#It just to me adds a lot to the nuance of heart as a character and a representation of the complexities of human emotion

[disruptivevoib]

Something I think thats key to Heart or to my interpretation of Heart is that, though he is manipulative, he genuinely does not believe he is nor does he mean to be or do it with any malicious intent. This does not make him less manipulative nor less self-victimizing! But I think it does better display how emotions work. Which is that they are instinctual responses and often deeply connected to defense mechanisms. So Heart is defensive and reactive but he isn't dumb- but he also isn't malicious. i think he can manipulate on purpose 100% but a lot of him is genuine reaction that winds up manipulative even though he believes its for the best or simply cannot help himself.

Its something about being the chaos without the balance. Mind is there to keep Heart as in check as Heart is to keep Mind in check.

Dunno if this makes sense? I just feel like people say "Heart is manipulative" a lot and don't put more nuance into it than that. Not to say he is villainized, but I feel there's a lack of acknowledgement that emotions may not intend to be that way, but can be and rely on consciousness or common sense to be recognized and realized as such.

[ilybeam]

“Tat my name on you so I know it’s real”

—

You jokingly tell him to tattoo your name so you know he’s serious about your relationship.

—

Various x Gn!reader

Gun Park, Dg/James Lee, Hudson Ahn, Samuel Seo, Vasco, and Jake Kim

—

Content Warnings - Established relationship, unintentionally manipulative reader?

A/n - Didn’t add all my favorite characters so if people enjoy this I might make a part two.

—

Doesn’t tat it

Gun park -

- Definitely scoffed at you when you said that.

- I mean are you crazy? His body is a temple, of course he’s not going to go through with something that he could potentially regret in the future.

- Told you to get his name first and then he’d think about it. Was not serious about that proposition when he said it.

- Has semi realistic expectations of romantic relationships.

- Scolded you even after you said it was a joke.

“All jokes have some truth to them, [name].” He chided

“God you sound like my mother.” You bit back.”

—

Dg/James Lee-

- Looked at you like you had three eyes.

- He’s an idol, his image is everything. A tacky tattoo of his lovers name would not slide.

- Doesn’t even matter if he thinks y’all would last forever, a tattoo is just too much.

- Would try to compromise by buying a chain with your name on it.

—

Didn’t agree to it, but definitely thought about it

Hudson Ahn-

- The man reeks of commitment what can I say.

- His devotion to relying on his right hand is a testament to that.

- But even with all things considered a tattoo of your name is a bit much.

- Definitely thinks it’s a bit tacky as well.

- Not to mention, your significant others name as a first tattoo is a lot.

- All things considered, you should be thankful he even thought about.

—

Samuel Seo -

- Laughed at you when you said it.

- But even so, it definitely took him a minute to think about it.

- I mean his whole body is tatted up, how’s one more going to make a difference.

- Would also be very easy to cover up or incorporate in the design of his whole body’s

- But a king with his significant others name tattooed on his body, I’m not sure if that’s a great idea.

- Told you he’d tattoo your name, if you tattooed his.

- But unlike gun he wasn’t joking.

“Okay I’ll do it-“ he smirked, he’s definitely up to something.

“Wait really?” you interrupted, not actually thinking he’d agree.

“But only if you tattoo mine aswell”

—

Agreed to tattoo your name, no regrets.

Vasco-

- Didn’t think of the nuances of tattooing your name.

- I mean look at him, what’s one more tattoo.

- Not much more to be said.

“Vasco?” You called out, gaining his attention.

You both sat in the park whilst Vasco was in between sets.

“Hmm?” He replied, slowly catching his breath after completing his ridiculous workout regimen.

“You should get my name tattooed” you tried to hide the smile forming on your face.

“Huh, get your name tattooed, why?” His whole attention was on on you now, he was genuinely confused.

“So I know it’s real” it was really hard to contain your laugh now.

His face fell some more, even more confused than before. An adorable display of his emotions.

“Let me rephrase that, so I know you’re serious about me .” You pouted as those last words came out of your mouth, attempting to add sincerity to your words. You knew Vasco was serious about you, from your first, albeit, disastrous date.

“Okay” he smiled as his reply came out, full of real sincerity.

“Okay?” Now you felt bad, you didn’t think he’d actually agree.

“Mhm, I’m real serious. I’ll have to set an appointment for it then. Sorry if it takes too long, my artist might not have any availability.” With those words he turned back to his set, ready to complete the rest of his push-ups.

Okay, now you felt really bad. His face when he said that made you take pause when telling him it was a joke. You forget how sincere your boyfriend really is. One to always wear his heart on his sleeve.

“No, no Vasco. I was joking. Don’t get my name tattooed please.”

—

Jake Kim-

- What can I say, he’s as committed as they come.

- Would only get into a relationship if he’s completely sure he wants to stay with you forever.

- A tattoo is for ever and so is your love.

- Would hope you’d get his name tattooed aswell, but wouldn’t force it. Especially if you don’t have any other tattoos.

- Definitely pouted when you said it was a joke.

- Told you he was going to get it done anyways now that you put the Idea into his head.

—

m.list

A/n - got a bit carried away with Vasco’s one, I’m not sure how it happened but I wanted to add a bit of a Drabble since his was so short and it turned into that. Hope y’all enjoy anyways.

[anodymalion]

ok I am in fact using this as an excuse to make a long post about this thank you thank you asjksdjfaljdf

---

Interpreting Yuri as asexual is my very very favorite type of headcanon, which is one that 1. is compellingly coded in the source material (even if that wasn't the creator's intent), 2. is thematically relevant to what the piece of media is Trying To Do as a whole, and 3. just means a lot to me, personally, because I said so.

Coded in the source material

Yuri’s short program is “eros”, aka desire (you can interpret what “eros” means in various ways, but YOI itself explicitly refers to sexual love, at least in the English translations). Yuri struggles with this. Hard. He can’t come up with an answer when asked what eros means to him. His big revelatory moment about desire is that it’s how he feels about wanting to eat his favorite food (omg… boy). Even as the season goes on and the way he views the Eros program changes, the program doesn’t ever really embody the idea of eros as sexuality or romance (which was how the other characters expect him to interpret it) but rather as a desire to keep Victor in his life.

Like look. I’m obviously not going to say that the creator intended any kind of ace subtext to be there. I kind of doubt it was her intent. But goddamn is the subtext there.

2. Thematic relevance

The central theme throughout YOI is “love”, and especially loving people in a way that inspires you both to be your best selves: Yuri learning that the people in his life truly love and support him; Victor finding someone who makes him feel joy about skating again.

Like, Yuri’s whole skating theme for the Grand Prix is literally about him exploring what love looks like to him, even when it takes a form that other people don’t totally understand. Viewing all this through a lens of him being ace is really compelling. It adds depth to the idea of learning how to express the way you feel love even when it looks different than what other people expect. I think it’s a really delicious layer that adds even more nuance to what the show is getting at.

Besides, it’s an interesting way of viewing the criticism of the show that occurred for it not being 100% explicit about them being a couple (aka people getting mad because the kiss in ep 7 is blocked by Victor’s arm lmaooo). Like, ok, did you see the ending scene of ep 9? Did you see ep 10??? They definitely, definitely love each other, in whatever way that means for them. Their relationship takes a form that’s pretty different than the other way people in the show are going about romantic relationships, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t real for them. That is very much in line with the main themes of the show.

