#analysis I guess

[terunosukenyamoto]

One thing I adore about the dungeon meshi kelpie arc is how it delineates the difference between “trained” and “tame” SO WELL. Anne the kelpie was nice around senshi, because he fed her and was always respectful. She was trained to not attack him, effectively. But she’s still a monster/wild animal, so the moment he showed “weakness” by trying to ride her, her instincts kicked in and she attacked. And. You’d think Laois, the resident animal lover, would be upset about having to kill a seemingly tame monster. But he suggests it first. He’s not just an animal lover, he’s a biology nerd, SO HE KNOWS ITS UNSAFE TO BE SO BUDDY BUDDY WITH A CARNIVOROUS WILD ANIMAL!

[phantom-angst-obsession]

No one knows au is so devastating cause Danny is alone. Most of the time his relationship with his friends is either tense or basically gone because he's clearly hiding things from them. He's also like, more insecure because who is there to support him? To reassure he's still loved, ghost or not? No one. He's alone, or at most. has a few ghost friends like frostbite and clockwork depending on the fic, but humans? None, zero, nada. Who tells him that he's not a monster? That he isn't wrong for existing? That Phantom or not, he's still Danny? He might even fall more easily to Vlad's attempts to make him surrender, to hate himself, cause he already does. (If Vlad knows)

Danny's team is important, he'd be so miserable without them and it shows, he needs them. But he also might push them away in his insecurities.

[rikamae]

Dr Stone is a story about progress, humanity, and family. It's about humans needing each other. It's about hope, even in the darkest of times or cruelesr of realities.

Oh, you say it's impossible to be so idealistic? To care enough to save everyone? Well that's too bad you think that way. Because we will find a way for all 7 billion to live together on earth. We will find a solution that brings us together.

Every person is valuable and has inherent worth even if they cannot immediately see it: but Senku will show you. He will make miracles happen, because that's the point of science: to make life a little easier, one small step from zero at a time.

[nokistar]

Honestly the "Yes or No" monologue is iconic for so many reasons but one I don't see brought up is just how relatable it is.

Sometimes someone is out to get you. The system is working against you. Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, you cannot win because it was never designed for you too.

And the most powerful thing you can do is admit it. Let whoever is tormenting you know that you know winning is impossible. That you losing is not your fault.

Sometimes you just have to admit that you were always meant to lose and stop playing their game.

[rocket325]

Shinobu Sensui and Suguru Geto are both characters in my top 3 villains list which makes sense due to the fact that they're both so similar, in fact Gege Akutami has admited to being inspired by Sensui when creating Geto. However, I find myself liking them for different reasons.

With Geto what I like most about him is his relationship to Gojo and his fall to evil. When we first see Geto (at least not Psuedo-Geto/Kenjaku) it's in JJK 0, we see him at possibly the height of evilness: he hates non-sorcerers to the point of calling them all "monkeys" therefore disregarding them all as uncivilized yet he benefits off their money, in fact he hates them so much that on Christmas Eve he starts the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons which results in the death and injuries of multiple civilians in Japan and despite not hating them he's willing to kill Yuta, Panda, and Inumaki to achieve his goal of getting Rika to succeed in the Night Parade of 100 Demons (keep in mind he considers Maki to be a "monkey") But we also see that he was close to Gojo and in a way is still friendly to him, he doesn't seem to consider him as an enemy per say just someone in the way of achieving his goal. Not to mention we do see that Geto isn't entirely evil and does care for sorcerers with his two "daughters"(forget their names right now)

Sure all the things I mentioned above are interesting and are good for villain but if Geto was only in JJK 0 I don't see him making my top 5 Villains list.

What makes me put Geto in my top 3 villains lost is seeing his fall in the Hidden Inventory Arc. We see at the start of this arc that Geto's ideals are a complete 180 of how they were in JJK 0, instead of hating them, he believes that non sorcerers need to be and should be protected by sorcerers. We see the peak of his and Gojos relationship as well. However, as the arc progresses we get to see his decline. When he and Gojo are tasked with protecting and escorting the star plasma vessel, Riko to Tengen we see how the care for making her last day on special while protecting her from everyone trying to kill her. It even gets to the point where Geto gives Riko the choice to continue living her life and she is about to accept the offer but then she's killed by Toji Fushiguro, a man with no cursed energy. What further hammers the nail is when Geto and Gojo are carrying Rikos dead body and the entire crowd reacts with applause.

