#and I think he absolutely *could* have changed his destiny by deciding to take a different path from his ancestor

[true-blue-sonic]

I'm fascinated to know more about Silver's relationship with Eggman Nega. Not only is Eggman Nega one of the most evil people in the series with a twisted sociopathic personality that directly contrasts Silver's but his existence means that even in the peaceful future Silver has been fighting a great enemy by himself for a long time.

Eggman Nega is a contested villain for many, but he indeed intrigues me as well. What I find interesting about Eggman Nega is that he clearly is pissed about Eggman's conga line of failures and busted world domination attempts ever since meeting Sonic, the ramifications of which apparently are still noticeable for the Robotniks 200 years later. And instead of trying to move away from his ancestor's legacy and showing the world that he has worth and intelligence galore as his own person, Eggman Nega bitterly links himself to Eggman all the same by seeing his destiny as being denied and doing anything he can to bring a change to it. He and Eggman are so the same it is almost painfully ironically hilarious: they're both impatient and hotblooded manchildren who thinks everything should revolve around them and the world should be grovelling in awe of just how amazing they are, Eggman is simply much more bombastic and allegedly somewhat more rational on top. Meanwhile, the moment the change he desires goes wrong for him, Eggman Nega decides that if he can't have nice things, no-one can...

It's an interesting contrast with Silver and Silver's selflessness. Silver would do anything to help another person, and often puts himself in a position wherein he places world-saving on solely his own shoulders if he can. If you need anything, no matter what it is, Silver will drop all he is doing to aid you. Eggman Nega meanwhile is wicked to his core, and everything he does is for personal benefits only. I find it interesting as well that Silver in Rivals never even hints at there being another force to keep Eggman Nega in line, like GUN or a government or something. It's just this fourteen-year-old fighting against a depraved and unhinged madman whose desire for vengeance can get overshadowed in the blink of an eye with a desire to just destroy everything, solely because he can and wants to. Perhaps that is also a contrast between Eggman Nega and Silver: Silver can be short-sighted and rash, but I was watching the Rivals 1 cutscenes from him yesterday, and he is shrewd. He directly concludes on situations based on the information he has, and he is both correct and his line of reasoning based on what he knows checks out. Silver appears dumb and fool-hearty, but he can be quite the opposite, with a perceptiveness you would not give him if you just came across him. Eggman Nega meanwhile appears very well-put-together and intelligent, giving off the 'always a step ahead' vibes easily. But he tends to oversee small details, talks FAR too much (one time in Rivals he literally says he'll use Metal Sonic (iirc) to buy him time to sneak away), and makes grave mistakes that come back to bite him down the line due to simply being careless. To generalise, Silver appears dumb but is not, Eggman Nega appears intelligent but is not.

As for the future, Eggman Nega seems to be someone who always comes back from the brink, just like Eggman: I get the feeling he might not be stuck in the Ifrit's dimension anymore, and if he goes back to Silver's era it will be with a vengeance. But I also think Silver is willing to carry that burden if it means the world will be safe. In Rivals he seems to have been archnemeses with Eggman Nega a long time (or at least he's been chasing after Nega a long time, iirc), and I doubt either will ever consider giving up before they got what they wanted!

[iiotic]

How about a fem!reader finding a injured exterminator and wanting to help them out with Charlie,Vaggie and Alastor (Seperated ofc)

(A/N) - Sorry it took so long!! Anyways hope you enjoy <3

Charlie, Vaggie & Alastor with Fem! Reader who wants to help an exterminator

TW - Ep 6 Spoilers, mentions of death and blood, swearing.

༻༉Alastor:

You and Alastor were taking your daily stroll around town however today was different. The extermination ended about 30 minutes ago.

Alastor noticed your change in mood as you sensed that something was wrong. He asked you, multiple times if you were okay but you just didn't know what was causing you this feeling??

After 10 minutes of your walk you both decided to go back to the hotel. But something catched your eye; Exterminators mask. You informed Alastor about your newest discovery, walking up to it.

You suddenly tripped over something or rather someone tripped you. As Alastor was helping you get up, you turned your head in the direction of the mask. You were truly shocked seeing what was laying before you.

An exterminator.

You told Alastor that you didn't want it to lay alone here and suffer. You told him that you want to take care of it and he surprisingly supported your idea. But little did you know that he didn't care about helping them at all.

After the exterminator was transported intro the hotel, more specifically to his radio station. No one must know about this. You bandaged it's wounds as it was heavely injured during the extermination or the fall? You couldn't tell.

You left the hotel shortly after, having to continue on your daily activities leaving Alastor and the sleeping exterminator all alone. You really thought that you left them in good hands but you were just oh so wrong.

Alastor always craved to know how that kind of meat tasted like. He absolutely devoured them, leaving nothing behind. He finally fulfilled one of his destinys.

When you came back he just told you they ran away upon seeing him! And you believed him because why would be be lying about something like that?

‧꒰ა Charlie:

She totally supports the idea!! I think that she would be the first one to suggest taking care of them. Of course you first had the thought of doing it but she beat you to it.

Cares, helps and supports the exterminator like they were her child. She would bring them breakfast to one of the hotel rooms she gave them everyday.

When you say you want to do something for the exterminator she already did it.

Charlie wants to get some of the informations out of them. Is redemption actually possible? What does a sinner have to do to get into heaven? Is heaven filled with cotton candy and love and care and..????

She was quite disappointed when the exterminator said that they didn't know any of that crap.

She was also surprised when they started swearing at her face at first. Like I didn't know you could do that?? Doesn't heaven have strict rules?

She prolly got bored of the exterminator after it didn't do anything to help her and her hotel but no one must know that!!

༉‧ა°.Vaggie:

The extermination ended one hour ago. You and Vaggie decided to take a walk to see if the city was really looking that bad and if there's anything left behind the exterminations.

You could see the surprise in her eyes when you yelled her name to show her what or rather who you found in the alley.

An exterminator; Wings cut off and one arm missing. That moment reminded Vaggie of her past. When Charlie decided to take care of her just like you want to take care of the exterminator laying beside you.

She decided to support your idea and take care of the exterminator though she didn't think it was the best. She would feel guilty if you'd left it there to suffer. Pheraps she could have a little bond moment with them? Get it because she was an exterminator too? Get it? Get it?

You both took the exterminator to the hotel. Everyone was shocked upon seeing what the fuck y'all were doing. Some thought that this was a terrible others not.

Vaggie took care of the exterminator whose name was "Cassie" as you learned. She bandaged her back and her arm. Or at least the spot where the arm suppose to be.

She had a little trauma bonding with the exterminator in private.

After a week of the exterminator or rather Cassie staying at the hotel Vaggie admitted that maybe it was a good idea to take care of them.

[marinareads25]

THOUGHTS ON WHY JACKS IS THE WAY HE IS…

(WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD) So I’ve been thinking a lot about Jacks and how well-written he is as a character. I mean on the surface, his backstory looks simple, but when you really think about it, it is actually so tragic and really puts his attitudes and behaviors into context. The man has truly been going THROUGH IT for CENTURIES and it’s so sad. ALSO, this is just MY interpretation😆😆, I could be 100% wrong LMAO. I apologize, doing this is just my coping mechanism for the Evajacks drought we are currently experiencing. Here are a few things I considered;

The curse is supposed to be IMPOSSIBLE to break.

So we know that his curse is that his kiss is lethal and there is only one girl in the whole world that is immune to it, his one true love. Essentially, Jacks is robbed of ever kissing anyone without consequences. He can do anything he wants, but kissing, which is one of the most intimate and sentimental acts between lovers, is basically corrupted because it inevitably leads to the undoing of the objects of his affection. I mean, sure he can do it, but as long as he actually loves that person (Eva), he holds himself back. The curse is the way it is FOR A REASON. There is only ONE person who he can have a happily ever after with. It is meant to take away CHOICE. It condemns and punishes him with an eternity of loneliness. It is meant to tempt him with attraction and the idea of love, but never allows him to fully embrace it because of its consequences. The curse restrains him. He is meant to get close to love and pleasure, but never too close. In other words, there is only ONE person in the world immune to his kiss because he is NOT supposed to ever find that one person. I mean, what are the odds that you find your one true love in such a vast universe? At the right place and at the right time? And that she loves you back?

The curse irrevocably affects his notions and ideals of love.

I think that after a few lifetimes of being so close enough to touch but never hold, he basically convinces himself that his curse is his destiny. That there really is only one pathway to happily ever after. The lines become blurred and he forgets that his curse is a curse, and instead, simply perceives it as something that is set in stone, and established and completely unwavering. He genuinely believes that he has to make the best out of his situation instead of changing it. So he closes himself off, he refuses to be tempted with love ever again, or hope for something to break his curse. To him, those things are not only unrealistic but a waste of time. Jacks does NOT hope. He hates hope. Because where has that ever gotten him? Absolutely nowhere. He is still cursed. In fact, he is always laughing at Evangeline for being so hopeful about love and happily ever afters and infinite endings (I think by the end of TBONA, he admires her for it, but he does not see the value in her philosophy immediately). In his eyes, there are no infinite endings. If there were, there would be one feasible way to make it work, to find a happily ever after. But no, to him, there is one simple ending for him and he sees it so clearly and vividly and fixed that he cannot ignore it. And so he turns his pain and resentment and hurt into drive. He decides to play into the game of destiny and laugh in its face. He is determined to do the impossible; find his one true love. As we know, Fates are obsessive. So he becomes obsessed with the idea of fulfilling what he now sees as his destiny and not a curse; finding his one true love. In fact, he becomes so obsessive that he starts not giving a fuck about the consequences and will do whatever it takes; kiss as many girls as it takes, play with as many humans as it takes, hurt people, scheme, etc. He does not see himself being capable of having a happily ever after beyond what he thinks is his destiny, which is why he is so determined to go back to Donatella. Even if she doesn't love him. He does not care about that, all he knows is that she is the only person that he will ever be able to have a happily ever after with.

The constant failure in his efforts to break the curse convinces him he is unworthy/incapable of love.

He also starts seeing himself as incapable of love. Not only because he is a Fate or because he is cursed, but he does not believe it’s in his control, he has concluded that his destiny has already been decided. But it’s not only that. The events in the Caraval series are extremely significant. He finally finds his one true love. The ONE person that he can have a happily ever after with and not only does she NOT love him back but also not even a curse/magic can make her love him. This further feeds into his perception of being incapable of love. If not even a curse can make the ONE person that he is supposed to be with, love him, then who will ever love him WILLINGLY and NATURALLY? (Music break: Who could ever leave me darling? But who could stay?🎵🎵🕺)

Which is why he is deeply hurt when Evangeline tells him in The Hollow that they are only feeling that way because of the Mirth stone. He says something along the lines of, so you think you would only ever feel that way about me because of the stone? This brings back his fear of being incapable of experiencing love, not because of the curse, not because of being a fate, but because no one ever will do it out of their own initiative. So he closes off again and that’s why he goes cold again after the incident with the mirth stone. He allowed himself to get lost and entertain the idea of experiencing love with Evangeline for a few days. He allowed himself to imagine and hope that there was another ending, to “pretend” as he said. And it felt so real, it was terrifying to him. Terrifying because it was love but also terrifying because he got a taste of it knowing in his heart he was doomed to never have it or experience it again.

He sabotages himself.

Jacks once said that he was a villain even in his own story, and he really is because he consistently sabotages himself. We know that there is a loophole to every curse and yet he never even entertains the idea of finding it (When Evangeline suggests there might be something for him in the Valory Arch, he says “That’s not how it works.”). He never tries to break his curse, only fulfill it. He never dreams, hopes. He yields to the curse. Every. Single. Time. He refuses to see that he has a degree of free will, no matter how limited. That he does not have to settle for what he thinks destiny has already planned for him. I am NOT saying that he has given up or anything, because WE know the passion and desperation and DRIVE that he has. And he DOES fight against FATE in a way, but I just think all that energy is being channeled in the wrong direction. I think he knows that he COULD dream and hope, but he KNOWS that it takes courage and vulnerability. He KNOWS that to hope and dream is to drop your guard and shield being fully aware that it could end badly, that you could still bleed. He KNOWS that allowing himself to believe in infinite endings HURTS. Because another failure would END him. So he refuses to put himself in a position where he will get hurt. (Music break: I see right through me, I see right through me🎵🎵✨✨✨)

Final Thoughts

In conclusion, he is so babygirl AHAHHA, I love him sm. Anyways, I have an unhealthy attachment to this character and I hope he gets to love and kiss and just be happy with Eva. I really just want him to find peace.

[rius-cave]

You started appearing ALLLLL OVER my fyp! So I decided to ask a Q, (it's not a request btw but u can draw it if it motivates you.) Ahem, I kinda wanna see some Adam angst, why? Cause.. yes. Anywho I had a random idea of like, how would luci react to seeing Adam having a breakdown about his life? I mean I assume Adam might have some self hate and might question everything that is happening in his life right? So I wonder how luci would comfort Adam in said situation. (Also I tend to be the one answering questions for people since im also a artist and idk if i should post on this app- and so this is my first time ASKING so I'm really excited!! Your arts so good keep it up!)

*rubs my little sinner hands together* HO-HO! Welcome, friend! Thank you for asking! I love Adam angst I inject it into my bloodstream every day.

