had decided the entire Duel. Ryota never recovered from Jonouchi destroying Umi on the fifth turn with Heavy Storm nor the fact that he’d used that move to set Red-Eyes Fang with Chain. Ryota’s life points hit zero by turn ten - a hard earned victory on Jonouchi’s part. “Katsuya Jonouchi is the winner,” Yugi declared, stepping forward to congratulate Jonouchi on his win.

 “You know you didn’t have to fly in for Rebecca’s birthday,” Yugi said as he picked up Anzu at the airport. The unspoken statement was that despite the fact he said she didn’t have to, Rebecca would have been disappointed to not have Anzu at her party. And well, Yugi would have missed having Anzu around too. “Aren’t you busy with rehearsals?”

“I wanted to come,” Anzu said as she tossed her bag in the backseat of Yugi’s car and climbed into the front seat with a bright smile. There might have been a time when that smile might have done strange things to Yugi’s heart. However, now, it was just the smile of a friend who had been there by his side since he was a child. “Thanks for letting me crash on your couch, by the way.”

“Hey, no problem. You know my couch is open for you whenever you want to come home,” Yugi said. “I miss you when you aren’t here.”

“Is Kaiba really driving you that crazy?”

“He’s the worst project partner to ever exist,” Yugi said, more out of impulse than anything else. Last night, Seto had wanted to stay late and Yugi had to put his foot down. While Yugi didn’t mention he had to be up early to pick Anzu up, he did remind Seto that most of the team would like to get home to their families. Seto, naturally, had insisted that working late was good for a person. “He doesn’t seem to get that he’s not the only one working on this project. I asked Mokuba about it and apparently it was the same when he was making the Duel Disk system.”

“Kaiba’s always been intense,” Anzu said thoughtfully. “I suppose you shouldn’t be too surprised that he’s intense with work.”

“I suppose,” Yugi said with a sigh, shaking his head slightly. He couldn’t help but think about all the times Kaiba had blown off the team building nights. At every turn, Kaiba wanted to undermine Yugi’s leadership. Now that was the part that pissed Yugi off the most. “Just wish he’d get that this is supposed to be a team effort. He seemed shocked that it wasn’t just him and I working on the project.”

Anzu pursed her lips, tilting her head slightly. “Did Mokuba mention if Kaiba’s ever worked with a team before? This might be the first time he’s actually worked with a team.”

Yugi gave her a lopsided grin. There was a good chance she was right. He’d never really known Kaiba to be much of a team player. Not only that, it was obvious that Kaiba was smart enough to create the projects he had on his own. “Are you suggesting that I simply aggressively apply friendship to my problems with Kaiba?”

“It’s worked before,” Anzu teased with a light shrug. “Besides… you and I both know teamwork is best with people you’re friends with. Oh! Maybe you should try inviting him to hang out after work one on one! That would help establish a rapport.”

“It might help since he’s blown off every single group night,” Yugi admitted. Plus he could see if Kaiba had changed at all in the past four years. Sure, Kaiba hadn’t physically aged but maybe something was different. Maybe Kaiba was not the Kaiba from his memories. “I think that also it’d help Kaiba to relax around me. He’s always so tense.”

“In that case, it might be good for the two of you to hang out without work involved,” Anzu said brightly. “Might help him relax and help him realize that the team nights don’t have to be so scary. You’ve always been good at helping stressed out people relax.”

Yugi laughed, shaking his head. “Anzu, I think that it would take a miracle to make Kaiba relax.”

Just then, his phone pinged and Yugi glanced towards his phone. Normally he’d pull over to see if it was another message from saggithedarkclown but with Anzu in the car… “Did you want me to check who messaged you,” Anzu asked.

“Uh, yeah,” Yugi admitted with a light blush across his cheeks. “I’d actually like that.”

Anzu picked up his phone, checking it before giggling. “It’s from someone called Saggi The Dark Clown,” she remarked, raising a brow at him. “Interesting username. I thought Jou had that sniped.”