It then time skips to a year later, Gojo is only getting stronger, Shoko is a healer, but Geto isn't progressing at all and he's clearly in a bad mental state, He goes around absorbing curses which from what we're told taste terrible. We see his conversation with Haibara and how his ideals match Getos at the start of the arc and how Geto wishes he could go back to thinking that way. His conversation with Yuki further causes him to believe all non-sorcerers have to be removed. Then there's the conversation at the KFC(?) with Gojo the every famous "Are you the strongest because you're Saturo Gojo or are tou Saturo Gojo because you're the strongest." line. This conversation clearly has a deep impact on Gojo and he doesn't want Geto to go down this path. The final thing that hammers the nail into the coffin is how his "daughters" (again forget theor names and ik they're not biologically related) were being treated in their village.

As for Sensui, while his fall to evil is certainly interesting that wasn't what made his my favorite anime villain of all time. What I personally find more interesting is his parallel to Yusuke, his inability to realize the grey between the black and white, his refusal to truly believe the fact that it's him Shinobu Sensui doing all of these bad things therefore making different personalities just to runaway from it, his searching for a meaningful death especially after having only 2 weeks left to live, how the "fake" Sensui Seven represents the 7 deadly sins, and how the "real" Sensui Seven represents the 7 deadly sins.

In short I love both of these characters especially as villains and think they're amazing written. I also want to note that whenever I referring to my "top villains" I meant anime villains, I personally like villains such as Bane, Two-Face, Darth Maul, and Darth Vader a bit more but both Sensui and Geto are in my top ten villains of all time list. If you want to know the other villain in my top 3 anime vilalins it's Cell, certainly not as well written as the other two but I think he has a cool concept and love how he is the embodiment of a perfectionist complex

[ankles-be-bitten]

i can't get over how royally the ineffable husbands managed to fuck things up but it literally couldn't have gone any other way.

so many spoilers for good omens 2 ahead <3

i know it's been done to death but i've got so many thoughts about their dynamic. like what the hell. but at the same time, i personally believe this was the only way it could've gone. obviously, if the metatron hadn't been involved, it would've gone much smoother, but our boys can't control him. he may as well be the weather.

crowley is an optimist. you can see that clearly in how he's certain how aziraphale will respond to his confession. he's sure he'll get his thoughts out, all will be well, they'll go out for an extremely alcoholic brunch at the ritz. he knows aziraphale loves him, he's barely even worried about it until the time actually comes.

which is why it's so utterly heartbreaking that aziraphale interrupted him, but as frustrating as it is, it's SO in character. it's especially evident in season 2 that it's almost always crowley listening to aziraphale, humoring him and his interests. hell, he even says it himself in the coffee shop: aziraphale frequently calls on him just to tell him about good things he's done or accomplishments he's proud of. and that's great! it's wonderful that crowley cares about aziraphale's interests and accomplishments, as much as he might feign indifference or even disapproval (as with the magic tricks). but the inverse is literally unheard of. to be fair, crowley and aziraphale are very different people with different emotional needs, but crowley acknowledges in Every Day as he's preparing to confess that he's not much of a talker, he needs to say what needs to be said right now, or it's never gonna happen. he has a need and that need is not being met, which in isolation feels INSANE for aziraphale. he's so aware of the wants and needs of those around him, highly empathetic, and receptive to others' emotions--but i noticed a bit of a pattern.

consider his behavior in scotland with elspeth and dalrymple. he readily condemns elspeth to hell, ignores the absurdity of his statements about poverty and purity, and if i remember correctly he harbored much of the same sentiment towards mr. dalrymple, that is, until he realized why they were doing what they were doing. it wasn't until the boy with the tumor was humanized to him that he realized exactly why the cadavers were needed, which created the pathway needed for him to empathize with elspeth. he's kind and generous towards maggie because he's known her all her life, she's a real person to him. aziraphale doesn't naturally empathize with people he doesn't really connect with, which i'm guessing is a byproduct of his time in heaven. the only real outlier i can name is job and his family, which can pretty easily be chalked up to aziraphale having a deep respect for the man and his devotion to the god he, too devoutly served.

