#Why can't I balance things like literally everyone else

[genderqueerdykes]

i think it's so fucked up that one of the things that gets looked down upon in our society is someone choosing to eat whatever they want as opposed to forcing themselves to go without foods they actually like and starving or depriving themselves in an effort to remain "thin". i think it's so fucked up that one of the things people hate the most is people who are unbothered by their weight and people who enjoy being fat or want to be fat. why does this affect anyone but the fat person or the person indulging in their favorite foods?

someone else's diet or weight doesn't affect you. it makes literally no sense to criticize someone else for what they eat. like why is that your business? even if they're fat because of it, it's still not your business. people need to understand how entitled they are to other people's bodies. if a fat person who eats whatever they want is somehow a problem to you, that's because you're taking their body personally. you're upset that they look and behave in ways you don't approve of. that's not your place to insert yourself. you're not helping anyone by immediately criticizing someone for their weight or diet because you don't like them.

why is eating what you want even an issue? why are people so entitled to the foods others consume? it doesn't affect you if someone chooses chips over carrot sticks. a lot of people can't digest certain foods. some people can't fully digest meat, vegetables, plants, grains, fruits or any other sources of fiber. some people have to stick to 'simple carbs'. some people need high caloric, fat and sugar foods in order to stay nourished due to how little they can eat. also: people are allowed to choose what they eat abled or not. it's not an attack on you when a fat person, or ANYONE ELSE for that matter, eats what they want to.

don't get pissy at thin people because they can eat foods you can't/refuse to and "not get fat". stop harassing people saying things like "wow you're so lucky you just have a fast metabolism i wish i could eat like you!" you can eat like them (health conditions like diabetes and allergies and food intolerances permitting). you just have to get over the fact that some people are just fatter than others and that shouldn't control your diet. being fat doesn't instantly cause health issues. there are a lot of fat people who don't have any health issues that can be related even tangentially to weight. there are people who are "average" weight who have insane amounts of health problems. being underweight causes health problems

trying to eliminate sodium affects EVERYONE, and it's one of the most needlessly demonized parts of our diet that shouldn't be. sodium isn't bad for you. it doesn't give you hypertension and it doesn't make you gain weight. it's an electrolyte. having low electrolyte balance can cause someone to become very ill especially if they take in large amounts of water, as you can give yourself water toxicity if you don't have enough electrolytes to regulate the amount of fluid in your body. some people need to take in a lot of sodium to balance how much they sweat and how much they drink.

being malnourished causes health problems. some people cannot absorb the nutrients from foods like meats, grains, vegetables, fruit, starches, and high fiber foods. there are a lot of people who struggle with nutrient malabsorption and guilting them for the foods they eat isn't helping them get their nutrients any easier. many people cannot eat high fiber foods, fruits and vegetables. many people can't eat any fresh vegetables at all. there is no such thing as a one size fits all "healthy diet". documentaries like Super Size Me have proven that people will go above and beyond to demonize certain foods and fat people for no reason.

let people eat whatever the hell they want. let people be whatever the hell weight they want to be. trying to control other people's diets and weight is one of the most fucked up behaviors i've seen come out of capitalism. this shit is dangerous. other people don't owe you their bodies. stop being so entitled over other people's bodies and lives. it's disgusting. people don't have to be miserable or starve themselves to look "attractive". when it comes to how "attractive" you find someone, their diet should never come up at all because it's unrelated and it's their business, not for yours to speculate on based off of how they look.

everyone seems to forget that food has a biological, functional purpose. we consume energy by virtue of being living creatures. we need to replenish that energy. we NEED fats and sugars, whether or not people want to accept this. fats are excellent sources of energy. our brains consume massive amounts of sugars in order to function. our brains' primary resource is sugar. our bodies need it, too. sugar is not evil. food tastes good and is rewarding because we are helping our bodies replenish lost energy. it's supposed to taste good. you're supposed to enjoy that.

get rid of the catholic guilt you have around pleasure being "sinful". there's nothing sinful about eating food you actually like. you don't have to instantly repress how good it tastes and feels to eat in order to appease God or some bullshit. suffering is not virtuous. you're not getting into heaven faster by making yourself miserable. you're not making people like you more because you choose to hate yourself and anyone who displays the traits you hate about yourself. nobody is patting you on the back for choosing to be miserable

there are people out there who want to be fat and like being fat. we aren't going about life wrong or going to hell or whatever. for every person who finds thin people attractive and wants to be thin like them, there is someone who finds fat people attractive and wants to be fat like them too. some people find fat and being fat to be erotic. some people find watching themselves and/or someone else gaining weight is exciting, attractive, to be celebrated and/or erotic. fat, weight gain and food plays a huge part in a lot of people's kinks. some people just want to be fat because they like fatness and bigger bodies. some like having a cushion of weight in case they become ill and rapidly lose weight. some people want to just let go and indulge. some people are tired of being neurotic about the number on the scale. some people just want to be their happiest self, and that includes food and fatness. these are all good things.

letting go of shame and guilt surrounding fatness only benefits us all. fat people and people who eat whatever the hell they want are not affecting you. let them be happy.

[directdogman]

(Sorry if I have bad English, I'm from Spain.)

I'm super hyperfixated on the original managers, so I have 2 questions.

1. In Dialtown, Tango/Terrence says no one called him Tango before. Assuming that in the DSaF universe he also liked that nickname, did any of the other original managers call him Tango or not?

2. A headcanon I've seen in the DSaF fandom is that Abel hated everyone BUT the real Scott Cawthon, and that Scott was the only one that tolerated Abel (some ppl even ship them). Is that close to canon? Or the og Scott Cawthon also hated Abel? I really want to know what they thought about each other.

Btw, I really love your games, I've played the DSaF trilogy many times, and the Dialtown demo (I haven't played the full version of Dialtown yet, but I've seen gameplays and I'll buy it for my birthday), thank you for making 4 incredible games <3

I don't answer many DSaF questions these days, but this one's interesting so here goes:

1)Tango's nickname is a DT invention as far as I remember. If he preferred the name in DSaF's universe, Harry would've used it for sure, given how much he liked Terrence and since he's literally using a name he doesn't believe is really 'his' because it makes him feel better. He of all people would understand.

2)Yeah, that's a pretty good way of stating it, but there's a little more nuance to it that explains a little bit more about Abel/Joe's rift.

Basically, the original Scott Cawthon was a unifying figure. He got on with every single one of the original managers and they all thought the world of him. The Phone Guy process was started in an attempt to recreate him by Abel (and the other managers at first) and you gotta consider why they'd all want to do that. He was the glue that held the group together, the only manager liked by everyone else there without exception, someone who could defuse tension and resolve conflicts amicably.

It's true that he had the most patience for Abel and never badmouthed Abel to the other managers and even defended him earnestly, knowing Abel the best of the other managers and knowing some of Abel's early life and where he came from, while the others were more willing to honestly discuss Abel's short fuse and occasionally mean nature (even Terrence to some extent!) This led Abel to develop more of a bond with him than the other managers and somewhat distrust the others.

While Abel was essentially Scott's number 2, as time went on, Joe became more and more integral to the running of their budding company, since he was a skilled accountant and managed to balance the books despite Scott's somewhat reckless spending at times (he was overgenerous to the point where it sometimes led to financial trouble for the company, a stark contrast to what Freddy's became later.) Since Joe was so blunt (and Abel's biggest critic), Abel was incredibly jealous and insecure that if the trend continued, Joe would supplant him.

This also explains why Abel was so willing to toss his other managers into the 'machine' when each of them suffered accidents. Ultimately, it wasn't just sheer cowardice, it was him trying to recreate the past - to recreate the one person who seemingly saw him as anything other than a vampire. Someone who actually wanted him around. Of course, no two snowflakes are ever exactly the same. Abel was a poor replacement as the owner of the company, Joe was barely able to keep things afloat amidst a messy and chaotic expansion and Harry wound up presiding over the company's demise.

