#and he doesnt have it anymore during the war arc

[obihoe]

i fucking love all these cultural references and details in naruto so much, i cannot believe madara's name is literally based on a "dancing god" who is known as a performer and associated with dreams .. has white wild-looking hair which madara also ends up having after his jinchuuriki transformation and is conflated with other gods who are sometimes depicted with a sickle on a fox. madara consistently referring to fighting as dancing, being concerned with aesthetics in battle (and fashion) to the point where he's condescending towards others that he doesnt find aesthetically pleasing like. all these references are so specific and fit him so well there's so much thought behind all of it and its so cool i think

[layzeal]

i said 5 months ago i was gonna share my thoughts on this scene and never did, so it's time to dig this out

what did wei wuxian mean by asking shijie "why would someone like another person" and why i.... don't think he's talking about lan wangji (i know-- i know. just bear with me)

or more accurately: an analysis of chapter 71, wwx's thoughts on love, and how mxtx utilizes parallels between past and present!

(Ch 71 of MDZS web revised edition //// ExR translation)

okay let's get straight to the point that's gonna make y'all want to call me a stupid bitch who can't read: i legitimately do not think wwx was talking about lwj in this scene! here's why:

first and foremost, let's remember what the status of wangxian's relationship was at this point after sunshot ended

first, phoenix mountain: a callback to their teen dynamic. wwx's silly and flirty personality is back, he teases lwj by throwing a peony at him then asking to borrow his ribbon. lwj is frustrated, etc. lwj forcefully kisses wwx then gets angry at himself. wwx finds him and gets worried that something happened to him. they walk together and talk in very friendly manner until the xuanli incident happens. by the end they part on good terms

then, yunmeng teahouse: the first scene of this chapter. wwx is feeling quite upbeat about seeing lwj as they had a nice chat last time they met. he does a lil phoenix mountan callback by throwing a peony at him, then asking him to come upstairs and hang out. lwj does but it.... doesnt end well. he's worried about wwx's worsening temper and fears he's starting to show signs of loss of control, and asks him once again to go to gusu with him. that severely sours wwx's mood, to the point of snapping at lwj when lwj implies that he'll regret it in the future. lwj realizes his mistake and they become polite again, but the atmosphere is significantly strained, and wwx even comments that he was presumptious and shouldn't have invited him over, which lwj dissents. wwx parts with a cordial but distant "thank you", and on... not great terms

what i think really makes the above hurt though is that, when wwx comes back to yunmeng and jc asks who he met. wwx answers this:

worse than jin zixuan.....oof. im so sorry hgj

so, it really is quite tragic. wwx had a nice time with lwj in phoenix mountain, and because of that he wanted to try and wash away their bad blood, ask him to hang out, recall some stories of their youth, maybe mend this relationship that became so strained during the war! what happens instead is that... he gets the harsh reminder of what (in his mind) lwj thinks of his cultivation, thinks he's not in control of it, that it's dangerous and he should be locked up. with that, they're all back to square one :(

the thing is, MDZS is quite known for being non-linear and having a humongous amount of flashbacks, and they're all set and positioned at the time they were for a reason! the thing is, as most read the novel once and then proceed to only revisit scenes separately, naturally forgetting about the grand-picture and the scenes that come before and after, we might misremember how some events play out or the state of the character arcs and relationships, and i believe the popular fanon interpretation that "omggg wwx was asking yanli this bc he likes lwj but can't admit this yet!!!! 🙈" is quite of a great example of this

but!! it's not for any bad reason, after all both the Audio Drama and CQL kinda play up this moment with some beautiful background music. this is, in the end, a romance novel! but let's put a pin on that for a bit and analyze what led to this scene, and why WWX came looking for shijie to ask her this

so as you see, the scene right before was wei wuxian and jiang cheng talking about jin zixuan, with jc asking wwx to not pick fights with him anymore since he's the heir of lanling jin. wwx is baffled because up until that point he and jc were trashtalking buddies when it came to jzx, but there's nothing they can do about it if shijie still likes him

that... makes wwx quite speechless, and he goes searching for her to get an answer. in his mind, jzx is still an awful, undeserving person! so why would shijie like him so much?

why would someone like another person?

of course, he's not as shameless to ask shijie right to her face why she likes someone like jzx, esp since she's already well familiar with his poor opinion of him, so he tries getting an "unbiased" answer by making a vague question, which in turn makes shijie think wwx is in love with someone else

now here's the thing: i feel like fandom tends to flanderize wwx when it comes to his unreliable narration, awareness of his own feelings or lan wangji's. we don't have time to get into that now, but if you've followed me for a while you know my thoughts on this

but here, specifically, i do not think wwx is in "denial about his crush" or "waving off because he doesnt want to get caught". his answer feels genuine, and honestly? really sad once you think about it

"I won't like anyone, at least not too much. Wouldn't it be like putting a rein on my own neck?"

this isn't strange once you consider the types of romantic relationships he grew up observing. other than his own parents', which he's mostly forgotten about, a strong love and attatchment sounds more like tying a rope around your neck. even though wwx is a romantic at heart who flirts easily but had been saving his first kiss for 20 years, he's still never felt this type of love for anyone before, and can't imagine putting himself through it

"So, wait... just because WWX said so you think you should believe it? You're telling me the curtains are just blue? If he's not talking about Lan Wangji, then what's the point of this scene?"

glad you asked!

you see, something that MXTX does quite often with the flashback placement in MDZS is contrast the moments where wangxian's relationship was at its best with moments where it was at its worst. As wwx recall these memories, his pre-conceived notions about lwj get challenged and his actions and words get recontextualized! my favorite example is probably the ending of the flashback of wwx's return, to him waking up in the cloud recesses

no i'll never shut up about this flashback placement. my goddd

so, when looking at the "why would someone like another person" scene, i ask you to not look at it by itself, but as a part of the literary work that mdzs is! because, as the wangxian of the past are stuck in this cordial, but strained relationship, do you remember where the wangxian of the present have currently been left at?

if you ask me, there is something incredibly sweet about leaving these characters at their most tender --- when one is finally beginning to not only understand his own feelings, but to suspect that those feelings are requited, in which he's allowing himself to imagine a calm and happy future with him right as they march inside the lion's den --- and meeting them again when they're younger, and strained, and not fully knowing how to communicate that they care for each other, which in turn only hurts them both.

there is something very sweet about seeing wwx who is slowly realizing that he's in love, testing the waters of that, seeing how much he can take, in what ways he can ask for affection, and then seeing him again as he says "i won't ever like someone, at least not so much. wouldnt it be suffocating? wouldn't it be an impediment? wouldnt it be shackling yourself?" because you, like a cheeky grandma, can look at him and think: you don't know yet, but i've seen you then. you will like someone very much, and it won't be restraining. in fact, you'll never feel more free...

and that is the biggest thing, about revisiting this scene after you're done. because you'll look back this 20-something WWX who genuinely believed loving someone to much is like putting a rein around his own neck... and knowing he'll know a love that not only will not feel like a restrain*, but will be there to catch him whenever something does

*okay, except in bed, but that's only a bonus for wwx

[spatio-rift]

truly i get not wanting taka to stay in oto after the war thats not my ideal ending either However the little oto group was very funny during the war and theyre still hilarious as a fucked up family unit in boruto era. also i feel like theres just a lot less to do with them if theyre on their own + it leaves them completely detached from the rest of the nrt cast and universe cuz lets face it them having friends save for a few exceptions is pretty unrealistic like i cant take it seriously everyone hates these guys. especially the konoha crowd as we can see w naruto bc its way easier to just hate taka and blame them for sasukes worst edgy moments than accept that he did all of that shit on his own etc etc. (its funnier too) also im like certain its unintentional but the reasoning is pretty sound too in the end. what with orochimaru being a sort of gray area where hes not like, Forgiven for everything but they let him be on Some conditions because he can be useful as a konoha ally etc. taka are still very much international criminals &though sasuke has konohas protection so kumo cant touch him taka very much doesnt. but also they genuinely work for orochimaru now theyre not prisoners or fearing for their safety etc theres more give and take which is very interesting to think about and opens up a lot of possibilities considering its Orochimaru. one of the most accomplished and knowledgeable people in the ninja world. thats why i really like that the juugo arc mentioned they worked w orochimaru to help juugo n he made him suppressants. like yeah hes not a cult leader anymore and he doesnt have thousands of prisoners and people working for him anymore if he wants to get some shit done he does kind of need his three workers to want to stay there. like he knew kushina he explored the uzumaki ruins he knows about seals theres a lot he can help karin w on her journey to connect w her heritage for example. hell even if their relationship will never get back to what it was he knows tsunade well too and maybe SHE wants to reconnect w the uzumaki side of her family as well. etc etc like why dont we stop complaining about taka living w orochimaru for a moment and think about all the ways they can use him and his knowledge and his connections.

[amaranthdahlia]

mini rant but not completely negative

i think the reason i was offput by this chapter at first was the lack of insight of izukus inner feelings, like i get the show dont tell thing, but at the same time i WANT to see his inner turmoil. i want to KNOW what he feels in the inside. by the latter half of the series dekus emotions have been a complete enigma, we as an audience can tell theres something going on inside him but its been made a complete mystery, we saw how fucked up he got after the war arc and then the VH arc. but never ONCE we saw him express his pain, or how he feels just the outward reaction to it... which doesnt say that much.

izukus emotional depth feels so glossed over that it made me upset seeing the control your heart thing kinda be resolved WITHOUT knowing what deku felt on the inside. and right now couldve been a perfect time for us to know WHAT HES FEELING. and honestly, i thought how hed truly control his heart was coming into terms with himself and relying on others with his pain (basically vent), just like how katsuki was with kamino. thats how he would control his emotions better if he didnt have anything bottled up anymore which would mean he handles his emotions much more healthier now

but , im willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. izuku DID just arrive and maybe therell be more development and his inner feelings WILL FINALLY get touched on as the fight goes and learns controlling his hear during it. or maybe even later on. and thatt maybe hori is doing it on purpose. i really hope so.

and im ofc still looking forward how all this would go

[ly0nstea]

What would be the main aspects in Zuko's arc that you'd rewrite/remedy

Hm, tough question anon but thanks for asking it! Honestly if I was rewriting Zuko's arc I'd have to rewrite the whole show but, here are the keynotes:

Azula and Zuko reconcile before Sozin's comet with maybe a smaller scale Agni Kai just beforehand, therefore Zuko fights his father with Aang.

Cut the date with Jin and put more emphasis on how miserable Zuko is with peasant life in the end of season 2 to give him more cause to betray his uncle, and make it explicit that zuko doesnt want to live like a peasant anymore.

In the final fight Zuko saves Aang instead of Katara from lightning from his father - Zuko flees instead of redicting the lightning in his altercation from his father during the Black Sun.

The Black Sun altercation has more pretext, essentially showing Zuko's last straw because to my rememberance it just goes from him learning history to him acting out and theres nothing else really there

Zuko's tales of ba sing se event is instead him showing more empathy towards others. Helping out of his own free will and refusing payment.

Zuko forgives Azula in the finale and transforms a cycle of abuse into a cycle of redemption and being the catalyst for Azula's own seperate post-show arc.