At first, Adam is just fucking pissed at EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE. Lucifer especially, of course. At first, he doesn't even take responsibility, of course. I'd like to think Adam would go through the five stages of grief basically lol. He's in denial, absolutely can't believe it, thinks he'll go back to heaven any second now. He's a prick, he doesn't take anybody's help and flips everyone off, saying he doesn't need any redemption. Then he gets even more angry, like I said, especially at Luci, he's whining and kicking and blaming everyone for his destiny. Then he finally accepts either having a deal with Lucifer, or going to the hotel to try to find some communication with heaven so they can get him out of there. That doesn't work of course, so now his only option is to try and get redeemed. Oh the irony. But then, at night, when no one's looking, he just fucking stands there and thinks about everything that's happened to him. Yes, he is still angry and blames everyone else, but the thought that maybe, just maybe, this might all be his fault, is starting to creep into him. This makes him depressed to no end, but he tries to hide it from the rest of the hotel.

This is when Lucifer notices that he's going through a bad time, and yes, he scolds him some more. But also I think he'd try to get a page from his daughter's book and, begrudgingly, tries to cheer him up and encourage him to give redemption a real try (he was only half assing it until then). He tries to talk to him about the time they spent in Eden, before Lilith was even created. I like to think they had a little bit of a friendship back then, or at least, Lucifer could see some positive attributes in him from afar. He tells him that he just needs to try, and listen, and that soon, he'll understand why these sinners have formed such a tightly bonded family.

Obviously he doesn't exactly change his ways right away. It takes time, effort, a lot of patience, but he starts seeing how caring, fun and good everyone really is. He doesn't realize it, but he wants some of that too, even if he might relapse again and again.

[whatsaudreythinkingabout]

yellowfang thoughts

the more i think about it, the more i realize how much of a deeply, deeply tragic character yellowfang is. everyone talks about how much she fucking sucks after she becomes a starclan cat, and they’re absolutely correct; she goes from the cool grouchy grandma to a complete fucking hypocrite. and for the longest time i thought this was completely OOC for her, but it recently hit me over the head that it might not be. to say that this change in character was intentional would be giving the erins WAY too much credit knowing who they are, but the more you think about her life and what she went through, the more it makes sense in a twisted sort of way.

starclan forced her into a life she never wanted. she wants to train as a warrior, but she is cursed with the power to feel other cats’ physical pain and badgered into becoming a medicine cat by sagewhisker until she gives in. she falls in love with raggedstar, but as as soon as things go south for her he offers no support. when she dares to go against the destiny that was laid out for her, when she continues to meet with him and becomes pregnant by him, starclan punishes her; not just by having two of her kits die, but by condemning the surviving kit to become a tyrant and a child murderer. he turns against his parents; he kills his father and frames his mother for his own crimes not knowing who she truly is, and yellowfang is forced to watch this all unfold from a distance, unable to tell her son the truth and wondering how things could be different if he knew. and finally, for the good of the clans, she has no other choice but to rip out his eyes and then poison him. her own son, the kit she herself bore, dead at her own claws. a cruel twist of fate for a cat who never wanted any of this, who just wanted her own life.

so by the time she gets to starclan, her experiences have changed her. so many innocent lives were lost and the clans were nearly destroyed because she disobeyed, because she went against their will. she even forgives sagewhisker for being so shitty to her because now she’s convinced that she was the one in the wrong and her mentor, a messenger for starclan, was acting in her best interests all along. she’s become so thoroughly traumatized by everything she went through that she decides she cannot let another cat experience what she experienced. now that she’s a part of starclan, she has the power to prevent something like this from ever happening again. but that’s just the thing. she’s a part of starclan. she’s a part of the system now; the very same system that screwed her over. and the system chews people up and spits them out until they become just another cog in the machine. so instead of going to the root of the problem and questioning the level of influence starclan has over living cats, she not only perpetuates the cycle but becomes an active participant in it.

and because firestar is the son she should have had, she sets her sights on his descendants.

she cannot prevent leafpool from bearing kits, as these kits have their own destiny they must fulfill. so she tells leafpool she must give up her kits, just as she had to. she lies to squirrelflight that she will never have kits of her own and that the three are her only chance to be a mother so that she will take them in. when they arrive in starclan moons later, she and others have the audacity to judge whether they are worthy to join their ranks or should be damned to the dark forest for their actions when they not only did exactly what they were told to do, but did the same things that she did and still went to starclan for (though to give her some credit, she is at least more sympathetic than the other judges and even defends them; perhaps out of guilt?). she allows ashfur into starclan on the basis that he “loved too much,” because her relationship with raggedstar warped her view of what healthy love should look like. she forces the kin of firestar’s kin—namely, jayfeather and dovewing—into destinies they want no part of; they’ll learn to love it, just like she did.

and she thinks she’s doing the right thing. she’s learned the hard way that going against starclan will only lead to more suffering. she’s convinced that she’s helping them, that by acting this way she will be able to prevent them from making the same mistakes that she made. but she cannot see that she is only inflicting on other cats the exact same suffering that starclan inflicted on her.

and if that isn’t tragic, i don’t know what is

[oracleofdiscord]

just realized i've never shared my Garmadon Lives AU idea with you guys

it's something i came up with while watching season 5 with @destinysbounty

you know how in season 5, sensei garmadon is trapped in the cursed realm by unbreakable chains? it got me thinking - what if there was a way to break those chains, but it was just beyond what an individual (like lloyd) could do and instead needed to be more of an act of fate?

basically the premise for this au is that morro isnt content with just possessing lloyd, but instead finds a way to actually steal his powers/destiny, becoming the green ninja

but a version of the green ninja who's never actually...fought the Ultimate Battle from the prophecy. and garmadon was kind of a key part of that battle

so destiny itself causes the chains to break in an attempt to set the Ultimate Battle back up for morro to fight, which means that lloyd is able to successfully rescue his father when he goes to the cursed realm

so sensei garmadon comes back! i was picturing him coming back fully because he physically went to the cursed realm, body and all, but i could also seem him coming back as a ghost although in that case i'd need to rename the au

so lloyd and sensei garmadon go to confront morro together (basically the chase-through-the-realms fight from the end of the season), and the fight being 2-against-1 helps balance out the fact that now morro has the green ninja's power

they're able to take lloyd's power back during that fight, and the rest of the season pretty much plays out the same as the original

now, i haven't really decided how this changes season 6 (probably not much) and season 7, but i have absolutely thought about how season 8 exists in this universe.

the sons of garmadon still exist, and harumi is still their leader. but rather than wanting to bring garmadon back from the dead, she wants to bring garmadon back to his old evil self

basically, she thinks this version of garmadon is weak (pretty sure that actually is something said in Garmadon Rulez!) and wants him to go back to what she sees as his stronger self

she still ends up hearing a voice from the mask, but rather than lord garmadon's voice, it's more a general personification of the evil magic in the mask. it promises that it can help her restore the version of garmadon that defeated the devourer

rather than a resurrection spell, harumi gets her hands on a spell that can essentially re-awaken the darkness in an oni's heart

(the reason i say specifically an oni's heart is that i'm picturing the spells being from the same source, and it's all oni-related magic. and also for another reason we'll get to later.)

although having garmadon around and actively trying to stop her once the truth is revealed does make things more difficult, she succeeds in the end, turning sensei garmadon back into lord garmadon

(i'm picturing that playing out in the same order as the resurrection - it's assumed she failed, she gets taken to prison, but then the spell does in fact start working)

from there, everything plays out pretty much the same as in the actual show, with one exception:

surprise! this is also a Mystake Lives AU now!

basically, instead of getting killed when she gets caught by emperor garmadon, she gets the same spell used on her, turning her evil

however, after the oni trilogy, she basically does the same thing as garmadon of going off on her own adventures and vanishing, rather than enacting any grand evil plans

so in season 11, during that part in the ice chapter when sensei wu and p.i.x.a.l. are trying to reach the ninja but don't have enough traveler's tea, they decide to try and track down mystake to see if they can convince her to help

this turns into a little adventure of its own. they do eventually find her, but are unsuccessful in convincing her to help them

however, there are some hints that they might be starting to get through to her and the evilness induced by the spell isn't neccessarily permanent, foreshadowing garmadon's arc during crystalized

and also leaving mystake as a possible future character because it's what she deserves

[radiance1]

Okay, so, I saw your Chaos emeralds DC X Dp prompt and I thought, "What about The Digimentals from digimon 02?" Think about it, they are abstract and embody certain Virtues and concepts tied to them! What if Danny, Sam, and Tucker did the thing with Digimentals instead of the Emeralds! It'd be fun and interesting to think up the Armor evos for them, because they all have different point with each Crest. Like Danny Definitely has a wolf or other big canine for the friendship Digimental due to his protectiveness towards it friends, plus his affinity to Canine ghosts in the show, I'm willing to bet many of his Armor evos would be canine related, like Sincerity would be like a Shinto Fox Priest and Hope would be Canis Major or the Dog star.

-Just incase the ideas of the Digimental are foreign to you? They don't need to be inspired by every concept of the digimental.-Courage: bravery, Reptiles, Sun, Religious beliefs related to sun, dinosaurs, Minor dragon, fire.

-Friendship: standard forest animals, Ice or lightning.

-Love: wind, flying, affection, love towards certain things(abstract, love of home, friends, romance, platonic, Hatred(the negative side of love as it is not its opposite, rather its dark side), native American elements.

-Sincerity: plants and Japanese(shinto and taoism) culture.

-Knowledge: Earth, insects, drills.

-Reliability: water, aquatic life(natural or mythical) and or combined with aquatic craft(vehicles).

-Kindness: friendliness, compassion, Cutelike, Red Gloves for some reason.

-Light: Egyptian myth, Angel like wings.

-Hope: stars, Greek mythology, constellations, zodiac.

-Miracles: fairly abstract one, mainly golden armor, (possible ideas be like divine beings, or even imbodiments of a miracle or being able to bring out certain miracles, like a Djinn). Or being able to do something conceivably impossible, like becoming a Flying Elephant!

-Fate/destiny: similar to miracles, gold armor, being able to affect fate in some way, change the fate of others, to control your own destiny.

I'm sorry, I've been looking at this anyway I can and can't, really, think of much for this...

But imagine Constantine getting absolutely dogpiled by three teens just because he breathed wrongly around them while the big three is calmly sipping tea with one of said teens parents.

Constantine is out here magicking his life away, not knowing what he even did wrong, all because three kids decided to just ruin his day.

And you know what? They did indeed, effectively ruin his day even harder than it was already.

Meanwhile, Batman is done in the Fenton lab, stoic face yet marveling at the technology they managed to make with household items and limited amounts of money.

Wonderwoman is fisting fighting sentient food and wondering if she could find a way to take these home, while Clark is just sitting there being there pretty and talking with Jack Fenton.

Of course, Superman and Wonderwoman can hear Constantine fighting for his life, but its like, whatever.

[ohanny]

the gif of destiny landed on bad romance again so I present to you...

the one where kenta and kim bring out the absolute worst in each other

they start sleeping together while kim is still under red racing, both smelling trouble and thinking maybe this could help them solve it. kim knows something is off with the team and their sponsor and sees kenta as his way in. kenta knows kim is too opinionated and won't take no for an answer and with tony breathing down his neck about keeping the new racer in check, kenta does the math and decides sexing kim up might work better than outright threatening him.

then the kimnap and auction happen and tony dies. kenta’s in prison but gets out through whatever insane means change is gonna spring on us and circumstances push kim and kenta into each others’ orbits again.

they really don't like each other. kim thinks kenta is a bad person and being pathetic about it doesn't excuse all that he's done. kenta thinks kim is an insufferable hypocrite judging everyone on top of his high horse.

but fuck if the sex wasn't really good.

maybe they have no use for each other anymore but they can always use sex to punish and hurt each other. everyone can see they're a toxic combination and try their best to keep them from interacting but… well. there is something nice about being able to go full masks off and be the unkindest, worst version of yourself without the fear of it ruining things and over the time it twists them up until they need each other. they hate it but try as they might - and they do try - no one else compares.

give me sonic setting kim up and kenta crashing kim’s date, staring at him from the bar. kim spends the whole dinner being the perfect, charming gentleman only to fuck kenta nasty in his car five minutes after saying goodbye. give me kenta taking a weekend trip with pete to the beach to visit one of the kids they already rescued. when he comes home kim is sitting on his couch, petting his cat, viciously mocking kenta for thinking pete could ever want him only for kenta to gleefully throw the fact he did in fact sleep with pete back at kim’s face as kim pushes him down on his knees.

[metvmorqhoses]

did aleksandr ask for alina's consent before installing the stag collar on her body? if he didn't, isn't that a form of assault?

A form of violation and betrayal, yes. A form of rape-y act directly against Alina out of some sort of inner perverted evil as they are constantly painting it (even continuously implying Aleksander is the most responsible for what happened to Genya), absolutely no. It's disgusting and disrespectful towards his character.

It's difficult to pinpoint what exactly bothers me about this particular and continuously stressed metaphor in the show, but I'll do my best to explain.