3. Means a lot to me

In the final scene of the penultimate episode, Yuri tells Victor that they should end their coaching relationship after the Grand Prix ends. This is because he thinks he’s holding Victor back, that Victor would be happier being free to go back to skating on his own instead of being Yuri’s coach. When I watched this (and, I’ll be honest, this is completely me projecting here) I REALLY interpreted this as an ace thing. I think it’s pretty easy to internalize the idea when you’re asexual that you just won’t be… enough, for other people. In my case I ended up a strong impulse to self-sabotage relationships because I would rather be the one to end things than to let someone else tell me that who I am as a person is fundamentally lacking. Yuri destroying a connection he desperately wants because he thinks there’s something about him that is holding Victor back from a life he’d be truly happy with? Oh yeah. I can fucking relate to that.

Also: YOI came out in 2016, which was the absolute peak of hostility to ace people I was seeing on this site. It was bad here. At the same time Tumblr was going wild over this show. Everyone was watching it. Seeing a whole site of people absolutely adore a character I very deeply in my heart believed to be ace? Extremely vindicating.

---

In conclusion Yuri is asexual because it is fun and interesting that way, and also because of this:

[beauty-and-passion]

This is going to sound really strange but the most recent GRWM video has. Some of the best Janus characterisation I think we’ve seen in a while?? Also he canonically sheds now, so

You are not wrong, anon: this is the best characterization in a while. It's way better than the last one, in which Janus was mostly a drunk idiot, and it's way worse than SvS. This one sits in the middle: it's not bad, it's not amazing. It's good.

Just like Mr. Sanders' last videos regarding Sanders Sides, this GRWM is okay. Not groundbreaking, not impressive, not deep, not stupid. Just okay.

And trust me, this is the best possible outcome! When I found out Thomas was planning a video with Janus and it was a GRWM and Janus had questions to answer... I wasn't just scared, oh no. I was absolutely terrified. I feared to see the destruction of Janus' character. I feared to see him being all like: "YASSS QUEEN all I love is WINE and nothing else, also being SASSY is my religion BIATCH".

And we got a bit of that, sure. But it was a bit, not the avalanche I expected. I was bearable.

After all, this is just a random video. There's nothing plot-related here. Heck, there's not even too much Sanders Sides stuff, because this GRWM clearly was Thomas' attempts to reconnect with the character. I shouldn't care too much about it. I shouldn't overanalyze it.

But you know me: you know I love to over-analyze. And if you know me, you also know that Remus is my favorite child, but Janus has a special place in my heart and if one little thing about him is off I will start rambling.

Hence why I will overanalyze the shit out of these 9 minutes of a video and I will do what I shouldn't do, i.e. look back into the past's characterization. Not for shaming Mr. Sanders for not remembering it (even if the videos still exist and he can watch them too if he wants), but to remind you all of Janus' personality. The public needs to remember what kind of character he was and who he became.

So I'll over-analyze everything and no, you can't escape. You're stuck with me here, so put your seatbelt on, because you're in for one of the things I love the most: talking about Janus.

The importance of nuance

Let's talk about make-up a little bit. Don't worry, by the end you will understand my point.

The current make-up isn't even comparable to the past one. And if a lot of people complain about it and prefer the old one, it's not because they're all demanding: it's because of nuances.

Let me explain and let's start with the current photo Mr. Sanders showed to promote the GRWM video:

If you look at this make-up, your eyes will inevitably be drawn towards that sharp black line. And as soon as you will look at it, you will immediately register it as a drawn line.

It's so clear and so evident it's a line, I can literally see the black liquid eyeliner, the tip and the hand tracing that line on Thomas' skin.

But this line isn't supposed to be a line: it's supposed to be/resemble a snake's mouth.

Now, look at the past make-up:

The line isn't sharp black: the line is nuanced. You can see a bit of brown and a hint of red/pink to give it depth and emphasize the shadow.

Also, this color is very similar to the little shadow given by Thomas' upper lip on the lower one, so it looks more natural against his skin tone. It doesn't seem like something added on him, but on something that was already part of him. And isn't that the goal of make-up? To add something and disappear, so people won't notice it exists in the first place?

Look at the eye as well: the past one is a softer, more nuanced pink. It looks more natural, against Thomas' skin tone. The present one is so dark, it looks more like a bad bruise.

So the problem with the current make-up isn't just that the colors aren't the same: it's that the current colors are too much. They're too sharp, too saturated and, consequently, too fake. It's clear that Thomas wears make-up, while in the past the blend was softer, the colors closer to Thomas' actual complexion. Consequently, the make-up faded and gave us an illusion of reality.

I know Mr. Sanders had skin conditions and everything, but I'm talking about colors and nuances here. Two things a make-up artist should know better than me, an idiot on the Internet who loves art, color theory and learns from artists on the web. You can obtain these things independently of the used products.

So my opinion on the make-up would be: please Mr. Sanders, switch for softer tones, no sharp black and no coral. Too much. Nuance is the key.

And not just for make-up.

---

The fakeness of reality tv

Janus enjoys reality television because nothing about it is real. His specific words are:

I very much enjoy reality television: the scheming, the plotting, the lying. Every person for himself and even on top of that, all of the production none of reality television is actually real. It's just delightful.

I get the idea behind it and I understand why Thomas thought it was a good choice. On paper, it works: Janus should enjoy this kind of show because it's made of lies and he's Deceit.

But if I follow this line of thought, I inevitably meet with Janus from Into the Unknown:

[Patton]: Well yeah I guess you'd like it, everyone all dressed up, disguised as someone else... [Janus]: How is it we've had so many of these visits and you still know so little about me?

Janus himself said that not everything associated with lies is something he enjoys. And it makes sense, because Logan too said the same thing in the last Aside:

"Is that all I am to you? The reading guy?"

So now I'm asking: why does he like reality tv? Just because it's fake? Then why is he so happy about it being fake? Reality tv should represent reality, it should mirror how society works. And thanks to SvS, we know Janus doesn't hold society into high consideration:

[Deceit]: Society itself is a lie! (...) You get enough people to share a piece of land and breathe the same air and... you've got a society. Why? It's just a bunch of people in the same general area. It's an abstract concept, as real as the monster under your bed! But we obey these rules or get punished for breaking them. All in the name of society. It's absurd and terrifying.

Just like society, reality tv has a group of people put together and they make a society. It's an abstract concept, as real as the monster under your bed. And these people must obey the rules or get punished for breaking them.

And yet, Janus doesn't think reality tv is "absurd and terrifying", but "delightful".

Again: why does he like it? Why does he like something so similar to what he hates most?

Maybe you can live with the "It's fake" explanation and that's good for you. But what if instead of liking reality tv because "it's fake", Janus likes it, because it perfectly mirrors the flaws and the emptiness of society? What if he enjoys it, because he loves the irony of society using its own means to unmask itself and show its real face? What if he watches it, not because "it's delightful", but because it's bittersweet to see such an inability to understand your own flaws?

Which explanation do you think is more fitting for his character?

---

Remus eats glue sticks

Of course he does. His digestive system is probably able to digest molten lava, so glue sticks are a walk in the park for him, bless his chaotic soul <3

(Have I already said Remus is my favorite boi?)