“Jou claims he sold it and I’m inclined to believe him cause this guy types a little formally compared to Jou,” Yugi said with a shrug. “So whoever Saggi is -”

“You call him Saggi,” Anzu asked, interrupting with a laugh before waving her hand with a teasing smile. “Sorry, I’m being rude. Tell me more.”

“Thanks for being mature about this,” Yugi said, the blush on his face darkening. He wished he wasn’t prone to blushing. Anzu was sure to pick up on that. “Anyway. Saggi was posting about being out of the game for four years and wanted to get back into the swing of things and wanted to know more about the meta. I’ve just… been helping him. That’s all.”

“Oh is that all,” she teased, a twinkle in her eyes. “Why Yugi! Have you finally started to crush on someone new? This is fantastic news!”

“Oh no,” Yugi groaned. “Don’t tell the rest of the gang.”

“Jou would be so happy to hear that you’re starting to move,” Anzu protested. “And you know that Ryou and Honda would also be happy for you too. You’ve been stuck in this state for so long, Yugi. They’d want to hear you’re doing better.”

Yugi sighed. “Let me tell them on my own,” he said softly, knowing Anzu was right. They’d absolutely be happy to hear that he was no longer stuck on Atem. It’d been a long time since Yugi had allowed himself to fall for anyone. He’d been terrified to fall and risk losing them again. It was terrifying still, actually. “It’s still just someone I’m talking to online about Duel Monsters, anyway. It’s not really a crush.”

Anzu laughed. “It would be like you to fall for someone over a game,” she teased. “I’m happy for you, though. I hope this works for you.”

 Seto didn’t understand why he had to wear a tuxedo specifically for Rebecca’s birthday party. In fact, he also wasn’t sure why Mokuba insisted that Seto buy a grand total of ten gifts for Rebecca. He was fairly certain Rebecca was Jewish. He didn’t understand why he had to buy her a Christmas gift to begin with, nor did he understand why his Hannakuh gift couldn’t count towards her birthday gift. He messed with the Kaiba Corp branded cufflinks on his suit jacket, wondering why anyone would want so much attention on them during their birthday. He also didn’t know what was wrong with having the birthday in the apartment. No, Mokuba had rented out a ballroom for Rebecca’s birthday.

In fact, everything about this seemed over the top. He was certain that more than Mokuba and Rebecca’s usual friend group was going to show up considering the amount of food at the banquet table and the ostentatiously large cake. A DJ had been hired and he was setting up his equipment while Mokuba seemed to be dealing with the staff. From what Seto could tell, it seemed like the staff and Mokuba had a rapport going on. Mokuba laughed at something one of the employees said and Seto was stunned to realize that it seemed like Mokuba was a natural leader. A pang in his chest as he realized that yet again, he never got to see Mokuba develop this skill in his absence. Mokuba had pulled his long hair back into a ponytail and the long hair was the only thing Seto recognized in his brother. His brother had taken to wearing suits of varying colors. Today, it was a baby blue suit with a pink tie and a pale lavender vest.

Seto hadn’t seen Rebecca yet. In fact, he was certain the only reason Mokuba insisted that Seto help set up the party was to talk to him about how things were going with Yugi on Spherium II. He wouldn’t be sure how to answer that question. In many ways, it was going poorly. Yugi insisted on ending the work day early, losing valuable hours because Yugi wanted to go home early. It seemed like Yugi didn’t really care about getting this project done as quickly as possible. He hadn’t even begun to form what he would tell Mokuba when Mokuba had strode over to where he was standing. “You know I didn’t expect you to stand around and do nothing,” Mokuba remarked casually. “I hope you aren’t doing this to Yugi at work.”

“I’m not,” Seto said defensively. “I just don’t get the point of having a birthday party at all. People get older every year. No point in celebrating it.”

“Some people like their birthdays,” Mokuba said with a shrug. “Rebecca happens to like celebrating her birthday. And well, might as well indulge her since it doesn’t harm anything. Plus twenty-one’s a big deal for Americans.”

“I suppose,” Seto said, remembering Rebecca’s threat to break his legs if he ruined her birthday the way he ruined his own birthday. He didn’t think he’d ruined anything but he’d prefer not to test Rebecca. “You seem to really care about her.”