For book!Darkling the matter is a bit different and the justification for his actions is more pragmatic and less personal, but Aleksander in the show is an immortal being constantly carrying with him hundreds of years of excruciating pain, loneliness and heartbreak, a still very present and very painful humanity, for the sake of trying again and again to save his persecuted people. He lost everyone and everything, repeatedly, but the old abusing mother that loathes him and that he nevertheless stubbornly loves. He is resigned to this living eternal hell, because he believes he has a noble and selfless mission to accomplish. The only problem is that, no matter what he does, no matter his efforts, he simply doesn't possess the right kind of power to "change the world".

Then, many centuries down the line, a miracle happens. Not only a miracle that could put an end to all wars, a forced perpetual peace (this is what he wanted to do weaponizing the Fold, forcing all the countries to stop all conflict at gunpoint), but a miracle that could mean to him specifically the end of his personal solitude and despair.

So, he tries to do his best to give this girl everything he would have needed as a young boy and was denied to him, someone who believed in her, someone who taught her, someone who could make her feel her worth and unique destiny, someone who assured her she was not alone. But since of course he has a duty, he thinks, towards Ravka and his people, since he is the adult of the situation, since he is the eternal mastermind, he obviously cannot only selfishly focus on making her love him. He has also to make sure she follows the path he had schemed for her in the most efficient and direct way possible, for the sake of everyone.

That's the reason for the half-truths, for the faint general deception - Aleksander is not a fake groomer who is trying to brainwash a young girl, he is a desperate man whose soulmate is a frightened child who has to save the world and give sense to thousands of years of collective suffering and efforts, his own included and that, in his opinion, has to be guided since he cannot afford to have her fail or to lose her.

Everything goes better than anticipated, she even effortlessly grows feelings, real feelings, for the real him. Then one night his mother tells her in the worst possible way an exaggerated for the worst version of the truth, and she flees without even a second thought or thinking of hearing his version of the story.

We can safely affirm Alina betrayed him first, but not only on a personal level, which I'm sure he would have immediately forgiven, but she, in his mind, had turned against the salvation of Ravka, on top of being a deserter of the army he was the general of.

Those are the events that led to his decision to decide for her about herself, decide to take control of her power, to forcedly share it. And even in this case he continuously tried to make her see reason, to talk to her, and she just continuously shunned him and exaggeratedly hated him for the sole reason she was told half-truths by the person in the most difficult position on planet earth.

This is when Aleksander decides that, for the time being at least, taking control of the Fold is more important than her free will. He also thinks he has lifetimes to make amends, to make her understand.

Am I condoning his actions? No, it was indeed a violation and a betrayal on a personal level, but it was a decision I completely understand from his point of view, even if I find it morally wrong.

If one single person in the world had the cure for cancer in their blood and yet refused to donate it for whatever reason, what would you do? Respect them and leave thousands to suffer? Or would you do an amoral thing for the greater good and force them to? What is the greater good? You see, it's pretty much the trolley dilemma Aleksander faced. I don't think there's actually a psychological winner. There's only a mathematical winner - the suffering of one instead of the suffering of many.

All this has obviously nothing to do with the disgusting way the show is painting it, over and over, as if Aleksander was basically an ideological rapist. Is more complicated than that, more noble than that, don't you think?

[spnproshipbang]

SPN Pro-Ship Bang 2023 Masterlist

It's been a wild few months—thanks to all our contributors, and even more to all our readers! If you missed any, here's the masterlist for this year's submissions.

1. Jump then fall (you all over me)

Author: @restingdeanface Artist: @ncdover1285

Read on Ao3

Check out the art!

2. Searching for the Hand That I Can Hold

Author: @eninkahootz Artist: @midnightsilver

While Dean is trapped in Purgatory, Sam searches for him so intently that he hardly sleeps. When he does sleep, Lucifer haunts his dreams. Thanks to a witch named Rowena and a rogue reaper named Ajay, Sam is reunited with Dean in Purgatory but ends up with no way to get them home. He learns that Dean, Cas, and a vampire named Benny have a plan to get out via a distant portal. As the four of them journey through the woods to get to the portal, Sam hides the fact that he never stopped having psychic powers. Although they must regularly battle monsters and sustain injuries, the group enjoys the simple pleasures of living amidst nature. Sam and Dean grow closer as the months pass. Cas and Benny show signs of mutual attraction, and Sam wishes Dean would open up to the possibility of their relationship becoming romantic as well. Will Sam and Dean ever become a couple? Will Sam ever come to terms with his psychic powers? Will the four of them ever make it home?

Read on Ao3

Check out the art!

3. i'm so sorry (that you have to have a body)

Author: @archangelsammy Artist: @brothersinablackcar

Lucifer is still in Sam's head. Sam would say something about that, except he kind of likes being possessed.

Read on Ao3

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4. Diplomatic Measures

Author: @ladylilithprime Artist: @hawkland

Sam Winchester was taking a Saturday breather to read just for the enjoyment of it when a pair of no longer dead Angels come calling with an offer he absolutely could refuse but doesn't want to.

Read on Ao3

Check out the art!

5. Pen Pals

Author: @zrterria Artist: @oopsimfade

Gabriel was just doing his job punishing the wicked when he found a letter from a sad child. Thinking on it, he decided to write back. Things change when there is a kind ear to listen and an archangel willing to step in at a moments notice.

Read on Ao3

6. Wherever I Am...There You Are

Author: @ncdover1285 Artist: @alexiescherryslurpy

Dean uses a spell to travel to the past, and the future, and back. It gets a little confusing, but whenever he lands, Crowley is there to help him anyway he can… until he isn't.

Read on Ao3

Check out the art!

7. A Tale of Two Brothers

Author: @sam-and-dean-codependency Artist: amberdreams

On November 2nd, 1983, the Winchester home was enveloped in flame, and parents John and Mary were found dead in the morning. Their sons, Sam and Dean, were nowhere to be found. While the town of Lawrence, Kansas, eventually forgot about the family, Sam and Dean were being held by Heaven and Hell to fulfill their great destinies in God's Plan. Dean held by Heaven with Castiel as his trainer and Sam held by Hell with Crowley as his caregiver. When the two brothers meet ahead of schedule, no one could've predicted what happened next.

Read on Ao3

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8. Found a Place in Independence

Author: @sweet-sammy-kisses Artist: @pasta-n00dles

Independence is a place where the outcasts can come and find a place where they belong. No questions asked, if you had no place to belong well then Independence was the place for you.

The Winchester’s had searched for a place like that where they could be happy and let the ghosts of their past be just that in the past.

Read on Ao3

Check out the art!

9. Always The Wolf You Know

Author: @babyboykingsammy Artist: @blindswandive

The Winchester Boys have never had any easy life, their upbringing being supervised by a man hell-bent on vengeance for his murdered wife, and have largely been left to their own devices. If Dean's behavior, as the only Alpha his Omega brother, Sam, has had to turn to for love and affection, has become something with sharp teeth and long claws, well... It mattered not to him. Sam had always been his to love, cherish, and protect, and Dean would do anything within his power to ensure that he was the only one that Sam looked at as if he hung the moon.

There was no other bonds, familial or otherwise, that mattered as much to the two young Winchester boys as the relationships they had with each other.

If Dean had to fight to keep all of Sam's affection to himself he would do it. Even if it meant going after the one Alpha that they should have looked up to, their father, John Winchester.

There would never be a price Dean would not be willing to pay to keep his darling Sammy forever by his side.

Never.

Read on Ao3

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10. Beauty and the Beast of Below

Author: @ladyknightskye Artist: @spn-fanfic-reblog-writes

Fending off an unwanted advance leaves Dean Winchester in a bind - literally. He wakes up about to be auctioned off in one of the slave markets of the Below, the seedy underbelly of the City of Enoch. However, all of this is further complicated by the fact that Dean is the Michael Sword - the only person in the entire city whose internal hardware is immune to being hijacked.

Or so he thought. Enter Lucifer - the first Michael Sword. Lucifer buys Dean under the pretense of using him as a sex slave. In reality, Lucifer knows how dangerous Dean can be, and wants to use him to help take over the Below.

As Dean and Lucifer get closer, they begin to realize that Dean’s abduction was not an accident at all.

Read on Ao3

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11. Living His Grey Flannel Life

Author: @samanddean76 Artist: @girlsvmonsters

Jimmy Novak is a 21-year-old twink working his corner in Papillion when he is attacked by a long-term client. As he struggles to escape, he is rescued by a big, strong, and mysterious stranger named Sam Winchester. When Jimmy wakes the next morning, he flees the safety of the strange motel room as his life has taught him that he can never expect good things to come his way. And he can’t help but to be suspicious when a few days later, Sam pulls up to Jimmy’s corner and buys some of his time. But as Sam keeps coming back, night after night, Jimmy wants to simply surrender to the irresistible pull he feels towards his savior. The problem with that scenario? Jimmy is losing chunks of time, waking up in strange clothes, remembering chilling images as he apparently helped Sam bring justice to those who had viciously hurt him in the past. Jimmy is beginning to do things that he had never done before. And then Jimmy comes back to himself and finds that Sam has been badly injured. Will the arrival of Bobby and Rufus save the day or only deepen his confusion? And when will the little voice in the back of his head ever stop trying to convince him to just put all of his faith into Sam?

Read on Ao3

Check out the art!

12. on a stormy sea of moving emotion

Author: @izzyaro Artist: @alexiescherryslurpy

Dean is sick of angels. From orchestrating the Apocalypse to shattering Sam’s Wall, all they’ve done is cause trouble.

Balthazar is no exception to that rule, but there might just be more to him than that.

Read on Ao3

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13. A Stairway to Heaven

Author: @atwojay Artist: @hawklander

Dean never understood why his best friend (and crush) just up and left after graduation, and he'd probably ask him what the hell all that was about now that he sees him again after ten years of no contact... if Dean wasn't too busy being shot and bleeding out on the floor of the Crashdown Cafe. Good thing Cas has some kinda superpowers, or this reunion might have ended before it even got started.

Read on Ao3

Check out the art!

14. What Happens In Vegas

Authors: @lord-angelfish, @callalilycas Artist: smallscalemajestic

wherein the boys first go on a hunt, dean wants to go to vegas, and they proceed to get absolutely wasted (ft. sam's admittedly very clever spellwork getting cas drunk). oh, and they get married. but not legally.

Read on Ao3

Check out the art!

15. Put My Feet on the Ground

Author: @hello-starling Artist: @thegoodthebadandtheart

In the wake of the defeat of Chuck, Sam takes a chance with Dean that puts them both on a different path. While navigating a sexual relationship after years of trauma, they build a new life together.

Read on Ao3

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16. It's Rest I Want

Author: @klove0511 Artist: @imnot-evenhere

After John's betrayal results in Sam's death, Dean follows in the Winchester family tradition and swears vengeance on his father. The question is: is Sam really gone?

Read on Ao3

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17. The Devil's Triangle

Author: @quicksilver-castiel Artist: @keziahrainalso

After everything, when all is said and done, God beaten and all that good stuff, Dean figured that life would go on as he knew it, just with a few fewer ends of the world.

As it turns out, he instead gets a bunch of changes, including Sam moving out of and Lucifer and Nick moving into the bunker. That last one is temporary, of course, lasting only until they can trust that the archangel and her vessel aren't going to cause one of the aforementioned ends of the world again.

At least Dean hopes that it's temporary - that is, until he doesn't anymore.

Read on Ao3

18. Until the End of it All

Author: TheLemonrevenge Artist: Outofnowhere82

Season 3 canon divergence. Dean does not go to Hell thanks to something Sam has done. Of course nothing is free and the costs change them both.

Read on Ao3

Check out the art!

19. heaven, hell, and the human heart

Author: @saltbind Artist: @pentacentric

Sam isn’t about to let Dean suffer for his sake. It’s not like there isn’t historical precedent for travelling through Hell as a human - if he even still counts as that. With Ruby as a seemingly reluctant ally, and a cadre of rogue angels watching him carefully, he’s going to take a leaf out of Dante’s book. And possibly upend Hell’s carefully wrought hierarchy in the process.

Read on Ao3

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20. A Study in Winchester Transgenderism

Author: @boywifesammy Artist: @outofnowhere82

Dean shows up at Sam's Stanford apartment expecting to find his little sister, and instead finds a 6'4 dude with his sister's face and a voice an octave too deep. It takes a while for Dean to wrap his head around Sam being trans. It takes him even longer to understand why he struggles to look his little brother in the eye, and why he can't stop staring at his bare chest.

Read on Ao3

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21. In True Love's Shadow

Author: @avalonsilver Artist: @oopsimfade

A Fantasy Royalty! AU weaving through Adam Milligan’s family history on his Mother's side. From his great grandparents accepting the Archangel Michael's help down to Adam's mother working at the palace, catching King John Winchester's eye and then Adam's life as a prince — involving him being at odds with his eldest half-brother Dean and falling in love with someone unexpected. Adam is the youngest Prince of the most powerful kingdom in all the realms, Exalos. The Mainland continent of Wislira depends on Exalos's strength through the certainty of male heirs. Prince Adam is the illegitimate third son of King John. Adam's maternal grandfather, Noah Milligan, is wildly famous on Exalos. Many would be just fine with his grandson becoming King. At twenty, Prince Adam is faced with being the next King of Exalos. Although he may die before he is ever crowned King. The Archangel Michael is at the center of a secret that leaves Adam facing Death's door. Adam needs to make a life-changing decision.

Read on Ao3

Check out the art!