---

The possibilities of shedding

Okay, the "Have you considered not having pores?" is hilarious and I love it on multiple levels.

Well, here we are. Janus sheds, two to four times a year. And I know the fandom went crazy over this and I'm happy for you... but I never really cared too much about it.

I mean: it's fine, but I can't really think of anything truly special to headcanon about it. Snakes shed their skin all the time and they just chill around, while slowly peeling their skin off. It's not dangerous, it doesn't hurt, it's just exfoliation time✨. I mean, does it hurt you, when you remove sunburnt skin? Don't think so. The worst thing for snakes is probably not being able to take the skin off with hands, since they don't have hands.

But hey, this is canon now, so I should probably integrate it in my headcanon. And I can do it in two different ways:

The shedding is just part of Janus' routine: twice a year he gets one day off, takes a reeeeally long bath and slowly peels off his skin until he's done.

I can take inspiration from this fanart and imagine the shedding as a real "leaving your body behind" process, in which Janus slowly gets submerged into his room and re-emerges as a form of pure power and instincts, which then solidifies into a new body. I think I like this idea more, because when I go with Janus, I need something that makes him look either more god-like or more monster-like.

And since we're talking about snake traits, how many more does he have? Because I already added a few on my list, like:

sunbathing

climbing trees

laying everywhere (especially on trees)

taking long relaxing baths

And I'm just waiting for an excuse to add "mating". But I suppose only future will tell.

---

What you don't like

"An important aspect of being oneself, in addition to knowing what you like, is knowing what you don't like and saying to that thing: ew get away from me, I don't like you... Roman"

Okay, that was genuinely funny and it made me smile, so kudos for that, Mr. Sanders. It was a clever move and I enjoyed it.

Also, for more reasons I will explain further down, this makes me want to write a conversation between Janus and Roman, to study how they work together, why they don't like each other and their personalities in general. My only problem would be to put it on a timeline, because I don't like to write things suspended in a temporal vacuum. If inspiration strikes, maybe I'll do it.

---

Religion... and self-preservation

Now, I don't know who made that question about Jesus Christ, but you. You. You gave me real fear... but also indirectly confirmed one of my headcanons, so thank you, I suppose.

I was bracing myself, waiting and hoping Thomas didn't say anything stupid, because Janus and religion have a super tight bond and one misstep can lead to me rambling for the rest of my life, all while throwing canon into the trash because no one can say anything wrong about the relationship Janus has with religion, not even Mr. Sanders.

But the answer was... okay. Harmless. A bit simplistic, maybe, but I can accept Janus saying that Jesus is cool for having followers and turning water into wine.

What really struck me the most was when he said Jesus is his style because "he refuses to die".

For me, that's the most important part of the video. You can take away everything else, because this is the only part that matters for me.

Why? Because this is the essence of self-preservation. Because, as I said in the past, self-preservation is that force that protects you from dangers, threats, even yourself. And it protects you from death. It's part of that intrinsic will to live that defines all living creatures.

So, since Janus encompasses this role too, it has always been implied (at least for me) that he's that force that will fight against death until the end, just to make Thomas live a little longer. In my headcanon, he literally refuses to think Thomas can die before his time, because he's built to not make this happen.

Hence why when I saw Janus putting such emphasis on the idea that Jesus refuses to die made me immensely happy, because it's (implied) canon. Janus refuses to die, because he will never surrender to death. Because it's his nature, to never surrender to it.

---

Deceit or Ego?

The snake telepathy part was fun when mentioned, then it was followed by the "memememe I'm gorgeous" part, which is perfect if you're the representation of Ego, a bit less if you're deceit.

Speaking of that, I think there's a bit of confusion in Thomas' mind regarding these two aspects. And since they're represented by two different Sides, the contrast is even more jarring.

Janus is confident and this is part of his personality. But confidence isn't repeating "me" in your head 400 times and telling yourself that you're gorgeous and handsome even when sitting still. This isn't confidence, this is Ego. This is something Roman could say to himself... and he did it, in the past. He looked at himself all the time, called himself gorgeous, asked if his makeup was okay because the prince's gonna slay, said he dramatically serenaded himself in front of the mirror. All these things are a constant reconfirmation of yourself and this is what the Ego does: it constantly reconfirms you're great and cool and gorgeous.

Confidence, on the other hand, doesn't need constant confirmations. If you're confident, you already know you're great, you don't need to repeat it yourself. You just do your things and if others criticize you, you shrug their reprimands off.

One example of confidence from this video? This part:

"What are my guilty pleasures?" Guilty pleasures? Why would a pleasure be guilty? I've got none of those. Indulge in your pleasures guilt-free, people: life is short.

This proves Janus is confident, WAY MORE than him repeating how cool he is. This is the tone he should've had for most of the video, not that "Oh, look at how cool I am".

Also because it may seem a paradox, but the more you repeat how cool you are, the less people will believe you. That's why people who constantly show off are perceived as weak and insecure: because they search for a constant reconfirmation they would probably never need, if they were truly confident.

---

All of the selfcare - and what else?

Aside from the things I already mentioned, the rest of the video is mostly made of advice like "your opinion is the only one that matters/others are less than you/don't give a shit about others".

I don't know if this is Mr. Sanders making a reminder to himself to not indulge in criticism too much, but okay, let's ignore it XD

These pieces of advice can all be traced back to another aspect of Janus' personality: the self-care one. The last canonical one.

And since it's the last, I can understand why Thomas latched onto it and made it be like 60% of the video. It's probably the part of Janus' character he remembers the most.

And it's the easiest too, along with the "sassy" aspect. Put them together and you get the sassy queen who tells you to relax dear, don't give a fuck about the rest of the world.

So I understand you, anon, when you say this is the best characterization in a while: it is, because it's based on the last canonical piece of Janus' character, mixed with the "sassy" aspect that developed more recently. Of course it seems more coherent with Janus' character, compared to him being drunk for an entire video.

But even if canonical, self-care is just an aspect of Janus' personality and it makes most of the video. The remaining part is a huge amount of Ego, which shouldn't even be here, because it's Roman's trait.

And the other aspects? Nowhere to be seen. No distaste for society, no cryptic language, no wittiness, barely any lie, barely any real confidence, barely any body language and zero foreseeing ability.

I know what you're thinking and yes, I said at the beginning that this video is clearly just a way for Mr. Sanders to reconnect with the character. So I understand why Janus' personality is like that and that there are mistakes or incomplete things. I am not blaming Thomas for trying.

I am writing this post, to remind you Janus' full personality. To remind you that he's not just "sassy wine aunt/self-care queen".

On the contrary, I think present Janus is exactly like his make-up: the traits are similar to the original one, but the aspects are too sharp. They should be here, they are part of him, but they're not in the exact shade or nuance to be him. They are similar, but off, because something is missing. And that something is nuance.

In the end, that's what this post is all about: nuance. Past Janus was more nuanced, because he was more than one aspect. Present Janus is less nuanced, because he's stuck between two aspects - which is a truly cruel irony, considering his entire thing is being a gray, multifaceted character.

My only hope is that, just like with the make-up, Mr. Sanders will find a way to bring nuances back into Janus' character and make him at least similar to who he used to be.