so then why isn't he as receptive towards crowley's needs? they've known each other for thousands if not millions if not billions of years, a far cry longer than aziraphale knew maggie or elspeth--not to mention the fact that he never knew the boy with the tumor at all. they've seen everything together; aziraphale has undoubtedly seen crowley at his very lowest, so why does it seem like he doesn't care at all about what crowley has to say in Every Day?

my guess is that it boils down to crowley being closed off emotionally, hidden behind his veil of sarcasm and dry humor. aziraphale saw elspeth, wee morag, maggie, job, and even technically the boy with the tumor at their most vulnerable. he saw them at their most human.

but he just doesn't see crowley that way. in his mind, crowley is an entirely separate entity. he doesn't cry to aziraphale about having to live in his car or his plants having brown spots. he's often incredibly indirect, sometimes painfully so, to the point where aziraphale frequently doesn't get the point until it's much too late, like with elspeth and wee morag. aziraphale is a creature of habit, and he just isn't used to what crowley has to say being urgent or time sensitive, it all unravels itself eventually, why should this be different? yes, crowley did say outright that it needed to happen now, but aziraphale had just been given what he saw as the opportunity of eternity for both of them. no more would it be "too late," they would have all the time in the world--more, even. whatever crowley had to say in that moment couldn't possibly be more important than eternity together.

and so he did what he's always done. he went straight to crowley to tell him about the Good Thing that's happened, this time for both of them, and the offer really hit a nerve, perfectly illustrating the way crowley was not being fulfilled in the relationship with a finality that honestly just made him snap. why on earth would he want to become an angel again? he'd never expressed an interest in that, often being vocal about the opposite, albeit in his vague manner; yet another example of aziraphale learning his lesson all too late. aziraphale didn't hear or really see crowley at all, and maybe he never had. maybe he didn't know he needed to.

that kiss was crowley's last ditch attempt to get aziraphale to see him, really see him, as a person with emotional wants and needs. one fabulous kiss and we're good, right?

maybe not. but i think so. much like the story behind the tumor in dalrymple's office was the catalyst aziraphale needed to see elspeth, i think the kiss was the catalyst aziraphale needed to see crowley. that level of emotional vulnerability we had only seen from crowley when he thought aziraphale was gone forever in s1, and aziraphale didn't even realize that was about him.

but he knows now, and i think he'll do better going forward. he is capable of learning from his mistakes, i think we've more than proven that by now, and it's almost always crowley that enables that change. you can see in his eyes after the kiss how incredibly conflicted he is, and i'll be damned if a good portion of that isn't kicking himself for not really being there for crowley, even if he doesn't consciously realize that's what the issue is at that point. there is almost definitely guilt in those eyes; michael sheen knows what he's doing. for once in his life crowley was clear and direct about what he meant and what he wanted and aziraphale was so absorbed in what he wanted, not just in that moment but throughout their entire friendship, that he maybe genuinely had no clue about that facet of crowley's character.

i really don't know what's going on with him in the elevator at the end and i'm not too keen on speculating about that at this time, but whatever it is i'm sure it'll reveal itself in due time. to be honest i don't know that it's anything to do with crowley at all, and therefore may not even be relevant to this post, which is already very long and rambly.

i would absolutely love to discuss this further and to hear insight from others. i'm new to tumblr so i don't expect much visibility, but if you get this far and have thoughts about this do please share!

[chaoticlycharlie]

I feel like out of the origin characters, Astarion and Shadowheart, being the ones who you can be poly with is interesting. If BG3 came out years ago I feel those two would've been the 2 'bisexual option' characters. Shadowheart feels like she falls into a lot of the tropes of the 90 or 00s goth gf, while astarion feels like he's more falling into queercoded villain tropes.

[justnuggz]

Theory: Cindy has BPD?