22. Naamah's Secret

Author: @samisadeangirl Artist: @ladylilithprime

Prince Samuel de la Courcel, middle child of the king and queen of Terre d'Ange, goes to the Court of Night-Blooming Flowers to pay for the services of one of their adepts, Dean Champbelle nó Eglantine, after hearing him sing and spends a steamy night together; however, Sam neglects to tell Dean that they’re half-brothers--that the king had had an illicit affair with Dean’s mother before marrying the queen—because he’d become enamored with Dean's beauty and music. As the two continue their passionate relationship and fall in love, how long can Sam keep their familial connection a secret from Dean before the truth comes out, leaving him to determine how to atone for his deception?

Read on Ao3

Check out the art!

23. The Immortal Game

Author: @missroserose Artist: @ncdover1285

September, 2005. Jessica Moore is focused on acing her final year at Stanford, passing her medical school entrance exams, and figuring out her boyfriend Sam—all of which leaves very little time for sorting through her strained family relationships, or wondering about her missing cousin, or remembering the charming green-eyed drifter she slept with some months back. But when she gets a strange call from her best friend Brady, kidnapped by a cult while home for the summer, she and Sam set out to find him—and along the way, she discovers her part in a sprawling chess match that not only involves Sam’s family secrets, but her own as well.

Read on Ao3

Check out the art!

24. (Not) Wanted: Alpha for Heats

Author: @outofnowhere82 Artist: @blindswandive

Sam has been suffering his heat for over a week. He needs an alpha but isn't interested in using a stranger for his heats any longer. Dean makes him an offer.

Read on Ao3

[petalstem]

Thoughts on the new graphic novel excerpt!

This is the first time in years that I have been GENUINELY excited about something relating to canon WC. Genuinely. Like, the past few graphic novels WERE good, I'm a big fan of Winds of Change, but like. I wasn't HYPED over them. I still pirated them (I did buy Winds of Change after I pirated it though, it was on sale).

I ADORE what we've seen of the art so far, the character designs are really cute and seem very in-line both with the characters, as well as just... being good! I love Rustys little striped tail and his brown ears especially. The expressions and movement is really good as well, I love the characterization we're seeing already with Rusty and Graypaws expressions.

I LOVE the inclusion of Princess! This is great for several reasons, firstly, it shows they are willing and able to make changes, something I'll elaborate on in a bit, and it also helps with the cohesion between Into the Wild and Fire and Ice. Fireheart randomly remembering he has a sister he's never mentioned or thought about ever in the middle of Fire and Ice was just... weird. Especially given how Princess is ALSO an outdoor cat who lives nearby, it's clear that he just. Wasn't written with a sister in mind. Having Princess show up as an established character BEFORE she's relevant is a subtle change I really like.

Now. To elaborate on changes. I am desperately, DESPERATELY hoping they change some stuff from the original books. While I think arc 1 is still worth reading, and still solid books, so much of it has aged HORRIBLY, namely, all of the constant horrific ableism that goes unaddressed and unchallenged. In an ideal world, they would

1. Introduce Snowkit before his death. Preferably establishing that the idea he 'can't learn' is unfounded (It is, IN THE TEXT ITSELF, shown that he IS capable of learning, given how Dappletail communicates with him through gesture. He is ABSOLUTELY capable of learning and it's ableist of the series to continue to shove the idea that he can't).

2. Have Fireheart either not make constant comments about Cinderpaw having a miserable life for being disabled (Despite the fact she's literally happy as a medicine cat), or have someone actively challenge him on this. This might not even be that big of an issue in the graphic novel if they don't let Fireheart's thoughts show up as often as they do in the books, as it's mainly him THINKING about how 'miserable' Cinderpaw is and not outright SAYING it, but I just found him incredibly tiring with HOW often he'd sulk about Cinderpaw during scenes when she was literally acting happy and healthy.

3. Give Brightheart more agency. One of the most shockingly ableist moments in all of arc 1 is when Firestar tells Cloudtail that he has to take Brightheart as an apprentice, that she'll never be a true warrior, and that she's entirely his responsibility now. While Brightheart is sitting with them. Firestar quite literally talks to her BOYFRIEND as if she's a small child who needs to be looked after and not like the fully grown adult woman she actually is. This scene could very easily be fixed, by just having Brightheart being the one talking to Firestar, and to get rid of the comparison to her being Cloudtail's apprentice. Brightheart going "Hey Firestar, I'm ready to be a warrior again and Cloudtail and I have some ideas on how I can best hunt" solves basically 90% of the problem. Also, remove the scene of Firestar saying how Brightheart being moved to the elders den was because she was going to have to be an elder. That's literally not even true, she was moved to the elders den explicitly because the elders liked having her around, and because they needed room in the medicine den, but Brightheart still needed time to heal. Firestar's literally objectively wrong there

4. This one isn't about ableism, so it's less important, but get rid of Princess's bizarre dialogue about how she "wants to decide Cloudkits destiny" and how Fireheart needs to "make him a hero just like him". It's baffling and it's really uncomfortable, why does Princess think she "deserves" to choose her kits "destiny" because he's her firstborn.

5. Also not about ableism, but I feel this is also incredibly important, don't fucking include the lines about StarClan being the reason Clan cats are moral. It's disgusting on so many levels how BloodClan is said to not care for the young, sick, or elderly ENTIRELY because they don't believe in StarClan. This childrens series should not have the fucking moral of "religion is what makes us moral", that's revolting. Just change it to its their lack of community, not their lack of religion

Ultimately, I think things are really looking up for the graphic novel. I'm certainly buying a copy, and I'm really excited to see how it turns out. I have some hope of them changing some of the worst parts of the first arc, namely, the limited ability to see Fireheart thoughts as often as the books do will most likely cut down on how often he's able to be ableist towards his Clanmate, but ultimately, even if they don't change the worst parts, I'd guess that the art alone would still warrant a purchase!

[pillowenvelopchair]

Hey guys!! this is just my insane ramble on Still Waters Run Deep that's made by the lovely @un-local. I've had so so sooooo many thoughts about this fic and I decided to try and put it all coherently in a post :)

Probably not a lot of new insights, just many, many rambles

Magdalene analysis and her view on Rogier + some other stuff

Magdalene, at the start of the story, is aimless and refuses to follow any line of Grace, putting off whatever it leads to and going in the opposite direction. Yet Grace is fickle, and it all eventually converges, so she gives in. (aaaand a life-changing partnership ensues)

She wants out of the competition of becoming Elden Lord, and she wants nothing to do with it. Someone else to take lordship is what she wants. Magdalene, in her eyes, is not worthy to take the throne. But Rogier on the other hand…

Rogier is, quite literally, built different. He thinks differently compared to Magdalene (a STR vs INT user difference lol). He’s able to pick out all the details that she would miss. Be able to extrapolate and examine it all and be able to learn from it. Magdalene can't do that.

It's basically:

Rogier: says some fun facts about the most random thing in the room, saying all the history behind it, and what the tiny details could mean Magdalene: yeah, that's a rock.

So instead, she becomes a tool for Rogier to be able to use, because that's the least she can do for him.

“She can already feel the faint grin forming on her lips at the thought. She never wanted to be Elden Lord. She’d finally picked up and followed grace to... to get away, with no idea what it called her to do. When Melina told her where it led her, she felt only dread. But Rogier... To save Those Who Live in Death... Two birds, one stone. She meets his eyes, and doesn’t look away. In them, she doesn’t see pride, or avarice. She doesn't see a man who wants to rule the world. Not at all. The path forward is clear now.” -Chapter 22

For once, she really sees a light from the dark future she sees. She's hopeful that she won't have to take the throne, that Rogier can burden it instead of her. He's worthy in her eyes and because of that, she devotes herself to him with all she can do. (Ah but… I believe Rogier wants her to be Elden Lord? Not sure but her not wanting to be Elden Lord doesn’t quite fit with what he has planned)

Magdalene really holds onto Rogier, and his guidance (a comfort wizard, if you will). And so the idea that he won’t make it… that she’ll be left alone with Grace again, forced to join back into the competition for lordship... It's sickening to her. So she really clings to him, desperate to not be left alone with a destiny that she despises.

Magdalene is always pulled into different directions. Grace pulls her to one but she pulls herself to the opposite one. Fia and D are both on extreme sides of the spectrum on Rogier's survival, and Magdalene is caught right in the middle of it.

But for her, Rogier will survive, he has to survive otherwise... that light, that small hope she has will all fade into obscurity.

Ghosts from the past (Lorens and Ida)

I absolutely love how something, or rather, someone haunts both of them.

Lorens had been the catalyst of all of what Rogier does now. Why he’s so desperate to save those who live in death. He's literally devoted his body and mind to Lorens just to see him alive (maybe Rogier's devoting all of himself to finding a solution to death because he wants it to come back to the old times when it was just him and Lorens in the Rise, or maybe not!! I'm just rambling lol).

Every thought of Lorens is painted with a sort of bittersweetness to it. From Rogier's perspective, at the very least (I'm super curious as to how Lorens would view Rogier but we'll probably never get it because... you know...). He's almost obsessed with him, and it's all pretty unhealthy lol.

Magdalene, who’s haunted by Ida who's probably a sort of lover that hadn't been fully brought to fruition. Different opinions on what they have had made Magdalene leave with (from what I have seen at least, we have scrapes of her, people! I can't wait to see more of Ida though)

Now with Ida... Magdalene absolutely shakes herself out of every thought she has about Ida. Spurning every single thought or imagination she has of that woman.

"Nausea comes in waves. Fever. She can feel delirium taking her—she’s convinced she’s submerged in the very waters of creation, for a while. She vividly feels herself sinking deeper and deeper into a current; cold and dark and inescapable. As it pulls her down, she’s overcome with the instinct to breathe it in— Against her temple she feels a hand, with gentle fingers dragging softly through her hair. Suddenly, every layer of the dream collapses in on itself, and she jolts awake with a gasp.  Here, in Liurnia, she hauls herself up, rubbing at her face. Even the memory is a shock of cold water to her. She’s a woman haunted." -Chapter 23

(I just really love this part- I can't help it)

I think it's also really interesting how Magdalene leaves Ida due to their differences in what they have (?) while Rogier just absolutely hangs onto Lorens no matter what, despite him being... er... him. Not so sure about his personality with the small flashbacks we get of him but he’s probably not good for Rogier.

In short, Rogier venerates Lorens, while Magdalene absolutely rejects Ida. (Opposites!)

Rogier’s overthinking

Also found it interesting that when Rogier thinks he really thinks. He's a professional overthinker, even in the past

"He thinks of the labyrinthian etiquette, the way he’d triple-check every sentence for a double meaning. The secrets, the ruthless political schemes. It all felt like a spider’s web to him. He’d learned the game, and he played it well, but it had been nothing but paranoia and misery for him. Just like it was for everyone else." -Chapter 17

It's what's kept him alive (Ch. 17), and what's been able to pave the way for his findings Yet, it’s also his curse. He tries to pick out every detail that he can and think of every possible reason or motivation. Every single outcome he just needs to know so that he won't get caught by surprise again. He needs to be in control of the situation, he needs to be the master of the chessboard.

Oh and once this guy spirals, he really spirals. He starts thinking and looking at details, rewinding every single thing, every interaction, and trying to label a reason for every little thing. Yet... something emotional seems to break the surface of the water.

I personally think that he was raised to overthink. He was a noble after all, and he dealt with politics. He truly needed to check, double check, triple check, every single sentence and word in case it would have a double meaning. "He’d learned the game, and he played it well" (Ch. 17) . Getting worse after Lorens' death, being fooled by "Only a cut." (Ch. 25) and seeing the aftermath of it.

He can't not do it because if he doesn't, and he gets surprised it would break him (or at the very least, freak him out).

ALSO!! Rogier hating on "saccharine conversations" (Ch. 17) good lord. This guy cannot be real with anyone. Rogier refuses to show vulnerability because:

1. He was raised like that (the whole attachment theory thing) 2. He will absolutely break if he does

Do you guys remember when Fia tells Magdalene that "dear Rogier began to weep as he spoke" (Ch.14)? Fia saw through Rogier's walls through the cracks and he just absolutely breaks down. (Get yourself a man who, after "embracing" tells you all about this thing he's obsessed about and then cries because of it)

It's a mortifying ordeal, that someone's able to see through the walls you've meticulously put up. It hits something deep within that he’s tried to bury.

Despite the walls he puts up people other than Fia see through them. Magdalene (Ch.7) was able to see through the small cracks that have broken, and Roderika... hoo she really hit a nerve didn’t she? (But it also hit one of her nerves too, Rogier vs Roderika am I right?)

Chapter 17 analysis

Also, while we’re on the topic of Roderika, let's talk about chapter 17! Seems I have a lot to talk about.

I absolutely love this chapter so much, it gives us so much insight into Rogier's backstory and the way he thinks. His noble background really shines through here, with how he acts with Roderika who is a fellow ex-noble too.

"His grin is wide and carefree, but it rather feels like he's baring his teeth.  There’s no room for your pity here." -Chapter 17

This guy cannot accept any sign of sympathy/compassion with anyone. It's all pity to him, and he absolutely hates pity. Once Roderika starts to console him too it sickens him and it makes him bare his teeth like an animal, his baser instinct showing just a little bit.