[aihoshiino]

i wonder how different the story would have gone if, instead of sending ryosuke, kamiki would have visited ai on his own.

the part of me that needs them to be happy says that while he isn't necessarily enamored with the twins at first, he still tries to his best with them. maybe they think he's their new babysitter at first, that'd be funny.

anyways, kamiki awkwardly co-parenting with ai and both of them fumbling through being exes and parents and still caring so deeply for eachother but also being too traumatized to properly communicate.

aqua and ruby are first hostile when they realize that this is the man that got ai pregante™, and then they become the twos biggest shippers. cue incredibly convoluted attempts to get them together again. (i feel that it is important to point out that they're still toddlers at that time, which would make this extra funny)

So the thing about HKAI and the mess that was their relationship is that Hikaru sending Ryosuke in his place is ultimately a symptom, not a cause. It is a consequence of his arrested development in regards to Ai and his inability to conceive of a world where the two of them exist separate of their relationship. To a degree, asking 'could Hikaru and Ai be happy if he didn't send Ryosuke' is kind of asking for Hikaru to be a different character, because at the place he's at at the moment he makes that decision, he can't not make that choice. I've described Ai's tragedy in the past as being simultaneously preventable and unavoidable and the same goes for Hikaru. It's like a fucked up reverse Oroborous - in order to create the conditions for him to be a happier and healthier person, he must already have started taking the steps towards becoming that person - or at least to be further down the road than he is at the equivalent point in canon.

Even if we remove Ryosuke from the picture, I can't really imagine things going that well. I kind of touched on it in a previous ask but even the one-sided conversation we hear that seals Ai's fate raises a lot of red flags for me. He leaps to assuming that Ai is trying to get back together with him and when gently turned down romantically but still offered an opening back into her life as the father of her children, he chooses to betray her trust and send someone to terrorize and potentially hurt Ai and their children so she could 'feel his despair'. Even if we believe his insistence that he really didn't think Ryosuke would kill her, this is still an utterly reprehensible thing to do. It implies a level of not just desire but outright entitlement - that he feels he has the right to 'punish' Ai for… what? Not wanting to rush back into a relationship with him after like, five years of minimal-to-no contact? When he's gone right ahead and proved that the issues that caused their breakup have not been resolved?

Obviously, this is not to say that Hikaru doesn't sincerely love Ai with all his heart or that he doesn't care for her at all. I actually think that contradiction between his clearly observable feelings for her and the actions he nevertheless chooses to take is really fascinating in what it adds to him as a character. A big part of the reason why Hikaru's so fucked up is because he's so deeply in love with Ai and so utterly unable to cultivate a nuanced or healthy relationship with his idea of her.

So… I guess if I'm honest, my vision of it is more Hikaru using visiting the twins as a way of leveraging his way back into Ai's life, successfully or otherwise. I don't really see a scenario where Hikaru is able to work out his shit and become a decent father or partner for Ai, just because too many of his issues are tangled up in this longed-for codependence with her. Maybe this older and wiser Ai could find a way to save him like she wished for, but… is it really fair to put that weight on her shoulders? Why should she, a person with her own desperate struggles and lack of support, go right back to performing the backbreaking emotional labor that contributed to that all-consuming codependence in the first place?

To be clear, I'm saying this as a proud HikaAi shipper who loves a fucked up life-warping codependent romance, but in the context of Oshi no Ko and when we're talking about what would actually make these characters happy, I think Hikaru and Ai, at the place they are at the time of the tragedy, are not in a position to make each other truly fulfilled and happy.

askslmdslkdlsmdsl i'm so sorry anon you sent me such a cute prompt and got this utterly harrowing essay in response 😭 I'M SORRY THAT'S JUST HOW IT CAME OUT

[starshower1215]

Aimless Levihan Rambling

One of the most beautiful things about Levi and Hange's relationship is all that they say without speaking. I mean, every Levihan fan has noticed the telepathy scene all the eye contact. But I just really adore how they have so much love that isn't confined to direct words, there's so much beauty in the subtlety of their love.

I think as an author myself (a very amateur one, but a big reader), I just appreciate it as a piece of art itself. Dialogue itself is so hard to write, but it is so cool once you manage it well. A general law of writing is to "Show, don't tell." It's the difference between laying down facts and setting a mood, creating a visual, and pulling the reader into the world of the character. If Levihan were intentional, then Isayama has done this very well by adhering to two different but related concepts:

A. Dialogue is less about what is being said, and more about what isn't being said.

B. If characters have to kiss or confess for the audience to understand that they're in love, they are not in love.

One of my favorite posts gave an analysis of some conversations, where Hange's statement "Don't stop what I've got going on" is translated to a plea: "Please don't get sappy with me, please don't make this harder than it already is, I've made up my mind, please just let me go." And a previous Levi statement, when Hange speaks of their comrades, goes like "Don't start sounding like him," and the person translates it to "Please don't get sappy with me, please don't make this harder than it already is, the last time someone I loved started speaking this way, I told him to give up and die."

They have a lot of emotion bubbling under the surface, so if they were to speak directly, somebody is undoubtedly going to have a meltdown. They just have such delicate dialogue. I recently read another post about someone saying, "I can't be the only one thinking they're having a completely different conversation" when Levi says "Dedicate your heart." It is, it just is, especially with Levi, whom we've seen had his own words clarified by Hange. He beats around the bush, he's just an awkward guy, but it only adds to the nuances of his statements.

This is only seen more when Hange reveals their true feelings only when Levi is supposedly unconscious, and even then, it's such a fragile way of doing so. But they know each other well enough that they can read between the lines, and the other person knows that they know, so really, this isn't about hiding it from each other. Levi and Hange know they cannot hide from each other, it's more like hiding it from themselves. Because if they say it out loud, admit it to themselves, it shatters the illusion.

[the-black-bulls]

I like the headcannon game, how about Luck or magna :D

seeing a headcanon you disagree with and it kinda pisses you off

y'all want me to ramble about luck alright lol, already did magna here and I don't think I've more to add, so this post is for luck, vanessa and the bulls relationship in general!

Luck:

- I think a lot of people just assume that luck hates his mom because she's an abusive person, when in reality he's showed nothing but love towards her even after he finally let her go... and honestly, I doubt he would ever hate his mother period (even if he should 🥲), and taking that nuance out of his character doesn't sit right with me

- also, "bad friend luck" is a dumb headcanon that mischaracterizes him, magna, and the black bulls in general

- I'll be honest, I was never into the "half sister charlotte" theory, but especially after it became so widespread people treated it as canon thus it lost its appeal to me and sound boring now (we could always get creative and embrace "half sister sally" theory instead 😛), but nothing wrong about supporting it though

Vanessa:

- manga spoilers alert: there's this headcanon that popped up by charlotte fans at the end of spade which basically reads: "it's her feelings and plea for yami to live that triggered rouge into bringing help for him..." which, why? vanessa was there and grey was there and they don't need to be romantically involved with yami to have strong feelings for his safety be freaking real, not to mention that rouge has always been a black bull spell; it's favored by them and triggered by them and would alter fate for their sake regardless of any outsider's tears, but also... what the hell? we're talking about the spell vanessa developed out of (family) love, the same spell that's connected to her heart, why tf should charlotte be credited in her place is bad enough but stretching so hard to twist what is pretty much a love spell from vanessa to the bulls just so your ship gets petty points is pathetic!

