#and other things that could be related to him in terms of characterization. Etc.

[pomefioredove]

Not necessarily an ask but what do you think the catalyst for Rook genuinely falling in love would be

ah... now that's a complicated question because, hypothetically, I think rook could really fall in love with anyone. it would be a soulmate situation, he would just know

if I had to put together a character profile for such a person...?

I suppose the first thing is that they wouldn't be famous, or have any ambitions for fame. in simple terms, they need to be available, and they need to be his. I characterize rook as a possessive lover, the last thing he would want is to have to share their attention (or worse, affection) with others. more so, the relationship needs to be very equal for him to function, to prevent him from feeling the need to distance himself. rook would need someone he feels he can share his world with.

in terms of personality...?

patient and trusting

like I said before, rook falling in love would be a gradual process. getting him to let his guard down would be, too.

and even after that, rook is still a private person. he's faithful, god he's faithful, but he needs his alone time, and he needs his partner to able to trust that his intentions are pure. it's not that he can't offer reassurance, but someone too clingy or insecure or suspicious wouldn't thrive in a relationship with rook.

2. warm and close

they can't be too clingy, but they can't be too distant, either. figures like vil and neige are completely unavailable: practically, physically, and emotionally, in one way or another (and that's how rook prefers it). while someone who's highly organized, busy, and important would be compatible with vil, that wouldn't work for rook. he needs closeness, he needs privacy and intimacy.

(their differences are really highlighted by their prospective career paths. vil going straight back to acting and modeling while rook pursues archaeology, which is such a personal and quiet profession).

romance with rook would be slow and tender. he would want to experience every part of being in love to the fullest extent, so there's absolutely no rush with him. he's happy to take his time exploring this feeling of vulnerability for the first time.

3. curious and open-minded

rook's soulmate-soulmate is someone he feels comfortable talking to about anything that crosses his mind, someone he can be bluntly honest with, someone with a similar love for life and a passion to understand the world.

...someone who can find happiness in the smallest of things, who can see the beauty in anything, like he does. he would be enamored with such a person.

a true relationship with rook wouldn't be the "owner and dog" thing he has going on with vil (bless his heart and sorry to everyone who likes that sort of thing in a man), it would be very equal. he would take so much joy in sharing his world with them, and having them share theirs in return.

he also needs someone to infodump to. badly.

4. committed

rook's jp suitor suit card states that he's not ready to settle down yet. he hasn't found "the one". but God, when he does? good luck.

the romance is a slow and gradual process, but he's absolutely the type to want to get married (the idea of unraveling the mystery of another person throughout a lifetime is very enchanting to him) and I can imagine he'd want a family at some point. it would be a quiet life, though there's never a dull moment between the two.

so, yeah, it's a for-life situation. once he's imprinted it's over

5. (bonus)

not necessary but certainly couldn't hurt: a love for the outdoors, an interest in the natural world and/or history, a passion for the arts (especially the classics like poetry, plays, opera, etc). being able to relate to someone is a comforting feeling for him.

I can also imagine rook being more attracted to someone caring and gentle and good. rook is a good person at his core, he strives to do the right thing. considering his fondness for neige and that one groovy I have in my gallery but can't be bothered to pull, he would be so enchanted with someone who just radiates kindness.

[miss-oranje-disco-dancer]

why do people write leon into incest/ rape stories? I get that people think he's hot but there is literally no aspect of his character that would warrant that kind of characterisation. I would just like to understand why out of all, you could have written shit like this about villains but not Leon, he would never do that. And I'm not talking about fics that showcase Leon's trauma and how he turned mean or does questionable things, sometimes I really enjoy reading those. It's only when those stories are only fabricated purely because of kinks that it disgusts me. Porn without plot, no explanation given, just him being a pervert and an asshole. Genuinely why do people write that and still claim to be resident evil fans, still claim to understand and love the characters. It doesn't add up to me at all. This is not directly at you specifically but just at people who do this and since you have written content in that category, I would love to hear your explanation. :(

why do people write leon into incest/ rape stories?

i think everyone's reasons are different, and ultimately, as long as it's just fiction, it doesn't really matter what someone writes about.

some people write dark content because they're into it, some people write it to cope with past trauma (there is quite a bit of overlap in those two categories). it's an avenue for exploration of these ideas that doesn't hurt anyone. whether that be in terms of exploring your own feelings or just trying to challenge your writing abilities and be creative.

I get that people think he's hot but there is literally no aspect of his character that would warrant that kind of characterisation.

i think his characterization is complex and a lot of people get it "wrong" (but i'm not here to argue about his characterization). i also have written him in ways that i would consider "ooc" - both in dark content and in fluff. i feel like i see people often complaining about leon being 'mischaracterized' in dark content, but people are not critical of him in fluff (or fluffy smut).

this is not to say that we need to be critical or stick to canon - if we wanted to stick to canon entirely, then we wouldn't create fanfiction at all. we're writing to explore situations that are not portrayed in the source material.

i think it's fun to make posts analyzing characterization and i think it's fun to write both in character fic and out of character fic, but i think those two things (analysis and fiction) should be separate.

would just like to understand why out of all, you could have written shit like this about villains but not Leon

you sure could write about the villains! a lot of people have written fics about wesker, for example. i personally don't find a lot of the resident evil villains that interesting, and if i did, i honestly think that humanizing them would make for a more interesting concept than showing their evilness.

he would never do that

correct. he's not real, so he wouldn't *do* anything.

It's only when those stories are only fabricated purely because of kinks that it disgusts me.

that's absolutely a fair opinion. i have kinks/topics that i'm uncomfortable with too. i have a low tolerance for "ick" i would say, so like vomit, scat, cannibalism, tentacles, etc. i can't read those things because it makes me feel nauseous. i don't read those types of stories for that reason!

i personally don't have a kink for noncon or incest. i have written incest on commission before because i am fine with other people enjoying it. i have written stepcest once, however (and while i think my point may have been too subtle for the audience to notice), it was supposed to be more than a "pwp" fic. it was supposed to showcase his manipulation of her.

the noncon that i have written has been not kink related and i think when you read it, it's pretty obvious. a lot of that was coping with personal trauma.

the thing is though, i don't have to justify this to you. i'm honestly just yapping about my content because i enjoy it atp

why do people write that and still claim to be resident evil fans, still claim to understand and love the characters.

i do understand and love the characters! i have played most of the mainline games for hundreds of hours (4 platinum trophies thus far!). i understand when i'm writing them ooc. i've written characters *way* more out of character than i have leon. for example, i made brad and richard both super homophobic in a fic when there's no evidence to say that they are.

i think it's fine to write characters ooc! also, characterization is kind of complex. just because something isn't said in canon, doesn't mean it isn't true (or isn't implied). for example, jill, in my eyes (and many others), is a lesbian. chris is also very queer-coded. though, neither of them are outright stated to be queer. i have written chris in straight relationships (as have others) despite the fact that i believe he is gay.

tl;dr

while it is interesting to analyze why people enjoy certain things, there's no sense in shaming people for what they enjoy when it's not hurting anyone else. writing about a fictional character doesn't hurt anyone because the person being written about isn't real.

so basically, in conclusion, does it really matter? (no)

[sunriseverse]

WRITING PROCESS QUESTION because of that ask meme: your characterization is always so on point. i love them. do you have any advice on developing that? what's your process? how d you capture character voice?

and this is a long shot but: do you have any advice for people who don't speak the language specifically? is there a good way to approach character voice when theres a sort of barrier?

first of all: it makes me very very happy (and bashful) that you think my characterisation is so accurate! it's one of the things about my writing that i'm truly proud of :) hmmm, let's see. i think to start with, i have to say that, in my experience, "in character" writing isn't just about dialogue. if you're writing a pov character, staying in character means using descriptive phrases and inner monologue patterns that create the image of the character in the same way that camera shots, wardrobe, lighting, etc, would do this work for you in a show/film. if your pov character has certain defining life experiences, they're more likely to speak or think a certain way—are they more formal, or more casual? are they uni-educated, or do they work a blue-collar job after scraping by with a high school diploma? have they experienced trauma that's caused them to be bitter and cynical, or do they, in spite of trauma, cling to humanity and kindness?

another thing that i find helps a lot when characterising characters is figuring out two things: what they want, and what they fear. these can vary based on the period of canon—for example, dmbj characters are probably going to have more variations of wants/fears over time than characters from a single-series show like tdj. to use dmbj as an example: in sha hai, wu xie wants to bring down the wang, and give xiaoge a safe future. what he fears is this plan failing. he'll go to any lengths to make sure it happens the way it needs to—will use, and destroy, and manipulate, and lie as much as he needs to for this to work. obviously, though, that's just the barebones picture—in canon, we also see him being kind when he could be cruel, and merciful when he could be deadly. what does that say about him as a character? there's many interpretations, and all of them are more or less equally valid—but, in the end, more accurate than a characterisation which doesn't take any of these things into account.

i know meta is a bit of a dying art in recent years (well, it feels like i've been hearing and saying this sentiment for the entire eleven years i've been involved in online fandom, so maybe recent isn't the best term), but i truly believe that, through reading, or writing your own!, analysis of characters' actions and mindsets, based on canon's evidence, is a key factor in understanding and accurately portraying characters. and, don't get me wrong, you don't have to do this in a formal, or even public level! a lot of my breakthroughs with relation to characterisation have come at one in the morning in dms with my friends. and you don't always have to agree with other peoples' meta, either; disagreement is just as valid a way to react; what matters is that you then try and figure out why you disagree—is there canon you think contradicts it, is it based on canon that's been retconned or altered since its initial creation, or is it just a theory/read you personally feel squicked by, even if there's canon proof?

to connect this to your question about foreign language media: i'm probably not the best to ask this, since what i write for is largely (only?) for languages i'm a native speaker of, but i've been getting more into kdramas lately, and my korean is............very basic (i can say anyeonghasaeyo and gamsahamnida and that's about it), but i'm planning on writing fic for at least one kdrama some time in the future, so while you should take this with a grain of salt, my best advice is two-pronged: one, seek out materials written by fans who speak/have knowledge of the language of the media you're wanting to write for (this helps a lot for cultural context, and errors with english subbing; tdj seems to drop a good number of referentials in the english subs where i'm watching it, and english subs for cdramas are kind of hilariously bad about endearments/nicknames/titles, not to mention translating the name into english, rather than leaving it in pinyin), and two, pay attention to the spoken language. you might not be able to understand what's being said, but watching through a second time and only paying attention to the words rather than the subs can help immensely to get a feel for the tone and vibe of a character's speech patterns—are they prone to being loud? cheerful? do they crack jokes a lot? and so forth. if you combine these two with what i've mentioned above, about considering the character's background, and then the way they interact with other characters, and what they want and fear, while you'll probably not be perfect at characterising the characters in the same way a native speaker would be, you'll be flying a great deal above a majority of the fandom, and neatly elide the "they would NOT fucking say that" reaction in most cases.