So, I was bored and for some reason I started thinking about Cindy's personality and why does she act the way she does? So I started thinking about some personality disorders and it seems she has BPD(Obviously I'm not a professional to diagnose), If you don't know the main symptoms, these are the nine main symptoms:

1. Fear of abandonment.

2. Unstable relationships.

3. Unclear or shifting self-image.

4. Impulsive or self-destructive behaviors.

5. Extreme emotional swings.

6. Chronic feelings of emptiness.

7. Explosive anger.

8. Feeling suspicious or out of touch with reality.

9. Suicidal thoughts or behavior.

Out of nine main symptoms, Cindy has six. Cindy is afraid of abandonment, have you ever stopped to think about why she jumps from one relationship to another? Probably because she's afraid of being abandoned, Cindy literally bullies Lily because Billy dumped her (or didn't want to date her) which makes sense, as this proves the point of the fear of abandonment. Unstable relationships, Let's go back to the point of dating, Cindy changes boyfriends all the time and generally has unbalanced relationships and jumps from one person to another. Cindy has a distorted image of herself, she sees herself as a wonderful person and often jumps from relationship to relationship because of this distorted view of herself. Impulsive behaviors, when she finds out that the janitor killed her dog, she kills him without thinking about the consequences, in kg1 In her mission, if you throw the bucket of blood at her instead of Lily, she impulsively runs away instead of thinking about cleaning herself up, which causes her death. Extreme mood swings, Cindy changes emotions very quickly if the protagonist doesn't agree to play house with her and kills the protagonist (if I'm not mistaken) and she becomes extremely enraged by finding out that the janitor killed her dog instead of gradually feeling bad (I agree with Cindy on this one, if I found out that a school janitor killed my dog I would be furious). Chronic feelings of emptiness, this one isn't very obvious, but in the creature feature mission, Cindy feels very empty when the protagonist puts gum in Penny's hair, as if it doesn't make sense to her more. The other symptoms are unclear, but if I were to say whether Cindy has BPD or not, I would probably say it is likely, It is true that there is a substantial correlation between child maltreatment and the onset and severity of BPD. The onset of BPD is frequently associated with childhood trauma, which includes abuse, neglect, or other traumatic events, and I really think that Cindy at some point experienced some level of child abuse. Some signs of BPD may exist earlier in life, the disorder usually manifests itself more in late adolescence or early adulthood. BPD is frequently diagnosed in adulthood since the complete diagnostic criteria typically require a certain level of maturity and stability to appropriately assess. In my opinion, Cindy may have BPD, but she probably won't be diagnosed until early adulthood. To be honest, I've always been bothered by Cindy's mental state and always suspected something was wrong, but today I finally did some research and spoke up about something that was in my brain since I joined this fandom and saw the way Cindy acted.

[wixiany]

I've been reading through the byler tag a lot in the last two days. One thing that really makes me stop is Mike and what his sexuality could be. On one hand, there is his whole relationship with El, then there is always the possibility of bisexuality. But what I've read in the tag and the byler master slides and now fully believe is that Mike is actually gay but heavily repressing it all. If it proves to be true, then Mike will be the best portrayal of comphet I have ever seen in media. And even if it is not confirmed, in my eyes, it is clearly there.

You could argue that it is just my interpretation, and that is fine. But for some context why I relate so much and think the comphet is so obvious: I grew up in a tiny town, in a country where nobody talked much about lgbt stuff as I was growing up. My parents never told me about it. I had no idea liking women was an option. I figured out I was a lesbian when I was 19. And the thing is, I have always had a crush on some guy. I picked the first one in kindergarten and then had one all the time. But in retrospect, I can now recognize signs that I always liked women more. But I simply didn't understand it. Every girl around me was getting boyfriends, talking about boys and crushes, so I always had one too. But to be fair, I did kind of like those boys. They were smart and funny and nice to talk to. Some I never talked to more than once. I was a kid. I didn't even think about stuff like kissing and such. Until the intimacy became a real option and I panicked, but more to that later.