There's a pretty widespread narrative theme in DSaF of damaged people trying to recreate something they've lost - Dave trying to turn Jack into the new Henry, Jake and his family, Harry and his former identity, the Kennedy family reuniting.

“Can’t repeat the past? Why, of course you can!”

But, the fact is, you can't recreate the past. The only way forward is to pick up the pieces and build something new.

[demodraws0606]

I'm kinda peeved off that I'm seeing a few people that have the critique that Siffrin didn't deserve their "happy ending" in the end, that he was forgiven too quickly. I'm bad about this for actually a number of reasons.

(Warning this will be long because I am irrationally passionate about this, totally not because I relate to Siffrin or anything ahahahahaha)

First, logically, Siffrin's actions definitely are not as awful as people make it out to be especially not in the context of a time loop story. The worst Siffrin has done was his actions in the Bad Touch achievement and the last loop, one being purely optional. Outside of that, any tampering Siffrin had done was purely harmless, sure it's existentially horrifying but it's not like he did any actual manipulation.

You could also argue since Siffrin was in control of the loop, they are responsible for everything that was happening but we know full well he wasn't in control literally, his emotions were in control of the loop. Considering, a whole thing in this story is how acting as though you're fine and trying to control your emotions don't work, I don't think we can make the argument Siffrin was really in control.

He only wanted to trap everyone in the timeloop when it already had destroyed his mind. I thought it was obvious it was a monkey's paws situation.

The last time loop was the breaking point of Siffrin and it's one of the things he does suffer consequences from, they do get mad at him and he does apologize. What else do you want him to do ?

The Bad Touch achievement is the only thing that could be said to be "unforgivable" but it's optional and as far as I know it's hinted that Siffrin would talk about it with Isabeau. In fact it's said that even though right now they're fine and okay, they literally say they are okay to be mad at Siffrin later.

And also, it's not taking into acount the Actual feelings of his family either. They can't remember the loops and they have their own reason to not still be mad with him, so why should they hold Siffrin accountable for feelings they don't have.

In fact, the storyline strikes the perfect balance to not have Siffrin do such horrible action that he'd actually be unforgivable but still have him do enough that it shows what the loops are doing to him but....

..it's not just logically, judging Siffrin's actions as bad/good things like that is not just what's wrong with the narrative that Siffrin should've suffered more consequences. It also goes against the narrative itself.

For me at least, ISAT is a game about mental illness but also recovery. It's not coincidental a lot of people project their own mental issues onto Siffrin, it's not just a "ahahaha they're so relatable !!", it's a genuine part of the story.

I could make an entire essay about it but that's not the point, what would a story about these themes be if the ending was just "you need to repent for the things you did during your own mental breakdown"

It may seem ridiculous after all this that they'd just forgive Siffrin after all of this, but really hasn't most of the points against Siffrin's morality been coming from Siffrin themselves.

Siffrin believed he deserved to be rejected, that he deserved the suffer, that he was disgusting. It was these belief that kept him from talking about the loop because for him, everything was his fault. Not just because he created the loop but because the desire of staying with them was the very sin he hated himself for since the beginning.

So for all that self hatred to be met with, strange acceptance. It almost seems ridiculous, and Siffrin's talk with Odile in the epilogue reinforces how almost comedic it is.

It's close to reality, isn't it ? How many times have you thought you did something completely unforgivable to someone you cared about and you were waiting for them to be furious at you, but that moment never came.

Because they just simply weren't hurt enough by what happened. And sure it was definitely a bad thing you did and they were maybe mad in the moment, but you apologized. Sure there could be more consequences for what you did but what's the point in asking for them to be more mad at you ?

Shouldn't you strive to be better than beg to be hurt for your actions ?

Do you think being hurt, being yelled at would make anything better other than just feed the voice in your head what it wants to hear ?

Weird flowery talk aside, it just doesn't fit the themes and the narrative of the story is what I'm saying. Asking for more punishement for Siffrin goes against what the story is about.

It's just like complaining that the looping mechanics are too frustrating, that's part of the package deal bb !!

Fuck the idea of "repenting by suffering through the consequences" !!! Having to deal with "blinding unrelenting forgiveness and kindness" is in !!!!

[fandomsmadness]

Finally back on schedule with

TBHX episode 6 rant

The universe must be a sadistic entity that enjoys making me eat my words because hahahaha did I say we moved on from shock value cliffhangers because HAHAHAHA-

WHAT WAS THAT??

Shang really spent two entire episodes being the biggest red herring of a lifetime. That explains why the name was so unfamiliar. Who is his father with so much money, influence, and an interest in heroes tho? Also he got Xia Qing extra concert tickets one day to go with someone else, then another day asked her out?

Either this is very poor writing from the team who used him just to further the plot whichever way they wanted, or we're still lacking a lot more context which we now have no way of getting? Either way this is infuriating. I will resign myself to never being satisfied.

Something I really like about the Yang Cheng arc is how it's very subtly different from Lin Ling's. Everyone thought Lin Ling was Nice. In contrast, everyone knows E-Soul (OG) is not Yang Cheng, but he's an E-Soul all the same. OG E-Soul should've patented his costume or something.

But the trust value fluctuation is interesting. Are people believing in both at once? Are they forgoing the old one for the new? Why is it that both cannot have good trust value? Why is OG E-Soul losing his when Yang Cheng gains his own?

I have to give props to the animation team and VA here; for someone who barely speaks and keeps his face hidden, this ep did such a great job showing how tired and world-weary OG E-Soul is. He's past his heyday, clearly, and is relegated to being a cash cow through his once stellar reputation, until someone younger and stronger threatened that precarious balance.

And OG E-Soul comes from a time when the internet presumably wasn't booming, when a hero had to claw their way up (quite literally, did you see the guy) to fame and hold on with sheer grit, unlike now, when one video can make you go viral. E-Soul is helpless as his fans desert him for Yang Cheng and that's heartbreaking. 34 years gone, just like that. What happens to him now?

In happy news (for me lol) I theorized last episode that trust value or lack thereof was a method of discrimination in this world, and this episode confirmed it. Yang Cheng led a difficult life, and I cannot imagine the sheer joy he must feel now to have so many people believe in him. However, he dons another's name and is all too susceptible to losing himself. I fear there's no good ending for both him and OG E-Soul. It is, unfortunately, a neither can live while the other survives situation.

We're finally to the less palatable sides of the worldbuilding, and I am eating this up.

Other things of note during this ep:

- Jeopardy isn't a Lin Ling track! It's for...the young/new/imposter heroes? Temp theme song? Placeholder?

- Props to my boy Yang Cheng for asking the pertinent questions! Unfortunately we don't have an answer

- Enlighter being here was so out of pocket I screamed lmao. Look at him, working with the association and agencies and defending heroes! Bro really just said your honour my client is too broke and stupid to do anything you're implying he did lmao. How did he go from this to a sad bitter rank 249er?

- Xia Qing was a surprisingly mature person to be around, I appreciated her emphasis on being true to character so much. This is going to be important I can tell she's totally going to die isn't she

Maybe this episode didn't leave me with as many questions as the previous ones, but it does leave me with a lot of emotions and things to think about.

Can't believe this arc comes to an end next week. How on earth are they going to manage that??