(thank you for letting me ramble about this, i love talking about writing <3333 i hope some of this was helpful!!!)

[burning-bunni]

Dendro Vision Theory

Okay so I saw someone who originally made a post a while ago (I can’t find the post or their blog so they might have deleted?) about how Dendro visions seem to be linked to someone’s ambition being related to stepping into a role that needed to be filled regardless of their limitations which they originally posted when Tighnari and Collei was released

I wanted to expand upon it with my own speculation especially now that we have even more Dendro characters at our disposal!

In context for Tighnari and Collei, it was Tighnari stepping up into a necessary role to correct misinformation despite the hesitance he initially felt about stepping out against a researcher but once he did it fulfilled a needed role that ended up kickstarting civil and engaging academic discussions between all of the scholars in the lecture hall etc.

And then Collei stepping into the role of a Forest Watcher, taking action to save a missing girl because she knew Tighnari wouldn’t be back in time and if weather conditions in the forest got worse the little girl could die despite her own physical limitations

With that stepping into a necessary role, potentially connecting to Nahida in the way that she was not allowed to step up into her proper role as an archon due to the view of her wisdom vs her allogenes getting their visions by stepping into a necessary role via trusting in their own wisdom and ambitions

Now that was the conclusion they originally came to when just Collei and Tighnari were out so I wanted to talk about that theory by seeing how it holds up now that we have more vision stories to read!!

Okay so, Alhaitham’s is e x t r e m e l y vague and is a bit hard to deduce but I think the beginning in which we are shown a portion of a book Alhaitham had been reading relates to one of the Akademiya’s six cardinal sins: “Investigating the origin of words.”

While some of these cardinal seems seem understandable such as the tampering of life and death being a sin, to think Etymology of all things would be a sin on the same level as interfering with the natural cycle of life and mortality, in a place flourishing with scholars of all kinds, is kind of odd when you think about it. The languages are very important as emphasized by the book he read in his vision story and the origin of language arguably is especially so given what it can tell people about the evolution of a place’s history and culture.

So if we were to focus on that aspect, on Alhaitham’s pursuit of that knowledge in regards to language, I think it can be argued he is, in his own way, stepping into a necessary role. Now, unlike with Collei and maybe Tighnari, he’s not actively doing it for anyone’s benefit which is completely fine. He is doing it in pursuit of what knowledge intrigues and interests him, and I think this is where we see the “trusting in his wisdom” aspect come into play as he goes after this knowledge and information despite the Akademiya’s rules regarding cardinal sins. It’s less a split second decision and going with his gut, and more the other traits that characterize wisdom according to the dictionary.

Wisdom is defined generally defined by three main factors whether all together or separately: Good Judgement , Experience, and Knowledge. These factors can all work together in different duos or a trio and they can work on their own and I think some of these aspects do such in Alhaitham’s vs Tighnari’s vs Collei’s. Collei’s characterized by good judgement, an understanding or insight not necessarily based on exact experience or knowledge but good sense. Tighnari’s coming from a place of experience in terms of the misinformation with his specialized field at the very least if not including the other factors too. And lastly Alhaitham’s, which again makes it hard to perfectly pinpoint given its vagueness, but his knowledge of how to pursuit this subject and confidence in such seems to allow him to do as much with ease. Very likely good sense and understanding of what he has to do to pursue it playing into this.

I want to go back to the whole “necessary role” thing. While it isn’t as obvious as Tighnari’s or especially Collei’s, I think Alhaitham’s decision to go after this information regardless of the Akademiya’s rules not for other’s sake still puts him into a similar role. The world of Teyvat needs to be questioned, despite the consequences for those who do it, in order to break away from its cycles of histories that just keep repeating. It needs people who don’t explicitly listen to the rules, who pursue certain knowledge out of genuine desire for that subject. While certain cardinal sins like the tampering of evolution or life and death stands to make sense, the questioning of Teyvat’s history even through the origin of languages, whether modern or ancient, is something necessary.

I know it probably sounds confusing and again, This!! Is my speculation and the conclusion I’ve come to because honestly, a lot of Alhaitham’s vision story really is super vague so it can be so hard to read between the lines and discern what we’re meant to grasp from it. So if you disagree with my interpretation, I 100% understand 😭 I didn’t explain it the best like I wish I could have and we’re working with some pretty open to interpretation stuff here.

I’m very much

Struggling to try and grasp what Yao Yao could have done to gain her vision honestly as her vision story makes it really hard to understand what she did to get it. Something that is evident from it is that it likely wasn’t after some big huge event, wasn’t something that happened as a result of something overtly obvious to her. Something to note though is Yao Yao’s personality and her basic story in general as a disciple of Madame Ping.

Yao Yao is characterized by the fact that she is very generous and sincere and is used to taking care of those around her. Even jokingly referred to as like a “little adult” in things promoting her release and in game due to her sense of responsibility and desire to help others as the disciple of Madame Ping. In fact, such a thing is specifically mentioned in her vision story.

“As a disciple of her master, she would follow her example and protect the people.” Due to this and the theory of why certain people receive dendro visions, it leads me to believe that Yao Yao got her vision from one of the many, many instances of helping people in need. It was a necessary role she had to step into, she stepped into that role with trust in the wisdom she had gained from her master, Madame Ping, and given that it’s something she’s already so accustomed to, it would make sense why she didn’t initially notice or at the very least, can’t explicitly attribute gaining a vision to one event. Because it’s something she often does, a duty that she has accepted as a disciple of the adepti.

Or at least, that is my interpretation based upon what I have seen in game from her character and her character stories!

I wanna once again say, that I am building off of someone else’s theory originally with my own speculation even though I can’t find the original post now, but yeah! I hope this made even the slightest bit of sense because it feels like one huge tangent and I’m so sorry 😭

[taravangianlistenstothebeachboys]

15 to 17

end-of-year book ask game

15. Did you read any books that were nominated for or won awards this year (Booker, Women’s Prize, National Book Award, Pulitzer, Hugo, etc.)? What did you think of them?

I honestly don't know how many books I read this year won awards. I know The Shadow of the Torturer won a bunch of sci-fi awards, and I did really love it—though I enjoyed it more as a part of the larger Book of the New Sun series than I did as a standalone work.

16. What is the most over-hyped book you read this year?

I don't have the hater's temperament. Most things that are popular I'll enjoy, most things that aren't popular I'll enjoy. The closest I had to something being "overhyped" for me was not getting a lot out of The Duino Elegies, if you can count "my brother really likes them and was telling me about them positively" as something being over-hyped. I can't even hold it against Rilke, I don't think I was really coming to those poems on his terms.

17. Did any books surprise you with how good they were?

I've been perpetually trying to get through the Marquis de Sade's 120 Days of Sodom and Other Writings for a while now. Sade doesn't have the most gripping prose and I'm unable to get much thematic depth outside the unending, overwhelming excess of lurid grotesquery he spends countless pages dryly relating. Look, I'm from Vegas, I'm all for unending overwhelming excesses of lurid grotesquery, but it hasn't really built up to anything meaningful for me yet. Which is dissapointing, considering how much I liked Salò.

That said, I also read his novella Incest, and was surprised by how much I ended up enjoying the little thing. The characters were arch and simple, but that just made me more surprised by the quirks of their characterization. Take this passage about the mother, who had just discovered her daughter had been groomed into a sexual relationship with her husband:

The unhappy Mme de Franval could no longer take refuge in her illusions; not a single one remained for her to indulge in; it was all too clear that the heart of her husband — the most precious thing in her whole life — had been stolen from her.... And by whom? By the girl who owed her the most respect.... and who had just spoken to her with such insolence!

This character is supposed to be a paragon of virtue, and she reacts to this all by claiming her daughter stole her husband? That her daughter wronged her? Not that her husband wronged their daughter horribly, not that she wronged her daughter by letting her be isolated from all but him for years.... And she says her daughter owes her respect? She had no hand in raising her, is she supposed to be owed respect for bringing her into this world? Incredible. I love reading about how the structure of role expectations and power dynamics in families is irreparably fucked.

[raayllum]

God Ive been Living™️ in your "snake boi Callum" tags since I've (re)discovered you, Im definitely a subscriber of Callum doing moral crimes! Your tags honestly feeds my delulu for him lmao!

Yeah, Idk if it's about him doing 'moral crimes' as much as like, a tag devoted to "Callum has Teeth/Fangs, let's talk about them" (from a character standpoint), but it's a tag with its own interesting little history. I don't remember when it started as sometimes I go back and add old posts to tags for organizational purposes, but Callum's 'dark side' traits (his ambition re: magic, his selective loyalty re: Ezran and Rayla, his temper, etc) are all things I saw in him within 4 days of S1 airing? So it's been very very rewarding to see those things gradually come more and more to pass as time as gone on.

It started out as a substitute for slytherin!Callum adjacent headcanons (bc fuck Joanne, sincerely a trans person) in terms of characterization but was the best grouping I could think of, subsequently. However, the fact that all these tendencies are what drove Callum to do dark magic in 5x08 one after the other, by turning his chains into snakes (again) is Funny considering the tag is now like, accidentally kind of accurate? Another happy coincidence!