- so anyways, "vanessa needs to find true love" is an awful, awful headcanon (emphasis on need)

Black Bulls Relationships:

- that they only started bonding with each others after asta joined the squad and inspired them to do better, SURE... they did become better magic knights thanks to him, but their development is a long process shaped by each other's presence even if it'd take them years to admit it... this is why when each black bull hits their Development Moment, they always think back of yami, the other bulls, or both, so there's NO WAY they acted like strangers or were unhelpful to each other prior to the year asta and noelle became members

- likewise, any headcanon that implies one bull or another is disliked by the others or only barely accepted isn't headcanon, that's straight up mischaracterization, go reread the manga again

- likewise, I believe that just because the manga didn't explore every single relationship within the squad, it shouldn't lead to fans making it like each member's circle is only limited to one to two bulls, like ok luck and magna are each other's #1 person, but luck can still share ties with the other members too... he can be vanessa's little bro, and noelle's big bro, and charmy's partner in crime, and the little gremlin gauche keeps enabling, etc etc

- this post is getting long so one last thing, I think of the black bulls as a team with mutual and equal influence over each other, so unless we're referring to yami there's no "X bull is carrying the squad on their back" or "without X bull the squad will be lost" - because, honestly, it doesn't fit the bulls, they're all so flawed and bad at things they need each other to balance their cons with their pros, case in point I don't do "finral has been the vice captain before nacht" but I DO "vanessa finral gordon are a trio of senpais who've been carrying/sharing vice captain duties for years"

[sweetestpopcorn]

How would you rank Jaehaerys and Alysanne’s children in terms of greatness/potential? For me, Baelon was best out their children with Saera being second. I also think Viserra was a waisted potential. I think she could have done interesting stuff had she lived. Do you think perhaps maybe Baelon should’ve married her after Alyssa’s death? Obviously, no one could replace Alyssa in his heart.

Hi there :)

I have already kind of answered this regarding my thoughts about Saera and Viserra and none of it is good. I will just link them here and here . Legit they are just portrayed as mean girls with no real depth to them, though of the two, Saera is much, much worse. Viserra I can at least sympathise with since her parents seem to not give half a f_ck about her and did not even extend to her the same courtesy they did her siblings of having a say about her marriage (more here), but that's about it. I don't find anything else likeable about her she's just... empty.

I will go from least favourite to favourite.

Saera and Viserra go right to the bottom of my list. Followed very closely by Vaegon by obvious reasons. Like Vaegon, it literally costs you 0 golden dragons to not be so unlikable.

Then I would say Daenerys, she has a lot of sweet moments but dies young so I don't really know how she would have turned out. Besides, I know it's petty of me, but I don't like other characters having Dany's name. I do like Daenerys, Naerys's daughter but... yeah no more. You don't need more Daenerys, we have our Mother of Dragons. Yes, I know I am petty.

Then Gael because... poor baby 🥺 seriously what was George thinking writing a character who is Alysanne's comfort, with some degree of cognitive disability be r...... by some random singer, give birth, lose her baby, and kill herself?! Like enough's enough. It's literally just to add tragedy to her story and honestly Turtle man it's getting f:cking OLD. I swear this man gets his rocks off by adding tragedy and terrible abuse to female characters. This when he can bother to make them more than a walking womb.

Then I would say Aemon. Maybe he would be higher but at times I just feel he's too perfect if that's a thing. There’s just nothing wrong with him like 😂 he literally does nothing wrong.

Daella comes next because I find her funny. She's such a drama queen 24/7 making everyone around her want to protect her XD even Alyssa. I kind of got the vibes at times from her that she kind of knew what she was doing to get attention. Like the fact that she and Alyssa are Rhaenyra's grandmothers just makes so much sense no matter how you look at it. In a way Rhaenyra seems kind of a mixture of both? With tons of stubborn and style added. Another moment that really endeared me to Daella was her very tragic death, and how despite all her suffering she still wanted to be given Aemma and to feed her. Prime mom material right there -> like you can tell both from her and Alyssa that Rhaenyra got some top notch mom genes.

Then Alyssa of course, because she was THE queen. Literally she was just a better behaved version of her son and I'm here for it! I love how despite the fact that she was clearly a tomboy she still wanted to marry Baelon and give him an army of kids X'D because these two things are not mutually exclusive and liking or enjoying traditional boy things does not have to say anything about your sexuality or your desire to be a mother - just like being very feminine and liking traditionally feminine activities does not have to say anything about your sexuality or desire to parent. These are rules a society that does not understand nuance and in a sense is deeply sexist and stereotypical likes to put in place and that I find deeply harmful to people. But Alyssa is the BOMB, so funny, so bold, the way she embarrassed Vaegon who was a little sh:t *chef's kiss*

Then there's the best man ever -> Baelon Targaryen

Had his own cool nickname, The Spring Prince, funny, charming, sexy, single dad who never once forgot about his lady with the mismatched eyes, entered a tourney under the name of the Silver Fool... I don't feel like a need to say more, and in an era where all men were literally so problematic, Baelon was IT.

Baelon is what this fandom thinks Corlys is. Sorry not sorry.

And that's it :D

Also no, and more important that should Baelon remarry, the question is did he want to remarry? And the answer is no, and any Baelon fan would respect the Spring Prince and his undying love for his lady with the mismatched eyes <3

[ashkgray]

character opinion bingo for frank and/or margaret?

Character Opinion Bingo

Tysm for sending this in! And what a pair, lmao. I'll do 'em both! The people who know me on discord are unfortunately aware that besides Flagg, Frank fucking Burns has become my brand (to my own disdain). And I adore Margaret with all my heart. It's only right that she wound up my first bingo!!

Frank's the first one and Margaret's the second!

Frank Burns

I am so normal about them: I'm probably one of the very few people on this planet that looked at Frank Burns and went "now that's the one I wanna write more of." If you so much as look up the tag #frank burns on my account... you'll get exactly what I mean. I fucking hate-love him and love-hate him and vice versa. Horrible person with horrible values but with such a pathetic and harmless ferrety demeanor about him that most of what I feel for him ends up being pity.

I have so many headcanons about them: LORD KNOWS how much I have to say about his ass. once again, present in the tag. But I'd also like to add onto that the fact that I've planned out and am currently writing a whole character study fic series on him. Literally ask me about Frank Burns, I'll kiss you.

They are so silly: worm-eating Ferret-faced bitch who somehow fails at things that one can't even fail at

They didn't get bullied enough: ...

SQUEAK: Me sequeazing the ever-loving fuck out of his character till I get the bottom of it.

Bastard: It's just an objective truth idk what to tell ya.

Margaret Houlihan

I am so normal about them: If she stepped on me, fed me a grenade then chopped my head off I'd probably think she was right for it and, as a wrecked ghost, thank her.

I have so many headcanons about them: Not as many as Frank ( unfortunately ) but just enough for me to cross this off. I don't get to share everything I think about her often but trust me, Major Houlihan does not leave my mind. Especially her relationship with the military and what her role in the show, even after her growth, says about the treatment of women at the time.

A beast unleashed: Ever seen her beat someone up? The woman's a champion and I stan her for it. Never get on Margaret Houlihan's bad side unless you're in a suit and armor.