He’s probably bore his teeth to other nobles in the court, or whatever meetings they have with one another. Small threats that get the message across by a vicious smile, is something he is all too familiar with.

I also think that it's a little bit funny how he gives advice to Roderika but then is also a little bit of a hypocrite about it

“It’s hard, to leave it behind. But the old world will keep its claws in you, if you let it.” -Chapter 17

Rogier while it's not his past life that he's stuck but rather, he is stuck on Lorens. Even though Rogier is no longer Lorens' student, even though Lorens is dead, he still has his claws on Rogier. It's his entire motivation, why he's in a "pathetic" state now. He isn't letting those claws go, he lets them dig deeper within him, and they dig in deep.

“You already have it within you," he says. "They were only trying to bury it.” -Chapter 17

Rogier immediately buries his own emotions in this interaction when Roderika tries to console him lol. Just based off of him being an ex-noble and his whole family thing, it's well established that he is very much used to burying it all down his gullet. I mean, is it really Rogier without emotional suppression?

Also Rogier tends to close off all the matters that relate to what he feels in his dialogue both in game and in SWRD. This guy cannot let out just a slight moment of vulnerability

A Color Theory Thing on my read on Rogier's garb:

Rogier, with his background being grounded in nobility has suppressed his baser desires in exchange for meaningless political schemes that have only brought him misery. Yet after coming to these lands, he finds himself with Lorens.

He wears a Raya Lucarian Robe and it has red on it. It's a sign of baser instincts being shown for once. He has grown an infatuation with Lorens despite being his student.

Yet, Rogier is still mostly blue, and he still suppresses that baser desire that he’s developed, that infatuation for Lorens. He never once builds up the courage to be able to tell Lorens what he feels. He would always bury those feelings down, and as a result he can't let go of it. It's far too deep to be buried back up.

But once Lorens has died, Rogier changes too.

He exchanges those garbs for yellow and turquoise (I think?). He's a mix of colors and beliefs.

He still has the blue in the turquoise, which symbolizes calm, intelligence, and emotional control (you can’t spell Rogier without emotional control) But turquoise isn't just blue, it also has green.

Green represents growth, life, and new beginnings. This is a new beginning for Rogier, who's set out for a new goal, to be able to save those who live in death (and perhaps give them life? Not so sure on that but in SWRD that seems to be the case with Lorens).

It's balanced by yellow. Creativity and originality, he's almost the only person we meet who wants to save TWLID. Not only that but yellow also symbolizes illness, which could be a foreshadowing of what happens to him later in his life.

It's not just sickness though, yellow also symbolizes deception. Rogier lies, but I necessarily think he's someone who is always deceptive. He's more like the type of guy who would lie so that an encounter would go well or not hurt someone else's feelings. I think he's like that from that whole ex-nobility thing he's got going on. Political schemes and lying through a smile is something that he's familiar with. (It also doesn't help that he keeps being emotionally suppressed too lol)

Cowardice is another. Rogier is scared to tell anyone about his emotions, to take that risk of being honest with someone. His background in nobility and his family definitely doesn't help either.

Rogier had been too scared to be true to Lorens and tell him his feelings, and because of that, he would never be able to. I feel like he's avoided it even more afterward. He refuses to take that jump of being honest with someone, whether it's about his emotions or his ideals, he doesn't let them go.

But when he does? With D, it completely breaks off everything they've had. Everything that they could have been.

"Beguiled fool. A rotten, sick bastard. Fouled by them. A wicked, two-faced user. Heartless. Loathsome parasite. How could he? Were they not supposed to set this crooked world straight? Profane. A perversion of honor. A madman." -Chapter 5

“Get out of my sight.” “I’m sorry.” He’d said, and he was. But Darian’s lips curled back, and he jerked his head away and locked his eyes on the horizon. His jaw twitched, in the moment he took to reply.  “Don’t talk to me.” There was nothing he could do to fix this. To undo his mistakes, to spare Darian his intentions." -Chapter 5

It's all gone because he had been honest about his goals (presumably). This experience probably strengthened that emotional suppression so as to not be hurt/caught by surprise.

So when Magdalene, someone who wholeheartedly accepts his ideals and sees his side for once, he's cautious. He can't believe that someone can genuinely agree with him because all the times that he has been honest, he's been punished for it. (though, he reminds himself that she's not like that)

In short, this guy's a mixed bag. A mixed bag with problems

(basing this off of the Elden Ring color theory video, it was an absolute joy to watch)

[EDIT]: idk what to call this section but he seems to seek out some form of approval. Lets see how that ties in with his grief!

"He still doesn’t understand why. What did he do, specifically? Or was he just past his usefulness? Deemed unfit to rule? He never truly wanted to rule as Lord, but to be cast aside so indifferently—it had shaken him.  Every now and then he fumbles with this, again and again, but he knows. He does. He knows that grace has forsaken him for good reason. He’s a heretic. An apostate. He who does not obediently bow before a faltering, decrepit Order, so ill-equipped to handle the world as it is. " -Chapter 5

"All these years. Couldn’t change a thing. Rather pathetic, I’d say—what a fool, thinking that this crooked world could be made right by mortal hands. Sure, deathblight. Truly, a fitting end for a worthless, rotten bastard." -Chapter 12

Now, speaking from some personal experience, being raised in a family that's of nobility and expects so much out of you from a young age definitely breeds some kind of self-worth issues that really stick with you. Especially if you haven't had anyone to truly support you.

Because of that, I believe that Rogier, in a way, is trying to prove his worth. But not to the Order, I think that he's in some way trying to please Lorens. Even in death.

He puts everything into his studies of Death, searching and scouring for scraps of information just to give him a single lead on anything, and for what?

"Its fulfillment will be a selfish act of altruism. These crooked lands will set right, by his hands, for a reward of nothing at all. But make no mistake: he needs another day. And another after that, and another after that. He needs his questions answered with questions, he needs his notes corrected in an unreadable hand, he needs to hear one more “Well—” followed by the most opaque, convoluted tangle of sentences ever constructed. There’s no reward he seeks, but the warm smile of cold gray eyes and a scoff about just what he’s wearing nowadays. " -Chapter 19

Rogier devotes himself to saving TWLID (saving Lorens, in reality), but it's not because it's all for selfless reasons, he seems to want things to go back to the way things used to be. Back at the Rise, with just him and Lorens once more.

I don't think Rogier ever accepted Lorens' death. He's determined to bring back Lorens, desperately trying to find a solution to bring him back no matter what.

And it’s quite hypocritical isnt it? That Rogier wants to change the Order to be able to sort of… revive Lorens from Death. To go back to the old times that they both had had.

This guy refuses to grieve and is searching (desperately) for a solution for a dead man who's probably not even good for him. Get this man some therapy

This entire post's summary is just me going:

Anyway, that's all for my crazy rambles! I can't wait to see how SWRD will progress, and how everyone will intermingle and grow with one another (Rogier and Mags)!!!! :0)

Have some doodles + a WIP that I'll probably never finish as a treat for reading this! (Mag's torso was wayyy too long on the second one oops)

(bonus boggart because I love him)

[aspiringwarriorlibrarian]

The theme of Ironwood not caring about the people of his kingdom only further takes on a grimmer tone when you realize that what he really cared about was the STATE of Atlas, the backbone of his POWER.

All he truly cared about in the end was the power Atlas had given him to enforce his will on others. The technology to silence others. The obedience and culture of worshiping him as its dictator.

But the cruel irony is in the parallel to how Jacques' power with the SDC was ultimately stoppable once the State of Atlas turned against him and kept him from being able to do anything with the embargo, so too does Ironwood's power vanish once the people decide to abandon him.

Ironwood only views the power of Atlas in terms of the State, the big broad picture of his country. But he refuses to recognize that the only reason Atlas had that power to begin with was only because of the people who enabled and enforced its culture. The technicians who kept the place going. The geniuses like Watts and Dr. Polendina who designed the machines. The people who brought commerce and lived there maintaining it's economy. The people who put their lives at risk being soldiers and huntsmen, and those who served under him. The people of Mantle who toiled and suffered to keep their sister city alive.

But all of those things meant nothing to him, because he believed that being at the top meant that he had absolute power over them, and was willing to silence or discard anyone who dared to challenge that image. Never truly understanding how brittle and fragile his position of power really was, or how easily it could be taken from him if the people, or some people had enough of him.

And tellingly, once he lost his power, he stopped being a threat to anyone except those closest to him (figuratively and literally), because he was at the end of the day, just a man. A tiny, self-important little man who thought himself a giant, while eroding the very foundations of the monolith that gave him the power to begin with.

And once that was gone, all he could do was fall.

Of course, the State of Atlas is not entirely gone yet. It still lives with those who have survived the Fall of the Kingdom. The question remains is what they plan to do about it. Will they repeat the same mistakes and allow a new Ironwood to come into play, or will they make the choice to finally change and forge a better destiny?

All of the above. And the killer is....he never realizes it. Power is his motivation but he never admitted that to himself even at the very end. It was always something bigger, something greater, the abstract idea of Atlas....but Atlas always seemed to require what he wanted, with all of his biases and fears, rather than anything related to the people or even the state. Too often, an abstract greater purpose is just what we want but are unable to rationalize claiming for ourselves.

And yeah, there is no way they're gonna drop a bunch of Atlesians into Vacuo and expect it to all be hunky-dory. Salem might have lost the Crown as her catspaw but Vacuans hate Atlesians and barely have enough resources as is, of course they aren't gonna welcome refugees when they could barely handle extra students from Beacon and Haven, and of course the Atlesians will use that as a pretext to try and take those resources by force. I don't think she'll pull off the complete victory she plans here, because RWBY and co. are about to come in on the z-axis and tear her foundation from under her by rendering millennia of acquired knowledge obsolete, but I wouldn't be surprised if Atlas and Vacuo end up going to war and she manages to grab the Relic in the chaos.

[chaeinedup]

Cool with you

Pairing: Kim Junseo x reader; Summary: Cupid was sick of doing it's job, how come everyone gets to be happy. Everyone but him. It would take an angel to make him believe, he too, was destined to find his perfect soul. A/N: This is clearly very inspired by newjeans latest mv, with the concept of cupid (or eros) falling in love with psyche. Obviously this is gonna be a little different but that's the base. I hope you enjoy it!!

Every day it was the same old routine. Following your next "victim" making them have great luck in finding a partner. Obviously cupid can only do so much, he brings people together but if you need couples therapy, it's not his problem.

It's rare when his arrows become nothing more than a future story for someone to tell their kids, but it could very much happen. If you don't cherish the love you get don't expect it to last forever.

And that's part of the reason why Junseo no longer finds joy in his daily quests. He won't lie the first few times it was as magical to him as it was to the parties involved. But after seeing it go perfectly fine just for someone to ruin it, it was frustrating to say the least.

He'd give anything to be in their spots, he wishes he could experience the so called "love at first sight", he wishes he'd go to sleep thinking about the one he loves and nothing else. All of this caused a sort of indifference towards all humans, how could a species be so self entitled, bragging about how much they evolved when they can't even listen to someone else's heart. Selfish pieces of flesh.

There he was, witnessing yet another breakup before his eyes. It was so common he thought he was getting used to it. But he can never get used to the feeling of disappointment and the hole it leaves on his chest.

It was clearly time to go pick another human in hopes they would be a little kinder than most. That's when he saw you sitting at a coffee shop, enjoying your sweet morning tea. A slight change for once, usually the prefered beverage is bitter black coffee, very reflective of some personalities. You were accompanied with a friend chatting about silly little things, another dissimilarity. Normally most people gossip or complain about every little thing. You intrigued him so he was for sure going to be your shadow for a while.

Once you were done with your errands for the day you decided to go home, taking a very curious boy with you. He knew this went beyond his obligations but you were mesmerizing, absolutely breathtaking. He had only heard of people like you in books and movies that previous patients spoke about. He never thought those were inspired by real people, but there you were proving him wrong.

Your nights consist of the same pattern of events, prepare dinner, shower, skin care and a nice movie to fall asleep to. Simple is the best. And Junseo couldn't agree more, he sat near the sink admiring every inch of your beauty, the way you were singing your lungs out while toning your face. He couldn't help but smile.

He was having more fun with you than he ever did by playing matchmaker.

Thankfully you couldn't see him or hear him but these are the times he wished he wasn't invisible. He wants to join you on this little karaoke session while the pasta cooks, hold your hand to spin you around, kiss you all over till your giggles bring him to a stop.

The timer went off signaling it was time to dig in. You carefully transferred the tiny pot onto the unused stove top, preventing it from cooking it longer than planned. As you were platting your food, he looks amused, pleased. It's capellini, also known as angel hair pasta. He couldn't lie, this was starting to sound a lot like destiny. Which is another nickname most mortals have for him.

You made him believe in things that weren't real, that's how special you had become.

Cuddling with your pillows you made yourself comfortable, anxiously waiting to watch "letters to juliet". Meanwhile loverboy, quite literally, sat at the end of your bed watching your every move. Somehow you look better than when he first saw you but that was never a factor he cared about. Your energy was enough to convince him you were worth his time. One smile on your face to put another on his.

Mid movie your eyes had quit on you, succumbing to the tiredness. Slowly, as if you could wake up due to his action, he made his way to the side of the bed, wanting to be as close to you as possible.