But yeah, it's congruent in my head with my "let Ezran be messy" tag for non sweet/happy Ezran related stuff and my "raylangst" for Rayla angst stuff. Callum is such a sweet, nurturing, goofy guy and I love that about him deeply, but the contrast that provides with his "snake boi tendencies" has always been what's made him so interesting to me, and indeed the biggest differences between us (as he is by far the character I relate to the most in all the ways in TDP, so when something doesn't match up, I take particular notice lmao).

[obscuremarvelmuses]

My new work duties/schedule has put a dent in my Darkstar reread but I’m back with commentary on Champions #16-17! There’s not a lot new for Laynia’s characterization here, but I learned her powers are way more potent than I thought, there’s hints that her backstory was probably originally intended as something very different than what we eventually got, and it turns out she’s met a fair few “evil” mutants that I didn’t realize she ever had!

Champions #16 OMG the cover indicates we’re going to have Magneto and Dr. Doom?! Why don’t I remember this?! The first page is Magneto fighting the Champions. Beast is also there. Dialogue indicates that Magneto made a deal with Dr. Doom that he (Magneto) could have one ally from among the mind-controlled Avengers (I guess Doom is mind-controlling the Avengers in some other issue) if Magneto could free that one from said mind-control. He apparently did so successfully with Beast, who was at this time an Avenger, in hopes Beast would lead him to Xavier and the X-Men. And according to Beast “I did, but they weren’t home! So I did the next best thing! Welcome to LA, Maggie!” Magneto laments his choice, asking “why, by all the powers, did I choose you?!” while the pair of them fight the Champions, Laynia included. I thought she’d never encountered Mags, but I was wrong! Also, Hercules is accusing Beast of treachery, but my bet is he brought Magneto to the Champions specifically so they would kick his ass. Like, Beast sounds like he’s on Magneto’s side while they fight, but this is my bet.

  Magneto knocks a metal beam into Angel and Laynia cries out “Warren!” in horror which is more concern than she has ever shown for BOBBY nearly DYING. Besides that, she’s just utterly absent from the fight for ages. I think maybe the writers realized she’d win way too easy with her powers—like she could just teleport Magneto through the Darkforce or something—so they just…sorta wrote her out for a bit for story’s sake. But then at the very end of the brawl, when Magneto flies off with Beast to go fuck up Doom for reasons, Darkstar suddenly reappears, encases herself and the Champions in a sphere of Darkforce, and uses that to follow Magneto through the sky! Blah blah blah, Doom is doing stuff with politicians at DC, the Hulk shows up, then Magneto, and then Darkstar touches down with the Champions a sec later. Warren is ASTONISHED that “Darkstar got us from LA to Washington DC in a matter of minutes!” which yeah is IMPRESSIVE. I’d forgotten she had speed like that, holy shit. I’ve always apped her on the much more conservative side power-wise at servers and boards. Natasha responds that “We still don’t know the limits of her powers” and Laynia says “One day soon, Widow–I promise!” So Laynia is kinda the mysterious mystical one of the team in this era, I think. Not magical, but like, the kinda freaky “we just don’t really understand her abilities and how far they can go” kinda way, is the vibe I get. She comes off as intended as very. . .Wanda-y, tbh, and it makes me wonder if there were bigger plans for her at one point. Also this is the first time she’s called Nat “Widow” instead of “Madame Natasha” perhaps because they’re in front of a bunch of civilians. Anyway. Big fight. Doom mind-controls Laynia, Warren, and Nat and commands them to kill Magneto. Meanwhile Beast tussels with Ghost Rider, Hulk is punching Hercules, the White House Guard is going after Beast and appear to also be under Doom’s control. . .lot of super-chaos but nothing worthwhile for Laynia notes, except that at one point Magneto wraps an iron gate around her and she can’t use her powers due to it squeezing so tight she feels she’s about to pass out. So jotting that down for my own reference, she can’t concentrate enough to use the Darkforce if she’s in that sort of situation—strangulation, suffocation, etc. Fight ends without Laynia doing or saying anything else, no further notes. Good issue for some powers-related stuff in terms of both capabilities and limits, but nothing in terms of characterization. Champions #17 has them fighting a bunch of Sentinels on the cover. A narrative box on the first page informs me that they fought MODOK in a non-Champions issue, Super Villain Team Up #15 and Iron Man Annual #4, so I’ll check those out next. But first I definitly want to read this issue because it begins with the Brotherhood of Mutants (currently Blob, Unus, and my lovely Lorelei!) charging into the Champions HQ begging for help! Got MY attention! Got the Champion’s too, especially because bursting through the wall after them is the Sentinels! Which ignore Hercules and Natasha, as they’re the only Champions there, and not mutants. As for where everyone else is, Warren is flying around LA, and down below Laynia and Bobby are in line to see a movie in which Johnny Blaze did the bike stunts. I bet Bobby thinks its a date and Laynia thinks it’s building team bonds. Warren’s gotten the alert from the others and comes to get Laynia and Bobby, Bobby transforms into his ice form and someone asks if he’s “a frozen streaker?!” which is pretty funny, at least til he’s recognized as “that mutant freak, the Iceman!” and the crowd attacks him. They swiftly realize they can’t hurt him, so decide to turn on his “lady friend” in retaliation, which goes about as well for them as you’d expect. But this only incites the crowd further as they realize “they ain’t human, none of them!” (so they were totally ready to assault Laynia thinking she was human, just for associating with a mutant I guess) and Johnny gets involved as he’s there in the flesh—er, flaming bones—too. Weirdly, Bobby suggests maybe Johnny planned this, which is an accusation I don’t really understand? Maybe Johnny had a falling out with the team I missed because I don’t read if Laynia isn’t on the panel? Whatever. Anyway, Angel carries Bobby to the Champions HQ, Laynia offers to carry Johnny, he’s really hostile back and tells them to all stop pitying him and drives his motorcycle up the side of the building. Yeah something is going on, I just don’t give a shit. Laynia discards the coat she was wearing, showing that she had her costume under it all the time. So she just went to the movies like that. I’m actually not sure we’ve SEEN her in any normal clothing at this point and I now headcanon she doesn’t have any and hasn’t thought to ask for some because an individual wardrobe would be far too decadent. What’s even more interesting is her thought balloon as she does it: “Pity? At last I understand his coldness towards me! He thinks I see him as a monster! But if he knew of my birth, he would know Darkstar is the true unhuman!” I definitely think something different was intended for Laynia’s origin at this point than what we got. I’m not sure she was even originally intended as a mutant. Not that “raised in a USSR facility from birth as a weapon for the State” is exactly normal, but I really get the vibe something freakier than that was the original plan, given lines like this. Interesting. Would really like to know what the idea was, if I’m right. Meanwhile, a dude in green on the roof is watching all this, thinking “Excellent! The lambs march to the slaughter!” and how he cannot fail now. This same dude was also watching the Sentinels attack earlier from the shadows. Pretty sure it’s Vanisher. Laynia and the others join the fight against the Sentinels while the Brotherhood cowers (REAL HELPFUL, YOU GUYS) and when Laynia hits one with the Darkforce, it goes on the fritz, declaring “alien force disrupting systems” suggesting her Darkforce can disrupt machinery, rather like Shadowcat’s phasing. Also interesting to note! The Champions take out the Sentinels, but, gasp! It was a SETUP! The Vanisher was the brains behind it the whole time, and the rest of the Brotherhood was just acting! Which is disappointing, I like these three (Blob, Unus, and Lorelei) and thought them running to the Champions for help was cute. Oh well. Vanisher blasts them all with a knock-out ray, but Laynia, as her thought balloons reveal, is “Barely. . .conscious! But. . .I must act! I cannot let him. . .kill….those who have befriended me!” AW BABY ;-; SHE DEF DIDN’T HAVE FRIENDS EVER BEFORE THIS I mean later it’s established she was raised with Vanguard and Ursa Major but that’s not really the same thing as people choosing to befriend you, is it? Anyway, what happens next is ABSOLUTELY WILD—Laynia uses the Darkforce to animate the remains of the ruined Sentinel! Holy shit! It attacks the Brotherhood, and Vanisher, realizing it’s Darkstar’s doing, is about to kill her, but Bobby, now conscious again too, stops him. Vanisher is about to flee, claiming that no one can stop him from doing so with his power of teleportation, and Darkstar declares that “No human, perhaps! But Darkstar is more than human! Much more!” and uses the Darkforce to actually FREEZE HIM HALF TELEPORTED HALF OF HIM IS STILL THERE THE OTHER IS NOT It’s not gory and hes not dead, the “open” part of his body is covered in Darkforce, but dear GOD that is disturbing, and Darkstar thinks so too. As Bobby gawks and wonders how Vanisher can be alive, Laynia turns away from the sight into Bobby’s arms, saying “I-I don’t know! Oh Bobby, hold me!” The issue ends with Warren saying “Did you hear what she said? About not being human?” which, yeah, technically Warren isn’t human, but like. . .Darkstar definitely seems to mean something bigger than just being a mutant (which, actually, ARE human, humans with mutations are humans) Hercules concurs that “Aye lad! In truth, there is a mystery here!” and Ghost Rider thinks “And maybe I’ve been wrong all along!” The issue ends here. Yeah, whatever Darkstar’s original origin story was meant to be, I think it was probably something a lot more eldritch in nature than just “mutant with connection to the Darkforce” for sure. Alas, I’ll probably never know what it is!

[mejomonster]

So this doesn’t have to be a feature of all danmei and bl (and in some cases it’s refreshing or adding something to the story to purposefully Not include it which i can appreciate for that), but i personally tend to appreciate when danmei does treat sexuality as somewhat significant. In the sense that like, a straight person is going to view the world a bit differently than a queer person. In terms of what is safe to share and with who, in terms of what norms in society they never questioned versus realize they don’t fit and perhaps its worth considering if some of those molds aren’t things they need to fit (or conversely things they’d like to make compatible to their life), in a lot of ways one’s sexuality somewhat affects how we navigate life.