“Yeah,” Mokuba said softly. “She’s smart and driven and keeps me down to Earth. I wish you two would get along.”

Seto noted the look on Mokuba’s face in an attempt to better understand the meaning behind those words. It seemed it really did bother Mokuba that he and Rebecca did not get along. How peculiar. He wouldn’t think Rebecca and his relationship wouldn’t have an impact on Rebecca and Mokuba’s relationship or his and Mokuba’s relationship but it seemed it did. “Alright,” Seto said, just as soft. He didn’t want Mokuba to be upset. He’d already done enough damage in that regard. Seto was certain he’d have to spend the rest of his life making up for his past mistakes to Mokuba at this rate. “I’ll try to be nice today. Shame that can’t count as my gift to her.”

“Rebecca’s touchy with gifts,” Mokuba said, seriously. “She’s used to her gifts being lumped together and her birthday being treated as another holiday stressor. I don’t want her to think she’s just a stress point.” He paused before grinning as if he’d come up with a brilliant idea. “Maybe you two should hang out more. Get to know each other. I really think you’d like her if you just got to know her.”

Seto gave a soft “tch” before relanting. “Fine,” Seto said as he thought about all the times he’d been alone with Rebecca. Every time, it felt like he was with a caged lioness who was on the hunt for her young. “I’ll try to find more time to spend with her.”

Seto was surprised when the doors opened and who should walk in but Ryou wearing an odd tweed suit. “Hi, Mokuba,” Ryou said, holding up a large gift. “I hope Rebecca likes this. I saw it and thought that she might also think of her grandfather when looking at this.”

“Oh, I’m sure she’ll love it,” Mokuba said with a laugh. “Especially if it came from your shop. I swear, your shop shows up on the bank statement at least three times a month.”

“The tricky part is finding something she hasn’t bought already,” Ryou said with a rather soft smile as he went to place it with the rest of the gifts. Seto had noted that the table already had at least ten gifts on it. “Can’t complain too much. Keeps business steady.”

Seto didn’t know that Rebecca liked occult stuff. He shouldn’t have been surprised considering how many of Mokuba’s friends were enraptured by the occult. For whatever reason, they just seemed to attract occult nonsense. A thought scratched at his head, reminding him that he had forced his way to the afterlife to see a dead man. He supposed he didn’t have much of a leg to stand on in that regard anymore. He’d accepted that magic, for whatever reason, was real. Who was he to stand here and pretend otherwise? It still made his skin crawl knowing there were things that he could not properly explain despite coming to this conclusion.

This line of thought plagued him as other guests began to pour in. As expected, he didn’t recognize all of them. He had to suspect some of them were either duelists or students from Rebecca’s school. In fact, some of them seemed on the older side compared to Rebecca - easily in their late twenties or early thirties. Then again… Rebecca was a PhD candidate. He had to imagine that chances to talk to people her age in that kind of program were few and far between. That was something they could connect on, Seto considered.

Much like Rebecca, Seto never really had many chances to connect to people his age. He was, after all, the CEO of a major corporation by the age of fifteen. All the people he’d interacted with at that time were twenty plus years older than him. Perhaps that was why he’d reacted the way he had to Yugi and his friends. He didn’t know how to interact with people his age. He froze as he remembered that Yugi and his friends weren’t exactly his age anymore. He was completely disconnected from them now.

He was so caught in his thoughts that he never expected the wind to be knocked out of him like this when Yugi finally arrived with none other than Anzu on his arm. He didn’t know why he was so surprised. Hadn’t he already pinged them as dating? He couldn’t help but note they were matching. Anzu had a chiffon dress in yellow on and Yugi himself was wearing a gold vest with a black tie underneath his suit. Yugi seemed to be laughing at something she said and his cheeks were slightly tinged pink. Why did this scene bother Seto?

It took him a few moments to pinpoint the emotion. Was this jealousy? Was he jealous of Anzu? Did he want to be with Yugi? He took more note of Anzu than he ever had. He knew she’d been cast as Black Magician Girl in some musical on Broadway. He doubted it was actually Broadway but he hadn’t bothered to double check at the time. If he had to guess, he supposed she was traditionally beautiful. The kind of face he might see in a museum while other girls remarked upon how much they looked like that.