Here, I think of Mike and El. I'm sure others have explained it better than me. She's there, he helps her. He cares about her, he thinks it could be love. She is the one who usually initiates and he goes with it. It's what's expected of him. And he might have been excited at first, which is perfect comphet to me. That's comphet. You are so brainwashed by everything you've been seeing your entire life that you think that's it. But then Mike gets a bit older, the relationship gets more demanding, more intimate (I'm not sexualizing them, you know what I mean) and suddenly we see him getting all stiff with the kisses. I've been through this too, when I was still figuring myself out. I went on a couple of dates with this guy and when we hugged it didn't feel right. When he asked to hold hands, I did, because I thought that after a month of chatting and three dates that was something you should do. And when he wanted to kiss me on the second and the third date, I couldn't. I literally said a quick goodbye and fled to my car. That day I texted him I just didn't feel the same and to stop going out, but inside I finally knew that I was never going to be comfortable doing anything like that with a guy. But it took me 19 long years to figure that out because of comphet.

So no, I wouldn't say that it's far-fetched to think that Mike and El were just a childhood romance that was never going to last. You grow up and you change, find yourself. Maybe I'm projecting and totally wrong, but if you struggled with comphet, I would guarantee that you can see yourself reflected in Mike. Not to mention the way he treated Will after he arrived in Cali. It was very odd to his character. Unless you look at it with a similar lense. He isn't ready to accept who he is. For plethora of reasons. It is definitely a narrative choice to have him acting like that.

I would say that a casual viewer would not really pick up on this stuff, but a queer viewer? Oh, we do. It actually makes me tear up reading some other theories and such because to me, it is there. That comphet, that inner struggle with accepting who you are versus who you are supposed to be, what your parents and friends expect you to be.

Or it's queerbait and I'm reading too much into this. It's late, idk.

[valebard]

i really believe that the best character route for nancy is to end up with robin. none of this jonathan or steve shit, both of those pairings have had their issues and dont make sense considering how nancy’s relationships with both boys have gone.

nancy being with steve was like the ultimate status quo, and she wasn’t happy with it, especially near the end but those threads were loosening all throughout S1. when she ends up with jonathan, things are pretty great until S3. jonathan constantly told her to, essentially, stick to the status quo at the newspaper - while he kind of acknowledged it sucked for nancy he didnt fully support her and it felt like he would have rather preferred it if she had been quiet and sucked things up and didnt try to go and make her own path in the sexist and restrictive environment of that newsroom. this relationship is especially shown they are not going to last considering S4 - they wouldn’t talk to each other and be honest about what they wanted, and most telling is that they kind of just stopped even talking about the other maybe halfway through.

even though steve has changed drastically since S1, and maybe he was right about if he had gone through this change before getting together with nancy they would have been very long-term. however, steve’s dream life is not nancy’s. he wants like 6 kids, and we can see how put off nancy is when she is told this.

meanwhile, we have seen robin be fully supportive of nancy and even seems to share and fuel her desires to seek the truth and try things out. robin props her up for her accomplishments, she seeks things out with nancy and has been proven to have a similar drive for knowledge, and she tries really hard to communicate things with nancy. these aspects were missing from nancy’s previous (and ongoing) relationships with steve and jonathan.

to me, it seems nancy has been constantly struggling with the status quo. she went along with it in S1, she rejected it in S2-3 because she was not happy with it and realized she needed change, and finding a partner in robin would help cement her position in wanting change and more autonomy as well as being supported in these endeavors. of course, it helps that robin and nancy have far more chemistry than nancy’s past relationships ever did, and they are shown to grow much closer and supportive than steve or jonathan were.

steve may have changed to be such a great person and overall character, and i love the man, but his dream is not nancy’s. it does not fit her at all, and neither does the improved steve (relationship-wise). robin, however, matches what nancy wants in a partner and encourages her need for change and cementing a place for herself in the world that others cant change.

[eastern-lights]

Dune and the Ian Malcolm Rule of Writing Prequels

The Dune prequels have irked me for some time. I read them and immediately felt that there was something iffy about them, something that goes beyond quality of writing. Finally, I have concluded that they are a prime example of what happens if you break what I like to call “The Ian Malcolm Rule of Writing Prequels”, which basically says that just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should do it.

Part 1 - Victor Atreides or “Surely they would have mentioned something like this”

The trouble with prequels is that you can’t make the events too impactful if they aren’t mentioned and elaborated on in the original text. That would cause a dissonance between the importance of the event and the characters’ apparent obliviousness of it. This can be avoided to a degree if you go the Clone Wars route and base a prequel around a throwaway line like “You fought in the Clone Wars?” that isn’t the primary focus of the conversation. Obi-Wan not elaborating on all the misadventures he had during the Clone Wars feels natural, because him and Luke have more important things to talk about at the moment.