[inchidentally]

Inch what is your opinion on this clip? https://www.tumblr.com/eightyonefour/762429464940527616/what-kind-of-guyteammate-is-oscar

It makes me sad that Lando isn’t able to find a lot of words to describe Osco ;-;

ohhh anon I know for most ppl this is all so boring and not interesting but the way excitable!nervous!shy!butextroverted!fidgety!sassy!emotional!squirmy!insecuresometimes!pleaseloveme!whydoyouhateme?!seeIknewyou'dloveme!creative!sexualconfidence!HORNY!travelstheworldintechnicolor!babyfever!workaholic!Lando exists against calm, placid, self-assured, does his job well,what's the point in doing less than his best, work life balance, lowkey, rational, good with kids but talks to them like adults Oscar makes me so emotional for god knows what reason ??? ;_;

but to Get Into It, I know this is the choppiest messiest compilation I've ever done but hopefully it'll be both self-explanatory and also go along well w my usual dissertation on something that has no real life importance for me but that makes me Feel Things

x x x

so the main thing with how Lando's stops for long periods to think and mull it over is for two reasons: one is that he hasn't done the usual PR aspect of his rs with Oscar the way he has with other drivers/teammates - and the other is that if he found Oscar dull or uninteresting then he wouldn't have had to sit and think aslfgsaljfgsajl. Lando's rly good with the media and honestly this answer would've been rly easy and quick if he could just say "yeah he's very fast and a good guy! hard worker and solid teammate!" bc it's not like anyone is expecting any more about a guy like Oscar anyway!

and with everyone else, Lando's got lots of anecdotes and jokes and shared activities as well as lots of experience interacting on camera in ways that give fans something to enjoy. it's not being disingenuous, it's just that they can easily tailor the friendship to be useful for publicity.

but !!! it's also the case of all of Lando's friends on the grid being extroverts as well as being great on camera. and Lando maybe could be seen as an extrovert but he's also naturally (self-confessed as well as confirmed by those closest to him) painfully shy and he relies on extroverts around him to help him out a lot. I got this ask that we don't even need proof of bc it's exactly how Lando is when he's alone among strangers or around huge crowds. same with when he has to do publicity stuff all alone the thinking silences stretch and he gets that upward inflection where he's trying very hard to see if the other person knows what he means??

and Osc is very much not an extrovert and while he likes the odd shared activity, he has said he prefers quiet conversation in small groups away from public places. so literally ! the ways he and Lando are compatible are simply in enjoying spending time together and being extremely low pressure friends who don't like the publicity aspect encroaching on that.

so how do you describe someone to a stranger if they're just quietly a good, reliable person who you like and work well with ?? Oscar himself needs a fair amount of prodding and encouragement to describe himself, let alone Lando being asked to do it !!

which I think is why landoscar has actually had this strong resonance for a lot of us who have those kinds of friendships or love those kinds of people - you can only see it and get to know it by observing it and knowing it in a way yourself. the way Oscar stares at Lando and does his little self-assigned duties to Lando and the way Lando watches Oscar in that wide-eyed trusting way and lets his brattiness out bc Oscar will always find it endearing. none of that makes for snappy PR content but if you get the vibes then it's so so sooooooo sweet ;__;

it's also why their dynamic lends itself so much to fic authors bc you've got a strong foundation of their authentic dynamic since they can't/don't fake it or play it up, from which you can put them in any scenario or any roles and they just… write themselves! not in a sense that the author isn't putting the work in as a writer skfgalsfg but the strongest thread among landoscar fic is that dynamic always coming through so consistently (even in the more challenging dark fic or out there AUs) the classics I can think of first off are playdate by debrief, that one from work can come over on monday night by higgsbosonblues and q&a by corsi

the common development of how Oscar is so blatantly changed by Lando in ways that seem either superficial or purely practical so that Lando ends up initially missing out on the depth of what that means - and misinterpreting Oscar not changing emotionally for him as disinterest. only to find that when someone who is solid and reliable and knows who they are decides they love you, they show it by changing their life for you and not changing themselves for you.

and that irl considering that Oscar always says how important it is for his relationship with Lily that he spend time with her that isn't connected to his career/life's passion, it's clear that he considers that to be proof of how much he cares. so all of the little ways Oscar bends and adapts and fulfills Lando's practical needs are ways for him to say "I value you" "I make you a priority in my life" "I want to fit you into my life" "I am willing to give up something/change something for you"

like idk how much Lando realizes the significance of those things and that's how I interpret him spending a very long time mulling and thinking rather than just getting past the answer in a neat, succinct way. bc Max F is a very emotionally intelligent guy and very capable of expressing his feelings, all of the guys on the grid are varying levels of emotional awareness/intelligence but they all have the same regular expectation of using their words to express how they feel about friends, and ofc the people surrounding Lando for the past ten years are highly attenuated to his needs. Oscar stands out as this very very different person to what he's used to!

and lastly, there's the whole gentleness and communicating through their kitten smiles and their ways of getting lost on a random subject - they're just such a quiet, gentle introverted dynamic. there's this moment after Japan last year waiting for a train, as well as this moment from Vegas where the crowd is singing happy birthday to Lando that I think are like, poetic levels of how their shyness/introversion fully matches up. bc neither of them feels easy or comfortable actually interacting with the crowd, so they keep looking to each other and smiling for comfort and reassurance. if another driver from the grid were around they could probably rely on him to brazen out the situation, but these two kittens just find solidarity in each other to get through!

so a lot of what makes landoscar a flop for bromance-only ppl is what a lot of us love about it <3<3<3 like I love a good bromance and self-aware PR ships too but landoscar made me want to get an f1blr and write insane pointless dissertations about them so shrug emoji !!

[mulberrydragon]

Everyone has noticed how Vaggie's wings have changed their colour from black-white palette ("rules are black and white") to grey ("rules are shades of gray"), but there's another detail someone could find interesting:

She had only one black stripe on her wings, while all other exorcists, including Lute, have two black stripes. I firstly payed attention to it in the scene where Lute was ripping Vaggie's wings off and thought that Vaggie gained it as a result of not killing a child, showing truly angelic mercy. Then I rewatched the episode and it occurred to me: she always had that unusual pattern on her wings. She always has been a "white crow" among her so called sisters.

I guess exorcists were supposed to have some kind of balance in their nature – the balance between being bloodthirsty warriors, ready to sacrifice themselves in order to protect Heaven, and being creatures of light – the same as ordinary (normal) angels, kind, loyal, merciful. The palette of their wings represent this balance. White (kindness) is for Heaven and it's citizens, black (fierceness) is for Hell and sinners.

The fact that Vaggie had less black colour on her feathers definitely means something. Maybe she had "bug" in her "natural program" when she was created, which made her less cruel and more kindhearted, soft. Maybe she had her doubts about extermination and it's ruthless methods a long time before Adam and Lute abandoned her in Hell. And those thoughts had changed the colours of her wings (something tells me angels can change shades of their feathers based on their strong emotions — even though Vaggie's grey wings demonstrate the symbolism on the first place, it can also be the result of her complicated feelings).

As for Lute and her relationship with Vaggie, there might be something beside rivalry. What if Lute had noticed that Vaggie was different and was acting strange? Just to be clear: I can't fully believe Lute was simply jealous — these two were not the only one who Adam saw as his "top girls", best warriors. The exorcist Carmila has killed during the last Extermination possibly was another high-rank angel (according to her armour), so there must be a whole group of such strong angelic ladies, not just Vaggie and Lute (plus Lieutenant wanted revenge (!) for that killed high-rank fellow. Doesn't seem to me like a jealousy at all.)

It's rather Lute's beliefs that caused her to hate another angel. She appears like a very ideological person, who draws conclusions on the basis of her worldview. And, considering the only two things exorcists have ever seen were Heaven and Hell, it's not surprise their conclusions could be quite radical (because, they literally see the best (in Heaven) and the worst (in Hell), there is no in-between for them). If we look deeply into Lute's soul and mind, we could find something else — who knows, maybe she indeed saw Vaggie as a betrayer?.. Lieutenant wasn't ready to open her eyes and see the truth, as well as other exorcists. And that's why the only angel without helmet was Vaggie (another symbolism) — she took it off just like she rejected her previous beliefs… Beliefs which were "installed" in her mind in the moment of her creation.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Why do you think they don't show Marinette comforting other characters? It's always been a weird writing decision to me, and I sometimes wondered if I was legit just erasing all the times it happened out of my memory or smth. Like the first character trait established for her is she struggles to say no to people, she is a people-pleaser. And there isn't a better way to make ur mc lovable than showing how they effect the people around them. AND it would make her breakdowns genuinely heartbreaking, because she keeps giving and giving and it's a genuine flaw. Like, she rushed off to comfort Ivan in Origins, right? We should have had more of that. I'm reminded of that one Lady Wifi (i think?) scene where Ladybug is smiling at her adoring fans and the camera while Chat Noir is in the background actually comforting a child lmao. It just feels so weird, because I think Marinette IS actually supposed to be someone who does that, who provides that comfort to her loved ones all the time (even at the cost of her own mental health, boom, an actual thing she can work towards). But we just keep getting the reverse instead. She just kinda feels like a shit friend? Showing that emotional labor would also make her exhaustion work because like, what does the guardian even DO? Tell not show, but they ain't telling shit.