He was staring just a little too long. “Mokie said I have to try to make an effort to get to know you,” came a voice and it took Seto a minute to ping it as Rebecca. He’d been so focused on Anzu and Yugi that he’d forgotten the rest of the world existed. How embarrassing. “Hello? Earth to Seto?”

Seto turned towards Rebecca and instantly noted that Rebecca had ditched her glasses for the day. He suspected that Mokuba had a hand in the dress she wore as it looked just a tad out of budget for a university student. “Sorry,” Seto said, not really sorry at all. “I was just thinking. Er… Mokuba said I have to be nice to you today. Happy birthday, by the way.”

“Good,” Rebecca said and for once, she didn’t look close to murdering him. In fact… she seemed almost a little relaxed. He was guessing that the party must have something to do with that. “Thanks… so… uh. I actually…” She seemed a little bit lost. What could she possibly have to say that would leave her looking this confused? He’d never known Rebecca to mince her words. “I just wanted to say that I’m sorry I was harsh on you for the past few months. It’s just… when you disappeared… you weren’t there, but I was. Mokie was heartbroken and I know that you probably didn’t mean to cause that now. I was just scared that you’d hurt Mokie again and that wasn’t fair of me. So… start over?”

Seto was taken aback. Her hostility had been because she cared about Mokuba. He could respect that, actually. If everything she’d done towards him was out of concern for Mokuba, Seto had a newfound admiration for Rebecca. “If that was your reason, then I suppose I can’t fault you for it,” Seto admitted. It seemed both Yugi and Rebecca had similar reasons to be angry with him and it all came back to Mokuba. He didn’t know if he could ever forgive himself for hurting Mokuba. “And I would rather you keep holding me accountable for that. It’s better I don’t try to brush it aside.”

Rebecca eyed him critically. “I don’t want to keep harping on it,” she said slowly, tilting her head. Seto had noted long ago that Rebecca had to crane her neck upward when it came both to Mokuba and him. Today, she didn’t need to and could almost meet his eyes. He could only assume this meant she was wearing heels underneath her dress. “The past is the past. Nothing any of us can do can change it. All we can do is try to be our best every day. Right, Seto?”

There was something fierce in her voice. It seemed like this statement was very important. And Seto wanted to agree with her. It seemed full of promise if he could just let go of the past and stride to the future. “Of course,” Seto said softly. Was it not him who said that they could break free of the prison of reality? That the future was theirs to shape as they saw fit? It all required him to put the past squarely in the past, however. Could he do that? Let go of all his grief and rage? He wanted to. He’d never wanted anything more in his entire life. “In that case, Rebecca. Let’s just move forward. I’d like to get to know my brother’s girlfriend properly.”

It seemed he passed. Rebecca smiled brightly as she grabbed his hand. “You’ve got so much to learn,” she said as she pulled him towards the dance floor. “Let’s take it one step at a time, okay?”

[bigskydreaming]

I’d say the thing about some characters lending themselves better to some stories than others actually can apply to the Batfam as well, and is a sign of how well-developed they actually are. I know I’ve ranted in the past about the tendency to try and fit the Batkids into niches like the smart one and the angry one and all of that, but in terms of story TYPES, I think they do have certain niche-like feels that mean some of them are better suited to certain GENRES of story than others.

For instance....I didn’t love Grayson, but that was more due to the overshadowing circumstances and the fact that I just think King and his writing suck. A lot. But the basic premise was not at all out of Dick’s wheelhouse. He IS well predisposed to kinda globe-trotting, spy versus spy, switching disguises like they’re outfits, making the most out of his ability to make friends everywhere he goes and turn enemies into allies.....those types of stories. Not saying these should be his only stories, by any means, or that he can’t center in all kinds of other types of stories, but I’m just saying, these kinds of stories do have more of a Dick Grayson feel than they do various other Batkids.

Similarly, Jason is better suited to gothic horror types of stories than the others, just in general. His history with the Lazarus Pit, his general disposition, his THEMES, like....they speak to the same kind of aims and tones that gothic horror both births from and embodies.