Zuko and Mai's relationship has positive growth and they communicate more effectively in the first half of season, and he talk to her just before black sun.

Zuko generally displays more empathy and compassion by the latter half of season three and takes accountability for all of his actions, from burning down Suki's village to burning Toph's feet.

and the most significant, Zuko rejects the throne, showing the most significant growth he has from season 1, being humility. Zuko realises his destiny is not bound to a throne and decides to carve his path, not one designed by his father. He focuses his attention towards decolonisation of the Earth Kingdom, Republic City, as well as repairing the image of the Fire Nation. Azula is named firelord instead, under several conditions, promises, and signed treaties to ensure nothing like the war happens again.

[donanimee]

What will happen to Yuga Aoyama aka Can't Stop Twinkling after the war and endgame its over? This had kinda been bothering me since the reveal of him being the UA traitor, and even got more worried after we havent seen him since his encounter with the plant quirk AFO assassin after he betrayed him.

Even if Aizawa said he won't expell him, he also said that he might not have a home in U.A. anymore after the war. Even if he is making up for what he did, that doesnt change what he had done, and who knows what they'll do to him when the law system is fixed ( even if there is doubt the safety comission will rise again and especially if someone, a escaped villian, a surviving ex employee, or maybe as a favor to Lady Nagant, reveal bits of the dark secrets of what they did mixed with distrust from the public) like getting juvenile, comunity service, or house arrest.

And there is also another big possbility upon us, as big as the inevitable fate of Dabi 😭🔥 who i really hope finds peace and redemption with his family before that fate. I don't remember where but think it was when Class 1A got a war declaration from the rest of the school or during the Class A vs Class B arc, Someone said that if someone transfers to the Hero course, someone will have to leave in order to have a free spot for that person. And Shinsou will transfer when the war and school suspension are over and the second year can finally begin, so there may be a chance that someone from either Class A or B will have to leave for him to be in. We had many candidates for that, Bakugo and Izuku were too but one will likely re enroll and the other has a chance to be revived which the writers are really taking their time for that, and in fanfics the one who was number one n being replace by Shinsou was Mineta.

But with Aoyama beng a traitor and him havng the chance of not longer being welcomed in UA, he is the most probably to being replaced by Shinsou. And this will remain a high possibility unless we get another unexpected surprise from the manga creator like Bakugo being revived by Edgeshot. Honestly speaking we dont want any of class 1A to go since we love them all, but with Midnight's and Twice's deaths, we know better than to have our hopes up and expect to say goodbye to more beloved characters.

I had some ideas when thinking about it, one was that he and Shinsou will exchange places n Hero and General Studies courses. And even if they allow Yuga to remain the hero course, they could either transfer to another school in Japan like Shiketsu or transfer him overseas. All thats its up to the future, until then we have our theories and imagination.

What you think will happen to our Sparkling boy?

[dyketubbo]

Please infodump about Tubbo’s acting if you wanna we would love to hear more

*ascends* ok so basically tubbo is genuinely one of the best actors on the smp considering his lack of experience and young age- he has amazing control over his voice and when not doing a bit, he exaggerates just enough that you can tell hes acting, but not so much it breaks the immersion. his voice acting also just fits his character very well, being very firm and leaving no room for questioning. when he finishes, hes finished.

its also very neat to see how tubbo rolls with the punches- hes often tired during streams (especially the streams before the meetup since hed stay up to talk to ranboo) and isnt always in an acting mood, but even when he isnt exactly able to stay in character he weaves his ooc moments into his character near perfectly- and he doesnt have to spell out his reasonings either, which i think is really neat.

when he was tired and couldnt respond properly to tommys death announcement, he weaved it into an arc of denial and trying to figure out what happened without admitting What Happened, something that fits amazingly with c!tubbos tendency to think logically while still often being irrational, and tying it into when he thought tommy was dead before but was actually alive. his way of bouncing off his own tiredness by making his character be distinctly out of it, spiralling as he finds more and more, clearly unable to accept the truths he finds and even believing himself to be losing it as his voice gets more fervent and he starts rambling as he moves around and staying laser focused on his mission

through cc!tubbos acting and bouncing off of others and his own natural inclinations- c!tubbo becomes Off in-universe. a kid with a name for being kind and someone very loved by those around him- and you get to know him, and hes Off. he trails off and yet his statements sound Final, he cuts people off with cutting remarks, hes explosive in his anger, he rambles on and on about things that everyone just has to go along with, he loves bees and flowers and his friends ad family and he makes nukes and comes up with war strategies and knows about death and pain. hes a child president, and he sounds like one.

its clear in him exiling tommy as he shouts about undermined authority and doesnt give "proper" reactions to being compared to schlatt, its clear in how he puts emphasis right where he should, he shoots any statements he doesnt agree with down, sometimes frustratingly calm while doing so, hes quick on his feet and barely has to think when responding. he doesnt always say the right thing, but that only emphasizes that hes young and doesnt know what hes doing. hes a teenager told to mature too much too quickly

and when c!tubbo breaks, its devastating. his voice gets choked up, and yet his responses are as normally paced and calm as ever (until they arent, until hes breaking too much for even him to keep up with). when hes excited, its shouts of joy, bouncing around and getting fully into it. when hes scared his voice gets pained and forced, when hes teasing he sounds as if hes holding back a smile. when hes resigned, he goes completely into logical mode, calmly explaining the situation and his perspective, calmly accepting it all when the truth finally catches up and he cant ignore his problems anymore.

lines like "what am i without you?" "yourself", "wilbur said he wasnt going to hurt me", "dream, please escort tommy out of my country", "you've messed this up for no one but yourself", theyre all such good shows of his control in his voice, of how he attunes his emotions near-perfectly.

tubbo is an intensely good actor, and i didnt even touch how he controls his characters body language within a fucking 3d block game. when i say tubbo is truly up there as having some of my favorite vocal deliveries and favorite lines overall, i truly mean it. kids talented, i hope he knows how god inspiring he is because his voice acting is genuinely better than what some professional adults are able to do.

[zeta-in-de-walls]

What's the most common misconception you hear about c!tommy?

Hey! Really interesting question, cheers. I’d say that there’s quite a few misconceptions floating around: that he never apologises, that he hasn’t developed, that his exile was his fault, that he’s the main source of conflict on the server, that all he does is steal, and plenty of other stuff.

But the one I probably hear most is how Tommy supposedly values music discs over people.

This one is such a mess of misconceptions. I’ve even heard it said that Doomsday happened because Tommy cared about his discs too much and he was wrong because you shouldn’t value items over human lives. I hate this one because it misunderstands Tommy enough so you can dismiss him because its such a weak position. 

Anyway, I understand why its so messy. Tommy throughout season 2 is frequently in a state of uncertainty and is being driven by emotions and isn’t thinking clearly after so much suffering. He says a lot of stuff he doesn’t mean and is very suggestible. Most of his talking about the discs is done when he’s lonely and thinks his friends don’t care for him anymore, that they’re better off without him.

Now, let’s be clear: music discs are something Tommy’s character loves. His happiness every time he listens to one feels very genuine. He’s had so many emotional moments listening to his discs with others and even considers his bench his happy space. He likes them and invites others to listen with him. These items hold no intrinsic value, they’re of no worth to anyone else besides how much they mean to Tommy. The only reason to take them is to try to control him specifically. That’s the original reason Dream took them in the original disc war - to punish Tommy after he caused some trouble. 

And the original disc war was fun for Tommy. He found the battle to be exciting and enjoyed trying to outplay Dream with his best friend Tubbo and anyone he could get on his side. It was like a fun game to him. One that, while chaotic, no one really got hurt from at all - the only one who really suffered was Tommy himself, who put stuff on the line for it and had his whole base dug up. (And Tubbo who got dragged in and lost items, but he was initially a very willing partner who found the conflict fun too.) 

And then we have Dream, who traded away L’Manburg’s independence for Tommy’s discs, an interesting decision which meant only Tommy really paid the price that day. Everyone remarked on how unusually selfless it was of Tommy. That day was a victory for everyone else, but bittersweet for him. Wilbur consoled him, saying they could get them back and then they’d have even more history and sentimental value attached to them, having been what paid for L’Manburg’s freedom. Tommy was encouraged and so the game continued.

Dream over this time became not just Tommy’s enemy, but his friend. They had fights and conflicts but it was more like a fun game. As they also did stuff like make a church together. Eventually Tommy managed to steal Mellohi back from Dream while Skeppy acquired Cat. At the elections, Tommy gives Mellohi to Wilbur who gives it back again when they’re banished. Months pass and they finally win back L’Manberg and its a wonderful day (until it goes wrong) but Tommy’s not done with his disc war. 

This disc war was always a personal thing for Tommy, he’s never wanted others to be dragged in and hurt by it. He kind of takes Tubbo for granted, but Tubbo’s also always been his partner in crime and Tommy enjoys having a war he can fight alongside his best friend - he and Tubbo against Dream. Dream at this point is still seen as a friendly enemy, in spite of choosing Schlatt and helping Wilbur blow up L’Manberg. Anyway, he rejects Presidency, giving it to Wilbur because he trusts him and also wants to focus on his personal battles after so long ignoring it. He doesn’t want others to be dragged in or for his interests to be divided. He’s leaving L’Manburg in safe hands he can trust. That’s season 1 of the SMP, but season 2 is where things get messier.

After the war, Tommy hears that Tubbo had been suspicious that Tommy might’ve been the traitor. In order to show that he trusts him, Tommy gives Tubbo Mellohi. It’s not just a disc now, its a sign of trust, a sign of their bond - at least in Tommy’s eyes.

Then Dream builds obsidian walls around L’Manburg and we first see Tommy showing that bit of selfishness. He states that he’d wanted to step away, that L’Manburg wasn’t his priority anymore. That he’d left it in safe hands so he could focus on the discs. But it doesn’t matter what Tommy intended. Dream is targeting him and is dragging the rest of L’Manburg into it by threatening to seal them in obsidian forever if they don’t comply. Tommy and Tubbo do have a disagreement here, but its not actually so much about the discs. 

-Tommy believes that fighting Dream is the superior option, if they ask for help from others in the server - because what he’s doing isn’t right - then they could defeat him, show him that he couldn’t just push them around. 

-Tubbo feels like that would get them killed and he doesn’t want to risk their lives. It would be better to appease Dream for now and secretly plot how to take him down later but Tommy’s being too hotheaded. 

Tommy brings up the disc to state how he trusts Tubbo and would consider being exiled a betrayal but Tubbo reminds him that they’re just discs and there’s more on the line and Tommy needs to be more cooperative. Anyway, Tommy’s hurt by Tubbo exiling him and think its a sign that he doesn’t care about him anymore. Tubbo meanwhile found it difficult to do but felt like there was no other option but did still care about Tommy. Tubbo would later come to regret doing it while Tommy would later say that it was the right choice when they finally actually talk. 