One of the things that drew me to Miraculous is the fact that the show tends to write the characters in non-standard gender roles, so I actually like the fact that Marinette tends to be more of a fixer than a comforter. She drives people to action and wants to solve problems and is very good at taking the weight of the world on her shoulders, but she kind of sucks at emotional vulnerability and comforting people. It's genuinely a good flaw for her character and a lovely thing to see in a show aimed at girls. No, we don't all need to be stereotypically maternal figures. Women can be just as bad as men stereotypically are when it comes to emotions!

The problem is that the show is obsessed with Marinette holding every important role in the story, meaning that we don't get a more emotionally aware character or characters to balance her out. Nor do we get to see her learn that this is a flaw of hers and either improve or just own that she's bad at this and learn to trust someone else with these types of issues. (This is one of the many things I think Adrien should have been allowed to do, btw. Ladybug is the brains, Chat Noir should be the heart.) We also don't get a true sense of Marinette's struggles because the show's formulaic nature rarely allows for those types of problems.

The Lila thing is a good example. Lila says that she's going to destroy Marinette's friendships, but she literally can't do that because that would mean changing the way the characters relate on a massive scale and formula shows can't do that. So instead of seeing Marinette struggle as Lila lies and manipulates everyone into hating Marinette, we get extremely annoying episodes where Lila lies and everyone believes her, but no one gets all that upset at Marinette's constant accusations. They just treat it as a minor quibble which is actually more aggravating than Lila changing the status quo in my opinion.

There's also the issue that you brought up: we don't see Marinette truly struggling to be the guardian, so her new role doesn't feel like a big deal. Not much changes for her save for the kwamis being around now. We don't even know what her relationship with Master Fu was really like because he was barely ever on screen so we really don't feel her loss.

All of this is just another problem to lay at the feat of our ever-present issue: Miraculous does not have the right conflicts and characters for a formula show. Formula shows thrive off of things being lighthearted and the heroes lacking major flaws. Miraculous chose to make things somewhat serious and give everyone flaws that are just begging to be address, but that can't be because this is the wrong format for that type of thing.

In a team show where character arcs were a thing or even just one where character dynamics were a thing and Marinette was allowed to share the screen in a more balanced manner, then everything about her would work fine. She's set up perfectly for that kind of show. She is not set up for a formula show where she's basically the only character that matters outside of the villains. If that's what they wanted to write, then Marinette needed to be limited to minor flaws that never last more than an episode or at least limited to flaws that are purely situational such as being stubborn or the classic sudo-flaw of being clumsy that the show already embraces.

[sir-adamus]

One thing I love about RWBY is how it manages to thread that needle of, "That's a person" & "They have a reason for being this fucked up" without forgetting or failing to convey, "Doesn't mean they aren't still being bastard!"

See Adam, Ironwood, Salem, Mercury, hell even Jac got some of that treatment, as much as his narrative role needed and more than someone like him would usually be given.

In that regard though, it does always leave me vexed and confounded that people act like the Brothers will be some big exception. As though their issue is just that they are a little confused and don't understand some things, but once its explained and or they go home, it'll all be chill.

Like, sorry but if the woman they tortured for potentially millions of years still gets the "She's still being a bastard" treatment I cannot envision why the Brothers genocide would avoid being framed or treated as such.

yeah it's kind of weird how people have a blindspot for the gods being petty, arrogant assholes in the backstory; like it's been a weirdly common trend to see people making posts claiming it's fine for the gods to be assholes because they're gods (and therefore shouldn't be held to any kind of moral standard whatsoever), or thinking that post-volume 9, now the goal of the show is RWBY reuniting the relics to summon the gods because "the world is united" and the gods will deal with Salem.

like, the terms of Salem's immortality are made very clear, and these jackasses aren't gonna rescind on their punishment of her (which i need to point out was immensely disproportionate even before the mass genocide. "you need to learn a lesson, so now you can't die until you do" is fucked up) just because everyone else is on the same side.

and on top of that, the gods returning only means hanging a Sword of Damocles over humanity's head, because if they don't stay united, then it's just gonna lead to another disproportionate tantrum and Remnant getting the full scorched earth treatment. not to mention the gods dealing with Salem would ultimately prove her right and be immensely unsatisfying narratively (it would literally be a deus ex machina)

RWBY borrows heavily from Final Fantasy and other JRPGs, and a major recurring element in those sorts of games is that defeating the present big bad in the narrative is never the end of the story, there's always a greater scope threat that's usually either your dad or god or both. coupled with how Light and Dark are heavily influenced by mythological gods and how those are often petty, short-sighted and abusive bastards who cause more problems than they solve, and we've recently been outright told that the Brothers have completely misunderstood what 'balance' is and how that's factored into their conflicts and decision making, and how that then filters down to their treatment of Salem, demanding she understand something they don't and expecting her to learn it through the punishment they inflicted on her only ended up causing more damage

Salem's defeat has to be factored into ending her curse, and the end of volume 9 makes heavy implication that it's RWBY, not the Brothers, who are going to achieve that. but even with Salem then out of the picture, the Brothers are still a threat, they still wiped out the population of an entire planet for childish reasons and routinely abandon their creations; someone else could go for the relics to try and summon them, so there's the potential damage they could do to Remnant again, and who knows what same horrors and punishments the Brothers are inflicting on the worlds they've gone on to make and abandon since?

[xjulixred45x]

Headcanons of ed,al and ling with a s/o that have a twin? And that twin is protective,like theyre total oppossites,reader is a meek,calm and shy person while their twin is more extrovert,grumpy and protective

Awwww this is cute! I have a Twin myself, so this is pretty much relatable for me

Edward Elric/Alphonse Elric/ Ling Yao x Reader with a Twin

Genre: Headcanons

Reader: neutral

Warnings: none really, Reader is shy while their Twin is grumpy. Fluff

Edward Elric

The funniest reaction of the three

First of all, I think that Ed's relationship with the reader works precisely on the basis that they are polar opposites.

Ed is the hard-headed and temperamental one, Reader is the one who keeps the peace and has a hard time even correcting when they give them the wrong food.

They balance each other in many ways.

However, Reader is definitely what one would consider soft by nature, so Ed himself has developed certain protective tendencies towards them.

The typical thing is to react more than them when someone makes them feel bad/insults them, encouraging them to take repercussions, etc.

Ed has enough anger for both of them.

I imagine that although Ed already knew that the reader had a twin, he had not really seen then due to work issues/they being in another division in Amestris.

However, Reader and he exchanged several anecdotes about their families, including those of their sibilings.

and Ed is definitely happy to know that there is someone else in the reader's life who protects them when he is not there (especially if the reader is a civilian who doesn't know about alchemy).

However, when the mix-up incident occurs, it definitely catches Ed off guard.

I imagine that Ed and the reader were planning to meet at the Amestris barracks, but it just coincided with the arrival of the reader's twin for some work matters.

When Ed started looking for the reader and ran into their, he was MORE than confused.

Reader? What are they doing in an alchemist's uniform? Since when? Isn't it too early? Why are they looking at him like that?

When Ed goes to ask the "reader" directly, he ends up encountering a cold and powerful: "Do I know you?"

TWIN FINISHED IT..