This might just be me, but to me, Tim is best suited to kinda oddball, off the wall sorta stories, and that’s part of why I’m so meh on him just being shelved into the uber-genius, mini-Bruce, heir to the best detective mantle kinda thing. I’ve spoken before about how much I miss 90s Tim, but to me, Tim was always at his best, and at his best-defined, most feeling like uniquely HIM, when he was playing the underdog. When he was just this well-intentioned kid who plunged into this world that was so much larger than viewing it through his camera lens had prepared him for, but he had spunk and determination and he wasn’t about to back down or let anyone think he was in over his head so he was gonna make it through whatever the superhero life threw at him even if flying by the seat of his pants the whole way. So to that end, I mean, I think Tim is at his best when just dealing with totally WTF kinds of stories. The cross-dimensional capers, the time travel mishaps, the ‘great, I was abducted by aliens on my lunch break and now apparently I have to save planet FUBAR with nothing but my pocket knife and scathing dry wit.’

I would fucking kill for Cass at the center of noir type stories where its like, idk, the Maltese Falcon and she’s the jaded but still optimistic-at-her-core PI when trouble walks into her derelict office wrapped up in an eggplant shawl and the name Stephanie. Maybe its just that I don’t think there’s enough focus on the fact that Cass is SMART and she’s as much a detective as any of the family, does plenty of investigative work and if she’s heir to the cowl she’d be just as good at the mystery side of things as Bruce is, but just......noir stories just FEEL like dappled shadows and eerie shades of blue and black with hints of moonlight spilling through slatted blinds and all of that just screams Cass to me, faint notes of jazz in the background, a wry smile on her lips as she plays her informant like a fiddle when chasing down clues.

Duke is another globe-trotter in feel to me, like his backstory and his family and his stories with the Outsiders, like, I really want to see Duke on more superhero teams than just the Outsiders now that that’s over, because he’s better suited to stories not confined just to Gotham, I think? Like, Duke fits the conspiracy theory chasing niche to me, like, his character really comes to life when pursuing leads all across the world, digging into his past, his family’s past, seeing how it all connects to various mysteries of the DC Earth that are generations old but still affect the present....like I don’t know how many people have read Planetary, but that to me is a PERFECT fit for Duke, and I would love to see him with his own Planetary style team or even just part of one.

Damian is best suited to coming of age stories, which sounds vague, but the thing is, it really is its own genre. So much of Damian’s character, the best parts I think, are about Damian FINDING himself, DEFINING himself......he more than any of the others, debuted so clearly defined by his origins, his parents, who he was CREATED to be.....and so he more than anyone else is perfectly poised to star in stories that are all about him breaking away from that mold, from parental expectations or preplanned destinies, or even just searching for things to define him on his own terms rather than through the eyes of others. Stories that are about choosing your own path, making a self-realization or having an epiphany about who you truly are or what you want to do with your life....that to me, is Damian’s best niche. Again, doesn’t mean that other characters can’t be great in these kinds of stories as well, just that if I’m pairing one character to one genre they lean into best, this is what’s that for Damian, IMO.

Steph is a bit of an oddball for me, and I don’t quite know how to describe this, but she’s best suited IMO to those kinds of stories that like......there’s not really a specific NAME for this type, but you know them when you see them. The best comparison I can think to make is like.....the kinds of stories Harley Quinn stars in? To be clear, I’m not drawing parallels between Steph or Harley or saying they’re the same kind of character at ALL, I’m just saying like.....Harley is another character who overall is very hard to pin down in specific concrete terms, but nevertheless is centered in various stories and adaptations that are nevertheless very clearly HER.....and that’s the kind of thing I picture for Steph. She fits that niche that isn’t really a niche for anyone BUT her, because nobody else can summon that type of feel for it......the kind of story that you can’t switch anybody else in for her because the story only works with her specific kinda....energy. Bleh. I really wish I could describe it better, like its very clear in my brain, but its a story that’s more of a kind of FEEL than it is a specific description? If that makes sense like at all? LOLOL. Whatevs.