The discs here are kind of a symbol but Tommy doesn’t really value them over others, he’s being a little selfish for sure but that is mostly a result of being treated unfairly by Dream and feeling attacked and ganged up on by his friends, not seeing how they were trying to help him. Dream’s the one to blame here. At worst, Tommy’s being irresponsible in thinking he can just step away from L’Manburg - he didn’t value the discs over it, he just wanted to fight a personal battle without L’Manburg being involved for once. But too many things do matter to him and Dream realised he could attack Tommy through his friends. Its also why Tommy says he didn’t want Tubbo to be President, because he wanted him to be free to help him in his personal war too. There were some issues in their friendship that for sure got exploited and blown out of proportion.

So post-exile. Tommy is rather confused. He’s decided he doesn’t want to die and that Dream wasn’t really his friend, but he still feels abandoned by all his other friends. He still believes they didn’t really care about him after his failed beach party and everything else. And his feelings on Dream are mixed because he knows logically he should hate him but emotionally he still feels like he’s his friend.

Tommy at this point, begins clinging to the discs as some sort of tangible goal while feeling so lonely and abandoned. He has no real sense of agency and really wants Technoblade to give him guidance. Technoblade however wants to destroy L’Manburg and reaffirms his thoughts that Tubbo doesnt really care about him. Tommy is still...kinda(?) clear that he doesn’t want L’Manburg to be destroyed but is willing to compromise on minor terrorism. His remaining belief in L’Manburg is being eroded. You can see in his trips into L’Manburg he is rather unaware of the extent of his actions. He’s suffered and now feels right in lashing out. It seems to be the start of a villain arc even. Right at this point, the discs make more sense than people so they are his goal. And yet even in the midst of his uncertainty, he says the one Tubbo has is safe, he wants to get the one Dream has. 

The discs are Tommy’s way of saying he wants to fight Dream. It’s not really about the discs anymore, Dream went way too far with the exile and now Tommy wants to stop him and find it easiest to frame it as going after his music disc.

Then the festival. Tommy finally confronts Tubbo and sees him about to give his disc to Dream. It’s his worst fears confirmed, that Tubbo doesn’t really care about him and that he’s on Dream’s side. They fight and Tommy finally says the line ‘the discs were worth more than you ever were!’

And he regrets it immediately. The statement rang false. They were just discs and Tubbo was his best friend. He immediately tells Tubbo to give up the disc and changes sides then and there. The discs were not more important than people. He was being selfish. And he also remembered how much he cared about L’Manburg and didn’t want it to be blown up no matter what he’d agreed to the day before. He wants to fight for it, choosing his friends once and for all. 

In his argument with Techno on Doomsday, he does bring up his discs and words it kind of awkwardly. He tries to explain that ‘nothing had been taken from you, while the discs were stolen from me’ Tommy believes that Techno is destroying something people loved when he could’ve just walked away, he wasn’t fighting for something he loved like Tommy in his wars. That’s what he’s trying to get at, not that music discs are more important than people. Tommy doesn’t actually believe that and prefers wars that don’t hurt others, as the disc wars was once supposed to be before Dream brought in everyone else. Even saying that, Tommy admits he’d messed up so many times in chasing the discs. That he was wrong.

Tommy talks about going after the discs again but at this point it really means taking down Dream. Dream had expressed that he would not stop, he enjoyed their ‘game’ too much. Tommy has nothing left to lose as far as he’s concerned and needs to take down Dream for everything he’d done. 

During the disc saga finale, again Tommy always chooses Tubbo first. There’s this one moment where he has Mellohi and could run away forever but he stops and gives it up along with all their items before their taken to the vault and almost forced to watch Tubbo die while he gets thrown in prison forever. But he chooses Tubbo. He always does. 

Okay, summary over. I hope that better explains why I dislike the misconception that Tommy chooses his discs over people. He doesn’t really. It’s used to discredit him way too much, I feel. It’s only at his lowest, after being tormented in exile that he even gets close to that position and that’s when he’s on the bring of choosing a dark path and becoming what he hates. At the festival, he rejects that path.

Now that he has his discs, he hasn’t started trouble with them once. They’re safe and he can bring them out to listen to when he’s feeling low, not hurting anyone. They’re just something he loves and its okay to have attachments. 

[obihoe]

tbh i think madara's masochism, as funny as it is, is also quite .. meaningful? like i think it might say smth abt him feeling uncomfortable with his own power. in the sense of he doesnt actually want to be the one with the most power bc it means he will have to carry responsibility for everyone. we know that he wasnt feeling comfortable being clan-leader and he didnt feel like he's up to the task of becoming hokage either. when hashirama suggests he become hokage and he will immortalize him by carving his face into the hills he seems almost .. embarrassed at the notion yknow. which might just be abt the part with the face on the hill but he also immediately questions his ability for this task and mentions how he failed to protect his brethren as clan-leader prior to this. i think the god savior responsibility is easier/more convenient to take for him bc he doesnt have to trust or cooperate with anyone in order to fill it. i know he cooperates with obito on his way there but only bc obito becomes what he thinks is an extension of his own self/his will and the final position isnt meant to be shared, its supposed to be his task .. alone. and so thats why he's drawn to this and like .. feels more up to the task of doing it that way as opposed to what he tried doing before (as a clan-leader and potentially later as hokage). however. i Still feel like madara is driven towards this by some feelings of duty. madara feels its his duty to become the world's savior bc he's so strong. only he can successfully do this bc he's so strong. i've talked abt this before but i think madara in the end comes to desire godhood bc he cant get anything else that will give him fulfillment or happiness. he cant get the connection and closeness from hashirama that he wants, their bond is never as intimate as he wants it to be. so he gives up on connection, pursues power instead and comes to believe that this is what will make him happy. its what he means here in this scene i think:

madara "interprets it differently" by NOT going the way of cooperation like the stone tablet apparently said but by doing the opposite. fusing all power (specifically hashirama's and his power) within himself and just doing it all on his own. reach his fulfillment and happiness all on his own. but i feel like deep down, maybe he is aware that this will not work. maybe as much as he desires to distance himself from his humanity, he knows or can feel that embracing his humanity will feel so much better than godhood. he tries to embrace his humanity thru battle.

but coming back to the point at the start, it might be that madara isnt just a battle freak and a bit of a pain enjoyer, maybe he also just wants someone to finally take all that power away from him. madara's power being taken away will mean two things: 1) a much greater sense of vulnerability towards the person who does it (which, to me, is inherently connected to being human bc u can only share a connection w another human if u allow some form of vulnerability) and 2). he's resolved of his duty. if he isnt the strongest anymore, he loses his capability of becoming the god savior, he loses his right to fill that position but he also is relieved of his responsibility to do so. he doesnt Have to do it anymore is what i mean. i think masochism .. it often revolves around wanting to give up control. and i think madara does want to give up control. in other words, madara is drawn to the god savior position bc it promises unlimited control to him. he doesnt have to depend on anyone who could betray him, all he needs is his power and neither does he have to trust that humanity will manage to remain peaceful by itself either bc he will just decide what everyone's lives (dreams) will be like from now on. the control-part is thus what madara aims to gain personally from this, its what makes this attractive to him. BUT. he still seeks out battle with hashirama during the war arc (yknow hashirama, who is stronger than him and who according to madara's own words would be capable of stopping him), he doesnt enjoy himself when he's fighting the 5 kage bc theyre inferior to him so we know there's not actually all that much joy to be gained here for him from the superiority of his own power. we do see him enjoy himself during his battle with gai tho who almost kills him (and would have, if madara didnt have extraordinary self-healing powers here) and he enjoys himself also with hashirama. only stronger opponents who can actually get to him and are capable of hurting him are enjoyable as a partner in fights for him.

so to conclude this, madara aims to achieve godhood and power bc he is fearful of getting betrayed and thus thinks it is safer to just do all the work on his own, he cant get the connection to other people he longs for but he isnt a god, he's a human. the only way to connect to other people he knows and feels safe with is violence and the only premise under which he will show vulnerability is if he's forced into it. so i think it is natural for him to seek out conflict with stronger opponents bc only then can he show himself human (or feel human) and only then can he feel some kind of connection to others. hashirama here has an obviously very special position bc he is BOTH stronger than him, has successfully taken him down several times prior to this, and he's also the only one there that madara has had a touch of connection with prior to this. a connection that madara still has a desire for. the power/control is only a substitute for what he actually wants bc he's a human. not a god. he wants to connect with others, he doesnt want to be all on his own. but giving up the control is scary. he's done that before in his first life and it didnt end well for him. madara will not give up his power voluntarily, he cant, its too scary! but he's looking for somebody else who will do that for him and thats why he tries goading hashirama into another battle during the war, not despite, but Because he is capable of taking him down. madara accepts his defeat after kaguya has been taken down ... he feels at peace as he enters the afterlife bc finally, he experiences a true and unhindered connection with the person he wants that connection with most and he's also relieved of his duty to solve the world's problems.

[harley-style]

mcyt brain rot for you all

this is both anysis and headcanon and au scenario, all blended together. you're welcome :D

----------

i have this headcanon,,,, cobbled together by some tumblr posts i read,,,, but some of them point out that wilbur is like, good at manipulating people as well to a point, right?

so i was thinking. what if his reach extended far beyond what anyone thought of? *what if wilbur's influence spread to dream?*

i know we've discussed this before (or sparrow analyzed it idk) but like. hear me out. this headcanon has to do with how wilbur wants to create a narrative. pit it against dream and his presumed original desires to create a safe happy place for his friends. wilbur's insistence that dream is the "tyrant". what if wilbur saw how dream was pointedly staying out of conflict, decided, "i dont like that," and began twisting the storyline and pulled dream's strings (pointedly off camera bc headcanons, babyyyy) so that dream would eventually fall into ruin, as the disgraced tyrant?

and dream...he KNOWS what wilbur's doing. to him specifically. and he's struggling so hard at the beginning, judging by his soft, passive demeanor when wilbur asks about the tnt.

i think, that somewhere along the line, dream lost sight of where his boundaries lied, and falls right into wilbur's plot pit and became The Villain. and he's like, fuck. I went and done it, oh no.

and....it worsens.

i had this whole scenario in my head that dream fully embraces the villain role, plays wilbur's game and completes the "narrative"...but is so fed up with wilbur and his stupid fucking ploys that he...bends the rules a little. changes shit up.

something...oh, a little like "lets speedrun my fall into villainy" bc it wouldn't be dream without the speedrun.

fast forward to prison. maybe if dream finally gets to resurrect wilbur. and wilbur is Not Pleased with how dream has decided to handle his narrative.

but its like. dream doesn't give two shits about wilbur's goddamn narrative anymore. he **played wilbur's game**. he's done with his role. he's given them peace, given them a happy end.

sure, he's given the rest plenty of trauma, but hey, it all turned out okay in the end, right? theyve got their happy ending. theyve BEATEN the big bad nightmare. his role is OVER.

but wilbur doesnt like it. doesnt like the lengths dream went to. it wasn't supposed to be like this. dream wasn't supposed to turn out this much of a *monster.*

and dream laughs. "will, wilby, wilbur," he croons madly, in his pretty little cell, preening like a cat. "i dont care," he hisses. "you fucking wanted this. you WANTED me to be this way. right? mr. revolutionary man? come on now, dont tell me you never expected this."

and wilbur tries to protest, but dream cuts him off.