Not Me the Series, the thai drama, I think is written from a viewpoint of these characters know they’re queer, and that means yeah they sign petitions for queer rights and marriage - and are aware life isn’t already Ideal for them and trans friends, and that intersects in other ways with how they view the law and activism and disability and other minority rights (they all have their own different viewpoints, but it does effect their lived experience and ways of relating and connecting to the wider world). Or pretty much any of my favorite bls honestly - 3 Will Be Free, a lead being bi, a lead being gay, and all 3 leads being polyamorous affect how the world they’re in views them. New show Never Let Me Go used Ben to highlight how just being out or not out effects one’s life and friendships, The Eclipse had the femme queer kids be the protestors for freedom of expression, Ayan’s character being brave about investigating is at least somewhat shaped by being out already and having already Had to be brave and love himself and believe in himself and his friends, in having role models that were queer like him he looked up to and became brave with the help of. To me, I appreciate when this kind of stuff is an influence on how the characters act because like. Me being demisexual sure doesn’t affect me much you’d think, but it effects how I understand or don’t conversations with others, media, how I view important relationships with friends in society and the lack of legal ways to help each other compared to spouses, etc. Even if in theory it should only come up when i’m dating, in reality it still shapes how i’m living in the world. so i like it being at least present in the background of characterizations. (Like? Even if they live in a perfect idealized world where there’s no homophobia, no lack of rights, like some bl, surely being different from the majority sexuality still effects them idk maybe wanting to be More Overt about their attraction so people get they’re being flirty? Something. Bad Buddy isn’t a perfect example, but it’s a servicable one I’d say, of a story that minimizes the real world effects of one’s sexuality’s in experiencing life but still shows some ways it changes how people relate to the world. Pran is secretive, not super open to admiting he’s dating someone, liking men is fine but societially its still more Daunting to admit - especially Pat given the specific ‘enemy families’ thing. Pat’s little sister Pah likes Ink but doesn’t even realize liking girls is an option until someone says it - which is true to life, plenty of people don’t realize they might be queer until they learn its even a Possible Thing. Pat has his past with Pran click into place when HE realizes he could like a guy, and probably no doubt a lot about being bi clicks into place when he realizes in retrospect. For me this is a nice middle ground when you want to play with “more idealized world” than say Moonlight Chicken’s reality, but you don’t want to make it so fantasy that it’s like the Sims games and sexuality has zero bearing on their interactions with the world. Like... not for everyone but for some people, finding out you’re gay might affect your politics and if you consider worrying about minority rights. It might affect how you consider discussing/admitting things to a doctor or boss, if you’re as open about your dating life to colleagues as they are. Sure people might have supportive circles and no issues, but somewhere down the line in the real world they might worry ‘if i cross into x place am i even safe to be me’. When the story gets SO fantastically ‘ideal’ that part of our real experience is gone. Which again - in some stories thats the point, its interesting to explore a world unlike ours. But for me its not my favorite story to sink into usually. 

(Also now that I’m thinking of it, Kabe Koji was one jdrama bl that was ‘realistic’ in a way I really liked. It handled jpop in a critical way, but gently. Mangaka industry in a critical way, but gently emotionally. The difference between out and proud mangaka and more reserved private ones like the lead, and the lead’s friend being both a bit critically overt depiction of a fujioshi but also with her heart in the right place. Akin to the kind of girl you maybe met in your teen years, or really might still meet at a yaoi doujin convention. The stalker paparazzi guy following the jpop guy, an acknowledgement that outing someone as gay can be cruel and horrifically just ‘part of the job’, again handling the issue critically but gently on one’s heart. Ending optimistically, reminding one that even in our real world with all these problems - where even the gay mangaka making yaoi for a living is dealing with them just as real for him, we can make our way and be happy and have a good life with friends, family, and loved ones.)

Priest is one of my favorite danmei writers for including that character’s sexualities do have life-wide effects in how they interact with the world (that I’ve read so far because surely there are A LOT of great writers who include this sort of thing as they’re most of the authors i’ve read so far, so there must be more). We’ve got Zhao Yunlan who’s got perfectly tolerant/accepting coworkers, is certainly confidently out when it comes to hitting on crushes or discussing his relationship life with friends (<3 same Zhao Yunlan same), but a dad who’d be disappointed in and hate him even if he Were straight, a mom who probably wanted grandkids and is realistically not perfectly-happy she might not get any but she loves her son and it doesn’t really matter. Silent Reading where... fuck every single main character’s sexuality REALLY shapes their life interactions. Tao Ran being straight is critical - so much literally just would NOT go the same if he were bi. Luo Wenzhou being gay in the police, his higher ups having ‘bad rumors’ about it as if it’s not a good thing, but his close higher ups also admiring his good work and talent and realizing they’re too fond of him to really care if he’s gay, how that does in fact affect his work life and how Good must he have been these years for potentially biased/homophobic fellow police to still promote him. Being the kind of man who even can have a best friend - and a best friend who’s very open to all of who he is without secrets. Him being less warm to women than say Zhao Yunlan, another ‘talented police chief’ who’s much more suave/smooth with all parties. Him viewing his singleness in a less guilty way then say someone who’s parents expect marriage and a family (like Tao Ran’s family does), and that affecting how he views him and Tao Ran’s similarities and thinking TR could’ve kept on like Captain Luo - but also realizing acceptingly when TR cant - he’s got a different life path and different concessions/choices he’s got to make. And Fei Du like? How he related to and understands both Tao Ran and Luo Wenzhou’s pov is affected by being bi and getting both of their povs a bit, he surrounds himself presumably by bi friends (Like Zhang Donglan) so he can be himself, he mainly flirts with women when he’s alone possibly because it’s more socially easy to do without anyone being surprised, he’s probably aware in some way he has yet another aspect of himself that’s not mainstream society and does that influence him feeling like an outsider (or that’s perhaps not what his dad envisioned of the perfect successor). It’s a trait he can relate to Luo Wenzhou over, and one of the Easiest traits he finds to relate over as he grows up (their rival crush on Tao Ran being the first easiest point they can see “eye to eye” on). In Tian Ya Ke, Wen Kexing being into men affects his personality, how Zhou Zishu is immediately sure and weary he’s being hit on, the way Wen Kexing is very overtly flirty and flamboyant and himself implies he doesn’t care or fear standing out or being unacceptable to someone in society, helps show his confidence, his propensity to enjoy things, if he wasn’t gay how different might his character be. He wouldn’t be the same. I haven’t read much of Can Ci Pin, but set in the future I can imagine sexuality (like say in Bad Buddy) has very little world-life restrictions. I have read enough to know one of the leads is bi and that’s stated at some point early, which to me implies it will still show in how it effects his interaction with the world. (Also just... as a bi person... I very much appreciate the plethora of bisexual lead characters in priest novels who are out about it. It makes me feel seen, and real, and when I was growing up biphobia was intense and everyone insisted bi people weren’t real, that I needed to ‘pick’ and I had nothing to really look to and go but i am real i’m like X. It wasn’t until i was older and found the queer community online I felt like i belonged and was seen. And it wasn’t until maybe the last 10 years I saw a lot more explicitly bisexual characters in media. So maybe someday someone grows up, like me, but never feels they don’t belong and aren’t supposed to exist. Maybe they always know bi and pan and queer people are around, just like them, and so it’s not so isolating when they figure out about themselves.)

[m1ckeyb3rry]

Ok same before BLLK I was like knee deep in JJK (do you have a fav?? I’m personally a raging Inumaki advocate LMAO) but after discovering BLLK and also seeing where the story went…..yeah….i can’t say I’m caught up on all the leaks (everything between Gojo sliced to Yuta copying kenjaku) only because I got so confused and I genuinely have no idea what happened I just know people were dropping like flies left and right���I’m hoping gege has a plan because not to be overly critical but I could not see ANY plot for awhile LMAO it was just kinda an ongoing toss someone into the Sukuna fight tag team whoops they died next person kinda vibe for me too….if I’m being honest I think I was originally captivated by the whole premise of jjk and the fighting curses thing that was most prominent in the content covered up to shibuya but I think I was slowly fading from culling games…something about it just seemed so different from what jjk had built up to be originally (or I just was too hard stuck on its original kinda theme of sorcerer vs curse strictly..simpler times…)

Also I don’t know how much you’ve seen of these but the recent exhibition content?? Where apparently gege clears up some stuff about the camellia being not a camellia and throwing people for a loop like I’m NGL I thought that was kinda ridiculous like huh??? I can’t tell if maybe it’s just a mistranslation but the never ending cycle of “DADDYS HOME”(meme ref I wouldn’t actually call gojo daddy for disclaimer’s sake LOL) to “it’s gojover” burnt me out…but LMAO I def remember reading culling games for the first time and talking to my friend being like yeah I’m just gonna wait for this to be animated because I have no idea how hakaris ct works

I love we have Otoya at one end of the disrespect spectrum yuki at the other and karasu in between LMAO

Ah yes agency my fav word fr!! Whenever I do in depth analysis I find myself gravitating towards talking about agency and will of certain characters I love how you developed this…also talk about scholar?? Pop off the amount of research/knowledge you took into account while writing this omg

And fr!! Bonafide soccer losers I’m sure they’d find their way to a field and a ball no matter what au they’re slapped in LMAO that being said cherry tree is also a personal fav of mine from your portfolio…the characterization for Rin was on point and aligned a lot with what I’ve understood to be his character LOL but yeah that tag is flooding (I could be wrong but sometimes I feel like saes is even more active??) it’s gotta be something about the Emo teal eyed dudes I’m somehow hoping at some point in bllk we see Rin get to redevelop his interests outside of soccer..(like the horror games and his personality kinda pre-sae trauma) but we’ll see how that goes LMAO