Your breaths were soft and gentle, just like your heart, just like every part of your being.

He wanted you to know, even if you actually had no way of communicating with him, that from now on, you're stuck with him.

"I want to devote myself to you, in hopes one day our souls may actually find a way to exist as one. So here lies my promise next you, taking my place so no one else will."

[ex-princessvania]

AUGHGA the people have spoken. good god i hope this makes sense:

cole death symbolism is fairly well established i think? but here is a list of a lot of the different parts of it just for reference. one thing that stood out to me the more i thought abt it was that his becoming a ghost and s10 “death” both have him come CLOSE to dying, but never actually crossing the threshold. i think i made this post a while ago just talking abt that phenomena in relation to cole.

ALSO in relation to cole and death (which i see ppl talk abt but not necessarily as part of the overall death symbolism he has which i think is interesting) is the older-mirror scene in s5. the writers later made this scene foreshadow his ‘disappearance’ in s5 which. was not done particularly well lol, and so it can easily be reinterpreted. if we assume that, on a narrative level, this scene is not explaining his ability to disappear, but is actually foreshadowing his death. well.

it’s kind of unclear how old everyone is supposed to be when they see themselves in the mirror?? because they are legos but like. they are certainly not super old, which (if we are continuing on the assumption that cole dies before everyone else) means that cole very specifically dies young.

lets come back to that in a minute i have to take a quick tangent about cycles. also something i feel is well established, but its important for background info. one thing ninjago does A LOT of is have its main characters repeat things. both things they themselves have done AND ALSO things their parents/ancestors have done. think nya becoming the sea the same way nyad did, lloyd having to fight the overlord in a never ending loop like the fsm, etc.

the whole deal with cycles and generational trauma etc etc when specifically talking abt cole is centered on his mom; he does almost exactly everything his mom did before she died in s13 (adjusted for the situation) and of course has her element. if this extends to his actions, it could certainly also extend to his death. i think this is more evidence to the idea than anything else? like cole dying young is a continuation of the loop unintentionally created for him by his mother.

to actually return to the point i was making, cole is surrounded by death. he almost dies a couple times, but his death is stopped partially or entirely by some other supernatural force. based on this he could be seen absolutely as a psychopomp/grim reaper, but because of both the s5 symbolism and his mom, im really more inclined to say that he is more doomed by the universe to die at some point. now this is really me speculating and tbh just making things up, but i think this does lend credibility to the idea that the universe itself is keeping cole from dying at these points (s5, s10) because there is some point in the future that the universe has literally decided is the time that he is Going To Die.

and like why??? what is so significant about that (theoretical) death that the universe is literally changing the laws of physics to stop this man from dying? what is so important about this point in time that the whole world is bending over backwards to make sure it happens?

going to get emotional now but like! cole being the first to die of everyone is so crazy to me! cole who is the leader and the oldest and the most mature and the one trying so hard to keep everyone together who dies first, and dies young! just like his mom!! in a world where robots come back from the dead every single year and the children of gods live forever there is one guy who has a point that he can never come back from. despite evading death he is surrounded by it; he cant die yet because you cant fight destiny!! your time will come bitch!!

anyway tldr; i think that cole dies young just like his mom because the universe loves him and has big plans for him. or maybe the universe just cares about perpetuating the cycle whos to say.

[destinygoldenstar]

Which Love Triangle Is Worse? (Ninjago Vs Total Drama)

Hey, this is called a sponsor, right? For advertising something? Why don’t we try it? For a book?

Destiny’s Burden. An original story by yours truly.

The world of Destiny takes place a century into the future, where Earth and all its morally questionable implications were wiped out for the sake of a utopia.

The beloved savior, Mary Sue, rescued everyone from extinction by creating a world system that would change all of humanity.

Destiny, from all the Chosen One stories you’ve heard, is the dominant force of society. Those who’ve praised Mary Sue have been granted a loving world of kingdoms with the clearest right and wrong, and lives of great fortune. Those who’ve rejected her ideals were cursed to become the Dark Lords, the villains and the black of the stories that would come.

When certain children come of age, they are granted a destiny of their own, abilities of a Chosen One, and given clear stories for them to follow and train for. Stories that would bring peace to their wonderful world, against the Dark Lords who dare to try and change it.

A generation of Chosen Ones begins with Charlie Sue, the descendent of Mary Sue herself, being assigned the task of becoming the savior of the entire land after a group of Dark Lords steal power.

With the help of a few Chosen One friends, Charlie must train for the day he claims his place as Destiny’s savior.

And if Destiny really is that pleasing of a utopia.

An original fantasy action story by yours truly. Questions are free to be asked in messaging me, and followers of my blog will, in time, get a chance to beta read parts of the story and give much needed feedback to make this a great passion project. More info coming soon.

Now, onto the post.

You know, this was easier to decide than I thought.

I know, it didn’t sound like it would at first.

Okay, lets think of a better intro...

Both of these cartoons means quite a bit to me. 

I already talk about Total Drama on my blog quite a bit, to the point where I think some of my followers think I’m a TD blog. I’m not. There’s other stuff I talk about. In fact, there’s even more I could talk about with TD, and opinions I have yet to share. 

However, it is an absolute CRIME in my head that I have not talked about Ninjago as much as I do with TD. I mean, I made a Skybound review awhile back, which holds up on my opinions, but that’s about it.

Why do I say this? Well because, I have the LAMEST childhood over. I did not grow up with Total Drama. I watched it when covid hit and I had nothing better to do. I didn’t even watch Avatar The Last Airbender until last year, which is NUTS. 

I was more so into MLP as a kid, but I stopped watching it around Season 6, not through any puberty hit, but because my parents HATE me watching MLP. (For reasons I don’t get.) And I was also bullied heavily for liking MLP, so...

I also was obsessed with Minecraft Story Mode. (And I did make a few posts about it. They’re old, though.) It’s sad to me what happened to that series...

I also binge read the Sailor Moon manga, and I have all the books still. I watched the 90s show too, but... I honestly did not like it.

I would say, ‘what a surprise, the book is better’, but you’d be shocked to hear the Sailor Moon fandom say that the 90s anime is superior. For me... no.

Then I had one brief RWBY phase. And I mean BRIEF. In actuality, I don’t hardcore hate the show, but the one aspect of the show that prevents me from getting into it is it’s awful protagonists. I dunno, maybe I’ll make a post about that topic, because it’s astounding to me how bad their protagonists are.

And if you know me, I more so tend to have more to talk about when it comes to the flawed shows rather than shows with perfect writing. I said it over and over again, YES, I’ve watched ATLA, and Arcane. Those shows are amazing. Do you want me to praise those shows like the 7 billion other people on planet earth have?

Okay, I’m getting off track.

But there’s one show in my childhood that I distinctly remember being a part of my childhood more than any of these: That’s Ninjago.

I remember when I was around eight years old, and my sibling and I would tune in every week to watch an episode on Netflix. And I don’t even like the shows my sibling watch. But we both bonded with this show specifically. I think it has to do with this being the first show I’ve watched that wasn’t just one episode adventures. This was a show with substance, with story arcs that branch for multiple episodes, with characters to follow. Something I was not familiar with at the time.

Also Zane. Best boy. No I’m not taking criticism.

Before I even made my Tumblr account, I would write private essays talking about Ninjago. They’re terrible. 

I have huge memories of this show. I WANTED to talk about this show for awhile, but couldn’t figure out what to talk about.

And then in my creative writing class, we were talking about tropes we hated. 

My teacher said ‘the love triangle’. (I didn’t have that on my list, surprisingly)

It seemed like everyone, besides myself, hated the love triangle trope. And it seems very valid.

Like, just pick one love interest, darn it!

So that got me to make this post. Why a contest between these two shows?

Well they both have a love triangle that the majority of the fandom hates, they’re both known for destroying a relationship people liked, and they both take place in their Season Three.

And also, everyone hates these plotlines, so I wanted to ask myself, are they really that bad? More importantly, which is worse?

That’s what we’re here for.

Keep in mind, this is my POV on these plotlines. There’s obviously gonna be disagreement and I would love to hear your opinions when reblogging.

Also SPOILER WARNING FROM HERE ON OUT. IF YOU HAVE NOT WATCHED EITHER OF THESE SHOWS AND DON’T WANT TO BE SPOILED, DON’T CLICK ‘KEEP READING’. Watch the shows, and then come back.

But there’s one key factor that I think makes people lean to one argument:

Bias

My first claim is that it has to do with nostalgia of the show that springs our reactions.

When I watched the Ninjago love triangle as a kid, I was confused, cringing, and angry.

When I watched the Total Drama love triangle when I’m older, I was just like ‘okay, so we’re doing this.’

So obviously, there’s a great line of bias. As a kid, your brain hasn’t fully developed, so when bringing up a concept that isn’t black and white, and emotionally damaging, you’re gonna get heavy results. 

It was the same for when Zane died in Season Three. I was a kid. I was TICKED.

Looking back now, that was an expertly built up scene and one of the best payoffs to a character arc in the show. 

‘Animation is for babies’

And yet you have this:

“Are you working for Silco?”

“Fuck you”

-Arcane. (And that’s the LEAST adult thing in the show)

It’s the same thing with shipping.

Kids media are given the simplistic idea that romance is absolute. That you have one person destined for you and it will all work out.

A love triangle is... complicated, for kids heads.

So when another guy a character is in love with enters the picture, kids are gonna be confused and relatively act negative towards it. Despite the fact that love triangles... do actually exist in the real world?

Anyone remember Hamilton? Of course you do.

This is why we tend to hate Love Tringles in my eyes.

But I want to be as objective as possible with this, and discuss each storyline and their problems. So lets coin toss and decide which show we start with.

*Flips coin*

*Gets Heads*

Ninjago, it’s your lucky day.

I guess it’s fitting since I watched this show first.

Ninjago (Jay, Cole, and Nya Love Triangle)

Ninjago is a show produced by LEGO, which tells the story about a group of ninjas being assigned to face against the evils of the titular world. It’s also LEGOs biggest TV show to date.

This is more of an action superhero show than anything, and I think that’s gonna be the biggest difference here. Both shows I’m talking about have different priorities.

But I’m just focusing on the love triangle.

This plotline springs in its third season, Rebooted. It’s an eight episode long season, and the plotline gets introduced in the premiere briefly, and stays relevant all season between the three characters involved. It gets carried over to season four in that third episode, and it’s mentioned briefly in the premiere of season six. Then it ends.

People tend to hate this love triangle for a certain reason:

Why?

WHY was this love triangle needed?

I tried researching what was going on behind the scenes when the decision was made, but I could not find anything. I may be bad at research though.

My best guess is this:

Ninjago was originally supposed to end after Season Two: Legacy Of The Green Ninja. However, from the success of the show and insane toy sales, they made the decision to continue the story and make a third season. The task of continuing a story you designed to end is... daunting. For any writer.

So my biggest assumption on why they decided to do a love triangle was because they were still struggling to figure out what to do with the story of Ninjago from where they intended to end it.

I don’t hate Rebooted. Rebooted has its moments. But the season also carries a lot of lows, and this is one of them. It’s why I think most of the fandom sees this as a mid tier season overall, and pretty mixed.

So lets give context to the love before the season:

Right from the pilot episodes, one of the missions of the newly formed ninja team was to rescue the fire ninja Kai’s sister, Nya. 

And the lightning ninja, Jay, says this:

“We’re saving a girl? Is she hot?”

Right off the bat, and before they even met, the writers implied that Jay was gonna have a thing for Nya, the most major girl character in the entire show.

Jay and Nya properly meet in the second pilot episode after Kai rescues her, and they exchange their favorite colors. It so happens to be blue. Flirting.

Right off the bat, there is no hate each other until they love each other bull, there is no will they or will they won’t, from the moment they met, these two have had a thing for each other.

In fact, we don’t even really do a ‘will they or will they won’t’ with them, because the flirting carries over in the proper first season of the show.

So much so that their big milestone in their relationship is in Episode 8.

Yeah. That’s quick. It’s almost impressive.

Basically, that episode has Jay trying to impress Nya, Kai tricking him into giving his sister an allergy (like the great brother he is), and despite this, Nya accepting his proposal to go on a date. Unfortunately, Jay gets his finger pricked on a snake fang, and it’s worse sounding than it sounds when you know the context of the show. Wacky hijinks ensue when their secrets of their identities clash, with Jay being a nobody from a junkyard, and Nya being a Samurai ally to the ninja and wanting to keep that a secret because of some sexist bull. 

But by the end of the episode, they make up, confess their feelings, and become an official couple.

From there, there’s minimal drama between their relationship for the rest of Season One, and all of Season Two. It’s just been them flirting and praising each other, and being supportive. 

There was also an episode where an evil clone of Jay kisses Nya, and tells the real Jay about it, which makes Jay so mad that he essentially MURDERS him. 

Compared to Total Drama, and due to different show circumstances, this is actually a very tame thing to do.

So, Jay and Nya as a couple, pre-Rebooted, has had next to NO issues.

Now you might be wondering, if that’s the case, WHY IN THE NAME OF HECK did they decide to throw Cole into this? Where did he fit in all of this?

Well, I just rewatched all of Season One and Two for this post, and in terms of Cole and Nya interactions... there was nothing.