"no. NO. dont' play your stupid littke games on me wilbur. you udnerstand? im DONE. im so sick of your bullshit, your countries your wars and your stupid fucking "story". I WANTED PEACE AND SAFETY. ALL i asked was "hey, don't be jerks, we're all one big community," and you didn't even have the DECENCY to just adhere to those rules, not even a little bit! you -- i let you in here because of TOMMY, you know that? the reason you even got to BE in this world was because tommy "vouched" for you. said you would be a great addition. and tommy-- i loved that kid back then, you know? he was bright and annoying and he made the server FUN. you took that brilliance, took that kid, and turned him against me, against ALL of us -- for what? independence? I HANDED YOU INDEPENDENCE AND YOU SPAT IT IN MY FACE LIKE IT WAS THE MOST VILE THING YOUVE EVER RECEIVED. i didnt even ENFORCE my rules, they were so loose literally EVERYONE broke them at some point.

but you? you had the audacity to call me a tyrant. to call me selfish, greedy, controlling. and then you declared war. the pet wars, the first disc wars weren't even close to the intensity you brewed during the revolution.

you had this little ideal in your head. and ill have to hand it to you, it was certainly impressive. but you didnt need to press it, to pressure it on the people of my server. you did anyway. you created this plot, this scheme to paint me as the villain, as the final boss. and you know what? FINE! if this is what it takes for them to be safe and happy, i'll be the villain.

but don't come in here expecting me to play that role again. i DID my part. i united them. my work is over.

but you, wilbur? heh. you get to deal with ALL the consequences of your war games. you'll be the one dealing with tommy's nightmares, tubbo's anger, everyone's hatred, fuck, you even get to deal with the egg!! isnt that nice? i was willing to deal with the egg, you know, it appeared before the whole election thing. but since you're here, you may as well take over. because you're SO great at directing them, you know? better than i ever could.

point is, wilbur, you don't get to use me as the tyrant, the final boss, the bad guy, and the villain anymore. when i said i would be putting the most powerful person in here, I wasn't fucking lying!"

"but tommy said you were going to put him in there!"

"you know, with the amount of times ive practically lied to that kid, im surprised he still believed me. i was never planning to put him in here. no one else would be put in here. hell, even techno and phil would just have gotten stuck here for about a week. i had guidelines, you know. i put them in a book somehwere, in one of my bases. no one was supposed to get unfair treatment. unfortunately i seemed to have pulled the short end of thr stick. that seems to be all that im doing these days."

"dream—"

"no. don't do that. don't pull me into another one of your plots wilbur. i don't want to hear it. you got your villain. your villain is gone, wilbur.

it's time to be the hero. :)"

basically my points here are like.

-wilbur made a narrative that dream didnt agree with

-this narrative painted dream in a negative villian light so dream basically said "yeah fuck that" and spedran his role

-headcanons galore i really do like the idea of dream creating that prison for himself to be locked in

-once wilbur is back he visits dream and explains his displeasure that dream went and did the things he did bc 1) hurt a lot of people personally and 2) did not adhere to the villain role wilbur specifically assigned to dream

-additional mentions: both wanted peace but in different forms. dream wanted peace for peace's sake but wilbur wanted peace after struggles. dream genuinely loved everyone on the server, but had to shed those attachments because to him, PERSONALLY, it would be a weakness towards his "villainous" role. his threatening of tubbo in front of tommy so tommy can "be the hero like spiderman and batman" shows that he knows exactly how empowering attachments are. lastly, dream only began manipulating people after the pogtopia arc. he mostly stayed the neutral party during it, and was just reacting with plans among plans during the lmanburg revolution.

-additionally, wilbur really wanted to stay dead, but dream said "haha no" and alived him again bc if he has to be the one to inflict trauma onto people then wilbur has to suffer leading the efforts to recovery.

hi @dreamsclock u keep giving me brainrot so im tossing this at u thank u goodbye i hope u dont mind the tag

[wolfcrunch]

i feel like the retconning is just really poorly worded or making ahnohter take seem worse then it is. Like, that it currently seems like shoto was nothing but a plot advices for Deku to meet enji cause enji now completly took his place. Its somethign I personally feel conflicted abotu too? I support Enjis growth, but at the same time it came to the cost of shotos character, the war redcuing shoto from beign part of the main trio to enjis son and touys brother. So its eh, not retonned but I can't blame people be upset about this writting decision eihter? Like it isnt really bad but it alos is depending from which point of view you look at it. Not that shoto is the first that happen. its one of bnha biggest writtigns flaws, how some characters are jssut thrown out eventually, to me anyway. Still hope shoto is allowed to be mad, understanding but still mad whenever he is back. give him being his own person again. I know you will probaly disagree cause you dont like him, but anyway.

the thing is though, when i see people speak about how horikoshi has retconned the tdrk storyline, its usually not in concerns to shouto and his role - although that possibly plays a part, the biggest issue usually tends to come down to endeavor and his involvement in the story altogether. the fact that when we were introduced to him, we were to think he was nothing but an awful person and an even worse father, despite doing good at his job. some people hated him more than most, proceeded to create headcanons and then... didn’t want to admit those were wrong, when horikoshi began to give more insight to endeavor’s character itself and actually show him trying to change and trying to atone, rather than keeping his character stagnant and one-dimensional. rather than just keeping him as the trope-filled, shitty father that a lot of media tend to have.

and because it was endeavor’s character type of all things getting attention, and nuance, and being fleshed out and shown to be more complex than originally thought, and in turn fleshing out the other members of the family and making everyone more complex than we gave credit for. people didn’t like that. 

as a matter of fact i personally havent seen as many people be too upset about shouto in comparison, although thats maybe because it either doesnt go into the tag or i dont check the tag often enough. i dont think the issue is that his character is thrown out - although his character has less of a presence compared to izuku and even bkg - but rather the subplot of the tdrk family isnt just from his viewpoint anymore, and he sort of has to share spotlight with everyone else as a whole, at least for now. i think thats why i dont like him as much in comparison to izuku or bkg or even endeavor himself, because shouto doesn’t essentially stand out on his own. he’s had his moments during the tdrk-important arcs (pro hero, endeavor agency, even a bit during plw) but its always been very... i suppose its more subtle than what we see from endeavor, or even dabi, who both have different views and different reactions to the same situation.

its essentially how i see deku’s character progression up to this point - its subtle to a point where its hard to really see it among other things that are more apparent and out there (for example, the character arcs for both bkg and endeavor). shouto’s involvement and growing into himself is progressing more slowly compared to bkg or endeavor, since given the rather brash and harsh first impressions, its a lot easier to tell when they’re truly more reflective when it comes to their previous actions.

but i do hope that he’ll get something whenever we cut back to ua - which tbh i dont think will be for another month or two at least. with deku out of the picture (for now) and endeavor at the very least out there taking villains down, without his son in tow, it’ll give shouto a chance away from two very big characters (deku + endv) involved in his own arc. kind of like how izuku is now outside of ua and away from some important people part of his arc, i could see a very similar character growth to come from shouto if he becomes more reflective on everything once we next see him. and ofc, on a bit of a lesser scale seeing as not being mc means he’s bound to have a little less screentime in comparison.

shouto being mad despite being understanding of the situation is something im kinda 50/50 on tbh, i could see it genuinely going either way for his character. although my first thought is to think he wont be as mad as people are beginning to believe, it really depends on how he is when we next see him at ua - we haven’t seen him yet to build up tension and suspense, much like how we haven’t seen bkg, so i’ll hold any final judgments or guesses until we actually get a look and a feel for how he’s feeling himself.

[calangkoh]

tbh i was never a fan of roy killing the rockbells bc it felt like it was the narrative saying "ohhhhh this is his GREATEST SIN he has killed TWO INNOCENT DOCTORS he is PAST REDEMPTION NOW" like him killing two amestrian adults (a tragedy, yes) was the tipping point for him and not him killing literally thousands of innocent ishvalans, including kids, in their own homes. like ik its probably not the point but its definitely how it was framed to me

ive read it that way in the past as well and understand why its upsetting and problematic, and ive also talked about why i don’t think this is how it’s supposed to be read and why i dont read it like that anymore (but if that is how you read it i really cant argue that its sketchy). i cant remember what post i mentioned it in so i cant link it, but ill try to explain it again.

i think about like this. when you’re a soldier, you’re supposed to be desensitized to the other side. you have to desensitize yourself. that’s the only way you can be a soldier during a war. and i dont doubt theres propaganda running around in amestris and within the military dehumanizing ishbalans and painting them as the bad guy. and soldiers are soldiers because they want to protect their country.

roy IS traumatized by killing ishbalans. he had that flashback in epispde 13, and he’s terrified and distraught at seeing the child whose life he’s about to take. but the reason the rockbells specifically affect him and are the turning point for him, is because they were amestrians. up until that point im sure he had that belief that no matter how horrific his actions are, they must be for the good of the country. there has to be justification for it, right? there has to be good reason that he’s being told to kill ishbalans and in large numbers.

but by being told to kill two innocent doctors from amestris, people he’s supposed to be protecting and the military is supposed to serve, he realizes the war isnt about the good of amestris. its about power and control. any straws he was grasping at before this order that the military he serves has good intentions are gone.

and it doesnt help that he saw the bloodied picture of their daughter. It doesnt help that they were doctors treating everyone on both sides. it doesnt help that he had spoken with them before killing them where they said to him “there are no sides, just patients.”

The deaths of the rockbells and hughes are more symbolic than anything. theyre his main motivators because they have faces and names that he can latch onto, but truly its about them representing a larger issue. Its not that he only cares about them (because theyre amestrians), its that they represent what he cares about. he cares about bringing down a corrupt military. he cares about his country, both its citizens lives and that its a good country (aka not one that is trigger happy for war crimes).

the reason i make an excuse for this plot points sketchiness is because reading it as “roy only seems to care and feel guilt about the rockbells and hughes and not the ishbalans he killed” goes against what the series as a whole says. its not a message the series would endorse all things considering. the series is very anti imperialism and said that scar was right to kill the 7000 soldiers and say his sympathy will not wasted on them. if the series endorses that, why would they endorse the idea that roy only cares about the amestrians he killed and not the ishbalans? why would they endorse that he wants to change the system because of two doctors and not because of mass genocide? it doesnt make sense.

the reason theres so much focus on the rockbells is because it relates to winrys character arc more. the attention is on winry, and only involves mustang as is relevant, but isnt the center of HIS arc. its just a PART of his arc.

[wasflypaw]

Maybe either Tubbo or Fundy?

Tubbo - Really trying his best. Not a bad person. He has the right intentions. He gets thrown into a lot of situations he's not prepared for - Schlatt calling him back to be his right hand man, becoming president of an entire nation, etc.

Tubbo was never prepared for presidency, he got picked to be president as a second choice and was expected to be a good president just like that. He tried his best to rebuild the nation and he was genuinely doing a good job, however he was destined to fail as Fundy and Quackity, members of his cabinet, refused to listen to him on day 2 when he told them not to provoke Techno because he just wants peace.