Back to research DOWN TO THE PLANTS IN HIORIS FIELD goodbye that’s some next level research I’m honestly living for it though!!! I mean I wouldn’t know which plants are native to Japan off the top of my head but I can imagine if I read something wrong about something I was familiar with I’d be a little irked the dedication you have is too real

SHHSHS GLAD TO HAVE YOU TOO HEHE I’m also hoping tabieitaken nation RISE honestly I’m sure they will I think they’re just kinda like…idk paywalled for lack of a better term behind the anime only/stuck in manga barrier I’m hoping we’ll get to see them in action from ep1!! Also yuki always almost seems like the third wheel to me LMAOA I think he’s just too dignified to stoop to their level of goofiness sometimes he’s just got that air to him….honestly I’m just excited to see all the new s2 characters in action with their dynamics and relations etc….im also kinda a nanase stan I can’t wait to see my headband boy in action…I think it’s funny how Isagi gets surrounded by people with accents and dialects I can fs see him being lost when they use region specific vocab LMAO

THANK YOUUU I know I just braindumped there so do take your time LMAO…I’m excited to read the karasu one shot and your other event works too!!! Will be back for commentary with each release o7

Also that shot of Karasu from s1 has me dying eightbit better give him compensation and do him justice s2 because that’s not Karasu that’s Kevin….like who is that man…..but no you’re blessing the Karasu tag never stop LMAOAO

-Karasu anon

i’m in pretty much the same boat!! i loveddd jjk and was p active in the fandom from like 2022-early 2024. my favs were megumi kashimo and yuta!! but i loved inumaki for a while hehe. i think some of my best fics are for jjk in terms of the kind of story i like to write 🤔 but i do agree that recently i’ve felt v lukewarm abt it

i feel like it’s a trend to hate on things that are popular which i don’t necessarily agree with but i just feel like i don’t really enjoy reading jjk anymore!! and i think a lot of its fans think popular = good which isn’t always the case. i also believe it gets a lot of praise which while some of it is merited (the things jjk does well it does VERY well) some it maybe not so much. for example i’ve seen a lot of people praising jjk for its female cast and honestly i don’t see the appeal. not a single female character is written as well as the male characters (including maki, who as much as i love her and as much as she is def above average for a shonen fc, is not really as well written as people make her out to be imo) and they all have dissatisfactory/vague endings (the way yuki tsukumo’s character was handled was a crime, same w tsumiki). i think a lot of fans think not sexualized automatically means good female character but that’s only one portion of it. jjk is kind of what i mean when i say i’m glad bllk has barely any female characters…i rather they don’t exist than get shelved for the plot/development of male characters/not even fully explored

also the way people were confused about whether nobara died for YEARS after it was shown in the manga and it was only cleared up in an interview is just. idk. i feel like i love what jjk could be (and again, i love a lot of things in it as well!! this is more me explaining why i’m not so into it anymore ig haha) and the things it set up to happen, but the execution isn’t really to my taste. different people will enjoy diff things but that’s just me 🤷🏻‍♀️ i keep up with it just because i feel like i have to?? i want to know how it all ends but i’m not emotionally invested like i used to be. also one thing i will say is i see a lot of analysis posts breaking down jjk and pointing out the different subtle details gege has put into it, and while i admire that level of attention i think those kinds of details should only serve to enhance a main story?? like the plot should be able to stand on its own without needing to have a very very deep understanding of many many nuanced topics. but again all of this is my personal opinion!! at the end of the day jjk is wildly popular and many people do enjoy it. gege isn’t perfect but no one is tbf so while i think criticism is good i would never bash on them for their ideas/work. at the end of the day it’s their story and the way they want to tell it is what they’re going to do!!

if soccer didn’t exist in an au they were put in the itoshi bros would simply invent it HAHAH omg i’m glad you liked cherry tree!! that’s like one of my least fav bllk fics i’ve written LMAO i feel like rin is so wiggly to write about (that makes no sense but basically he’s just hard to capture in my mind) that it was difficult despite being a relatively simple request 😫 yes i do think that sae’s tag is a bit more popular than rin’s!! maybe it’s because sae is being set up a bit like the gojo-type character who’s untouchably skilled 🤔 that kind of trope is always a winner w the fandoms i feel…i have to admire i think his haircut is weird asf 😔 i don’t think he’s UGLY but i also don’t know what everyone sees in him (i have to be careful though because the last two times I said this it was abt kaiser and otoya and. you saw how that turned out.)

PLSSS omg yes i sat there making sure white butterflies even exist in japan and everything 😭 there’s a line in hollyhock too where y/n compares reiji hiiragi to a hornet and originally the line referred to him as a vulture but apparently japan doesn’t have native vultures?? so it wouldn’t make sense coming from someone in the sengoku era to refer to a bird she would have had no chance at ever seeing. my philosophy is that it’s one of those things that people won’t care about if you forget (and sometimes artistic liberties can be taken) but the more careful you are to ensure you’re being as accurate as possible, the more the work really feels cohesive and believable ig?? 🤔 idk i think it just gives a more seamless vibe and you can def tell when an author is knowledgeable or at least did some research before writing abt a subject!! it always elevates a fic to me and i’d like to give that same experience to my own readers hehe plus i’m a bit of a perfectionist so i’d make myself do it anyways most likely

I AGREE i can sense them becoming popular they really are just fandom tropes as actual characters!! as long as their animation does them justices 😭 otoya and yuki looked okay in the last ep but karasu…they did my man a lil dirty icl 😔 omg that screenshot of him is so funny to me idek what it is he just looks so odd!! same in the epinagi movie though not to that extent 😔 i think part of it is that he’s drawn so sharply in the manga that in the anime he looks a little too soft?? for lack of a better word. also i got so used to him having black hair that i forgot his hair is technically purple-blue (karasu with black hair and purple eyes you will forever live in my heart). i was rewatching bllk a while ago and i saw him in that moment (he’s in the background i think he’s either judging shidou or judging raichi and gagamaru) and i had to rewind like HELP IS THAT KARASU?? but he’s kinda cute though…w his little 😒😕 expression…

also this is unrelated but idk how i just realized kurona was number 4 in second selection?? the way he beat literally every relevant character except rin is so funny (although tbf idrk how aryu and tokimitsu got 2nd and 3rd but then completely faded from relevancy after second selection)

[marlasomething]

(my) Mag a Day Special Feauture: The Gertrude Protocol

Hello there!

Here is the thing: I am participating in the "a mag a day" idea by @a-mag-a-day which is BRILLIANT and I decided to do "statement a week", rolling dice with the characters and fears that were ftw that week in the episodes I have listened. But, then, I thought...what if I made some special features for when each season finishes? AND THAT IS WHAT I DID INDEED. The format is similar:  roll dices for characters, main Fear, etc. But they are all going to be different interpretations of who Sam and Alice might be and how they "enter in contact" with TMA's universe.

For season one (when I am almost about to write season 2 -I AM SO SORRY-) I've gotten Gertrude Robinson and Sasha James as characteres to be featured and "The Slaughter" as "The Baddie".

As usual, please do forgive my quick tipper and non-native speaker mistakes, Marla

Allons-y!

CW: mentions of mental ilnesses, ED and family issues. Also, of grief, deception and death

Also on AO3!

Sam and Alice were ravenous. They had a free week for the very first time since for forever; just a few days all for themselves, to try to understand how they worked as a couple outside of the work environment and, more concretely, outside of the extremely creepy environment they had been forced to live in for the very last few months.

And, here, right in front of them, was a woman they knew for certain was death, six feet under, pushing daisies, taken by the scythe (choose your fighter).

Gertrude Robinson; only that she looked… younger was not the precise term. All the wrinkles and skin spots were still there, the greying hair and the thin body that was starting to shrink were just as in the pictures from more than two decades ago.

However, that was the very exact problem: she should have been older. It had been two decades, after all, and age had just barely started to make a show on her body.

Sam put themselves in front of their partner, who wanted to protest but, honest to God, she was so out of her element she thanked her much better trained (even if they were much smaller in size) to protect her from the…what was even this woman?

She recalled the weird small man they had encountered a few weeks before, the one that said he was very sorry, though he also added that maybe it would have happened whether he had died or not. It had been strange, especially because the other man that went with him looked a lot as someone that could be related to her (same hair, built, eyes and way of walking).

Was there another Blackwood line her father hadn’t talked to them about? She would have believed it. After all, fidelity wasn’t his father’s strength exactly.

She was pulled back to reality by the older woman’s word.

“Your partner is very brave, Alice, what a pity they were the one that took the calliope from me, he would have made a good acquisition to The Circus, and I reckon the Stokers would find them… rather interesting”.

That was more than enough for Alice, who dragged Sam up to her height with strength that came out of pure fear and love for the person. She stared fiercely at Robinson, who just started cackling.

“Once upon a time, I would have been as resolute as you, though I was more boring and efficient. I would have never been as foolish as to choose a special-someone over the safety of this pathetic World…” she couldn’t finish speaking, for someone from behind her just cut off her head with an axe that had some quite strange carvings all through it (including the blade itself).

She was a tall dark-skinned woman of wavy hair, green literally glowing eyes and cardigan over cardigan over cardigan. The newly arrived smiled at them and gave a look around, as people seemingly were not seeing unusual as, for example, the murder of an old woman right before their eyes.

“A weapon fuelled by The Stranger…who knows what on Bloody Earth they are seeing”. She turned to them and gave them a hand so shake. “Sasha James, The Archivist. You are the ones in charge of The Magnus Protocol, right?”

Both nodded, feeling about to throw up.

“Perfect! You ought to meet the gang; my patron is going to love you two” as she finished speaking, she stared at them for a bit too long, with an almost painful longing in her shining eyes.

She had lost someone really important for her. That was clear; reason enough for Alice to held Sam’s hand even tighter. Sam had been one of the very few people that hadn’t started looking at her with a bizarre expression when she explained she felt both comfortable with she/her and they/them pronouns, how with that slight change now everything fit better. Sam had been the one not to mock her for not having been in a relationship (not sentimental, nor sexual) before theirs, understanding it was not a lack of desire, but some much more complex conditionals around her life. Sam made her laugh and think, never got angry without a good reason and even forced themselves to learn about her ED just not to trigger her.