My friend's favorite, the blorbo by proxy: A lot of my friends seem to adore Margaret above all and boy do I not blame 'em for her. I also can't go about mentioning her without shouting out the Margaret pioneer that is @almostpleasantrebel whose Margaret-centric fics on AO3 have attached me to the character at a deeper level than I ever thought was possible for me. Thanks a bunch, Moll!

Puts them in a salad spinner: I would. I did. I will. Yes.

Literally I would kiss them: Who the fuck wouldn't???

I fuck with this aesthetic so hard: Military lady with nuances to her character and an ever-growing sense of humanity!? Yes, please. Hello.

[doodlegirl1998]

Oh my god...

I just realized something about how some characters are treated, so I'm gonna quote Joshscorcher from one of his fails videos

"You aren't a person, you ARE a disability! You're not a human, you ARE a skin color! You're not alive, you ARE a checkbox!"

Doesn't that just fit some of the characters in BNHA to a T?

We got the crazy yandere! The hotheaded rival! The hardass teacher with a heart of gold! The black guy!

And of course! The disabled kid who magically gets cured to be like everyone else!

Hori seems to believe that if he just adds pieces of representation or tropes that people like, they will just eat it up without question.

Not even considering or bothering to think about actual backstory, personality, goals, likes or dislikes.

You know, things that make a character an actual character!

Hi @theloganator101 👋,

This fits how MHA treats it's characters to a T or at the very least they develop from Nuanced characters to a stereotype which is never what you want from a series. Also Hori even fails at fitting these characters into the cookie cutter molds he tries to contort them into at times.

Let's give a few examples based on what you have said above:

"Crazy Yandere and Token Bi" = Toga (which the LGBTQ fans of MHA should be offended by, because having a Yandere who is coded very creepily (yet also not condemned for her creepy behavior in general or how she groped Uraraka without consent) as prominent representation is not good...

"Sweet generic shonen love interest" = Uraraka (well this is what Hori intends for her with IzuOcha endgame even with how weakly its built in the series. And Uraraka herself denying her feelings for Izu and freely simping for Toga. I feel so sorry for Ocha fans, how she has been written with Toga is a complete mess.)

"Hardass Teacher with a heart of gold" = Aizawa (or this is what Hori intends for him realistically a lot of his actions under a critical lense read as malice at worse and negligence at best but go off about how he cares about his kids, Hori. Despite dropping a building on them and making them believe their parents are kidnapped by villains. Or the fact that he expelled tonnes of other students prior to 1A without a care - what makes 1A so special?)

"Hot headhead rival" = Bakugou... (Well this is meant to be him, narratively speaking, but rivals are meant to inspire and respect each other. Bakugou doesn't respect Izuku, Bakugou abuses Izuku and acts as his parasite. Bakugou brings Izuku down at every opportunity.)

"The 'token black/ blasian' characters" = Rumi and Rock Lock. (While I'd say Rock Lock is good black representation. Rumi... She's not my favourite. I like strong female characters but the way she's so aggressive and violence hungry as a hero - that rubs me the wrong way. Realistically, I could see her killing a villain by accident through use of excessive force. And I can't ignore that she's used as a stick for Hori's gore porn fetish which isn't a great look as one of Hori's few Blasian characters.)

"The disabled kid who gets magically cured to be like everyone else." - Midoriya Izuku. (You could say this is the case for All Might and Aoyama too but Izuku is the most prominent example as the main protagonist.) Izuku's story and the lack of how his backstory is touched on is one of the one that's the most upsetting parts of MHA to me. Personally, I have a disability and mine can't be fixed, while I accept and embrace it now, I didn't when I was Izuku's age. I would daydream about getting "fixed" and being like everyone else so I could fit in. As an adult, I have now achieved many things that I was told that I could not hope to ever be able to do - and I didn't need to be "fixed/ made normal" to do it. Instead, I worked my ass off to achieve those things.

Izuku's story would have been way more powerful if he trained relentlessly with All Might, stayed quirkless and achieved as much as his quirked peers.

OR, if he had to gain OFA, the cognitive dissonance between how he was treated then in his backstory vs now should heavily influence him. Either way, he should have grown out of "Kacchan" and told Bakugou, his bully and abuser, to fuck right off.

The fact that Izuku isn't allowed to think of his backstory or one negative thought of Kacchan severely limits him. And it's one of the things that has stunted him as a character. All Izuku is now is OFA 'generic shonen protagonist' who will save Shig and destroy All for One. What a waste.

TLDR - developing good characters is like nurturing a particularly fussy plant, you can put down the right soil (backstory) to get readers hooked but if you get lazy and don't water it regularly (develop plot points, think through what is in character rather than what you as the Author want them to do, have them show up regularly) it (the characters) will never grow.

[overseer-picard]

Gaping plot holes aside, Picard having a synth body in STP really bothers me because so much history and character nuance was tied with his actual body, mainly the Borg implants and his artificial heart. These two details grounded his character and humanized him in so many profound, fascinating ways.

Knowing that this controlled, disciplined man carries a chunk of metal in his chest as a permanent reminder that he was once a reckless, cocky hell-raiser instantly adds depth and intrigue to his character. Seeing the terror and fury in his eyes as the Borg collective whispers in his mind because he still has pieces of their technology permanently embedded in his brain is heartbreaking and compelling.

Deciding to just snap these details out of existence for literally no reason except shoehorned, empty symbolism (synth bad? well hero synth now. hah poetry) is incredibly irksome to me. Obviously Picard remembers these experiences and they are still a part of him psychologically, but it added so much to his character to have physical, present manifestations of trauma and weakness in a seemingly unbreakable man.

I also have a petty little gripe that Beverly spent so much time patching up his broken body and pulling him back from the jaws of death and now it's not her work anymore. Just an identical copy without the history and connection.

Picard being a synth added literally nothing to anything but it managed to take away a lot.

(It was also just flat out nonsensical from a plot perspective. You could've cut out his whole illness plot line and nothing of significance would've changed)

[squidsheepdev]

P3: The Answer spoilers below

Just finished the Persona 3: The Answer. Worst game I ever enjoyed.

The Reload team have an impossible job of trying to fix this, cause its a mess on so many fundamental levels. Persona 3 autism demands I now ramble about it.

The Abyss of Time does not stand on its own, and even with the changes to Tartatrus in Reload, it still won't. There needs to be more to balance it. Especially when the first 39 hours of the game is just the Abyss and occasional flashbacks.

Speaking of, placing almost all of the major events in the story and with the characters in the last 3-5 hours is insane to me. These are all cool moments with minimal buildup and justification.

The Makoto shadow is cool but the "mystery" of it was too drawn out. That was time that could have been spent on the far more interesting party split at the end.

I think Yukari was handled very well, but more time was needed on Akihiko and Ken, and the Junpei and Koromaru fight feels contrived.

Even beyond that, I feel the party splitting should have been the main focus through the whole game (memories along side). Too much can be done with that entire concept that making it take place in about an hour seems ridiculous.

Imagine Heartful Cry playing after half a game of build up and nuance, not 10 minutes.

Generally, I believe The Answer: Reload would need to change things FUNDAMENTALLY.