I’m not kidding. These two have not had ONE interaction with each other pre-Rebooted. The most is when Nya is talking to all the ninja, not Cole specifically.

So why would Nya suddenly have a thing for a guy she never talks to, when she has a good relationship with Jay?

And whatever you Total Drama people who haven’t watched Ninjago are thinking, it’s even dumber than that.

So in the premiere of Rebooted, they go to this sci-fi tour at the new Ninjago central tower... thing. The ninja are left doing plot stuff with Cyrus, and Nya is left to take care of kids and be a chaperon to a field trip. Little girls find this ‘perfect match’ machine, which is SUCH a real thing in the real world (sarcasm), and they make Nya try the machine.

And her perfect match is said to be Cole.

THAT is how Nya gets feelings for Cole.

Told you it was dumber than you think.

She did not gain feelings for Cole through any interaction with him, or other people pressuring the concept, or even her current boyfriend being any wrong to her. 

No.

It’s a freaking. MACHINE.

So right at the next time Nya is focused on, she is flirting with Cole. She mistakes him referring to the students with their kids, she gives him the looks, and she’s also holding hands with him.

Yeah. Nya is essentially CHEATING ON HER BOYFRIEND.

And again, she’s only doing this because a MACHINE SAID SO.

It’s not like she’s even trying to hide it, as Jay catches them. 

This makes Nya look horrendously unlikeable in the season, as you’d expect.

Why is this so OOC for her? Because there was ZERO prompting for this to happen. None. 

At most, you could say that Jay’s ego made her feel lesser of relevance, but to Ninjago’s credit, they do address that... IN SEASON SIX. 

So that’s not an excuse here. We’re talking about BEFORE Skybound.

Until Skybound, and I guess Tournament of Elements, Nya hasn’t had an issue with Jay’s ego. Again, in the episode where they hook up, she tells him that he doesn’t need to impress her. And they both agreed on such. 

In the third episode of Rebooted, it’s revealed that PIXAL is the AI of the machine that did all of this. Not only does she not apologize or tell Nya that she should let her heart decide, but she encourages the cheating and to dump Jay.

To be fair, I don’t really hold PIXAL accountable for the love triangle. At this point in the story, she’s just a robot doing her job, and knows little about showing humanity. And she just woke up from a near death experience, so yeah, I think it’s safe to say that she was numb when she told Nya this. PIXAL is really not trying to harm anybody, or say anything personal, she’s just saying what the program of the machine told her to say.

However, Jay hears PIXAL claim that Cole is Nya’s perfect match, explaining that Nya was indeed cheating on her, and it absolutely ENRAGES Jay.

So much so that when an unexpected Cole walks into the room, Jay physically tries to beat him up. 

They were friends before, and had some playful teasing in the first two seasons, but now it’s gone.

This is, deemed by many fans, one of the WORST scenes of the entire show.

I don’t blame them. I hate this scene too.

Even if you take the so called build up out, the scene is accompanied by awful dialogue and puns, so... there is NO ironically enjoying this either.

So from then on, Cole and Jay hate each other and spend the rest of the season fighting over Nya. To be fair, past this episode, it just turns into spiteful comments, and doesn’t escalate to any physical fighting until Season Four. 

And it’s not like they’re trying to kill each other. Quite the opposite in fact. (Jay does oblige in saving Cole from getting lost in space, no hesitation)

So yeah, this season, because of the love triangle, assassinated all three characters involved. And mind you, I LOVE Ninjago’s protagonists. I LOVE these characters. So when I say they’re OOC here, I mean it.

I already talked about Nya and how this was out of character for her. Because the sexist BS is the biggest pet peeve I have with Nya. Otherwise, she’s very compassionate, assertive, and a girlboss with a very strong character arc throughout the entire show.

Jay does have a right to be angry. After all, he was cheated on. But I think he’s mad at the wrong person. He never blames Nya for this at all, and only pins it on Cole as a heartless monster. That’s odd to me, because Nya cheated, and he SAW THAT. I thought he would yell at her at least once, but no, instead he demands she picks him like an egotist. That’s what someone possessive would do, and Jay has NEVER done this before.

Besides, if you think about it, he’s only mad because PIXAL, an AI, said he was no good for Nya. In that case, he should be mad at PIXAL too. Sure, I said that PIXAL couldn’t help it, but if I were Jay, yelling at her would be warranted. 

But nope. It’s all Cole’s fault, even though Cole was kind of a victim of circumstances.

Speaking of, why is Cole even into Nya?

Like I said, they haven’t talked before this. Cole has shown no signs of liking Nya, in fact, he seemed to support Jay and Nya as a couple. This is especially strange because Cole is the kind of character who knows exactly what he wants. If he was into Nya, he would’ve said so right away, especially before Jay even got with her.

The worst part is, the rest of the season only consists of Nya trying to decide who she likes, and the other two trying to fight for her affection. I don’t think they even mention the cheating after this. And again, it goes absolutely nowhere until Season Four, Episode Three.

In that episode, Jay and Cole are forced to fight each other by Clouse rigging the titular tournament. They’re actually not okay with this until Neuro, a guy who can read minds, escalates their rage. Then they’re okay with beating each other up with a ton of rage and grief towards each other. 

Before the match, Lloyd tells them to remember who the real enemy is. He is referring to Chen. This is the driving force to the rest of the fight.

In a fight scene that is actually visually pleasing, ngl, Cole and Jay go all out until a random point in the middle where Cole decides, ‘hey, you’re not my enemy, and I never even liked Nya, so yeah, I’ll just sacrifice myself so you can stay in the game, symbolizing how you won this love triangle.’

And they make up.

Despite the little effort and prompting beforehand. Like I said, they only did this because Lloyd said so. So why are they making up now if they hate each other so much?

And then any love life plotline with Cole completely drops, and Cole is left with no love interest until Master of the Mountain. Cole and Nya have some scenes together after this, but it’s clear that they’re just friends and it never goes anywhere. And in Skybound, the love triangle is just treated as the plot device that broke up Jay and Nya, as they get back together.

So did the love triangle really amount to anything besides that?

No.

You can wipe out this plotline entirely, and not much changes. The villains don’t take advantage of that specifically, and they forget about it afterwards, with no build up beforehand. 

Yeah you could argue Chen and Clouse took advantage of it, but they were after the ninja because they were spoiled the behind the scenes drama of their little game. They were threats, and an alliance, which their games try to discourage. So they would’ve set Cole and Jay up against each other anyway.

I fully understand why people hate this plotline, as it’s used for unnecessary drama. Unlike Total Drama, which uses titular DRAMA as a part of the plot’s torture, Ninjago has no reason for their drama to be unnecessary. This is not a torturous scenario Ninjago is living in, this is an action show!

I guess I can appreciate that Jay and Nya were able to recover from this and get back together. They even get married. My heart sings.

And at least in Ninjago, this plotline drama doesn’t seem to escalate, and people are able to forget about it.

Total Drama is a completely different story.

So lets talk about that.

Total Drama (Courtney, Gwen, and Duncan Love Triangle)

 I talked about Total Drama quite a bit on my blog already, so I’ll be brief.

Total Drama is about a group of teenagers being scammed onto a game show to try and become celebrities. Torture ensues. 

It’s far more treated like a reality show in cartoon form, I guess that’s the best way I can explain it.

Despite the fact that the love triangle here is HIGHLY loathed, even more so than Ninjago, and that I did headcanon posts of all three characters, I’ve avoided talking about the love triangle before this.

That fandom is THAT violent when it comes to this topic.

You will NEVER get the same POV about it.

So what I’m gonna say is guaranteed to tick off at least half of the people who read this.

PLEASE, just hear me out.

I don’t really ship either.

I haven’t been a hardcore Jaya fan either, but it’s the same mindset I gave to Duncney and Gwuncan. In the latter two’s case, it’s because they’re trapped under such awful circumstances, that being the show’s setting used to stress them out, screw up their heads, and torture them. And also the executives who forced this on the writers.

In the context of Total Drama’s writing staff, they didn’t want to do this either. They were forced to by the executives, who wanted to teach kids that breakups happen and you could end up with someone else.

That sounds like it has good intentions...

Until you find that the actual moral they delivered with the first breakup was that ‘If you break up with someone, the entire world will hate you. And you deserve it.’

I don’t think I need to tell you that’s a bad message.

To be fair, I’ve never been against either ship involved, so I don’t hate either.

But the canon circumstances?

OOF.

Let’s get this started:

So the first season of Total Drama is kind of a different story than with Ninjago.

Unlike Ninjago, which just had Jay and Nya as a couple and Cole was someone I assumed was ace (welcome to the club), all three people involved in the later love triangle had an established love interest and relationship.

Gwen, the third wheel and the Cole in this case, had a relationship with Trent, your typical guitar playing love interest and as generic of a love interest as you can get. But they get in a few shenanigans with Gwen being a stubborn loner, and Heather being Heather and doing one of my most hated story tropes, so they don’t get together until the end of the season. 

And then in season two, Trent gets his character assassinated and becomes possessive over Gwen, OVERLY so, and it causes Gwen to break up with him because as I said in previous posts, Gwen doesn’t know how to deal with relationships. 

And then the entire world treats Trent like a victim, that Gwen was the abusive one, and everyone hates Gwen.

And this is just the START of the Gwen social punching bag.

Then in season one, there was another relationship relevant to this topic: Duncan and Courtney.

They’re presented as your typical bad boy/good girl dynamic.

And they actually had fun chemistry. Ngl.

Duncan flirts with her, and Courtney tries to deny her feelings for him and masks it through lectures, claiming she hates his rude and rebellious behavior. Despite this, they keep having sexual tension, and they have a kiss in Episode 12.

You could say Ninjago has an advantage then, but keep in mind that Ninjago has 13 episodes in its season one, and Total Drama has 26 episodes. So I’d say they’re both impressive.

I would say that on an enjoyment standpoint, Duncan and Courtney, and Jay and Nya are very fun couples with fun chemistry. That’s why people liked them.

Jay and Nya however, barely had any drama going on in their relationship before Season Three.

Duncan and Courtney are a different story.

Like I said before, Courtney tried to deny her feelings for Duncan and masked it through lecturing her own love. It’s not until she finds out about Duncan’s more positive traits that she realizes she wants to be around him. Or rather, she can FIX him.

Yeah. Courtney is a fixer upper.

This is a trope in romance, and not a very good one if you ask me. Usually, I use the fixer upper to claim why a relationship would NOT work.

SHUT UP FROZEN.

And I don’t want to take this all out on Courtney and say she’s the problem. Duncan is a jerk as well. He’s a bully, he cares more about his image than being himself, and he also does stuff we’ll talk about in a minute. But in terms of the couple aspect, Courtney is the one raising the red flags in the beginning.

Now, I do think Courtney cares about Duncan and thinks she’s helping, but that is not the point. You can love your partner, and still abuse them.

Instead of these two working through their differences, Courtney just hands Duncan a list of things she wants to change about him, and is VERY strict about him following that. Prior to this, Duncan has annoyed her by trying to flirt with her, and she responds through lethal hits to the nuts, or physical punches, or mentally guilt tripping him. Prior to even that, she DITCHED him in his hour of her need for a million bucks.

Yeah, Total Drama LOVES romanticizing abusive relationships. That is a PROBLEM.

So Duncan, in his stress of the relationship, decides he doesn’t want anything to do with her anymore, and he votes her off the show, breaking them up.

And then he wins a million dollars, and they get back together.

“Now you’re saying that I’m a gold digger, but check my gleam up, hey go figure.” -Six

And then in Celebrity Manhunt, they publicly humiliate each other yet again, sue each other, and break up. So what was the point of them getting back together?

I heard people claim that in this same special, they have a kiss on the bus while bickering, so that means they’re back together.

If you want to see it that way?

Courtney did.

But let me ask you this: Where in this episode was that confirmed? Where did they agree to get back together?

Exactly.

Duncan never made it clear to Courtney that they weren’t back together in his mind. They had what you called a fling. Duncan does this. He is a horndog.

This is Duncan emotionally using Courtney for his own image. See, I told you Duncan wasn’t innocent in this.

Then there’s Gwen.

Unlike Cole and Nya, Duncan and Gwen actually DID have interactions pre-season three.

In season one, their dynamic started around the slasher episode, as they bonded over their shared enthusiasm for blood and gore in movies. They orchestrate the survival plan for the challenge, and betray each other, but I don’t think either of them took it that personally. They also helped each other/bickered in the castaway episode.

Their friendship properly starts in season two, where they have friendly interactions and help each other out in challenges. Gwen even picks Duncan first to be her teammate. 

It gets to a point where Trent, Gwen’s girlfriend at the time, gets jealous and thinks Gwen is hitting on Duncan. Gwen denies it and claims they’re friends, but no one believes her. In fact, when Gwen is sent to the Aftermath show and broken up with Trent, everyone accuses Gwen of dumping Trent for Duncan. Another reason why the show wants you to hate Gwen and absolutely no one else.

That is frustrating.

In the Celebrity Manhunt special, it’s revealed that Gwen DOES indeed have a crush on Duncan and just doesn’t want it to surface because he’s with Courtney. When she hears they broke up, she becomes interested again.

This is a year after season two, so we don’t know what happened that made Gwen change her mind.

Did Gwen and Duncan bond off screen?