Tubbo only had Schlatt and Wilbur as examples of presidents before this. Tubbo wants to eliminate any threat to his nation and ends up causing more problems doing so - exiling Tommy to prevent Dream's war, trying to hunt down Techno which lead to Techno now wanting blood...

Tubbo is scared of what Techno is capable of, didnt have any way of knowing he was in retirement, and just knew he was out there with the resources to blow up his nation after threatening to do so. If someone hated you and your friends (because Tubbo's cabinet members are his FRIENDS) and has threatened multiple times to harm your nation and harm them, is FULLY capable of doing so any time he wanted, and then goes into "retirement" would you believe him if you were in Tubbo's position or would you want him gone also? He didnt go about it the right way but that doesnt mean he's evil.

L'Manberg isnt what it used to be, but Tubbo doesnt realize that. L'Manberg is incredibly special to Tommy and Wilbur and Tubbo was there when it was created, of course he's gonna wanna make sure the nation stays safe

Also I dont believe him putting Philza in house arrest is evil lol Philza confirmed he was working with Techno who, again, threatened less than a month before that to destroy the nation.

He wants what's best but is easily manipulated (Dream and Quackity) as a result.

People say he's becoming Schlatt but that's not true at all, he's not TRYING to be evil. He gets talked over all the time and not taken seriously but he finally speaks loud and assertive and that means he's evil now?? Nah

He really deserves better and deserves rest tbh. I wouldn't mind if he's overthrown I just dont want him to be president anymore, he's been put in so many stressful situations that have turned into disasters

I hope he doesnt die by the end of the story, he doesnt deserve that

Fundy - Fundy's perspective is very underrated, it was surprising to me how many people didnt realize he was a spy and thought he was genuinely working for Schlatt

Now Fundy isnt really a bad person but he's not innocent. He has a reputation for scamming, stealing, pranking, etc. He started a minor civil war in L'Manberg because he stole Karl's Netherite and refused to give it back lol

He was Wilbur's son, but you cant deny Wilbur was a terrible father even before the corruption arc. He refused to take Fundy seriously, mocked his ideas, babied him and treated him like an incapable child leading to moments where Fundy would bash Wilbur's ideals and purposefully rebel against him in small ways like putting on the L'Manberg uniform while committing violence, something that was frowned upon in L'Manberg.

Fundy saw there was an election going on and decided to run for president with Niki, as him and Niki had been teaming up a LOT during the Pet War. Wilbur, upon seeing him run for president, immediately shut him down, disregarded him as a Traitor, and told Tommy that Fundy is dead to him. Fundy joined Schlatt as a spy, only telling Eret his plans, and burned the flag Niki made to "prove his loyalty to Schlatt". Fundy created a new flag for Schlatt, did stuff like help decorate, he's desperate for validation from a father figure or someone in a higher position of power

I think Fundy really started to warm up to Schlatt despite trying to be a spy. Schlatt gave him responsibilities and positions of power and didnt treat him like a small child which lead to Fundy "disowning" Wilbur. Fundy went on to say Schlatt has done more for the country than Wilbur has, but after the festival he ran to Pogtopia, sat there for a bit and said "I was wrong." (Reminder that Fundy's POV is underrated)

When Fundy revealed himself as a Spy and showed them the 20 page book he'd been working on he was mocked and Wilbur told him "I Despise You".

Fundy lost both Wilbur and Schlatt on the same day and his Daddy Issues still havent been resolved

He had his moment with Philza but even Philza said he's dead to him after Fundy did the Butcher Army stuff and he never did get adopted by Eret

Speaking of Eret I really wish he adopted Fundy as he's one of the people who's been consistently supportive of Fundy where Wilbur never was. Eret supported COCONUT2020 and cheered for them even when they lost, Fundy and Eret remained friends after Eret's betrayal, Fundy trusted Eret with his spy plan, etc

[bigbadwolf-16]

anyway heres the thing for wolf and i am SO sorry if the readmore doesnt work oof this bitch long

slightly modified it

Name:

Wolf-16

Age:

Mentally twelve, but roughly Dark Age old.

Race:

Exo

Call signs/alias:

Wolf. One syllable, easy.

Pronouns:

He / Him

Class:

Hunter

Preferred subclass(es):

Gunslinger, but he’s handy with Void and Stasis. Never got the hang of Arc.

Ghost's name:

Serenity, but she reluctantly answers to Red sometimes.

Their Vanguard:

He came late to the party and properly joined the Guardian ranks sometime after Tallulah died, but he was closest to Cayde-6, rip.

Fireteam name:

Foxtrot Uniform Charlie Kilo (former) Maelstrom (former) Exodus (current)

Fireteam teammates:

In Foxtrot: Liz Cabrera, King-3, Armani-7 In Maelstrom: Amelia-9, Atticus Maav In Exodus: Puck-13, Aera-9, Emmanuel-7

Favorite legendary weapon:

Dire Promise IKELOS SMG Seventh Seraph SAW

Favorite exotic weapon:

Ace of Spades Riskrunner The Lament

Favorite exotic armor:

Sealed Ahamkara Grasps The Sixth Coyote St0mp-335

Are they offense, defense, or support:

Generally offense, he’s blindingly fast and is a crackshot with any weapon you put in his hands.

Do they prefer being close, mid, or long range:

He prefers mid to long, but ends up getting in close more often than he’d like. The agility kind of nerfs his ability to take a lot of damage all at once, so he goes airborne the second he gets surrounded.

Do they lean more "Element of Surprise" or "Upfront and Aggressive":

A bit of both! He’ll pull a surprise attack and jump in to get his hands dirty if he has to, which makes him a pretty good distraction if there’s a lot of enemies looking for a bullet sponge, but he prefers a little bit of distance if he can get it.

Strikes, Gambit, or Crucible:

Getting him into strikes takes a lot of perseverance, honestly. He’ll do them if Zavala can actually hold him down long enough. Hunters are elusive as hell anymore, and the amount of times he’s been back to the Tower or even within the City’s walls since the Red War can be counted on one hand.

Crucible is also kind of a gamble. Serenity doesn’t like him doing it because he gets ruthlessly competitive and tends to favor Stasis which gets... ahhh, intense...

He fucks super hard with Gambit, tho. If he’s anywhere near the City, he’s probably playing Gambit because the Drifter won’t give him the good stuff until he does.

Who was their mentor:

If anyone was, it was probably Serenity and only insofar as teaching him how to be fucking normal. It hasn’t worked very well.

Who are they mentoring:

He went through a brief stint where he mentored Atticus. He couldn’t teach him any Warlock things, of course, but other stuff like no-scoping an Acolyte or picking locks? Absolutely.

What ship do they have:

After Forsaken, all of Cayde’s stuff was pretty much left alone, but Wolf asked the Vanguard if he could take the Queen of Hearts and they let him.

What is their Sparrow:

Blood in the Water

Favorite Ghost shell:

Serenity picks her own shells. When they met, she pretty much had the Rust Punk shell after the one she was created with got messed up pretty badly. The new one didn’t stand up very well against the elements.

Wolf keeps a handful of them in the ship so that she can go between them and her favorites are Wisteria Orbit and In Fine Omnium, but she goes back to her old one occasionally if she doesn’t want to get the others dirty.

Favorite color:

Red, but sometimes purple.

Favorite food:

Any kind of spicy ramen and shawarma.

Least favorite food:

He doesn’t like anything with a bitter taste and there are a lot of veggie-based things he just genuinely cannot stand the thought of.

Favorite Pre-Collapse music:

He discovered classic rock and hasn’t looked back once.

Favorite place in The Last City:

Before the Red War when he spent more time in the city itself, his apartment. It was small and pretty cozy and also loaded with his hauls from various jobs. He’d sit in the window and play video games on his off days and just chill with Serenity for hours.

There was also a bar he’d frequent with his old fireteam (and sneakretly sometimes with Cayde) where they pretty much knew everyone who worked there by name. It’s the one place he never got kicked out of for causing a ruckus.

Favorite NPC(s):

Cayde and Wolf hung out a lot when either one of them had the time. These days, if he’s anywhere near the Tower, it’s only to see Amanda or Banshee.

He also likes to kick it with Devrim, Variks, and Failsafe. Osiris finds him frustrating at best, but he and Crow are kind of a package deal at this point.

Least favorite NPC(s):

He finds Rahool kind of dry and nerdy and has nothing but bad things to say about Hideo.

Favorite patrol location:

The EDZ. It’s more or less his home now and he knows every square inch of it by heart.

Least favorite patrol location:

Anywhere on Europa or the Moon. Europa he’ll at least go to without being dragged, if only just to say hi to Variks or Elsie and check up on how things are going, but after the Lunar Incident he won’t step foot on the Moon unless Eris requests him specifically.

5 things your Guardian likes:

Glimmer, babeyyyy!! Also food, bad jokes, going real fast, and springtime.

5 things your Guardian dislikes(this can be anything):

Handling trauma in a healthy way like normal person, having to be responsible for people, being told what to do, big open spaces, and waiting.

Your Guardian has to rest. What is their living space like:

Wolf can and will sleep just about anywhere and in pretty much any position. His old apartment in the City was destroyed during the war, and he just never went back, so now he knocks out in whatever place has enough cover or is out of the way enough he won’t be found.

Does your Guardian have any casual wear?:

Lots. He usually goes for a more urban style, so lots of huge hoodies, joggers, chunky sneakers, snapbacks, that kind of thing. He generally only wears armor when he’s actively working.

What hobbies and/or skills does you Guardian have:

Outside of Guardian stuff, he’s picked up a handful of skills over the years. He can rap and sing and figured out how to autotune his voice/mimic others, he’s pretty good at woodcarving and making little things out of scrap metal, and even if his designs are intentionally tacky he’s good at custom paint jobs for jumpships and Sparrows.

As for hobbies, that mostly consists of exploring. He’s got a lot of patrol areas memorized, and does a lot of urbex in places that aren’t very thoroughly mapped because he likes finding pre-Collapse artifacts and seeing places not very many others have. Mostly for selling.

He also does a lot of gambling, but whether or not he’s any good at it is arguable.

What would your Guardian's lore book be called:

Sixteen Wolves

Where was your Guardian reborn?:

Somewhere in the humid and shitty swamp that used to be Houston, Texas. It was tough going for a while, but they eventually traveled all the way to what would eventually be the City.

What were they wearing when they were reborn:

Rapidly disintegrating work gear from, presumably, some kind of security job.

What was their reaction to being reborn:

Confusion and alarm, but he warmed up to Serenity pretty quickly, so it wasn’t too bad after the initial shock.

What was their reaction to their first rez:

Very surprised until Serenity explained what had just happened. After that, all bets were off.

After being reborn, did they meet friendlies first or hostiles:

Like many, the first sentient form of life he met was hostile, but it wasn’t aliens. His first run-in with other people was a group of survivors who had a lot of mistrust regarding the Risen and he didn’t want to fight them, so he took off.

Who was the first other Guardian they met?:

He definitely doesn’t remember, but it probably wasn’t a pleasant encounter.