And Babs, like, I would love love love to see her centered in a proper cyberthriller. I mean, they’ve done stories kinda like that with her as Oracle, but not to the extent I’m thinking. I mean just full on cyberpunk dialed up to 11. Give me Babs enlisted by the JLA because Brainiac is loose in the internet and she has to go into cyberspace utilizing different avatars of herself and calling in allies as needed as she relentlessly hunts a villain through landscapes of data she maps and molds and turns into traps. Babs hyper-fixating on her task, her hunt, to the degree that she has to be reminded to pull herself out at times and take care of her physical needs, has people grounding her so she doesn’t get lost in cyberspace and the lure of it all, this place that’s her domain and where she shines the brightest. And so it balances that razor edge that makes for the best cyberthrillers IMO. The ones where all the possibilities of the future as embodied in technology and cyberspace are balanced with the necessity of remaining human, of being human and with roots and history embedded outside of it, in the real world. And with there being a clear juxtaposition between the two even as the protagonist goes back and forth between the two extremes of their existence, the physical and the ephemeral.

Anyway. Like I said, you can mix and match and its not like Dick can’t star in gothic horror and Jason can’t do off-the-wall dimensional hijinks or noir detective stories and Tim and Cass can’t do coming of age, etc.....its just in terms of what I was talking about, how some characters lend themselves MORE easily to certain kinds of stories than others.....this is how I perceive the various Batkids.

[wenevergotusedtoegypt]

The Dear Evan Hansen movie may well suck - I don’t know, I haven’t seen it, but I did have my significant misgivings from the trailer - but what’s interesting is a notable amount of the criticism I’ve seen of it is of plot elements that are present in the stage version and completely misses the point of the story (at least how I see it). But I kind of think they’ve done this to themselves in a way due to how both the movie and the musical have often been marketed? The marketing tends to lean really heavily into it being an inspirational story about how lonely misfits will be “found” and that’s just...not what the story actually is. So if people go in expecting that Evan is a harmless underdog who will travel through a heartwarming character arc in which he finds his place in the world, I get that they’d be upset that he does terrible things and mostly gets away with it without too many repercussions. That’s not the story they were sold by the marketing team. They were expecting a 100% sympathetic protagonist and an uplifting moral to the story and instead they got a deeply flawed protagonist and a seemingly unrealistic close to the story.

But Dear Evan Hansen isn’t about misfits finding their place, it’s actually davka about people’s complexities. None of the characters are entirely sympathetic and they aren’t supposed to be. They are supposed to be human and flawed and struggling. That’s the beauty of it all - that all these people involved in the plot are struggling in their own ways with their own problems and trying to do their best, and sometimes failing spectacularly. Just like all of us. It’s not really supposed to be heartwarming - more cathartic.

And on that note...I actually do not find the ending as unrealistic as many seem to. 

I had a situation a few years ago where someone I had previously had a falling out with and told not to contact me created a fake persona online in order to interact with me. She also specifically sought out communication with people she knew I was friendly with in this guise. Long and complicated story short, this eventually escalated to her stalking me in person to the degree that I was told by a lawyer I briefly consulted I had grounds for a restraining order. 

I don’t have a restraining order. I didn’t seek one. I could have informed a wide network of mutual friends and acquaintances about her behavior and it would have had drastic social consequences for her, but I didn’t - I told only 1 person, who needed to know in order to help stop the in person stalking. This woman crossed so many lines, but in the end the full extent of her consequences were that we were not friends (which we already weren’t beforehand so it was just a return to prior circumstances) and that she got asked not to attend 1 specific social group that was completely peripheral in the wider scope of her social life. And I feel like if that were the plot of some fictional work, people might call it unrealistic? But it’s actual reality. Because people and situations are complex, and life doesn’t always work out as “do really bad thing, face really big consequences.” I can completely buy the Murphys, while feeling devastated and betrayed by Evan, ultimately simply wanting to push past it and move on rather than make some huge public scene about Evan’s lies, and even Zoe seeing enough humanity in him to allow for their final scene together. And he does lose his relationship with Zoe, and he does lose the offer to pay for college and has to take a year to work. So there are consequences, just not the dramatic Hollywood consequences that don’t even always occur in real life.