The Prelude to Dune Trilogy is a different story, though. There are many examples of events that by all rights should be important enough to get a mention out of the characters by the time of the original Dune, but I would like to focus on the most glaring one: Victor Atreides, Leto’s firstborn son by his first concubine, a son that tragically died before Paul was born. There is nothing in Dune that outright says that Leto did not have another partner and another son before Jessica and Paul. But that doesn’t mean it makes sense. In House Harkonnen, Leto watches his son Victor die in an explosion that was meant for him. Come Dune, an assassination attempt is made on Paul, and we get a vivid description of Leto’s feelings on the matter, no less than 4 pages. Surely, if he had lived through a similar experience before, if he had lost a son before in such a similar fashion, he would have remembered Victor at that moment. He would have cursed himself for allowing such a tragedy to almost happen again. But he does not, because he did not lose a son before. Because Frank Herbert clearly meant for Paul to be his first and only son. Victor’s very existence feels weird, because it feels unnatural that Leto wouldn’t have given a single thought to his dead son even as he almost lost another. 

Part 2 - Death of the Old Duke or “Watch Out for That Symbolism”

All that we know about Leto’s father from the original Dune is that he raised his son to be cold and ruthless, and that he died while fighting a bull. The manner of his death is deeply symbolic and way more important than it may seem. Paulus Atreides (the name was given in the prequels, but I’m gonna use it anyway, because the alternative is Dune Encyclopaedia’s ‘Minotauros’ and I sure as hell ain’t calling him that) died completely unnecessarily, while showing off his strength. He did not have to fight bulls. That we know, because Leto never did, so it clearly wasn’t some super important unbreakable tradition. Paulus risked his life because he was proud and he wanted to keep up appearances. Now, why does Leto come to Arrakis, knowing full well what danger awaits him there, rather than take his family into exile? He is too proud to admit defeat. He would rather risk his life and fight against all odds than lose face before the Landsraad by refusing the Emperor’s order. And he suffers the same fate as his father. Arrakis was Leto’s bull. Denis Villeneuve understood this, and that is why in the 2021 movie, Leto dies underneath the head of the very bull that killed his father.

The prequels throw all that symbolism out the window by having the bull be drugged into a killing frenzy by an assassin, and implying that if it weren’t for the assassin, Paulus would have won. That takes away from the moral lesson about pride and risk-taking that Leto failed to learn until it was too late.

Now, I understand that there needed to be some drama and conflict in the prequels. The way they’re written, that conflict comes from Paulus having been killed on the orders of Leto’s mother Helena, something that Leto knows but has to ignore, because otherwise he would have to order his own mother’s execution, something that a) he can’t bring himself to do and b) would make him incredibly unpopular with the people. To preserve the bull’s head symbolism, why not have the conflict come instead from Helena becoming protective of her son, terrified to lose him as she had her husband, and Leto clashing with her because he feels that as the new Duke, he needs to show the same strength and bravery as his father? Maybe he would also have inner conflict, because he realizes that his father risking his life in an arena was stupid, but he also admires Paulus, and wants to match him? It is already hinted at in Dune that Paulus’ shadow still looms over Leto. There is so much conflict to be had even without uprooting the themes of the original.

Part 3 - Mistrusting Jessica or “There is such a thing as too much of a good thing”

Many fans would probably agree that one of the most beautiful and most tragic aspects of Dune is the strain that is put on Leto and Jessica’s relationship, how all of us could merely watch in horror as the two drifted further and further apart, even as we, who as the readers knew all their inner thoughts, were completely aware of just how much they loved each other. I suspect the authors of the prequels tried to evoke the same emotions by having them drift apart to the point of divorce not once, but twice, and each time because Leto suspected her of treachery. At one point, he even holds a knife to her throat (!) (#NotMyLeto, #MyLetoHasAngerIssuesButNotThisMuchFfs). Again, there is nothing in the original that outright states that they haven’t had problems in the past, but consider Leto’s reaction when Thufir Hawat suggests that Jessica might be the traitor they are looking for:

(abridged) “I see.” Leto shook his head, thinking: There can’t be anything to it. I know my woman. “My lord, if-” “No!” the Duke barked, “There is a mistake here that-” “We cannot ignore it, my Lord.” “She’s been with me for sixteen years! There’ve been countless opportunities for-- It’s impossible, I tell you!” The Duke’s shoulders slumped. He closed his eyes, looking old and tired. It cannot be. She has opened her heart to me.