This Sasha person apparently knew how to fight the things that were now part of their existence, whether they like it or not. Better to follow her, perhaps her patron was as friendly-presenting as her.

They couldn’t have been more wrong.

[magatsunohana]

I'm here to remind everyone that our very Yasashii Gakuenchou has defensive magic strong enough to withstand an attack from someone that's currently in overblot. Granted a tree was used by the phantom to attack, the damage dealt to the surroundings was no joke either.

Also, I don't know if you've noticed, how good Crowley's reaction time actually is. Because from the looks of it here in these panels, Crowley was already moving away to usher majority of the other students to safety, because see, he's already away from Trey's group when Riddle's phantom split the ground with the tree, but the moment Crowley noticed that the impact was heading straight for Trey's group, he was right back to where they were with his barrier cast instantaneously to shield everyone from harm. Crowley is literally the only thing standing in the way of Trey and the attack's impact. His barrier was strong enough that the place they were standing on wasnt affected, instead, the damage gets split over to the sides where the shield wasn't cast.

So you know, I do believe that Dire is very sincere when he says that his students' well being is his top priority. Which also, allow me to point out, he's a fine judge of what to prioritize, and is quick to make that decision, and the necessary actions needed to fulfil his goals. At first, his priority were the students that MAY end up getting hurt due to Riddle going berserk. Trey's group is trustworthy enough to give instructions to, so he gives them the go signal to seek assistance from the staff, but the moment he sees that that group was in danger, he shifts his priorities to those who need to be protected first and foremost. Since the danger shifted, he has to adjust to it, because his top priority is the wellbeing of his students. And at this point, everyone's wellbeing was being taken into account. From the bystanders and other members of Heartslabyul, to the group he entrusted with a task, to Riddle. He doesn't leave anyone out. Everyone is accounted for. I'm a firm believer that Crowley didn't engage Riddle because as part of the Night Raven College Staff, its Headmaster even, lifting a hand against his students is something that he wouldn't do-- despite the necessity. He well could have fought Rosehearts, but that puts not only every student in the vicinity in danger, but it puts Riddle at the greatest risk. Crowley understands how Blot works, and how Overblot works. IF, If he were to fight Riddle himself, that would cause the Housewarden to expend even more mana. Magic consumption is fast enough when someone is in overblot, so he is making sure that the boy doesn't push himself to the limit. Being in overblot, the negative energy corrupts a person-- as they say, evil Berserker mode. And I believe that it's safe to say, anyone who is hot-tempered and extremely angry is very quick to provoke. In my opinion, he's taking the safest measures, the most optimal course of action so that our overblotee doesn't get any more provoked than he already is.

So yeah, IF IN CASE he was present for other overblots, I don't think he'd be the type to just run away without a reason, or leave everything to MC and company. Because he is there, he will do what needs to be done in order to protect his students, without aggravating the student that was in overblot.

See here, he even takes the blame for it himself. He doesn't blame anyone else. Not Trey for going against Riddle, not Ace for punching his Housewarden, he isn't even putting the blame on Riddle. Crowley takes responsibilities for his actions and his shortcomings in the best way available, and with as little collateral damage as possible. It may not always be the most logical solution to the students, but when he's there and he decides to act, it's for the best. BUT AGAIN. It also stays true to his style of "allowing them to resolve their own troubles by themselves". Otherwise he'd just fix this all himself, but where is the growth for them in that?

I do love that Crewel has a line when he talks about the staff wherein he says that Crowley is always just thinking about his students, to the point that he works himself to the bone. And that, there are times when he flees the scene when it becomes problematic, and that sometimes, it has to be that way. This really shows me how different things are behind the scenes. (Every one of the staff who has exam lines say nice things about Crowley.) When it's just the staff and Crowley vs the students and Crowley. Then again. This is understandable. Since they are all fellow staff and colleagues, there's less thresholds and boundaries, compared to students. But it's not like Crowley slacks either in terms of his relationship with his students... which I will discuss in some other post, just not this one. Feel free to ask me about it, if you feel like it. I love talking about Crowley.

Anyway, I do like that we dont see what Crowley is capable of from the get-go as it gives us a lot of freedom when it comes to what he can do. But I do like what we're currently privy to at the moment. And that's the fact that he can use complicated magic without even missing a beat like it's nothing does say something about him. Crowley even has transformation magic in his arsenal, which is probably one of the more complicated types of magic (if we base it from how difficult form-altering potions are to make, then we can probably make the assumption that transforming/shapeshifting into other forms are just as rare, complex, and complicated to perform). If we take into account the timespace teleportation magic used to summon students, if that's part of his magic repertoire and not just solely the mirror's ability... then I think it's safe to say, Crowley can do so much more, given time and circumstance.

But that's it for me for today.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

[hekateinhell]

Do you think Armand knows or understands that he was groomed by Marius? I think often about how Marius’ “education” for Armand only served to reinforce old traumas and provide new ones. The healthiest education Armand received in Venice in terms of socialization and emotional well-being was the little time he spent with the other boys.

Also, thanks for your great writing and posts! They always make me smile!

Girl, first of all, thank you so much for your sweet words! Makes my heart happy 💕 not sure how you'll feel about me by the end of this lol but that's Future!Hekate's problem.

Second, you made me reach for the wine at 5pm. How could you?

Tl; dr: Armand does not!

Rambling, long answer below the cut (because apparently my brain chose to ignore my fic-writing plans & do this instead).

Okay, SO… my Marius feelings and takes are complicated (much like Armand’s). But separating from that for a minute, there are a few things I want to break down that hopefully haven’t already been said elsewhere a dozen times (they might be idk I haven’t been active on here that long).

"Does Armand know/think he was groomed by Marius?"

That’s not the read we get from TVA. In fact, up to that point, Venice seems to be the highlight of his very long, tragic life! And it’s understandable.

Even when it upsets me (and it does, often!), when I want to play around in their heads (because tbh once it comes off the page it’s headcanon, so I do what I can to try and get a decent read that makes sense with respect to characterization), I have to make allowances for their individual time periods and experiences.

Armand would have very little reason to know (care about) anything relating to psychology, child development, or trauma, even. Those are human concepts that don’t apply to him. Most of the way he behaves is logic-driven (not that his logic isn’t faulty sometimes lol he’s weird, even by vampire standards). I doubt he would see any sense in exploring this 500 years after the fact, after much worse stuff happened.

"Marius’s 'education'"…

I want to preface what I'm about to say by stating that I have zero stake in this game! This isn’t a ship I write about or want to write about, and I’ve never had any big feelings about what other people ship (it just wasn’t a “thing” back in the day in VC so this is new to me now that I’m rejoining the fandom lol). I’ll enjoy it if it’s well-written in fanon though.

This is the repetitive part: Marius is coming at this from the perspective of being a 1500 vampire. I’ve said many times that I don’t think Armand truly realized how far he was pushing Daniel over the emotional/psychological limits of a human being. I think that applies to Marius and Amadeo as well, to an extent.

Marius thinks that he’s providing Amadeo with a good life, and in a lot of ways, he is—by the textbook definition. He’s getting a very well-rounded academic education, he’s socializing, etc. Marius essentially sees Amadeo as a blank canvas, given from what he can tell from his mind (and again, the concept of trauma wasn’t something that would’ve occurred to anyone a few centuries ago, it just didn’t exist). Adding to this, wasn’t uncommon for brothels at the time to be used to supplement a sexual education, in the most literal sense of the phase. As far as Marius is concerned, he’s going the extra mile to prepare Amadeo for the world (yeah, I know).

As for the traumas themselves, I think I know what you’re getting at (but correct me if I’m wrong!)…

So Amadeo is 15 when Marius rescues him; his mental state is in pieces, and he doesn’t know his ass from his elbow. Marius absolutely sees him as a kid, in the same sense that Armand and the other vampires later see Daniel as a “boy.” He’s not thinking child development here, he’s thinking about what would settle him down and feel good to a messed up human being (having not been one himself for over a thousand years).

Anne was clearly a sex-positive writer, and there’s something to be said for the idea of “replacing” a traumatic memory with a more pleasurable one. Unlikely that Marius was thinking about it in those terms (he was not, we know this), but more as so how to distinguish himself as a “man” that didn’t just want to use Amadeo for his body, but to provide him with pleasure (for the first time in his life). Marius gets literally nothing out of this. He could bite him and induce a swoon, and they’re both happy, no further effort required.

Now, what I think are the Marius traumas...

We know that Marius really Struggles With His Emotions. And he doesn't ever seem to make any real sense of progress there (Pandora and Armand can attest). I've said before (on your post actually lol), Marius is the parent that you don't realize how fucked up they are until you grow up and it's like, "Oh wow, that's why I am the way I am. Whoops!"

Amadeo has human needs and longings for validation, attention, and connection, and Marius just absolutely misses the mark here. The switch scene and the return from Kiev scene are perfect, heartbreaking examples of this (even if Amadeo is a new fledgling in the second instance, his mind hasn’t lived beyond 18 years yet). And Marius does seem to regret his outbursts afterward (it doesn't make it right, but I think it adds a sort of context to the idea he knows he's failing in at least some regard).

And for Armand, it's easy to see how this became his blueprint for what a "relationship" should be. Because he didn't know the behind-the-scenes stuff that was happening with The Parents, he didn't know Marius's own history with kidnapping and cults, etc. And because ultimately, he never had a better reference until much, much later.

In TVA, Armand says he can't claim to never have hated Marius for giving him the Dark Gift, LEAVING HIM IN PARIS, being besties with Lestat... but nothing about their time together factors into it.

By the canon read and my interpretation, Armand doesn't consider himself as having been groomed by Marius in any modern (or otherwise) definition of the word. (And just to throw something else in there, let's not forget what Armand himself did with Denis and the others - now, that's dark!).