That’s an even bigger possibility in this show than in Ninjago given the circumstances, but they never establish that they did.

Duncan quits Season Three at the start, but the producers track him down anyway. Before he returns, Courtney talks about how she misses him, and wants him back.

GWEN IS IN THESE SCENES BTW.

There’s also this exchange between Alejandro and Courtney in episode two that I noticed upon rewatch that I find interesting:

“Such witty remarks from such fiercely intelligent women. I’m both humbled and intrigued.”

“Nice try. But I’m with Duncan.”

“And what pity it is that you should give yourself to a quitter, who doesn’t deserve you.”

“That’s not-Duncan is-totally-you’re just- will someone hurry this camel up?!”

Obviously, Alejandro is playing her. He is the season’s bad guy after all. He’s taking advantage of the relationship strain. 

But consider how Courtney stutters when trying to defend Duncan? She’s trying to dodge any notion that Duncan would leave her. She thinks she’s doing the right thing, and can’t fathom the idea that she’s done something wrong. She doesn’t WANT to believe they’re broken up.

I’m shocked no one brings up this scene, actually.

During this, Gwen and Courtney, being on the same team, become friends from their shared hatred of Heather. Really, I think they just became friends because they’re the only non-simps, non-insane, non-horrible people on their team.

Friendships come from very unlikely places sometimes.

They didn’t really have any interactions before this. Cole and Jay had two whole seasons being on a team.

And then we get THE SCENE.

Duncan comes back, and immediately, Courtney lectures him for leaving her, then embraces him. He says that every time he ran from the cops, he thought of HER.

He’s staring at GWEN.

GWEN REALIZES THIS.

It brings her in a spiral of question late at night, and she’s clearly not thinking clearly. Are Duncan and Courtney a thing? Are they not? Does Courtney deserve him? Is Courtney a bad influence? Does Duncan like Gwen? Is Duncan interested in her?

Duncan shuts out any questions by coming into the bathroom to kiss her.

Thus, he cheats on Courtney with Gwen.

This can be interpreted in a lot of ways, but I think there’s two we can bring up.

One is the nature of Duncan’s character.

He is a horndog who cares about his image. He wants to be seen as a bad boy and not his true self. He wants is bad boy persona to be his true self. He wants validation from the people around him, so anyone who finds interest in that persona, he will bang. 

He’s not sweet good intended Nya. He’s quite the opposite.

But I don’t think it’s clear what his intention was. Was he trying to escape his situation with someone he trusts? Was he trying to spite Courtney? (I mean, All Stars implies that) Was he trying to start over with a new girl? Is he using Gwen? Does he actually love Gwen?

None of these questions get answered. We are given NO clear idea why Duncan did this. That’s why there’s such a division in perspective.

They could’ve at least had a confessional where Duncan explained his intent, whatever it was, but nope.

The other factor is the influence of the show.

This is the machine from Ninjago.

This is the PIXAL, if PIXAL was a sociopath.

The show fans assumed there was something going on with Duncan and Gwen, and they pressure them into trying to admit that being the truth. EVERYONE, throughout the year, pressure this. Geoff, Heather, fans, Chris, even Courtney herself. 

I talked about this in other posts, so I’ll be brief. The show screws up the morality of SEVERAL characters, to the point where they will do nasty stuff you wouldn't see them do in season one, where they were pure.

It’s very easy to assume that Gwen would only have feelings for Duncan because the show is pulling her strings.

But they don’t establish that either. That’s just my interpretation of it to try and make sense of this writing.

So take all of this with a grain of salt.

Gwen regrets the kiss afterwards, somewhat, well, only because afterwards Courtney goes on and on about how Duncan’s her boyfriend. I think Courtney’s just rubbing this in because she knew Gwen was crushing, and wanted to keep her away from him.

I guess you could say Courtney is Total Drama’s Tsundre.

That makes a lot more sense in a minute.

Gwen and Duncan discuss the matter of Gwen kissing Courtney’s boyfriend in a song. Duncan sings he has no regrets, and Gwen reminds him of Courtney. They both agree that they should stop with the secrets and come clean. They know what will happen, so it’s better to just tell the truth.

Then Duncan gets mauled by a bear, so they have to wait until after the challenge.

But then Alejandro figured it out and outs it to Courtney, ruining it.

Courtney IMMEDIATELY becomes bloodthirsty on Gwen, and next to EVERYONE joins Courtney in berating Gwen. (Except Cody)

This scene, alongside the Jay and Cole scuffle, hurts to watch.

But I will confess, I prefer to watch the Total Drama fallout scene, because I think the voice acting in the scene is better. You can feel Courtney’s heartbreak as she screams at her nonstop, and the sinister craziness awakening in her. And Gwen CRYING?! REGRETTING what she did?!

Come on, there’s at least SOME value here besides Cody getting a dub.

Even if it is little value besides Cody getting a dub.

From here on out, EVERYONE on the plane (Again, except Cody) HATE Gwen’s guts. They will not let her forget what she did. They will never give her a single iota of grey area besides ‘You suck Gwen, we hate you, the entire world hates you, and you deserve to be hated. Go jump off a plane and die so we can have a party about it.’

Gwen and Duncan even try to apologize, but no one takes it.

This is like Cole and Jay, only it’s not just Jay berating Cole, it’s EVERYONE.

I think I would’ve stopped watching Ninjago for years if that was the case, because that would’ve been PAINFUL to watch.

Courtney is the key factor of this hate club, and rallies everyone up to hate on Gwen and Duncan and try to remove them. Sierra, Heather, Tyler, Alejandro, who the last one WANTED to happen as he’s now in control of her. 

And unlike Jay, Courtney actually DOES berate the cheater for what they did. Deserved.

But then again, at least Jay doesn’t sing a song about trying to kill the other point of the triangle.

50/50.

To Courtney, this is all a serious betrayal. Gwen and Duncan were the only people Courtney allowed herself to open up to, and then they betray her. She has a right to be mad, but not a right to her actions driven by the madness.

For Gwen, Duncan is now the only person she can feel safe with. People tend to cling to the kindness in their life that’s the closest to them. This is why Gwen chooses to stay with Duncan and ignore all the hate she’s getting. She needs love in this moment. 

And then Duncan tries to play Alejandro by pretending to still be into Courtney. It’s an act, but still.

We never see on screen if Duncan explained himself and apologized to Gwen.

Ninjago had a whole season and three episodes worth of love triangle drama.

Total Drama only has three episodes.

And then it abruptly ends unconcluded. 

Courtney wanted to get revenge on Gwen by dumping her off the plane and making Duncan jealous of her.

Technically, she WON.

She gets Gwen out, and she, not intentionally, uses Scott to make Duncan jealous, which causes Gwen to leave him.

Sorry, getting ahead of myself.

Now lets address All Stars.

You could argue this focuses on the love triangle as well, and... kinda? But, All Stars seems to bail on EVERY plotline World Tour had. I have NO IDEA why this is, as unlike Rebooted, World Tour is a FAN FAVORITE SEASON. But they bailed on everything.

And it’s clear that the writers had no objective with giving the love triangle an ending. 

The season is more so focused on Courtney finding a new boyfriend in Scott, that she plans to use, Duncan being thrusted into a heroes position and wanting to be a bad guy again, and Gwen, once again, being hated by everybody around her.

Duncan and Gwen have NO romantic scenes together, and Gwen constantly shuts him out in favor of trying to make things right with Courtney. The girl she BETRAYED.

She also claims that Duncan was not Courtney’s boyfriend at the time, thus she didn’t do anything wrong...

I’m ASSUMING Duncan told Gwen that story to get her on his side. THAT would make sense of this phrase. BUT the writers never establish that.

And again, Duncan only gets jealous because Gwen’s ignoring him when he’s trying to help, and Courtney’s finding a new slave to give her the win. My assumption is that he’s trying to strike up a conversation with Gwen, considering Gwen wanted to make things right with Courtney, but again, no establishment that this is Duncan’s motive.

So Gwen gets fed up with that, and dumps Duncan, shutting him out of her life.

This scene is SO QUICK, that it feels like an afterthought. There’s no blowout, there’s no prompting, there’s no remorse for the action later besides one Duncan confessional, it’s just ‘okay, they’re broken up now, Gwuncan haters can chill the F out.’

Is that the motive? What about the people who liked Gwuncan as a concept and wanted to see more of them? 

Here’s a writing tip: If your fans don’t like an aspect of your story, DON’T bail out of it. WORK on it. MAKE IT BETTER.

In my series that I’m doing, Destiny’s Burden, a lot of my beta readers didn’t like one of my characters at first. They considered her insufferable, annoying, selfish, and stereotypical. But instead of writing that character out of the plot, I took the time to give that character development, and have them develop less of a spoiled personality. Now that character is a fan favorite among my beta readers.

THIS IS WHERE YOU DO THAT, BUT WITH THE LOVE TRIANGLE.

THIS IS WHERE YOU WRITE IT BETTER.

And then there’s the last part of this. Gwen and Courtney making up.

Unlike Tournament of Elements, which threw in the forgiveness at the last minute, Gwen actually puts in the effort beforehand to be friends with Courtney again. She tries REALLY hard actually.

Gosh, I CANNOT believe I’m saying ALL STARS did something better than THE TOURNMENT OF ELEMENTS. WHAT AM I ON?!

And, looking at the Cole and Jay tournament fight, and the Gwen and Courtney boxing match... this is the same scene.

This is literally the same scene, minus the sacrifice Ninjago had.

They duke it out, they beat each other, and they apologize in the middle, explaining that they never missed the girl/guy, they just missed each other, and they make up and become friends again.

I prefer the Ninjago scene though, because it’s way more visually pleasing, and the dialogue seems more sincere to me. Courtney and Gwen’s ‘apology’ is so corny I can’t-

So what is the ending of Total Drama’s love triangle? Courtney and Gwen become best friends in la la land, they trash over Duncan, and cheer when he’s thrown in jail.

And then Courtney betrays Gwen, making all the love and support Gwen got back meaningless. But hey, that’s not relevant to this topic.

Most people in the fandom claim that this was character assassination on all three characters. Just like I said with Ninjago. 

Here’s the thing: Total Drama has more episodes around this time. Ninjago didn’t. I know NOW it’s not a contest on which show had more episodes, but looking at it, Ninjago, in four seasons, had 44 episodes, and Total Drama, in four seasons, had 91.

This is a double edge sword, as on one hand Total Drama has more to work with. On the other, Total Drama has more to work with.

After all, like I said, we are given no clear motive for why Duncan even cheated, or didn’t tell Courtney that they weren’t together anymore. Gwen was cheated on technically in season one, and here she is doing that same emotional betrayal in season three to Courtney. And again, the whole ‘he wasn’t your boyfriend’.

There’s multiple instances where literally ONE MORE SCENE of ANY part of this plotline could’ve helped it make more sense. But no. The writers just really did not want to write this. Again, they were forced to. It shows.

But I will say this, unlike with Ninjago’s love triangle, the Total Drama love triangle is SEVERELY plot relevant. You CAN’T write it out.

Everyone says they should’ve just written it out... how? 

Every fanfic I’ve seen that’s written the love triangle out actively made the story less interesting, and gave the three characters involved nothing to do. 

The villains, again, take advantage of the situation to give themselves plot armor. This is how Alejandro uses Courtney. She would’ve never helped him otherwise. This is what makes Heather jealous, prompting the last quarter of World Tour. This is what season two’s Gwen bashing has built up to. This is what makes Gwen the biggest social punching bag of the entire show. This is what spawns Gwen to become a villainous vulture. This is the start of Duncan’s downfall, and his mental distress getting him behind bars later.

You NEED the love triangle to be a thing for the story to make any sense.

I’m sorry, but that’s what I see.

Which is Worse?

Now to answer the money question.

Which plotline is worse?

This is REALLY subjective. So take it with a grain of salt.

Both of these plotlines have huge issues. They are both dampers to their season three. 

Ninjago had a worse motive, a more pathetic fight, dragged on, and had no plot relevance whatsoever.

Total Drama had a more unlikeable cast participating, poor establishment of motive, ended way too quickly, and suffered from no ending.

I think we can both agree on the quality on both of these plotlines.

It really depends on which plotline I would prefer to watch a compilation of over and over again.

And in that sense...

I think I’d pick Total Drama as the better one.

This is for a few reasons: 

One is that Total Drama is a far more morally grey show, so its characters are far more morally grey than with Ninjago. It’s more believable that the TD characters would do stuff so spiteful towards each other, than the Ninjago characters. This makes it so that you can see everyone’s point of view, and the plotline becomes welcome for multiple interpretations. 

Two is that there was SOME build up to the cheating. You could say that it was bad build up, but at least it WAS build up. What build up was there in Ninjago? Oh yeah, none.

Three is that Total Drama’s plotline is actually plot relevant. If I have to watch the love triangle to watch World Tour, I’ll watch it. I won’t skip it. If I skip it, I know I’ll miss vital information for the rest of the story.

That said, though I say Ninjago is the worse plotline, it does have an advantage of having a better makeup scene, and an actual ending. And the characters were able to recover because of that.

Because, with all six of these characters, I DO like them all. I want the best for them (even if Duncan arguably doesn’t deserve it)

But let me know your thoughts. Would you agree? Disagree? Is there something I missed? Let me know.