These are not the thoughts of a man who had such suspicions of his lover before. He goes through all the stages of grief, except for acceptance, because despite everything Thufir brings forth as evidence, in the end, he still trusts Jessica more than himself. I find it very hard to believe that he would be this hurt and deny the very idea of betrayal so vehemently if he had been through something like that before. He sounds exactly how you would expect him to sound if he really did not have a single reason to doubt Jessica throughout their entire relationship.

The romantic plotline of the prequels should have focused on them slowly building this incredible bond of trust, instead of breaking it over and over again. Instead of creating arbitrary conflict between Leto and Jessica in every single book, the prequel authors should have shown us their love at its peak, so that its deterioration in Dune would hit us that much harder.

Conclusion (Finally)

Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson somehow managed to make their prequels both too similar to the original (by recycling plot points, thereby diluting the original) and too different (by straight up inserting characters and events that don’t fit in with the original). I have mentioned before on this blog that few things upset me more than wasted potential in a book, and I stand by this. Leto Atreides and Jessica are very popular characters in the fandom, and many people would love to read more books with them as the protagonists. But the authors simply tried to make the prequels too big, too dramatic and packed to the brim with events that are seem too impactful not to be mentioned in the original. Prelude to Dune and the Caladan Trilogy should have been smaller, more personal stories. The story of a young man struggling to rule a planet after his father died for nothing is compelling enough. So is the story of a woman caught between her loyalty to an order that raised her and her love for a man who was perhaps the first person in her life to show her genuine kindness. We did not need a great tragedy like Victor’s death, nor a great betrayal like Helena’s plot. It would have been enough to depict what has been hinted at in the original, no more and no less.

[counting-stars-gayly]

It’s time we accept that Percy Jackson is an unreliable narrator. He’s not dumb. He’s just insecure. He’s not clueless about his and Annabeth’s feelings. He’s just in denial. He’s not clueless about Rachel’s feelings. He just doesn’t want to do anything about them. His mother isn’t perfect. He just loves and respects her more than anyone in the world. That boy contradicts his own inner monologue all the time. Do not trust him!!

EDIT: Please don’t interact just to disagree. You can make your own post.

[pandagirl45]

Steve and Tony are the sunlight and rhodey bucky get their hands red for them.

Steve and Tony are blinding that if someone touch them they get burns. The moonlights don't get burn but they bright too.

Rhodey and bucky want to touch the other sunlight.

Steve sunlight is a warm and powerful summers day. A long but fruitful day. Tony sunlight is heavy, bearing down in the desert. Both sunlights provide life at different levels. Together they can cause the scorching of earth (they are friends so everything can be on fire).

Their respective moonlights, rhodey lights the entire desert up where it wants to be lit. Visibly hard to define the flatness under the light. Bucky the winter moonlight, bright as well, giving a path in the winding woods that once was grace with the sunlight. Yet, both are very cold, dark, and forboding. The danger emerges, the snaking paths form.

Bucky: your sun, does he likes flowers? We have a lot but I am not sure what he would like.

Rhodey: if you tell me your sun likes animals? We don't have many. Most are angry

Their sunlight, the warmth that can burn, talk up their moonlights to each other.

Yes. I am a geek for this trope. They have bears, Ironmen and supersoldiers, light and shadow, red and gold with black and silver. Blue and gunmetal. They got a little good in their darkness. They got a little darkness in their good. The suns and moons. Protector of life and the protector of those protector. The front facing pillars and their surly shadows.

Yes, these tropes got me messed up. I am a sucker for this. Swoon at it, because I love this.

Yes, if I throw clint in with Natasha, it's a triple threat. Why mess with their sunshine? Their warm light. Why do it?

Clint, Steve and Tony out shopping, and there is three ominous shadows glaring anyone down. One friendly ominous. One outright ominous. One calmly ominous. Don't try to guess, they will switch it up on you.