~ hekate out

[elise-jupiterstyle]

this is a very cynical bomb that i’m about to drop with absolutely no context but they really did just fetishize rio to gain viewership without actually ever giving a shit about his value as a character, and i’ve gotten myself into a bit of a spiral stewing about it.

tw: my opinions again

like i didn’t want to think about my favorite show so negatively before it ended so i tried to steer clear of any posts that discussed it for the sake of my own enjoyment but after how short the finale season fell from my expectations, it’s hard not to be pissed off. because ever since they had beth shoot rio in season two i’ve been waiting for them to reconcile such a gruesome choice by developing the characters further, their relationships, their knowledge of themselves, but it just didn’t happen. beth never took accountability for the shooting, rio never took accountability for kidnapping and pressuring her, and dean never took accountability for his infidelity or faking cancer, which were the three main points of conflict that the writers should’ve focused on resolving before ever even thinking of introducing new conflicts.

i’m not saying i wanted rio to forgive beth, or that i wanted beth to forgive dean, or that i wanted any of these resolutions to happen immediately after their conflicts took place. and sure, you could say that beth’s character compartmentalizes and that beth and rio aren’t good communicators and didn’t have a strong bond of trust to begin with so it wouldn’t be in character for them to discuss what happened, but that’s where character growth is supposed to come in! you’re supposed to write characters with these flaws so that they have a better version of themselves to work towards that is slowly developed as they encounter each conflict. they’re not meant to make them into worse people until the show is entirely unbearable to watch because all of that old resentment and tension is just rotting away beneath the rug it’s been swept under.

it’s not a creative choice to have characters directly create conflict and then never address it again while they move onto the next big thing -- it’s lazy writing, and it makes it crystal clear that they were written in solely to shock the viewers and create tension between the characters, not to cultivate growth, and that is very frustrating when you have a group of characters whose inherent morality is constantly insisted upon.

what’s especially frustrating about this is that it not only means there is a lack of depth to all the characters, but there’s a lack of value to the ones that the writers did not favor. based on the season one storyline that culminated in rio shooting dean and letting beth live -- essentially getting even with her in a way that didn’t involve killing off the protagonist, even though that would’ve been the most likely course of action based on the consequences that other disposable characters suffered (i.e. eddie) -- it’s my belief that the writers didn’t expect to keep rio on the show past season one (honestly, it kind of feels like they didn’t even expect to get another season, based on how messy the storyline felt as the seasons progressed), and therefore didn’t value rio’s character the way the audience came to by season two. 

when i say the writers didn’t (and honestly, i still think they don’t -- not in the same way they value the girls, dean, stan, or even fucking boomer) value him, i mean they didn’t see him as being worth the effort of giving a character arc, a background story, personal relationships, etc. they threw in marcus at the start of season two to be like “he’s a dad! that means he has depth!” and then never really touched on it again. there was like, one other scene with marcus that i can remember, and then he, too, was sidelined until they needed to humanize rio again after he got shot. all of the other kids -- the bolands, sarah, harry, and ben -- are regularly featured because they are a driving component of the women’s motivation to survive and succeed. with rio, his kid is only used to relate him back to the women, to make him seem human for a moment, but marcus’s real value as a character lies in how he makes beth feel as she grieves rio, not how he contributes to rio’s behavior, motivation, and overall character.

and yes, i know that rio is technically a side character, that the children of the protagonists are going to have more development, but if they actually wanted to add depth to rio’s character through the facet of parenthood, they would’ve shown more than one interaction with him after he spent supposed months away from him without a word. that kid would’ve been traumatized by that, and seeing rio’s reaction to his kid mourning his disappearance would’ve provided a much more real and interesting angle than them all smiling and happy, like we’ve seen in every other scene with him and marcus. it would’ve showed that the writers care about rio’s pain, about how his absence affected those he loves, but to be blunt, they don’t. they showed beth grieving him when she shot him, but we didn’t see him recovering from that traumatic event. they didn’t even care enough about him to give him fake scars, for christ’s sake. 

everything that happened to rio throughout the show was either done to further the other women’s development or appease the viewers, and they made zero effort to hide that. they walked his characterization backwards so many times (him threatening beth’s family when it had been insinuated thus far that that was the only line he wouldn’t cross; him touching her and making suggestive advances on her in exchange for bail money when she was clearly uncomfortable; him returning all of her stuff and happily accepting her as his superior when there was no development in their relationship to suggest he’d forgiven her or would be receptive to her having power over him) and almost every single instance of them using him to promote the show exploited his outward appearance and the fact that so many viewers have fetishized him as this “exotic” bad boy without any regard for how minimizing and insulting that marketing tactic is. 

looking through their instagram, i saw no other instance of an actor’s picture being posted next to a bunch of thirsty tweets or captioned as being “another reason to watch good girls.” it’s fetishization disguised as playful, well-intentioned endorsement, but if they were really referring to rio’s character rather than his appearance as a reason to watch the show, we wouldn’t be seeing his face on nearly every episode promo and highlight with him only occupying about five minutes of screen time every 50-minute episode.

there’s not really a neat bow-tie conclusion to this, but what i’m getting at is that the writers wanted it both ways. they wanted the viewership and fan engagement that manny’s character garnered, but they didn’t value him enough to give him the screen time and characterization that he deserved. this resulted in all of the revelations that were made about his character -- his son, rhea, his dynamic with turner, his backstory, his hobby, his grandma, nick -- feeling pretty underwhelming because they were never touched on again. they were there because they had to give us something, but they weren’t important enough to the writers to be expanded upon, to be used for personal growth or connecting with the other characters. i think that’s why it felt like such a hollow victory -- we got exactly what we wanted in theory, but there the foundation of it all was too weak for it to feel truly meaningful. 

we wanted rio to be acknowledged and written as a permanent fixture on the show, but instead the rest of the characters were hell-bent on getting rid of him and his primary aspect of redemption was what he meant to beth, not what he meant to the show. even in the finale when she finally came to the realization that she won’t ever be able to give up crime, rio’s role in contributing to her self-actualization was passed over by a character who has been in seven episodes, and i think that really spoke for itself the loudest in terms of how much the writers truly valued him.

[oreolesbian]

I think part of the reason Will’s storyline in s4 is so frustrating is bc, in the past couple of years, we’ve been seeing TV shows set the bar higher and higher when it comes to queer rep. Queerbaiting still exists in different, evolved forms across the media landscape, of course, but TV has had a pretty good upward trend of genuine representation.

In the past few years we’ve seen kids shows like She-Ra and The Owl House have, undeniably queer lead protags. We’ve seen shows like Our Flag Means Death w/ no marketing as having queer characters, and then ending up with six of them, furthering to help normalize queer existence (and in a ‘period’ piece, may I add—with actual queer people behind the scenes). And even on Netflix, we’ve had Heartstopper and First Kill. Two shows of varying quality, but with dedication to showing teenage queer protags w/ actual storylines.

So to have Stranger Things, a very popular show which chose to have queer characters, then use said queer characters to further the narrative of two hetero romances, and then have one of those queer characters be only “up to interpretation,” “implied,” etc. after months of marketing where the actors/writers said he would be explicitly confirmed as queer, is just insane. Like…maybe a few years ago we all would’ve hung back and sighed, because we’re used to this. But now that other shows are showing what absolute bullshit queerbaiting is and how easy it is to just have queer characters exist, shows like Stranger Things need to fucking step up.

If they didn’t want to write queer storylines, that’s fine. But if that’s the case—then they never should’ve made Robin or Will queer if they never intended to follow through with anything for them in terms of story. Robin is a side character—I don’t expect a whole ass love story for her, and I don’t need one. But Will is (or at least used to be) a major character. And his queerness was pushed in this season as a story arc for him, only for it to be used to move the characterization of two straight characters. Will doesn’t get to have agency as a queer character. And it’s not about him not being in a relationship, or getting to be out and proud—it’s quite literally just about him being more than a device. Some characters are devices of course, that’s how good writing works—but Will has quite literally graduated to one of the central characters in the friend group, to a background piece. And his queerness is a huge factor in his isolation from his peers, but even in these bloated episode runtimes, there’s nothing, not even in a scene between him and Johnathan that was so clearly meant to replicate a coming-out scene, just without the actual coming out. The Duffers have two queer characters who do nothing more than prop up their straight characters. And that’s not good.

And now they use the “it’s the 1980s” as an excuse, a cover, as if writing a period piece w/ queer characters that have agency and don’t serve as plot devices for, again, hetero romances is an absolute impossible task.

Obviously ST is not going to be Heartstopper in terms of warm-hearted queer stories. I personally don’t even mind sad queer stories about pining—I relate to them if anything. But ST didn’t do that. No, they used Will’s queerness specifically, to help Mike and Eleven get back together. And to top it off they did the classic “beat around the bush” approach regarding explicit revelations about whether Will is gay or not.

It’s frustrating and stupid and leaves a bad taste in the mouth when remembering the shows of old who followed this formula. Quite literally any queer person involved in creative could’ve helped amend this, but no. They instead chose to humiliate their queer fans who had the audacity to believe they could actually see themselves reflected in this show.

[butwhatifidothis]

So. Took a look into that fic @nilsh13 is going through the comments of. Dunno if I’ll actually go through the entire thing - 300k words is certainly a lot of words to read through, especially with it still updating, but I’ve read through/am reading through longer ones - but I jumped to the latest chapter to get a feel for where the fic’s at now.

I’m not halfway through the chapter and I have Words To Say lmao, under the cut

This is going to be as serious a critique about the sections I’ve selected as possible - I want to be clear why I think what is being written is not of high quality, pointing out specifically what I have wrong with it. 