Ed would try to maintain his composure and try to ask questions but at the same time he NEVER saw the reader looking at him so coldly, he almost feels intimidated, like he was in trouble...

Fortunately for everyone, the real reader came to Ed's rescue.

and not only that, but also to greet their twin.

Ed saw with horror how the twin's face changed COMPLETELY when they was talking to the reader, a literal 180 degree turn.

Ed didn't seem to want to give him the time of day, and with the reader they were already catching up, laughing and chatting.

He definitely leave it like that🤯

I think Ed and Twin could get along well...in terms of work. If there is a mission that depends on them, then they will do everything possible to get along.

Outside of that... difficult.

On the one hand, they both can't stand each other (which is ironic considering they have very similar personalities) and constantly compete for the reader's attention.

It's like a game of tug of war. They are both super clingy and see the other as a sudden invader of their time with the reader.

Although Ed will definitely leave Twin and the reader alone when they are exclusively family days, it's like an unwritten rule (just like Twin doesn't get involved in dating).

They try to keep aggression at bay when the reader is present, because after all they don't want to make her angry or, God forbid, cry.

It's like a cold war.

Ed also continues to appreciate Twin's contributions to the reader's self-esteem. At least they have a good common topic to get along with.

Alphonse Elric

Bby boy baby

Al and reader are definitely like the opposite of Ed and his reader, mostly because they both fall more on the shy spectrum. It's just that Al is more social and less reserved.

Although that doesn't mean he has it easy, I can see him and the reader having problems in situations like when they bring them the wrong food and they both silently accept the order🤣 or at least try to help the other by removing what they don't like (this obviously after Al already has his body).

Al is the one who does most of the talking, he's used to it, apart from the fact that he wouldn't feel comfortable letting the reader talk knowing that they make themselves uncomfortable.

Since he can't sleep, get tired or eat while in the armor, I can definitely see him carrying the reader everywhere and being their personal shield:3 both from the danger and the world in general.

They also both LOVE animals and on more than one occasion he and the reader ALMOST get away with taking some kittens (thanks Ed..)

In general, Al is super sweet with the reader and has infinite patience with them.

He knows about the reader's family and especially their twin. Al tends to compare several of their misadventures with those of him and Ed (on a smaller scale) and he even finds it cute that the reader is so attached to their sibiling.

Continuing with the fact that the reader is not an alchemist, Alphonse is happy to know that there is someone in the reader's life who protects them both physically and emotionally.

He's probably more curious about this twin than Ed, and already knows in advance that Reader and their twin are practically identical, but Al is convinced that it can't be that bad.

That is, of course, until we get to the incident.

Probably in Alphonse's case, he ran into twin while they were a civilian, which made it even more difficult to tell them apart.

Al saw Twin in the distance and thought it was his partner, so, like the sweetheart he is, he went to greet them and give them a metallic hug!

When Twin started screaming and even going so far as to hit him, poor Al was SO confused.

Did he take them by surprise? Are they angry? Why the violence!?

Since he is not used to seeing the reader shouting so loudly, not even with a frown, that image will definitely stay in his head for life.

When Reader arrived, Alphonse was so happy to see that they were still as shy and friendly as ever, he probably even hid behind them (as ridiculous as it was considering the size of the armor) to escape Twin's wrath.

Al and Twin get along surprisingly well, mostly because while Al has an intimidating exterior, Twin realizes that he is a softie because of their twin, so they trusts him more than Ed.

but it doesn't mean that they have the same level of patience for him that they have for Reader, rather they don't have any tolerance EXCEPT for reader😅 poor Al..

There's also the issue of Al being, well, AN ARMOR for much of the series, so Twin is understandably worried about how this relationship might work (or how CERTAIN ASPECTS of it work...)

Although if we're talking about full-bodied Al, I can definitely see Twin being much more patient and understanding, hell, even helping him recover from going without food for so many years.

and by the time Al fully recovers, you could say that he and twin are friends. and which twin is more open to receiving it into the family.

All in all, he's doing better than Ed🤣.

Ling Yao

Tbh it's the less surprised about it, but not less funny to see.

For the sake of my sanity and the meaning of this scenario, let's say that Ling's partner is from Xing and probably stayed there when he left in search of immortality.

Ling may have met the reader through some clan, on his own, etc. but definitely from the beginning he naturally gravitated towards them because of their reserved and friendly personality.

They are like opposite poles in a more discreet way. Ling is super social and has no problem defending himself (or others) while Reader was much quieter and barely raised their voice.

Ling made it her personal goal to help the reader be more honest and so they began dating seriously.

Ling definitely falls into the category of clingy partner, especially physically.

especially with reader because he finds their shy reactions super adorable!

He also laughs a little at their exaggerated expressions when they are embarrassed, or when they turn very red.

Although he definitely does not make fun of them, he does everything in good faith and thus his partner gains more trust! He will definitely kick the ass of anyone who makes the reader cry.

Considering that the Xingense culture is based on the Chinese, I can imagine that Ling has already met the reader's family in the past, at least their parents to have permission to "court" their child.

and Ling is also very aware of the dislike that the reader's family may feel towards him. more than anything because of what would happen if he became emperor.

I can see the reader's twin believing that it is not a good idea to date Ling solely and exclusively because of the tradition of the children of each clan, they does not want their sibiling to be left with a broken heart because of something they cannot control.

So, when Twin formally meets Ling, it's not very pleasant.

Ling is the only one who doesn't technically confuse reader and twin, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't have something to say about it (to lighten the tense atmosphere).

-"Wow! (reader) told me that you guys look alike but it's like seeing you in a mirror!"

something like that, he is partly surprised to see them in person side by side, but definitely not as much as the others.

and the only thing he gains is a loud SCOFF before twin walks away from him and reader, shuffling their feet.

Ling knows he didn't do anything wrong, but this is probably the first time "diplomacy" has bothered/distress him.

Of the three, Ling is the one who has the hardest time earning, at the very least, the respect of a twin. not because I don't try! but because twin has the typical Xingense standards.

I mean, Twin not only dislikes the idea of what will happen to Reader once he becomes emperor, but he believes that he is committing themself to someone who is not worth it.

And Ling left in search of inmortality(in Twin eyes, an ABSURD quest), it's like giving green light to these thoughs.

Fortunately, when Ling returns, apart from becoming emperor, he also manages (partially) to close Twin's mouth!

first of all, abolishing the law of marriage (that of the children of each clan, let me be happy) and he appears genuinely more mature than before, to the surprise of twin.

Before, Twin simply saw him as a bum, a scoundrel who happened to captivate his brother and who was lucky enough to be royalty.

but now, seeing everything he had done for Xing, for a foreign country, and that he still always came back to reader...you could say that speaking the heart of a twin.

They don't get along at all. Ling and twin definitely shouldn't be left in a room alone for more than 5 minutes (unless you want them to tear each other's throats out), but Ling KNOWS that twin does everything out of love.

and boy does he understand it. So, for now, they are fine.

Shares, reblogs and comments are very welcome!

[justatalkingface]

I find Endeavor giving up on Toya once he found out that his son's quirk (Blueflame) was self-destructive to be, not only out-of-character, but incredibly stupid.

Endeavor is loaded, he bought Rei. Why not buy Toya special support gear costume with cooling? Aoyama's belt, Mirio's suit, and f*cking Mecha Might basically suggest that support gear can do anything as long as the plot demands it.

Besides that, has Endeavor literally never heard of endurance training? That's literally the only type of training Class 1A does most of the time. Just have Rei on standby if anything goes wrong. It's not like being a human cooler would be the most degrading thing she's suffered.

It's like the first time Aizawa criticized Deku for injuring himself with One for All. Did they try thinking of solutions before trying to get them to give up ?

Also, it's kind of messed that Toya's inability fulfill Endeavor's goals is because Rei, the bought mother. It could've easily been Endeavor's fault, like his intense training at a young age ruined Toya's developing body.