Did your Guardian get reborn with, or find, any indication of their past life? If so what do they have/found:

Exos get the luxury of at least knowing their name, but Wolf found his etched into a corner of his chest plate in cool letters. He didn’t remember anything from his past life beyond random glimpses if he dug hard enough, and nowadays those glimpses are pretty rare and extremely vague. There’s never any memory fragment that’s enough to really grab onto, so he tends not to bother with it.

How did your Guardian get their name(if they didn't rez with past life mementos):

Exo thing! He doesn’t remember if it was just some kind of moniker or part of his actual original human name, but Wolf sounds cool so he’s not worried about it.

Going back to your Guardian's lore book, what would be some quotes or passages from their book:

The Hunter dove for the ball and caught it, whipped it back across to his companion with a well-practiced flick of his wrist and tumbled. The Warlock caught it a bit more gracefully and without getting dirt on his clothes.

“Do you ever think about home?”

“What do you mean?”

The Warlock shrugged, tossing the ball back and forth between his palms. “Home. You know. Where you’re from. Your people, I mean. I think about the Dreaming City a lot. I don’t remember how it used to be, but... I like to think maybe I had family there once. Someone to miss me when I was gone. Dreadful to think of how it’s been destroyed...”

“Hm.” Wolf considered the question, then it was his turn to shrug. “Dunno. Guess we don’t really have one.”

“You must have something, Wolf. Exos had to come from somewhere. Everyone has a home.”

“Y’all might have a home. All we got’s a graveyard.”

Does your Guardian have a significant other:

He’s had a handful over the years. He’s still friends with Liz, not that anyone can tell because all they do is fuck with each other and cause trouble when they’re together. He and Amelia were a thing briefly but that one had to be called off to preserve their friendship because, even though they’ve known each other for decades and get along surprisingly well, they are very, very different people.

The last one was Cayde, and that didn’t end well for anyone. Cringe culture is dead, don’t @ me.

Did your Guardian go explore first before going to The Last City? If so, where to:

That was kinda the name of the game back then. The City was just a dinky little encampment and Wolf was on a completely different continent, so by the time he actually got there it was a dinky little town with not much to explore. He ended up breezing through a few times before anyone even really realized he was a Risen. The section of the wall he helped build is actually still there.

What was their reaction to first seeing The Last City:

A little bit surprised, honestly. He already knew there were a lot of little camps and small towns scattered around, but he hadn’t expected to find any that were that organized and so full of lightbearers and mortals, just working side by side.

Is your Guardian a part of a clan:

Yes! He’s part of the Exodus Family.

Does your Guardian's clan have a back story? If so, what is it?(if you want to or able to share):

Not much that I’m personally aware of, just cus my friends and I haven’t talked about it at length, but basically everyone is an Exo and having a fairytale/biblical theme is pretty common. Like. Puck is an obvious one. Wolf and Serenity are a little bit Little Red Riding Hood themed, only insomuch as Serenity having an affinity for red shells and Wolf thinking he’s all big and bad and tough.

(He’s not, he’s a baby.)

If your Guardian would have a quote as a flavor text for a weapon and/or piece of armor, what would they be:

I have a couple of these actually, all inspired by some really good quotes I’ve seen.

Wolf Moon’s Chase (Exotic) “Don’t look back. You’re not going that way.” A hand cannon with a wolf head grip and the Howlin’ Wolves perk; Successive precision kills gradually reload the clip and boost Super energy regen even if stowed. Missed shots have a chance to track enemies and explode.

Last Man Standing (Exotic) ”I was always taught that if you shoot for the Moon and miss, the vacuum of space will suck out your eyeballs. Failure is not an option. Go kill ‘em.” Chest armor with the Knock ‘Em Dead perk: Low health massively boosts damage, resilience, and mobility for a short amount of time.

Bad Blood (Legendary) ”The strength of the pack is the Wolf. The strength of the Wolf is the pack.” A Hunter’s cloak with the Vermilion Stripe down one side and a moon shattered into three pieces on the back.

If your Guardian has had any interactions with any civilians, Eliksni, Cabal, Vex, Hive, Taken, Scorn, Rogue Lightbearers, or Iron Lords/War Lords tell us about it!:

Wolf’s been around a while and he’s seen a lot of things, so let’s dig into this one.

He’s not as well known in the City except by name unless he’s wearing his wolf mask, but he drops in at the Farm pretty often and he’s on good terms with everyone there. He does a lot of supply runs for them and will stick around if they’re shorthanded to help with upkeep or defense if there’s a lot of hostile activity in the area. In general, he doesn’t interact a whole lot with mortals unless they’ve been out on the front lines like Devrim or Suraya. There’s way too much cultural and social disconnect there and he doesn’t have the patience or really even the language to try and explain to them that he, even as a Guardian and Old Light, is just as human as they are and while he may be immortal and have crazy cosmic superpowers given to him by a mysterious and sentient white spheroid, dying hurts and the trauma every Guardian walks around with just is not worth it.

Where Eliksni are concerned, he tends not to initiate fights with them. If they shoot first, all bets are off, but for the most part he has a lot of respect for what they’ve been through and can relate to feeling lost and completely adrift with no identity. He helps rebels on Europa either fight back against Salvation or escape to Earth to join the House of Light. He’s made a lot of friends that way.

Cabal he has a lot of respect for as well, for similar reasons. They lost their home to the Hive and are trying to survive in the best way they know how, even if he doesn’t agree with their politics. He doesn’t know what’s going to happen with Caiatl, but he’s trying to maintain hope that her empire and humanity will eventually reach an understanding. They’d be unstoppable as allies.

He doesn’t fuck with the Vex. Even before things came to light on Europa, even being near them made his brain itch and one of his biggest fears is being infected with some kind of Vex virus that’ll turn him into one of them and spread to other Exos or Ghosts, almost to the point he’d prefer to avoid them altogether.

He is terrified of the Hive. I’ve mentioned the Lunar Incident before, and the trauma of it caused such an intense meltdown that it forced a reset. Unless Eris Morn specifically asks him personally to go to the Moon for any reason, he doesn’t go anywhere near it. He can deal with them in other places like the Reef or on Earth, but the combination of Moon + Hive just scares him to death.

Taken and Scorn both are kind of a wobbly thing for him. He feels bad for what happened to them, but knowing that it can’t be reversed and that just killing them is a mercy makes it easier to deal with them. With Taken and anything relating to them, the spatial distortion they cause kind of overwhelms his processes if he’s dealing with it for too long and can make him feel a little sick, but that usually subsides once he’s gotten some distance. (Scorn are just... Oof. On the one hand, he kind of feels like they’re not too dissimilar to lightbearers just in that they were brought back from the dead and now won’t stay dead, but he always wonders if they’re suffering or if they even know where they are or what they’re doing. It’s just incredibly sad to see them like that, and the same goes for the Wrathborn.)

Rogue lightbearers? He kind of is one. He didn’t join the Vanguard until long after the City was established and before that he was just kind of doing his own thing being a thieving little shithead. It was Amelia who encouraged him to do it, and he’s shaped up a lot since then and become a lot more sympathetic toward other people. He still has that wild edge and always plays it fast and loose with the rules, more so than even most other Hunters, so he’s always butting heads with Zavala about that. In general, he doesn’t think much of them unless they’ve genuinely gone bad and are actively out there hunting and hurting other people.

Warlords/Iron Lords, uhhh. He was friends with a Warlord back in their day, but he didn’t pay them much mind outside of that. As far as he was concerned, if they stayed out of his way and he stayed out of theirs, everything was fine because other people’s problems weren’t his problem and he had no intention of getting tangled up with all that shit when he had a free pass to do all the petty crimes he wanted. He’s always thought the Iron Lords were stuffy and holier-than-thou, but he does kind of respect what they did back then and he might rip on Lord Saladin, but he understands his perspective on things. That kind of survival instinct and total victory or death philosophy, like... ya know. Wolf grew up in different times, too, and back then it was genuinely kill or be killed and you couldn’t trust anyone not to stab you in the back over scraps. He gets it. He may not always agree, but he gets it.

Does your Guardian have any unconventional allies or connections(By Vanguard standards):

Definitely. It didn’t start with Crow and Spider of course, but they’re a pretty good example. As a Hunter, he is connected. He knows a guy for everything you can think of and most of that knowledge is very under the table kind of shit. If the gains are good, he’ll partner up with just about anyone and his only hard limit is probably wholesale murder and not necessarily even because he isn’t comfortable with it. It’s a lot of mess, and a lot of potential to get his ass into really deep trouble he’d rather avoid.

He’s got a lot of Eliksni and Cabal buddies out in the system, most of whom he met in some makeshift prison or while trapped somewhere. More than once it’s been a situation of kidnapping where he just accidentally became friends with his captors.

One of his best friends for years was an Eliksni vandal out on the Tangled Shore, so he has absolutely no issue with having unconventional allies.

(Plus, like. With the system in total fucking chaos, you’re gonna need all the friends you can get. He’s dumb but he’s not stupid.)

How does your Guardian feel about themselves or others using Stasis:

Wolf has mixed feelings about Stasis. With Exos being pretty much literally born of Darkness, he has a natural affinity for it but being such a sensitive dude makes it very easy for the Darkness to manipulate him through. Any time he uses Stasis, he gets weird and a little bloodthirsty, so he tries to only use it when nothing else is working. He’s got a lot of willpower, but you can only hold out for so long when someone’s promising you salvation, peace, and power after the sort of life an Old Light has to deal with. Fear and trauma are very easy to appeal to when everything is looking increasingly more bleak all around you.

As far as other people using it, he’s still very “not my circus, not my clowns” about it. The only time he’d take issue is if someone was using it like legitimately trying to RTL someone he cares about.

Did they run The Last Wish raid? How did they react to seeing a live Ahamkara a.k.a Riven:

I’ve only done parts of it myself, but if he has met Riven he definitely almost short-circuited. I think anyone would if they met a supposedly extinct magic space dragon for the first time.

Did they run The Deep Stone Crypt raid? How did they react to the Crypt and seeing Exo Eliskni:

It was harrowing to say the least. Everything on Europa has been a nightmare, just from his own standpoint as an Exo. He goes through phases where he thinks that being one is the greatest thing ever because you’re faster, stronger, and tougher than anyone else, but at the same time, like. Look at what they have to deal with.

And all the secrets that came out as we learned more about Exoscience and Clovis Bray? Yikes, dude. Any time he’s not feeling cheeky or neutral about it, he just feels this weird sense of shame and guilt. Why would anyone want to be an Exo? Why would anyone willingly hand over their peace of mind and their security in their own identity like that? Most Exos don’t know who they were before, some don’t even know who they are now, and all because they got too close to the truth or their fundamentally unsustainable existence backfired again and they had to completely erase everything and start over.

Seeing Atraks was like watching a car crash knowing you wouldn’t be able to do anything to stop it. All these people seeking that out, wanting to make themselves or their allies into Exos just to be top notch unstoppable war machines when they don’t even slightly understand what it’s really like to live inside a completely foreign body is something he just can’t wrap his head around. He tries not to think about it too hard.

Is your Guardian from D1? How did they react to seeing Taniks alive once again:

He has his own beef with Taniks, but like. If he kept being killed and revived in shittier and shittier conditions, he’d probably be really pissed off too.