So what, do they mix the party split along side all the memories? Do they massively extend the arena segment? Do they have more time between the arena and the final boss? Do they change how the entire premise works so that you can fit it a balance with the Abyss?

The entire structure as is just doesn't work. But obviously changing that would be antithetical to how they remade Persona 3 itself.

It's ideas are great and I wanna see them excuted with the same finese as the original I adore so much.

I like a lot of things in the Answer, even if all those things feel like missed potential. Generally, everything it adds to the story is good, and P3 as a whole is better for it.

Though its messy I still enjoyed my time with it (Persona 3 Autism).

I hope the Reload team feels the same.

[skyfallscotland]

Currently typing out some FAQ's to kind of organise my blog (because I can't organise my life) and I thought I'd do a separate post on this, because it required a more in-depth answer.

Can I use a scenario in your fic for my own, or write something inspired by your fic?

The answer is yes, but with nuance.

I can't stop anyone from doing anything, this is the internet after all, but I've gotten this question a few times so I'll give you a deep dive into my feelings on this. I apologise in advance if this comes off as condescending—if so, then it's probably not meant for you—but I think there are a lot of people getting into fanfic for the first time right now, so it might be helpful to them.

If something I wrote inspired you that's great! If you want to link it back to me in your notes that's cool too, thanks so much! 💖

A trope is a trope, we're all welcome to reuse them, that's not an issue at all—I'm certainly not the first person to write a twin fic, I might not have been the first in this fandom for all I know. Eventually (hopefully) the fandom will grow so large we'll be repeating all of them over and over, but until then the world is wide! There's so much opportunity to write something original and I'd encourage you to try 🫶

Ask yourself firstly if what you would like to use would add value to your fic and then think about how specific it is. I'll use Fear & Flame as an example. You want to write a Xaden/OC fic where the FMC is Violet's twin? Sure, go off! You want her to be snarky and generally depressed? Ok that's your prerogative. She was hoping to go into the Healer Quadrant? Ok, well there's only four of them, so put your own spin on it and get cracking 💃

You want her to be Violet's sister, snarky and depressed, was meant to be a healer, with a parental relationship with Winifred and Nolon, best friends with Bodhi and Liam, and draws to escape reality, with a history of self-harm due to trauma from her brother's death, become a mender, and then you want to reword lines I wrote from the heart and have your character say the same things at the same times? I can't stop you doing that either, but it's kinda meh, you know? 😪

I don't really understand why you'd want to do that, but people do so there, that's my thoughts on it, out in the open. If you're kinda writing the exact same story, or paraphrasing lines from someone else's, that's a lot of work when you could just...read someone else's. It's hard to say where the line should be when it comes to transformative works, especially ones we don't own, so you have to decide that for yourself. At least now you have my thoughts on it.

TLDR: Use all the tropes or scenarios you like, but if you're just rewriting someone else's story that's kinda boring dude ✌️

[chaifootsteps]

Since the other anon mentioned the Japanese HH fandom I just wanted to add that the majority of the artists love Charlastor because a lot of them used to be Bill Cipher/Mabel shippers. After Gravity Falls' hype has ended I think Charlastor gave them a new wind since the dynamic is pretty similar. I'm not fluent enough with Japanese to tell if the dub made Chaggie unclear for that audience but maybe that's why? Honestly the fact that there's so much high quality fanart of the ship that Viv hates (and fan songs! one with the pilot VAs!) makes me laugh, but also I think it was really dumb of them to make Chaggie an established pre-show relationship. It's so boring - I would much rather them start off as friends that fall in love while trying to run the hotel together. If Viv was smart she'd do that and ship tease with both Vaggie and Alastor to keep the conversations going and people watching. But instead it's shut down with making Chaggie canon from the start and Alastor aroace. (Which I would really like to know Viv's reasoning behind since Alastor and Mimzy used to be a thing and Viv's art of them together was really cute.) Anyways sorry for rambling. It's hard to talk about any of this with nuance because a lot of the fanbase hates Charlastor shippers and I try not to be an obnoxious one (I really would've liked Chaggie if we got to see them develop! I genuinely really hope there's a scene about how they met in the show and flashbacks to their relationship starting!) but it's kind of infuriating that Viv is so mad about two characters being shipped that literally have *sparkles* around them when they dance together. Like why include that if you're going to be mad about it later?!

Nah, don't apologize, obscure little tidbits like that are fascinating! I had no idea there was Mabel/Bill overlap, that's neat. Also pretty crazy that neither Chaggie nor ace Alastor were something Vivzie intended from the beginning, and her heart doesn't seem to be in either one, and yet here we are.

Incidentally, I did look up the pilot voice duet and gotta say, this is doing absolutely nothing to help me win the fight against the urge to ship this like wildfire.

[multiversal-bridge]

So there's been a big discussion lately about the pacing in the works of Wildbow (creator of bespoke internet fiction), particularly in his latest work, Pale, which has become longer than the others in just a couple of years of writing. I have thoughts about this and I can't get them out of my head so I'll just post.

I think the framing of this discussion leaves something out? Because I genuinely think Pale is Wildbow's best paced work.

Sounds super weird to say that when it's so long, right?

But I think there's a difference between length and quality of pacing, and I think the key to understanding what Wildbow's doing is this:

Pale is paced like a television show.

To explain a bit more what I mean by this:

Movies and television shows are forms of storytelling that are both valid in different ways, and allow you to do different things. The advantage of a television show is that you get to add layers of nuance to character's psychology as well as explore a number of different characters over the full runtime of the show. (Bear in mind I'm trying to imply a TV show that everyone agrees is good throughout its run, like the Sopranos or something.) There's advantages to doing this sort of thing, at least if you do it well.

Wildbow is a big fan of TV and talks a lot about shows he watches. So it's not surprising that his pacing is like TV. You bring on a character for an episode, and you may not see them again in the next season, but their mini-arc informed the larger arc that was going on with the protagonists at that point in the story. A chapter is basically written like an episode. 2-3 arcs roughly corresponds to a season of the show, with certain arcs ending in a major change in the status quo.

And Wildbow has a very good sense of those larger arcs. I was talking with a friend recently about what a contrast Pale is with the later A Song of Ice and Fire books. Where Martin is creating an ever-expanding list of characters going off in ever expanding directions, in Pale Wildbow keeps his characters from straying too far by tying new ideas back to the main plot. We have an arc where we meet a bunch of new magical creatures, but it's also about gaining allies and figuring out which of them are being used as pawns by the conspirators behind the main mystery. And yeah, recently, we got in theory like 18 new characters, but in practice we've only really focused on like three of them, and they're ultimately extensions of the final villain(s) in a plot that seems to be chugging toward the last station.

And I like this better than the pacing in Ward, or Pact, or Twig, or the latter half of Worm! In all of those works, there were moments where I thought oh, come on, this is stretched out way more than it needs to be. In contrast, despite its length, I've never really felt that with Pale. And I was initially skeptical about some of the plot developments!

It's true that Wildbow's chapters have gotten longer, but it feels to me like that's more about embracing an episode structure with multiple scenes in it, whereas in other works I often felt a bit cut off by one-scene chapters. Wildbow may also be playing to his strengths, as Pale focuses much more on psychological dialogues instead if action scenes. And character psychology has always been at the heart of what makes Wildbow works good.