OK, you see, the thing is you're thinking about this logically. Like, Endeavor has been many things, but 'rational' isn't one of them. Deeply toxic and twisted, on the other hand?

You need to think like someone desperate to prove themselves, filled with about eight superiority and inferiority complexes, and yet so resigned to his own inferiority that he ended up needing to make someone else to do it for him. The fact that Toya hurt himself? It meant he was weak. That's it. He was weak for being unable to use his powers safely.

And the second he was weak, he was no longer useful, because he could no longer beat All Might.

(Nevermind, of course, that there was nothing he could do to make someone able to beat All Might, because All Might and All For One are both setting breaking hacks that single handedly break the balance of power. Even a super Shoto with the blue flames of Dabi and, like, absolute zero ice, perfectly balanced and able to withstand his own power, would get casually bitchslapped by All Might. That's how overwhelmingly broken he is.)

Beyond that, it's worth pointing out that, 1, Mecha Might is, again, setting breaking bullshit, even in the bullshit casually tinkertech setting that is MHA, and that 2, while Quirk training is a thing (presumably that's how Dabi was able to be as high functioning as he was with his... well, entire everything, that he grinded with his Quirk until he was able to work beyond the pain), there are limits without Awakenings... and let's be honest, Awakenings are just how Hori tried to explain people's various power ups to try and keep them relevent in the ever increasing clusterfuck of his story. No amount of training would make it so that Toya would not burn himself; training like that increases limits, but it doesn't change how the Quirk works.

There's basiclly no reason, in setting, for someone not to suit themselves entirely in support tech to be a purely tech driven hero, beyond institutional culture that is built around people's Quirks. I can't even say it's expensive, because hell, Mei just pulls them out on the regular, and there's every reason to think she was making them even before she actually got into UA, instead of somehow learning to make them within a week or two of getting into school.

The fact that support tech is so damn underused is almost criminal, especially for people with more limited abilities; can you imagine if Kirashima, with his hardening, was given some kind of ranged tool? An air blast or something?

You're also ignoring all his complexes in implying that, 1, Rei could do anything, when literally she only exists to be a breeder, and I don't think he's ever shown imagining her able to do... anything helpful.

And, most importantly, 2: Endeavor always blames everyone but himself. Always. Even in the 'canon' (I have opinions on the sheer level of retcon there) version of events, with how soft that is on Endeavor, Endeavor sets up Toya to have a psychotic break. He isolates him, orients his entire life around one thing (surpassing All Might) and then takes away the very foundation he built his life on, before basiclly ignoring him and never trying to fix him afterwords; of course the kid is messed up! Yet, all this time, he looks back, and all he can think is, 'I couldn't stop him! Toya was so driven, Toya wouldn't stop hurting himself, Toya wouldn't listen to me!'

Toya, Toya, Toya. Everything wrong with Dabi's story was blamed on Toya, even though he was an actual child and Endeavor was the one with all the control in the family; his recollection of things was so warped you could see how it contracted with literally everyone's experience of events... Of course he was going to blame Rei over himself! Rei is the person he bought, and he's the top hero, rich and famous! Nothing is ever his fault!

(Also, I have opinions on Aizawa, and they're overwhelmingly negative. The fact that Aizawa wanted to ditch Izuku first thing is a result of his overwhelming biases and prejudices..... exactly like Endeavor. MHA has this thing of making massively biased authority figures that are obviously so and then going through fire to protect them from their own actions.)

[sweaterkittensahoy]

y'all, if you want me to participate in a boycott, you have to tell me why. I should not have to google the name of the thing and the date to get an answer.

In case anyone else has seen things about "economic blackout on February 28 ", it's about protesting DEI rollbacks from large companies.

But I had to look it up. You can't run an effective boycott if people don't know why, and you shouldn't want to run a boycott where people can't easily answer why.

Also, the info I saw about it said "Starting with one day, maybe going up to three."

You don't get to be wishy-washy on the length of your short boycott. That's not how this works. Are you doing a 24-hour boycott or are you doing a 3-day boycott? Because it feels like you're trying to have a ready excuse if the numbers aren't as devastating as you would like them to be in 24 hours.

Also, frankly, setting it for February 28th when Valentine's Day is FRIDAY and a day that large retailers usually get slammed makes me feel there's no real backbone in play here.

Look, if you wanna participate, participate. Here's a Newsweek article explaining it.

Also, here's Newsweek explaining who The People's Union is because i sure as fuck didn't know, and frankly from the what the founder of the union focuses on on his own Union website, I do not find them serious in the least. It's all buzz words and sob story background with nothing in the article actually indicating what this group does to actually effect change.

If Newsweek has to run an article explaining who the group is who is trying to run a boycott, and that article doesn't actually explain what the group hopes to achieve by having the boycott, it's not a serious group.

"But, Gayle! They want DEI offices back!"

Okay. But do you really think PBS cut its DEI department because it wanted to or because if they don't, the government funding they get will get yanked? Do you really think Target, that loudly made a point to talk about how less rainbow their capitalism was gonna be before Pride last year, is just chomping at the bit to put their DEI office back into place, or do you think maybe they showed up which side they were on and now they have an easy excuse to drop it?

Do you think Google, who was literally head-hunting me for nearly a year, and then suddenly stopped talking to me just as they got sued by female employees for sexist work practices geniunely care about what DEI can do?

Do you think Amazon, who has cut me out of interview cycles TWICE because when they ask "How do you innovate every day?" and I go, "I don't. I think it's an odd standard to judge all possible employees by especially in my department, where the focus should be on being able to communicate complicated information to anyone in any place at any time, which can lead to innovation but should not be a high-ranked goal" gives a shit about DEI? The Amazon that demanded workers come back to the office back in September while announcing everyone had until January? Thus making it possible for them to have a "voluntary headcount reduction" instead of a layoff to deal with whatever shortcomings the balance sheet showed?

"But, Gayle, I care!"

Aim it somewhere useful. Do a personal boycott. Email all those big companies The People's Union think they can hit on the bottom line within maybe 72 hours and tell them what you generally spend at their company and that you are taking that money away. Because, honestly, an email campaign that is "Hey, I did the math, and last year, I spent $500 at your business, and this year, I'm spending $0." Get your friends into it. Do some community organizing around it. Rather than this empty threat of 24-72 hours, commit to a long-term refusal to work with these private companies who do not have to answer to the government for their funding.

At the end of the day, for me, it comes down to this: A maybe 3-day boycott by an unproven group calling itself a "Union" whose main talking points are "government bad" and "I've been meditating since I was six" (that's not a joke, that's in the article about who the fuck People's Union is) isn't going to do jack fuck all for any DEI program. Literally every business they want you to target can easily handle three days of no shoppers. They can probably handle three years of slow sales, frankly.

The reasons boycotts work when ACTUAL unions call for them is because companies know their average sales. So, if a REAL union says, "Please show your support for the union on February 28 by refusing to buy from our place of business," and that place of business sees a HUGE drop in sales on February 28, they can only assume it's because the union asked customers to show they stand with the union. (By the way, if you ever participate in a boycott like that, please also send an email to customer service that says "I will not be buying from you on February 28 because I stand with the union," but also please only do it if you actually go to that business in general; lots of people call things a boycott when they mean they just don't and never have shopped someplace.).

Those 24-72 hours the People's Union want you spend not shopping but maybe shopping if they feel really powerful after the first 24 hours, will be much better spent bothering your elected officials to make them refuse the anti-DEI executive order.

This is a bragging rights boycott. It will not harm the businesses in the least, but at the end of it, all the people who participated can smugly announce they didn't buy anything at the Target for a whole 3 days because they're so morally correct.