Where did they go and what did they do during The Red War:

The Red War kind of spelled the end of him transiently living in the City proper. His apartment was in one of the residential areas that got leveled, and he just never went back once the dust settled.

He did what he could to help, but his main concern was just keeping Serenity safe. He’d never admit it out loud in mixed company but if it came to having to choose between her and a handful of mortals, he’d choose her every time. She’s been the one constant in his life since he was revived and he couldn’t imagine having to try and carry on without her.

It really brought home just how much abuse he could take before his body would quit on him, and he almost didn’t make it through the whole thing. He’s way too reckless now to survive long without his Ghost, but it brought them a whole lot closer together.

For the most part, he teamed up with other Hunters to scout for safe exits and round up survivors, and when the Vanguard left to take care of business he stayed to help keep his lil classmates on task. After that he stayed at the Farm for a while dealing with the whole self-repair and maintenance deal, and he spent a whole lot more time out in the field when it was over.

Here are some characters that are either polarizing or have created a strong enough mass emotion within the community. What opinion does your Guardian hold on each of them >>>

Osiris, First Warlock Vanguard, originally exiled:

Wolf likes Osiris. Anyone who’s reckless, stubborn, uncouth, and a little bit feral is always going to be someone that Wolf likes and wants to be friends with. They get along for the most part, but because focusing doesn’t even make the list of Wolf’s strong points, Osiris can get exasperated with him pretty quickly when they’re going over some kind of batshit strategy and Wolf is over there in his corner texting. Osiris has no idea how he’s survived this long and has definitely said as much to his face. Wolf isn’t so sure either.

Eris Morn, Bane of the Swarm:

He’s a bit intimidated by her. She was kind of the catalyst for one of the most traumatizing events of his life, so being around her now still makes him feel a little bit weird and very nervous. Despite that, he still respects and trusts her immensely and will always come if she needs him.

They’ve taken time since All That Mess to talk to each other and she’s incredibly remorseful over what happened, but Wolf doesn’t blame her for any of it.

She has a very unique perspective on the Darkness and the Hive what all of this shit means, and he generally will trust her word over someone else’s when the topic comes up. She’s got a lot of wisdom in that crazy head of hers and they have a bit of a shared experience when it comes to being trapped in a Hive nest.

Cayde-6, Sixth Hunter Vanguard:

Lemme roll out the simp wagon for this one, ahem.

Wolf adored Cayde. Before The Dare, he joined in on Cayde’s little crew every so often for jobs and over time they got to know each other about as well as anyone can know Cayde or Wolf, and Wolf ended up falling for him pretty hard between all the snarky banter and watching him in action. They did some casual messing around and I’m sure anyone with eyes could see how bad he had it, but he never got the gumption to really confess and never tried to actually pursue anything beyond casual fun.

Cayde’s death absolutely destroyed his entire world. He’s seen plenty of death and his fair share of RTLs, but none have hit him as hard as that one. He spent a little while just immobilized by grief until it morphed into anger because, honestly, I don’t think any Guardian handles loss very well, and he decided after the memorial service to hunt down Uldren regardless of the cost.

The whole thing caused a bit of a rift between himself and his old fireteam and the Spider got a few good laughs out of calling him ‘Killer’. He doesn’t remember a lot of it now due to his reset around Shadowkeep, but he still gets flashes, and he definitely still blames himself. If he could have gotten there just a few minutes sooner, he knows Cayde and Sundance could have survived.

Ikora Rey, Second Warlock Vanguard:

Mad respect for Ikora Rey, especially when she low key high key supported his revenge mission. She has a unique way of being shady about things that Wolf really likes, and they don’t have much in common but he’s enjoyed working with her any time he’s gotten the chance.

When he has things to report on that he knows Zavala won’t like, Wolf goes to her first since she knows best how to soften the blow, and when he has the forethought to even bother, he runs strategies by her to get input. She’s the best Crucible player in history and he kind of sees her as a Warlock that thinks like a Hunter in a lot of ways. In the absence of Cayde, she’s the Vanguard he answers to the quickest.

Commander Zavala, Second Titan Vanguard:

Wolf and Zavala have a tense relationship. They don’t agree on most things and any time you put them in the same room together it inevitably devolves into some kind of argument about the best course of action to take on anything. Wolf’s story has him kind of lined up to be promoted to Vanguard because of experience and technicalities on the Dare, and while it’s not entirely up to Zavala, he does have a lot of sway as the Vanguard Commander. Wolf could not be less interested in the seat if someone was holding a gun to his Ghost.

He’s intentionally unprofessional as hell any time he has to work with Zavala directly and tends to go out of his way to use very unconventional methods that he know Big Blue won’t approve of, because he’s a child. Being petty is the spice of life, and Wolf is still mad that Zavala forbid him from going after Uldren. That he does remember.

With all of that said though! He does respect Zavala. You wouldn’t know it, but he truly does. The guy has the weight of the entire Sol System on his shoulders and never once has he complained.

Saint-14, legendary Titan, First Titan Vanguard:

Wolf is very fond of Saint and Saint is probably one of the few people left who has a way of getting Wolf to slow down and just take it easy for a while. Before Wolf dipped out for good, he’d sometimes just track the guy down to spend time with him and listen to his various wisdoms.

These days, he still calls him up sometimes to shoot the shit and check in on things and he always asks Saint to tell the pigeons and the Colonel that he said hi.

Lord Saladin, Iron Banner handler, One of the last remaining Iron Lords:

Wolf clowns on Saladin a lot but he does understand his point of view when it comes to survival. I’ve mentioned it before, but Wolf “grew up” in the same time period and gets where the intensity and giving no quarter comes from, because back then it really was a life or death decision with way more immediate consequences. Table politics are kind of lost to him and the turning tide between humanity versus the Eliksni or the Cabal is calling for a more open and foreward-thinking willingness to take that risk in allying with them against a common enemy. Wolf’s a quicker learner though, and spending as much time as he has with both has taught him that, in a lot of ways, they’re just like us. They had their homes taken and destroyed, they’ve lost loved ones in droves, and they’re struggling to hang onto a thread in the only way they know how.

Wolf hopes that Lord Saladin will come around and let go of his dated worldviews, because the old ways aren’t what’s going to win wars anymore. Things are far, far bigger than us versus them now and Wolf has a feeling that humanity is gonna need more resolute leaders like Saladin to survive what’s coming.

Lord Shaxx, Crucible handler, Hero of Twilight Gap, living megaphone:

Don’t leave Shaxx and Wolf alone together unless you want complete and utter chaos to unfold. Any time they get together, they get rowdy, and no piece of furniture is safe from having one of them suplexed or dropkicked into it. Shaxx is kind of like a cool uncle to Wolf and they have been known to test new weapons on each other.

The Crow, New Light, Ex-Enforcer to The Spider:

Whoof. When Wolf first met Crow, he was absolutely gobsmacked. Of all the things running through his head, the biggest question he had was why. He almost shot Crow on sight, but he hesitated for some reason. It took a long time for Wolf to warm up to him and in that time he was uncharacteristically quiet and a little cold. Serenity managed to get him to keep his stupid mouth shut, and he’s glad he listened for once.

I think just spending all that time with him hunting Wrathborn, just being a team and really going through it together, was what brought Wolf closer to him. Learning about what Crow was dealing with in his personal life, everything he was going through just as a consequence of existing. Wolf opened up over time himself and once he worked through that big C6 obstacle, he found himself really endeared to both Crow and Glint.

These days, Wolf would probably consider Crow one of his best friends. He’s taught the kid a lot of old Hunter tricks and they hang out a lot, to Glint and Serenity’s immense relief. Crow is like the little brother he never had.

The Spider, The Shore's Only Law, founder of "House" Spider:

He may or may not have low key threatened Spider before he left the Tangled Shore with Crow. From day one, even as someone who is by default insufferably cheeky, the amount of disrespect. Ooh, bitch.

Spider calling him Killer (especially around Crow) got under his skin so fast, you would not even believe, and it was all Wolf could do not to leap across the room and strangle him to death any time they had to do deals.

As far as Wolf is concerned, if he never sees the Spider again, it’ll be too soon.

Uldren Sov, Prince of the Reef, Master of Crows:

Khhhh, hoo boy. The hate. The Frothing Hatred he had for this little man. Wolf had never in his life wanted someone dead as badly as he wanted Uldren Sov dead.

Being friends with Crow and his 16th reset has softened that a lot, and he’s learned a few things about Uldren that have made other things make a lot more since sense then, but. Yeesh.

Mara Sov, Queen of the Reef, Queen of the Awoken, Ex-Kell of Wolves:

Very mixed. He never dealt with her directly, but Wolf has a natural aversion to any form of leadership just by nature. That she cornered the House of Wolves into subservience doesn’t help, but on the other hand, if she hadn’t been at war with them, things would have turned out a lot different for humanity at Twilight Gap.

Variks, the Loyal, founder of House Judgement:

Speaking of shifty motherfuckers.

Wolf definitely likes Variks and his reset between Shadowkeep and now has conveniently erased the memory of knowing Variks had a hand in Cayde’s death.

He does what he can on Europa to help Variks get Salvation rebels to safety if they just want to get the fuck up out of there and is happy to do knife tricks for him when he asks. Variks has made a lot of questionable decisions, but it’s all been done for what he believes is the good of his people, and Wolf can respect that.

Mithrax, the Forsaken, Kell of Light, founder of House Light:

Hasn’t met him, but he’s heard... a lot. With Mithrax being the Kell of the House of Light, Wolf is hopeful it’ll be a good step in the right direction toward uniting humanity and Eliksni. He’s pretty sure they’re both doomed if they can’t at least fight alongside each other temporarily.

The Exo Stranger/Elizabeth "Elsie" Bray, Granddaughter of Clovis I and Sister to Ana Bray:

Wolf is incurably nosy, so he finds Elsie pretty frustrating. She’s full of secrets and never hangs around long enough to explain what the hell she’s talking about or what her end goal is, but she’s been invaluable on Europa. Once she finally opened up a little bit and started actually telling him important things, he found her a whole lot easier to get along with and it helped to have her around when he was discovering a lot of things on his own about where Exos came from.

Eramis, of House Salvation, Kell of Darkness:

He... gets where she was coming from, in a way. She was angry and desperate and that kind of thing is easy for the Darkness to take advantage of. He can’t rightly blame her for grabbing onto anything she thought might save her people, even though it’s ended in yet more trauma for them.

Eramis isn’t someone he’d go out of his way to try to be friends with if she was ever freed from Stasis, but he would hope she’d more or less see the Light and realize that her methods needed some serious rethinking.

Empress Caiatl of the Cabal Imperial Empire:

Wolf has a lot of respect for Caiatl. She watched her home burn down around her and has used that pain to fuel a cause he thinks is pretty noble. Humanity has been at war with the Cabal for a long time now, and both sides have suffered incredible losses because of it. He thinks that trying to mend that and join forces is a good idea, but for once he’s kind of with Zavala on something: They shouldn’t have to swear fealty or subservience to a foreign empire to have their support against a threat that’s coming for both.