Here are some snippets of the fic (boldened), and following those snippets are my thoughts on them:

“My actions have caused immense turmoil, pitting friend against friend, mother against daughter, and brother against sister*,” muttered Edelgard, desperately trying to drive any hint of self-pity (emphasis mine) from her voice. “My best friend has been disowned by her family, Hubert and Ferdinand’s fathers are dead or imprisoned, and the woman I love is now deemed a heretic by the Church that once offered her shelter. The weight of my decisions seems to pull down all who are caught in the shadow of the Imperial crown.” The Flame Emperor gave Professor Hanneman a wan smile. “Whatever imagined slights you believe you have committed against me, they pale in comparison to the carnage my own words and deeds have unleashed.” 

""I made my choice, the only choice I could make, and dragged this continent down to hell with me. It makes me a poor ruler, and an even baser person, but that was the path I knew I must take."" 

“"It is funny you use the word ‘choice’, Miss Edelgard. When I resigned my title to study at Garreg Mach, I lost marriage prospects, became penniless outside of a small stipend…I even renounced the opportunity to have a family.” Hanneman smiled, his whole body suffused with melancholy. “Really, how could I dare to dream of bringing a daughter into a world this senseless and cruel, knowing that someday, she too, could be hurt in such a way? I…I would not survive it.” The man’s body shook. “I sacrificed those things, things I desperately wanted, because the chance to allow my sister to rest in peace was more important. And I would make that choice again, despite all that it has cost me. You are much the same.”"

"“But your sacrifices were your own,” protested the Emperor of Adrestia. “Thousands bleed for the choices that I have made, and sacrifice themselves for the cause that I have placed before them. There is a profound difference-“"

"“We are both wise enough to know a painful truth,” said the scholar with a melancholy smile. “No matter how grave the sins, no matter how many innocents suffer…there will be countless individuals who will defend the law not because it is just, or righteous, but because it is the law. They will permit a hundred Abysses, and a thousand women to be raped, and a million dead children, as long as such actions do not disturb their order.” He placed a hand on Edelgard’s shoulder. “To stand against such moral rot, knowing that the world will despise and vilify you for it, is the truest sign of not only a just ruler, but a good woman.”"

"The academic’s words blazed with the passion of both a scholar and a man who had watched his world crumble to ash. A man who had been forced to live in the remnants of a life forever altered by the cruelty of both society and of humanity. And yet he had fought, the only way he could, to make the world better. It gave the Flame Emperor new resolve."

"“I…” He turned and looked away. “I believe in you, Miss Edelgard. When I see you, and your determination, your spirit, your bravery in choosing not what is easy, but what is right…it reminds me of her.” Fingers clenched around his locket. “I will fight for you, in the way I should have fought for my sister, long ago. My strength is meagre, and my courage more meagre still. However, all of it is yours.”" 

The author writes Edelgard as one trying to give pity onto herself for her actions, despite how negatively they affect her, due to the immense ramifications those actions have had on those both around her and those under her care. This is the appropriate response to someone who has done as morally dubious an action as starting and spearheading a war that has led to the deaths and suffering of countless innocent people, some of whom were undoubtedly already going through immense suffering without war compounding itself onto their already existing pain. She - rightfully - points as, as a negative towards herself, that she has forced thousands of people to sacrifice their lives, livelihoods, friends, family, homes, etc. in order to continue with her war. Edelgard's canonical self-justification - that she had no other choice to do this - is properly utilized, and further characterization is given to her when she herself recognizes that performing such horrendous actions on the people under her care makes her a poor ruler and terrible person. This is, in truth, a decent set-up for her to go onto a possible path of redemption or self-realization.

However, that progress is forcibly stopped and reverted by Hanneman justifying her actions and recontextualizing them in a morally good light. In fact, the entire story does this, as characters act wildly out of character in order for Edelgard to be seen as good in comparison to them. Focusing on the quoted lines, however, Hanneman relating him giving up nobility and going into momentary poverty - whether true to canon or not - to Edelgard's war actively paints her actions as something that she had a right to be making, which she does not, as they force others to make sacrifices for her cause. When she herself rightfully points this discrepancy out, Hanneman excuses her actions by pointing to another - supposed - source of turmoil and essentially saying "You are more right than x, therefore your y actions are not only better, but objectively good, and make you a good person." He says nothing of the inherent injustice of taking away the choice of the people to live as they want and fight for who they want as well as deliberately taking away any semblance of safety from them, and makes objective statements about Edelgard's moral righteousness despite her taking actions that would, by definition, make her moral righteousness a subjective matter at minimum.

Hanneman is projecting the image of his sister and his own personal sense of justice onto Edelgard, and thus sees her as just as much a victim of the war and society as everyone else. Edelgard is a young woman who has gone through trauma due to Crests, as was his sister, and he himself (in this story, though not within the quoted lines) wanted to beat the man who abused his sister to death, and so he sees Edelgard using violence as a means to achieve justice as not only not questionable, but morally good and brave, as he felt he was not brave enough to enact "justice" onto the man that caused his sister's death. Instead of this being settled, focused on, or even mentioned, despite its obvious nature due to deliberate connections Hanneman himself makes, it is used as a means to showcase that Hanneman is a, for lack of a better term, "expert" on what he is saying when speaking to Edelgard. He knows what it's like to want to force change, he has by-proxy experienced the apparent injustice of the Church - not human society, not his family's decision to allow his sister to be married off, not the man who caused her death's decision to discard her, but strictly the Church and only the Church - and so he can "rightfully" justify and excuse Edelgard's morally questionable actions and paint them in a solely positive light, with no nuance or gray whatsoever.

Edelgard, in the first quote, attempts to say her actions without a tone of self-pity, and yet the narrative itself pities Edelgard. She should be allowed to feel bad about her actions - not because they are causing unfathomable suffering on people who were underserving, but because they’re just hard decisions that she was good and brave to make and maybe she can feel a little bad for herself for making them. She shouldn't feel responsible for choosing to start the war - in fact, did she really have a choice, or did everyone else in society force her to? She shouldn't question whether she's a good person or not, because she simply is - no debate, no question. She is - “justly” - standing up against "moral rot"; that she does so with even more moral rot is irrelevant, because, according to the story, it is not as rotten as that she's up against, therefore it is no longer rotten in the first place. War has been completely justified, as it is now not the last resort of desperation that could only ever be morally grey at its absolute best, but an objectively morally white decision of an objectively morally white person who is facing an objectively morally black opponent.

The actions of other characters attempt to paint Edelgard as someone closer to the former, but I will - maybe - eventually go over how those characters are extremely mischaracterized in order to prop Edelgard as their moral superior. 

[crimeronan]

Does Ronan realize he’s turned into Kavinsky? Or better question, do you think the parallels to Kavinsky in MI were intentional on Maggie’s part? Because unless you’ve read every book since TRC, she makes no reference or gives no context to Kavinksy. Or could this be Maggie’s way of writing more of a Kavinsky like character after she swore she wouldn’t write any more of his character? I think MI Ronan is who he would have maybe turned into faster if he’d chosen Kavinsky in TRB. Maybe, MI Ronan wishes he had...

oh now HERE'S a question i'm ready to sink my teeth into, coming off my second read. (first read was to feel all my feelings, second was to analyze the story as a whole)

mi spoilers obviously

100% yes, i think the parallels are intentional.

but i don't think we can talk meaningfully about that without exploring how HENNESSY is a kavinsky parallel.

for the sake of brevity i'm gonna just. give an overview of a lot of thoughts that could all have their own very long meta posts

(ok putting it under a readmore bc it still ended up semi lengthy)

we're introduced to hennessy in cdth as a suicidal, partying, chain-smoking, bitchy forger who dreams real people and doesn't appear to care about the consequences. there are plenty of things setting her apart from kavinsky, which are made clear as the story unfolds, but this choice of introduction makes the parallel striking & Definitely intentional

her relationship to ronan is in many ways a rovinsky with the power dynamics reversed: him teaching HER to dream, rather than the other way around

it's also about as dysfunctional as rovinsky is because ronan is 1) projecting his own anger at himself onto her 2) unable to think clearly around his fear of being left alone if she dies 3) just. ronan

when mi opens, ronan is protecting her from her trauma, but it's not sustainable. she wants to be able to function independently of him; he doesn't understand why she can't just accept she's going to be fucked-up forever. something he considers irrefutable fact

projecting!!!! again!!!!!

ronan's not in a healthy place at the start of mi but he becomes significantly less healthy as the book goes on. isolation has never been good for him. as the story unfolds, he and hennessy just make each other worse. neither is in a place to support the other the way they need to be supported. both are choosing not to reach out the way they need to

what i find interesting about their parallel negative arcs in this book is that both of them take their own piece of kavinsky. and in doing so end up with diametrically opposed goals. hennessy gets to a point of "i don't care about anything anymore, not even jordan" & ronan gets to a point of "nothing is real, i'm gonna burn everything down"

do i think ronan realizes he's become more like k than he might have ever been before? not consciously. it's one of those things he can't let himself think. kavinsky didn't care about the consequences of his actions, didn't care about who he hurt, didn't care about the future. ronan, on the other hand, is serving a Purpose. there's a reason behind all of his actions. he's telling himself that it's about matthew and other dreamers and other dreams, and partially it is, but it's also about how he's sick and just wants a solution that's easy

even as ronan's trying to destroy the world he's telling himself that he can keep people safe - keep the dam from going down too fast, keep the lines from being dangerous, keep hennessy safe from her dreams. it's all bullshit. he can't control any of these factors but he has to believe he can. he's going to pieces

aside from the morals and a life purpose, though, he's just gotten a lot worse. isolation is fucking with his head; so is bryde. if ronan went with kavinsky in dream thieves, i can definitely see him blowing up all his meaningful relationships and fucking everything up forever. this book truly was a treat for everyone who's wanted to see what ronan lynch would look like if he let himself go

(it's me. i'm everyone)

but in terms of narrative, ronan's parallels to HENNESSY matter Much More thematically than his parallels to kavinsky. there's no need to introduce k-related backstory for foil/theme/characterization/etc purposes when hennessy is Right There

hennessy and ronan are both their own ghosts of kavinsky. and so the way they destroy each other in mi is like. STUNNING in its execution. god bless