[most-datable-datable-bracket]

ROUND 3 MATCH 1

Qiu propaganda:

“i love them sooooo much i was completely head over heels for cove but then i found out about qiu lin and ol2 and they took that spot in my brain IMMEDIATELY. that should say enough. also i just really want them to win this time </3”

“They're my beloved :] and also the only OL character not disqualified so I had to hdjdbdj I just wanna see how far they can go now :]”

“Genderfluid ADHD monarch. They enjoy mountain biking and ballet. As a kid, if they're set to Crush, they'll desperately try to find a way to link the MC's favorite color to themselves in an attempt to impress. They're the most popular kid in town and for good reason. Can be sharp as a tack, especially in social situations, but also can be so endearingly stupid.”

“Listen. Listen to me. Here's why Qiu Lin deserves the win (ha)

- They're a trans POC love interest (specifically genderfluid and chinese-american)

- They spend a lot of time in Step 1 (the first part of the game where everyone is a kid) being super nice and trying to accommodate for you

- They specifically try super hard to bring you (and Tamarack) into their already established friendship group

- (It doesn't work out super well initially but they're trying, be nice)

- Qiu's also just. Super sweet when you're set to have a crush on them in Step 1

- Like, their word count almost doubles when they have a crush on your MC

- There's one part of the game where you can bring up your favourite colour

- On a friendship route (or if you're set to neighbours), Qiu will maybe make a short comment about something related to your favourite colour

- On crush? Qiu stretches so far to tie your favourite colour back themself. Your favourite colour is green? That's the colour of their jacket!!! It's black? Like their bike, did they mention their cool bike!!! It's white, [imagine this is in italics] the inside of their house (no, really)!!! [end of imagining this is italics]

- They're also set to have an arc about much they accommodate for others and how they go from over accommodation in Step 1 to no accommodation in Step 2 to finding a balance in Step 3

- Also, like, they do in fact go through gender identity issues. In fact, they spend Step 2 not quite knowing their gender identity fully

Now, vote for Qiu!!!!”

"Genderfluid and uses they/he pronouns.

Their hobbies are mountain biking and ballet.

Most popular kid in town by, like, a mile. And for very good reason.

Immediately devotes themself to making sure their new neighbors (the MC and Tamarack) feel welcome in their new town.

Loooooves teasing their friends.

Is genuinely confused if the MC doesn't immediately consider them friends because. He considered you friends.

Not canonically ADHD (yet. things can change.) but like. The ADHD vibes are strong.

Forgetful and writes stuff down in a notepad to remember it, then proceeds to lose the notes. This happens constantly.

They have a whole arc about going from being overly accommodating and giving too much of themself to others, to closing off and not giving anything, to finding balance and figuring out how to be kind and caring without overexerting themselves.

Also, one of their closest friends is a trans woman. This is relevant simply because I love Renee and had to mention her."

Fenris propaganda:

“Broody hot elf with glowing tattoos and a sultry voice that escaped from his former slaver and joins your ragtag team of misfits that save the city. He is snarky with your companions and always so surprised to be loved and supported. Everytime I play and try to romance someone else I fail because I can't not flirt with him.”

“I've played through DA2 four times now and every time I think I'm gonna date someone other than Fenris and every time I don't do that”

“Please he is my husband. I literally cannot do a playthrough without romancing him regardless of how much I try to give the other chara ters a chance because his romance lines are just so good and he's always so surprised that Hawke is into him.”

[yousaucygirl]

So I watched Ride the Cyclone over the weekend, and OOOOUUUUUUGGGGGHHHH I gotta yap about these characters. (spoiler alerts for people who haven't seen it)

I'll start with Ocean. I feel like almost everyone either knew someone like Ocean or was Ocean. She comes off as overly ambitious, goal oriented, and selfish. And she IS. She starts out as someone you're meant to hate. I mean, she literally sings a song about how she's better than everyone else in the group, even standing on top of them in a human pyramid to show her superiority. But I loved Ocean in the end. Yes, she pressured the others (especially Constance) to vote for her because she wanted to be brought back to life, but she ended up sacrificing a second chance of life in the end. Because Karnak changed the rules, she won the game. Ocean could've easily taken her chance at life, but she realized that she had something she wanted to go back to. They all did except for Jane Doe. As badly as she wanted to live, death taught her to be happy with what she had in the end. She would rather something over nothing.

Noel is an ICON. He's a romantic. In his fantasy, he's a French prostitute in the post-war era. Monique is a tortured woman. She is slapped, thrown to the ground, and her heart is played with until she ends up playing with hearts hearts herself. Noel romanticizes this life. It's shown that he's always had a flair for the dramatic, but Monique is a direct manifestation of Noel's tortured heart. I also LIVE for his friendship with Mischa. Noel could never really fit in, and I don't think he ever wanted to. He mentioned how his mother always wanted him to be more like the other kids, but he's too passionate for that and he knows it.

Mischa is another very interesting character, and not because he's from Ukraine. His adopted parents literally locked him in the basement and only provided basic necessities. It's also clear that he wanted to go back to his home in Ukraine. He understands why his mother had to send him away, but that doesn't mean he didn't miss his home. His desire to go back only got stronger when he was dating Talia long-distance. We only get glimpses into the character's lives, but Talia was Mischa's light. She was the love of his life. Mischa is a genuinely kind person despite his gangster persona, and though he misses Talia, singing her name over and over, is willing to not vote for himself.

Now THE swinging space age bachelor man, Ricky. I think death was the best thing for him. In death, he can speak. He can walk without crutches. All of the effects of his disease are reversed. I only say it's the best thing for him because he most likely thinks the same thing. After his song he takes his name out of consideration for voting. Part of that is because he can't vote for himself and believes that the others are more deserving of a second chance, but he also enjoys the freedom that death gave him. I love you Ricky Potts.

Jane Doe is the most mysterious character of the play and also my personal favorite. She has a lot of funny moments, but everything about her has an undertone of sadness. The others avoid her in the beginning. They don't really view her as a person (Ocean literally refers to her as a super freaky monster). She's a walking existential crisis. She has no memory of her life. Everything about her was gone once she lost her head. To me, the doll head she wears is a representation of what she's longing for. She wants a face of her own. She wants her identity. Until her song, the others avoid her because she's a reminder of what they could have lost in addition to their lives, plus she's creepy (having no head literally took away her balance, so her movements add to the horrifying nature of her character). After her song, the others realize just how much she lost. She knows how she died, but not who she was. The New Birthday Song is one of my favorite scenes in the show. It shows the others reaching out to her. They're trying to console her. Even Ricky lets her have the name Savanah (with the greenest eyes). We find out she's Penny Lamb in the end, but her name is really all we directly learn about her.

Constance is also a deep character. On the outside, she's the nice girl. She loves her friends, family, and has pride in her town. This stuff is true. But she also has a passionate side. She wants a lover and wanted to lose her virginity, which she ended up losing to a carnie. She tried to blend in, hiding her love and the things she was passionate about. She was made to feel ashamed for so much in her life. She was so self-conscious in life, to a point where a lot of viewers could find it relatable. It took death for her to accept that she loved her life, that she loved her family and her town. She misses all of the small things, but she's glad she had them in the first place.

Anyways this is what my brain is fixating on right now.

[tadc-harlequin-au]

In terms of non-canon, how did Pomni and Ragatha's relationship start? What’s Anya and Pomni’s relationship like? Also, how were Anya's teenage years? (Hopefully more easier than her brother's lol)

Well, the reason why Jesterdoll doesn't become canon is because Ragatha doesn't feel ready to be in a relationship on top of other things. A confession happens, but Ragatha becomes scared of becoming fully committed to another person again, so she turns Pomni down.

I mean the story ends with the possibility of Jesterdoll happening post-canon but AHEM I'm getting off track

BUT. For the sake of Jesterdoll, let's say Ragatha has already gotten over this fear by the time the confession happens. Guilt and trauma no longer clouds this confession, instead, Ragatha learns to use what she had went through to make this relationship work. So she accepts, and they are officially a couple.

Caine will overhear this as he was canonically eavesdropping by the time the confession happens, so he will be out of commission for a long ass while due to immense heartbreak. Seeking Kingr's comfort and company and literally not being available to everyone else as he is too shaken and depressed to be a leader at the moment. Oh, all the angsty kinda one-sided showtime, possible royalteeth that could be possible with this scenario, on top of wholesome Jesterdoll, GODDAMN GRRRRRRRRRR.