He’s holding out hope that if they show their strength against her greatest warriors, she’ll understand that Guardians and humanity as a whole are more beneficial as equals, not cannon fodder. It only takes one Guardian to decimate an entire Cabal squad, after all.

The Darkness is fast approaching. How is your Guardian handling it:

He’s... handling it. It’s been getting harder in recent years to just not think about things which has been his entire motto since he was first revived. More and more he’s having to confront head-on the things that scare him the most, and there’s only so much running away you can do before you run straight into a corner and have to choose between extinction and fighting until you draw your last breath.

Wolf isn’t a pacifist by any means, but it’s just one of those things where he’s starting to realize his way of living just isn’t sustainable with the system in such chaos. The Hive used to be just another threat he had to deal with every so often, but now they’ve become the Big Bad that are outpacing even the Vex in terms of imminent destruction of several species all at once. His biggest hope right now is that humanity, Eliksni, and Cabal can all set their differences aside, at least long enough to try and put up a defense against the Hive and the Darkness. If they can’t, then... well, they won’t have to worry about it for very long, at least.

And finally, does your Guardian have any advice for any New Lights:

Be good. Be understanding. Tell the people you love that you love them every single chance you get, because you never know what could happen out there. Don’t treat everyone as your enemy, because you may find friends in strange places, and how you treat someone may be the difference between waking up dead and surviving to see morning, but most importantly; Don’t look back. You’re not going that way.

[sasukebarmitzvah]

Do u think naruto was ever able to rebel against the village? Like if he truly understood what the state did, if sasuke made him see that things must CHANGE not just get burried. The idea of civil war in naruto and the justice for neji and sasuke...i love it but naruto doesnt know how to deal with things unless he blames himself for them... anyway, thots?

i do think naruto reached a place where he would have defied konoha but the problem is that kishi took the narrative in a more jingoistic direction after that which kinda blew any chances of that arc actually being resolved in any other way.

imo the key moment is during kage summit when obito confronts naruto and kakashi and tells them everything he told sasuke, about the truth of the uchiha massacre and itachi’s role as the scapegoat. naruto hears this and he gets mad about it like he’s ready to go tell everyone what happened, his blind faith in konoha is really shaken. 

i mean before that i think naruto already had a subconscious predisposition to wariness re: konoha because of how he grew up abused and alienated, but he never really wanted to address it before—instead of being outright in his anger towards the village, he turned to attention-seeking and gunning for the hokage seat. then eventually he was accepted, with the village hero role foisted upon him after the pain attack, and despite it bringing him some discomfort he still powers through it because it’s easier for him to chase that praise than stir up more conflict.

but when obito tells naruto about the uchihas it clearly makes something click in his mind, like, ok it’s not just me something’s wrong here. when he and the rest of team 7 meet with sasuke a few chapters later, naruto tells sasuke that he understands why he’s doing what he’s doing and doesn’t even blame him for it. 

then when sasuke says he’s gonna kill everyone in the village including naruto, naruto is like, well, no, that’s just putting the onus on a lot of otherwise clueless people. naruto says that sasuke would have to kill him first, that when their battle inevitably happens they'll both kill each other in the intensity—but naruto doesn’t even mind, because he and sasuke will be free of the burdens thrust upon them both by konoha. to me this attitude makes it seem like naruto is still struggling between his upbringing as a konoha loyalist and his anger towards the village that he tried for so long to repress that’s finally surfacing because of what obito told him. he’s really struggling because he Can’t reconcile these two lines of thinking and so he opts for the easier choice as he always has in the past (dying a martyr, because at least he’ll be dead and won’t have to make a hard choice).

kage summit sets that internal conflict up for naruto’s character and it’s SO interesting and i would’ve loved for that to actually have been explored properly, to have had that arc carried through the climax of the story and more explicitly play a part in vote2. but i think around this time kishi’s editors told him to “make naruto the main character again” aka Stop it with the sasuke sympathizing aka no more questioning the authority of konoha is to be done by the protagonist. which is so disappointing! 

so that brings us to waterfall of truth where naruto directly confronts his inner self, the one who is angry, who is empowered by his rage, who wants to run away from konoha and owe them nothing more. this is a really interesting scene to me because it had the potential to be that pivotal moment where naruto finally decides to stand up for himself and start acting completely of his own will (or at Least openly condemn the corruption in konoha). but then what actually happens is Happy Konoha Naruto shuts down Angry Naruto. 

his reasoning is what's really striking: naruto literally says to his “bad” inner self that he can’t harbor that negativity anymore, that he has to suck it up so he can be the person that the people of konoha believe him to be. again, he’s deferring to the easier path of conformity to acceptance because from childhood, he was a pariah, he was hated by everyone and didn’t even know why—this conditioned him to seek approval and praise wherever he can get it. even after having his hurt dredged up by obito’s words, sasuke’s actions, and his confrontation with his inner self, the effects on his psyche that his childhood created are a more powerful influence on his decision making. he represses his anger because rebellion isn’t what’s going to get people to care about him, and what he wants the most is to feel loved.

like bro thats so fucking upsetting..... naruto just spends his life being manipulated by the entity that caused all his problems, and every time he comes close to breaking out of that cycle, he chickens out at the last minute because he thinks he’s already getting what he needs on a psychologically fundamental level from the village. but he’s not. 

so with that having been said i intellectually understand why he acts the way he does from waterfall of truth on, but i don’t agree with it lol. like this poor child deserves better but with the direction kishi was forced to take with the series at that point in it, it’s no surprise that the jingoism won over. i wonder how naruto’s internal struggle would have played out if that hadn’t been the case? i certainly think he could have completely rebelled against konoha. the anger was there, and he was completely justified in it, but the problem is that he keeps repressing it and doesn’t let himself truly feel it.

i wasn’t planning on writing this much in response to this ask sdhfjfjsdg i just have a Lot Of Thoughts on this tl;dr i love naruto he deserved better and we need someone to rewrite the series and do it PROPERLY and also read all the bits above that i bolded

[royaltealovingkookiness]

(Pt.1) *talks about meta you posted over 2 weeks ago because that's how I roll* I've recently been thinking about the pacing of Book 3, since that's one of the biggest issues people point out with the Book. And what you mentioned in this meta here (/ post / 182754515366 / emletish-fish-royaltealovingkookiness) gets to some of the issues I was thinking about. I'm wondering if B3 would have been less wobbly if "The Day of the Black Sun" hadn't happened at e10, but earlier in the season.

(pt. 2) Like, what if only the really plot-relevant episodes happened before TDotBS, while the character-exploration pieces like The Headband, The Runaway, and The Painted Lady happened later? That would give the Gaang more time with Zuko, and also give Zuko more time in the non-super-rich parts of the Fire Nation (also because I really wanted Zuko instituting reforms throughout the Fire Nation as part of his redemption arc in B3, but that’s just a personal preference). Anyway, thoughts?

Oh, that is a really good question. Here is the original meta. I think nobody would have complained if Zuko joined the Gaang a bit earlier, because it adds so much emotional energy to the group, the potential story-lines are endless, and those episodes are probably the most beloved by the fandom - for good reason. 

I think that definitely one way would have been to have the TDoBS a little bit earlier. I don’t know if it would have been possible to put The Painted Lady, or The Runaway after the invasion though - as once they are revealed to be alive, Team Avatar would be hunted by the Fire Nation, not to talk about Zuko, who certainly had a blood-price on his head once he walked away (and a very recognizable face to boot). But there was a lot of fat to cut, so 3A could have been shortened.

The other option would have been to leave 3A the same length, but put more focus on Zuko, Azula and the Fire Nation system itself (4 episodes have absolutely no Zuko or Azula in it, in an arc that’s supposed to be about the Fire Nation)

I think the main problem with 3A is the narrative. They should have decided what stories they wanted to tell  (the bored, privileged Fire Nation high school kids one didn’t work, because that’s not how the FN rolls, if we know one thing about both Zuko and Azula that they have a drive and work ethic of manic proportions) and then carry it through:

- On the Gaang side the story definitely should have been (and was more or less) about them discovering that the Fire Nation regular people are just that; regular people - no better or worse than other nations. There are kind ones and bad ones. It would have been also an opportunity for Aang to remember what the Fire Nation was like before the war, and how the war machine affected them too (and this is why the Kuzon-story would have been important to tell). 

- On Zuko’s side - and this is where the narrative focus was completely off - the story should have focused on three things to build the moment where he says - “this is not me”

1. how Zuko tries to be the “perfect prince” - the son of his father and how the tension grows between that image and who he has become in Book 2. We don’t even see the War Council until the finale, and there is really no story told on what are the expectations placed on him. I think he should have seen that if he stays as a cog in the war machine, he would have had to make soul-destroying compromises and still not have had much impact. Because the system as a whole is corrupt. It could have been an exploration of governance with no opposition, no checks and balances, based on fear and oppression and a nation fed by a propaganda machine (and Book 4 could have been him trying to change the system and show how hard it is). This story could have been inter-woven with the Gaang’s storyline the same way Book 2 did.

2. How the home he dreamed of during his banishment is an illusion - this doesn’t exist anymore and never will (and parts of this story they told with The Beach but very little) and how alienated Zuko feels because even the people closest to him cannot understand his experience (except Uncle, but he’s not talking to him). I think there could have been also more focus on Zuko and Azula’s relationship as they are both trying to adjust living together, trying to figure out the other’s true motivations, oscillating between wanting to be closer, but being unable to trust each other and perhaps clash their very different visions for the Fire Nation.

3. Zuko realizing slowly how everything Iroh taught him was true and how the love he gave him was real compared to Ozai’s self-serving vision of his children. This would lead to his anger at himself and the desire to reconcile with his Uncle. 

4. They should have decided what they wanted to do with Maiko. The lack of direction in the writing room really comes through and I can see at least 3 different types of Maiko (one which is a superficial teenage romance more about status than feelings, one where both sides try to support the other, but just are not emotionally equipped to do so and lack full trust, and a real love story). Since this ship was the main focus of Zuko’s home experience, the lack of clear narrative purpose made those scenes really frustrating (and I’m saying this as someone who loves both Mai and Zuko as characters and believes that this relationship could have been told really well, giving depth to both characters, whichever option you go for)

With this narrative you would have the contrasting arcs between 3A and 3B:

3A: Zuko tries to emulate Ozai  - 3B: Zuko emulates Iroh

3A: Zuko tries to make a difference from inside - 3B: Zuko knows the system is rotten and has to come down

3A: Zuko realizing his childhood home is gone for good - 3B: Zuko finding a new family with the Gaang and his Uncle

3A: Ozai’s conditional approval - 3B: Iroh’s unconditional love

But I’d definitely slide TDoBS 1-2 episodes earlier, so there is time for a field trip with Toph and I agree that either as part 3A or 3B, Zuko should have been confronted with the Fire Nation country-side and how his own people are affected and suffer from the war. After all, his entire arc started with wanting to stand up for the regular people. 

Imagine a storyline where he visits the families of his dead crew-members trying to bring them some money, or he is sent to oversee the capture or imprisonment of army defectors? Or he visits a school and hear the lies they teach to children?So many possibilities…