Your milage may vary. I might just be weirdly into psychological dialogue scenes. And I freely confess that there may be a difference in experiencing the story chapter by chapter over the last two years, as I have, and maybe it might not read as well binged all at once. But I've seen writing that's badly paced before (including in other long-form web fiction), and this doesn't trip that trigger for me.

Obviously no one should feel obligated to read Pale. But may be more helpful to think of Pale as a good thing that's continued in its same good vein for a long time than something that's suffering from the sin of excess. At the very least, there are reasons why those of us who are reading it are having such a fun time.

[atlasofthestaars]

i love love love this timeline's raiden i want to hold him in my hands like 🤲 and the little moment reader and him have at the end of chapter 4 was so cute oh my word 😭😭😭 "Yes please!" DO YOU HEAR ME CRYING 😭😭😭😭 ++ a question if you dont mind!! which of the characters (either ones you have written already or havent yet) would you say was the hardest to get a grasp on, personality wise? i deeply admire your dedication to writing a series following the story mode!

Same! I've always been a fan of Raiden, but this variation of Raiden has a VERY special place in my heart. I'm glad you enjoyed that part! I wanted to end it on a cute and light note :D

Hopefully within the next few chapters I can continue to provide more of those cute moments!

Oh and for your question, you gave me an opportunity to rant on characters for my FAVORITE series, so I will take this opportunity.

Also! I finally figured out how to put the keep reading link, so hopefully now I can prevent my page from being such a scroll LMAO

I have a lot of different reasons and feelings why the characters I find "difficult" are difficult, so I'll be splitting them into tiers/groups so you can kinda get a grasp on my mindset, tiers are ordered from "easy hard" to "hardest"

Also I'm JUST talking about MK1 characters in this post.

VILLAINS

On the BASE level I think the villains are actually pretty easy to write for. Aside from Shang Tsung and Rain who I am NOT including in this tier, I find that most of the villains are kindaaa one note. General Shao seeks power and seeks to elevate his position (actually, on second thought this isn't the BEST way to describe him, but I feel like I can write dialogue for him no issue), Bi-Han wants power and is kind of an asshole (sorry! but it's a good way to describe how he talks towards others) Quan-Chi, etc. etc. they all kinda fall under the "want one thing and are willing to do anything to get it with varying degrees of assholishness. And then there's Reiko who feels like the slight exception to that rule but his gimmick is General Shao and fighting. So why do I have a tier for them for hard to grasp personalities?

It's trying to figure out how to flesh out these characters without making them too far off from their original characters. It's not TOO hard, but I do think a lot on how to add depth in a believable way.

I'M IN JUST MY HEAD

This tier is like, I understand them, but I feel like I ALWAYS need to double check with their intros to make sure that I am getting them right, and when I do I just find oh. Nevermind I'm right.

Scorpion - I do NOT know why I struggle with Kuai Liang in this timeline, but I do! I just think for some reason I write him weird or don't quite understand how to write him, but every time I double check I'm like, yeah no that works.

Johnny Cage - He confuses me for NO reason at all, and I think it's because of how in every game his attitude is SLIGHTLY different every time in storymode/intros. In MK9 he's full comedic relief. In MKX/11 they tone him down a bit, but in 11 his younger self is more akin to his 9 self. I would say 1 is a good balance of comedy and and seriousness, but I always want to make sure I'm striking that balance.

Kung Lao - I don't know WHY I doubt myself so much on him. He is legitimately my favorite character, and that's probably it. I trust that I know him, but I worry that I might flanderize him despite how much I adore him. I think this is just me putting a lot of pressure on myself to get him so right so I can show you all why I personally love him.

NOT A LOT OF EXPERIENCE

While I've finished the MK1 story and watched a lot of intros, I've not dedicated a lot of time to these characters and looking too much into them.

Tanya - I like her! I just haven't gotten around to looking too much into her. I get the basics of her character, but I don't quite get the nuance of her yet. She also mostly sticks around the princesses in story mode too so her personality doesn't get to shine too much there either.

Havik - I haven't looked too much on him, and it doesn't help that the story mode doesn't do much with him (probably due to the credits scene), so I don't really know much! I know about his whole archanist schtick for the freedom of his people, his self heal, etc. but I don't really know much about him outside of that.

Sindel - I like her as well, it's just that she keeps on changing in every iteration so this has me all jumbled up. I know she's a strong, firm leader who cares about her daughters and isn't afraid to do what she must for her people, but I don't really know why I don't feel confident. I feel like I don't quite understand all of her motivations as deeply as I should to call myself "confident", and I don't have a clear grasp on how she would treat those she isn't too familiar with but cordial with vs those she knows better, and even though that may not seem too important, it is to me since I don't know how to quite write a proper interaction between her and the reader yet.

VILLAINS PART TWO

Here I place the more complex villains.

Shang Tsung - He's sly, sneaky, cunning, etc. But he's a bit more than that I feel. He looks out mostly for himself and tries to gain power by putting others down, and I feel like despite me dabbling in villain characters, I'm a bit afraid that I won't know how to write the nuances that make his character more than just a simple snake and into an iconic character.

Rain - Okay. Lowkey I did NOT care for Rain before until this game. I didn't care for the descendant of Argus schtick before, so having him in this game as an ambitious mage with a character arc that goes from greeding for unlocking more of his power to a man who regrets those he hurts really interested me. I just wish that WHOLE arc was in the story mode and that most of that story wasn't locked behind his story. So the issue with him is that I feel like he never got much time in the story to show how he acts before he was revealed as a character, he was kinda just there. And we don't really get to know how he acts before because I feel like a good chunk of his intros talk about the aftermath of his crimes and how he feels afterwards. So basically, I know how to write him after the tragedy, but not clear on how to flesh his arc out since he was sidelined so much.

COMPLEX TO ME

I just feel like these characters always make me question if I'm writing them right, both in actions and in dialogue

Kenshi - Everytime I think of him his MKX variation pops up instead. I know he's more of a serious character in 1, but I know there's definitely more there. I just feel like I always need to refer to all the material I can for Kenshi because I get SO worried that I'll butcher him badly and I do NOT want that because I think he's a cool character. He's a character I struggle to write for at the moment, and I hope to improve on that.

Reptile - I feel like most times people brush him off as just a "good man" but I feel like there's more to him than that? And I cannot describe him well. I know he's a good guy at heart but that's all I feel like I can describe him as despite watching a good chunk of his intros. I don't know, I feel like I'm just ALSO worried about butchering him.

HARDEST

Smoke.

THIS MAN. Okay, so I feel like he is the one I fear flanderizing the MOST. I feel like I already wrote him kinda off character in the two lines I wrote for him. I feel like a lot of people simply write him off as a golden retriever, which I personally disagree with. BUT, I can see why people misinterpret this. I only get that vibe when he's with Johnny Cage since he seems to really look up and almost idolize the dude due to his acting career. Aside from that, I think he's a more down to earth person who is really respectful. He's a bit more lighthearted and can be an optimist at times, and even has a more playful and I feel like people take this aspect way too far. I don't think it's helped by the fact that he is contrasted by more edgier and serious characters like Bi-Han and Kuai Liang. I could go on and on about Smoke, but yeah. I think I understand him and can put him into words, but I feel like putting all those concepts into paper is just...a struggle for me.