A-anyways, that is how they would start off.

Anya and Pomni's relationship is good, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have it's times of uncertainty from Pomni's side. Pomni's afraid that her gruff side would end up hurting Anya, so she's constantly having to explore how to be more gentle, calm, and a comforting presence towards her daughter. Tapping into her feminine side more, so she can bond with her; Joining the tea parties in dresses, pretending they're the queen and princess of the world, all the classic fun parenting stuff like that :>

The two kids are basically two sides of Pomni's spectrum that she has to learn to balance, not only for her kids to have a better life, but also so she learns how to better control her new self and her life going forward.

Anya's teenage years.... She'd be constantly on Pomni's side of the argument, leading to a slight rift between her and her brother. It's not her fault that her brother can't see their mom's point like she does.

Despite this nonetheless, Cade still trusts her enough to confide in her about things he feels and things he wants to share while exploring (yes, he is EXPLORING when he sneaks out.) which she tries to keep between the two of them, as both of them understand that their parents would likely not really understand the depth of his situation and how much this helps Cade get his mind off of things. She'd even cover for him while he's gone and they ask, distracting the adults with an infodump about a thing she's learned, which could last for HOURS. Anya's becoming more and more confident, but she's still reluctant on some things, like going out on the city.

Better to start slow, like her mom Ragatha.

[maranigai]

Do you still accept characters for that ask meme? I saw you only answered an ask about Messmer so far! How about Morgott for that ask meme? (not sure if asking DS characters counts since like 80% of info about them has to be manually hallucinated by the fan themselves, but I can if that's okay with you!)

Yep, I'm still doing character ask meme, Messmer simply was the only ask for me by now lol Also DS characters are fine too, of course they would be like 95% headcanon based, but that's why we love DS, isn't it?

But anyway, Morgott. My absolutely favourite of favourites of all ER characters...

favorite thing about them

First of all, Morgott is such a beautifully contradictory character. He's a demigod shardbearer and a cursed being, a proud monarch and a monster in his own eyes, a defender of all that is holy and a warlock shrouded in illusions. And all these things are actually logical and completely understandable given his story. Because, above everything else, Morgott is a broken creature, not as a result of his own deeds or guilts, but because of the things beyond his control, some ancient sins and crimes he's not aware of, some old vengeance that existed even before he was born. And this break, this pain, is a spiral, you know? Morgott hates his nature because he was convinced he's a monster, he supports the system that oppresses him because he believes that he's oppressed rightfully and this system is the best remaining option for the world as a whole, even if he and people like him have to suffer for it, and in doing so he causes even more harm, more oppression and misery for himself and everyone around. I love how he's a loyal, determined, faithful person, and this is exactly what makes him a villain in the story. He's an extremely tragic character, but completely consistent in his tragedy, his brokenness, and I have a deep weakness for broken things.

least favorite thing about them

I don't think there's anything I don't like about him as a character, I mean, he's certainly not flawless, but his flaws are what make him so interesting in the first place. So I say that my least favourite thing is his bossfight. Don't get me wrong, Morgott is one of my favourite FromSoft bosses in general, but I have a feeling that they made his moveset (super-complex and interesting) first, then remembered he's a mandatory mid-game boss and panicked to balance him to this level by drastically reducing his damage and hp.

favorite line

May the curse seep to thy very soul.

I just love his spiteful tone in this one, sorry.

brOTP

I could write Mohg or Godwyn here and it would be legit, but allow me to be more exotic this time and mention Malenia. They have many things in common, if you think about it: two cursed, yet somewhat noble beings, bitterly determined and endlessly loyal to their masters of choice. I can absolutely see how they can respect and understand each other, even if not sharing each other's cause. I also love the idea of a young, sick, not-yet-swordmaster Malenia and her Cool Big Brother Morgott, the only person around who takes her seriously.

OTP

Banished knight Oleg. Literally the mix of my favourite tropes of "liege and their a bit too loyal knight" and "my majestic, scheming wife and me, committing whatever crimes she wants me to commit today". Also Oleg dies before Morgott, so my inner angst enjoyer appreciates this as well.

nOTP

Mohg! I just can't see them as a pairing, their sibling relationships is everything to me. I'm also not a fan of Tarnished/Morgott, mainly because most of such arts/fics imply some level of self-indulgence and this just doesn't work for me (though I've seen several very cool works with this pairing too).

random headcanon

Three for the price of one: Morgott's hobby is creating clockwork automatons (a more detailed post about this hc); his favourite half-sibling is Malenia and this is mutual; he also shares Mohg's sense of fashion, but refuses to admit it.

unpopular opinion

While most people hc Morgott to be the elder twin, in my hcs he's the younger one (and the youngest of Godfrey's sons). Ironically enough, this isn't an important headcanon for Morgott himself, but it's an essential part of my perception of Godwyn and (especially) Mohg.

song i associate with them

Мельница - Что ты знаешь

My personal theme song for Morgott as the Veiled Monarch.

favorite picture of them

There're so many cool arts of Morgott that it's really hard to choose the most favourite one lol

So for now I pick this one by Cruentum_Noctis

[deconstructthesoup]

I've been thinking about this lately, so, here's my Slay the Princess ships and why I ship them:

Witch x Damsel, aka Sleeping Briars: There's just something that's so compelling about the two "fairytale" vessels---aka, a witch and your classic damsel in distress---who can both lead to some of the most romantic routes in the game. The dynamic between a devious little prankster who has serious trust issues and can't let anyone get close as a result and an adorable sweetheart who trusts everyone and falls in love way too fast is really interesting to me, and I think they'd actually be pretty good influences on each other.

Adversary x Razor: Two ladies who love fighting, bloodshed, and pain in general? The potential is right there. They're different enough that there's some dimension, but they're similar enough that their dynamic would be killer. Literally.

Spectre x Stranger: Honestly, I just think that they're both very charming and would probably get along really well, but there is something to be said about them being the two Vessels you get when you don't really give the Princess a chance---either if you kill her without hesitation and get Spectre, or if you refuse to even meet her and get Stranger. They're both lonely and scattered, and maybe they'd find something in each other.

Thorn x Wild (Wounded): There's something really sweet and intimate about two people who've hurt and been hurt finding comfort in each other. Idk, I think it's nice.

Burned Grey x Drowned Grey: It's... it's right there. The duality is right there. The wedding gown and the funeral gown, the fire and the water---it's right there.

Prisoner x Skeptic: This is really the only Voice/Vessel ship I've got on my list, and it's because in my opinion, it's the most grounded. Prisoner is arguably the most human out of all of the vessels, and Skeptic's whole thing of picking things apart and looking at everything from a different angle feels like a pretty reasonable response to the insanity of the construct. Her cynicism combined with his suspicious attitude could make for a really interesting dynamic, and I think they'd balance each other out well.

Contrahero: Come on. Come on. They're perfect. The first time I saw the Stranger ending, my head was already buzzing with "they're staying in the cabin? Together? Married couple! Married couple!" thoughts. I'm far from the only person in the fandom who sees how amazing the dynamic of the intrepid knight and the goofy little jester is.

Smitten x Cold: The dynamic between the dashing romantic who lives off of passion and feeling and the tired and quiet soul who seems to have cut himself off from emotion altogether is too compelling to ignore. The tension just writes itself.

Stubborn x Opportunist: While these two seem pretty different at first glance, I think the fact that both of them are voices who don't know when to quit speaks wonders as to how they might bounce off of each other. One of them solves problems through fists and fighting and the other solves problems through words and deceit---and I think that creates a pretty interesting duo.

Huntcheat: @tai-janai got me hooked. It's actually pretty damn adorable, I dunno what else to say.

(Also, Nightmare is aromantic in pretty much every one of my AUs, and Paranoid is aroace more often than not)