[nokistar]

Thinking about how good Frontiers did Amy and how it shows Sonamy is just PEAK characterization for both of them.

Amy doesn't just love Sonic, she has a deep and personal love for everyone in the world. You can see this in Adventure with Gamma and Adventure 2 with Shadow. She sees the good in everyone and wants to bring that out.

Sonic does too, but he's much more focused on protecting people because he can. He's willing to give people chances, time after time. He wants people to be good, but wants them to get there themselves.

Amy loves Sonic, at first because it's destined by the stars and her readings, but then Amy gets to know Sonic and see the hero he is and falls in love with him for who he is. Sonic, though, just sees her as a clingy girl who gets herself into trouble at first. But then the Adventure duology happens and he sees her kindness and learns how her caring for people has been so instrumental in those adventures.

But Sonic isn't good with his emotions, he doesn't spend too long on any one idea. Always on the run and such. He's already decided Amy is just a clingy girl and it takes a while for his learning of who she really is to catch up to him.

And by that point? Amy's a badass! She's not on his level, but she can help! She can fight badniks, she can do what she can to help others! She's a hero in her own right now!

And there's that tragic element. Sonic now sees who Amy really is and he realizes they are so similar! But Amy's way of helping people takes time and Sonic is, again, always on the move.

Then Frontiers happens. Amy decides not to move on from Sonic, but she realizes she has to go off on her own. Stop following in his footsteps so she can be the best hero she can and spread her love with the world, just as she and Sonic have never been closer. She's been directly invited to an adventure. She's finally keeping up with him!

It sucks and it's gonna hurt both of them, but this is who they are and they wouldn't change each other because their willingness to do this for the benefit of the world is why they love the other.

It's a good, somewhat tragic romance. They can still be together, but not as much as they'd like.

Sonamy good. Sonic Frontiers good.

I need to write a Sonamy fic or five.

[pesky--dust]

the "diagnosis" Chilton gave Will during his trial was the one closest to the truth ("Will Graham has never been diagnosed. He won't allow anyone to test him. He has carefully constructed a persona to hide his real nature from the world. He wears it so well, even Jack Crawford couldn't see past it. (...) There is not yet a name for whatever Will Graham is.")

unlike Alana Bloom or Jack Crawford, he saw what a manipulator Will was and that in front of them he played a poor, confused, wounded bird ("(...) A particularly-manipulative one at that. Poor, confused, wounded bird for Agent Crawford and Doctors Lecter and Bloom. And for me, well, I get the psychopath's triumvirate: charm, focus and ruthlessness. The charm, of course, being debateable.")

he believed Will that Hannibal may be the Chesapeake Ripper and said Jack Crawford: "Hannibal once served me tongue and made a joke about eating mine. It's hard not to at least consider it.". Jack ignored him. (I think Jack was already planning some large-scale action against Hannibal, but that's a topic for another post)

he called Dr Lecter "Hannibal the Cannibal"

he understood that Will Graham was alive because Hannibal Lecter liked him that way

criticized Jack for letting Will and Hannibal get closer to each other and then leaving Will alone ("You dangle Will Graham and now you cut bait. You are letting Hannibal have him hook, line and sinker.")

when Jack expressed hope that the relationship between Hannibal and Will was one of those friendships that ends after the disemboweling, Chilton told him: "I would argue, with these two, that's tantamount to flirtation. Will is going to lead you right to him." and let's be real, he was right.

[comradekatara]

ty lee is by far the most underrated atla character imo. as far as minor principal players, it’s easy to disregard her as the least fleshed out fire nation kid, the most underdeveloped. her role as a foil to any of the main characters is vague, and many people just assume she’s there to bring some sort of levity and humor to azula’s plotline. she’s dismissed as the pretty ditzy girl, or even (shudders) “the bimbo.” but when you actually make the effort to consider what we do see of her, to extrapolate from her few yet crucial scenes anything regarding her underlying motivations, you quickly realize that one of the most layered, multifaceted, compelling, intriguing, ambiguous, and perhaps even straight up insane characters in the entire show has been hiding in plain sight all along. and also that that’s the entire point.